Reflection TA eastbound 21 April - Live!!!

[UKPete71]

We have stayed quite a lot at a friend's place in Villa Martin and used to drive down to the Mar Menor. Do you know how long it would take to drive to Murcia from Cartagena?

 

I'd want to allow an hour to get to Murcia personally from Cartagena, but it may well be quicker.

 

 

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[UKPete71]

So we made it to Barcelona today and remain here overnight.

 

The ship was due to clear for 10am but it was around 10.30am before the announcement came we could go on shore.

 

With no excursions planned we had a late breakfast before heading off around 11.45am. The shuttle from the ship was €5 and was valid all day. The last shuttle back to the ship was 9pm. After that it'd be a case of getting a taxi or walking!

 

We had booked tickets for the stadium tour at the Camp Nou so went straight there.

 

We had looked at the HOHO bus but decided against it and instead purchased a 2 day transport ticket for the metro and bus.

 

 

The metro near the shuttle drop off took us straight to Camp Nou.

 

We had planned 1.5 hours for the tour of the stadium and museum. It end up being just shy of 3 hours! [emoji54]

 

From the stadium we walked to a different metro station that would take us to La Sagrada Familia. When we arrived it said there were no tickets available to go inside.

 

 

 

Knowing we were here overnight we looked online to see if anything would be available for Friday. Alas the only available tickets were for after we were due to sail.

 

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

After a stop to recharge our batteries with some paella we got on the metro and headed for the Gothic Quarter.

 

Walking through some narrow streets we stumbled across Barcelona Cathedral.

 

 

 

The architecture in the Gothic Quarter is really interesting and you could spend hours just walking around there.

 

 

What has been good is that it's allowed us to get an understanding of where things are, so it'll help for when we return. We're already thinking of a weekend break here, as flights from the UK are only a couple of hours.

 

 

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[mickey89]

 

In our opinion it was the best food we've tasted so far for dinner.

 

 

Whats the general opinion of the food in the MDR on a scale of 1 to 10 ?

[Lastdance]

Whats the general opinion of the food in the MDR on a scale of 1 to 10 ?

 

 

 

We eat in Luminae, but my DH prefers to order off the MDR menus. He enjoys simple foods like chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy...he gives it an 8+.

 

 

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[UKPete71]

There's no MDR for last night, sorry. We didn't get back on board until 20:55, so dropped our stuff back in our stateroom before heading up to the Oceanview Cafe for something to eat.

 

At 10.15pm the was a Flamenco show in the Grand Foyer, from some local dancers. It was originally planned to be by the pool but was switched due to the weather.

 

By the time we made it to the Grand Foyer it was packed. As was the balcony on deck 4 and the balcony on deck 5.

 

Maarten said before the show started that they couldn't do it in the theatre as it would have required rehearsals, which wasn't possible due to the 7 and 9 shows in there.

 

The venue was not the best, not helped by the massive art feature in the foyer that just gets in the way.

 

 

 

With restricted views for many it was a sad state of affairs to see others move in front of those who had arrived early. Unfortunately this led to a heated confrontation between two guests, when one asked the other to move. I saw the Guest Relations Manager nearby and she then asked the guy who was blocking people's view to move.

 

He then started making claims that the other guest had punched him and that he wanted him arrested. All there was was a shirt tug to get his attention as he wasn't hearing the guy asking him to move.

 

Security were called and I gave a written statement on what I saw. As I was finishing with Security another guest came forward and gave a similar account of what happened.

 

Hopefully the guy who stood in the way will have slept on it and realised he was wrong to stand where he did and that no punches were thrown. I'm not saying that excuses the other gentleman for raising his voice etc. whilst others enjoyed the show, but the whole situation could have been avoided.

 

I'm sure Maarten et al knew a free Flamenco show was going to be popular and the planning could have been better.

 

 

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Edited May 5, 2017 by UKPete71

[UKPete71]

Whats the general opinion of the food in the MDR on a scale of 1 to 10 ?

 

Sorry, I'm not one for rating food. What I may see as a 10 others may see as a 7, and vice versa.

 

 

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[mickey89]

Sorry, I'm not one for rating food. What I may see as a 10 others may see as a 7, and vice versa.

Totally agree UKPete, that's why I asked for a general opinion.

Is the general conversation of the food being good, average or poor?

[UKPete71]

Totally agree UKPete, that's why I asked for a general opinion.

 

Is the general conversation of the food being good, average or poor?

 

Neither myself or my DW have had any complaints. I've not seen any food sent back, but I have seen extra starters ordered (guilty) and extra desserts (not guilty).

 

 

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[UKPete71]

Celebrity Today for Friday 5th May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

Day two in Barcelona saw us take a stroll up La Rambla. Towards the end of the street we noticed an entrance to a market, La Boqueria.

 

 

It was an interesting market, with a wide variety of products on offer.

 

 

 

 

We were back on the ship by 3pm, ahead of the 3.30pm 'all aboard' time. With no stragglers today we were away on time.

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

The main show in the theatre last night was ventriloquist Gareth Oliver. We've seen him on Eclipse a couple of times and he never fails to put on a good show.

 

It's always interesting to see how much the guest he gets up on stage gets into it.

 

 

 

Gareth returned for the late show, a second Liar's Club, which was also in the theatre. Compared to the first one it seemed a bit flat, as the theatre was less than a quarter full and people were quite spread out.

 

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

The menus from the MDR for Thursday evening...

 

 

 

I've tried to avoid taking photos of the food in the MDR, but I couldn't resist this one. This is the Baked Alaska. And yes, it tasted as good as it looked.

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

Our port stop today is Villefranche-sur-Mer, which means it's a tender to the port.

 

 

We had not made any plans for the port and talked yesterday about just going on the tender to the port, then grabbing some lunch. The change in weather, our first bit of rain of the cruise, has probably put pay to that idea and we may well stay on board.

 

At least we'll have a choice of loungers by the pool. [emoji23]

 

 

 

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[Evil_G]

Ooh, that menu looks good.

[UKPete71]

Ooh, that menu looks good.

 

It was! [emoji23]

 

It was the last of our three 'chic' nights.

 

 

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[UKPete71]

Celebrity Today for Saturday 6th May.

 

 

 

 

 

You know your cruise is coming to an end when you receive the disembarkation leaflet and your luggage tags. [emoji22]

 

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

In between rain showers on Saturday I took the tender from the ship to the port, stayed on it and returned to the ship.

 

It gave me an opportunity to get a closer look at the super yacht that was anchored in the port.

 

 

 

The yacht is owned by a Russian billionaire, who part owns Arsenal FC in England. Estimates of the cost of the ship build are given online at approximately 420 million USD.

 

With the ship using a tender it gave a great opportunity to get a photo of the ship itself too.

 

 

And the tender station.

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

The MDR menu for Saturday evening...

 

 

The menu is the same as the first day of the cruise, expect for the beef choice which replaced Aged prime rib of beef.

 

The dessert menu seems to be different to one we'd seen before. That said we did miss dessert one day and ate in Oceanview once too, so it may have been a duplicate of either of those days.

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

After dinner on Saturday my DW wasn't feeling well after dinner so retired to our stateroom and watched a film.

 

I headed up to Sky Lounge briefly to experience the silent disco. I stayed for around 20 minutes as there was a comedian, Don Friesen, in Celebrity Central.

 

 

 

 

He's not someone I'd heard of before but found him very funny. I'll be looking him up on YouTube when I get home. He was selling copies of his DVD in the Entertainment Court after his show, but at $25 each I gave it a miss.

 

 

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[UKPete71]

Celebrity Today for Sunday 7th May

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[jody75]

Livorno - Celebrity charging $5 for a NO OPTION shuttle is a disgrace. It should be free as no other means to get ashore.

[UKPete71]

We went on a private excursion that was organised by someone on our roll call.

 

It was an 8 hour excursion to Florence, with a stop in Pisa on the way back. The group numbered 16, with us split in to two mini-vans.

 

We stopped on the way to Florence to see a scenic view of the city

 

 

Once in the city we had a guided walking tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[UKPete71]

After some free time in Florence we headed to Pisa. The drivers for each mini-van were able to drop their respective group off very close to Miracles Square in Pisa.

 

 

A parade of classic Ferraris were on display in the square.

 

 

 

When taking to someone on Sunday evening who had been on a ship excursion they said the coach parked 1/2 mile or so from the square. They also hadn't seen the Ferraris as they arrived after they left the square.

 

Before we returned to the ship the driver of our mini-van stopped in the centre of Livorno to give people around 1/2 hour there.

 

Overall it was probably one of the best excursions we've been on and we'll look at more private excursions via our roll call for future cruises.

 

 

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[UKPete71]

The 7 and 9 show in Reflection Theatre was a Beatles tribute. And very good they were too!

 

 

With it being the last night of the cruise I can only think many were packing as the theatre was quite empty for the 7pm show.

 

The MDR menus for Sunday 7th May (day 16)

 

 

 

 

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