11 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise Photo Review - Celebrity Reflection

[Marvy Mare]

It's been a couple of years since we cruised. We find it relaxing and so enjoyable. This cruise was a little less relaxing with the Covid 19 (soon to be pandemic) in the back of all our minds, but still it was amazing experience. To me, vacations are about the locations that you visit but even more about the people that you meet. On this trip we met so many wonderful people. Yes. there were people acting badly, but maybe it can be attributed to worry about the virus. This is only my third cruise and second attempt at a review. I'm not even sure if I will be able to add my photos but I will start this evening trying to do that.

The Reflection did head out again yesterday afternoon. As of midnight yesterday, a lot of cruise lines canceled. Celebrity as well , I think. I hope that people on the current cruise are able to stop in ports and everyone remains healthy. I must say that Celebrity did an amazing job keeping everything clean. Every surface was constantly wiped down. Our cards were faded from constant cleaning. 

I tried to add text to the photos in Photoshop that are just an outline of the trip. Couldn't quite manage that. 

 

Saturday February 29, 2020 - Fort Lauderdale - Elita Hotel

 

 

Sunday March 1, 2020 Fort Lauderdale

 

Monday, March 2 - Sail away 4pm

 

Let's see if this works.

[reallyhooked]

We did Reflection in March last year.  Will look for your review. 

The pictures you posted are beautiful. 

Edited March 15, 2020 by reallyhooked

[Marvy Mare]

It did work. A few more and I'll start the review tomorrow. One more question if someone knows the answer; if I make a mistake am I able to go back & correct it after posting?

 

March 3 - DAY 2 - At Sea

 

 

March 4  - DAY 3 - At Sea

I did visit Guest Relations on Day 3 - more about that later.

 

March 5 - DAY 4 - Cartegena, Columbia

 

 

March 6 - DAY 5 - Oranjestad, Aruba

 

March 7 - DAY 6 - Oranjestad, Aruba

There's a 'famous' couple from "The Wedding Games" in this photo.

 

To be continued.

[Marvy Mare]

9 minutes ago, reallyhooked said:

We did Reflection in March last year.  Will look for your review. 

The pictures you posted are beautiful. 

My first responder. Thank you. Since we are Self Isolating right now I should have lots of time to get to it, starting tomorrow.

 

[helen haywood]

I have friends who were on your cruise so I’m definitely looking forward to reading it. Your pictures are beautiful!

[scrapcreator]

We were on the Reflection February 10 - 21 and had a fabulous cruise. Looking forward to your photo review. 

[FRMPEI]

Welcome back to Canada. Thanks for taking the time to share.  We left for Halifax yesterday what was suppose to be a 6:00 AM flight to FLL today and then pickup Silhouette this Sunday for a 12 day. But we all know what happened!  We drove back to Prince Edward Island  this afternoon. Things changed quite a bit since you guys embarked on your Reflection cruise. On Friday things happened real fast.  We would have been facing a 14 days isolation on return had we left Canada. Our first case was reported today for PEI and the word is she was on a recent cruise.

 

I will sit back and enjoy your photos.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

 

 

 

[FRMPEI]

54 minutes ago, Marvy Mare said:

... if I make a mistake am I able to go back & correct it after posting?

 

 

 

 

  Yes! You have about 15-20 minutes to hit the edit Botton after your post.

 

Regards,
Kevin Reid

[Reel Love]

Wonderful pics so far and looking forward to reading your review 😊   How did you like the Elita Hotel for a pre-cruise stay?

[Marvy Mare]

7 hours ago, helen haywood said:

I have friends who were on your cruise so I’m definitely looking forward to reading it. Your pictures are beautiful!

 

Thanks Helen. Maybe I met them. 😄

 

[Marvy Mare]

7 hours ago, scrapcreator said:

We were on the Reflection February 10 - 21 and had a fabulous cruise. Looking forward to your photo review. 

It is a beautiful ship. Where did you cruise to?

[kerryincork]

Lovely photos looking forward to reading something pleasant about cruising.

[Marvy Mare]

6 hours ago, FRMPEI said:

Welcome back to Canada. Thanks for taking the time to share.  We left for Halifax yesterday what was suppose to be a 6:00 AM flight to FLL today and then pickup Silhouette this Sunday for a 12 day. But we all know what happened!  We drove back to Prince Edward Island  this afternoon. Things changed quite a bit since you guys embarked on your Reflection cruise. On Friday things happened real fast.  We would have been facing a 14 days isolation on return had we left Canada. Our first case was reported today for PEI and the word is she was on a recent cruise.

 

I will sit back and enjoy your photos.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

 

 

 

Thanks Kevin. And thanks for the information about making corrections. Beautiful photo. Where is that? How are you feeling these days? How disappointing for you. My brother his wife and my cousin had a trip booked, for early April that they canceled while we were out to sea. I see that Fort Lauderdale declared a state of emergency on Friday the 13th; the day we left. You wouldn't know it from the airport or cruise port. Not temperature testing, only a few basic questions, a quick look at our passports. Same thing in Toronto. We had to make a declaration on a computer and have another terrible photo taken but it had nothing to do with our health.

[Marvy Mare]

March 8 - DAY 7 - Willemstad, Curacao

 

 

March 9 - DAY 8 - Kralendijk, Bonaire

I don't know about you, but I had trouble with the date being one day off the ship day (March 9, Day 8 how confusing). But then I have trouble with left - right, north - south and walking the right direction on the trip every time I get up to go somewhere on the ship.

 

March 10 - DAY 9 - At sea

 

March 11- DAY 10 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman (The one town name that I can spell)

 

March 12 - DAY 11 - At Sea

 

March 13 - Day 12 - Return to Fort Lauderdale 

 

[Marvy Mare]

7 hours ago, Reel Love said:

Wonderful pics so far and looking forward to reading your review 😊   How did you like the Elita Hotel for a pre-cruise stay?

We loved the Elita! Clean, comfortable and quiet. And it was the start of Spring Break, though I guess that may be quiet now. The location was perfect. A short walk to lots of restaurants and the beach. The staff was friendly and helpful. There was always cool lemon water and hot coffee by the pool and there were snacks in the 'Living Room'. 

Our room had an Espresso maker, not our thing, so I went for coffee every morning. My one complaint (I must do a Trip Advisor Report) was that there was no toaster in the room. There was a small sink, dishes, a microwave, and a bar fridge in the kitchen but no other way to cook food.

[Marvy Mare]

I need to grab my notes, but then the dogs will wake up and want their breakfast followed by coffee and cookies with us while watching the increasingly horrifying news. So back to this later. It looks like we are going to have a beautiful sunny day here in Ontario. I will get started on my report today. After our 2018 cruise I did a report but had very few notes. I think I did better this time.

Until Later

 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

40 minutes ago, kerryincork said:

Lovely photos looking forward to reading something pleasant about cruising.

 

There are lots of pleasant things about cruising. Hope we can get back to it someday.

[jandjcruisers]

1 hour ago, Marvy Mare said:

 

There are lots of pleasant things about cruising. Hope we can get back to it someday.

Thanks so much for doing a review.   I think more than ever we will all be looking for reviews like yours to enjoy.
 

We were on the Reflection just before you.  Our trip went to New Orleans Mardi Gras and it was one of the best cruises we have been on.  The ship is a beauty and the staff were all so pleasant.

 

I, like you, look forward to getting back to cruising again. 😀

 

Janeen  

[etmanch]

2 hours ago, Marvy Mare said:

I need to grab my notes, but then the dogs will wake up and want their breakfast followed by coffee and cookies with us while watching the increasingly horrifying news. So back to this later. It looks like we are going to have a beautiful sunny day here in Ontario. I will get started on my report today. After our 2018 cruise I did a report but had very few notes. I think I did better this time.

Until Later

 

Maris

beautiful photos, thanks for sharing. We were on this cruise with you and are also self isolating for the next 14 days. On our flight back to Toronto a couple behind us coughed for the majority of the flight. I was surprised at the lack of health checks leaving FFL and arrival back into YYZ. No wonder this virus is spreading so quickly. We are glad to be home and will feel much better once the 14 days is up. Take care of yourselves and thanks again for the pics!

Edited March 15, 2020 by etmanch

[Marvy Mare]

19 minutes ago, jandjcruisers said:

Thanks so much for doing a review.   I think more than ever we will all be looking for reviews like yours to enjoy.
 

We were on the Reflection just before you.  Our trip went to New Orleans Mardi Gras and it was one of the best cruises we have been on.  The ship is a beauty and the staff were all so pleasant.

 

I, like you, look forward to getting back to cruising again. 😀

 

Janeen  

Hi Janeen

 

We met at least one couple on our cruise who had been with you on the Mardi Gras cruise. They were raving about it. So much so, that we went to Future Cruises to see about it. The price for the 2021 cruise was over twice what we paid for this one. Looked at other options. Same story. We didn’t book anything. 
Thanks for following along. Off to walk the dogs, in the cold. 
 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

1 hour ago, etmanch said:

beautiful photos, thanks for sharing. We were on this cruise with you and are also self isolating for the next 14 days. On our flight back to Toronto a couple behind us coughed for the majority of the flight. I was surprised at the lack of health checks leaving FFL and arrival back into YYZ. No wonder this virus is spreading so quickly. We are glad to be home and will feel much better once the 14 days is up. Take care of yourselves and thanks again for the pics!

Hi - Were you on WestJet at 11:45am. I was surprised by the lack of checking too. Glad to be home.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thank you for the review and the awesome photos.  Yours is one of my favorite itineraries!  Bonaire has captivating beauty.  Glad you had a nice cruise!

[Marvy Mare]

7 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Thank you for the review and the awesome photos.  Yours is one of my favorite itineraries!  Bonaire has captivating beauty.  Glad you had a nice cruise!

We did love the itinerary. Hope to do it again some day.

 

Maris

 

[Marvy Mare]

Now to actually start my review! We are very glad to be home. We left Fort Lauderdale on the 11:45am West Jet flight. Easy walk off the boat and we were lined up at the West Jet counter by 8am. They opened at 9. We were just anxious to leave. We were unpleasantly surprised by the lack of health checking or health questions, getting off the boat, going through customs, getting on the plane or upon our arrival in Toronto. I read last night that Fort Lauderdale declared a state of emergency at 6pm. Some of the cases originated in Fort Everglades. Rumour on board was that it was a Princess worker. But then poor Princess always gets the blame. Glad to be home.

 

I started making notes on February 24, so I am referring back to them now. A little bit about me. I have been married for almost 43 years to a wonderful man, who does all the worrying for me. Though on this trip, I picked up the slack a bit. I am a photographer more than a writer. I need Ken to help me with my poor spelling and spell check is a God send. Feel free to correct me. My grade one students sometimes did. Of course I told them I was just checking to see if they were paying attention. I always dreamed of writing a novel but my life has been too uneventful to provide inspiration. That's a good thing.

 

When I retired, I joked that I would still pursue the 3 Rs - Running, Riding & Reading. Unfortunately due to arthritis in my feet, though I still ride and read, the running has been replaced with a passion for photography. I did run a marathon. Glad I had the experience. I was getting tired of taking photos of the snow. I do take a lot of photos of our children and grandchildren, but I'm not able to share them. I left my new favourite camera lens at home. A 200-500 lens would have been fun on the trip but just to heavy. 

 

This was our 3rd cruise. My brother cruised for a number of years. We just didn't get it, until we went on our first cruise. 

 

 

[Reel Love]

5 hours ago, Marvy Mare said:

We loved the Elita! Clean, comfortable and quiet. And it was the start of Spring Break, though I guess that may be quiet now. The location was perfect. A short walk to lots of restaurants and the beach. The staff was friendly and helpful. There was always cool lemon water and hot coffee by the pool and there were snacks in the 'Living Room'. 

Our room had an Espresso maker, not our thing, so I went for coffee every morning. My one complaint (I must do a Trip Advisor Report) was that there was no toaster in the room. There was a small sink, dishes, a microwave, and a bar fridge in the kitchen but no other way to cook food.

Thank you so much!  Always looking for different and nice places to stay, and I find learning info from CC friends is so helpful!  Glad you had a wonderful cruise and awaiting your further reviews 😊