Reflection not as good as their smaller ships

Celebrity Reflection Cruise Review to Caribbean

cfisch63

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 206

Overall rating:

2.8 out of 5

Verified Review

11 Night Ultimate Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 05, 2018

Ship: Celebrity Reflection

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7108

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

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.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ship tip

Choose another ship. Food & entertainment does not meet Celebrity standards.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

2 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

3 out of 5

Cartagena, Colombia

2 out of 5

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).

Thumbs Up 1

Colon, Panama

4 out of 5

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.

Thumbs Up 1

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

2 out of 5

Booked Veragua Rainforest tram tour through ship. Okay, but overpriced. Not much wildlife.

Thumbs Up 1

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

2 out of 5

Did not do much - a little shopping, but did not book any excursions

Thumbs Up 1

Cozumel, Mexico

2 out of 5

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.

Thumbs Up 3

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Did self disembark. Pleased to see that we do not have to complete the Customs Declaration forms - may be one of the silly regulations which have been eliminated by Trump.

1 Comment

PaulzyJC 3 years ago

"Customs Declaration forms - may be one of the silly regulations which have been eliminated by Trump." Those "silly regulations" prevent and stop contraband from entering our country. So, I am glad they are now back in place, and #45 is gone. Otherwise, I will consider sticking to smaller ships. I was on Equinox, and spent so much time in port I never had the opportunity to enjoy the ship completely. But, I actually like smaller ships like Infinity.

Thumbs Up 1

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Other reviews of this sailing

Fun cruise

Did not meet my expectations