Live from reflection, 19 October 2023, transatlantic. Have questions? Ask away

[cruisestitch]

Winners tonight—-

 

sautéed salmon puttanesca style

turkey with all the trimmings

mac & cheese from the children’s menu

spagetti & meat sauce from the same

 

so-so

 

gnocchi with four cheese sauce

[hcat]

On 10/19/2023 at 5:58 AM, MadManOfBethesda said:

Wow. We board this afternoon with a scheduled time of 1:00 - 1:30. I hope the problems have been corrected by then and that boarding goes a little more smoothly than it did this morning! I've enjoyed reading your previous live thread and am curious what our experience will be in the MDR & buffet. We usually order from a special menu in the MDR or have items specially prepared as my wife is gluten intolerant (Celiac) and my diet is plant-based.  We've been in Valencia for the past two weeks and moved to a hotel in Barcelona last night, where we are currently relaxing and awaiting our scheduled boarding time.

great pre cruise plan.. Valencia is a great city..old and new

[hcat]

10 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

With 1800 elites on board, the breakfast buffet has returned for this cruise

with so many elites on board this is a good idea..bet all Elite events will be 

packed Bon Voyage

[Lastdance]

How is the vibe on the ship for the TA; is the weather cooperating?  Enjoy as much as you can and thanks for sharing!

[cruisestitch]

19 minutes ago, hcat said:

with so many elites on board this is a good idea..bet all Elite events will be 

packed Bon Voyage

They are actually doubling up some of them….two wine tastings, two Welcome Toast parties….maybe others but those are the two I remember

[cruisestitch]

Days 2 & 3

 

[cruisestitch]

13 hours ago, Lastdance said:

How is the vibe on the ship for the TA; is the weather cooperating?  Enjoy as much as you can and thanks for sharing!

Weather yesterday in Marseille was iffy, windy and occasional light rain.  Seas have been choppy.

[MadManOfBethesda]

On 10/19/2023 at 6:13 AM, cruisestitch said:

They have a vegan station with four or five main dishes every day at lunch and dinner.  You might be happier in the buffet for your meals rather than the dining room.

Wow! I did not appreciate exactly what you were saying. I assumed that you meant that there were four or five options available in the buffet that just happened to be vegan. I didn't realize that there was a dedicated section of entrees that were prepared specifically for vegans. To wit: Vegan Chicken in Tomato Salsa; Creamy Mushroom & Brussel Sprouts; Vegetable Black Bean Stew; and, Vegan "Meat" Balls in Napolitana Sauce. There was another rice-based item as well, but I don't recall what it was labelled. That was all yesterday at lunch. I've never seen anything like that on any other line on which we've cruised.

 

For dinner, I wanted to give the MDR another chance, and although there wasn't much on the regular menu, I found out that they had a separate vegetarian menu which included several vegan options. For a starter, I chose the "Chop Chop Composed Salad" which consisted of peppers, celery, carrots and romaine lettuce. Much better than the previous night's plain lettuce wedge. There were several entrees to choose from as well.

 

For those of you who are complaining about the same old tired items on the regular menu, you might want to take a look at the vegetarian menu to try something different. For example, on tonight's menu, I've pre-ordered the Grilled Vegetable Napolean appetizer, the Wild Mushroom-Barley Soup, and the Herb and Garlic Marinated Portobello Mushroom on a bed of Arugula Salad. The desert will be Carrot Halva. Other choices on the vegetarian menu for tonight include Chicory Apple Pear Salad, Red & White Belgium Endive, Frisée and Avocado Salad in a Pink Grapefruit Vinaigrette, and Tikka Masala Tofu, which includes spinach, green lentils, and red peppers, and is served with Paratha.

 

It's only been a couple of days, but I, for one, have not been disappointed with the food or the food options. 

[like2cruise]

On 10/19/2023 at 3:26 AM, cruisestitch said:

440 back-to-back guests and the procedure was a real cluster this morning. The system went down for about an hour so they couldn’t check anybody in for the second cruise during that time. They also gave incorrect instructions on the back to back information sheet which caused many of us further delay.
 

they did send corrected instructions to our staterooms, but by then most of us out of the staterooms and in the sky lounge.

 

it was, frankly, a bloody mess👎

Ugh, so sorry to hear that for you!!  I hope the rest of your cruise is smooth sailing!

[like2cruise]

On 10/19/2023 at 8:50 AM, bobnan said:

Thank you for sharing your cruise. We will be starting our Southern Caribbean cruise when you arrive in Ft Lauderdale.

We are on with you bobnan.  I know it is going to be a great cruise, but we have a few cutback concerns.  Maybe will focus on the positive and I won't gain as much weight :).  

[cruisestitch]

Oh that wacky app.  Tonight there’s no children’s menu and apparently we need to eat dinner fast

[hcat]

too funny!  looks like deck 3 and 4 have diff hrs and diff menus???

what type of fish?

 

we never bother with the app

easier to check the posted menus

[cruisestitch]

Well they do have different hours but they should have the same menu

[Nflder71]

Hey there! If you get a chance can you take a picture of the wine package cost? When we were on board the Equinox last April the sommelier gave us a menu that had wine package options. I think it was 3, 5 and 7.  There was a classic option and premium. TIA!

[RNCheryl]

If you hang out at the Martini Bar and find a couple named Karen and Roger McNeil, talk to them.  They are a fantastic couple with lots of cruise experience.

[cruisestitch]

Winners last night

 

hake

Children’s spaghetti

Children’s mac & cheese

 

so-so

 

Children’s pizza

 

 

it was funny that one of the maitre D’s came by our table and said “I didn’t know there was spaghetti on the menu tonight”, and we explained that we prefer the spaghetti to the offerings on the menu. He was a bit taken aback.😀

[cruisestitch]

So the day before yesterday I was up in the library, where they have set up a table to put out jigsaw puzzles. Dave, the activity manager, passed by and we were chatting and someone came by and asked him a question about books in the library.    I chimed in that there were, at that moment, five books in English in the whole library.  He said he was working on getting more, and I was skeptical, but lo and behold, this morning nearly 100 new books in English had appeared overnight.📚📚📚📚📚📕📗📘📙📖

[catgirl411]

On board now. The entertainment in the Reflection Theatre so far has been very good. The first night we had Max Anthony who is an outstanding Elton John performer. The second night we had Salvatore Hansard who is a multitalented performer…great singer, guitarist, piano player, saxophonist, plays harmonica and drums too. His repertoire is varied but leans towards rock, blues and soul.  He came back last night for another show and Max Anthony played the Grand Foyer. The other night we had a comedy magic couple who were cute but needed to be in a much smaller venue…they were lost on the big stage. There was also one of mini shows in the Grand Foyer by the Production cast and another is planned for tonight. So far so good!

 

 

 

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

We’re currently on Apex and have had issues getting a NZ Sauvignon Blanc on our premium bev pkg.   Villa Maria is hit or miss as they are discontinuing it by the glass.   Anyone have an updated wine list on Reflection as we’ll be onboard in early Jan. 

[SSAtlantic]

18 minutes ago, MERLOTCHAMPAGNE said:

We’re currently on Apex and have had issues getting a NZ Sauvignon Blanc on our premium bev pkg.   Villa Maria is hit or miss as they are discontinuing it by the glass.   Anyone have an updated wine list on Reflection as we’ll be onboard in early Jan. 

Would also like to see an updated list. 

[retired dude]

5 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Winners last night

 

hake

Children’s spaghetti

Children’s mac & cheese

 

so-so

 

Children’s pizza

 

 

it was funny that one of the maitre D’s came by our table and said “I didn’t know there was spaghetti on the menu tonight”, and we explained that we prefer the spaghetti to the offerings on the menu. He was a bit taken aback.😀

on a decent cruise, one should not have to order from the kid's menu..hope things get better when we board her in march 24'....just sayin'

[cruisestitch]

 I completely agree.  

[Beachlover1989]

On 10/19/2023 at 4:24 AM, cruisestitch said:

Four chic nights

 

I’ve never seen two chic nights back to back?!

[cruisestitch]

I think this was a result of having to try to schedule so many Captains Club members for the Captains Club celebration party that they had to split it into two parties. They wanted them to be on a chic night but because there are going to be two parties that meant two chic nights . At least that’s how I understand it. 

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, MERLOTCHAMPAGNE said:

We’re currently on Apex and have had issues getting a NZ Sauvignon Blanc on our premium bev pkg.   Villa Maria is hit or miss as they are discontinuing it by the glass.   Anyone have an updated wine list on Reflection as we’ll be onboard in early Jan. 

 

You can see the 'list' by going through the various venue's on the Celebrity app.

 

From our experience having the wine list does not really help as it is all dependent upon what's available onboard and I have never seen a published list of the wines onboard versus what is their standard offering.