Great 11-night Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Equinox
Celebrity Equinox Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 25
11 Night Best Of Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 31, 2024
Ship: Celebrity Equinox
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 1566
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 1 month ago
Review summary
I think all my comments above give you an good idea of our cruise....we had a great time but there is room for improvement.Embarkation
Embarkation went smoothly with no hiccups since we had completed check in online. After check in we went directly to our room and were glad to see that our luggage was already there. We were able to get unpacked and settled before heading out to look around the ship and going to dinner.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We always look so forward to the breakfast at the Blu Restaurant, however, we noticed a big decline in the quality of breakfast drinks at the Blu restaurant. Breakfast drinks are a 1 to 2 star. We've been on this ship three times in Aqua class. The coffee in the past was always so good, rich and flavorful. This time it was weak like what you would get at the Oceanview Cafe. I had to make a trip each morning to Cafe de Bacio to get a decent cup of coffee...Very inconvenient. We also noticed the strawberry and blueberry smoothies we really enjoyed in the past now taste terrible. They taste chalky like they came from a powder mix. We had one or two swallows and could not finish and were disappointed in the quality and the change to the cheap ingredients. My fresh squeezed grapefruit juice I always enjoyed in the past was also not the same as I could tell it was watered down. In the past the fresh squeezed drinks would be offered to you everyday with someone walking around. This time we had to make a special request as it was not offered. We paid extra to have these better beverages and we all were disappointed as we did not get what we paid for. My husband and I and his brother and wife we traveled with are not happy we paid extra for something we did not receive and in the future will reconsider our options. The food in the Blu Restaurant was very good, similar to our past cruises on the Equinox....I would rate the food a 4 to 5 star. The evening drinks we ordered were great so I would rate that a 4 to 5 star. If we noticed something not quite right with the evening drinks, the sommelier would apologize and get us another drink. We ate our lunches and a few breakfasts in the Oceanview Cafe and I thought the food quality was pretty good....I would have liked nicer, flakier, thicker fried fish for the UK day...most of the fish was breading.
Onboard Activities
We enjoyed the archery, curling, pickleball, putting and ping pong activities on the ship. The pickleball court was extremely windy every time I played there. If there is a way to either make that an indoor court that would be fantastic or at least figure a way to block the wind from swirling at the front of the ship. Also I think that court area could have 2 pickleball courts instead of 1 if the lines are redrawn which would allow more players to play. The organizer of the pickleball tournaments did an excellent job and it was fun except for the constant wind. We also played in the putting competition this cruise and it was fun except there were about 30-40 people playing on one tiny artificial putting set. I think if Celebrity purchased some additional artificial putting sets it would make the putting competition a lot more fun and competitive. Better yet they could change out the section of natural putting grass which is way too long to putt on with an artificial grass and create a nice putt putt course on each side at the rear of the ship. Maybe build something like Tiger Woods Popstroke. I played in the ping pong tournament and the organizer only had us play 1 game even though there were only 4 people playing. Most ping pong tournaments typically have players play best 2 out of 3 games to determine who moves on. For archery and curling it would be nice if those could be set up in an area where they are available to play any time or at least when a staff member is present. Also, I think it would be wonderful if you could set up a golf simulator machine, a jet simulator machine, and racing simulator machines somewhere on the ship. Those are fun ways to pass the time. The Persian garden was relaxing after a long excursion...unfortunately on the last day they chose to use that time to sanitize the area and I was unable to enjoy some relaxation there. It would be nice if they waited until we are asleep to do the sanitizing treatment.
Entertainment
There seems to be 1 or 2 headliners on each cruise we have had with Celebrity where I have noticed a large portion of the audience walk out during the performance. This past cruise we and several passengers walked out of Rietta Austin's singing performance. Also, the Celebrity entertainers who perform the Broadway plays are outstanding but we are tired of seeing the same plays (Topper, Elysium, Life, etc) over and over again on the Equinox. Please have Celebrity bring in some new exciting plays currently on Broadway like Wicked!! On our last cruise we and all passengers really enjoyed the singing from the quartet Kings of Soul singing group on our last cruise to the Southern Caribbean. We would really like if Celebrity could bring this group back as regulars. On this cruise we really enjoyed Lou Gazzara who had a magnificent voice and polished performance. The Queens of Rhythm, comedian Leo Flowers, pianist Tian Jiang, and illusionist Matt McGurk also gave us wonderful performances. The bands playing in the main area and Sky lounge did a good job. For classic groups such as the Beatles, Eagles, Rolling Stones, etc. songs it would be nice to have a more polished all male tribute band performing their songs. The female lead singer did a great job singing many songs but some of the songs she sang from these classic groups were a little off key and low energy.
Service and Staff
We enjoyed the wonderful staff at Blu restaurant. The staff remembered our name/room # and our favorite place to sit. Oktarina is so welcoming, sweet and always a beautiful smile, Menino is very personable and accommodating, Diamond would remember our favorite drinks and knowledgeable, efficient Robert and our wonderful waitress Ayu (not sure on spelling/has braces) are a great, warm and friendly team checking in on our day with top notch service and accommodating us if we needed quick service to make it to our excursions or nightly entertainment. Also had great service with all the staff at Cafe de Bacio...the cappuccinos there are the best! Joel who took care of our room was very prompt with any requests we had. All the staff in the photo area were so nice and helpful...very thankful also for their help with the internet. Enjoyed Drew the entertainment director...great energy. Appreciated all the staff who were working hard to keep high traffic areas clean and sanitized. The ship was clean including the restrooms.
Ship Quality
The ship was well designed and easy to get around. The bathrooms in the staterooms are small but efficiently designed. The common areas thorough out the ship was always clean and well maintained. On this cruise however my wife noticed a constant musty smell in our room and she brought lavender spray to mask the smell but that did not help at all with the terrible musty smell we had every day in our room. Our room did not have a magnify mirror for the ladies to put on makeup. Most of your clientele are seniors and we would appreciate this to help with our eye sight.
Cabin / Stateroom
The size of the Aquaclass cabin is satisfactory but it would be nice to have the infinite balcony like newer ships and update the flooring, walls, and pictures. We have been on the Equinox 3 times and it would be nice for an update to the Aquaclass rooms. . The bathrooms in the staterooms are small but efficiently designed. We thought the bed was lumpy and slightly uncomfortable. My wife noticed a constant musty smell in our room and she brought lavender spray to mask the smell but that did not help at all with the terrible musty smell we had every day in our room. Even having the linens changed out did not help. Our room did not have a magnify mirror for the ladies to put on makeup. Most of your clientele are seniors and we would appreciate this to help with our eye sight. Joel, our steward, kept our room clean and tidy.
Ship tip
If you are a coffee lover go to the Cafe de Bacio to get the best coffee drinks! Eat at the Blu early to get a prime spot...the staff should remember you and will seat you at your spot each night. Get to the shows at least 10 min before they start to get a good spot.
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Ports of call
Before and after the cruise we stayed a day in Barcelona and spent the day site seeing at the La Boqueria, Barcelona Cathedral, and the famous Sagrada Familia which we had reserved tickets for in advance...at least a month in advance. We had a guided tour of the Sagrada Familia and then went up the Passion tower to see the city and amazing handywork close up. We wanted to see the La Pedrera and Park Guell but ran out of time. We ended the day viewing the city from our Kimpton Vividora hotel rooftop in the heart of Barcelona...a very nice 5 star hotel with a great and accommodating staff.
Valencia, Spain Did not visit port
We went to Palma de Mollorca instead of Valencia. Originally we were supposed to stop at Valencia, Spain but due to torrential flooding there, they diverted to this island. The cruise did not have any excursions planned so they shuttled everyone into town. However, after spending a few hours their they began shutting down the hop on/hop off buses and restaurants to prepare for the bad weather.
On our second port we had an excursion to see the old town of Marbella and the luxury marina and shopping at Puerto Banus. Both were nice but we didn't spend a lot of time at each spot because the bus ride to the ship was about an hour each way.
On our third port we had an excursion by taxi to see the Rock of Gibraltar and Saint Michaels Cave. The road up to the cave was narrow and a little scary. The cave was lit up with different colors which made it come alive. On the way down we stopped to take a few pictures with the monkeys who are common there. Fortunately they have an area where they feed the monkeys so they were tame towards tourists. At the end of our tour we explored the main shopping and restaurant area of Gibraltar and had Fish and Chips from Roy’s.
On our forth port we had an excursion to see sites in the city. They took us to the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari which was fascinating with all the ancient artifacts. You really need several hours to see everything but we just had about an hour tour. From there we walked through some of the streets and ended up at the Cagliari Cathedral which was stunning. We continued walking to a open plaza overlooking the town of Cagliari.
On our fifth port we had an guided tour to the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii which was buried by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The city was buried with 4-6 meters of pumice and volcanic ash. The excavation began in 1738 and as of today about two-thirds of Pompeii has been excavated. From Pompeii we headed to the town of Sorrento where we enjoyed a delicious Italian pizza and browsed around the city. On our way back to the ship we stopped at the Limoncello DICAPRI factory for a quick tour, shopping, and a demonstration of how mozzarella is made with some yummy samples.On our fifth port we had an guided tour to the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii which was buried by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The city was buried with 4-6 meters of pumice and volcanic ash. The excavation began in 1738 and as of today about two-thirds of Pompeii has been excavated. From Pompeii we headed to the town of Sorrento where we enjoyed a delicious Italian pizza and browsed around the city. On our way back to the ship we stopped at the Limoncello DICAPRI factory for a quick tour, shopping, and a demonstration of how mozzarella is made with some yummy samples.
On our sixth port we had a private guided tour by an archaeologist in Rome. It takes about an hour and a half to get from the cruise port in Civitavecchia to the sites in Rome so our tour started as soon as the ship docked and opened the gangway. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about all the sites we saw in Rome which included the Pantheon, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and the Colosseum. This was a great way to see Rome in a day but pricy...for 4 people it was 2200 Euros.
On our seventh port we had a guided tour to these three picturesque coastal towns in Italy. After a short walking tour in each town we were given time to explore the shops and restaurants in the cities. This was probably my favorite excursion besides seeing Rome. The sea side was so beautiful and picturesque.
On our last port we had a guided tour through the parts of the city of AIX-en-Provence with some time to explore and shop afterwards. From AIX we headed back to the Marseille marina where we enjoyed lunch (burger and real FRENCH fry's) looking over the marina. After lunch we drove by bus around the coast of Marseille and went up to the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde on the hilltop. That was quite a drive for a bus to go through those narrow steep streets but our tour guide said our bus driver was the best tour driver and he proved it.
Disembarkation
Our disembarkation went as smoothly as embarkation....luggage was waiting for us when we got off the ship and we headed out to the taxi line to get a taxi back to the Kimpton Vividora hotel. We needed a large taxi which they were able to accommodate for us.