Reflection delivers an extremely relaxing vacation

The ordinary cruise.

There were no Cuban refugees to save, no passengers were air-lifted off the ship, no itinerary changes and no assistant stateroom attendants letting someone else in our room.

Two weeks ago my wife and I sailed on Celebrity’s newsest ship, the Reflection. Normally there is something extraordinary that happens that’s a standout event but this time around we enjoyed a peaceful and very relaxing cruise.

The 126,000 tonne vessel is the 12th largest cruise ship in the world (I’ve been on four ships that are bigger).

The Reflection is the last in Celebrity’s Solstice Class and had a few upgrades make it larger than its sister ships. 

My wife and I were able to enjoy dining in six of the ships restaurants without too much of a problem, since she has Celiac’s Disease and requires a gluten-free diet.

We had an AquaSpa cabin which gave us access to eat in the Blu restaurant. The eatery focuses on healthy fare, but does offer steak for those who can’t give up their red meat.

The open-seating dining i.e. not set table or dining time, is a hit amongst those who used it, but we quickly found a favourite waiter, Jose Contreras, and requested to be seated in his section.

For lunch, more often than not we ate at Bistro on 5, a restaurant that serves crepes. There is a $5 per person service charge and found it was worth the price as the menu was varied enough to allow us something different to have every day and still not completely work our way through all the offerings. My favourite was the Hot and Spicy which is made with shredded steak, peppers, jalapeno, cheddar cheese and cumin dressing but I also immensely enjoyed the BBQ Piggy which was filled with shredded barbecue pork, roasted yellow corn, red peppers and spicy barbecue sauce.

We also ate at The Porch for lunch, which also had a $5 cover charge per person, the main dinning room, the Oceanview Café and Café a Bacio. 

One of the main benefits of the AquaSpa cabin is having access to the spa facilities and being able to use the Persian Gardens for free. It has heated tiled beds, a steam room and soft music. It probably wasn’t as relaxing for others using the room as I quickly fell asleep and snored loudly.

The AquaSpa cabin also entitles people to use the Relaxation Room, which is connected to the spa facility at the back of the ship. While it provides a spectacular view of the back of the ship, the room is hardly relaxing as the spa workers are constantly in and out fetching water for their clients as well as having discussions with them in the room. 

Our room also entitled us to choose what type of pillows we wanted as well as having flavoured water and tea every day and canapés and fresh fruit.

The shows on the Reflection were a mixed bag. The singers were outstanding as a group — some of the best we have seen at sea — but the dancers on the first night seemed to just be going through the motions. By the last night they were better and more in sync. 

The contortionist that took part in the shows was absolutely amazing.

One of the new features on the Reflection is a purpose built art studio with artists as part of the staff to help with various projects. It’s a nice extra compared to some cruise ship
activities. 

The Reflection has added to its onboard shopping experience by adding two high end shops. 

While we were on the ship they had the grand opening of both a Brietling/Omega store and a Bvlgari store.

Gone is the glass blowing studio replaced by the Lawn Club Grill, another restaurant. 

Also new for those who have travelled on the Solstice Class before are the Alcoves, a special seating area guests can reserve on the Lawn Club (a grassy area at the top of the ship). 

One of the biggest highlights for us was the daily trivia contests, which was mainly hosted by Chiko Pineda, who is one of the best cruise activities staff members we’ve ever encountered. 

The ship stopped at San Juan, St Maarten and St Thomas and is now on a European itinerary for the summer.

While there were not any really big highs for us, there were no lows, and the Reflection delivered an extremely relaxing vacation.

While our next cruise will be on Norwegian, we wouldn’t hesitate to sail with Celebrity again.