Reflection LIVE 6/21-7/1/24: A Perfect Day for a Suite Girlfriends Getaway

[DaKahuna]

5 minutes ago, billc23 said:

We have the butler take care of everything except I separately pack meds and electronics into my carry on bag. The only time we realized that the butler service of packing and unpacking is useful.

 

 My DW would never let our butler pack or unpack anything.  She was okay with them taking the clothes hanging in the closet but anything else, she had to pack and then put away once we got into the new room.  Heck, I consider myself lucky when I get to go into the drawers and pick my own clothes to wear. 

 

[cruisetonowhere10]

Just now, DaKahuna said:

 

 My DW would never let our butler pack or unpack anything.  She was okay with them taking the clothes hanging in the closet but anything else, she had to pack and then put away once we got into the new room.  Heck, I consider myself lucky when I get to go into the drawers and pick my own clothes to wear. 

 

Ha ha.  My husband doesn’t even pack his own stuff.  I’ll loosely run a few things by him but otherwise he just wears what is provided 😂

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Ha ha.  My husband doesn’t even pack his own stuff.  I’ll loosely run a few things by him but otherwise he just wears what is provided 😂

 

 I get to pick what I am taking, for the most part, and I get to help put it in the suitcase but once we are on the ship, I put the bags where she can get to them, help hanging my own pants and shirts and then I go sit on the balcony and wait until it's safe to come back into the room. 
  I have a saying with my kids "right way, wrong way, mom's way.  Nobody can do mom's way but mom. "

 

[billc23]

17 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 My DW would never let our butler pack or unpack anything.  She was okay with them taking the clothes hanging in the closet but anything else, she had to pack and then put away once we got into the new room.  Heck, I consider myself lucky when I get to go into the drawers and pick my own clothes to wear. 

 

I with you on that! I believe my wife picked it up from her mother... Many years ago my MIL watched our young children while me and my wife went on a week long vacation. We returned to find our kitchen rearranged - like where the plates, glasses, silverware, junk draw... are kept. Oh boy!!!

While my wife was understandably upset, my reaction was don't look a gift horse in the mouth. 

[GenerationX]

Good morning from the Florida Keys!  

 

Vishal has just set me up with a nice veranda room service breakfast in PROPER Retreat fashion.  

 

Such a massive improvement from my last Retreat room service breakfast (on Beyond in October during the removal of dedicated butlers from sky suites) where we got essentially a hospital tray in a drop and run delivery with half our order missing.

 

Now THIS is worth paying Retreat prices for.

 

Of course, this is upper suite butler service though.  It will be interesting to see where we land on the quality spectrum when Gen Z and I sail on Beyond in a sky suite next month. 

 

When Vishal made his delivery I was so hungry and fixated on the beautiful spread he was setting out, I didn’t even realize that I had greeted him at the door looking like a Target mom version of “The Dude” Lebowski. 🤦🏾‍♀️😂

 

It’s a wonder I managed to wake up hungry after my Murano dinner last night.  I had 2 of the hit dishes from our first cruise again: the diver scallop and risotto.

 

Then for my main I decided to be adventurous and try a dish I’ve never done before: the turbot.

 

I have been SLEEPING on that fish.  It was nice and light, juicy and flavorful with a perfect crispy skin and the presentation made it almost too pretty to eat.  I ate it all though as soon as I finished taking pics of it for my Insta post. 

 

For dessert I went back to an old favorite the gran marnier soufflé and it was as good as always.

I washed it all down with the rest of a bottle of super Tuscan Kati and I got in Tuscan Grille the night before (I know, I still owe a report).

 

After dinner, I spent a little time watching braver and more talented souls than me rock out live band karaoke in the busy (but well behaved) sky lounge then retired to my veranda tub with a glass of wine to star gaze before bed.

 

I’m going to put out a work fire real quick then head into key west to do some shopping and hopping.  Then I’ll head back to the ship for a late lunch at the porch.  If this gorgeous weather holds up I may spend the rest of the afternoon at the (hopefully quieter) pool before it’s time to get ready for chic night.

 

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

What was the super Tuscan you had?  I could not read the label.  

 

[cruisetonowhere10]

The food all looks amazing.  I’m so jealous…

[spammie]

Love these updates!!! Have a fabulous day.  We LOVE Key West and have stayed there a few times!  

[CruiseCrew123]

4 hours ago, Alcairns said:

Great blog and sorry you are on your own. How did you manage to get free speciality

dining?

It comes with the higher end suites 

[MNSails]

We had Vishal as our Butler in April in a CS.  Interesting to see the difference in treatment on the breakfast set up - he did not deliver ours (some room service guy did) and we got the hospital tray treatment. Overall Vishal responded to requests promptly, but wasn't proactive and certainly didn't offer to do anything we didn't explicitly ask for.  I can't say he was bad, but we had hoped that with the CS the butler service would have been a bit "extra" - we had a butler in our Apex sky suite that was much better in terms of anticipating our wants and delivering in them (late night snacks for my husband and daughter, refilling the mini bar with diet coke and red bull even though we told him we knew it wasn't on the list of included amenities and we didn't expect it, etc.)  I hope our RS cruise service in April of next year is more aligned with that - a few unexpected extras that took the experience to an over the top level. 

 

Enjoy the rest of the trip - looking forward to you getting out to Coco Cay on the next segment as that's on my list for November. 

[GenerationX]

I’ve had such a good day in Key West so far!  

 

First order of business when I got off the ship was shopping.  My mother has a birthday coming up and loves Key West Aloe products so I stopped there to get her a gift set, then got a new Hawaiian shirt for Jeremy to add to his collection and some key lime cookies for Gen Z.  I also went by the conch train depot to stock up on the Key West Island Grill spice mix that Jeremy and I love to use for our burger and steak grilling in the summer.  I didn’t think it was fair that I got something for everyone but myself.  So when an earring and necklace set caught my eye in a shop window, I stopped in and treated myself too.

 

Once the list was out of the way, I bought myself some key lime gelato to cool off and ate it while walking around the Key West sculpture garden where the only other visitors were some of the native wildlife.  Fellow history enthusiasts, don’t miss this stop in Key West!

 

The stories under the sculptures were fascinating.  Being from St. Louis, in school I was taught all about our famous native Tennessee Williams, but I had no idea that he finished writing A Streetcar Named Desire in Key West, that he considered it the place he wrote best, or that he was a leader in the LGBT movement on the island.

 

And then there was this fascinating gentleman, Sandy Cornish.  He was a slave who managed to buy his own freedom, but then lost his emancipation papers in a fire, so he physically maimed himself severely on purpose to ensure that he was too disabled to have any value as a slave. Then went on to be come a very successful farmer and one of the richest men in Key West. 🤯

 

After the garden, I went and had a rum punch at Willie T.’s the bar that inspired Kenny Chesney’s song “Bar at the End of the World”.  Be sure to bring a dollar with you when you go to put your name on and pin on the wall.  I got there towards the end of a live music set but I couldn’t stay too long anyway because I had to get back to the ship for my lunch reservation at the Porch. 

 

I did though also make time on my way back to the ship to stop by the brewery housed in the birthplace of PanAm. 

 

Said lunch was a perfect way to wrap up my port day.  The pil-pil shrimp was as creamy and garlicky as ever.  The lobster roll was much improved from the last time I had it with lots more big chunks of lobster meat.  That vanilla cheesecake and Oreo purée still stands as one of my favorite desserts.

 

I’ve had meals at the Porch that really dragged on, but this time I was in and out in less than an hour and ready to change clothes and hit the pool.

 

When I got to the pool though, I unfortunately found it to be starting to get packed and loud already.  The solarium was also looking tough to find a chair.  I started to long desperately for the option of the less slammed suites only pool on E-class and in yacht club on MSC.

 

Then I remembered that for this cruise at least I could make my own quiet pool! And with a stocked bar to boot!  

 

Obviously I won’t be practicing my back stroke or swan dives, but it’ll do in a sensory downtime pinch.  The bartender also seems a bit limp wristed with the grey goose, but at least she’s not expecting a tip.

 

I’m going to hang on my VERY exclusive Retreat pool deck a little longer then take a nap before it’s time to get ready for dinner and a show.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

Charla..you are looking good.. love the pjs & the well coordinated red island outfit!

 

I use KW Aloe products,  and just received some of my favs via mail order  from their Fla base. Arrived fast,  fresh and well-packed

 

KW is on our next cruise....The Sculpture Garden looks interesting..If we have time after our boat trip maybe we can check it out.

Edited Tuesday at 08:29 PM by hcat

[cruisetonowhere10]

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

I’ve had such a good day in Key West so far!  

 

First order of business when I got off the ship was shopping.  My mother has a birthday coming up and loves Key West Aloe products so I stopped there to get her a gift set, then got a new Hawaiian shirt for Jeremy to add to his collection and some key lime cookies for Gen Z.  I also went by the conch train depot to stock up on the Key West Island Grill spice mix that Jeremy and I love to use for our burger and steak grilling in the summer.  I didn’t think it was fair that I got something for everyone but myself.  So when an earring and necklace set caught my eye in a shop window, I stopped in and treated myself too.

 

Once the list was out of the way, I bought myself some key lime gelato to cool off and ate it while walking around the Key West sculpture garden where the only other visitors were some of the native wildlife.  Fellow history enthusiasts, don’t miss this stop in Key West!

 

The stories under the sculptures were fascinating.  Being from St. Louis, in school I was taught all about our famous native Tennessee Williams, but I had no idea that he finished writing A Streetcar Named Desire in Key West, that he considered it the place he wrote best, or that he was a leader in the LGBT movement on the island.

 

And then there was this fascinating gentleman, Sandy Cornish.  He was a slave who managed to buy his own freedom, but then lost his emancipation papers in a fire, so he physically maimed himself severely on purpose to ensure that he was too disabled to have any value as a slave. Then went on to be come a very successful farmer and one of the richest men in Key West. 🤯

 

After the garden, I went and had a rum punch at Willie T.’s the bar that inspired Kenny Chesney’s song “Bar at the End of the World”.  Be sure to bring a dollar with you when you go to put your name on and pin on the wall.  I got there towards the end of a live music set but I couldn’t stay too long anyway because I had to get back to the ship for my lunch reservation at the Porch. 

 

I did though also make time on my way back to the ship to stop by the brewery housed in the birthplace of PanAm. 

 

Said lunch was a perfect way to wrap up my port day.  The pil-pil shrimp was as creamy and garlicky as ever.  The lobster roll was much improved from the last time I had it with lots more big chunks of lobster meat.  That vanilla cheesecake and Oreo purée still stands as one of my favorite desserts.

 

I’ve had meals at the Porch that really dragged on, but this time I was in and out in less than an hour and ready to change clothes and hit the pool.

 

When I got to the pool though, I unfortunately found it to be starting to get packed and loud already.  The solarium was also looking tough to find a chair.  I started to long desperately for the option of the less slammed suites only pool on E-class and in yacht club on MSC.

 

Then I remembered that for this cruise at least I could make my own quiet pool! And with a stocked bar to boot!  

 

Obviously I won’t be practicing my back stroke or swan dives, but it’ll do in a sensory downtime pinch.  The bartender also seems a bit limp wristed with the grey goose, but at least she’s not expecting a tip.

 

I’m going to hang on my VERY exclusive Retreat pool deck a little longer then take a nap before it’s time to get ready for dinner and a show.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love that you created your own pool deck.  Very smart!

[miched]

First Flight was formerly own by Kelly McGillis and called Kelly’s.   I guess she sold it and it was renamed First Flight.  It was always a must stop for the craft  beers and HH.   It is a little out of the way of the main drag and not really a tourist trap like Sloppy Joes, Green Parrot, and Hog’s Breath.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[rzyjzq]

Love the jewelry set you purchased and am enjoying your review. Glad to see that you are still having a great time despite your roomie needing to leave early. 

Susan

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Loving this report! Key West is one of my favorite places!!

 

Question - and I apologize if I missed this (last days of school are insane) - what is the current onboard booking offer? Thanks! 🙂

[Schmoe38]

8 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

What was the super Tuscan you had?  I could not read the label.  

 

John

 

I believe this may have been the Super Tuscan that Charla enjoyed.

 

Poggio Al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia 2018

 

 

[GenerationX]

Oopsie! Apparently I napped right through the 7pm show. Oh well, it turns out it’s the same one I saw with the ladies last night of cruise 1 (I know I’m still report delinquent).

 

Sharing tonight’s chic night look!

 

I’m off to ensemble for a cocktail before dinner in Tuscan Grille.  Then planning to hit the casino with some of the OBC for this cruise.  I’m planning to try and make it an earlier night tonight so that I can save my energy for tomorrow night’s pride party, so I’ll get some catch up writing done before bed.

 

Happy chic night!

 

[GenerationX]

13 minutes ago, Schmoe38 said:

John

 

I believe this may have been the Super Tuscan that Charla enjoyed.

 

Poggio Al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia 2018

 

 

Yes that’s the one. Thanks!

[DaKahuna]

11 minutes ago, Schmoe38 said:

John

 

I believe this may have been the Super Tuscan that Charla enjoyed.

 

Poggio Al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia 2018

 

 

 

 

 Thanks Randy.  I believe you are correct.. 

 

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, miched said:

First Flight was formerly own by Kelly McGillis and called Kelly’s.   I guess she sold it and it was renamed First Flight.  It was always a must stop for the craft  beers and HH.   It is a little out of the way of the main drag and not really a tourist trap like Sloppy Joes, Green Parrot, and Hog’s Breath.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

It was definitely much more chill and less crowded than the tourist bars.  The patio was nice and the food menu looked really good too.  Storm season-willing, Kati and I are talking about doing a land trip to Key West this fall with one of our other girlfriends since she had to miss this stop. I’m putting it on our list of places to hit for dinner.

 

If you have any other recommendations for great more local vibe eats around the island, please let me know!

[Stem to Stern]

Worth the cab ride….

Not only for the hogfish, but also for the dragonfruit mojito.😋

 

http://www.hogfishbar.com

[hcat]

36 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Oopsie! Apparently I napped right through the 7pm show. Oh well, it turns out it’s the same one I saw with the ladies last night of cruise 1 (I know I’m still report delinquent).

 

Sharing tonight’s chic night look!

 

I’m off to ensemble for a cocktail before dinner in Tuscan Grille.  Then planning to hit the casino with some of the OBC for this cruise.  I’m planning to try and make it an earlier night tonight so that I can save my energy for tomorrow night’s pride party, so I’ll get some catch up writing done before bed.

 

Happy chic night!

 

Super Chic! Cruise perfect!

Did you have your hair done?..looks great

[miched]

2 hours ago, GenerationX said:

It was definitely much more chill and less crowded than the tourist bars.  The patio was nice and the food menu looked really good too.  Storm season-willing, Kati and I are talking about doing a land trip to Key West this fall with one of our other girlfriends since she had to miss this stop. I’m putting it on our list of places to hit for dinner.

 

If you have any other recommendations for great more local vibe eats around the island, please let me know!

Here are a few that aren’t tourist traps.   They are very popular but not known to the turkeys as they aren’t on Duval. 
 

Blue Haven

 

Moon dog cafe

 

Kaya restaurant 

 

Give them a google and check out the reviews.    They are all about 5 star rating based on the reviews.   May have wait to get seated depending on the time.  

 

if you want a really nice place to stay check out Santa Maria  Suites.  It is at about one block from the end of Duval that is near the most southern marker .  Very luxurious and not cheap  but still cheaper than a suite/day pp on Celebrity and with 2 to the room you will still have a lot of money left to spend on more food and drinks than you could indulge in.    Plus you could buy liquor at a store to have in your room or at the pool or beach.  Liquor prices in Fl are very cheap at Total Wine or Costco   The hotel also has a manger’s reception.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

https://www.expedia.com/Key-West-Hotels-Santa-Maria-Suites.h910922.Hotel-Information?chkin=2024-07-09&chkout=2024-07-

10&x_pwa=1&rfrr=HSR&pwa_ts=1719368920696&referrerUrl=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXhwZWRpYS5jb20vSG90ZWwtU2VhcmNo&useRewards=false&rm1=a2&regionId=1187&destination=Key+West%2C+Florida%2C+United+States+of+America&destType=MARKET&neighborhoodId=553248635976473524&selected=910922&latLong=42.1337%2C-83.2178&sort=RECOMMENDED&top_dp=449&top_cur=USD&icmcid=Meta.tripa.Expedia_US-DM&icmdtl=htl.910922.taid.646903...testslice..clickid.50e95488-b3e7-4858-9a8d-c8b7339aeec3_2024-07-09_2024-07-10_1719368919264.AUDID..defdate.0.bucket.BMP_custom_marketing_text___unlock_expedia_member_perks_1677162634_bucket_not_found&mctc=9&userIntent=&selectedRoomType=16745&selectedRatePlan=16745&searchId=f1667b94-7244-43af-9f36-6464279b980b&propertyName=Santa+Maria+Suites

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited Wednesday at 03:05 AM by miched

[miched]

Another hotel to check out in Key West is the Mansion on the sea.   It is at the end of Duval, near the ocean  and has a beach    Very nice place

 

https://www.themansiononthesea.com

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅