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Live-ish from the Reflection (11-6-21)

aidanht

By aidanht,
in Celebrity Cruises

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aidanht

aidanht

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I have never done a live review before and I am possibly the world's worst photographer, so I won't be posting many pictures, but I know some people have been asking for a Reflection review now that she's back to sailing after 600 days, and I don't see anyone else doing one, so I thought my meager efforts might be better than nothing.  If anyone else is on the ship and would like to chime in, please feel free at any time.   If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer them.  I will likely only log on once or twice a day, though, so it might take me awhile.

 

Background:   I am cruising with my husband.  He and I are in our 50s and have taken 15 or so cruises. We did Disney several times when our kids were younger, and we've done one Royal and one NCL with our kids when they were teens.  We switched to Celebrity ten years ago or so and have never looked back.  Our last cruise was on the Edge (in a Sky Suite) in December 2019; all our others have been on S-Class ships in balcony cabins, including a couple in Aqua Class.  We enjoyed our Edge cruise, and she is a beautiful ship, but we both prefer S-Class.  We are in a Sky Suite for this cruise.  I will say the Sky Suite on the Edge was nicer in several respects (like many more places to charge devices and better wi-fi), but our cabin is very nice, roomy, and comfortable.

 

Pre-cruise:  We usually fly down the night before a cruise, but this time we decided to come down a few days early, given the possibility of flights being canceled.  We also have not traveled this year because of covid, so we had plenty of vacation days to use.  We flew down on Wednesday afternoon and stayed at the Costa Hollywood Resort.  We like the Hollywood "Broadwalk" area--plenty of bars and restaurants to walk to, beautiful beach, and free concerts in the evenings.  

 

We purchased the Binax covid tests from Celebrity.  We bought four, as we had read about people getting some that were dried out or otherwise unusable.  We did our tests on Thursday evening at the hotel using our cell phones and had no issues at all.  We didn't really think we would test positive, but you never know, so it felt really good to get those negative results!

 

Embarkation:  Our assigned time was 12:30.  We took an Uber from the hotel and arrived at about 12:15.  There was almost no line to get into the port area.  The Reflection was at Terminal 29; not as fancy as the Edge's terminal (25?), but the embarkation process was quick and efficient.  We had no wait at all as suite passengers, and I don't think there was much, if any, wait for anyone.  We dropped our carry-ons in our cabin and were ordering lunch in Luminae by 12:45.

 

Overall Impression So Far:   The ship is spotless.  It is less than half full (fewer than 1100 passengers) and we basically have a one-to-one passenger/crew ratio.  The ship seems really empty compared to normal.  The crew is cheerful and seem happy to be back.  The passengers definitely are happy to be back!  We have eaten all of our meals in Luminae so far, and they have been really good.  It has been far from crowded.  Service has been outstanding.  We've enjoyed trivia and live music and the comedian last night--all of the usual cruise stuff.  It is really great to be back!

 

Like I said, if anyone has questions, I will try find the answers for you.  Now, though, I think I hear a frozen mojito calling my name . . . .

 

 

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beau20

beau20

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We are on the November 13 Reflection cruise and driving to the port.  We will be parking at the Palm parking garage at the port and understand there is a shuttle to terminal 29.  Could you ask any of your fellow passengers if they parked and used the shuttle and if it was an easy process or complicated.  Thanks and enjoy your cruise.

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NBliving

NBliving

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Thank you so much for giving us whatever info you have time for!  We board next sailing; have never been on the Reflection but have been on other S class ships.  We are so excited to be back on a cruise!! I was curious if you packed your Covid test kits in checked luggage or carried them on with you?  We are coming down to Florida a few days early as well.

 

Enjoy!

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countess5 "Live from...." Rare

countess5

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Thanks for posting!  Reflection is one of our favorites! 

 

As already asked, would like to know what internet you you are using to post on CC. We are doing a 49 night 3 ship cruise this winter and 14 days are on Reflection. I wanted to do a live about the cruise but have heard you need streaming to post on some ships. 

 

Thanks!

 

Cheers! 

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lola2013

lola2013

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Thanks for the review.  We were set to bring Reflection back on the TA that should have arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on the day you embarked.  For the entire 16 days that we should have been on the ship, there was a constant stream of "we should be in this port" or "we should be eating at LCG."  It was painful.  But now we've booked for ten nights in February.  Your review gives me something to look forward to.

Enjoy!

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aidanht

aidanht

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My mojito was great, thank you, as was my evening.  

 

We met a couple from Florida last night, so I will ask them about the parking/shuttle situation when I see them again.  With so few passengers on board, you do run into the same people frequently. I will also see if I can find out the passenger number for next week.
 

We carried our covid tests on, but I read on the TSA website that either way was ok.  We just had them in our backpack and did not have to take them out or anything. 

I have the streaming wi-fi.  It seems to be working fine for posting purposes.  I am going to try to watch a basketball game tomorrow night, so I’ll let you know how it does with actual streaming.

 

The maitre’d in Luminae is Sam.  He is very hands on, filling water glasses and removing plates as well as directing his staff.  It’s great to see and the service has been outstanding, as has the food. 
 

Briton and John are the Retreat Concierges.  We haven’t really needed their services and aren’t big Michaels Club people, so we haven’t interacted with them yet.  I will say the Espresso martini in Michaels is quite good.  
 

Steve Gayda is the Cruise Director.

 

 

 

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aidanht

aidanht

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22 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Thanks for the review.  We were set to bring Reflection back on the TA that should have arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on the day you embarked.  For the entire 16 days that we should have been on the ship, there was a constant stream of "we should be in this port" or "we should be eating at LCG."  It was painful.  But now we've booked for ten nights in February.  Your review gives me something to look forward to.

Enjoy!

 

I know that feeling well.  We had a 30th anniversary trip to Europe planned for April 2020, which we rescheduled for April 2021, which we again had to cancel.  Both times we spent two weeks wistfully thinking of where we were supposed to be.  I’m so glad you’ll be onboard soon!

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