Reflection 4/13/24 and 4/21/24 B2B Live Review

[Barwick Cruiser]

22 hours ago, Kteacher said:

We got back to our cabin and the Moet mystery from yesterday was solved. It made a reappearance along with a decorated room, cake, lovely note, and a bottle of wine from the Marketing Director. Happy Anniversary to us- 45 years together, and 40 years married ❤️

Wow, lovely decorations and gifts! Congratulations on your 40th. We’re celebrating our 40th next month on the Silhouette…only in a regular veranda…wonder if we’ll get a petal or two? 🤷‍♀️😂 Will be interesting to find out! 

[Kteacher]

 Tonight was our 3rd time dining at Marmalade. It’s located on Calle Fortaleza, reservations recommended. I reserved on Open Table and noted our anniversary. The restaurant had rose petals waiting for us in our table ❤️. They do a 5 course meal which you can add a wine pairing with and I would suggest a good 3 hours for this meal.

   My husband started with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, a Hendricks and tonic concoction with cucumber and jalapeño. 

[Kteacher]

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

23 hours ago, Kteacher said:

We got back to our cabin and the Moet mystery from yesterday was solved. It made a reappearance along with a decorated room, cake, lovely note, and a bottle of wine from the Marketing Director. Happy Anniversary to us- 45 years together, and 40 years married ❤️

Wow, lovely decorations and gifts! Congratulations on your 40th. We’re celebrating our 40th next month on the Silhouette…only in a regular veranda…wonder if we’ll get a petal or two? 🤷‍♀️😂 Will be interesting to find out! 

Our TA contacted Celebrity to have our anniversary noted by the ship 

[Kteacher]

If you enjoy thoughtfully prepared food done by a passionate chef I would recommend Marmalade. We were lucky enough to have the chef stop by our table twice to talk about his food and wine pairings and inspirations. Here’s a few photos from our meal

[Kteacher]

4 hours ago, miched said:

You don’t need to attend the beyond the podium unless there is nothing else to do.  It is always shown on the in room TV and runs continuously.  Do some channel surfing and you will find it. It may be on the CD channel.   

 

I think that is why the presentation may not be well attended.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We were able to talk to the speaker for about 10 minutes prior to the start of his presentation, so well worth it to attend in person.

[lallak1]

Thanks for posting the Marmalade food pictures! We’ve only been there once, but the white bean soup made a lasting impression on me! I can’t wait to go back! I’m enjoying your ship review too!

[Kteacher]

Now that I’m a little more awake I can add a bit more description to our experience at Marmalade last night. It’s a 5 course tasting menu with an addition of their signature dish, the white bean soup, for everyone. These are the descriptions of our selections from Marmalade’s website:

[Kteacher]

    Today was a beautiful beach day at Magens Bay. Taxi fare is 15.00 pp and there is a 7.00 entrance fee. Two chairs and an umbrella will cost you 40.00. It was quiet when we arrived around 10 but was pretty busy by around noon.

[Kteacher]

   I met with the Future Cruise Consultant and was able to book a Signature Suite for April of 2026. I know there was a thread on here a few weeks ago about what comes with that suite and I was told the same as the higher end suites- bottles of spirits for the cabin, specialty dining, and free laundry service. We’re hoping to get a peek on turn around day.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, Kteacher said:

   I met with the Future Cruise Consultant and was able to book a Signature Suite for April of 2026. I know there was a thread on here a few weeks ago about what comes with that suite and I was told the same as the higher end suites- bottles of spirits for the cabin, specialty dining, and free laundry service. We’re hoping to get a peek on turn around day.

This is the category we have booked for July.  There was a nasty rumor that specialty dining had been removed from this category.  Both my TA and a Celebrity rep from the Ex O. both assured me it is in fact, a nasty rumor.  Glad to see that your consultant also concurs with this.  Please post pics if you are able.  As our cruise is only 4 nights, I'm wondering if we will still get the spirits...

[Kteacher]

   So Luminae was slammed again tonight 😑. Plus the ship had an inspection today 😑. So courses were a bit slow to arrive, but we get it. There’s a function for some crew tonight in preparation for next week’s first visit to Coco Cay, so we said just give us whatever desserts you have left and we’ll take them to go because we’re good and y’all go and have fun and enjoy. Please remember to acknowledge the hard work of the crew ❤️

[Arzeena]

Enjoying your review.

[Kteacher]

21 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Enjoying your review.

Thank you!

[Kteacher]

Today was our stop in St Maarten. I booked an excursion through the ship, Small Group: Dutch Blonde Beach Bar: French Wine and Cheese Tasting. The excursion included round trip water taxi fare, 5 good size pours with cheese pairings and details about what we were tasting. The owner was funny and very entertaining. We ended up staying for lunch, then spent about an hour at the beach in front of the restaurant (chairs and an umbrella were also included).

  Tonight we have reservations for Le Petit Chef, and tomorrow I was able to get a dinner reservation for the Lawn Club Grill, which had been showing no availability. 
  Photos from the excursion-

[Kteacher]

Good morning from Tortola, BVI

[hcat]

17 minutes ago, Kteacher said:

Good morning from Tortola, BVI

Fabulous pics,   and one of our fav ports!

Enjoy!

[Kteacher]

Last night’s dinner was Le Petit Chef. The menu included the filet, short rib menu was earlier in the week. We enjoyed our meals, and to be honest it was nice not dealing with the chaotic atmosphere we’ve been experiencing in Luminae. Photos from dinner-

[Kteacher]

   Our stay in Tortola was short with an all aboard at 2:00. With limited time and obc we chose a beach excursion through the ship. There was a 7:30 meet time but once we were loaded onto the open air bus we were told they were waiting on some passengers who were late. They never showed, and we left 15-20 minutes past the scheduled departure time. The beach was pretty and the water was perfect but we ended up with less than 2 hours on the beach unfortunately. 
   Sail away on the helipad was a go this time 👍. It was very hot but was still beautiful- I love a sunny sail away with champagne 🍾☀️

[Kteacher]

Some photos from the beach we visited as well as sail away-

[Barwick Cruiser]

Love the colours in the water…just beautiful! 

[hcat]

Beautiful...nice views

What  beach was it?

I see they are busy raking the seaweed

[Kteacher]

4 hours ago, hcat said:

Beautiful...nice views

What  beach was it?

I see they are busy raking the seaweed

It was Long Bay Beach on Beef Island. 

[kluv2cruz]

On 4/11/2024 at 4:34 AM, Kteacher said:

We had dinner last night at the hotel’s restaurant, La Fuga, which is advertised as coastal Italian. The service was very attentive, and the food was phenomenal as were the cocktails. I asked if the bartender could make me a carajillo- if you are a fan of espresso martinis you need to give it a try-

This picture is why I decided to read your “Live”. Yummy!

[Kteacher]

It's a very sunny day as we head to the last port of call on this sailing, Puerto Plata, DR. Our plan for the day is to check out the Taino Bay area near the port and try not to get too sunburned.

 

Last night’s dinner was at the Lawn Club Grill. We had an early reservation for 6:00 and the restaurant quickly filled up. Service was excellent and we made every attempt to pace ourselves as it is a lot of food. Everything was cooked perfectly and was delicious (and we even had room for dessert 👍). A quick psa- remember to check your onboard account before the last day of the cruise. We were charged for one of the specialty restaurants even though I pre paid for it prior to boarding.

 

Some photos from last night’s meal-

  

[Kteacher]

It’s a beautiful day in Puerto Plata☀️. We decided to try out Taino Bay, right by where the ship ports, and they provide free jitney shuttles to the entrance. It’s very clean, lots of sun and shaded areas, lots to choose from. Just tried the MamaJuana, para salud 😉