Review of Celebrity Reflection Italy and Greek Isles 10 night cruise, 19th May 2017

[CC71]

Hi Pete, I just wanted to say thank you for this very insightful and informative review! We are doing the same itinerary at the end of September on Reflection and your review has greatly added to my excitement. We have the premium package upgrade too and will be looking to try some hopefully decent wines, my particular tipple is Sauvignon Blanc and I see they have Villa Maria on the premium list, I will be very happy if I can enjoy this with dinner! We also have booked the the 3 dinner specialty restaurant package and hope to try Murano, Qsine and Tuscan Grille, great to hear that you enjoyed your speciality dining experience too. Thanks again :)

[Shanker1]

Pete, Thanks you for the information and photo's. We are taking this cruise on Sept. 1 your posts are very helpful. Our thoughts and prayers are with the folks in the UK.

 

Joe

[peteukmcr]

Pete, Thanks you for the information and photo's. We are taking this cruise on Sept. 1 your posts are very helpful. Our thoughts and prayers are with the folks in the UK.

 

 

 

Joe

Thanks for your kind words Joe. To be away when my hometown where I live is subjected to a terrorist attack and then just a few days after we get home the capital London and innocent people are attacked, it's just shattering.

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

OK, so before I get to the ports, I thought I'd display a few random photos of and around this magnificent ship. It has some very quirky bits which I think work really well.

 

Tree in the middle of the main elevator bank

 

 

'Hump' view from our cabin on deck 7

 

 

Solarium at night where the 2nd Silent Disco was held, complete with mermaid in the pool !

 

 

Captains Club and Concierge desks, deck 12

 

 

Library, decks 10 & 11

 

 

Solstice deck, deck 16

 

 

 

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

Some more.

 

Art installations on deck 5 after passing through the Ensemble bar on the way to Qsine, Blu and Tuscan Grill

 

 

 

Atrium and main staircase, deck 3

 

 

Artwork outside the 'Shops on the Boulevard' on deck 4 at the side of Fortunes Casino which opens onto this area.

 

 

Celebrity Central, deck 4

 

 

Galleria Boutiques, deck 5

 

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

Even more!

 

Promenade on deck 5, many nice padded steamer chairs and 'rocking' chairs, just a pity you can't walk all the way around the ship on this deck. Smoking allowed on port side.

 

 

 

 

Entrance to Luminae, deck 3

 

 

Example of the wash hand basin and hand towels in the men's restrooms. This one is on deck 5 near the Ensemble Bar. There are quirky jokes/sayings/messages on plaques in them too, very entertaining.

 

 

Sunset, from deck 15

 

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

OK I think that maybe it for today folks. It's Sunday evening here, I have to prepare dinner and lunches for work tomorrow :( plus the 'One Love' Ariana Grande concert in aid of those suffering as a result the Manchester bombing 13 days ago will be on TV soon.

 

So the port reviews and photos will have to wait until tomorrow, sorry

[abbydancer2003]

OK I think that maybe it for today folks. It's Sunday evening here, I have to prepare dinner and lunches for work tomorrow :( plus the 'One Love' Ariana Grande concert in aid of those suffering as a result the Manchester bombing 13 days ago will be on TV soon.

 

So the port reviews and photos will have to wait until tomorrow, sorry

 

Thanks again, and my thoughts are with all of Britain. My grandfather grew up in Manchester.

[purdo]

Thanks again Pete, brilliant review and great photos. Reflection albeit a few differences seems to be a near mirror image of Eclipse, everything including restaurants, bars, spa etc are on the same decks which is great for us. My favourite I have to admit is Cafe al Bacio and the lawn club grass is brilliant for sail away. Best thing to do is to grab a rug & a drink, go barefoot on the grass and watch the world sail by or Italy in this case!!

 

Thinking of you all in Manchester & London. We were in London in March a couple of days before the Westminster tragedy & going again to London in July.

 

Mary

 

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[Little Elm]

Thank you Peter for the wonderful review. You said you arranged transfer to the train station. Do you mind sharing which transfer service?

 

Also, our thoughts are with all of the UK right now.

[peteukmcr]

Thank you Peter for the wonderful review. You said you arranged transfer to the train station. Do you mind sharing which transfer service?

 

Also, our thoughts are with all of the UK right now.

sorry if I have given the wrong impression. Our transfer was to the airport, not the train station. I think that's the issue in Civitavecchia, as the train station is fairly close to the port, taxis are reluctant to take people there.

[peteukmcr]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts regarding the terrible situations in the UK. Hopefully as the 'One Love' concert showed tonight, we are stronger together and I have to say for someone so young Ariana Grande did a wonderful job and kept her word of returning to the my city.

[H2OH!]

Great review so thank you! Looking forward to the port reviews as we are taking this cruise in 2018.

 

Also sending positive thoughts and prayers to the UK. So sorry to see all of the recent attacks. Be safe my friends.

 

Amy

[Texed]

We have just returned from a fantastic 10 night Italy and Greek Islands cruise on board Celebrity Reflection.

 

Mr. Pete,

We board Reflection on 19 June, so thanks for posting. :)

[MacThespian]

Captains Club

 

Although we are Elite members (courtesy of being Diamond + on Royal Caribbean) as we had a beverage package we did not attend the evening cocktail hour that was held in the Sky Lounge. The hours of 5-7pm don’t really suit us, but we were not disappointed in this at all.

 

The rest of the Elite benefits are loaded onto the SeaPasscard.

 

 

There are various events for Elite members, which again we didn’t attend but could have if wanted and so it is good to see things like a complementary Backstage Tour, Captain’s Club Celebration, Senior Officer’s Party, Wine Tasting and Elegant Tea events.

 

Good info. It appears that there are more perks (per your photos) than are shown on X's website. Were you given the printout you photographed when you boarded? (Although we're only Select, there are still some perks available for us. I'd hope they give us a list similar to what you received.)

Thanks.

[MacThespian]

OK I think that maybe it for today folks. It's Sunday evening here, I have to prepare dinner and lunches for work tomorrow :( plus the 'One Love' Ariana Grande concert in aid of those suffering as a result the Manchester bombing 13 days ago will be on TV soon.

 

So the port reviews and photos will have to wait until tomorrow, sorry

Thanks for the review and all the information, Pete. We'll be on Reflection on its Western European trip beginning 31 July, but I've really enjoyed your insights and feel they'll be valuable to us on this related itinerary.

 

But like many others on this thread, I feel with you about the tragedies in Manchester and London. We may come from "two countries separated by a common language," but we share a common humanity. My heart goes out to the victims and their families, and all who were affected, even tangentially, by this senseless violence.

[peteukmcr]

Good info. It appears that there are more perks (per your photos) than are shown on X's website. Were you given the printout you photographed when you boarded? (Although we're only Select, there are still some perks available for us. I'd hope they give us a list similar to what you received.)

Thanks.

The printout was waiting for us in our cabin when we boarded.

[MacThespian]

The printout was waiting for us in our cabin when we boarded.

Thanks for the info, Pete.

[anettegade]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts regarding the terrible situations in the UK. Hopefully as the 'One Love' concert showed tonight, we are stronger together and I have to say for someone so young Ariana Grande did a wonderful job and kept her word of returning to the my city.

 

We watched the concert on tv last night - very moving. My daughter and her class, will be leaving tomorrow morning, for at week long stay attending classes at the Manchester Language Center. Our thoughts are with all of you #onelove

[cruise love]

Hi

Could you tell me what is the silent disco

My thoughts are with those in London and Manchester

Having lived in both places I can feel for all

I feel very lucky living in Australia where we have had a small amount of "terror" but seems to be getting stronger every day

Cruise love

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

Hi

Could you tell me what is the silent disco

My thoughts are with those in London and Manchester

Having lived in both places I can feel for all

I feel very lucky living in Australia where we have had a small amount of "terror" but seems to be getting stronger every day

Cruise love

 

 

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The silent disco is great fun. You are given a set of headphones that have 3 music channels for you to choose from and which you can change by a switch. One channel makes your headset glow red, another blue and the third green. Music is only played through the wireless headsets so people are seen dancing around in silence. Well almost as a lot of people will be singing along - badly.

 

It's fun to see which channel is popular by watching how many headsets are a particular colour.

 

 

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

Port Reviews

 

Day 2 - Messina, Sicily

 

As we'd docked in Messina on our previous Celebrity sailing on Constellation in 2015 and visited Taormina, we decided to explore the town more.

 

Unfortunately due to the G7 summit being held in Taormina, Celebrity had cancelled all the shore excursions to there which I know disappointed many who had been looking forward to having the opportunity to visit.

 

The ship docks very close to the town centre so cabs are not required to get from the port.

 

 

We took a stroll around the centre and then climbed up to one of the hilltop churches for wonderful views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once back at street level we found a cafe for a welcome drink and free wi-fi.

 

Many people seem to think that's there's not much to Messina, but we found it interesting.

 

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[peteukmcr]

Day 3 - Valletta, Malta

 

Having never had the chance to visit Malta, we were looking forward to this port stop and it didn't disappoint.

 

We booked an independent tour 'Malta Panoramas' which was a 4 hour tour which is about our limit of time we spend on a tour.

 

Again the ship docks close to the centre of Valletta which can be accessed by an elevator, the 'Upper Barrakka Lift' which links the Grand Harbour to the Upper Barrakka Gardens and the city centre. It's a short walk from the cruise passenger terminal and costs €2 and rises 58 metres up to the centre.

 

 

However, we meet our guide at the cruise terminal and set off on our tour. We first visit Mosta and then pass by Mdina and Rabat on our way to overlook the Blue Grotto.

 

 

 

 

We then head to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk which has the 2nd largest harbour on Malta. As it's a Sunday its extremely busy with locals and tourists visiting the local market.

 

 

 

Once we arrived back at the cruise terminal we headed off to Valletta using the elevator and explored the city taking in some lunch before heading back to the ship.

 

Great place to visit and we are lucky enough to be able to fly direct from the UK to Malta should we fancy a land based stay there like we did in Taormina after visiting on a port stop in 2015.

 

 

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[smelly]

Such a great review. This is our first cruise with celebrity after several with royal. I was wondering how many people wear taxes and long gowns fir elegant chic evenings. Nit sure if it's worth the carrying them. Thanks

[peteukmcr]

A few more from Valletta

 

Upper Barrakka Gardens - elevator

 

 

Sir Winston Churchill

 

 

British influence

 

 

Local transport

 

 

Stock exchange

 

 

 

 

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