Reflection LIVE 2/3/24-2/11/24: 8 Crazy Nights of ABC Islands

[mac_tlc]

Great food pictures. Have never been to Murano but your pictures make me want to try it next time we do an S class ship.

 

mac_tlc

[go.without.you]

Yeah, finally another Charla review! I did the Chef's dinner back in 2022 and didn't get the tour or the book so feeling kinda ripped off right now. I want some butts! (that's my new fav saying btw)

[vickykay]

Love love love The Porch!

[GenerationX]

Taking a step back in time to report on my day in Bonaire yesterday.

 

I booked a half day snorkeling excursion independently on the Lady Bellais.  I’d seen the company in a few social media ads and though they didn’t have a ton of reviews on Google or trip advisor, the ones that were there were glowing so I figured it was a safe bet to try.  

 

It turns out the limited number of reviews is because they’ve only been in business for about 7 months. I’m going to be giving them very well deserved plugs everywhere because they do a fantastic job!

 

It’s a family owned and run business.  Mom was checking us in at a tent less than a 5 minute walk outside the cruise port before a short bus ride to the marina.  The dad is the seaman who bought the historic wooden schooner, sailed it 21 days from Brazil to Bonaire and restored it.  Their son was on the crew helping out with sailing and snorkeling and making sure everyone used the rope swing safely (more on that in a minute).

 

During this high season I paid about $85 per person which included the snorkeling with all equipment provided (I used my own mask and snorkel but the provided flippers to save packing space) and open bar and lunch.

 

We were greeted on boarding the boat with small welcome mimosas. I partook figuring it was such a small portion and worst case it probably wouldn’t hit my system until I was almost done in the water anyway…a decision that may have played into my fate later on.

 

We had about a 20 minute sail out to the mooring for snorkeling then had 45 minutes in the water to snorkel.  If you’re only going to snorkel/dive one place on an ABC islands cruise, Bonaire is the place to do it.  The reefs are in incredible shape and the water is so clear you can see to the bottom even from the boat.

 

I saw tons of fish and corals of all sizes and colors.  At one point I found myself in the middle of a school of fast swimming small fish.  I didn’t have the presence of mind at the time to consider that when a big group of small fish is around swimming quickly, there’s probably a much larger fish chasing them.  When I saw the silhouette of said larger fish coming towards me, this daft woman thought “oh! That big fish is about to swim right under me! How cool!” Seconds later I realized my sub par depth perception had struck again and the fish (either a marlin or swordfish, not sure which) wasn’t going to swim under me, he was going to crash right into me pointy nose first!  I turned myself sideways and dove down more to swim away just in time, but Jaws grazed my leg hard.  I won’t be that girl who posts pics of her battle scars, but I’ve now got a brag worthy bruise coming up on the right side of my knee.  That’s what I get for coming between a marine carnivore and his buffet.

 

After snorkeling it was time for the open bar which was stocked with name brand spirits (so often these open bar cruises have well alcohol) and a big cooler of iced down coronas for the beer folks.  

 

The crew then opened the boat’s rope swing for those who wanted to try.  It looked like fun but when it comes to my body, I have zero confidence in my bow’s strength and ability to hold on to the dead weight of my much heavier stern while in pendulum motion, so I stayed in my lane and stuck to enjoying Corona and rum punch in the sunshine.

 

Lunch was another high point of the day.  It’s another place where all inclusive snorkeling cruises tend to cut corners so I wasn’t expecting anything impressive, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The crew served up the captain’s own recipe Caribbean chicken stew served over beans and rice with sautéed veggies on the side.  As my 11 year old would say, that chicken was bussin.  It was so tender and juicy it fell apart with a press of the fork.  We were offered seconds if we wanted and pretty much everyone onboard took them up on it. 
 

For an after lunch aperitif, the crew passed out shots of a local liqueur made from fermented Caribbean cactus.  

 

While we ate and drank we had a sailing tour around the island with some party music playing but not at an obnoxious volume.

 

I think Lady Bellais will be my go to plan for Bonaire going forward.

 

After the excursion I headed back to the ship to do some work and take a much needed nap before dinner then headed to lawn club grill.

 

I had the same server Franklin that I had for my lunch there. If you’re sailing soon and going to LCG ask for him. He’ll take very good care of you!

 

For dinner I started with a smaller size of the sausage and pepper pizza (so much better than it was on Silhouette) then had my usual LCG turf & turf of the ribeye and a half portion of the lamb chops with a side of the lobster Mac n cheese.  

 

Where’s my girl @lola2013 at?  The warm chocolate chip cookie dessert was everything we love!  When I finished it, Franklin offered to bring me another one and I actually considered it for a few seconds.

 

After dinner I decided to stay outside enjoying the beautiful evening and met my Irish MDR table mates for a couple of drinks at sunset bar then headed to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[parrothead1]

7 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Taking a step back in time to report on my day in Bonaire yesterday.

 

I booked a half day snorkeling excursion independently on the Lady Bellais.  I’d seen the company in a few social media ads and though they didn’t have a ton of reviews on Google or trip advisor, the ones that were there were glowing so I figured it was a safe bet to try.  

 

It turns out the limited number of reviews is because they’ve only been in business for about 7 months. I’m going to be giving them very well deserved plugs everywhere because they do a fantastic job!

 

It’s a family owned and run business.  Mom was checking us in at a tent less than a 5 minute walk outside the cruise port before a short bus ride to the marina.  The dad is the seaman who bought the historic wooden schooner, sailed it 21 days from Brazil to Bonaire and restored it.  Their son was on the crew helping out with sailing and snorkeling and making sure everyone used the rope swing safely (more on that in a minute).

 

During this high season I paid about $85 per person which included the snorkeling with all equipment provided (I used my own mask and snorkel but the provided flippers to save packing space) and open bar and lunch.

 

We were greeted on boarding the boat with small welcome mimosas. I partook figuring it was such a small portion and worst case it probably wouldn’t hit my system until I was almost done in the water anyway…a decision that may have played into my fate later on.

 

We had about a 20 minute sail out to the mooring for snorkeling then had 45 minutes in the water to snorkel.  If you’re only going to snorkel/dive one place on an ABC islands cruise, Bonaire is the place to do it.  The reefs are in incredible shape and the water is so clear you can see to the bottom even from the boat.

 

I saw tons of fish and corals of all sizes and colors.  At one point I found myself in the middle of a school of fast swimming small fish.  I didn’t have the presence of mind at the time to consider that when a big group of small fish is around swimming quickly, there’s probably a much larger fish chasing them.  When I saw the silhouette of said larger fish coming towards me, this daft woman thought “oh! That big fish is about to swim right under me! How cool!” Seconds later I realized my sub par depth perception had struck again and the fish (either a marlin or swordfish, not sure which) wasn’t going to swim under me, he was going to crash right into me pointy nose first!  I turned myself sideways and dove down more to swim away just in time, but Jaws grazed my leg hard.  I won’t be that girl who posts pics of her battle scars, but I’ve now got a brag worthy bruise coming up on the right side of my knee.  That’s what I get for coming between a marine carnivore and his buffet.

 

After snorkeling it was time for the open bar which was stocked with name brand spirits (so often these open bar cruises have well alcohol) and a big cooler of iced down coronas for the beer folks.  

 

The crew then opened the boat’s rope swing for those who wanted to try.  It looked like fun but when it comes to my body, I have zero confidence in my bow’s strength and ability to hold on to the dead weight of my much heavier stern while in pendulum motion, so I stayed in my lane and stuck to enjoying Corona and rum punch in the sunshine.

 

Lunch was another high point of the day.  It’s another place where all inclusive snorkeling cruises tend to cut corners so I wasn’t expecting anything impressive, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The crew served up the captain’s own recipe Caribbean chicken stew served over beans and rice with sautéed veggies on the side.  As my 11 year old would say, that chicken was bussin.  It was so tender and juicy it fell apart with a press of the fork.  We were offered seconds if we wanted and pretty much everyone onboard took them up on it. 
 

For an after lunch aperitif, the crew passed out shots of a local liqueur made from fermented Caribbean cactus.  

 

While we ate and drank we had a sailing tour around the island with some party music playing but not at an obnoxious volume.

 

I think Lady Bellais will be my go to plan for Bonaire going forward.

 

After the excursion I headed back to the ship to do some work and take a much needed nap before dinner then headed to lawn club grill.

 

I had the same server Franklin that I had for my lunch there. If you’re sailing soon and going to LCG ask for him. He’ll take very good care of you!

 

For dinner I started with a smaller size of the sausage and pepper pizza (so much better than it was on Silhouette) then had my usual LCG turf & turf of the ribeye and a half portion of the lamb chops with a side of the lobster Mac n cheese.  

 

Where’s my girl @lola2013 at?  The warm chocolate chip cookie dessert was everything we love!  When I finished it, Franklin offered to bring me another one and I actually considered it for a few seconds.

 

After dinner I decided to stay outside enjoying the beautiful evening and met my Irish MDR table mates for a couple of drinks at sunset bar then headed to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the great review of the Lady Bellias.  I had some concerns about booking this, but I have the same booked for my Equinox trip in 2 weeks.  Looks and sounds like you had an amazing experience and now we can't wait.

[hcat]

so far..quite excellent!

hope your wound heals  well!

you have a tale to tell!

[GenerationX]

A quick report and question for others following who have found themselves in a second passenger no show situation:

 

 I’ve had more than the normal amount of issues with my onboard account this cruise.  

 

First, the app wasn’t allowing me to view my account balance or make any specially bookings.  It would just give me a message saying my account is frozen and to please visit guest services.  On visiting guest services, they told me they didn’t see any issues or freezes and it was probably just a first day of cruise glitch in the system and give it time.

 

This did resolve itself by day 3, but on night 2, I was unable to add cash to my slot machine in the casino from my room account.  This took 2 conversations with the casino host, 3 visits to guest services and finally a phone call between the two to sort out.  It had something to do with Jeremy being a no show locking up the account (even though I’m always the primary guest on the booking and the credit card on the account is in my name only).

 

Today’s newest glitch is with OBC.  We were supposed to have $50 OBC from Celebrity and $150 OBC from my TA.  The $50 was showing in the cruise planner pre cruise but disappeared onboard and the $150 from the agent never appeared.

 

I know OBC from agents has usually taken a day or 2 to show up but we’re more than halfway through the cruise (boo) so I decided to look into it.  I emailed my TA who quickly responded and confirmed the credit was sent to celebrity and emailed me a copy of the confirmation that she got from Celebrity to show to guest services.

 

When I stopped by guest services this afternoon, the lady at the desk said she could “see” the credits in the system but wasn’t sure why it isn’t going onto my account.  She said someone will check into it and call me later (I’ve had about a 50% success rate with such assurances to follow up, I suspect I’ll be back at guest services inquiring again tomorrow).

 

Has anyone else had these kinds of issues?  

 

I’m not sure if it’s just a run of bad technology luck, something the agent did (it’s my first time using this particular person) or maybe there’s something I should have done differently as far as Jeremy’s no show that’s causing all the issues.

 

 Luckily there’s never been a line at guest services this cruise so all the chats haven’t taken too much of my time.

 

Any thoughts appreciated!

[GenerationX]

Checking in from Reflection in Curacao where the weather has been yuck all day.  But the good news is that hasn’t stopped the jammin pool deck sail away party… 
 

There are intense games of corn hole going on.

 

The pool temp is warm enough to still be pleasant in the cool drizzle.

 

The house band is KILLIN Aretha Franklin and Joan Jett and the guys at the pool bar are pouring these T&T’s so strong that we could probably use them to run the azipods for the sail back to FLL.

 

Oh and no, fitness app, I would not care to log the calories that were in my lunch today.  How did you even get this number??? 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Charla, glad you enjoyed your excursion. you always keep us wanting to read more! love the food pics. and you look beautiful. We skipped celebrity in 2023 but will be back on board edge in alaska in july. enjoy the rest of your time. you deserve it.

[lola2013]

5 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Taking a step back in time to report on my day in Bonaire yesterday.

 

I booked a half day snorkeling excursion independently on the Lady Bellais.  I’d seen the company in a few social media ads and though they didn’t have a ton of reviews on Google or trip advisor, the ones that were there were glowing so I figured it was a safe bet to try.  

 

It turns out the limited number of reviews is because they’ve only been in business for about 7 months. I’m going to be giving them very well deserved plugs everywhere because they do a fantastic job!

 

It’s a family owned and run business.  Mom was checking us in at a tent less than a 5 minute walk outside the cruise port before a short bus ride to the marina.  The dad is the seaman who bought the historic wooden schooner, sailed it 21 days from Brazil to Bonaire and restored it.  Their son was on the crew helping out with sailing and snorkeling and making sure everyone used the rope swing safely (more on that in a minute).

 

During this high season I paid about $85 per person which included the snorkeling with all equipment provided (I used my own mask and snorkel but the provided flippers to save packing space) and open bar and lunch.

 

We were greeted on boarding the boat with small welcome mimosas. I partook figuring it was such a small portion and worst case it probably wouldn’t hit my system until I was almost done in the water anyway…a decision that may have played into my fate later on.

 

We had about a 20 minute sail out to the mooring for snorkeling then had 45 minutes in the water to snorkel.  If you’re only going to snorkel/dive one place on an ABC islands cruise, Bonaire is the place to do it.  The reefs are in incredible shape and the water is so clear you can see to the bottom even from the boat.

 

I saw tons of fish and corals of all sizes and colors.  At one point I found myself in the middle of a school of fast swimming small fish.  I didn’t have the presence of mind at the time to consider that when a big group of small fish is around swimming quickly, there’s probably a much larger fish chasing them.  When I saw the silhouette of said larger fish coming towards me, this daft woman thought “oh! That big fish is about to swim right under me! How cool!” Seconds later I realized my sub par depth perception had struck again and the fish (either a marlin or swordfish, not sure which) wasn’t going to swim under me, he was going to crash right into me pointy nose first!  I turned myself sideways and dove down more to swim away just in time, but Jaws grazed my leg hard.  I won’t be that girl who posts pics of her battle scars, but I’ve now got a brag worthy bruise coming up on the right side of my knee.  That’s what I get for coming between a marine carnivore and his buffet.

 

After snorkeling it was time for the open bar which was stocked with name brand spirits (so often these open bar cruises have well alcohol) and a big cooler of iced down coronas for the beer folks.  

 

The crew then opened the boat’s rope swing for those who wanted to try.  It looked like fun but when it comes to my body, I have zero confidence in my bow’s strength and ability to hold on to the dead weight of my much heavier stern while in pendulum motion, so I stayed in my lane and stuck to enjoying Corona and rum punch in the sunshine.

 

Lunch was another high point of the day.  It’s another place where all inclusive snorkeling cruises tend to cut corners so I wasn’t expecting anything impressive, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The crew served up the captain’s own recipe Caribbean chicken stew served over beans and rice with sautéed veggies on the side.  As my 11 year old would say, that chicken was bussin.  It was so tender and juicy it fell apart with a press of the fork.  We were offered seconds if we wanted and pretty much everyone onboard took them up on it. 
 

For an after lunch aperitif, the crew passed out shots of a local liqueur made from fermented Caribbean cactus.  

 

While we ate and drank we had a sailing tour around the island with some party music playing but not at an obnoxious volume.

 

I think Lady Bellais will be my go to plan for Bonaire going forward.

 

After the excursion I headed back to the ship to do some work and take a much needed nap before dinner then headed to lawn club grill.

 

I had the same server Franklin that I had for my lunch there. If you’re sailing soon and going to LCG ask for him. He’ll take very good care of you!

 

For dinner I started with a smaller size of the sausage and pepper pizza (so much better than it was on Silhouette) then had my usual LCG turf & turf of the ribeye and a half portion of the lamb chops with a side of the lobster Mac n cheese.  

 

Where’s my girl @lola2013 at?  The warm chocolate chip cookie dessert was everything we love!  When I finished it, Franklin offered to bring me another one and I actually considered it for a few seconds.

 

After dinner I decided to stay outside enjoying the beautiful evening and met my Irish MDR table mates for a couple of drinks at sunset bar then headed to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lola2013 is here...dreaming about that warm chocolate chip cookie that I plan to have in exactly SIXTY DAYS while I am on Silhouette!!!  Funny thing is I can walk less than a mile to Lou Malnati's (best Chicago deep dish pizza that also serves the cookie), but I prefer eating it outside on a ship sailing the Caribbean.

 

Since you loved Lady Bellas so much, can I suggest Calabaza for your next trip to Barbados. The catamaran is limited to 12 guests per sailing (they do two a day)...dealicious breakfast and fabulous lunch with the early sailing, two snorkel stops, unlimited beverages.  You won't be disappointed.

 

Susan (aka Lola2013)

P.S.  Sorry...I don't know how to select a single paragraph to add my comment to...oops!

Edited February 8 by lola2013

[RichYak]

5 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I stayed in my lane and stuck to enjoying Corona and rum punch in the sunshine.

I stay in the exact same lane 😂

25 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Sorry...I don't know how to select a single paragraph to add my comment to

Just select the text in someone's comment that you want to quote (click, hold and drag as if you were going to bold or underline the text in a word processor). When you're done, a box pops up that says "quote selection". Click it and the rest should look familiar.

[lola2013]

28 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I stay in the exact same lane 😂

Just select the text in someone's comment that you want to quote (click, hold and drag as if you were going to bold or underline the text in a word processor). When you're done, a box pops up that says "quote selection". Click it and the rest should look familiar.

Thanks…tried that…I’ll try again next time!

[RichYak]

16 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

tried that

Works like a charm!

 

[georgiaguy]

Capt Kate had a reel I saw earlier from in Bonaire where she went diving. Can’t find the original but here is a different from her with the dolphins she saw. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3GLkmwuRXl/?igsh=MXRtN2dld2ZicGVsMA==

 

https://www.instagram.com/stories/captainkatemccue/3297912823605730507?igsh=bTFoZjE4N29qZnY3

Edited February 9 by georgiaguy

[GenerationX]

Yikes, it’s a bumpy morning here on Reflection.  This is our first day of white caps and she’s really a rockin.

 

As I was coming in to the MDR for breakfast (yes, I had eggs AND pancakes AND apple danish…I danced up an appetite last night, ok?) a security officer was escorting a couple out to the medical office to be treated for sea sickness.  

 

I really owe my friends who are sailing on other ships in the Caribbean right now (I surround myself with like addicted people what can I say), their social posts about the weather clued me in that we might have a rough ride as we came back north so I preemptively took some motion meds before bed.  My friends I met on Edge a couple of years ago are currently on a Regent Antarctica cruise and are going through the Drake Passage today have no sympathy at all for our pathetic rough seas.

 

I think many are also recovering this morning from the full moon deck party last night, a party so lit that it rivaled the white party on Divina that I barely survived last year.  But I’ll tell you all about that shortly.  

 

Despite the wind, it’s a beautiful sunny warm day.  I’m doing some work on the pool deck instead of Al Bacio this morning because I learned from the first 2 sea days that if you aren’t in your deck chair by like 9am, your chances of getting one are slim.

 

After I finish this contract review I’m heading to a VERY unofficial meet up of cruisers under 50 (organized via Instagram DM’s) at the sunset bar for mimosas.  Then later I’ll have lunch at The Porch again with some new friends from the east coast.  I’ll probably give the casino one last donation after lunch.

 

Tonight is the magic show and dinner in Tuscan Grill.  Happy Friday! 
 

 

 

[kris816]

Thank you for your review. I have the same independent excursion in Bonaire planned for May when I am there on the Beyond. I was wondering if you ended up going on the excursion to the caves yesterday? And if so, what are your thoughts? 

[PTC DAWG]

Great review...I also enjoy a live band on the pool deck...if it's too loud, you're too old. 🙂

[JDPCruisers]

38 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Yikes, it’s a bumpy morning here on Reflection.  This is our first day of white caps and she’s really a rockin.

 

As I was coming in to the MDR for breakfast (yes, I had eggs AND pancakes AND apple danish…I danced up an appetite last night, ok?) a security officer was escorting a couple out to the medical office to be treated for sea sickness.  

 

I really owe my friends who are sailing on other ships in the Caribbean right now (I surround myself with like addicted people what can I say), their social posts about the weather clued me in that we might have a rough ride as we came back north so I preemptively took some motion meds before bed.  My friends I met on Edge a couple of years ago are currently on a Regent Antarctica cruise and are going through the Drake Passage today have no sympathy at all for our pathetic rough seas.

 

I think many are also recovering this morning from the full moon deck party last night, a party so lit that it rivaled the white party on Divina that I barely survived last year.  But I’ll tell you all about that shortly.  

 

Despite the wind, it’s a beautiful sunny warm day.  I’m doing some work on the pool deck instead of Al Bacio this morning because I learned from the first 2 sea days that if you aren’t in your deck chair by like 9am, your chances of getting one are slim.

 

After I finish this contract review I’m heading to a VERY unofficial meet up of cruisers under 50 (organized via Instagram DM’s) at the sunset bar for mimosas.  Then later I’ll have lunch at The Porch again with some new friends from the east coast.  I’ll probably give the casino one last donation after lunch.

 

Tonight is the magic show and dinner in Tuscan Grill.  Happy Friday! 
 

 

 

Great review as usual. We will be in the ABC's this April/May and have been looking for something in Bonaire to book and your feedback on Lady Bellas is very helpful. Continue to enjoy!

[GenerationX]

I think some of the best vacation days are the ones when you do end up doing almost nothing, but do it with really great people.

 

Our late morning under 50 meet up at sunset bar today ended up carrying on all the way to mid afternoon with only a short break while everyone went to their lunch plans.

 

My lunch plans were a visit back to the porch with some of the folks from my chef’s table dinner group.  We all had early big dinner plans for this chic night so we ordered light and split a couple of orders of pil pil shrimp (amazing again), fish tacos (not great, the fish was overcooked and under seasoned) and the always delicious (but $15 additional charge, and definitely smaller portions than last time I had it) seafood tower.

 

While we were eating, the Murano manager who was with us at chef’s table came by our table (he runs lawn club and the porch during the day) to say hello and ask how our specialty dinning experience has been over the cruise. He said the team at Murano had missed us and I mentioned that I would’ve loved to go to Murano one more time, but my understanding was that the restaurant is booked up for the rest of the cruise.  He said he actually had a couple of cancellations for the last night of the cruise and if we didn’t mind eating late (8:45/9) he could get the 4 of us in for a table tomorrow night! 

 

So I’ll get to end the cruise eating in one of my favorite restaurants saying goodbye to some wonderful new friends!

 

During our afternoon reconvene at sunset bar, the whippersnappers of the seas (as we’ve decided to call ourselves) had Nishal doing our drink service and he made a few rounds of “bartender specials” cocktails of off menu recipes he wanted to get guest feedback on. We were more than happy to be his guinea pigs.

 

Over the course of conversation 5 of us realized that with our diverse nationalities, interests and professions, we’d probably make a pretty powerhouse trivia team, so at 4pm we all headed up to the sky lounge for the afternoon general knowledge session.  We unfortunately didn’t win (and there were a couple of questions where lawyer Charla took issue with the official answer, but I was 4 bartenders specials deep and in no condition to debate.

 

After a post trivia nap, I got dressed and have just settled in for dinner at Tuscan Grill.  I noticed that our wake trails were very weak and we seemed to be turning off course.  Then the captain came on the public address system and said that we have a serious medical emergency onboard and a Jamaican coast guard helicopter will be coming to the ship to evacuate a guest in need of immediate medical attention.  For the folks out there following who are spiritual, I think the more prayers and positive thoughts for the passenger and his family the better.

 

Next up: a back in time post about the rest of our day/crazy night in Curacao yesterday.

 

 

 

[larry_s_taco]

On 2/4/2024 at 6:02 PM, GenerationX said:

The mind reels that with all my luggage I could’ve forgotten anything I could possibly need on this cruise, but boom, here it is. My white evening gloves are still sitting on top of my chest of drawers at home.  Oh well. 🤷🏽‍♀️

 

Sharing some pics from MDR lunch.  The Andalusian salad was nothing special but I got my veggies in.  The pear raspberry cobbler dessert would have been really good if it had been warm (as advertised) instead of room temp.  The duck teriyaki was more well done than I like my duck but was really good. I cleaned my plate.

 

There’s a duck dish on the  menu tonight too, but is it too extra to have duck twice in one day???

 

The bars around the ship are completely slammed and apparently there’s an issue with the dishwasher by the specialty restaurants and the poor Ensemble lounge guys were running low of glassware, so I’m drinking my Pinot noir from a daiquiri glass…first world problems…

 

More to come later from evening chic night.  For now it’s showtime! 

 

 

 

 

 

Great pictures. It always seems that I invariably leave something behind. Usually nothing I can't live without though.  

[ggo85]

Medevac.  

[GenerationX]

SOMEWHAT MUSHY AND PHILOSOPHICAL POST WARNING…

 

I was just looking at my Facebook memories and realized that today is a very special anniversary.  On this day 7 years ago, Jeremy and I had a cruising experience on Silhouette that made us Celebrity customers for life.

 

A couple of nights before, my then boyfriend Jeremy had asked me to be his wife on a starry evening chic night.  It was our first cruise sailing in a suite and our suite concierge Niko said that to celebrate our engagement she’d arranged “a little surprise dinner for us” for the next chic night.

 

When the night came we were escorted up to LCG where all the ship’s senior officers were waiting to greet us and applauded and an alcove on the lawn was set up with a full romantic dining table and bar.  I’d mentioned to our butler that one of our dreams was to save up and do a Mediterranean cruise one day (dream finally fulfilled October 2023 btw, definitely worth the wait), and it turned out that the ship food and beverage team had put together a SIX COURSE dinner tour around the Mediterranean for us with drink pairings!

 

At the time, we were lowly classic status captains club members, in the cheapest sky suite, I’d never once posted on cruise critic and I don’t think Instagram even existed.  We were absolutely no one this cruise line should have cared enough about (not that we even are now) to have put so much time and effort into giving such a special, amazing experience.  But it still lives in our memories as one of the best nights we’ve ever spent together and as a result we never even considered sailing another cruise line until last year.

 

Seeing the memory tonight got me thinking, I’m sure it wasn’t at all cheap and took a TON of manpower for Celebrity to pull off that night for us. But I’m pretty sure that investment paid out in spades in terms of the amount we’ve invested booking and spending onboard during Celebrity cruises since then (and I always have and still do consider it money well spent) and from our friends and family who have sailed with Celebrity at our suggestion.

 

It also got me thinking about the current state of Celebrity, and wondering whether today, the cruise line that (until recently) wanted to charge suite guests $5 a glass for Target wine and $12 a bottle for Evian in the stateroom would do anything like what was done for us back then for a young, budget conscious, newbie cruising couple (and see the long term financial benefit of the investment that came of it with us).

 

I will say this though, what wowed us most about that evening was how far above and beyond crew members clearly went with their time and energy to give us a vacation experience we’d never forget.  Dollars and cents aside, I still 100% see that same attitude of above and beyond customer service attitude in Celebrity crew members today, even though they’ve been given a more limited resource toolbox by the corporate office to make that magic with.

 

I know there’s been a lot of talk by many, myself included, of making moves to other lines.  I won’t lie, with current state I am price comparing other lines when making my booking decisions (whereas 3 years ago I would always go Celebrity no question or shopping).  But I think there’s still something very special about the Celebrity experience for me that I’ve still felt on this cruise (on an older ship in a stateroom class far below the Retreat and Aqua) that will keep Celebrity in consideration for my future cruise plans and it’s definitely still my preferred choice when price/value is a wash.

 

Ok, sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox now.  Just for fun, some pics below of 2 young, crazy, student loan debt ridden kids feeling like the luckiest people in the world to have Celebrity Cruises and to have each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[georgiaguy]

Wow…we got engaged at sunrise on the beach in Miami the morning we boarded Reflection for the first time (Matt doesn’t like to be the center of attention and I wanted to celebrate the entire cruise). Nothing special for us…and I still love Celebrity. Four weeks from now we will be about to leave for the Ascent to celebrate our 40th birthdays (birthdays are two days apart)! 

[georgiaguy]

PS what an incredible story and memory. Just wow. 🙂

[cruisebeachgirl703]

"But I think there’s still something very special about the Celebrity experience for me that I’ve still felt on this cruise."

 

That was a lovely story Charla and beautiful pics too. Wonderful! In 2021 we sailed retreat edge 3 times when they reopened after shutdown. We found then the above and beyond attitude you are talking about. In 2022 in retreat, it was gone in our experience. Which is why we skipped Celebrity in 2023. I hope you are right that it has come back. We are elite members and are giving them another chance in July.