Celebrity Reflection Review
Wonderful honeymoon experience - and the suite was worth the cost!
Rating by category
Additional details
My husband and I decided on this cruise for our combination first anniversary and honeymoon, and decided to splurge on a Sky Suite. Even though it was quite expensive, it was so worth it for the included premium beverage package, free wifi, onboard credit and use of the restaurant Luminae. We ate at Luminae all but 3 nights of the cruise and had wonderful meals there each time, while getting exceptional service.
The cabin was very comfortable, and the only complaint we really had was about the small toilet and sloped sides of the tub and shower. This was just a minor inconvenience, and the bed was comfortable and the verandah was lovely. Our butler and steward were both attentive and respectful without being overbearing and were a really nice perk of the suite.
The ship is beautiful and easy to find your way around on, and the service we received everywhere was really great. The only real complaints we had were that things seemed to close earlier than we expected - restaurants close at 10 or 11 (for sushi) and even the casino usually shut down between 12 and 1am even with a full table of players. That may be because of the other thing we did not love - the average age of the other passengers was in their 60s, and they seemed to go to bed earlier than we wanted to (we are in our early 40s) and to request a lot of music that felt dated and over-played. If we went into Michael's Club or Cellar Masters after about 10pm, they were always empty and quiet, and most of the times when we went to sit down at a bar we were the only ones there. I'm not sure there is a good way around it, but being on a cruise with people old enough to be your parents made for a lot of lost opportunities for quality nightlife and some bad behavior when in port by folks with "ugly American" syndrome.
Cabin Review
Sky Suite 1
This cabin was great on every level. It was quiet, and even though directly underneath the pool we only heard deck chairs being moved once. It was close to the forward elevators, but far enough away that we did not hear any noise. The cabin was as large as a normal hotel room, with ample closet space. The bathroom is tiny and can feel a little cramped, but that's pretty standard for a cruise ship. The verandah was very nice, but does have a significant overhang--for those who have visions of tanning on the verandah every afternoon, that won't be possible here. It made it much more comfortable for us, though.
Port Reviews
Rome (Civitavecchia)
Getting to the port was fairly easy and the embarkation process was fast.
Taormina (Messina)
Taormina was really beautiful, but packed with military and police because the G7 was arriving in a few days. We paid a taxi driver 150 Euro for 4 hours to drive us there, and to Castelmola and Isola bella and back, with a short tour of Messina as well. It was a great experience.
Malta (Valletta)
We used the hop on, hop off buses to visit Mdina - what a breathtakingly beautiful and interesting city! I highly recommend it. Old Valletta was touristy, but Mdina was just fascinating. We even visited the Torture museum, which was fun if a bit morbid.
Mykonos
There were 5 ships in port, so Mykonos was PACKED. We walked around the shops and restaurants for several hours since we arrived very early in the morning, and eventually got a great lunch in a café. We hiked up to the windmills for pictures, but at that point it felt like we'd done everything there was to do if we weren't looking to visit a beach. I'd probably like Mykonos better if it had not been so crowded.
Rhodes
We booked a taxi for 200 Euro to drive us around the island, including past beaches and up to Lindos and back. We spent 2 hours in Lindos walking up to the acropolis, which was fantastic. We enjoyed exploring the old city and the winding streets. We then finished up in Old Rodos, which was SUPER touristy but we had an excellent lunch at an outdoor café and did a bit of window shopping. I can't wait to go back to Rhodes!