We are veteran cruisers and this was our second time aboard Celebrity. We actually sailed one of Reflection’s sister ships, the Silhouette back in March so we were well familiar with this ship and the amenities. We have just turned 50 and we cruise just for the pleasure of unwinding and the freedom from having to ever get in a car to go anywhere on vacation. We’re very spontaneous and just go with the flow once on board. Our primary concern with any cruise or vacation in general, is enjoying good food and some good laughs.
BOOKING THE CRUSE
We actually booked this cruise while on-board the Silhouette and managed to book the exact same cabin, 8345, which is one of the last cabins on the port side and features a “kick out” balcony. More about this and the cabin in general in that section of the review. At the time we booked we could choose two of their “included amenities” so we went with the Classic Drink Package and the On-Board Credit which for us was $450. We also book all of our cruises through Costco, so the future cruise planner on Silhouette transferred the reservation over to Costco. That earned us an additional $190 in ship-board credit so we came on-board the Reflection with $640 in ship-board credit. Which we put to great use!
We were in cabin 8345 which is the last balcony cabin on the port side and it features a “kick-out” balcony. We love the extra real estate from the extended balcony which allows you to look down the entire length of the ship instead of having to lean out of the railing to look forward. It also gives some extra room for seating.
The bathroom layout is among the most efficient of any we’ve seen on all the ships we’ve sailed. The space is better utilized that other ships allowing plenty of room to stand with the placement of the shower and toilet. There are plenty of cabinets and shelf space and even the trash can is tucked away. The shower controls are really nice with the water pressure and hot/cold controls separated so if you need to turn off the water during your shower, it comes right back on at the same temperature as when you turned it off. The shower is small, but functional and includes sliding glass doors so you don’t have to worry about shower curtains sticking to you during a shower.
Inside the cabin there is a good sized closet, but the dresser / drawer space is somewhat limited, just three of them. So we learned a trick from a fellow Celebrity traveler by purchasing 12” x 12” collapsible cubes that we place in the cabinet above the bed. This cabinet can easily hold 8 of these cubes and we’ll put our underwear, socks, t-shirts and other stuff in there. Another great tip is to get a wall hanging, canvas shoe rack and hang that on the bathroom door. We’ve used that for most every cruise we’ve been on.
We usually try to book an aft cabin because we enjoy the vibrations from the engines which helps us sleep, Also, being at the rear of the ship is generally quieter with little hallway foot traffic outside the cabin. Being on Deck 8, the vibrations are quite gentle up here and I do love to sit out and look forward as the ship moves through the waves.