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

[chicagopaul]

Good morning Paul! Looks like you're continuing to have a great time, and that weather looks absolutely fantastic. After some big storms last night, it's another gray and rainy day here in Chicago. Rain is supposed to change over to snow later, so I guess March is coming in like a Lion. Good news is, it's officially March, and we fly to Miami on March 31 for our cruise on Reflection, so I'm seeing the light at the end of my count down, which has been going on for almost a year now. :)

 

Question. Is the Lawn Club Grill only open for lunch on sea days?

 

Are you staying on board again today?

 

 

 

We've been following the weather in Chicago and it seems like it can't make up its mind! I'm sure it will be an interesting spring.

 

You are correct on Lawn Club. Unfortunately it is only open for lunch on sea days and same is true for Sushi on 5. The porch however has been open for lunch.

 

We may get off the ship today. Not sure yet. I'm surprised by the amount of people staying on board. There seems to be many very avid cruisers on this cruise who have been to these ports so many times.

 

 

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[mvaughan]

We've been following the weather in Chicago and it seems like it can't make up its mind! I'm sure it will be an interesting spring.

 

You are correct on Lawn Club. Unfortunately it is only open for lunch on sea days and same is true for Sushi on 5. The porch however has been open for lunch.

 

We may get off the ship today. Not sure yet. I'm surprised by the amount of people staying on board. There seems to be many very avid cruisers on this cruise who have been to these ports so many times.

 

 

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For the WC departure on the 11th, we have no rel plans to get off the ship in Falmouth other to walk around pier and not sure about grand caymen yet...the port load is 18k people!

[jules815]

I'm trying to talk my daughter into staying on-board next month when we dock in St. Maarten. Although we love it there, we've been many times, and just learned we'll be in port that day with 6 other ships. :o There's nothing like an in-port pool day.

[chicagopaul]

Agree with both above. When it's so busy in port it's just another reason for us to stay on the ship. We really enjoy how empty the ship is on port days. Today we have 4 other ships with us in port.

 

 

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[floridaag]

Traffic in St. Maarten is particularly bad, especially with all the ships in port

[jules815]

Traffic in St. Maarten is particularly bad, especially with all the ships in port

 

Exactly. If anything, we might walk around the pier for a little while after breakfast, but been there done that, too. Perfectly happy staying on board.

[Traveling-the-World]

Thank you! I'll see what I can find out. We too are sailing Reflection in May. May 29th.

 

 

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Really enjoying your live review so far! My Husband (who will just have turned 30 as well) and I are on the May 29th sailing too in 2219, will you be in a suite then as well?

[chicagopaul]

 

 

 

 

Some ships with us today in Georgetown Grand Cayman.

 

 

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[HAM]

Really enjoying your live review so far! My Husband (who will just have turned 30 as well) and I are on the May 29th sailing too in 2219, will you be in a suite then as well?

 

 

THAT'S what I call planning ahead !!!!!;p;p;p;p;p

[Toftwood]

Lol

 

 

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[jules815]

Nice pictures of Liberty of the Seas. First pictures I've seen since they added the slides.

Any idea what line the smaller ship with a smiley on the funnel is?

[Lastdance]

Wow...all those ships in one small port; lots of people heading to warmer weather...I wonder if the April TA will have a lot who stay onboard...at least we will not encounter that many ships.:eek: Your posts keep me excited for my adventure! Thanks for providing so much interesting information...

[wendyam76]

Nice pictures of Liberty of the Seas. First pictures I've seen since they added the slides.

Any idea what line the smaller ship with a smiley on the funnel is?

 

 

I think the smiley face ship may be a Thomson cruise line one.

[tweetylori]

Happy belated birthday, and special thanks for any and all food porn! :p

[chicagopaul]

Harmony is next to us today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Here are some Sunset Bar photos from the Reflection. You'll notice the bar is sunken and a completely different design. At first I didn't like it but after 6 cruises on the Reflection I've really fallen in love with this bar. Plus Uriel and Milton are here. Some of the best bartenders on the ship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Good Afternoon and Happy Thursday everyone. Unfortunately this is our second to last day on the Reflection but we just received final payment notice for our May cruise which means that is less than 3 months away so we can't be too sad. For those who have asked we unfortunately will not be in a suite for our May cruise aboard the Reflection. We will be in a standard veranda cabin but will definitely get our ultimate dining package which will help make up for it.

 

Last night we saw the comedian on board whose name is Miguel Washington. I thought he was quite funny. He got a standing ovation at the end. The jokes ranged from jokes about living in different cities and some random shows he's performed to jokes about his ex wives. He did a nice job of pulling in audience members and making them parts of the jokes.

 

For dinner last night we went to Qsine with Dawn and Lisa. We made sure to eat a light lunch so we could enjoy the food. I was bad at nit taking photos but I did capture a photo of our iPad order for the night. For those of you who do not know you order your meal on an iPad. In total there are 20 items to choose from. Our waiter recommended we pick 6 and he would arrange portions to match our group size.

 

The food was great. We started sushi lollipops and then with the spring rolls (both short rib and veggie). We also had the crab lava cake (one of my favorites) followed by M's favorites (yes that's the name of the dish. It's the little box of random goodness that comes out. Chicken, lamb, hummus, etc). We then had filet followed by tacos and of course desert which was everything from chocolate tombstone to an apple crumble with ice cream to sorbet to creme brulee (minus the brulee) to chocolate covered strawberries.

 

The service was fantastic. It was a very enjoyable experience. Our Maitre' d from Luminae is named Nened. He has been fantastic the entire cruise. Extremely engaging but most importantly making sure everything is taken care of for us. He stopped by a couple times last night in Qsine to make sure dinner was going well. We even invited him to sit down and chat for a little while and had a great time learning about how he handles his restaurant.

 

We were so full after dinner last night that we actually went right to bed after dinner. We were asleep by midnight which means we awoke well rested today.

 

 

 

Chocolate tombstone

 

 

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[Tiggertastic]

Thanks Paul for the sunset bar photos, very different

 

 

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[Ma Bell]

Thanks Paul, will Nenad be there for the TA?

[chicagopaul]

Thanks Paul, will Nenad be there for the TA?

 

 

 

I'll confirm with him but he should be. He came on in middle of November and should be taking the crossing plus staying on for a bit. I think his contract is a bit open ended at the moment.

 

 

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[Ma Bell]

I'll confirm with him but he should be. He came on in middle of November and should be taking the crossing plus staying on for a bit. I think his contract is a bit open ended at the moment.

 

 

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Thank you. He left the company for a while but I was really happy to see him back. He is a wonderful guy. Any news on the Captain. If they would both be there we'd be really happy!

[C 2 C]

I think the smiley face ship may be a Thomson cruise line one.

 

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[Debik]

Here are some Sunset Bar photos from the Reflection. You'll notice the bar is sunken and a completely different design. At first I didn't like it but after 6 cruises on the Reflection I've really fallen in love with this bar. Plus Uriel and Milton are here. Some of the best bartenders on the ship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Great pics thank you, We can't wait to try this bar. Do you know if Uriel and Milton will still be on the ship for the upcoming March 18th sailing? we have heard they are great

[Softball20]

LOVE the layout of the Sunset bar on this ship. I'm definitely seeing lots of time there in my future! May can't come soon enough!

[chicagopaul]

Great pics thank you, We can't wait to try this bar. Do you know if Uriel and Milton will still be on the ship for the upcoming March 18th sailing? we have heard they are great

 

 

 

Yes I believe they said they would be but I will double check. I think they get off just before the TA but don't quote me yet. I'll ask in the morning.

 

 

Cheers from the Martini Bar

 

 

 

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