Live from the Med on board Reflection - Barcelona to Rome - Cunard vs Celebrity

Purplsmurf · May 15, 2023

3 hours ago, ChiosFan said:

I am enjoying your “live” tremendously. We are boarding the 22nd in Rome for 10 days and I am happy to hear the food and service is up to snuff. I haven’t been on the Reflection so this will be my first sailing on this class ship. What shape is she in? I understand she has not yet gone through a refurbishment.

Also, glad to hear the staff is experienced and veterans. I love it when they remember returning guests. Let us know what shows you enjoyed particularly. I will try to go to them. Do you know the cruise director?

Have a wonderful holiday. And keep up the great postings.

We are also boarding on the 22nd. It will be our 4th time on Reflection in 1 1/2 years. We were just on at the end of March. Ship is beautiful! Giuseppe is the CD. Can’t wait to see the crew again. See you on board!

Edited May 15, 2023 by Purplsmurf

JeanieC,Aston · May 15, 2023

18 hours ago, BazingAu said:

Was this just near the port or did you catch a shuttle/cab to a downtown area? We are trying to decide what to do in Marseille. We originally booked a petit train tour, but some of our party guests were not interested due to the limited sights on the tour.

There is nothing of interest near the port,you have to get a shuttle bus into the city centre,,paid for from Celebrity or walk to port gates and get free one,,,or walk the 7km alongside a busy motorway.

The harbour or Veux Port is surrounded by restaurants selling Bouillabaisse.

If you want to see a little bit of Marseilles the petit train is the best way especially if you want to go to the Basilica up on the hill to get the best view of the city.

Beware going to far of the beaten track Marseilles can be a dangerous place.

groryjm · May 15, 2023

21 hours ago, voyager1964 said:

Following up your report with great interest. Do you remember the name of that place?

Thanks,

18 hours ago, groryjm said:

L'hippodrome I believe. I'll check the receipt this evening

@voyager1964

This is the card from yesterdays lunch

groryjm · May 15, 2023

A little pre dinner drinkie while we dressed, a Dubonet cocktail in honour of our late Queen.....

then down to Murano for dinner. An excellent meal again with the usual OTT service we have come to expect from Murano and very much on a par with Cunard’s service. The sole however, although excellent, did not quite match that of Cunard’s Queens Grill but the cheese board exceeded, in variety and quality, the one we experienced on Queen Victoria in October.

Our sommelier was Alex who we had got to know in Tuscan Grill over the last few years and she catered admirably with our eccentric tastes. It is so nice to be remembered by crew😎

A brief interlude for the sunset... I do love sunsets at sea

We then retired to Michaels for a night cap form the exuberant Cranston

I do love the tiny salts at Murano but was very srprised that they were not ready on the table but we had to request them

Edited May 15, 2023 by groryjm

groryjm · May 15, 2023

After Michaels my daughter and Gastrgnome head back to their rooms while my daughters Girlfriend and I headed for the Martini bar. This was their first time on a cruise so they wanted to try the cocktails available. We sampled six between us and none quite fitted Kit's taste. Needless to say we did not finish them all. At my suggestion we moved on to the less crowded and in my opinion better World Class bar.

Joe spoke at length to them to ascertain their likes and then produced an off menu drink that was absolutely to their taste. He christened it the Joetini ….

30ml crème de cacoa white

40ml apple sour

15ml lemon juice

45ml vodka

Shaken with ice and double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora garnished with a grate of Chocolate

To their delight it not only tasted great but looked good in a Nick and Nora and NO ice crystals on the surface because it had be properly strained. OK so I may be a bit of a cocktail snob but it is my passion and I like seeing drinks made well.

For me he made something a bit different and as he is developing it at the moment didn’t divulge the full recipe. It was negroni like but made with a clear spirit over a large cube of ice and served with a red wine and strawberry infused Campari foam on the top, garnished with an expressed orange zest. The colours in my photo are a bit out as the pink of the foam does not come through. Drunk through the foam it is delicious and when stirred the profile subtly alters and while still delicious takes on a new character

groryjm · May 15, 2023

After a nice lie-in we grabbed a coffee on our balcony. This was courtesy of the fabulous Lavaza machine in the suite which makes better coffee than the illy Coffee machine we had on Queen Victoria last October.

When took a tender into Villefranche and had a leisurely stroll through the town rather than fight the crowds heading to Nice by train. The town is small but quite picturesque and with the gentle sun it made for a very pleasant mornings site seeing and shopping......

......followed by a Ricard and coffee on the waterfront.

hcat · May 15, 2023

5 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

There is nothing of interest near the port,you have to get a shuttle bus into the city centre,,paid for from Celebrity or walk to port gates and get free one,,,or walk the 7km alongside a busy motorway.

The harbour or Veux Port is surrounded by restaurants selling Bouillabaisse.

If you want to see a little bit of Marseilles the petit train is the best way especially if you want to go to the Basilica up on the hill to get the best view of the city.

Beware going to far of the beaten track Marseilles can be a dangerous place.

agree we took an excursion away from the port and the area around it

hcat · May 15, 2023

great review..thanks for sharing

love the pics and tips

I only have a few drinks per cruise.. for health reasons, but love the World Class Bar. On BEYOND we could be happy there, and still see all the action at the Martni Bar...Perfect!

Redking · May 15, 2023

7 hours ago, groryjm said:

There was much talk about slipping a pair of those shakers into my handbag during our last cruise. I behaved! Maybe that's why you have to ask for them? Too many have taken a walk 🤔

voyager1964 · May 15, 2023

8 hours ago, groryjm said:

This is the card from yesterdays lunch

Hello @groryjm

I am sorry but I actually tried to locate the tapas place near Sagrada, not in Marseille. Although the bouillabaisse looks lovely too 🙂

groryjm · May 16, 2023

After a lovely morning in Villefranche we headed back to the ship

and grabbed a late lunch in the Ocean view. The food in the OVC for lunch has been very good from the look we’ve had over the last few days though this is our first taste and while not the same as eating at a good French restaurant was certainly up the quality I would expect.

Burger.......

Or a bite of apple pie?

What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than on the balcony with a Lillet and soda while taking in the view

Edited May 16, 2023 by groryjm

groryjm · May 16, 2023

A quick pre dinner drinkie while dressing before we headed to the World class bar.

The ubiquitous Joe with another of his creations. Very nice but the smoke flavour was a touch to much.

The view from the LCG is always good and the food just what we wanted at this point in our cruise.

Oh and Joes recipie from yesterdays creation…..

groryjm · May 16, 2023

So today was a lazy day in Livorno. The Offspring and her GF hot footed it to Florence on a Celebrity train transfer but we just took the free shuttle to down town. The shuttle is a mere 10 mins and runs constantly through out the day. We walked for 5mins to the market after a lie in and spent a happy hour perusing the stalls. Finishing our self guided tour with an espresso and panini. Are we predictable……

groryjm · May 16, 2023

Being a lazy day we were back at the ship for lunch at the Porch and spent a happy afternoon watching a film in the suite and ships being brought passed our veranda by tug

Edited May 16, 2023 by groryjm

groryjm · May 16, 2023

For pre dinner I made a Diana’s bitter and as I had no simple syrup improvised with sugar... It was good

We opted tonight for Luminae and while the food and service were good I will have to add that having first had this set of 14 menus back in 2015 it hasn’t changed a great deal since, Repeatedly cruising the menu does start to get a little familiar. That said the specialities are also unchanged in 8 or nine years so the food being good is fine but the sameness of the menus is a getting us jaded. Cunard on our last cruise while also excellent would I suspect also be a bit tiresome on a constant repeat. Which do I prefer? I am still undecided , but will give a few more days to give an breakdown.

Not to forget the bourbon and peaches and the ultrviolet

We ended our evening with another episode of Bluestone 42, a calvados from Cranston at Michaels, a boulavadier from Joe ath the WCB and truffles in our room form Mudit our buttler

Oh and our JimJams arrived 😎😎😎😎😎😎 along with a CC invite to the helipad tomorow and the daily ... along with a warning on what to do if you have CVOVID!!!!!

Redking · May 17, 2023

6 hours ago, groryjm said:

For pre dinner I made a Diana’s bitter and as I had no simple syrup improvised with sugar... It was good

We opted tonight for Luminae and while the food and service were good I will have to add that having first had this set of 14 menus back in 2015 it hasn’t changed a great deal since, Repeatedly cruising the menu does start to get a little familiar. That said the specialities are also unchanged in 8 or nine years so the food being good is fine but the sameness of the menus is a getting us jaded. Cunard on our last cruise while also excellent would I suspect also be a bit tiresome on a constant repeat. Which do I prefer? I am still undecided , but will give a few more days to give an breakdown.

Not to forget the bourbon and peaches and the ultrviolet

We ended our evening with another episode of Bluestone 42, a calvados from Cranston at Michaels, a boulavadier from Joe ath the WCB and truffles in our room form Mudit our buttler

Oh and our JimJams arrived 😎😎😎😎😎😎 along with a CC invite to the helipad tomorow and the daily ... along with a warning on what to do if you have CVOVID!!!!!

Pjays on Reflection? Interesting, I thought that was only on Edge Class. Not that I really need them, but X sure are consistent in their inconsistency 🤣 Didn't get any on the Eclipse back in January.

Redking · May 17, 2023

3 minutes ago, Redking said:

Oops forgot ti hit quote!

Pjays on Reflection? Interesting, I thought that was only on Edge Class. Not that I really need them, but X sure are consistent in their inconsistency 🤣 Didn't get any on the Eclipse back in January.

groryjm · May 17, 2023

Early up and a quick Eggs Beni on the balcony before heading off on our tour to Pisa. The coach trip was about 40 mins and once there we transferred to the petit trains to take us to the cathedral and tower, it was a little damp but there was still quite a crowd. And almost every other tourist was doing that pose where one holds the tower up. I most definitely did not.

This was a celebrity tour I booked for all four of us to join and a good way to burn some OBC

Edited May 17, 2023 by groryjm

groryjm · May 17, 2023

The tour was only the morning so on our return we headed to the OVC for a bite. It was Mexican day and again the food and variety was good. It seems it is the evening when the amount of choice seems to have declined.

We ate on the back open deck but took desert back to the room.

At home I try to walk at least 2 miles a day so I nipped up top after lunch to do my walk

Then a quick game while we enjoyed a favourite pastime of watching the ships manoeuvre in the port

Bo1953 · May 17, 2023

On 5/10/2023 at 6:22 PM, groryjm said:

bags pack and ready to go........

gj bringing the stock shown in the background??? LOL

If so, I wish we were boarding together.... 😂

Cheers and bon voyage

groryjm · May 18, 2023

18 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

gj bringing the stock shown in the background??? LOL

If so, I wish we were boarding together.... 😂

Cheers and bon voyage

@Bo1953I wish the bar in our suite was as extensive 🙃 but saddly all we have is Camparri, Tanqeray Ten, Veuve Clicqout and citrus provided by the ship and the wine we brought on board,

We are allowed 2 bottles per person and between 4 of us in 2 suites we brought a bottle of Cava we were given in Spain , two botltles of Lillet and a bottle of Dubonet….. technically al wine 😉

Edited May 18, 2023 by groryjm

groryjm · May 18, 2023

We had a second helipad sail away invite form Livorno so we headed to the secret door to the helipad for another helipad event, this one from Captains Club. The light was great and view also

Bye bye Livorno

groryjm · May 18, 2023

A quick dash from the helipad back to the room to change and sample the platter that Mudit our excellent butler had left for us, oh and a dubonnet cocktail for me and a Cava for my Gastrognome.

groryjm · May 18, 2023

The show tonight was Elisium and a new one for me. We had tied to watch it a couple of times before on cruises we had been on since the pandemic but due to the cast being isolated for covid or exceptionally high seas are previous opportunities had been cancelled.

I certainly enjoyed this one and the cast were excellent.