Celebrity Reflection Review
No peace in 6126 - Careful with 6th Level Forward!
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Wife and I are in our early-mid 50's, but pretty hip so not into an "old people" cruise at all. We had sailed on Celeb Summit last year (first cruise) and had a REALLY great experience so decided to give it another whirl this year for the kids Spring Break. Overall good, but nowhere near the positive level of experience as last year. Reflection is a nice, big boat, but felt far more impersonal, no real quiet outdoor areas, mediocre entertainment, etc. Room was good with a decent balcony, but LOUD for many reasons. Food was very good, but not as varied as Summit. Ports were ok, but we're not big port fans - one exception was Labadee - AWESOME! Opus Dining Room was ok, but not as good as Summit overall. Food was ok in the dining room, but nothing special. Felt like the cafe food level plated for you. Wines were average level and we had the premium drink level. Saw a few wines I buy at Costco for around $10-12 per bottle. Service overall was good, but bar service tended to be problematic in the popular areas. Loved our room attendant. Overall somewhere between a 3 and 4.
As my cabin review states, I had trouble with noise in the room. I also tried to get some down time around the pool - that wasn't happening. WHAT IS IT WITH CRUISES THINKING THEY CONSTANTLY HAVE TO BLAST MUSIC??? Yes, I had to yell that. I would start to nod off around the pool in a shady area and then there would be some band or DJ starting up. The DJ was EXTRAORDINARILY annoying running silly pool games, etc. Annoying voice and shouting all the time. Interestingly had an overnight in Miami before we sailed and the hotel had very cool hipster lounge music playing at the pool at reasonable volumes. Really enjoyed that. This was more akin to a college Spring Break Lauderdale pool without all the hot bodies around. Seriously Celeb - please get a clue on this. Most of your clientele aren't into this.
We're not huge port fans. Always feel like it's the tourist hustle. Did the Jamaica zip line / tubing excursion which was OK. Chukka is the company that runs it. Not bad. Staff was great and a very good jerk chicken lunch! The real treat was Labadee, Haiti. This a private resort owned by RC / Celeb. It is AWESOME. Beautiful, clean, not commercialized. Fantastic beaches, zip lines, tours, etc. Just gorgeous.
Cabin Review
AquaClass 2
The room itself was nice. Two adults and two kids 13 and 11. Tight, but we made do as we did not want to spend more. So I start to notice thumpa thumpa music vibrating through our cabin on occasion the first few days. Kinda like when you pull along side a car with those loud bass setups and your own car starts vibrating from it. After a little investigation, I find out our room is right above the Reflection Theatre. All the entertainment practices during the day and you will hear it if you're in a forward cabin on the 6th level. One of the treats I relish on vacation is being able to take naps during the day. I'm not a great sleeper at night and daytime naps are a rare treat. Felt really robbed of this during the cruise as I got no peace and quiet in the mid-late afternoons. To their credit, the cruise director called me back to discuss and finally connected the day before the cruise was over. Received a $600 credit toward next cruise. Not bad, but would have rather have had quiet. This is a design flaw with the ship. Nothing to be done about it. My fault for not pressing the issue earlier in the cruise.