Celebrity Reflection January 14 to 21 2017

[Bimmer09]

Norris, we were on Silhouette last January with you but didn't know it, until, preparing for Silhouette in Dec. of '16, I found your great review.

 

Now, lo and behold, you keep showing me in your photos of Independence of the Seas. We were in the Ben & Jerry's cabin on that very cruise! So that means that I also was cruising along towards Cozumel, just as were you there on your first at-sea day. What a small world!

 

Good job with all the teasers. Certainly a whole bunch of stuff for us to look forward to!

 

Thx so much for your reviews. Love your sense of humor, love your photos, love the whole darn thing! Keep enjoying.

 

Oh, and one more thing. I hope I'm still around when you reach retirement age and do a New Zealand cruise. I think you'll like Napier! among many other ports. :)

 

May, I hope the Silhouette review brought back many happy memories for you!

 

Thanks for the many kind compliments-I am glad to see you are enjoying the ramble.

 

Indy is a fine looking tub and I'll have some photos of her later.

 

Australia and New Zealand are definitely retirement bucket listers!

 

Cheers!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Out of lurking here and enjoying the recap. I'm really needing a vacation to look forward to these days and observing these boards instead of the news is a great escape! 2 more months!

 

Lurk no more Gina!

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

We have to wait on deck 3 for the gangway to open at 7.15 a.m.

 

Our tour group will meet in the Duty Free village at the end of the pier at 7.30.

 

While waiting I snap a few photos of our surroundings

 

 

These ship guides are by the elevators on each floor

 

 

 

 

Looking up at the live tree in the atrium

 

[Bimmer09]

 

Beautiful art pieces under the stairs

 

 

The gangway opens and we all troop out onto Mexican soil/concrete and take the long march to the meeting point where our guide Frida and driver Mestizo are waiting for us as are some clean public bathrooms. We don't expect there to be bathrooms out in the countryside where we will be riding our Segways.

 

I just shot one photo here but one that sums up Mexico for me- it's colorful!

 

 

We are a group of 10 and easily fit in the little minibus. We drive out of the port and along the coastal road passing hotels and resorts seen through the gaps in the bushes. We turn away from the sea after ten minutes to find the village of El Cedral. In a clearing along a country road we come to the Segway camp where we meet our guides Rafael on his Segway and Alan the pickup driver who will be our escort on the trip, following behind.

 

We have an orientation safety video to watch first

 

 

They were very safety conscious and so we had to wear helmets, knee and elbow pads-a far cry from our South Beach ride. We also had reflective vests. Better safe than sorry.

 

The Segways await in a beautiful country setting. Early in the morning is good!

 

 

I said it was colorful....

 

[Bimmer09]

Only 4 of us 10 had ridden a Segway before. They had a little slalom course in the garden and took the newbies out one at a time to get comfortable. Carol and I hung back until the end by which time there were 8 riders ahead of us.

 

 

Once acclimatized we headed out on our trek to a nearby village. I shot a few long clips with the Go Pro but have edited a couple down to give you the flavor of the experience to see if it's something you'd like to do. We start on some very pothole-ridden roads, which I found fun as it causes you to look where you are going and slalom in and out of the muddy obstacles. Later I cut to some pavement when we enter a little touristy village.The fresh warm air and the sounds of birds was intoxicating to me. I love the quiet world of the countryside where you can hear yourself think without a canned-music soundtrack or cell phone yakkers.

 

SEGWAY RIDE

 

[YOUTUBE]z3On_Ljt5_k[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Norris

[Drysil]

Norris, thanks again for these reviews -- loving this as I prepare for our March cruise on your same itinerary. I'm glad to see information on your shore excursions as a result, and it's lovely to see the ship I'll be on again so soon!

[hockeyguru32]

Yes it's a big ship, having seen it up close for the first (but not last) time. I love a couple of things about the design-the lifeboats hanging over the side so they are not blocking the view and are pretty much in a ready to launch position and the Waterfront concept would be a winner for me. The thing that would kill it for me is the top deck waterpark and ropes course taking up so much deck. But a great staff and so many food choices are appealing and reassuring.

 

Re the Brewhouse my goal is to find a bar that has just one draught pump on the counter. A black one with a cream colored logo. With a selection of ONE beer from Dublin...ahhhh! LOL! Variety is the spice of life. So far the Reflection is the biggest ship I've been on but we have the Regal Princess as our next step up in October.

 

Were the specialty restaurants worth the spend and how was the MDR experience?

 

Norris, who's British sister sails NCL. She did the inaugural TA on Escape.

 

The waterfront is where we spent a lot of time too. You can also dine out there as well with the 5 O'clock bar, Cagney's steakhouse, Modenro etc. MDR was hit and miss for us, I am like you who love to banter with the waiters and never had one that didn't comply with the banter process.

 

Another nice touch in the MDR was a live band playing softly in the back ground and a dance floor in the middle. Table cloths were used as well and the Maitre D was always visible and always making sure things were to your satisfaction and if it wasn't he made it right.

 

We did one specialty dining in The Supper Club they had a tribute to the Jersey Boys that was a nice meal and 4 very good singers. There is also a tapas bar on board too and I know how you and Carol like Tapas.

 

I liked the are work by Guy Harvey all around the ship. as mentioned before the only downfall for me was the congestion on Decks 678.

 

I will guarantee you will find that dark foamy goodness you like so much at the Brewhouse. Awesome piano player nightly as well place was busy most nights.

[marieps]

Wow Norris, you have a great memory! I did indeed get married last September :D I'm so glad I found your review to hold me over since my next cruise isn't until our honeymoon 8 months from now :eek: Thanks again for keeping me entertained!

 

Congrats Dana. Please don't forget you promised a Gauguin review to rival you last one in the Caribbean. I so look forward to it.

[travelfool]

Hi Norris! I have to confess I've been a lurker on many of your fabulous reviews and was so excited to see your newest addition! I'm getting some serious cruise fever reading through your most recent adventure. Thank you sir!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bimmer09]

Norris, thanks again for these reviews -- loving this as I prepare for our March cruise on your same itinerary. I'm glad to see information on your shore excursions as a result, and it's lovely to see the ship I'll be on again so soon!

 

I'm very glad that you find this enjoyable and if you get some excursion ideas

then I'm doubly glad!

 

As I've said I love going ashore and then coming home to a fabulous hotel that moves on when I sleep. Carol chose these excursions and ...we'll you'll see them unfold as we go on.

 

Right now I am loving the Cozumel Segway ride through the countryside-it's the opposite of South Beach where luxury and excess is the order of the day. I can easily relate to people living simple basic lives without all the trappings of an affluent country like the USA-I lived happily in a house in Northern Ireland without indoor plumbing for 10 years and that didn't matter as the house (my Grandmother's) overlooked a harbor!! Full of fishing boats and one of them, a trawler, belonged to my granddad and I had the keys to it on the weekend! A tiny village with a population less than the high school I went to at 11 years old.

 

Anyway simple folk living simple lives appeal to me. Mexico is full of them and they are the salt of the earth in my experience. Hard workers, good family people.

 

Anyway my middle name is "I digress"

 

Thanks for stopping in. I hope that everyone who begins reading this follows until the end.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

The waterfront is where we spent a lot of time too. You can also dine out there as well with the 5 O'clock bar, Cagney's steakhouse, Modenro etc. MDR was hit and miss for us, I am like you who love to banter with the waiters and never had one that didn't comply with the banter process.

 

Another nice touch in the MDR was a live band playing softly in the back ground and a dance floor in the middle. Table cloths were used as well and the Maitre D was always visible and always making sure things were to your satisfaction and if it wasn't he made it right.

 

We did one specialty dining in The Supper Club they had a tribute to the Jersey Boys that was a nice meal and 4 very good singers. There is also a tapas bar on board too and I know how you and Carol like Tapas.

 

I liked the are work by Guy Harvey all around the ship. as mentioned before the only downfall for me was the congestion on Decks 678.

 

I will guarantee you will find that dark foamy goodness you like so much at the Brewhouse. Awesome piano player nightly as well place was busy most nights.

 

It sounds like there was a lot to enjoy and that NCL are doing a lot of good things to entertain and make it a special vacation. Live band in the MDR? Wow that is classy-a supper club indeed.

 

I must banter with waiters-there's some good schtick when I am in Murano ....we'll you'll see the video. I banter with anyone if they are a good listener. Tapas bar? We are fanatics but are spoiled by one of TV's Iron Chefs

who owns one two blocks away in Chicago. Beats anything we had in Barcelona so far. Note to self- go back to Barcelona!

 

Thanks for the input and insight.

 

You mentioned a piano player in the Brewhouse-something that X could use is a piano bar. The Princess one "Crooners" really packs them in each night. Old school entertainment but so cool.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

finally caught up :) I didn't log in for a week and fell 9 pages behind. eek

 

Crystal, tsk tsk....you know I write every day until I can stick a fork in it and get on with my life. But with a URL you an always catch up. I don't read it until the end myself but then I am writing it and so there are no surprises for me.

 

Don't be a stranger! I am pleased that you found it. No rush.

 

Cheers!

 

Norris (Crystal does great photo reviews)

[Bimmer09]

Hi Norris! I have to confess I've been a lurker on many of your fabulous reviews and was so excited to see your newest addition! I'm getting some serious cruise fever reading through your most recent adventure. Thank you sir!!

 

You're most welcome and I'm glad to see your lurking days are over!

 

You say many of my reviews? There are 12-collect the set! LOL.

 

I have 3 more killer cruises booked at the minute but over a span of 2 years.

 

Thanks for your enthusiasm. That means a lot to me.

 

Norris

[Sue1260]

Hi I'm here and hooked till the end. Love your style of writing and all the pictures

[Bimmer09]

The video shows us stopping at a tourist village and we stopped for a while and parked the Segways, removing our helmets, kneepads and such. We parked in back of this little building.

 

 

Raphael led us to a big garden at the back

 

 

and he would show us plants and trees that provided spices, food and medicinal compounds used by the "Mayans" (I think that was the name of the family that owned the house).

 

Our group gathers around to listen

 

 

The rooster who wakes the villagers up each morning doesn't have a snooze button

 

 

 

I love the early morning light piercing the shade garden

 

[Bimmer09]

 

I would have been happy to sit on this bench for a while. We were given bottles of water here which is why you see mine on the wooden deck.

 

 

 

I was certainly enjoying this excursion, far from the crowds swarming San Miguel. I can't remember the exact description on the X website but saw the word Segway and that was enough. I would have been happy to take it if it had read "Climb aboard your Personal Segway for a drive to an authentic Mexican landfill and breathe the methane escaping while you pet some of the rats who live there."

 

It was time to visit the house

 

[Bimmer09]

There was a little museum at the front of the house focusing on the dead

 

 

 

The two mannequins remind me of the models the cruise lines use in their brochures-usually a vivacious lady in her late 40's with silver hair and a sparkle in her eye and the man with salt and pepper hair usually has a crisp blue and white striped shirt with a pullover around his shoulders and a nice gold watch. They sip champagne while a smiling Philippino butler stands waiting with a silver tray. Has anyone ever met them?

 

[Bimmer09]

Next we went into a small kitchen where a lady with Mayan ancestry was sitting making tiny tortillas to serve us and she had 3 levels of chili dips to add to them. She spoke to us in the Mayan tongue describing the chillies- all I could make out was "mild" "oh dear!" and "ass on fire". There was a shaded communal table outside where others took their tortillas and bottles of water but we passed. I was changing lenses as I had noticed some things as I rode the Segway that I wanted to photograph and it was a good chance to walk away and have a smoke.

 

I loved the bicycle planters outside some houses

 

 

 

Mexicans are not afraid of color!

 

 



 

 

I wandered over to the Shopping village just across the street where vendors were prepping for a day's business. My goal was to score a fridge magnet and I found one I liked but the shopkeeper wanted to show me diamonds and jewelry and I thought "this guy obviously doesn't know me". Some statues perhaps?

A Mayan calendar? He reminded me that the calendar had predicted the end of the world in December 2012 which to me meant it's not that reliable. No thanks just the magnet. $3 U.S. Shopping done!

 

It was time to rejoin the group and find out what we were doing next.

 

Answer-Tequila tasting! Oh, well. We trooped across the large square to oblige our guide.

[Bimmer09]

Hi I'm here and hooked till the end. Love your style of writing and all the pictures

 

Welcome Sue! Glad to have you along.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I used to go out for a drink with colleagues in Chicago and they had me drinking Tequila shots and I chugged them down and regretted it afterwards. Today I would get to taste some-not throwing them down my throat-but sipping and breathing the aroma in through my nose and exhaling through my mouth to savor the flavor. Thanks to this very passionate salesman, Jay.

 

 

His van was parked outside

 

 

He is passionate about his tequilas which are aged up to 12 years organically with no artificial additives-just agave. They mature in wooden barrels they import from Texas. They are only found in the Mexican region of Jalisco which is the origin to look for. If the bottle says Made in Mexico you're better off pouring it down the sink (or drinking it anyway, as it's there and you're there and ...."I might as well"...)

 

We got to taste some and they were smooth like no tequila I've tasted but then I haven't "tasted" many as the Chicago shots don't stay on the tongue for long.Nor in my stomach as I recall.

 

 

 

Long story short we didn't buy any-we don't keep spirits in the house and I seldom drink anything besides beer and wine. Some of the passengers did which validated Jay's presentation and had them shipped home to the USA. They only come in 750mm bottles and the 12 year old was $50. All of them tasted delicious and Carol the teetotaler loved the taste of each of them.

 

I took some photos as we left

 

 

The size of the tourist market village was large enough to suggest to me that many cruise ships would have shopping excursions here so I was glad we were here so early and would miss the tour buses.

 

 

Out into the sunshine again as we made our way back to the Segways

[Bimmer09]

 

Raphael had us stop before a Mayan ruin which I didn't even photograph. It was 800 years old, square and about 12 feet high and a person could walk all the way around it in about 4 seconds. I've seen the Colosseum.

 

 

This is a shot of an open air gathering place where the locals get together to celebrate with pig roasts and no doubt tequila.

 

 

We had had photos taken before dismounting our Segways an hour or more ago and Carol bought one.

 

 

We returned to the Segway camp the way we had come stopping at one point so Alan could take photos of the riders on their phones as a momento.

 

 

We had one unscheduled stop not far from the camp when one of the front riders, a lady, ran over a huge palm frond instead of driving around it and the fronds caught in the wheels and threw her off the Segway. She bruised her arm and it winded her. Soon she was back on and we all made it back to return our Segways and equipment. We had a fun excursion that I would do again in a heartbeat. We tipped Raphael and Alan $20.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Back at the port gates Carol went back to the ship while I got a cab downtown for $8 to take some shots. I asked to be let off where Norwegian Epic was docked and as I got out of the cab wearing sunglasses I stepped on the kerb but only my toes made it and my heel went backwards onto the road. I felt a pain like a "Charlie Horse" where the calf muscle contracts and suddenly I had a limp which lasted for the rest of the day. Doh!

 

A massive beast

 

 

The town center where there is a nice square is way down yonder in the distance. I didn't think I could walk it in my hobbled state so decided to stay locally to take some more shots.

 

 

Should I go shopping? I was perilously low on Diamonds....

 

 

An outdoor rooftop cafe but I had agreed to join Carol to try the Mast Grill

 

 

Oh-one thing you may see in downtown is a pick up truck with black uniformed police in back holding assault rifles. Just a precaution and a reassurance as some parts of Mexico are riddled with drug-gang violence. I don't worry in Cozumel.

 

Colorful back street mural

 

Edited February 1, 2017 by Bimmer09

[Bimmer09]

Great mural

 

 

Beloved Governor

 

 

Cabs wait in the street and are plentiful

 

 

 

You can sample the local cuisine

 

 

Naval Academy drill

 

 

More....

[Bimmer09]

It bears no resemblance to the Cozumel of 1986

 

 

More death! Back to the ship!

 

 

During the cab ride I was talking to the driver and mentioned my visits on the Song of Norway. He knew the ship and as a child would watch it come into port.

 

Back at the port I went through security and headed for the big Duty Free store where they have cigarettes. Alas no Marlboro which I admit is a small lesser known company whose wares are hard to find. They told me about a shop across the street so back outside the gates and across the street to find a shop about the size of a small gas station store where I showed them my cigarette pack and they showed me an entirely different brand. Doh! I'll buy smokes on the ship...

 

These gentlemen were making glorious happy mariachi music as I made my way to the dock.

 

 

 

Which reminds me I could use a cold drink!

 

 

Norris

[mrsgoggins]

We're still laughing at your 'perilously low on diamonds' caption.:D

 

And no, I didn't see you on the ship but I was looking out for you. And we were also on deck 7, but mid-ship.

 

Great job Norris. Thanks.