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CHICAGOPAUL - LIVE!!!!!!! CRUISE BLOG - November 5th Celebrity Reflection!!!!!!!!!


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8 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Hi Paul

Glad to see you are back Live blogging. I will of course be following you, whilst tracking Valentina as she is now on her way crossing the Atlantic aboard the Edge.

Peter

 

 

Hi Paul

I always follow your blogs though I hate to admit I am a lurker. Hope I spelled that

correctly.  If possible would you check the cost to upgrade to a premium package

while on board.  There is a lot of discussion on the boards regarding same.  I have

been told that as of Jan 1st the cost is $10 plus gratuities but not until then.   I am

one of the unfortunate cruisers if this is true as I have paid $14 to upgrade.  Thanks

much.  I leave on the Reflection when you return.  So wish I could have had the

opportunity to meet you both at the martini bar!

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Ahhhhh, a Nebbiolo.  One of the Paso Robles wineries, Adelaida (great Cali Pinot) had a Nebbiolo open for tasting, and we re-connected with Italian wine.  I will look for the Renato in my wine wanderings.  Thanks for posting the bottle.  I was just on my way to ask the same wine question.

 

A quick aside, Costco in North Ft. Lauderdale had an amazingly huge selection of Italian wines this past February. We perused their offerings without buying, but in a few weeks, when we return, we will be armed with proper boxes, luggage, etc.....

 

Happy Embarcation to you both tomorrow, 

Scanditaly

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Hi Paul,

Pulling up a seat to hear about your next voyage. We enjoy following along on your and Edward’s journeys. We are sailing on the Eclipse TA Barcelona to Buenos Aires in a couple of weeks. If you have a chance, can you see what the onboard future booking incentives are?

 

Bon Voyage!

Ed and Kathy

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It is always a please to follow your itinerary with you!  How do you get insurance so cheaply?  Mine always costs a fortune, but maybe it is because I do Europe...

 

You definitely have the very best reviews!!!

Edited by Lastdance
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3 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Paul do you get the Gold, Silver or Platinum coverage wit AIG?

Norma

 

I'm not sure which plan it is specifically. I know our medical evac is unlimited with no cap and our medical coverage, outside of medical evacuation is $50k per person. Accidental death is $25k

 

4 hours ago, Lastdance said:

It is always a please to follow your itinerary with you!  How do you get insurance so cheaply?  Mine always costs a fortune, but maybe it is because I do Europe...

 

You definitely have the very best reviews!!!

 

I'm guessing it is just due to our age. We've noticed the $74.00 price is consistent on cruises that are 14 days or less for us. However, this is just medical and does not cover trip cancellation, etc. We have that coverage through our credit cards. We do use "InsureMyTrip" to compare plans and purchase.

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Good Evening everyone. I wanted to take a quick moment to update you on our day here in Miami Beach before we join the Reflection tomorrow morning. I'll also post a few photos after this as well.

 

We had the wonderful benefit of the time change last night which gave us an extra hour. We ended up going to bed around 12:30am last night and the extra hour helped. We ended up getting up around 8:30am or so and the weather today was much better than yesterday. Mid 80s, a bit humid, but nice and sunny with a light breeze. We took our time in the morning checking e-mails and social media while watching the news. We walked south down Collins to Starbucks for some coffee and then headed to South Beach to walk around. We walked down Lincoln and then decided to have brunch on Ocean Drive. We ended up at The Front Porch Cafe at Ocean Drive & 15th. There was a decent line for a table but we ended up squeezing our way in at the bar. We both ordered a vodka and grapefruit juice and then I had the breakfast tacos and Edward had a Denver omelette. I forgot to take photos of the food but you'll see a drink photo below!

 

After this we walked all the way back to 40th and Collins where our hotel is. On the way we stopped at Walgreens and picked up some water and some Tums which we were not able to pick up before we left. These are very important for us when traveling especially with all the rich food and the drinking. Once we got back to the hotel we took a nap and then go up to head to happy hour which starts at 4pm. The Confidante has an awesome happy hour. All of their specialty cocktails, beers, and wine by the glass are half off. They also usually have one or two food items half off as well. So we sat outside at the pool / garden bar and had a couple glasses of wine. We then took a beer each to go and walked down the beach. It was a beautiful night to stroll along the beach as the sunset and listen to the ocean.

 

I want to take a moment to give you a quick review of our hotel, The Confidante Hyatt between 40th and 41st on Collins in Miami Beach.  As I mentioned before we paid 15,000 Hyatt Points per night for this hotel with no resort fee. At the time of booking the hotel was priced just over $300 a night. There is also a $30 per night resort fee. Right before traveling we noticed pricing dropped to around $240 a night plus the fee.

 

The downside of this hotel is it is a bit far north compared to the happening South Beach, but you are close to the Cadillac as well as the Fontainebleau. The exterior of the hotel looks new, but it is an older building. The elevators for instance are slower and not the best. The lobby area is small and ceilings not tall. It has a retro feel as you might expect from a boutique style hotel on Ocean Drive or north on Collins. The positives though, in my opinion, far outweigh the negatives. First off, the staff has been amazing. Upon arrival I never had to touch a single piece of luggage. The bellhops could not take the luggage out of the cab fast enough. We had to wait for our room so they stored our luggage. When our room was ready our luggage was delivered to our room within a few minutes. As Explorists we were given some chocolates when we arrived to the room along with a handwritten note and at check in we were offered waters as they usually do.

 

The bar staff / wait staff outside by the pool and garden area have been awesome. They get to know their guests just as they do on cruise ships. They clearly love what they do. Ironically our bartender we got to know, Yoro (from the Ukraine) worked several years for Carnival. Sitting at the bar and listening to the bartenders and wait staff take care of everyone it was clear they knew what they were doing. Our room was very clean. While not large by any means, it had a nice clean bathroom, good view, very well stocked minibar that would rival most of your very top hotels, and a very comfortable king bed.

 

If you're looking for a very chic Miami hotel such as the Loews, Delano, One Hotel, etc. this is not it. But it is a very solid value, with excellent staff and service throughout all aspects of the hotel that make you feel right at home. Most guests we met were spending at least 4 or 5 days here and the overall feeling, even from the guests, was very hospitable. If I could book the Loews in South Beach for similar pricing I would of course book my Loews, but if you're able to snag this hotel for a good value I would deifnitely go for it, you won't be disappointed.

 

OK, well I am off to jump in the shower and get dressed. We have reservations at Pane & Vino in South Beach tonight. It is a small Italian restaurant that was recommended by Jim and Robin (Robyn sp?) who live in our neighborhood in Chicago and have commented on here. I'll report back on dinner! Check out some photos below from today. Thank you again for following along this journey with us and keep the questions coming! I've made note of everyone asked and will get answers.

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On 11/2/2018 at 12:44 PM, chicagopaul said:

Cheers Cruise Critic! It is that time again for another LIVE cruise blog! This time we will be taking you back on the Celebrity Reflection for 11 nights on her first sailing after her Transatlantic back to her winter home port in Fort Lauderdale. As always I encourage you all to ask questions and get involved as you sail along with us. There is no question too big or too small so feel free to ask away.

 

For those of you who have not followed us before I will give you a quick synopsis of who we are. As you might be able to tell from my user name here, my name is Paul and my partner is Edward. We are from Chicago. I am 31 and he is 36. We’ve been sailing Celebrity for almost 8 years and this will be our 16th cruise with Celebrity and 8th on the Reflection. We usually try to cruise about 26 to 30+ days per year. We book all types of cabins. The lowest class room we’ve stayed in was an obstructed balcony cabin. The highest class we’ve stayed in was a Royal Suite. We’ve seen a wide spectrum of cabin types but at the end of the day we always feel like it is the crew and fellow passengers which makes each cruise wonderful.

 

The past week has been a bit of whirlwind. You might remember from our last cruise blog that around this time we were suppose to be moving into our new home here in Chicago. Well, there have been construction delays (it is a new construction building) and we now won’t be moving in until Nov 19th right when we get back from Miami. However, in the meantime we had to vacate our old place so the developer has moved all of our stuff into storage for us and put us up in corporate housing right next door to our new building. So for the past week we’ve been living out of a suitcase. This cruise is coming at a pretty good time!

During my live blog on here I will post a minimum of 10 photos each day along with the daily schedule. In addition I will have more photos and short videos on Instagram. I will be using the Instagram “story” feature much more on this cruise than I have in the past. If you’d like to follow me on Instagram my name is PaulKBlackburn. If you see a photo of me in a suit and a bunch of photos of Celebrity or martinis then you know you’ve found the correct profile!

I’ll update this blog at least a couple times a day.

 

I’ll walk you through our every move so you can see how we spend our days. One interesting fact about this cruise is this is the itinerary I wrote about for the Celebrity Cruises blog contest that Celebrity was hosting this summer. I ended up winning! So with that being said I will be doing my best to take as much photos as possible and go into even more detail than I normally do. I will also be fully honest with pricing on everything. I know talking about money can sometimes be “taboo” but at the end of the day we all have to pay for these cruises so why not discuss all the costs involved.

 

Below I’ll go over all the basic details of the booking to discuss pricing, airline choice, etc. Feel free to skip it if it bores you!

 

Lets start with the cruise itinerary.

 

November 5th, Celebrity Reflection

 

Cabin: Sky Suite (S1) corner, deck 6


Perks: GO BEST which includes Premium Beverage Package, Unlimited Internet, $150 per person on board credit, Prepaid Gratuities

Cost: $7,815 Including all taxes & port fees. We have $300 OBC from the GO BEST offer, plus $300 OBC from Celebrity for booking on board. Our travel agent also gave us $450 OBC but we are having her send that to us in the form of a rebate check.

 

11 Nights

Day 1 - Fort Lauderdale
Day 2 - Sea Day
Day 3 - Grand Cayman
Day 4 - Sea Day
Day 5 - Cartagena Colombia
Day 6 - Colon Panama
Day 7 - Puerto Limon Costa Rica
Day 8 - Sea Day
Day 9 - Costa Maya Mexico
Day 10 - Cozumel
Day 11 - Sea Day
Day 12 - Back in Fort Lauderdale

 

Flights

 

American Airlines has had some really cheap deals recently, at least out of Chicago.

We’re flying out tomorrow, Saturday November 3rd in the wee hours of the morning. After the cruise we spend one day in Miami and then fly back on Saturday the 17th.

 

First Class - Non stop - ORD to MIA and MIA to ORD: $558 per person, round trip. Not bad for first class. This was booked through Choice Air, though it was only about $10 cheaper booking through Choice Air as opposed to directly with American. Yes, we were able to choose our seats and because we put in our AA # when booking the flights loaded up ti our American Airlines app instantly.

 

Hotels

 

Even though the Reflection is out of FLL, we decided to stay in Miami since we’re flying into and out of MIA. Also because we decided to use points for our hotel and specifically decided to stay at Hyatt with points. This might get a long winded so feel free to skip but I believe it is important info as it does relate directly to Celebrity.

 

As you may know, and I’ve mentioned this before, Celebrity has reciprocity with MLife, MGM Resorts & Casino loyalty program. Our Elite Plus gets us Platinum with MLife which has some nice perks. Now, here is where it get interesting. In searching we found out that if you’re Platinum with MLife you also qualify for Explorist (2nd highest tier level) for Hyatt Hotels. Typically if you get status through reciprocity, you usually cannot use that reciprocal status to get another reciprocal status. But we figured we’d put our MLife numbers into the Hyatt system and see what happens. Turns out they gave us Explorist What does that get us? Well it gets us some small stuff like free water, early & late checkout, club floor passes (if there is a club floor) upgraded free internet, etc. However, the nicest feature is that when you book with points and are Explorist or higher you do not have to pay any resort fees. Depending on the hotel this can save you between $20 to $40 per night.

 

Two days in Miami before the cruise:

The Confidante Miami Beach (Managed / Operated by Hyatt): 15,000 Chase Points per night. Chase ultimate reward points are valued at 1.6cents per point which means we essentially are paying $240 per night. At the time of booking the hotel was selling for roughly $300 a night. Plus saving on the $30 per night resort fee. Overall we found this a good value of points.

 

After the cruise we will be staying one night at the Hyatt Centric South Beach. The same goes for this hotel as we used 15,000 points for this one night stay.


Trip Insurance

 

We buy trip medical insurance to cover us for any kind of medical emergency. This is only for medical issues and medical evacuation. The cost total for two of us was $74.00. The policy is through AIG Travel Guard.

 

How we booked

 

Our cruise and flights were booked with Chase Sapphire Reserve which has excellent trip cancellation, delay, and lost baggage coverage. While it does have some medical coverage and medical evacuation coverage, we believe the addition of the AIG Travel Guard policy is still necessary as the medical coverage provided by the card is quite limited.

 

In total we’re spending $8,931 on this trip including the flights. All were booked with the Chase Reserve card which gives us 3x points on travel meaning we earned 26,793 points on this cruise which essentially means the 2 nights we’re spending before the cruise in Miami are free. Then using our Explorist status with Hyatt (which was indirectly earned through Captain’s Club Elite Plus) we’re able to avoid resort fees and get a few extra perks as well.

 

As usual I've included a quick intro video just in case you'd like to put a voice and face with the blog! Thank you all for following along!

 

 

I’m so excited to follow along on your thread again. We first followed your previous thread on the Equinox before our trip in September and it was very helpful. We were in a sky suite S2 on deck 11 so I’d love to get your opinion of the S1 you’re in for this cruise. 

 

In your last thread you dined exclusively at Murano and I’m curious if you will do the same for this cruise. 

 

Cant wait to see more!

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3 hours ago, chicagopaul said:

Ahh the warm beaches of Miami, I'm warming up already. Look forward to living vicariously through your voyage as my next one isn't until mid December Uggg. Have fun!!

John

018C2BDD-8850-4409-AB7A-94960879A53F.thumb.jpeg.176390022915a56ab3abdfc9c7f85d93.jpeg

Beer on the beach in front of our hotel at Sunset 94E28F8D-4612-4534-A643-242505929F4E.thumb.jpeg.23a13cd7ecbce354ee649caf779d7ff9.jpeg

View of one of the Confidante pools at night 

 

 

View from our hotel room 

 

 

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A very good evening to everyone! It is now just after 11:00pm here in Miami and I'm back in my cozy bed about to get some rest for joining the Reflection tomorrow, but I wanted to take a moment to update all of you on our dinner this evening.

 

So tonight we decided to eat at Pane & Vino, an Italian restaurant located on Washington in South Beach (essentially just off 15th and Collins). We received this recommendation from our new friends and neighbors Jim & Robin who live in Chicago. They told us of this place when we ran into them the night before we left for Miami. Well, let me tell you this place did not disappoint. I'll share some photos in a separate post below but it was fantastic. Before, I describe dinner, let me back up just a little.

 

We had reservations for 9:00pm, the earliest we could get. We decided to jump in an Uber, well actually a "Lyft" at just before 8:00pm. We arrived at the restaurant at roughly 8:10 to see if we could get a table outside for our 9:00pm seating. They told us it would be a little over a 30 minute wait so we should be ready to go by 9:00pm. We then walked around the area and ended up at this random Italian restaurant / bar for a glass of wine. It was called Hosteria Romana. This place was unique to say the least. If you follow me on Instagram you would see it on my story and I'll post it to YouTube soon for all of you to see if you're not on Instagram. This place was, what I would call, the equivalent of an old school Italian biker bar haha. There were lots of tables outside, but walking inside it felt like I was somehow in between the movies a Bronx Tale / Goodfellas, intermixed with an Italian town if it existed in Sturgis North Dakota (hopefully some of you understand what this means). At the far right of the bar was an old heavy set Italian gentleman with lots of gold on his neck, wrists, and hand. He was next to a young blonde woman and he was singing every Italian song that was being played. He wasn't just a tourist, he was a staple of this place. A regular of the bar in the true sense of the word. I couldn't help but appreciate his presence, even though I could have done without his singing. From the ceilings hung random items from sacks of garlic to fake prosciutto (or maybe it was real). To the left of the bar was a meat case and a tank with live lobsters. Every bartender, every server, every bus boy seemed as if they were putting on a performance, but I don't believe they were. I think they were just as crazy and quirky as the place they were working.

 

We both had a glass of Chianti and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was not the type of place I would have walked into had I known what it was, but after leaving it was exactly what I realized I needed to walk into tonight. We finished our Chianti around 8:45pm and made our way to the restaurant. Our table outside was not ready. However, while we waited we had a view of the pasta chef making fresh pasta, what Pane Vino is known for (you'll see the photo below). 9:00pm rolled around, our reservation time, and the table was not ready. 9:05 / 9:10. Still not ready, but we saw two groups leave, so we were close! What I assumed to be the owner then came out with two glasses of prosseco for us to apologize for the delay and then gave us a choice of the open tables. She could not have been nicer or more apologetic. We sat down, ordered a great bottle of Super Tuscan (only $54) and then some Burrata with Proscuitto to start. For our entrees we both had the cappelletti verdi Tartufati which has a butter and black truffle pesto sauce. Only $26 per entree. I would have easily paid double after trying it. Some of the best pasta I've ever had and if you refer to my photo below of the chef making the pasta, that is exactly what he was making. We then split a Tiramisu for dessert which was assembled table side (again I will have this in a Youtube video!) along with a double espresso. With the check came a couple limoncello shots.

 

Everything about this meal was perfect. We were sitting outside and had some traffic noise, but that was our own choosing. The air was a perfect temperature. The people walking by were the typical Miami eclectic mix of different languages, with English being the minority. After dinner we quickly chatted with the woman whom I again assumed was the owner and she joked about how when she lived in Italy her dog tasted some wine by accident and was "intoxicated."

 

So with all of the above being said, I recommend you try Pane & Vino. If you can, ask for Luca, our server. He was fantastic. Such a nice guy, but most importantly enjoyed his job and it made our meal that much more enjoyable.

 

With this, I wish you all a great evening and look forward to welcoming you all on the Celebrity Reflection tomorrow morning. As always, thank you so much for following along and patronizing my travels.

 

 

 

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Following along. Always love your Live Blogs. We did almost the same itinerary last year on the Equinox. We are booked on the Reflection for April 2020 doing the ABC islands, so interested in your thoughts on the ship

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On 11/2/2018 at 11:44 AM, chicagopaul said:

Hotels

 

Even though the Reflection is out of FLL, we decided to stay in Miami since we’re flying into and out of MIA. Also because we decided to use points for our hotel and specifically decided to stay at Hyatt with points. This might get a long winded so feel free to skip but I believe it is important info as it does relate directly to Celebrity.

 

As you may know, and I’ve mentioned this before, Celebrity has reciprocity with MLife, MGM Resorts & Casino loyalty program. Our Elite Plus gets us Platinum with MLife which has some nice perks. Now, here is where it get interesting. In searching we found out that if you’re Platinum with MLife you also qualify for Explorist (2nd highest tier level) for Hyatt Hotels. Typically if you get status through reciprocity, you usually cannot use that reciprocal status to get another reciprocal status. But we figured we’d put our MLife numbers into the Hyatt system and see what happens. Turns out they gave us Explorist What does that get us? Well it gets us some small stuff like free water, early & late checkout, club floor passes (if there is a club floor) upgraded free internet, etc. However, the nicest feature is that when you book with points and are Explorist or higher you do not have to pay any resort fees. Depending on the hotel this can save you between $20 to $40 per night.

 

THANK YOU so much for this Hyatt tip. In 30 minutes I was status matched to Explorist. Will come in handy over the holidays.

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Good Morning Everyone! Well we are in a very nice Lyft headed to port Everglades from Miami Beach. We chose an XL because of the luggage and wanted more space for the long ride. Cost is $71 and our driver is excellent and familiar with the port. Leaving the hotel was easy. The door staff were great at helping with luggage and even gave us some water for the ride. We’ve been very pleased with the service of the hotel as I mentioned. 

 

On a personal note I slept awful last night. I think it was the combination of the espresso, sweet dessert, and liquor right before bed. This in turn led to an anxiety attack in the middle of the night and I was awake for a few hours. I popped a pill and calmed down. While I woke up feeling a bit tired, I feel completely fine otherwise. Just one of those weird nights I haven’t had in a long time so of course it would happen right before cruise embarkation! Ah well, all part of life. 

 

Our driver told us we’re looking at a total of 40 minutes to the port. We should arrive around 10:40. I’ll keep you posted on the security lines today and how easy it is to get on board. Hopefully the crew will not to be too tired after the long TA and customs clearance after the TA. 

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26 minutes ago, aidanht said:

We will be joining you on the Reflection today and are sitting in our hotel room trying to decide what time to arrive at the port, so we will appreciate your report when you arrive.  😀

 

We have arrived and are sitting in the suite area waiting to board. No lines at all. Very easy! 

 

 

5549712A-CD55-41A6-BA38-922A5B5E911D.jpeg

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