JW and Jerome's Excellent Adventure on the Celebrity REFLECTION!

[Theologator]

Is it on the Starboard? Who knew? We were Port out and Starboard Home, or so I thought......or do I have that bass-ackwards? Too funny. In any case, finding the room was easy. Get off on deck 8 and as long as I was on the even number side, I just had to go to the back (Aft) of the ship and our room was the last one in the hallway on the Left. A couple of times I ended up in front (or Forward) but I quickly learned that the ship's diagram on the wall, always faces forward, so I needed to remember to go to the "Rear".....:D

 

JW - When you are standing on the ship facing the bow, the right is starboard, the left is port. Just like bow & stern, or fore & aft, those labels stick with those parts of the ship regardless of the direction of the ship, or you, or anything else.

 

1-2-3 Rule #1 while underway: STAY ON BOARD Everything else is negotiable. And lots of people to help.

 

:)

[deise17311]

I hope the 123 Drunk promo doesn't pull too many "Carnival" types to Celebrity...it would be a shame if it turned into party central like what I imagine Carnival to be!!

 

Now JW and Jerome, they were born for Celebrity!!

[Burlingtontownie]

Here is a picture of the Entire Bar Staff and Team on the Celebrity Reflection!

 

An Amazing Bunch of Professionals!

 

 

And I am sure we will see a similar group of professionals on the Eclipse. I sent a frend request to " library lady" as a fellow colleage librarian, and maybe she might be on our cruise next year.

[miataman19]

Here is something to keep you occupied at work......

I am an avid Slot Queen, love my casino slots and know them very well. Over the years I have been lucky in the Casino’s on the ships. I was eager to try the Celebrity style of gaming. The Reflection’s Casino is rather beautiful and from a distance, a rather substantial size too. They have all the wonderful table games, and there are over 250 slot machines to play. From a distance it’s impressive, but take a closer look and, well to an avid slot player, not so much. This is where I was a bit disappointed. Out of all the machines they installed in the Casino, only three are Vegas “Branded” Machines. What I mean by that is, slot machines that are well known and fun to play. They only had a bank of 8 “Quick-Hits” and a bank of “Poker” Slots, but the odd thing was the Pay Tables on both had been drastically altered downward and were not the normal tables one would see on other ships, or in Vegaas. This I found odd. Industry standard payout tables on both machines are never tampered with and that is why they are popular, but the Poker Machines in particular were marginalized downward, so much so, that I would never win.

In a further review of the machines, they were all the same generic type of machine with different graphics. Nothing I recognized and no games that were synonymous with famous slot machines. Guess they did not want to pay royalties. However, these games were albeit nothing more that souped up arcade games that had payouts. They even had a phony Wheel Of Fortune Machine. Common guys, at least get a real Wheel Of Fortune TV Show machine. It’s the number one slot machine out there! No Red White and Blue, No Butterflys, No Bombay, No Money Storm, No Wolf Run…I know my slots.

 

Hey JW, know exactly how you feel about those slots. Played them on day 1 for about 2 hrs. and never went back :mad:. We ate at Murano on both the Formal nights. The second dinner was better than the first, and that is hard to do. Spent most of our time at the Molecular Bar. That Premium Alcohol Package came in handy..lol... Glad you had a great cruise...

[baby]

question

 

did they have music playing inthe martini bar or molecular bar?

 

how about the lounge on the top level - will be looking for good music to dance to while drinking my cosmos

 

carol

[cruiseguys2009]

question

 

did they have music playing inthe martini bar or molecular bar?

 

how about the lounge on the top level - will be looking for good music to dance to while drinking my cosmos

 

carol

 

 

The music that was playing in the Martini Bar was the fabulous vocal and musical group D'Reflections, and if you liked to dance, there was plenty of time to dance to this fabulous group every night, just one deck below in the main lobby. To tell you the truth, the conversation and crowd at the Martini Bar was so busy that it was like being at a chic New York Night Club every night....no velvet ropes, everyone got in! Gosh we Love Celebrity!

 

The Molecular Bar was steady and the funny thing was the "Friends of Dorothy" meet and greet was every night at 10:15 PM at Molecular, but by that time, everyone was with Hat Lady, her Gaybies and me at the Martini Bar, so that was a bust.

[cruiseguys2009]

question

 

did they have music playing inthe martini bar or molecular bar?

 

how about the lounge on the top level - will be looking for good music to dance to while drinking my cosmos

 

carol

 

 

and one more thing....don't get me started yet about the Observation Lounge...oh my gosh.......I think for the first time ever on a Celebrity Cruise, two men danced together.....hey, it's alright for ladies to do so, but us guys, well, Jerome and I put it to the test and we danced together to Beyonce's...."All The Single Ladies" because he put a Ring on my Finga, yeah baby! Heck, after 21 years of being together, we had a blast! That was a party to be at and I am getting way ahead of myself.

[librarylady19]

Congrats!!! Do tell!

 

Actually, I've seen plenty of guy on guy dancing on Celebrity cruises JW. I thought it was the cruise of choice for Dorothy's friends (and their friends)

[cruiseguys2009]

Congrats!!! Do tell!

 

Actually, I've seen plenty of guy on guy dancing on Celebrity cruises JW. I thought it was the cruise of choice for Dorothy's friends (and their friends :().

 

 

You know Sandi, I had absolutely no idea and none of our friends had ever sailed Celebrity and even made fun of us for doing so.....but once we got on board, I became a "Celebrity"! Oh my gosh, I had more fun on Celebrity than on any other cruise ship....EVER! And I was with the Grown-ups! All of our friends simply dote on Princess, Blah Blah Blah,.....I have news for them..........Princess may be great, but it's still a CARNIVAL product, Profit before People, and Pack 'em in Mentality. For me and Jerome.....we found our home. Our Permanent Home. Celebrity, and the "Mouth of the South" will not shut up about that!

[librarylady19]

Awesome! I am so glad we found our perfect cruise home right away - and you have found your way here too, You must since you've already booked another 3 cruises. Im totallly jonesing to book another cruise THIS year.

[BugsyCruiser]

Awesome! I am so glad we found our perfect cruise home right away - and you have found your way here too, You must since you've already booked another 3 cruises. Im totallly jonesing to book another cruise THIS year.

 

Well stop jonesing and book Reflection again for December 7th ;)

 

That's when my friends and I sail and after seeing your review and JW's review so far, plus experiencing my first ever S-class ship a little over a week ago I can't wait to be on Reflection!

[Scrapnana]

That was a party to be at and I am getting way ahead of myself.

 

Now you are just teasing us!

[librarylady19]

Well stop jonesing and book Reflection again for December 7th ;)

 

That's when my friends and I sail and after seeing your review and JW's review so far, plus experiencing my first ever S-class ship a little over a week ago I can't wait to be on Reflection!

 

Darn, can't do December 7; my Library Board meeting is always the 2nd Thursday of the month:(

[BugsyCruiser]

Darn, can't do December 7; my Library Board meeting is always the 2nd Thursday of the month:(

 

I'll call you in sick for that day ;) :D

[wallie5446]

Well all of ya's need to re-book with us and JW on the Nov 16 th sailing! It was supposed to be the CC Celebrity Group Cruise date, remember!

 

We can't wait to get on Reflection after reading Sandi's review and now JW's. life has gotten in the way and our last time on X was Dec 2000, we are glad to read that the standards have not lowered like we found on Princess last yr.

 

Type on JW, but don't hit the post button till I get back from TINKLING :D

[4cats4me]

You know Sandi, I had absolutely no idea and none of our friends had ever sailed Celebrity and even made fun of us for doing so.....but once we got on board, I became a "Celebrity"! Oh my gosh, I had more fun on Celebrity than on any other cruise ship....EVER! And I was with the Grown-ups! All of our friends simply dote on Princess, Blah Blah Blah,.....I have news for them..........Princess may be great, but it's still a CARNIVAL product, Profit before People, and Pack 'em in Mentality. For me and Jerome.....we found our home. Our Permanent Home. Celebrity, and the "Mouth of the South" will not shut up about that!

 

I want to be on the same cruise with you! You definitely seem to love life. We just went on the Equinox and fell in love with it! Before that, 13 Princes cruises, which is just, to put it mildly, boring, food quality much poorer. We used to love Princess.

Anyhoo, love your review :D. Can't wait to try the Reflection or Silhouette

[Tommy3putts]

JW what a riot! Got a case of the perpetual grins reading your review. Would love to see more pics of this non-stop party. You guys sound like you'd be fun to party with! Never a boring moment!

 

Thanks for the fun refreshing review.

 

Cheers!

[travellink]

Just caught up and subscribed to your review...can't wait to hear about the rest of the cruise. Great writing style!

[fitters]

I'm looking forward to cruising with you and Jerome on the 16th of November! Can't wait to meet you.

[cruiseguys2009]

“Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap” Dreamily in my slumber, knowing the boat is gently rocking back and forth, back and forth. The curtain’s are drawn into darkness, ahh yes, we are on vacation and I am sleeping….”Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap”…“What the?” Jerome with his head muffled in his pillow says “Maydoubleyou…moensone’s it dedoor”…..”???” “Huh”, I said still dreamily drifting….. Jerome sticks his head up “Someone’s at the Gosh Darn Door!” “What?”, I said. Jerome shouts at me (Don’t shout at Auntie Mame when she is Hung!) “The Door! Jerome exclaims. “Someone is knocking at the door!” “Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap”. “So, someone is knocking at the door” I said hoping that Jerome would get out of bed and answer it, but NO! I had to do it.

 

Who would be knocking at the door this early. Early? What the heck time is it anyway? I look at my watch, it’s too dark in the room but sunlight is peeking in from the curtains. I had just gone to bed at I guess at around 3:30 AM and literally fell out right to sleep. “Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap” “I’m Coming! Just a Minute!” I said scrounging around in the dark for my comfy pants to answer the door. Where is that light switch? I wish I had paid more attention to Jerome when he was showing me all the switches, outlets and things like that that are more important that a Martini on the first day. Ah, Found the bright light switch by the door. Click!

 

“JW what the heck are you doing turning the bright lights on for!” I hear Jerome scouling, muffled from the bed covers. “Oh shut up!” I said, reaching for the door handle. No sooner did I unlock the door it flung open with a Big “Good Morning!” It was Corazon, our amazing Room Steward, and she had a tray of about 15 stacked plates with tin covers, and several beverage items on her little shoulder. I had to laugh out loud because the tray and plates with tin covers were stacked so high that she and the tray were as tall as me at six foot two! Boy, I thought, that this little one is strong! You go girl!

 

Into the room she comes, Jerome sits up on the bed with a surprised look on his face and is just staring at the Tray and all the plates and tin covers piled high that Corazon is now placing on the cocktail table. Once she is done, she turns to me and says “I have more, I be right back.” “You boy’s must be hungry dis morning, yes?” she says giggling….Jerome starts to say something but the door opens again and Corazon brings in another stack of 5 covered plates and places them on the desk. “It’s a beautiful morning, enjoy the day Mr Jerome and Mr JW!” Miss Corazon says, and as she is leaving out the door she turns and we see her smiling saying “If you need anything you let me know Okay? Have a wonderful day!”

 

Jerome and I look at each other and then at the pile of Room Service Food. Jerome says “Did you fill out one of those forms for room service, cause I sure as hell didn’t!” I say “Why Yes I did, before I went to bed.” “I wanted to see if it were true what I read on Cruise Critic that if you hand write something in on the Room Service form if they would bring it.” And that is an affirmative, Yes they did!

 

See, I researched before we went on the cruise and I saw all four of the room service breakfast cards posted on line. Standard, Concierge, Aqua and Suite categories. Well, on all of the cards but ours was “Smoked Salmon and Bagel”, and I always have delivered from room service every morning on a cruise, “Smoked Salmon and a Bagel” We were in a standard category 1-A. I hand wrote in Smoked Salmon and a Bagel and I got it! So, when I filled out the card (for which I really don’t remember doing with all that went on last night), I filled out Hard Boiled Eggs, Waffles, Fresh Fruit, Fresh Squeezed OJ, V-8, Extra Lemons, Watermelon, Danish, Rye Toast, Four Orders of Bacon, Sausage and Coffee. Yogurt, Cereal, Milk, Cream Cheese. So much of it was not on our list but I wrote it by hand. I got it all! Every bit of it, and yes, I was a slight bit hung over so I immediately went for the V-8 with lots of lemon.

 

“What time is it?” I said as I pulled the curtains open like Zza Zza Gabor in the opening scene of Green Acers (You know….“New York is where I’d Rather Be!” flinging open wide the curtains exposing NYC) and what a glorious morning at sea! Calm ocean, marvelous breeze, bright sunshine,. Just what you'd dream it is always going to be on your first day at sea!

 

“Eight O’clock” Jerome groans. “Oh, good, we did not miss the Meet and Greet!” I said excitedly, “Let’s eat on the Balcony!“ Jerome is so very good at setting up Breakfast on the balcony. We are truly so gay!

We brought our own table cloth from home, put our sofa cushions on the chairs then we settled in for breakfast, mainly combining all the different plates and such on to one platter, sort of like our own Private Buffet in the living area with dining Al Fresco on the Balcony!

 

Gorgeous morning, lingering over coffee, boy am I stuffed! “Well, gotta get up and get ready for the meetin’!” “Yep!, We’s got to get to da Meetin’!” Jerome just shakes his head.

 

So now what am I going to wear. Let’s see. I have Embarkation Wear, Deck Wear, Bathing Suit Wear, Casual Wear, Formal Wear, Sleep Wear, Shoe Wear, Parade around the Promenade Deck Wear, Under Wear, Lawn Club Grill Apron Wear (Yes we brought our own apron’s!), what am I to do?

 

Fortunately, I always manage to prepare a “Wardrobe” list for both of us, that way we use every stitch of clothing and “Wear” we pack and never over pack. I refer to my trusty list. Ah Yes….Cruise Critic Meet & Greet Wear! Blue Shorts, Shirt, Undershirt, Under “Wear”, Socks, Sneakers. I made the bed and then neatly arranged both of our clothing selections on the bed.

 

Now I do have to say that we also followed the advice of Library Lady and purchased six Closet Maid Cubes for the over bed storage. One 12 x 12 color coded cube each for socks, underwear/undershirts and folded shirts. Plus we bought two 7x7 cubes for the end table shelf and they fit perfectly for cell phones, Kleenex and Tum’s….gotta have my Tum’s. We also purchased a 10 slot hanging shoe organizer from Target and it held all our (mostly all mine by the way) shoe “Wear” and that way, there were no messy shoes all over the place.

 

The Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was scheduled for 10:15 AM that morning and I was excited to meet all the folks I had been chatting with for months. Sad to say our Roll Call was a bit on the slim side but we had sixty eight registered members for the Celebrity Meet and Greet event….did not make sense to me as I handled the Roll Call and we did not have that many members on it. Hmmmmm. In any case, when we arrived in our stateroom yesterday, there was already and invitation from Celebrity for the Event, which I thought was a terrific touch that no other cruise line does.

 

Jerome and I get to the Lobby Bar….what is that called?…..”The Passport Bar”. It’s located right across from Guest Relations…..I remember THAT from last night! Stepping onto the elevator, “There is that Tree!” “WOW!” I said. We had a few minutes so we stopped at Deck Five, and went to Café Al Bacio for a Cappuccino with Bailey’s. Very nice, and this was our morning ritual from this point on. We are on vacation and yep, its 9:40 and I am drinking! 1,2,3 not Drunk yet.

 

We walked down to Deck Four and for some reason, they have the Grand Staircase to Deck Three roped off, never quite understood that. So we took the elevator to Deck Three, then proceeded right to the Passport Bar where there was already several “Cruise Critic” members, or so they said, there already. Celebrity had a beautifully fully serviced Continental Breakfast Buffet set out for our CC Meet and Greet, to which I was thoroughly impressed. I loved how the coffee cups were arranged in the “X” pattern always reminding you of Celebrity! Nice Touch! You know, when I got there, I thought I was in the wrong place or was on the wrong Roll Call. No one knew who I was, (What???? The Reflection Queen? No One Knew Me! All those posts over the past 6 months with pics and all?) and I kept asking “What everyone’s screen name was?” and everyone looked at me with Deer in Headlight eyes. What I later found out from these people is, that they are not registered on Cruise Critic, and some just lurk on the sidelines and come to “Complain” to the Cruise Director and monopolize his time along with all the other officer’s that showed up to meet us.

 

It’s nice for Celebrity to take the time to get to know us avid cruising enthusiasts, but I have to tell you, there were many, many people there that were never on the Roll Call, never knew anything about Cruise Critic, and some only signed up for the “Free” Event, not knowing at all what it was about And boy did some of these BBB’s let loose and complain! (A BBB is NOT the Better Business Bureau but my abbreviation for an Entitled Blue Hair Biddy) The complaints from these ladies were always prefaced by “We are Such and Such Elite Members and been on five thousand cruises (not really) and Blah Blah Blah, This such and such is sub standard, Blah, Blah, Blah“. I ended up going up to these BBB’s with my Roll Call list and asking them, “Look, this is a Cruise Critic Roll Call Meet and Mingle event and what is your screen name from the roll call?” “Did you participate in our roll call?” “Did you Lurk on the sidelines, if so Welcome!” “What’s a Roll Call? One biddy asked me. "Isn't there a Cruise Critic on board that we can complain too?" Another said to me. Oh Lord. Yeah Lady, Me, and my name is Rex Reed.

 

Grrrrr! I thought to myself. The Complaint forum is at Guest Relations, not here at our Meet and Mingle! We are grateful to have Mr. Paul Baya the Cruise Director, and all the wonderful important Hotel and Operations Staff come and spend a few minutes of their precious time with us. Because Mr Baya could not get a word in edgewise I had to intervene by saying “Please direct your disruptive Elite Complaints to the desk over there and let us enjoy our meeting!” “Who are these people?” several Roll Call Members said to me? “All they are doing is complaining about nonessential things that have nothing to do with us” another said to me. Fortunately, Mr. Paul Baya took over and the meeting was a lovely beginning to what was to become an awesome cruise. Many of these people were ever on the Cruise Critic Roll Call, and were not part of the camaraderie of what this forum is all about. I made every attempt to include them in friendly conversation but they only wanted someone to write about their complaints. What I did find out was that at Guest Relations, they do post a sign that says “Cruise Critic” 10:15 Passport Bar. Well, that explains it. Rex Reed was on board!

 

Note to Readers: Please join in your Roll Call for your sailing. Don’t just sign up for the Meet and Mingle with out knowing what Cruise Critic is all about. You’ll find that you have been missing out on all the fun! Cruise Critic is not a complaint forum, it is a forum for “Our Cruise Experiences”. This only becomes a complaint forum if there is a challenge for member and the cruise line fails to meet that challenge and the member is looking for advice from other members. Therefore, I, as a participating member may bring it up here, for advice from other members. I do not offer solutions to your individual problems, whether on board the ship or off. Your opinion is Your opinion. My Opinion is My Experience and My Honest Opinion. I cannot solve your particular problem for you on board the ship. Nor will your problem change My Opinion about My Vacation. Me in particular, I always allow the benefit of a challenge to be readily solved by the Cruise line. In few cases where it has not been met, well, simply put, that is where I got the nickname “The Mouth of the South” . I have so much fun on Cruise Critic and consider it Invaluable Research. Now, where was I.

 

But the best part of the morning was meeting RUXANDRA!!!!!!! Who is Ruxandra? Well she is the most important person on Deck Three every morning. Ruxandra is the Bartender at The Passport Bar who is responsible for waking me up with a hand constructed GREY GOOSE BLOODY MARY! We Love Ruxandra! The day did not start for us without a visit to Ruxandra, and her sense of humor is refreshing. There was one morning we slept in late and she actually was worried! When we finally showed up, she said she was going to call to find out if we were okay. See, gotta love Celebrity for taking care of you with Grey Goose Bloody Mary’s and Ruxandra! I just love that name too….RUX-AN-DRA! (Bet you jut said that out loud like I did….it makes me want to Tinkle and be back on that ship right now!)

[cruiseguys2009]

1,2,3 Drunk! MARTINI'S ANYONE?

 

[cruiseguys2009]

Here is our usual guideline for everything we will be bringing with us. It's so nice to live within driving distance to the port! Believe it or not, all this really does fit into two (LARGE) wheelies and two garment bags.

 

JW and Jerome’s Clothing “WEAR” Guide for Celebrity REFLECTION

 

　

　

Saturday April 13th: Embarkation and First Night Dinner at Sea

 

1: Entrance Embarkation Wear: Shorts, Custom CC Tee Shirt, Belt, Underwear, Sneakers & Socks

 

2: First Night at Dinner: (Provided Luggage Made It To Room In Time!) Casual Dress Slacks/Jeans and Shirt, Shoes, Belt, Under Shirt, Underwear and Socks

 

3: Sleep Wear

 

　

Sunday April 14th: First Day at Sea/Formal Night/Meet and Greet

 

1: Meet and Greet: Shirt, Shorts, Matching Shoes, Belt, Under Shirt, Underwear, Socks

 

2: Sea Day Swim Wear: Bathing Suit, Top, Windbreaker, Flip Flops, Bag, Suntan Lotion

 

3: Formal Night: Black Tuxedo, Formal Shoes, Formal Shirt, Bow Tie, Cumber bund, Studs, Cuff Links, Socks, Underwear, Tee Shirt, Suspenders/Belt.

　

　

Monday April 15th: San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

1: Shopping Wear: Shorts, Shirt, Sneakers/Flip Flops, Belt, Under Shirt, Underwear, Socks.

 

2: Dinner Wear: Dress Slacks, Shirt, Shoes, Underwear, Tee Shirt, Shoes, Socks, Belt,

 

 

Tuesday April 16th: Saint Maarten

 

1: Shopping Wear: Shorts, Shirt, Sneakers/Flip Flops, Belt, Under Shirt, Underwear, Socks, Backpack.

 

2: Dinner Wear: Dress Slacks, Shirt, Shoes, Underwear, Tee Shirt, Shoes, Socks, Belt, Jacket & Tie

 

 

Wednesday April 17th: St Kitts, Carambola Beach Club

 

1: Carambola Beach Club Wear: Bathing Suit with Pockets, Shirt, Sneakers, Water Shoes, Socks, Windbreaker, Flip Flops, Bag, Suntan Lotion, Water Proof Wallet, CC for Shopping, Money for Payment and Tips.

 

2: Dinner Wear: Dress Slacks, Dress Shirt, Shoes, Underwear, Tee Shirt, Shoes, Socks, Belt, Tie

　

　

Thursday April 18th: At Sea/Formal Night

 

1: On Deck Wear: Bathing Suit, Flip Flops, Tee Shirt, Bag, Suntan Lotion

 

2: Formal Night: Black Tuxedo, Formal Shoes, Formal Shirt, Bow Tie, Cumber bund, Studs, Cuff Links, Socks, Underwear, Tee Shirt, Suspenders/Belt.

　

　

Friday April 19th: At Sea Day

 

1: On Deck Wear: Bathing Suit, Flip Flops, Tee Shirt, Bag, Suntan Lotion

 

2: Final Dinner: Casual Slacks/Jeans, Shirt, Shoes, Underwear, Socks, Tee Shirt, Belt

 

　

Saturday April 20th: Disembarkation

 

1: Shorts, Shirt, Sneakers/Flip Flops, Belt, Under Shirt, Underwear, Socks

 

Emergency Dress Shirt "Wear"

Emergency Casual Shirt “Wear”

Emergency Under "Wear"

Emergency Shorts "Wear"

[cruiseguys2009]

The stunning and gorgeous Ruxandra, one of the most charming and professional Celebrity Reflection Bar Associates!

 

[Maligator]

Holy hell, this is a fun review. I scared the dogs when I read the line about Hat Lady crossing her legs and smiling. :D

 

Sounds like they should rename the promo "1,2,3,floor." I plan to partake in as wide a variety of margaritas as I can find. Hope the carpet smells nice.

[cazzi]

Love the review !!, the cruise critic comment from the blue haired bitty started to make me giggle:D. We went to our first cruise critic on the equinox this year and it was great only I didn't know anyone as there were no screen names lol. I wish you were on the mar 24 sailing next year on the equinox :) I can't wait to read more