CRUISE REVIEW: The Eastern Med on the beautiful Celebrity Reflection - August 2015

[Pluto_fan]

Thank you again for your beautiful review. I am sharing it with our family who will be doing a similar itinerary with us on the Reflection next June. More excited than ever! :)

[Miaminice]

First of all THANK YOU for your kind words.

Getting such positive feedback makes writing the reviews worthwhile...

 

 

RE: All Access Tour

 

Tickets for the tour can be purchased at Guest Relations on board. No membership level is required. The number of participants is limited (like ten or twelve or so), so you should inquire about it as soon as you get on board.

 

The price was about 150 US$ (including lunch at a specialty restaurant) - since it was a present I am not supposed to know ;-)

 

Celebrity also offers a free galley tour on some cruises.

If so, it will be advertised in the daily programm.

 

 

Those of you doing a similar cruise or interested in the Greek Islands might also enjoy browsing through our Holy Land Cruise review which covers some of the same spots...

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Holy-Land-Cruise-01/holy-land-cruise-01.html

 

Thanks again and happy holidays!

Oliver

Edited December 15, 2015 by Miaminice

[Miaminice]

Dear fellow cruisers!

 

As a bonus to our review I added a video clip compiling all the ship photos of the beautiful Celebrity Reflection.

 

 

Full review: http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Reflection-Eastern-Med-01/reflection-eastern-med-01.html

 

Video: http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Ships/Celebrity-Reflection/celebrity-reflection.html

 

Thank you for following our travelogue and happy holidays to all of you!

 

Oliver & Birgit

 

[YOUTUBE]gNkuHGggaMc[/YOUTUBE]

[rmalbers]

Great pictures and review, very interesting. It looks/sounds like you have a lot of experience in this area. I'm looking at doing a very similar cruise April 15th and it sounds like the temps might be 55-65 degrees F. I think I'd like cooler temps over the heat of the summer. Can you commit on typical weather in the region mid to late April. Could it be too cool to enjoy these ports? Thanks!

[Miaminice]

55-65 F sounds about right... Could be quite windy in April.

But who knows with the weather being as unpredictable as is these days :-)

 

Whatever the weather will be like, I am sure you'll enjoy the area...

[AidenL]

Great review, super information and superb photography :)

[rurn0321]

Loved your narrative and the photos are wonderful. Some helpful info was provided and we really are looking forward to our June 2016 cruise. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[karro]

so happy to read your review! Fantastic photos and lots of info for first time visitors to the ports

[Swissmiss6253]

Great review. Such beautiful photographs and lovely personal insights.

[misha1]

Spectacular photos...you have an eye for photo worthy subjects, and your camera is no slouch.

[Guest]

Ah im glad this post has been brought up again! I have a slightly less expensive Canon (100D) - What lenses do you use? I have a 40mm, 18-55 and am about to invest in a 10-18mm for those wide angled scenery shots- I can tell you have used a wide angle lens, is it the 10-18 or the 10-22?

 

I am on a similar itinerary on the same ship next year, and can't wait to try and take shots similar to yours!

[Miaminice]

Ah im glad this post has been brought up again! I have a slightly less expensive Canon (100D) - What lenses do you use? I have a 40mm, 18-55 and am about to invest in a 10-18mm for those wide angled scenery shots- I can tell you have used a wide angle lens, is it the 10-18 or the 10-22?

 

I am on a similar itinerary on the same ship next year, and can't wait to try and take shots similar to yours!

 

Hi Glitterati!

 

No, no wide angle lens at all ;) The panorama shots are taken with the iphone (pano mode)... that´s all.

 

The photos are a mix of images taken with the iphone, our small Panasonic Lumix TZ-71 and my DSLR Canon Eos 70D. The only lens for the DSLR I had with me on this cruise was the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. Because of the light sensitivity it is a great lens also for inside photography.

 

Thank you all for your kind words!

 

Please feel free to browse through some of our other reviews as well!

[Guest]

Hi Glitterati!

 

No, no wide angle lens at all ;) The panorama shots are taken with the iphone (pano mode)... that´s all.

 

The photos are a mix of images taken with the iphone, our small Panasonic Lumix TZ-71 and my DSLR Canon Eos 70D. The only lens for the DSLR I had with me on this cruise was the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. Because of the light sensitivity it is a great lens also for inside photography.

 

Thank you all for your kind words!

 

Please feel free to browse through some of our other reviews as well!

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Wow, you are certainly a talented photographer!

I also have an iPhone and a Lumix compact (TZ-40), so maybe i will just have to read up on photography tips instead!

 

You have certainly inspired me!

[Miaminice]

Thank you, you are too kind ;-)

 

I just take a loooooot of photos. Chances are high that some turn out to be good ;-)

 

The great thing about digital photography... memory is cheap :-)

[Miaminice]

BTW: The year before this cruise on Reflection we did a cruise on Silhouette (Holy Land Cruise) which had some of the same ports. It might give some more ideas of different options.

 

The cruise on Silhouette was actually the one enticing us to book the cruise on Reflection - it was one of our best cruises ever!!!

 

This is the link to the post on Cruise Critic: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2249406

(or by clicking on the link below)

 

 

 

.

Ships in port of Civitavecchia, Rome

Edited April 12, 2016 by Miaminice

[cbsmama]

I'm so glad this post was bumped! Your website is terrific. Do you happen to have a link to the direct forum post with the pictures of your Western Med cruise? We're thinking of doing something similar, and I'm sure I could get the gist of the trip through your photography!

 

Thank you!

[Miaminice]

I'm so glad this post was bumped! Your website is terrific. Do you happen to have a link to the direct forum post with the pictures of your Western Med cruise? We're thinking of doing something similar, and I'm sure I could get the gist of the trip through your photography!

 

Thank you!

 

First of all: Thank you!

 

You are talking about the review of our Western Med cruise on Liberty ?

Thanks to your question I just noticed there is something wrong with the website. We translated this review already and it was on our website... now it is gone. I will try to fix the problem from a backup tomorrow and post the link again - Sorry and thank you for making me check!

Edited April 12, 2016 by Miaminice

[cbsmama]

First of all: Thank you!

 

You are talking about the review of our Western Med cruise on Liberty ?

Thanks to your question I just noticed there is something wrong with the website. We translated this review already and it was on our website... now it is gone. I will try to fix the problem from a backup tomorrow and post the link again - Sorry and thank you for making me check!

 

Yes, the Western on LotS. We are considering a Med cruise in 2018 on either X Solstice class or RCI Freedom class. Thank you!

[cbsmama]

Oh my... even on my backup the sites of the Western Med cruise are gone :(

 

I will have to start again... I´ll let you know as soon as the link works again.

 

However, the decision is a tough one. We like the Freedom class but for us the Celebrity S class clearly wins. However, that is seen through the eyes of a couple without kids meanwhile prefering the laid back, more luxurious atmosphere on Celebrity ships.

 

Do you travel with kids or prefer more party and entertainment (ice show, musicals, parades on the Promenade)?

Then I would give a point to Freedom.

 

If you prefer a more grown up, quieter and a tat more lururious environment - S class it is!

 

Oh no! That's a bummer! I'm sorry it's gone and that I brought it to your attention :(

 

I think mostly the decision will come down to timing, ports, and school schedule once the itineraries are released for 2018. We will be traveling with my DD, who will be 8.5 for this trip. She had a great time on Celebrity Summit with us, and my DH and I are anxious to try an S-class ship. Although it doesn't have all the entertainment, the kids club was really top notch, and because it wasn't swarming with kids, she got a lot of attention. We just did Oasis, and she had a blast, but if I told her we were doing RCI, but that there wasn't a carousel on board, I'm not sure what her reaction would be :D This probably deserves a Freedom class vs. Oasis class on the RCI board.

 

One of the big draws of Oasis for us was the specialty dining as we aren't really big fans of the MDR on either our Summit or Oasis cruises, and it seems like S-class might have more to offer than Freedom class. I worry that since Freedom class doesn't have as many options as Oasis, it wouldn't work as well for us, especially since we are looking at 9-12 day itineraries.

 

I think we're up for either experience, but since we will be so active in the ports (rather than just laying on the beach), I want to make sure we can all be fairly relaxed on the trip.

[Miaminice]

@cbsmama

 

The Liberty review is back online again :) :) :)

 

You can find the post here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2325272

 

or by clicking on the link in my signature below