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

[TexSea]

I haven't yet been on a ship yet where the Celebrity app is supported. Have you been using it and has it been helpful?

[bandp407]

Paul, 

 

Missing the old Cruise Critic Forums app which I used on my I-Pad.  Sorry to sound dumb, but which mobile Cruise Critic app are you now using that is working well? I'm not the most savvy with all this!!

 

Truly hope to one day be on the same cruise as you & Edward! Enjoy every moment of the next few days!

 

Paula

[fielddreamer]

test

[CanadianTourist]

What exactly could you do at a Fireball "tasting"?  It seems like it would take about 5 seconds from start to finish.

Edited November 14, 2018 by CanadianTourist

[chicagopaul]

5 hours ago, Briggs99 said:

Paul, how do they select who is invited to the helipad arrival or departure. 

Great Blog! Thanks for sharing 

 

Good Question. So I’m not sure exactly what is behind it. Here is my experience. Elite Plus and Suites typically receive an invite. Concierge class will also typically receive an invite. I think a lot depends on number of ports and guests on board. For the past handful of cruises we’ve always been invited. My suggestion is if you’re interested and you’re in Captains Club (regardless of status) as your captains club host and say you’re interested. If you’re in concierge class ask your concierge. And if you’re in a suite you’ll more than likely receive an invite but just ask your Michaels Club host / hostess. 

 

4 hours ago, IrishLassie said:

Following along.  We will be on her in March so I'm excited to see your pictures.  Not sure if you remember, but I'm the one who asked about "Taz" when you did your last blog!  Was hoping he'd be on Reflection when we go!  Have fun. 

 

Of course I remember! Taz is currently on the Edge. We’ve been in touch on Instagram. He’s happy to be there and it’s busy. I believe he gets off the edge at the end of January. I’ll check with him to see if he has a new assignment for a new contract. 

[chicagopaul]

3 hours ago, bandp407 said:

Paul, 

 

Missing the old Cruise Critic Forums app which I used on my I-Pad.  Sorry to sound dumb, but which mobile Cruise Critic app are you now using that is working well? I'm not the most savvy with all this!!

 

Truly hope to one day be on the same cruise as you & Edward! Enjoy every moment of the next few days!

 

Paula

 

Would love to meet you one day. Ok so the app is no longer and other apps that worked such as Tapatalk don’t work. But when I mention mobile I mean their mobile website. If you just login to cruisecritic.com on your browser on your phone it is set up in a mobile friendly version. You can simply bookmark their site and you’re good to go. 

 

There are are a few glitches. For instances every time I open it up again I’m typically logged out but if you save your login information to your phone you can quickly login.  

 

Hope this helps! 

[upwarduk]

3 hours ago, chicagopaul said:

here are are a few glitches. For instances every time I open it up again I’m typically logged out but if you save your login information to your phone you can quickly login.  

 I’ve noticed in the last few days that I’m given ‘ log in,’ instruction, but within a few seconds it changes to ‘log out,’ which indicates that I am indeed logged in. 

In regards to being invited to the heli pad:

We are Elite and we have been invited twice. 

1) in 2015 for the sail away from Stockholm, on Eclipse which was stunning.

2) in 2018 for sail away from Copenhagen on Silhouette. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the invite soon enough for Copenhagen, as it was left on our phone as a message and we were on an excursion. We hadn’t returned to our cabin, as we had chosen to remain at the tables at the rear of the ship as we had a good view from there.

[muffin1327]

Hi Paul I was wondering who your TA is?

[Texed]

16 hours ago, JoeMammy said:

 We leave this Fri on Reflection 

 

So do we!  😀

[chicagopaul]

Cheers and good morning from the sunset bar. Only today and tomorrow then off the ship on Friday. Starting to get those end of cruise blues. 

 

I am resizing photos so while I do that here is today’s daily and the dreaded luggage tags picture! 

 

 

[chicagopaul]

[chicagopaul]

Dinner last night was in Luminae. Everything went smoothly and we enjoyed the food. Specifically I thought the corn soup was fantastic. I liked the pork and thought it was pretty good but no major wow factor. Edward had the linguine and wasn’t too impressed. The sauce looked watery and wasn’t sticking to the noodles. Dessert was the chocolate sphere last night which is set on fire. One of our favorites. We usually see a lot of people order it but last night only saw a few order. 

 

 

[ASell]

18 hours ago, chicagopaul said:

I know someone asked about the pricing of different tastings. We saw this posted in the ships yesterday. We haven’t really seen much advertising for this with the exception of a couple times in the daily. 

 

perfect, thank you very much sir !!!

[ecslady]

7 hours ago, upwarduk said:

 I’ve noticed in the last few days that I’m given ‘ log in,’ instruction, but within a few seconds it changes to ‘log out,’ which indicates that I am indeed logged in.

 

Glad I'm not the only one this is happening to.

[abbydancer2003]

7 hours ago, upwarduk said:

 I’ve noticed in the last few days that I’m given ‘ log in,’ instruction, but within a few seconds it changes to ‘log out,’ which indicates that I am indeed logged in. 

 

 

Happens to me too.  

[voyager70]

47 minutes ago, ecslady said:

 

Glad I'm not the only one this is happening to.

 

41 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

 

Happens to me too.  

 

Same here.  A bit annoying.

 

[BEAV]

Paul, can't thank you enough for the info on the Elite+ marriage to both the M Life and Hyatt programs. I just finished getting tier status upgrades in both programs. The tier upgrade to Explorist in World of Hyatt program will be put to good use with the 4 club level upgrades. We were Explorist within Hyatt for a while, but didn't have the required nights under our belts to maintain that level. But thanks to your valuable info, we back to Explorist again with those upgrades in our hip pocket!

 

Another great and fun blog. Thanks again for taking us along for the ride. Enjoy the remainder of your time on board. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by BEAV

[chicagopaul]

Here is another update on various things around the ship and some observations. As always it is amazing how fast the cruise passes. It feels just like yesterday we were flying to Miami. The days really do fly by. We have one more day tomorrow, and then on Friday we will be docking in Port Everglades. I wish the Edge was getting in the same day as us, it would be amazing to see her!

 

Alright, well lets get you all updated.

 

Luminae: Luminae this cruise has been very good. We’ve had no major issues. I was concerned that service would be slow given it is the Reflection which has more suites, but that has not been the case. Granted, we do eat late on the cruise, usually around 8:15 / 8:30. The only time we saw it fully crowded was during embarkation lunch. We had one day where we sat down at a table and service took a while to start. We didn’t have water for quite sometime. We weren’t overlooked, I think it was just poor timing and we entered during a very busy 10 minutes.

 

The food in Luminae has been solid. My favorite items so far have been the halibut, the lobster, and yesterdays corn soup. We haven’t had many desserts as we’re not huge sweet fans, but we always love the chocolate sphere.

 

Bar Service: As I mentioned before there are a large number of drink packages on board, 2300. That is a very high amount and that does not include anyone who may have purchased the package once they arrived on board. At peak times the bars have been packed. The Martini Bar has been extremely crowded and talking with the bartenders its been getting crowded early, at 4pm when they open. The pool bar and sunset bar have been packed in the afternoons.

 

The bar staff has been doing a good job. I haven’t had any issues but I also know a lot of the staff and keep my drinks simple. In observation there have been some people a little upset they’ve had to wait, but I never noticed anyone having extremely long wait times. I spoke with one of the bar managers, Irena, and she said that guest relations has had a lot of complaints about bar wait times. I must say Irena (Senior Assistant Bar Manager) and the Senior Bar Manager (I forgot his name) have been very present. They’re constantly out and about checking on the status of bars and doing what they can to move bartenders around. Bar servers have been very visible by the pool and at sunset bar. We had cigars and some Remy on the lawn at sunset a few nights ago and we had excellent service from the bar servers.

 

For those of you going on the next cruise (or on the Reflection in the near future) there are two people I want you to be particularly nice to. They’re two bar servers from Ukraine named Ivan and Tamara (I think it is Tamara). They’re a very cute young married couple that just joined the ship 10 days ago. Today at Sunset Bar they were the servers and Milton had to run to a meeting leaving them to make cocktails since no one else could cover for him. It was their first time ever making drinks on the ship. Thankfully being a port day it wasn’t too crowded and they didn’t have too many complicated orders. They really were worried about everyone liking their drinks and I’d watch Ivan looking as his wife delivered the drinks to see the guests reaction when they tried them. They may be new and green but they definitely really care and are working very hard. So if you see them be sure to say hello and give them a smile.

 

Cabin: I really like the corner sky suite. It feels so much more open with the porthole window. My only complaint is during port days they’ve been doing work to the exterior of the ship so we’ve constantly had workers walking by the porthole window and there has been some noise due to the work. Obviously the work has to get done, but it is a bit annoying. We’ve also never received any letters mentioning the work. Usually when this has happened in the past guest relations will notify you just so you are aware and can plan accordingly with regard to your balcony use or closing the curtains. Besides that noise the room has been very quiet and we have not felt much movement from the ship at all with the exception of one night when the weather was a little rough. Our room attendant has been great and knows our schedule. We’re never bothered. As you know our butler Walter has been excellent.

 

Full Moon Party was last night. We have some video of that which I will share on YouTube when we’re back in the states. There was the typical mermaid in the pool looking great as always. The cruise director Lewis got the crowd going with a little singing competition between the two sides of the ship. It actually worked well and got everyone involved and the dance floor crowded after the little game. It was a good night to be on the pool deck and the turnout was excellent. Tonight they should be having silent disco by the pool. If the weather does not cooperate then it will be in the solarium but so far the skies are looking pretty nice.

 

Well that is my update for you so far. Keep the questions coming and let me know if there is anything I can check out for you on our final day.

On a side note I think I’m going to by the Hero 7 Go Pro on board. We have $168 left of non refundable OBC so figured we could put it towards that.

 

[chicagopaul]

19 hours ago, TexSea said:

I haven't yet been on a ship yet where the Celebrity app is supported. Have you been using it and has it been helpful?

 

The app is useful but it is not always 100% accurate. I’d say the menus on the app have been about 90 % accurate. It’s helpful for future planning of dinners (when the info is correct). 

 

Have you been on a ship yet with the new keycards with a chip instead of barcode? So much better! Easier for the bar servers, no more fighting with your room door, it works great. 

[chicagopaul]

39 minutes ago, BEAV said:

Paul, can't thank you enough for the info on the Elite+ marriage to both the M Life and Hyatt programs. I just finished getting tier status upgrades in both programs. The tier upgrade to Explorist in World of Hyatt program will be put to good use with the 4 club level upgrades. We were Explorist within Hyatt for a while, but didn't have the required nights under our belts to maintain that level. But thanks to your valuable info, we back to Explorist again with those upgrades in our hip pocket!

 

Another great and fun blog. Thanks again for taking us along for the ride. Enjoy the remainder of your time on board. 

 

 

 

 

 

Yay! Glad I could be of help. How long did it take you to get both set up? I’m thinking of putting together a little YouTube video walking people through the process. 

[BEAV]

25 minutes ago, chicagopaul said:

 

Yay! Glad I could be of help. How long did it take you to get both set up? I’m thinking of putting together a little YouTube video walking people through the process. 

It took me a little over an hour, but that's because I'm pretty remedial!  

 

I already had a M Life account (Sapphire level) and it was easy to call their Member Services number at 866-761-7111. I gave them my Captains Club number, they put me on a brief hold to call =X= and verify, and presto, I was now Platinum. Where I made my one mistake (that the two systems corrected automatically, thankfully) was logging in to World of Hyatt and doing OPT IN to M Life. WRONG. Since I was at a lower tier level in Hyatt than M Life, I was doing it backwards, which, if their systems hadn't been sophisticated enough would have LOWERED my tier level in M Life based on my Hyatt tier. But M Life, recognizing I was already Platinum (thanks to Elite+ in =X=) knew not to downgrade me based on my low Hyatt status. So finally, one I got passed that hurtle, I went to M Life and did the OPT IN to World of Hyatt. Presto, I was elevated to Explorist in Hyatt. 

 

If you're going to do a YouTube, just alert people not to make the mistake I made!  

 

Question: While surfing the M Life website, I saw where Platinum level gives you $200 OBC when sailing =X=. Did you not get the OBC on this cruise because you forgot to apply for it -or- because it's not combinable with Go BBB? 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by BEAV

[dincus]

Paul,

 

Have you had a chance to stop by The Porch for the menu? Enjoy the rest of your cruise! We board on 12/7. After following your blog, we can't wait! Thank you. 

[lmb1988]

1 hour ago, chicagopaul said:

For those of you going on the next cruise (or on the Reflection in the near future) there are two people I want you to be particularly nice to. They’re two bar servers from Ukraine named Ivan and Tamara (I think it is Tamara). They’re a very cute young married couple that just joined the ship 10 days ago. Today at Sunset Bar they were the servers and Milton had to run to a meeting leaving them to make cocktails since no one else could cover for him. It was their first time ever making drinks on the ship. Thankfully being a port day it wasn’t too crowded and they didn’t have too many complicated orders. They really were worried about everyone liking their drinks and I’d watch Ivan looking as his wife delivered the drinks to see the guests reaction when they tried them. They may be new and green but they definitely really care and are working very hard. So if you see them be sure to say hello and give them a smile.

 

 

 

I will definitely look out for them, we board 7th December - we love chatting and getting to know the crew and finding out about where they are from etc. It will be our first celebrity cruise - out of interest do Celebrity display the crews nationality on their name badges like they do with RC?  We have cruised RC twice and always look for that as an ice breaker conversation! 

[chicagopaul]

25 minutes ago, dincus said:

Paul,

 

Have you had a chance to stop by The Porch for the menu? Enjoy the rest of your cruise! We board on 12/7. After following your blog, we can't wait! Thank you. 

 

Ah thanks for the reminder. Will for sure tonight or tomorrow! 

[chicagopaul]

1 minute ago, lmb1988 said:

 

I will definitely look out for them, we board 7th December - we love chatting and getting to know the crew and finding out about where they are from etc. It will be our first celebrity cruise - out of interest do Celebrity display the crews nationality on their name badges like they do with RC?  We have cruised RC twice and always look for that as an ice breaker conversation! 

 

Yes they do! I agree it makes for a great ice breaker. I’ll give a full list of names for people you should say hello to when I post a final recap this weekend