Reflection 11.19.23 and 11.25.23 B2B

FFL SEA GRAND CAYMAN COZUMEL SEA BIMINI FLL SEA SAN JUAN ST.THOMAS ST.MARTIN TORTOLA PUERTO PLATA SEA FLL SS 2138  Cruise 96,97,98,99. captains club points 3718.

Captain, Kyiakos (Kirk); Staff Captain, Troulakis Kyiakos; Chief Engineer, Marios Venizelou; Hotel Director, Clint Kelu; F&B, Orlando Rosa; CD Angela Clark; Xchef Javier DeJesus; Retreat concierges, George, mgr.; Khadijah, Mandar and Sini; Head Butler, Peter; stateroom attendant; Christopher; Captain club Consierge, Jamie; Matre’D, Fazzi; Hostesss Allison; Waiter, Amol; asst, Ayre, Eri; Retreat server, Daniel, Brian, Eri.

Sailing with us was Beverly and Jim Hutcherson from Texas and George and Genera from Bergen County, New Jersey.

Day 0

This vacation could not come at a better time for either one of us. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Celebrity Reflection. Our Airbrook driver was scheduled to be at our house at 3AM, but arrived slightly earlier so we were off to a good start. Before you knew it, we were at Newark airport. There were no skycaps at the United outside, so we brought our bags inside to the checkout kiosk. No TSA issues so we proceeded to wait for our flight. The plane ride was pretty smooth for the most part. Around 930 AM we went to the taxi station to get a taxi for our ride to the Hilton marina.

We arrived there around 10. Our room was not ready although I requested early check-in directly with the hotel and also through American-Express. They said it would be ready around noon. Went back to the front desk about every half hour to check to see if something became available. Finally after checking many times a room became available around 1230. At that time I was first told there was a $25 charge for an early check-in. After waiting so long I just paid it but Randi was upset about it and made it known to the

manager. When we got up to the room it seemed to be set up for one person. One towel one coffee cup and no bottled water to fill the coffee maker. Ugh! this is no way to begin a vacation! We decided to make the best of it and

took our usual walk to Publix, a mile away and got our coffee creamers for our trip. We brought them back and put them on ice then just chilled out for a little bit. We were very excited and happy to see Jerry and Myrna Hert for dinner at

the Boatyard. This restaurant was close by and was recommended to us by Addie and was not disappointing in the least! We walked a short walk from the hotel and got there about an hour early so Randi and I split a bottle

of Ferrari Carano. We we were joined by Jerry and Myrna and had a wonderful dinner with good conversation and a great time overall. Dinner was delicious. It was a short 2 1/2 block walk back to the hotel were we collapsed for the night after being up since 1:30 in the morning.

Day 1 FLL

It was a beautiful day in Fort Lauderdale, sun shining, cool breeze, 70° temperatures. Showered and dressed and headed to breakfast. It was a $30 per person charge for a Buffet breakfast which seemed a little high but there was a

wide variety of foods available, including many selections with a middle eastern flair. The room that breakfast was served, was the bright spot of the stay at this hotel. After breakfast, we chilled for while, and then Milton, the

bell hop got our bags and called us a taxi to take us to the Reflection. On our way, we saw the Ascent in Port. She will be making her maiden voyage next week. Once arriving at Reflection, our check-in was a breeze; Perhaps one of the easiest

ever. We boarded immediately about 11:15. We saw Clint, the hotel director and Orlando the food and beverage Director. As always, they said if there’s anything you need, just let us know. We settled in with our carry-

ons in our state room, and we headed to Luminae for lunch and enjoyed it very much. We explored the ship a little bit, got to know some people and then our bags arrived. Unpacking was a breeze. Nothing was wrinkled due to the great

packing job by the packing team, Mark and Randi. After a cocktail, dinner in Luminae was nice. We planned on going to the show which was a female singer, but decided on making it an early night.

Day 2 at Sea

About 7:30 we arose and soon our coffee and almond croissants were delivered. However, as in the past the Butler did not deliver, rather a team member did the delivery. This is a recent change with Celebrity. Butler’s are only dedicated to the high end suites, whereas sky suites, use shared services. We had breakfast in Luminae. Randi had her egg white wrap what she was longing for, and I had eggs

benedict. We next checked in with guest relations and the retreat staff in Michael's club to solve some billing problems. The retreat concierges were able to handle the problem immediately. We then sat on the lifeboats deck,

chilling, and watching the ocean go by. The ocean can be vert  hypnotizing but we had to tear ourselves away from the beauty of the ocean to go to the Captains club Celebration at 11:45 in the Sky lounge. Jamie, the 

Captains Club Concierge escorted us to the special Zenith members section to be seated while the music played. If you look closely, you can see Angela Clark, the Cruise Director in the background.

The Captain gave a nice speech and toast to all the members of the club. We met the Darlington's who where the high cruisers with over 249 cruises! Afterwards, we had a

wonderful lunch in Luminae then, Randi went to the casino a little bit. I checked out some of the shops and purchased a deodorant for Randi since the one she brought sort of melted. Next was music trivia. Four other people in the sky lounge, asked us to join them and we missed winning by one point but it was fun. We went to the room to change kind of early since we had a party to go to in

Michael‘s club at 5:15 it was the officers soirée although many officers were no-shows. We got to say hello to Clint the hotel Director and he invited us to lunch the next day at sushi on 5. 

After, we strolled next-door to Morano restaurant where we had a really nice experience. Randi had the Dover sole and I had the Seabass. It was very lovely dinner. Went back to Michael’s club, which was not too busy, and struck up a nice conversation with some folks at the bar. They were Jackie and Bill and then we decided to go to bed.

Day 3 Grand Cayman

I was up at 5 o’clock but stayed in bed watching tv. Randi got up about 630 and around 730, as scheduled, coffee with our almond croissants arrived. For breakfast we tried something new; the 

Captains Club breakfast in the Tuscan restaurant. It was nice light fair. We had the ultimate platter which consisted of fruit, bagels, cream cheese, some cold cuts and coffee. 

Next we arrived at the alcoves for the day at the Lawn club. 

Nice and relaxing under a cabana with sunny blue skies and a chiller of Perrier, cheese and fruit.

Lunch was next  with the hotel, Director, Clint. The venue was sushi on five and it was very nice. Mark served us again and made a special ramen noodle dish for Randi. She loves her Bao Bao. The food was good, as was the conversation. Clint is a very nice gentleman. After lunch he had to go ashore to make sure the tender operations were proceeding smoothly. 

We went back to the alcove. Randi and I played a couple of holes of putt-putt golf. We stayed at the alcove until about 3 o’clock then went back to the cabin. 

By 430 Randi was in the casino and realized that she left her winnings in the machine from the night before. She thought it goes back to her card. The nice slot hostess is investigating to get her money back. 

We then went back to Michael’s because At 5:45 Michael Redden solo guitarist was playing. He was very good, and by the end of the session, Randi had all the people singing to Sweet Caroline. Dinner was in Luminae. After dinner we went to see Singer Marty Thomas but did not stay long. He did not do it for us so we said good night.

Day 4 Cozumel

Coffee came at 730. We decided to try Blu for breakfast. I tried to get Muesli but they don’t prepare it table side anymore and haven’t in a while so we both had eggs Benedict. 

We agreed it wasn’t as good as in Luminae. We went back to the room and sat on the deck as we came into the Port of Cozumel. Exactly at 11 AM and on schedule passengers started to debark. 

Randi and I walked around a bit. We were not on the same terminal as last year. We prefer the other terminal but I guess we walked around for an hour. We purchased a shoulder bag for me and passed on liquor because prices were a bit high so we decided to return to 

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the ship and went to the Oceanview for lunch and ice cream. 

We found some comfortable chairs on lifeboat deck and fell asleep for a while. 

Later, we checked in with the casino host, but found what they found that they could not identify who remove the money from the machine so unfortunately, we lost out on that money.

Dinner was in Luminae where we both had the lamb and ordered a bottle of Jordan Cabernet. We tried something new and checked out the “naughty list” show at Celebrity Central, which was a goofy game based on sexual categories.

Day 5 at Sea, Happy Thanksgiving

We woke up to a beautiful day at sea. This has been an exceptionally smooth sailing. After coffee in the cabin we went to Luminae for breakfast. Afterwards, Randi tried to win in the casino, but it wasn't to be.

We went to the Captains navigational talk at 10 o’clock, which was much longer than most Captains talk in the past. 

It was very informative, and the captain took more questions from the audience than I’ve ever seen. 

When it concluded, we went to the lifeboat deck where it was sunny and breezy and relaxing. I read while Randi took a quick nap before lunch. Went to Luminae for nice lunch. I looked in the shops for another shirt to use up some credit. 

We made our way to the Opus restaurant at 4 o’clock to go to the repeaters meeting, only to find out that I jotted down the time incorrectly and we missed the 11 o’clock meeting. No problem. Guest relations gave us the one-sheet of information that we needed. 

Eventually we made our way back to Michael's club for a cocktail and some string ensemble music which was very nice. Next, we had a lovely dinner in Luminae with a nice bottle of wine recommended by Dino the sommelier. It was

a Pinot noir, Belle Glos. We strolled down to the theater where we were planning on seeing two shows. The first was a comedian, who is very good, but the wine made us tired. We decided to stay around anyway for the second show which believe it or not was, the Captain 

performing “Rock the Reflection.” He and the band were outstanding and were greeted with a standing ovation. He plays guitar, drums, and sings. Amazingly, when he sings, there is no accent heard. We went back to the room and said good night.

Day 6 Bimini

After coffee in the room and breakfast in Luminae, we headed to Bimini, Bahamas This was a first time visit here for us. We walked down to the end of the pier.

A tram took us on a ride around this small island. We passed a Casino, a Hilton hotel, golf cart rentals and ended up at the Fisherman's village where there were a few shops and a large bar. 

Randi’s sugar was a little low so I ordered a margarita piña colada, which brought it up quickly. 

Otherwise, really nothing to see in Bimini except pretty beaches. We headed back early and went to Sushi on five for lunch, which was again comped for us. Wound up going back to the room to relax. At 3:30 we had a meeting with Maria in the future cruise department. Nothing was decided since all promotions would be available next week also, plus new itineraries in the Caribbean have yet to be released.

Tuscan Grill was the dinner venue tonight. It was very nice, but I remember the ribeye steaks being much more tender in the past. 

We had a bottle of Villa Antinore from Toscana with dinner then we headed back to Michael’s club after that for a nightcap.

Day 7 FLL - Cruise 2

We got into Port Everglades long before 7 AM when our alarm went off. We skipped up to Luminae for breakfast and waited it out in Michael’s club, until finally arriving at Petite Chef for our immigration meeting. Once we were queued on

the pier we went through immigration smoothly. Back on ship we strolled around and mistakenly found a wet chair to sit in so my shorts were wet. While Randi was waiting to setup her internet, I watched Sunday mass on my phone. Although we checked out the concierge lunch menu in Opus, we decided on Luminae and we weren’t disappointed. We found the comfy chairs on the side of the ship and spent some time there. 

We inquired about our account which was not right and they said they would work on it for us, so we went to Michael’s club early and had a lovely dinner in Murano.

Day 8 At Sea

We both got up at about 730 but our coffee order did not arrive so I reordered it for the rest of the next cruise. We went down to breakfast only to find find out that we forgot or we hadn’t noticed there was a time change, so we missed breakfast at Luminae, which is closed at 9:00. The Oceanview café was open. It was like a cattle call. I saw a girl that had to be 275 pounds wearing a bikini. We got some continental breakfast.

We noticed Christmas trees popping up around the ship so we snapped a few photos. For lunch we both had a salad at Luminae. I had parsnip soup. It was very good, and we both had the stir-fry, excellent! Just wandered around after that. We stopped in to Michael’s to check on our account. They are still working on it. Randi went to the shops and I got a Reflection polo shirt.

We enjoyed a nice cocktail hour in Michael’s club and met some of our officer, friends, including the Captain, Orlando and Clint. It was a rather large turn out since, I pointed out to George, the retreat manager, that the time and date on the piece of paper was incorrect so he sent out a voicemail message to everybody which made it a crowded turn out. 

We passed by Michael‘s club at 6:45 for dinner but they were a little busy tonight so they asked us to return in about a half hour. At that time we were seated immediately and enjoyed, a bottle of wine and two ribeye steaks. The wine was called Freemark abbey Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley price at total wine was $45.

Day 9 San Juan, Puerto Rico

Since our departure from Fort Lauderdale was delayed by about an hour and a half, due to port traffic and late baggage, we were delayed into arriving in Puerto Rico until 6:30 PM tonight. We had a full packed day today. In fact, we had the alcove scheduled for the day, but decided to cancel because we were so busy. After breakfast at Luminae and an onion bagel scare, we went to the casino where I dropped Randi off and I went to the theater to hear a lecture on improving your memory. They were some good points, but it was mostly elementary. I saw that Randi‘s sugar was going down so went back, got her some juice and walked back to the lecture. After that I went to the presentation at Michael’s club for future cruises. Randi met me there and

then we went to the Captains Club celebration welcome aboard cocktail hour. The Darlington’s were there and 13 Zenith members in total. It was a nice presentation by the cruise director, the Captains Club hostess and the captain. Everyone seemed to enjoy the bites, cocktails, music and festivities.

Next we strolled down to the Zenith luncheon at the Blu restaurant, which was probably one of the best luncheons we’ve had. The chef made Randi a special salad without onions and the Burrata was outrageously delicious. There was also had a cold-cut platter. We both opted for the beef fillet main entry, which is one of the best I’ve ever had. Conversation flowed. I sat between

Randi and Clint, the hotel, Director and the Captain was sitting across from me. There were about five officers in total. It was a very nice hour. We met the Hutcherson's from Texas. Very nice folks.

I want to show you a excellent bottle of wine that was served with the luncheon.  It was extraordinary! It was called La Bernardine Chateauneuf du pap. 

Also delicious was this special dessert made for this occasion. It too was outrageously good! When lunch concluded, we went to the back to the room to chill out a bit. After a cocktail in Michael’s club, 

we went to the Lawn club grill for our dinner. It was very comfortable outside by the lawn and I don’t recall any wind up there.

Day 10 St. Thomas

Our berth in Saint Thomas was in Crown Bay, which it has been for the last few years. We decided to follow in Sue and Rob‘s footsteps and walked into town. It was a nice walk and met some guys from the ship who walked with us for the 45 minute walk into town. Once there, we found town to be only about half open, with many stores still shuddered from storms in the past. That didn’t stop us from having fun in the stores that were open. We ended up by the flea market, but quickly grabbed the cab back to the Reflection to come home.

I could see dumplings, in Randi’s eyes so we went to the Sushi on five where she got her double dumpling order. It’s actually called chicken ginger gyoza. We tried to arrange a farewell get together with Clint the Hotel Director since he was scheduled to go to the Eclipse tomorrow. Found a comfy chair on deck five and relaxed with a little nap. The guitar player, Michael was in Michael’s club this evening, and we were all singing along with his folk songs. Meanwhile, for dinner, Randi finally got her short ribs which the chef was kind enough to make without any onions I had an octopus appetizer and tuna entrée. All good! We previously saw the show tonight, so we were just walked around the ship and came back to the room.

Day 11 St. Martin

The day started out great on Randi’s favorite island! We arrived at Saint Martin with sunshine and warm temperatures. We took our time in this morning, went down to Luminae for breakfast and walked into town. It was a nice 35-40 minute walk or so, and it wasn’t too hot with a cool breeze. First stop was a Tommy Bahama store where I got a shirt and

shorts. Next we found a new liquor store called friendly duty free. Got a couple of bottles of liquor at some decent prices including Vanilla Galliano which for many years I have been unable to find. We just walked around town. The Saint Martin stores seems fully operable. Stopped in the hotel to use the restroom and then went to Ultimate Jewelers, where Sam and Raj were there and welcomed us, and we greeted them. Sam was surprised I did not email him first as Randi decided recently to look for some pearls. She found two pearl necklaces and pearl matching earrings. Very bright white and pretty. One necklace needed to be resized so that will be shipped next week. We continued down Front Street and I found four T-shirts for $10. - Good enough to

sleep in. Headed back to the ship early afternoon and guess where we went for lunch? You guessed it, Sushi on five. Then we found our favorite chairs on deck five and had a lovely nap. We came back to the state room to wash up and

change for dinner. This afternoon I got a call from food and beverage manager Orlando who said he found the Galliano vanilla that I have been looking for. He said it was available for us in Michaels and Luminae, and that evening I actually had two Galliano cocktails. I wonder if he found it at the same store we did? Lol.

Dinner in Lumanae was very nice. Here is our fabulous waiter Amol. We met Bruce and Tammi from Vero beach Florida. He was a spry 78 and she was in her 60s. They were sitting next to us and we shared some nice conversation during dinner. The chef was able to make me an Indonesian hometown specialty meal, which was very good and Randi had the scallops and pork belly. A very nice dinner! next we went to the 9 o’clock show which was three male vocalists called Rebel. They sang rock songs from many classic groups. Thumbs up for the show and we found out later that one of the members was the son of cruise director,

Sue Denning. Then we hit the casino where Randi played the slots and I played roulette. That was a mistake!

Day 12 Tortola

Today we learned about Kirma coffee from waiter Anthony from Peru. He said it was the best. Randi already found it on Amazon and we will try it when we get home. After Luminae breakfast, we went

to walk around Roadtown, Tortola. Since the last time we were here it was quite different as they built up the shops along the pier and moved the flea market towards the outside roadside and more permanent shacks were built rather than tents. We walked up as far as Pursers and bought a magnet for Christopher, our room steward to add to his collection that we got him. We came back

and had lunch at Luminae. After lunch we were invited to the heliport for the sail away and it was very nice.

George, the retreat manager was there.

Also we saw Tammi and Bruce, 

After the heliport, we went to the second magic show. Chase was the magician with his assistant Kayleigh and there was a special second assistant. Her name was

Randi who from the audience, went up on stage and did some drawing on a cartoon type blank picture.

He said fill in the shirt, fill in the pants, fill in everything else with the color of your choice, and when it was all over, the magicians removed their outer clothing and their inner

clothing matched in color with what Randi drew on the picture. The audience was astounded. After that, we went to the future cruise person, Maria, and bought two future cruises placeholders, We were too

early on the new Caribbean deployment schedule which comes out next week. We went back to the room and got ready for cocktails in Michael’s club and then we asked to see if a table would be ready for dinner in Luminae at 7 PM. He said it was ready and we were seated at a table for four. Not knowing why, soon Clint the HD joined us for dinner. It was a very nice surprise, and the conversation revolved around us learning about each other. Originally from India he now lives with his wife and kids in the Philippines. He excused himself in the middle, and we continued by ourselves. After dinner, Randi went to the casino I went to the show called Broadway Cabaret. It was really quite good with three female and two male voices. I passed by the casino and picked up Randi to go home.

Day 13 Puerto Plata

Last night was a difficult time as Randi’s sugar kept dropping I gave her Coca-Cola to try to bring it up which helped but it took a second drop later that evening. By coffee and croissant time in the morning,

it seemed to be getting better so we took a look out the window and saw the Norwegian Encore next to us. Notice how they install clotheslines on the balcony to dry out clothes. After a laugh we went to Luminae for breakfast and

waited in the sky lounge to disembark to porta Plata.

George and Genera from Bergen County NJ walked the cobblestone boardwalk with Randi and me. We strolled the pathway through shops, pools, lazy rivers, many bars. Randi

and Genera paused for a break while George and I walked on. It was a well designed tourist area. After about an hour walk they stayed for lunch while we headed to the ship. I had the best lunch so far, pappardelle mushroom pasta. We sat next to a former general and his wife and it made for interesting conversation. He keeps in contact with other generals, including from Israel, and had some inside information to share with us. Next we sat and rested on the loungers.

In Michael’s club later, we saw Daniel, the bartender and Brian the server. We heard the string duo, which was very nice. Went up to Sky lounge for a private event. While I was on the island, we were invited to the Goldtones concert at 7pm, they were described as a hot oldies singing group based in Florida. Well, we got there a little before seven. That was just the opening door time. The show really didn’t start until 730. At that time it was a pre-show with the lady singer so by 7:45 we cut our losses and went to Luminae for dinner. After dinner, Randi went to the casino. I went to look at the stars. Tonight we get an extra hour sleep because we move the clocks back by one hour.

Day 14 At Sea

After a well, restful sleep, coffee was delivered at 7:25 and we were looking forward to it. Went to Luminate for breakfast and after that started packing. We did most of it and ended about 10:20 where I went up to the bridge tour

and Randi went back to the casino to play. The bridge tour was good with a third officer giving a tour to four people which was kind of intimate. After that I went down to guest relations to collect our refundable monies and received $500. I

got Randi a Perrier and I had a bloody Mary. Went back to Luminae for lunch or I had a most delicious barbecue rib entrée. Dino again offered a great wine to accompany. We finished up the packing after lunch and went to

our favorite quiet spot on deck five, watching the ocean go by. and birds fly.

After showering for dinner we went to Michael’s for a cocktail and said good bye to Bev and Jim and strolled to Luminae for dinner and what a dinner we had! I ordered veal cannelloni and Randi had a delicious steak but in between Fazzi brought us some earlier requested Puerto Rican dishes. The first was Tostones with what seemed like thousand island dressing. The second was beef Empanadas. Both were outstandingly delicious. Randi was tired after dinner so with one quick walk on deck five we headed to the cabin, put our bags out and went to bed. It was a little early for me,so I was up for a while.

Day 15 FLL

I was up a lot last night. Randi awoke around 6:30 to jump in the shower. I watched the Ascent arrive in the port and snapped this photo. After showering we went to Luminae for breakfast and say goodbye to one of the best waiters we’ve ever had, Amol. Not only is he a good waiter he was very sincere. He promised to send baby pictures when the newborn arrives. We also said goodbye to Anthony, another waiter, Ayre, Allison and Fazzi. We got our carry-ons from the stateroom, said a final goodbye to Christopher who was very appreciative of our additional tip and went to Michael’s club. There we were able to thank George with an envelope for getting some problems cleared up during the cruise. He walked us off the ship. Clint was there to see us off. Now I am just realizing that we did not get our first cruise key cards back. Oops, too late!

Disembarkation was a breeze. We hired a porter, who grabbed our bags and brought us through customs. Customs was simply a face recognition screen and we proceeded through. With a short walk to a cab, we were at the airport’s skycap in no time. TSA pre check went smoothly except for Randi’s pat down that is needed for her medical

devices. We were sitting down for our 12:21 pm flight by 9:05. All in all it was about 45 minutes after leaving Michael’s Club that we sat waiting for our flight. Pretty good! First class, even better!!

It was a wonderful restful B2B cruise. The only slight noticeable change was the removal of the dedicated butlers for sky suites. Although we didn’t usually fully make use of them in the past, we scheduled with the head butler to bring coffee and almond croissants at 7:30 each morning. They were bought down daily by a young assistant. One time they never arrived. One other time only coffee was delivered.

Final thoughts

Luminae staff is AMAZING! The food quality and service in the restaurants again exceeded expectations! Amol our waiter should be a head waiter! Eri always smiled and served. Ayre was always there for our needs. Fazzi and Allison also couldn't do enough.

Christopher our stateroom attendant was excellent and always stopped to say hello to us in the hallway!

HD Clint was the best! He went out of his way for us so many times. He is now part of our family.

F&B Orlando handled any of our requests including obtaining a bottle of liquor that originally was not on board for us.

Kudos to executive Chef Javier who created an outstanding Indonesian meal for us as well as the Brooklyn-Puerto Rican Lumanae Chef who treated us to two Puerto Rican dishes one evening. Cheers to you both.

These crew members and many others made this cruise a memorable one! Thanks for a great back to back cruise. As this cruise sails into the sunset, the next one on the horizon is the Panama Canal in April. 

Here is our Zenith Lunch group picture.