11 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise Photo Review - Celebrity Reflection

[sadie8]

Maris and Ken - So glad I found this thread and am looking forward to reading the rest of your trip review and looking at your amazing photos.  It was a such a great cruise and we feel so blessed to have gotten to cruise before all the craziness started.  Loved meeting you guys and spending time together.  Following and loving your posts.

 

Janet J

[Marvy Mare]

1 hour ago, sadie8 said:

Maris and Ken - So glad I found this thread and am looking forward to reading the rest of your trip review and looking at your amazing photos.  It was a such a great cruise and we feel so blessed to have gotten to cruise before all the craziness started.  Loved meeting you guys and spending time together.  Following and loving your posts.

 

Janet J

Hey Janet

I was planning to contact you guys when I got to your pics. I'll send some to you. It was a great cruise. We were very lucky. We loved meeting you guys too. It sure is craziness. We will keep in touch. Maybe meet again on a cruise in the future. 

 

Maris & Ken

[yoshi]

 

Maris,

Thank you for the review, it is a very much appreciated diversion from current events.

Love the pups picture!

Laurie

 

 

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Laurie

Aren't they the cutest. Still happy puppies and they have no idea what is going on. They are just happy to have us with them every minute of the day.

Glad to provide a bit of a diversion. I certainly need it.

 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

March 5 - DAY 4 - Cartagena, Colombia

 We had one other stop during our walking tour. I forgot about it as I didn't take any photos and my notes are sparse at best. Columbia (I didn't know this) is an important producer of emeralds. We were lead through a small museum and then into a store. I didn't even check the prices. A couple of our group had a look at what was offered. Columbian emeralds account for 70-90% of the world's emeralds and according to our guide are among the purest emeralds in the world. 

So Columbia isn't just famous for coffee and a growing tourist industry. Speaking of tourists- while on my social distancing walk with my neighbour yesterday, she told me that her daughter was in isolation having returned from a visit to Colombia. I would have been very surprised to hear that a month ago. Cartagena was certainly beautiful and steeped in history and so wonderfully hot. 

As we were heading back to the ship, we passed some happy staff getting off the ship for a quick break before our 4pm sail away. 

 

We were back on the ship at 12:30. Since Ken hadn't eaten all day we went right to the Oceanview. Up top at the back. You can see a red flag right up there. The flag is flown while in port.

I took a few photos from our room after lunch.

A tour boat returning.

 

You can see people heading back in this photo. The ship tour buses could park right down this roadway. All along the side of this road were greenery and plants. The forested area in the middle of the photo was the Oasis. I do wish I had looked around there more. Next time.

 

I'm a bit of a bird nerd (actually a bit of an overall nerd) and one disappointing this about cruises is the lack of wildlife. I have this huge lens (that I left at home) for bird & wildlife photos. Using the lens is a work in progress but it's fun. I think this guy might be a Sand martin. The Sibley guide I have on my iPad is only for North America. But our birds do take off to the south in the winter. Hence the name Snowbirds.

I could have taken a great shot of that plane with my big fun lens.

 

 

More tourists coming back.

5:15am  here in snowy Ontario. This morning the other dog is crying for breakfast. One barks and the other whines. Back to hot sunny days later.

[Marvy Mare]

On rereading my last posts - too late to make a change - I noticed that Colombia, & Colombian were misspelled again. I even misspelled, misspelled. Darn genetics. My mother had the same issue. Our two older children inherited Ken's amazing spelling ability, our youngest who looks the most like me (lucky guy) can't spell at all. Sometimes, I think he's joking, but I understand.

My apologies. But thank you spell check. I would not have been able to do this report at all without it. And if you notice an error, I don't take offence if you point it out. I love learning new things😆.

 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

March 5 - DAY 5 - Cartagena

I sent an email to Dora yesterday and heard back from her. Cruise ship season ended there on March 11, less than a week after we were there. It usually goes until the end of May. There are currently at least 14 cases there now and it may have been introduced from a woman on a British cruise ship. But on a more positive note they "still have toilet paper". 😂

 

While we were back in our room, we checked in with family and Joanne & Dennis (our first week dog care people). The dogs were looking good and didn't miss us at all. Family was all well and I don't think anyone was getting too concerned at this point. I didn't check the news. A vacation away is usually a vacation from the news as well. 

 

 

Vacationers arriving.

 

I like boats.

 

After catching up on messages and mail, we went back up on Deck 15 looking over the pool and caught up with out new Peterborough friends, Angus & Lorie. I had no trouble remembering Angus's name. My grandfather was Angus and so is my grand dog. 😎 I didn't usually bother with my camera when we sat out on deck, but I brought it with me to catch the sail away. 

 

Another tour boat returning. It was 2:30. Sail away at 4. I can't remember if the other ship in port sailed out behind us that day or not. 

 

Police?

 

 

Can you tell that it was hot? I went into the Solarium pool. Much less crowded. And maybe no one peed in it. 

 

 

Much quieter up on Deck 15, where we liked to sit, under the awnings, not out in the sun. This afternoon, there were very few people sitting out in the direct sun. It was incredibly hot & humid. I don't think I've even felt it like that in the summer in Ontario. Just kidding, it doesn't happen, though we are getting more and more days over 30 in the summer.

 

We must have all been back on board. On the road again at 3:45pm.

 

The hill of La Popa and the monastery - our first stop on our Dora tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Good bye to Colombia! We would soon be heading east and north. On our way to the ABC islands.

 

OK. This was weird. 

[Nanatravel]

7 minutes ago, Marvy Mare said:

March 5 - DAY 5 - Cartagena

I sent an email to Dora yesterday and heard back from her. Cruise ship season ended there on March 11, less than a week after we were there. It usually goes until the end of May. There are currently at least 14 cases there now and it may have been introduced from a woman on a British cruise ship. But on a more positive note they "still have toilet paper". 😂

 

While we were back in our room, we checked in with family and Joanne & Dennis (our first week dog care people). The dogs were looking good and didn't miss us at all. Family was all well and I don't think anyone was getting too concerned at this point. I didn't check the news. A vacation away is usually a vacation from the news as well. 

 

 

Vacationers arriving.

 

I like boats.

 

After catching up on messages and mail, we went back up on Deck 15 looking over the pool and caught up with out new Peterborough friends, Angus & Lorie. I had no trouble remembering Angus's name. My grandfather was Angus and so is my grand dog. 😎 I didn't usually bother with my camera when we sat out on deck, but I brought it with me to catch the sail away. 

 

Another tour boat returning. It was 2:30. Sail away at 4. I can't remember if the other ship in port sailed out behind us that day or not. 

 

Police?

 

 

Can you tell that it was hot? I went into the Solarium pool. Much less crowded. And maybe no one peed in it. 

 

 

Much quieter up on Deck 15, where we liked to sit, under the awnings, not out in the sun. This afternoon, there were very few people sitting out in the direct sun. It was incredibly hot & humid. I don't think I've even felt it like that in the summer in Ontario. Just kidding, it doesn't happen, though we are getting more and more days over 30 in the summer.

 

We must have all been back on board. On the road again at 3:45pm.

 

The hill of La Popa and the monastery - our first stop on our Dora tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Good bye to Colombia! We would soon be heading east and north. On our way to the ABC islands.

 

OK. This was weird. 

Maris, thanks for posting all of your Colombia photos and review.  We loved Dora when we took her tour many years ago.  We just took a taxi downtown and it was so crowded it was unbearable.  Pushing the Rollator and trying to "watch my step" was all I had to do.  We were fortunate that we got to climb the fort, but it was very rough even then.  Glad I got to do it then as walking is limited now.  The Barracks had great shopping stores. Loved your outside and street view shots.  I really could not appreciate the historic beauty of Old Downtown this visit. I liked walking through the little aviary at the port, then I caught the shuttle bus back to the ship. Your pictures with the flamingo and birds were beautiful. 

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Bev

Glad to hear that you are still following along. It was very crowed in town. I imagine things are quiet there now. I loved that little Oasis. Take care. 

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

March 5 - DAY 4 - on our way to Aruba

We sailed away from Colombia at 3:45 and wouldn't be in Aruba until 4pm the next day. The rest of Day 4, a Thursday was uneventful. We sat above the pool and chatted and then went back to our room for our afternoon snack. On our previous cruise we had fruit delivered in the morning and the snacks in the afternoon. The fruit didn't happen this time but we were OK with that. I like to choose my own anyway. The snacks were usually a little sampling of different items. Ken isn't adventurous when it comes to food so I was the one enjoying the snacks. This time we asked Michael, our room steward, to bring cheese if possible instead, or cheese one day & the variety pack the next. Instead, we got both each day. I was OK with that.

Michael was great at his job. Despite the long hours and hard work he was always smiling. He wasn't much for conversation, but did tell us that he was from Nicaragua. I don't know too much about the country. Apparently at this time there is political unrest and even without the pandemic might not be a safe place to visit. Five years ago, my daughter and her long time boyfriend decided to save everyone a lot of hassle and money and elope to Nicaragua. They had a very romantic and beautiful wedding on the beach. Maddie arranged for an officiant, a photographer and a hairstylist. My only mother of the bride duty was going with her to pick out a dress. They did tell us about their plans in advance and we were able to FaceTime from our hotel in Florida. It was bittersweet for us but also very sweet.They had a wonderful vacation and I think even spent part of it as guests in a private home. And are still very happily married and the parents of two young adorable children. 

Our dinner that night was back in the Opus at our scheduled 7:15. Again we sat in the back corner, but Ken faced the wall this time. Our waiter was Renil. He loved to talk. He told us that they were short staffed because of the Coronavirus and he only had 3 tables. He was the waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier and did a pretty good job at all three. He would have also been a great tour guide. He had information to share about each port. Renil was from India and had been married for 7 months. He had only been home for the first 2 months of his marriage and was due to head home in 17 more days (after the next cruise). As the cruise went on, he became more and more worried about being able to get home and if he went home, would he get back. He still kept smiling. And I think we have it bad because we can't go out to the store. 

I made no note of what what we had for dinner that night. Another reason for taking food photos. Next time, I will practice & watch instructional videos. I have the time. It may have been chicken. I remember having chicken one night. It was OK but must have come from a giant chicken. It was huge and a little dry. For a change I left some on my plate and I really do hate to waste food. The staff on the ship that come from 3rd world countries must be horrified by the food waste. 

It was early to bed that night. We didn't even go to the show. It was Ron Joyce, an illusionist. Our friends who saw him really enjoyed his performance. He was also scheduled to do a Hypno Show the next afternoon, but it was too nice outside to head in. We never saw Ron. 

[Marvy Mare]

[Marvy Mare]

March 6 - DAY 5 - Oranjestad - Aruba

 

I had the best sleep that I had had in months. Before we went to bed we were instructed to set our clocks ahead by one hour. We would be in the Atlantic Time Zone while in the ABC islands. Neither my Fitbit or phone changed overnight. I tried switching them on and off to no avail. I never even considered changing the clock on my camera, so all the time stamps are wrong. The sunrise was again disappointing. The sunrises and sunsets were about the only disappointment on this cruise. We had a more beautiful sunset at home last evening than we had during the whole cruise and I didn't take a picture. You get jaded when you live by a lake. I have a friend who lives down the road. She's only been here 2 years, so I can count on her to catch any of those sunsets. Sure enough, there was her lovely shot on Facebook last night. 

 

While walking around the deck in the morning I overheard something that made me laugh "If I had to go back to Columbia, I wouldn't". It got me thinking about a few overheard funny things people said. There was a bit of bad behaviour on the ship. It could be attributed to stress, I guess or just being bad. When a woman butted in front of a friend in a line, he directed her to the back. She was quite insulted and responded with "I don't do lineups". He retorted "The Princess is over there". In the crowded theatre one evening a woman became quite irate when someone sat in seats that she was saving. "Haven't you heard of the concept of saving seats". The other passenger did move but sat behind the woman saying Cuckoo, Cuckoo over and over and making the cuckoo sign. My new American friend, Janet told me the tale of a woman behaving badly in the dining room complaining about her food and sending things back. Janet's gleeful punchline was "And she was Canadian". We Canadians think that we never misbehave 😂

 

We spent our afternoon again my the pool with Angus and Lori and another couple that we met, Janet and Gary from Virginia. I didn't get through one book the entire vacation. Too much chatting and people watching. 

 

We returned to our room to watch the sail into Aruba. Enjoyed the view with a snack and a glass of wine on our deck. We were meeting a group of 10 others at 5:30pm for our dinner at Passions on the Beach. 

 

 

When you get closer to land, birds start following the boat waves. I think these were some kind of tern.

 

 

Another sign that we were approaching land.

 

Our first sight of Aruba, shrouded in mist. Heat haze I guess. 

 

From a wider angle. There were some pretty clouds high in the sky.

 

More clouds. It looked like it may have been raining. 

 

Look at that beach. I have an app on my iPad - LiveCams - HD. There are webcams from all over the world. There are about 5 web cam locations in Aruba. I've been watching them for years. Always hot, sunny and windy. Every time I watched those camera I wanted to go there. And there we were. Almost magical.

 

The pilot boat. Always a welcome sight. Anticipation.

 

Rough seas. It was a windy vacation.

 

A few of our neighbours enjoying the view.

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Marvy Mare
correction

[sandancer]

I am so enjoying this photo marathon. Re-living the cruise. Please keep those pics coming and thanks again. Elaine

[Marvy Mare]

Hi Elaine

So glad to see that you are following along. It's always nice to know that I'm just not talking to myself, though I do tend to do that all the time. Gets worse the older I get. I was hoping that we might meet you on the cruise. Maybe we did. Anyway, you know my brother Neil and his wife Elaine. They have met you on past cruises and apparently Elaine (my sister in law) keeps in touch with you. Neil & Elaine cruised for a number of years and finally talked us into giving it a try four years ago.

 

Maris

 

 

[Marvy Mare]

3 hours ago, sandancer said:

I am so enjoying this photo marathon. Re-living the cruise. Please keep those pics coming and thanks again. Elaine

Hi Elaine. Seems I'm mistaken. You aren't the couple that Neil and Elaine kept in touch with. 😂 Great to hear from you anyway.

 

Maris

[sandancer]

Yes we are Maris. I had an email from Elaine just last week. If it’s the same Elaine, she’s English and they live on Vancouver Island. 

[Marvy Mare]

So funny. It’s a different Elaine. What are the odds. There are 3 Elaines. It would never happen with Maris. So now Neil tells me that he did meet you guys and did some tours with you but they are not the Vancouver people. Now here’s where it really gets confusing. Neil and I are originally from Vancouver but live in eastern Canada now. 
😎

Maris

[Marvy Mare]

March 6 - DAY 5 - Oranjestad, Aruba

 

 

 

 

Freewinds - A floating religious retreat operated by the Church of Scientology. Apparently it cruises back and forth between Curacao and Aruba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction was going on right across from where we were docked. Later that night when we were sitting on our balcony, we observed a few people going into the construction site & carting off pieces of wood, or siding and disappearing into the darkness down a side street. A short time after that a car pulled up between the building under construction and the water. The driver parked the car, turned on the radio and danced. Shortly after he left the police made their rounds. 

 

 

The pink building to the right is the casino.

 

 

I remembered that building from the YouTube videos that I'd watched.

 

 

[Marvy Mare]

March 6 - DAY 5 - Oranjestad, Aruba

 

We had dinner reservations that night for Passions on the Beach a beach restaurant at the Amsterdam Manor Beach Hotel. Judi, who kept the list of all the people on our Roll Call had arranged a dinner and  5 couples had indicated that we would like to join her and her husband. She left a message indicating that we were to meet outside the ship at 5:30pm. 

 

 

We were the first ones waiting. We are always early. Sometimes annoyingly  so. A couple soon joined us. J & F from New Jersey. Another couple had been on our Dora tour and were from Chicago. M & J from Toronto were the couple who were supposed to be doing back to back to back. This was the first leg of the three cruises for them. At least that was the plan. Judi and her husband  and another couple arrived and we were ready to go. The taxis were great in Aruba. The rates are all set and posted, depending on where you were going. We easily caught cabs. There was room for one more in the first cab & I was off without Ken with a group of strangers in a distant country. 

 

 

Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Marvy Mare

[Marvy Mare]

 

 

 

 

Look at that beach.

 

 

A little taste of Passions - more later.

[sandancer]

Ok. That really is a co-oincedence. Did you brother mention which cruise he met us on. We’ve done more than a few and have met so many great people over the years. What a shame we didn’t bump into you on the cruise. Next time!

[Marvy Mare]

March 6 - DAY 5 - Oranjestad, Aruba - Passions on the Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were probably a few people from the Reflection on the sunset cruise. Too bad the sky didn't provide us with a few clouds, but the heat and humidity made for a colourful sky.

 

 

 

 

 

[mouseRD]

Beautiful pictures!

[Marvy Mare]

Thank you!

[hcat]

Great photos! We love Aruba and that is a nice beach area.

Passions looks nice, very romantic was it breezy?.

Menu looked pricey. How was the food, what did you order? 

Did your group enjoy the outing?

 Did you  get to put your toes in the water?

 

You don't have to answer all of this..just curious...