Live on Reflection: 14 Nt Exotic Southern Caribbean (Jan 4)

[mahdnc]

Wilhelmina Statue

[mahdnc]

We went lionfish hunting today. Our daughter and son each caught one!

[mahdnc]

One of our lionfish hunting dive sites at Aruba was very close to Reflection. No, we did not book this through the ship....

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

The lionfish are hunted heavily because they are not native to the Caribbean, they eat everything in sight, and they have no predator that keeps their numbers in check

 

The remaining ones hide well under rocks or coral or they live in very deep water. Here is a photo of my daughter aiming the sling spear at a hidden lionfish that she successfully caught

 

Here she is triumphantly showing her kill. 

 

The spines on a lionfish are sharp and needle like. Even when dead, the spines can inject you with a harmful neurotoxin.  

 

As at result you put any captured lionfish into these specially made containers which protect you from those spines. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Our kids became interested in lionfish hunting because it was common for our guides on our previous reef dives to be carrying a spear in case they saw lionfish along the way. 

 

We did see a lot of fish!

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

As well as anemone

 

This moray eel

 

this distant shy sea turtle

 

coral formations

 

And this trumpeter fish

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

We had a great two days at Aruba. 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

14 hours ago, tauep24 said:

This is totally unrelated to your current cruise.  My wife & I are looking to take a 10 day on the Reflection in April 2021.  We will be in our mid 40's.  Is this to young for Celebrity?  What is the average age you are seeing on your current cruise?

 

My wife and I started sailing on Celebrity when I was 36, so from that perspective, I don't think mid 40's is too young. 

 

Celebrity's customer base is older than what you will find on Royal Caribbean. 

 

The passenger age distribution is also dependent on the cruise length, itinerary, and time of year of the sailing. 

 

To answer your questions directly: the average age of the passengers for this lengthy cruise while school is in session is in the mid fifties. Of course that's a guess as I don't go around asking for people's ages!

 

I know that there are only 20 kids on board, which is some indicator. 

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

Docking at Curacao right now

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[Gordoncruickshank]

I take it that you are docking at the new pier as the view looks a bit further away from town compared to where we have docked in the past? They were building that last year.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Gordoncruickshank

[mahdnc]

18 minutes ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

I take it that you are docking at the new pier as the view looks a bit further away from town compared to where we have docked in the past? They were building that last year.

Yes. We were last here in Jan 2015 and this new pier did not exist. In the photo the new pier (left) and the old pier (extreme right) are visible. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Pullmantur's Monarch (formerly Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas) is ever so gingerly inching her way to the old pier to make it a 2 cruise ship day today at Curacao!

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[Gordoncruickshank]

These are how it looked last year and the year before.

[mahdnc]

The look of the sky is quickly improving with the appearance of the morning sun. 

[mahdnc]

A couple of other pictures from yesterday's lionfish hunting dive:

 

We used potatoes on the dock to practice using the sling spear.

 

Then we practiced on the poor potatoes under the water. My son is proudly showing his capture!

 

The underwater exercise included killing the potato with a second spear and then placing it in the white tube. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

On 1/13/2019 at 9:51 AM, tere247 said:

I am very much enjoying your travelogue. Thank you for posting.  It's been a while since we've cruised Celebrity and we're looking to return. This is an itinerary we are most interested in.  Can you tell me if on sea days, if there are many shaded table and chair areas. The shaded loungers do not like my knees. And I can only take so much of the strong Caribbean sun.

Although we did enjoy our experience, the limited outdoor shaded seating is what kept us away.

There are a total of 16 tables with chairs on Deck 15 which is one deck above the pool. They are for the Mast Grill (port side) and Mast Bar (starboard). Right now, only 2 are completely in the shade (picture).

 

 

There are 30 tables and chairs at the back of the ship at the Sunset Bar.

 

There are no tables and chairs on the pool deck nor in the indoor pool area except for the AquaSpa Cafe. 

 

I doubt that these were the outdoor areas with regular chairs that you were inquiring about. 

 

Only chaise lounge chairs in the pool deck:

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[hopeless holiday booker]

Really enjoying your review.

We are on Reflection soon and we normally book another cruise.  There has been talk of them not offering on board credit to use on a cruise your on.  Do you know if this is true on Reflection at the moment?

[cangelmd]

22 hours ago, tauep24 said:

This is totally unrelated to your current cruise.  My wife & I are looking to take a 10 day on the Reflection in April 2021.  We will be in our mid 40's.  Is this to young for Celebrity?  What is the average age you are seeing on your current cruise?

 

We did our first Celebrity cruise many years ago (mid 90s) when we were in our mid-30s (tells you something right there), we loved it, still our favorite cruises after all these years. Celebrity does skew older, especially with longer itineraries and outside of school holidays. But more important than the ages on board is what makes a vacation for you and your wife. Celebrity is less about shipboard activities and more about relaxing. Not that there aren't shipboard activities, but no wave machines or ice shows or parachute simulators, etc. No belly flop contests or relentless partying. There will be a good bit of upselling, more than you would see back in the day, but no more commercialized than most other mainstream cruiselines or resorts.

When we went in our 30s, we had small children that we left at home, and this was an opportunity to not make any decisions other than what to eat at dinner, and not to have any responsibilities. I have actually resisted Select Dining for many years, because it is part of vacation to not even have to decide what time to go to dinner - we have converted to Blu, but still a bit reluctantly.

 

For me personally, all cruises are more fun with a few like-minded friends - we generally meet a few people on board, but I enjoy being in a group, mostly separating for the day, then sharing cocktails, dinner and stories about the day, maybe some music or dancing afterward - that is Celeb for me.

[l1lgreekprincess]

23 hours ago, tauep24 said:

This is totally unrelated to your current cruise.  My wife & I are looking to take a 10 day on the Reflection in April 2021.  We will be in our mid 40's.  Is this to young for Celebrity?  What is the average age you are seeing on your current cruise?

 

My husband and I are 33 and we started cruising with Celebrity in our mid twenties. We don’t have kids so we enjoy the small number of kids on board. We are definitely on the younger side on our Celebrity cruises but like others have said we don’t cruise for the activities on board. We like the aqua class and enjoy Blu, the Persian gardens and quietness of the Solarum. We’ve met some amazing people that were much older than us that we had a great time with on our past couple cruises. 

[chicagopaul]

Thank you for writing this review! Loving all the great photos you're posting. It's allowing me to relive our Reflection cruise in November. Right now I'm looking out my window onto a cold Lake Shore Drive and an empty lake with no boats! So enjoy your time in the warm weather!

[mahdnc]

We originally had plans to do a dive in Curacao. But my wife (the alpha diver of the family) has a bad migraine this morning and she was concerned that our son had chest pains during yesterday's dive. 

 

So we cancelled the dives and went to the dispensary instead. Quite frankly we have had a visit to the dispensary on 5 of our last 6 cruises, so I wasn't shocked. 

 

We went ashore for a while but didn't last too long because it was hot. I guess we are used to being underwater during the noon day sun!

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Port of Curacao

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Having a late lunch at Sushi at Five....

Edited January 14, 2019 by mahdnc

[bikerunner]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 12:29 PM, tauep24 said:

This is totally unrelated to your current cruise.  My wife & I are looking to take a 10 day on the Reflection in April 2021.  We will be in our mid 40's.  Is this to young for Celebrity?  What is the average age you are seeing on your current cruise?

I have been sailing celebrity for 15 years.  Started in my mid 30's.  It is an older demographic but a little more refined/less hectic than other lines.  I worked/ran hotels for over 20 years and liked the overall service aspect that celebrity gives.  I do have a cruise on the reflection over Turkey day this year, but then I will be trying MSC yacht club I think.  All depends on what type of activities you want to do on a cruise.  I never have been for drinking and partying all night, just good food, music and libations.  I love the World Class Bar! 

[bikerunner]

3 hours ago, cangelmd said:

 

We did our first Celebrity cruise many years ago (mid 90s) when we were in our mid-30s (tells you something right there), we loved it, still our favorite cruises after all these years. Celebrity does skew older, especially with longer itineraries and outside of school holidays. But more important than the ages on board is what makes a vacation for you and your wife. Celebrity is less about shipboard activities and more about relaxing. Not that there aren't shipboard activities, but no wave machines or ice shows or parachute simulators, etc. No belly flop contests or relentless partying. There will be a good bit of upselling, more than you would see back in the day, but no more commercialized than most other mainstream cruiselines or resorts.

When we went in our 30s, we had small children that we left at home, and this was an opportunity to not make any decisions other than what to eat at dinner, and not to have any responsibilities. I have actually resisted Select Dining for many years, because it is part of vacation to not even have to decide what time to go to dinner - we have converted to Blu, but still a bit reluctantly.

 

For me personally, all cruises are more fun with a few like-minded friends - we generally meet a few people on board, but I enjoy being in a group, mostly separating for the day, then sharing cocktails, dinner and stories about the day, maybe some music or dancing afterward - that is Celeb for me.

You summed up my experiences with Celebrity!  I only been sailing with them for about 15 years but the one time a day announcements, meeting people enjoying fun stories, doing as much or as little as you want on a cruise.