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Reflection - Review - Ultimate Caribbean - April 2, 2018 - April 13, 2018


Noreen411
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The first time I was in Aruba I was so surprised at the desert and all those cacti! Your pictures made me remember that.

 

 

I am enjoying your review! we will be on the Reflection March 1, 2019 for the Mardi Gras Cruise. You should look at that one for your next Celebrity cruise! You seem like you would be fun to be around!

 

 

 

 

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Hi

 

Thank you.

 

I looked at it and I have never been to New Orleans but we already have a cruise on Royal Caribbean booked for February 2019. 12 nights out of Bayonne so easy to get to. We also are going with others so would feel bad to switch.

 

I am hoping to find a cruise for Scott’s 50th bday (June 2019) but there aren’t many options for the Caribbean. I suggested Alaska or Europe since his birthday is the right time for those cruises but he wants the Caribbean maybe. He still hasn’t decided for sure.

 

 

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Noreen, Celebrity Equinox sails the Caribbean over the summer. But, I highly recommend an Alaska cruise on Millennium with time on land, either on your own or as a cruise tour. Granted there are no beaches and the weather can be iffy but we have done it 3 times. There is even a port that offers snorkeling. Last time in a RS and we sailed the inner passage lounging in our on balcony spa tub. How great is that? Vancouver is also a great place to visit.

 

Tell Scott he can still take his T-shirts and can also load up on sweat shirts from Alaska. Lived in NJ for a while and it gets as cold as the burgh.

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea

 

We went to the gym around 6:45am

 

Walter delivered our room service breakfast before we returned.

 

We showered and got dressed.

 

We enjoyed our last room service breakfast since tomorrow we disembark so will have breakfast in Luminae.

 

Scott had blueberry pancakes. He said they were very good. I liked that they were baked with blueberries in them, rather than plain pancakes with some blueberry compote.

 

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He also had bacon. A huge plateful of bacon.

 

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I had my yogurt/granola parfait.

 

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We also had a basket of pastries.

 

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We had fresh squeezed orange juice, cappuccino for Scott and Iced cappuccino for me.

 

This room service breakfast is really nice. I was initially reluctant to order it since I worry about being rushed if we aren’t finished at the gym when it’s getting delivered. Knowing Walter will just leave it for us made it so easy. And he didn’t just leave it stacked on the table. He would set it up on the table for us. It was so nice. We would have been fine if he just left it stacked too. We always made sure to stack the dirty dishes on the tray when we were done even though he kept telling us he’ll take care of it.

 

I noticed that the laundry was delivered and hanging in the closet. I’m not sure when it showed up but I just noticed it. The shirts and shorts are back, but the bag with the socks and underwear is missing.

 

We called Walter (there is a button on the phone that says Butler) and we told him about the missing items. He said he will find them for us.

 

Scott realized he was missing his hat and sunglasses but remembered that he left them at Blu at lunch yesterday so we stopped there. They said they held them all day yesterday hoping we’d come back, but dropped them at Guest Services last night when we didn’t come by. No problem, we went to Guest Services and he was able to get his hat and sunglasses back very quickly.

 

We went to the 10:15 cooking steak demo at the Lawn Club Grill. It was the same chef from the Paella class and he was very good. We learned a few new things. Scott likes to cook so is enjoying all these classes.

 

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Noreen, Celebrity Equinox sails the Caribbean over the summer. But, I highly recommend an Alaska cruise on Millennium with time on land, either on your own or as a cruise tour. Granted there are no beaches and the weather can be iffy but we have done it 3 times. There is even a port that offers snorkeling. Last time in a RS and we sailed the inner passage lounging in our on balcony spa tub. How great is that? Vancouver is also a great place to visit.

 

Tell Scott he can still take his T-shirts and can also load up on sweat shirts from Alaska. Lived in NJ for a while and it gets as cold as the burgh.

 

 

 

Trust me - I’ve been suggesting Alaska for his birthday. While he initially was interested, he doesn’t like to fly so that’s getting him more interested in sticking to the Caribbean where we can drive to the port to get on the ship.

 

I’m going to keep trying. We haven’t booked his birthday cruise yet. I saw the Equinox sailing and the same RS we had on this cruise is available his birthday week so that’s a possibility.

 

Since he enjoyed the balcony hot tub, I’m going to mention that he can do that in Alaska too. And the sweatshirts - he loves T shirts and Sweatshirts.

 

I think we would both love a cruise to Alaska. Neither of us have ever been. Given how much we overpack for the Caribbean, I can only imagine how much luggage we would need for Alaska.

 

Thank you

Noreen

 

 

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Trust me - I’ve been suggesting Alaska for his birthday. While he initially was interested, he doesn’t like to fly so that’s getting him more interested in sticking to the Caribbean where we can drive to the port to get on the ship.

 

I’m going to keep trying. We haven’t booked his birthday cruise yet. I saw the Equinox sailing and the same RS we had on this cruise is available his birthday week so that’s a possibility.

 

Since he enjoyed the balcony hot tub, I’m going to mention that he can do that in Alaska too. And the sweatshirts - he loves T shirts and Sweatshirts.

 

I think we would both love a cruise to Alaska. Neither of us have ever been. Given how much we overpack for the Caribbean, I can only imagine how much luggage we would need for Alaska.

 

Thank you

Noreen

 

 

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Flying has always been the sticking point for my DH but Alaska was worth it for him. Try business class and Ativan, works wonders. After 18 cruises I've learned to cut the packing down to the point that I ran out of casual clothes on our February Caribbean cruise. What ever you decide, have a good cruise.

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About that cruise to New Orleans, the Reflection stays 3 days docked in NO — during Mardi Gras. Ship leaves at 10 pm on Fat Tuesday. That is why we chose that sailing. There will be another one like that in 2020. Might start 2/21/20. Just an FYI because a lot of people don’t know about that special sailing every year on the Reflection.

 

 

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About that cruise to New Orleans, the Reflection stays 3 days docked in NO — during Mardi Gras. Ship leaves at 10 pm on Fat Tuesday. That is why we chose that sailing. There will be another one like that in 2020. Might start 2/21/20. Just an FYI because a lot of people don’t know about that special sailing every year on the Reflection.

 

 

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Hi

 

Thank you for the info.

 

We looked at that along with a few others for winter 2020.

 

We have booked 12 nights on Celebrity Silhouette.

 

I’ll put more details on how we chose later in the review.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea - Continued

 

We played Bocce ball with Rich and Eileen. It was such an easy and fun thing to do. Especially taking off our flip flops and walking around in the grass barefoot while playing.

 

The sunset bar was pretty crowded so there were a lot of people watching us play.

 

We hung out at the Sunset bar after our Bocce Ball game for a while just enjoying the last day of the trip.

 

We stopped back at our cabin to start pulling the luggage out.

 

Our missing laundry was found and sitting on the bed in a bag.

 

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There were also documents about leaving the ship in general as well as our Luggage Valet info.

 

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Scott was invited to play in the 2pm Blackjack Tournament. He was among the last two people in his round, but was knocked out.

 

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea Continued

 

We were hungry for lunch after the blackjack tournament. We walked over to the Lawn Club Grill but it was already closed. They closed at 1:30.

 

We decided to get Sushi. Scott went to pick up the sushi to go.

 

I went back to the cabin to start packing.

 

When Scott got back we ate at the dining table.

 

We had the California Roll with scallops on top.

 

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We had a shrimp tempura roll with eel on top.

 

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And we had a shrimp tempura roll with spicy tuna on top.

 

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We shared the three rolls. We are both very impressed with the sushi. It tastes great.

 

At 3:30 we went to the photography studio to look at the pictures from our photo shoot yesterday. They turn down the lights and play the photos as a slideshow to romantic music. Then we narrowed them down to our favorites. There was one that I really liked and wanted to buy, but you can’t buy just one. They have different packages which were crazy expensive. I expected it to be a bit more than the regular photos when I found out it was separate. The regular photos (like the boarding photo or the pirate photo) were $25 for an 8*10 or $15 for a 5*7. The prices for these packages were ridiculous. The smallest package was something like 5 prints for $500. We ended up not getting any. There weren’t 5 that I really liked.

 

I think it’s pretty silly for them to force you to buy a package and not have the option to buy individual pictures. Even if they charged $50 for one picture I would have bought the one I liked.

 

We went back to our cabin and did the majority of our packing.

 

We went in the jacuzzi on the balcony and enjoyed spending time there.

 

Rich and Eileen came by a little later and we hung out for a while.

 

Walter stopped by so we asked about disembarking tomorrow. He said we should go to Michael’s Club when we are ready to leave and they will take us out a separate exit.

 

 

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Friday 4/6/18 - Cartagena Colombia - Continued

 

We ran into Rich and Eileen so caught up with them. They were unhappy with their carriage ride tour in Cartagena. I went with Eileen to the shore excursion desk so she can tell them about it.

 

We were all hanging out on Deck 5 and it was a bit rainy so we stayed under the overhang to stay dry.

 

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We were talking about trying to go to dinner together during the trip. They wanted to go to Tuscan Grille but when they tried to get a reservation were told it was fully booked. We will ask Walter if it’s possible to make a reservation for Tuscan Grille for the 4 of us on Tuesday.

 

Scott and I went back to our cabin to shower and get dressed for the evening.

 

We took some pictures of the ocean and sunset on our way to dinner. The seas have been so calm, like glass.

 

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I’m loving your review, Noreen. My sisters and I (along with our families) are sailing on the Reflection next summer (to Scandinavia and Russia), and we are so enjoying your detailed review, especially because we’ve never sailed with Celebrity. The perks that come with the Royal Suite sound amazing! Thanks for taking the time to write all of this. When I sit down to read it, it’s like digging into a good book.

 

 

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I’m loving your review, Noreen. My sisters and I (along with our families) are sailing on the Reflection next summer (to Scandinavia and Russia), and we are so enjoying your detailed review, especially because we’ve never sailed with Celebrity. The perks that come with the Royal Suite sound amazing! Thanks for taking the time to write all of this. When I sit down to read it, it’s like digging into a good book.

 

 

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Thank you very much.

 

I enjoy writing these, but even more so when I know others are enjoying them too.

 

I always learn so much from cruise critic, that I hope I can help others.

 

The Royal Suite was amazing.

 

Sounds like you have a great itinerary for your cruise.

 

I’m hoping to get some more posted this weekend.

 

Any questions you can think of, feel free to ask.

 

Thank you again

Noreen

 

 

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea - Continued

 

We had dinner at the Lawn Club Grill.

 

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When we first sat down, the sun was shining right in my eyes and I keep squinting. Scott switched seats with me so he had to sit there with his sunglasses on.

 

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Scott got some olives, cucumbers, corn, onion, and sausage from the salad bar. He stuffed his olives with pieces of sausage. I, of course, found this very cute and amusing.

 

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea - Continued

 

I had the Veal Chop, a shrimp and scallop skewer, and a side of dirty rice.

 

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Scott ordered the snapper, the salmon, a shrimp and scallop skewer, and a side of lobster macaroni and cheese. He originally just ordered the snapper, but the waiter convinced him to get the salmon too since he said the snapper is a small piece. Both the snapper and the salmon were very good.

 

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We both had soda and I think Scott also had his favorite Mer Soleil wine.

 

We saw another pretty sunset.

 

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I went out to the railing to get a better view and take a few pictures.

 

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Walking back Scott is waving at me - how cute is he?

 

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea - Continued

 

Damir, one of the waiter in the Lawn Club Grill, was great. He was funny and joked around with us and really made us feel comfortable there.

 

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My Veal chop was very fatty. When our waiter saw I wasn’t eating it, he brought me a chicken skewer. This was pretty good.

 

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For dessert we had the warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream to share. The waiters kept trying to get us each to have our own.

 

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This is so good. After we finished, it didn’t take much convincing from the waiters, and they brought us another one to share.

 

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We really enjoyed our meal at the Lawn Club Grill.

 

We walked around outside for a bit.

 

The chairs at the sky bar light up at night.

 

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The towels are all taken away from the shelves by the pool so no late night swim the last night. I don’t know if that was done each night or just the last night. We happened to notice it tonight as we walked around the pool.

 

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Great report!!!! Your pictures are beautiful!

We were on the Equinox in February and felt the same way about the buffet food. Everything looked great, but just a couple items tasted good. We loved the food everywhere else though!

We also did the achery contest on the Equinox, but everyone that signed up got to play. Probably 50 people, and I don't know how many officers. It took hours, but was fun.

We are also looking for another Caribbean cruise in February out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. Haven't narrowed it down yet.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

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Great report!!!! Your pictures are beautiful!

 

 

 

We were on the Equinox in February and felt the same way about the buffet food. Everything looked great, but just a couple items tasted good. We loved the food everywhere else though!

 

 

 

We also did the achery contest on the Equinox, but everyone that signed up got to play. Probably 50 people, and I don't know how many officers. It took hours, but was fun.

 

 

 

We are also looking for another Caribbean cruise in February out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. Haven't narrowed it down yet.

 

 

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

 

 

 

Thank you very much for your kind words.

 

I was very surprised how few people were able to participate in Archery. I think if your name wasn’t called many lost interest and left since after watching a few strangers play, it lost the appeal when you weren’t going to get to try too.

 

I am super excited to go on my next Celebrity cruise. Right now that’s not until 2020 but I am wondering if I can squeeze another one in before then. We already have a couple of trips planned between Disney World and cruising on Royal Caribbean. So many choices and not enough time to do them all.

 

I’m sure whichever Caribbean cruise you choose will be great.

 

Thank you again

Noreen

 

 

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I know you hated your cruise to end but looking forward to your disembarkation experience.

 

 

 

I know - I’m really slacking right?

 

I am hoping to get some more done over the weekend. This past weekend I didn’t get as much posted as I was hoping to.

 

Thank you for sticking with me

 

 

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:cool: Great read, thank you.

 

 

 

I am glad you are enjoying it.

 

I like to write these reviews - it helps me relive the trip and gives me something to look back on later when the memories start to blur together.

 

Knowing other people are enjoying it makes me enjoy writing them even more

 

Thank you

Noreen

 

 

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No pressure, our cruise on Reflection is not until November, was just hoping that you were going to continue. Our February cruise did not include the special luggage area for embarkation and they did not have a clue in the terminal when we disembarked. We ran into a porter from an earlier trip and he said he tried to tell them that the suite's luggage should be "over there" and that we should have priority. He stayed with us until they opened the ropes, got our luggage on his cart, over to a dedicated agent and to the front of the taxi line. His tips have been some of the best money we have spent on a curise.

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Thank you very much for your kind words.

 

I was very surprised how few people were able to participate in Archery. I think if your name wasn’t called many lost interest and left since after watching a few strangers play, it lost the appeal when you weren’t going to get to try too.

 

I am super excited to go on my next Celebrity cruise. Right now that’s not until 2020 but I am wondering if I can squeeze another one in before then. We already have a couple of trips planned between Disney World and cruising on Royal Caribbean. So many choices and not enough time to do them all.

 

I’m sure whichever Caribbean cruise you choose will be great.

 

Thank you again

Noreen

 

 

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We also enjoy Disney (World and Land? - where do you recommend to stay in Orlando?

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No pressure, our cruise on Reflection is not until November, was just hoping that you were going to continue. Our February cruise did not include the special luggage area for embarkation and they did not have a clue in the terminal when we disembarked. We ran into a porter from an earlier trip and he said he tried to tell them that the suite's luggage should be "over there" and that we should have priority. He stayed with us until they opened the ropes, got our luggage on his cart, over to a dedicated agent and to the front of the taxi line. His tips have been some of the best money we have spent on a curise.

 

 

 

Hi

 

I will definitely finish the review. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people start and never finish reviews. I know it’s taking a long time.

 

The special delivery at embarkation was new. We were only the second sailing that had it. By the time your trip in November gets here hopefully they have their act together with it.

 

For disembarking we did luggage valet so just left with our carryon bags and didn’t see our checked luggage until we got off the plane in NJ so not sure how that would have worked if we needed to claim luggage. Once we got off the ship we just joined the line for customs. I know on our prior cruises out of Bayonne NJ luggage would be in a special section for suites and the concierge would get your off the ship, get your porter for you and then the porter took you to a special customs line and out to the car.

 

Thank you

Noreen

 

 

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We also enjoy Disney (World and Land? - where do you recommend to stay in Orlando?

 

 

 

Hi

 

I have only been to DisneyLand (California) a few times so not an expert on that coast.

 

However, I go to Disney World (Florida) very often. We are annual pass holders to Disney World and even have a timeshare down there.

 

As far as where to stay in Orlando, there are tons of options and it really depends what you want.

 

Disney has many resorts to choose from. They have resorts at various price points. And all their resorts have different themes. They offer transportation that includes buses, boats, and monorails. Some resorts are easier to get to different parks than others. They also let people rent their DVC (timeshare) properties which are more like villas and range from studio to multiple bedrooms.

 

If you like Epcot and Hollywood Studios, I’m a big fan of either the Boardwalk Resort or Yacht & Beach Club resort. They have boats that take you to either Epcot or Hollywood studios or you can walk to those parks too. You would use a bus to Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom. Both of those resorts also have villas (DVC) as well as regular rooms.

 

If you love animals, Animal Kingdom lodge is great. You can get a Savannah view room and see animals from your own balcony. They also have villas as well as regular rooms. It’s sort of out of the way and all transportation provided by disney is by bus.

 

If your focus is Magic Kingdom, the Polynesian is on the monorail and makes it easy to get to Magic Kingdom. You can switch monorails to go to Epcot and the other parks are by bus. Also the Grand Floridian (where I often recommend people traveling without children to go) and Contemporary are on the monorail.

 

There are also tons of offsite (non Disney) resorts to stay at. They are usually less costly than Disney and often larger rooms. However, you don’t get to be immersed in Disney magic 24 hours a day (could be good or bad depending on your perspective). You also don’t get some of the onsite perks like extra magic hours.

 

I personally like to have a car at Disney even though it’s not really needed when staying on Disney property. I’m not a fan of public transportation. I drive into NYC for work rather than taking a train or bus from NJ and most people think I’m nuts.

 

I know I am going on and on about Disney but there are so many choices and options. You won’t go wrong with any of them. I have stayed at many of the Disney resorts over the years and they are all great.

 

If you want to chat more about Disney, feel free to email me at

NoreenChin at yahoo dot com (using normal email format). I’m happy to provide more info here as well but figured email may be easier for us to chat back and forth.

 

 

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