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

[vtcruising]

Give me the drink pack and a balcony.

 

Usually sail in AQ and try to get one with the larger balconies. Love sitting on the balcony while having a drink and watching the sea or stars at night and the lights off in the distance from the islands and passing ships.

 

When at the bar, in the theater, at the pool and etc no one gives a hoot about where I sleep or eat.

 

Our last cruise was in a balcony with the same large balcony. Can’t say that I missed Blu as the MDR was great and we also had breakfast there most days.

 

Would I want to be in a suite? Yes and why not? I have one booked and am looking forward to it. Don’t know if I will get hooked but I have found thru life that we all up our standards and often no longer consider what we use be happy or satisfied with. I think it all goes with what we can afford or are comfortable spending our money on.

 

Sometimes those little extras turn a great cruise into a fantastic cruise and you will never know unless you try it.

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

I like your style!

[vtcruising]

Thank you for the excellent and thorough review. We are doing this itinerary next year so will be bookmarking this thread for future reference! Excellent job.

 

You also answered the very question my husband and I were discussing last night...could we sail without a suite? We can to the conclusion we did not want too as we want to avoid the MDR; however we forgot about AQ and Blu so that may tempt us to sail without a suite...I will have to revisit this conversation tonight...lol.

 

Happy Sailing!

Lucky you! A wonderful itinerary!

[eocb]

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...

Wow will you please organise all my trips from now on! Im planning a Rome one soon and will use your hotel choice I think !

 

 

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[vtcruising]

Wow will you please organise all my trips from now on! Im planning a Rome one soon and will use your hotel choice I think !

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Forums mobile app

As much as I love to plan trips, I would be nervous planning someone else's - I would worry that it would be a disaster. :D

 

The Grifo was a great choice for us - small, friendly, no frills and inexpensive so that we could put more money into the tours.

 

I really never thought I would like Rome as well as I do, but both times we have been we have had amazing experiences, food and wine and the people have been very friendly (we stayed in a small hotel near the Vatican last time in a friendly neighborhood).

 

Enjoy Rome!

[chemmo]

Thanks, I enjoy reading your reviews and vicariously living the upper level suite life! :D Hope you get rid of your boot soon!

 

Thanks, it goes early November....allowed to fly again early March and off to Florida we will go to join the Reflection!

[vtcruising]

Thanks, it goes early November....allowed to fly again early March and off to Florida we will go to join the Reflection!

Fantastic!

[lilghallinsf]

It’s funny that you see a step down as aqua and I see regular balcony as a step down

 

 

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