Celebrity Reflection 3-Night Cruise Review: Is It Worth the Money?

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Welcome to Tales from South Florida. I'm your host, Bill Monte. Now, this is the podcast where normally we remember the people, places and stories that help make South Florida what it is today. And generally, I ask you to sit down, get comfortable, and then take a talk down memory lane with me. But this episode, it's going to be a little bit different. Looking at, talking about sometimes the things that you can actually do when you're in South Florida. So if you're like me and you live here, you might be one of those people who, you see, people spend all of that money to come to South Florida, thousands of dollars sometimes, and they seem to be having the time of their life. They're going to the beach, they're going out to dinners, they're going out scuba diving or fishing. And yet those of us who live here, we seem to always be sitting around going, what do you want to do today? I don't know. There's nothing to do. There's actually a lot to do. And I just found out what it was this past weekend. But to tell you the truth, it really wasn't in South Florida, but it started in South Florida. It went to another part of South Florida, and then it went somewhere that's only 50 miles off the coast of South Florida. If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about taking a cruise out of Port Everglades. Let's get started.

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These are the tales from South Florida for you with your host, Bill Monte.

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Now, I'm going to be honest. I haven't been cruising in a very long time. I'm talking about the kind where you get on a boat, not the other kind. So my wife and I and my daughter, we went with friends and family from like 2001 or 2002, I think it was through, like, 2010. We probably went on five or six cruises, enjoyed them a lot. I was younger then. There were a lot more things that I could do physically that I can't do now. Back then, I used to drink so I could party a little bit more. I also wasn't watching my weight so I could eat a little bit more. When my wife and I were thinking about cruising again several months ago, I said, well, we should find one that see if it's still right for us. So for me, going on a cruise, here's the benefits of it, as opposed to, you know, going to Disney World or just taking a road trip around Florida or flying and going somewhere else. Like last year, we went to Montreal. That was a lot of fun. The thing about the cruise ship for me is, and I'm going to state the obvious here, you pay in advance so you're not worried about spending the money. Once the time gets here that you're going to go on your cruise, you board the ship and at that point they drive you to where you're going to go. You don't have to get in and out of a car all the time. You have a place to sleep. You know what that is. You're not going to different hotels. Packing, unpacking, moving around, all of the activities are on board. So if you like gambling, if you like to watch TV a lot, you want to just be quiet and read, you want to do dance activities, you want to go learn something, you want to try something new, you just want to socialize on a different level, you just want to lay by the pool and relax. You just want to stay in the water and swim around. You just want to go someplace new and different and getting there and coming back and the day to day part of it is all stress free. That to me is the beauty of cruising. But what I find that to be the case again now, 17 years after our last cruise. So we decided, and let me just say right up front, I'm going to talk about the ship that we went on. I have no professional or financial relationship with them at all. What I'm going to tell you is how I honestly felt about this particular cruise line and this particular cruise. I'm not getting rewarded. I don't get a free cruise in the future or anything like that. They're not paying me anything. All right, this is just Bill Monte and his opinion, what we decided to do, what I ended up calling a cruise around the neighborhood. It literally left South Florida on Friday, July 10, leaves at 4 o' clock in the afternoon and the first stop is Key West. Now, I've talked about Key west before in previous episodes. You know, if you listen to those, that I used to go a lot when I was in my late teens and early 20s, especially when a couple of times after that I have fond memories of, of Key west the way it used to be. The last time I was there was on one of the cruises we did around 2004, 2005. And I was a little taken aback by how different it was. First off, cruise ships go there now. And yes, that's what I did this time around to get there. But that alone takes away from what makes Key west unique, you know, is that it's not supposed to be like all of those other ports of call that you go to on a cruise. But listen, they've got to make their money, they got to do what they do. It was wonderful. But you know, I'm going to be honest, I these days I'm not driving to Key west from my house. It would be about a three hour drive. Key west is incredibly expensive. Now if you want to stay there, there is no longer an off season. So used to be if you went the summer months you can get a hotel for a pretty good price, but you can't get a hotel room now for in a nice hotel you want to stay in or that your wife wants to stay in for probably less than three to $400 a night. Yeah, maybe a Groupon or something like that you can. Or stay off the beaten path off of Duval street and that whole area there. Perhaps you can, yes. But if you're going, that's really what you want to do. So the cruise, our neighborhood cruise, the first port was Key West. That was all day Saturday. And then we boarded and we left at 5 o' clock Saturday afternoon and we went to Bimini. Now Bimini is closer to Fort Lauderdale than Key west is technically, but we went there. I had again, I think I talked about this in a previous episode. I'd been to Bimini. It must have been back around like 1979. I'm going to say I sailed over with some people that I knew on a sailboat and I loved it, but I'd never been back. So really the allure of this particular cruise was that with the Bimini, it's a three night cruise. It's a great weekend getaway if that's what you're looking for. I'm going to tell you right up front, I highly recommend doing this. Let's talk about the cruise in and of itself. Okay? So the ship is the Celebrity Reflection. I had never sailed celebrity before. I've heard some good things about it. My wife and I watched a lot of YouTube videos of people on the Celebrity Reflection boarding the celebrity reflection, talking about the celebrity reflection. So we actually, once we got there, kind of felt like we knew the ship because I have some mobility issues. I had requested an accessible room, but I did not want a room with a roll in shower because I don't need a wheelchair and I have a wheelchair and I didn't want to take a room away from someone who needed that. I was very specific up front when I was asking for that. When making the reservation, spoiler alert. Didn't work out, the one we got was a Roll in type of a shower, not that big a deal. And actually made for having a much larger bathroom on a ship. If you've been on cruise ships before, you know the bathrooms and the cabins sometimes are not large. I'll say this right up front about the cruise. The cabin was a very good size for two people. There was a lot of room. It had a balcony. Veranda, they call it. We took the concierge veranda. So when we wanted to sit out the. The balcony was plenty big. Comes with a nice lounge chair with a footrest kind of thing. I enjoyed that a lot. I wanted to do that more than anything else in the cruise, is just sit out there, stare at the ocean. So that's what. So that's what we did. So that was the room. But the room was really nice. Concierge, if you're looking to do that, cost a little bit more, not much, but a little bit more. And you're supposed to get a welcome lunch on embarkation day. You're supposed to get binoculars and an umbrella. I don't know why. And you can get a free continental breakfast brought to your room every morning. Room service. Now, back when we used to cruise, room service didn't cost anything. You just had to tip. That was it. But now room service, at least Celebrity and I think on all ships now, you have to pay for the food. And then there's a 20% gratuity put on top of that, and then a $9.95 because you ordered fee. So that gets kind of expensive, I think. Also back when we used to cruise, except for one Royal Caribbean cruise, there was no dining where you pay to have a different kind of experience. And that is the case now. I'll talk about that more in a minute. So the concierge experience, was it worth the extra money? Would I do it again? No. If it was the same amount of money, I would say concierge, sure, why not? But for even $10 more per person, didn't really add anything to our cruise. Our concierge person was very nice, but mostly invisible. The only times we ever talked to him, except for one time in the hall and we just happened to walk out of our room at the right time, was by phone. That was to say, listen, I'd requested that the bed be separated because you can have the bed set into two separate beds. And I'd requested that it wasn't done when we got there. So they took care of it. That was no problem. The binoculars and umbrella didn't exist. The continental breakfast didn't exist. When we asked about it, when I finally saw him, he said, oh yeah, you fill out this paper in the room. I said, there's no paper in the room. He went, look. He said, you're right, there's no paper in the room. So he gave it to us. We did it for the next day. Was it worth the fuss? No, but we had it coming to us. The welcome lunch on embarkation day was nice because you can board early and they let you drop off your luggage that you carry on with you in the room while the room is still being prepared for you. So that was really nice. In the past, when we went, we always had to lug. Either check in the luggage or lug it around with us until finally we could get into the room. At some point, the lunch was okay. It wasn't that the food was bad, it's just that the choices were not stuff that my wife and I actually like, enjoy or eat. I don't know. It was. It was okay. Talking about the embarkation process, I have, as I said before, mobility issues. It's hard for me to walk long distances or stand a long time. And boarding is going up three ramps fairly. I won't say steep. I don't know what the word I'm looking for. The incline though, is not an easy walk. If you have problems, if you were to push them on a wheelchair, you would find it a bit of a push. Also when we got there, I said, well, I was told that there was someone who could help us or there was a way if you needed help. And they said, well, we can give you a wheelchair that your wife can push. Well, that wasn't going to happen. We were carrying, we had our carry on luggage with us. There wasn't a free arm to push and you know, she's in great shape, but there's no way she's pushing me up three different inclines. And once you got to the point where you walk onto the ship, you can't stay in the wheelchair any longer. So just be aware if you have mobility issues, you're going with someone who's older who might have problems with that. Plan ahead. Definitely check all your luggage up front. Maybe pack a light bag that you can have in case your luggage doesn't come before dinner time and you're walking on board in T shirt and shorts like I was. Because dinner you have to wear a collared shirt if you're a man. And long pants they ask for, they don't strictly enforce it. Because I saw people walking around in shorts. But that's what they asked for. And you know, they're not asking for you to wear a suit and a tie like they used to. So that was an improvement. The ship itself was nice, big, it was clean. Lots of different great spaces. The celebrity reflection has. If you watch YouTube videos, you know this. I'm going to tell you about this. It has a lawn area, real grass. People play bocce ball on it. They've got a huge TV there that they were showing the FIFA cup, the World cup games on, that people were really excited about. There's a putting green that's real grass. So there's a whole bunch of different things like that on the upper deck. Unfortunately, none of it is shaded. And as hot as it is right now in South Florida, fuel like temperatures stay around 109 degrees. That's how hot it was, only more so on top of that ship. So the wife and I didn't really spend a whole lot of time hanging out on the grass in the lawn club. But what we did was we did spend a lot. We spent some time what they call solarium, which is reserved for 16 years of age and older. It's got a pool. It's more of a private area. It's enclosed, it's air conditioned. Really super nice. Recommend you try that. The food. Let's talk about the food. That's what everyone wants to talk about on a cruise, right? The food was in the main dining room. Was good. I won't say great. Some of it was great, most of it was good. The service was fantastic. Absolutely loved our service. They could not have made it better. It was my wife's birthday on Friday. We were celebrating our anniversary too. And they went out of the way to make sure little special things happened for us. Very attentive. They got to know our orders. You didn't have to order the iced tea or whatever it was you wanted. They understood it was there the moment you sat down that they were bringing it to you. So that was really great. The buffet, not so much. I have better memories of buffets on cruise ships. The food, the variety was. There was so many different kinds of food. The problem was, to me, none of it was any good. The desserts were okay. They had an ice cream bar. Really good. I did enjoy that. I picked up a piece of. I think it was roast beef. I could not chew it. It was not possible to chew this. It was impossible to cut with a knife. So I just tore a piece off in the hopes it would be better. And that didn't work at all. So some of the food, like the roast beef, was terrible, and some of it was passable. There was this nice kind of grilled chicken that was pretty good. Of fish, of fish and chips. I didn't have the fries, but I had the fish. That was pretty good, but nothing better than what you'd get at a Culver's or an Arthur Treacher's or something like that. We did enjoy the variety of drinks that they had at the. At the buffet. They had this kind of guava passion fruit juice. Really good. But I didn't have anything there that really knocked me out. They also have a grill on board where you can get hot dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers. We didn't actually eat from there, but it smelled delicious. And then you have the premium dining experiences, so you pay a little bit more. Usually somewhere between 40 to 60 to even $100 per person for a meal. And on the board of Celebrity was a Tuscan Grill. There was a La Petite Chef, which was the French one. There was a Tuscan grill, was Italian. Trying to think was it. The blue was for special passengers that had this aqua class private dining. We didn't eat at any of those. I can't tell you if the food was any better than the main dining room. Unless you've got money to burn. I don't see the reason for paying extra. But go ahead if you want to. The ports of call, Key West. It was nice. It was so hot, though. We really only stayed a few hours walking around Duval Street. Went and visited some old haunts like the Bull and Sloppy Joes and a couple of stores and things like that. I, you know, times have changed. Cannabis bars as opposed to bars, you know, that's something new. But it was fun. There was nothing wrong with it or anything like that, except it just was extremely hot. So we went back to the ship early. That's the day that we went to the solarium and we just kind of explored the ship. We went to. The shops were closed, but we went to some health things that were there. They have a really nice gym on board. The next day was, uh. Then, let's see, Friday night we saw a comic. No, Friday night was. Was a cabaret, A Broadway cabaret show. It was okay. Nothing great, nothing horrible. If you like watching four young singers sing Broadway tunes, you'll have a good time after that. Was the comic, a man named Tony Esposito. Very funny. We really enjoyed him. So it was a late night. We got back to our room. Then I think that night somewhere around 11:30. Hey, when you're old, that's, that's late. The next day there was Key West Day. So that night was a comedian, magician named Johnny Ballance. Very funny. If you go on celebrity reflection, you should see him, go see his show. We enjoyed that a lot at the Sunday was Bimini. So we took, we bought the excursion for Resort World. You've seen that on the commercials. Now they have Resort World, Casino, Beach Club, all that kind of stuff. So we went for that. The, the Beach Club was nice. The beach was really nice. I couldn't really use it again. I haven't been on sand that soft in so long, but made it hard for me to walk. We enjoyed the Beach Club. You get a free drink when you go. There's a free tram to take you there from the ship. We stopped off at the casino on the way back. Very small casino, nothing spectacular about it. I. If you see those commercials on TV and you're thinking of flying over there and spend time there, I wouldn't, I really wouldn't. I didn't. If you're going for the casino, go to Hard Rock. Much better experience the tram. Getting back to the ship took forever. And it was again extremely hot. No place, no shade, nowhere to stand, nothing covered in the area where you stand to wait for it. So people were melting by the time we got back to Celebrity. And one of the things they give you when you come back is so odd. They give you these wonderful ice cold towels and they have water waiting for you. Thank you Celebrity, we appreciate it. And that night was. We went to see the Feel of the Funk again. Another show with dancers and singers. And all the music is live, it's not canned or pre recorded. The show was, you know what? We were tired. We left halfway through. It was okay. There was nothing wrong with it. I didn't hate it. Just didn't love it enough to stay when I could go back to my room and go to sleep and go sit on the balcony and once again stare at the ocean, which was entirely black because it's nighttime and you can't see it. Still enjoy just sitting there with my eyes closed, listening to the sound of the sea and then coming back on. You have to be out of your cabin by about 8:15 on Monday morning when you get back to Fort Lauderdale. And getting off the ship really was not a hassle. Unless you're declaring something. Like you bought stuff and you have to declare it, go through customs. Pretty easy peasy. They really made it nice and easy. So that is if you want to get away. That's my opinion of the celebrity reflection. Three night cruise goes to Key west, goes to Bimini. The crew was fantastic. I gave you my review of the food. There was never anyone who wasn't smiling. Let me tell you something. The one thing we need to do in our lives right now is bring the atmosphere of a cruise to just our everyday lives. There wasn't a moment that we sat down or were walking or in an elevator that people weren't talking to each other, wishing each other a good day and a good evening, asking how things were going. There was no anger. There was never any conflict on board, which was really, really just super nice because the people that we were sitting next to. I'll tell you a quick story about that. People were sitting next to. Had we been sitting next to them in a local restaurant in the Davy Cooper City area, we would not have introduced ourselves. We would not have started talking. We would not. But we, we sat next to them for all three dinner options. We saw them throughout the cruise. We got to know them. Some coincidences, they live in Davie, not far from where we are. So hi, Jennifer. Hi, Brian. And they live in the old where we used to live and when we lived in Davies, they live in the exact same place just down the street from our old house. The woman, Jennifer works with someone that we have known for 30 years or more. So that was quite the coincidence. And you've heard me talk on the show before about the Neil Rogers show and how I love the Neil Rogers show. Well, Brian, when Neil Rogers was at wiod, he was the board op for Neil Rogers. So we had a lot. We got a chance to talk about that, about Neil and all the things, you know, radio back in the day. So that made for a really enjoyable trip. And that's just a coincidence of all that. But if we had never opened up and introduced ourselves, they hadn't introduced themselves to us, we wouldn't have had that nice time dining. I was a little worried about the dining. I'm kind of an introvert, so a little worried about the dining experience because sometimes you're seated next to people and everyone to talk and that's not really me, but I'm glad we did. We had a great time with them and hopefully we can see them again because they live right down the road from us, literally. So celebrity reflection. I can tell you contact celebrity. You can book it all online if you want. I used a travel agent and Dream Vacations was the company and her name is Mary Horseman. So I'm going to give her a shout out again. I get nothing from this. When you go to Dream Vacations, Mary Horseman, you'll be able to reach out to her. She took great care of us and everything she said was going to happen happened. So I appreciate it, Mary. It didn't steer us wrong. If you have been on a cruise, if you would like to be, if you would like to go on a cruise, I would love to hear about your stories, your experiences. We want to go back on another one, but where should we go to? You can write to me at talesfromsouthfloridmail.com you can leave me a voicemail by using the Speak Pipe link in the show notes. Or you can go to the website talesfromsouthflorida.com and you can leave the message there. You can message me from there. You can listen to our audio podcast from the past. You can get to our YouTube channel. I'm going to be putting video up of our trip on the YouTube channel. So you want to do that. It's not up there yet because I still have to edit it. If you are so inclined. If you have enjoyed this episode or any of the episodes of Tales from South Florida and you would like to help support the show and keep it going, help support the show through the Buy me a coffee link that's in there. Anything does help keep the show going because there are slight costs to podcasting. I do so appreciate it. I appreciate you taking the time to listen. I thank you for hitting that play button and I hope you get a chance to go cruising real soon. And if so, and you're sitting next to us, let's have a nice little chat. Until that time, my friends, please remember, be safe and be kind.

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Let's take a talk down memory lane. Cause the stories around here are just insane. Pirates World, the Sporto and Wolfies to Palm beach to Key West. That's where we grew. These are the Tales from South Florida for you with your host, Bill Monte.

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Hi, this is Bill Monti. And if you enjoy the podcast, sharing episodes, spreading the word, well, truly that means a lot and it helps the show grow like you wouldn't believe. But if you'd like to support the podcast a little further, I ask you to please click the Buy me a coffee link that you can find in the show notes. Your support helps offset production and hosting costs so I can keep bringing you more stories, memories and conversations in each episode. And besides, podcasting is a thirsty business, so I appreciate you filling my cup with some joe. Hey, thanks for listening. Thank you for being part of the journey. And if you can, thank you for buying me a cup of coffee.