Cruising with the Cote's: The Celebrity Reflection

When planning our dream cruise, we really only had 3 stipulations: 

1) The cruise had to include ports in Istanbul, Turkey & Santorini, Greece...2) We had to cruise in May (for travel planning/work leave reasons)...and 3) We absolutely would not cruise on Costa or Carnival cruise lines...for reasons I'm sure you'd all understand. Little did we know that just those three seemingly small requests would narrow down our cruise line choices considerably. I'm talking there was only one cruise line left that fit the bill. So, we booked with...I feel like I need a drumroll for this...CELEBRITY CRUISES! And it turned out to be the greatest decision we could have ever made about this trip.

Granted, we forked out a little more dough than we'd originally budgeted for this vacation, but hey, you can't take it with you when you're dead, right? So, go big or go home! And GO BIG we did. We sailed on the brand spanking new 126,000 ton, 3,046 occupant, immaculate and impeccably decorated Celebrity Reflection. The ship is newly completed, having an inaugural date of October 2012, and while we were aboard, it completed its first Mediterranean sailing! D and I had no idea the ship was going to be THIS new and that we'd be on the flagship Mediterranean sailing. Total bonus for Team Coté! Even though it was our first time cruising and we really had nothing to compare it to, from the reviews we read and the conversations we had with avid cruisers on board, we were sailing on the crème de la crème of cruise ships. Any ship we sailed on in the future was going to pale in comparison to the Reflection...and I'd have to say they're right. This ship was top notch in every. single. way. Let's go on a little tour of the Reflection, shall we? This post's a long one. Consider yourself warned!

*All photos below were taken by me, unless otherwise noted.*

This ship was MASSIVE. The only way to get a full photo of it and all its gloriousness was from the cliffs of Santorini or walking back to the port from the beaches of Mykonos. I'm sure there were other photo opportunities, too, but those are the times I remember standing in front of the ship and thinking...holy freakin' WOW. As we were pulling away from the dock in the port of Kusadasi, joined by a few other cruise ships from various other cruise lines, fellow cruisers from those ships were all on their balconies snapping photos of the Reflection as we sailed away. This ship was simply a sight to behold.

Our first few seconds in front of the Celebrity Reflection...our home at sea for 12 glorious days! D was obviously happy to be there. :)

Now, onto more from inside the ship! We were able to check-in and climb on board around 11am the first day of our cruise. The entire ship (aside from the staterooms...which didn't open up until 1pm) was open for cruisers to roam around, explore, and to get their bearings. Each of the 11 restaurants/cafes, the spa, the gym, the pools, the bars...all open for the viewing. With my camera in hand, D and I took advantage. I don't think there was a section of that ship we didn't discover! Here's a photo breakdown of the Reflection by deck:

Solstice Deck (Deck 16)- highest point of the ship that housed tons of lounge chairs and great views. 

Deck 15- home to a running track, the Sunset Bar (one of our favorite bars), the Lawn Club Grill & Alcoves, the Mast Grill (best hamburgers on the ship!) & bar, The Porch (a salad/panini restaurant), The Art Club, Kids Club, and stunning views!!

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Pool on the Lido Deck (Deck 14)- also home to the Sky Observation Lounge & Night Club, Aqua Spa Café, Solarium, & the Oceanview Café.

The Solarium-the sun warmed this room and it stayed a cozy 80 degrees all the time. D and I would come here when it was too chilly to sit outside and would subsequently fall asleep in one of the comfy red loungers. I equate this room to feeling like a womb; warm and inviting.

Oceanview Café- this is the incredible buffet where we would enjoy breakfast (when we didn't order room service), lunch (if we weren't lounging by the pool) and late night snacks (after drinking too much at the bar). Oh yeah...and 5:30pm sushi rolls. YUM. With pasta, cheese, salad, Mexican, Thai, pizza, sandwich, Chinese, and dessert stations (are you still with me?), there was something to eat for everyone on the ship! Celebrity also offered Gluten-Free, low-sodium, vegetarian, and low-fat choices. I was quite impressed! We wasted no time upon arriving on board and got ourselves two beers, delicious salads, and read all there was to know about our floating hotel for the next 12 days.

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Deck 12- in the forward (front) of the ship, there was the AquaSpa & Persian Garden, the fitness center, & the hair salon. Mid-ship & aft (back) area was reserved for staterooms.

D and I only ever used the fitness center (great free weight & machine selection and the treadmills overlooking the ocean were AWESOME), although a spa day would have been wonderful!

Decks 11 through 6 were reserved mostly for staterooms. We were on Deck 8. I've got a whole post devoted to our fabulous ocean view veranda room coming soon!

The Library on Deck 11 & 10-a small lounge area where you could leisurely read and check out books.

 The Celebirty iLounge was on deck 6. Here you'd find Apple iMac workstations where you could check emails, surf the web, and print off boarding passes. They also hosted classes where you could learn all about using Apple products (and buy them, as if you hadn't already spent too much money, hehe).

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Deck 5- Location of the Galleria Boutiques (like a small, high-end shopping mall), Art Gallery, Café al Bacio & Gelateria (coffee & gelato shop), Ensemble Lounge (jazz bar), Michael's Club (really great beer bar), The Photo Gallery (where you could buy and print photos from the ship), Bistro on 5 (nice sit-down breakfast, lunch, & dinner restaurant), The Molecular Bar (our favorite bar!), 4 specialty restaurants, and the balcony area of the Reflection Theatre.

D and I only ate at 1 of the 4 specialty dining restaurants. Be looking out for a post about our 3 hour, 6-course dinner at Qsine, Celebrity's unique fusion restaurant that takes your senses on a culinary journey. Absolutely the best (and most filling!) meal we had while on board the Reflection. We were also regulars at the Molecular Bar, a bar serving eclectic handcrafted cocktails designed to awaken your tastebuds. The Mixologists there were phenomenal. Might I recommend the Coming up Roses or Scorpion Kiss cocktails? SO. GOOD.

Deck 4- on this deck you can find the Reflection Theatre (where all the big nightly shows would take place--which were all FANTASTIC), Fortunes Casino (where you loose all your money, thankfully we stayed clear of here), Crush Martini Bar, Shops on the Boulevard (more of the mini high-end shopping mall), Celebrity Central (small theatre for comedy & game shows), Cellar Masters (wine bar), & the Opus Main Dining Room (where we ate dinner almost every night).

Crush Martini Bar-really potent (and delicious) martinis. Complete with real ice bar!

Opus Main Dining Room- the food & service here was out of this world. Every night.

Deck 3- home to the lower level of the Reflection Theatre & the Opus Main Dining Room, Guest Relations, the Passport Bar, and the Grand Foyer. You also got a really great view of the Atrium complete with glass elevators and REAL TREE growing from the top of it.

So, there you have it...the fabulous Celebrity Reflection, in a nutshell! We couldn't have picked a more wonderful ship than this for our first cruising experience. Celebrity really knows how to do cruising right by us! If you've made it to the end of this tour, bravo! Did you feel like you were there with me? Totally what I was going for. ;) Up next, a short tour of where we laid our heads each night on the beautiful Reflection. I'm still pinching myself at our luck. You'll see. Until tomorrow, friends!

Did You Miss Me?

I'M BAAACCCCKKKK!!

Well friends, D and I are back in Germany after our whirlwind 12-day cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean! I have a confession to make...I wish we weren't back. I wish we were still on that glorious 15-deck ship, sailing the crystal blue waters with not a care in the world. I wish we were still lounging in our plush bathrobes, eating pancakes and sipping mimosas on our ocean-view balcony. I wish we were still commiserating at the bar with all our new friends, rehashing the fabulous days we had touring Istanbul, Santorini, and the Amalfi Coast. But alas, we're home, in Germany, where it's currently a crisp 56 degrees and raining buckets. Thanks for the welcome party, Deutschland. You always know how to make us feel like we missed NOTHING while we were gone!

Honestly though, D and I are suffering through a major case of post-cruising blues. It's a real thing--Google it. All my fellow cruisers know what I'm talking about. We were warned on the ship that this would happen. After vacationing to the Mediterranean on one of the world's best cruise lines (especially for our very FIRST cruise), we were going to have reality slap us hard in the face upon our return home. I feel as though I was not only slapped, but also tarred, feathered, and subsequently run over by a big Mack truck. I equate this cruise to what heaven would be like...and heaven is a long way to fall. So, you can imagine the kind of melancholy moping that's going on around here since arriving home last Friday evening. Not to mention the mounds of laundry, emails, and photos that have piled up and now need attention. I'm currently pretending those things don't exist. Can't I be in denial a little while longer? I know, you're all playing the world's smallest violin for me. Life could be worse. 

In case it wasn't evident from all the spoiled vacation loathing above, our cruise was AMAZING. More than amazing. What's better than amazing? Awesome? Outstanding? Spectacular? There needs to be another word for it, because the English language is failing me now. How about Awe-spect-standing? Our cruise was Awespecstanding! And nothing short of it. Hands down, the most awespectstanding vacation either of us have ever taken. I'm worried no vacation after this cruise will ever be able to live up to it. I wish I were kidding. Friends, hang on to your laptops because over the next few weeks I'll be recapping every single fabulous moment we had on board and in port during our 2 week escape from reality. If you thought you were sick of my incessant explosions of Instagram photos recently, just wait. This blog will temporarily turn into the most obnoxious place on the internetz. These posts will be for you...to introduce you to cruising, to show off our awespecstanding cruise ship, and to acquaint you with some of the most beautiful places in Europe...but, these recaps will mostly be for me. So I can remember every single detail about the trip I'd been waiting to take all my life. I don't want to look back 20 years from now at all my wonderful cruise photos and not remember the story behind them, so bare with the never-ending cruise talk. I swear I will be back to a regularly functioning blogger some point in 2014. HA! Until then, be on the lookout for my first cruise recap tomorrow! Now, I'm off to go mope some more. It's a hard, hard life I lead. ;)

Top 5 Reasons to Love Travel

CRUISE DAY 12: Well, folks...our Mediterranean cruise is a wrap! D and I are packing up our bags and heading back to Germany today, and I'm all kinds of sad about it. We've had an absolute blast sailing around Italy, Greece, & Turkey the last 12 days. I'm not sure any other vacation we ever take will be able to compare! I can't wait to show you all the photos I took. SOMEDAY (because we all know how long it takes me to blog about trips). So, while I'm moping through the airport today, lamenting about the end of another fabulous vacation, I'd like you to meet my very last vacation guest poster. Lauren, from the exciting Taiwan-based blog, Miller Memoires, is sharing her top 5 reasons to love traveling. A blog post after my own expat heart! Share away, girl!

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Hey there, Road Less Traveled Readers! I love reading Casey's blog and am so happy to be taking over for a day while she heads home from another amazing trip. Casey is one of the first bloggers I connected with when I started "expat blogging" and I've loved following her adventures in Germany and around Europe.

I guess I should tell you a little about me! I'm Lauren from Miller Memoires. I live, work, and study in the beautiful country of Taiwan. Taiwan is a small island off the coast of China, south of Japan and Korea. It's a fantastic country full of friendly faces, stunning landscapes, and delicious food. I moved here with my husband almost two and a half years ago! We started out as English teachers, and are now university students as well. Basically we're just living the expat life, finding our way around in a strange, wonderful new country.

Today I'd just like to gush a bit about why I love travel so much. Part of the reason I enjoy following Casey's blog so much is that she has a passion for travel that is so contagious, and inspires me to explore the world. Travel has become such a huge part of my life since I hopped on my very first airplane at age twelve. I find that travel is one of the very best ways to grow, to learn, and to experience life to the fullest. I just can't say enough about how much I love to travel and how much it has come to influence my life. So before I get ahead of myself, I'll give you a just a few of the reasons I love to travel.

Lauren's Top 5 Reasons to Love Travel:

1. The World is a Beautiful Place

Pictures can never do justice to the real thing. Even those amazing National Geographic photos that seem to leap off the page at you pale in comparison to the feeling of really being there. That feeling of standing at the edge of a waterfall, with the mist collecting on your face and hair, the smell of unadulterated fresh air pouring into you lungs, and that knot in your stomach from the height. The breathless peace that washes over you when you step into the Sistine Chapel for the very first time. The cacophony of sounds that fill your ears while zip-lining through the canopy of a tropical rainforest. No picture can ever convey that feeling of wonder that seeps into your bones when you witness the beauty of the world first hand.

2. There's Always Something New to Learn

Whether it's about the country you're visiting or about yourself, there is a never ending supply of knowledge that's just waiting to be uncovered. I love taking historical walking tours when I visit a new country, or wander through the national museums. I love learning a new word in a foreign language. I love learning the new things I'm capable of- overcoming fears, working my way through challenging situations, finding a destination in a complicated city. Every single thing that I learn while I'm traveling, though maybe not the specifics, is applicable to my life somewhere else.

3. The People

There are amazing people in all corners of the earth. People who will make you laugh, who will inspire you, teach you, help you. People to tell you stories that will make you laugh, make you cry, or make you want to change the world. Even if you're a little introverted like myself, just people watching is a fascinating and even thoroughly entertaining way to view the local culture (I don't mean stalking).

4. The Food

I love to try new exotic foods while I'm traveling. Though there are amazing restaurants everywhere that tout their ethnic qualities, there's nothing like eating it from the source. Nothing like street food in Taiwan, or sushi in Japan, or tacos in Mexico. You can taste the difference, and it's a wonderful thing.

5. It's a Blast!

Traveling is just so much fun! From getting lost on the streets in Paris, watching street performers, and eating macarons, to skydiving, zip-lining, or just relaxing on a white sand beach in front of a crystal blue ocean. Travel is whatever you make it, and I love to make it fun. There's really just no better way for recharging your batteries or sparking your passions.

Of course we could all go on for a lot longer than five simple reasons, but these are some of what come to mind when I look back on how much travel has changed and influenced my life. I will be forever grateful for the blessing of travel in my life and hope to instill that desire in others.

What are your favourite things about travel?  Come visit my blog and tell me all about it, I'd love to hear from you!

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