The Adriatic and Italy on Celebrity Reflection June 3, 2022

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Love this review!  Saint Mary Major is my favorite basilica in Rome.  Never crowded.  There is a statue of a clerical figure carved from marble…his vestments are trimmed in ball fringe.  Ball fringe carved realistically from marble!  Only the Italians.

 

Thank you. We also love Santa Maria Maggiore. In 2014 we saw Pope Francis there which was wonderful and make sure to go there on every trip to Rome. I will have to look out for the statue with the ball fringe next time we are there.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, theopup said:

What a wonderful review. Your pictures are stunning 

 

Thank you so much. I love taking photos and really enjoy sharing them.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, julia said:

Great job so far...  the flyover pics are amazing!!

 

Thanks! I still can't believe I managed to get them and with such a great background!

 

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, asnaleah said:

Beautiful photos! Can’t wait to see more! Thanks 

 

Thank you! Hope that you enjoy the rest. 😊

 

[PurpleTraveller]

30 minutes ago, Provence55always said:

Great review…..love your style of just getting stuck in and enjoying every moment. Your photos around Rome are beautiful they bring back lots of happy memories. We had our honeymoon in Australia 50 years ago and stayed three years…..long story. Have a fantastic cruise, looking forward to following along.

 

Thanks! We love Rome and are great believers in making the most of every moment particularly after the last couple of years. A three year honeymoon! Hope you had a great time. 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

12 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Thank you, as we haven't cruised in what seems like forever.  In 2024, we have a b2b in Australia & NZ.  We have only been to NZ, so looking forward to a complete down under trip!

 

This was our first cruise in almost two years so understand how you feel. Hope you enjoy your trip down under! 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

June 3 - Embarkation Day

 

We had a relaxed morning enjoying a good breakfast and a short walk. When booking a time to embark it was when the testing requirement was still one day prior to the cruise so I left time to get a Covid test in the morning in case we hadn't been able to get a test on Republic Day. When the testing requirement changed to two days prior to the cruise I left the time so we could have a relaxed morning. 

 

We checked out and walked to Termini train station to get the train to Civitavecchia. We had bought our tickets earlier in the morning during our walk so we didn't have to deal with a ticket machine and luggage. The tickets cost €4.60 each.

 

We got the 11.12 am train that arrived in Civitavecchia at 12.16 pm. As we were a little early for our 2.00 pm check in time we walked across the road the the sea front promenade to check out the market there. With nothing interesting to buy we then went back to the station to get a shuttle bus to the ship.

 

Since the resumption of cruising from Civitavecchia after the suspension of cruising the free shuttle stop for shuttles to and from the ships has changed (to a less convenient spot to walk to from the station) and a pay shuttle from the station directly to the ship has been introduced. It cost €3.00 each and is a very convenient service to get to the ship easily with luggage.

 

We got the shuttle to the ship and in just ten minutes after showing our passports, vaccination certificates and Covid test results we were walking on to the ship.

 

We left our last cruise on June 29, 2019 so after 1071 days or one year, 11 months and 5 days we were finally stepping on a cruise ship again. We were so excited!

 

When I had originally booked our cruise on Infinity it was when there was a sale of ocean view cabins and I had intended to watch out for a drop in prices for a balcony cabin. When we "lift and shifted" to this Reflection cruise the price of balcony cabins was more than three times the price of our ocean view cabin so we stayed in an ocean view. We had however managed to get an ocean view at the very front of the ship on deck 8.

 

When we got to our cabin (8106) we were delighted at how spacious the cabin was and knew we would enjoy the view over the helipad.

 

 

 

 

 

Dropping off our bags we set off to explore the ship. This was our first Celebrity cruise and we enjoyed seeing the beautiful Reflection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a walk around we just knew that we were going love Reflection and have a fantastic cruise!

 

Back to our cabin to unpack and then to the Sunset Bar to meet up with our Cruise Critic Roll Call for a sail away party. There were many lovely people to meet and the Sunset Bar turned out to be our favourite place to spend sail aways at and to have a drink. Yes, we were going to have a wonderful cruise!

 

[helen haywood]

2 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Thank you. We also love Santa Maria Maggiore. In 2014 we saw Pope Francis there which was wonderful and make sure to go there on every trip to Rome. I will have to look out for the statue with the ball fringe next time we are there.

 

And the lace collars carved out of marble…

[PurpleTraveller]

June 4 - Sea Day

 

After a great night's sleep we woke to a lazy Sea Day. As we went for breakfast we could see that we were about to sail past Stromboli. There was a sea mist and the volcanic island appearing above the mist looked quite ethereal.

 

 

 

We had breakfast on the balcony at the back of the Oceanview Cafe. We enjoyed having our breakfast there so much that we ended up having breakfast there every day of the cruise.

 

A lazy morning then ensued with us lying on sun lounges on the Solstice deck. This area was so quiet we ended up there a number of times throughout the cruise.

 

Late in the morning we sailed through the Messina Strait.

 

 

 

 

After a light lunch we spent some more time laying on sun lounges. The water was very calm with barely a ripple to be seen.

 

 

Mid afternoon we decided to get a coffee and a tea so we went to try out Cafe Al Bacio. As Princess cruiser we are used to the wonderful tea and coffee from their International Cafe. Gosh, were we disappointed! We ordered an English Breakfast Tea and a Cappuccino. I took one sip of my tea and almost spat it out it was so terrible. DH took a sip of his Cappuccino and screwed up his face and said that it tasted awful. So after one mouthful of each we left our tea and coffee and never went back there again. I'm not sure how anyone could make such terrible tea and coffee but we were just glad that we hadn't paid for them. This was the only miss throughout our cruise.

 

It was Evening Chic night which we don't do, so we had dinner at the Oceanview Cafe. We then went to a show in the theatre with Stephen Barry. It was an enjoyable show with a great singer. The people in the theatre sat well spaced apart and all wearing masks.

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

June 5 - Katakolon/Olympia

 

Some days, which happen very rarely, are just about as perfect as you can get. This was one of those rare days.

 

First we woke up to the most beautiful sunrise.

 

 

 

When we got to the rear balcony of the Oceanview Cafe we looked out and saw that we were docked at the most gorgeous Greek fishing village.

 

 

After a quick breakfast we left the ship at 8.00 am as we knew it was going to be a very warm day and wanted to get to Olympia before it got too hot.

 

We had heard that when we got to the port entrance there would be a booth selling tickets for the train to Olympia. There was no booth but we assumed that it was because we were so early. Not to worry, we set off to walk the short distance to the station.

 

 

 

It appeared that there is now only one train each way per day but the station was very quiet. We saw some workmen and asked them about the train but they told us that there wasn't a train today. Hmmmm, how would we get to Olympia?

 

As we walked back to town we passed a couple sitting on a bench at the station. They asked us about the train and we told them that it wasn't running today. They also wanted to go to Olympia so after a chat we all decided to see how much a taxi would cost to take the four of us to Olympia.

 

We went to the taxi stand and found that a taxi to take us to Olympia, wait two hours for us and then bring us back to Katakolon would cost €80.00 or €20.00 each. Great, let's go!

 

We arrived at Olympia at 8.45 am after a 30 minute taxi ride. We discussed where to meet the taxi in two hours and then walked down to the entrance. Our tickets cost €12.00 each.

 

We separated from our new friends and set off to explore Olympia.

 

 

 

We decided that this was the first example of Lego!

 

 

When we got to the stadium we watched some mad tourists having running races. It was getting rather warm now.

 

 

 

On to explore some more.

 

 

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

After getting our fill of the ruins we headed back towards the taxi meeting point and the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games, of which the entry was included in our tickets. It was lovely and cool in the museum which had artefacts and information about the Olympics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met our new friends at the exit to the museum and walked back to the meeting point for 10.45 am, where our driver was waiting for us. He had even managed to park in the shade so the taxi was cool for us to get into.

 

On the way back to Katakolon our driver chatted to us about how difficult it was for the locals during Covid with no cruise ships coming to town . They are all delighted that cruise ships are starting to return and are so pleased to see tourists again. We got back to Katakolon at 11.15 am.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

So far we had managed to see a gorgeous sunrise, salvage our trip to Olympia, had a very interesting conversation with our taxi driver and met a delightful couple of new friends but this is where our day got even better!

 

It turned out that our lovely new friends were not fellow Reflection passengers but a British couple who were sailing around Greece in their yacht. They asked if we would like to come back to their yacht for tea and biscuits. Would we ever!

 

We got the taxi driver to drop us off at the marina and got into their inflatable for the trip to their yacht.

 

This was the view of Reflection as we went to their yacht.

 

 

And this is their yacht as we approached.

 

 

We got to their yacht and they helped us aboard.

 

 

 

We had a pretty good view of Reflection!

 

 

They showed us around their yacht, explained how things worked, told us about how they bought their yacht, how they were sailing around Greece and where they were going to next. We had tea and some very yummy biscuits and talked for hours. Eventually we reluctantly had to leave but we had the absolutely best time with the most wonderful new friends. We were taken back to town and dropped back at the small landing in town.

 

 

 

Thank you and Goodbye!

 

 

We then walked around town and the restaurants before returning to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

That evening we went to the Opus Dining Room and were seated at table 437 next to a window. We were seated at this table for the remainder of the cruise. We had a lovely dinner and were looked after by the wonderful Jessie and Edward. After dinner we met up at the Sunset Bar with more lovely new friends (Hi A and G!) who we had met at the Cruise Critic Sail Away party.

 

What a wonderful day!

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by PurpleTraveller

[EnthDegree]

Just loving your fantastically detailed review. We almost feel that we did make it to the cruise when we see your wonderful photographs. Can't wait for further instalments and your detailed observations as we now plan to do this trip in 2023! If you have no objections we may well use some of your information and photos in our 2023 cruise website! Keep it up. Stay safe.

[PurpleTraveller]

16 minutes ago, EnthDegree said:

Just loving your fantastically detailed review. We almost feel that we did make it to the cruise when we see your wonderful photographs. Can't wait for further instalments and your detailed observations as we now plan to do this trip in 2023! If you have no objections we may well use some of your information and photos in our 2023 cruise website! Keep it up. Stay safe.

 

Thank you! It was such a shame that you were unable to come on the cruise.  Feel free to use any information or photos you think might be useful or maybe post a link to the review on your roll call. Hope your cruise in 2023 is as wonderful as this one was. I hope you enjoy the rest of the review. 😊

 

[dani negreanu]

13 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

It appeared that there is now only one train each way per day but the station was very quiet. We saw some workmen and asked them about the train but they told us that there wasn't a train today. Hmmmm, how would we get to Olympia?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an enjoyable and detailed report.

 

We were on board Beyond a few weeks ago, and our first stop was Katakolon. I'm a "researcher" and had the train to Olympia and its schedule duly noted... Moreover, on the train's site they mentioned that when ships are "in town", they add more trains to Olympia. The train was very appealing, air conditioned, nice views, and, for 10 Euro pp return was, on paper, a "steal" 😁

 

I'm always a "Plan B type", and decided to research some more. I've found a bus to Olympia for the same price, and the hours fitted more on my plan.

 

I'm so glad we opted for the bus, since, it turns out, "Plan A" was not feasible at all...

 

[bluwes]

So good to read your review. Can’t wait for the rest. I’m reading it while sitting in our hotel room in Civvitavechia as we board Reflection tomorrow doing the same itinerary. We have done a number of the ports on previous cruises and Kotokolon is one we haven’t done and it’s the only cruise ship tour we are doing “Olympia on your own”

last time we were in Corfu was over 40 years  ago when we were real party people 😂😂

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

7 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an enjoyable and detailed report.

 

We were on board Beyond a few weeks ago, and our first stop was Katakolon. I'm a "researcher" and had the train to Olympia and its schedule duly noted... Moreover, on the train's site they mentioned that when ships are "in town", they add more trains to Olympia. The train was very appealing, air conditioned, nice views, and, for 10 Euro pp return was, on paper, a "steal" 😁

 

I'm always a "Plan B type", and decided to research some more. I've found a bus to Olympia for the same price, and the hours fitted more on my plan.

 

I'm so glad we opted for the bus, since, it turns out, "Plan A" was not feasible at all...

 

 

Thank you, so pleased that you are reading along. I must admit that we never did find out if the train was not running at all or was only not running on the day we were there - maybe because it was a Sunday. I had heard of the bus and when we first found out there was no train we were going to find out about the bus but when we met up with our new friends we quickly decided that the taxi would work well for the four of us. Glad the bus worked for you. Hope you enjoy the rest of the review.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

7 hours ago, bluwes said:

So good to read your review. Can’t wait for the rest. I’m reading it while sitting in our hotel room in Civvitavechia as we board Reflection tomorrow doing the same itinerary. We have done a number of the ports on previous cruises and Kotokolon is one we haven’t done and it’s the only cruise ship tour we are doing “Olympia on your own”

last time we were in Corfu was over 40 years  ago when we were real party people 😂😂

 

 

 

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the rest of the review. Corfu is up next and we are definitely not party people now. 😊

 

We had a fantastic time on Reflection and I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

[PurpleTraveller]

June 6 - Corfu

 

We woke up to an overcast morning but the forecast was for a 32°c/90°f and sunny day. Originally we were going to walk into the old town but we knew that it was going to be very warm for our return walk, so decided to get the shuttle instead. The cost was USD10.00 each for a day shuttle pass which was charged to our on board account.

 

After breakfast we left the ship just before 9.00 am. We had to get on the port bus to the port exit which only took a few minutes. We then went to the shuttle bus stop to give them our cabin number and get our shuttle tickets. The trip only took about 10 minutes. The shuttle dropped us at the entrance to the Old Fort and that was also the pick up point to return to the ship.

 

As we were right at the Old Fort we decided to go there first before it got too hot. It cost €6.00 each to go in.

 

We passed over a bridge that went over a channel of water or moat that separated the fort from the mainland then made our way upwards.

 

 

 

 

The fort was originally built by the Venetians in the 14th century but in more recent times the British were stationed there in the 19th century and it was occupied by German forces during WWII. Some of the buildings are now used for art and culture exhibits and an arm of the Ionian University and some buildings are derelict.

 

 

We made our way up to the highest point of the fort to the lighthouse where we had fantastic views of the old town of Corfu and could see Reflection in the distance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the lighthouse just as the sun came out and it soon started to heat up. We were very glad we had made the walk up in the relative cool.

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

We made our way back down enjoying the views over the sea and of the clock tower and passing through a tunnel.

 

 

 

 

 

We visited the Church of St George which was built in 1840 for the British soldiers.

 

 

The sea was crystal clear and the colour lovely.

 

 

 

We made our way back over the bridge over the moat to the mainland to walk around the old town.

 

 

[Lastdance]

Your special day visiting Olympia was something to cherish, not to mention a true highlight of your trip.  Sometimes magical moments come together when you least expect them.  We are also going to Olympia in October...the town looks quite nice; thanks for the information on the taxi, just in case the train is on a hiatus.

Excellent photos!

Edited July 15, 2022 by Lastdance

[PurpleTraveller]

Once we were back on the mainland  we walked through the Spianada Gardens and past it's bandstand to the Palace of St Michael and St George, which is now the Museum of Asian Art.

 

 

 

 

We decided not to go into the museum but continued along the waterfront where there were views across to the old fort and of lovely waterfront restaurants.

 

 

 

We then entered the narrow streets of the old town which were lovely to walk through.

 

 

 

 

We saw this cat which I named after my DH - can sleep anywhere at anytime. 😂

 

 

After a well deserved break to have some delicious home made ice-cream, we visited the Holy Metropolitan Church of Corfu.

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

We continued walking the streets of the old town passing a fruit and vegetable market. The streets became busier as we approached the more touristy area. 

 

 

 

We visited the Cathedral then walked through the busy shopping area and came to the very pretty Town Hall Square. The Town Hall was built by the Venetians between 1663 and 1693.

 

 

 

There were some very nice looking restaurants.

 

 

By now it was very hot so we decided to return to the shuttle stop and get a shuttle back to the ship. There was a shuttle bus already at the stop so a quick 15 minutes later we were back at the ship at 1.15 pm.

 

We had lunch at the Oceanview Cafe where we had a lovely view of Corfu town and the forts.

 

 

 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon on sun lounges in the shade on Deck 16. Dinner was at the Opus Dining Room again where we had a lovely meal.

 

[Missusdubbya]

Wonderful review so far!

[PurpleTraveller]

47 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Your special day visiting Olympia was something to cherish, not to mention a true highlight of your trip.  Sometimes magical moments come together when you least expect them.  We are also going to Olympia in October...the town looks quite nice; thanks for the information on the taxi, just in case the train is on a hiatus.

Excellent photos!

 

Thank you! You are absolutely correct! Our day was very special and a highlight of our cruise. You just never know when an amazing day is going to happen! 

 

We never did find out if the train is not running at all or only not running on the day we were there which was a Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful time in Katakolon and on the rest of your cruise!