Reflection Eastern Med 5-16-16 review

[lakeeffect]

This was our fifth cruise on Celebrity, second time on Reflection. We have cruised only Western and Eastern Caribbean in the past. We are an active couple, 55 and 60. Originally we booked this cruise specifically for the Ephesus and Istanbul port calls; while we missed Istanbul (cancelled last year), we truly enjoyed the revised itinerary and Bodrum was one of the highlights.

 

Embarkation: Arrived after 1 to the usual champagne and no line; checked in and went right to the room. There was an embarkation lunch in the MDR for concierge guests but this ended at 1:30 so we did not attend.

 

Cabin: Concierge C1 aft 2214. Right under the flag! Balcony was extra large and we loved the aft view. There was a little noise from chairs above but it did not bother us. Cabin attendants were excellent. A card on the counter stated the Concierge amenities. I asked for the body pillow and it was provided (loved it). The concierge on the 12th floor has regular hours and she will go out of her way for you.

 

Dining: Most nights we dined in the MDR - food was excellent, better than on previous cruises. Very good prime rib. Some days/late afternoons in the buffet there were locally sourced yummies (mussels, olives etc). Lawn Club was good one night. Two nights we went to the Porch and it was great if a bit windy. The "Branzina" is med sea bass and it was pretty good. No problems with bar service. Only complaint is the lack of any dark or amber beer on the Classic package - there are plenty of good wines for me, but my hubbie gets tired of the lagers.

 

Chic Nights: The passenger list skews UK. The first chic night we saw several tuxes and formal gowns; however, we were plenty comfortable in jacket/dress shirt/no tie/khakis and cocktail dress. Second night was a little more casual. In general the crowd was very appropriately dressed and most everyone changed for dinner. Lots of fun watching the fashion parade in the evenings.

 

Entertainment: We don't do the big shows much but liked the Broadway night which the cast actually put together themselves. House band was great and we really enjoyed the small vocal groups around the ship -more like the Summit we think. There was no one in the Comedy Club on this cruise, not sure why.

 

Ports: All great. Wonderful, welcoming people everywhere. Saw a lot of heavy security at major sites but experienced no issues whatsoever. Spent two days in Rome each before and after. Loved the Hotel Teatro Pace in the Piazza Navona area. We do not spend much time on the ship and really like to get out of the main port areas. It was nice to have two days in Athens, as we used the second day just to saunter around the Plaka. We used the on off bus there to get around. Santorini we ended up walking down the donkey path since the cable car line was long - it's not so bad. In Mykonos, there's a nice beach with a good restaurant for lunch if you keep walking past the windmills about half a mile. We used off ship excursions for Ephesus and Naples, but since we had some onboard credit to use, we booked Celebrity excursions for Bodrum (Jeep Adventure Tour - this was great. Someone else drives the jeep - had a great conversation with the driver - and you cruise around on roads the big bus can't travel on and really see the beautiful countryside) and Chania (Botanical Garden. This was so much more than promised - a beautiful facility on the mountain side, with a fun Cretan food demo. Let's just say the use of olive oil is liberal! It involves a hike though so fairly strenuous). Loved the Old Port here too.

Make sure to bring comfortable walking shoes, a rain poncho, and a hat.

 

Debarkation: Not sure if this just applies in Europe, but all passengers with independent travel arrangements could pick up their luggage at the terminal any time after 7 am. Concierge had a debarkation lounge in the MDR but we did not take advantage.

 

All in all an amazing cruise and fun fellow passengers!

[Clarea]

Appreciate the report.

[jobinhume]

This was our fifth cruise on Celebrity, second time on Reflection. We have cruised only Western and Eastern Caribbean in the past. We are an active couple, 55 and 60. Originally we booked this cruise specifically for the Ephesus and Istanbul port calls; while we missed Istanbul (cancelled last year), we truly enjoyed the revised itinerary and Bodrum was one of the highlights.

 

Thanks for this review! I'm going on the same cruise in October, and was happy to hear positive reviews of Bodrum as I don't know anything about it.

 

Question for you - I am doing the B2B with this and the transatlantic that follows. How did you get into Rome? If I am going on the train is it realistic to spend a few hours in Rome and get back in time for the late afternoon sailing?

 

Thanks!

[lakeeffect]

Thanks for this review! I'm going on the same cruise in October, and was happy to hear positive reviews of Bodrum as I don't know anything about it.

 

Question for you - I am doing the B2B with this and the transatlantic that follows. How did you get into Rome? If I am going on the train is it realistic to spend a few hours in Rome and get back in time for the late afternoon sailing?

 

Thanks!

 

From the ship we had a shared car service, left the ship around 8:15 and arrived in city at least an hour later after dropping other passengers at the airport. I think the train is longer. Probably doable for just having a nice lunch or shopping, difficult if you want to see any major sites. Lines are long mid day.

[Pluto_fan]

Thanks for your review! We're really looking forward to embarking on this same itinerary later this month. :)

[wowgirl/itguy]

Thanks for the review, and we are trying to plan our day in Santorini and do you remember what time the last tender is supposed to leave? Our departure is for 9:00pm and I've read it is one hour before which kinda screws up our sunset viewing from Argo at the top of the steps. Thanks in advance!

[loeb]

Thanks for the review, and we are trying to plan our day in Santorini and do you remember what time the last tender is supposed to leave? Our departure is for 9:00pm and I've read it is one hour before which kinda screws up our sunset viewing from Argo at the top of the steps. Thanks in advance!

 

Ship departed also at 9:00 pm and I think the last tender was at 8:00 - 8:30. However, if your going to take the gondola down, you will have to allow time to get on the gondola. We returned about 5:00 and it took us about 30 to 45 minutes to get on the gondola.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[lakeeffect]

Thanks for the review, and we are trying to plan our day in Santorini and do you remember what time the last tender is supposed to leave? Our departure is for 9:00pm and I've read it is one hour before which kinda screws up our sunset viewing from Argo at the top of the steps. Thanks in advance!

 

I can't remember if the last tender was 8 or 8:30. We had a lovely dinner at Argo, the view was great and food spectacular! We left there sometime before 7:30. The line for the cable car was really long by then, so we walked down the donkey path. It wasn't so bad and the path is much wider than expected. We took some nice shots of the sunset from the tender boat. Make sure you are outside on the ship (Mast bar was fine) as the sky darkens. Santorini at night was lit up like a jewelbox. Incredible.

[BobbyD]

Thanks for the review. We are on this cruise in August! Can't wait!

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review.

[nwcruisemamma]

Thanks for the review, we are booked in 2223 right next door and our friends have 2214. Would you book this cabin again or was the noise to much?

[lakeeffect]

Thanks for the review, we are booked in 2223 right next door and our friends have 2214. Would you book this cabin again or was the noise to much?

 

 

We would book the same cabin again in a heartbeat! The 180 view was amazing. We did not notice any excessive noise.

[easyboy]

Sounds like you really enjoyed your cruise!