Cruising onboard Celebrity Reflection - Next stop Italy!

In September I was very lucky to be on holiday with my husband on a 10-night Celebrity fly-cruise. We flew from the UK and boarded the ship celebrity reflection in Civitavecchia (Rome). The Celebrity transfers from the airport were very well organised and after landing in Rome and collecting our cases, we were soon off on the coach and arrived at the port in under an hour.

Civitavecchia port with Celebrity Cruises was an absolute breeze to embark (check in and board the ship). It’s so easy with plenty of refreshments and staff everywhere to help. Having aqua class, we got priority check in but it wasn't an issue as there were no queues as everything was so well organised.

Our Itinerary was Rome, Sicily, Malta, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens and Naples. I chose the itinerary as I love Italy and Greece and it did not disappoint as all the ports were very worth visiting. We had two days at sea and I'd never look at an itinerary again and choose one without at least two days at sea as it’s nice to chill and get up when you’re ready etc.

Port days are amazing, but some trips can be early starts if you want to see the most from the destination. Here are some insights on some ports and I'd be happy to chat in more depth to anyone about my ports on the itinerary.

Malta - We docked in Valetta and you could simply walk from the ship and easily shop and wonder around. We opted for the hop on hop off bus with citysightseeing malta to see more of the island and headed to Mdina which is a fortified area and very medieval and such a lovely area to wander around at leisure and so pretty. We paid about 25 euros that was charged to our cruise cabin for this bus ticket.

Mykonos - I fell in love with this traditional Greek island one of the highlights of the trip. You dock a mile from Mykonos town and the ferry was free of charge. The whitewashed cubic houses with blue wooden coloured doors, windows and balconies with narrow streets pretty churches just made it a delightful day to wonder around and lots of boutique shops here.

Naples - Having been to this area before I decided to make the most of the day with a trip to include Positano and Capri which were also highlights of the cruise. For me Capri and especially Ana Capri is just heaven and we went to one of many I'm sure but a restaurant to enjoy the best pizza in Italy.

Let me tell you about my experience with Celebrity Reflection...

Such a stunning ship and as expected spotless. Staff were super friendly everything you expect from a luxury cruise line.

Aqua cabin was in a lovely location close to the spa and you could smell all the beautiful spa smells close by a quiet area with a good-sized balcony. On arriving in the room there was ample space and slippers and robes at the ready handy for a spa lover to easily nip to the spa in the robe. You get a lounge area which was handy to have. Lovely products in the bathroom that were complimentary. Our cabin steward soon came by to introduce himself and was a pleasure to see each day. Having the balcony for this itinerary made the cruise as sailing in and out of ports was super relaxing.

A perk having aqua class is the Blu complimentary restaurant, somewhere we took great advantage of as offered a calming restaurant to dine in with delicious food and the service was exceptional. We also paid to use the speciality restaurants 3 times and what an experience as a foodie the food was divine. In future I would go with celebrity again and use Tuscan grille the most as this was my favourite. We also dined in Murano which is ideal for a special occasion.

Shopping on board was very good. The bars were really good with some great cocktails on offer. The ice bar was great after being in the sun to cool down. Entertainment was super varied with something for everyone from watching Marvel movies in the cinema to playing bingo or watching extremely talented singers it really had choice to please everyone. Having the balcony was a nice way to unwind before getting ready. We did enjoy the complimentary room service also.

If you want something special, I would upgrade the cabin to Aqua/Concierge or a suite and include spa treatments and speciality dining at least a few times to have an amazing experience. In summary I had a fantastic holiday on board Celebrity Reflection and if you’re thinking of cruising with Celebrity I'd love to share my experience with you so please get in touch as I have much more to share!