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LIVE from Celebrity Reflection - 4/27/18 - 10 nt Italy & Greek Isles Cruise

WonderMan3

By WonderMan3,
in Celebrity Cruises

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bluwes

bluwes

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Following your review. Our neighbours will be boarding Reflection as you leave, so will be passing on your views to them. Also we have an Edge Med sailing booked for September 2019, and we have never done Mykonos or Santorini before so will be looking forward to see what you do there.

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Lastdance

Lastdance

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Thank you for a detailed review [emoji4] This was my honeymoon cruise in 2016 and we’re thinking of doing this sailing again.

 

 

 

Is this post an indication that the WiFi is strong and reliable or better than it was before?

 

 

 

I read on here that during Reflection’s dry dock earlier in the year the ship had upgraded internet cables installed.

 

 

 

We are on this cruise now and in a corner aft suite; the WiFi has been very good! We also did this cruise several years ago, and returned for another visit to these wonderful ports. We will missKusadasi in this cruise..yes, do it again!

 

 

 

 

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Lastdance

Lastdance

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Wonderman...

 

Thanks for doing such a comprehensive review with photos!

 

If you are doing Taormina, get there early! It is more crowded than 5-6 years ago, along with more touristy. Castelmola is above and much smaller and quaint; do Taormina fest and then Castelmola if you want to do both...just saying...do not mean to overstep or crash, but we really noticed the difference...

 

 

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scotslizzy

scotslizzy

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Usually depends how many elite and above are on board. This sailing follows a TA these sailings usually have many elite+ and I'm guessing quite a few B2B.

 

 

Thanks . Our "home" is the martini bar and as we have upgraded to premium drinks it would be nice if she could get the tokens and use them there.

Scotslizzy

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WonderMan3

WonderMan3

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So for our Sunday in Malta we needed to exit the ship as close to docking time as possible (8am) since we were meeting our private guide just down the pier around 8. Luckily we had pulled in to Valletta a bit early so we were off the ship by 7:50am. We met our guide Mario shortly after. I had originally contacted a guide named Amy Pace for our touring as we had used her to tour Malta last year. She was already booked with other Reflection passengers by the time I had contacted her in December so she offered the services of her fellow guide Mario. After meeting him near the pier he walked us out to the street where he had a private driver waiting for us. Our plan for the day was to visit the neighboring island of Gozo since we had already seen the Malta highlights with Amy last year. We had to drive about 30 minutes from the port to where we would catch a ferry to Gozo. Along the way, Mario gave us information about Malta history and things we were passing by on the road.

 

Arriving at the ferry terminal around 8:40, Mario hoped we might catch the earlier ferry at 9am instead of the one he had originally planned for us to use at 9:45. But there were massive crowds at the ferry terminal due to it being a long holiday weekend (May Day is on Tuesday). We weren’t able to get on the 9am, but they added another ferry last minute so we were able to get one at 9:25, so it gained us 15 minutes. The crossing to Gozo was 25 minutes. Winds were high that morning so we sat inside. When we got to the ferry terminal in Gozo we met up with another private driver. From that point Mario directed him to take us on a scenic tour of the island. We started by driving up to a high overlook that gave us views of Malta and the nearby smaller islets. Then we went to the other side of the island to see the view of what is called Calypso’s Cove (Malta is regarded as the island where Odysseus encountered the nymph Calypso). Then we drove down to the sea to an area where they harvest salt in these rocky outcroppings right along the ocean; there were also some cool natural formations there.

 

Our next stop was to Dwejra Bay where we took a 15 minute boat ride through some amazing caves with some of the bluest water I had ever seen. This was another area with really cool rock formations. Apparently it was also the site of filming of some scenes from Game of Thrones. After this visit we made a stop in a local village to taste some native products and make some purchases. We got some of the local products like their delicious tomato paste, olive oil made from white olives and a tasty goat cheese. After that we drove on to a little coastal village to have lunch near the water. We ate at a restaurant called Il-Kcina Ghawdxija. While Mike just stuck with a basic spaghetti I tried the local goat cheese fried and covered in honey followed by spaghetti in a rabbit sauce. After lunch we drove up to the main town Victoria and toured through the citadel that overlooks the town. Then it was back to catch the 3:45pm ferry to Malta. We arrived back in Malta at 4:10. It should’ve taken 30 minutes to get back to the port but there was a lot of traffic on the main roads to Valletta so our driver took a detour which added 20 minutes to the drive. I was getting antsy as all aboard time was 5:30pm. We made it on to the ship at 5:10. That was a little too close for my comfort.

 

Overall we had a great day. Gozo is a beautiful island and I would highly recommend a tour there if you have already seen the main highlights on Malta. Amy Pace or anyone she would recommend are great choices. Our guide Mario was excellent. Her site is here: http://www.guidedtoursmalta.com The only thing to note is that getting to Gozo requires taking the ferry out and back. You need to be mindful of times as you saw how we encountered traffic and got very close to boarding time. The cost for our tour was 360 Euro for the 9 hours including the private drivers on both islands and the ferry tickets. Lunch is on your own dime. My next few posts will show photos from our day.05bf7bdd5a253fb683150128b6fd38ec.jpg46937ebd93439f0bf4f89941dd6a5193.jpg37c84c512c18a292ca4d113869d7a639.jpgebfb8802b18a924bbf49a048a4efde72.jpg379b9124f5b865e2ee90955749a42646.jpg

 

 

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WonderMan3

WonderMan3

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After sailaway we relaxed for awhile longer then got dressed for dinner and decided to visit the casino prior to eating. I stopped by the Martini Bar to pick up one of my favorites, Raspberry Lemonade, to take with me to the casino. We wanted to see if our luck was any better prior to dinner. Surprisingly I actually started having some wins. I broke even by the time we had to head off to dinner but at least I wasn’t losing!

 

We chose to have dinner at Tuscan Grille tonight. We got a nice table right by the window overlooking the wake. The sun was almost gone for the day at this point though. Our waiter was Zaza and he was very pleasant and helpful with the menu. I started with a Caesar Salad and Crab Cake while Mike got a half portion of the Spaghetti and Meatballs to start. For the entree we both had the Filet Mignon with Mike choosing a side of Polenta fries and I had a side of the Carbonara. Everything was excellent and this was probably the best food experience we’ve had at Tuscan in the past couple of years.

 

After dinner we headed back to the casino for more slot play but neither of us had any luck this time. We wee back to the room by 10:30, which was our earliest night so far. It was needed though as clocks were moving forward overnight as we cross over a time zone.714c87957582aa3c6af0a58b4e4dc349.jpg96e93a0a976d4cc0b6ecb932dcbb80cb.jpgb8d67791cfd2af68e5bfa9c9731c94aa.jpg4f350093495ea5beaf218aca24113cbc.jpg32276bf7e8561cc29bbb5409d7d22d2c.jpge05f9dce165ec764a4b49f20484d557f.jpg

 

 

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Taylor D

Taylor D

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Hi Adam,

Following along! We ( My husband and two kids) are also from Massachusetts (West Newbury) and are on the July 20th sailing of this itinerary. This must be a welcomed vacation after the horrendous winter we had in Mass! Looking forward to your posts as I have been planning our excursions over this past week.

 

We the also on the July 20th sailing My wife son and daughter in law, it's getting closer.

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WonderMan3

WonderMan3

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Today was our first of two sea days while we sail between Malta and Mykonos. Weather was foggy and cool this morning but by mid-day the sun came bursting through. There has still been a coolish tinge to the breeze though.

 

Mike and I got up around 7 as we needed to get ready for appointments at the spa at 9am. We both chose to do 80 minute deep tissue massages (separately, not as a couple). We elected to skip breakfast as we don’t like to have massages after eating. As we walked to the spa a little before 9 the pool area was a ghost town. A couple people were in the hot tub but there was only one or two other people out on the loungers. Only a few chair hogs in effect based on items left on chairs. The solarium was a bit more active including more chair hogs but there were still plenty of chairs to be had.

 

My masseuse was a lovely young Jamaican woman named Nastasia (I think I got her name right). She worked my muscles amazingly. One of my problem areas is my calves. On every spa form I have ever done I always list calves as one area for them to focus on but this is the first time I’ve actually had a masseuse really work my calves deep. I’m sure I will be sore tomorrow but it was worth it. At the end of the massage she tried to give me the hard sell on products and booking other appointments. I passed on the products as I already own one of them (from a prior cruise!) but Indid sign up for another massage with her on the next sea day; this time it will be a Hot Stone Massage. I then met with a facialist for a free consultation. She kept trying to sell me on getting a facial but I declined as I had one on a prior cruise and didn’t care for it. I did ask her for some product advice though for issues on my face like dark circles under the eyes and acne scars. She offered me two different products which I purchased.

 

I headed back to the cabin after that. Mike was already there. He could see I was beaming from the massage. He unfortunately didn’t have as good of luck with his masseuse. He said she did a mediocre job. I recommended he go back and get an appointment with my masseuse. We relaxed for a bit after that in the cabin while we waited for lunchtime. After showering we headed up to try lunch at Oceanview Cafe. This was our first lunch visit there for this cruise. It was Italian day so I had a bit of beef lasagne, pork Milanese, burrata and some penne with chicken and pesto. It was pretty good. Food temperature could’ve been warmer but otherwise it was okay. We actually were able to get a seat in the back outside. In fact when we arrived at 12:30 we were surprised at the number of available seats. I really like how on Reflection the outside deck at back does not have the big round bar like on the other S-Class ships (it’s one deck up as the Sunset Bar) as it opens up a lot more space for tables.

 

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AidenL

AidenL

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You’re welcome. It is a lovely place!

 

 

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We have been to Taormina a lot on land holidays, always loved it. The square at night is. a great people watching location.

 

Sadly, on our last trip there, my Mum passed away, so its a little tainted for me now, but will see how it feels when we go back there in June.

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