Would anyone be interested in reading a Celebrity Reflection review from a newbie?

[vms]

Oh this is wonderful! I love reading about how you rolled with all of the changes, and you did an amazing job of finding deals.

 

Really looking forward to more!

[anniedave]

Ready to Go

 

Okay well everything was going smoothly and then in November there was a bit of a wobble. I had worked for the same company for 13 years working my way up. Unfortunately the higher up the ladder I got, the longer hours I was working and the more stress I was under, something had to give and sadly I had a bit of a melt down and ended up being off work sick. Actually thinking about it I think it may have happened sooner if I hadn't have had the cruise planning as an outlet for my stress. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who uses  cruise planning as a hobby and a way of taking my mind off other things?  After discussions with my husband I decided things weren't going to improve and my best option was to sadly quit my job. Once I had made the decision I felt like a massive weight had been lifted. By this time it was Christmas and less than a month to go to the cruise , so I decided to focus on the cruise, enjoy my holiday and then have a fresh start when I got back. It was definitely the right decision. I had a temp job for a few weeks when I got back from holiday and as I'm writing this I'm  just about to start a new job in a couple of weeks, which hopefully will be the start of a whole new career. Going away and all my new experiences whilst on holiday … and you will hear about all the 'brave' things I tried !!! definitely gave me a fresh perspective ..I know its a cliché but I definitely agree that 'life's too short to worry about the small stuff'. Okay I think you now have all the background so lets get to the airport.

[frteach]

Really enjoying this, Annie! Cruising is life-changing, I always said. Glad to hear it worked out for you job-wise. Those "pods" to transport you from hotel to an airport terminal look like a great idea, and so cute. For a huge airport, HR is remarkably easy to navigate, I found. I am a planner as well, and I have never felt the need for a TA in these internet times. My husband, also named Dave, seems much like yours in that he doesn't give much input ahead of time, then springs into action the day before we leave. He has even asked "Where are we going again?"

[anniedave]

The Adventure begins

 

We set off at Lunchtime to Heathrow. We had never flown from Heathrow before , preferring our local airport Stansted or when that wasn't possible Gatwick. We managed to get us and the cases in the car. 2 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, an overnight bag for the hotel, a plastic wallet full of every piece of paperwork for the cruise , the kitchen sink … no wait I forgot to pack the kitchen sink. We found the hotel quite easily with the help of the sat- nav and went to check in. On checking in we discovered that the 'pods' were being repaired and out of action so got asked if we wanted to arrange for a shuttle bus to collect us the following morning or book a taxi. So originally we were going to use the pod which the hotel widely advertised … I was seeing it as an extra experience of the holiday but it would have involved a 5 minute walk from the hotel to the pod station,  taking the pod on a 5 minute journey to T5, disembarking, then from a machine purchasing a free ticket to use the internal rail system and taking a 10 minute journey to T3 disembarking - all this with 2 large cases and 2 carry ons for the cost of £12. When we asked about the price of a taxi it was £15 - the taxi would pick us up from the hotel drop us to the entrance of T3 . We were glad the pods were broken!. So after checking into the hotel you can imagine how excited I was …. after 22 months of saving, planning, waiting, our holiday was finally here. I wanted to go and look at the runway from the bar, have a large glass of something, talk about everything we had planned.... Dave who had come home from his night shift a few hours earlier and then driven to Heathrow.... was asleep! I contained my excitement by reading the latest  Cruise Critic posts whilst he slept. Then after a suitable amount of time ( well I thought it was ) I woke him so we could get changed for dinner. As part of the hotel and parking package we had dinner included, my understanding from looking at the website …. can you tell I love a website? was that we could either have something off the set menu or have so much towards the a la carte. With Dave with his fish allergy and me being kind enough not to eat fish when I'm with him  usually  means we are quite limited, but I've got used to it over the years and we always find a way round it. So I did eventually get my wish and we were sat in the hotel restaurant called the 'Runway' can you guess it over looks one of the runways! with a large glass of wine and started talking about our adventure. We were pleasantly surprised with the set menu - Neither of us could decide between the pate or the onion tart so we ordered one of each and then shared. This was followed by good old steak and chips and I cant remember dessert but I would guess I had something chocolatey and Dave had sorbet or ice cream. We then went back to the room and tried to get some sleep for our 4.30am start. The room was quite worn and old fashioned but very comfy and quiet and we thought a really good value deal for what we got.

[anniedave]

Heathrow

Our flight was 9.30 so I worked backwards from there... 3 hours in the airport lounge ( I like to get my moneys worth)  

1 hour in duty free - perfume ( couldn't possibly fit any in the case so I would need to buy a new one! cigarettes ( don't judge) magazines and sucky sweets for the journey. 1 hour to check in bags and get through security and passport control. Hence 4.30 start. When I'd gone to check in on line the previous day it let me check in but not Dave - looking online someone said usually it meant that person was picked for a random security check at the gate … more of that later! Check in went smoothly and after some negotiated shopping.... but I was going to be away for 2 weeks and didn't want to wear the same scent the whole time... I would need 2 bottles of perfume. To be fair Dave also bought 2 bottles of aftershave … I learned my lesson last year when Dave decided to go Duty free shopping on his own after a couple of hours in the airport lounge and a couple of large Gins... they turned out to be very expensive gins judging by the aftershave he bought... so now its shopping first drinks after !!!

We made it to the airport lounge and spent a pleasant few hours with some sensible coffees and juices, some less sensible

G & Ts and glasses of wine  ( see that's why I like clubroom I think its more acceptable to drink champagne at 7am rather than a glass of Pinot ) although I'm sure everyone knows the rule that alcohol on holiday doesn't count and its perfectly acceptable for breakfast as long as you have food with it ! Talking of which we had some nice hot and cold breakfast choices …. hurray I can show you my first proper holiday photo 

 

[mouseRD]

58 minutes ago, anniedave said:

Ready to Go

 

Okay well everything was going smoothly and then in November there was a bit of a wobble. I had worked for the same company for 13 years working my way up. Unfortunately the higher up the ladder I got, the longer hours I was working and the more stress I was under, something had to give and sadly I had a bit of a melt down and ended up being off work sick. Actually thinking about it I think it may have happened sooner if I hadn't have had the cruise planning as an outlet for my stress. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who uses  cruise planning as a hobby and a way of taking my mind off other things?  After discussions with my husband I decided things weren't going to improve and my best option was to sadly quit my job. Once I had made the decision I felt like a massive weight had been lifted. By this time it was Christmas and less than a month to go to the cruise , so I decided to focus on the cruise, enjoy my holiday and then have a fresh start when I got back. It was definitely the right decision. I had a temp job for a few weeks when I got back from holiday and as I'm writing this I'm  just about to start a new job in a couple of weeks, which hopefully will be the start of a whole new career. Going away and all my new experiences whilst on holiday … and you will hear about all the 'brave' things I tried !!! definitely gave me a fresh perspective ..I know its a cliché but I definitely agree that 'life's too short to worry about the small stuff'. Okay I think you now have all the background so lets get to the airport.

Proud of you for doing what was good for you!  My sister always encourages me in this regard...and it all worked out in the end with more peace of mind for you.

[abritinva]

Great start to your review Annie. We were 'first timers' this year on Summit. I posted my review here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=679289

 

We hope to be going to the ABC islands in 2021 on Celebrity so interested in what you discovered.

 

Safe travels!

[mouseRD]

35 minutes ago, anniedave said:

The Adventure begins

 

We set off at Lunchtime to Heathrow. We had never flown from Heathrow before , preferring our local airport Stansted or when that wasn't possible Gatwick. We managed to get us and the cases in the car. 2 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, an overnight bag for the hotel, a plastic wallet full of every piece of paperwork for the cruise , the kitchen sink … no wait I forgot to pack the kitchen sink. We found the hotel quite easily with the help of the sat- nav and went to check in. On checking in we discovered that the 'pods' were being repaired and out of action so got asked if we wanted to arrange for a shuttle bus to collect us the following morning or book a taxi. So originally we were going to use the pod which the hotel widely advertised … I was seeing it as an extra experience of the holiday but it would have involved a 5 minute walk from the hotel to the pod station,  taking the pod on a 5 minute journey to T5, disembarking, then from a machine purchasing a free ticket to use the internal rail system and taking a 10 minute journey to T3 disembarking - all this with 2 large cases and 2 carry ons for the cost of £12. When we asked about the price of a taxi it was £15 - the taxi would pick us up from the hotel drop us to the entrance of T3 . We were glad the pods were broken!. So after checking into the hotel you can imagine how excited I was …. after 22 months of saving, planning, waiting, our holiday was finally here. I wanted to go and look at the runway from the bar, have a large glass of something, talk about everything we had planned.... Dave who had come home from his night shift a few hours earlier and then driven to Heathrow.... was asleep! I contained my excitement by reading the latest  Cruise Critic posts whilst he slept. Then after a suitable amount of time ( well I thought it was ) I woke him so we could get changed for dinner. As part of the hotel and parking package we had dinner included, my understanding from looking at the website …. can you tell I love a website? was that we could either have something off the set menu or have so much towards the a la carte. With Dave with his fish allergy and me being kind enough not to eat fish when I'm with him  usually  means we are quite limited, but I've got used to it over the years and we always find a way round it. So I did eventually get my wish and we were sat in the hotel restaurant called the 'Runway' can you guess it over looks one of the runways! with a large glass of wine and started talking about our adventure. We were pleasantly surprised with the set menu - Neither of us could decide between the pate or the onion tart so we ordered one of each and then shared. This was followed by good old steak and chips and I cant remember dessert but I would guess I had something chocolatey and Dave had sorbet or ice cream. We then went back to the room and tried to get some sleep for our 4.30am start. The room was quite worn and old fashioned but very comfy and quiet and we thought a really good value deal for what we got.

I can feel the excitement you were feeling when I was reading that part of your post!  So wonderful!

[anniedave]

Flight

We stayed in the lounge until we were called to the gate and once there we queued up to board. As we were economy we were at the back of the queue. Then a few peoples names got called including dave and as mentioned earlier he had to go up for a security check . His hand luggage was searched and  tested for drugs. I ned to mention that several years ago Dave had a back injury leaving him unable to work for a few years. Although he had a back operation and now leads a normal life , he does so with the aid of quite a lot of pain medication - Bu trans ( morphine) patches, and quite a lot of tablets. In his hand luggage he had 3 weeks worth of meds and a copy of his prescription showing its medication he needs, just in case he got questioned about it. However although the people searching saw all the meds they never queried why he had so much or asked what it was for. The bonus was that once he had been searched they then said those that had been searched and anyone they were with

( me! me!)  could stay at the front of the queue and board the plane first... result ! The plane was about 40 minutes late leaving.

Our Flight was with Air America but on the way there it was through BA. This confused me as I like to know things like what entertainment is available , what food and drinks  etc and I couldn't work out whether I needed to look at the BA info or American Airlines. As it turned out it was BA. I need to begin by saying although I have got better over the years  I am still a nervous flyer... I'm okay with being up in the air when everything is smooth, I just don't like take off....or landing.....or turbulence. I also don't like being in a cramped seat for even a short flight, let alone a long one, sadly our budget didn't stretch to business...not even premium economy … but actually it was better than I expected. We had a great choice of films and I think I watched 4 films in between dozing. We got free drinks, a meal, an ice cream and then a sandwich and cake before landing. We had chosen an aisle seat opposite each other which gave us a bit more room. The flight went smoothly and I think we were only about 30 minutes late landing. Once we had gone through security/ passport control  ( Id forgotten how long it takes in the US …. but I totally understand why) and baggage claim we found my cousin and her husband and they drove us to their fabulous home in Pembroke Pines.

 

Okay I haven't mentioned the CV words up until now and I'm going to try and avoid it as much as possible. But its nearly 8pm on a Thursday night and in the UK that means we all go outside our houses to clap and cheer for the amazing work the NHS and care workers are doing for everyone. Then my daughter who is a support worker for people with learning disabilities is due home from her 14 hr shift and my husband who is a postman in a mail centre is due to get up for his night shift so I am going to make them something to eat. I will be back later to continue the story.

[bluwes]

Really looking forward to the review. We should be getting off the Reflection tomorrow 24th having just done that itinerary 

[anniedave]

The Everglades

As I said although my cousin and I had communicated through cards and letters and over social media we hadn't seen each other for 30+ years and I was very grateful for being invited to stay and looking forward to seeing her but at the same time a bit nervous about staying with her, her husband and her 2 grown up sons. But I needn't have worried, luckily her husband is just as laid back as Dave, they made us so welcome and we had a very busy but marvellous couple of days. We hadn't  really made any plans other than a possible visit to the Everglades. After we had unpacked we went out for dinner in Pembroke Pines to a lovely Italian restaurant. Then had an early night … with the time difference we worked out we had been up for over 24 hours.

 

The next morning after a much needed lie in we went out for brunch to a diner. We ordered breakfast and git asked what sides we wanted with it... I said I would have grits... I' m not sure why but I thought grits were like hash browns... my cousin laughed and ask if I could try some first... its like porridge !!! I now know I don't like grits. 

After brunch they had arranged to take us to  the everglades to go on an airboat ride to see the alligators. If anyone hasn't done this and gets the chance  Then afterwards we watched the 'show' - the alligators are all rescue alligators that the team have rescued from peoples back gardens and pools etc.

[anniedave]

Hard Rock Hotel

After an interesting stop at a biker bar - it was bike show/band day and very busy. We went back to the house and decided where to go out for dinner. The original plan was to go to South Beach which I really wanted to see , but we hadn't realised the following day was a bank holiday and decided it would be really difficult to get a table for dinner. Instead we went to a local mall and had a really nice meal and some drinks at a local restaurant , I know we chatted and laughed and it was really good evening and I remember the food being good but I cant remember what we ate. After dinner my cousins husband took us into Miami to show us the new Hard Rock hotel that had recently opened. He had had a few business meetings there and had been wanting to show it to my cousin. Again an interesting place to visit... it reminded us of the big hotels in Vegas 

[shefie123]

Would love to read your review.  And any pictures you can share.  We have a cruise booked on the Reflection for next April.  Would love to hear your thoughts on the ship.   Hoping life will get back to some sort of "normal" before next April but, if not, I will just have to continue reading reviews and dreaming about some day....

[vickykay]

Absolutely!  Would love to read some typical postings!

[mchell810]

Thanks for this review.  It's lovely to have something positive to read.  No reason to apologize about including planning/packing -- many of us find that an enjoyable part of the cruise.  

 

4 hours ago, anniedave said:

I think I've read more 'evening chic' debates than anything else on here. On top of this there was the dilemmas of - an  11 night cruise might have 3 chic nights, there might be a white party? Would I need a wrap for the evenings?  I bet you seasoned cruisers on here are laughing at my packing naivety.  I did think I was over complicating it... but then I read a post from a lovely lady on here who was asking if someone could take a picture of the hook on the inside of the ladies toilet door... so she could purchase a suitable evening bag that would fit... which justified to me that I wasn't the only one and that actually I was quite sane.

 

This gave me a great laugh.  I remember that post about the ladies room hook -- I too took comfort from it. Clearly, there is a lot of obsessing happening when looking forward to a trip 😜

 

3 hours ago, anniedave said:

I learned my lesson last year when Dave decided to go Duty free shopping on his own after a couple of hours in the airport lounge and a couple of large Gins... they turned out to be very expensive gins judging by the aftershave he bought... so now its shopping first drinks after !!!

 

Sounds like a good plan.  I'll have to keep that in mind for my long layover on an international flight (when vacationing starts again.)

 

[anniedave]

Cruise Day

Day 1 Fort Lauderdale 

It was finally here. Cruise day . We had  crammed so much into our day and a half ....and I was so excited to get on the Reflection...so what did I do before we went to the port? laundry ! ….My cousin kindly offered to let us do our laundry, and  it gave us an extra couple of days worth of  clean clothes . Whilst we were at my cousins we had also done a quick shopping trip to buy Dave toiletries and sunscreen. I have some allergies which means I can only use specific perfumes, toiletries, hair products, makeup and sunscreen. So I had to take everything with me... except for the perfume I had already bought! Dave on the other hand could use anything and I had worked out that if we bought all his toiletries and sunscreen once we arrived it would give me at least an extra couple of pairs of shoes in the case. So we repacked our cases with clean clothes and additional toiletries, took our airline tags off our cases and attached our celebrity ones  and we were ready to go.

 

We arrived at the port after and after saying our goodbyes and thankyous and promising to not leave it another 30 years, we handed over our cases to the porters and we were ready to board. We arrived about 11.30 and quickly went through security , got our sea passes and then...stepped into the magical world of celebrity cruising. We were offered a glass of fizz and at this point Dave , appeared to realise we were on a cruise and it was obvious he hadn't listened to anything I had told him about what happens when we board. I patiently ( okay probably patronisingly) explained that we wouldn't be able to access our rooms until about 1pm but we could go and find a bar, grab a drink and then if we wanted brave the buffet , that cruise critic had told me was a nightmare on embarkation day. So we drank our fizz, went for a bit of a wander, found the sunset bar and ordered our first drink. We attempted the buffet but decided we weren't hungry enough to fight the queue and returned to the sunset bar, we couldn't get a table but managed to grab 2 seats. After another drink we decided we better soak up the alcohol and Dave left me with the carry ons whilst he went to find the Mast grill. He came back with 2 plates of burgers and fries and we ate these balanced on our laps. Shortly after we decided to go for another wander. This is where we encountered the only bad experience of the cruise. The seats we had were just outside the entrance of one of the doors from inside. I didn't want to put the plates down on the floor next to the chairs as I was worried someone may come through the door and step on them. There was a small group of people sat very near us at a table , they had their drinks on the table but there was still plenty of room and it appeared to be their empty plates were there too. I picked up our plates, put them on the table and said excuse me. The group of 4 then gave me the dirtiest look, muttered something and took my plates off the table and put them on the floor. My heart sank and immediately felt like I had done something wrong. Shortly after this the place started emptying out and we realised although we hadn't heard an announcement it probably meant the cabins were ready.

 

We found our cabin and our bags were already outside. We began to unpack and then our cabin steward came to introduce himself and explained he would only be with us until Aruba and then he was going home. He asked if we had any requests and Dave explained about his allergy and asked that when the afternoon snacks came that they didn't contain any fish. We also told him it was our first ever cruise!  At this point I mentioned we had the drinks and more package. As I expected the steward was adamant that we wouldn't be able to have free drinks from the mini bar -  seeing previous comments on Cruise Critic I was ready for this and had printed off what drinks and more included, the steward took the letter and came back, apologised and said it was all fine. He also explained about the muster drill We also realised that we had been given 2 bottles of red wine - not 4 as promised and ideally if we were only getting 2 bottles of wine we would like white. 

I also found in the cabin the tickets for our excursion, the ticket for the wine tasting that we had as part of our drinks and more package and our invite to the roll call party. 

 

We were intending to go up on deck for sail away and I knew our roll call had arranged to meet for drinks, but we began unpacking and then there was a knock on the door and I received a most beautiful display of flowers. These were from my stepdaughters and grandchildren as an early birthday present , what a wonderful surprise. We suddenly realised the ship was moving so we decided to stay on the balcony to watch the sail away and just enjoy the view. 

[ejnsb]

This is just what tge doctor ordered.  I have been searching through earlier pages to find trip reports to read or reread.  Now a brand new one! Maybe you will inspire a few others who cruised before the shut down to give it a try. 

[anniedave]

Day 1 Cont/

So somewhere in amongst the sail away and unpacking I forgot to mention muster drill. We were in the theatre, which meant we got a seat. I also got to see the famous spy video I had heard so much about on cruise critic.

 

During the afternoon we finished unpacking. So much to Dave's dismay I had followed lots of advice on what I would ' need' on the cruise, whilst Dave was helping me pack the cases (apparently he is more spatially aware than me! )his favourite phrase was ' why are you packing that?' my favourite reply was ' cruise critic told me I need it '. So just to report back … the magnetic clips were very useful for keeping the various bits of paperwork together, the over the door thingy I attached to a coat hanger and hung it one of the coat pegs in the cabin and did actually find it useful to keep bits and bobs in. Being away for 3 weeks I did use the small nylon washing line, the pegs and the hand wash liquid, I'm ashamed to say I never used the wrinkle release! I didn't need or use the seasickness bands or patches ( although I did take a tablet the first couple of days). I never used the post it notes, zip lock bags or throwaway plastic rain cape, or the battery operated tea light. I did use the highlighters once..but I think that was just first sea day enthusiasm ! .( we didn't attend half the things I highlighted,....but the main thing is I highlighted and used the highlighter)  What I did find really useful was the tip of the large elastic band ( I used a hair scrunchie) to keep the hair dryer switched on whilst I was drying my hair and the suggestion of plugs with additional USB points for charging phones and tablets. 

 

Anyway back to day 1.We may have had a nap... Okay from day one we got into an evening routine of nap,  shower,  quick cigarette stop and maybe a drink depending on how early we were, then dinner in Blu. After dinner we would have a drink at one of the bars, usually ending up at the Sunset Bar. Because we napped before dinner then ate quite late around 8.30 we never really went to the shows in the theatre much, we saw parts of a few but the only thing we watched all the way through was the 'Marriage ' I think it was called late night show...which was hilarious. 

 

So I was nervous about how eating dinner aboard would go. As I mentioned earlier Dave has a fish/shellfish allergy. Eating it makes him violently sick, eating anything that has been contaminated by fish makes him violently sick, smelling fish makes him feel very sick and at times can make him sick . If we go out for dinner at home and someone near us starts to eat fish he copes by leaving the table, going outside for a cigarette and coming back when they have finished ..or we may explain the situation and ask to move. He also puts aftershave on his hands so that if he starts to smell fish he smells his aftershave instead. I've got used to it over the years and often find myself suddenly sat alone when we go out for dinner. We once stayed a couple of nights in a really nice country house hotel with a lovely restaurant , and because there was no air con in the restaurant we couldn't eat there... so found ourselves having our very nice a la carte dinner in the hotel bar surrounded by some of the local eating their burger and chips! l I did ask the question on cruise critic after we had first booked about whether the restaurants smelt of fish and I got quite a lot of negative responses.. with people telling me it was a bad idea to go on the cruise. I figured if the worse came to worse we could have buffet or room service in our room. As it turned out there was only one evening the whole cruise when there was a problem and we had to switch tables. After we explained the issue on the first night we usually got put on an end table , and I think because we ate later Blu was less busy.

 

Anyway on the first night we went to Blu and after our earlier experience with the plates I was a bit apprehensive, especially as I knew the tables were close together. We got talking to the couple on the next table Nancy and Randy, who couldn't have been nicer and when they found out it was our first cruise were so lovely and welcoming, the same experience was repeated throughout the cruise with everyone else we met. I didn't take any food pics in Blu and I cant always remember what we ate but all the food was very good. I do remember on this first evening I wanted to try French onion soup as I had seen pictures of it on here and it looked and sounded delicious. Unfortunately I found it a bit 'greasy' for want of  a better word... so each to their own but it wasn't for me. We did find all the food delicious and didn't have a bad meal, occasionally we tried something we didn't enjoy... there was nothing wrong with it, it just wasn't to our taste. I loved the bread and flavoured butter each evening. 

 

So after a busy first day we called it a night. I loved going back to the cabin to find the bed turned down and the chocolate on the pillow.

[anniedave]

Day 2 - Sea Day

I had read a lot about sea days and there was lots I wanted to try - trivia ( never did). Bingo ( never did) the casino ( I played roulette a few times) the outdoor pool ( never made it as it was always so busy) the solarium ( became one of my favourite places on the ship ) Persian Gardens ( eventually on the last day) the podium lectures ( I managed to get to one and watched some on the TV in the cabin)  shopping ( I bought a few wraps /shawls, a beach and  and some sunglasses, unfortunately another one of my allergies is nickel so I had to look longingly at the beautiful costume jewellery but couldn't buy any). Top of the list....genuinely there was a list... I took it with me... was  dancing lessons. Being on the rockabilly scene involves dancing, dancing alone and jiving. Dave and I used to dance much more but since he had hurt his back its now only very occasionally. I wanted to try the salsa lesson they had on that morning. I had also noticed that they had a Texas Hold em poker tournament that afternoon. Okay I think bribe is a strong word to use but I did suggest that if Dave came with me to the dance lesson that morning that maybe in the afternoon we could do something separate and that I had noticed they had a Texas tournament. Dave and I both used to be big Texas Hold em players, playing a couple of times a week and both made it to the finals of national amateur poker tournaments. However poker wasn't something I had played for quite a while, and quite honestly it felt like a lot of effort when I was trying switch off and relax, Dave on the other hand loved the bluff and banter of a poker table.

 

 On the first morning on board, Dave woke up quite early, went for a cigarette and bought coffees and pastries back from Al Bacio.  Lucky for me this became his morning routine for the rest of the cruise. So after making a vague plan we decided to try breakfast in Blu. I loved it, we got chatting to another couple from the UK who warned us that by having our first ever cruise on celebrity if we tried another cruise line we would be disappointed …Im sure Nancy had said similar the previous night. Anyway we had a leisurely breakfast, took a stroll round the ship to see what we had missed the previous day and got ready to Salsa. It was also the Roll Call mingle but with so much else to do we decided to give it a miss.

 

So we went to join the Salsa class. Now I think if we had been partnered up from the beginning I could have given encouragement but we were put individually - men learning some steps, women learning others... I could see his heart really wasn't in it and after 10 minutes of trying to use his two left feet he gave up. I was happy he had tried for me and reasoned that I really shouldn't get him to do something he didn't want on his holiday. Besides I think at this point jet lag had caught up with me and I wanted a nap. 

[cachouonacruise]

Thank-you anniedave for the detailed and interesting review so far.

 

It’s fun to have something fresh to read about cruising. 

 

I look forward to read the rest of your review.

[dolittle]

Enjoying this, keep it coming.

[bunnyette]

Fantastic review, I look forward to the next chapter...

[LisaLeone]

This is delightful, Anne...thank you for the diversion. In my mind, I am toasting you with a glass of fizz (which I think I shall call it henceforth!)

Edited April 24, 2020 by LisaLeone

[NemoCrownie]

This is a fabulous review! We were supposed to be on the cancelled 14 day Silhouette replacement cruise for the cancelled 12 night cruise. We are booked on the Reflection next February and I am having a difficult time getting excited and doing my usual planning.  This review is the perfect anecdote! Thank you.

[anniedave]

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes.. please post your review.    I personally love to hear of the options and perception of your cruise.  

 

It will help us all live vicariously in your cruise experience while we are stuck at home.

Thanks Jim, you were one of the people who inspired me to write a review. I was really looking forward to reading your latest one and was so sorry your cruise got cancelled just as you were about to start it. Hopefully it wont be too long before you get to start cruising and writing reviews again