A Live Reflection on the Med 4th July 2022

[groryjm]

Taking on the pilot as we breakfast whilst passing Between Scylla and Charybdis😎

 

 

 

 

 

Wild firs on the main land

 

 

 

Quite busy in Mesina today.

 

 

It says "Vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus" which translates from Latin to "We bless you and your city".

 

[newtocruiseinblue]

On 7/2/2022 at 7:15 AM, terrydtx said:

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.

Hi Terry,

 Sounds like a Great trip. Which one is your favorite cruise line out of the ones that you mentioned? 

Just out if curiosity, why will this be your last cruise with Hal? 
we just disembarks the reflection yesterday from a 10 day Italy, Montenegro, Greece cruise from Rome. Loved the ship. The crew was fantastic. We did a similar itinerary with Holland America before the pandemic and we really liked the Holland America shore excursions much better than the celebrity. Of course, it is a completely different world now post pandemic and I’m taking that into consideration. We just thought we might go back to HAL next time. No no comparison on the night life with HAL and celebrity though because celebrity definitely does the evening so much better than HAL. Also, much younger vibe to the ship. Thought you might have better insight since you are headed to HAL. Thanks! 

[groryjm]

The ubiquitous masks and sanitisers provided

 

 

and we have a mix of toiletries With Bulgari and Bigelow for soap

 

 

 

 

 

We also have, much to my delight, a coffee Lavazza machine and kettle along with all my bar requests.

 

 

 

I Love the suite life 😎🍸

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by groryjm

[groryjm]

Yesterday we had an excelent embarcation lunch at Sushi on 5 with th delicious cocktails provided by Joseph at the World Class bar... The extra eggs with my lobster and scalop Dynamite are from my Gastrognomes Ramen

 

 

 

 

 

 

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, newtocruiseinblue said:

Hi Terry,

 Sounds like a Great trip. Which one is your favorite cruise line out of the ones that you mentioned? 

Just out if curiosity, why will this be your last cruise with Hal? 
we just disembarks the reflection yesterday from a 10 day Italy, Montenegro, Greece cruise from Rome. Loved the ship. The crew was fantastic. We did a similar itinerary with Holland America before the pandemic and we really liked the Holland America shore excursions much better than the celebrity. Of course, it is a completely different world now post pandemic and I’m taking that into consideration. We just thought we might go back to HAL next time. No no comparison on the night life with HAL and celebrity though because celebrity definitely does the evening so much better than HAL. Also, much younger vibe to the ship. Thought you might have better insight since you are headed to HAL. Thanks! 

Pre covid we cruised with primarily with HAL in both Signature suites and one Neptune Suite and we were happier until we cruised with Celebrity last year in a Sky Suite. HAL has nothing close to the Retreat and its amenities even in a Neptune suite. We had two reasons we booked the Oosterdam this year, the itinerary and using a FCC from canceled cruises in 2020 and 2021. Its a long story but HAL has messed up our itinerary so much since April with dropping both Santorini and Sauda Crete ports and replacing them with 2 sea days. Their customer service has been a nightmare too. By doing a B2B with both lines it will be a chance to do a final comparison, but HAL has to prove themselves, which I have no confidence they can do So for now Celebrity is our first choice for Ocean cruising and we have 5 future ones booked with them.

 

Interesting about your shore excursion experience with the two lines, we again will have a good comparison.  We are doing a mix of 50/50 with ship excursions and privately booked ones. The private ones are probably our most interesting ones booked.

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, groryjm said:

Yesterday we had an excelent embarcation lunch at Sushi on 5 with th delicious cocktails provided by Joseph at the World Class bar... The extra eggs with my lobster and scalop Dynamite are from my Gastrognomes Ramen

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love Sushi on 5, can't wait until we sail in 4 weeks. You must have a different it5than ours,  we stop in Messina on the way back from Croatia and Greece.

[Silkroad]

3 hours ago, groryjm said:

Taking on the pilot as we breakfast whilst passing Between Scylla and Charybdis😎

Beautiful breakfast! There’s nothing better than breakfast on one’s veranda while at sea. Ah Scylla and Charybdis. I see them on distant shores each time I gently steer our retirement savings to maintain course⛵ Here’s to avoiding the rocks🍹

[chemmo]

So pleased you are having a wonderful cruise!

 

Next time you are in sushi can you find out what the cocktail I had was…All I can remember is it was based on mango…If you can round up the recipe it would be even better!

Edited July 5, 2022 by chemmo

[VitaminSea53]

21 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It really came in handy for us a number of years ago when I showed up at the airport only to discover I left my passport at home along with my backpack.   I sent Iain on his way to FCO and said I would either get back or get to Rome somehow.

 

As soon as I left the SFO I knew I wouldn't make it as commuter traffic was building up to quickly.

 

Long Story short -   He had all the luggage and hauled it over to the Hilton and being the frequent flyer I was I made it to FCO 2 hours after him.     I found a flight leaving San Jose 1 hour from when I booked.   But with no luggage I was able to make the SJC-YYV-FRA-FCO.   

Good Job!  If it was now, you would have been flagged  as a terrorist and security would have given you the 3rd degree….because of :  Last minute booking …. And no luggage.  

[groryjm]

9 hours ago, Silkroad said:

Beautiful breakfast! There’s nothing better than breakfast on one’s veranda while at sea. Ah Scylla and Charybdis. I see them on distant shores each time I gently steer our retirement savings to maintain course⛵ Here’s to avoiding the rocks🍹

🤞No rocks to get in the way of this cruise.... Captain Nickolaos is doing a grand job at avoiding them😉

Edited July 5, 2022 by groryjm

[groryjm]

9 hours ago, chemmo said:

So pleased you are having a wonderful cruise!

 

Next time you are in sushi can you find out what the cocktail I had was…All I can remember is it was based on mango…If you can round up the recipe it would be even better!

 I spoke to Joseph at the world class bar and.....

 

Spicy Mangotini

1oz Grey Goose

1/2 oz Roibos syrup

1/2 apricot brandy

1oz lemon juice

mango spicy ginger foam

 

for the roibus syrup the use 100g sugar in 1litre of brewed Affrican Solstice tea 

for the foam you need a cream foamer with 1/3 egg white, 1/3 mango pulp and 1/3 ginger infused syrup

[Spif Barwunkel]

We sailed on Reflection in May '22, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. Our fourth time on the lady, previous three pre-Covid. She is looking like a spa treatment and makeover would be rewarding, but she still serves as a good hostess. Captain Nikolas is tremendous, one of the best in the fleet and the itinerary was fantastic.

 

You will not experience it, but the MDR food was not worth mentioning and our wait staff was aloof and indifferent. We love Sushi on 5 but our local Publix pre-packaged sushi would have blown this lunch out of the water. Murano presented its typical delicious cuisine.

 

So, a hiccup or two but too much good Reflection stuff happening to spoil the party. !700 nice folks onboard and a good time was had by all. The veteran sea-lady continues to take care of her guests.

[chemmo]

5 hours ago, groryjm said:

 I spoke to Joseph at the world class bar and.....

 

Spicy Mangotini

1oz Grey Goose

1/2 oz Roibos syrup

1/2 apricot brandy

1oz lemon juice

mango spicy ginger foam

 

for the roibus syrup the use 100g sugar in 1litre of brewed Affrican Solstice tea 

for the foam you need a cream foamer with 1/3 egg white, 1/3 mango pulp and 1/3 ginger infused syrup

Thanks!

It looks like the only ingredients I have got in are gin (wrong brand) and egg whites (presently still in shells) and a lemon. Makes you appreciate the mixology skills! Hmmm, do I go shopping or wait until my next cruise?  Sincere thanks both to you and Joseph!

[MJSailors]

Pardon my curiosity, but I see that you occasionally refer to “your gastronome”.

I am thinking that you are referring to your wife who must enjoy gourmet quality food,hence the nomenclature.

I am just wondering, if your are referencing your wife, why you don’t use DH or her given name as other posters do on CC?

Cheers!

MJ

 

[groryjm]

3 hours ago, MJSailors said:

Pardon my curiosity, but I see that you occasionally refer to “your gastronome”.

I am thinking that you are referring to your wife who must enjoy gourmet quality food,hence the nomenclature.

I am just wondering, if your are referencing your wife, why you don’t use DH or her given name as other posters do on CC?

Cheers!

MJ

 

Hi @MJSailors yes my Gastrognome is in fact my darling wife and yes she , or I should say we, very much enjoy gourmet food. Indeed she is also a extremely good cook. Where my passion is making wonderful drinks, her's is making wonderful food. The other reason is that like many posters on these and other platforms we both choose to anonymise our real names and avatars; she chose gastrognome as her identity but mine was a bit more random. I do think of myself a swashbuckling cool cat 😎 with a hat though others might not totally agree

 

A case in point: while shopping yesterday in Taromina  I chose to buy a bottle of Scillian bitter, a local Amaro, and a miniture campari fridge magnet; my Gastrognome some local herbs and spices and scilian pasta.

Edited July 6, 2022 by groryjm

[chemmo]

30 minutes ago, groryjm said:

 

 

A case in point: while shopping yesterday in Taromina  I chose to buy a bottle of Scillian bitter, a local Amaro, and a miniture campari fridge magnet; my Gastrognome some local herbs and spices and scilian pasta.

I would think your shopping sums up your characters well! I assume most friends say ‘Yes’ to dinner party invitations…

[groryjm]

some of the beautiful churches of Mesina as seen from our balcony

 

 

 

 

a few random pics of our visit to Tasromina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh! and some gin🍸😎

 

[Silkroad]

3 hours ago, groryjm said:

my Gastrognome is in fact my darling wife

I think it’s a charming way to reference your wife. In fact, I’ve considered stealing your idea for myself. I do wonder if people will think I’ve been at the grog when I refer to my beloved WeeDram😉

Edited July 6, 2022 by Silkroad

[Silkroad]

Gorgeous photos! We were meant to visit Messina and Taormina in 2020 so these are a real treat for me. Thank you😊

Edited July 6, 2022 by Silkroad

[groryjm]

Drinkies and nuts courtesy of our wonderful butler Mudit

 

 

 

and a treat for our return from dinner

 

 

Last night we had a lovely meal in the Lawn Club Grille. We were worried that it would be too warm but as we were under way the breeze seemed to keep us cool. 

 

We spent much of last summer on board Silhouette and as we sat at our table on of our favourite members of staff from the LGC on Silly, Randy, greeted us warmly and with hardly a pause our chosen drinks from last appeared. It had been a somewhat amusing last summer that on more than one occasion in the Porch and LCG on Silly my "Campari Soda" arrived as "Cranberry and Soda". Randy had remembered and made sure it was right. It is so nice to reconnect with staff from previous cruises who have made our times special.

 

Randy also pointed out the lack of overhead fans in the LGC which had been so nice last summer on Silly in the Canaries. He said they were due to be added on the next dry dock😎 

We finished the evening, before retiring to Michael’s club, at the Ensemble for some light jazz from “seagull” and the excellent and unforgettable Cranston behind the Bar. A random member of main orchestra turned up who had never played with them before and brought his sax . the played brilliantly.

In Michael’s, Olympia, the amazing British bar person had managed to find a bottle of my favoiurite vermouth. , Carpano Antica, so it was Negroni time. Despite not being a Negroni fan she made them perfectly

Mudit delivered a rather surprising invitation this evening.

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, groryjm said:

In Michael’s, Olympia, the amazing British bar person had managed to find a bottle of my favoiurite vermouth. , Carpano Antica, so it was Negroni time. Despite not being a Negroni fan she made them perfectly

Carpano Antica is also my favorite vermouth and it makes a perfect Manhattan. I hope that bottle is still in Michaels when we board Aug 5th. It also makes the best Negroni.

[MJSailors]

@groryjm Thank you for the astute reply.

Enjoy!

MJ

 

[groryjm]

This morning we woke to another great breakfast brought to our balcony by the excellent Mudit

 

 

Just to give you a bit of background we are not zenith and don’t expect to reach that hight until late 2024 or perhaps early 2025. We have amassed quite a few CC points though and are almost three times Elite Plus. The pandemic has been good for us points wise with a couple of our trips post pandemic being at double points. Seven nights in August last year staying in a PH ( apparently a good thing for a husband to give as a 30^th anniversary present) gave us 252 points.

 

Well the note was to in visit to the CC Captains welcome event at lunch time today by a secret back entrance.  

 

With this being one of the busiest sailings since the pandemic with 2360 or so passenger’s 750 of whom were cc members I was somewhat surprised as we are this cruises Top Cruisers.

 

 

 

 

[groryjm]

9 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Carpano Antica is also my favorite vermouth and it makes a perfect Manhattan. I hope that bottle is still in Michaels when we board Aug 5th. It also makes the best Negroni.

To be totally honest my usual choice for a perfect Negroni or Boulevardier would be Punt E Mess but I doubt the could ever get that on board

[terrydtx]

14 minutes ago, groryjm said:

To be totally honest my usual choice for a perfect Negroni or Boulevardier would be Punt E Mess but I doubt the could ever get that on board

Not familiar with Punt E Mess, will have to look into it. On the Equinox last year the Retreat Lounge bartender could only find the Martini brand of sweet vermouth which is pure rubbish. Is a Boulevardier your equivalent to a Manhatton?

Edited July 6, 2022 by terrydtx