Post-cruise Review of Reflection November 6 sailing, “Isn’t It Time?”

[WeBcruisingMN]

My husband and I sailed on the November 6 Reflection, and I had promised to do a post-cruise review. Sorry for the delay, we stayed-on in FL for six days following disembarkation, which then morphed into Thanksgiving-prep and celebrations….but this cruise was TOO SPECIAL to skip reviewing.  💯⭐️

 

A short description of who we are: 56 and 58, long time married couple from MN who ‘discovered’ cruising in 2012. Eighteen cruises later (13 with Celebrity) and we are fully on-board! (Pun very much intended!😃) We usually book a mid-ship Veranda cabin, get Premium drink package, try all the shows, eat late in the MDR, do a few specialty restaurants each cruise, participate in some Celebrity life activities, dance often, hang out at the pool, but we aren’t Spa people nor Casino folks. We had already sailed once since restart (Apex September 25th 8 night Greece/Croatia), but were equally excited for this cruise- especially once we realized it was the first sailing back for The Reflection.

 

Embarkation Day November 6 went very smoothly. We had double and triple checked all of our required paperwork, and the port personnel professionally checked us in and at 11:35am we were walking through the clapping receiving-line of crew onto the ship! What a welcome! I think we heard ‘Welcome Back!’ several hundred times during our week on board; we never got tired of hearing that! We did have a glitch with our stateroom (#7234), the keys were waiting, but the electronic black box where we tapped the keys showed no lights. Presumed dead battery…we headed down to Guest Relations to get that sorted, and they promised to send up an electrician. We waited in our hallway for about 45 minutes with various people promising to ‘call again’, when finally the Housekeeping Manager Jelena walked through and righted the situation. The upside is that we got to meet and befriend quite a few of our hallway neighbors, plus we are seasoned Celebrity cruisers, so this mini-rough start was not typical of Celebrity’s excellence and was not about to dampen our mood.

Crew and Mood/vibe We sailed at the scheduled time 5:30pm and it was music to our ears to hear that wonderful horn. We were also treated to a festive fireboat send-off. The crew was so kind and welcoming, even more than usual Celebrity high standards. Captain Nikolas Christodoulakis opened the 7:00pm first theatre show and was so heartfelt in his welcome and exclamations of “We are back!” Captain Nikolas said that The Reflection had been out of service for 600 days (!!!) and that she is sailing with 1,079 guests and 1,078 crew- almost one-to-one ratio!

 

We received gifts in our stateroom every day, I think they were Welcome Back gifts. Throughout the week, we got a bottle of wine, flowers, two Celebrity ball caps, a special photo folio, an art print, a nice canvas bag, a crystal glass with etched sea creatures…and a lot of treats (charcuterie, donuts, candies, etc). The crew seemed well-trained and eager to serve guests again- we felt so extra lucky to be their first guests after such a long time 👍🏻
 

They were all wearing masks, but took them off for photos. It did create some difficulties in understanding, especially in a louder area, but we just all cooperated and listened the best we could. Hopefully the crew can be without masks soon.

 

[D C]

We were also on that sailing. It was awesome to be back onboard, and the daily "welcome back" swag was quite nice! 

 

The crew was absolutely fantastic! They'd been onboard since late September or earlier. It was good to see so many familiar faces, and even the new crew were spot-on. 

[WeBcruisingMN]

[I wasn’t sure what the length restrictions are for posting, so I will continue with my review]

 

MDR/Oceanview Food As others have mentioned, Oceanview is mostly served by crew members dishing-out requested items. This sometimes requires patience and courteous observation by guests to see ‘who was first’, if a crew member is responsible for opposite sides of a food station. All went well,  and it was very easy to find seating since we were only approx 1/3 capacity. Oceanview isn’t our first choice usually, but sometimes when we have to head off early or when we return to the ship in the late  afternoon- that is our option.

 

We prefer eating breakfast in the MDR, and all went very well. Most mornings it seemed like there were only about 20-25 tables max… service was good and crew were cheery.

 

 We dined late seating (8:30) at a table on deck 3 near the center dining room section (which we love, with the crystal chandeliers and grand staircase, etc). We had a very competent and kind service team of Jujur, Mustaq, and Vincent (waiter, ass’t waiter, sommelier). Late seating was pretty sparse in the MDR and our team had our table and one or two others, so service was top notch!  Our water glasses never got close to empty, the food was delivered promptly but not too quickly, and it was always hot and tasty). The prime rib on night 1 was especially delicious, and I ‘found’ a new favorite salad- the grilled asparagus salad with pistachios and goat cheese.

 

Specialty Dining we had pre-booked Murano for night 3; it was our third or fourth time dining there (over all of our thirteen cruises). We have the seemingly rare opinion that Murano is not for us. Service was just pretty good, and we had a bit of bad luck when John’s dover sole (which the waiter was prepping tableside) was deemed to be ‘not done enough’, meaning his dish was sent back while I had my main entree (herb crusted lamb rack) already sitting there. They offered to bring mine back and keep it warm, but I opted to eat it and share with John while he waited for his entree. It is also very dim in the restaurant, which can add to the mood….or if you happened to have had a tiring day (like we did), it can make you sleepy. I respect and value all opinions of those who LOVE Murano, just thought I would throw it out there that it isn’t our favorite.

 

Lawn Club Grill was Night 5, and we were first-timers. We were seated along the outside edge, and there were probably 4 other tables with guests at the time. Unfortunately, we did not have a great experience here, partly due to service issues and partly due to food. We felt that the menu isn’t really that special, the only starters are Flatbread (which tasted and looked exactly like the pizza that we had already been eating in the Oceanview the first four days, it was a round pizza and the toppings were pretty much the normal fare). We also specifically asked what the BBQ chicken pizza had on it - were told it was only chicken and BBQ sauce, so we reiterated, “No onions?” and were told that it didn’t have onions. The BBQ chicken pizza was full of sweet corn in addition to the chicken and also had plenty of red onions ?!? The ‘Salad bar’ seemed exactly like the Salad bar in the Oceanview Buffet, with the same dressings etc. Our steaks were good…but by then, we had already decided that Lawn Club was not for us! We did appreciate the Host Raj stopping by during and after our meal to address our service and food concerns, which we stated politely and constructively, and he offered to ‘Comp’ our cover charge. It was good to have a listening ear and a respect for our experience; we often find that with Celebrity, they often want to know how they could do better.

 

The Porch- the third time is the charm for us! We booked The Porch for lunch on the last day for 12 noon. We were the only diners for the first half hour, then a few other tables were filled.  The service was excellent (Melissa from Mauritius and Rajatsing from Mauritius, both only one their second contract!). Melissa made an extra effort to obtain our requested wine (even though it wasn’t on their menu), and the food was very special. The bread was a garlic cheesy roll, we ordered the Pil Pil Shrimp and Asian sesame chicken wings for starters, all was outstanding. We did order the Seafood Tower for Two (a single $15 upcharge), and it was wonderful. The seafood was nice and cold on a bed of ice, and all were perfect tasting, the right texture and taste. I would say the dessert was satisfactory, just a basic vanilla cheesecake and a chocolate mousse, but by then we were so happy with our dining experience- dessert was just fine for us. I will also compliment the aforementioned Host Raj again, who is responsible for both Lawn Club and The Porch. He stopped by to see how our lunch was going and seemed pleased that we were very satisfied. He then came by near the end of our lunch and let us know that he wanted to ‘comp’ our lunch too, as a thank you for giving them another chance. I thought that showed professionalism and also some courage. We would highly recommend The Porch, the only complaint was that it was a tad warm in the room for midday dining.

Pictures= MDR Cobb salad at lunch (first sea day), Seafood Tower at The Porch, view while dining at The Porch

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

Sharon,

 

It is great to hear from you and I loved reading your review so far.  The pictures are enjoyable, too.  We were on Reflection in 2019 and your review is bringing back nice memories.

 

I see you were on Apex, our first cruise since the pandemic shutdown will be on Apex in March.

 

Did your daughter, Theresa, manage to get reunited with her Australian boyfriend?  I gots to know.

 

I hope John and you are doing well.

 

David.  

[WeBcruisingMN]

Ports/Shore excursions (sailing from Ft Lauderdale):

Nassau, Bahamas - Sea Day - Cozumel, Mexico - Belize City, Belize - Roatan, Honduras - Sea Day

 

Nassau we walked off the ship about a half hour stroll to a beach called Junkanoo Beach. It wasn’t busy at the beach and we just sat on the sand for about 90 minutes. I will give a cautionary comment to say that the port entry staff (for returning to the ship) checked Photo IDs in addition to sea pass cards. I hadn’t listened carefully to the announcement (it is hard to hear it in the stateroom) and often my husband carries all of the important documents or cards..so I didn’t have my ID with us off the ship.  Fortunately we have an unusual last name (which matched my husband’s ID) and I managed to sweet talk the port personnel into letting me pass by, but you shouldn’t count on that. 
 

Cozumel  we took the Celebrity excursion FURY CATAMARAN SNORKEL & BEACH BREAK. It was the usual ‘meet in the theatre at 8:00am’ instructions, and we left at about 8:30. It was an easy walk off the ship and to the next dock over for the Fury catamaran. There were about 30-35 of us, and the weather wasn’t ideal (only about 70°, overcast and windy). Oh well… we had a good time snorkeling (once you’ve snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, it is hard for anything else to measure up), and then we reboarded the Fury for a ride to their private beach. Now we were soaked and it was still overcast and windy, but no matter- I was determined to conquer at least one of  the inflatable slides in the water, even at my age!?! It was a fun morning excursion, and some guests really enjoyed the plentiful margaritas and beer on the Fury.

 

Belize  we took the Celebrity excursion ANCIENT RUINS OF ALTUN HA. We met in the theatre at 8:45, took tenders to shore for about 20 minutes, then waited in line to board a bus. The bus was disappointing, as it was a very very old Bluebird school bus with no A/C and every seat was filled with two people (there were 52 of us on thus excursion). Plus, we were required to wear masks the entire time, except when we were actually at the Ruins (at the ruins you would be participating in a sporting activity, thus you could remove your mask). We took a 45 minute slow bus tour in the town from 9:30-10:15, then began the hour long drive to the Ruins. Whew, a lot of time on that bus! 😔The ruins were amazing to see and the guide was good. They did give us a lot of time there, I think they were hoping that we would shop. One hour bus ride back, and then we just missed a tender boat….so we had to wait 29 minutes for the next one. Oh well, we are still on vacation 😀

 

Roatan we stayed on the ship. The Reflection is docked at the Coxen Hole area, which we visited when we were on Liberty of the Seas in January 2020. At that time, we had wanted to ‘just walk around town’ and we had a very uncomfortable and almost unsafe feeling, where we were followed incessantly by one resident and he ‘insisted’ on giving us a tour. Anyway, based on our past experience, it doesn’t seem like the best area to wander around, so we just took a day to relax.

Pictures= Junkanoo Beach (Nassau), beautiful sailaway from Nassau, Private Fury catamaran beach, The Reflection from the catamaran as we returned, Altun Ha ruins in Belize, Roatan - as viewed from the ship

Lastly- the bus photo (from the Altun Ha parking lot in Belize) depicts the difference between the Celebrity excursion bus and the Viking Cruises excursion coach busses 🤣

 

 

[WeBcruisingMN]

22 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

Did your daughter, Theresa, manage to get reunited with her Australian boyfriend?  I gots to know.

So nice to hear from you, David! I hope you and your family are well, you will love the Apex! 
 

Thanks for asking about Theresa and Chris. They are still going strong, after 3 1/2 years ❤️ So amazing that they met on the dance floor of the Celebrity Solstice in April 2018, as we cruised in Australia! He is presently visiting her here in MN for a couple of months - they are such a sweet couple, and we love spending time with Chris. Their efforts to see each other (and for him to be allowed to travel out of Australia the past 21 months have been almost unbelievable!). Here is a cute pic of them in our backyard at Thanksgiving. I think Celebrity love stories should be published somewhere someday! 

[WeBcruisingMN]

More to come….review paused temporarily, so I can go to bed 🛌 Thanks for reading along 😊

[chemmo]

So enjoying reading your review!

Must confess that Silhouette and Reflection are our favourite ships as we do enjoy their additional dining options.

 

A pity you had an issue in Murano…Very rare they make a mistake. Strongly suggest you give it another go next time you cruise.

 

Our opinion re Lawn Grill pretty well matches yours…The food and ambiance remind us more of a family BBQ event than fine dining. However, after saying that we enjoy variety and mid cruise it is nice to dine on deck in a relaxed fashion. Also agree with you re the starters. Many of us, I think, find a flat bread just too filling. I generally just have a salad. Just one or two added items to the starter menu  would make a big difference. 
 

We also love the Porch at lunchtime. Just so nice to have a swim, dry off, enjoy a drink at the sunset bar then head for a light lunch in the Porch. On Reflection (a few years ago)  it was doubly appreciated on sea days as we were on a full ship and the buffet was busy, busy…On Silhouette we were on a staycation cruise with few on board, no where was busy but we still enjoyed the ambiance and food…

 

 

[Catlover54]

8 hours ago, WeBcruisingMN said:

So nice to hear from you, David! I hope you and your family are well, you will love the Apex! 
 

Thanks for asking about Theresa and Chris. They are still going strong, after 3 1/2 years ❤️ So amazing that they met on the dance floor of the Celebrity Solstice in April 2018, as we cruised in Australia! He is presently visiting her here in MN for a couple of months - they are such a sweet couple, and we love spending time with Chris. Their efforts to see each other (and for him to be allowed to travel out of Australia the past 21 months have been almost unbelievable!). Here is a cute pic of them in our backyard at Thanksgiving. I think Celebrity love stories should be published somewhere someday! 

 

Lovely picture (somehow I had the false idea that Aussies, based on CC comments by Australian pax,  were not allowed to do non-essential travel!), and useful information in the review.

[BridgeMates]

Very Nice review.  We were B2B on the Nov 6 &13th cruises with you.

So happy to be back on Celebrity and the Reflection.  We have been on most of the Celebrity ships and the Reflection and the Silhouette are our favorites.  We enjoyed the Edge, but once was enough. 

We're a lot older than you and we only got off once....walked around in Cozumel for a few minutes.

We love the back deck outside the OV Cafe and just enjoy sitting out there looking at the ocean with a Mango Daquiri (or 2) often.  

We love Murano's and the Lawn Club Grill.  Ate in Murano's 6 times over the 2 weeks.....generally lobster or the steak.  We had the same server and table each time.  It is very special.  Watched what we ate during the day so as not to gain too much. Still have a little work to do! 

All of the crew made us feel so welcome and they went out of their way to please everyone.  After a couple days, they often knew our names and wouldn't need our cruise card.  They knew we had the upgraded package.

The only glitch was when we discovered 2 days before boarding they had changed our mid-ship hump "obstructed" balcony on deck 6 (which really isn't obstructed) to one on deck 7 closer to the bow  (unobstructed).   Guess they thought we'd be happy with the upgrade.  Luckily we were able to change back to a hump balcony on Deck 7 which turned out to be even better than the one we had originally. 

The music throughout the ship was great.  With only 1000 pax they didn't cut back on anything that we could see.  The buffets were fabulous as usual, the entertainment was pretty much as usual, the Martini Bar busy as always, the dining room was never crowded and the attention was excellent.  

They had several trivia games every day, and I swear that is why my husband loves cruising....

He found a "winning" team so he was happy......and they won enough lanyards to sink the ship!  The group gave them all back at the end of the cruise, so be assured YOU can win a lanyard next time!  lol

We had "Celebrity" face masks in our cabin when we boarded but didn't use any masks while on the ship.  I used one yesterday at the grocery store and it is quite nice, soft and covers more than the paper ones.  Also reminds us of our cruise and the wonderful time we had once again on Celebrity.  We had been pretty faithful Princess cruisers until a few years ago and have a Mexican cruise booked with our son and dau-in-law in February on the Majestic Princess.   Turns out it's a "Love Boat" theme, which appeals to them.  After our allegiance to Celebrity it will be kind of fun to see if we enjoy Princess again as much as we used to.

We've never had a bad cruise....they're all good.  Some better than others, but all good.  How lucky we all are to be able to take these wonderful trips.  We are 80 and 85 and can't wait 'til the next one. 😁🛳🍷

 

 

[Saturngrl]

Great review!  We were on the November 20th sailing of Reflection.   We had an awesome time!  Only 800 passengers aboard this cruise.  We were so spoiled!

 

DH and I had the same issue with our SeaPass cards opening our stateroom door.  It was fixed shortly after I went to the Guest Relations Desk.  

 

I'm no fan of Murano, but have to admit our experience on this sailing was amazing!   It changed my opinion of this restaurant.   We had a much better experience on LCG, so sorry to hear about yours. 

 

The crew continues to be delighted we are back at sea.   I loved this cruise! 

[mahdnc]

11 hours ago, WeBcruisingMN said:

So nice to hear from you, David! I hope you and your family are well, you will love the Apex! 
 

Thanks for asking about Theresa and Chris. They are still going strong, after 3 1/2 years ❤️ So amazing that they met on the dance floor of the Celebrity Solstice in April 2018, as we cruised in Australia! He is presently visiting her here in MN for a couple of months - they are such a sweet couple, and we love spending time with Chris. Their efforts to see each other (and for him to be allowed to travel out of Australia the past 21 months have been almost unbelievable!). Here is a cute pic of them in our backyard at Thanksgiving. I think Celebrity love stories should be published somewhere someday! 

 

I like how you have Chris wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes football shirt.  Does he even like American football??

[39august]

Am I understanding correctly that the Seafood Tower for two at lunch in the Porch was only one $15 charge? It was an extra $30 when we last lunched at the Porch on RF in Feb. 2020.  And what is the current per person  lunch Porch charge, please?  

[D C]

14 hours ago, WeBcruisingMN said:

Lawn Club Grill was Night 5, and we were first-timers. We were seated along the outside edge, and there were probably 4 other tables with guests at the time. Unfortunately, we did not have a great experience here, partly due to service issues and partly due to food. We felt that the menu isn’t really that special, the only starters are Flatbread (which tasted and looked exactly like the pizza that we had already been eating in the Oceanview the first four days, it was a round pizza and the toppings were pretty much the normal fare). We also specifically asked what the BBQ chicken pizza had on it - were told it was only chicken and BBQ sauce, so we reiterated, “No onions?” and were told that it didn’t have onions. The BBQ chicken pizza was full of sweet corn in addition to the chicken and also had plenty of red onions ?!? The ‘Salad bar’ seemed exactly like the Salad bar in the Oceanview Buffet, with the same dressings etc. Our steaks were good…but by then, we had already decided that Lawn Club was not for us! We did appreciate the Host Raj stopping by during and after our meal to address our service and food concerns, which we stated politely and constructively, and he offered to ‘Comp’ our cover charge. It was good to have a listening ear and a respect for our experience; we often find that with Celebrity, they often want to know how they could do better.

Our Lawn Club opinion isn't too far from yours, and I think it is MEANT to have a "Backyard BBQ" feel, which seems like an awkward theme for that setting.

 

We went on Night 6 and were rather perplexed by the 'flatbread' being 100% identical to the buffet pizza.  Glad we didn't order one for each of us!   We had similar issues with service, and I nearly ran back to the Sunset Bar for a glass of wine after one of our servers apparently went missing for some time.   The steak and sides were quite good, and we overall had an enjoyable meal.  It's a stretch to justify the full $45 per person upcharge though.   

[WeBcruisingMN]

6 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Lovely picture (somehow I had the false idea that Aussies, based on CC comments by Australian pax,  were not allowed to do non-essential travel!)

Yeah, they have had to rely a lot on FaceTime due to travel restrictions. She has not been allowed to travel into Australia. This is only his second time traveling over here since Covid shutdowns, and it involved a lot of government protocol, appeals, procedures, and of course- extra cost. They are a beautiful example of a committed young couple ❤️

 

3 hours ago, mahdnc said:

I like how you have Chris wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes football shirt.  Does he even like American football??

The shirt is from Theresa’s alma mater, and in fact- they were able to attend an Iowa football game together and he loved the experience of Big10 college football. He loves sports. 🏈 

[WeBcruisingMN]

2 hours ago, 39august said:

Am I understanding correctly that the Seafood Tower for two at lunch in the Porch was only one $15 charge?

Yes, only one $15 charge for one Seafood Tower that fed two of us. This was on top of the $30/ per person lunch charge. It was worth it to us! I am not sure what their dinner charge is…..

[WeBcruisingMN]

1 hour ago, D C said:

We had similar issues with service, and I nearly ran back to the Sunset Bar for a glass of wine after one of our servers apparently went missing for some time. 

Interesting to hear about your LCG impressions that mostly match with ours. There was a period of time when both my water and wine glasses were empty (and my husband’s almost too). I looked at my watch and 15 minutes went by with no service…. I finally saw a white-shirted manager/ officer stopping in to check on the LCG (? Not sure what their position would be), and I raised my empty wine glass and he hurried over to fill it and apologized. I was almost ready to go get my own wine, too!  We were trying to be understanding since this was the first cruise back, but with the compounding issues- it became hard to justify the $45/person extra charge, like you said.
 

We also thought it was perplexing that they seated one couple immediately next to us, about a half hour after we started our time there. There were MANY other tables open in the restaurant, so not sure why they were placed mere feet from our table?

[39august]

Thanks for answering my Porch questions. Sounds like something we will do if still the same in Jan. We have lots of OBC to get rid of anyway!

[WeBcruisingMN]

Theatre shows at 7:00 & 9:00

1 Kevin Jordan (comedian)

2 Broken Strings production show

3 The Broadway Boys (4 male singers)

4 Jessica Jane (magician)

5 Tommy Proulx (‘powerhouse’ saxophonist)

6 Charity Lockheart (singer, homage to Aretha Franklin)

7 Elysium production show

 

We attended all of the shows and stayed for the entirety of four of them. [Sometimes when we think the show may not be our taste, we sit in the very back at the tables and slip out quietly between songs, if the show doesn’t suit us].

 

All of the performers are talented and professional in their productions, and it was great to have live entertainment to watch again. We usually went to the 7:00 shows, since we dined at 8:30. On night 5 we went to the 9:00. Attendance at the shows varied, but I would estimate the theatre was typically 1/10 full maybe? So- very easy to distance from your fellow guests, if you want.
 

Captain Nikolas attended the 7pm show each night, sitting in the front row of the left side, plus he opened the very first show and closed out the week by opening the 7th show. He calls us guests “Wonderful People”, he is very warm and appreciative of our choice to sail with Celebrity. We thought it was a great example of support for his fellow crew to attend the shows each night.

 

Our favorite shows were Kevin Jordan (we usually like comedians, except when they spend too much time joking about the latecomers, lol), Jessica Jane (she is a 32 year old magician, and was very convincing and entertaining), and Elysium production show (I personally love the acrobatic elements, so this show was ‘for me’). The singers were good, but sometimes they just provide too much back-story for our taste (we wish they would sing more/talk less). We were disappointed that they didn’t do the production show ROCK CITY (which we have already seen numerous times on other ships): and I didn’t get a chance to ask why they didn’t do it.

 

Dancing/Celebrity Life Activities 

We went dancing about 4 or 5 of the nights. We danced both nights of Silent Disco (we used to think it looked so silly, til we tried it ourselves a few cruises ago… now we are ‘into it’! 😀); Silent Disco was on Nights 2 & 6. We also danced up in the Sky Lounge with the DJ music a few nights; sometimes it was just us and one/two other couples, but we didn’t care. We watched the Battle of the Bands, which was good and loud. We loved the Full Moon party, which was dancing to the DJ on the pool deck. It was a beautiful evening and very fun to dance in the fresh sea air.

 

So, here’s my sales pitch: if you haven’t yet danced on your cruise(s), give it a go! We aren’t ‘good dancers’, but no one cares and we just dance to our hearts and have fun. It’s also a great way to work off some of those extra cruise calories, lol.

 

 We did a few Celebrity Life activities: we watched the presentation of ‘How to cook the perfect steak’, did two of the 8:00pm Game Shows in the Entertainment Court (Officers vs Guests completing goofy tasks and The 80’s Music game show. Both were fun and got the crowds cheering and involved. 
 

Pictures= How to Cook the Perfect Steak class, Executive Chef and Assistant Chef pictured with my husband 

Night time picture of the pool area, when we were dancing on the pool deck

 

 

[WeBcruisingMN]

A few other Misc. comments

I forgot to write this in Entertainment above, but we really liked the acoustic duo OPALIRA. They often played at the Sunset Bar, that was nice to have live music there.

 

 We didn’t attend any of the Beyond the Podium sessions, but they were probably good and interesting. The guest speaker was Lt. Col. Bill Rothschild and he spoke about space exploration and astronauts. He spoke every day, with varied time slots (10:15, 11:15, 2:30, 3:30). We had listened to a different space speaker a few years ago and really enjoyed the presentations. It’s always nice to have the option to learn something.

 

The most unique food combination I ate all week was Peanut butter ice cream topped with orange cubes of jello. 🤔 On night 2, I had asked our MDR waiter if I could get PB ice cream for dessert (since I often don’t prefer the main menu desserts). He checked in the kitchen and said he would have it for me on Night 4. He was very excited and pleased to present my dessert to me on that fourth night, and much to my surprise- it was topped with orange jello cubes. Of course I ate it all, though I did eat all the jello separately first, since I just couldn’t fathom how orange jello pairs with PB ice cream. He had PB ice cream for me (without orange jello though) on all the remaining nights that we dined in the MDR, so I appreciated his honoring of my special request.

 

Overall, we loved this cruise, even more than we expected to. It was our ninth Caribbean cruise (out of 18 total), and we kind of thought we may not experience anything new- that it would be just a ‘normal’ Caribbean cruise. As I mentioned before, though- we were proven wrong. This cruise was a very special return-to-service and we also have the feeling that we will never again take cruising for granted & we felt so grateful to be able to cruise again. My soul is always filled with time on the sea (especially since I live in such a land-locked state, MN) and I love watching the skies- each sunrise, sunset, cloud formations, and stars are so special. I believe it is truly God’s creative display and I shall never tire of it.

 

The theme on our Dailies was “Isn’t It Time? Journey Safe. Journey Wonderfull” (spelling is purposeful). It IS time to cruise again, if you are ready and flexible to flow with itinerary changes, some people wearing masks and some not (and if you’re too worried about that, IMHO you aren’t ready yet), and to appreciate all the wonders that cruising offers. Celebrity is back and we aim to sail as much as possible in the coming months and years.

 

 Thanks for reading along! Feel free to ask any questions 💟 Sharon

 I will leave you with a few pictures of the skies during our cruise.

[mahdnc]

Nice photo of the Orion constellation!

[pooh/tigger]

Thanks for the wonderful reviews. We sail on her in Feb. 

 

Did they mention why they changed the itinerary and excluded Dominican Republic? 

[canderson]

2 hours ago, pooh/tigger said:

Thanks for the wonderful reviews. We sail on her in Feb. 

 

Did they mention why they changed the itinerary and excluded Dominican Republic? 

Still working on their new cruise port, and not using old Samana port.  Haven't looked lately, but was scheduled for first of the year. 

[D C]

3 hours ago, pooh/tigger said:

Thanks for the wonderful reviews. We sail on her in Feb. 

 

Did they mention why they changed the itinerary and excluded Dominican Republic? 

It wasn't ever a scheduled port for the sailing on 06-Nov, which was a Western.   Maybe you're thinking the following week?

[D C]

10 hours ago, WeBcruisingMN said:

A few other Misc. comments

I forgot to write this in Entertainment above, but we really liked the acoustic duo OPALIRA. They often played at the Sunset Bar, that was nice to have live music there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the cruise summary, John & Sharon. It's always interesting to see how someone else experiences the same ship.  

 

I'll agree that Opalira was absolutely fantastic.  We heard them once and then made it a point to be at the Sunset when they were there.  Mica has such great vocals.   Looking forward to seeing them when we're back onboard in January.

https://www.facebook.com/Opalira-209180547547460/

https://linktr.ee/Opalira