Celebrating the MEDITERRANEAN
It’s not the biggest sea, but the Med is filled with experiences, finds David Wickers
Celebrity Reflection is a lively, vivacious ship, a one-size-fitsall with a broad demographic of passengers – 3,000 in all, from kids to oldies, honeymooners to groups of pals. She’s particularly ideal for the closet cruiser who is tempted to give it a go but wants to be sure there’ll be lots to do.
Food is an essential ingredient on any cruise. On Reflection, there are plenty of healthy options as well as the familiar cornucopia of excess. Aside from the main dining room, the speciality restaurants – which cost extra – are creative in both style and cooking. At Qsine, for example, tables and plates are transformed into screens on which a cartoon ‘chef’ is projected sourcing each course, diving under the sea to catch your lobster, for example, and ‘tossing’ it on to your plate, moments before the waiter appears with the real thing.
Activities are equally varied. On the main stage we watch local flamenco dancers one night, a hypnotist putting 20 passengers in a simultaneous trance on another.
The ship’s definitely the thing on
Celebrity Reflection, the destinations almost secondary to on-board pleasures. On arrival in cities, admittedly during a heatwave, we need a push to leave the air-conditioned comforts and tackle serious sightseeing.
Our itinerary is a classic western Med hopscotch, starting in Civitavecchia, an hour’s transfer from Rome, then sailing north to Livorno, a huge commercial port where most passengers sign up for a trip to Florence, some with Pisa as an add-on.
Then to the south of France, to pretty pastel-coloured Villefranche. We shun the organised excursions and go DIY, catching the local bus to Nice. We spend our time in the oldest bit, a warren of mostly 17th- and 18th-century buildings wearing coats of apricot, salmon pink and faded turquoise. At its heart is the Cours Saleya, scene of a daily fruit, veg and flower market.
To Barcelona in Spain, our third country in three days. No sooner have we adjusted to a few buon giornos than we are into buenos dias with barely a nod to a bonjour. We spend the evening in Barcelona, heading for the Born area to see the beautiful Santa
Maria del Mar, the ‘sailors’ church’, and have tapas before returning to the ship.
There is a full day at sea before hitting The Rock. We walk along Gibraltar’s main street, checking out the shops, and ride the gondola for giant views and to see the Barbary apes.
We then backtrack to Málaga. Aside from its airport, this city is widely ignored by the thousands of Brits bound for resorts on the Costa del Sol. The old town is handsome, full of cafes and restaurants, a Picasso museum, a market you crave were a walk from home, an immense cathedral, a castle and a beach.
Málaga is a hard act to follow but the port of Cartagena does its best with its modernist architecture and archaeological sites. From there to Palma, Majorca, my final stop, although Celebrity Reflection will sail on back to Rome for the grand disembarkation. A 12-night Mediterranean cruise with Celebrity (celebritycruises.co.uk) costs from £2,289pp including flights departing 18 September 2019, but excluding drinks, bottled water, port shuttles, gratuities, wi-fi, excursions and speciality restaurants.