Scuba_Tom

Ok!  Made it to Miami where The Super Bowl Pre-party is in full swing.  I’m like a kid in a football candy store constantly looking at the newest shiny thing.  Didn’t help that we flew direct from SFO so the flight was packed with 49ers fans.  
 

Flight was uneventful, couple of bumps and we got some sleep.  I missed the drink service entirely.   Luggage retrieval was quick with no issues.
 

So, when we booked our flights it was significantly cheaper to book to Miami than to Ft.  Lauderdale.  We’re currently on the Tri-rail train from MIA, headed to Ft Lauderdale Airport to meet up with our travel buddy.  Elle is teaching me the ways of using public transportation.  You know us Californians and the environment.  I can’t complain, it only cost $7.50 for two so we’re winning there! The walk from baggage claim to train took about 10 minutes with a few moving walkways.  
 

Expect another post tonight regarding our activities here in Florida.  This time tomorrow we will getting ready to check in to our ship! 🤩

-T

📷: The amazing Elle

Made it to the airport safe and sound.  No lines here at SFO and the American Airlines computer system worked great.  TSA Pre Check no line, walked right through.  
 

We are now sitting down to have our pre-flight flights (get it...flight...see what I did there). Curb to wine in hand: 9 minutes
 

Next time you hear from me will be from Florida! Cheers!

Greetings land dwellers!
 

In the words of John Denver: All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go.  However, I am not outside your door because that would be weird…we just met!!  Elle and I are headed out to the airport soon!  We’re flying coach and we both snagged window seats so I’m hoping to grab some shuteye.  I don’t tend to sleep well on planes so we will see how it goes (odd for an Air Force vet, huh??).  

Red-eye direct from San Francisco to Miami.  We arrive early tomorrow morning and plan on catching the train up to Ft. Lauderdale where we will meet up with a good friend of ours who is also a seasoned traveler and diver who we met on a dive trip nearly 5 years ago.  As I mentioned in my first post, Elle and I often travel to scuba dive and we tend to lean towards liveaboard diving.  Liveaboards are like teeny tiny cruise ships (OK, actually, no…they are nothing like them except they both involve a ship.  Or in the case of dive liveaboards, a yacht).  Our Ft. Lauderdale friend has been with us on three trips and we have another planned for next year with our little motley crew of divers we seem to pick up on each new trip.  We are excited to see her again. 😊  Ironically, we are not diving on this cruise at all 🤷🏻‍♂️ 
 

It is looking like tomorrow will spent exploring the Everglades via airboat.  Stay tuned for details and a review tomorrow afternoon/night.  I’ve never been to the Everglades nor on an airboat so I’m looking forward to it.  

I’m hoping you all are enjoying the blog and I can promise you…like fine wine…it will only get better as time goes on!!

BTW - the only bad part about winning the Move Up bid is that the luggage tags Elle ordered from the Celebrity site are now useless, and she’s currently at the table doing what looks like some complicated origami with new tags she printed off today.

-T

5 hours ago, breezer said:

I'm following along.  Will be on Reflection with the same itinerary in December.  Happy Anniversary and have a great cruise.  Your fur babies are so cute.

Thank you so much!  I agree they are adorable, even right now when they are running around the house at full speed while we are trying to finish packing up!  😻

6 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

Following along with delight.  We were on the Reflection (Ultimate Caribbean) 10-20 January and it was too windy to dock in Antigua, which was a shame as it's one of my favorite ports, but safety comes first of course.  Overall it was a good cruise with our only (minor) gripes being the Beyond the Podium guest speakers, who we thought poor and one of the ship's excursions really packing 'em into the small bus to a degree I've never witnessed before!  Small stuff though.  Enjoy, and as a cat lover myself, wishing you no cat traumas during your vacation.

Sorry you had a bad experience.    I think our Beyond the Podium events might be Super Bowl related.  I'll keep you posted about the subjects and their...ahem...enjoyability. 

4 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Following, I will be on the Reflection Trans Atlantic in April. Also working the World Class Bar is Santos from Peru, also a great guy. Met him many many years ago. I also went to WSU, and I live in Marin now. All the Martini Bar bartenders are great.

If you find wines that are not on the premium package you can pay the difference between the premium package and an the wine you want to drink.

Safe travels.

Norma

Go Cougs!  I'll keep an eye out for Santos and tell him that you are coming soon!  I'm sure I will have to try some of those higher end wines...you know...in the interest of science 👨‍🔬

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I see you have St Maarten on your cruise. On our last cruise there we did an excursion with Rhino Boats that included snorkeling and swimming on a private beach.  It was one of the best shore excursions we have ever done in the Caribbean.

 

Here is the link:

https://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/excursions/rhinoridersnorkel/

 

This looks like an absolute blast, thanks for sharing.  We won't be able to do it this time as we're booked for an island food tour on St. Maarten, but we'll put it on the list for next time.

7 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

I read that you enjoy your food, I suggest you try out Murano’s...Definitely the best speciality restaurant on board. 

4 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

IMO the best restaurant on board is the Lawn Grill.  We also loved the view and food in the tuscan grill.  While we also enjoyed Murano, found the other restaurants better.  We always take at least a four dinner package, so we can also enjoy Le petit chef   love the diversity.

Thank you for the suggestions.  Elle tells me that she has booked us into Murano on the first night with the first night discount, and then we have our four night dining package.  It's looking like our specialty dining will be 2x Murano, 2x Lawn Club, 1x Tuscan.  Plus the Veuve Clicquot dinner if it is offered on our sailing.  I don't think I'll be going hungry!

Thanks everyone for the engagement!  I'm getting more excited with each passing minute.

14 hours ago, 1crazynana said:

Great blog! Looking forward to meeting you on the boat. We are also going on the Silvermoon. Safe travels! 

Can't wait, see you soon!  I look just like my avatar. 😂

9 hours ago, Daneenm said:

Hi Tom!

 

I’ll start with...thank you for your service.

 

Hubby and I are also from San Jose and have our first Celebrity Cruise scheduled in November in celebration of our 30th anniversary.  We have all the same ports as you do!

 

Very excited to follow your experience!  Thanks so much for sharing it.

 

—Daneen

Thank you!

4 hours ago, bikerunner said:

On st kitts are you doing the island tour off ship  hope you chose Greys tours.  Its great.  https://www.thenfordgreytours.com

Yes, this is what Elle chose.  She loves doing travel research, so I'm lucky in that I just have to show up and it's always fantastic.  

2 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Great start! 

 

Can you check something for me when you are onboard? Please?

 

We were on Reflection in Ireland/Iceland in June. Had an amazing time. Our FAVORITE bar/lounge is the World Class Bar. The bartender in charge was Olexi. What a super guy. Could you see if he is still there? We are sailing on Reflection two cruises after you (February 21 to New Orleans for Mardi Gras). Would love to know in advance if Olexi is still there. 

 

BTW: Try the cocktails in the WBC at least one night. Also, if you like seafood, make sure to eat at The Porch. Some of the best seafood I have had (and I have had a lot). 

 

Lastly, you winos should come up here to Washington some time and hit the Walla Walla and Red Mountain areas. With climate change we will be the Napa of the west coast in 10 years. 😃

 

Jim

Will definitely check to see of Olexi is around.  Don't worry about us not visiting the World Class Bar, we're equal opportunity drink lovers and love a good martini and cocktail as much as we love good wine. 🤣

Also, I'm originally from Washington State and graduated from WSU (GO COUGS!)! You probably understand the drinking part better now, huh? I've been to Walla Walla a few times and enjoy WA wines.

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

 We have belonged to the Tobin James Wine club for the last 10 years. I think we have visited Adelaida winery, but have been to so many it is hard to remember them all. One of our favorite ones was Opolo Winery.

We enjoy Opolo's patio and the pizza they have out there on the weekends!  We're planning on being in Paso the first weekend in March, we may have to pay a visit to Tobin James.

33 minutes ago, scrapcreator said:

We are Tobin James members, too. Opolo is on our list of wineries to visit. If you are ever down in Temecula, I’d like to recommend Peltzer Winery.

 

OK, back to our regularly scheduled Blog and counting down the days until we cruise.

Will put Peltzer on the list, thanks!

3 hours ago, StephSch said:

I cant wait to hear how your trip goes and hear of any things we "have to do" while we are on the ship! I also look forward to hearing what wines you enjoy while on the ship. I would love to know who your sommelier is and if they do a great job, as I have found they make a huge difference in your dinner wine experience. 

 

Warm Regards,

Steph

My wife has told me some horror stories about the wine/drink/sommelier service on Celebrity ships if not in a suite, so we'll see.  We're pretty confident with our wine knowledge and ability to create pairings for our meals if sommelier service is lacking.  I'll let you know how it goes.

3 hours ago, ASell said:

Make a toast to all of us stuck in cold when you are on your sail away !!

Deal.  🙂 🥂

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

BTW my wife and I are also wine snobs and we will be upgrading to the Premium BP from the CBP perk we have. We have spent time in Paso, Napa and the Russian River wine countries and we loved Paso Robles the best. Our one remaining wine club is from Paso.

 

I'll let you know how the premium package ends up working out for from a wine standpoint.  Which wine club do you belong to in Paso?  We're members at Adelaida...yum!

4 hours ago, Andy said:

We're on this sailing too. Celebrating a BIG birthday for My incredible Mom. My Sister & Nephew are joining us. Hope to meet you onboard. Will you be attending the Meet & Mingle ? Safe travels to Sunny Florida. It's a beautiful Morning here !

Happy birthday to your mom!  Elle says she signed us up for the Meet & Mingle, so we'll see you there!

4 hours ago, JacJacAttack said:

Following along...this is for the Ultimate Caribbean itinerary, correct?

 

We are doing this itinerary in March and it's our first time on the Reflection so we're very interested in your observations and experiences! 

Yes, the Ultimate Caribbean itinerary.

Hello, all of you friendly and attentive people following this blog!  I’m currently sitting in my office, unable to actually get any work done.  We leave tomorrow on a red-eye, which means one more day of “suffering” to get through.  I saw a quote the other day that said “Nothing lasts forever, except the day before you start your vacation.”  Boy, ain’t that the truth! 

As promised yesterday, today I wanted to comment a bit on our itinerary and excursions.  BUT, before we get to that, I have to address a lie I told you all.  Apparently we are no longer booked into a 2B room on deck 7, but we’ve been upgraded to a C2 on deck 11.  My memory is a little foggy (too much wine over the holiday season?), but Elle tells me “we” put in a Movie Up bid and we found out an hour ago that it was successful.  I can tell you one thing for sure - my bald head is excited to try out that extra hair dryer. 

Ok…onto the trip details!

Below is a screen shot of our itinerary.  I will go into more detail about each excursion on the day of so that folks don’t have to jump back and forth, but here is a little snippet about our port days:

Antigua – Adventure eco tour

Barbados – Silver Moon catamaran that we booked with fellow CCers from our Roll Call

St. Lucia – Beach and snorkeling

St. Kitts – Island tour

St. Maarten – Food tour!  We’re huge foodies, so are very much looking forward to this one.

All excursions except for one (St Maarten) were booked independently.

Ok, back to work for now…or at the very least staring at my computer screen dreaming about martinis and beaches. 

-T

Suitcases are out and packing has commenced!!  We already have a stowaway!  Princess Jasmine would like to join us on the Reflection (Mighty Miso is also thinking about it) 😻

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!  I look forward to getting to know all of you and sharing our journey. 

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Howdy from a neighbor in Sunnyvale.    I pulled up a chair and looking forward to your blog. 

Greetings fellow South Bay-er!  Elle has told me about your live blogs in the past.  Sounds like you're quite the seasoned cruiser.  I hope to live up to your greatness 😁

31 minutes ago, hcat said:

Will be following with interest.

Pls do not judge Celebrity (X) overall by one ship or cruise...experiences vary .

 

Hope your sick kitty improves..

Thank you!  We just got some new meds for His Highness the King.  👑 

I've traveled enough to know problems/issues are to be expected.  The absolute perfect trip doesn't exist, but my measurement is based on how a company/hotel/airline/restaurant responds to the problems that arise.    I will be sure to mention Celebrity's ( or anyone else's) efforts at resolutions if/when something comes up.  

INTRO

Greetings fellow cruise travelers! 

My name is Tom - welcome to my first ever live blog!  My wife, Elle, and I will be on the Celebrity Reflection from January 31 to February 10.  You might be asking yourself “why is this noob doing a live blog?”  Well, allow me to answer.  This will be my second cruise EVER, and our first on Celebrity (our first cruise was a Royal Caribbean cruise in the Med, and Elle recently went on a Princess cruise to Alaska).  I’ve also never followed anything here on cruise critic, though Elle has. We are 34 and 40 year-old professionals with no kids, and a little bird told me we *may* be Celebrity’s current target demographic (marketing tricks, am I right?).  I’m hoping that this blog provides you with a slightly different perspective than you’re used to reading around here!  Though I’d be lying if I didn’t say that my decision to do this blog is also a little self-serving in that I’m hoping that it will encourage me to notice all of the details, document notable moments, and really focus on the experience.  I remember very few ship details or moments from our first cruise in 2013, and I don’t want to forget this one!

OK, so I’ll be honest - I DID look at cruise critic a teeny tiny bit to get some inspiration for how to write a live blog (thanks to my wife for sending me some examples).  ChicagoPaul and Mr_T provided some great inspiration and I plan on borrowing bits of their formats…thanks guys!  But don’t expect the same level of awesomeness that they provide(d); I am a noob, after all.  In fact, lower your expectations immediately and maybe, just maybe, you won’t be disappointed. ;)

ABOUT US

A little bit about Elle and I - we live in San Jose, CA and, as previously mentioned, we are child-free by choice.  However, we DO have three amazing rescue cats, around whom our world revolves and we’re going to miss them so much!  I’m a USAF veteran and currently work in law enforcement.  Elle and I love to travel and have travelled around the world extensively (I’ve been to 6/7 continents…I’m missing South America!).  More often than not you’ll find us scuba diving in exotic locales, but for this trip we wanted to try something different.  In lieu of gifts we always take a trip for our anniversary, which we are celebrating on this cruise.  It was planned a little less than a year ago, after our last anniversary trip, and we’ve been looking forward to it ever since!

OUR CRUISE

We booked our trip through a TA and got ourselves a 2B standard veranda.  We paid $1670pp with two perks included.  We chose the classic beverage package and $300 on board credit (OBC apparently for you CC vets), and our TA threw in an additional $50 OBC.  We prepaid gratuities on our own and purchased a four night specialty dining package.  This trip coincides with the Super Bowl (as do all of our anniversary trips), so we’re looking forward to all of the on-board festivities!  Elle is a 49ers fan (grumble grumble..Go Seahawks!) and apparently, now I am too.  We also purchased a single-device internet package because one of our kitties has been having some serious ongoing medical issues, and neither of us will be able to relax without daily updates on him.  And, duh, I needed an internet package to do this live blog.

Elle and I are self-admitted wine snobs; we live pretty much in the middle of two amazing CA wine regions (1.5 hours from Napa to the north, and 2 hours from Paso Robles to the south) and belong to WAY TOO MANY wine clubs, so we are qualified.  As such, we upgraded to the premium beverage package because Elle says that we wouldn’t be happy with the wine selection on the CBP.  Plus, let’s be real, we want those martinis.  I’m hoping that some of this blog will be a review of the food and wine.  We hope to attend the Veuve Clicquot Dinner and attend the Riedel tasting class for funsies (ironically, I’m drinking wine out of a Riedel as I type…I’m so spoiled). 

While I’m not a millennial by any stretch of the imagination I will be supplementing my blog on my Instagram stories.  Please give me a follow at cf_coach_tom.  I will keep any expired stories in highlights so you can catch up anytime. 

You’ll find that I’m fair in my reviews and observations, and I have a reputation for being brutally honest.  As this is our first Celebrity cruise I have absolutely zero expectations and don’t know what I’m missing from the Celebrity of old (which Elle tells me is a contentious topic on these boards), so we’ll see what happens!  Feel to ask me any questions, tell me you think I'm stupid or sing my praises.  I welcome it all.  

I’ll post more about our itinerary tomorrow, and some excursions we’ll be doing.  We head out of here on Wednesday 1/29 on a red eye, arriving in Ft Lauderdale early Thursday morning.  We have a dear friend who lives in FLL so we’ll spend the day with her and crash at her house Thursday night before embarkation on Friday morning. 

For now, I am glad to meet you!  Also, a hearty greeting from Blackie, Jasmine, and Miso! 

-T