Celebrity Reflection Review
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We have been on 20 Carnival cruises, 1 RCI and this is by far one of the best experiences so far. We decided to drive and leave our car at the cruise terminal and not do the park-n-ride places. We are glad we did because there were some people that had to wait over an hour because the van was always full. So, embarkation was okay... The people at the terminal were not the most pleasant. They seemed to check our passport and boarding documents at every checkpoint there was. No one was nice, didn't speak to you at all. So that was not a good first impression. We stood in a long line to check in, not a problem but the lady at the counter wasn't very nice either. So I wasn't impressed so far and thought we would be in for a long journey. But we got all of our cards and were sent directly to the ship. Was I impressed when there was a guy standing at the entrance with a platter of champagne glasses. Yes, sir, I will be happy to take one of those. There was a guy right there taking reservations for the specialty restaurants and we were able to book the times we wanted right away.
The ship was simply amazing. It really didn't feel like we were on a ship but in a European hotel. We went to our room, even though we weren't supposed to, but we just HAD to drop off our carry-on luggage. I couldn't bare to lug that stuff around with me everywhere. We did get stopped by someone but after I explained what we were doing they were fine with that.
So we aren't big buffet people so we ate at the Bistro on 5 restaurant. It was quite a treat and well worth the $5 extra cover charge. The crepes were outstanding and we were so full that my husband and I split the dessert crepe and we were glad we did. After lunch we were off to explore the ship. We went to the bar that was outside the guest relations area and met Branko. He was very nice and reminded me of the tall lanky chef from Ratatouille. We had the premium drink package so the sky was the limit for us. We will only get this from now on. We were able to drink more water this cruise too since that was included. I wish we had gotten more coffee but we were drinking too much to do that. We did go once to the Cafe and it was wonderful. My only complaint about the bars were there weren't any bar waiters. If you wanted a drink you had to go to the bar to get it. It is kinda discouraging when you are sitting comfortable in an area and you have to get up to get your own drink, let alone have to make sure your stuff doesn't get taken.
Cabin Review
Our room was perfect 9144. We have never booked an inside room but since Celebrity was a little more pricey for us compared to Carnival we decided we aren't in our rooms that much let's just go for an Inside. No complaints here. We brought an alarm clock with us so that we wouldn't oversleep. We have had balconies before but we would always end up beside someone that is noisy on their balcony or would make noises that would irritate me and we would always end up going back in our room. So what is the point of spending the extra money when we could just go on deck in a private location where no one is around you. Our room stewards were very good. I did have a question because the first night we had a dirty glass and it was not removed. We went to the cruisecritic meet and greet and the head of housekeeping was there. I asked him the simple question of if we did something wrong and he immediately wrote our cabin number and addressed it right there. I was kind of embarrassed. He said the glass had to be empty and I don't think it was. Later in the cruise, I did mention this to our room stewards and they seemed okay with it. Everything was so classy in the room. Loved the shower doors and not the curtain. I did however fall in the bathroom so watch out for the metal casing on the shower. I'm glad I have a big butt or else I would have broken a hip or something.