# 67,68 / 69,70 2252 club points Cabin 2187 SS2
Mia, Sea, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth Jamaica, Labadee Haiti, Sea, Miami, Sea, San Juan, St.Martin, St. Kitts, Sea, Sea, Miami
Captain Apostolos Bouzakis; Hotel Dir.: Niyazi Korkmaz; GRM.: Julie Sherrington; Cruise Dir.: Maarten Breuls, Capt Club Host.: Melissa Martinez, Michael's Club Concierge: Alex Pana, Butler: Arun, Room Steward: Imadae; Maitre'd in Luminae: Franko; Hostess: Mila; Primary Waiter: Dev; Wine Steward, Sasa, for week 1.
Day 1 Miami, Florida
All the prep time was over and the alarm went off at 2 am for another cruise adventure to begin. The car came on time at 330 to whisk us away to our 7am JetBlue flight at PHL airport. 70 minutes later we dropped off our checked bags and flew through security pre check which gave us plenty of time to have breakfast.
We were able to catch some sleep on the very smooth flight to FLL. When we arrived and picked up our bags I called SAS, our ground transportation. Within 20 minutes they arrived and got us to the port of Miami in about 45 minutes; just in time for check in for the beautiful, and newest ship in the Celebrity fleet, the Reflection.
This was our very first time on Reflection and her 16 decks impressed right from the beginning. Check-in was a breeze. Next we went up the gangway to board the ship and receive the champagne welcome. Here is where we happened to meet Herve, a server from Qsine on the Summit. This was his last cruise before going back home. With carry-ons in hand we strolled into Luminae for lunch.
On this ship Luminae is divided into two similar smaller rooms. We were seated in the front room. Service and food quality was again impeccable. Randi had less to choose from since she recently discovered she developed an allergy to onions, however they catered to her situation all the time and provided her with many options.
After lunch, we unpacked our carry-ons and went to Michael's Club for a quick cocktail. Upon returning, our checked luggage arrived. This may have been a record for early arrival! We were able to unpack them before the muster drill at 3:15. This time, not one piece of packed clothes had to be repressed due to wrinkles. The Mark & Randi packing team got it totally right!
We decided to take a nap since we were up so early that morning and we woke to a very refreshing start. We booked Morano tonight for dinner since they were having a 50% off sale the first night. It was a nice evening. Randi had the Filet Minion and I had the Loop de Mur or Sea Bass. While both were good I am not convinced that it would be worth it to pay the $100 full price. Now off to a peaceful sleep.
Day 2 At Sea
Rest-full sea days... You gotta love them! We were both up at 7am, so we got dressed and went down to Deck 3 to Luminae for breakfast. In fact, we had all 3 meals in Luminae today.
We spent the morning at the pool. Later, we did some ship strolling in the afternoon and some closing of the eyes which turned out to be for an extended period. Rest is what we came here for and we sure got some. Although we planned to go to Michael's Club for a cocktail before the show, time did not permit so we went to the theater and ordered a Pinot Grigio and a Beefeater Martini. Randi couldn't drink her Pinot. It wasn't good tasting, and my drink didn't taste like Beefeater; first negative thing.
The production show was a fantasy. It was one of the new shows, from Celebrity's new production house in Miami. The show was called Elysium. Our Butler got us nice seats in the first row mezzanine. While the show had moments of greatness, for the most part it was hard to follow the story. Segues between scenes were long, key hooks in the songs were missing or too long to get to. Some of the female voices though were excellent and the acrobatic team was outstanding.
On the way out of the theater, I wanted to have someone take a picture of both of us but most passengers had a drink in their hand. I was waiting for the "right" person to take the picture. Finally a crewmember was passing so I asked him. I gave the camera to him and turned to take my place, only to hear a thump on the tile floor. Randi said he went diving but nevertheless the camera slipped out of his hands, fell and hit the tile floor. There is a distortion in the display but hopefully the picture output will be ok.
Day 3 Cozumel, Mexico
After breakfast in Luminae, we got off and strolled around for a few hours along the pier and bought a ceramic butterfly for our backyard. Randi looked at a yellow diamond ring at DI which started off at $30K to 18K and another from $18 to $11. What were they thinking?
We came back and hung out on the veranda for about an hour then had lunch in the Oceanview Cafe. After speaking with the Chef, Randi decided to have pasta with garlic & oil and a sugar free chocolate moose for dessert. I decided to treat myself to an early Thanksgiving today and had a Turkey Platter, plus a little vegetable curry. Afterwards, we sat by the pool, which was so quiet since many guests were still off ship.
Day 4 George Town, Grand Cayman
An 8am breakfast in Lumanae the morning morphed into a lazy one. Afterwards we went to Michael's for cappuccino and espresso, then to trivia which we won with our group with 13 out of 15 correct answers. Next we laid out by the pool with almost no one else there until about noon. We climbed to the mast grill where I got Randi a dog with kraut and fries and I ordered a turkey burger. The turkey burgers were not the same as the past. They were in the shape of a rectangle and not as good tasting as I remembered. She prefers the old skinny dog, not the newer fat type.
After tendering to Grand Cayman around 1pm we tried to burn off some calories walking around town as we window shopped. Randi found a tie-dyed shirt for cousin Larry but that's about it. There were four large cruise ships anchored off the coastline.
Lines cueing up for the ride back were long on all the ships except for Celebrity. We just showed our pass and walked on. Soon we were back on board.
Randi had a hankering for Sushi so we had a snack at Sushi on Five, the
former Bistro on Five. It is now an ala carte pay as you go menu. She had
a California roll with wine and I had a small dish called shrimp and
scallop dynamite with a spicy grey goose martini. All were excellent. My
dish had a rich and very rewarding taste.
I worked the blog and a few emails on the deck. Later, before dinner we took the glass elevator to the Fortune Casino. I tried to get my money out of the casino but only managed to win back a smaller amount. Randi's story is different. She got back some and some more. Dinner was reserved at 830 at Luminae tonight.
Day 5 Falmouth, Jamaica
We woke up around 730 and shortly thereafter heard an announcement from the Captain that we would not be calling in Jamaica today due to high winds and waves. He sailed out to open sea and slowly headed to our next port of call. The Reflection sits like a champ on top of those 9'-12' waves; steadily riding the bumps with almost no movement at all.
Right now we are sitting on the veranda watching the white caps &
working on our devices. The internet on this ship is very quick with
the new upgraded system, Xcellerate. This is a very relaxing
morning. We look forward to it continuing through
this additional sea day.
Our evening dinner event was billed as "The Ultimate BBQ dinner at the Lawn Club Specialty Restaurant," hosted by Chef Michael. It was expensive at $140 but it did not disappoint.
You are seated family style, at long tables. We were next to Mike Rohey and Aziza from Dallas, she didn't eat a thing because she doesn't eat after 2pm. Skipp and his family from Georgia were to our right. Cocktails to start then as much wine you can drink all night.
First appetizers of flatbread pizza came out, then serving after serving of green salad with buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes, potato and truffle salad, tabbouleh salad and shrimp cocktail, next from the Grillmaster was chicken, beef, lamb shrimp Barramundi fish kabobs and lobster. Take as much or as little as you want.
The only thing that I did not care for was the fish; not because it was bad but because it was different and not to my liking. They made special 'no onion' portions just for Randi.
But let's not forget the Pecan Pie, Carrot Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake and Apple Crumb Tart. It was a great night; good food, nice people, fabulous service. What could be better?
Day 6 Labadee, Hispaniola
The day started with some overcast with a little rain, but after breakfast we decided to go ashore to the Royal Caribbean private island. Much of the area is what I remembered from last time- water activities, zip line, and BBQ. This time they had an exclusive area called Barefoot Beach for suite guests. It included lounges, cabanas, beach, drinks and a higher end BBQ with outstanding ribs. We chilled, ate and left early in the afternoon as it looked like it would start to rain again.
Today we found out something new. There are two types of on board credit; refundable and non refundable. If you have not spent the refundable portion by the last day of the cruise, you can request at guest relations, a refund for that portion. We wound up getting $320 back based on the ship's printout. It was interesting to find this out after 68 cruises.
Tonight was a free meal at the Tuscan Grille. Usually a $45 cover charge per person, this was included with our reservation that we booked in 2015. Since then, they have done away with this freebie since they now have Michael's Club and Luminae. I usually don't order filet mignon but I had the filet for a change and Randi had the rib eye without a bone. She prefers steak with a bone. We went to bed much too full and had a restless night probably because of all the food.
Day 7 At Sea
While most people were packin' today, we were slackin', since we were staying on for another cruise. After breakfast Randi went to the casino to use her vouchers and hopefully win more.
I went to have a cup of tea and meet the Captain. I him asked about not
having a pilot in Labadee and he explained that since it is a sovereign
area, not owned by government of Haiti but by Royal Caribbean, it was
purpously designed in a way to be able to safely sail in and out of by
the Captain alone, with no pilot necessary.
We then went to the repeaters meeting held in the main dining room at 10:30 and Julie informed us what we have to do tomorrow when we get off and meet up with our cousins in Miami.
We enjoyed a nice lunch in Luminae. Because Randi was cold, Franco, our Maitre'd was able to get Randi some Turkey Noodle soup that was not on the menu. I had Lobster Bisque and we both had two juicy burgers. Toward the end of the meal we make small talk with a nice couple from Toronto, Kelty and Dwayne. It was their first cruise and they were enjoying it to the max.
I want to show you our cabin, a sky suite 2. It has plenty of space so as Randi says, we are not bumping into each other. A nice king size bed, a makeup/ dressing/desk table almost as long as the length of the cabin.
It also had a full bath with a duel jet shower.
After dinner at Luminae we relaxed, knowing that there was no packing to be done and a whole other week to go. Yes!
Day 8 Miami, Florida
We
docked back in the US around 4:30 am but got up with the alarm at 6:15.
A quick shower and breakfast and off to Michael's club to wait to
disembark. While we could have gotten off with the walk offs at 7am we
decided to leave at 9. With our in-transit cards in hand, we were
through customs and outside of the terminal in about 20 minutes. We had
plans to walk to Bayside, a shopping area at the end of the pier but
when we spotted the free trolley, we boarded her for the short trip.
We were surprised to see how nice the mall was. It was an outside mall with restaurants on the water. While waiting we picked up a few shirts in the US Polo store.
We soon caught up with Gary, Joan, Myrna and Jerry and sat down at the Segafredo Bayside restaurant and had some snacks and conversation.
About 12:30 we all piled into Jerry's car and headed toward the ship. Minutes later we said our goodbyes and Gary dropped his luggage with the Porter.
With a quick breeze through the embarkation process, we boarded Reflection for the second week of our cruise, this time with Gary and Joan. A quick tour of the ship ended up in Michael's club to introduce them to Alex, who is Michael's Club concierge. We had a quick celebration drink and a quick message by masseuse, "Killer Karen," LOL. We booked a massage for each of us, and booked dinner tonight at the Lawn Club Grill, then went for a Luminae lunch.
The captain's club coupons have been officially eliminated starting with this cruise. Going forward, all benefits are loaded on to your Sea Pass card. This was a long awaited change for the better.
Muster drill was at 315 again. By the time it ended they unpacked their luggage.
We chilled until we had dinner at the Lawn Club Grill. It was good as always but much too much food. We sort of skipped out of the restaurant early to see the comedian in the Theater. Dan Grueter was hysterical, but since everyone was tired afterward, we hit the hay.
Day 9 At Sea
Today was a relaxing sea day heading on our way to San Juan tomorrow at 3:30. After breakfast at Luminae we spent some time at the pool where we had the best sun yet, after being mostly cloudy the first cruise. Lunch was "your choice menu" at the Oceanfront Cafe. Joan had her massage after lunch and Randi had her message at 4. She was back at 5 and took a little rest before prepping for dinner. With a 6:30 reservation at Luminae, we got there a little later and it still worked out. I wanted 7pm reservations across the board but they only had 630. We realized that it is probably ok to go at 7 anyway. It was the first time I was a little dissatisfied with my dinner in Luminae. I had a rib eye steak which was hidden by an alias French name on the menu. The meat was tasty but there was way too much fat for my liking.After dinner we headed to the Ensemble Lounge to have a nightcap and listen to Gordon, the solo guitarist play Beatles songs. By 11pm, which was really 12 due to a time change this evening, it was time for sleepy time.
Day 10 San Juan, Puerto Rico
I had my massage at 8am with Karen. What a deep and thorough therapy it was. I hooked up with the gang around 9AM in Luminae. Then Gary was off to the healing hands of Karen at 10.
We made our way to Deck 15 near the Mast Grille for some sun and fun, still hours away from Puerto Rico.
After some lounge chair time, we went to Luminae for lunch while they went to the Mast Grill. The Guest Relations Manager, Julie invited the four of us to the helipad as we sailed into Old San Juan. It was very nice view. Some officers were there. Mimosas were served. We pulled right in front of The Sheraton where we will be staying in April.
We got off for a few hours, in time to find the black Friday extended sale in Ralph Lauren Polo.
We walked around the block and found Genesis, a bar restaurant where we sat outside and had sangria and margaritas. On the way back to the ship we stopped at CVS and also picked up our bags at Polo.
I got the ball rolling at the Guest Relations Desk tonight to recoup our missing $150 credit from the previous cruise. They needed my credit card and contacted the Miami office on my behalf. She said it would take about three days.
We had dinner in Luminae. Gary and I split more than a bottle of Murphy Goode Cabernet. On the way back Joanie's knees locked and the rumor surrounding her by some of the other passengers was that she must of had to much Puerto Rican Rum today. Good night!
Day 11 Philipsburg, St. Maarten
This is Randi's favorite island for perfume and other sparkly things. We took the water taxi to the first stop but actually it would have been closer to take it to the second stop in the center of town to where we wanted to go. Meanwhile we strolled through Front Street, in and out of the shops buying some shirts and things, until we got to the ultimate stop; that is Ultimate Jewelers.
Raj and Sam were there greeting us with big happy faces. And it turned out to be a happy event for the girls as they got a few goodies. We had some time to kill while the rings were sized. The store owners suggested buying us lunch on the beach, and so we did.
It was a nice lunch at the Nu Love restaurant. We had a couple of wines, burgers and mahi mahis. Later we continued our Front Street footwork to Sam the Perfume man.
We can be sure that Randi and Joanie will be smelling good all year! I bargained a liter bottle of Beefeater gin down to $10 at Friendly's Duty Free at 89 Front Street, normally about $21.
A quick trip back down the street, we found our jewelry, sized and ready. After thanking them for lunch we jumped on the water taxi and went back to the mother ship
where we saw some funny T-shirts and enjoyed a relaxing time at the pool while we watched the other ships sail away.
This one was the Jewel of the Seas on course for it's next port of call.
Dinner in Luminae was nice however both Gary and I thought the Lamb was tough to eat and not up to Luminae standards. After desert Joanie wanted to have some gelato. She just adored the Hazelnut. We listened to the house band play some good tunes as the music echoed throughout the center foyer. We thought about seeing some comedy but decided on going back to the room instead.
Day 12 Basseterre, St. Kitts
Today is our first and only shore excursion for the two week cruise. We took a trip on the Caribbean Scenic Railway Tour. From the terminal we boarded a small bus for a 50 minute island tour with Donald, our driver.
He dropped us at the train and boarded an air conditioned car. As we circumnavigated the mountain our tour guide described the scene and history. It was very nice but nothing outstanding. We were served rum punch drinks and sodas during our ride along.
Then the waitresses broke out in song, in acapella and choir style. After about an hour we slowed to a stop and Donald was there to pick us up and take us back. Within ten minutes we were back to the shopping area. Randi tried to find a tie-dyed T shirt with St. Kitts embroidered on it for herself but had no luck. She did find another shirt for Larry though.
We went back to the ship for lunch in the Oceanview Cafe. She had stir fry and I had Mexican. Next was resting by the pool.
While Gary found a new friend by the pool, I dropped off some open booking forms for two upcoming cruises in 2018 because the itineraries were not out yet. Doing this is a way to keep the onboard perks when they are released next week.
We went to Martini Bar for the first and last time. Left due to not being served. Instead went to Passport bar on 3 for a pre Luminae cocktail.
Once there at about 715pm we told Dev our waiter that we would like to be at the 9pm show if possible. He was able to accommodate us to our deadline and we were able to see Al Ducharme, a comedian who uses his voice to make sound effects within his act. By 10 we strolled to center ship where the Motown party was going on.
Last for the evening in Celebrity Central was the Tonite show with Maartin the cruise director serving as host along with and other crew members as guests. It ended up with an "egg smashing on the head" contest.
Day 13 Sea
Sea I was up early by 5 but was able to stay in bed and watch tv while Randi slept. By 815 she opened her eyes and we got dressed for breakfast. Joanie and Gary slept in. After that we set up four chairs around the pool. Nothing much more today but that is ok too.
Day 14 Sea
Lounged by the pool after breakfast. Joanie went missing and did not appear at lunch. Afterwards we finished packing. Around 3pm we played some trivia, minus one teammate, Joanie, who was still missing. I suggested we to go to guest relations lost and found desk. Maybe someone turned her in. But she was back in the cabin by the time we went back.
Showered up and went for cocktails. Nobody was too hungry but we went for dinner anyway.
Afterwards we used up the remaining voucher money in the casino. No jackpots for us.
Day 15 Miami, Florida
Woke up to a Carnival ship passing ours in port. We were docked already. Then the alarm went off. We did our morning routine, thanked our room stewards then went to breakfast,
then Michaels Club then off the ship by 8. Before you knew it our ground transportation picked us up and whisked us to FLL airport by 9:45 where we waited for a 1.22pm flight to PHL. A rather smooth flight, we landed earlier than scheduled and our ground transportation was waiting for us. By 6 pm we were having dinner in Ravello's in Englishtown and already reminiscing about the good times we had.
to see all the Pix of the last cruise:
