Our Mediterranean Adventure: Reflection 7/22/14

[Kteacher]

Here's a shot I took as we walked along the shoreline in Rhodes:

 

This wasn't the beach we spent the day at-you needed to go around the bend

you see in the distance.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Kteacher
spelling

[Kteacher]

Here is the lobster being prepared tableside in Murano:

 

I can't say enough about the food and the service here!

[Kteacher]

Almost forgot- this night's showtimes were 7:15 and 9:15, and featured the production show "Momentum".

 

Next up-Santorini

[countess5]

Kteacher:

 

I see you took most of the cruise excursions so far so they organized your departure on the tenders. Would you comment on how the preferred tender worked for suite guest. We have all private tours arranged except in Messina. Using ship transportation to Taormina.

 

Thanks

[Kteacher]

The only port we tendered was Santorini, and our excursion took us first to what

I think is called the "new port", where the high speed ferries dock. The concierge

in Michael's had a checklist of suite passengers so he could make sure they

had early tender tickets if they wanted them.

 

I think there were 4 ships in port that day, so it was extremely crowded. We

did the Oia, winery, and Fira excursion. It was very rushed and crowded in

each stop, but the wine was good :). The excursion ended in Fira, and we

really only had enough time to walk from where the bus dropped us off

to where the long line was for the cable cars. The ship arrived at 7:00 a.m., and

the last tender was at 5:15. It took us about 45 minutes to get from the end of

the cable car line to the ship tender line, so if there are a lot of ships in

port give yourself enough time.

 

There was a wine and cheese picnic with a Beatles tribute on the lawn on deck

15 at 5:30. I was really glad we decided to stop by. The guitarist was excellent,

and it was a beautiful way to sail away from Santorini.

 

This was also the night we had been invited by the concierge to Indulgence, so we

just ordered chicken Caesar salads in the dining room. Our waiter was actually

going to recommend that we choose from the right side of the menu that night.

The salads were just okay-mine was drenched in dressing, and I bit into a piece

of partially cooked chicken, so didn't eat much.

 

The showtimes were 7:15 and 9:15, and featured a violinist, Rafael. We didn't

make it to the show, instead spending time with friends we'd made in Michael's

Club before dinner.

 

Indulgence was advertised as 39.00 p.p., and was held in the Ensemble lounge

at 10:30 p.m. We attended as guests of the concierge. The set up was a little

awkward as there were people going to and from the specialty restaurants

the entire time. We were given pins to wear so that waitstaff knew who were

there for Indulgence. There were trays of drinks passed-rum cocktail, wine,

champagne, and two specialty drinks-banana creme pie, and drunken donut.

The appetizers that were passed were sushi, angus beef sliders, meatballs-all

from Qsine I think, and plentiful as well as good. Don't want to give too much

away, but it was a fun event.

[Kteacher]

 

The drunken donut cocktail from Indulgence-it was delish!

[countess5]

The only port we tendered was Santorini, and our excursion took us first to what

I think is called the "new port", where the high speed ferries dock. The concierge

in Michael's had a checklist of suite passengers so he could make sure they

had early tender tickets if they wanted them.

 

I think there were 4 ships in port that day, so it was extremely crowded. We

did the Oia, winery, and Fira excursion. It was very rushed and crowded in

each stop, but the wine was good :). The excursion ended in Fira, and we

really only had enough time to walk from where the bus dropped us off

to where the long line was for the cable cars. The ship arrived at 7:00 a.m., and

the last tender was at 5:15. It took us about 45 minutes to get from the end of

the cable car line to the ship tender line, so if there are a lot of ships in

port give yourself enough time.

 

There was a wine and cheese picnic with a Beatles tribute on the lawn on deck

15 at 5:30. I was really glad we decided to stop by. The guitarist was excellent,

and it was a beautiful way to sail away from Santorini.

 

This was also the night we had been invited by the concierge to Indulgence, so we

just ordered chicken Caesar salads in the dining room. Our waiter was actually

going to recommend that we choose from the right side of the menu that night.

The salads were just okay-mine was drenched in dressing, and I bit into a piece

of partially cooked chicken, so didn't eat much.

 

The showtimes were 7:15 and 9:15, and featured a violinist, Rafael. We didn't

make it to the show, instead spending time with friends we'd made in Michael's

Club before dinner.

 

Indulgence was advertised as 39.00 p.p., and was held in the Ensemble lounge

at 10:30 p.m. We attended as guests of the concierge. The set up was a little

awkward as there were people going to and from the specialty restaurants

the entire time. We were given pins to wear so that waitstaff knew who were

there for Indulgence. There were trays of drinks passed-rum cocktail, wine,

champagne, and two specialty drinks-banana creme pie, and drunken donut.

The appetizers that were passed were sushi, angus beef sliders, meatballs-all

from Qsine I think, and plentiful as well as good. Don't want to give too much

away, but it was a fun event.

 

 

Thanks Kteacher, luckily we are the only ship in that day. Tender should not be that bad. :)

[Kteacher]

Mykonos- luck was with us, and the ship was able to dock instead of having to

tender. We did the Elia Beach transfer through the ship. The beach was clean,

not too crowded (we went fairly early), and food and drink were less expensive

than we were expecting. We stopped in town (crowded!) after the beach to

walk around, and walked along the waterfront past the crowds to see the

famous windmills. Definitely worth the walk! We strolled back through the

winding alleyways and found a quiet little taverna with windows that were

open to the waterfront. Take the time to poke your head into some of the quieter

places :).

 

Tonight we dined in Qsine-make sure you take the advice of going hungry-there

is so much food, and you'll want to try everything. We ended up having to cancel

some of what we ordered because it was just too much food. Everything we

tried was great: Disco shrimp, sushi lollipops, M's Favorites, Angus sliders,

fish and chips, artist's filet -there was another couple with us, so, no, we didn't

eat all that ;)

 

The Celebrity Showtime featured Jamie Allan, iMagician, at 7:15 and 9:15. Our

Qsine meal took close to 3 hours, so didn't make the show. We had also planned

on going to Liquid, the dance venue in the solarium, but by the time we finished

dinner it was winding down.

 

Next up: Last sea day, Naples, and the end of a perfect cruise

[Kteacher]

Mojito at Elia Beach-one of the best I've ever had!

[I-Cruiser]

Great review and pics:) We are doing the Reflection in October when the weather has cooled down a bit.

[Kteacher]

thanks! We would love to cruise in the fall, but I still have quite a few school years

to go before I retire.

[countess5]

Were there any other special events like Indulgence during the cruise? We were on Reflection but in the Caribbean and there were not many special events other than the shows at night.

 

Does anyone know where to find the dailies? :confused:

[Kteacher]

yes there was Indulgence on this cruise. I review it in post #30. I have the dailies-let me know if you have any specific questions.

[countess5]

I saw something called liquid also posted by another OP.

 

Not sure if you can do it but would love to have the dailies scanned and posted. We like to see what is going on each day to plan our dinners and activities. Nothing really specific. I see the 11 day dailies posted but no one has posted the 10 day. Thanks in advance.

[countess5]

Kteacher:

Last time on Reflection they had the Lawn Series, that is where they had music and wine on the lawn at night. Was that offered on your cruise?

 

Also you said that you docked at Messina at 10 AM. Were you scheduled to arrive at 7 AM as we are and the ship was just late? We have a tour guide meeting us at 9 AM.

 

Thanks for all the help!

[countess5]

Kteacher:

Last time on Reflection they had the Lawn Series, that is where they had music and wine on the lawn at night. Was that offered on your cruise?

 

Also you said that you docked at Messina at 10 AM. Were you scheduled to arrive at 7 AM as we are and the ship was just late? We have a tour guide meeting us at 9 AM.

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

Ok I have my ports mixed up! :p We dock at 10 AM also. ;)

[bdpatrick]

Thank you for your review.

 

We are sailing on the Reflection at the end of September.

[Kteacher]

Unfortunately I don't have the time or patience to scan the dailies. I do have all of them from the 10 night Reflection Mediterranean, so can answer specific questions. I reviewed the wine and cheese event in post #30.

 

The second sea day meant we could sleep in and have a later breakfast on our balcony-yay! It also meant we needed to have most of our things packed as we had another long excursion planned for the last day, which was Naples. Loved having a butler set everything up on the balcony for us-she was wonderful the entire trip.

 

We spent the day relaxing -the pool was a zoo, so didn't spend much time there.The Oceanview Cafe featured a Grand Buffet for lunch, and it was actually pretty good-lots of different selections. Showtimes were 7:15 and 9:15, and was called "Reflection The Show". Didn't make this one either (do you see a trend here?) Packed some more, then went to Michael's Club before dinner.

 

We went to bed early as we had a 7:30 a.m. meet up time for our excursion, and we had also arranged with our butler to have a sunrise breakfast on our balcony.

[Coolcruise02]

Enjoying your review!

[Kteacher]

Naples- The last day of the cruise :(. We had joined up with some folks from our

roll call for a private tour in Naples that included Positano, Sorrento, and

Pompeii. The meet up time was early-7:30 a.m., so we arranged for our

butler to set up breakfast on our balcony at sunrise. This view was our reward

for getting up so early

 

Seeing the sun rise behind Mt. Vesuvius was breathtaking :)

[jamona2311]

Wow beautiful. So were you port or starboard??? We're port side soon. Hope to get some views like that from our 1A

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Kteacher]

we were on deck 11 starboard

Edited August 17, 2014 by Kteacher
spelling

[Lois R]

WOW...what a beautiful picture:) I have enjoyed your review:)

[Kteacher]

Thanks-this really was an amazing trip for us. There were a few hiccups, but

the beauty of what we were experiencing far outweighed the negatives.

 

The port of Naples was emotional for me as my grandparents were from

this region. My grandfather was left on the doorsteps of a convent as an infant.

The tour began with a drive up the Amalfi coast, stopping in Positano first.

We were in a van that was small enough to park, so we were able to get out

and walk around.

 

Every place we turned was just beautiful :)

[Kteacher]

Naples continued: After the beauty of Positano we then traveled to Sorrento

where we stopped for shopping and lunch. We decided to do the limoncello

tour of the little alleyway shops of Sorrento :). Our last stop was Pompeii,

where our tour guide informed us that the first Sunday of the month was free

admission, so we were refunded our ticket portion of the cruise. Pompeii was

even more amazing than we had anticipated, and our guide was great. Here's

a photo of us that the tour guide took