They Say You Can’t Go Back After the Suite Life – We Did It and Survived!

A lot of comments have been made on CC about one disadvantage of trying a suite is that you will never be able to go back (I’m sure I’ve said it too). We started with Celebrity in AQ and after a couple of cruises have been in lower level suites (S1’s and CS) until this cruise. We have loved the suite life on Celebrity and had some trepidation about cruising in AQ again.

This cruise was the September 1, 2017 Italy and Greek Isles 10 day cruise on the Reflectionout of Rome. We have been planning to take a Med cruise with my husband’s sister and her husband for years and the time finally seemed right when we booked 1 ½ years ago. They had never cruised before. They did not wish to book a suite (they were flying from New Zealand and would be spending about a month in Europe so were already investing plenty into this trip). We did not want to book a suite if they didn’t, since the dining venues would be different and wewouldn’t want to go to Michael’s without them.

We had originally booked a 12 night out of Barcelona on the Equinox in adjacent large aft concierge cabins, but had to switch to the Reflection when the Equinox was moved to the Caribbean. When I received the cancellation notice I quickly went on-line and looked at cruise and cabin options. I found 2 AQ together on the 12th deck that didn’t have the overhang (2102 and 2104) – we like sun and we got lots of it on this cruise! The price was cheaper (though 2 less nights) and we had AQ. We are not MDR fans because of the massive amount of people so would have done a lot of specialty dining if we had been in concierge on the Equinox – being in Blu was a plus. We received $200 OBC for the switch from Celebrity, which we used to upgrade our beverage packages to Premium (paid most of the difference). We lost Barcelona,but gained Malta as far as ports (we have been to Barcelona, but were looking forward to going back). All in all, a good trade-off for us.

After many,many hours of planning, booking flights, hotel and tours 10 months ahead, we almost had to cancel in the last few weeks due to a health issue for one of us and a torn meniscus for another and then my dad became critically ill 2 weeks prior to the cruise. It seemed like it wasn’t meant to be, but the knee injury improved, the health issue got better with treatment and, most importantly, my father had surgery that stabilized his condition. With my family’s blessing, wewere good to go!

We flew Delta and had an excellent experience. We had Comfort Plus seating on the way over in the bulkhead and had the best experience we have ever had for a long flight. On the way back we were flying through Atlanta at the time Irma was making her way up close to that area so I called Delta on the last full day ofthe cruise to change the flight. They were able to get us on a flight to Detroit minus the Comfort Plus seats – they got us two preferred seats together in a row of two. That flight was not quite as comfy as the flight over, but relatively painless.

Once at FCO in Rome, it took some time to get though immigration, etc. There was quite along line (at least 30 minute wait) and it was very warm in there. One poor man collapsed in line and needed resuscitation. Four of us nearby were nurses/nursepractitioners and CPR was started. Unfortunately, no one could find adefibrillator (officials were calling to find one). Some sort of team arrived eventually to take over (without a defibrillator) and sent us away – I hope that he did okay – such a sad situation. The only reason I bring this up is that I would recommend that anyone who has health issues that might make it difficult to stand in line for that long after a long flight might consider getting a wheelchair once off the plane.

I had booked Rome-Airport.net to pick us up at FCO. I had used Romeinlimo before and liked them, but really liked the booking process online for this company and it was a bit cheaper. We used this company for all three transports (FCO to hotel, hotel to port, port to airport) and they were always there waiting for us, had nice cars and were very friendly. When I switched our flight home and needed them to arrive earlier, I emailed them the day before and they said “no problem” and were there even earlier than we asked.

We stayed in Rome 3 nights before the cruise. We chose Hotel Grifo because it was a small, friendly, independent hotel in the historic Monti district near a lot of the historic sites. We have had good luck in Europe with the smaller hotels so went with a CC recommendation on the ports board (and it had good TripAdvisor ratings). The hotel did not disappoint. When we arrived at 10 AM after our transatlantic flight, they let us move right into our room so that we could shower and collapse into bed. Our room was tiny (which we knew from reading reviews), but was only one flight up (I do not do well with small elevators) and had a lovely private terrace with a table and chairs. My SIL and BIL had a larger room on the 4th floor with a shared terrace. The rooms were spotless and well-maintained. The price was only about 85 euros/night including an adequate continental breakfast (pastries, yogurt, cereals, cheese, juices, etc., and you could get scrambled eggs or pancakes for 1 euro in addition). The staff was amazing – very friendly and helpful. The hotel was in a great neighborhood, with many lovely little restaurants where the locals ate. We had wonderful, inexpensive lunches and dinners with great wine – the staff in the restaurants were also friendly. We would definitely stay there again.

While in Rome last time, we saw a lot of the usual sites. My BIL and SIL flew in earlierand visited the Vatican, Colosseum, etc. the day we arrived, since they had not been there before. The next day we used Romeinlimo and all of us went toTuscany for some wine tasting. We spent a lot of time at a lovely family winery and had a delicious lunch and wine tasting (tasted 11 wines and several olive oils). We were in a private room and had a nephew of the owner as our host. It was a delightful way to sample Tuscan food, wine and learn a bit about the culture.

We bought our favorite wines to drink on our terraces at the Grifo at our evening cocktail hours as well as some for the cruise.

The following day we had booked a 4 hour food walking tour with Romeinlimo. Our wonderful guide, Christiana, picked us up at the hotel and we toured through a few districts to get the flavor of each. We went to an authentic dried meat store, where we tasted the most delicious salamis, etc. – so much better than anything we can get here.

We then went to a pizza place and had the real deal pizza – simple and delicious. We went to a market and saw many sites along the way, with some history thrown in. We ended with a great lunch and wine (and limoncello, of course) at a lovely restaurant. A nice way to see some of the city!

The day of the cruise finally arrived and we were picked up at 9 AM by our driver andt aken to the port. Rome is an amazing city – as we were driving on the highway, I just happened to glance to the right and there was the Colosseum right beside me (just mind boggling!).

Being a week day, there was some traffic in the city so we didn’t arrive until about10:30. We dropped off our bags and went into the terminal, filled out our health reports and then they were boarding the ship. We were onboard by 10:50 or so (so would not have had any real advantage to boarding if we had been in a suite). Our newbie relatives were amazed by the ship and the bubbly they were handed as we boarded. We headed off to the “feeding trough,” as my husband calls the Ocean View. Actually, with so few people there, it was a great experience – our cruisemates were impressed with the choices and of course, we all tried out our new cards to make sure they worked at the bar. We toasted each other and were off to a great start! When in suites, we did enjoy going to Michael’s after boarding and then Luminae for lunch – so much better to be served a nice lunch than eating in the Ocean View so we did miss that perk for being in a suite.

I had purchaseda specialty restaurant 3 night dining package for all of us ahead of time(there was a 22% VAT for anything purchased during this cruise due to us only visiting EU counties so I wanted to pre-purchase our specialty dining). I made a list of preferred dates, times and restaurants and handed it to the person outside the Ocean View manning the Specialty Dining table and they set up everything very quickly (they were fine with changing the original 2nd night reservation to another night). We were glad we did it early as we heard about some people having a difficult time getting reservations later in the cruise.

The cabins were ready by 1:00 and we went to settle in. We met our cabin attendant Made, who turned out to be one of the best we have ever had – a truly lovely person who did an excellent job. We talked over requests with Made, including an electric kettle for each cabin. He was able tocomply and we enjoyed making tea every morning to sip while we enjoyed viewing each new port, as well as in the afternoon many days. He supplied us with teas and clean cups and spoons. We got our own honey and creamer (from OVC). We often got the Tea Forte pyramids from Café al Bacio with our beverage packages to have special cups of tea.

We had him fold back part of the balcony divider so that we could join our balconies. We have never done this before and were a bit nervous about privacy issues. We made a few rules about knocking before peaking around the corner, etc. and it worked out well. We had many room service breakfasts together out there as well as afternoon tea and afternoon and evening cocktails. Actually those two cabins were quite quiet and private – we rarely heard anyone else when we were out there.

2102 (our cabin) had the bed by the balcony and 2104 had the couch by the balcony. We have done both ways and were fine with the bed by the balcony, especially because of closet access. A fitness room was right next to 2102 – I was worried about early morning noise from fitness classes, but never heard anything. The far corner of the solarium was above us –it was blank on the deck plan so looked like not much was there. There were a few chairs in that corner and we heard a little noise above us, but it wasn’t bothersome.

After unpacking our carryon luggage we explored the ship. We have sailed on the Reflection a couple of times so it was like seeing an old friend. Our travelmates were quite impressed and excited for the days ahead. Unfortunately we didn’t get our luggage until after muster, which was a pain. Since we planned to meet others at the Sunset Bar, we ended up just throwing stuff into the storage areas – I never did seem to get organized all week. Okay, here is the first major thing that I missed about the suites – storage. I’d forgotten how horrible the S Class storage is – those over the bed cubbies are not meant for short people. My husband, who is fairly tall, took those and I took the drawers, but I still didn’t have enough space. I ended up with the far end of the closet next to the couch and had to fight to get things out at times. I did try the cubes that people suggest on a previous cruise and that didn’t work for us. Anyway, the poor storage is not a deal breaker, but annoying. Hopefully,people who actually cruise are designing the Edge storage (including a female).

I do love the shower in AQ – nice pressure and love the jets, once adjusted. My SIL alsoloved the shower – called it her new best friend. :) My husband likes to soak in the tubs in suites, but I could care less. I prefer a good shower and would rather not have to shower in a tub (which the lower end suites have) so all was well with me. The rest of the AQ bathroom ispretty well-designed so did not miss the suite bathrooms, except maybe could have used a bit more storage. We did miss the Bulgari products – I used to likethe lemongrass products in AQ, but the ones used now are just blah. We broughtour own shampoo and soap so not a big deal.

The overall space in the AQ cabin compared to a suite really wasn’t an issue except when we were getting ready to go somewhere. Then we were bumping into each other (I don’t know why we always seemed to go through the narrow parts between the dresser and coffee table or bed and wall at the same time when in a hurry). It led to some angst, curse words and giggles, but again, we survived and it wasn’t a deal breaker. This was such a port-intensive cruise that we weren’t in the cabin a lot and when we were, we were usually on the balcony. We might have missed the space more if we had more sea days.

The big difference, I thought, would be between Blu and Luminae. After being in Luminaefor the last 3 cruises (and being blown away by it), I thought I would not be too enthusiastic about Blu. We had been in AQ twice before, one time the food and service were so-so and for the next cruise the service was excellent and food better, but inconsistent. Well, the food was fantastic and the service excellent most of the time this cruise. The new menu was more to my taste (less quail, pheasant, etc. I think). I really enjoyed almost everything that was served. It was helpful to have an excellent waiter (Mervut) the majority of the time, who was truthful about the menu – he recommended 2 choices each night (popular per his past guests) and then would tell us which items were most complained about or never had positive comments (though said everyone had different tastes). We usually ordered 1-2 appetizers and without asking, he would bring us a salad for each couple to share, if we hadn’t ordered a salad (the special salads they have each night). It was wonderful to try most of the salads – they were usually excellent. During the main course, he often brought us a dish of the nightly pasta to share. Again, it was nice to take a bite and see if we liked it - maybe we will broaden our horizons on the next cruise. For dessert, we again were encouraged to try different things. Main course highlights were the filet mignon, lamb, prime rib and short rib, which were all done perfectly, as well as my favorites of Blu cheese soufflé and crispy boursin cheese. The desserts were not as good as Luminae, IMO, but I rarely had a lot of room for dessert anyway (and there was always yummy Café al Bacio desserts that could be obtained after dinner, if “needed”).

The wine service was fairly good, but it was so busy most times we were there that we often had to wait a bit. There were 2 sommeliers and they never stopped. After a couple of nights they knew us and would keep the wine coming. By the end ofthe cruise, our sommelier was leaving bottles on the table to share. Their wine selection for the premium package was pretty good and they didn’t seem to run out as happened on the last cruise. More to come on this.

Timing was everything at Blu. Our plan was to go to the 7 PM shows, listen to music in Ensemble after the show and then head into Blu around 8:30, thinking the early crowd would be leaving. It seemed that was their busiest time – we sometimes needed a pager and had to wait a few minutes listening to music and sipping a cocktail at Ensemble (such a travesty!). We tried going at 9 and it seemed the staff was a bit tired and eating until 10:30 is not always a good idea. We talked to the maître d’ and apparently 6:30-7:30 was pretty quiet. We decided to try 7:30 and 7:45 the last few nights and that worked much better. The staff was fresher and the service much better with less people. They started giving us our special table on “the dark side,” as we called it, behind the wall in the center. It turned out to be a great table. These tables for four were well-spaced and being next to the wall, were quieter and with some privacy.

Breakfasts were great in Blu, as usual. They are very efficient and we would have juice, water, coffee or tea and pastries within 2 minutes of sitting down. The Eggs Benedict, sautéed mushrooms, fingerling potatoes were all favorites. The yogurt parfaits were very good, one with museli and one with granola. Mervut would bring us the usual fresh fruitplatters and then bring a couple of bowls of just fresh berries for us, whichwas lovely. Luminae breakfasts are a bit better, IMO, with better pasties and more choices, but Blu was a close second.

In comparison, all in all, Luminae is more upscale, with better cuts of meat, better desserts and better service, especially the wine service, but we had an excellent experience in Blu, so didn’t really miss Luminae on this cruise. If we had had a less attentive waiter or if just the two of us were cruising and we had to eat at the very close together two tops, we might have felt differently.

Other Food Experiences:

Ocean ViewCafé: Besides the nice lunch on embarkation, we didn’t spend much time there. I did head there one day after a tour for a salad and saw that they were grilling whole fish. They said it was sea bream. The uncooked fish were on ice on display and the cooked fish on a platter ready to be eaten. I watched them cook the fish on the grill and saw that they could barely keep up with the demand. I’ve never seen them grill whole fish there. It looked pretty good, but I stuck with my salad.

More to come...

Thanks for an absorbing read and the great pictures!

I would definitely have had to have that whole sea bream.

Looking forward to more!

Norris, big Rome in Limo fan.

Room Service: We had room service breakfast on port days with earlier tours. We put the hanger on the door at night - it was always delivered on time and hot and the food was quite good. Mostly, weenjoyed the relaxed ambience on the balcony prior to busy port days.

We didn’t use room service too much otherwise, though did enjoy what I think was new for appetizers (for us anyway). I was surprised that shrimp cocktail and the cheese platter were not shown as options for all day room service (maybe I missed them). One afternoon I did order chicken skewers and antipasto platters to have with some of our Tuscan wine we had brought with us. I ordered two of each for the 4 of us and it was a perfect snack to keep us going until our late dinner. It was actually delicious for being free room service food.

Specialties:

Murano was superb, as usual. We had a nice table in the corner with Glenn as our waiter. He recognized my husband from a previous cruise (for some reason they all remember him). I savored my goat cheese soufflé and thoroughly enjoyed the rack of lamb and cheese course. I had the gelato/sorbet sampler for dessert, which was a perfect end to the dinner. Those who had room for the chocolate soufflé were not disappointed. The wines on their wine list are a step up – we still had some good choices for the premium package. I upgraded a bit to the Bodega Pinot Noir to go with my lamb.

Goat Cheese Souffle

Qsine was fun since we were with newbies. It was cool to see their surprise with the dishes and the food was good, as always. Our favorites: baby back spring rolls, lava crab, disco shrimp, lamb chops in M’s favorites, painter’s mignon, crunchy munchies.

LCG’s foodwas delicious and perfectly cooked. We enjoyed the lamb chops, filet, ribeye,shrimp/scallop skewers, vegetable skewers and of course, the warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. We did have a negative incident there for the firsttime – we usually have no complaints. When we arrived at the time of our reservation, the maître d’ looked uncomfortable and said that there had been an error and there was no room for us, but would we mind being served at the Porch Restaurant – same food and same service. That sounded fine to me since the place was packed, but my husband had really wanted our first time cruise partners to toss the pizza dough and make their own flat breads (we hadn’t told them about this, but were planning to push them up there as a rite of passage).If we were at the other restaurant we wouldn’t be able to sit in our seats and enjoy the show. My husband, who rarely makes waves, said that we didn’t want a table at The Porch. They shifted things around and found us a space, but it made for an uncomfortable beginning to the night. Our waiter, who again recognized my husband from another cruise and I remembered him, apologized and told us that a large party (20 people) had booked for an earlier time and then didn’t show up until about the time we did. They took them in and then bumped people to The Porch, I guess. Anyway, it was packed, but our waiter was wonderful and made us feel welcome so we had a lovely time. The newbies threw their dough in the air and proudly ate their flatbread and we all thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Sushi onFive: We had a wonderful lunch there one day – the lobster ramen and chicken ginger dumplings were my favorites. As always, the service was amazing (found service excellent on the Eclipse as well). This is a nice, relaxing place to dine. Yes, I miss my crepes from B on 5 but have moved on… J Another thing that was new since our cruise a few months ago was Sushi to Go, where you could order sushi, sake and Japanese beer to go by calling them during opening hours. At least I think it is fairly new.

The Porch: I was surprised about the $30 cover charge there – for some reason I thought itwas ala carte. I was also surprised to see a Med influence in the menu (different than the on-line menu, but maybe it was because we were in the Med), but a lot of things looked good. I really didn’t want to pay $30 for soup and salad for lunch so felt I needed to order the seafood “tower”. I had the charcuterie board as an appetizer, which was delicious. The seafood tower was combined for the two of us and really didn’t have a lot of seafood. It was all good though and we had plenty to eat. I’m not sure it is worth the cost. I think they should make it ala carte and then those who want the seafood could pay a higher price than someone who wanted soup and a Greek salad. Anyway, we had a lovely lunch there and enjoyed the experience.

Other SuitePerks that We Did Not Have on this Cruise:

Having a butler is a nice thing, but Made got our laundry done in record time, got us a kettle and touched base every day to see what we needed. He took great care of my newbie in-laws and made sure their toilet was fixed promptly when there was an issue. I made the dining reservations on my own very easily, had great seats in the theatre without being led to reserved seating by a butler and didn’t really need any other assistance onboard so luckily that was easy to do without.

I really wondered if I would miss Michael’s Club. We’ve spent a lot of time in there on our last cruises. We like the ambience and the special events in there. I did get a twinge occasionally when walking by, but actually enjoyed getting out tothe other lounges more. I like having a bartender who sees you and starts making your drink as has been the case in MC, but we actually had that at the Ensemble Lounge this time. Dmitro was excellent – when he saw us, he knew our favorites and would make sure they were well-executed. A class act of a guy – we really enjoyed chatting with him every night. There were also two other wonderful bartenders there who had lots of personality. Though we liked the special events in Michael’s, we always found plenty of good music in other lounges. We usually get invited for sail aways on the helipad each cruise and thought it was due to being in a suite, but we were all invited to the helipad for the Santorini sail away on this cruise. So, though we love MC and the concierge, and it is a great perk, we found it was not too painful to live without it.

Bar/WineService:

Bar service overall was pretty good, though some bars we stayed away from – unfortunately the Sunset Bar didn’t deliver the first day at Sail Away time, but they were swamped so were understanding and we went down the steps to the Ocean View Café bar and got better drinks there. The other place that seemed consistently bad was the bar in between the casino and theatre on deck 4. Some of the drinks were just terrible – with the beverage package, we could just bring them back and ask for another or go elsewhere. As I said, the Ensemble Bar had some great bartenders and we stuck to their bar in the evening for before and after dinner drinks. My SIL had the drink of the day every day and enjoyed many other cocktails from the menus in the bars. She had some great concoctions and a few nasty ones, but overall had great fun trying many different cocktails. My BIL and my husband liked the Rebel IPA andthey didn’t run out of it on the cruise so that was their beer of choice. Our cruise mates developed a taste for the Café al Bacio coffees with various alcoholic beverages added. They always seemed to be awake and happy J.

The wine choices for the premium beverage package were adequate in Blu. The first night we didn’t get a wine menubecause it was so busy. We just told the sommelier if we wanted Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, etc. The next time Iasked for a wine menu ahead of time (had to wait for a table) and we chose what we wanted. The first sommelier we dealt with in Blu seemed like he could barely keep up so didn’t ask many questions. After our first couple of nights, we were placed on what we called “the dark side” – it was just on the other side of thewall with the colored holes in it. The sommelier on that side, Andrea, was more personable and offered help with choices and eventually brought whole bottles to the table. We brought our own bottle of Tuscan red (from our Tuscany tour) one night and I don’t think we paid a corkage fee (they were so busy they may have forgotten and so did we). The last night she brought us a bottle of a nice French red blend and a bottle of Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc – that met our needs nicely! We heard from another couple who were particular about their winethat they told her the first night that the Premium choices were unacceptable (too man y new world wines) and apparently she gave them better wines to choosefrom. I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask.

We all attended the Riedel Wineglass Workshop. My husband and I have done it before, but we wanted to do it again with our cruise mates. I asked if we could do it without buying the glasses and they let us do it for $25 each (with the glasses it is $87). We enjoyed the class and more importantly, enjoyed Ermina, the sommelier. She is such a lovely person with a dry sense of humor.

Ermina talked us into purchasing the next class she was teaching called Blendtique: Craft Wine and Custom Blending Event ($35 each). That event was so much fun. There were 11 teams of 4 people (some teams had a few more than that). It was held in the Opus Restaurant and each team had its own table. Each group received a Blendtique kit, which included 4 small bottles of red varietals (Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah), a pipette, a flask and a booklet with suggestions and calculation information.

The teams’ mission was to blend the varietals, using basic principles and personal taste and develop a winning wine. We each had a role: the mathematician calculated how much of each wine to place in the flask, the chemist used the pipette to remove the correct amounts of each wine and mix them in the flask, the scribe kept track of the trials and results on the blending trial sheet and the hoarder calculated the amount of wine used and what was left so we would have enough wine left to have a 200 ml glass of wine for the judges. We initially did trials of various combinations, using 3-4 ofthe wines in various percentages. We would mix up a batch and all taste and grade it. When we had something we really liked, we made another batch for the judges and placed it on the wine submission sheet, which had our blending recipe and the name of our wine. Since we were all wearing our Crazy Donkey hats from the brewery we had visited in Santorini, we named our wine “Kick A**Red”. The judges were 3 sommeliers on the ship, including the head sommelier. Imagine our surprise (and pride) when we came in third out of 11 teams! We proudly accepted our Celebrity sunglass cases as prizes. You could have the wine blended and bottled on the ship or sent to your home with custom labels with Celebrity Reflection and Kick A** Red on the label. You could also buy the Blendtique kits to bring home or have it shipped. This was a really cool thingto do onboard.

After rereading the above, I realized that it probably looks like we were drinking all day long. Well, maybe some days... but mostly we were quite sober!

The music was excellent on this cruise. After the disappointing musicians on the Eclipse in January, we had low expectations. We were pleasantly surprised. There were 2 house bands – the Affections and Artishock. Artishock was good, but the Affections were amazing. We enjoyed their music so much and the lead singer was very personable, often talking with us after the shows (I’ll admit it, we were groupies). That group led an amazing Abba show one night in the Sky Lounge. The Elan Duo (classical strings) joined in (they were also superb), as well as one of the Celebrity singers, who was excellent. It was one of the best musical sets I have ever heard on a ship –the lounge was packed, everyone was dancing and singing – it was magical and no one wanted it to end. Artishock did a fun Beatles show one night in the Sky Lounge, which also had the crowd dancing and singing. The solo guitarist, Gordon Daniels was also excellent – we enjoyed his shows as well. The duo, Ryan and Chelsea, was not as much to our taste, but enjoyable. We avoided the DJ, as always.

The Silent Disco was a big hit with our group. Good fun! Other theme parties included a disco party, Silent Liquid (in the Solarium), Masque (British Rock), Groove (60’s) and a Full Moon Party (by the pool under a gorgeous full moon).

The nightly theatre shows were pretty good though we didn’t attend the production shows. The pianist/comedian was very good on the first night, but unfortunately there were very few people in the theatre for the first show so it was hard to get things going. Raegar, a southern rock duo was quite good, the Beatles tribute band was entertaining, the hypnosis show fun and believable (since 2 cynical people in our group actually felt the effects) and the opera singer excellent.

Spa: My SILand I had massages on a port day after our tour. My massage was wonderful and no hard sell after – my SIL’s masseuse got a bit rough with her, but she felt great after – she did have to listen to a soft sales pitch. My DH had one of the daily special massages and had a great experience – he wanted to go back every day. They did have a deal where you buy 4, get one free. After we boarded the ship we had a tour of the Persian Garden and vowed we would go there. Therej ust wasn’t enough time!

Sea Days: There were two wonderful, relaxing sea days to sleep in, read on the balcony, play, eat gelato, nap, etc. The Chic nights were on those two nights (nights 4 and 9).

Thanks for the review and post. We have been on Reflection several times and it certainly is a beautiful vessel. We would agree that the "suite life" is not really a necessity for us particularly on a port intensive cruise.

I typically check suite prices when we book (fortunately we can afford a suite) but the value proposition for us is in Concierge and AQ.

Our biggest shipboard activity (on Carib cruises) is hanging at the pool and if X enhanced this experience for suite passengers I would probably look harder at a suite. HAL has cabanas, Princess the Sanctuary, NCL (not a fave) has the Haven but it remains a scramble to find pool loungers on X whether you are in the lowest category inside or the owners suite. JMHO

I enjoyed your review.

We normally book a balcony, but were upgraded to AQ a few years ago. BLU was nice, but in our opinion, not worth the cost of paying what most X cruises charge for AQ over a balcony.

On our Japan and China cruise in Fall 2015 we upgraded to a Skysuite (one of the big ones) on Millennium for $800 total. The suite was great, with lots of space and the bathroom had a separate tub and shower with two vanity sinks.

We dined in Luminae, which was great, even better than BLU.

It was nice, for an $800 total upgrade, but after our cruise, we agreed that paying upfront 3-4 times for a suite over a balcony is just not for us. One of the disadvantages of dining in Luminae was that we missed dining with some of our new cc roll call friends.

Our butler was great, but we don't need hand holding and didn't ask him for much. Of course, he did bring tea and treats around about 4PM every day.

We are back in our balcony cabins and not unhappy.

Ports:

This cruise was very port intensive, there was a lot of walking up steps and/or hills to see the sites and the weather was hot (80-90 F or 27-32C most of the time) so we were usually exhausted at the end of the day (but happy!). We only gained a pound or two on this cruise! We chose all non-Celebrity excursions and had a mix of full day, half day, private and semi-private tours. All in all, we were happy with our tours. If we went back to some of the places we might feel more comfortable striking out on our wn in some places.

The tender boarding would not have been too different had we been in a suite. At both tender ports we were able to board quickly. In Santorini there was a long line when we first went down so we went to find the Captain’s Club hostess to see if we could get on faster with the Elite and above group. She wasn’t there yet –she was bringing people down from 9-11 (and it was only 8:30), I believe - so we went back to wait in line, though when we arrived there was no line and we got right on. Tendering at Mykonos was also immediate.

Sicily: I booked Sicily with Mario – Best of Sicily in One day Tour and Tasting. It was a full day tour with a driver and tour guide. The driver could drop us off and stay with the van and the guide, Sergio, was very knowledgeable and personable. The four of us, plus another wonderful couple from Northern Ireland I had met on our roll call had a very enjoyable day. We first went to the Godfather country to beat the crowds. In Savoca, a beautiful little village and one of the “Godfather villages,” we walked up a hill to little shops and tasted delicious olive oils and almond wine and then further up to a beautiful cathedral and took in the views of the countryside below. As we were walking back down, the bells started tolling in the church and then recorder-like instruments started playing Ave Maria. We all stopped and just soaked in a magical moment. It was one of the many times on this trip that we all felt like we had to pinch ourselves because we couldn’t believe we were experiencing such amazing things. We climbed into the hills of the countryside and took in beautiful views of Mt Etna and went to a volcano crater (Silvestri) and looked in – it was so windy that we couldn’t get too close – apparently a tourist had fallen in on another windy day and died so they were warning everyone to not get too close. We had lunch up by the crater at a restaurant/store. Sergio had made us sandwiches with baguettes with fresh tomato, mozzarella and olive oil for lunch. They had some chocolates, cookies, etc., at the shop inside the restaurant that we could sample for dessert – very tasty. We went to Taormina, an ancient Greek colony with a pedestrian walkway, where there is time to shop/view some ancient sites.We enjoyed some gelato there and did a little shopping. All in all, a good day. I would definitely go back to Sicily.

Malta: First of all, I must say that sailing into Malta was a big thrill. I just happened to look out onto the balcony as we were entering the harbor and was so surprised to see the sandstone buildings and fortifications. It was quite breathtaking – I woke my husband up and said “you have to see this.”

The four ofus had a private tour with Touring Malta. Again, we had a driver and a very experienced guide. This was an all day tour. Rosa turned out to be an amazing guide, very funny and no-nonsense, with a heart of gold. We saw the Barrakka Gardens which had gorgeous views of the harbor and ships, walked through the streets of Valetta seeing historical buildings and learning about Malta’s rich history, visited Mdina, a quaint city that was lovely to stroll through and hear about the influence of its multiple occupations throughout the years, visited the jaw-dropping 5000 year old Hagar Qim Temple, viewed the lovely Blue Grotto Arch and then went to a fishing village for a seafood lunch. When we arrived, our table had been given to a large party (seems to be the story ofour lives J) and Rosa was fit to be tied. I wish I could understand what she said to the owner, but I whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant. Anyway, they told some of that large group to leave (they were grumbling about not getting dessert on the way out) and then we had a lovely table by a window overlooking the ocean. It was as if nothing happened – we were treated to an amazing lunch of freshly –caught fish (lampuki, I believe) and lovely wines made in Malta. Rosa joined us and we learned about her and her life – such a fun and delicious lunch! After lunch we headed back to the ship. What an incredible place Malta is –I liked the vibe there and would definitely go back.

Blue Grotto Arch

Mykonos: We had a shared tour in Mykonos with Mykonos Tours. It was a 4 hour tour and had 14 people in our bus – the bus was a bit larger than usual and comfortable for that many people. We toured around the island and went to some beaches and other scenic areas. We stopped at a little village (Ano Mera) and had drinks outside at a lovely old tavern. We went to the old windmills by the ocean and saw the sites in that area. I found a gift shop, Mytho, that caught my eye because of its sign – it said something like “if you want the usual tourist merchandise, don’t shop here”. Of course, I had to go in. I bought some beautiful hand-crafted bracelets. The owner was an interesting guy and talked about New England (where I am from). The tour continued on, but we were ready for lunch so our tour guide showed us an ocean-side restaurant that she often frequented and asked them to take good care of us. I had a wonderful Greek salad – the marinated feta was the best I’ve ever had. Of course, we had ouzo with a meze platter (cured meats, cheeses, olives, other delicacies). Delicious! We decided that Mykonos was a pretty island – we probably wouldn’t visit again unless we wanted to stay at a beach resort (or maybe go back to that gift shop J).

Ports continued:

Rhodes: We had a 5 hour private tour for the 4 of us with Rhodes Private Tours. Our driver, Manuel, was not an official tourguide but was very knowledgeable. We had a great day with Manuel. We visited the Old Harbor where the statue Colossus is thought to have stood. This statue was the height of the Statue of Liberty and was destroyed in an earthquake. We headed to Old Town to be able to drive through before 9:00 AM when it becomes a pedestrian walkway. Seeing it without anyone there in the early morning, it is an amazing Medieval city, but in the afternoon after our tour my in-laws were dropped off there to walk through, they found it more touristy (and packed).

We toured around the island seeing gorgeous countryside and ocean views, went to a fun winetasting, walked through the Valley of the Butterflies and saw some gorgeous butterflies in this unique nature reserve, went to the ancient city of Kamiros and then we were dropped in town on the waterfront to have lunch at an ocean-front restaurant (the in-laws opted to go back to Old Town). We had a lovely lunch and then walked back to the ship. We ended up really liking Rhodes and would go back – a beautiful place!

Santorini: For Santorini we had a private tour for just the 4 of us with Santorini Unique Experience Tours. It was a 5 hour tour. We had a driver and a wonderful tour guide, Christina. We got on a tender easily and took the cable car up to the top of he cliff – there was little wait for the cable car so we arrived early to meet our tour guide. The ride up was terrifying for me, but quick – the view down the cliff was unbelievable.

Our guide was waiting for us at the top so we got a 15 minute earlier start. Her main goal was to get us to Oia before the busloads arrived so off we went. We went up for the money view when we arrived in Oia. There happened to be a photo shoot going on – what a lovely sight.

I can see why we she wanted to get us there early. On the way down the hoards had started to arrive and the pathways were getting clogged. She then took us to anothersite with a gorgeous view that was away from the crowds.

We saw the usual sites in Santorini. We then headed to a beer brewery and a winery. The Santorini Brewing Company was a fun place and the guys loved the Crazy Donkey IPA so we all bought Crazy Donkey hats. The Argyros winery was lovely – we had a tour of the operation and then had a very nice wine tasting with a platter of tasty food. We loved the wines, but especially liked the 12 and 20 year old dessert wines (Vinsanto). They were like tawny ports, so of course, we had to buy a bottle of each to take home J. After our wine tasting we headed for a black sand beach, which was gorgeous. There was a nice ocean-front restaurant so we decided to have lunch there overlooking the beach. We had a delicious lunch of tomato balls (a Greek specialty that we still crave), a yummy local fried cheese with dipping sauce and huge, fresh Greek salads, all served with more local wines. The waiter was great – we had an enjoyable time with great food and a million dollar view.

We said goodbye to our excellent guide Christina and went to get the cable car. We found a long line. It looked like we would be there a long time, but it moved pretty fast and there was a lot of interesting people watching. I think we waited about 30 minutes and then were on our way to another terrifying ride (for me anyway). It beat walking in the 90 degree heat or riding a donkey!

There was no wait for the tender so we headed back to the ship. We got back to the ship and sat on our balconies and watched the tender go back and forth for a while.

We had the sail away on the helipad that night so went to that and enjoyed the beautiful views of the Santorini harbor as we sailed away. A great day and a beautiful place!

Athens: We had a private 4 hour tour for the 4 of us with PK Travel. We had a driver and a tour guide, Theoni. Despite the French president being in Athens, they assured us that they knew all the back streets and could get around any traffic jam sothat we would see all the sites. They wanted to head to the Acropolis ASAP to beat the busloads of people. We headed there immediately, but since it was time for the changing of the guard for the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Parliament building, we stopped there briefly to see that along the way. It was an interesting sight.

We made it to the Acropolis before the buses and headed up the hill. It is quite a walk up to get to the top. Luckily it was only about 9 AM so only about 80 degrees instead of 90 J. It is quite a thrill to be there, another one of those “pinch me” moments. Theony was very knowledgeable ands hared interesting insight about the Acropolis and other sites visible from the hill. Even my history buff BIL had all his questions answered.

As we walked back down the steps, we saw why she had been in a hurry to get there. The walkways were getting clogged and people had to wait to get up the steps. After the Acropolis we saw many other sites along the way, such as the Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium (an Olympic stadium) and the Hill of Lycabettus. It was a good tour – we saw what we wanted to see.

A sculpture by the road in Athens called Running Man by Varotsos - amazing!

It was cool when we went back to the ship and noticed (finally) that we could see the Acropolis from our balcony!

Naples: In Naples we had originally had a private tour with RomeinLimo, but switched to Italy Tours EU to save some money. My DH and I have been to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii (with RomeinLimo 4 years ago), but were happy to go back with my SIL and BIL who had not been to either. The tour was with 14 people in a small bus and included a private guide at Pompeii, who turned out to do an excellent job. I ended up not going because I stayed behind to change our flights and transportation to the airport due to Hurricane Irma (we had a flight to Atlanta from Rome and the hurricane looked to be heading there). It took me a few hours to get flights, seats, etc. and then I actually had a nice, relaxing day alone on the ship. It was what I needed aftera busy cruise (and I didn't have to worry about getting stuck in the airport).

Our group and the couple from Northern Ireland, who we had been hanging around with a lot during the cruise, had a great day. They had a nice lunch in Sorrento on their own. Their only complaint was that the bus seating was a little tight. Oh well, it was probably worth it since the price was right.

OtherComments:

WiFi: I had enjoyed free unlimited Wifi on the Eclipse as a suite perk in January. I enjoyed it so much that I purchased it for this cruise. The Wifi rarely worked well when I tried to use it. I thought it might be that our cabin was so far up and forward, but I didn’t have a lot of luck elsewhere on the ship (and it did work in our cabin at other times). I think I must have been trying to use it when everyone else was also trying to use it. It really wasn’t worth it for this cruise. I was able to be in contact most days, but could have used our Elite 90 minutes and probably had the same amount of time. Oh well, live and learn.

Upsells and Soliciting: I have gotten immune to the sell, sell, sell mentality on Celebrity onboard and barely notice it now, but saw it through our newbie relatives’ eyes. They did not appreciate the constant attempt for upsell of packages (we already had), letters in our cabins at night, phone calls and worst of all, people in front of the shops asking us to come in and try things as we walked by at night. Interestingly, as the cruise went on, I saw that they too started to ignore it all.

People on the Ship: The people on this cruise seemed to be a good group of people. I didn’t run into any rude people - people held doors and elevators and seemed generally positive. It created a nice atmosphere for the cruise. Many different countries were represented onboard and we all seemed to get along. We really enjoyed getting to know two wonderful couples from Northern Ireland – they were a lot of fun. Dress on the ship seemed better than usual –not that I look closely at that kind of thing, but I did think the passengers cleaned up well at night J.

Disembarkation: Leaving is always sad, but the process was pretty painless for this cruise. We walked off around 7:30, found our luggage without any issues and our ride was waiting to take us to the airport. We were there by 8:30 for an 11:15 flight.The flight to the US was 11 hours, but relatively painless, except we missed all the wonderful people on the ship, the food, the drink, the fun. Oh well, we can start dreaming about the next cruise in February on the Summit.

So, can you go back after a suite? For us, just having experienced lower level suites, being in AQ (and Blu) was great for this port intensive cruise while traveling with another couple. Would we have liked the perks and extra space? Of course, but this was one of our best cruises ever without being in a suite. If we had always been in upper level suites, we might have a different perspective as it would likely be more difficult to give up the higher level perks. Our next cruise is in AQ and then back to an aft S1 on the Edge, which should be a unique suite experience. :D

BTW, our newbie relatives absolutely loved the cruise and are now hooked. They loved the music, entertainment, food, premium beverage package, meeting new people and all that the beautiful Reflection had to offer.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the Reflection, ports, etc.

Thank you for your review. Great perspective there's far too much bragging about the suite life on these boards. We too have gone back and forward suite no suite no problem. We all have to do what's right for us and what's right for our budgets. And I'm ok without someone making me feel I'm getting special treatment too!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Your review is awesome, thank you for sharing!

Thanks for an absorbing read and the great pictures!

I would definitely have had to have that whole sea bream.

Looking forward to more!

Norris, big Rome in Limo fan.

I know! Now that I'm looking at the fish, I wish that I had tried it. They had some interesting sauces to go with it too.

I know! Now that I'm looking at the fish, I wish that I had tried it. They had some interesting sauces to go with it too.

Great reviews, I had the similar feelings as you, I posted them in the thread, on board Equinox now.

Great reviews, I had the similar feelings as you, I posted them in the thread, on board Equinox now.

I've been enjoying your thread and was wondering what your bottom line would be. I just read your comments from this morning and I must say that I am not surprised. :D

So happy you and your wife had a special cruise!

Thank you for an excellent review. Loved the details you included about your experiences on the ship and in ports. I have visited some of the ports and could easily relive our own experiences through your descriptions, like arriving in Malta and climbing to the Parthenon in Athens. What a wonderful itinerary!

We are planning another Med cruise next fall. I'd love to do a Tuscan winery visit similar to what you described. Did you book that through Rome in Limo, or just used them for transport? Do you recall the name of the winery? Would love to book something similar during our pre- or post cruise visit.

Thanks again,

Maria

Great review and lovely pictures. Thanks. I'm going to most of the port stops fairly soon and it's nice to read what you got up to. Surprisingly there is life after suite life!:cool:

Phil

I enjoyed your review.

We normally book a balcony, but were upgraded to AQ a few years ago. BLU was nice, but in our opinion, not worth the cost of paying what most X cruises charge for AQ over a balcony.

 

On our Japan and China cruise in Fall 2015 we upgraded to a Skysuite (one of the big ones) on Millennium for $800 total. The suite was great, with lots of space and the bathroom had a separate tub and shower with two vanity sinks.

We dined in Luminae, which was great, even better than BLU.

 

It was nice, for an $800 total upgrade, but after our cruise, we agreed that paying upfront 3-4 times for a suite over a balcony is just not for us. One of the disadvantages of dining in Luminae was that we missed dining with some of our new cc roll call friends.

 

Our butler was great, but we don't need hand holding and didn't ask him for much. Of course, he did bring tea and treats around about 4PM every day.

 

We are back in our balcony cabins and not unhappy.

Agree with you about the financial practicality of "settling" for a balcony over a suite. But then you are talking to someone who would really be in an inside cabin...yes, I said an inside:) They are so quiet and dark and you sleep like you've never slept before. However, my DH insists on the bare minimum to cruise on an ocean view balcony. When you think about it, isn't more fun to be out and about the ship?

Happy Cruising!

Thank you for an excellent review. Loved the details you included about your experiences on the ship and in ports. I have visited some of the ports and could easily relive our own experiences through your descriptions, like arriving in Malta and climbing to the Parthenon in Athens. What a wonderful itinerary!

 

We are planning another Med cruise next fall. I'd love to do a Tuscan winery visit similar to what you described. Did you book that through Rome in Limo, or just used them for transport? Do you recall the name of the winery? Would love to book something similar during our pre- or post cruise visit.

 

Thanks again,

Maria

We booked the Tuscany and Wine Tour through Romeinlimo. When our driver arrived, he asked what we had in mind. He said some people have certain wineries in mind and want to visit those or he could help select some or we could do a combination sight seeing and visiting wineries. We ended up doing the latter - he suggested this winery (Tenuta Torciano) for a tasting and lunch. It has a website and they do distribute in the states (and maybe elsewhere). We received a nice shipment of wine and olive oil from them when we returned from the cruise. :)

It looks like you can reserve a similar tasting/lunch on the website,

http://www.torciano.com/en/

Great review and lovely pictures. Thanks. I'm going to most of the port stops fairly soon and it's nice to read what you got up to. Surprisingly there is life after suite life!:cool:

 

Phil

I envy you! I would love to do it all over again!

Thank you for your review. Great perspective there's far too much bragging about the suite life on these boards. We too have gone back and forward suite no suite no problem. We all have to do what's right for us and what's right for our budgets. And I'm ok without someone making me feel I'm getting special treatment too!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Speaking of budgets, another advantage of saving money on not having a suite was being able to use the money for private tours that I feel really enhanced our experience for our first trips to most of these ports. We don't do well with large tour groups and we seem to flail when touring on our own unless we have already been to a place.

Very fun read, and nice to revisit the cruise.

We used some of the same companies you did (although with other CC members) and were very happy with all.

I also liked the review of the wine activities. That may, on our next cruise, be a fun way to use the OBC, rather than the shops.

We were in a Sky Suite, and did appreciate the perks, especially Michael's and Luminae. I would have liked to try Blu, but they wouldn't let us in, due it it being so busy. In Luminae we did have to wait about 30 minutes on the night of Sicily, but we hung out in Michael's and they called us when there was a table (and it was because we didn't like the locations of the tables when we first arrived). That said, my next cruise I'm in a Concierge balcony.

Very fun read, and nice to revisit the cruise.

 

We used some of the same companies you did (although with other CC members) and were very happy with all.

 

I also liked the review of the wine activities. That may, on our next cruise, be a fun way to use the OBC, rather than the shops.

 

We were in a Sky Suite, and did appreciate the perks, especially Michael's and Luminae. I would have liked to try Blu, but they wouldn't let us in, due it it being so busy. In Luminae we did have to wait about 30 minutes on the night of Sicily, but we hung out in Michael's and they called us when there was a table (and it was because we didn't like the locations of the tables when we first arrived). That said, my next cruise I'm in a Concierge balcony.

I've been enjoying your thread too, It was fun to read it live on the cruise.

We always do some of the wine events onboard. We always do the "Around the World" tasting with 2 wines each from 6 countries/areas, which they didn't have on this cruise. I had never seen the Blendtique wine event before. It ended up being the best wine event we have been to on Celebrity. There was a lot of friendly competition between the tables and of course, it was fun to place in the competition :).

I have never seen such a busy Blu - when we have been in suites we never have had a problem getting an occasional table in Blu, but the place was hopping on this cruise.

Glad you had a great cruise too!

I envy you! I would love to do it all over again!

:cool::cool::cool:

Phil

Thank you for your review. Great perspective there's far too much bragging about the suite life on these boards. We too have gone back and forward suite no suite no problem. We all have to do what's right for us and what's right for our budgets. And I'm ok without someone making me feel I'm getting special treatment too!

This! +1

Phil

Thank you for the great review. We are looking forward to our first Reidel Workshop since this will be the first cruise in a long time where we will be driving to and from the port. No flights, yay! Good to know you can do it without buying the glasses.

Thank you for the great review. We are looking forward to our first Reidel Workshop since this will be the first cruise in a long time where we will be driving to and from the port. No flights, yay! Good to know you can do it without buying the glasses.

We have done it 3 times over the years. We got the glasses the first time and then have attended with cruise buddies who wanted to go the last 2 times. It is a bit different each time, we always enjoy it and we still learn something (or just forgot ;)).