The Brilliant Reflection - A Review of 1-12-2013 Sailing with Photos (Very Long)

[KentuckyFarmGirl]

grnidlad8: I would also like to know the answer to that question as we have the Premium Bev Package and would like to enjoy the libations at Molecular. We will also be sailing with you on the April 13th Reflection sailing!

 

Also, may I please invite you to come and join the Reflection April 13, 2013 Roll Call? You sound like fun and would love to meet you!

 

JW and Jerome

 

 

We'll be on the April 13th cruise as well! Can't wait!

[MitziMo]

Thanks Sandi for your wonderful extensive review of Reflection. Your hard work, time and effort is so helpful to all of us. We sail her on March 23 and we can't wait to be onboard I can't tell you how many times I have gone back to research your review for details we might want to have. Your review with pictures is the "gold standard" of CC reviews - the best I have ever read!

 

One small detail question I have is : Does the cabin bathroom door slide open or open and close on a hinge? I would like to take my clear vinyl shoe bag to organize our toiletries and hang it on the top of the door. If it "slides", is there some other place in the cabin to hang it? I have not seen any pics of the door.

 

I really don't like clutter on the desktop and vanity. We have taken your suggestion and purchased some of the fabric cubes and a light weight organizer to hang in the closet for shoes.

 

Thanks so much again for your review. Every time I can't stand the excitement of our upcoming cruise, I pass a little time going to some of my favorite pages of your review! :)

 

Ellen

[Golfinesq]

Hi Ellen

I was on Reflection on the same sailing as Sandi and the bathroom doors definitely close on hinges.

[legaljen1969]

Here are a few photos from the Opening Night Show:

 

Matt & Riley:

 

Orchestra (Rory on the far left):

 

The night was still young (and we didn't have to get up early in the morning) so we decided to check out the Ensemble Lounge, which had been one of our favorite bars on Eclipse.

 

Note: These photos were taken earlier in the day when it was light enough to get decent pictures!

 

 

 

The Vivian Clement Jazz Trio was playing a set.

 

Oh man. We saw the Vivian Clement Trio on Solstice in March 2012. I loved them. Great musicians.

[reefisher]

We tried to catch them every night. A little guitar jazz, a little blues, a few standards. Vivian has her own style, if there are 30 notes in the phrase, she picks only the key ones and cuts it down to 10. The piano player plays a bass line on synth with the left hand and the piano with the right. The bar there is great too, with Jimmy from Ecuador running around keeping everybody happy. He reminded me of Manuel from Fawlty Towers.

[CruizinTime]

I will be on this great ship march 16, what i would like to know if the pools

are salt water or fresh water. Thanks.

[MitziMo]

Thanks, Charlie. We'll pack our door hanger.

[librarylady19]

I will be on this great ship march 16, what i would like to know if the pools

are salt water or fresh water. Thanks.

 

Fresh water.

[lobster129]

Hi Sandi,

 

Spectacular review of the cruise we shared with you. As with the S-class spreadsheet in your signature link....it is perfect! The time and energy you devote to the CC postings is incredibly helpful. I am one of your big fans!:D

 

Tell Scott great job with the photos...WOW! Really shows the details the cruisers want to see!:)

 

We should have bought Target stock before you posted. (giggle) I believe their sales of the storage cube must has skyrocked in the past 6 weeks! :eek:

 

For those wondering about the MDR experience....I can share our impression. (of consideration is that we booked AQ and Blu dining past three cruises) We heard MDR has improved significantly....so decided to give it another try. We were very pleased with both our choices and the quality,presentation, and flavor of our menu selections. I extended our compliments to one of the Assistant Maitre d's and he graciously shared that Celebrity is the only cruise line that has increased their food budget for MDR in the past year (more selections, higher quality) We were delighted with our decision to give it another try. Did dine in Specialty Dining rooms on 4 nights as well. (Dining Pkg Christmas Gift):p

 

Thanks again for ALL you do!:D

Becky

[librarylady19]

Hi Sandi,

 

Spectacular review of the cruise we shared with you. As with the S-class spreadsheet in your signature link....it is perfect! The time and energy you devote to the CC postings is incredibly helpful. I am one of your big fans!:D

 

Tell Scott great job with the photos...WOW! Really shows the details the cruisers want to see!:)

 

We should have bought Target stock before you posted. (giggle) I believe their sales of the storage cube must has skyrocked in the past 6 weeks! :eek:

 

For those wondering about the MDR experience....I can share our impression. (of consideration is that we booked AQ and Blu dining past three cruises) We heard MDR has improved significantly....so decided to give it another try. We were very pleased with both our choices and the quality,presentation, and flavor of our menu selections. I extended our compliments to one of the Assistant Maitre d's and he graciously shared that Celebrity is the only cruise line that has increased their food budget for MDR in the past year (more selections, higher quality) We were delighted with our decision to give it another try. Did dine in Specialty Dining rooms on 4 nights as well. (Dining Pkg Christmas Gift):p

 

Thanks again for ALL you do!:D

Becky

 

Hi Becky,

Nice to hear from you! Did you ever get pics from our pub crawl you so kindly organized?

Who would have believed that the storage cubes would be such a hot topic!! I sure appreciate your tip for these!!

[Sir Tans-a-lot]

Have to concur with what many others on this thread have said - excellent review. DW and I are sailing on March 16th - I used your thread to convince her that we should sail on the Reflection (it was a toss-up between the cruise and an all-inclusive, with the cruise being my first choice!).

[CruizinTime]

Sir Tan-A-LOT If your not the boards for March16, you should come

join us.

[Gibbs1986]

 

Concluding our fascinating tour of the fort, we decided to hop on the free trolley to El Morro.

 

 

Not that we couldn't use the exercise of a walk but the trolley is so convenient! It was a breezy day, so there were lots of people flying kites.

We didn't stop to visit El Morro as we had toured the fort on a previous visit. We agreed that both forts were well worth visiting for both the history and the wonderful views.

 

We hopped off the trolley somewhere in OSJ, And spent a little time wandering the streets enjoying the colorful architecture, quite different from the Caribbean.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to Reflection to enjoy the ship while others were in port.

 

I noticed the Great Lakes Brewing Co. hat your husband is wear! I live about 20mins west of the brewery and one of our favorite places to go and one of my favorite brews!

[TMWOOD1012]

libarylady, when was your Eclipse cruise?

[Lois R]

libarylady, when was your Eclipse cruise?

 

Hi,:) they sailed Jan 12th...it is in her title;):D:)

Edited March 7, 2013 by Lois R

[librarylady19]

libarylady, when was your Eclipse cruise?

 

Our Eclipse cruise was Dec 10, 2011.

[librarylady19]

I noticed the Great Lakes Brewing Co. hat your husband is wear! I live about 20mins west of the brewery and one of our favorite places to go and one of my favorite brews!

 

That's cool - lucky you! We visited while in Cleveland to see Springsteen. Great food and beer option n in your town - our favorite places were Lolita and Greenhouse Tavern.

[jackdiamond]

Hi,:) they sailed Jan 12th...it is in her title;):D:)

I believe that it was December 10, 2011.

[lobster129]

Hi Becky,

Nice to hear from you! Did you ever get pics from our pub crawl you so kindly organized?

Who would have believed that the storage cubes would be such a hot topic!! I sure appreciate your tip for these!!

 

Hi Sandi,

 

Sorry, I didn't take any photos during the Poker Run. I needed to "stay on task" as the organizer of the Poker Run and making sure we made it to the right bar at the right time. :p Fortunately I had a variety of players willing to take turns shuffling as well as a "banker". :)

 

BTW, was @ Target today and those great storage cubes were on sale @ $1.00 off each! ;)

 

Becky

[Lois R]

Our Eclipse cruise was Dec 10, 2011.

 

Oh wow...I was thinking Reflection:D...sorry about that!

[Lois R]

Hi,:) they sailed Jan 12th...it is in her title;):D:)

 

oops....I was thinking Silhouette...sorry I posted the wrong date.:eek:

[cfodonna]

Thank you LibraryLady! This was a wonderful glimpse at the Reflection. We are going on March 16th and now I am even more excited. Thanks for all the hard work and I love the comments mixed in with the review!

[librarylady19]

I just wanted to thank everyone so much for your kind words. I am amazed this review has been viewed by so many people and has been useful to many of you.

 

You all know what a big fan I am of Cruise Critic and I'm very pleased to be able to pay back some of the advice I've recieved from other more seasoned cruisers in the past 3 years.

 

Now if only they would hurry up and release the 2014 itineraries so I can book another cruise:o

Edited March 11, 2013 by librarylady19

[Lois R]

I just wanted to thank everyone so much for your kind words. I am amazed this review has been viewed by so many people and has been useful to many of you.

 

You all know what a big fan I am of Cruise Critic and I'm very pleased to be able to pay back some of the advice I've recieved from other more seasoned cruisers in the past 3 years.

 

Now if only they would hurry up and release the 2014 itineraries so I can book another cruise:o

 

Hi Sandi:) I know....me too.....I found out today there is a real

possibility I will be able to go back to Europe next year:D

[librarylady19]

Hi Sandi:) I know....me too.....I found out today there is a real

possibility I will be able to go back to Europe next year:D

 

That's awesome; I know how much you loved your Med cruise last year. I'm hoping for the 7 daynEuropean itineraries as Scott refuses to go to Europe without visiting Belgium :)