Celebrity Reflection Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This was our fourth cruise on Solstice class ships, starting with The Solstice in Dec. 2008. We left this cruise feeling less pampered that we had come to expect from Celebrity. We even wondered if the new management had something to do with the happiness of the employees, as it seemed there was less smiling and less effort to make the cruisers feel special. For instance, we don't NEED to be addressed by our last name, but it does impart more of a feeling of respect. Our room steward asked our first names as soon as we met him.
The ship was absolutely beautiful and our room was kept sparkling at all times. We never saw the assistant room steward after the first day. We had asked for cheese and crackers for our afternoon snack, which is what we were brought for the first half of the cruise. But then they had run out of crackers so we received cheese with grapes and walnuts for the last few days.
Embark was not good. We arrived around 11 and were checked in promptly, only to be asked to wait to board. This is the first time we have had this experience. After waiting more than one hour we noticed people bunching up at the escalator to go up to the boarding level. People even bypassed the boarding photo stand, anxious to get onto the ship. We did not see champagne being handed out, and went directly to our cabin as it was already after 1 PM. We met our room steward at that time.We enjoyed our dinner at Qsine the first night, as we had taken advantage of the e-mail offering of a discount for dining in a specialty restaurant the first night. However, we had to go to customer service to receive this discount as a credit the next day; it did not automatically happen as promised. The second night we were escorted to our table in the main dining room for the late seating. We were led to a table for two, although we had requested a table for 6. We remained seated at this table and made friends with our neighboring table for two, who had also asked for a larger table. Our server was not friendly the first night but did loosen up as the cruise continued, but our assistant server Nina was fantastic and a joy to be around.
Cabin Review
Concierge Class 2
C2, 2169, a hump cabin on the resort deck which corresponds to 2105 on the other Solstice class ships. We had previously enjoyed the extended balcony this cabin offers. This cruise, we heard flushing from the ladies room toilets directly overhead MUCH more, which sound like a cannon shot each flush. We did not hear this inside the cabin, but for eating breakfast or hors d'ouvres the sound was annoying.