The Equinox is a nice ship, though the decor in the staterooms is a bit dated. The common areas such as the Sky Lounge and the Retreat Lounge have been updated to a more modern decor. This sailing from Lisbon to Barcelona offered a great itinerary with interesting ports. There were a lot of excursion options to choose from, and in fact, I wished we had longer times or overnights in some ports so we could have visited more than one inland city.The food in the Luminae was excellent, and the entertainment was very good. .
Embarkation
5 out of 5
No issues, very efficient
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We dined in the Luminae Restaurant for suite guests. Food was interesting and tasty, and service was fabulous.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
We did not do many of the activities as our schedule was pretty full with only two sea days. We did go to the casino, did some dancing, and went to all the evening shows however.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The ship’s production team was very good and there was a variety of other entertainers.
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Room steward wasn’t as good as in the past cruises. Our butler served on a team servicing 44 cabins, so we didn’t see him much, but we hear Celebrity is going back to the dedicated butler format from before.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was clean and there was new carpeting in many common areas as it had just gotten out of dry dock.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Great size, clean and comfortable. There were some minor issues with maintenance—the drain in bathroom sink did not work properly, nor did the drain in the tub. Decor was very dated and due for an update.
Ship tip
Be careful—many people got sick, and many had COVID By the end of the cruise. We started wearing masks on the tour buses and in the theaters.
We did the Oporto City and River Cruise. We didn’t see a lot of Porto other than just driving through on the way to the port wine cellar. We had an interesting port wine cellar tour and tasting, and took a boat tour down the Douro River. The content of the tour was good, but our guide was just average.
Out of Cadiz, we did not visit Seville but opted for the Jerez tour which included a sherry cellar tour and a visit to see the famous Andalusian horses. We were somewhat disappointed that we didn’t get to see them perform. We thought there would be a rehearsal performance of sorts, but only a few were practicing maneuvers in the arena.
We took a third party excursion to the Alhambra as Celebrity’s Granada tours were of the city only and did not include entrance to the Alhambra. We booked way in advance as tickets to the Alhambra get sold out. Unfortunately, the ship docked a bit late and we were on a tight timetable with our tour. We didn’t get to see anything else in Granada or Malaga other than a drive-through of Malaga on the way out.
We took a tour in Valencia called Valencia and San Jose Caves Exploration. We were pleasantly surprised that it included short walking tours in both the new, modern area of Valencia and the old town near the cathedral. We did not go into the cathedral due to time constraints but we got a taste of Valencia as well as the caves, which were interesting.
We’re considering a 9 night cruise round trip from Barcelona to Portugal with a similar itinerary. Thanks for the information. It sounds like a great trip.
ThaisP, as for the Tangier Excursion, we did the ship tour called Destination Highlight:Tangier and Tetouan. Our guide was terrific—he was energetic, knowledgeable, and rather funny, and gave us lots of interesting information. Instead of free time in the markets, he offered to show us around, and we all wanted to stick with him as the market streets were very convoluted and it would have been easy to get lost. A traditional meal was included. He did comment tHat the souvenirs in the markets were all likely imported from China, so he took us to a place with Moroccan crafts and carpets (a la typical excursion stop to bring in business for their preferred stores). It wasn’t the type of stuff we were interested in but it didn’t take too long. I can’t speak for the other Tangier tours, but we were very happy with this one.
I am doing almost the same cruise, but in reverse order, later this year, glad to know the positive aspects! I read previous reviews complaining about Tangier and the excursion (which is the only port where I plan to do excursion), so was a bit worried.
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