Reflection December 17--My Reflections of a Week in the Western Caribbean

[tbmrt]

"We went to our balcony and our neighbor was smoking again". Hope this gets sorted out.

 

I've read about this happening pretty often. Thankfully, we've never experienced this...It really would put a damper on our cruise since we spend quite a bit of time on the balcony.

[Iamthesea]

The bar backs up to the Casino and faces the open area where they play games at night like Friendly Feud. It was never crowded. Sometimes one or two people would be there, sometimes we were the only ones there.

 

LOL...I probably walked right past it when we were on the Reflection. Will look for it this time. Great place to get a drink going from the show to dinner. Thanks!

 

Yes, this is at times a price difference, but since you are traveling with family, why not book your own private tours...is this because you need to use your OBC rather than spend it on other things.? Personally, I don't use Celebrity's tours...expensive and hate large groups on busses...but I can certainly understand when on a budget...I would find more $$$ somewhere, as private tours are sooo much better, especially in Europe.

 

Yes, we have booked many private tours throughout the years. We will be on a B2B. The first cruise without the kids and have booked privately with Roll Call members. We will use our OBC from that cruise for Specialty's and one Celebrity transportation excursion. For the second cruise with the kids (5-6 of us in all) we will have over $500 OBC per stateroom. Since DH and I have already been to the Greek Isles a couple of times, most of the islands we will do on our own. Even without a guide. While a couple will be with a private guide. The remainder 2 excursions we were going to use our OBC to take Celebrity excursions mainly to get to where we are going. :D

 

I will wait until just before the cruise to check the pricing for those excursions and take a screenshot.

 

Flafun888

 

Thanks for the fast response to the OBC question - wow $225 is pretty good. Congrats!

 

I'm a little bummed out that my TA went from $180 OBC down to $50 when our cabin price dropped $100/person. They're a big online agency, but weren't offering any group prices.

 

May try that bidding site next time

 

Same thing happened to us recently. We lost $150 OBC per stateroom when the TA had a group rate. We still came way out ahead! ;)

 

Sorry for getting sidetracked. Continue the wonderful review, lvz2cruz.

[Flafun888]

"We went to our balcony and our neighbor was smoking again".

 

HATE this...same thing happened to me on last year's Celebrity Cruise...someone smoking on the balcony every day. I'm glad smokers have areas so they can smoke, but doing so on the balcony when it's expressly against the rules makes me nuts.

 

I love my balcony and spend hours reading and watching the water. The smell of smoke really bothers me a lot - it's been hard for me to tolerate ever since I was a little kid. It's the #1 reason I chose Celebrity last year over other lines that allow it.

 

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do, as I could never see which balcony it was coming from...so no way to report it. :(

[jules815]

Thanks for your review.

[helen haywood]

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but on our recent Eclipse 14 night cruise, the man in the cabin directly to our right was smoking cigars daily on his balcony. I was annoyed but did not call Guest Services as I assumed nothing would be done. Can anyone who has called and complained say what was done?

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[lvz2cruz]

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but on our recent Eclipse 14 night cruise, the man in the cabin directly to our right was smoking cigars daily on his balcony. I was annoyed but did not call Guest Services as I assumed nothing would be done. Can anyone who has called and complained say what was done?

 

In our case nothing was done despite us calling three times and going to guest relations. I will detail below.

[lvz2cruz]

I had not mentioned the cruise director was Maarten who we really liked. He had a great upbeat personality without coming across as wanting all the attention like some do.

He was really funny hosting the marriage game and talked just enough at the shows each night to inform as to what was going on the next day.

Jaz led the trivia and the like and we really liked him too.

[lvz2cruz]

We definitely had a problem with our smoker neighbor and how Celebrity handled it.

At sailaway the first day we were outside and saw through the frosted partition nearest the rail a burst of orange as he lit his cigarette.

I preferred to let X take care of it than confront him, so I called guest relations and told what I had seen and smelled.

The next day we smelled smoke again.

GR told us the neighbor had said it was not them but someone else. I repeated that I had seen him light up the day before.

The third day as we left Cozumel he was smoking again. My DH looked around the rail and at the same time the guy on his other side looked in and told him there was no smoking on balconies. He just sat there and kept on.

We called again. Later GR left us a message that the guy said it was not them.

For three days every time we were out there but one he was smoking.

I was at the Shore Excursion desk with a question and saw no line at GR so I went across hoping to get this resolved.

The girl looked at my file and said that each time they went to the room, he said he had not been smoking. Unless the security or crew saw him, it was our word against his and nothing would be done.

At this point, I said that he would be fined if caught. He had a reason to lie. Why did she think we were calling daily and coming there if we were not telling the truth? I again reminded her that the guy on the other side had spoken to him and maybe get all of us together and resolve this so we could enjoy our balcony.

She repeated that unless they saw him smoking, nothing could be done.

We were out the rest of the days and sometimes smelled smoke, sometimes not. I suspect he might have not smoked when he heard us out there.

There were times we just sat on the chairs outside Cafe al Bacio instead of dealing with the smoke.

I give Celebrity an F on how this was handled. I hear people complain alot and do not want to be "that person" and hated that I had to keep complaining.

[H2OH!]

the smoking thing is annoying and am disappointed to hear Celebrity say they need to see him smoke.

 

Celebrity should consider dispatching someone once a smoking complaint is made. the smell lingers so if they went straight away to the cabin, they should be able to smell the smoke.

 

After reading your post, I would video the guy through the frosted glass and show GR...then there is no denying it. :mad::mad:

[Flafun888]

Does anyone remember something on another thread a while ago related to balcony smoking problems where the person said they finally reached security directly and that solved the problem after going to guest relations repeatedly, because guest relations wouldn't do anything?

[Cuda19]

Take a video of the offender

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[4cats4me]

We definitely had a problem with our smoker neighbor and how Celebrity handled it.

 

At sailaway the first day we were outside and saw through the frosted partition nearest the rail a burst of orange as he lit his cigarette.

 

I preferred to let X take care of it than confront him, so I called guest relations and told what I had seen and smelled.

 

The next day we smelled smoke again.

 

GR told us the neighbor had said it was not them but someone else. I repeated that I had seen him light up the day before.

 

The third day as we left Cozumel he was smoking again. My DH looked around the rail and at the same time the guy on his other side looked in and told him there was no smoking on balconies. He just sat there and kept on.

 

We called again. Later GR left us a message that the guy said it was not them.

 

For three days every time we were out there but one he was smoking.

 

I was at the Shore Excursion desk with a question and saw no line at GR so I went across hoping to get this resolved.

 

The girl looked at my file and said that each time they went to the room, he said he had not been smoking. Unless the security or crew saw him, it was our word against his and nothing would be done.

 

At this point, I said that he would be fined if caught. He had a reason to lie. Why did she think we were calling daily and coming there if we were not telling the truth? I again reminded her that the guy on the other side had spoken to him and maybe get all of us together and resolve this so we could enjoy our balcony.

 

She repeated that unless they saw him smoking, nothing could be done.

 

We were out the rest of the days and sometimes smelled smoke, sometimes not. I suspect he might have not smoked when he heard us out there.

 

There were times we just sat on the chairs outside Cafe al Bacio instead of dealing with the smoke.

 

I give Celebrity an F on how this was handled. I hear people complain alot and do not want to be "that person" and hated that I had to keep complaining.

 

 

 

Why not take a photo of them smoking If they are right next door?

That would be the proof needed to get X to do something.

 

Oops... Others had already suggested taking a video before I had read all replies.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited December 31, 2016 by 4cats4me

[jg51]

Thanks to the OP for this thread -- and to others for replies.

 

Here is a question for anyone who has been aboard the Reflection in the last couple of months -- and has certainty about his/her memory on this subject:

 

We imagine that the Premium Alcoholic Beverage Package was being offered at a discounted rate ... BUT ... how about the Premium NON-Alcoholic Beverage Package? If so, how much was the discount (in dollars per day or percent)?

 

If a memory can be confirmed by quoting from an advertisement in a "Celebrity Today" issue, that would be the best of all.

 

Many thanks.

.

Edited January 1, 2017 by jg51

[wildtky101]

Following along.

 

 

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[lvz2cruz]

We were at one of the nightly games in the Entertainment Court and next to us was an officer with the title of Asst. Chief Housekeeper on his nametag. This is who GR had said went to the cabin next door to talk about the smoking.

After the game, we talked to him and he had no clue what we were talking about. I don't know if there are more than one Asst. Chief Housekeeper or GR made it up that they sent him to the room.

DH told him he would be taking his phone out when we were on the balcony and we would get a picture of him smoking.

The guy got a little worked up and said we should not look into his balcony that that would be invasion of his privacy and not to confront him but to call and report.

Well, it's obvious nothing will be done about the smoking.

[lvz2cruz]

Our next stop will be Grand Cayman from 10-6. We have an excursion booked that meets in the theater at 1:45. I had went to the shore excursion desk to see if we could instead meet at the pier so we could go out earlier and not have to tender back to meet in the theater. The guy showed me the brochure where it said to meet in the theater and said that was suggested because some people ended up missing excursion when they planned to meet on pier.

For some crazy reason I looked at tickets the day of and noticed that while the brochure and the shore ex guy said meet in theater, the tickets said to meet on pier at 1:45:eek:. I am so glad I saw this because if we waited and went to theater at 1:45 we would have missed the trip.

Tendering that day was awful. Elites could meet and be escorted off for priority tending the first hour. Open tenders would start at noon. We figured we would go at noon and did not do the priority thing. At almost one they were still calling numbers. They were not giving any more tender tickets so in essence we were stuck on the ship three hours after arrival.

We went down a little after one hoping with our shore excursion tickets that DID NOT meet in the theater we could get off. The couple ahead of us told the crew there that open tenders had been announced which we did not hear but we were all allowed off.

We have been to GC about ten times and have never seen such disorganization. Thankfully, getting back on was a breeze.

Our shore excursion was a reef and wreck snorkel and went to places we have swam to from shore. There was a group there with us that was doing snuba that swam out.

When we got back on, we found glass slivers--not enough to be a whole glass--and a used match on our balcony. We did not know how to clean up and told steward.

We had dinner in the MDR in a new area to us with a great waiter and asst. Roberto and Andrea. We requested them the rest of the week. It was around table 490 if I remember correctly. It was almost a separate room in back. Three of the four nights service was wonderful. Andrea was amazing.

We are not fans of MDR desserts and went up to the Lido to check out dessert offerings. We were thrilled to find a creme brulee station that was offered just that night. It had peanut butter and strawberry and a few other choices. A guy sprinkled sugar and torched the top. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

The show that night was the six singers singing hits from the best of Broadway. They started with Pippin and did obscure songs from new and old mostly old shows. For example, the Jesus Christ Superstar song was Judas. I did not recognize the one from West Side Story. The Andrew Lloyd Webber part did not have anything from Phantom. Two songs from Mama Mia played on the sound system while we waited for the show but it wasn't included in the show. No Rogers and Hammerstein.

We are fans of Broadway theater and were very disappointed. The talent was there, but I think they did obscure songs and shows to avoid paying royalties on known ones.

[lvz2cruz]

Our next stop was Falmouth, Jamaica.

We had booked the Red Strip Beach trip.

We had never been to Falmouth. It was very clean and the port area was very big with straw market type booths and some nicer shops in new buildings. I did not feel the sketchy vibe so often felt in Jamaican ports.

We had booked the Red Stripe Beach excursion and found the meeting place.

We were taken on a bus to the beach which was about 10 minutes away.

For a very reasonable $5 we rented chaises which they then carried to wherever we wanted on the beach. There were shady areas under trees. We also got the unlimited internet for $5 and were able to skype with kids and grands back home.

The beach here was very clean and I felt totally safe. There was a roped off swimming area that was not huge but more than enough for the amount of people there. I spent most of my time in the water and enjoyed it. It was not a perfectly beautiful beach but a great choice for a day in Falmouth. Most attractions you think of in Jamaica are over an hour drive away.

I liked the way the excursion worked in that return buses ran every hour on the hour and you could stay as long as you wanted. A few left at 11 (we got there at 9:30) and some at noon. There is a small kiosk inside the port area where you can book this and I guess they bring people when they come to do the hourly pickups. I talked with a woman on the ship who had done that and I also noticed new people showing up.

We came back at 1 because we had the elite perk of a free day in the Persian Garden but it had to be a port day.

We ate a quick lunch and then went to the PG. I could not get a locker to work in the ladies' room. A staff member in there said none worked. DH said the ones in the mens' room were fine.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the PG on Reflection. If I hadn't waited so long to use our free day I would have bought the weekly pass. I definitely will next time. It is a much nicer area than the ones on M class ships. You lay on the tile beds and have wall to wall windows looking on the ocean. The "Scent room" is much nicer than other ones I have been in and everything about it is wonderful. There is a cold room which I don't remember on the M ships either. Kudos to whoever designed this and I'm wondering why I'm not keeping it a secret instead of sharing it with you all.

That night was a comedian. He was hilarious. He made fun of people onboard doing selfies and it was really good. He also did two late night adult shows.

I might have had last night and tonight's shows reversed.

Balcony report--occasional smoking. The glass slivers are still there. Steward says he does not go out there it is not safe????????!!!!!!

[Plato123]

My wife and I were on this cruise and had a great time. We were in a Sky Suite on the "hump" and it was great. We were also on the Reflection earlier in the year on a Med cruise and enjoyed that and the ship so much we booked this one.

As to smoking, we did not have a problem being on the top, but on a previous cruise we had a Sky Suite at the butt end on a lower deck and regularly found cigarette butts on our balcony that were dropped from above.

The food on this cruise was very good and we mainly ate in Luminae where we saw many staff from our earlier cruise. We did Murano one night but preferred Luminae as it was as good and less pretentious.

We wanted to go to Sting Ray City but our excursion was cancelled as, apparently, the weather the day before made the sandbar a problem.

We did the Tiki Beach thing instead and baked in the sun.

We also did a Falmouth Food Tour which we highly recommend as a way of sampling Jamaican food and seeing Falmouth without getting constantly hassled.

We finally got to Labadee and were impressed. On a previous cruise we had to skip Labadee due to storm surge problems for the RCCL ship, but this time we got to sit in the shade on Barefoot Beach and wished that we did not have to go back to the sub zero weather at home in Canada.

We will probably book another cruise on the Reflection as we enjoyed the ship, the staff and the food, and will always try to get a Sky Suite on the "hump", because it has more sun and comes with a jacuzzi tub which my wife loves.

Our next cruise is on The Pullmantur Zenith in March and we have always enjoyed our experiences on that cruise line.

[jules71]

DH told him he would be taking his phone out when we were on the balcony and we would get a picture of him smoking.

The guy got a little worked up and said we should not look into his balcony that that would be invasion of his privacy and not to confront him but to call and report.

Well, it's obvious nothing will be done about the smoking.

 

Really disappointing that Celebrity wouldn't do anything about this. And how rude of the people in the cabin next to you. I once (very nicely) asked the people in front of me at a John Mayer concert not to smoke (it was non smoking) and they threw a tray of nacho cheese on me. Next time I will get an usher!! SMH

[easyboy]

Glad you had a great time. It was really a nice review and enjoyed following it. Thanks,