fussylady

I am considering the AMA Vietnam/Cambodia cruise.

One of my concerns is food safety in Asia.

We'll drink only bottled water. But we've travelled extensively through China and, as Americans, we were very careful about food and restaurant choices for food safety reasons.

The hotels we stayed at in China were 5-star hotels so we felt pretty safe eating in those places.

Did you have these same concerns onboard the AMALotus? Did you feel there were certain foods that were better to be avoided?

Thanks.

On our Jan. 4 Reflection cruise, the breakfast pancakes were delivered hot to our cabin. But so was the orange juice and yogurt (hot).

Hi, Grandgeezer: the practice of bringing your own wine to a restaurant is done all over the world. That's why they have a system of corkage fees.

Very often, the reason for this is that a diner may not be able to prepare a meal at home that is on the same level of excellence with the wine you would like to drink.

Or sometimes, a restaurant may not offer a certain type of wine that you would like to pair with a certain food that is on the restaurant menu.

In my case, I knew that we would be dining at the Tuscan Grill. I brought a very special Tuscan wine I had wanted to pair with this menu.

Celebrity allows for this practice with their corkage fee. They understand that people with a special interest in wine sometimes want to pair a specific wine with a specific type of food.

Please know that people who do this are not doing anything unethical. Thank you for your understanding.

Happy sailing.

On our Jan. 4 Reflection Cruise, we received a complimentary bottle of wine from the ship. We brought it to dinner at Murano and it was very graciously opened and served by the sommelier, Michel. NO corkage fee for complimentary wine from ship. We happily gave a nice tip to Michel for his very excellent, professional service.

OTOH....we had brought a special bottle of wine from home to celebrate my birthday at the Tuscan Grill, well aware of the $25 corkage fee for bringing your own wine.

The Sommelier at the Tuscan Grill was notably ungracious about opening and serving a wine we did not buy from the menu...even though we were paying a $25 corkage fee...which I assume covered a gratuity to him. He approached our table and without even a hello or good evening, very gruffly asked if we wanted him to open the bottle, mentioning the $25 fee.

He opened the bottle, poured 2 glasses and left...never returning. For the rest of the dinner, the waitress poured the wine or we poured it ourselves.

His attitude was like a toddler in a bad mood.

It was a "downer" to this dinner. And we expected much better from service in this restaurant.

But it saved us the extra tip we were going to leave for this sommelier if he had been more pleasant. And unfortunately it left us with a bad taste for the Tuscan Grill. We would not dine there again.

"Hope that DH doesn't run into anyone on the ship with the common cold."

ME, TOO!!!

And I'll be bringing my Clorox wipes and Lysol, too.

There is now an official alert on the CDC website about this virus. It advises travelers to wear long sleeves and long pants and to use insect repellent.

I saw an article about this virus in the Miami Herald today. If you check the CDC website or the US State Dept website under traveler warnings for St. Maarten/Martin, there's no mention of this.

However, if you check the CDC website for travel warnings for "clinicians", it does mention the threat of Dengue Fever in association with that island.

DH and I will be on the Reflection in a few weeks. We've been to St. Maarten/Martin before. In view of the report today in the newspaper, we decided to just stay on the ship. In fact, DH may not even venture onto the deck!! Maybe we're being over-protective. But there's nothing there we really need to see anyway.

I haven't seen anything else with regard to cruise ships docking there.

I was wondering if the wine list for Murano and Tuscan Grill restaurants on the Reflection is available online somewhere.

Thanks

I've tried the various VOIP services on trips to Europe and it is just my own personal opinion that Viber was easiest to set up and use. The voice quality was excellent...even better than my regular phone service. Texting was excellent too. But you must have access to excellent wifi service as well to use it.

I think I will contact AT&T for more info about their cruise packages which they have with celebrity. If I'm going to have to pay extra, I'd rather pay for something efficient. The wifi packages on the ship are a waste IMO even for email. I'd rather just wait for port and find free wifi.

Thanks for all the comments. I'm picking up a lot of ideas.

Thanks so much for these very helpful replies.

Lsimon, thanks for including the AT&T coverage map.

Before I leave I will be contacting AT&T to discuss all options and to verify verify verify.

I was reading the posts here on CC about improved Internet service on board if you have a laptop and Ethernet connection....that the staterooms on S-class have Ethernet connections.

If I do this, how is it billed to me by X ? Is it the same packages as for wifi ?

As I said before, the wifi service on equinox was so terrible I wouldn't waste any more money on it.

Thanks again for the replies and explanations.

I'm an iPhone AT&T customer. I've been told that in ports like San Juan and St. Thomas, because they are US territory, I would be charged according to the same plans I have at home.

Is this correct?

I already have experience with Internet on board the Equinox and it was painfully slow. It took about 45 minutes to print out 1 boarding pass. This next cruise on Reflection I will not bother buying any Internet minutes. Instead, I will wait for the ports and maybe see where the crew goes for free wifi !!

Thanks

Do they offer special yoga classes on Carib cruises?....( The kind you pay extra for??)

Can anyone give me an idea of when they schedule these classes? How often?

What are the classes like?

Thanks.

On our last X cruise, we loved the Aqua Spa menu.....but it was a VERY long wait on line for orders to be taken and there was no place to sit after getting the food. All the surrounding tables were taken by passengers who had NOT taken food from this cafe. After one try, we never went back.

Have the conditions at the Aqua Spa cafe improved??

Lsimon, thanks for the input.

Thanks again for the notes. Yes, San Juan will be our first stop.

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I think we'll try some days room service...to enjoy our balcony....and some days Blu.....the raves about the coffee are especially enticing.

Thanks also for the links to the menus.

Your advice is very much appreciated.

We would enjoy eating breakfast in our "jammie's" on our balcony. But we are concerned that hot foods will arrive cold.

I would appreciate some opinions on whether this is a valid concern on Reflection.

Does breakfast get delivered on time? Do eggs arrive hot or cold?

Can someone please give me a link for the breakfast menu in Blu and for the Aqua class room service breakfast menu?

Thanks.

Ok, thanks. That should make it easy for exploring the town with easy access to and from the ship. I guess no taxi or bus required?

Thanks again,

Where does the Reflection dock in San Juan? How far is it to walk to the main street in "old town"?

Thanks

When the ship is in port for the day, is lunch served only in MDR and buffet on top deck? Are any of the other restaurants open? (The Porch? Bistro on 5 ?)

Thanks.

Hi, someguyfl,

Thanks for your explanation and suggestion.

School is getting out about now, and so i will go outside to find a teenager walking home who can explain to me what you said.

Thanks again.

Sandi, thanks for answering my questions. I am especially pleased about your reports of the wifi service.

And thanks also for the tour of the bars !!!

Can't wait for you to continue.

LOVING your review, Sandi !! We are on this cruise next year.

When we were on the Equinox last year the wifi service was pretty terrible, both on our iPads and even on the computers in the ilounge. So SLOW!!! It was a total waste of money buying the packages. We swore we would never do it again. We would just learn to endure a week without Internet access.

Did you find the service on the Reflection any more efficient? I'm told they might have upgraded the system.

I also don't understand what you meant when you wrote that on the first night passengers who went to Blu were offered 50% off to eat elsewhere. Do you mean that when they went into the Blu restaurant for dinner that night they were told about the discount offer?

We loved the food offered for lunch at the Aqua Spa Cafe but always found the service so disorganized and very crowded with loooong waits to take orders and prepare the food. Tables were not cleaned and it was difficult to find a place to sit. We gave up trying to eat there. Was it any better on your cruise this time?

I would love to hear about The Porch. We also used to go to Bistro on Five for first day lunch..so quiet and relaxing. I'm hoping that a lot of the deficits you mention are due only to the new ship adjustments and not something permanent.

Thanks again.

Equinox 1641

Cabin # 1641

Deck 11

Aqua Class

Bed near Bath

VERY Quiet

Unobstructed view

Normal size balcony

One of my big concerns is noise. I don't want to be near the stairs or the elevator. I don't want to be under or over any of the noisier places on the ship. I don't want to be in a busy section of the hallway. This cabin was perfect.

But please keep in mind that it is NOT located close to the Relaxation Room or the spa. It is a long walk....pretty much to the other end of the ship. So if this bothers you, find a different location. We LIKE long walks....and it helps burn up some of those calories!