Live review - Reflection 10-31-22 TA

[go.without.you]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:30 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Reflection just came out of Dry Dock and no retreat deck was added.   They painted the hull,  did normal maintenance and sea trials,  refreshed soft goods and looks like some work in the OVC.  

 

Celebrity currently has all future Revolutions on hold until they return to profitability.

BOOOOOO! I was really hoping for a retreat deck. Guess I'll have to suck it up and hope my corner aft has shade when I want it.

[terrydtx]

16 minutes ago, go.without.you said:

BOOOOOO! I was really hoping for a retreat deck. Guess I'll have to suck it up and hope my corner aft has shade when I want it.

Unless Celebrity returns to profitability in the next couple of years, the Revolutionizing of the remaining M & S class ships may never happen as the older ships in the fleet age and possibly get sold off. Over $300 million dollars in net profits are needed to finish the Revolutionizing program.

Edited October 31, 2022 by terrydtx

[go.without.you]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

Unless Celebrity returns to profitability in the next couple of years, the Revolutionizing of the remaining M & S class ships may never happen as the older ships in the fleet age and possibly get sold off. Over $300 million dollars in net profits are needed to finish the Revolutionizing program.

Yeah, I get it. It would have been so easy to just add a key card gate and some signs tho.

[OysterD]

25 minutes ago, go.without.you said:

Yeah, I get it. It would have been so easy to just add a key card gate and some signs tho.

That's true, and probably wouldn't have cost too much to add some more potted plants and more comfortable furniture up there BUT would that make it a 'Retreat deck'? You'd end up with several versions of Retreat Decks, from those on the Edge class to what they've done on the handful of revolutionised ships and then down to simply a gate with slightly different furniture. Would that be much of a selling point? Would people in suite class expecting a separate bar, hot tub etc be sorely disappointed to find it was basically just the same as it was before but with a gate? 

 

That part of the S class ships is currently very underutilised though, very few people using it on Reflection last month. The busiest I ever saw it was late one night while docked in Istanbul when it was roped off and the crew had a party up there! 

[go.without.you]

3 minutes ago, OysterD said:

That's true, and probably wouldn't have cost too much to add some more potted plants and more comfortable furniture up there BUT would that make it a 'Retreat deck'? You'd end up with several versions of Retreat Decks, from those on the Edge class to what they've done on the handful of revolutionised ships and then down to simply a gate with slightly different furniture. Would that be much of a selling point? Would people in suite class expecting a separate bar, hot tub etc be sorely disappointed to find it was basically just the same as it was before but with a gate? 

 

That part of the S class ships is currently very underutilised though, very few people using it on Reflection last month. The busiest I ever saw it was late one night while docked in Istanbul when it was roped off and the crew had a party up there! 

The retreat deck on Equinox was nice because the servers came around frequently. You could order lunch/snacks from the Retreat menu and drinks. There wasn't a bar, pool or hot tub but attentive service compared to the regular deck areas. That's a big selling point to avoid the crowded deck and line at the bar on a busy sea day. With it not being a regular deck I'm pretty sure the servers don't go up there, therefore most people don't sit there.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, go.without.you said:

Yeah, I get it. It would have been so easy to just add a key card gate and some signs tho.

I am glad they didn’t do the Revolutionizing on the Reflection 😁

[jzad]

Following along, thank you for posting.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, go.without.you said:

The retreat deck on Equinox was nice because the servers came around frequently. You could order lunch/snacks from the Retreat menu and drinks. There wasn't a bar, pool or hot tub but attentive service compared to the regular deck areas. That's a big selling point to avoid the crowded deck and line at the bar on a busy sea day. With it not being a regular deck I'm pretty sure the servers don't go up there, therefore most people don't sit there.

We were in the Retreat on the Equinox in August last year; it was so hot with zero shade that we couldn't stay long, and bar service was from the pool bar and by the time we got our drinks the ice had melted, and it was not worth staying. On the non-E Class Revolutionized ships, IMHO the Retreat sun deck is a joke and not worth what Celebrity spent to do the conversion.

Edited October 31, 2022 by terrydtx

[odysee]

On Reflection since couple of hours.  Disappointed about “refresh” : still old and partly dirty upholstery/carpet in concierge room with faux leather parts badly damaged.  Did not even have deep clean : cupboards with finger prints, smears and the occasional hair.

But I won t let it spoil my cruise.  Not worth raising a fuzz about it, just a bit of  own elbow grease and then I know what has been done.

 

Lucky I brought some cleaning cloths and disinfectant (though I caught some flak about it at airport security as it was in my handluggage,but was OK after testing).

 

Ship is nicely decorated for Halloween.

 

Lots of relatively new crew on board,  being instructed or having to check back.

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by odysee

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, odysee said:

On Reflection since couple of hours.  Disappointed about “refresh” : still old and partly dirty upholstery/carpet in concierge room with faux leather parts badly damaged.  Did not even have deep clean : cupboards with finger prints, smears and the occasional hair.

But I won t let it spoil my cruise.  Not worth raising a fuzz about it, just a bit of  own elbow grease and then I know what has been done.

 

Lucky I brought some cleaning cloths and disinfectant (though I caught some flak about it at airport security as it was in my handluggage,but was OK after testing).

 

Ship is nicely decorated for Halloween.

 

Lots of relatively new crew on board,  being instructed or having to check back.

 

What do you mean about Concierge Room? Do you mean Michael's Club? 

[canderson]

45 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

What do you mean about Concierge Room? Do you mean Michael's Club? 

Michael's looks really good.  Sure what was meant was CClass cabin.

[canderson]

Captain advised during pre-cruise briefing announcement that we have 1200 crew ... a handful below full complement.  Some are definitely inexperienced on S class, but showing lots of hustle.  We're only about 75% booked, which helps.

[canderson]

Interesting..  bartender says only ~1400 booked.  When we left, only 25% of cabins still available for booking.  Did X limit capacity or was bartender wrong.  Will investigate!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

Interesting..  bartender says only ~1400 booked.  When we left, only 25% of cabins still available for booking.  Did X limit capacity or was bartender wrong.  Will investigate!

 

We had just under 900 in February, I know we won't be so lucky come Thanksgiving !

 

Tom

[kwokpot]

45 minutes ago, canderson said:

Michael's looks really good.  Sure what was meant was CClass cabin.

Are we to assume there was no renovation done to Michael's club? 

Edit: Photo of Michael's Club back in March. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by kwokpot

[Jim_Iain]

I use an app that a Retreat Host, John Escobar, recommended called Windy.  Shows projected wave height wind etc. you can also put map in motion out 5 days or so

 

looks like you are going to have a rough ride.  ponta Delgado Saturday wave heights 

 

 

 

 

[giraffeluver]

Following along.  I may do the TA in April to Barcelona so getting a feel for this ship.  Would it be safe enough for a 60 something woman alone to ramble around Barcelona?  And, does anyone recommend a hotel or rental apt. there.  Considering a sunset balcony cabin, what are the thoughts on this?  Thanks.  Can't wait for more info from Barcelona to FLL.

[lola2013]

2 minutes ago, giraffeluver said:

Following along.  I may do the TA in April to Barcelona so getting a feel for this ship.  Would it be safe enough for a 60 something woman alone to ramble around Barcelona?  And, does anyone recommend a hotel or rental apt. there.  Considering a sunset balcony cabin, what are the thoughts on this?  Thanks.  Can't wait for more info from Barcelona to FLL.

Sunset Verandah is the only way to go.

[terrydtx]

5 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

We had just under 900 in February, I know we won't be so lucky come Thanksgiving !

 

Tom

We had 1200 in August on the Reflection,  but all suites were booked 100%.

[Jazzbo]

Check in was a breeze yesterday. Very well organized. We were docked behind the Mein Schiff Herz, originally the Celebrity Mercury. I took a few photos of menus on board. 

[Cruise a holic]

20 hours ago, go.without.you said:

The retreat deck on Equinox was nice because the servers came around frequently. You could order lunch/snacks from the Retreat menu and drinks. There wasn't a bar, pool or hot tub but attentive service compared to the regular deck areas. That's a big selling point to avoid the crowded deck and line at the bar on a busy sea day. With it not being a regular deck I'm pretty sure the servers don't go up there, therefore most people don't sit there.

We tried the retreat deck on the Equinox but it was very hot and sunny .  It really was a waste for us.  We booked a cabana instead for a couple of days.  Also got service from the Cabana attendent and the enclosure was cool and very comfortable.  Lacking however a water feature- but restrooms were close by.  

[BigAl94]

23 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

We tried the retreat deck on the Equinox but it was very hot and sunny .  It really was a waste for us.  We booked a cabana instead for a couple of days.  Also got service from the Cabana attendent and the enclosure was cool and very comfortable.  Lacking however a water feature- but restrooms were close by.  

I see very many complaints about the Retreat deck on S class ships being too hot with no shelter and many reports of it being under utilised. A great shame as it was liked by so many when open to all, it was very busy on every single cruise we have been on and a great place to escape the noise around the pool.

[SRQbeachgirl]

On 10/31/2022 at 5:52 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I use an app that a Retreat Host, John Escobar, recommended called Windy.  Shows projected wave height wind etc. you can also put map in motion out 5 days or so

 

looks like you are going to have a rough ride.  ponta Delgado Saturday wave heights 

 

 

 

 

 

Windy is a great app. I used it during Hurricane Ian and got up-to-the-minute wind speeds as it ripped the clay tiles off our roof, destroyed my car parked in the driveway, and deposited our pool cage somewhere over the Gulf. 

 

Looking forward to reading this review -- getting excited for our first Celebrity cruise on Reflection in January!  

[Jazzbo]

Between wi-fi issues and CC login problems, I have some catching up to do! We’ve just been given clearance to leave the ship. Today we are doing Chef’s Market Discoveries. Looking forward to it!

[Jazzbo]

Yesterday we took the bus into Valencia. The port is a working port, so walking is not practical (plus it’s quite a distance from town). 10 euros each round trip. We were looking forward to the market, but yesterday was a holiday (All Saints Day), so it was closed. We still enjoyed the old part