LIVE BLOG! From The Reflection! 11/28 & 12/5 b2b cruise....

[bottomfeeder]

This certainly suggests an onboard employee as a perpetrator (rather than just a shoreside baggage handler) if they were able to recover the stolen property on board. To my mind, the security official's tone and demeanor was wholly inappropriate given the circumstances and the apparent culpability of a Celebrity employee. Giving him the benefit of the doubt though, he's probably very stressed out and possibly embarrassed that a major string of thefts went on under his watch...

 

I hope they're able to recover the rest of your property and that you're able to salvage some enjoyment from your cruise.

 

Absolutely. This should never happen.

 

But next time, even though it's annoying to drag it all around with you until cabins are ready, treat your expensive electronics, jewelry and prescription drugs the same way you would when you fly and carry them with you...then keep as many of them as possible in the in-room safe while you're onboard. And hide what you can't fit in the safe (like your laptop for example) somewhere in your room that it would take some time for someone to get to.

 

You'll never be entirely free of the possibility of theft but I would never put that stuff in my checked luggage, on either a plane or a ship.

[dmp223]

While this is a live report on your cruise, your issues is pretty important and I might suggest you start your own thread here on Cruise Critic to get additional attention (and the associated outrage which will surely come) and consider also posting on Celebrity's social media channels like Facebook and / or twitter which will certainly get their attention.

 

 

OP: I agree with this statement and would definitely start a new thread with this information and would post to Celebrity's FB page as well. This is extremely disconcerting.

 

I'm boarding Reflection this Saturday and will be sure to carry all my electronics and other valuables on board. No one should ever have to deal with this on their well deserved vacation! So upset for you that you have to even deal with any of this. Hope this gets resolved for you and the others!

[Swank803]

Sorry for hijacking the blog. I'm new to cruise critic and given the limitations of the onboard internet I just picked the first thread I found about my particular cruise to post in. I will start a new thread later today about this incident since it seems many passengers were affected by the theft. I have also posted something to their FB page. Thanks for all the help and great suggestions.

[manmtnmike]

Just wondering who the bands are? Is it still LAX?

 

Thanks!

 

Mike

Edited December 4, 2015 by manmtnmike

[stinsowm]

I am curious as to the current captains club host/hostess is. Hope you guys are enjoying!

 

Walter

[jenniebnyc]

Can you let me know if there was a jazz concernt on the lawn? Usually happens on Puerto Rico day.

 

Can you comment on the appetizers in Michaels Club? What do they have? Also, do they have nuts, pretzels, breadsticks etc? I recall the old wine bar having great breadsticks at the bar. Wondering if MC has something like this too?

 

Thanks!

[CruisinCadie]

Thanks for your ongoing review. We get on as you get off and appreciate your comments and assessments. What is the music like? We're not big on dancing, but like to listen if it's not extremely loud. (I know, that's subjective.)

 

Is Alexander a tall, slender, dark-haired guy? If so, he was cruise director when we were on the Summit, and we rated him as average.

 

Enjoy your voyage.

 

Kathy

[xkisses]

Thank you for this! Following every word, as we board on the 12th.

[elsieperalta]

@chicago, so very nice to meet you & Edward[emoji483][emoji483] We have enjoyed our cruise. Hope to sail with Celebrity again soon!

[chicagopaul]

@chicago, so very nice to meet you & Edward[emoji483][emoji483] We have enjoyed our cruise. Hope to sail with Celebrity again soon!

 

 

It was great meeting you and Alfonso as well! We will definitely have a drink or two for you on this next cruise!

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

This is being written on Friday December 4th in the morning at the pool bar with a screw driver in hand. Edward went off the gym this morning so I'll drink by myself until I meet some new people by the bar. In the meantime, I thought I should update this blog.

 

The weather right now is gorgeous. I'm not sure the temperature but it is at least 85 degrees and humid today, at least that is how it feels. The seas have been extremely calm the past few days and there has been very little wind. Smooth, calm sailing.

 

Last night was the last formal night in celebrity history! I wore my tux and Edward just went more casual since we were dining in luminae anyway. The Luminae menu last night was what one would expect on formal night. I hope I remembered to take a picture! We had a couple different starters consisting of scallops and something that I can't remember at the time.....ugh, it will come to me! We both had the lobster as an entree and we split the rack of lamb. Absolutely fantastic! The lobster was not over cooked, quite tender and came with a butter cream sauce poured on top (if you wanted it). Get it, forget the calories, you're on vacation! We had the chocolate moose bar for desert and picked out a nice bottle of wine for the last evening (tonight). We have some onboard credit that we need to spend so we've reserved a bottle of Opus One 2010 cab. They had a 2009 Caymus on the menu, but when checking the bottle it was a 2012. Oh well, I knew it was too good to be true anyway, especially at the price.

 

We saw the production show last night which is the premier show by the production cast. It was fantastic and one of the best production shows we've seen on a ship so far! We usually sit in the front row for the shows but since we are in a suite this time we've been taking advantage of the reserved seating for suite guests. Our butler escorts us to our seat and makes sure we have what we need for the show (can place a drink order for you, etc). Ah, we've been spoiled!

 

Some of you may know that there are two charter groups on this ship. Very small groups, only 90 and 200. John Heath travel is one of the groups. They have some small private entertainment and I ran into one of the performers, Rick, at the pool bar. He invited us to their last show last night at 10:30 in Celebrity Central. They were absolutely fantastic and lots of fun. See the videos posted shortly.

 

Alexander: I continue to be impressed by Alexander as a cruise director. He now always stops to say hi to us. Yesterday we asked him about cigar cutters on the ship and he instantly pulled out his phone to start calling to find us one. I told him not to worry, we would just purchase one in the gift shop, but it was great of him to stop what he was doing (on the way to host an event) to take care of a trivial question.

 

OK, let me back track one more day. SocietyX which is celebrity reflections traveling nightclub was in the solarium two nights ago. This night is called Liquid Lounge. You may have seen this before. It is suppose to be a Miami nightclub experience. Now, it really is far from a south beach night club, but it was fun for what it was. There is a girl with lighted hoops and a ball that did some pretty cool things, you'll see a video of her. The music overall was great. I wish they had some more mermaids and fun stuff in the pool. It seemed like they could utilize the pool to make it much more interesting. Overall though, for a cruise ship, I was happy with it. We stayed for about 45 minutes then went off to see late night comedy.

 

On the same night as Liquid Lounge was the late night comedy game show in celebrity central. It was definitely over the top and if you are easily offended it is best you avoid it. Alexander and his assistant were pushing everything to the edge and the packed room had an amazing time. Everyone loved the show and we were in hysterics and some fear too of being pulled on stage. I can't wait until the next cruise so I know some of the answers to the questions. Sit by me in the theater if you want to win!!!

 

So I'm sorry for putting these things in reverse. I will now get back to my drink by the pool bar and wait for Edward to get out of the gym or someone interesting to talk to! It's another day in paradise and life is good!

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

These dance/club events you mention. Are they the $20 cover charge events or open to all for free?

 

 

All dance events and even events teaching you to dance are free. The only charge events in the daily are things like wine tastings, mixology classes, etc.

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

 

Here is the art class schedule someone asked about.

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

 

A great wine to end the last night of the first cruise.

 

 

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[Caribbean Chris]

We sail Reflection a week from today on same itinerary and also will be in a SS, so I'm very grateful for all your great info. Wonderful details! Many thanks.

[Lovincruisin1321]

 

A great wine to end the last night of the first cruise.

 

 

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Hi. Enjoying all your posts and really appreciate the time you take to share with us.

 

Question: What wine package did you purchase? Can you specifically recommend some wines you have had? I am not that knowledgeable on some of the vintages and your recommendation or experience would be helpful for our cruise in April. Thanks!

[chicagopaul]

We are finally back on board the ship. Here's hoping our luggage made it to our new room. Total process took about an hour but that's just because they had to wait for all back to back passengers to clear customs. Today we had 70 people total. That seems like a lot. More than I was expecting. The weather here in Miami is rainy, cloudy. But oh well, we should have some sun tomorrow as we get away from Florida.

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

 

Here is a photo of us on the last formal night ever for celebrity. I happily wore my tux. I will let you know how the evening chic night goes. I'm sure there won't be any issues.

 

We have reluctantly given up our suite and have moved to aqua class but we definitely can't complain. Again we have onboard credit to use so we purchased the ultimate dining package. For the two of us the total was $406 which includes dinner at any specialty plus lunch at the porch and bistro on five. It also includes lunch at the specialty restaurants such as lawn club, etc when they are open. On the last cruise Murano was open on the last day for lunch and even had live music.

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

 

Well I can't be at the pool bar today with my morning screwdriver because of the rain so I'm at the passport bar. #shipproblems

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Thanks for your ongoing review. We get on as you get off and appreciate your comments and assessments. What is the music like? We're not big on dancing, but like to listen if it's not extremely loud. (I know, that's subjective.)

 

 

 

Is Alexander a tall, slender, dark-haired guy? If so, he was cruise director when we were on the Summit, and we rated him as average.

 

 

 

Enjoy your voyage.

 

 

 

Kathy

 

 

Alexander is around 6'1" dark hair. More built / average build than slim. I was talking to him about previous ships and I think he may have been on the summit, not sure.

 

Regarding the music and the loudness: we haven't noticed an issue. We've mainly been at the molecular bar since my favorite bartender, Chairul is there. The other night it was turned on a bit loud and Chairul looked at me and said "this is too loud right?" He lowered it right away. There has been a DJ at the martini bar at night that has been decently loud but the bar is completely packed so apparently people don't seem to care.

 

The music in the sky lounge has been good. We've only been up there a few times but the variety has been quite good. Unfortunately there were not that many people there.

 

My favorite music has been with Johnny Mantra in ensemble lounge. Check him out. He is playing everything from Elton John to Neil Diamond to Michael Buble....he plays almost every evening and he plays long sets. He usually skips his break and keeps playing and singing.

 

 

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[dogsambam]

Thank you for your blog. We are sailing two weeks from today, so it's fun to be living vicariously through you. Have a great second week!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Enjoy your 2nd half. Let us know if guests are still wearing formal wear on Evening Chic nights.

[Newbury newbie]

We are finally back on board the ship. Here's hoping our luggage made it to our new room. Total process took about an hour but that's just because they had to wait for all back to back passengers to clear customs. Today we had 70 people total. That seems like a lot. More than I was expecting. The weather here in Miami is rainy, cloudy. But oh well, we should have some sun tomorrow as we get away from Florida.

 

 

 

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We're doing this b2b come March/April and were planning to do the Miami hop on hop off excursion during the turnaround. Would this be feasible? Can we get off anytime?

[chicagopaul]

We're doing this b2b come March/April and were planning to do the Miami hop on hop off excursion during the turnaround. Would this be feasible? Can we get off anytime?

 

 

Yep this is possible. If you want to get off you can, you'll just need to get your key cards before hand and go through the regular customs line as everyone else.

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

OK. The weather isn't great but it looks like the rain is holding off. I'll likely go up to the sale away party shortly since we are currently sailing away. Just getting the room packed up. Here is a slightly long video showing us packed from last night and showing our new room this morning. Forgive the banter on last night video, I had a few drinks as normal.

 

 

 

 

 

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