First Impressions

[Reel Love]

So wonderful to read your enthusiasm!!!!  Hope you find the rest of your cruise is just as fantastic as the first couple of hours that you were onboard, and looking forward to reading more of your impressions.  Enjoy every minute of your first cruise on Celebrity  😊

[Frenchkona]

16 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Pretty bold statement for only being on the ship for a couple of hours. No scheduled meals, no entertainment, no chance to evaluate all the services, no time to judge the activities, etc. If someone would post negative comments over the same period of time, they’d be crucified by the “loyalists” who thinks anything that happens on a cruise is good enough for them.

 

[Cdncruisecpl]

On Reflection the first week of March so will be following this closely!  What you described so far is exactly what is hoped for.  And we are near The Library too!

[ALLIN333]

17 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Pretty bold statement for only being on the ship for a couple of hours. No scheduled meals, no entertainment, no chance to evaluate all the services, no time to judge the activities, etc. If someone would post negative comments over the same period of time, they’d be crucified by the “loyalists” who thinks anything that happens on a cruise is good enough for them.

What a ridiculous comment lol

 

It’s a “first impression.” Not difficult to understand.

[Swampbabe]

1 hour ago, ALLIN333 said:

What a ridiculous comment lol

 

It’s a “first impression.” Not difficult to understand.

Some people live to be miserable and they want to share that with others.

[SRQbeachgirl]

It's Day 2 and I can happily report that our "first impressions" have held true so far. We are having a great time and are delighted with the "feel" of this cruise.

 

We have seen a few children--and by "few" I mean seven total--but they were welll behaved and being supervised by parents and grandparents. The median age of passengers is definitely higher than we've experienced before and it makes for a much more relaxed cruise. 

 

We had dinner in the MDR last night and service was excellent. I would consider the food quality to be fairly standard banquet fare, with the standout being the French onion soup...YUM!

 

We went to a comedy show that was really good and thankfully lacked the crudeness of some of the recent shows we've seen on Carnival. The 80's party was a lot of fun as well, with it being pretty obvious which party goers have already had hip or knee replacement and which of us would likely need one of them soon (raises hand). 

 

We are in Nassau today with three other ships--two MSC ships and the Carnival Mardi Gras, which we were on last summer. After roaming around the port I can't tell you how happy we were to come back to the Reflection, where we were greeted with a refreshment station, rather than to the Mardi Gras.

 

As for those two future Carnival cruises listed down there in my signature...well, if the rest of this week is on par with our experience so far, those are likely to get canceled when we get home. 😉

[kearney]

16 minutes ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

It's Day 2 and I can happily report that our "first impressions" have held true so far. We are having a great time and are delighted with the "feel" of this cruise.

 

We have seen a few children--and by "few" I mean seven total--but they were welll behaved and being supervised by parents and grandparents. The median age of passengers is definitely higher than we've experienced before and it makes for a much more relaxed cruise. 

 

We had dinner in the MDR last night and service was excellent. I would consider the food quality to be fairly standard banquet fare, with the standout being the French onion soup...YUM!

 

We went to a comedy show that was really good and thankfully lacked the crudeness of some of the recent shows we've seen on Carnival. The 80's party was a lot of fun as well, with it being pretty obvious which party goers have already had hip or knee replacement and which of us would likely need one of them soon (raises hand). 

 

We are in Nassau today with three other ships--two MSC ships and the Carnival Mardi Gras, which we were on last summer. After roaming around the port I can't tell you how happy we were to come back to the Reflection, where we were greeted with a refreshment station, rather than to the Mardi Gras.

 

As for those two future Carnival cruises listed down there in my signature...well, if the rest of this week is on par with our experience so far, those are likely to get canceled when we get home. 😉

We now have sailed Celebrity for the past 5 years or so..almost exclusively. We never had an issue with children on Royal.. but our Celebrity trips have had very few children...even a 2 week Easter cruise one year had perhaps 100..but like the other sailings all well behaved and hardly noticed. Try going to Sky Lounge as the ship pulls out of various ports.. great views out of the front of the ship... and in the late afternoon a nice quiet place to relax with a drink... Also.. Tuscan grill around sunset is a nice place to go for dinner.

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

1 hour ago, Swampbabe said:

Some people live to be miserable and they want to share that with others.

It's a very common North American (or certainly U.S. American) pastime.

 

Rather than find the good and the nice and the "what" of what is so wonderful, life devolves into constant grievance and grief.

 

I concede this is a "critic" site. However, having read numerous threads, across the various cruise line forums, I see a small Cadre of those who might otherwise amount to professional gripers.

 

Always a glass half empty.

 

Everyone lives in this new world post pandemic. A lot has, and continues to change.

 

We live in a world of finite resources, with an ever increasing world population, all making increasing demand on supplies.

 

Things will change.

 

I just enjoy every day I wake to a new dawn.

 

I top off my glass every new day. And you know what, here's to all those who live, love, laugh, and find our world one of a glass half full.*

 

*Unless you are a chair hog. Then you're just greedy, selfish and self-centered. 

 

Peace to all.

[Cruzinforpeace***]

“We had dinner in the MDR last night and service was excellent. I would consider the food quality to be fairly standard banquet fare,”

 

Banquet fare reminds me of “Medieval Times”.  Modern Luxury indeed.  I hope X is reading some of these posts. 

[Swampbabe]

6 minutes ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

“We had dinner in the MDR last night and service was excellent. I would consider the food quality to be fairly standard banquet fare,”

 

Banquet fare reminds me of “Medieval Times”.  Modern Luxury indeed.  I hope X is reading some of these posts. 

I'm sure that Regent awaits your deposit with glee 🙃

[Married90]

@SRQbeachgirl Can I ask of a small favor.   Can you swing past the photo area on board and ask about availability/cost of the digital photo package.  X used to have a fixed price for a downloadable file (or the physical prints at the photo area) of all the pictures taken of you while on board.  I want to say it used to be $149 less discounts.   That option is no longer available to purchase in advance.  I am wondering if they dropped it.    THANKS

[SRQbeachgirl]

1 hour ago, Married90 said:

@SRQbeachgirl Can I ask of a small favor.   Can you swing past the photo area on board and ask about availability/cost of the digital photo package.  X used to have a fixed price for a downloadable file (or the physical prints at the photo area) of all the pictures taken of you while on board.  I want to say it used to be $149 less discounts.   That option is no longer available to purchase in advance.  I am wondering if they dropped it.    THANKS

 

Sure! I'll make myself a reminder to go by there tomorrow.

[Limati]

We just returned yesterday after a week aboard the beautiful Reflection. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect. The service was exemplary. The cruise director Rich was great and Ana Dulce (activities) was just fantastic. We dined in the MDR and a couple of specialty restaurants and they were wonderful. The buffet was plentiful and just what you would expect of a buffet serving hundreds at one time. I still had some very delicious "go to's" at the buffet and sure as heck never left hungry. The Mast grill was great for a burger and fries. We were sailing at about 80% capacity and it was great! If you want to have a good time, you will. Safe travels

[Cdncruisecpl]

3 minutes ago, Limati said:

If you want to have a good time, you will. Safe travels

I love this.  It really shows that your attitude will have a major effect on your experience. 

 

If you want to have a good time, you will.

if you want to have a bad time, you will.

 

I wish more people would stop finding problems to every solution.

[dlh015]

4 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

It's Day 2 and I can happily report that our "first impressions" have held true so far. We are having a great time and are delighted with the "feel" of this cruise.

 

We have seen a few children--and by "few" I mean seven total--but they were welll behaved and being supervised by parents and grandparents. The median age of passengers is definitely higher than we've experienced before and it makes for a much more relaxed cruise. 

 

We had dinner in the MDR last night and service was excellent. I would consider the food quality to be fairly standard banquet fare, with the standout being the French onion soup...YUM!

 

We went to a comedy show that was really good and thankfully lacked the crudeness of some of the recent shows we've seen on Carnival. The 80's party was a lot of fun as well, with it being pretty obvious which party goers have already had hip or knee replacement and which of us would likely need one of them soon (raises hand). 

 

We are in Nassau today with three other ships--two MSC ships and the Carnival Mardi Gras, which we were on last summer. After roaming around the port I can't tell you how happy we were to come back to the Reflection, where we were greeted with a refreshment station, rather than to the Mardi Gras.

 

As for those two future Carnival cruises listed down there in my signature...well, if the rest of this week is on par with our experience so far, those are likely to get canceled when we get home. 😉

Pretty bold statement for only being on the ship for a couple of days.

 

(giggle...sorry, couldn't help myself)

 

Keep on rocking!!

[excited balcony]

3 hours ago, Married90 said:

@SRQbeachgirl Can I ask of a small favor.   Can you swing past the photo area on board and ask about availability/cost of the digital photo package.  X used to have a fixed price for a downloadable file (or the physical prints at the photo area) of all the pictures taken of you while on board.  I want to say it used to be $149 less discounts.   That option is no longer available to purchase in advance.  I am wondering if they dropped it.    THANKS

Oh! I would love to know this also!

Thank you for your reporting!  We are on Reflection's Feb. 19th sailing, so I am happily following this thread!

[Mrs_Tiki]

It is great to hear that you are having such a fabulous time! 
 

I share your enthusiasm for the libraries on the S-class ships. One of my favorite memories is running out of my own books brought on board, most recently having finished The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s marriage to his first wife (who happens to share a name with our daughter). While perusing titles in the library, I came across a compilation of his letters and was able to read his own words from that same era about that relationship. 
 

Wow, rereading that makes me realize that I am a real nerd! But I do love Hiassen - SkinnyDip is my favorite, in large part due to its cruise theme!

[mandream]

3 hours ago, Married90 said:

@SRQbeachgirl Can I ask of a small favor.   Can you swing past the photo area on board and ask about availability/cost of the digital photo package.  X used to have a fixed price for a downloadable file (or the physical prints at the photo area) of all the pictures taken of you while on board.  I want to say it used to be $149 less discounts.   That option is no longer available to purchase in advance.  I am wondering if they dropped it.    THANKS

 

On Solstice in Dec / Jan it was $99.00 for unlimited digital downloads (before CC discounts).

 

We had purchased pre-cruise, as we always do, but were SUPER disappointed for the first time ever.  No photographers at dinner (which I am sure many will be pleased with - but we missed having the pictures) and only one of the ports had a photographer when you got off the ship.  We had to seek them out for a boarding picture.  

 

They did have stations set up several (most?) evenings - but we didn't feel like queuing up.

 

When I complained that we only had 2 pictures in our unlimited package - he was nice enough to explain that they are "changing their strategy" (to make it more self serve) and refunded our money.

 

While on the Constellation in July they still printed out and displayed all the pictures - they did not on Solstice in Dec.  Could only view on the Kiosk.   While I appreciate the elimination of the HUGE waste of throwing away all the unsold pictures - I have to think that drastically cuts their sales - and likely in turn contributes to the lack of photo opportunities.

 

Mike

[hrhdhd]

3 hours ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

Banquet fare reminds me of “Medieval Times”.  Modern Luxury indeed.  I hope X is reading some of these posts. 

At least on Celebrity, one gets flatware. 😀

[SRQbeachgirl]

DH and I decided to skip the Elegant Chic night in the MDR and explore the OVC for dinner tonight instead. For all those following the buffet drama, tonight they are offering a salad bar, two soups, pasta station, stir fry station, carving station with roast beef, fish with mushroom risotto, various other entrees and vegetables, mashed potatoes with gravy, panini station, pizza, cheeses and fruits, and a variety of deserts. 

[SRQbeachgirl]

4 hours ago, Married90 said:

@SRQbeachgirl Can I ask of a small favor.   Can you swing past the photo area on board and ask about availability/cost of the digital photo package.  X used to have a fixed price for a downloadable file (or the physical prints at the photo area) of all the pictures taken of you while on board.  I want to say it used to be $149 less discounts.   That option is no longer available to purchase in advance.  I am wondering if they dropped it.    THANKS

 

1 hour ago, excited balcony said:

Oh! I would love to know this also!

Thank you for your reporting!  We are on Reflection's Feb. 19th sailing, so I am happily following this thread!

 

They are currently offering a photo package of all digital or all prints for $99.

[DaisyFire]

SRQbeachgirl - thank you so much for taking us on your journey on the Reflection!  My sister and I will be on-board the Reflection in just under 2 weeks and it's great to hear your first, second, and third impressions!  I have sailed Celebrity before, including the Reflection at least once... but this is my sister's first cruise ever and I really want her to have a fabulous time.  

 

I was getting worried with all the recent discussions on cut-backs - but you are giving me hope that it will still be a very special trip for both of us.

 

 

[D. B.]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:34 AM, SRQbeachgirl said:

DH and I boarded the Reflection today for our first Celebrity cruise. If first impressions are anything to go by, we're going to have a very happy week. We boarded shortly after 11am and have already had lunch and explored the entire ship (even played ping pong). 

 

So far we have not seen a single kid. Not one. And no herds of family reunions with matching t-shirts. No yelling at Uncle Bob across the room. No teenagers jumping lines at the buffet (actually, no lines for anyone to jump). No massive 20-something year old groups already clogging up the hot tubs. No "bump and grind" music blasting at ear-splitting levels on the Lido deck.

 

I'm in heaven. Might have just found us a new cruise line if our first impressions hold true for the week.

I will be on Reflection in October for a 14 night TA cruise.

 I have been on almost every X M and S class ship Except Reflection so It's good to read your review.

 Happy Sailing to You!

[excited balcony]

15 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

 

They are currently offering a photo package of all digital or all prints for $99.

Fantastic!  We were on the Reflection in April and they had a similar package, but with the updates in 2023 I wasn't sure.  This is great to hear!  Thank you for checking on that!

[Lastdance]

Reflection is my favorite S class ship, as all of my memories were filled with fun and games from our friends in the Reflection Suite, as we had so many big parties with great people. Is it okay to say that on here?😜

 

OP, I hope you continue your journey with your glass half to totally full!  I am going on Beyond in a few short months, so hoping for my first new ship impressions to be a wow factor.  

 

What has surprised you the most about Reflection that was totally unexpected?