Celebrity Reflection
Sail date: September 19, 2016
cfisch63
Third Mate
Joined 10/2016
0
Cruises4
Reviews206
Helpful VotesNo cruises added
Celebrity Summit
Sail date: November 23, 2019
Overall, great cruise & good value. We like cruising from Puerto Rico, and enjoy spending a few additional days on the island to take advantage of better airfares, and to see different parts of Puerto Rico.
Norwegian Breakaway
Sail date: March 24, 2019
Good ship, but larger than what I prefer. Nice to have the dining options. The pay restaurants were good, but not as good as those experienced on other cruise lines. The buffet was good, many stations, quality pretty good. Liquor package worked okay - bars busy but 2 drink allowance helped to compensate. Would be nice to be able to buy discounted canned or bottled soda for use in room. Requirement for reservations excessive - dining rooms, entertainment, etc. We are on vacation - not reservations.
Celebrity Reflection
Sail date: November 05, 2018
Reflection not as good as their smaller ships
2nd trip on Reflection, and our last. Nice ship, our family balcony class room was superb. Food & entertainment are the weakness of this ship. Food is good quality, but variety is boring. At our Dinner table #144 of 9 persons, we ordered the "everyday items" at least 1/2 the time. Often this was a Caesar Salad, or French Onion Soup & New York Steak. The features for the day just did not offer anything of interest. Lunch was also weak - deli had nothing to offer with Ham (sometimes), Turkey(sometimes), and Bavarian Loaf (everyday)?
Chicken Salad was disgusting. They had a panini press, but I did not see any customer order an item served from the press. Salad selections & toppings limited & repetitive. 3 selections of soup every day, but little that is popular. 1 chilled soup, 1 clear or consume, 1 variety but that 3rd soup was black beans 3X, Split Pea 2X, Cream of Mushroom 2X - don't recall what was served on other 4 days, but it was not Chicken Noodle or Vegetable Beef.
Desserts were primarily cakes & mousse, no pies. Several of the cakes had a grainy texture. Cookies were initially available in a jar near the ice cream but they moved them to behind the counter, and handed out on request by the staff at the Ice Cream counter which required waiting in line. Ice cream is popular.
Entertainment was weak - tried to see several of the main shows, but did not keep our attention. Unlike Carnival or other lines which offer comedy or other venues, there was little to do if you did not like the main show.
Prior experience on Celebrity smaller ships Millenium & Summit was much better than our two experiences on Reflection. We were considering Reflection for a trip in 2020, but will keep looking for another ship with a different culinary team.
Cruise tips
Arrived day before - took cab to Courtyard Mirimar, then cab next day to ship. Pretty easy, and there is a 'Pueblo' supermarket across the street for last minute supplies. Just be sure they don't put you on the floor with families who have out of control kids.
A favorite for walking & shopping. Only our second time at this port - loved it first time. The port did not have as many fisherman displaying items as previous, and we did not see as many huge yachts as previously - the Shieks must be running out of oil/money. Still a good time.
Did island tour.
Another island bus tour. Okay. Previous visits just did shopping.
Did a fancy "Aqua" trimaran tour & snorkel. A little pricey, but were able to see the fish while staying dry, and the option for snorkel. Good crew.
Last chance shopping
Norwegian Breakaway
Do research. Plan the specialty restaurants carefully, as you cannot change. Plan on spending considerable time getting reservations for entertainment or other dining options.
just did shopping. On previous trips had good 3-reef snorkeling
Book tender ticket early (1st sea day) so as to make private excursions.
Did not do much - a little shopping, but did not book any excursions
Hired driver/car on internet 'Tours by Locals'. Very good tour across to Panama City, local insight & highlights. Spent about 5 1/2 hours total, and included visit to MiaFlores Locks to view ships in transit. Rain storm in Panama City, but otherwise - perfect.
Booked 3 reef snorkel, but the water was closed by Mexican authorities, so tour was cancelled. Disappointing, but we have done this type of snorkel several times before, and it is excellent. Otherwise, Cozumel is a great shopping port.
Took bus ride into city - should have hired a cab for 3 hrs as recommended by the shopping Guru. It was okay, but street vendors were overly aggressive. Nice city, safe, but really hot temperature/humidity - (this was not the hot season).
Celebrity Reflection
Choose another ship. Food & entertainment does not meet Celebrity standards.
Booked Veragua Rainforest tram tour through ship. Okay, but overpriced. Not much wildlife.
No excursion, took ferry to Capri - purchase tickets on adjacent pier. Then took boat tour around the island. Did not go up to top of island as we were concerned of running short on time.
Booked castle tour through ship. Inexpensive, and good tour. Considerable climbing of steps. After tour, had option to walk back or take the shuttle boat. We walked through the shopping area, enjoyable but it is a bit of a walk. Vendors not pushy,
Stayed on ship
Walked/taxi to Piraeus market area.
On our own. Good shopping - some expensive. Unique town, enjoyable.
May want to take an inexpensive excursion in order to get expedited tender & tram to the top. We tried to do it without excursion, and the lines were too long to make it worthwhile going up the tram.
Sailing from Civitavecchia - Civitatours offers bus transport from Cruise port entrance to Airport for $20 euro, much less than that offered in most transfers. Find on Trip Advisor. There is a free bus from the port entrance to the ship. Need to be sure that it will meet your time requirement.
We chose a lower cost Ephesus tour through the ship. Not a good tour - waste of time, and did not see much of ephesus. Find another source or tour.
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Nice ship, cabin was excellent. Balcony, and bathroom larger than normal. Cold refrigerator - yeah! embarkation/debarkation very fast & easy. Overall service was good.
entertainment okay, but not as good as in the Caribbean - needed comedian(s).
Our other 2 Celebrity cruises were better, especially the food.
Food was good, but repetitive. Food menus for the Dining Room were not available on the TV, and often not posted until meal time. Large variety to appeal to global audience, but execution could be better. Breakfast- same every day, same potatoes, daily muffin (not labeled, and same nearly every day), fruit selection. Lunch - outdoor grill open only a few hours - product selection limited. Specialty salads limited, and repetitive. Quality control - lettuce? Soups - almost no selection unless you want broth. Crackers stale. Management present, but not paying attention - staff performing their daily ritual. Dinner in the dining room good, but menu had some unusual choices. Dining room service was very good.
Good itinerary. Need more time/earlier arrival in Santorini. Poor excursion in ephesus, not as advertised by ship, focused on shopping for crafts & carpet.
Favorite ports were Mykonos & Bodrum. Castle tour in Bodrum was good, and allowed for option to walk back to ship through the shopping area - vendors not as pushy as Kusadasi.