Reflection - Review - Ultimate Caribbean - April 2, 2018 - April 13, 2018

Noreen! I love your reviews on Royal Caribbean and I'm so happy to see you over here. I'm contemplating trying a cruise on Celebrity, too! I've found one that's roughly the same price as RC.

I have a personal question and you don't have to answer but...how do ya'll get by on so little sleep? It seems like you get four hours a night!

Noreen! I love your reviews on Royal Caribbean and I'm so happy to see you over here. I'm contemplating trying a cruise on Celebrity, too! I've found one that's roughly the same price as RC.

 

I have a personal question and you don't have to answer but...how do ya'll get by on so little sleep? It seems like you get four hours a night!

Hi

Thank you.

Definitely give Celebrity a try. We really enjoyed it. It’s different but both are great.

If you are used to the bigger newer ships on Royal with all the bells and whistles you won’t see that on Celebrity. It was more of a laid back and make your own fun vibe. It seemed like a much more relaxing trip not feeling like there were so many other things to try on the ship (like zip lines or bumper cars or surfing, etc).

I have never been much of a sleeper. 4-5 hours is pretty normal for me. Scott is the same.

My mother used to tell me that even as a baby I never slept much.

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Thank you for the great review, my husband & I will be doing the same cruise in November, it will be our first Celebrity cruise. we will be celebrating our 1st Anniversary & both of our birthdays. I noticed you also did a beach wedding. We got married last November in Jamaica. I hope to meet you on a cruise someday. Oh btw my DH is very interested in the tricycles, did you pre reserve them or how did you arrange them & if I may ask how much did they cost? Thanks again. Happy cruising.

Thank you for the great review, my husband & I will be doing the same cruise in November, it will be our first Celebrity cruise. we will be celebrating our 1st Anniversary & both of our birthdays. I noticed you also did a beach wedding. We got married last November in Jamaica. I hope to meet you on a cruise someday. Oh btw my DH is very interested in the tricycles, did you pre reserve them or how did you arrange them & if I may ask how much did they cost? Thanks again. Happy cruising.

Hi

Thank you - glad you are enjoying the review. I am hoping to get some more done this weekend.

You picked a great trip for your first Celebrity Cruise.

Congratulations on your anniversary and happy early birthday to both you and your husband.

Scott and I were married on the beach at the Atlantis in the Bahamas almost 5 years ago. Time sure flies; I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 years already.

The Trikes were a lot of fun. Yes, we reserved in advance. It was $190 for the both of us on one Trike. If you go to their website, there is a section that says reserve and you submit your info like the date you want, etc. They will email back if there is space. I am trying to put the link to their website below.

http://www.trikes-aruba.com/tours-rates/

Let me know if you have any more questions. Always happy to help and I love talking about my trips.

Noreen

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Thursday 4/12/18 - At Sea - Continued

We walked around outside a bit more just enjoying the last night of the cruise.

We went to the casino. We both did pretty well tonight. We were both hitting. Scott was at the 3 card poker table and I was playing my favorite poker slot game (where you can change among different games like double double, deuces wild, etc). I call it Multiplier even though that’s not it’s real name since while you are playing a multiplier pops up randomly and whatever you hit, the payout is multiplied by whatever the multiplier is that popped up (from 2X to 10X).

When I was playing the deuces wild game I got four dunces, not just in one hand but in two hands. That was $500 right there.

A little later I was playing double double poker and hit 4 Aces for $200.

Scott walked over and gave me a $500 chip after showing me a handful of them so I knew he was doing well too. I should have taken a picture of the handful of chips but forgot to so I took a picture of the one lonely $500 chip he gave me. I was having trouble getting a clear picture when I had it near the slot machine so put it on the floor to take a picture of it.

The casino closed around midnight since we are back in US waters. We made sure to cash in our chips and slot machine payout vouchers before leaving. Throughout the trip we would hold onto them and leave them in the cabin safe. We would try to remember to bring them back with us to the casino the next day, but it was OK if we forgot. Being the last night we had to make sure not to forget them.

We went back to our cabin and hung out on the balcony for a while before going to bed.

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Friday 4/13/18 - Disembark Fort Lauderdale and Fly Home

We were up around 6am.

It’s kind of sad going out on the balcony and being back in Fort Lauderdale. I am always a bit sad at the end of a trip. Scott, on the other hand, is happy to get home to the cats and just back to home. He enjoys the trip, but when it’s over, he’s ready to go home.

We didn’t go to the gym today.

We showered and got dressed.

We saw Walter to say goodbye.

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Friday 4/13/18 - Disembark Fort Lauderdale and Fly Home - Continued

We took our carry on bags with us for breakfast at Luminae.

From the pastry tray, I had a chocolate croissant.

Scott had a regular croissant.

I had blueberry pancakes with sausage. They were regular pancakes sitting on blueberry compote. The ones from room service had the blueberries baked in which I prefer. These were still tasty.

Scott had an omelet and sausage.

I had a coke and Scott had coffee.

After breakfast we went to Michael’s Club to exit the ship. There was an exit right near Michael’s Club that they brought us to and we headed out.

We waited in the customs line and saw Rich and Eileen there so said goodbye to them again.

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Hi

 

I have only been to DisneyLand (California) a few times so not an expert on that coast.

 

However, I go to Disney World (Florida) very often. We are annual pass holders to Disney World and even have a timeshare down there.

 

As far as where to stay in Orlando, there are tons of options and it really depends what you want.

 

Disney has many resorts to choose from. They have resorts at various price points. And all their resorts have different themes. They offer transportation that includes buses, boats, and monorails. Some resorts are easier to get to different parks than others. They also let people rent their DVC (timeshare) properties which are more like villas and range from studio to multiple bedrooms.

 

If you like Epcot and Hollywood Studios, I’m a big fan of either the Boardwalk Resort or Yacht & Beach Club resort. They have boats that take you to either Epcot or Hollywood studios or you can walk to those parks too. You would use a bus to Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom. Both of those resorts also have villas (DVC) as well as regular rooms.

 

If you love animals, Animal Kingdom lodge is great. You can get a Savannah view room and see animals from your own balcony. They also have villas as well as regular rooms. It’s sort of out of the way and all transportation provided by disney is by bus.

 

If your focus is Magic Kingdom, the Polynesian is on the monorail and makes it easy to get to Magic Kingdom. You can switch monorails to go to Epcot and the other parks are by bus. Also the Grand Floridian (where I often recommend people traveling without children to go) and Contemporary are on the monorail.

 

There are also tons of offsite (non Disney) resorts to stay at. They are usually less costly than Disney and often larger rooms. However, you don’t get to be immersed in Disney magic 24 hours a day (could be good or bad depending on your perspective). You also don’t get some of the onsite perks like extra magic hours.

 

I personally like to have a car at Disney even though it’s not really needed when staying on Disney property. I’m not a fan of public transportation. I drive into NYC for work rather than taking a train or bus from NJ and most people think I’m nuts.

 

I know I am going on and on about Disney but there are so many choices and options. You won’t go wrong with any of them. I have stayed at many of the Disney resorts over the years and they are all great.

 

If you want to chat more about Disney, feel free to email me at

NoreenChin at yahoo dot com (using normal email format). I’m happy to provide more info here as well but figured email may be easier for us to chat back and forth.

 

 

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Thanks for all that info with lots of food for thought and more research. The animal kingdom lodge actually sounds really good.

Weighing up a holiday there, but also cruises to Alaska and Antarctica. And all that thought about animal kingdom lodge has me wondering about Africa. We like our holidays.

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Thanks for all that info with lots of food for thought and more research. The animal kingdom lodge actually sounds really good.

 

Weighing up a holiday there, but also cruises to Alaska and Antarctica. And all that thought about animal kingdom lodge has me wondering about Africa. We like our holidays.

 

 

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Hi

Those all sound great.

At least with Animal Kingdom Lodge you get to see many of the animals you would see in Africa with a shorter trip to get there and a more controlled environment. I’m sure it won’t compare to a real African Safari but it’s still very fun.

I would love to do a cruise to Alaska too.

Never even thought about Antarctica but that sounds amazing too.

I can’t help on either of those since I’ve never been, but if you have any more Disney questions I am happy to help.

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Friday 4/13/18 - Disembark Fort Lauderdale and Fly Home - Continued

We took a cab to the Fort Lauderdale airport.

We were through security and at our gate by 8:45am. We were definitely early.

It was crowded since there was a flight to Jamaica leaving from the same gate at 9:30am. That flight left on time.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 12 noon, but was delayed until 12:45.

Once we boarded the plane, we were delayed again sitting on the tarmac.

We eventually took off and it was a pretty easy flight home.

Once we landed we got our luggage. Luggage valet worked great and all our bags showed up at Newark airport.

We were picked up by Scott’s ex father in law who drove us home. Since we rented the car to drive down, we didn’t have our car at the airport like we normally would, so he volunteered to pick us up. We were going to take an Uber, but he offered to come get us. It was very nice of him.

We didn’t get home until about 6pm. It’s maybe an hour drive from Newark airport to our house.

It was a long day of travel for only 2.5 hours in the air.

The cats were very excited to see us.

We unpacked and got the laundry started.

We went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and both had Blue Hawaiian drinks with dinner (keeping the vacation vibe going) as we talked about the great trip we just had.

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Some Random Thoughts

Driving to Florida from New Jersey:

While I was hesitant at first, we had a lot of fun making the drive down. We were on our own schedule and had our own space which we liked. Comparing it to the flight home which was time consuming and not that fun, the drive was more fun.

We are thinking we may drive down to Disney World in September and back so could use our own car. Or we may just rent a car to take, have with us at Disney, and drive home. Both of our cars are leases. And we’ll know better than the detour to Washington DC next time. Also, Disney World is closer than Fort Lauderdale.

Embassy Suites:

This is a pretty decent hotel. The gym was small but had what you needed. While we didn’t use it, the pool looked nice.

They offer nice perks like the breakfast buffet and happy hour.

The rooms are a nice size. I was surprised there are no safes in the room.

The code for the vending machine is a cute touch to get snacks.

The location is great.

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Random Thoughts - Continued

Celebrity Reflection:

The ship is beautiful. It’s classy but cozy at the same time. Everything was kept up so well and it was very clean.

Service was uniformly great (except the one snooty person at Cafe Al Bacio). Everyone was friendly but professional. We’re really low key people and like to joke around and it took a little time for people to realize that, but once they did, many of the employees were able to joke around with us too and relax a bit.

The food at the specialty restaurants was fantastic. We never tried the regular dining room. We weren’t crazy about the buffet but didn’t go very often so maybe just chose the wrong things. We enjoyed room service for both breakfast and late night snacks.

It seems like this ship is more about relaxing and making your own fun than having all sorts of things to do on the ship where you feel like you may be missing out if you don’t get to everything.

We appreciated that the casino was smoke free.

The pool area was crowded but it’s like that on most ships. We did miss the suite sun deck that is on most Royal Caribbean ships. We liked that towels were readily available by the pool on Celebrity.

There were many places around the ship where people could just hang out.

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Random Thoughts - Continued

The Royal Suite:

This was a great cabin.

It was spacious and well appointed.

It felt like a small apartment almost. You are able to spread out and have different spaces for different purposes. Having the different rooms made it feel that way. The bedroom was separate from the living area with a real door.

The living room was pretty roomy and we had people visit and hang out with us and it never felt crowded.

The bed was super comfortable. Probably the most comfortable cruise ship bed we’ve slept in. Once we started to figure out how to use the bed and all the buttons on the remote controls for it, it was great. I’m surprised there wasn’t any instructions on the different options.

Having the separate shower and jacuzzi tub in the bathroom was great. The dual sinks made getting ready easy and we each had our own space for our stuff.

We liked the dining room table and ate breakfast there whenever we had room service. When we brought sushi back to the cabin we also ate at the dining room table.

When we snacked on late night room service we would eat at the coffee table while watching a movie.

We used the balcony and jacuzzi on the balcony more than I thought we would.

There was ample storage in the cabin and that’s saying a lot since we both overpack.

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Random Thoughts - Continued

Perks of the Royal Suite:

Premium Beverage Package (this comes with all suites):

I don’t drink enough to warrant purchasing an alcohol package. Maybe I’ll have one drink a day; maybe two on some days. But I would normally purchase a package that includes non alcoholic drinks like soda, bottled water, specialty coffee, etc. Having the premium package was nice since I tried a lot of different drinks as well as including all the non alcoholic beverages.

Scott probably got better use out of the premium package than I did since he would drink more than I do. He had wine with dinner often. He would have his drinks at the casino. While he doesn’t drink during the day (except that one drink the day we boarded) he will have a few drinks at night. While he may have had a few nights where he would have broke even if we purchased it, he wouldn’t keep up that pace of drinking for the whole cruise.

Internet (this comes with all suites):

This was a good perk for us. We often would purchase it if it didn’t come with the cabin.

In suite Bar Setup and Restocking:

Having the bar set up was great for us. Not even so much for the alcohol since we could get a drink with the beverage package when we wanted to. Having the soda and bottled water there and replenished as needed was great.

Complimentary Specialty Dining:

This was well used by us. We went into it not sure how we would like it. We liked the idea of developing a relationship with a constant waiter at Luminae, but once we started enjoying the specialty restaurants we didn’t look back.

The food was great in all the specialty restaurants. Knowing it was all included made it easy for us to order what we wanted and not over order to try to get the most value out of the cost.

Our cards had an infinity symbol on them which designated the included specialty dining.

Special Delivery Embarkation:

This was definitely a pleasant way to board the ship. After hearing of the fiasco in the terminal I’m even more grateful that we bypassed it.

We did get a few dirty looks as we were escorted past any lines waiting to board, but the people escorting us had an approach that sort of shielded us from some of it. They would clear the way and stand with arms outstretched in front of the people so we could walk past. And our luggage was at our cabin before we even went there so we were unpacked pretty early.

Special Theater Seating On Formal Nights:

This was also a nice perk not having to arrive early to get a good seat. We showed up 15 minutes before showtime and were escorted to a roped off section to choose our seats.

I’m surprised this is only on formal nights and not at all shows in the theater.

The Butler (Walter):

Going into the cruise, we weren’t quite sure what we needed a butler for. We are pretty self sufficient and easy going.

Walter was great at his job. Once he got to know us a little and realized we weren’t super demanding people, he was able to relax and pamper us without making us feel weird.

Anything we needed he took care of for us. Whether it was changing a dining reservation, bringing us snacks, restocking our beverages and fruit bowl, decorating our cabin, bringing our laundry back, setting up our room service breakfast while we were at the gym, etc - he was able to do it all.

Michael’s Club:

This was sort of similar to the Concierge/Diamond/Suite lounge on Royal Caribbean. We didn’t spend much time here.

They were very helpful when asking any questions.

I can see how this would be a nice place to hang out for cocktails and to meet others.

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Random Thoughts - Continued

The Casino:

We spent a decent amount of time in the casino. Being our first Celebrity cruise we weren’t members of Celebrity Blue Chip yet. There aren’t reciprocal benefits with Royal Caribbean’s Casino Royale program.

It was nice that the fee to take money against our card was waived since we were in a suite.

The host, Dmitriy, was great. We spent time chatting with him. He was always around and would check in with us and see how we were doing.

The dealers in the casino were also very friendly and they got to know us. Even the bartenders in the casino got to know us. When they would bring Scott a drink at the table, they would often stop by and bring me a Sprite.

We appreciated that there was no smoking in the casino.

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Random Thoughts Continued

Comparison to Royal Caribbean (our usual cruise line):

The food in the specialty restaurants was head and shoulders above what we’ve had on Royal Caribbean in the specialty restaurants. Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants are good, but the ones on Celebrity were fantastic.

We preferred Coastal Kitchen (the suite restaurant) on Royal Caribbean over Luminae. However, we didn’t eat many meals in Luminae so maybe we aren’t giving them a fair chance.

We preferred the buffet on Royal Caribbean over Celebrity. We didn’t have many meals here but we don’t on Royal Caribbean either so it’s a fair comparison.

I found the shows on Royal Caribbean better. Not just the headliner or production shows, but we missed seeing things like a Newlywed type game show or Quest show.

There wasn’t as much to do on the ship as we’re used to. It was more of a make your own fun/relax type of cruise. This doesn’t make one better than the other, just a different type of trip.

I missed having the suite sun deck that is available on Royal Caribbean ships. We didn’t spend any time at the outside pool on Reflection because it was crowded.

Soda. I know it’s odd to have a whole sentence of the comparison dedicated to it, but we really appreciated that you were always given canned soda on Celebrity. We prefer canned soda. On Royal the default is fountain soda and you have to specifically ask for a can if you want one.

The ship seemed less crowded than Royal Caribbean ships.

My comparison makes it sound like I prefer Royal Caribbean, but that’s not the case at all. They both have their strengths. We had a great time on Celebrity and I can’t wait to sail with Celebrity again. I have cruised many times with Royal and this was only my first with Celebrity so it’s hard to make a fair comparison. I’m going to have a hard time choosing which line to cruise when I’m planning future trips.

These are just my thoughts on the comparison after just one Celebrity cruise.

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Random Thoughts Continued

Overall:

This was probably our best cruise yet.

We really enjoyed everything about it.

I’m not sure if we received the true Celebrity experience since we were treated so special being in the Royal Suite. Maybe we would feel differently if we were in a different type of cabin.

Scott thinks we may need to try one of the Star Class (genie suites) on Royal Caribbean to compare apples to apples.

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Next Trips:

September 2018: I’ve already mentioned that we have a Disney World trip coming up in September 2018. We’re considering driving down to Florida and back. Disney World is my other favorite vacation. I write reviews for my Disney trips too on Mouseplanet; they are just text reviews without pictures. I haven’t figured out how to put pictures on the Disboards or I would put picture reviews there too.

February 2019: We are booked on a 12 night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas. We have been cruising out of Bayonne NJ for several winters now. Our friends that we made on Reflection, Rich and Eileen, are going to join us on Anthem in February 2019.

April 2019: We have a 7 night cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas booked, but I think we may end up cancelling this one. We have some friends that suggested it as a group trip, but now some of them have cancelled. We didn’t realize when we booked it but it will be over spring break and I’m guessing a 7 night cruise will have a lot of spring breakers and be very crowded.

June 2019: Scott is turning 50 next year. I’m one year older than him. So we’re trying to decide where to go for his big birthday. I have suggested either a cruise to Alaska or a cruise to Europe since his birthday falls in the right month for that. But he prefers Caribbean cruises right now. I’m not sure where we’ll end up yet

Fall 2019: Even though it’s not booked yet, we’ll probably be in Disney in the fall.

February 2020: I know it’s a while away. But I started looking for our usual winter cruise for 2020 out of Bayonne and Anthem isn’t doing it’s normal 12 night cruises that we like. It’s doing more 8 night cruises to the Bahamas. So I looked to see what Celebrity is doing. They aren’t cruising out of Bayonne in the winter and we’ll have to go to Florida to get on the ship.

I looked at a few different sailings.

The first one I looked at was 11 nights on Reflection going to Grand Cayman, Cartagena, Colon Panama, Costa Rica, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. The sea days break up some of the port days very nicely. I’ve never been to Panama, Costa Rica, or Costa Maya. Scott wasn’t that keen to go to Mexico. And the stop in Panama isn’t going into the Panama Canal at all.

Then I looked at a 10 night sailing on Reflection which spent 3 days in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, a day in Grand Cayman, and a day in Cozumel. Scott has been to New Orleans on land before. I have never been to New Orleans.

Then I saw the 12 night sailing on Silhouette. It goes to St Croix, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent, and St Kitts. 12 nights is better than 10 or 11 nights. We have never been to St Croix, Grenada, or St Vincent. We both really like St Kitts and Barbados. And the best part...our same cabin was available...Royal Suite 1241. I felt like it was meant to be. This is the one we are booked on in the same cabin.

I plan on doing reviews for any cruises we take as I really enjoy doing this and having something nice to look back on.

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Thank you for sticking with me while I wrote this review.

Your positive comments were great.

I will be back if I think of anything else to add.

And I will be here to answer any questions.

I’m on cruise critic pretty often :)

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Wonderful review. Many thanks for all the time you put into it. Glad you had such a fabulous trip.

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Thank you again, Noreen, for the detailed and fun-to-read review. I appreciate your long hours to put it all together.

As I noted in an earlier post, we’re staying in the same Reflection RS for a 10-day Caribbean Cruise this November. You have provided an outstanding preview. I am so appreciative of your efforts!

Wonderful review. Many thanks for all the time you put into it. Glad you had such a fabulous trip.

 

 

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Thank you

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Thank you again, Noreen, for the detailed and fun-to-read review. I appreciate your long hours to put it all together.

 

As I noted in an earlier post, we’re staying in the same Reflection RS for a 10-day Caribbean Cruise this November. You have provided an outstanding preview. I am so appreciative of your efforts!

Hi.

Glad you enjoyed the review.

You picked a great cabin and ship. Have a wonderful time.

Will you be doing a review of your sailing? No pressure...just wondering if I will have a review to look forward to.

Noreen

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Thank you for your great review. One of my main take a ways, how you two are so much like my wife and I. Easy going and rolling with things as they happen. It makes the trip so much better.

Enjoy all your future travels.

Thoroughly enjoyed your lovely review. Thank you. We are regular Celebrity cruisers but have our first Reflection upcoming in November. Loved your detail.

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