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Brief Review of 3/12/2022 Reflection

killsport

By killsport,
in Celebrity Cruises

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killsport Great Review Rare

killsport

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TLDR: Great cruise, 30% full, staff outstanding, food quite good, some wine/alcohol on Prem Package not available

 

The longer story. This is our 10th (maybe more) cruise on Celebrity. We (my wife and I) had a 2C balcony and bid $155/pp for the AquaClass upgrade and got it. Had the upgraded room swapped for 1601. GREAT room! On Reflection, this is the large hump balcony, nicely shaded, and below other cabins. It is steps from the central elevator. Our room steward (Dimas) we nicknamed the "magic man" because he always seemed to have the room cleaned up. We had the no-longer-available Drinks & More package, and he kept our fridge stocked (Tito's, wine, beer, soda, Kind bars).

The Persian Gardens were visited almost every morning for a few hours. Very relaxing, and allowed the toxins (that somehow invaded our bodies through alcohol) to fade away. Blu was quite nice, with superb waiters (Roel & Dominic). Menu was nice, and when we didn't find something thrilling on the menu, we found something nice on the MDR menu. They even made me a chocolate lava cake on an unscheduled night because I mentioned how much I enjoyed it. 

The senior staff was very visible - coming to Captain's Club events, walking around the ship, spending time with passengers. 

We generally went to the World Class Bar, and Ando was our favorite bartender. He was funny and very conscientious about making the perfect drink. He (like many other staff members) were all over the ship filling in at other locations.

We did have Bimini canceled. We also went to Jamaica (Falmouth) and Mexico (Cozumel). We stepped off the ship for about 8 minutes, then returned.

The one down side, and <step on soapbox> I think we all need to accept it graciously <step down from soapbox> is that some of the alcohol that was "promised" on the premium package was not on the ship. This include multiple missing wines (including Decoy and Conundrum), lots of missing bourbons and scotches, no alcoholic seltzers, very few ciders, no coconut water, no Arizona Iced teas, etc.

Oh, and whoever thought water in a metal bottle was a good idea should really be questioned. Then again, having Pellegrino (sp?) and Evian in heavy glass bottles, which I'm really not sure get recycled, isn't much better...

Really a fun trip and met some really fun Canadians who made us laugh.

Looking forward to another cruise in June. 

I do have the dailies if someone has a question about them. I really don't think posting all of them is needed.

Peace out!

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chemmo Holiday Sharing Rare

chemmo

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Thanks for the review, so pleased you had a great time!

 

We have found it is not unusual to have wines missing and tend to ask for recommendations now rather than specific brands. The speciality restaurants can be really good at doing this.

 

Our only criticism on Reflection (pre covid) was that the pool deck was really busy on sea days. More busy than on other S class ships.

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bandp407

bandp407

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16 hours ago, killsport said:

TLDR: Great cruise, 30% full, staff outstanding, food quite good, some wine/alcohol on Prem Package not available

 

The longer story. This is our 10th (maybe more) cruise on Celebrity. We (my wife and I) had a 2C balcony and bid $155/pp for the AquaClass upgrade and got it. Had the upgraded room swapped for 1601. GREAT room! On Reflection, this is the large hump balcony, nicely shaded, and below other cabins. It is steps from the central elevator. Our room steward (Dimas) we nicknamed the "magic man" because he always seemed to have the room cleaned up. We had the no-longer-available Drinks & More package, and he kept our fridge stocked (Tito's, wine, beer, soda, Kind bars).

The Persian Gardens were visited almost every morning for a few hours. Very relaxing, and allowed the toxins (that somehow invaded our bodies through alcohol) to fade away. Blu was quite nice, with superb waiters (Roel & Dominic). Menu was nice, and when we didn't find something thrilling on the menu, we found something nice on the MDR menu. They even made me a chocolate lava cake on an unscheduled night because I mentioned how much I enjoyed it. 

The senior staff was very visible - coming to Captain's Club events, walking around the ship, spending time with passengers. 

We generally went to the World Class Bar, and Ando was our favorite bartender. He was funny and very conscientious about making the perfect drink. He (like many other staff members) were all over the ship filling in at other locations.

We did have Bimini canceled. We also went to Jamaica (Falmouth) and Mexico (Cozumel). We stepped off the ship for about 8 minutes, then returned.

The one down side, and <step on soapbox> I think we all need to accept it graciously <step down from soapbox> is that some of the alcohol that was "promised" on the premium package was not on the ship. This include multiple missing wines (including Decoy and Conundrum), lots of missing bourbons and scotches, no alcoholic seltzers, very few ciders, no coconut water, no Arizona Iced teas, etc.

Oh, and whoever thought water in a metal bottle was a good idea should really be questioned. Then again, having Pellegrino (sp?) and Evian in heavy glass bottles, which I'm really not sure get recycled, isn't much better...

Really a fun trip and met some really fun Canadians who made us laugh.

Looking forward to another cruise in June. 

I do have the dailies if someone has a question about them. I really don't think posting all of them is needed.

Peace out!

Thank you for the review. Glad you had a great cruise & can look forward to your June cruise!


We sail on Saturday & can’t wait to sail the Reflection again! Given the ship was at 30% was there just one show - at 9pm ?

 

is Captain Nikolas Christodoulakis back?? 


Thank you!

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SbbquilterUT

SbbquilterUT

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11 minutes ago, Canadaclyde said:

Are you allowed to take the canned water that is included in the drink package off the ship when in port? My husband and I used to carry plastic water bottles, but it's my understanding we can't bring them onboard. Is that correct?

You can carry your own refillable water bottle.

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Canadaclyde

Canadaclyde

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3 minutes ago, SbbquilterUT said:

You can carry your own refillable water bottle.

Thanks for answering. To save space and money, I used to take onboard one plastic bottle of water, and just kept refilling it prior to going onshore. Looks like I will need to get a "proper" refillable container. No big deal!

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SbbquilterUT

SbbquilterUT

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7 minutes ago, Canadaclyde said:

Thanks for answering. To save space and money, I used to take onboard one plastic bottle of water, and just kept refilling it prior to going onshore. Looks like I will need to get a "proper" refillable container. No big deal!

You can refill anything you like - I happen to have a stainless steel pink flamingo one I love as it keeps water cooler longer and it is so colorful I know it is mine 😀

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kwokpot

kwokpot

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, asnaleah said:

Agree about those awful cans of water! No way would I risk cutting my mouth. So I used a glass. 

The opening of the aluminum bottle is totally smooth and there isn't any way to cut your lip. The issue with possible injury is many times it's difficult to twist open and break the seal on the cap. Occasionally the edges of the broken seal can be a little pointy, but it's not where you put your lips to.  More chances of cutting your lips drinking from a regular can of soda than these newish aluminum water bottles. 

Edited by kwokpot
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killsport Great Review Rare

killsport

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5 hours ago, bandp407 said:

We sail on Saturday & can’t wait to sail the Reflection again! Given the ship was at 30% was there just one show - at 9pm ?

 

is Captain Nikolas Christodoulakis back?? 

The Captain was Michael Karatzas. As I mentioned, he really was around the ship, which was nice.

Sat was one 9pm show.

Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, and Fri was 7 & 9pm.

 

I think someone else answered why Bimini was canceled (port closed because of wind).

 

Was really a fun cruise. Happy to see our dog, but reality is not as much as a cruise.

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happy cruzer

happy cruzer

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Posted

Thanks for the report about the wine.  We too have been disappointed with the wine by the glass on the beverage packages.  Decided to do no more packages since wine is our primary choice.  Also found the cans of water strange but workable.  All the rest on on our recent Apex cruise was very nice.

 

Following the thread about how to book NON always available cruises or just go to other lines....

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kwokpot

kwokpot

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Thanks for your quick review. I was on the Reflection three weeks ago and had a great time. There's a couple of threads asking about the overall condition of the Reflection. In my opinion I thought the ship looked in amazing condition considering she's ten years old.  I'm curious what's your opinion on this? 

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bandp407

bandp407

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3 hours ago, killsport said:

The Captain was Michael Karatzas. As I mentioned, he really was around the ship, which was nice.

Sat was one 9pm show.

Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, and Fri was 7 & 9pm.

 

I think someone else answered why Bimini was canceled (port closed because of wind).

 

Was really a fun cruise. Happy to see our dog, but reality is not as much as a cruise.

Many thanks for the info! 

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floralscent

floralscent

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Sounds like you had a great time on the cruise!!! That's great and thanks for sharing. If we could only take our pets 😀..well, that might not be a good idea after all.

 

Can you share what your testing experience was like pre-cruise? Did you do a Walgreens rapid NAAT at the drive thru or what type of test did you do? We will be going on our first cruise in 3 years and leaving out of Canada in April and this testing part is overwhelming to me. 

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killsport Great Review Rare

killsport

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23 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Thanks for your quick review. I was on the Reflection three weeks ago and had a great time. There's a couple of threads asking about the overall condition of the Reflection. In my opinion I thought the ship looked in amazing condition considering she's ten years old.  I'm curious what's your opinion on this? 

Ship looked great to me. Lots of upkeep going on constantly (cleaning, painting, etc). A few things in the cabin could have used a bit of attention, but not much!

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killsport Great Review Rare

killsport

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1 hour ago, floralscent said:

Sounds like you had a great time on the cruise!!! That's great and thanks for sharing. If we could only take our pets 😀..well, that might not be a good idea after all.

 

Can you share what your testing experience was like pre-cruise? Did you do a Walgreens rapid NAAT at the drive thru or what type of test did you do? We will be going on our first cruise in 3 years and leaving out of Canada in April and this testing part is overwhelming to me. 

We did the CVS rapid test (park and they come out to your car). Had results in 2 hours and printed them out. No issues. 

For a prior cruise we did the Walgreens rapid test (drive through). Had results in 3 hours and printed them out. No issues here either.

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