Celebrity Reflection Review

5.0 / 5.0
1,985 reviews

Blue about Blu

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Reflection
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podon
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Mar 2018

We have sailed Aqua Class on Celebrity several times, primarily because of Blu, the restaurant devoted to Aqua Class passengers. But our recent sailing to the Caribbean on Celebrity Reflection was a HUGE disappointment. Celebrity seems to have cut back on several things, not the least of which is the revised menu in Blu (must have happened since we last sailed on Celebrity in 2015). First, the menu has been collapsed into three courses: "starters," "mains," and "desserts." Formerly, appetizers were served as a separate course from soups and salads. Though you can ask for as much of anything as you wish, the result is a much smaller selection each night from the combined "starters" list; the desserts list is notably smaller as well. And for some unknown reason, a quarter of the menu is taken up with cocktails. I did not see anyone ordering a cocktail in our several visits to Blue this trip: people go to the bars for cocktails; they go to the restaurants for food and wine. (Oh, and the wine menu was also reduced from before). When we asked a staff member about all of this, we were told that the focus now was on fewer but fresher selections (so the selections before weren't that fresh?) and this also allowed for faster turnover in the restaurant since three courses were normally being served instead of four. So I'm supposed to play extra to eat in an upgraded restaurant seemingly interested in getting me in and out as soon as possible? Not to mention the fact that every night we waited for service; we heard from others on the ship that staffing has been cut back in the room attendants areas, and this seems to have been the case in Blu as well. How faster turnover leads to slower service is a mystery that I am unable to solve. I must say, however, that our cabin attendant was EXCEPTIONAL--the best we have ever had, even though he was working alone due to Celebrity's decision to assign one attendant to a room instead of a chief attendant and an assistant as in the past. As far as I can see, Celebrity has made a number of boneheaded decisions to cut costs, probably so they can pour resources into the new Edge line; if this is the case, then the decision to shortchange loyal passengers (we are Elite members) on available cruises for the sake of future bookings on their new "ultra" ships is unacceptable. In any case, we won't be sailing Celebrity again any time soon: not until it's clear that they have restored the quality of service and food that made us loyal customers in the first place.

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