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

[saphir]

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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I will benin Castelmola in Sepember. Is it a nice village. Can I stay 3 hours there? I have an excursion with winery tour. Thank you.

[Sammy1]

Hi Adam,

 

I hope you had a good day of relaxation after the hectic pace. Tomorrow you must be in Mykonos. Are you on a tour or DIY?

 

Have you been able to find out the current price of Qsine's Le Petit Chef? And are you planning on going?

 

Sam

[WonderMan3]

So after lunch today Mike and I went our separate ways. I did some catch up on some web stuff while he headed back to the spa for a manicure and pedicure. After a bit I decided to check out the casino. Slots seemed a bit more friendly to me today but after a couple hours I was almost out and then got a hit that broke me even so I figured it was a good time to leave. I went back to the cabin where Mike was relaxing already. I broke out some of the goodies I had bought on Gozo like the tomato paste, olive oil and goat cheese with herbs. I ran up to the buffet quickly to see if I could get some bread but everything was closed except for the pizza and pasta station. Luckily they had a basket of garlic bread there so I made do with that. We both took quick power naps before getting dressed for dinner in order to give us the energy to get through the evening.

 

It was evening chic night. We don’t bring suits with us anymore since they changed the dress policy so we just wore some nice collared dress shirts and slacks. The clothing was all over the place from tuxes and gowns to many people with similar style as us to even some in hoodies and jeans. I have to make a side comment here about the dress code since it comes up so often. We are not clothing police and have enjoyed the relaxation of the policies over time, but we still feel people should respect whatever the current dress code is. On our first night in Luminae we were quite surprised to see a man show up in shorts and be seated. His wife was dressed appropriately for the venue. Now maybe he lost his luggage or something but I was surprised. I had never seen anyone in shorts in Luminae before. But anyway I digress. We had dinner again tonight in Luminae. They were VERY busy tonight. Shortly after we were seated at 7:30, every table was occupied. Staff seemed a bit frenzied at times and the service was just off. Examples are, this was our fourth visit to Luminae and the hostess still had to ask our room number; typically they know who you are by the second visit. The sommelier got into a silly argument with us over when we had last had the bottle of champagne they had on hold for us. We told him it was on Saturday (that was when we received the bottle) but he kept correcting us insisting it was the day before that as he would’ve remembered us having it the day before yesterday. It was really odd and out of line. And then our server was trying to be helpful but came across as condescending such as when I ordered the squab appetizer (but I didn’t ask a question about it) and he proceeded to explain to me what squab was. I told him I had ordered it at Luminae several times before and was aware what it was. He then tried to talk me out of ordering it saying it was gamy. I knew that but I didn’t like the other appetizer choices so I was fine with my selection. After I had finished the squab he asked me what I thought and I told him he was right, it was gamy but I also told him that was no fault of the chef, just the nature of the meat. He said proudly “Ah, see, I knew that, that’s why I ordered you the lobster salad as a back-up appetizer. I will bring to you now.” Now, I had finished the squab and did not want another appetizer and also don’t like lobster. I told him thanks but I don’t eat lobster and was ready to move on to the main course. We had this waiter our first night at Luminae and found him a bit overbearing then also. We also heard the table next to us complaining about him towards the end of our meal. That couple had ordered from the main dining room menu and apparently he was trying to discourage the choices they had made and convince them to try other things. They didn’t appreciate that.

 

As to the food, as I mentioned, I had the squab appetizer while Mike got the lobster salad. He enjoyed his while mine was tolerable (again, not the chef’s fault). We both ordered the Cote de Boeuf which was good. I’m almost exclusively a Filet Mignon man but I thought this was a tasty cut of meat. I passed on dessert while Mike ordered the Chocolate Palet. They also brought out a selection of sweet treats from the dessert cart.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Hi Adam,

 

 

 

I hope you had a good day of relaxation after the hectic pace. Tomorrow you must be in Mykonos. Are you on a tour or DIY?

 

 

 

Have you been able to find out the current price of Qsine's Le Petit Chef? And are you planning on going?

 

 

 

Sam

 

 

 

Yes, today was pretty much just spa, eating and casino, so very slow paced. We are on our own tomorrow in Mykonos, just wandering around the town, so it should be a casual day.

 

I haven’t had a chance to inquire about La Petit Chef yet. I don’t think we’re going to do it as we already had talked about doing Lawn Club Grill and possibly brunch at Tuscan and we only have one complimentary specialty dining left. It doesn’t look overly appealing from what I’ve seen.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

After dinner we headed back to the casino to try our luck. I have not had much luck since we boarded the ship and was down a bit. Mike on the other hand had won a good amount the first night and had been playing off his winnings and free play from the casino. He finally started to eat into his bankroll tonight while my fortunes totally turned around and I hit two jackpots within about 10 minutes on two different machines. We didn’t spend much time in the casino after that, wisely taking my money and running... until tomorrow night anyway. [emoji1]

 

 

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[FlorenceItaly]

Great win! Congratulations!! Will you be visiting the future cruise desk???

[miched]

Curious on why you had lunch in the buffet on a sea day when you could have dined in Luminae?

 

For most passengers that perk is one of the many reasons that they book a suite.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Pavovsky]

Curious on why you had lunch in the buffet on a sea day when you could have dined in Luminae?

 

 

 

For most passengers that perk is one of the many reasons that they book a suite.

 

 

 

Happy cruising [emoji305][emoji568][emoji631][emoji560]

 

 

 

Perhaps the argumentative waiter and some iffy food?

 

Or just don’t want to over eat?

[miched]

Perhaps the argumentative waiter and some iffy food?

 

Or just don’t want to over eat?

 

I would think if it was to avoid over eating you wouldn’t go to the buffet.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Pavovsky]

I would think if it was to avoid over eating you wouldn’t go to the buffet.

 

 

 

Happy cruising [emoji305][emoji568][emoji631][emoji560]

 

 

 

Indeed - fair point. My trick on not over eating is to avoid breakfast and bread at dinner.

 

and that Luminae burger does look good.

 

 

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[Iluv10is]

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.

 

We are also doing the Edge cruise in September 2019 - Sept 9th.

[surebeatssailing]

Following along!! Especially interested to hear about your air travels on Norwegian. Good luck with your ears!

 

Safe travels!

 

Jumping in here ...just returned from TA from Rome on Reflection. We flew premium class on Norwegian Air Rome to Newark.

Plane very comfortable. Service in premium class was excellent. Drinks were good but food not so much. On a scale 1-5 with 1 the worst & 5 the best ,I would rate the food 1-2. Entertainment good with good movie selections.

Because of the price & service , I would fly with Norwegian again but I would plan on bringing food from the airport .

[letbob]

Great job on this thread. Feels like we are on the ship with you guys. Phenomenal insight and photos. Thanks

[WonderMan3]

Great win! Congratulations!! Will you be visiting the future cruise desk???

 

 

 

Thank you! Already have two cruises lined up (Edge in December and Summit in January) so our schedule is pretty full right now. [emoji1]

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Curious on why you had lunch in the buffet on a sea day when you could have dined in Luminae?

 

 

 

For most passengers that perk is one of the many reasons that they book a suite.

 

 

 

Happy cruising [emoji305][emoji568][emoji631][emoji560]

 

 

 

Because I enjoy eating at Oceanview for all the choices and since we are so busy on this cruise the two sea days are the only opportunity to eat at Oceanview for lunch. We ate at Luminae for lunch on embarkation day. That I love so you don’t have to deal with the crowds of people.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Forgot to mention this interesting moment while we were at sea yesterday. A bird flew into our balcony at one point. When he tried to fly right out he slammed into the plexiglass and fell back dazed. He sat for awhile recovering before trying again, but now he could not get high enough to get over the plexiglass. I ran into the butler shortly after this and brought him in to show him. He said he would try to shoo it out with a stick but I showed how he couldn’t fly high enough to get over the balcony rail. He said then that he would contact the ship’s environmental officer to take care of it. When I came back a few hours later the bird was gone so I assume they were able to help him on his way. Never a dull moment on a cruise ship!

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Woke up this morning in Mykonos and was happily surprised to look out our balcony and see that we were docked. Our schedule had said we would be tendering here so this was a nice change. I see in the Daily they are offering free shuttle service into town which is helpful.

 

 

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[sailco]

Loving your blog. Can I ask if you're port or starboard?

[WonderMan3]

Loving your blog. Can I ask if you're port or starboard?

 

 

 

Thanks! We are on the starboard side.

 

 

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[Pavovsky]

Can I ask whether they still have apple products for sale on board and whether prices are competitive?

 

 

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[miched]

Forgot to mention this interesting moment while we were at sea yesterday. A bird flew into our balcony at one point. When he tried to fly right out he slammed into the plexiglass and fell back dazed. He sat for awhile recovering before trying again, but now he could not get high enough to get over the plexiglass. I ran into the butler shortly after this and brought him in to show him. He said he would try to shoo it out with a stick but I showed how he couldn’t fly high enough to get over the balcony rail. He said then that he would contact the ship’s environmental officer to take care of it. When I came back a few hours later the bird was gone so I assume they were able to help him on his way. Never a dull moment on a cruise ship!

 

 

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I wouldn’t order squab again. 😱

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[WonderMan3]

Here is today’s Daily

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

And port shopping info

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

We woke up this morning around 7. After showering and dressing we headed down to Luminae for breakfast. Today was a bit disappointing. I ordered the Eggs Benedict which came out lukewarm with English muffin and Canadian bacon slice that were both tough. I honestly had a better Eggs Benedict made fresh in front of me at Oceanview a couple days ago. Mike was happy with his plain omelette. And the pastry basket was great as usual. The first year that Luminae was operating the breakfasts were fantastic. The past year or so there has been a decline in quality. It used to be that breakfast there was something to really look forward to like the dinners but now it’s just a place to escape the crowds at Oceanview with food that is essentially the same quality.

 

 

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