Part 4

We had originally booked this cruise on the Celebrity Equinox the year before COVID to take place in the Fall of 2020. Of course, that cruise was cancelled, so we waited until the same itinerary was available – finally in 2025. I liked the itinerary because it included places in Italy that we had not seen, including Portofino (the goal of the cruise), plus it wasn’t a round-trip cruise – it ended in Barcelona, Spain. The other 2 ports were in France, so it was a great opportunity to see the Rivieras of 2 countries. We had sailed on this ship (in the same stateroom!) in 2023 and really liked the smaller size.

Since we’d been on it before, I didn’t take any pictures of the ship, but you can see some great ones on the website.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/cruise-ships/celebrity-equinox

We got to the port of Civitavecchia in good time for our noon boarding reservation. That meant we were there in time for the Concierge Class lunch, which is much better than anything offered on the ship during embarkation day. We got a chance to test drive our Premium Drinks packages, our bags arrived at our rooms in good time, and off we went to sail the Mediterranean Sea. Early on, we discovered our favourite wines by the glass – both from California, whose wines we really miss in Ontario. Most of the time, we ordered either the Cabernet, Silver Ghost (that we called “The Ghost”), or the La Crema Chardonnay -both were delicious, as was the Whispering Angel Rosé.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/things-to-do-onboard/staterooms/concierge-class-stateroom (The Equinox is a Solstice Class ship)

Our staterooms were Concierge Class veranda staterooms, aft facing (i.e, at the back of the ship). Steve and I really like this location as it’s always quiet and when you sit on the balcony, you’re always looking at where you’ve been, and at the wake of the ship. When you’re in port, the view is usually good too. Our favourite bar (the Martini Bar) is also at the aft, so you take the same bank of elevators to get there. Here’s a photo from our previous cruise on the Equinox, where you can see the aft-facing balconies.

The ship is a little tired looking, but still clean. During our stay, we all commented that it appeared to be a staff training cruise – there weren’t enough staff – bartenders, waiters, sommeliers and orders often came to us wrong, resulting in having to send food back – especially steaks. So that was a disappointment. Their approach to food allergies was substandard – ingredients were omitted on menus, causing food orders to have to be changed multiple times – we often had to repeat allergies at multiple restaurants instead of having them centrally recorded as on previous Celebrity cruises.

We had booked a package for 5 dinners in Specialty Restaurants, so we made those reservations on the first day as we knew from experience that they fill up fast. We had a good experience in Sushi on 5 and 4 dinners at Tuscan Grille (Italian), even though the steak had to be sent back there too. We were embarrassed for the couple we brought as it gave them a bad first impression of Celebrity. As I’ve read in other reviews, the bar service was really slow, but we made the best of it (lol) and had a relaxing time. One of the best parts was learning that our traveling companions also liked to play Euchre, so we made lots of use of the Card Room – and made sure we had cocktails there too!

Unfortunately, during the sail, we really noticed that Steve’s cough (that he started in Santorini) was not about to subside. (and didn’t until after Christmas) He made 2 trips to the ship’s doctor and got medications both times, that helped a little, but really, nothing helps but time when he gets this. (we think he caught whatever it was on the flight to Athens) This was the first time we’d used this service, and I will tell you that getting reimbursement takes forever. You have to claim first through OHIP, and we have yet to hear back from them. Then we’ll go through our travel insurance for the rest, but you have to prove that you’ve gone through your government program first.

We skipped a lot of the shows, although the illusionist, Matt McGurk, was really good. On some days, the weather was nice enough (even in early November) for me to get into the pool, and lie out on the sundeck, which was great. My friend Don liked the hot tub too. It was really nice to be outside near the pool during a time of year when it’s not crowded. There is also a pool in an area called the Solarium where the pool is heated and the area is covered, for days when the weather isn’t good. It’s also near one of the best restaurants, the Spa Café, where you can get smoothies and salads.

I’m taking a week off from this page next week, as we’ll just have boarded another Celebrity ship! (Celebrity Ascent)

I’ll come back the week of February 9th to talk about our shore excursions along the Mediterranean. (even though we’ll be sailing the Caribbean)

We booked all of them through Celebrity (with the exception of the day in Florence) and were really pleased with the service and the quality.

Where do you plan to go in 2026 and 2027? (I’m looking at 2028 cruises too!)

May I help you?

Happy Travels!

lrobertson@travelonly.com

lrobertson@mywayholiday.com

#celebritycruises

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/