Celebrity Reflection Review

Recently we cruised on the Celebrity Reflection for a long weekend to Key West and Coco Cay, and here is our review of the ship. Since this was a short cruise we didn’t have as much time to enjoy the ship like we normally would but we tried to get as much information as we could in a small amount of time.

Ship

The Celebrity Reflection is an older ship in the scheme of things. When it was new (2012) it was the most modern and technologically advanced ship in Celebrity’s fleet. With a capacity of around 3000 passengers the Reflection is now considered to be a mid-sized ship but that isn’t a drawback in our opinion. The decor hasn’t changed much over the years which caused some to say it looked dated. We thought that was at least somewhat true. If you are a fan of “smaller” ships and “classic” or “traditional” decor and layout, this ship will do it for you. This is not meant to be negative. This is just not a brand new ship. We did feel that it was clean and well kept overall and that’s the biggest thing to us. If you’ve never cruised before you’ll be plenty impressed by the Reflection.

Embarkation

As we have come to expect, embarkation was smooth and fast. This time we decided to show up a little later and miss the crowds getting on the ship. We had a leisurely lunch in Ft. Lauderdale and arrived at the terminal around 1:15 pm. From the curb outside to the ship took under ten minutes. We’ll probably make it our norm to arrive a little later from now on. As always we had our passports and boarding passes in hand and didn’t have to pause at all except to scan our backpacks. We went straight to our cabin and got settled.

Food and Dining

This is where we felt a little let down. We didn’t do any specialty dining on this cruise and we regretted it. Although we didn’t have any meals that were particularly bad, the main dining room was a disappointment. We didn’t think the “wow” factor was there this time. We normally mix in some specialty restaurants but this time we decided to stick to the main dining room for dinner and it just didn’t feel special. The service was fine and the ambiance was what we would expect but the food was good not great. We did eat at the buffet one night and were very happy with the selection and quality of the food. It was a lesson learned for us and we’ll probably do the specialty dining for an upcharge at least a few times on future cruises.

Onboard Activities

The activities offered on this cruise were pretty much your normal shows, games and partying. It was a short cruise (3 nights) with a port every day so not much going on aboard the ship in the daytime. The crowd was a little on the younger side for Celebrity and the partying was a little more intense at night but overall there was plenty to do. We are early risers and don’t do the really late night activities like silent disco and themed parties. We skipped the shows this time in the interest of getting up early for our port visits at Key West and Coco Cay. The production shows were great by all accounts so don’t sleep on them if that is your thing. I’d say there was plenty of entertainment to keep anyone satisfied.

Service and Staff

As expected, the level of service was excellent. We are not demanding usually but the feeling was that no request was an issue. This goes for the room steward as well as the bartenders and dining room staff. I have personally never felt that service (or attitude) was lacking on any cruise and this was par for the course. One thing I missed on this short cruise was getting to know some of the crew a little better. One thing I did notice was that the bartenders seemed a little busier than normal. Maybe it was the “party hard” atmosphere that these short cruises tend to have.

Cabin

Cabins on the Reflection are spacious. We opted for an interior cabin for the first time and it was about the same as a balcony cabin except, of course, no balcony. We were a little tense about the inside cabin, wondering if the lack of a balcony would bother us. It didn’t really, so lesson learned and we can cruise more with the lower price of the inside cabins. As you might expect the cabins are a bit dated too- the color scheme and lack of USB ports being big indicators of this. The closet is normal for a cruise ship but there is a lack of drawer space so plan to hang your clothes. We thought the cabin was clean and comfortable and we slept great on the comfortable bed. The only outlets are on the desk, so plan accordingly for charging your devices. The bathroom was a pretty standard and was adequate. Above all the cabin was clean and the steward was in and out when we were not in the room.

Disembarkation

Getting off the ship was easy. We waited for our luggage tag number to be announced and exited the ship. From there we picked up our suitcase and went through customs (a facial scan) and then to the curb to wait for our Uber. A lot of people seemed very confused by the instructions for disembarking the ship but I am not sure why. The hardest part is after you reach the front of the terminal where there are thousands of people looking for their rides and shuttles. For us, it was smooth and we were on our way home within ten minutes or so.

Conclusion

If we had to grade this cruise, it would probably be an A. For a long weekend it was a lot of fun, and we’ll do it again. On a longer cruise we would probably still opt for a balcony, and maybe mix in some specialty restaurants but all things considered we liked this trip. We still think that Celebrity is the sweet spot for us and i highly recommend them to anyone.