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CHICAGOPAUL - LIVE! From Celebrity REFLECTION & TURNING 30!!!!!

chicagopaul

By chicagopaul,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Debik

Debik

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Happy 30th Birthday Paul. Hope you have a fantastic day and a wonderful cruise. Thank you for taking the time out to blog about it. Loving it so far. We will be on this ship March 18th and reading your blog is making us soooo excited. This will be our first cruise on celebrity.

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chicagopaul

chicagopaul

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We had a wonderful day in Key West. If you saw my Instagram photos you saw the weather was perfect. Around 80 and sunny. The clouds kept thinning out and it was nothing but blue skies in the afternoon.

 

We ended up having lunch in Key West with Dawn and Lisa who we met on a previous Reflection cruise and are on this sailing. We ate at Pinchers and had their grouper tacos which were very good. Dawn and Lisa insisted on picking up the check for my birthday. After some protest they won out. Thank you! So sweet!

 

We then walked a little way to find a restaurant that has very good key lime pie. The line was too long so we just walked back and got some by the ship.

 

Prior to getting off the ship we helped open up sunset bar at 9:30am. A couple good screw drivers and bloody Mary's and good banter with Uriel (bartender from Jamaica) and Santa got us ready for the day.

 

I'm sitting on the balcony now and watching the waves go by. It's 6:05 on the ship currently. I'm just waiting for Edward to finish getting ready and we will hit the Martini bar.

 

I'll check to see how long the bartenders are all hanging around for as well as other crew. I can tell you that Putu is leaving after this cruise as well as Dev in Luminae.

 

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2 for 1 drinks at Pinchers. We had no choice!

 

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Great Grouper tacos. We had them blackened.

 

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Is this what Alexander, the former cruise director, is doing now?

 

 

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Zoey1 "Live from...." Rare

Zoey1

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068cb7a169dda8728633cadbd44ff8f8.jpg

 

Such a meaningful birthday gift

 

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Watching the master at work

 

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Who is on board

 

 

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Hi Paul,

The link above does not list Michael's Club concierge can you tell me if Maritza Moolman is still there?

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mit429

mit429

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So sad to see that Maarten has left as Cruise Director, he was such a treat when we were on in January!

 

A bit of a random question for you Paul - I noticed the iPad dock sitting on the desk in your Suite. I've heard that some Suites have had them removed, so not sure if there is any rhyme or reason as to which have them or which don't. I know it's an old 30-pin dock, so not terribly useful these days - but does it connect to the TV or anything, or is it merely a charging dock?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your live blog, it's off to a great start! And Happy Birthday, I'm a few months away from 31, and I can safely say that 30 has been a great age so far!

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upwarduk

upwarduk

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So sad to see that Maarten has left as Cruise Director, he was such a treat when we were on in January!

---But Sue Denning is EVERYWHERE! I once asked her if she ever slept, as she greeted us back on board!

Her reply, ' Don't you worry about it darling!':hearteyes:

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chicagopaul

chicagopaul

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Good Morning everyone and Happy Monday!

 

Currently I'm sitting by the pool bar for the first time this cruise as it's our first of only two sea days this cruise. I'm happy to say Zanu is at the pool bar. We sailed with him on our Reflection TA as well as our Silhouette TA this past year. However this is his last week on the Reflection.

 

Last night was my birthday and Celebrity did not disappoint. We didn't mention it to anyone but my door was decorated. I received a birthday card. They gave me a bottle of Malbec (I really like this Malbec actually) and in Luminae there was a cake and the staff sang happy birthday.

 

Food has been great thus far. No major complaints. Gnocchi short rib appetizer was excellent last night. Veal cannelloni was fantastic.

 

The bar managers have been very visible and very engaging. Luis specifically has been awesome and has been having a lot of fun with the crew and the guests. We met Ramona, another bar manager last night and we talked with her for at least 20 minutes.

 

 

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chicagopaul

chicagopaul

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So sad to see that Maarten has left as Cruise Director, he was such a treat when we were on in January!

 

A bit of a random question for you Paul - I noticed the iPad dock sitting on the desk in your Suite. I've heard that some Suites have had them removed, so not sure if there is any rhyme or reason as to which have them or which don't. I know it's an old 30-pin dock, so not terribly useful these days - but does it connect to the TV or anything, or is it merely a charging dock?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your live blog, it's off to a great start! And Happy Birthday, I'm a few months away from 31, and I can safely say that 30 has been a great age so far!

 

 

 

Just a speaker / charger. Nothing that connects to the tv. It looks to me like it hasn't been used in a while!

 

You'll love Sue. We have yet to meet her but she seems great. Hoping to meet her tonight.

 

 

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Lakelife4me

Lakelife4me

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Happy Birthday!

 

Enjoy your time in Key West. I didn't realize the 7-day western made a stop there.

 

That is two of us.

 

 

Happy Birthday Paul and the report is fantastic. We will be on the March 25th sailing of the Reflection so I am really enjoying your reports!

 

 

Was Key West a last minute addition to the itinerary or did it replace another stop?

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mit429

mit429

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Just a speaker / charger. Nothing that connects to the tv. It looks to me like it hasn't been used in a while!

 

You'll love Sue. We have yet to meet her but she seems great. Hoping to meet her tonight.

 

 

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Hmmm thanks - weird that they just leave them there and haven't bothered to update the technology. Though they still use the iPad 1 when you request an iPad in the alcove, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

 

Oh that's good to hear, we loved Maarten, but what's cruising if you don't meet new people. Looking forward to hearing your impressions after meeting her!

 

 

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chicagopaul

chicagopaul

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That is two of us.

 

 

Happy Birthday Paul and the report is fantastic. We will be on the March 25th sailing of the Reflection so I am really enjoying your reports!

 

 

Was Key West a last minute addition to the itinerary or did it replace another stop?

 

 

 

It replaced Labadee. We were very excited for the private island and they made the change a couple months before sailing. The reason I believe was the Harmony was docking there too and it would have been very crowded. We were looking forward to the private suite beach etc but oh well. Key West is gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. But it's not the regular itinerary so don't count on it!

 

 

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Lakelife4me

Lakelife4me

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It replaced Labadee. We were very excited for the private island and they made the change a couple months before sailing. The reason I believe was the Harmony was docking there too and it would have been very crowded. We were looking forward to the private suite beach etc but oh well. Key West is gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. But it's not the regular itinerary so don't count on it!

 

 

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That certainly makes sense and appreciate the info!

 

Hope you two enjoy the rest of your cruise! (y):cocktail:

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Tiggertastic

Tiggertastic

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Paul happy birthday, could you fit in 2 things for me please, could you post a photo of the reflection sunset bar as I heard it's very different from most of the other solstice class ships. Secondly I saw the amazing Putu making your drink a the ,martini bar, would you ask him if he's on at Christmas, we've not seen him for 4 years

 

 

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