Live review - Reflection 10-31-22 TA

[Jazzbo]

Sipping horchata was a nostalgic taste memory for me. There’s also a photo of the closed market.

[librarylady19]

Great pics. Such a beautiful city. We took the HOHO bus when there as it is definitely too big of a city to see completely in a day! 

[yvonneh]

Following along. Thank you for posting and great pics! Have the best time.

[cltnccruisers]

On 10/27/2022 at 10:33 AM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

We are on the April TA , haven’t been on the Reflection, 

it will be interesting to here what was upgraded during the drydock 

We're on the same.  First TA.  The Solstice class are our favorite ships but we've had a spell with Princess the past few years to get the kids and grandkids on board.  More for them on Princess.  Looking forward to getting back with X.

[cltnccruisers]

On 10/27/2022 at 10:15 AM, Jazzbo said:

Larry and I are sitting in Delta Sky Club at FLL. It’s starting to fill up, but is comfortable and can still distance. From here, we connect with another Delta flight at JFK to Barcelona.

May I ask what class you are flying?  We just booked our return from Barcelona on Delta.

[librarylady19]

6 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

May I ask what class you are flying?  We just booked our return from Barcelona on Delta.

Not the OP but just want to say that my worst international flight experience was last year on Delta JFK to BCN. Everyone seems to rave about Delta but I was NOT impressed. Flight late, food literally inedible and a truly rude crew. Will avoid JFK for sure & stick w/my home aiport O'Hare in future. I always prefer the international airlines (KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Swiss, etc.) over domestic airlines.

Edited November 2, 2022 by librarylady19

[cltnccruisers]

11 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

Not the OP but just want to say that my worst international flight experience was last year on Delta JFK to BCN. Everyone seems to rave about Delta but I was NOT impressed. Flight late, food literally inedible and a truly rude crew. Will avoid JFK for sure & stick w/my home aiport O'Hare in future. I always prefer the international airlines (KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Swiss, etc.) over domestic airlines.

Coming back we booked BCN to ATL to CLT to avoid long layovers.  Went through JFK a couple of times and didn't care for it.

[Jim_Iain]

18 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

Windy is a great app. I used it during Hurricane Ian and got up-to-the-minute wind speeds as it ripped the clay tiles off our roof, destroyed my car parked in the driveway, and deposited our pool cage somewhere over the Gulf. 

 

Looking forward to reading this review -- getting excited for our first Celebrity cruise on Reflection in January!  

 

I use it often.   I can definitely  see where it would be handy with to watch Hurricane path in real time.    I also like the forward looking projections when you put it into action.

 

I use another paid app called Radar Scope -   Our weather in Northern California is really different and of course only get rain for about 5 months of the year.   The storms usually pass through quickly and I use it to pick between cells to go on our walks.    What is good with it is you can select which radar you want to look at. 

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, Jazzbo said:

Between wi-fi issues and CC login problems, I have some catching up to do! We’ve just been given clearance to leave the ship. Today we are doing Chef’s Market Discoveries. Looking forward to it!

Look forward to reading about the Chef's Market Discoveries.   We had it booked but they cancelled it 2 days before the tour leaving us scrambling to  spend the OBC (it was an expensive tour).

[Robkat]

Enjoying your review tremendously so far.  Terrific pics.

We're back on the Reflection in Feb for the first time since 2015, so will be eager to hear all your reporting.

Thanks and enjoy your TA!

[canderson]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Look forward to reading about the Chef's Market Discoveries.   We had it booked but they cancelled it 2 days before the tour leaving us scrambling to  spend the OBC (it was an expensive tour).

Jim - hang in there.  I promised you a full photo documentary, and I have it all on my phone and will put it together for you on our first at-sea day.  Covers all from the walk to the market to lunch to the final dinner in Tuscan tonight.

 

The market was outstanding!  Only wish we had anything similar at home!

 

Least I could do for the private journey help you gave us for the Carribean last November! 

Edited November 2, 2022 by canderson

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Glad to see the Market Discoveries are back, fantastic experience. 

Can you provide any info on what was done to the interior of the ship? 

[SUESEABE]

@Jazzbo Thank you for the live review. We have 2 cabins booked for March 2023 for our annual family cruise on the Reflection. We have never been on this ship so I am appreciative to get this review. 👍

[bandp407]

33 minutes ago, SUESEABE said:

@Jazzbo Thank you for the live review. We have 2 cabins booked for March 2023 for our annual family cruise on the Reflection. We have never been on this ship so I am appreciative to get this review. 👍

Reflection is a fabulous ship ! Wishing you and your family a great cruise!

[Jazzbo]

15 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

May I ask what class you are flying?  We just booked our return from Barcelona on Delta.

We flew the new Premium Economy. Similar to domestic first class. 2—2—2 configuration, wider seats with more leg room. Seat back reclines farther and there is a foot rest. The food was surprisingly okay.

[Jazzbo]

We did Chef’s Market Discovery yesterday in Cartagena. The excursion description noted there would be approximately 1 1/2 miles of walking on uneven pavement and some steps. There were only a few steps into the market, but there was also a ramp. 
 

It felt like it might have been 1 1/4 miles from the ship at the pier to the market, and it was difficult for some of the passengers (including my husband). We went straight to the market, stopping (standing) a few times for the guide to tell us some history or point out some beautiful buildings. Manuel from Celebrity Shore Ex accompanied us and brought up the rear. Manuel reminded our young (and fit) guide that there were some passengers having problems keeping up.

 

 Once we got to the market, it was still mostly standing, except for a few minutes when we were able to sit at a few tables to sample some delicious local cheese.

We stopped at a spice stall, where the proprietor gave us each a tin of paprika. We had the choice of sweet or hot paprika, so we got one of each. Another stall where we stopped, was the lemonade stall. The proprietor and maker of the lemonade was very animated, and fun to listen to (translated by our guide). Santiago, the lemonade maker, gave us all a small serving of homemade lemonade with some Licor 43 added to it, except for those who didn’t want alcohol. The lemonade was icy, cold and delicious with almost the texture of a granita.

 

We also sampled olives from the olive stall, and had a few minutes to walk around the market on our own. My husband and another gentleman took the opportunity to sit on a windowsill.

 

More to come…

 

[Jazzbo]

From the market, we walked to the restaurant where we had the included lunch the restaurant had two large tables set up for our group. Our Celebrity chef, Muthuk Kumar Balak Rissman, stayed at the market shopping for our feast that evening.

 

At the restaurant, the chef prepared a seafood paella for our group, with our tour guide translating. The restaurant was very accommodating to those with food allergies. The servers brought us toasted bread slices with a fresh tomato sauce, plates of Jamón Serrano, small salads, and ensaladilla Rusa, like a potato salad with the addition of carrots, peas, and some tuna. They also put bottles of water and pitchers of beer on the tables. There was some sangria, but not at our end of the table. Then they served the paella (and other dishes for those allergic to shellfish) along with homemade allí olli (garlic aioli).

I did not care for the paella. The fish was dry and the shrimp and mussels were overcooked. I did enjoy the one clam I had on my plate, and the rice was nicely flavored.
 

I sat between my husband and Manuel, and enjoyed chatting with Manuel. He has only been with Celebrity for 3 months, but has worked for other lines. He speaks 5 languages! 
 

They had just started serving a special layered after dinner drink when my husband realized his phone (with Seapass, credit cards, etc.) was missing from his pocket!

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, Jazzbo said:

From the market, we walked to the restaurant where we had the included lunch the restaurant had two large tables set up for our group. Our Celebrity chef, Muthuk Kumar Balak Rissman, stayed at the market shopping for our feast that evening.

 

At the restaurant, the chef prepared a seafood paella for our group, with our tour guide translating. The restaurant was very accommodating to those with food allergies. The servers brought us toasted bread slices with a fresh tomato sauce, plates of Jamón Serrano, small salads, and ensaladilla Rusa, like a potato salad with the addition of carrots, peas, and some tuna. They also put bottles of water and pitchers of beer on the tables. There was some sangria, but not at our end of the table. Then they served the paella (and other dishes for those allergic to shellfish) along with homemade allí olli (garlic aioli).

I did not care for the paella. The fish was dry and the shrimp and mussels were overcooked. I did enjoy the one clam I had on my plate, and the rice was nicely flavored.
 

I sat between my husband and Manuel, and enjoyed chatting with Manuel. He has only been with Celebrity for 3 months, but has worked for other lines. He speaks 5 languages! 
 

They had just started serving a special layered after dinner drink when my husband realized his phone (with Seapass, credit cards, etc.) was missing from his pocket!

We spent 34 days in Italy and Greece on two cruises and 10 land days. Our experience was all of the ship tours we did that included lunches, had meals at restaurants that were not impressive, we found doing lunches on our own to be much better. Also the several private tours we did, had much better food for lunches. We did a private winery tour in Florence that included a fabulous 4 course lunch at a Tuscan winery with unlimited sampling of their awesome wines.

Edited November 3, 2022 by terrydtx

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We spent 34 days in Italy and Greece on two cruises and 10 land days. Our experience was all of the ship tours we did that included lunches, had meals at restaurants that were not impressive, we found doing lunches on our own to be much better. Also the several private tours we did, had much better food for lunches.

That is probably why we have only done one ship tour in about 16 cruises 

I would almost prefer to even skip lunch and just get some street food , since the lunches usually waste 1-1/2 hr of the tour 

[Jazzbo]

I remembered my husband and the other gentleman sitting in the window sill at the market, so I decided to go back. My husband wanted to go with me, but I knew I could get back there on my own much faster. Manuel insisted on coming with me, which was great, because I have forgotten most of the Spanish I used to speak fluently. 
 

We zoomed to the market, and before we were even up the steps, there was Santiago, the lemonade maker talking excitedly and really fast (so I couldn’t follow it). Santiago told Manuel that the Celebrity chef wit the very long name had it!

 

An older man who worked in the fruit stall across from the lemonade stall had found it and showed it to Santiago, who was convinced it belonged to one of us in the group (the Seapass just may have been a clue. Chef Muthuk (first of his 4 names) was still in the market, so Santiago had given it to him to take it back to the ship. Manuel told me it would be in Guest Relations because that is the protocol.

 

We made it back to the restaurant in a few minutes to give the good news. Some of the passengers had already started walking back, but another couple and we wanted to take a taxi. The tour guide (I think his name is Diego) got us a taxi and we were back to the pier in no time.

 

Because Larry did not have any ID, a nice young police officer walked to the Celebrity gangway, where Celebrity security could identify Larry by his photo, full name, and date of birth.

 

The next stop was Guest Relations to retrieve the phone, and then we collapsed in our stateroom!

[Jazzbo]

16 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That is probably why we have only done one ship tour in about 16 cruises 

I would almost prefer to even skip lunch and just get some street food , since the lunches usually waste 1-1/2 hr of the tour 

We rarely do ship excursions, but I was behind the eight ball on this one because I was working some long hours in the weeks before we left for Barcelona. Plus — OBC. We were signed up for the ship’s excursion to Cordoba from Malaga, and we would have done that regardless because of the distance. Unfortunately, we had to cancel. I had some GI issues overnight and called medical early this morning. Negative for COVID, but required to isolate for 24 hours (I suppose that’s to make sure it’s not Noro). 

[terrydtx]

19 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That is probably why we have only done one ship tour in about 16 cruises 

I would almost prefer to even skip lunch and just get some street food , since the lunches usually waste 1-1/2 hr of the tour 

We have decided for all future cruises, to only book private tours when possible. The other problem several of the included lunches began after 2pm, finished after 3pm and when we got back to the ship, we were not hungry for dinner. Every private tour we did in August had no more than 6 people which included the 4 in our party. all but one was in 6 or 8 passenger vans, the one that wasn't was in a full-sized bus with just the 6 of us. We were able to let our guides know we wanted lunch before 1pm.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, Jazzbo said:

We rarely do ship excursions, but I was behind the eight ball on this one because I was working some long hours in the weeks before we left for Barcelona. Plus — OBC. We were signed up for the ship’s excursion to Cordoba from Malaga, and we would have done that regardless because of the distance. Unfortunately, we had to cancel. I had some GI issues overnight and called medical early this morning. Negative for COVID, but required to isolate for 24 hours (I suppose that’s to make sure it’s not Noro). 

We had a lot of Noro cases on our Reflection cruise from Rome in August, including the people in the Sky Suite next to us.

[Jazzbo]

The Chef’s Market group met at 7:00 in the Ensemble lounge. That was confusing because we were supposed to meet in Cellar Masters. We were all left voicemails on our state room phones, but many didn’t get those. I was down at Shore Ex finding out Chef Kumar’s name (all 4 of them), and double-checked where we were supposed to meet, so we knew it had been switched from Cellar Masters.

We had a glass of bubbly and went on the galley tour. I’m not sure why — we’ve done at least 3 or 4. I think we wanted to experience the Chef of the Many Names’ enthusiasm. Dinner was in Tuscan and it was a feast!

 

 

[Jazzbo]

And there was steak and lobster. It was delicious, but way too much food. I barely picked at my entree.