11/15/14 Reflection Top Chef Cruise Photo Review from the eyes of a family with teens

[ShellDil]

 

 

 

I believe we had dinner in the Tuscan Grille tonight. Dinner was good, but not great. There was nothing wrong with the meal, but it just wasn't anything special, for a specialty restaurant that is.

 

 

And then as usual, after dinner the kids went to the teen club and Keith and I probably just walked around and maybe got a drink or two....

 

Sometime close to midnight, I was in the cabin watching the loop of Top Chef again, and the kids came back. It seemed that the ship had stopped moving. We looked outside and yup, dead in the water! Odd right? So, Alex went on deck, up to the pool deck to find out what was going on. He came back to tell us that there was a medical emergency and going to be an evacuation. We thought maybe a helicopter - we were up front by the helipad, but nothing was happening. He said, no it was life boat and we were already almost back to St. Thomas - they changed our course.

 

So, Megan, Alex and I went up to see what was going on.

 

 

St. Thomas at night....

 

 

I do hope whoever it was is ok....and it's surprising how many people had no idea that we stopped during the night and changed our course! I guess if you're inside and busy, or asleep, you may not have any idea that all of this happened!

 

So, that is the end of our St. Martin day! Next up....more Top Chef activities as were back to sea days!

[Muushka]

ShellDil, I really appreciate your report.

 

And for the record, you are not taking a long time to post!

We went on a Panama Canal cruise in May,2014 and a person on the cruise is

STILL POSTING her report. (On DCL)

[ShellDil]

ShellDil, I really appreciate your report.

 

And for the record, you are not taking a long time to post!

We went on a Panama Canal cruise in May,2014 and a person on the cruise is

STILL POSTING her report. (On DCL)

 

Thank you! And well, May 2014 and still posting the report, that makes me feel better! ;)

[ShellDil]

With our port days done, I was really glad to have the Top Chef activities on board! This is what we sailed for so we were really looking forward to this!

 

Today we had our cooking class booked, and we chose to cook with Hosea. But before that was the Quickfire Challenge! So two Top Chef events today! And of course we needed to balance that with the ever important quality "sun" time!

 

By now, I think most people, or at least a good majority of the ship was aware that this was a Top Chef cruise. So when it came to the Quickfire, it was a full house!

 

The Quickfire was a chance for the passengers to cook onstage and also cook with the Top Chefs....they used a raffle ticket system to choose 8 passengers, which I thought was a really fair way to make the selections.

 

The stage was set with 4 stations...

 

The chef's were introduced and the passengers were selected and the "rules" of the contest were given

 

 

 

In the first round, there were 4 teams of 2 with a Top Chef "guide" sort of. Each team had to complete a few cooking tasks, like whipping egg whites to stiff peaks, grating cheese, juicing oranges, etc...their chef could talk them through it, but not help them. The first team to complete each task won that round.

 

 

 

 

 

The winners moved on to a cook off round!

 

[ShellDil]

So....the winning team was then split up to cook off against one another. Each person got to choose a Top Chef to work with and they had a protein. If I remember, they chose either steak or fish and whichever they chose, the opposite was what they used. They both had the same protein. And they had a small set of ingredients. BUT they had to use all of the ingredients from the first round...so the whipped egg whites, the cheese, the orange juice, and whatever else they had to do over there.

 

They had I think 20 or 30 minutes to prepare a meal that was judged by the other 2 Top Chefs and an audience member.

 

 

It was really a lot of fun to watch, and I'm sure even more fun for the participants! I don't think I would have been able to cook under that kind of pressure!

 

After the challenge we got ready for our cooking lesson with Hosea...this was quite the top chef day!

 

Just a quick shot of the library on the ship - I do think they have a really nice library area!

 

 

 

 

[juanita1767]

I am loving your review!! We are booked to sail on March 7 and I can't wait. Question, for formal night what was the ladies dresses like, was there for short cocktail dresses or long formal dresses? This is my first time on a cruise with formal night is why I am asking?

[ShellDil]

I am loving your review!! We are booked to sail on March 7 and I can't wait. Question, for formal night what was the ladies dresses like, was there for short cocktail dresses or long formal dresses? This is my first time on a cruise with formal night is why I am asking?

 

Thank you! I'm so glad you are enjoying the review!

 

Formal night was really a combination of dress. I just wore a black cocktail type dress. I did some some ladies in long formal dresses though, and there were definitely women in dressy pant suit formal type wear as well. Some people don't dress up and go to the buffet or specialty restaurants as well.

 

We decided to dress up for only one of the formal nights, less to pack...and went to a specialty restaurant the 2nd formal night.

[Nanatravel]

This may be a dumb question and I don't watch Top Chef, but how do you find out if a Relection sailing is going to have the Top Chef program on board?

[ShellDil]

This may be a dumb question and I don't watch Top Chef, but how do you find out if a Relection sailing is going to have the Top Chef program on board?

 

Definitely not a dumb question at all! Top Chef has a partnership with Celebrity and they had 4 or 5 sailings in 2014 all on different ships, to different destinations, with different Top Chefs. They were listed on the Celebrity website, and probably were advertised on Top Chef or Bravo if you watched. I happened to see an ad or maybe an email from Celebrity. It's not super advertised and it's not a chartered sailing with just the fans, so you could be on board and not really even notice the activities if you weren't really paying attention. In 2013 I believe they did do a Top Chef cruise with many more contestants, the judges and I think it was a shorter cruise. From what the chefs were saying who were on that cruise, it was a bit chaotic and it was definitely clear while on board that it was a Top Chef cruise.

 

So - I guess, short answer - if you're looking for a Top Chef cruise, I don't know that any have been announced for 2015, but you can check the Celebrity website periodically to see if they will have them again. It was on the home page. And you can do a search on the home page. But when booking, there was nothing to indicate it was a special cruise.

[ShellDil]

It was now time for our Top Chef Cooking Class! This was something I was really looking forward to. And something that I really debating paying to have the kids to. On the one hand, the whole point of picking this cruise was for the Top Chef activities and to not sign them up seemed like they'd really miss out. But on the other hand, this was a pretty expensive event! Would they enjoy it? But really, we pay for excursions on port days, so I had to look at it as this was like an excursion. Would it be worth it? Let's see.....

 

I chose to do our cooking class with Hosea. I'm not really sure why, but I just had a feeling that the class with him would be most relatable for the kids. So, we were told to meet at the Murano Restaurant. When we arrived there was a group of maybe 20 there, and as I thought, my 2 kids were the only ones there, but that was fine. We had a brief introduction and were led into the kitchen.

 

There were stations set up with most of the food already pre-chopped and Hosea told us briefly what we'd be doing. We were going to be making his Smokey Tomato Soup. There was actually a bit of grumbling among some in the class that we'd "only" be making tomato soup...but in the end, I do believe that everyone agreed that with a group of this size, everyone had ample opportunity to participate and making one course was plenty.

 

 

This was how our station was set up

 

 

Hosea giving instructions

 

 

Alex jumped right in and started helping...he really took a liking to cooking with Hosea!

 

 

A bit more of the instruction..

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Keith and Alex cooling down the cilantro oil that we made

 

 

 

 

 

He kept it quiet, but Keith is a professional chef....so I think Hosea was glad to have someone who could just "do the next step" while Hosea moved on to teach the next step to the rest of the class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Some more of the ingredients

 

 

 

 

 

Alex cooking down the tomatoes

 

 

 

It was about here that Alex remembered Hosea saying we'd add chicken stock, yet as of yet we hadn't added it...so he asked him when it would be added and Hosea laughed and said, oops...forgot to add it, back to the pot, let's add it now!

 

 

Megan stirring the soup

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

 

 

The finished product, with the cilantro oil garnish

 

 

So, when we were done cooking we all sat down to eat. In addition to the soup we just made, this was our menu

 

 

The kitchen staff made the rest of the meal, which was delicious.

 

During the meal, Hosea sat at the center of the table, and we all talked and he answered everyone's questions about pretty much anything! We talked about his time on Top Chef, his new restaurant, his cooking styles....you name it! It was really a unique experience and one that I'm so glad we did!

 

We all got a souvenir apron which he signed if you wanted. And I loved that after the meal, Alex went up to Hosea and said "I don't really like tomatoes and I'm not a fan of soup, but that was really good! I ate the whole thing, thank you!"

 

All in all, the cooking class was a great experience for our family!

 

[ShellDil]

After our cooking class, I really couldn't tell you what we did - I'd imagine it was our usual routine...Keith and I probably grabbed chairs on deck in the sun and read. The kids went back to the cabin.

 

Tonight we had dinner at the Lawn Club Grill, so eventually we had to get ready for that!

 

Here are just a couple of pictures of the ship at night on our way to dinner.

 

The fountain in the Solarium area

 

 

 

 

And so we arrived at the Lawn Club! What a great concept this is! Here you can grill your own meats, and make your own pizza! Alex and Megan made their pizzas and their pizza "guide" I'll call him was really funny. Megan couldn't quite get her dough rolled out without it tearing and it was really cute how he'd help her patch it up.

 

 

First he had them press it out into the oval

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Then he showed them how to toss it from hand to hand...note how skeptical Megan looks about that step!

 

 

 

Next he's showing them how to hold their fingers just right for pressing it out into a bigger oval

 

 

And then, just rotate it, it will get bigger

 

 

Or maybe a hole as big as a nose?

 

 

They did toss it in the air, which I only have on video and didn't upload - but that was pretty funny! The end result was pretty good!

 

 

Then they got to put their sauce and any toppings they wanted on!

 

 

[ShellDil]

We didn't grill any of our own meats, but the pizzas turned out great! And the meats we got were really good. The atmosphere there was one of our favorites!

 

 

As the name implies, you are eating outside, up on the lawn area.

 

While we were eating, someone had a bit of a problem tossing their pizza...

 

They had to get it down with a pole! And as you can see, adults were making the pizzas, definitely not just an activity for the kids on board...which I mentioned before were few and far between!

 

 

After dinner the kids and I went to the show - tonight was the Reflection Show, the "rock" show with acrobat acts. Alex and I liked it more than Megan. Megan is a theater kid - she does all kinds of musical theater, dance and loves all things Broadway. I think by the 3rd show with the same performers, singing just different music she'd pretty much had enough. To her - this was just a repeat of the exact same show that the "pop" show and the "Broadway" show was with different music, and to be honest, she wasn't real impressed with any of them - yes, at 13 she's a bit critical! I can see her point - as compared to some of the cruises we've been on, I do feel the entertainment was lacking on this ship. But, I can be pretty easily entertained and I can't say I didn't enjoy the shows. I liked this one, the rock one best of all three of this type.

 

I thought the talent of the acrobatic/cirque type performers had was pretty great!

 

 

The pictures are quite lacking though!

 

 

And after the show, we were met with this guy tonight!

 

 

 

So that's the end of our Thursday at sea! Only one more real day of the cruise. Today was really one of the best days! While I love port days and generally cruise for the port days, today was really cool. The Top Chef cooking class was great. And I was so glad to have made the decision to not only bring the kids on the trip, but to have them do the class. To get to see them cooking, especially when their dad is a chef - well - that was really special! And not only that, but the fact that my picky kid - Alex, actually ate what he made! And dinner at the Lawn Club was probably the meal that the 4 of us had together that we liked the most. It definitely was my kids favorite meal! Both the dining experience and quality of the food. So, an excellent sea day today!

 

Tomorrow - Keith and I dine with a Top Chef!

 

[ShellDil]

I'm always a bit down on the last day of the cruise! Aren't we all? But today would be a pretty exciting day, as far as Top Chef activities go, so that had something going for it. I really didn't take too many pictures though because pretty much they really all started looking the same! We really covered most of the ship, and the cooking demos looked about the same, just different chefs!

 

But we did have a great day! So - to start off, I'm sure we had breakfast in the buffet. That was our thing and we always tried to get a table outside. Based on the pictures, we ended up on the lawn. I do believe we went out there to try to play bocce. However, no one knew where the balls were - we asked and were told that "someone" would get the balls so we could play, but no one did. Which honestly I guess was just as well, because the area where the bocce could be played was lined with people sitting and smoking. Sort of an odd set up. My kids are super sensitive to cigarette smoke, and they really wanted no part of being there with the smoke.

 

So, we hung out up on the lawn for a bit.

 

 

These are the alcoves you can pay to reserve for the day if you'd like

 

 

 

 

 

 

It must have been staring at the Lawn Club Grill that gave Alex the idea, but tonight Keith and I had reservations for our Top Chef dinner. The kids were supposed to just go to the buffet on their own. But Alex and Megan really enjoyed their dinner last night, so he asked if they could possibly go the the Lawn Club again tonight, on their own. Really? Well....ok - I would just have to figure out how they could pay for it since neither of their Sea Pass cards are activated to charge and I didn't want to give Alex one of our cards since if they do bring up a picture it wouldn't be him. So I went over to the restaurant and talked to someone there and they of course were thoroughly confused. I guess a 15 year old and 13 year old dining together was something totally new to them! They did assure me that if I gave Alex Keith's card he'd have no problem, but I was still hesitant. I decided to go to Guest Relations and just authorize Alex's card for charging, it was the last night and really - he's pretty trustworthy! Now, Megan on the other hand....no way! Too many high end stores for her to shop in!

 

So I was pretty happy actually that the kids were going to have a nice dinner and Keith and I were going to have a great one!

 

So, our next stop was Casey's cooking demo!

[ShellDil]

So in going back over my pictures of this day, I mentioned I don't have many. Turns out I have exactly one from Casey's demo. Sorry about that for those who like pictures of the demos! But at this point, the demos really did start to look the same from a "picture" perspective, even though they all were really unique to attend. If you are into cooking that is!

 

So here is Casey talking about her dish and cooking

 

 

I remember loving her demo. She made Coq au Vin, which was a great change of pace from the last two fish dishes. It was so "homey" and elegant at the same time! She told us about how it was a personal favorite dish of hers, not one that she just threw together at a quick fire. It was a family dish that she loves, not just ingredients she threw together.

 

However, being this chicken dish, no one from the audience got to go up to taste it because there was no way it was cooked through in that short time! But it sure looked and smelled good!

 

So, after her demo, we finally made it out to the pool. This was the first time the entire cruise we made it into the pool! And wouldn't you know it rained! But we made the best of it! The four of us played some vollyball - in the rain, in the pool. It was quite difficult, being that there were only 4 of us, and we're so not skilled at this, and it was raining! But we had fun!

 

 

And then before long, it was time for Shirley's demo!

 

 

She made a take on a traditional Chinese egg and rice custard type dish. And her sort of twist was to have someone from the audience come up to help her with her dish.

 

 

Overall all four of the Top Chef demos were really fun. I loved the audience interaction with the chefs. And each dish they made was really unique. These demos were a great addition to our time on board!

[ShellDil]

Our last big event was our dinner with the Top Chef. We had chosen our Private Dinner with Casey. These were extra charge events, where the demos were free for anyone on board. The dinner was held in the Tuscan Grill and while Casey wasn't cooking the meal, she had met with the chefs in the restaurant and they would be preparing the dishes she chose for us. She and her boyfriend ate with us, and there were 5 other couples dining with Keith and I, so it was a really nice, small group. The dinner was amazing. Not just the food, but the conversation we all enjoyed.

 

 

Casey did feel that the food wasn't prepared quite as she would have made it, but she admitted that it's difficult to give up control and be a guest while others prepare her food! Everything was cooked very well, and if we didn't know what she would have done differently, we would have thought the meal was cooked to perfection. She didn't provide us printed copies of the menu, so I really can't remember exactly at this point what we had - but I do have some pretty bad pictures of what we ate. I didn't bring my good camera, and this one just doesn't take the best pictures!

 

So this was a lobster risotto, and there were even gold flecks on it!

 

 

I want to say this was a Bison Steak with mushrooms and fingerling potatoes, the sauce was fantastic! And the steak cooked to perfection.

 

 

This was a panna cotta with a granita topping. There was some fruit on top, which I can't remember. There was something missing that Casey told us was supposed to be there, as well - but again - it's been months since we had it! But it was really great just as it was!

 

 

We had wine throughout the meal, and like the cooking class, got another Top Chef apron! This may have been quite an expensive dinner, but again, we did choose this cruise because of the Top Chef events, and for us, this was really a fantastic meal and conversation. Well worth it for us!

 

 

After dinner we went back to our cabin, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their night out at the Lawn Grill. They ended up with the same waiter we had the night before, so he remembered them and took care of them. They made their own pizzas again, and this time tried some different sauces for their steaks.

 

Now it was time to pack. Tomorrow, we say goodbye to our cruise. Sad...but we do have one last day and night in Miami!

[dodger1964]

I

In any event, it was Formal Night and we all had to get ready!

 

A little help with his tie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An observation that this picture reminded me of on our similar cruise last week...FYI for future sailers, we took the basket of candy for purchase and put it in the cabinet above the bed, then took it back out on last day. It just took up too much valuable counter space.

[LadyKray]

Can't wait to go on Reflection in April. TY for the review

[poffles]

Ditto above. Just doing my review of the Summit so I can appreciate the work it takes to do this but rest assured it is being enjoyed.

 

Can't wait to see how the Reflection compares to the Summit. My friends sailing with me have never ever sailed and they are going to be blown away as they have nothing to compare it to. Being asked if they have to pay to eat in the dining room and being able to tell them no it is all free and seeing their reaction. Seems so long ago since my first cruise their excitement adds to mine and your review is just making it better.

Edited February 2, 2015 by poffles

[ShellDil]

Well...I had really hoped to wrap up my review by now! I wanted to do my final thoughts on the ship, including the teen club and we did spend a final day in Miami!

 

But we're leaving in about 30 minutes for our next big adventure. We're heading out on the Allure! We sail tomorrow! And this past week was all about getting ready for that vacation!

 

So hopefully when I get back I can finish up this trip report before starting on the next.

 

Thank you for being patient for those who are still following along! :)

[ShellDil]

For anyone who is still hanging in there.....I'll wrap this review up! As I mentioned, we were away last week, so I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to finish up this review before leaving. There really isn't too much more to say...

 

We left off after our final night, dinner with Casey at our Top Chef dinner. All that really was left was packing up and leaving. So instead of just ending here, I thought I would just do some final thoughts.

 

First, as I mentioned at the beginning, we booked this trip solely for the reason that it was a Top Chef cruise. Keith is not a fan of cruises, but he agreed to this one because he's a chef and he liked the idea of the Top Chef activities since we're both fans of the show. Also, we'd been on the Eclipse previously and did enjoy the quality of the food and the experience in general. Initially just the two of us planned to go as our "grown up away from the kids" vacation, but when I booked, there was a special that made it really a no brainer to bring the kids - so it became a family vacation.

 

I had some doubts as to if the kids would have enough to occupy themselves with three sea days on Celebrity. We had recently been on the Norwegian Breakaway and that ship really shines when it comes to activity! Also, it being during the school year, when we boarded we found out there were only 13 teens on board, including our kids. In the end, they did end up going to the teen club and it gave them something to do at night. They enjoyed the smaller size and while the scheduled activities weren't always done, they liked the kids they met and enjoyed the staff there quite a bit. Because it was the Top Chef sailing, our sea days were often occupied with those activities or we went to the pool together as a family. Both kids really loved the dining options on board - everything from the buffet to the specialty restaurants, and while they admittedly felt out of place at times, being amongst the youngest passengers on board - they definitely enjoyed this cruise.

 

In contrast - we just sailed on the Allure, returned this past Sunday. And I'll be writing that review as soon as I get myself a bit organized! But as a quick comparison on the teen club anyway - there were over 400 teens on board. Also a week where school was in session. And my kids really were very unimpressed with the teen club on board. They went the first night and went back once or twice and left right away both times. They said the scheduled activities never happened because "most" kids didn't want to do them. A small group did, including them, but since some kids didn't want to, they weren't done. So - no scavenger hunts or Amazing Race or games - just kids hanging out in the club talking. They didn't want to spend their vacation doing that with these kids. So - we spent the vacation mostly together and that was fine too. However, it was really unexpected. They figured with so many kids, the teen club would have a lot going on and they'd meet some kids and become friends for the week. Didn't happen.

 

Ok - moving on! Our cabin - while we loved the space in the Family Cabin - it had severe noise issues. Not just the docking noise, but the slamming and banging I mentioned early in the review. I definitely think there should be a disclaimer when booking this category, similar to how some cabins are notated as obstructed view - this one should says - may experience severe noise. It was really so bad at times that it was difficult to be in the cabin. And at night, sleep was just pretty much impossible when it was crashing. If I had small children, and seeing it's called a family cabin, someone in that cabin could very well have young children - I would have been very unhappy....But we survived.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed all of the Top Chef events. While the "pay" events were pricey, we knew that going in, and we chose to participate in them. We thought they were worth what we paid and we have been on a similar cruise in the past that had a Food Network Chef on board and the events were priced very similarly. I loved the variety of the demos, which were free and the quick fire was fun to watch as well. And it was great that with the cooking class and the dinner, the chefs were so accomodating and friendly with everyone in the group.

 

Also, it seems that as a result of this Top Chef cruise, Alex has really taken a liking to cooking! Having a chef for a dad, he's always had the cooking thing around him, but I think actually cooking in a professional kitchen, and it may sound odd - but with a chef other than his dad - as well as seeing the cooking demos - it really sparked an interest for him. He's been cooking a meal once a week since we've been home. A lot of fish dishes, with side dishes even! A great side effect from the trip!

 

We chose to carry our own luggage off the ship on Saturday morning, so we had a leisurely breakfast at the buffet and walked off around 9:30 I believe. We were spending one last night in Miami. I won't post all of our pictures and details of that day - unless someone asks....but lets say that I went to college at the University of Miami, so part of our day included a visit to my old school!

 

 

It's always fun to head back there and see how things have changed! And I love taking the kids to where I spent 4 years of my life, and telling them some of the memories I have from those days! ;)

 

We also went to a wildlife reserve and spent the night at the Intercontinental again.

 

If anyone has any questions about the cruise, our time in Miami or anything from the trip, let me know - I'd be happy to help out!

 

And if you're interested in following along with our trip on the Allure, I'll be adding the link to that review to my signature as soon as I get it started.

[margsipie]

Thanks for coming back to it and wrapping the review up! I really enjoyed following along and I'm looking forward to your review of the Allure. I hope it was another successful vacation (with a quieter cabin)!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums