A Live Reflection on the Med 4th July 2022

[groryjm]

In a little under 94 hours we hope to be flying to Fiumicino Airport with the aim to board Celebrity Reflection the next morning in Civitavecchia. In this post pandemic age of testing and flight cancellations nothing is ever quite sure and I won’t say for certain we are going on a cruise until we are actually sitting in Michaels Club drink in hand.

 

To give you a bit of background we have had 9 cruises cancelled in the pandemic and the three we managed last year were on a nearly empty Silhouette at 50% capacity. We cruised in May again on Silhouette but at nearer to 90% capacity. So the last four cruises we have taken have been in suites on a Revolutionised ship and from Southampton which is a mere 45 minutes’ drive from our home. In fact the last for cruise we took pre pandemic were also out of Southampton and also mostly on Silhouette. We haven’t actually flown to a cruise since 2016 and it is 7 years since our last time on board Reflection.

 

Silly has become a close and familiar friend and with four cruises on her since her uplift this cruise is going to feel quite strange, especially without the wonderful Retreat sundeck.

 

I stated earlier that we had had 9 cruises cancelled which if I am being strictly honest that is not quite true. In March 2020 I paid the balance for a cruise we had booked in July 2020 to St Petersburg. This cruise was a bucket list cruise and for my Gastrognome myself and my adult daughter. Being a 14 day cruise and with three in one cabin we had opted for a royal suite so as you can imagine not a cheap cruise. As the pandemic took hold the inevitable happened and this was our first of many cancellations. On the plus side however I took the FCC and with the offered 1.25% we were up £5k on the deal and as it has turned out a far better rate of interest than I would ever get leaving the money in our savings account 😎. Now we used up most of our FCCs on 2 cruises last summer and one in May this year. I paid separately for one of the cruises last year as it was a 30^th anniversary present for my Gastrognome. I doubt I’ll top 7 days in a PH over a card and a bunch of flowers!

 

Last year we realised we still had over £5k in FCCs to spend before the end of 2022 and with a cruise on Cunard booked for October that only left the summer to spend it. We found an Itinerary we liked out of Venice on Infinity and even if we booked the last available Royal suite we would not quite use all our FCCs. What else could I do but book that amazing back of the ship Penthouse. Then as the world changed first Venice was replaced with Ravenna and then to top it all our 10^th cruise was cancelled and Infinity got sent to the Caribbean 🙄.

 

Quite a tale of woe it might seem but a really a first world problem. So we booked this cruise on the Med aboard Reflection to fill the FCCs. Everything looked good and then the reason for choosing this cruise changed as we all discovered that the Grand bazaar and spice markets in Istanbul would be closed because of a religious festival during our overnight stop. ho hum said Pooh. Ok we could still enjoy the cruise but it was getting a little frustrating. Then last week our BA business class flights got cancelled! Another worrying couple of days and we eventually got a alternative flight sorted for the evening before sailing. We had hoped to spent the afternoon before sailing relaxing in a nice hotel in Civi but instead we now find we are spending the night before in an airport Hilton as we don’t arrive in FCO until nearly midnight. While checking our seats for our flights Monday afternoon, we had the front row on our original booking but can now only get to row 5, I noticed the wording “No checked-in bag - Your baggage allowance is different on your other flights”. Our return flight showed 2 x 32kg bags for each of us so yet more panic…. Are we destined to get to this cruise! So after two days of phoning I now have confirmation (in writing) that although it appeared the outward flights were rebooked without cabin baggage it has been corrected and we now have our allowance back……

 

I need a drink! Those of you who have followed my “live from’s“ before may remember that I have a passion for cocktails and like to do a countdown to our cruises. Rather like getting in training for a big event.  

 

So with 5 nights before we cruise I will make us a Division Bell. Alexandra at the World Class Bar introduced me to a Paper Plane last year and it soon became a favourite. This is similar and now my new fav, created in 2009 by Phil Ward at Mayahuel, New York City. 40ml Mezcal, 30ml Aperol, 20 Maraschino and 30ml lime.

 

Hope to be on board in 111 hours 🍸🍹🍷🍺🥂🧉🥃🍾😎

 

[bluwes]

Looking forward to following along with your posts Fred, we get on as you get off.

This cruise is our FFC sailing having had just the 4 cancelled since the start of the Pandemic. We did do a UK sailing last August on the Silhouette which we paid separately for. Luckily the weather was glorious.

Like you we have had BA flights changed 3 times since we booked them. One time they put us on a Manchester to Heathrow flight that landed 10 minutes after the flight to Rome had departed. 2 weeks ago the cancelled our Heathrow to Rome leg completely with no alternative given. It took me three days to get through to them and re book. We also had to change our Manchester flight time as it would have caused us a 5 hour layover in Heathrow.

We will be staying in Civitavvechia for two nights pre cruise so will be testing at a local Famacia recommended by our hotel.

Enjoy your cruise and keep making the cocktails

[vickykay]

We’re on the Reflection in Oct.  would appreciate information on the pharmacy you use in Civitavecchia.  Thanks!

 

Vicky

[bluwes]

3 minutes ago, vickykay said:

We’re on the Reflection in Oct.  would appreciate information on the pharmacy you use in Civitavecchia.  Thanks!

 

Vicky

FARMACIA SPURIO” CORSO CENTOCELLE 52 – CIVITAVECCHIA.

 

 

Maybe by October things will have changed again...fingers crossed

[upwarduk]

2 minutes ago, bluwes said:

FARMACIA SPURIO” CORSO CENTOCELLE 52 – CIVITAVECCHIA.

 

 

Maybe by October things will have changed again...fingers crossed

I read today that it is rumoured that testing will finish by the end of July.😱

Now that could be too late for us as our cruise sails on 30/07/22.

 

[groryjm]

20 minutes ago, vickykay said:

We’re on the Reflection in Oct.  would appreciate information on the pharmacy you use in Civitavecchia.  Thanks!

 

Vicky

As testing is 2 days before we are testing at our local pharmacy before we fly. we didn't want to fly out too early and risk testing +ve in civi as it is only a 2 1/2 hr flight for us.

 

[groryjm]

14 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I read today that it is rumoured that testing will finish by the end of July.😱

Now that could be too late for us as our cruise sails on 30/07/22.

 

technically Italy does not require testing for upto date fully vaxed. it is just Celebritys choice. To be honest from the point of protecting the crew I think it might stay a little longer

Edited June 29, 2022 by groryjm

[Jim_Iain]

Looking forward to another great Master Cocktail Maker Cruise.     Are you limiting your bar selection on this one since you have to fly?

 

The FCO Airport Hilton is actually a good choice.   We usually stay there as it is so convenient to the Airport.   Just a 15 minute covered walk which you can even bring your luggage trolley right to the hotel.

 

We usually come in a day early and enjoy their Executive club for a nice evening cocktail hours with a perfect assortment of foods for a light dinner.    They also have a Free Shuttle into Rome hourly and we usually go to Rome the day before the cruise to spend a bit of time in the city.     It's also a very quick 45 minute jaunt to the ship.

 

 

[Vagabond.rt]

For Covid testing, this is what I got from our hotel in Civitavecchia: 

 

We collaborate with a diagnostic center that is within walking distance.

Here's the link:   www.cdbuonarroti.it

The antigen test costs 15 euros, and the result is within an hour or so.

The molecular test (PCR) costs 60 euros and the result is about 10 hours.

No reservation needed.

Opening hours Monday Saturday 07:30am-07:00pm Sunday 10:00am-12:00pm/05:00pm-07:00pm 

[Redking]

@groryjmYou're back. Whoop, whoop. Such great taste, I've recently discovered the Division Bell and it's now a firm favourite. Wishing you happy and uneventful travels!

[groryjm]

1 hour ago, Redking said:

@groryjmYou're back. Whoop, whoop. Such great taste, I've recently discovered the Division Bell and it's now a firm favourite. Wishing you happy and uneventful travels!

@Redking if you like a Division Bell this is another favourite of mine. Similar but with a herbal hint from the chartreuse

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by groryjm

[vickykay]

Thanks all for the info about testing.  

[mchell810]

Looking forward to following along...and  learning about your cocktail choices.

 

Enjoy!

[groryjm]

After all the telephonic exhaustion of the last few days the British Airways website is now showing our outward flights correctly

 

Yesterday 🙄

 

Today 😎

 

 

But to add to the confusion on checking our return flights the plane has been changed, again, from an Airbus A321 back to an Airbus A320. Not really a problem but each time the assign a different plane the seats I had so carefully chosen are released and I have to select again. Luckily this time I’ve moved our return seats from row 6 to 5 so this time a win.

 

As it is so long since we’ve flown to a cruise on our return from Silly in May I thought I’d weigh our cases before we unpacked them so as to know whether  we are in the right ball park weight wise . I’m glad I did as while the cases fit size wise even with the Business allowance of 32kgs per case we need to pack a little less in each. I now intend to add loads of bubble wrap to pad things out a bit and I suspect we won’t be bringing quite as many hard back books.

 

 

So with 4 nights before we board its time for a cocktail, this time a favourite long drink of mine, an Americano. The Americano was first served in the 1860s at Gaspare Campari's bar in Milan, Italy and before anyone gets confused the Caffè Americano didn’t make its debut until the 1940s. You’ll find an Americano on the menu at Tuscan Grille too

 

 

 

Hope to be on board in 88 hours 🍸🍹🍷🍺🥂🧉🥃🍾😎

Edited June 30, 2022 by groryjm

[sgmn]

On 6/29/2022 at 6:07 PM, groryjm said:

In a little under 94 hours we hope to be flying to Fiumicino Airport with the aim to board Celebrity Reflection the next morning in Civitavecchia. In this post pandemic age of testing and flight cancellations nothing is ever quite sure and I won’t say for certain we are going on a cruise until we are actually sitting in Michaels Club drink in hand.

 

To give you a bit of background we have had 9 cruises cancelled in the pandemic and the three we managed last year were on a nearly empty Silhouette at 50% capacity. We cruised in May again on Silhouette but at nearer to 90% capacity. So the last four cruises we have taken have been in suites on a Revolutionised ship and from Southampton which is a mere 45 minutes’ drive from our home. In fact the last for cruise we took pre pandemic were also out of Southampton and also mostly on Silhouette. We haven’t actually flown to a cruise since 2016 and it is 7 years since our last time on board Reflection.

 

Silly has become a close and familiar friend and with four cruises on her since her uplift this cruise is going to feel quite strange, especially without the wonderful Retreat sundeck.

 

I stated earlier that we had had 9 cruises cancelled which if I am being strictly honest that is not quite true. In March 2020 I paid the balance for a cruise we had booked in July 2020 to St Petersburg. This cruise was a bucket list cruise and for my Gastrognome myself and my adult daughter. Being a 14 day cruise and with three in one cabin we had opted for a royal suite so as you can imagine not a cheap cruise. As the pandemic took hold the inevitable happened and this was our first of many cancellations. On the plus side however I took the FCC and with the offered 1.25% we were up £5k on the deal and as it has turned out a far better rate of interest than I would ever get leaving the money in our savings account 😎. Now we used up most of our FCCs on 2 cruises last summer and one in May this year. I paid separately for one of the cruises last year as it was a 30^th anniversary present for my Gastrognome. I doubt I’ll top 7 days in a PH over a card and a bunch of flowers!

 

Last year we realised we still had over £5k in FCCs to spend before the end of 2022 and with a cruise on Cunard booked for October that only left the summer to spend it. We found an Itinerary we liked out of Venice on Infinity and even if we booked the last available Royal suite we would not quite use all our FCCs. What else could I do but book that amazing back of the ship Penthouse. Then as the world changed first Venice was replaced with Ravenna and then to top it all our 10^th cruise was cancelled and Infinity got sent to the Caribbean 🙄.

 

Quite a tale of woe it might seem but a really a first world problem. So we booked this cruise on the Med aboard Reflection to fill the FCCs. Everything looked good and then the reason for choosing this cruise changed as we all discovered that the Grand bazaar and spice markets in Istanbul would be closed because of a religious festival during our overnight stop. ho hum said Pooh. Ok we could still enjoy the cruise but it was getting a little frustrating. Then last week our BA business class flights got cancelled! Another worrying couple of days and we eventually got a alternative flight sorted for the evening before sailing. We had hoped to spent the afternoon before sailing relaxing in a nice hotel in Civi but instead we now find we are spending the night before in an airport Hilton as we don’t arrive in FCO until nearly midnight. While checking our seats for our flights Monday afternoon, we had the front row on our original booking but can now only get to row 5, I noticed the wording “No checked-in bag - Your baggage allowance is different on your other flights”. Our return flight showed 2 x 32kg bags for each of us so yet more panic…. Are we destined to get to this cruise! So after two days of phoning I now have confirmation (in writing) that although it appeared the outward flights were rebooked without cabin baggage it has been corrected and we now have our allowance back……

 

I need a drink! Those of you who have followed my “live from’s“ before may remember that I have a passion for cocktails and like to do a countdown to our cruises. Rather like getting in training for a big event.  

 

So with 5 nights before we cruise I will make us a Division Bell. Alexandra at the World Class Bar introduced me to a Paper Plane last year and it soon became a favourite. This is similar and now my new fav, created in 2009 by Phil Ward at Mayahuel, New York City. 40ml Mezcal, 30ml Aperol, 20 Maraschino and 30ml lime.

 

Hope to be on board in 111 hours 🍸🍹🍷🍺🥂🧉🥃🍾😎

 

We did something similar regarding hotels for our Beyond cruise a couple of weeks ago.  Because of the multiple changing of testing days by Italian authorities and because I wanted to test in UK we changed our 0700 pre cruise day flight on BA three times. Making a very reasonable £77 return ticket ending up as £240pp.

We also cancelled the Civitavecchia Hotel  at £72, and rebooked the airport Hilton for £125 as we were now arriving at 8pm instead of 10am. There were Celebrity signs in the foyer so there must of been a bus going from there to the port.

Both our BA flights were on time and we only had to wait 10 min for luggage back at Heathrow 

 

Enjoy your cruise,  will enjoy following along 

Edited June 30, 2022 by sgmn

[groryjm]

Cases are down from the attic and all marked up. I don’t want to miss them on the carousel at FCO! Am I being paranoid?🤪🌈🤪

 

 

Three nights till I can have my first Negroni at the Michaels Club, well in this case it is in fact a Boulevardier. The story then runs that in 1919, one Italian-born Count Camillo Negroni, one day asked for a bit more kick in his Americano. The bartender, Fosco Scarselli responded by switching the soda water for gin and thus the Negroni was born. The Boulevardier first appeared in Barflies and Cocktails, a 1927 book by Harry MacElhone of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris and Harry replaced the Gin with Bourbon. Sorry I can get a bit obsessive about cocktails.

 

 

Fingers crossed as tomorrow is testing day. 🤞

 

Hope to be at the airport in 48 hours 🍸🍹🍷🍺🥂🧉🥃🍾😎

[Majkman]

On 6/29/2022 at 12:07 PM, groryjm said:

In a little under 94 hours we hope to be flying to Fiumicino Airport with the aim to board Celebrity Reflection the next morning in Civitavecchia. In this post pandemic age of testing and flight cancellations nothing is ever quite sure and I won’t say for certain we are going on a cruise until we are actually sitting in Michaels Club drink in hand.

 

To give you a bit of background we have had 9 cruises cancelled in the pandemic and the three we managed last year were on a nearly empty Silhouette at 50% capacity. We cruised in May again on Silhouette but at nearer to 90% capacity. So the last four cruises we have taken have been in suites on a Revolutionised ship and from Southampton which is a mere 45 minutes’ drive from our home. In fact the last for cruise we took pre pandemic were also out of Southampton and also mostly on Silhouette. We haven’t actually flown to a cruise since 2016 and it is 7 years since our last time on board Reflection.

 

Silly has become a close and familiar friend and with four cruises on her since her uplift this cruise is going to feel quite strange, especially without the wonderful Retreat sundeck.

 

I stated earlier that we had had 9 cruises cancelled which if I am being strictly honest that is not quite true. In March 2020 I paid the balance for a cruise we had booked in July 2020 to St Petersburg. This cruise was a bucket list cruise and for my Gastrognome myself and my adult daughter. Being a 14 day cruise and with three in one cabin we had opted for a royal suite so as you can imagine not a cheap cruise. As the pandemic took hold the inevitable happened and this was our first of many cancellations. On the plus side however I took the FCC and with the offered 1.25% we were up £5k on the deal and as it has turned out a far better rate of interest than I would ever get leaving the money in our savings account 😎. Now we used up most of our FCCs on 2 cruises last summer and one in May this year. I paid separately for one of the cruises last year as it was a 30^th anniversary present for my Gastrognome. I doubt I’ll top 7 days in a PH over a card and a bunch of flowers!

 

Last year we realised we still had over £5k in FCCs to spend before the end of 2022 and with a cruise on Cunard booked for October that only left the summer to spend it. We found an Itinerary we liked out of Venice on Infinity and even if we booked the last available Royal suite we would not quite use all our FCCs. What else could I do but book that amazing back of the ship Penthouse. Then as the world changed first Venice was replaced with Ravenna and then to top it all our 10^th cruise was cancelled and Infinity got sent to the Caribbean 🙄.

 

Quite a tale of woe it might seem but a really a first world problem. So we booked this cruise on the Med aboard Reflection to fill the FCCs. Everything looked good and then the reason for choosing this cruise changed as we all discovered that the Grand bazaar and spice markets in Istanbul would be closed because of a religious festival during our overnight stop. ho hum said Pooh. Ok we could still enjoy the cruise but it was getting a little frustrating. Then last week our BA business class flights got cancelled! Another worrying couple of days and we eventually got a alternative flight sorted for the evening before sailing. We had hoped to spent the afternoon before sailing relaxing in a nice hotel in Civi but instead we now find we are spending the night before in an airport Hilton as we don’t arrive in FCO until nearly midnight. While checking our seats for our flights Monday afternoon, we had the front row on our original booking but can now only get to row 5, I noticed the wording “No checked-in bag - Your baggage allowance is different on your other flights”. Our return flight showed 2 x 32kg bags for each of us so yet more panic…. Are we destined to get to this cruise! So after two days of phoning I now have confirmation (in writing) that although it appeared the outward flights were rebooked without cabin baggage it has been corrected and we now have our allowance back……

 

I need a drink! Those of you who have followed my “live from’s“ before may remember that I have a passion for cocktails and like to do a countdown to our cruises. Rather like getting in training for a big event.  

 

So with 5 nights before we cruise I will make us a Division Bell. Alexandra at the World Class Bar introduced me to a Paper Plane last year and it soon became a favourite. This is similar and now my new fav, created in 2009 by Phil Ward at Mayahuel, New York City. 40ml Mezcal, 30ml Aperol, 20 Maraschino and 30ml lime.

 

Hope to be on board in 111 hours 🍸🍹🍷🍺🥂🧉🥃🍾😎

 

I look forward to meeting you, you already feel like a friend. Stop by the Sunset Bar sometime and let me spring for a cocktail to celebrate what we have truly been waiting for!!! We booked our trip 332 days ago, after having canceled one in 2020.

 

It's gonna be great, it's gonna be amazing and I can't wait to meet some new members of the 'Fam Damily'!!!

 

Keep the seas calm and the Sun out!!!

 

Andy

[Shawnkat]

Following.  We sail on Reflection in August.  
 

[chemmo]

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise…

[groryjm]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise…

my fingers are crossed 🤞 that we get to go. In these interesting times of Covid testing and flight uncertainties no cruise is certain until one is on board glass in hand

 

Edited July 1, 2022 by groryjm

[groryjm]

Had a slight upset to our plans today..... we had booked a tour for sicily entitled "Beautiful Taormina and Blue Grotto"

checked on the Plan your cruise on the app and it now shows as "Beautiful Taormina by Land and Sea" 🙄

 

We booked this because my Gastrgnome has always wanted to see the "Blue Grotto" andwe  had £250 of OBC spare to use up otherwise we would have booked independantly

 

Does the change in title now mean it isn't going to the Blue Grotto?. I suspect a complaint on a previous tour has prompted X to clarify the details.

 

In order to save the hassel we have canceled and rebooked Taromina on your own, I am looking forward to a propper Sicilian cannoli,  and we'll book a private tour to the Blue Grotto next year when we are back in sicily.

[groryjm]

Packing is under way but we have to pause to nip into the village to do our tests 🤞 🤞 🤞 🤞 🤞 🤞. Going on a cruise used to be so easy…. Now I’m going to need another cruise to relive some of this stress.

 

Oh that the world could go back, but I suppose this is the new order that we will have to live with for some time to come.

[jimbri]

Have a great time!

[terrydtx]

I am following, we board the Reflection August 5th in a Sky Suite. We follow this cruise with 6 days in Florence and Venice before we board a14 day HAL Oosterdam cruise of Greece. This will be our last cruise with HAL, only booked it to use up FCC from canceled 2020 and 2021 cruises. We had 6 cruises canceled thanks to Covid on Viking, Celebrity, HAL and Oceania. Our Reflection cruise is the result of canceling an Oceania Baltic cruise when it looked like Russia was going to invade Ukraine in January. After our first-rate experience last year in a suite on the Equinox, we decide to book all future Ocean cruises with Celebrity.  We are traveling with my sister and her DH for this whole trip, they have never been to Italy, and this is our 4th trip there, so for Italy we get to be their tour guides.

 

Looking forward to reading about your Retreat experience on the Reflection.

[groryjm]

The whole testing before we board process has been very tense and my Gastrognome will tell you I have not been the easiest to live with but all is now well as our negative test results are in and all is now go.The packing is done and now I definitely need a drink. Well as we hope to be in a plane in a little over 25 hours it had better be an Aviation. 😎

 

 

45ml gin, 15ml Maraschino, 15ml lemon juice and 7ml crème de violette shaken with ice and strained into a coupe and garnished with a Maraschino cherry. Created by Hugo Ensslin, who worked as the head bartender at New York’s Hotel Wallick , and is mentioned in his 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks. It is said that the cocktail was named after the sky-blue colour is takes on when the crème de violette is added

 

Hope to be on board in 40 hours 🍸🍹🍷🍺🥂🧉🥃🍾😎

Edited July 2, 2022 by groryjm