3rd Time Lucky! - Miami, Celebrity Reflection 2nd April & Miami Trip Report

[kikki21]

Day 2 - day at sea, a very chilled out day indeed! [emoji106]🏻[emoji4]

We did a bit of walking round & were delighted by the offerings in the Oceanview Cafe when we got a bit peckish later on!

 

 

We sat out some more in the sun before getting ready for Evening Chic night. We decided to eat in Blu.

 

 

The art around the ship is really quite quirky & we rather like it!

 

 

This is hubby's favourite!

 

We are really enjoying Blu & like the atmosphere & the food in there with maybe a few misses.

 

We both had the macadamia nut encrusted scallops which were lovely but we didn't think the grapefruit went with the dish that well.

 

 

Still ate them though!

 

 

The husband had the pan seared salmon & was asked how he wanted it cooking which through him a bit as he'd never been asked before so he laughed & said cooked!

 

 

I had the lamb chops with the radioactive mint jelly! I remember this in Royal Caribbean ships! It tastes nice but isn't like English mint jelly, this one is more spearmint in flavour! [emoji16]

[kikki21]

We decided to have dessert & I went for the classic Creme brûlée as I just fancied it & hubby went for the apple crumble a la mode which he really enjoyed.

 

 

I also fancied a coffee so I had the Caramel Macchiato. It's really good having the classic drinks package.

 

 

We have been invited to get upgraded a few times but we don't really drink that much anyway & I can always find a drink to have!

 

 

We like the Ensemble Lounge when it's all dark at night & we also liked finally being able to use the Sky Lounge last night too as it's taken up by a lot of private functions!

 

 

More art around the ship & the lighting around the ship at night is also most attractive!

 

[kikki21]

According to our daily, we are scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 2.30pm & leave at 9.00pm, this is why I asked a couple of weeks ago as the cruise website & documents have us down to arrive at 3.30pm & leave at 11.00pm!

 

I guess we'll find out when we get there!

 

 

We had a couple of drinks in the Sky Observation Lounge where at the time we were there, the DJ had quite the obsession with anything Pitbull related which amused me no end!

I asked for a cocktail with Baileys in it & sure enough one of the bar tenders made one for me, when I asked what was in it, he said everything!

 

Don't think he was far wrong either! Think we went back to our stateroom a tiny bit merry!

[kikki21]

Day 3 San Juan - the weather has been lovely on the cruise & the seas are calm but we are being blown about by the wind!

 

There is quite a lot of movement of the ship bouncing around a bit. It doesn't bother me but the husband noticed it & commented that the ship is a bit weebly wobbly! Men eh! [emoji15]

 

So I'm heading off back to bed now, we're looking forward to exploring San Juan when we get there! [emoji4]

[ebheart]

]

We had a couple of drinks in the Sky Observation Lounge where at the time we were there, the DJ had quite the obsession with anything Pitbull related which amused me no end!

 

On our last cruise on Royal Caribbean they played Pitbull all the time - I think it's because he has "Caribbean" flavor but is still recognizable and familiar. One song, in particular, now always reminds me of that cruise! :)

[kikki21]

We had a lovely day in San Juan! [emoji4] I will get more of a chance to catch up with my review tomorrow evening as I really need to get some sleep ahead of tomorrow's full day in St Thomas!

 

Highlights today included just walking around San Juan, dinner at a lovely restaurant I found on TripAdvisor as all our original choices were either fully booked or closed on a Monday! [emoji848]

 

We actually went to a show tonight! [emoji15] this is quite a thing for us but I happened to note that it was a guy by the name of Lou Garazza who was singing & he was in the American Idol finals for season 2.

What a fantastic singer he is! [emoji8]

[kikki21]

Still reporting in & will do a fuller review of our 3 active days at our ports when I'm being lazy on our 2 sea days back to Miami! [emoji4]

St Thomas was full of stunning scenery & the 6 years added wait to see the island was worth it & to add 2 more bites to my insect bite collection despite spraying myself with insect repellent spray! [emoji15]

 

Anyway, it's time to go to sleep! We are doing our own thing in St Maarten [emoji4]

[kikki21]

Good morning LIVE from the Celebrity Reflection on day at sea no 2! [emoji4]

We have had 3 splendid port days & each one seemed to get better & better.

We like to do our own thing in ports as much as possible so we are on our own schedule & not anyone else's & you can do this at these ports, there are plenty of taxis around & you can negotiate a price with them! [emoji4]

Our Puerto Rico call was 2.30pm to 9.00pm so definitely NOT the time that is still on the Celebrity schedules - this seems to vary though, which is why I asked the question on the CC forum a few weeks ago.

 

For San Juan, we decided to get off, find one of the free trolleys to ride, get off somewhere, walk around, do some shopping & have a good meal somewhere! [emoji4]

 

Be warned that a lot of the top restaurants on Trip Advisor are closed on a Monday! However we did find one that was open.

 

 

 

The best thing to do is to walk round to trolley stops 13 or 14 which is what we did, in the rain! Every port we were greeted with rain, luckily these were passing showers, although some of them were quite heavy!

 

 

We actually saw a lot of the sights of Old San Juan just by doing this & walking around & by getting off at El Morro, you walk downhill!

[kikki21]

We decided not to walk up to the fort & explore but it looked great from our perspective.

 

 

 

We also found a very friendly ginger cat nearby at the museum!

 

 

Totem Pole, bit random but there you go!

 

 

The famous El Convento Hotel, which is opposite the Cathedral.

[kikki21]

We were making our way to Fortuleza St which is one of the main shopping streets in Old San Juan.

 

 

 

I spy a ship ( we were the only ship in port today)

 

 

The lookout point was next to the gatehouse which was populated by about a million pigeons!

 

 

We found the home of the original Pina Colada & of course, it would have been rude not to go & sample one! We had one to take away & it was very good indeed!

[kikki21]

Barrachina's was very busy with people both eating & drinking! The Pina colada was very refreshing so we carried on.

 

I snap away pictures on my digital camera which are all edited later & then also take pics on my iPhone. I try to vary the shots on both!

 

 

Old San Juan is quite hilly [emoji852]️ and has plenty of cobbles which after a shower could be slippy so it's good to wear appropriate footwear! I'm finding my Skechers very comfy as we tend to walk a couple of miles a day!

[kikki21]

 

There are lots of beautiful buildings in Old San Juan & I loved the beautiful & varied colours on the buildings. Shopping done - we headed down Fortuleza Street to our dining destination.

 

Hubby & I love good food & we had heard lots of good things about Marmalade so I was keen to make a booking, unfortunately the entire restaurant was booked out tonight by a group booking. My other choices were closed on a Monday so I hastily looked on Trip Advisor & booked this place.

 

 

Aquaviva has a good write up on Fodor's so we decided to head here, afterwards it is only a short walk back to the pier & in effect we have completed a loop round Old San Juan.

 

 

It's primarily a fish restaurant as you may tell from the light with an open kitchen. It was good to finally sit down in the cool after our sight seeing.

 

 

We shared a plate of calamari for a starter ( huge portion) which were very light & tasty ( no rubber here) & served with a lobster aioli.

[kikki21]

 

 

Martin had the grilled Mahi Mahi as his main which he really enjoyed, it came with a garlicky mofongo which was really tasty.

 

 

I had the jumbo shrimp with gnocchi - again very tasty food! We were too stuffed for a dessert!

 

A lot of the shops had closed/were closing already so we headed back to the ship via the CVS store.

 

 

The ship was beautifully lit up at night!

 

 

We went up on deck for a very atmospheric sail away out of San Juan.

[kikki21]

 

After the sailaway, we got ourselves ready to see a show!

Yes, see a show! We don't normally see shows, not because we don't like them but because we're usually too tired after a day out so our normal routine becomes get ready, have a drink, eat dinner then casino!

 

Tonight though we saw this man.

 

 

We have watched a number of American Idol series in the UK so we vaguely remembered Lou Garazza & he was really excellent! He does a few shows around the Celebrity ships so please try & catch him if you can. He sings a variety of styles!

 

And so ended our 1st port of call, onto St Thomas next!

[kikki21]

We knew St Thomas was going to be busy as there were a lot of ships heading there.

 

I always have a look at each port to see what ships are in, it's a good way to eye up future ships!

 

[ATTACH]382156[/ATTACH]

 

We were joined at the Havensight Dock by the Norwegian Escape & the Royal Princess.

 

Other on the other side was a Carnival ship & the Oasis of the Seas.

 

[ATTACH]382157[/ATTACH]

 

Formation sailing!

 

[ATTACH]382158[/ATTACH]

 

We had room service breakfast on the balcony this morning. We didn't want a mental start to the day & we had opted for a private tour which started at 10am.

 

I am pretty sure that when my Epic cruise went west instead of east that I had booked in with Sunny Liston Tours so I booked in with them again.

 

[ATTACH]382159[/ATTACH]

 

The harbour area is simply stunning.

 

The tour was late picking us up, we understand that this is Caribbean time & stuff happens but we were starting to think they weren't coming at all. The tour we picked was shopping & sightseeing which cut down on the shopping time from 2 hours to 1.5hrs - I guess the only person pleased about that was my husband! [emoji23]

[Gracie115]

Take good care of her on sail back to Miami....we board her tomorrow!!! :D:D

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[kikki21]

Take good care of her on sail back to Miami....we board her tomorrow!!! :D:D

 

 

Ooh we are certainly doing that & lucky you, she is an awesome ship! [emoji7]

[kikki21]

OP;

 

 

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful cruise.....:):):)

 

 

 

Bob

 

 

Thank you still having a fantastic cruise, not over yet! However the dreaded packing awaits us this afternoon, well as late as we can leave it! [emoji4]

[Woobstr112G]

Thank you still having a fantastic cruise, not over yet! However the dreaded packing awaits us this afternoon, well as late as we can leave it! [emoji4]

 

Enjoy your last day onboard.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Barwick Cruiser]

We knew St Thomas was going to be busy as there were a lot of ships heading there.

 

I always have a look at each port to see what ships are in, it's a good way to eye up future ships!

 

[ATTACH]382156[/ATTACH]

 

We were joined at the Havensight Dock by the Norwegian Escape & the Royal Princess.

 

Other on the other side was a Carnival ship & the Oasis of the Seas.

 

[ATTACH]382157[/ATTACH]

 

Formation sailing!

 

[ATTACH]382158[/ATTACH]

 

We had room service breakfast on the balcony this morning. We didn't want a mental start to the day & we had opted for a private tour which started at 10am.

 

I am pretty sure that when my Epic cruise went west instead of east that I had booked in with Sunny Liston Tours so I booked in with them again.

 

[ATTACH]382159[/ATTACH]

 

The harbour area is simply stunning.

 

The tour was late picking us up, we understand that this is Caribbean time & stuff happens but we were starting to think they weren't coming at all. The tour we picked was shopping & sightseeing which cut down on the shopping time from 2 hours to 1.5hrs - I guess the only person pleased about that was my husband! [emoji23]

 

Is it just me or did these pics not show for anyone else? I see it as an attachment but can't click to bring up a photo...

 

Great review otherwise, hope your last day is good and disembarking is smooth!

[kikki21]

Not sure why the last pics haven't showed up but have posted them

as normal!

 

Going to post a little out of sequence here but I will come back to finish off! [emoji4]

 

It has been a fantastic cruise. A good mix of ports to visit & things to do & rest & relaxation which is what both of us really needed.

 

There is no doubt that we will sail Celebrity again. Not sure when that will be as we have a cruise booked for July 2017 already & even with the mass of perks they give you if you want to book onboard - the cruise I'm looking at worked out really expensive!

 

It might well be that we'll sail on Celebrity's new ship planned for Autumn 2018 but I am hoping we will sail sooner than that!

[upwarduk]

I get a message to say 'invalid attachment' too!

A shame your cruise is over so soon.

[kikki21]

I get a message to say 'invalid attachment' too!

 

A shame your cruise is over so soon.

 

 

I hate getting off as it is lol! [emoji4] going to hate it even more today which is why I booked us a few more days in Miami afterwards in a lovely Art Deco hotel on Ocean Drive to lessen the pain a bit!

 

We docked in Miami this morning at 5.15am so just getting ready to enjoy our final breakfast [emoji17]

[upwarduk]

hate getting off as it is lol! going to hate it even more today which is why I booked us a few more days in Miami afterwards in a lovely Art Deco hotel on Ocean Drive to lessen the pain a bit!

 

It's too far to fly for just one week, you have just about got over the jet lag and it's time to return!:eek: