Feb 5-19 East-West Caribbean on the Reflection

[Ken the cruiser]

Just got back walking around the pier and then on the shaded port side promenade. In the last 7 months, we’ve been to this port 5 times, so we figured we’d just stick around the ship today.

 

But here are some pictures of the shopping area at the end of the pier. 
 

[sasset]

On a back to back, I assume Celebrity tests you on board for the second cruise.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, sasset said:

On a back to back, I assume Celebrity tests you on board for the second cruise.

You would be correct, usually on the morning prior to transition day.

[juanita1767]

We did Le petite chef last night and it was lobster and steak. Very enjoyable! 
 

Also I believe it was either corn or grain that was being offloaded. 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, juanita1767 said:

Also I believe it was either corn or grain that was being offloaded. 

Thanks for pointing that out and you’re probably right. That would explain why the pigeons were having such a great time over there and why little flakes of ”stuff” kept landing on my iPad screen while I sat on our balcony watching them offload it into trucks.

[Ken the cruiser]

Just for future reference with regards to the benefits we’ve taken advantage of with regards to things we have actually had our Retreat Host (butler) do for us so far. Now mind you, we are just in a regular sky suite rather than a CS or higher which may play by different rules.

 

1. She (Maria) put everything that came initially stocked in the refrigerator up in the cupboard and replaced it, at our request, with beer and water. BTW everything previously in there had a billable price, even the beer.

 

2. I had to call to have her come with a bottle opener as the beer bottles were not twist off. I guess they got tired of the openers mysteriously disappearing when new passengers boarded the ship.

 

3. We asked for and have received a fruit bowl every afternoon. The first 2 days, we received slices of fruit and grapes. Today we received a bowl full of fruit.

 

4. Since we are Elite+ and each get 2 free bags of laundry (up to 30 pieces) per leg, she has come to pick up the laundry and brought us new laundry slips and more bags. It will be interesting to see if the clothes come back on hangers or stuffed in a bag. Now I will add that we did not ask for the clothes to be returned on hangers.

 

That’s all we can think of right now. As far as room service goes, I’m not sure what role a butler plays in the delivery process as we have never asked for it and probably never will. That is unless, of course, one of us is temporarily confined in our cabin for some noninfectious reason which hopefully will never happen while we’re on a cruise. 😁
 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[kwokpot]

55 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

1. She (Maria) put everything that came initially stocked in the refrigerator up in the cupboard and replaced it, at our request, with beer and water. BTW everything previously in there had a billable price, even the beer.

Interesting. Thanks for this detail. I'll be in a Sky Suite on the Reflection in 2 weeks but without a drink package, so this is good information. Surprisingly our Apex Sky Suite In Room Mini bar was not the same regarding chargeable beverages. The water and beer was comp but the wine and spirits were chargeable.  

 

55 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

4. Since we are Elite+ and each get 2 free bags of laundry (up to 30 pieces) per leg, she has come to pick up the laundry and brought us new laundry slips and more bags. It will be interesting to see if the clothes come back on hangers or stuffed in a bag. Now I will add that we did not ask for the clothes to be returned on hangers.

On the Apex the clothes came back in the bag. I'm curious what the turnaround for the laundry is. Please make note of that, taking into account what time of day you handed in the laundry. Thanks! 

Edited February 8, 2022 by kwokpot

[PaulS]

Would you, or someone else, know if Silverseas cruises can be booked onboard at the  future cruise office?

Thanks

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

As far as room service goes, I’m not sure what role a butler plays in the delivery process as we have never asked for it and probably never will. That is unless, of course, one of us is temporarily confined in our cabin for some noninfectious reason which hopefully will never happen while we’re on a cruise.

Ken, we had breakfast every morning in our larger aft Sky Suite balcony and our Butler brought it to us every morning and set up the balcony table with a table cloth and  silverware, he even pored the first cup of coffee. That is about as far as we go for room service.

[jalves]

20 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Ken, since we will be on the Reflection in August, what is your overall impression on the condition of the ship, since the Revolutionizing was canceled? Are the Sky Suites in good condition?

 

Thanks,

We were on the Reflection's 1/29 sailing in Sky Suite 1279.  The suite was in good condition.  Everything worked.  my only complaint is the lack of electrical outlets.  Only 2 US types and one continental type on the desk.

 

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Since there are 3 Le Petit shows, that would make sense they would show one the first half of the cruise and then a different one the second half to increase the demand. However, I just looked at the App and couldn’t see a Le Petit menu listed for any day this cruise. So I’m glad you were able to find them on your search.

 

We were told that they only do the third menu on cruises longer than 7 nights.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, kwokpot said:

On the Apex the clothes came back in the bag. I'm curious what the turnaround for the laundry is. Please make note of that, taking into account what time of day you handed in the laundry. Thanks! 

Our butler picked up our bag of clothes (22 pieces) yesterday morning and they we returned this evening in 2 white paper bags. 
 

Update: we just found out one of my DW’s shirts was actually ironed and hung up in the closet. Cool!!!

Edited February 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, PaulS said:

Would you, or someone else, know if Silverseas cruises can be booked onboard at the  future cruise office?

Thanks

No. Unfortunately, you can only book Celebrity cruises.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, jalves said:

We were on the Reflection's 1/29 sailing in Sky Suite 1279.  The suite was in good condition.  Everything worked.  my only complaint is the lack of electrical outlets.  Only 2 US types and one continental type on the desk.

 

We were told that they only do the third menu on cruises longer than 7 nights.

Here’s a picture of the plug setup on our desk wall. We bring along a power strip, as you can see, that can accommodate up to 3 USB plugs that allow us to charge up our devices, mostly during the overnight hours. 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Ken, we had breakfast every morning in our larger aft Sky Suite balcony and our Butler brought it to us every morning and set up the balcony table with a table cloth and  silverware, he even pored the first cup of coffee. That is about as far as we go for room service.

Cool! I have to admit eating out on the balcony does sound pretty cool. Do you have to set an alarm to wake-up so you’ll be up and moving around when he shows up or do you just place the order after you naturally wake up? 

[Ken the cruiser]

11 hours ago, garyl62 said:

Thanks again for being so willing to help out.  I think leaving St Thomas today may be the only other option we'd have and since you're off to St Croix, and for now we'd be going over to San Juan the departure track may be different.  If you're back in your cabin and would be willing to snap a few photos like you did yesterday it would be great.  Even if we go to San Juan it would give me an idea how the exit from port looks.  Enjoy your day!

Unfortunately, since the ship cast off the ropes a little after 7 pm this evening and it was pretty dark by then, you really couldn’t see much. Here’s a picture at about 7:45, after we went to the evening show, from the port side on the promenade looking back at St Thomas. 
 

[kwokpot]

37 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our butler picked up our bag of clothes (22 pieces) yesterday morning and they we returned this evening in 2 white paper bags. 
 

Update: we just found out one of my DW’s shirts was actually ironed and hung up in the closet. Cool!!!

That's great! On the Apex it took three days for the clothes to come back.

[Ken the cruiser]

OK, this recommendation is for those that like wine, occasionally, but DO NOT like the acidic after taste that comes with most of the wine they offer nowadays. 
 

First, a little background. I grow blueberries, blackberries, muscadine and persimmons on our farm back in Alabama. In the evening I will have a couple glasses of blueberry or blackberry wine, which only has about 10% alcohol. BUT, it also has no acidic after taste to speak of either. You know, that sour/bitter taste on the side of your tongue when you take a sip.
 

Now, if you like that, the following recommendation is not for you. BTW I was also stationed in Germany for 7 years between 85-92 and grew a fondness for Riesling, Spatlese and Auslese (otherwise known as Ice Wine), mostly because they were tasty and had very little acidic after taste. 
 

Then on our Jan 2019 Reflection B2B cruise, I was introduced to Jam Jar. I know, it’s got a funny name and a very simple looking label. It’s a Moscato wine from South Africa that has no acidic after taste and contains only 10% alcohol. That BTW explains why when the sommelier kept filling my glass throughout dinner, I never got too tipsy even though I had about 3-4 glasses of it.
 

However, when Celebrity started cruising again, we were told they couldn’t get Jam Jar anymore as they couldn’t renew the contract with the NY supplier. So, instead, I fell back to my old reliable and ordered a German Riesling Kabinett when we went on our Aug, Nov, and Dec Celebrity cruises. But, when I asked about Jam Jar when we boarded the Reflection, they had it in stock once again, but only if you purchased a bottle for $32. 
 

Well, needless to say, I bought a bottle and it tasted as great as it did 3 years ago! But, our sommelier had pointed out earlier they had a Moscato wine from Chile, which was available by the glass. So I did a blind taste test and Jam Jar won, but not by much. 
 

So to bring this recommendation to a close. If you like a sweet fruity white wine without an acidic after taste and Jam Jar is available, give it a try. If not or you’d rather just order by the glass, try the Moscato wine they currently have it stock. Both are quite tasty and with only 10% alcohol, you can keep your wits about you as they keep refilling your glass! 😂😂

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[CruisnDeb]

9 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So to bring this recommendation to a close. If you like a sweet fruity white wine without an acidic after taste and Jam Jar is available, give it a try. If not or you’d rather just order by the glass, try the Moscato wine they currently have it stock. Both are quite tasty and with only 10% alcohol, you can keep your wits about you as they keep refilling your glass! 😂😂

Interesting. I may have to try this since I have never liked wine much except moscato! Maybe Jam Jar will have a red I will actually enjoy 😊 

[Ken the cruiser]

Feb 9 Daily Planner 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, CruisnDeb said:

Interesting. I may have to try this since I have never liked wine much except moscato! Maybe Jam Jar will have a red I will actually enjoy 😊 

In this article they mention possible reddish blends.

 

Pink Moscato: In most cases, this is White Moscato with a splash of red wine. Most likely still or lightly-sparkling, this is a popular style made by big brand producers in the United States and Australia.

Red Moscato: Similar to Pink Moscato, this wine is usually a blend of White Moscato and other reds such as Syrah and Zinfandel.

 

https://www.foodandwine.com/wine/moscato-wine-guide

[J80crew]

Have you received anything on the elimination of Grand Carmen on the next leg of the cruise?  I got an email that our excursion was cancelled, but have not been able to find out what replaces it. 

[J80crew]

Oops! Grand Caymen, not Carmen. Pesky autocorrect!

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, J80crew said:

Have you received anything on the elimination of Grand Cayman on the next leg of the cruise?  I got an email that our excursion was cancelled, but have not been able to find out what replaces it. 

Nope, not yet. Just checked the App and Day 5 still shows us going to Grand Cayman. It would be nice if it’s still a go, but we’re not holding our breath based on everything we’ve heard.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Cool! I have to admit eating out on the balcony does sound pretty cool. Do you have to set an alarm to wake-up so you’ll be up and moving around when he shows up or do you just place the order after you naturally wake up? 

We placed the order the night before on a room service order card and had it delivered between 7:30 and 8am, our butler, Lorenzo would call us when he was leaving the kitchen and show up a few minutes later. We are early risers abut,  we were in our robes a couple of mornings.  Last August the first morning when Lorenzo, delivered and set up the table, he asked how we liked everything, and I remarked that I thought the coffee was a little weak to my liking. The next morning, he brought a pot of coffee that he added several shots of espresso from Cafe El Bacio, and it was perfect, he did this every morning for our coffee. We usually do breakfast in our cabin on our cruises but this was one of the few times breakfast was brought on time and still hot, in fact one morning the eggs benedict was hot and cooked perfectly. Another morning the scrambled eggs were watery and tasted horrible, I mentioned this to Lorenzo and he said to note on the order that we wanted fresh eggs, otherwise the kitchen uses a pre mixed egg solution. He went back to the kitchen and brought back some perfect scrambled eggs made with fresh eggs, he also said if we wanted to order an omelet to also ask for fresh eggs. 

Edited February 9, 2022 by terrydtx

[amc40]

I’m on board 2/12. Grand Cayman has been canceled 😔  No replacement, just an extra day at sea.

Edited February 9, 2022 by amc40