As Celebrity Elite members, and having sailed on most of the major cruise lines that market to customers in the U.S., we are sad to report that there were too many issues we encountered on this cruise to recommend Celebrity. The bottom-line: not one issue with the staff on the Reflection (that's saying something on a 16-day cruise!); the key issue was the quality of the management team. Truly poor sense of customer service. We are hoping that this is simply a failure of the management staff on this cruise on the Reflection and not a general degradation indicate of the Celebrity brand. We would add that many of our observations were reinforced by discussions with fellow passengers.
Just a few specifics that led to our conclusion:
- Surprised at the overlapping events (e.g. Elite wine tasting at essentially the same time as one of the open wine tastings). Brought to the attention of a senior officer. Her reply: "Well, each department plans its own activities; these things happen." Hmmmm....how about having someone coordinate among department?
We toured Cartagena independently using Tom's Port Guide (www.TomsPortGuides.com). This is a remarkable resource; we found it very helpful for several destination ports. We followed his recommend walking tour
We rented an apartment in Rome for a week, two blocks from the Colosseum; tried to live as a native Roman (took Trenitalia and the Metro; shopped at the local stores, etc.). Once we picked up our luggage and exited the port we found it difficult to locate the shuttle bus to the entrance of the port; rather chaotic. At the entrance of the port there was a bus that shuttled you to the Trenitalia train station (2 Euro per person). We took the local train to Rome Termini (80 minutes). From there we took a taxi to our apartment. Each day we saw various sites throughout Rome. No problem finding fascinating venues depending on your interests.. Two warnings: be careful in crowded areas of pick pockets - truly skillful; ask for estimates before stepping into taxis and ensure that the meter is started.
Embarkation was smooth; no issues