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JW and Jerome's Excellent Adventure on the Celebrity REFLECTION!


cruiseguys2009

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To begin our Adventurous Celebrity Reflection "Reflectioneer's" Review, I first, would like to pay Homage and Admiration to our Cruise Critic Founding Director, Laura Sterling, who makes all this Cruise Critic "stuff" possible............ every minute, of every hour, of every day, all over the world.........

 

This Celebrity Reflection Sail-A-Way Martini is for you, Laura Sterling!

 

I love you lots!



 

 

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I have lots and lots to tell.............just you wait and see what "The Mouth Of The South" is Going To Reveal About The Celebrity Reflection! I have pics too.....and so does the rest of our Roll Call which I invite to post here at the appropriate time in the story.

I just have one thing to say before I post our review.

 

LibraryLady has the most comprehensive review on the boards of the Celebrity Reflection. It is a compilation that is second to none in being precise and correct in all aspects of the ship, cabins, entertainment and restaurants. We highly recommend this ac-compilation to you for your reference regarding the Celebrity Reflection.

 

That being said..........This review, as all my others, will be "Our Experience"...................:eek: and is known as the Rest of The Story........................

 

Let the FUN begin.........................:D

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Thanks for the shout out JW or Jerome - not sure whose nom de plume is Cruise Guy!

I have been eagerly awaiting your review as you had so much enthusiasm and anticipation pre-cruise. I certainly hope the cruise lived up to that (somehow I think you would make it fun any how:):p)

 

I love your photo- you should join us on the Jan. 12th Silhouette W. Caribbean. We already have a good group started. (If you need persuading, read Gambee's superlative review.)

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I agree, LibraryLady did a superlative review of the Reflection. Really provided wonderful insights into the ship, and got us really excited to board her in less than two weeks.

 

Now, we are really looking forward to reading about JW and Jerome's recent, excellent adventure! More, please! :)

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Patience, Patience. I will being posting after 5 pm EST today. I am getting pics sent to me from all over the place and want to correlate them all properly.

 

Oy, I need a Martini! Here maybe this one will help....

 

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First day, actually first hour after sailing, it's 5 O'Clock somewhere! Thank gosh for the 1,2,3, GO all inclusive liquor package, which we upgraded to Premium......Is it any wonder that I remember any of the cruise?

 

This toast is to all the wonderful people Jerome and I met on the Celebrity Reflection! I know that so many of you will be contributing and posting pics at my request, and as well, thank you for your new found friendships!

 

Till soon! Promise!

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Thanks for the shout out JW or Jerome - not sure whose nom de plume is Cruise Guy!

I have been eagerly awaiting your review as you had so much enthusiasm and anticipation pre-cruise. I certainly hope the cruise lived up to that (somehow I think you would make it fun any how:):p)

 

I love your photo- you should join us on the Jan. 12th Silhouette W. Caribbean. We already have a good group started. (If you need persuading, read Gambee's superlative review.)

 

 

Why its me, JW of course! Jerome is known as the "Quiet One", and I am the big ol' Reflection Queen in the Crown below! We may think about the Jan 12th sailing.....sounds like fun!

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How can you have a fun cruise w/o booze?????

 

I can't that's why someone else will be complaining about me on this board in a few months :D

 

J/k I know everyone can have a great time either with or without.

 

Personally I'm look forward the the martini bar & the big pour. Also one of the dragonfly wings from the molecular bar.

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“JW are you awake?” I opened my eyes, again I hear in the dark…”JW….are you awake?” I glanced over to the clock and it read 3:46. THREE FOURTY SIX….AM…….Jerome obviously could not sleep so he was going to insure that I would not either…..

 

“Yes Jerome, I AM very much Awake”. But he did not wake me up, because I was also too excited to sleep as today was the day we were going to SAIL-A-WAY ON THE BRAND NEW CELEBRITY REFLECTION!!!

 

There was nothing left to do, no unfinished business, we were all packed, having completed that by 11 PM the night before, so I brewed coffee and we looked at each other and both of us saying at the same time “Tomorrow morning we will be drinking Cappuccino with Bailey’s at Café Al Bacio“…..and by the way, that we did!

 

So begins our journey on one of the most celebrated New Ships in the Celebrity Fleet. Having had almost 30 cruises under my belt, I never considered Celebrity up until now. I thought that Celebrity would be a Cruise Line I would sail on in twenty years, not in my mid-50’s. I thought we would be inundated and overrun with Walkers and Rascals. Was I wrong.

 

We were Carnival and Norwegian fanatics and loved the party atmosphere. However, our last few sailings on Carnival and Norwegian, they were one big fat disappointment to us, and we had noticed such drastic cuts in food, service, quality and just plain good people to have fun with.

 

We began our journey at Ten in the morning. We live in South Central Florida in an area called The Treasure Coast. It’s about a two hour drive to Miami, and since it was Saturday, there was no traffic to be expected. However, our neck of the woods on this day was not living up to Florida’s slogan of being The Sunshine State. It was a deluge of water pouring down….crap….going on a cruise is supposed to start with Florida Sun! It was dreary. Jerome kept saying, we will drive out of it. I did not tell him I had the weather radar on my phone and it was torrential all the way to Miami…..thank gosh Jerome was driving.

 

I always get so excited to go on a cruise. I know deep inside that I am going on a ship, so every five minutes I just want to TINKLE! You know that feeling, right? I get so excited that I just want to weeeeee out the window like the Geico Pig does in the commercial……see, I knew you would know what I was talking about. But it was raining, so no hanging out the window for me.

 

When Jerome and I sail out of Miami, we always choose to park our car with Premiere Parking USA. We have been using them for three years, whether we have sailed out of Tampa, Fort Lauderdale or Miami. It’s safe, secure and only about $60.00 for the week and includes transportation to and from the port. Great Deal and Great Service.

 

When we sail out of Miami, what we always do first is to drop our luggage off at the Ship Terminal. Once our luggage is taken care of, we drive back over the bridge and park the car, taking the Premiere Parking Shuttle Van to the ship. This way, we don’t have to wait in line to check our luggage and we can proceed right into the security detail line.

 

I love that first drive over the bridge to the Port of Miami and of course as we go over the bridge, I catch the first sight of The Reflection and immediately have to Tinkle! “Look!” I exclaim, “There She Is!” “Yep” Jerome nods and then says, “Can you see our room?” I am so excited……”Oh, there it is!” I exclaimed, “Yes, Deck 6, Deck 7, Deck 8...that’s it!” I was counting the decks up from the aft of the ship. We were in Stateroom 8338 Port side, and this is the last balcony at the end of the ship before the round window of the corner Sky Suite. Hurry up, I said to myself, I really have to Tinkle!

 

We dropped off our four bags (two identical Wheelies and 2 identical Garment Bags) and I tipped the Porter my customary $5.00 per bag. Handing the $20 bill to the Porter, I asked him “To take very good care of these”. Yes, Sir” he said, “I will take good care of all your bags, Sir”. “You have a wonderful cruise!” (Needless to say, our bags all arrived at the same time and were at our stateroom at precisely 3PM….amazing!) Things that make you go hmmmm?

 

We drove back over the bridge to the parking lot, which is less that a mile and about 8 minutes total by Shuttle. Yes, we are finally going to go on a cruise. Can we finally get on the ship! I really have to Tinkle!

 

The weather had eased up a bit as we arrived and it was not raining in Miami….yet. The clouds that were heading east towards us were as black as night and were angry with Thunder and Lightning that lit the sky like a Christmas Tree, and yes it was only just after Twelve Noon..

 

We get to the Premiere Parking USA Lot, put our paperwork on the dashboard, park the car and run to get under the canopy as the rain drops had started coming down hard. It is very organized and they have five different vans going to the five different ships in port. We were the only ones for Celebrity, but several came into our line once the van got there. The line seemed the longest for the Carnival Breeze and for The Norwegian EPIC. (Our last cruise was on the EPIC and it was very odd, not good or bad, just Odd).

 

Once in the van, here we go again, over the bridge! I called shot gun and dibs on the front passenger seat in the van, so I got the full view of the Reflection and got to Tinkle once more! The driver took a short cut that avoided all the traffic, Note to self for next time…as you go over the bridge, take the first exit on the right, don‘t follow the signs. This exit takes you under the bridge and directly to the Reflection, which is docked first, and this way, we missed all the bumper to bumper traffic waiting for the other ships.

 

The rain eased up a bit as we arrived, and Jerome and I were finally going to get that picture which what we call the “Library Lady Tinkle Shot”. She took a pic at this exact spot and posted it in her review and every time I saw it, I would say, “That’s going to be us in six weeks, or six days,”, etc. And I would want to Tinkle. So here is my tribute to Library Lady in the

 

“Official Library Lady Almost Aboard Tinkle Shot”

 

 

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We entered into the Security Area, had our Passports checked as well as our bags screened, then went up to the Check-In Line after Line after Line. I said “Oh My”! to Jerome and he shook his head. We had never arrived at a Cruise Terminal this late before (Noon). We always checked in early to avoid the lines and all I can say was first impression….Yikes….but this later turns into “WOW”.

 

I had never seen so many lines and queues. Elite, Select, Concierge, Aqua, Suites, Deck 3,6,7, Deck 8,9,10. Oh my gosh the throngs of people. As this was our first cruise on Celebrity, we were not Elite or Select or Concierge (1A Deck 8), Not Aqua, not Deck 3,6 or 7.…finally at the end of the building we found where we belonged. What I initially saw was what seemed to be a never ending line. I thought to myself, here we go, this is gonna be all afternoon and cut into my Martini time…..I was unexpectedly surprised that as long as our line was, we waited no more than ten minutes until we were in front of an Agent to check us in. As I said before “WOW”!

 

Standing next to me was someone who would become a gal we would come to adore and fondly call the “Hat Lady” (as she wore a different hat to every occasion, including the pool, every day) She introduced herself to us and blurted right out “I just Love, Love, Love all the Gays and They Love Me!” That got a raised eyebrow from Jerome to me, and we thankfully were called up to check in. More on Hat Lady later, everyone on this cruise knews two people. Me and Hat Lady! That is for sure.

 

Three Minutes and we had our sign and sail card which also had the wonderful code PAL, which stands for PREMIUM ALCOHOL PACKAGE BABY AND ALL THE GREY GOOSE AND EVERYTHING ELSE I COULD EVER WANT FOR THE WEEK!

 

Yes, Jerome and I became those 1, 2, 3 Drunks you have heard about, and as a matter of fact, I think I am Right Might Proud of that distinction. Had it not been for this promotion, Jerome and I would never have considered Celebrity and it was the single reason we decided to try The Reflection. We thought that perhaps if we did like it, we should book additional cruises to insure that we get the 1,2,3 Drunk Packages on them too, so we went ahead and booked on the Reflection again in November 2013,, then also in April 2014 on the Eclipse. (We loved the Reflection and Celebrity so much that we went ahead and booked a fourth cruise while on board, for the Equinox in November 2014!) We booked the additional cruises even before we sailed on the Reflection, but there were so many positive reviews on Cruise Critic, from so many people Jerome and I felt we would love to sail with that well, we crossed our fingers.

 

As I began to cross the Gangway from Land & Reality to Cruise & Fantasy (Yes I really did have to Tinkle at this point!) It began to torrential rain and a big thunder clap sounded overhead. I turned to Jerome and said “I hope that’s not a sign of what’s in store for us” and he said, “No, that thunder was for the people on the Carnival ships”. No he didn’t….crap he went there! In any case over the river and thru the tube I went and frankly it was NOT to Grandmother’s House I Go. It was an eye opening, brilliant, gorgeous awakening and what a truly classic group of eclectic passengers we came across. The only way to explain it is this:

 

All of the other cruises we have taken in the last ten years on Carnival, Norwegian, etc, I always felt that I was at the Kids Table at Thanksgiving. But as soon as I crossed the threshold on to The Celebrity Reflection, I realized that I was now a Grown Up and could finally sit at the Grown Up Table from now on. “WOW”!

 

Norwegian used to give Complimentary Champagne upon arrival, but that stopped . Now I know I am not in Kansas anymore. (As I always thought I was in the Land of Oz on The Reflection, even our Wine Steward in the Opus MDR was named Toto!)

The first of many toasts:

 

The image is too large so I am including it on it's own in the next post.

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Thanks for the shout out JW or Jerome - not sure whose nom de plume is Cruise Guy!

I have been eagerly awaiting your review as you had so much enthusiasm and anticipation pre-cruise. I certainly hope the cruise lived up to that (somehow I think you would make it fun any how:):p)

 

I love your photo- you should join us on the Jan. 12th Silhouette W. Caribbean. We already have a good group started. (If you need persuading, read Gambee's superlative review.)

 

I second Sandi's statement to check out Gambee's fantastic review of Silhouette :)

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