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

[Noreen411]

I am still having some issues with posting the pictures from the IPad so I am back to toggling between the IPad and the phone.

 

Using the cruise critic app or Tapatalk app is still easier than what I did in the past, even with the toggling.

 

 

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[Noreen411]

The day before the cruise - Florida - Sunday 4/1/18

 

Just after 1am, we reached the South of the Border rest area right after we crossed into South Carolina. Everything was closed but we drove through, took a few pictures, got out of the car to stretch our legs a bit, then we continued on our way.

 

 

 

Scott was hungry so we stopped at this place called Huddle House. Neither of us ever heard of it before, but it was open 24 hours and there were people there eating. He ordered a cheeseburger and onion rings to go. I didn’t want anything. He ate that in the car and said it wasn’t very good. He said it was very greasy.

 

 

We reached Georgia about 4:30am.

 

It was very foggy around 6am.

 

 

 

We saw some cars pulled to the side of the road with their hazards on waiting out the fog.

 

We pulled off and parked by a hotel and gas station for a bit waiting for the fog to lift.

 

Scott fell asleep for 1/2 hour.

 

By then the fog lifted and we were able to continue our drive.

 

 

 

 

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Edited April 27, 2018 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Sunday 4/1/18 - Florida - Continued

 

We reached Florida about 7:15am

 

We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center but the main room was closed since it’s Easter. The bathrooms were open. There were vending machines I think (unless I’m mixing this up with another rest stop). There were more people at this rest stop than most of the other ones we stopped at.

 

 

We walked around a bit and took a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

I gave Scott a chocolate Easter Bunny since it is Easter.

 

 

We continued our drive south.

 

This seemed like the longest stretch of the trip. Once we reached Florida we still had hours to drive until we got to Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Sunday 4/1/18 - Florida - Continued

 

We arrived at Embassy Suites about 1pm and valet parked the car.

 

I signed up online to pay extra for early arrival if rooms were available, but the room was not ready yet. As we were driving I received an email saying they didn’t have rooms available yet so I knew before we got there that the room most likely would not be ready. I kept hoping that by the time we got there, one would be but it didn’t happen.

 

We took a walk around the hotel a bit and took some pictures in the lobby and out by the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a walk outside to see what was nearby. We didn’t feel like driving around after spending the last so many hours in the car.

 

We went to the hotel bar to have a drink. I had a Blue Lagoon and Scott had a Gin & Tonic. We chatted with the bartender for a while.

 

We met a nice couple who were doing a transatlantic cruise on the Crown Princess for something like 17 days and then spending 10 days in Holland. They are traveling with one suitcase for both of them. That shocked us. They said they have self service laundry on Princess and will do laundry frequently. Even when we go to Disney and stay at the timeshare with a washer and dryer right in the villa, we still have more luggage than that. We are overpackers and not embarrassed by it.

 

We were getting hungry and thinking about maybe just going and having a real early dinner while we’re waiting for the room to be ready.

 

 

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[StillLooking4Adventure]

Looking forward to reading more We are on a TA cruise on the Reflection next October.

[Ex-vogue model]

What a great review and looking forward to reading the rest. My husband and I over pack too - we pack for every eventuality! Looking forward to hearing about your overnight in Aruba as this is a place I have always had on my hit list to go to - I love sunbathing and husband loves shopping and casinos so it seems to tick all the boxes[emoji3]

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Looking forward to reading more We are on a TA cruise on the Reflection next October.

 

 

 

Thank you

 

The sailing after ours was a TA.

I was disappointed we had to get off and couldn’t stay in.

 

We had a great time on Reflection

 

 

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[Noreen411]

What a great review and looking forward to reading the rest. My husband and I over pack too - we pack for every eventuality! Looking forward to hearing about your overnight in Aruba as this is a place I have always had on my hit list to go to - I love sunbathing and husband loves shopping and casinos so it seems to tick all the boxes[emoji3]

 

 

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Hi

 

We liked Aruba a lot.

 

Having the overnight was great.

 

Aruba Trikes was so much fun and a great way to see the island.

 

Our regret is not going to a beach the first day. We thought first docking at 3 was too late to first go to a beach, but in hindsight we should have.

 

 

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Sunday 4/1/18 - Florida - Continued

 

Just as we were about to leave to go eat, we received a text at 10 to 4 that our room is ready.

 

The front desk also gave us a code for the vending machine so we can get snacks/soda if we want.

 

We are in room 1117. It’s a nice room with a living room area including a mini refrigerator, sink and coffee maker, a separate bedroom area, bathroom, and little balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only problem is it smells like mildew in the living room area near the refrigerator and sink. Scott thinks it smells like puke.

 

We are able to see ships from the balcony. There was a Holland America ship, a Princess ship, I think Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, and maybe another Royal Caribbean ship.

 

 

We have a routine whenever we get into any hotel room, cruise ship cabin, etc...Scott takes the Lysol wipes and cleans the surfaces. Probably overkill, but it makes us feel better. We keep the package of wipes in the outside zipper pocket of his carry on bag so it’s easy to access.

 

Since we were able to get into the room, we showered and changed to go have dinner.

 

Before leaving the hotel, Scott told the front desk about the smell in the room and they thanked us for telling them and will take care of it while we’re out having dinner.

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2018 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Sunday 4/1/18 - Florida - Continued

 

We went to Carrabas for dinner. We were able to walk right over. I was surprised we were seated right away being Easter Sunday, but it was pretty early (just about 5pm).

 

 

We enjoyed the bread and salad.

 

 

 

We had the mussels appetizer which wasn’t very good. Many of them weren’t open and the ones that were tasted very “fishy”. When the waiter asked how they were, Scott told him. The manager came over and took them away and said she will take it off our bill. We didn’t expect that, but it was very nice of her to do so.

 

 

We had a pizza with sausage, meatball, and mushroom. This was OK.

 

 

We also had the Mezzaluna pasta. This was the best of the food that we ordered.

 

 

We shared everything.

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Sunday 4/1/18 - Florida - Continued

 

For dessert we ordered the Sogno di Cioccolata Chocolate Dream dessert. This was the best thing we ate at Carrabas.

 

It looked very much like the picture in the menu too.

 

 

 

 

We didn’t go to happy hour at the hotel bar since we went to dinner early and were tired.

 

When we got back to our room, we noticed that someone had come to our room while we were gone and did more cleaning and spraying to get rid of the mildew smell. It was much better now.

 

We were so tired we got in our pajamas and were both asleep by 7:30

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embark Celebrity Reflection - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

When we woke up we saw ships from our balcony but weren’t quite sure which one was ours. It looked like there were two Celebrity ships that we were able to see.

 

 

We went to the hotel gym around 6am. It is small but has everything you need. There were a few elliptical machines, a few treadmills, a stationary bike, some weights, etc.

 

After our workout, we showered and got dressed.

 

We got our bags organized.

 

We looked out again now that it’s light out to try to see the ships more clearly.

 

 

We went down to the buffet breakfast at the hotel. I had yogurt and granola. Scott had cereal and fruit. It was jam packed with people getting breakfast. We found a table on the other side from where most people were sitting.

 

I received an email with my checkout information so we didn’t need to stop at the front desk.

 

We went back upstairs to get our luggage and figured we should probably get going sooner rather than later since the elevators are small and with all the people trying to go up and down it could take a while. And we still had to go to the airport to return the car.

 

We drove to Fort Lauderdale airport to return the rental car. We pulled in and when they scanned our car and gave us a receipt there was a problem...

 

It was supposed to cost just under $500.

 

The receipt was over $4,500. I asked the woman that handed it to me about it. She said that I didn’t fill up the tank with gas so had to pay an additional $40. I told her I am OK with the extra $40 for gas, but was concerned about the extra $4,000. She said we need to go to the inside counter to straighten that out.

 

The guy at the counter was as puzzled as we were. I had my rental agreement with the price clearly noted. Whatever he had to do, he got it fixed. He said he did a manual override.

 

We walked for what felt like ages to find the taxi line with all of our luggage.

 

The cab driver was very friendly and the ride to the ship was pretty quick. We were at the furthest terminal so the ships we were looking at from the hotel and thinking one was ours...it wasn’t.

 

The first sighting of the ship is always exciting.

 

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2018 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embark Celebrity Reflection - Continued

 

I mentioned to the cab driver that we are in a suite and supposed to go to an area called Special Delivery to drop our luggage. It’s only the second sailing where this program is in place so it’s new to everyone. He said he knew where it is.

 

When we arrived the porters and policeman there helping said to leave the luggage with the porters. I mentioned the Special Delivery area for suites and they insisted it’s after dropping the luggage off here with the porters. So we left our luggage with them.

 

We found the Special Delivery entrance. Once they checked that we were in the Royal Suite and belonged in that area, they asked where our luggage is. I explained that we were told by the porters, taxi driver, and policeman to leave it with the regular porters. They tsk tsk’d about it being a new program and people not being aware of it. They said not to worry, they will go get the luggage from the porters for us.

 

One of the men working there was assigned to us and they lifted the ropes and he escorted us in. He took us right through security and took us past various lines right to a check in desk.

 

We were given our room cards in a silver folder.

 

 

The silver folder had our cards, a letter from the Captain about Michael’s club and Luminae, a guide to the features of the ship, and business cards for the concierges in Michael’s Club.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of Scott’s card (but it looked the same)

 

 

We were also handed the Celebrity Early Edition paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embark Celebrity Reflection - Continued

 

He passed us off to a woman who took over from there.

 

We stopped to take our Embarkation Photo. I always like to buy these.

 

 

She whisked us past all the lines. Basically saying “Excuse Me” to everyone already lined up and having them move over for us to pass through. We got a few dirty looks. But the woman did this in a way so we were sort of shielded. She would say “excuse me” and have people move to one side, then she would stand in front of them with her arms outstretched for us to walk by.

 

She took us right onto the ship and directly to Michael’s Club. It was pretty empty when we got there. We were probably in Michael’s Club by 11:30 or so.

 

 

We met the two concierges in Michael’s Club, Denisa and Nadia.

 

They sat us down and had us get drinks. I had sprite. Scott had a gin & tonic. He normally doesn’t drink alcohol during the day but made an exception here.

 

They looked over our dining plans for the week. For the night we are scheduled for QSine, they mentioned it’s now a new dinner show called Le Petit Chef with two seatings so we chose the 6pm seating for that.

 

There was a lady from the spa walking around Michael’s Club to see if you wanted to book anything. They were offering some embarkation day specials. We both signed up for facials right after the muster drill. I already have a massage booked for my birthday.

 

Scott stayed in Michael’s Club while I wandered the ship a bit, just on the 4th and 5th floor (we’ll do the rest of the wandering together). He wanted me to go so he could talk to the concierges about some ideas for my birthday. He didn’t tell me that, but I knew that is what he was up to.

 

The ship is still pretty empty.

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

I took a little stroll around the deck taking some pictures.

 

Outside Michael’s Club, the bar area I think is called Ensemble Lounge

 

 

From there is a hallway leading to some of the specialty restaurants

 

 

This log is interesting

 

 

I walked into Tuscan Grill

 

 

I walked into QSine

 

 

I walked into Blu

 

 

This is probably the best time to take some of these pictures before everyone else is on the ship.

 

 

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[CHEZMARYLOU]

Enjoying your review. We are on Reflection in a Royal Suite for my birthday in November. When we sailed on Silhouette in February they did not have the special luggage area set up but we were escorted right onto the ship to MC.

[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

I continued strolling around

 

I walked into Murano

 

 

I thought this wall of flowers was interesting in the hallway

 

 

I saw the Gelato counter. We never made it here to try any gelato.

 

 

I saw Cafe Al Bacio but they were just setting up and the shelves were still empty.

 

 

I saw the Theater

 

 

I walked into Sushi on 5

 

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

I figured I wandered enough for now and went back to Michael’s Club to get Scott.

 

When I got back to Michael’s Club, we left our carry on bags there and went to Luminae for lunch.

 

We stopped outside to take a picture by a lifeboat.

 

 

And I took a picture of one of the life saver rings.

 

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

We were at Luminae just after noon.

 

 

 

 

 

We both had soda. I like that they use canned soda. We both prefer that over fountain soda.

 

We didn’t want to eat too much for lunch.

 

We shared the salmon sashimi appetizer.

 

 

We also shared the duck confit club sandwich. We were originally going to share a burger, but a guy at a table near us had the duck sandwich and it looked good so I asked him what he was eating. So we went with the duck confit club sandwich.

 

 

The waiter was surprised we didn’t want more to eat and we didn’t want dessert.

 

Lunch was good.

 

We like to share meals sometimes otherwise we get over stuffed.

 

We checked on the cats at home and saw there is snow at home too.

 

 

 

 

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[Noreen411]

Sunday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

After eating we walked around a bit

 

We saw a row of shops

 

 

We saw the casino. The casino is much smaller than the ones I am used on Royal Caribbean ships, but I’m usually on larger ships so it makes sense.

 

 

 

We looked down over the Centrum area

 

 

The decor is very nice around the ship. It’s very classy but cozy at the same time.

 

We went back to Michael’s Club to pick up our carry on bags so we could go to our suite since cabins are open now.

 

 

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[tomcruiser1234]

Very nice review

 

We were on the same cruise in a Sky Suite and never saw you guys....we were always in the back corner of Luminae with a group of very loud...lol air trafficking control girls..had a blast.

 

Keep it coming, still feel like we’re there

[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

We are in cabin 1241 but it’s on the 10th deck. That was a little confusing for us at first since we assumed it starts with 12, we’ll be on the 12th deck. But we found it. The cabin is very conveniently located right near the elevators.

 

 

We have a door bell.

 

 

Our luggage was there before we were.

 

It’s really a great cabin. We took pictures.

 

When you first walk into the cabin to the left is the guest half bathroom with a toilet and a sink.

 

 

To the right when you first walk in is the wet bar area with mini refrigerator, wine fridge, sink, cabinets, and our beverages that we requested from the shoreside concierge.

 

 

 

In front of the wet bar is the dining table with six chairs.

 

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2018 by Noreen411

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

Enjoying/Loving your review, and following along. We booked the same cruise for next year (Thanksgiving timeframe). Thanks for all the details and pictures.

[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

Beyond that is the living room. The living room has a couch, loveseat, chair, TV, coffee table, a smaller end table, a plant, a closet along with more storage areas.

 

 

 

 

 

There is champagne and glasses as well as apples on the coffee table. That’s in addition to the full bar set up we have at the wet bar.

 

 

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2018 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Monday 4/2/18 - Embarkation Day - Continued

 

To the left of the living room is the bedroom. The bedroom area has a bed, TV, desk, full length mirror, and nightstands.

 

 

 

The bed has two remote controls - one for each side. We can raise or lower our feet or head or the bed can massage you.

 

There is a walk in closet in the bedroom with a dresser in it, a safe, and rods of hangers on either side. There is also shelf storage above the rods of hangers.

 

One side had life jackets up there. There were two robes, two pairs of slippers, an umbrella, binoculars and some other stuff in the closet in case we wanted to use them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2018 by Noreen411