This was a fantastic cruise on Reflection. Beautiful ship with a few design quirks (changes from the other Solstice class ships), but the itinerary was one of the best on offer. You can't really fault Italy and the Greek Islands at this time of year for weather and scenery. The only downside was the number of children/teens on-board exceeded the capacity of the facilities, so they were far more visible and disruptive to other guests.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was smooth and fast. From dropping our bags to the porter to boarding the ship was less than 10 minutes. Having your shipboard photo taken at time of check-in makes the process much smoother.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining room on this ship (Opus) is exceptional. Despite some initial hiccups with our table (had booked a shared table of 8-10 but ended up on a table of 2), The quality of food was exceptional. Service from our waiter (Adrian) was great, but the sommelier was lack-lustre.
Specialty restaurants: Murano - fantastic food and service. Tuscan Grille: Steaks were cooked well, but the restaurant lacked atmosphere and service (especially for the price). Qsine: menu and service needs a revamp, this restaurant and concept is getting tired. Lawn Club Grill: give this a miss, as service was poor and food was far worse than the main dining room.
Buffet (Oceanview Cafe) was very good with a varied selection each day (most breakfasts were the same)
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Guest Entertainers were excellent on this sailing. There was one Comedian and one Hypnotist, but the rest were musical act. Some standouts were Aimie Atkinson (BBC Voice of Musical Theatre award recipient) and the MacDonald Brothers (Finalists from the X Factor UK).
Cast production shows were below standard and tried to create a story from Top 40 hits - Celebrity needs to return to the musical theatre for inspiration for these shows
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Service was generally up compared to Millennium class ships. Cafe al Bacio was always good, as was the World Class bar (which has replaced the Molecular Bar on the Solstice Class ships).
Some of the bars were understaffed - eg Martini Bar in the early evenings and Pool Bar on sea days, so took some time to get drinks
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
While the decor is one of the things that brings us back to Celebrity each time, the changes that were made to this ship compared to the other Solstice class ships don't make sense. The extra cabins (mostly Sky Suites) on Deck 12 on this ship, pushing up the pools by one deck means that the indoor pool now site next to the Sky Observation Lounge rather than the Aqua Spa and fitness center, this simply doesn't make sense. The lack of bar at the rear of the Oceanview Cafe is also missed.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Fantastic location central to the ship between the centrum and forward elevators. Close proximity to the Hideaway for relaxation area. Size of cabin was great with bed located next to the wardrobe and seating area near the balcony
While this is quite a distance from the port (1 1/2 hours), the Eternal City has so much to see. We had a great tour of the Colosseum, walked through the Forum, up to the Trevi Fountain, and found a great place to have a relaxing lunch near Piazza Navona.
Did a ship excursion to Mt Etna and Taormina. Too much time at a souvenir shop near Mt Etna and not enough time seeing either the volcano or the town of Taormina
As we had been to Athens previously, we escaped the crowds and took a ship excursion to Ancient Corinth and the Corinth Canal. It was a long drive (approx 1.5 hours each way), but was worth it for the history and to see this feat of engineering.
We had a beautiful day on the Amalfi Coast - private excursion. Visited Amalfi, Positano and Sorrento, with lunch at a beautiful restaurant on a clifftop at Conca dei Marini.
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