Celebrity Reflection was a great way to try out Celebrity for the first time. Excellent dining and entertainment experience. Celebrity has a much better staff to passenger ratio than other lines, and the staff were wonderful. We had a great time and will be planning more cruises with Celebrity!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was well organized and easy compared to other cruises we've taken.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Celebrity really excels with their dining. The whole dining experience on Celebrity blew a previous cruise I took with MSC out of the water. The main dining room Opus was excellent. Really enjoyed the Caribbean Jerk Chicken there. Food quality was consistently excellent in Opus and the staff were super attentive and prompt. We tried specialty dining at the Tuscan Grill and it was excellent, too. The main dining room was so good we felt the specialty dining was largely unnecessary. The buffet delighted with a wide range of foods like Indian, Mediterranean, and vegan. The stews offered at the buffet were excellent. Most items were very tasty. Although it was crowded at times, the buffet was really good overall (we'll admit MSC does have better pizza, though) Cafe al Bacio had a nice selection of pastries and cookies which were also excellent. Apparently Celebrity's newer ships have a selection of 4 included different dining rooms which would have been fun to experience.
Tuscan Grille
5 out of 5
Tuscan Grill was an excellent dining experience and the service was attentive and top notch. The chef did a wonderful job on my steak and cooked it perfectly. I'd skip the calamari next time though. The tiramisu for dessert was really good.
Opus (Main) Dining Room
5 out of 5
We dined at Opus most nights and found the food and service to be excellent. The Caribbean roasted chicken was a hit! Our server Meet was excellent and had great suggestions.
Oceanview Cafe and Bar
5 out of 5
Celebrity did a great job with the buffet at Oceanview Cafe on Reflection. It compared nicely to some of the better buffets we enjoy in Las Vegas. Delighted with the wide food selection that changed each day. Nearly all dishes were flavorful and enjoyable. The Caribbean jerk chicken was excellent, as were several of the Indian dishes and daily stews. We enjoyed the separate English/American/Asian breakfast selections and had fun sampling from them. Loved the gelato selection and Blueberry Velvet cake!
Cafe al Bacio and Gelateria
5 out of 5
The pastries and cookies at Cafe al Bacio are excellent. Regret ting not visiting there more times!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Really enjoyed the solarium pool. It was nice to have a climate controlled space to enjoy a dip in the pool when it was really hot and muggy outside. The Hideaway was a neat spot to sit and enjoy a coffee.
The Hideaway
4 out of 5
This was a great spot to hang out and have coffee or a drink and enjoy the atrium. The Hideaway's coffee machine was either offline or not working most of the time during this cruise. The live tree suspended in the atrium was really cool to look at.
Solarium
5 out of 5
The Solarium was a favorite on this cruise. It was nice to hang out by the pool in a climate controlled environment when it was too hot and muggy outside. Appreciated the adults-only nature of the pool.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
"Feel the Funk" which debuted on Reflection during this cruise was over-the top-excellent, with a live band and really good music. The comedian was excellent, too.
Children's Programs
No children with us on this cruise.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff were super friendly, and it seemed like there was a good staff to passenger ratio. Other lines I've travelled on were not as well staffed, and the difference in staffing levels was noticeable with Celebrity. Luigi is a great cruise director! We really liked how there were senior staff greeting us as we exited the shows.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Loved the ship, even though it wasn't as large and new as others I've been on. Everything was clean and we really appreciated the staff dispensing hand sanitizer at the buffet! Washy washy! People at the buffet seemed to largely ignore the signs asking folks not to fill their personal beverage containers. The Starlink-based internet was fast and worked smoothly nearly all the time (we had the Premium internet package).
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We received a great deal on an obstructed view veranda cabin on deck 6 which was rated as a 30% obstructed view. It did have a nice view of a lifeboat looking down but there was still a beautiful view of the ocean looking straight outward. It was wonderful to sit out on the veranda and have breakfast with the gentle sea breeze each morning - one of our favorite things of this cruise. I smelled smoke a few times from deck 5 below which other reviews said was a common smoking area. We haven't tried one of Celebrity's Infinite verandas yet but are having trouble seeing how it would be as nice as this real veranda on Reflection. I thought the reddish color scheme in the cabin looked a bit dated and could benefit from a refresh. The bathroom/shower were excellent with wonderful water pressure in the shower.
Ship tip
Great food and dining experience! The Hideaway is a great place to sit and enjoy the atrium with a coffee.
Coco Cay was beautiful and really well organized. We really appreciated the included umbrellas on the beach chairs. Other lines will try to charge you for shade on their private islands.
Bought a day pass to Resorts World beach/resort. It was well worth it and the beach was beautiful. The beach itself has a sharp drop as you wade into the ocean, but we were warned about that by other passengers in advance. The tram shuttles between the ships, shopping, and resort didn't seem to be particularly well organized and were a bit chaotic/full. Many folks seem to rent golf carts and then not be aware they drive on the left side in the Bahamas. Our tram had to honk at several golf carts heading straight for us on the wrong side of the road.
Disembarking was super easy and not chaotic like other cruise lines we've been on. It was super nice the cruise director greeted us as we were heading towards the baggage claim.
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