Celebrity Reflection Western Med May 29 Review

[claudart]

Quick question: Were there USB ports in the staterooms on Reflection? (I don't remember any on other X ships, but this will be my first cruise on a Solstice-class ship.) Thanks.

 

 

No USB ports, only two US 110V and one EU 220V plugs.

[claudart]

Great Review, thanks!

 

We are doing this voyage on the Reflection in October. Hope our weather is as gorgeous as yours!

 

I hope your weather will be as gorgeous as ours, in 15 days, not a single drop of rain, few clouds here and there. In fact we must be lucky, it was our 3rd cruise and we always had perfect weather. We have another cruise booked next march (on Eclipse), I hope our luck continues.

[claudart]

Jun 3, a sea day. We really needed a day to just relax, and get ready for the upcoming ports. A day around the pool. We are not alone but we have no problem finding a lounge on pool deck. For a change we have hot dogs instead of hamburgers at the Mast Grill, they’re good! Add to that a few Coronas for me, Proseccos for DW and la vita è bella!

 

Speaking of vita bella, we had the Classic Package, we are wine drinkers, but not too fussy, they had a good Shiraz, a good Chardonnay, Prosecco, enough to make us happy for the length of the cruise.

 

We saw only one night show, Elysium, good show, we liked it. We are early risers in the morning, up and ready at 7, and eat early, dinner at 6:30, then we go relax in the foyer, listen to music, maybe a dance step or two, explore the ship. We like to go on our veranda at the end of the day with a glass of Shiraz and relax before bedtime. As they say, young at heart, but the body doesn’t always follow.

 

 

I know there are hundreds of photos of this ship, but let me add some of mine.

Relaxing on the veranda

Real high class public washrooms

[claudart]

June 4, Malaga. As soon as we got on shore in Malaga, we immediately thought, wow... we discovered paradise! It’s true that for us any place that has palm trees and has more than 2 months of nice warm weather in a year, looks like paradise, but this little charming city is IT. We did what we like best in such a place, just stroll in the streets, discover sights, flavors, smells, trying to get the feel of the city. Conclusion, we could move there anytime, and pass the rest of our lives there.

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Next episode, the adventures of Claude and Claudette in Gibraltar.

[claudart]

[claudart]

June 5, Gibraltar. This place is really special, a little piece of England at the southern tip of Spain. Probably the only british territory where car drive on the right of the road, because it caused too many accidents with cars coming from Spain when they drove on the left side. We had booked a Celebrity tour called Upper Rock Tour for Families. We were 20 people, 2 children. Our guide, named Valerie, was a nice lady who came from England many years ago.

 

We went in a small bus first to Gibraltar museum, full of artefacts relating the history of the territory. Interesting, if a little longish, but Valerie was so enthusiastic about it that it passed rather quickly. Then up to the cable car, which goes all the way to the top of the Rock, impressive, it is high! So we, all twenty and something people, packed like a bunch of sardines go up to the top. What a view! And then there are the monkeys, cute, but beware, they bite and there are heavy fines if we feed them. We were lucky, the sky was very clear and we could see Africa (The mountains of Morocco) at the other side of the sea.

 

What goes up must go down so we begin walking down a little road, arriving at an extraordinary site, St.Michael’s Caves. Gigantic natural caves, it even includes an auditorium for concerts. Probably unique in the world. Getting out of the Caves, we walk down again for a while, and we meet our bus, waiting for us to go back to the ship. A very good excursion we’ll remember.

 

 

Be the way, Valerie told us that it so seldom rains in Gibraltar that they don’t have enough fresh water for their consumption and everyday use, they use sea water and desalinate it. Hard to understand, this place being surrounded by the ocean, while back home, hundred of kilometers from any ocean, it rains so often! Mysteries of nature...

Our cable car coming to get us.

On the rock!

What a view!

Cute

Behind me, Africa!

They sleep im the trees.

[claudart]

 

St.Michael's Caves

 

 

 

Leaving Gibraltar, view from our balcony.

 

 

[tings66]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review and your pictures--enjoying it very much and look forward to more!

[claudart]

June 6, Cartagena. Another beautiful spanish city. This time the ship docks right in the port downtown, no shuttle needed. Again we walked around the city, exploring. Here also we would certainly like to settle and spend years. Before this trip we mostly thought about Italy, but after discovering Spain, we fell in love with this country. Cartagena has beautiful architecture and a relax feeling. We have lunch in a street cafe, good but expensive, well it’s a tourist place. Did some shopping, bought each another pair of shoes and some jewellery for the lady. A relaxing day in a beautiful place.

 

 

When in Spain the ship’s buffet had a section with spanish food. We liked most of it except the paella, a plate full of rice covered with those strange sea creatures, not bad but I ate once, it was enough for me. There was also a night with flamenco dancers.

Our ship sure takes a lot of room in the port.

In the port of Cartagena we saw this gigantic modernistic sail boat. After some research I learned that it's called Sailing Yacht A and belongs to russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko. It's worth about $400 millions!

When we arrived there was some military ceremony in the port. Notice the big russian yacht in the background.

[claudart]

 

 

 

All marble covered streets!

Delicious!

 

[claudart]

[afto]

Enjoying your review. What I notice most about the great photos is your DW's lovely smile; looks like you are having such a great time. Also .... mmmmussels! Yum!

[bbappel]

We were also on this cruise. About Barcelona - we didn't walk it; we took the shuttle, then public transport - buses and subway - and it was fine. My husband did lots and lots of research and we bought pre-booked tickets to Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia and Casa Pedrera. Wonderful places. Parc Guell - good you didn't walk since the free parts are not as interesting as the parts where an entrance ticket is needed. And they are time limited.

Beth

[claudart]

Jun 7, Ibiza. The ship docks some distance from the city of Eivissa, 15 minutes by shuttle bus. At the tourist office we take a map and head for Dalt Vila, the old town. This city is somewhat different from the others we saw in Spain, more “rustic”, white buildings, seems less developed, but nice and interesting. It was the only morning we had a cloudy sky, but it cleared before noon. We walked, visited, did some shopping, drank a glass of the best sangria ever. It was our last port, then back to Rome.

[claudart]

 

 

White buildings, white clothing.

 

 

 

Back to our ship.

[lovestx]

I am loving your review and photos! We have been to many of these places but not all so it is helpful and full of memories for me. And I love your wife's style....she wears an easy, beautiful smile so well!

[claudart]

Conclusion: my conclusion will be very short, we had a perfect cruise, marvelous vacations. It was our third cruise with Celebrity, and I think it was the best one. Service was always excellent throughout the ship. So was the food, buffet or MDR, I think a notch over our last cruise on Silhouette in Caribbeans (maybe because it came from Europe).

 

If I had to do some nitpicking about details, I would say some food in buffet was not always warm enough, the classic beverage package does not include any sparkling water (San Pellegrino or any other), also we had a door slammer neighbour (what can you do about that?)

 

I read some say quality has been declining on Celebrity, that’s not the feeling we had, for us this cruise was a pleasure from start to finish, the best so far and we look forward to our 14 nights cruise on Eclipse next spring.

 

Claude & Claudette

 

[Marking Time]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review and pics,really enjoyed this.It is always a pleasure to see how other people enjoy the experience of travel.:)

[anettegade]

Thank you for this review - we are onboard Reflection monday, doing the Western Med.

I can see the first chic night was in Villefranche - when was the second? Sorry if I have missed the information.

Thank you.

[claudart]

Hi, the second one was in Ibiza. Have a nice cruise.

[cameragirl81]

HI Claude, thanks for the review, your pictures are fantastic and so sharp! What camera do you use, if you don't mind me asking!

[claudart]

Hi, I use a simple point and shoot Nikon Coolpix. I like it because it's small and light. :D

[cameragirl81]

Thanks so much!!:)

[cameragirl81]

My husband and I leave from Toronto on July 29th, Im so excited!!! Its our 30th anniversary while we are there!

[basebare]

Claudart,

Hope you don't mind me asking another question, but did you have VAT tax for on board purchases? Trying to decide if I want to upgrade my drink package before the cruise or once on board. If there is a VAT tax, it might be better for me to do so before boarding! Thanks

Patti