10 New Reasons to Sail on Celebrity Reflection

My sister Carol and I

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to go on a Celebrity preview cruise for their newest ship, Reflection. Reflection is the fifth and final planned Solstice-class cruise ship in their fleet, and it’s sweet! I’ve been on four of the five ships (Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Silhouette) which have been introduced every year starting in 2008. The only one I haven’t sailed on is Celebrity Eclipse, and that’s because a certain Icelandic volcano decided to erupt and my flight to England was cancelled.

Celebrity Reflection at night

The Solstice-class ships are basically all the same: 1,047 feet long, 123 feet wide, 122,000 tons, have 13 guest decks and cost $750 million. They hold 2,850 passengers and 1,255 crew members and the top speed is 24 knots. They all have similar interior designs except for a few tweaks here and there to improve the passengers’ experience or to make room for increased demand – like doubling the size of their Persian Garden.

Instead of writing a similar detailed report of the ship, I’ve decided to list 10 new reasons to cruise on Celebrity Reflection. So here they are, and don’t forget to scroll through the photo gallery at the bottom where I’ve included 100 of my photos from our preview cruise.

Suite shower

1. Reflection Suite: The new two-bedroom, 1,636-square-foot Reflection Suite features an all-glass shower shaped like a diamond that extends out over the edge of the ship. Talk about “WOW!”.
   

   Suite

2. Signature Suites: There are now five 441-square-foot Signature Aqua Class Suites with 118-square-foot verandas. To access them you need a key to get in.
   

   Sunset Bar

3. Sunset Bar: The Sunset Bar at the Aft has had a design change. It now has a Middle Eastern Kasbah theme and there’s a beverage pitcher program.
4. Conference Rooms: On Deck 4 what used to be the restaurant, Qasar, is now a facility for conference or banquet type events, which is a big incentive for charters.
   

   Art work

5. Art: All the art is new, and it’s amazing. It’s so impressive that they invited the folks from Art Basel for a preview and they loved it. My sister happened to be friends with one of the invited guests, which is how I know, and I learned from her that the theme of much of the art is keyed around the name of the ship … reflection.
   

   Sushi

6. Healthy Dining: They added more healthy dining options, which is great news for everyone.
   

   Media center

7. Wi-Fi: They added more bandwidth and increased the reach of the Wi-Fi. Now you can access the internet throughout the ship.
   

   Lawn Club

8. More Cabanas: Up on the Lawn Club they doubled the amount of cabanas to eight (rental fee applies).
   

   Tons of sun loungers

9. More Seating: There’s more seating in the main and specialty restaurants, more sun loungers on the top deck and Persian Garden, and more seats in the theatre.
   

   My sister taking an art class

10. Art Studio:  You can now take a painting class with a Master Artist from the ArtCenter South Florida in the Art Studio.
    

    Celebrity Reflection’s Grand Atrium

As you can see from the photos below the ship is amazing and you will never be bored. So no matter how many days you booked, it won’t be enough.