The Greek Islands
Celebrity Equinox Cruise Review to Europe
Sail date: November 16, 2012
Ship: Celebrity Equinox
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 10 years ago
Review summary
It was great to be back on the Equinox, kind of like being back home. The ship looked as good as she did the year before when I was on her. Traveling in Europe you do get a more international passenger mix. We were the only Americans at our dinner table of 10 and had great dinner companions, even went out to some or the clubs with them after dinner some nights.
The Greek Islands were fantastic to see, they are beautifull, good food, good local beer and nice people. I want to go back.
Since we traveled out of Los Angeles CA and knew that I will not get to Europe often we did a pre-cruise and post cruise week in Rome. I love Rome and the week was just not long enough to enjoy the sights, food, wine and people of Rome. We stayed in historic Rome in the military district just 2 blocks from a sub way stop, 1 block form a pizza place, 3 block forma market and lots of cafe's close by. We used the sub way mostly at the end of a day when to tired to walk back to the hotel. Shopping in Rome is also great, you can get clothing in Europe that you can not get here in the states (better style and better cut if your a slim guy).
If you are a nonsmoker you will be surprised at how much smoking is done in Italy. Even our driver smoked .
From Rome you can take a train to the port. We chose to take a car service since we packed for a month long trip to much luggage to haul on and off a train. The drive takes over an hour and our driver was going fast after we got out of the city. The drive is nice to see the country and the farms and hills.
The ship is clean and well maintained. she has a good lay out and is easy to find your way around. The food in the MDR was good to great every night. This is a modern, elegant, bright ship with clean crisp decor, not an old world ship full of dark wood work. The itinerary had great stops but I do wish it had an extra sea day put in to relax between visiting all the ports. We only had one sea day out of a 10 night cruise.
The cabin was a large balcony cabin with lots of storage space in the closet and the bins above the bed. The Bathroom has a lot of storage and is very nice size for a ship. The sliding door to the balcony can be locked with it left open a bit so you can hear the waves at night. What better way to fall asleep then hearing the waves on the ship?
Service was typical Celebrity, very polite, professional yet a bit stuffy service. The room steward keep the room spotless and changed the towels every day if they had been used (not just when we left them on the floor) The ice bucket was always full and he put out an extra blanket for me each night that had been put away during the day.
Celebrity has good guest lecturers on board. This time we had talks about famous ships in history. Last trip we had a history of the rise and fall of the German U-boats during WWII by a veteran British Commander.
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IF you go the the Greek Islands at the end of the season it is no where as packed so it is more relaxing, easy to get a table at a restaurant and a lot of the stores are making things down. If you go to see the glass blowing show on the ship get there early to get a seat.