Live from the Reflection

[cruisin lady ca]

We have Select ("anytime") Dining. We were happy with the service we experienced the first night and made a reservation for the next night with the same waiter (David) when we left the dining room.

 

 

When we showed up on second night, our reservation was apparently lost or not made for the correct number of people and we were informed that we could not sit in his section. (Important note to self: If you are making a reservation for a group, provide ALL of the room numbers, not just the number of people in the party.) We were really unhappy with the service - or lack thereof - we received in the section where we were seated. An assistant dining room manager visited our table at the end of our meal and provided his card, suggesting that we call him if we have a problem again.

 

 

Night three - again, there was a problem with our dinner reservation. We pulled out the business card and asked that he be called. The assistant manager came over, sorted out the problem and took us to a very nice table in a section where we were taken care of by Poltak (waiter), Cristopher (asst waiter) and Nina (sommelier). Being considered "family" by the assistant manager made a BIG difference in the level of attention we received from the sommelier who made sure to visit our table more than once to fill our wine glasses.

 

 

We have encountered reservation issues almost every night of this cruise. And have taken to calling our "family" asst manager each time to ask for his help. He has taken care of us each time. Not having had this problem before, I don't why it has been so challenging to make them and then to be seated at the reserved times. Our last sailing was on

Reflection was in Aqua Class- and we always just walked into Blu. However, we had Select Dining on Equinox last spring and had no problems getting seated in the section we wanted each night of the cruise. We prefer Select Dining for the flexibility but this cruise might lead me to change my mind and go back to the early seating. We would rather dine early and go to the late show as eating late doesn't mix well with our bedtime.

 

 

With respect to the meals themselves, I have emjoyed our dinners in Opus (Main Diming Room). I've had the Rack of Lamb, a second lamb dish in phyllo dough, and a veal dish also prepared in phyllo dough. Appetizers have been good. One of the daily entrees was a steak that was given a thumbs down by all of the men at our table. They were offered replacements for the steaks that were served initially, and the replacements were also inedible. This was not the steak on the "classic" entree list but an entree offered that one time.

[HBJD]

Thanks for your review - it’s these types of issues that motivate me to seek a fixed dining time. I hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise!

[cruisin lady ca]

Comment re: breakfast in the Aqua Spa Cafe. We have chosen to eat breakfast in the Aqua Spa Cafe most mornings. My husband likes the oatmeal and peanut butter banana bagel as well as fresh fruit. I do too but also mix it up with the avocado bruschetta and Greek

Yoghurt with granola and dried fruit. I like the energy bars too. If I can ever figure out how to post photos, I will post the breakfast and lunch menus.

[cruisin lady ca]

Last night's performance by Pete Matthews was the best! He is a great juggler/comedian whose interactions with the audience added to the comedic elements of his show. Don't miss his show!

[cruisin lady ca]

Thanks for your review - it’s these types of issues that motivate me to seek a fixed dining time. I hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise!

 

Am definitely rethinking the dining plans for upcoming cruises. Just didn't expect an ongoing issue, based on our past very pleasant experiences on Equinox.

[cruisin lady ca]

Thanks for your post. We will be on the Reflection in May (our first cruise with Celebrity). Which dinner seating (i.e., 6pm or 8pm) is more ideal from a scheduling perspective to be able to attend the nightly entertainment?

 

The early and late seating times are designed to match up to show times. The early seating time allows you to attend the late show. We prefer to dine early and go to the late show so I would choose that over the late seating dinner. I think the early seating gets filled, as does Select Dining. If that is your preference- and you are assigned to the late seating, ask to be put on the waiting list for your first choice.

[cruisin lady ca]

Thank you for taking the time to do this. 😊

Could you let us know who the Officers are onboard?

Thanks!

 

Officers are:

Master: Captain Panagiotis Skylogiannis

Hotel Director: Arjan Scheepers

Chief Engineer: Konstantinos Bakas

Cruise director: Ian Cresswell

Staff Captain: Christos Galanis

Guest Relations Manager: Ana Hura

Food & Beverage Director: Clint Kelu

Executive Chef: Michael Fernandes

 

 

As an aside, Ian Cresswell is funny but no one can top Martin or Richard. They are my favorite CD's.

[cruisin lady ca]

We have been enjoying a number of the Celebrity Life activities on our sea days - trivia, dance lessons (in the central area on Deck 3) and "Beyond the Podium" talks.

 

 

The hardest trivia session was identification of company logos. That was tough to do since the images displayed were only a section of the logo, not the entire image.

 

 

They also had an indoor archery competition- staff Vs guests. Fun to watch. Expect additional activities like that on our last two sea days.

[HBJD]

The early and late seating times are designed to match up to show times. The early seating time allows you to attend the late show. We prefer to dine early and go to the late show so I would choose that over the late seating dinner. I think the early seating gets filled' date=' as does Select Dining. If that is your preference- and you are assigned to the late seating, ask to be put on the waiting list for your first choice.[/quote']

 

Thanks! This is very helpful info. We have reserved the 6pm time, so that should work well with our schedule. Thanks again for taking the time to answer; I hope you enjoy the cruise!

[C-Dragons]

Officers are:

Master: Captain Panagiotis Skylogiannis

Hotel Director: Arjan Scheepers

Chief Engineer: Konstantinos Bakas

Cruise director: Ian Cresswell

Staff Captain: Christos Galanis

Guest Relations Manager: Ana Hura

Food & Beverage Director: Clint Kelu

Executive Chef: Michael Fernandes

 

 

As an aside' date=' Ian Cresswell is funny but no one can top Martin or Richard. They are my favorite CD's.[/quote']

 

Thanks for the staff info!

I agree with your choice of favorite CD's.

[akcruz]

Interesting to hear your issues with select dining. We got off Reflection as you were getting on. We had reservations each night for 6:45. After the first night we asked to sit in the same section. No issues at all. As a matter of fact by half way through the cruise the hostess was greeting us by name saying your table us ready for you. The only difference I can see is that we had made our reservations prior to the cruise so we did go to the side for those with reservations.

 

By the way had Nina and yes she was very good.

 

 

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[cruisin lady ca]

We had dinner at Lawn Club Grill last night. Interestingly, we tried to make a reservation for 6:30 but was told that the first available reservation was at 8:30 pm. We were also told that we could show up at 6:30 and we might be able to walk in. Well, my husband got there at 6:15 and was told that we could be seated right away. He scrambled and called everyone to ge to Lawn Club Grill right away. We were seated immediately and had a delicious meal with excellent service from our waiter, Ace. We kept an eye on the many empty tables throughout our meal - and wondered why reservations were not possible. Quite a few table remained empty the entire time we were there. I find this so strange.

 

The food was wonderful-

Much better than Opus! We started with the Mediterranean vegetable flat bread. Then made our salad at the salad bar. For my entree, I had the filet mignon with a shrimp and scallop skewer and a side of lobster mac and cheese. My husband had the NY strip steak with a baked potato and baked beans. Other members of our group had the veal chop and filet mignon with veggie skewers and lobster mac and cheese. We all had the warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream for dessert and cappuccino instead of regular coffee. I was celebrating my birthday so a birthday cake - with a candle - was presented after our meal by our waiter. A number of waiters gathered to sing "happy birthday". Having no room for an additional dessert, we asked that the cake be brought to our cabin. It was put in the refrigerator (mini bar) where it still sits. Will have to grab a coffee from Cafe al Bacio for a late night indulgence before the cruise ends. It does look pretty yummy.

[cruisin lady ca]

Docked in Curaçao this morning and needed to get off the ship to meet up with a tour guide before 9 AM. Decided to have breakfast in the main dining room for a change. I do prefer the lattes from Cafe al Bacio so I got one "to go", along with a carrot muffin and brought it down to the dining room. I liked my omelette with the French toast quite a bit. Nice change from the cold breakfasts I have been enjoying at the Aqua Spa Cafe.

 

I must admit that I was surprised to see some ragged looking chairs in the 3rd level of Opus. I thought the Opus chairs were new or reupholstered since the ones we've seen on the upper level (deck 4) looked new. So, now I am not at all able to figure out what cosmetic changes were made during the dry dock.

[Texed]

We had dinner at Lawn Club Grill last night. For my entree' date=' I had the filet mignon with a shrimp and scallop skewer and a side of lobster mac and cheese..[/quote']

 

Doggone that sounds good.

I usually order what you did, plus a rib eye. I will do just that on March 13th. ;)

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

 

I must admit that I was surprised to see some ragged looking chairs in the 3rd level of Opus. I thought the Opus chairs were new or reupholstered since the ones we've seen on the upper level (deck 4) looked new. So' date=' now I am not at all able to figure out what cosmetic changes were made during the dry dock.[/quote']

 

I know for certain that the carpet was new on the port side of Ocean View Buffet because the pile kept pilling up in little fluff balls, a sign of a new carpet. That was early February, Maybe the carpet has been vacuumed enough now that the loose fibers have settled down.

 

I also think at least window side chairs were new in Tuscany. They no longer had the annoying little seat pillows that never stayed in place.

 

Somewhere on Reflection I sat in new gold-color leather chairs...very comfortable. For the life of me I can't recall where those were. Some lounge perhaps or was it Murano?

 

The seating I most wanted changed was not and that was the Deck Five, oh so uncomfortable coffee-brown seating arranged in pairs with a small table right by the glass overlooking the Atrium. The backs of these chairs angle too far back just at a place where the seated person must lean forward to observe the band and dancers all the way down on Deck Three.

 

Also, if memory serves me, there was at least one more set of these chairs in January, but now there are only two sets, perhaps to allow more room for standees to lean over the rails and watch below. Nothing is comfortable about either arrangement. Even if you are lucky enough to get the chair, you have standees crowded around you for popular bands or events below.

 

Enough crabbing for now. I still find Reflection to be an immaculate, elegant ship. After sixteen nights on this ship so far this year, I find it to be rapidly becoming one of my very favorite Solstice Class ships.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Doggone that sounds good.

 

I usually order what you did, plus a rib eye. I will do just that on March 13th. ;)

 

Let me add something very nice about Reflection's Lawn Club Grill. We ate there the first night of the Mardi Gras cruise. I don't know what was going on with me. We went there famished, sat down and all of a sudden I couldn't eat! I barely touched anything. Our waiter was so nice. Hubby was having a great time with all his Lawn Club favorites and a pinot noir called Cherry or Cherry Pie he had never tried before, but really liked.

 

Well, the kindly folks at Lawn Club, to our amazement and without our requesting it, did not charge for my "meal." We never asked for this favor or even hinted at it. Maybe I shouldn't even be telling the story because somebody might be reprimanded over it, but their kindness certainly endeared me to the Lawn Club Grill.

[pmctrish]

I'm enjoying your posts about your trip. My husband & I will be on the same itinerary on the Reflection beginning April 2nd. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I will be interested to hear about what you do in each port.

[wendyam76]

Gangway style - it is Cherry Tart Pinot Noir and I love it too!

[cruisin lady ca]

I will work backwards and post info about the ports and excursions when I can.

 

Today was the first of our two sea days on our way back to Fort Lauderdale. Was not interested in sitting in the sun as I am sunburned from our day in Aruba. Silly me neglected to put sunscreen in my arms and legs and forehead. So, my activities were indoors - gym, breakfast in Opus, Beyond the Podium lecture, tea and lemon tart at Cafe al Bacio and walking the decks (to get close to 10,000 steps). I did walk the track on the pool deck this morning before breakfast and after my gym visit. Walking the stairs rather than using the elevators has also helped with my steps.

 

 

Have to share a funny story. While walking the track, I turned on the Map My Walk app so I could keep track of my distance. After walking a minute or so, the app proclaimed that I had walked a mile in a minute and a half. A short time later, the app proclaimed I had walked two miles. Knowing full well I was not covering a mile in a minute and a half, I concluded that the app can't distinguish steps from distance and that it was tracking the ship's movement, not mine.

[redflag216]

I was on this cruise...unfortunately. There were a myriad of things that went wrong; some of which were within Celebrity’s control and some not. Definitely set the tone for the rest of the cruise. My in-laws were traveling on their first cruise and they were less than impressed. I felt it was on me for the experience they had, because I had talked up how great Celebrity was. I had a couple genuine conversations with a rep at guest relations and she, very graciously, offered to give everyone in my party each a $100 future cruise credit. I accepted the offer but I don’t know if we will ever put them to use. The best part was my spouse asked if we could use it on a Royal Caribbean cruise lol...

 

 

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[Silkroad]

I had a couple genuine conversations with a rep at guest relations and she, very graciously, offered to give everyone in my party each a $100 future cruise credit. I accepted the offer but I don’t know if we will ever put them to use. The best part was my spouse asked if we could use it on a Royal Caribbean cruise lol...

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Charming. I’ll bet that made the nice guest relations rep feel that her efforts to make up for any deficiencies you experienced were appreciated.

[NoName]

Thanks for these updates.

Interested in how they deliver the outdoor movie experience on Reflection.

I just ended an 11 day cruise on Reflection yesterday. I was very disappointed that they NEVER offered an outdoor movie during the entire cruise. Every day I looked through the paper, hoping and every day was disappointed. I bet they don't want to hurt the grass:(

 

 

I did the post cruise survey and included my feelings on this, hopefully others do as well and they start using it! Kim

[redflag216]

Sorry, I should have been more clear...I was the only one in my party speaking to the rep at guest relations. Upon returning to my stateroom, I presented the certificates to my spouse and, at that point, he asked me if they were good to use on RCI. I just thought it was funny because he has never showed any interest in doing a cruise on Royal.

 

We experienced a few rude pax on this cruise. I would never drop down to their level and, effectively, look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

 

 

 

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[Ozzmund]

I just ended an 11 day cruise on Reflection yesterday. I was very disappointed that they NEVER offered an outdoor movie during the entire cruise. Every day I looked through the paper, hoping and every day was disappointed. I bet they don't want to hurt the grass:(

 

 

I did the post cruise survey and included my feelings on this, hopefully others do as well and they start using it! Kim

 

Thanks for the news on the lack of outdoor movie opportunity on Reflection. Maybe things will change when we board.

[colombiangirl]

I'm enjoying your posts about your trip. My husband & I will be on the same itinerary on the Reflection beginning April 2nd. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I will be interested to hear about what you do in each port.

My husband and I with my parents are on that same sailing. I did the spreadsheet for that sailing and you are not on the roll call. Add your name and sign up for the connections party. We have a nice group going!!

 

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