2015 - 1 - Another Year; Another Caribbean Cruise

Back from yet another southern cruise - the Bahamas, so technically not the Caribbean, but close enough, it seems fitting that I jump back into our cruises with yet another Caribbean adventure. This time it is our third venture into that part of the world in 2015. I was our reunion with the Celebrity Reflection and we were excited to be back on her - little did we know that we would board her 3 more times in future years

Celebrity Reflection - Caribbean 2015
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE MUST have decided, somewhere along the line, that we like this cruising thing. 😀 In February 2015, we went on our 4th straight Caribbean Cruise in 4 years. Later this same year we would do our "makeup" Princess Cruise in the Mediterranean.

Our 2015 Caribbean Cruise "Crew"
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE MAINTAINED only 3/5 of the same crew as last year. In order to keep it within the one-week period that seemed to fit our schedules (we were all still working full time), we found a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale that only made 3 stops. Sailing out of San Juan takes about 3-4 days at sea out of the equation. But we didn't want the hassle of flights in and out of San Juan again, and at this point, the stops weren't really that important. Once again, this one was going to be a mid-winter getaway for us in the sun.

I have probably spent more of my own time at the Sunset Bar on Celebrity ships than anywhere else aboard

MY PARTNER Bob (and Pam) and our friends Bob and Sue made up our group this time. The 6 of us got along swimmingly, and it was frankly easier to deal with the smaller group. This time we were on the Celebrity Reflection. It was - in a way - a homecoming for us. The Reflection was where it all started for us as far a Celebrity is concerned. This would be our second of 5 (so far) sailings on her. As much as we like all the Celebrity ships, the Reflection is a particular favorite of mine. Slightly bigger and newer than last year's Summit, there were just a couple amenities that we thought were a step up. In later years, we would ultimately sail more times on Edge Class ships than any other and Celebrity stepped those up yet again, for the most part. On the Reflection, my favorite haunt, and in my opinion, its best attribute, is the Sunset Bar. Unllike the Millenium ships, the layout of the Solstice ships (with its 16 decks vs. the 12 deck Millenium ships), allowed for a dedicated area on the rear of the ship on deck 15 for the Sunset Bar and ample seating area (there is a Sunset Bar on the Millenium ships, but it is part of the outdoor eating area of the buffet). As I described in our "Obrien Cruise" blog post, there was also the innovative "lawn" section, also on deck 15 aft. I have probably spent more of my own time at the Sunset Bar on Celebrity ships than anywhere else aboard. Sometime in the past couple years, someone had handed me a cigar on a golf course and I decided to smoke it. That began my - ever-since - cigar smoking habit. By the time this cruise rolled around, I had learned to bring my own cigars. Weather permitting, I spent every afternoon back there. Fortunately, my companions weren't averse to joining me for sunset and cocktails.

Sunset Bar - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THE MARTINI bar, of course, had neither moved nor much changed, and was our rendevous point for our before dinner drinks. We were still on the old "set time and  table" routine at that time (though it would be our last time). We had a nice table for 6 all week. As usual, the food was excellent. Partner-Bob had a routine of escargot every single night (carried over from last year's Summit cruise). Sue and I were the only wine drinkers, and our "package" got us most of the wine-by-the glass offered on board. You may recall the signature "wine tower" in the center of the dining room. According to our winelist, there was said to be $600 bottle of cabernet up there somewhere. We asked for a glass of it and our waiter just laughed. We had to try.

HUMOROUS ANECDOTE time (well, humorous to us at least). Cruisers know that in the ship dining rooms, the meals are usually in 3 courses: appetizers, main dishes, and desert. Celebrity wait staff takes the first 2 course orders and then brings a separate desert menu after the meal. Bob (the other Bob) was joking with the waiters. "Do you have an blueberry pie?" The are always very polite and very serious and they apologetically said they didn't and they didn't expect it to be on the menu all week. The next night, of course, Bob asked for blueberry pie once again. After the 3rd night, it became kind of a joke. On our next to last night, they brought us our desert menus. But they didn't give one to Bob. He looked at them questioningly, and they said we have a special desert for you sir. And - you guessed it. Blueberry Pie (a whole one). We all had blueberry pie the next night.

Castillo San Cristobal - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

OUR PORTS of call this time were San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. On all the shorter (one week or less) Celebrity cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale, it seems like San Juan is a port stop. But - presumably because of timing - it is always a 1/2 day or less. Many of the destination islands are a short sail from San Juan. But it seems like it takes a full day and 1/2 to get to San Juan. We stopped there again on our holiday cruise in 2024. In both cases we didn't get in to port until after 3:00 p.m., and departed usually around 9:00. That makes booking an excursion difficult. But this time we wanted to at least get off the ship. We knew the Fort was nearby and we walked up there for a while, and then back down into Old San Juan to do a short version of a "pub crawl." We stopped at a bar that had a stock of beers, and bought a "flight." Afterward, we found another bar down on the waterfront, just in view of the ship. I chatted with a bartender and got a short schooling on rums. I asked him to choose a good one for me and he poured me one. When we finished there, we headed back to the ship.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

I HAD never done any night shooting on a cruise. But I always bring a little travel tripod and this time, I decided to get off the ship again and go down on the wharf, to try to photograph our ship. The resulting photograph of our ship is the one I use here as the official blog "background."

EXCEPT FOR the sunset cocktails (we were on shore for the sunset this day), we followed our usual routine and met at the Martini Bar before dinner. Tomorrow we would be in St. Thomas, and this time we had a plan.