Long Review: 9/9/13 - Reflection 11 Day Eastern Med plus Rome

[Mel&Ken]

 

 

 

 

[Mel&Ken]

Just love your review, and looking forward to much more.

 

Your photos are amazing. Do you mind sharing with us what camera you used?

 

Thanks!

 

We bring 2 cameras...both Sony. One is a little point and shoot that fits in my purse and that is mostly to carry at night - so food, drinks and photos of people we meet.

 

Our main camera is a Sony Cyber Shot with 20x Optical zoom.

 

Nothing Fancy! ;)

[suzzek]

Wonderful review and pictures! Thanks so much, you're killing me...we did this cruise exactly one year ago on Equinox...wish I was back on board this year. Keep up the good work!

[Mel&Ken]

A quick note about our roll call for this cruise. I would say it was pretty active. It was up and running when I booked 14 months out. Sadly I think the woman who started it ended up having to cancel her cruise.

 

For the most part I just read every few days to see if there was anything new. A lot of people were looking for shared excursions, transfers etc. We only joined one shared tour and that was when I connected with Dorothy. We ended up emailing back and forth to the point where we almost talked daily. By the time we cruised I felt like I knew Dorothy and her family.

 

We had a good group of people who shared links and sites and were always quick to help out. It was surprising to a few of us how many people came on in the last few weeks saying they had just booked and what should they do in each port!? For us planners that is just crazy talk. LOL

 

We did have someone come on and try to get people worked up about a large group on the ship – the Abraham Hicks group. I went back and forth with this person for a bit and then dropped it. It certainly wasn’t the purpose of our roll call.

 

Then sadly after chatting with this group of people for almost a year I actually missed our Connections Party! I knew it would be the first sea day. When we got to our room we did not have information about it but I wasn’t worried. They are usually at 11am and I can just call guest relations and they will let me know the time and place.

 

We woke up at 10am our first sea day. I called at 10:15 to find out the time and it was at 10:30! We had no way to get ready and get there in 15 minutes. So after all the planning and chatting I missed out. I was so disappointed. I would then wait another day to meet Dorothy, the whole cruise to met Lenie and Aaron and I never did meet the others. :(

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Loving the review! We are "this" close to putting a deposit down for next fall!

[jamona2311]

Loving the review! We are "this" close to putting a deposit down for next fall!

 

Looks like we are probably going the cruise before you! I only say probably because we havent actually booked yet. mom wants to wait til Jan...:confused: Even at that I am ready! hha I just need my passport and $$ hha

 

BTW loved your engagement review!! :D

[EMc&DrS]

[size=3

 

 

While there a manager approached us about specialty restaurants. We got the offer for 30% off the first night and we said we were interested in Tuscan Grill so he was kind enough to book us a table by the window right then for 8pm. That was one thing crossed off our list!

 

 

After months of waiting, we leave for our cruise on Reflection in 3 week. This review is a great preview!

 

Is the 30% discount off of any specialty restaurant for that first night? If so, is that pretty standard?

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Looks like we are probably going the cruise before you! I only say probably because we havent actually booked yet. mom wants to wait til Jan...:confused: Even at that I am ready! hha I just need my passport and $$ hha

 

BTW loved your engagement review!! :D

 

Thank you!

 

I know, we are kinda in the same position :) but with the give thanks promotion we are REALLY getting close to booking, maybe tomorrow? I hope!

[Deb0702]

I love trip reports and this one is going to be extra fun. I think we have that very same Civitavecchia tug boat picture LOL.

 

Looking at your pictures makes me want a Tuscan Grille do-over. Yum! Over the course of the cruise we ate at Tuscan Grille, Qsine, and the Lawn Club Grill. I agree with you, the Tuscan Grille was my fav.

 

I can't wait to read what you have to say about Santorini! ;)

[Waihekean]

Hi, Melissa & Dorothy!

 

Love trip reports too, especiall the ones with photo's. You have a greast writing style Melissa. Trying to talk Aaron into following this one (he has never read any reviews as yet), so he can experience food porn and the cruise again as well.

 

He is still on a high from the whole trip and now loves cruising as much as me:):D:)

 

Greerings to you all from here at "down under" Kiwi land:p

[travellover39]

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying your TR so much. Love the food porn pictures. I can't get over how much food you had in the Tuscan Grill, everything looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing :D

[Mel&Ken]

Enjoying your TR so much. Love the food porn pictures. I can't get over how much food you had in the Tuscan Grill, everything looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing :D

 

I know....I should add that we didn't finish it all - who could? I didn't touch the bread, ate about half of my soup. half of my half order of risotto and about half of my steak. We should have split more dishes but we didn't want the same things. Such a waste. I feel bad thinking about it.

[Mel&Ken]

Today is our first sea day. We slept in and as a result woke up too late for the connections party and our chance to meet all the people I have been chatting with for a year! I was disappointed, embarrassed and even worse, I was “that” girl. I was so sure it would be at 11 or 11:30 that I didn’t worry at all about missing it. Note to self – call guest relations the night before to confirm the details.

 

We took our time getting ready as we knew we would miss breakfast. By the time we made an appearance at the buffet, lunch was being served. We had a decent lunch – I am not a fan of buffets, but it was quick and easy and we each could get a selection of items. After lunch we just explored the ship some more, checked out the shops and got our bearings. I was shocked to see a Michael Kors store on board. Finally we settled in at the casino to play some slots and one of us (not Ken) was having enough luck that we ended up playing until it was time to change for dinner.

 

We chose select dining and each morning made our dinner reservation based on whether we wanted to see the show or not. It was formal night tonight and Ken had rented a tux from the ship that showed up mid afternoon – last cruise it was in the cabin when we boarded. I would say we went up to the room about 5ish to shower and change for pre-dinner drinks. As with most men, Ken waited to shower and dress last as I take longer.

 

Well….that was a bad idea. Here we are both showered and ready to go when Ken pulls out the tux. What the Bleep?????? The pants were GIGANTIC. The waist is easily double his and the pants are so long he has almost a foot to spare. Ken is 6 feet and 200 lbs – not sure who these pants were for. The jacket is a bit big too but workable – the pants, not a chance. So we called guest relations and they send our room steward up to see us. He takes the pants and runs off to the tailor with them. Now I am dressed and ready to go – Ken is beside himself and pacing – and we wait. About 15 minutes later (read, felt like an hour) he returns with 2 pairs for Ken to try. First pair – way too short. Second pair – perfect! Whew….crisis averted.

 

So let’s try this again. We dress, have our formal pictures taken at the stairs and start off at our favourite bar – the MB!

 

Dinner is at 8 and we have requested a table for 2. If you are looking for a two top expect that you will be sitting within a few inches of the two top on your left and a few inches from the two top on your right – with the exception of a few against walls, this is how it is. So if you don’t want to be heard or to over hear every word your neighbours are saying – order room service!

 

Our first night in the dining room did not go well. We started with a waiter named Moses who really couldn’t be bothered with his tables at all. No smile, pleasant conversation, concern or personality. We really felt like we were bothering him. And forget about wine service….we were eating before we had wine and finished before we got a refill. We also had to witness a couple get seated at a table of 8 only to get kicked out when another couple arrived and said it was their table. They were furious as I would be and said this had happened to them the night before as well.

 

The best part of the night was meeting the couple seated at the two top next to us as we would become friends and see them every day for the rest of the cruise. Sadly our bonding happened over the four us complaining about our waiter. Luckily they did tell us about the great service they had the night before with a waiter named Ali and the four of us requested that section for the rest of the cruise and loved it. Our new friends were from Ireland and sometimes we were seated next to them or one table over or behind but we always had some great laughs and enjoyed their company very much.

 

At least the food was great. We started with a corn soup and then Ken had frog legs while I enjoyed a fresh salad of tomatoes, watermelon and feta, a great flavour combo. For entrees I had lamb chops and Ken ordered the cedar plank salmon. We finished with an apple crumble for Ken and a cold strawberry soup over pannacotta for me as well as a glass of dessert wine.

 

 

 

 

 

We finished the night with the show although I have no idea or notation of which one I’m afraid. I threw away our dailies every night so I won’t be of any help to anyone in that area.

 

Tomorrow is our first port…Santorini!!!

[travellover39]

I know....I should add that we didn't finish it all - who could? I didn't touch the bread, ate about half of my soup. half of my half order of risotto and about half of my steak. We should have split more dishes but we didn't want the same things. Such a waste. I feel bad thinking about it.

 

Good to know, split some of the dishes. I know I could never finish the meat but it looks so good. :D

 

Moving from Moses's station to Ali's station that was a good call. It happened to us on another cruiseline, we had a inexperienced waiter once and it really ruins your dining experience. Needless to say, we didn't dine in his station again:eek:

 

Good for you and your winning casino experience :)

[Theologator]

Hi,

 

I'm enjoying your timeline-based review and pictures very much. Thanks for taking the time to share. We sail in January on Reflection and you're helping the anticipation build. You just gave me an idea: Don't rely ONLY on Celebrity to connect with your CruiseCritic Roll Call pen pals. I think I'll suggest a meet in the Sky Lounge, Michael's or something in the mid-late afternoon on our first full day - a sea day.

 

At some point, I'd love to hear your overall impressions, favorite experiences, anything to avoid, etc.

 

(And yes, I am well cautioned re: luggage! So sorry for your nightmare with that.)

[BABA 7]

please hurry with the next installment!! LOL:D

[Tommy3putts]

Enjoying your review. We are on this same cruise in June 2014. Very informative.

[Mel&Ken]

With any luck I can get a few more days posted tomorrow and Thursday - then we are off to Vegas for the long weekend and I'll be offline until Wednesday.

 

Looking forward to recapping Santorini for you - it was an incredible day.

[Scarlet and grey]

Great review! We were just on the Equinox (Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Naples, kotor, Dubrovnik, Florence, nice) and LOVED it!!! Time to plan our next trip! Started looking at this itinerary or something similar.

 

I look forward to reading about the Greece ports....heard some bad things previously due to the poor economy currently, but hoping things are improving!

[parisbully]

Really enjoying your review. Loved your Rome review. Have a question that I hope is not too personal. What was the average approximate cost of your lovely dinners in Rome? If this is too personal and you do not want to answer I will understand

[Fritzou]

Love to read your review. We were on the same cruise and it was our first ever and truly had a great time.

[Mel&Ken]

Really enjoying your review. Loved your Rome review. Have a question that I hope is not too personal. What was the average approximate cost of your lovely dinners in Rome? If this is too personal and you do not want to answer I will understand

 

Not too personal at all! I didn't record prices this time as I did our last trip but I would say on average we left about 120 Euros each time. That would have included bottled water, 30-40 for a bottle of wine, two appetizers, 2 pastas and 2 entrees - we almost never order dessert. I think some of the restaurants even have their prices online if that helps.

 

Our last trip we saved money by drinking tap water, ordering house wine, splitting entrees and sometimes appetizers. Of the meals I have mentioned so far I think Ad Hoc was the most but I think we also splurged on wine here.

[Mel&Ken]

Today we arrive in Santorini. It’s a late day port as our ship is there from 2-10pm. We wake up and go to the buffet for breakfast which leads me to a pet peeve of mine. With the premium drink package you can not order fresh squeezed orange juice and a cappuccino at the same time. Seriously? I understand not getting two “drinks” as maybe I am giving them to my spouse…but juice and coffee??!! So I take our two juices and sit down. Meanwhile a server walks by and asks if we’re ok. I explain that I am not and I want a coffee and he quickly grabs our cards and proceeds to get them for us. For the rest of the cruise this is a daily battle. This server and one other are magically able to get us both drinks at once, but we and every other server are always sent away from the bar with only one drink at a time. I noted on our comment card that breakfast should be an exception to this rule.

 

Next we just wandered around the ship. There is a good chance we ended up at the casino as I am at a loss to remember anything else we did. Finally we settled in our room for a bit and I sat at the desk to catch up on email as Ken caught some football on TV. When I sat down I had nothing but water to my right. About 20 minutes later I looked over to see an island rising from the water – sheer cliffs and jagged rocks looking so close you wanted to reach out and touch them. I yelled for Ken to grab the camera and we ran out onto our balcony.

 

The sail in was just amazing and every few minutes the view got more and more breath taking. We quickly settled into the bay and it was time to go to the theatre for our tender tickets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this port we opted for the ship excursion for a few reasons. To start, we would be the first off the ship, which then moves to another dock to let the rest of the passengers off. We also read about issues with taxis and buses and since we only wanted to see Oia and Fira this suited us just fine. We went to the theatre, got assigned our bus number and I was able to search out Dorothy and her family through process of elimination, introduce myself and explain why we missed the roll call party. We ended up being on the same bus as her which was nice.

[Mel&Ken]

Next we board the tender, then the bus and make our way up a sheer cliff on a road that zigzags back and forth and we watch our ship get smaller and smaller in the distance. We have WAY too many pictures of this process!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mel&Ken]

Our first stop is Santos Winery. We learned that grape vines are not upright here as they are back home but grow flat on the ground where they stay cool against the earth. We sample red and white wines along with cheese, olives and bread which are all great. The views around the winery are beautiful and we take some gorgeous pictures before I seriously start to over heat. It’s not that hot but the sun is intense and I am feeling it. We go into the gift shop and I am able to cross some items off my wish list – I purchased sundried tomatoes, capers and concentrated tomato paste – sadly all were lost with my luggage. I will try not to dwell on it throughout this review, but as I recall all the treasures I found that are now gone, well I may be sad from time to time.

 

 

I’d say we were at the winery for about an hour and then we headed off to Oia. Here we had about 90 minutes to explore. First purchase for me was a hat which gave me a little relief from the hot sun. Then we walked up and down a tiny, twisted cobblestone lane way that was lined on both sides with shops. At first they were all exciting and I bought olive oil soap and natural loofa as gifts and a few pieces of costume jewelry for myself. Eventually they all looked the same and we start to just wander off on side streets or branches off the main road which afforded the most spectacular views of the island and the white buildings with blue roofs that you dreamt of seeing. It’s like looking at a postcard only you’re really there. Ken and I just gave each other that look – the one that says this is SO worth it!