motherchic

1 week sail on the Reflection, how many casual chic nights?

We were there in February. It is a charming shop. Our men had gone on a journey to enjoy several beers in Curacao and my friend an I did a little shopping. The shop was darling. My girlfriend bought me earrings there as a birthday gift. When the lady behind the counter realized this she picked out a darling card for me, hugged me and wished me a happy birthday. It was a simple act of kindness that just added to a perfect day.

That little court yard right there was a perfect spot to have a drink and people watch. We also had lunch at one of the little restaurants with outdoor seating. I had the best mushroom risotto that Ive ever tasted.

Enjoy your day there

We were there in February. It is a charming shop. Our men had gone on a journey to enjoy several beers in Curacao and my friend an I did a little shopping. The shop was darling. My girlfriend bought me earrings there as a birthday gift. When the lady behind the counter realized this she picked out a darling card for me, hugged me and wished me a happy birthday. It was a simple act of kindness that just added to a perfect day.

That little court yard right there was a perfect spot to have a drink and people watch. We also had lunch at one of the little restaurants with outdoor seating. I had the best mushroom risotto that Ive ever tasted.

Enjoy your day there

Your review was fun to read. We also really enjoyed the Reflection. Last time we sailed on her was our first transatlantic and we loved it. This April I am sailing on her for a week with 3 old college friends. We have been friends since we were 18 years old and now we are 60.!!! More wrinkles and graying hair but we are the same underneath. Two of them have never sailed on a cruise before. It will be wonderful experiencing it thru their eyes.

I booked adjoining concierge cabins and I ordered a "chocolate decadence" cake to be waiting for us in the room. Seemed only fitting to have a reunion with 4 women and have champagne and chocolate :-)

Yes. EM

Excellent !!

We are sailing on the Reflection and have adjoining rooms. My question: Can the "wall" be removed or open between the balconies?

thanks

Glad you had a good time. We love the Reflection, sailed on her last on a TA, it was great. Spending just a week on her come April. Looking forward to the short escape.

Glad you had a good time. We love the Reflection, sailed on her last on a TA, it was great. Spending just a week on her come April. Looking forward to the short escape.

Sealed cheeses can be brought thru customs. Sadly not meats. I was hoping to bring back dried salamis etc... but NO. Olives only in sealed bottles. I would have brought home vats of olives if I could have.

We started cruising in our 30's, now we just turned 60's. We sail both, Celebrity and Royal.

I agree with everyones comments.

1) Yes, Celebrity is quieter

2) Celebrity makes you feel a little more special (champagne on arrival etc....)

3)Your mega ships on Royal have fantastic shows. No comparison but IMHO the regular Royal ships have the same type of hit or miss entertainment.

4) I like the food on Celebrity better

5) our children are in their 20's-30's, they cruised on Carnival once and did not care for it. too loud. Royal is more their taste. More music, dancing venues....

6) We have always met fun people on the Celebrity. Never get to bed earlier then midnight. (casino, theater, music, drinks)

I hope your experience is a great one

When we were there in Sept. we just went up to a cab driver and made arrangements for a private tour. We had a wonderful time, and he worked out a tour based on our interests. We were going to skip Charles Fort because we've been to many forts in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. However, he suggested that we at least take a look at it. To our surprise, it was a wonderful experience. I took over 100 pictures, and we really enjoyed our time there. The town of Kindle itself was just what we expected--a charming old seaport where we wandered the narrow streets. We had a delicious lunch in a pub he recommended where we tried the local brew that we liked better than Guiness! If you'd like his name I'd be happy to provide it.

Hi, I would appreciate his name. Could you also give me a ballpark cost? was it just the 2 of you? And about how long was the tour? Thank you Nadine

I would have to believe it is encased in wax. It looks like it from the pictures I have seen. They know much of their business is from tourists off the cruise ships. If you read the reviews on TripAdvisor it sounds like many people buy to bring back home.

Thank you :-)

do you know, if at the Amsterdam cheese shop, if they sell the cheese wheels of Gouda encased in wax? Thats what I want. No problems with going through customs

OK, the shop Admirals, at the Cruise Facility, has wheels of Gouda.

 

(click)

 

gary

Thank you so much for researching this for me :-)

While on our last cruise we booked two more cruises. It gave us onboard credit and we have 60 days to transfer it to a TA and get whatever perks they offer

I want to purchase a large waxed encased wheel of Gouda. Does anyone know of a store that is closest to port where one can be purchased?

We took our daughters on a Carnival cruise when their ages were 16, 18 and 24. We had a great time all being together but the girls really did not care for Carnival. We all thought it was too "loud". RCCL was perfect for them

My DH and I love Celebrity ( its our preferred cruise line) but the nightlife and entertainment is a little too quiet for them.

I think RCCL for most ages is perfect.

We loved the Reflection. Great service. Food was good. Great time, great memories. We did a Transatlantic on her.

Several weeks ago we sailed on the Silhouette, we had a great time but just commented between my husband and myself that we liked the Reflection better.

So you never know. But go, enjoy the Reflection and enjoy

Yes, Ambrose is the one who everything will be compared to. Thank you for sharing your experience. There is another current thread with 99.9% of people saying how great Capt. Bob is/was. I imagine for them he was/is. But one man wrote in with concerns and it is sometimes just a few experiences that will raise a flag. I do not have mobility issues but I do have a very unusual circumstance and it's the swimming to the beach for lunch which is the kicker for me. Wading, yes, but if the boat has to anchor in water over my head (and I'm only 5' :eek:) I don't want to have to swim to shore, and BACK! Sorry you had such a bad experience. I keep hoping to book another cruise to St. Lucia so I can go with Spencer Ambrose again! ;)

We did have to swim in but i read others did not. I am sure if you say something that they will make sure you are in close enough

If you have any disability, I would hesitate using Captain Bobs. Their were two of us and it was difficult to get off the boat and back on. The ride itself was very bumpy. If you have back or joint problems I would suggest looking elsewhere.

If you are healthy- ENJOY

I used Mr Ambrose in St Lucia. He was fantastic. I have Rheumatoid arthritis and knee problems. I asked if his tour was doable. He said, yes. AND it was. There were 3 crew members on the boat and I swear they almost carried me when I was having problems. They were so very kind and considerate and I would do his tour again. And highly recommend that our for anyone in any kind of shape.

Captain Bobs tour, for me and my friend (we both have disabilities) was very difficult.

I also asked Bob specifically about this tour because we had mobility issues. He said absolutely no problem, BUT it was a HUGE problem. It was difficult getting on and off the boat. When we anchored to go to lunch, it was over our heads, not waist height. It may be for other anchoring but not this time. I have been on many speedboats but this one was very bumppy.Three of us got bruises.

It would be so easy for the captain to just put a ** and simply state, this tour may be difficult for people with joint pain or mobility issues. THEN we make our own decision.

Are you healthy- take this tour. Otherwise beware. When i posted this on trip advisor he responded with a very long letter contradicting everything I said. Kindness and empathy would go a long way with captain Bob, with trying to deal with the disabled.

Do you know if the tours/taxis are able to accomodate a mobility scooter? it breaks down to a small enough size to put in a car trunk. Thanks

Yes, some of the taxis (the van type) would easily handle your skooter

the distance from boat to pier is roughly a 1/3 of a mile

I have cruised for years and this is my first negative review. We just sailed on the Eclipse 14 day cruise. last week I booked captain Bobs tour for 4 of us.

1) I wrote to him and asked his opinion: two of us have knee problems and I wanted to know if in his opinion we could do the tour. He wrote back, "absolutely yes".

2) This was the first snorkel/ beach tour that we had to first sign a waiver on non responsibility. It registered to us that it was indeed a first for us but that was ok.

3) Initially when I first booked the cruise the time in port was different then what it ended up being. Captain Bobs tour ended at 4pm. We were supposed to board the ship at 4:30pm. When we realized it, THAT morning, I called captain Bob. He said no problem. You will be back in plenty of time.

4) When we arrived. He told us that the tour still was going until 4 but not to worry. I asked him if he guaranteed that we would get there on time ( as some tours do) He repeated don't worry they really don't sail away till 5pm. Maybe just me, but my rule has been. DONT cut it that short.

I told him that that worried me and I did not feel we could take the risk He said fine but he was charging me anyways. I guess thats his right. BUT not customer friendly.

We decided to go rather then loose the cost of 4 bookings.

5) After we were on the boat and sailing; (it sat 14 I believe). We realized that the man operating the speed boat was the ONLY person from Captain Bobs tour co on the boat. THATS WHY WE SIGNED THE WAIVER !!!!!

If I had realized it we would not have sailed. Think about it, only he knew where he was sailing or how to operate the boat. If anything happened to him???? Or us!!!! He stayed on the boat when people swam and snorkeled. I have NEVER EVER been on this type of tour that one of the boat hands didn't go in the water with a life ring, just for safety sake. REMEMBER no boat hands.

6) This tour was not easy for anyone who had knee problems, or any health issues. Getting out of the boat was very difficult. It hurt both of us.

7) When we stopped for lunch, we didn't dock. The anchor was dropped and you had to get off the boat, in water over your head and swim to shore in order to have lunch. For most no problem , but when I specifically asked Bob about the ability of doing this tour with bad knees he never said any of this. HE SHOULD HAVE.

8) When we got back he said that they had called a taxi that would be waiting for us at 4pm so we could get back in time. It was not there. He in an email said it was but it wasn't. We waved a taxi down, got to the port at 4:15 then still had to walk to the ship.

We would have jogged if we could have :-(

In my opinion, Capt Bob did not consider safety first. He should have been more honest and elaborate when I asked him about the ability to do this tour. AND he ABSOLUTELY should have had another deck hand on that boat. He could have put us in danger.

If you have no disabilities and if he has 2 people on the boat it is a good tour. Lunch was very good, beaches nice. But personally I would look elsewhere

We just did Spencers tour last week. It was WONDERFUL !!!!

I had written ahead and asked if the tour was doable for people with bad knees. He wrote back and said yes.

He and his crew were the most hospitable, lovely people.

They were especially helpful and would have done anything to help those of us that had some mobility problems.

St Lucia is beautiful and Sugar Beach, where we had lunch and a beach break was truly the most beautiful location I have ever seen. With this secluded beach surrounded by the volcanic Petons it was outstanding!!!

The lunch was also very good. Would go again and I highly recommend this tour.

The next day we did a similar tour in St Marteen and the tour company I used was not even near as professional and considerate.

Spencer Ambrose was a great tour guide HIGHLY recommend