Live Blog: Reflection, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. September 16-September 26.

[calicakes]

Hi!!

 

I know we're still over a week out, however we do leave for Rome on September 12th.  I want to get this topic started to answer your questions while I have great internet at home.   

 

I'm Randi and Julie is my wife.  We live in a North suburb of LA county and this cruise is celebrating Julie's retirement from the Los Angeles Police Department.  She retired as a Sgt on August 10th after 34 years with the department.   We're also celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary which will actually be two days after the cruise ends.   I'm pretty sure we got a really great price on this cruise as we used FCC from 2 previously cancelled cruises( Dec 2020 and September 2021).  The December 2020(Touch canal) cruise gave us 125 percent and we moved that to the September 2021(Iberian Peninsula) cruise.  When that was cancelled, we received a partial refund and we were told we could pick another cruise itinerary on Reflection( there was another ship we could choose, I can't remember at the moment).  Even if the cruise was more expensive( it was), we would not be charged the difference.    I believe we paid around 9500.00 for a sky suite with all 4 perks.  We also have 1850 OBC.  I used some of that to book 3 excursions and to upgrade the internet.  I received the move up offer today, however I won't be bidding.  A sky suite is fine for us.  This will be our first time in a suite on Celebrity.  Our previous cruises on Celebrity have all been in Aqua Class.    

 

I'm a bit of a foodie( albeit a picky foodie) so I am looking forward to Luminae.  Julie is very picky with a much more limited palette than me. She would be fine eating pizza most nights.  I have a feeling, she'll be ordering the kids filet more than once. 

 

We have a busy week with a lot of appointments before we check into the LAX airport Hilton on Sunday.  We're flying business class to Rome via JFK.  Our flight leaves at 7am and arrives at 7am on the 12th.  I've booked an AirBNB "steps from the colosseum".  I booked the airbnb the night before so we can check in as soon as we arrive.   

 

One of our appointments this week is bringing our two Standard Poodles in for grooming.  We have a 10yr old standard wirehair dachshund too, he'll also be groomed. 

 

It feels like I've been planning for months for this cruise.  We have some fun excursions booked( 2 private excursions) and 3 ship excursions.  We have a full schedule for our 3 days in Rome, including an evening food tour and an Ebike tour. Here is a photo of us, I'm wearing the dress : )   Enjoy pics of my big poodle boys, Toby and Sully.  

 

 

 

 

[Reel Love]

Looking forward to following along, especially hearing about Montenegro as that is one of the ports that I was really looking forward to on our previously booked Mediterranean cruise  (cancelled due to C-19 of course!).

Congratulations to Julie on retirement from the LAPD!   😊    

Edited September 7, 2022 by Reel Love

[Texter2]

Also following. Would love to take this cruise. Congrats on retirement! From north LA county too (but have not lived there in many years). 

[chemmo]

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

 

Congratulations to Julie on her retirement!
 

A cruise is a great way to celebrate retirement and an anniversary! Can I suggest you declare one night of your cruise your ‘anniversary night’, even though it is technically after your cruise? Murano would be my recommendation. If you are planning an anniversary gift Murano staff will deliver it under one of their big silver food domes. We have seen them do it a few times. One of my favourite items of jewellery is a ‘mini-mosaic’ necklace set in silver we bought in Rome. Making these miniature works of art is a traditional Roman craft, you will see them in lots of shops. Just an idea!
 

Luminae, as I think you are aware, has a menu that may not appeal to Julie. However, one of the problems of the menu, in my experience, is the way it is worded. When we first cruised there we would ask the waiter to describe what certain dishes actually were…Many dishes are not as fancy as they sound. Also, remember the MDR menu is available in Luminae on S class ships.

 

We loved the extra dining choices on Reflection. Both Lawn Grill and The Porch are great places to dine in warm climates. Also if you have had a really strenuous port day the buffet is very different in the evening than at breakfast and lunch. Much quieter, made to order meat and fish dishes and obviously pizza!

 

Recently had to cancel our October cruise so I will be enjoying your adventures with my morning coffee daily. We have done part of your itinerary and would love to do it again! Enjoy your stay in Rome. Your accommodation sounds ideal! 
 

Looking forward to your next post…

 

PS…Lovely dogs!

Edited September 7, 2022 by chemmo

[hrhdhd]

I just returned from the August 26-September 5 edition of this cruise. Hope you have a great time.

[scokely]

Wonderful way to celebrate all the milestones! 

 

My husband and I sailed the Reflection back in 2014 on an Eastern Med cruise. The ship was wonderful for the climate and looks like it's been kept up really well. Looking forward to your experience. We currently live in Northern Italy and Rome is one of our favorite cities. 

[vickykay]

Will be enjoying “cruising “ with you as we recently had to cancel the Oct.  7 sailing ( previously cancelled as well when the cruise was cancelled due to Covid).  Love the itinerary and looking forward to you review.  Happy anniversary and enjoy!

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review.  Dogs are adorable.

[Byairorsea]

Congrats on Anniversary and retirement!  You'll have a wonderful time I'm sure.  Yes, I like the Murano idea (above) for your "special evening" it should be great food.  We were 17 persons on Equinox (a twin ship?) in June.  We were celebrating a milestone b'day of my partner from the year before which got cancelled due to the epidemic.  All had a great time, though 10 of us had Covid after arriving home.  Use caution when in crowds.  Looking forward to this trip.  We too leave on 12th for Rome.

[calicakes]

What are your thoughts on bringing back some Olive Oil from Italy( Rome or Florence or Capri?) 

 

I cook nightly and I love quality ingredients.  I know I can buy just about anything here in Los Angeles, so do I even bother with schlepping EVOO home?   I prefer to buy consumables rather than souvenir type things.    We're also planning a cross country move next year. 

[Redking]

22 hours ago, chemmo said:

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

 

Congratulations to Julie on her retirement!
 

A cruise is a great way to celebrate retirement and an anniversary! Can I suggest you declare one night of your cruise your ‘anniversary night’, even though it is technically after your cruise? Murano would be my recommendation. If you are planning an anniversary gift Murano staff will deliver it under one of their big silver food domes. We have seen them do it a few times. One of my favourite items of jewellery is a ‘mini-mosaic’ necklace set in silver we bought in Rome. Making these miniature works of art is a traditional Roman craft, you will see them in lots of shops. Just an idea!
 

Luminae, as I think you are aware, has a menu that may not appeal to Julie. However, one of the problems of the menu, in my experience, is the way it is worded. When we first cruised there we would ask the waiter to describe what certain dishes actually were…Many dishes are not as fancy as they sound. Also, remember the MDR menu is available in Luminae on S class ships.

 

We loved the extra dining choices on Reflection. Both Lawn Grill and The Porch are great places to dine in warm climates. Also if you have had a really strenuous port day the buffet is very different in the evening than at breakfast and lunch. Much quieter, made to order meat and fish dishes and obviously pizza!

 

Recently had to cancel our October cruise so I will be enjoying your adventures with my morning coffee daily. We have done part of your itinerary and would love to do it again! Enjoy your stay in Rome. Your accommodation sounds ideal! 
 

Looking forward to your next post…

 

PS…Lovely dogs!

Sorry to hear you had to cancel your October cruise. Hope all is well.

[Redking]

Wishing you a wonderful trip and enjoy your celebrations.

[MR_T]

Great to see a live from blog on this cruise as we will be on it with you and I’ve been thinking about doing one but now you have it started I think I’ll just enjoy yours & totally relax on the cruise, I’ve done a few previous so I think I’ll take a cruise off this time 😊

 

like you we got a great deal from covid cancellations etc, our SV cost around 4300 Canadian with the 3 perks, 2 extra nights & some obc so very happy with it, 

 

enjoy Rome, we are in Croatia currently & loving it, swimming everyday in the crystal clear water enjoying the surrounding areas, 

 

hopefully we will catch up onboard 🍹😎

[MR_T]

7 hours ago, calicakes said:

What are your thoughts on bringing back some Olive Oil from Italy( Rome or Florence or Capri?) 

 

I cook nightly and I love quality ingredients.  I know I can buy just about anything here in Los Angeles, so do I even bother with schlepping EVOO home?   I prefer to buy consumables rather than souvenir type things.    We're also planning a cross country move next year. 

Not oil but I like to bring back some porcini mushrooms from Italy 😋 love a wild mushroom risotto. 

[chemmo]

47 minutes ago, Redking said:

Sorry to hear you had to cancel your October cruise. Hope all is well.

Thank you. A few health issues at present. We have moved our cruise to a similar one next year and have a Caribbean one to look forward to in March so we hope to be back on board soon. Makes enjoying reading the live blogs of others even more pleasurable!

[chemmo]

7 hours ago, calicakes said:

What are your thoughts on bringing back some Olive Oil from Italy( Rome or Florence or Capri?) 

 

I cook nightly and I love quality ingredients.  I know I can buy just about anything here in Los Angeles, so do I even bother with schlepping EVOO home?   I prefer to buy consumables rather than souvenir type things.    We're also planning a cross country move next year. 

I am not sure what they are called but think of very small bottles of olive oil packed with different herbs in them. You then use a small amount of the infusion with your own oil to flavour salad dressings or sauces. We saw them (I think a set of four) in Naples but I am sure they will be on sale everywhere. We decided not to buy them simply because of the packing issue…I didn’t fancy trying to wash out the combined smell of four different herbs from my clothes if the bottles broke…They looked nice though…

[barneyboy]

We always pack some bubble wrap so we can bring home oil or liqueurs. Love to bring home some Limoncello from the Amalfi coast. Although we can buy it here it just isn’t the same. We just got home from a Greece and .Turkey cruise and brought home some Greek olive oil which was sold in cans. 

[countess5]

Thanks for posting the live report, will follow along each morning with coffee.

Congratulations on the retirement and thank you for your service! Retirement is fantastic as we did it 5 years ago and have traveled most of the time, than that “C” word showed up but we are back at it.

 

We spent 14 days on Reflection last winter and enjoyed being back on her. Great captain and crew! We join her again this winter as part of our 3 ship 47 day Caribbean tour! 

 

If you are a foodie and your DW loves pizza you need to go to Bonci Pizzarium just outside Vatican City. You can catch the story behind it on Netflix Chefs Table. Our friends, wife is a executive chef, ate there this week and was blown away! 

 

Cheers! 

[hrhdhd]

Re:olive oil

 

It will need to be in a checked bag, and the PP's bubble wrap suggestion is a good one. You will also need to declare it when you return because it's food.

 

[lola2013]

Also following...

My first Celebrity cruise was on Equinox in 2013...we visited Dubrovnik, Montenegro and several stops in Italy) and were amazed at the beauty.  Followed that cruise with another Med trip a few years later that started with five days in Rome.  We also did an ebike excursion on the Appian Way.  It was great.  I'm sure you will enjoy every minute (our challenge was five hours of rain, but hey, when in Rome...........)

[calicakes]

9 hours ago, MR_T said:

Great to see a live from blog on this cruise as we will be on it with you and I’ve been thinking about doing one but now you have it started I think I’ll just enjoy yours & totally relax on the cruise, I’ve done a few previous so I think I’ll take a cruise off this time 😊

 

like you we got a great deal from covid cancellations etc, our SV cost around 4300 Canadian with the 3 perks, 2 extra nights & some obc so very happy with it, 

 

enjoy Rome, we are in Croatia currently & loving it, swimming everyday in the crystal clear water enjoying the surrounding areas, 

 

hopefully we will catch up onboard 🍹😎

Hi.  I've seen you on the roll call, maybe you're on a private excursion with us?  Please feel free to chime in on any of your experiences on this cruise. 

[calicakes]

3 hours ago, countess5 said:

f you are a foodie and your DW loves pizza you need to go to Bonci Pizzarium just outside Vatican City.

Yes, thank you.  We're going to the Vatican on the 15th. 

[calicakes]

2 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

Re:olive oil

 

It will need to be in a checked bag, and the PP's bubble wrap suggestion is a good one. You will also need to declare it when you return because it's food.

 

Thanks. I have a blow up bottle holder for travel( Its made by Travelon).  

[peanut head]

Congratulations on retirement, anniversary and all other wonderful days together!  Have a great time on land and sea and thanks so much for taking us along.

[MR_T]

37 minutes ago, calicakes said:

Hi.  I've seen you on the roll call, maybe you're on a private excursion with us?  Please feel free to chime in on any of your experiences on this cruise. 

I think we made an enquiry at one point but it just didn’t work out this time, I’m sure we will bump into on the cruise though 🍸😎