We’ve been trying to take a cruise with our friends Mike and Audra for three years but could never get our vacation times to align. Finally at the end of last year, we picked a date and booked a weekend cruise on Reflection. I was excited about the itinerary, which included full days in Key West and Bimini. Audra had never been to Key West and none of us had been to Bimini, so I spent lots of time researching what to see and do. But then a few days before the cruise, the weather stations started forecasting a strong winter storm with the coldest temperatures in 20 years. Ugh… I didn’t mind if the weather was chilly, but would we even make it to the ports?
Fort Lauderdale
We left at 6 o’clock Friday morning to beat the traffic and got to Port Everglades before 11. Our assigned boarding time wasn’t until 12, but there was no line to board, so we walked right on the ship. The first thing we did was drop our luggage in our cabins and check in at our muster station. Then we headed up to the Sunset Bar for a celebratory drink. While I enjoyed my traditional Welcome Aboard mojito, Ron and Mike ogled all the huge boats sailing up and down the intracoastal (boat porn, they called it). I couldn’t believe we were finally on a cruise together!
After lunch in the Oceanview Café, we explored the ship. Ron and I were on Celebrity Silhouette last year, so it didn’t take long to get our bearings. The two ships had the same layout with the entertainment and bars centered around the multi-deck Grand Foyer. The main difference was that Silhouette had a sports pub called Craft Social while Reflection had Cellar Masters. We stopped by Cellar Masters for a glass of wine before dinner, and I really liked the quiet, elegant space. The sommelier even brought us a bowl of snack mix to nibble on while we sipped.
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| the Grand Foyer |
Unfortunately, while we were at the bar, the captain made a weather announcement. The storm was going to arrive at around 2 o’clock the next day, which meant we would need to leave Key West at 1 o’clock instead of at 4. That was a bummer, but I figured we’d still have time to get the obligatory pictures at the Southernmost Point and grab a drink at Sloppy Joe’s.
As we were finishing our wine, I peeked out the window and realized that the sun was breaking through the clouds. We all ran out on deck to watch the sunset. I was glad we’d gotten to see at least one pretty one.
Since we had a little time before dinner, we decided to check out the casino. I was hoping to teach Audra how to play Blackjack, but the dealers were all super-fast. So Audra left for the slot machines while Ron, Mike and I stayed at the tables. We all did well and when we stopped, I was up about $40 and remembered to save a $1 ship chip for my collection.
At dinner that night in the Opus Restaurant, I was happy to see that Celebrity still had escargot on their “classics” menu. I would definitely be ordering that every night! I also had beet salad and spicy jerked chicken while the others ordered prime rib. We ended up skipping dessert because the dinner service was taking so long (which may have been because we were doing more talking and laughing than eating).
There was live music in the Grand Foyer, so we found seats at the Passport Bar while Ron left to get some sweets from Café Al Bacio. The coffee shop was only two decks up, but somehow he got lost. After half an hour, I texted him to ask where he was. Ron texted back “I went to get cookies and jacquement.” What in the world was jacquement?? It sounded like a fancy French dessert. Eventually, Ron found his way back, but it wasn’t until the next day that I figured out he was trying to say chocolate milk. Darn that talk-to-text! We teased Ron about his new word for the rest of the cruise. :-)
There was a Silent Disco at 10 o’clock, but it had been a long day and we were all starting to fade, so we decided to call it a night and headed back to the cabins.
Key West – Not!
The next morning, Audra and I got up early to have coffee and croissants at Café Al Bacio and watch our arrival in port. The sun was just starting to rise, and we could see the lights of Key West twinkling in the distance. But after a while, we noticed that the island seemed to be getting farther away instead of closer. Hmm…not a good sign. We found an outdoor table at the back of the Oceanview Café and ordered a Bloody Mary and a mimosa while we waited for the guys to join us. While we were all eating breakfast, the captain came over the intercom and confirmed what we already knew – we wouldn’t be going to Key West after all. The cold front was arriving sooner than expected, and it wasn’t safe to dock.
It was the right decision. Although the day had started out clear and calm, the weather went downhill fast. By 11 o’clock, the storm caught up with us with howling wind and rain. Fortunately, we were sailing with the wind, so even though the waves were getting bigger by the minute, I could hardly feel the ship rocking.
What were we going to do now? With everyone stuck onboard and indoors, all the bars were packed, and the Oceanview Café was a madhouse. I looked through the activities listed on the Celebrity app and saw there was a Mixology 101 class that afternoon. Audra said she was interested too, so we signed up. The class, taught by bartenders I Made and Raj, was held at the World Class Bar. At first it was impossible to hear anything they were saying, thanks to a loud group of people playing card games at a nearby table. But then Raj handed out headphones, which helped, and eventually the loud card players went elsewhere. We made three different cocktails. The first drink was gin-based with sweet vermouth and maraschino liqueur. The next drink was similar to a margarita with lemon-infused tequila and pineapple puree, garnished with a jalapeno slice. Our final drink was made with vodka, white wine, blueberry syrup and a small amount of Ouzo. (I’m not a fan of licorice so I went very easy on the Ouzo.) My favorite of the three was the tequila drink. It reminded me of the spicy pineapple martini from Carnival’s Alchemy Bar. As we mixed the ingredients, I Made showed us how to properly measure, shake, and stir and how to squeeze an orange peel so that the oils went into the drink and not everywhere else. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon at sea, and I learned a few things too.
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| chocolate fountain in the Oceanview Cafe |
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| World Class Bar |
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| Raj and I Made |
That night was Chic Night so we dressed up and took pictures in the foyer before going to dinner. We were at a different table this time, a corner spot with a fantastic wait team – Vincent, I Made (not the same I Made as the bartender from the Mixology class) and Sommelier Ryan. I had the escargot again, salmon tartar and the chef’s special, ahi tuna with a peppery sauce. Yum!
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| Opus Restaurant |
The Shine the Night party that was normally held on the pool deck had been moved to the Grand Foyer due to the weather. We all grabbed lighted glow sticks and hit the dance floor. The band was playing great music and even Ron was dancing. A lot of people were wearing sparkly outfits for the party, and Audra and I decided we’d have to bring something sparkly next time. There was definitely going to be a next time.
Sea Day Chapter Two
I didn’t get much sleep that night because of the rough seas. The rocking wasn’t too bad, but there was a lot of creaking and banging that kept waking me up. When Ron and I got up, we went to the Spa Café so I could get a cup of their fresh pressed juice. All the pools were closed and covered with netting, but there were a few people making use of the hot tubs. It was very strange sitting at the Spa Café and listening to the waves crashing back and forth in the Solarium pool.
At 10 o’clock, the captain gave the weather report – 13-foot seas and 59 degrees with wind gusts up to 60 mph. Argh!! There’s no way we could have made it to Bimini. Even if the port had been open, it would have been miserable. Thank goodness I’d brought plenty of Bonine.
When we met up with Mike and Audra after breakfast, the guys decided to sign up for the Officers vs Guests Street Curling game. The entertainment staff had set up an inflatable curling rink in the Grand Foyer, and several of the ship’s officers competed against the guests to see who could slide their stones closest to the center of the target. After a few rounds, the officers had to get back to their duties, so the rest of the guests played against each other. Ron and Mike went up against a little girl and her dad, who beat them pretty handily. Girl Power! :-)
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| Officers vs Guests Street Curling |
That afternoon Mike checked his account on the Celebrity app and realized that he had onboard credit. And so did we! I’d forgotten that we’d be getting back the port fees for Key West and Bimini, but in addition to that, the cruise line had given us $200 in credit to make up for the disappointment of missing both ports. The weather wasn’t Celebrity’s fault, but I thought it was a very nice and unexpected gesture of goodwill. After covering our service tips and the photos we’d purchased, we still had a little credit left. Where should we spend it? At the casino, of course! Ron and I purchased casino chips and used them at the Blackjack table. Unfortunately, I ended up losing my chips, but I had a fun time playing with the ship’s money and still came out ahead for the cruise. Audra, meanwhile, was killing it on a Cash Racoons slot machine. She won $700 and we had to coax her out of the casino before she gave the money back. :-)
Since we’d liked our wait staff so much at dinner the night before, we requested to be seated at the same table. Besides my nightly escargot, I had French onion soup, braised lamb wrapped in phyllo, and tiramisu for dessert. All the food was delicious, and Vincent, I Made and Ryan took great care of us again. Vincent joked with us and kept our table cleared of crumbs and Ryan remembered what wine we liked. (We actually saw Ryan at breakfast the next day in the Oceanview Café, and he recognized us and said hello.) A good crew can really make a cruise feel special.
That night there was an ABBA sing-along in the Grand Foyer, but most of the songs were from the musical Mama Mia. I wished they’d played more of the well-known hits. Audra and I danced for a little while and then we all headed to the Ensemble Lounge to listen to the live music. Before going to bed, we took a lap around the top deck where we could see the lights of four other cruise ships, all of us headed back home from our cruises to nowhere.
Despite the disappointing weather and missed ports, we had a really great time. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. On our last afternoon onboard, we paid a visit to the Future Cruise desk, and now we’re booked for another cruise on Reflection in August. Hopefully this time we’ll make it to Key West and Bimini!
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| Happy cruising from the Jacquement Crew! |
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