Reflection 4/13/24 and 4/21/24 B2B Live Review

[Kteacher]

Hugo spritz along with a Death Star purse (I am a rebel 👍). Beautiful night up at the Rooftop Escape Bar

[Kteacher]

What a beautiful evening 

[Kteacher]

And one more…

[Kteacher]

   We’re getting ready to check out of our pre-cruise hotel and I can honestly say that I’m a little sad that we’re leaving. The staff here have been outstanding. They do offer a day pass here so are considering that when we return on 4/26 as we have a late afternoon flight. We would definitely stay at the Kimpton Shorebreak again.

[Kteacher]

I pre-reserved a taxi through Yellow Cab for a 10:30 pickup, received an automated call when the driver was on their way, and we were picked up about 10 minutes early. We found out that 2 adults and 4 pieces of luggage will fit in a Prius 👍. 
   This was literally one of the quickest embarkations ever. We had dropped off our bags and ordered our first cocktails by about 11:15.

[Kteacher]

  Lunch in Luminae was the typical hectic first day. My husband had the Cobb Salad and I had the lobster roll sans bun served as a salad. We had one of each of the desserts and definitely preferred the mixed fruit cobbler

[Kteacher]

One strange thing- when we entered our cabin to drop off our bags there was a welcome bottle of Moet in an ice bucket on the table. When we came back from lunch it had been switched out to a bottle of Duc De Valmer Brut 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Kteacher]

A very mixed bag at dinner, but will just chalk it up to first night chaos. I forgot to take photos, but we had the smoked tomato soup (very good) and burrata (okay) to start and both had the filet and requested medium rare (served medium and more than a little dried out). Dessert was a deconstructed chocolate tart (okay), and incorrect cordial from what was ordered (it was corrected, but then there was a wait). We’ve cruised enough to know that the first night is often a little rough. 

[buzz031]

I forgot to take any photos at last night’s dinner too! However, the tea cured salmon (appetizer) was great and the turbot was also very good. My husband had the filet (asked for rare) and his ended up medium rare and not dried out at all though. He also had the tomato soup and was not a fan. He loves tomato soup and hates cheese (he thought there was a cheese flavor somewhere…)! Maybe it was his imagination? 
 

In the middle of the night, however, something started banging outside. I’ve heard this sound before on another cruise and knew that the barrier between our room and the next had come undone and the ship was not falling apart. This morning when I peeked outside, the neighbor’s chair had worked its way partially onto our balcony and yes, the door between us was having a banging good time.

[Kteacher]

2 hours ago, buzz031 said:

I forgot to take any photos at last night’s dinner too! However, the tea cured salmon (appetizer) was great and the turbot was also very good. My husband had the filet (asked for rare) and his ended up medium rare and not dried out at all though. He also had the tomato soup and was not a fan. He loves tomato soup and hates cheese (he thought there was a cheese flavor somewhere…)! Maybe it was his imagination? 
 

In the middle of the night, however, something started banging outside. I’ve heard this sound before on another cruise and knew that the barrier between our room and the next had come undone and the ship was not falling apart. This morning when I peeked outside, the neighbor’s chair had worked its way partially onto our balcony and yes, the door between us was having a banging good time.

Oh my! Sorry you had to deal with that noise. I think part of our issue at dinner last night was a combination of first night chaos and late arrival (8 pm). 

[buzz031]

6 minutes ago, Kteacher said:

late arrival (8 pm). 

We were early. Had the best and fun waiter!

[Kteacher]

   It’s a beautiful sea day. We decided to have a late breakfast on our balcony but need to remember to wear our glasses when filling out the room service form as we ended up with double portions of my husband’s omelet order. He had no problem eating both 😂. 
   There are a lot of activities taking place, truly something for everyone. We walked off breakfast, picked up a shakerato at el Bacio, and went to the Beyond the Podium talk in the theatre- European Rivalries in the Caribbean with Jacob Marvin. Very informative an engaging speaker. 
    Our butler gave us a hand written note of activities for us today, which was very sweet. We’re going to try for lunch at Luminae, tea time in Michael’s, and then there’s the Officer’s Soirée. 
   Our way too many plates of breakfast which we somehow managed to finish anyway photo-
  

[bjahil47]

Just caught up!  Following along, we will be on reflection next year!

[Kteacher]

  Lunch in Luminae today was delicious. I always enjoy the soups so had the parsnip soup, the signature burger, and a butternut bread pudding (very good). 
  I’m enjoying a good book on the balcony this afternoon and may pop down to Michael’s for the tea later.
   

[FlorenceItaly]

On 4/13/2024 at 9:47 AM, Kteacher said:

   We’re getting ready to check out of our pre-cruise hotel and I can honestly say that I’m a little sad that we’re leaving. The staff here have been outstanding. They do offer a day pass here so are considering that when we return on 4/26 as we have a late afternoon flight. We would definitely stay at the Kimpton Shorebreak again.

We had the pleasure of staying here for four nights in February.  I agree, the staff is outstanding!

And, you can not beat the rooftop pool/bar area.

[Kteacher]

15 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

We had the pleasure of staying here for four nights in February.  I agree, the staff is outstanding!

And, you can not beat the rooftop pool/bar area.

I’m actually looking at one of the shorter Reflection sailings in 2026 so we can combine it with a longer stay at the Kimpton Shorebreak 👍

[Kteacher]

Recap of the first sea day- 

   Relaxing afternoon reading, packed Michael’s Club for the Officer’s Soirée, great magician in the theatre, crazy busy Luminae for dinner, and a mystery solved.

[Kteacher]

   Michael’s Club was packed for the Officer’s Soirée 😳. We were able to get some info about next sailing, which will be the first time a Celebrity ship stops at Coco Cay (stay tuned). We then went to the show, which was a magician, and a very entertaining one at that. Luminae dinner service was a bit off. It looked like they got slammed and we arrived at the tail end (8:00). Courses were very slow to arrive, and before our main courses we were served a plate of desserts - macarons, cookies, and chocolates 🙃. 
  

[Kteacher]

We got back to our cabin and the Moet mystery from yesterday was solved. It made a reappearance along with a decorated room, cake, lovely note, and a bottle of wine from the Marketing Director. Happy Anniversary to us- 45 years together, and 40 years married ❤️

[Beachlover1989]

I am really enjoying your review! Keep up the good work!

[Kteacher]

  The Beyond the Podium speaker wasn’t listed in today’s schedule so wasn’t as well attended as yesterday’s. It was just as informative. He’ll be back tomorrow afternoon and again on the last sea day.

  We still had a bunch of OBC so decided  to use some in Persian Garden passes for the remainder of the cruise. We don’t dock until 4 pm in San Juan so will put the passes to good use this afternoon before we head out to dinner at Marmalade. We are trying to save room for this dinner but I still managed to eat most of the peach French toast at breakfast-

 

 

  

[Norwaylady]

Happy anniversary❤️🥂🥳

How sweet of them to decorate and send you a gift 💝 

 

Looking forward to the rest❤️

[Ciaranaman]

Happy Anniversary 💘🍾. What a beautiful room to come back to!

~Bernadette

[Kteacher]

   We are now docked in San Juan. Unfortunately the Sail In on the helipad was cancelled, so we watched the sail in from our balcony. Tonight we are off to one of our favorite restaurants, Marmalade. I’ll review when we get back, but may not take photos so I don’t disturb other diners.

[miched]

You don’t need to attend the beyond the podium unless there is nothing else to do.  It is always shown on the in room TV and runs continuously.  Do some channel surfing and you will find it. It may be on the CD channel.   

 

I think that is why the presentation may not be well attended.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅