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Wish You Were Here: Somewhere Off the Coast of Florida

December 3, 2012 at 2:09 PM | by | Comments (0)

Ahoy! If you're hanging out in Florida and are anywhere near the coast from Miami on up to West Palm Beach, break out a pair of binoculars to spot us. Just look for a white sliver on the horizon, that'll actually be the ginormous white Celebrity Cruises ship Celebrity Reflection. We promise to wave back.

There's no ultimate destination other than a return to Miami for the start of the Art Basel festival of contemporary art. You see, this is a preview cruise—the ship's maiden US voyage. It's a bit like an airport practice run, when terminals invite people to come simulate operations so, on opening day, the kinks have been well worked out. We would say we're "kicking the tires" of the Reflection but, well, it's a boat with a massive hull...and a multi-million modern art collection with 6,059 original pieces from the likes of Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Christo, Marina Abramovic, Richard Prince and Robert Rauschenberg.

Naturally there's the other usual cruise ship attractions, like a tiered theater and specialty restaurants, but the opportunity to stand and ponder a series of Candida Höfer photographs in the middle of the ocean with a flute of champagne is, to the modern cruise traveler, far more attractive than a mini-golf putting green. This is exactly why you won't be finding the latter onboard.

Though our cruise is about to come an end, anyone can get in on the action for the ship's next short preview cruise, which begins at $405 per person, double occupancy and sails December 5-8, calling in the Bahamas. After that, the Reflection begins regular 7-night cruises around the Caribbean, departing from Miami. Rest assured that we'll be detailing other aspects of this brand new ship throughout the week. For now, let's get back to a game of bocce at the aft Lido deck's sprawling Lawn Club.

We sailed on this quickie trip as guests of Celebrity Cruises, but rest assured that all photos and opinions are completely our own.

[Photos: Jaunted]

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