docjbs

How about BYOB (times2) AND bring a wine saver system. I find that using the rubber cork/vacuum pump then keeping the wine in the fridge keeps most whites good for at least 3 to 4 days.

Thanks for your kind remarks.

The Top Shelf duo consisted of Riley on guitar & J.R. on piano. They mentioned that they met in an a cappella group in college. Not sure if they ever performed in such a group after that.

We found the service was better on the starboard side with select dining.

We recently returned from sailing on the Reflection from 1/25 to 2/1 & hope our thoughts about this cruise may be helpful.

BACKGROUND: We are both mid-fifties & have been married 30+ years. This was our 6th cruise as a couple since 2005. We previously cruised on Carnival, Princess, & Royal Caribbean. We try to have a week get-a-way to somewhere (usually St. Somewhere) 3 to 4 times a year.

ARRIVAL: We always fly in the day prior to a cruise & this time was no different. We flew into FLL due to the price difference. We booked a shuttle transfer with QLS from FLL to Miami. We HIGHLY recommend this company. Our flight was delayed due to frozen water lines on the plane. I called their toll free number & left a message. They returned the call within 15 minutes. They stated that they would monitor our flight & make sure we were on the next available shuttle after landing. We had just got our luggage at FLL when my phone rang. Our shuttle had been booked for 1 PM & it is was then 1:10. QLS reported we were on the next shuttle at 1:30. 10 minutes later their van arrived & we were on our way to Miami! We also received great service when we disembarked as I will report later. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Downtown/Brickell. It was wonderful. How this is considered just a 2 1/2 star hotel is beyond our comprehension. The room, pool, bar, service, & breakfast were all outstanding.

EMBARKATION: We caught a taxi from the hotel to the port about 11, dropped our bags with the porter, & were in line for security by 11:20. We checked in & were waiting in line to embark by 11:30. And waiting. And waiting. Apparently there had been a delay clearing the ship & the line did not start moving until almost 1. We understand that stuff happens & don't mind a wait, but the embarkation area was freezing. But by a little after 1 we were sitting down to lunch at the Porch, so it's all good.

CABIN: We booked #8345, a 1A on the aft stern. We were not totally pleased. The over bed storage area was odd but we knew about that from our pre-cruise research. The balcony was oversized as advertised but there was a vertical cleaning contraption at the stern edge of the rail that slightly obstructed the view & was just distracting. We always book a verandah cabin & we spent less time on our balcony than we have any other cruise. Also, this was the noisiest cabin we have ever had. The first 2 nights at sea there was almost constant creaking, popping, & rattling noises from the walls & ceiling. We assume it was from high waves & the ship speed since it calmed down once we were among the islands & resumed on our way back to Miami. Thank goodness for the beverage plan & our daily naps at the pool!

SHIP: In a word "gorgeous". Every few feet there seems to be a piece of artwork to admire or puzzle over (e.g. the white vases with baseball equipment attached). It is easy to navigate with lots of places to relax or get invigorated.

SERVICE: Overall the service was good to excellent. We had a beverage package & felt there was no drop off in bar service. There was a distinct lack of pool waiters in the Solarium area, with none appearing on the port days. We did select dining & the MDR service was erratic. The first night our service was extremely slow. Our waiter keep appearing to apologize for the wait & say he would return in a few minutes. At the end of the meal he told us his asst. waiter was new & blamed the delay on him. We moved to the other side of the MDR for the other 3 nights that we ate there & had much better service. On a positive note, the sommelier service was uniformly good & once they knew your wine was covered on the beverage plan they would return to top it off as long as you would allow (so be careful if you want to function after dinner). We ate at the Lawn Grill & Murano also. The service there was excellent, but Murano bordered on being over-the-top. Our cabin steward was mostly invisible. He introduced himself the first day & we rarely saw him again. We would leave the room for less than a hour sometimes & it would have been serviced while we were gone. What more could you want?

PORTS: We had been to San Juan, St. Thomas, & St. Maarten several times. They are interesting & beautiful but we did not feel the need to "excurse". We walked around old SJ for a while then went to dinner at Marmalade. It is the number 1 rated SJ restaurant on Tripadvisor & definitely lived up to its rating. It was a 2 1/2 hour dining experience. If you consider yourself even a partial "foodie" we highly recommend it. It is not cheap, but not much more than an average excursion. We went jewelry shopping at St. Thomas then returned to the ship to recover. Since there were 6 ships with 16,000 to 17,000 passengers docked at St. Maarten, we made that a "sea day in port".

ENTERTAINMENT: There is something for all tastes & it is uniformly good. We saw a few shows in the main theater & checked out all the roaming acts around the ship. We enjoyed the acoustic duo Top Shelf very much. The a cappella group was great but only did 15 minute sets scattered throughout the cruise. The Vibes party band was highly energetic & usually got people on their feet. The Kelly Broadway group does mostly jazz which is not our cup of tea. We felt the DJs were definitely geared toward the younger passengers. Basically if you can't find entertainment on this ship you can't be entertained.

DISEMBARKING: We arrived in Miami a bit before 6 AM. We knew because of all the noise in our cabin. We grabbed breakfast in the buffet & were ready to self disembark by 7. Be warned that there was no announcement that you could self disembark, just head for the gangway after 7. By 7:30 we were back on US soil. We were through customs & immigration by 7:45. This is where QLS came through again. We had reservations for the 9 AM shuttle to FLL. I was about to call them about changing times when my phone rang. It was QLS asking if we had disembarked & wanted to be moved to the 8 AM shuttle! They picked us up then stopped at 2 other ships on the way out. Once the van was full we were on our way to FLL & back to reality.

We travel based on our emotional needs, the itinerary & cost. This trip we needed more R & R than new experiences. This cruise supplied all our needs. We will definitely add Celebrity to our list of travel options. If we can answer any questions about our experience on the Reflection, please ask.