dmk

This is so well written that it is hard to believe that German is your first language. Your report is informative and I love the historical background. Well done!

I do not pay for extra tips in Speciality restaurants. I have always believed as per Celebrity site that price includes cover charge and dining gratuities.

As Hlitner said, you could go on infinitum with all this extra money.

Unfortunately, the flowers are these sad looking things. Not a bouquet in the way one would imagine.

The Reflection is a lovely ship. We have been on it twice and will be back on this October. Your balcony will have a lovely aft view of the wake of the ship. If you like sun, the balcony will be great for you. Because it doesn't have a great deal of coverage overhead, you pretty well get sun all the time...But the sunsets, oh my...Lovely! You will find the elevator a bit of a walk. When we we had an aft cabin, I was pleased for the exercise.

Our drinking habits are very similiar to yours. We bought the drink package once. As you said it was just drinking to get the full value. So we have not bought it again.

For those that are considering Transatlantics, our experience has been that spring TA's are generally much smoother than those in sept/oct due to the tropical storms that form off Africa and then turn up the atlantic and across to the UK. All of our spring TA's were so smooth that you could have kayaked next to the ship the entire way. Last Fall's westbound TA had us in 30 ft seas (exciting, but not quite so relaxing).

Our experience on Southern TAs has been the opposite. We find the TAs from the west in Oct and Nov much smoother than spring TAs...seas that look like glass. We would not take a TA that followed a northernly route.

So, who knows?

I used to love traditional Dining but not anymore. We love to meet new people so we used to request a table for 8. What started to happen is that with many Speciality restaurants, the table was rarely full. We encountered many nights with 4 of us or just 2. It felt ridiculous sitting at at such a large table with so few people...and not very condusive to conversation.

Now we do Select dining. We are always able to sit at a full table or a table for 2 if we feel like it.

I appreciate all the replies:)

There is a shuttle inside the port, which takes you from the port entrance to the boarding area for your ship.

Thank you:)

I will be staying at a hotel in Civitaveccia and was wondering if the shuttle takes you right to your ship. Or just lets you off at the port entrance.

I would appreciate any comments about this hotel from people who have stayed there?

What was your general impression?

Are there restaurants near by?

Is there any shopping near by?

How far is it to get the shuttle to the port?

Thanks:)

It would be a great idea if one of their new builds was Suites only. Then they can have another ship for regular folk...less like a class system.

Actually all the 1As have larger angled balconies.

We also were worried about taking an 11:45 am flight out of Miami. We had breakfast and walked off at 7:40 with our luggage. There were no lines at all getting off the ship. We took a private group shuttle and were at FLL at 8:30 am. We must have been lucky.

Us too!

On one cruise, I was just recouperating from a serious operation. The butler unpacked while I was there. It was a superb service for me at that time.

The State Department warnings are geared for their own employees, not the general public. They go over the top to protect themselves from liability claims from their employees, if something happens.

I don't feel that you are correct about these warnings being for employees. The beginning of the advisory states:

Mexico Travel Warning

LAST UPDATED: MAY 5, 2015

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens about the risk of traveling to certain places in Mexico due to threats to safety and security posed by organized criminal groups in the country. U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, such as kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery by organized criminal groups in various Mexican states. For information on security conditions in specific regions of Mexico, which can vary, travelers should reference the state-by-state assessments further below. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning for Mexico, issued April 13, 2015, to update information about the security situation and to advise the public of additional restrictions on the travel of U.S. government (USG) personnel.

Let me preface this with saying that I am in Puerto Vallarta a month each year. Love it!

But one can't be glib about the advisories especially from the US State Dept:

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/mexico-travel-warning.html

An excert from that advisory;

[Jalisco: Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and Lake Chapala are major cities/travel destinations in Jalisco – Exercise caution throughout the state, particularly in rural areas and when using secondary highways. Violent clashes between criminal organizations and government authorities, and related disturbances including barricades of burning vehicles blocking major roads and highways, are ongoing concerns that typically occur without notice. Defer non-essential travel to areas of the state that border the states of Michoacán and Zacatecas. The security situation along the Michoacán and Zacatecas borders continues to be unstable. U.S. government personnel are authorized to use Federal toll road 15D for travel to Mexico City; however, they may not stop in the town of La Barca for any reason. U.S. government personnel are prohibited from personal travel to areas of Jalisco that border Zacatecas, and are prohibited from intercity travel at night.

After all of this, one has to exercise due diligence for themselves. /COLOR]

On our silhouette TA a few weeks ago, they were begging for people in the speciality restos. With about five days to go, they made a general announcement that all would be 50% off, even Murano, so there's a good chance you could get Ultimate Dining

I had a very similiar cruise on our TA on reflection.

I just read

"Canada’s embassy In Mexico has issued a warning to tourists following a wave of recent attacks by a drug cartel in the western state of Jalisco."

Does this concern you about Peurto vallarta. I am on the fence and am wondering what others are thinking.

Sorry about the bold lettering in my other thread. I hit bold by mistake.

I really don't think that anyone is missing anything special at Michael's club. It was offered to high ranking Elites instead of the sky lounge when there were a great deal of Elites on board. This was before the voucher system. It's just another bar.

Head to the library.

We booked a room at the San Giorgio in Civitavechia for the night before sailing. The hotel has a service that will transport from airport via van that was fairly reasonable for the three of us. Hotel is a mile from the port and they took a whole bunch of us on a bus. The hotel is lovely as is the town. We meandered along the boardwalk and had a nice day before sail away. We also have taken the train from Rome but not with our luggage.

Could you give me an idea of how much the San Giorgio charged for their airport transfer to their hotel?:)

Another vote for romecabs. We have used them 3 times.

Sometimes a reservation works; sometimes not. Really depends on who the Maitre 'd and Hostess might be. The "rule" is "first come,first served". If someone insists on "your table" at your time and it is vacant they will get it. The Hostess will try to do everything they can to secure your choice of time and table, it cannot be guanteed.

On my last 3 cruises, the maitre'D had a separate line for those with reservations. The line with reservations went before the line with people who had showed up without a reservation. It was not "First come, first served." I know that also, because I never make reservations.:)

Just remember, for those who had a long wait for Select dining, you can always make a reservation. That way you won't have a buzzer thingy. lol