The Celebrity Reflection is a very large ship - the captain called it the 'flagship' of the fleet. It is highly decorative and the cabins are well-appointed. It also had one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in. The cost of the cruise, itself, was reasonable: but that's all that is: the advertising states that it is "luxury cruising" and the costs for everything on offer certainly meet that criterion. For example, they have an all-inclusive drinks package which includes the more exclusive bottled water, bijoux coffees, alcoholic drinks and wines up to $13.00/glass: all for a price of $65.00 per person, per day - this means that a couple would spend $1950.00 for a 15-day cruise for drinks, plus the 18% gratuity, of course.

They do not have a laundry room, and the costs for using their services aren't cheap. Same thing with the Salon: a shampoo/blow dry for 'medium' length hair is about $71.00. Also, the specialty restaurants are specially priced - $50.00 per person, not including drinks. If you want to include wine, add $39.00 per person for 4 glasses. The 'free' food is generally good, when it isn't so salty it's inedible (the lobster bisque, the spaghetti Bolognese, and the flank steak I had were really bad) , but the menu is repetitive - the same thing is offered for breakfast every day in the restaurant, and, if one is using the open dining option (for which we pre-paid the daily fees before we sailed), one is expected to call and make reservations - which isn't explained anywhere.

We were 3 cabins from the front (forward) and for us, one of the biggest problem was the configuration of the ship: there is no way to walk from one end of the ship to the other except by traversing an endless maze of corridors, unless on is on one of the two top decks or on decks 4 and 5. They have maximized the number of cabins, so there is no access to the ocean - unless one has a balcony - other than the top decks or a small area on deck 5. It's like sailing in an enormous cavern, and the lack of fresh air throughout most of the ship leaves a rather damp, musty smell in many of the interior gathering places - the Casino especially sort of smells like an old Laundromat. Read more