I relied heavily on Cruise Critic reviews and deck plans to organise our Celebrity Reflection Cruise . We are Australians and with the travel logistics and added expense of getting across the world, I needed to make sure I was making the right choices. And I like to do my own reservations and do what we want to do. My husband and I had never been on a cruise before, and 3 months ago if anyone had asked us if we were ever going on a cruise … "doubt it", would have been the answer. But this cruise actually chose us. My brother and sister in law asked me, the family expert on trawling through internet sites, to find them a cruise through the Greek Islands at very short notice, for them to celebrate a special anniversary. Finite timelines helped me narrow the options - Celebrity Reflection's Eastern Mediterranean Cruise which set sail on July 25 was my only option ! And to cut a long story short, within 24 hours, after I enthused to my husband the arrangements I was making for my inlaws, we decided to join them. Life is what happens when we are making other plans !

After a serendipitous 2 day pitstop in Rome, after we had shaken off jet lag, we headed for Civitavecchia one sunny Friday afternoon and with a minimum of fuss, we were soon on board. (can highly recommend Bob's Limos who were waiting for us at Rome Airport, shuttles to and from ship and our homeward drive to the airport - they were on time, nice drivers and lovely clean vehicles - and of course travelling with 4, private transfers are cost effective ). Perhaps one memo to Celebrity re embarkation (do they read these reviews !) - the health form everyone has to fill in at the last minute - surely that could be advanced to intending passengers online for completing prior to arrival. Tacky introduction to the cruise sitting in a grotty marquee juggling a pen and paper on one's knee ! Civitavecchia needs a good facelift - for the numbers of cruise ships going in and out of there, it is a dirty dusty hole of a port - but I guess that is not Celebrity's fault.

But I have to say, if we had booked 12 months in advance, we could not have got better cabins or location. After doing a lot of research on the internet looking at Deck plans, etc, I was thrilled to unexpectedly snare 2 Aquaspa verandah staterooms wedged between the suites on Deck 12 - ours on the bump gave us an angled slightly larger balcony, and a bit further along midship a similar cabin for my inlaws. We were both very happy with our cabins - which are a wonderful example of good design in a confined space. Others have already written of the nice decor, spacious feel and well appointed bathrooms. I agree. And nice cabin crew whose job, it is apparent by their can-do and eager to please attitudes, is to give maximum pleasure and comfort on our holidays. Read more