Brief reflection review - med October 2013

[sanger727]

Really enjoyed our cruise on Celebrity Reflection. We arrived in Rome 3 days before the cruise, which ended up being the perfect amount of time to explore the city. Day 1, explored the city on foot and saw many of the piazzas and fountains. Day 2, went to the colosseum and the forum, and took the Colosseum's underground tour. Important note: The meeting place for the underground tour is different than the regular tour, we eneded up missing our tour because the ticket people told us to go to the wrong place. You have to go all the way to the end of the hall, by the elevators. Day 3, took the green line hop on/hop off bus tour, which ended up being a good way to get around.

 

We took the train to the port, watch out for scammers. We had a lady latch on to us, take the tickets out of our hands to lead us to our seats, and rip our luggage out of our hands to put it away for us to try and get money. The train ride was easy, took about 50 minutes on the express train. If you buy first class seats there's room overhead for your luggage. But the best part of the trip for me, was how easy embarkation was. There was a free bus to take you from the front of the port to the ship, and from there we were basically able to walk through security, up to the check in desk, and onto the ship. Whole process was easily less than half an hour, absolutely no waiting (we were there at about 11). They did hold our passports though.

 

As far as the cruise itself. The buffet was ok, it's buffet food. Same stuff for breakfast everday and the eggs weren't great. Dinner and lunch also appeared to mostly be the same. There was an afternoon tea everyday with mini sandwiches and some scones. The sandwiches were weird combinations, roast beef with hard boiled egg, one day they had turkey with cheese but there was a piece of white bread in the middle too. We didn't do any of the specialty restaurants cause, for me personally, $35-$45 pp on top of the fact that the MDR is free is too much.

 

The MDR was ok, the soups and salads were great, some of the entrees were good. Nothing we had was outright bad, just not the type of food I really enjoy eating. I'm happier with hamburgers and pasta than lamb and duck. We had select dining, which worked well for us because we like to eat early, so we were there most days at 10 till 6 and the matre'd noticed and always sat us first. But if you prefer eating at 7 or later, select may not be the way to go. They take reservations, but don't require them, so there are two lines that that matre'd has to balance. And she said she had people the whole trip that went in the reservation line without reservations. It's just not a great system, and resulted in everyone waiting for a table. We talked to a couple that tried to make reservations for 7 every night and had a 20 minute plus wait every night.

 

The entertainment was also just ok. There were actually quite a few younger people on this cruise (20's to 30's), and some of the entertainment was really old fashioned. There was one night when there was a solo female vocalist that sang very old songs and opera, and one night there was a male vocalist who sang classical music. And there was a string quartet that played classical music on electric violins, and then the farewell show just combined them all into one show. So there were 4 nights out of 10 where I didn't enjoy the shows. The others were good. There was a mentalist one night, a comedic juggler, and 3 production shows, the last one was amazing with acrobats and a contortionist. We went to one of the comedy shows. It was weird. The comedian was good, but they alternated the comedians with a burlesque dancer (read stripper, cause that's basically all she did), so that was awkward since I was traveling with my stepmother.

[sanger727]

We took 3 ship tours on this trip and did the other 4 ports on our own.

 

In Sicily we took a ship tour that went to Mt. Etna and Taormina. Really enjoyed the tour, and with the distance we had to travle for Mt. Etna, I don't think we could have done it any cheaper on our own.

 

In Athens we took a full day ship tour that included a guided tour of the acropolis and free time near the plaka. (touristy restaurant and shopping area). We enjoyed this tour also, you may be able to make more use of your time here doing it on your own, but we weren't sure how else to get around.

 

In Ephesus, we took a full day ship tour that included a tour of ephesus and the terrace houses. Definately worth doing a tour here. The admission to get your into ephesus does not include the terrace houses, which are inside the site. That requires a special ticket which they sell a limited number of, and as far as we could tell, only tour groups were able to get them on the day we went. Terrace houses are definately cool and worth seeing.

 

In Rhodes we just walked around old Rhodes, but that took all day for us. It's a big area. Good stop for sourvenir shopping.

 

In Santorini we planned on taking the speed boat to Oia and the bus back to Fira, through NST. Did not work out well. The seas were rough on the day we were there. We got off the tender at about 8:30 and asked the NST people when the next boat would leave. They said 15 minutes, so we bought tickets. at 8:45, one of the big tender boats docked in front of us, they said that due to the rought seas, this was the only boat big enough to dock at Oia, so we would have to wait another 20 minutes so they could get more people on it. I think it was about 9:45, before we actually left. We went to Oia, and tried docking twice before they decided that the seas were too bad to dock at all there. Shouldn't have been too hard to tell, the waves were coming up and crashing down on the dock. So, they took us to a different port to dock at that was even further from Oia than the original tender dock. By the time they bussed us to Oia it was 11:30 and the last bus back to Fira was still at 2. So, big thumbs down for NST.

 

In Mykonos, we took the ferry to Delos on our own. This was a good experience, there were very few tourists on the island and we were basically able to tour it without seeing anyone else most of the day, really cool compared to all the other sites were you were tripping over tourists the whole day. We took the ferry over at 10, and the return ferry at 1, which was enough time for us.

 

In Naples, we took the ferry to Capri on our own. Island was so beautiful, this was definately worth doing. We caught an 8:30 ferry, and the ride is about 50 minutes. We took the cable car to capri because we couldn't find the bus stop (It's past where you buy the cable car tickets). We walked went to the Gardens and via krupp, it's very easy to find your way around, there are big maps posted everywhere. We walked back into the main square and took the bus to anacapri. The buses are small, but they come fairly often. We had lunch there and then took the chairlift to the top of the mountain. Great views. We had directions to walk down a certain road to find another panoramic viewpoint, but after 45 minutes of walking we never got there, so we just headed back and took the bus back to the dock.

 

Overall it was a good cruise and I would cruise with celebrity again.

[Esprit]

We were on Reflection last month and thought the adult only late night Sin City comedy shows were excellent (including the stripper)

[Feelin' Nauti']

Thanks for sharing.

 

I enjoy eating in the buffet for breakfast and lunch, (quick and easy ;)) but for dinner I enjoy eating in the Main Dining Room.

Can't wait for my Reflection cruise. :D

[jamona2311]

Thank you for the review:) my mom and I are doing this exact same itinerary on the reflection next September.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Thank you for the review! We are thinking of doing a similar trip next October. How was the weather in general? Were the seas rough? What about the air temperature?

 

We are watching a cruise with X on 10/6/2014. I am just a little concerned about the weather. Was it warm enough to be by the pool?

 

I am also worried about the seas being rough :( Any details would be much appreciated! Thank you!

[drarill]

Thanks for your review. We are thinking about cruising on the Reflection next year. :)

[sanger727]

We were on Reflection last month and thought the adult only late night Sin City comedy shows were excellent (including the stripper)

 

The comedians were great, I might have enjoyed the dancer more if I was there with my boyfriend... but with family, it's a bit awkward.:confused:

[sanger727]

Thank you for the review! We are thinking of doing a similar trip next October. How was the weather in general? Were the seas rough? What about the air temperature?

 

We are watching a cruise with X on 10/6/2014. I am just a little concerned about the weather. Was it warm enough to be by the pool?

 

I am also worried about the seas being rough :( Any details would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

The weather was fantastic. There were a few days of rain, but it was like tropical showers... a few minutes to an hour of rain and then sunshine the rest of the day. In Italy it was in the low to mid 70's and at the greek stops it was high 70's to low 80's... def got a little sunburn and tan.

 

Warm enough for the pool a couple of days, but loved having the solarium indoor pool for when it wasn't.

 

Seas were never rough enough that it affected the ship... A little rough for the tenders and farries at Santorini and Mykonos. We couldn't dock at the Oia port and I got a little sea sick on the ferry coming back from Delos, was rocking hard.

[mummsie]

Hi, I was also on this cruise and was a little disappointed with the entertainment as well. We have been on the Eclipse twice so was expecting the same brilliant entertainment (including dancing in the evenings). The dancing is non existent on the Reflection and the Skylounge is such a wasted venue. There is nothing going on up there. We went most nights after dinner for a cocktail and there were more bar staff than people.

 

Meals were great. We ate in the MDR every night and the ships tours were fine. We did them most places except for Rhodes and Mykinos.

 

Still had a good time but could have been better. mummsie

[Keith1010]

Thanks you for taking the time to write and share your review.

 

Keith

[Esprit]

Hi, I was also on this cruise and was a little disappointed with the entertainment as well. We have been on the Eclipse twice so was expecting the same brilliant entertainment (including dancing in the evenings). The dancing is non existent on the Reflection and the Skylounge is such a wasted venue. There is nothing going on up there. We went most nights after dinner for a cocktail and there were more bar staff than people.

 

 

The Sky lounge entertainment at night was very disappointing on our Reflection cruise last month too.

[adanaccruisers]

We were onboard this beautiful ship recently and very much enjoyed our FIRST cruise ever and our first trip overseas! Although I can't compare Celebrity to other cruise lines we were definitely impressed! The service was impeccable, from top to bottom and the accommodations, entertainment and food was wonderful.

We stayed 5 nights in Rome pre-cruise and took in as much of the traditional tourist sights as we could and some not so traditional as well. (i.e. Vatican City plus Scavi Tour, Colosseum plus Underground tour, Roman Forum, Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappuchin Crypts, etc. all fascinating!) It was mild, humid with very little rain. We were surprised at how the locals thought it was cold, walking around in pants, coats and scarfs while we were sweating in our shorts and sandals! One tip for Rome would definitely be bring your own toilet paper! If you were lucky enough to find a bathroom that had t.p., paper towels and a toilet seat you'd hit the jackpot!

We took the train from Termini station to Civitavecchia and it was a bit of a struggle with the amount of luggage we had. Next time I would share a shuttle to port.

Embarkation was a breeze as we arrived with much anticipation around 1 pm. We explored the ship and gathered for a sailaway get together on the top deck by the Sunset Bar while waiting for our luggage to be delivered to our balcony stateroom on Deck 8. We met others from Cruise Critic and enjoyed a frozen margarita as we pulled away from port.

Our first stop was in SICILY (Messina) and after researching ports for months, felt confident to DIY to Taormina (one hour train ride away) for the afternoon. The Greek Theatre provided spectacular views and after, enjoyed shopping and strolling through this lovely town. Time to head back. ALMOST MISSED THE SHIP! The local transportation is not always on time and can be a bit confusing. PANIC set it. Long story short, we had to hire a private taxi to get us back to port in record time. (90 Euros plus 20 Euro tip). Lesson learned. Never DIY when the port is that far away!! Needless to say, once back on the Reflection, we took advantage of our drink package promo!

Next was a day AT SEA, then onto to ATHENS, Greece. Did only one Celebrity ship's tour and this was it. Not too impressed with the big city. A little run down and unkept. Possibly due to current economic turmoil? Busy tourist day at the Parthenon, enjoyed spectacular views from the Acropolis. Plaka for souvenir shopping.

Next stop TURKEY (Kusadasi). Private tour for 2 to Ephesus included Terrace Houses and traditional Turkish lunch. Loved it! Beautiful country, wish we had more time to spend there.

Onto Rhodes, Greece. Walked off ship into Old Town and spent a few hours exploring and shopping inside the walled city. We were going to go to Lindos, but we were tired and decided to have a nice leisurely day.

Another stop in Greece, beautiful SANTORINI. Ship was tendered and water was rough this day. Took cable car up to Fira, then local bus to Oia. Wandered through narrow alleyways and shops. Went back to Fira and had delicious Greek lunch sitting a top the seaside village with a spectacular view!

Next day, MYKONOS, Greece. It was cool, very windy, rainy in morning then clearing. Not tendered as expected. Took Celebrity shuttle into town and again wandered leisurely through this lovely place.

Second SEA DAY. Tried breakfast in MDR instead of buffet. Enjoyable, but by this point any food is overkill and felt like we needed a day just to fast and take a break. Lounged in pool area. Went to Casino. Formal dinner night then took in another great show in the Reflection Theatre.

Last day on board! NAPLES. Small private tour arranged through CC with 14 others. Included Pompeii (2 hr. guided tour) , Sorrento (lunch), Positano (very short stop) and a drive up the Amalfi Coast. Jaw dropping views, but too much to pack into one day in order to appreciate time in each place.

Back to ship to pack for home. Was bittersweet. Somewhat ready to go home, but so much more to see if we had the chance! All in all, 10 nights for our first cruise was the perfect amount for us. We enjoyed everything about our trip, even the little bumps along the way. In fact, they make for more interesting memories and stories to share. The Celebrity Reflection was superb and we couldn't have asked for more. We have home only a week and I have already been looking to see where we can go next. Yes, it is true, we are hooked, just like so many other fellow cruisers said we would be!

[Milhouse]

We are currently on day 8 of the 11 day Reflection itinerary. Saw the Sin City show a few nights ago. Thought the first/host comedian was only OK. The second was really good. The burlesque dancer was attractive but was an awkward fit to the show IMO.

 

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[jaykat]

Thanks for those reviews of the Reflection.

We are considering going next year, end of September.

My question to those who were on this cruise is: were there any kids? And if so, what is there for them to do on board this ship?

Our kids (age 15 &12) will be on school holidays here in Australia but I realise it is not vacation time for US, UK and European school kids.

Anyy thoughts would be appreciated. I really like the Sept 26 (2104) itinerary but am wondering if kids will be bored on sea days and evenings, since the entertainemnt doesnt sound great.

[adanaccruisers]

Thanks for those reviews of the Reflection.

We are considering going next year, end of September.

My question to those who were on this cruise is: were there any kids? And if so, what is there for them to do on board this ship?

Our kids (age 15 &12) will be on school holidays here in Australia but I realise it is not vacation time for US, UK and European school kids.

Anyy thoughts would be appreciated. I really like the Sept 26 (2104) itinerary but am wondering if kids will be bored on sea days and evenings, since the entertainemnt doesnt sound great.

 

Personally, I saw about 10 kids on board the entire trip, ranging in age from toddler to maybe 10/12. There is the games room area on Deck 9, the pool, the Fun Factory on Deck 15 which has programs for kids aged 3-11 and the X Teen Entertainment club (check Celebrity website for info). I'm not sure what else is there is to do since it was just hubby and I and had no need to look for kids activities. Good luck.

Edited October 28, 2013 by adanaccruisers

[Cruiser418]

Which two nights on the 10 night Reflection cruise are formal nights??

 

 

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[adanaccruisers]

Which two nights on the 10 night Reflection cruise are formal nights??

 

 

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I believe the formal nights are almost always on Sea days.