Celebrity reflection 10 night ultimate caribbean cruise - march 23, 2018

[FRMPEI]

Hi Maris,

 

I have not yet seen any pictures of you and Ken? I was wanting to see if I recognize you guys. We were also port side deck 10. I am sure we must of ran into each other in 10th Elevator Library area. I was the guy always with a camera in my hand.

 

You are doing a great job on your first Trip Report love your photos. Be sure to take some time and describe your photo gear to us techies. I also plan to do a Photo Trip Report but, I must first finish up my 2017 Trip Report.

 

Looking forward to reading the balance.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Silkroad]

Hi Maris,

 

I’m enjoying your review and your lovely photos. Your sunrise photos are glorious. BTW your dogs are adorable:)

 

Cheers,

Michelle

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Maris,

 

I have not yet seen any pictures of you and Ken? I was wanting to see if I recognize you guys. We were also port side deck 10. I am sure we must of ran into each other in 10th Elevator Library area. I was the guy always with a camera in my hand.

 

You are doing a great job on your first Trip Report love your photos. Be sure to take some time and describe your photo gear to us techies. I also plan to do a Photo Trip Report but, I must first finish up my 2017 Trip Report.

 

Looking forward to reading the balance.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Hi Kevin. I have photos of Ken & I did force him to take a few of me. I’ll have to try to find them. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll do a little techie report too. Lol. We were in 1245. Right near the library. Don’t think we met. I did get a few of those Celebrity photos taken but didn’t know where to find them.

 

Maris

[Nanatravel]

Hi Maris. Great photo review to date. Sorry we missed you on the cabin crawl. I haven't even had time to review my pictures; definitely not the quality you have posted. Really love your pictures. Hope to meet again someday. It is still cold and raw/rainy here in SC. Spring may come along tomorrow.

[Nanatravel]

Hi Kevin. It was nice to meet you and yours at the Cruise Critics luncheon. It was terrible how this was not communicated to so many. If I hadn't looked at the "Activities Board" near guest relations, I would have never known about it. Until next time.

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Maris,

 

I have not yet seen any pictures of you and Ken? I was wanting to see if I recognize you guys. We were also port side deck 10. I am sure we must of ran into each other in 10th Elevator Library area. I was the guy always with a camera in my hand.

 

You are doing a great job on your first Trip Report love your photos. Be sure to take some time and describe your photo gear to us techies. I also plan to do a Photo Trip Report but, I must first finish up my 2017 Trip Report.

 

Looking forward to reading the balance.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Hi Kevin

I found a couple of selfies we took this trip, but wasn't sure how to add them to Flickr. I did manage to add one but can't seem to share it. Found one from our cruise last year. Two women sitting in the Oceanview saw my camera & asked me to take their photo. Then I asked them to return the favour. The colour is off, but you can get the idea. I wasn't carrying a camera all the time, mainly just in the morning. If you were up on deck 15 before 7 am, I was there walking or taking photos. Heading out for a walk this morning. I'll post some camera stuff later.

 

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Maris. Great photo review to date. Sorry we missed you on the cabin crawl. I haven't even had time to review my pictures; definitely not the quality you have posted. Really love your pictures. Hope to meet again someday. It is still cold and raw/rainy here in SC. Spring may come along tomorrow.

 

Hi

 

Next time we will find you for the cabin crawl:')! I guess we missed the Cruise Critic Luncheon too. Many attendees? Guess they didn't want too many people to know about it. We still have frost here this morning in Ontario. It is supposed to warm up this afternoon and then rain for the next couple of weeks. Glad we were able to have a couple of weeks of sunny weather, even though we had to travel a long way to find the sun.

 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Kevin

I found a couple of selfies we took this trip, but wasn't sure how to add them to Flickr. I did manage to add one but can't seem to share it. Found one from our cruise last year. Two women sitting in the Oceanview saw my camera & asked me to take their photo. Then I asked them to return the favour. The colour is off, but you can get the idea. I wasn't carrying a camera all the time, mainly just in the morning. If you were up on deck 15 before 7 am, I was there walking or taking photos. Heading out for a walk this morning. I'll post some camera stuff later.

 

Hi again Kevin - Still not organized for the next photo posting. So a little bit of camera stuff. I'll have to check out some of your reviews. I like scrolling through Cruise Critic reviews when I'm on the treadmill. Brings back fond memories and makes the time pass.

We had an SLR camera many years ago before digital. When that camera died just went to point and shoot. I never did hone the art of cell phone photography though I see some people do amazingly well at it. Samsung images look the best to me. I have an iPhone.

After losing my last point & shoot. I think someone must have taken it. It never did turn up again and at that time I kept all of my photos on the camera. So someone somewhere has all kinds of our family photos.

A couple of Christmas's ago, we decided to by ourselves a DSLR camera. I research everything extensively. I had both Nikon & Canon point & shoots so had no preference. It seemed to me that the best beginner DSLR was the Nikon d3300. It was a great beginner camera, though I didn't use a lot of the features. Again, researched a lot. I shoot mostly in Aperture priority & for some shoots in manual. Always in Raw now, though that weird colour portrait of us above was not. I wasn't able to just the colour post processing.

I work part-time & saved my pennies and starting researching cameras again last year. I was planning to move up to a full frame, but most of the lenses that I had acquired over the last couple of years wouldn't work with the full frame and full frame lenses are very expensive as you probably know. Anyway, the camera I decided on is the Nikon d500. I found one locally gently used and I love it. Quite good in low light for a crop sensor and in optimum conditions photos are incredibly clear. I'm still learning how to use it and all the features. I sold my 3300 for almost what I paid for it, so good deal all around

For the trip I took my Sigma 10-20, Nikkor 16-80 and the kit 55-200. I also took my 35prime which I never used. I was thinking of doing food photos with it but never got around to it. My next dream purchase is the 200-500. I hope to make an additional income taking photos to fund the purchase. I have done a few paid family & real estate shoots. Today, I've been hired to try something new. A rally car & the driver & navigator.

Kind of long winded.

 

Maris

[FRMPEI]

Hi Maris,

 

CC Luncheon about 12 folks showed up. I think if you had, like me, left your cabin number on inquiry about CC Meet and Greet with Guest Services you got an invite.

 

I am pretty new to the "non point & Shoot" camera world. My main camera on our last two cruises is my Sony a6000 (mirrorless) primarily with a 14-70 Sony Ziess Lens. In the evenings found it easier to haul around my Sony HX50V Point & Shot with its 30X superzoom.

 

Do you use Adobe's Lightroom to organize your photos? If not I highly recommend it. You be amazed what you can do with a raw image.

 

Keep the photos coming of your recent cruise.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Marvy Mare]

March 24, Sea Day (cont.)

 

A few more photos of the gorgeous sunrise.

 

 

 

 

Ken was feeling slightly nauseated. We had been so proud of ourselves on our last/first cruise, which was on rough seas for the first few days, that neither of us were seasick. This was not nearly as rough. Maybe it was the front to back rocking motion? Anyway, he still managed to eat. We grabbed our breakfast at the Oceanview. I'm not one for breakfast variety. I had an egg white omelette with spinach, tomatoes, ham and some kind of cheese every morning. Sometimes I added the corned beef hash (it's really good) and I picked through the bacon to find crispy. I added a little bit of fruit to keep it healthy. Ken, who doesn't have as big an appetite as me, enjoyed a bit more variety. Sometimes he had the English breakfast, but never eggs.

When I order food at a counter, I always use my 'Starbuck's name'. No matter what the server's first language is, they never get Maris right. It took me about 50 years to figure that out, so now at take outs, I'm always Mary.

They always get that right.

By the time we had breakfast and got all cleaned up, there were no chairs available on deck 14 or 15. It was still fairly cool and people were wrapped in towels. We climbed to deck 16.

 

The additional height made Ken feel a little worse. We tried to lay on some lounges. I think they were still tied together? I had to climb over a chair to find a seat. We didn't last long up there and went inside to do more exploration.

At lunch, there was still a seat issue. We like to eat outside at the back of the Oceanview. There was a gentleman sitting by himself at a table for 4 on a laptop. I asked him if the chairs were available. He said 'No, I'm waiting for my wife.' That woman never showed up and he packed up & left about 10 minutes later. The chair saving stuff drives me crazy. It is a constant source of entertainment by the pool though.

 

I have an appointment in a little while. Someone had asked me to do a shoot of a rally car and the team. I'm hoping Ken is home to go with me. I really don't have any idea of how to photograph a car. Am I being sexist thinking a man would have a better idea? At leas he finds cars more exciting than I do.

Till later

Maris aka Mary

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Maris,

 

CC Luncheon about 12 folks showed up. I think if you had, like me, left your cabin number on inquiry about CC Meet and Greet with Guest Services you got an invite.

 

I am pretty new to the "non point & Shoot" camera world. My main camera on our last two cruises is my Sony a6000 (mirrorless) primarily with a 14-70 Sony Ziess Lens. In the evenings found it easier to haul around my Sony HX50V Point & Shot with its 30X superzoom.

 

Do you use Adobe's Lightroom to organize your photos? If not I highly recommend it. You be amazed what you can do with a raw image.

 

 

Keep the photos coming of your recent cruise.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Hey Kevin

I do use Lightroom.That weirdly coloured portrait was before I shot in Raw. I am struggling with photoshop. I edit my photos in Lightroom & then save them to Flickr to post here.

I hear mirrorless are great. Smaller, etc.

 

Gotta go \

Maris

[Slugguts]

Hi Maris

Love you photos and review.

Hope we weren’t too much trouble on da party bus

 

Cheers

Grant Fox from adelaide :D

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Maris

Love you photos and review.

Hope we weren’t too much trouble on da party bus

 

Cheers

Grant Fox from adelaide :D

 

Hi Grant

 

Back in Adelaide? You guys made the party bus. Best tour of our whole trip. What happens in Da Party Bus, stays in Da Party Bus. I do have a great picture (I'll get to it later in my review) of one of your group in the waves at Moho Beach.

 

Thanks for letting me know that the Bus was back in action.

 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

March 24, Sea Day (cont.)

 

Later in the afternoon, we went to meet up for the Cabin Crawl that one of the Cruise Critic members had organized. The location was the 'sky bar on deck 15'. We tried the Mast bar on deck 15, the Sunset bar on deck 15 and finally the Sky lounge on deck 14 where there was a private function. Never did find the group. Oh well. Next time. There were some nice people we met before the sail away, but we never saw them again. Funny how you will see some people over and over and others never again.

 

We had dinner again in the main dining room but requested a different location. I think one of us was still staring at a wall, but dinner was served in a more leisurely fashion. I should have at least taken cell photos of the menu and then I could remember what we had to eat. It was good and probably seafood.

 

We attended the 9pm show at the theatre and I did take my camera to try my hand at show photos.

 

 

 

 

I think the man in the green shirt was looking at me.

 

 

[Marvy Mare]

My computer is really really slow tonight. I think my neighbours must be watching TV. I just lost my last post. Only a couple of pictures. I guess I'll try to finish up March 24th tomorrow before any of the neighbours wake up. We live out in the country and our internet is sometimes as fast as dial up.

Been getting messages from my brother this evening. He's heading out on a TA on Sunday. To think, a few months ago I though TA stood for Teaching Assistant.

Till tomorrow

Mary Maris

[Marvy Mare]

Saturday, March 24 - at sea (cont)

 

They brought up a woman from the audience, saying that she was Joanie Mitchell. I'm not sure if she was in on it before hand, but she looked great and played along. There was also a play on Aretha Franklin's name that was quite funny. I don't know if it was a coincidence that the next evenings act was an Aretha Franklin tribute.

 

Before I post too many pictures, I'll have to see if this works. I think there was a problem with my permissions on Flickr.

After the show it was early to bed.

[Marvy Mare]

I'm up even earlier than usual, so instead of reading I thought I'd get up and get on with my review before it totally fades from memory. If the weather reports are correct, we may have no power this afternoon. I can read then. A storm that is bringing heavy rain to the eastern US is funneling to the east and is supposed to hit us with up to 20mm of freezing rain and winds of 70 km. So much for Spring in Ontario.

 

Sunday, March 25, Sea Day

I was up early again. 4:20. It's a curse. When I went out on our veranda, for the first time in many months, I felt warm humid air. I had both Ken's and my coffees watching the stars and enjoying the warmth. By 5:45 it was starting to get light, so I headed up the the 15th for my morning walk.I try to always take the stairs and add that to my daily steps. I did see a woman one morning climbing up and down the stairs. A great work out but I'd have to do it with breaks.

The Reflection has a great fitness centre. I used the one on the Silhouette but on this trip, I preferred to be outside.

I saw many of the same people on the early morning track - a barefoot runner, an older gentleman runner wearing compression socks, an older than me woman walker whom I was unable to keep up to and a few other regulars. As a former runner I envy those who can run.

There were also the smokers, in greater numbers than the runners and walkers. I joked that I held my breath as I passed the Sunset Bar on my rounds. As a former smoker, I can empathize though. My husband claims that he still misses it. Not me. I quit because I had severe pneumonia (in my late 20s) and spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and almost a year recovering. After that I couldn't even stand the smell of smoke, so Ken quit to support me. So I get it but I'm glad I didn't have to join the Sunset Bar morning club.

 

Ken enjoying his coffee in bed. He doesn't mind my early hours. Coffee served with a smile every morning.

 

One of the reasons why I love the early morning.

 

A runner rounds the Mast Bar?

 

At 6am I noticed a man moving and marking about 10 chairs. I figured we had better hurry and get ready for the day if we were to ever get a chair on deck.

 

We had early breakfast and managed to get chairs on Deck 15 by 8am. Took turns leaving for short periods of time. The chairs that the man moved at 6am, weren't occupied until 9. That drives me crazy. I should let things like that go on vacation.

When we did sit on deck, I liked the seats under the awning & overlooking the pool. I always had a book, but one of our favourite vacation past times is people watching. It's alway a great activity on a Cruise ship. By 10 or so, new arrivals to the pool area were getting frustrated and contacting the deck police. Chairs were tagged and tempers flared. Better than watching CNN:')!

That day Ken chose to wear his 'Dirt Shirt'(a gift from our son). A great way to meet friendly people from Canada's east coast. He tells everyone that he met 50 people from PEI. I think you can take that with a grain of salt, but a lot of people spoke to him. He was thinking of lying and saying that "Yes, I am from PEI" but never having been there, they might have figured it out.

 

We attended and Edge presentation in the afternoon. Looks like an amazing ship. I didn't get a chance to ask about the price but I understand from my brother (the frequent cruiser, who is leaving today at 5pm on a TA) that it is very expensive. A number of people at the presentation had already booked.

 

Ken was still feeling a little woozy, so while he took a break on our veranda, I went to try to spend some of our on board credit. We hadn't tried any of the specialty restaurants on our last trip and a very kind friend had given us additional credit for my birthday to enjoy at 'The Tuscan Grill'. A very nice couple we met from San Fransisco told us about the 3 dining package, so we decided to try that. I went to Guest Relations to wait to purchase the package. While waiting, a group was gathering for Latin dancing with Valentina. Instead of watching, I got out of line and joined in. Great fun and a bit of extra exercise. The 3000 calories that Valentina quoted was a bit of an exaggeration:') but it was fun and I joined in the dancing whenever I had a chance. Dance like no one is watching, but they were. I finally went up to the Concierge Desk on the 12th floor. I got more exercise, by climbing the stairs and on each floor stopping and walking around looking for the desk.

Got two dinners booked at The Tuscan Grill and one at Muranos. I wanted early reservations at the Tuscan, so we could look out those huge windows when it was still light. At Muranos I couldn't get a reservation before 8:30, almost bedtime. And this was only Day 3.

 

We stopped at the Ensemble Lounge for a beverage before dinner at the Opus. Along with people watching on vacation we love meeting new people. That afternoon at the Ensemble Lounge we met a charming couple (I say charming because they were southern and it fits) from Charleston, SA. I've considered traveling to Charleston in the past and speaking to this couple made me want to really make the trip. Maybe next Spring.

 

I had Sea Bass at the Opus for dinner. It was great. Ken had something that wasn't sea food.

We didn't attend the show in the evening. It was an Aretha Franklin tribute. I love the song RESPECT but I've heard it many time.

 

Tomorrow we see land. The people who have been feeling a bit seasick are rejoicing.

 

Here in the present in Central Ontario, the freezing rain has started. It is pouring. This is going to be bad. Our son works for Hydro One. He is going to be busy.

Till tomorrow, maybe; if we have power.

[Pepsi36]

I was on the same cruise. It's so lovely reliving it through your review.

[Silkroad]

Lovely review:). I hope you don’t lose power.

[jonsmom]

I am enjoying your review as I am scheduled to me on the same cruise next April. Can't wait to hear about your shore excursions. Here is Massachusetts it is also a cold day and heavy rain is expected today and tomorrow.:cool:

 

When will Spring come?

[Marvy Mare]

I was on the same cruise. It's so lovely reliving it through your review.

Thanks. Since we are kind of trapped in the house I’m getting more photos edited. Maybe you’ll see yourself in some of the photos.

 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

Lovely review:). I hope you don’t lose power.

 

Thanks. Me too. It’s pouring here & -5 C so not looking good. No high winds yet. That’s when the problems start.

[Marvy Mare]

I am enjoying your review as I am scheduled to me on the same cruise next April. Can't wait to hear about your shore excursions. Here is Massachusetts it is also a cold day and heavy rain is expected today and tomorrow.:cool:

 

When will Spring come?

 

I know. It’s awful. The weather we are getting is moving up through the states where there is heavy rain. Just below freezing here so that’s the problem. Tough you probably have some folding in your area.

I will be getting to shore excursions, maybe today. Well at least start the first one. I haven’t been to any of these islands before, so this t was all thrilling to me.

 

Maris

[Bimmer09]

Thanks. Since we are kind of trapped in the house I’m getting more photos edited. Maybe you’ll see yourself in some of the photos.

Maris

 

Maris, a lot colder where you are but we are getting our share of rain in Chicago. If you are editing photos in Lightroom that's a good use of your time indoors!

The sunrise pictures are fantastically vivid and as an early riser myself I can appreciate them even more. You have a fine eye for composition!

Kudos!

Norris

[Marvy Mare]

Maris, a lot colder where you are but we are getting our share of rain in Chicago. If you are editing photos in Lightroom that's a good use of your time indoors!

The sunrise pictures are fantastically vivid and as an early riser myself I can appreciate them even more. You have a fine eye for composition!

Kudos!

Norris

 

 

Thanks so much Norris. That means a lot because I love your photos and reviews. I’m not too upset by this weather. We’ve been so busy since we got home I haven’t had a lot of time to work on photos. Being trapped indoors is perfect. Unlike many photographers, I enjoy editing. Lightroom is great. Can’t get a handle on Photoshop though.

 

Maris