Celebrity Reflection 7/4/14: Mediteranean Cruise Report with Pictures

[Raschueler]

Time for a nap and showers again to prepare for our evening out on the town. Our goal for the night was to see the Spanish Steps. Once refreshed, we went back to the bus and got off around the Spanish Steps. The last bus was at 8 or 8:30, so we knew we had to get dropped off somewhere that was in walking distance of our room. We knew taxis were always an option, but I can count the amount of times I’ve been on a taxi on one hand, so I’m not all that comfortable with it and would rather save our money! We walked around checking out menus, and found a nice place with live music on a quiet street. We ordered a giant beer along with dinner.

I forgot that beer in Italy is not ice cold like it is back home, but we paid a lot of money for that beer and we were gonna drink it!

Being very un-Italian, Matt ordered lasagna for his main entrée. But being very American, Matt loved the dish and we were stuffed! I don’t know how Italians can eat so much food and stay so skinny! Of course, there are exceptions to that. Maybe it’s the dinner-like lunch combined with all the walking? I know all the walking Matt and I did on this trip definitely saved us from gaining weight.

[Raschueler]

After our delicious dinner, we headed to the Spanish Steps. We managed to come in from the top somehow which was great because I had no intention on walking all the way up there! Last time I was in Italy, my friend and I just walked up a few steps, got our pictures, and left. This time I got to see much more. I noticed all of the gypsies with their fake purses, belts, bouncy-light up balls, and roses as usual, but this time I got to see even more excitement. Some sort of law enforcement pulled up and they grabbed their sheets full of junk and went sprinting up the Spanish Steps. It was incredible! I’ve never seen anyone run so fast with so much stuff!

 

 

 

 

Once all that excitement was over, we noticed singing and dancing going on a little further down the steps. It was a fun environment. Matt really had to use the bathroom which was surprising because that man never needs to go, meanwhile I’m one of those people who thinks that I might need to see the doctor for some sort of bladder control! We found a McDonald’s and were prepared to just buy something to get the bathroom code. We walked through the McDonald’s and realized there wasn’t any sort of code needed. Yay! I went too for a “just in case” bathroom break. Bathrooms are hard to come by in Rome!!

Matt decided to try some of McDonald’s gelato. He got chocolate and loved it!

[bdpatrick]

Hi Rachel,

 

Thank you for the review so far.

 

We will be sailing on the Reflection at the end of September. We are also staying in Rome 1 night prior and 3 nights after the cruise.

 

Keep it coming.

 

Too bad about the Trevi fountain, I guess this gives us an excuse to go back in the future!

 

Sylvain

[Raschueler]

Thanks for your kind words, everyone. It was disappointing to see the Trevi Fountain like that, but at least it is being maintained so we all can enjoy it for years to come. I forgot to post that the fountain near the Spanish Steps is also under construction. I have one more day in Rome to tell you about, our train ride from Termini to the port, and then the cruise!

[Raschueler]

We stopped and got some lunch at this place that pulled me in with their daily special.

I got the daily special, while Matt got some sort of pasta. The waiter encouraged Matt to try the buffalo mozzarella, so we just got it. Matt was quite surprised when it came out!

Matt was also surprised when he saw what color the Fanta was. I had told him that it is a lot lighter than at home and tastes more like actual oranges, so he had to try it. He’s not a big soda drinker, so he just had a bit to try and didn’t finish the rest. Definitely couldn’t say the same about me and my wine!

[MCKC]

Loving your review! Can't wait to hear more:)

 

 

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[Raschueler]

After lunch, we (I) did some shopping. I love buying things for our home on trips so that I can be reminded of the places all the time. We ended up near the Capitol building. I wanted to get closer to get pictures of the guards and the horses on top of the building. I have a slight obsession with these horses. After my first trip to Italy, I always told people how amazing they were and how I had no idea how they got them up there thousands of years ago without cranes. Turns out I was completely wrong. I’ll tell you more about that in a bit.

 

There are manned gates in front of the building, so I thought that maybe you had to pay to get in. I was very pleased when I found out it was free.

 

 

 

Inside I was happy to find some sort of a war museum and incredible architecture.

 

 

 

 

Up next: we get on the roof!!

[sistersfirstcruise]

But I was waiting for the roof shots ;)

Can't wait for more.

 

 

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[Dowunder]

What a refreshing report through the eyes of a young traveller. I'm loving it !

[Raschueler]

Heading to the roof! It costs 7 euro pp to get to the roof. My husband has to talk me into this one. 14 euro to get up there seemed a little steep (haha) to me, but it ended up being worth every penny.

Here is one of the many views from the top!

There were plenty of numbered maps to identify the different buildings.

Here are my horses I’m obsessed with. My grandmother has a horse farm, so horses have always been important to me. She has been to Rome a few times, and says these horses are the reason she believes in God because she has no idea how they could have gotten up there. Turns out they were put up there between 1908-1925 according to a sign posted below it. Boooo. I thought they were ancient!! Learning this ruined the horses a bit for me. Shhhh! Don’t tell Mom Mom!

[Dowunder]

Keep them coming Rascheuler!

[Raschueler]

Hi, everyone! Sorry for the delay in my posting. My internet has been ungodly slow, and for the safety of my laptop and router, I had to take a break from my laptop. I’ve mustered up some patience, so here we go!

Later that day we decided to just get a cheap dinner since lunch added up quickly. We decided to go back to that little pizza place by our B&B for a dinner under 10 euros! We had to repack all the clothes I tore out of our suitcase, and I wanted to be ready for our train adventure. When we got to dinner, the owner of the store quickly recognized us from lunch the other day, came over and gave me a big hug, and, of course, two kisses. We got a discount on our already cheap dinner, and made the man very happy that we came back to his shop. After dinner, we decided to just take a walk and enjoy our last night in Rome. We ended up sitting by the fountain in Piazza della Repubblica eating gelato, and people watching. We had a great low-key night in Rome and were ready to head to the ship!

[Raschueler]

As I was reading through my report preparing to tell you all about our train ride, I realized that my morning post for day 3 didn't post. So, this post should be right before post #30. Let's call it Post 29.5. Sorry for any confusion!

 

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast again in our room, and my goal for the day was to go to Termini, buy our tickets, and find the platform for the train. Buying our ticket was easy. There were machines that you could set to English and then use cash or a credit card to buy your ticket. With tickets in hand, we looked for the platform, and there were people trying to validate them for us. NO! Matt said he wanted a t-shirt with the word “NO” on it to wear while walking around Rome. No, I don’t want roses. No, I don’t want that weird glowing bouncy ball. No, you can’t help me with my bags. No, I am capable of sticking my ticket into a clearly labeled machine to be validated. Ahhhh. Matt was a little stressed with the train station, so I am glad we went the day before to find everything because doing that with all of our luggage would not have been fun. Anyways, our platform was #28. It was not printed on our ticket, but we found it on a poster on the wall, so maybe it always stays the same? It’s basically the furthest platform away.

 

After sort of figuring out the train station, we jumped on the tour bus again. We wanted to get over near the Vatican, explore, and then get back closer to our room since there was no way we were walking back to our room from there!

[Raschueler]

Okay, let’s head to the Reflection! Our mode of transportation was the train. I had read a good bit here on CC about taking the train to Civi, and I figured we could do it. I’m going to refer to the port as Civi because I have no idea how to spell it and never mastered how to say it, so in my head it is the Port of Civi. We got to the station early and made it to platform #28 while people were trying to help us with our bags and validate our tickets. No no no no no. The people all over my sweet husband made him a little stressed. On top of that, the doors kept shutting on poor Matt when he was trying to carry his luggage onto the train which lead to a not-so-happy hubby. He was already not too happy with the walk because his cheapo luggage wheels were completely ripped-off/disintegrated on the way over. Yikes. He said next time he is packing and I better like what I have on cause I’d be wearing it a lot. Whoops, bad over-packing wife. On the bright side, we were on the train and ready to go. Covered in sweat, but ready to go!

We ended up meeting another honeymooning couple on the train who was going to be on our cruise. It felt good to know they were doing the same thing as us! We were the blind leading the blind. All of the directions I had copied off of cruise CC were sitting safely at home on my laptop. We started walking and eventually found people with suitcases walking towards us leaving their cruise, so we knew we were headed the right way. The walk wasn’t too bad, but not having luggage wheels made it a little difficult for Matt. Luckily he’s strong! There were places to stop for water, so we took advantage of that. We walked for awhile, and then found a shuttle. The shuttle took us to the port, and then we had to switch to a bus (and then maybe another bus?) I felt like if we didn’t lose our luggage between the train and all these shuttles and buses, we would never lose it in a million years.

[Raschueler]

Anyways, we made it to the ship! We were so relieved. We painlessly checked in, and were on our way to check out the ship. We were greeted with champagne and went straight to the Sunset Bar with our new friends.

I wanted another glass of champagne, so Matt went and got one while I talked to my new friend. Pretty much all of the drinks at the Sunset Bar are served in blue plastic cups, and when I went to drink my champagne, I noticed bright pink lipstick was on my glass. EWWWWWW. I was really grossed out. I hate to be a complainer, but I was not happy. I showed the bartender the dirty glass my drink was poured in. He brushed it off like it was nothing. Then, I saw another woman sit down, order champagne, and her glass was the same way! I pointed it out to her, and she just laughed it off and the bartender wiped it off with a napkin. Disgusting. I ordered a good ole Coors Light in a bottle knowing no one has drank out of that! Not the best start to the cruise. For the rest of the trip, I avoided the blue plastic glasses and made sure to check all of my glasses before sipping my drink.

 

There was an announcement that all of the rooms were ready, so we went down to check out our veranda room. We have never had an ocean view balcony. We were really excited. It also turned out that our new friends from the train were only a few rooms down the hall!

Our stateroom was wonderful. We really enjoyed the balcony as well. It was an obstructed view because the lifeboats were right below, but there was a space to see the ocean straight down, and you could still see the view while sitting down. Every time I saw the lifeboat a little bit, I thought of how much money we saved this way!

The bed was so comfortable, especially after the rock we slept on at the Italian B&B. We met our attendant, and I asked for him to please empty the mini fridge which was done without a problem.

Storage was fine for us, I had brought extra hangers, and we used the above the bed storage. Feel free to ask any questions about the room!

[Raschueler]

Next, it was time to explore the ship! The Reflection really is a gorgeous ship.

 

 

Here are some photos of the solarium.

We were fascinated by the ice bar, and received great service here throughout the entire cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Raschueler]

Here is our planned itinerary.

 

Our CC group planned a pre-meet and mingle to meet one another since we had many tours planned. We planned on meeting at the Sunset Bar for sail away. We got our name tags, chit-chatted, and had a great time.

 

 

We waited for sail away, but then there was a delay. Being lost in conversation, about an hour went by after our planned sail away time, and we were still sitting.

 

 

An announcement from the captain informed us that there were technical difficulties and that we would be staying in Civi until tomorrow at 2pm. We were also going to miss going to Messina, Italy. We were offered a free shuttle to Civi for the next day. We just decided to stay on the ship. We were so exhausted from Rome, and even though I really wanted to see Sicily, I could use a “sea day.” Many people were really disappointed, but it’s not like we were stuck in an airport terminal, we were on a gorgeous ship with plenty to do! We ended up being credited $200 for port fees and missing the port which we appreciated.

We stayed and chatted with fellow CC members until it was dinner time. The MDR is beautiful, and I only had two entrees out of ten that I wasn’t crazy about. By the time the entrée came out, I wasn’t really even hungry due to the first courses, so it was fine. I had requested to sit at a table of 8-10 because I really enjoy meeting new people and usually make good friends from my tablemates, but we were sat at a table for two. It was fine just being with my hubby, but we were together 24/7 for two weeks, so hearing about other people’s adventures at port would have been nice at dinner!

Our first table for two was next to a couple speaking another language near the waiter’s station. The next night we were moved to a window seat after we received a note in our stateroom saying they were putting us there since we were celebrating our honeymoon. We enjoyed our new seat by the window for the sights. The close tables for two are a little awkward though because you can hear the entire conversation between the two sitting next to you.

[IHeartTravel23]

Really enjoying your review so far! We are going on the Reflection in December for our honeymoon, on an Eastern Caribbean itenirary. Congrats on your wedding!

 

Hey, do you remember your stateroom number.....that appears to be the same category that we have booked. Also, does the Sunset Bar really serve their drinks out of plastic cups, even champagne?!

[HardToPort]

Great posts so far. I'd also like to know your cabin #. My father and I are cruising on Reflection in January. We're in a Verandah cabin (6196) on Deck 6, apparently with life boats just below. If your views are representative of that deck then I'm pleased. I like the long views, not worried so much about looking down.

 

You seem like a lovely young couple. I hope married life is treating you well.

 

Cheers!

HTP

:cool:

[Eddie's Girl]

Last October we were on Deck 6, starboard side about midship. It was an obstructed view with lifeboats just below our veranda. We spent a lot of time on that veranda, especially on sea days in the Med and the following TA. We really had no complaints. There were still great views to the horizon and we're were able to see lots of flying fish during the TA. Good cabin, great ship.

[Coolcruise02]

Can't wait for more! :)

Edited September 9, 2014 by Coolcruise02

[Raschueler]

Really enjoying your review so far! We are going on the Reflection in December for our honeymoon, on an Eastern Caribbean itenirary. Congrats on your wedding!

 

Hey, do you remember your stateroom number.....that appears to be the same category that we have booked. Also, does the Sunset Bar really serve their drinks out of plastic cups, even champagne?!

 

 

I sure do (: We stayed in cabin 6207. The location was really convenient because it was central and very close to the elevators. There are also automatic sliding doors between the elevators and the hallway, so noise wasn't an issue for us. Congrats on your engagement! Are you also getting married in December? I know some couples hold off on the honeymoon for awhile (:

[Raschueler]

Great posts so far. I'd also like to know your cabin #. My father and I are cruising on Reflection in January. We're in a Verandah cabin (6196) on Deck 6, apparently with life boats just below. If your views are representative of that deck then I'm pleased. I like the long views, not worried so much about looking down.

 

You seem like a lovely young couple. I hope married life is treating you well.

 

Cheers!

HTP

:cool:

 

 

Thank you! Sounds like a nice cruise for you and your father. I'm also looking into January cruises now too. Our cabin was 6207. The views were perfect for looking out.

 

We have really been enjoying married life, but would love to be back on the Reflection!

[LarryL]

Congrats on your wedding. We'll be on the Reflection for our 26th anniversary in 2016 and are, very much, looking forward to the rest of your very nice review.:p

[marie61]

Been enjoying the postings, but the last post was September 1, which was the first day of the cruise...nothing since. Is this finished? too bad, since I'm on the same cruise next August and would have truly loved hearing about the actual ports, rather than the wedding. :)