Celebrity Reflection cruise continued April 6-13, 2013

Dinner at BLU Restaurant:




Brunch in the main dining room on Thursday, April 11th-ice carving to chill the wine!




A baked windmill!






Desserts galore!




Leaning Tower of (baked) Pisa!







Pat is waiting for his toast at the Bakery Shop! The dough completely covered the big industrial toaster!




Last night, a dance with Dad!



These Guys, the ship's excellent a capella group performing in the main foyer:




The kitchen tour with French pastry chef:




Goodies for the touring guests:




Ongoing lunch preparations:




Menu description:




At work in the gleaming kitchen:




The week's dishes on display for the chefs:




After the kitchen tour, an on-board "Iron Chef" competition:




Last night on-board ship, Jen and Steph:




Pat and Kathie:




In BLU Restaurant our last dinner:




What a fun time was had by all...lots of R&R, swimming, reading and "down" time! Great food, nice spa treatments, lovely pools and a huge fitness centre! Here's to the next cruise...
Hasta luego...

Location:On board ship somewhere between St. Thomas USVI and Miami!

Celebrity Reflection Cruise continued April 6-13, 2013

On Tuesday, April 9th we docked early in the morning in St. Maarten, Dutch Antilles...hot, sunny and gorgeous!
Approaching the port:








Jen and Steph:




Sisters with Mum (our ship in the background, closedt to us):




Along Back Street, facing the beach:




Steph and Jen:








? Norwegian Epic and Celebrity Reflection all in port on the same day!




In the afternoon, we went on Canada's "True North" 12m sailing yacht, which had raced in the 1985 America's Cup Race. We had a fun race against the American boat, "Stars and Stripes", losing by just a hair!




Steph on the far left, Pat on the right:




View of the American yacht (check out the colour of the water!):




After the race! Pat, Steph and Jen jumped in:




Last port to visit was St. Thomas, USVI on Wednesday, April 10th. Here we are approaching the dock, note the big sailing schooner in drydock:








Early in the morning the upper deck pools were empty!




Top deck of our ship-The Lawn and Alcoves:




You could play croquet on the lawn!




Docked in St. Thomas:




Pat and the girls spent the afternoon scuba-diving (they saw a huge turtle) while I enjoyed the peace and calm of the pool in the Solarium on board ship!
More to come...

Location:St. Maarten, St. Thomas in the Caribbean

Family Cruise April 6-13, 2013

What began as a "girls' getaway" sometime last fall, morphed into a Bourque Family cruise in the Caribbean on the very new Celebrity ship, Reflection. We all met up in Miami on Friday night, April 5th, staying at the Downtown Courtyard Marriott. Pat and I wandered over to Bayside to have a late dinner at an Italian restaurant there. The next morning we took a taxi to South Beach and with the help of TripAdvisor on Steph's iPhone, found a great brunch place called Yardbird Southern Table and Bar. Good advice on a blackboard in the café:




Jen and Steph ready for brunch!




Our ship:








Pat in our stateroom, Aqua Class 1508:




Ship views: The Persian Garden with heated lounge chairs and spa music!




Living tree in the main foyer by the elevators:




The Library and Hideaway for peaceful reading:




Find Jen in the oversized lawnchair!




View from our suite leaving Miami:




Arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday afternoon, April 8th:




We visited Old San Juan with our P&G friends, Kristin and Pancho, and their two girls, Gabriella and Rebecca:




Fort San Cristobel:



















The Church in San Juan:




Pancho, Jen, Steph, Rebecca, Kristin and Gabriella in Old San Juan




Jen by a totem pole




San Felipe del Morro:




Lighthouse El Morro:




Inside Fort San Felipe:



Kristin's favourite statue in Old San Juan:




Walls of Old San Juan:




Sisters!




Workaholics...thank you Mr. Blackberry!




Fountain in Old San Juan:




Fun at dinner La Vaca Brava!




Farewell to San Juan: Jen, Kathie, Steph (top); Pat, Rebecca and Gabriella (bottom)



The ship left port about 10 p.m. for St. Maarten, Dutch Antilles...stay tuned for more cruise posts!

Location:Miami-San Juan-St. Maarten-St. Thomas-Miami