Semi-live review - Reflection 10 nights Malta and Greek Islands - 17 July 2023

[Les43]

Today is a sea day as we make our way towards our final destination of Barcelona. As you will see from the posts above there has been a bit of drama with high winds and the ship is definitely rocking and rolling along. We also changed course slightly to avoid a sailing boat (or at least it appeared to be more of a pirouette according to the screen). The sun decks are very busy as is the solarium and everyone is looking to make the most of the last day. It’s really windy up there and folks are struggling to keep hold of their belongings. 
 

We had breakfast in the OVC and then went to find a couple of loungers in the solarium. It was nice in there and we lounged around and had a swim. Just out of interest, we noticed today that my DH’s swim shorts have changed in colour from deep red to orange. We rather suspect this was the chemicals in the hot tub a few days ago which smelled quite strong. Anyway, back to today - we decided to dry off and then head to Luminae for lunch. No photos as I left my phone in the safe 🙄. I had the shrimp tagliatelle and the wonderful Vishal added a piece of Branzino to it. It was really good. My DH had the Luminae burger which he said was very good. We both had the white chocolate macadamia cake 😋 and a glass of rose wine to go with our meal. All in all a very nice lunch  

 

It’s now time to start the dreaded packing. It’s always a horrible thought when the luggage tags arrive but I suppose all good things must come to an end at least for now and until we cruise again. We will have dinner for the last time later in Luminae and say a farewell to Vishal and Arvind our sommelier along with a token of our appreciation for their great service. 
 

As far as tomorrow is concerned, we are going to walk off with our bags around 6.45 as we have a private transfer arranged for 7am to the airport. Our flight to Edinburgh is not until late morning so we have time to navigate Barcelona airport! 
 

At some point after we leave the ship , I will do a final wrap up post and overall review of the cruise along with any bits I may have missed. Until then, we are off to enjoy the final few hours of food and the drinks package before normality (and a diet) beckons! 
 

Lesley 

[LouChamp]

2 hours ago, Les43 said:

We haven’t dined in the OVC in the evening but we have taken a wander through. From what I could see it had not been minimised in any way and there was a huge range of food. My only observation was that it appeared quite similar to lunch. The food on this cruise has been fantastic. 

Aloha. Mahalo for your reply. 

[txtechmk]

Thanks again for this wonderful report.  Sounds like a great trip!

[PTC DAWG]

Great report…with these reported temperatures, I am glad our cruise on this itinerary is in Sept next year. Maybe it will be a touch cooler. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[Rebecca J]

Thanks so much for taking us on your journey with you. I am really going to miss you and hope you provide a final review at some point. Could you please share the name of the car company you are using to the airport as we will be there in a month on the Reflection and need to get to the airport quickly that morning. Thanks, Rebecca

Edited July 26, 2023 by Rebecca J

[ladylemondrop]

Am so sad your cruise is ending! It has been wonderful following along, and enjoying it with you. Thanks for sharing and safe journey home to Scotland. 

[Lastdance]

All good things come to an end, but planning another keeps everything alive!  Many thanks for sharing!

[bunnyette]

8 hours ago, Les43 said:

At some point after we leave the ship , I will do a final wrap up post and overall review of the cruise along with any bits I may have missed. Until then, we are off to enjoy the final few hours of food and the drinks package before normality (and a diet) beckons! 

Don’t forget your day in Malta…😀

[LizikinsLivesToCruise]

Have enjoyed tagging along on your vacation, @Les43. Thank you very much for taking time to share it with us through this amazing report. Safe trip home!

[sarahdfree]

Thank you for all your sharing your observations and experiences. We are traveling to many of the same ports (starting in Rome and ending in Barcelona) next summer and are currently booking excursions, rooms in Rome, etc. You have helped us tremendously and you didn't even know 😉 Thank you, again!

[stbr]

Thank you very much for your semi-live review.  My husband and I join this ship next Saturday. 

 

I have one question.  Do you think we'll be able to watch the Women's FIFA World Cup games?  We're big fans.  

 

Thanks ⚽

[Les43]

10 hours ago, stbr said:

Thank you very much for your semi-live review.  My husband and I join this ship next Saturday. 

 

I have one question.  Do you think we'll be able to watch the Women's FIFA World Cup games?  We're big fans.  

 

Thanks ⚽

Yes you will. They are showing the games on the large screen on the grassed area on deck 15 in front of The Porch. Have a great time!

[Esprit]

We got home within a record time once we landed at Gatwick. Bags delivered really quickly and we breezed through the Customs E gates. No wait either for a coach to take us to the long stay car park.

Thank you @Les43 for allowing me to piggyback on your excellent “Live” thread.

As for us we had an excellent cruise despite the heat. Service from all the crew was outstanding. I think this was the first cruise in many when I never needed to visit the guest relations desk.

[Les43]

31 minutes ago, Esprit said:

We got home within a record time once we landed at Gatwick. Bags delivered really quickly and we breezed through the Customs E gates. No wait either for a coach to take us to the long stay car park.

Thank you @Les43 for allowing me to piggyback on your excellent “Live” thread.

As for us we had an excellent cruise despite the heat. Service from all the crew was outstanding. I think this was the first cruise in many when I never needed to visit the guest relations desk.

Thank you. Our journey home was fine too. Flight left Barcelona on time and the only hiccup was that we had to sit on the plane for half an hour in Edinburgh while they decided on which gate 🙄. The washing machine is working away and once I get some food in to the house, I plan to give a final review post later today. Until then, the washing beckons! 

[JeanieC,Aston]

Hi Les

Enjoyed your blog but did you sail past Malta without stopping😏

[stbr]

2 hours ago, Les43 said:

Yes you will. They are showing the games on the large screen on the grassed area on deck 15 in front of The Porch. Have a great time!

Thank you for this happy news!  

 

 

[TPCRUISER2]

Thank you for review! Enjoyed it tremendously!

[Les43]

5 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi Les

Enjoyed your blog but did you sail past Malta without stopping😏

Worry not……..Malta incoming shortly! 😎

[Les43]

Tuesday (Malta) (at last!)

 

Sorry it’s taken me a few days to complete the last few days of our cruise. Time seemed to run away with us and before we know it, we’re back home!

 

Anyway, back to Malta on Tuesday - we have cruised to Valletta twice before to we knew the lay of the land. We planned to wander around the city as we had done the last few times.  The ship docked around 7.30am and the vibration of the bow thrusters woke me up. When I looked out, I could see that we were docked close to the main access to the city at the Grand Harbour. The forecast was for another glorious, hot day (more on that shortly). 

 

We had breakfast in the OVC. It wasn’t too busy and we managed to find a seat quite easily. Not sure if I have mentioned this before but I do have a thing about the number of people who fill their plates sky high at the buffet with all manner of strange concoctions and then eat very little and leave most of it. The ship must have a huge amount of food waste. Tuesday morning was no exception and we saw several tables left with huge amounts of uneaten food. What a waste! 

 

Anyway, after breakfast we headed out and the temperature was already high. It was like walking in to an oven. We walked along the road to where the Barraka lift is that takes you up to the gardens. There were the usual taxis lined up looking for people to take tours and also some horses and carts. We were surprised at how quiet it was and there was no line for the lift. We headed straight up after paying our €1 each. When we got to the top, it was already busy with lots of people taking photographs from the viewpoint. Having visited the upper Barraka gardens before, we were looking forward to seeing them again, only to be hugely disappointed. This time the flower beds were empty and there was no display of colour. Any plants that were left were dead.  The fountain in the middle was also empty 😔. Not sure if the extended dry period and extreme heat has impacted but it was a real shame to see it like this. Anyway, we walked on and decided to wander round the main streets and have a drink. By now the temperature was circa 40 C and were were really flagging. It didn’t take too long for us to realise that Valletta has changed a lot since we were there last in 2019. The streets were quite dirty with lots of litter and several of the shops and restaurants were closed and for sale. It was quite sad to see and we wondered if this has been the impact of the pandemic. Such a shame as the architecture around the city is stunning. We stopped in the main square and had a beer to cool off but it was so hot that even the attempts of the fan beside our table only served to blow hot air at us.  We decided to cut our losses and wander back down to the waterside and back to the cool of  the ship. We later learned that the temperature had topped 45 / 46 C. 

 

There is nothing quite like getting back onboard and feeling the cool of the air conditioning on the ship!  We headed back to the OVC for some lunch and a drink. We spent the afternoon relaxing in our stateroom, reading and snoozing. It was too hot and sticky to sit on the balcony. We had been invited to the Retreat helipad sailaway but decided to give it a miss and stay in the cool. Dinner in Luminae was very nice and we ended the day with a nightcap in Michael’s’ club with Cranston. Although we were disappointed in Valletta this time, it was still a nice day. 

[Les43]

It’s a wrap!

 

Our cruise ended yesterday morning and we walked off the ship with our bags just after 6.30am. After such a relaxing cruise, the alarm going off was a rude awakening! I had organised a private transfer with Viator and they turned up on time and whisked us off to T2 at Barcelona airport. The airport was busy but the line to check in our bags at Ryanair was moving and we were soon through security and in the departure lounge. We had a bite to eat and a coffee and then headed to the gate. The flight boarded and left on time so all went to plan. The flight was scheduled to take 3 hours but only took 2 hours 25 mins so that was great although Edinburgh airport was chaos. They held us in the plane for half an hour while they decided which gate the plane was to go to and then the lines for passport control were very, very long as several flights had arrived at the same time. Once through that our bags didn’t take long and we picked up the car and headed home. We got home just after 3pm so not too bad.

 

A few final thoughts then about our cruise.  We both had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the 5 nights in Rome and the 10 night cruise. Celebrity were great as usual and we enjoyed Reflection for the second time. This was our first ‘retreat’ experience and we really enjoyed it. We loved the extra space in our Celebrity suite and also the separate bedroom although we thought the room was tired and in need of updating.  For example, the seal around the bath was discoloured as was the shower screen and there were marks on the surfaces of the furniture and on the balcony furniture. We thought our Butler (Kate) was good although we are not convinced we made full use of her services. Our stateroom attendant was disappointing and appeared to have a bit of an attitude, especially one day when we wanted to change for lunch to go to Luminae and he was less than pleased as he wanted to clean the room. We also weren’t hugely convinced about the cleaning. There was dust on the bedside lights and on embarkation day we got the sense the cleaning had been rushed and not quite finished. The public areas of the ship seemed in good condition and we didn’t spot any issues. 

 

We thought the food was excellent and we really enjoyed Luminae. We thought it was better than the MDR. We also thought the OVC was great too and no reduction in choice or quality. Service was excellent and staff were very cheerful and helpful. The bars were good and the drinks plentiful 🤪. We did not go to any of the shows so can’t comment but we thought the live music was disappointing and a bit bland this time. 
 

One tiny observation, we were surprised not to see more changes as a result of the pandemic. We were really surprised at the lack of hand sanitising stations around the ship and the fact that staff were not reminding folks to wash ‘ sanitise. It was like Covid has never happened.  We were not aware of anyone who was ill on the ship during the cruise although I did hear yesterday of one person who contracted COVID on Sunday. 

 

So, in summary, would we cruise Celebrity again? Oh yes and we are already considering summer 2025 ( we don’t like to cruise every year). Our one observation would be that we will avoid July in the Mediterranean again as the high temperatures were just too much for us. We will look at June or September. Would we book the retreat / suite class again ? Absolutely, we are converts especially with the extra space in the stateroom and the additional amenities. Although having looked at cruises in a Sky suite on the new Edge class ships, I think they are priced very high and way out of our league! 

 

Thanks to all of you for following along and to those on the cruise who have contributed.  I have enjoyed writing my first semi-live review and will certainly try one again. I hope it has been helpful and has allowed some of you to cruise vicariously with us! Until the next time……….🛳️⚓️🛳️❤️

[Tipsy252]

Great review and I am so glad that Reflection is still in good shape. We will be on in about 3.5 weeks (not counting at all 🤣) and so ready for the break. A shame that Cranston will not be on board as we loved to pass the time with him in Ensemble Lounge last year.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post during your cruise, really appreciate all the 'Live' and 'Semi Live' reviews.

[Provence55always]

Thank you for your review really enjoyed. We will be doing the same itinerary in October. We just made a bid to move up to Aqua…..not cheap but we love Aqua. Disappointed to hear about your stateroom attendant hopefully you brought it to the attention of Guest Relations. Would love to sail some day in a suite if the price was right😉

 

 

 

[larry_s_taco]

7 hours ago, Les43 said:

It’s a wrap!

 

Our cruise ended yesterday morning and we walked off the ship with our bags just after 6.30am. After such a relaxing cruise, the alarm going off was a rude awakening! I had organised a private transfer with Viator and they turned up on time and whisked us off to T2 at Barcelona airport. The airport was busy but the line to check in our bags at Ryanair was moving and we were soon through security and in the departure lounge. We had a bite to eat and a coffee and then headed to the gate. The flight boarded and left on time so all went to plan. The flight was scheduled to take 3 hours but only took 2 hours 25 mins so that was great although Edinburgh airport was chaos. They held us in the plane for half an hour while they decided which gate the plane was to go to and then the lines for passport control were very, very long as several flights had arrived at the same time. Once through that our bags didn’t take long and we picked up the car and headed home. We got home just after 3pm so not too bad.

 

A few final thoughts then about our cruise.  We both had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the 5 nights in Rome and the 10 night cruise. Celebrity were great as usual and we enjoyed Reflection for the second time. This was our first ‘retreat’ experience and we really enjoyed it. We loved the extra space in our Celebrity suite and also the separate bedroom although we thought the room was tired and in need of updating.  For example, the seal around the bath was discoloured as was the shower screen and there were marks on the surfaces of the furniture and on the balcony furniture. We thought our Butler (Kate) was good although we are not convinced we made full use of her services. Our stateroom attendant was disappointing and appeared to have a bit of an attitude, especially one day when we wanted to change for lunch to go to Luminae and he was less than pleased as he wanted to clean the room. We also weren’t hugely convinced about the cleaning. There was dust on the bedside lights and on embarkation day we got the sense the cleaning had been rushed and not quite finished. The public areas of the ship seemed in good condition and we didn’t spot any issues. 

 

We thought the food was excellent and we really enjoyed Luminae. We thought it was better than the MDR. We also thought the OVC was great too and no reduction in choice or quality. Service was excellent and staff were very cheerful and helpful. The bars were good and the drinks plentiful 🤪. We did not go to any of the shows so can’t comment but we thought the live music was disappointing and a bit bland this time. 
 

One tiny observation, we were surprised not to see more changes as a result of the pandemic. We were really surprised at the lack of hand sanitising stations around the ship and the fact that staff were not reminding folks to wash ‘ sanitise. It was like Covid has never happened.  We were not aware of anyone who was ill on the ship during the cruise although I did hear yesterday of one person who contracted COVID on Sunday. 

 

So, in summary, would we cruise Celebrity again? Oh yes and we are already considering summer 2025 ( we don’t like to cruise every year). Our one observation would be that we will avoid July in the Mediterranean again as the high temperatures were just too much for us. We will look at June or September. Would we book the retreat / suite class again ? Absolutely, we are converts especially with the extra space in the stateroom and the additional amenities. Although having looked at cruises in a Sky suite on the new Edge class ships, I think they are priced very high and way out of our league! 

 

Thanks to all of you for following along and to those on the cruise who have contributed.  I have enjoyed writing my first semi-live review and will certainly try one again. I hope it has been helpful and has allowed some of you to cruise vicariously with us! Until the next time……….🛳️⚓️🛳️❤️

Thank you for your great review. I was a real pleasure to read. 

[CruiseTimeAgain2]

11 hours ago, Les43 said:

It’s a wrap!

 

Our cruise ended yesterday morning and we walked off the ship with our bags just after 6.30am. After such a relaxing cruise, the alarm going off was a rude awakening! I had organised a private transfer with Viator and they turned up on time and whisked us off to T2 at Barcelona airport. The airport was busy but the line to check in our bags at Ryanair was moving and we were soon through security and in the departure lounge. We had a bite to eat and a coffee and then headed to the gate. The flight boarded and left on time so all went to plan. The flight was scheduled to take 3 hours but only took 2 hours 25 mins so that was great although Edinburgh airport was chaos. They held us in the plane for half an hour while they decided which gate the plane was to go to and then the lines for passport control were very, very long as several flights had arrived at the same time. Once through that our bags didn’t take long and we picked up the car and headed home. We got home just after 3pm so not too bad.

 

A few final thoughts then about our cruise.  We both had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the 5 nights in Rome and the 10 night cruise. Celebrity were great as usual and we enjoyed Reflection for the second time. This was our first ‘retreat’ experience and we really enjoyed it. We loved the extra space in our Celebrity suite and also the separate bedroom although we thought the room was tired and in need of updating.  For example, the seal around the bath was discoloured as was the shower screen and there were marks on the surfaces of the furniture and on the balcony furniture. We thought our Butler (Kate) was good although we are not convinced we made full use of her services. Our stateroom attendant was disappointing and appeared to have a bit of an attitude, especially one day when we wanted to change for lunch to go to Luminae and he was less than pleased as he wanted to clean the room. We also weren’t hugely convinced about the cleaning. There was dust on the bedside lights and on embarkation day we got the sense the cleaning had been rushed and not quite finished. The public areas of the ship seemed in good condition and we didn’t spot any issues. 

 

We thought the food was excellent and we really enjoyed Luminae. We thought it was better than the MDR. We also thought the OVC was great too and no reduction in choice or quality. Service was excellent and staff were very cheerful and helpful. The bars were good and the drinks plentiful 🤪. We did not go to any of the shows so can’t comment but we thought the live music was disappointing and a bit bland this time. 
 

One tiny observation, we were surprised not to see more changes as a result of the pandemic. We were really surprised at the lack of hand sanitising stations around the ship and the fact that staff were not reminding folks to wash ‘ sanitise. It was like Covid has never happened.  We were not aware of anyone who was ill on the ship during the cruise although I did hear yesterday of one person who contracted COVID on Sunday. 

 

So, in summary, would we cruise Celebrity again? Oh yes and we are already considering summer 2025 ( we don’t like to cruise every year). Our one observation would be that we will avoid July in the Mediterranean again as the high temperatures were just too much for us. We will look at June or September. Would we book the retreat / suite class again ? Absolutely, we are converts especially with the extra space in the stateroom and the additional amenities. Although having looked at cruises in a Sky suite on the new Edge class ships, I think they are priced very high and way out of our league! 

 

Thanks to all of you for following along and to those on the cruise who have contributed.  I have enjoyed writing my first semi-live review and will certainly try one again. I hope it has been helpful and has allowed some of you to cruise vicariously with us! Until the next time……….🛳️⚓️🛳️❤️

I really enjoyed your review. All your pictures and information on Reflection made me fell like I was cruising also.

Thank You so much for taking us along

[bluwes]

Loved the review. Thanks for everything Was on the Reflection last summer, and back on the Silhouette in September.