Just off the Equinox, great Cruise in the Med

Submiited the following review but wanted to add a couple of points as it can't be changed after submission. Although I was less than impressed with the desserts in the MDR I could have gone to the Cafe where they had an array of nice cakes. The second point is, I went to Future Cruise "sales" and the cost was very high. This didn't surprise me, the same occurred on previous cruises. I was able to get at least a third off months later when I booked with a major on - line travel agency. So, my advise would be, bide your time, check from time to time and chances are you are going to come up with a deal.

The Crew made the difference on this Cruise. Hazel, August and Sundep in the MDR were terrific. This 13 night Cruise out of Athens was a blast. Sister and brother in law from the U.K. flew in and joined us and made it a fun time. The Equinox was in great shape, the Crew do a really good job in keeping it imaculate. Kudos to Antonio our room attendant, fine job! We were very happy with our Balcony Cabin on eight. We had the Classic package and were pleased with the quality of the wine and other beverages that we had copious amounts of. The food on the whole was very good but they could do with a better selection of desserts at the Lunch Buffet and they should have rolls in the bread baskets at dinner. Minor points to be sure but it was noticed. Service in the Bars was very good over all. We enjoyed the Tenors of Rock. The Comedian and a couple of others. Not so taken with the Production shows but my wife liked them. Different strokes for different folks. We are do it ourselves type of people regarding Tours. We don't want to spend 8 hours in blistering heat with a bus load of folks paying 100 Euros for that dubious privilage. Instead, for example, we took the local bus from Dubrovnik to Cavtat. I didn't realize we were going along half way up the mountains with a huge drop below. We took a boat back. We took the free Celebrity Shuttle to the local bus to the Train from Liverno to Florence return. In Ville Franche we took the Train to Monaco in the morning and to Nice in the afternoon. A lot of walking for us Seniors but it helped off set the food and booze intake on the Ship. We had a really good time on the Equinox in the Med.

I agree with your feelings on the deserts in the MDR, would rather to scavenge the Oceanview.

As far as Future Cruise Sales, we book on board, get the extra OBC,then transfer to TA for a better group rate.

OP you get to spend 13 days sailing the Mediterranean and all that you can think of is rolls and desserts ? Oh the suffering humanity !!!

BTW if you want rolls ask the waiter and he\she will get them for you and every night after that he\she will get them for you without you having to ask. BTW reward him\her for the extra service.

And I can't agree with you on the desserts, just MHO.

BUT i am glad you enjoyed your cruise overall.

It was the Ocean View I meant regarding the desserts, not the MDR. The latter for the most part of just fine.

I was comparing the lunch dessert offerings on this cruise to our previous one on the Eclipse earlier in the year. Other than the little cakes there was just bread pudding every single day. I got tired of it after a week. When one spends thousands flying to Europe and picking up a Cruise the expectation was for more than bread pudding. It was just a minor complaint in an overall positive review. I do realize there are some on the boards that will put one down for the slightest negative comment. Perhaps they have been on Celebrity for many years and have a sense of ownership.

Love the scones and oatmeal cookies at 4 pm in the Oceanview! Not crazy about most of the Other deserts either but not such a bad thing to cut down on the sweets.;)

And your thoughts on the GastroBar? :D

Love the scones and oatmeal cookies at 4 pm in the Oceanview! Not crazy about most of the Other deserts either but not such a bad thing to cut down on the sweets.;)

Fully agree with all your points. I did have the scones, strawberry jam and cream one afternoon. Very good but once was enough as there was a serious concern my clothes would not fit if I indulged further.

And your thoughts on the GastroBar? :D

Looked nice but thought that was a location for Premium package, no? We had the Classic and I was happy with the Chivas Regal Scotch, I like it as much as some of the single malts on the Premium. My wife enjoyed the Merlot. We are not into more exotic drinks. We had pre dinner drinks in the Ensemble and the Passport Bar got a lot of our "business" before and in some cases after the Shows.

I am a bread pudding lover, along with my DH. That's why we work out in the gym...that being said, I fully endorse the needs of others to have a variety of desserts!

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Fully agree with all your points. I did have the scones, strawberry jam and cream one afternoon. Very good but once was enough as there was a serious concern my clothes would not fit if I indulged further.

Note to self - schedule more time in the gym. :D Because I definitely want to indulge in bread pudding and scones.

Come on though, what about the ice cream??? Generally and its always a matter of personal choice, the ice cream in Oceanview is very good, at times, flavour depending, its very very good.

Barring that the soft serve is delicious! ;)

We were also on this cruise and could not agree with you more on the crew just being terrific and a pleasure to be around, especially for 13 days!! Ship was also in great shape!!!

We thought the food was very good in the MDR, we headed to the Café for yummy desserts.....MDR staff was excellent and so accomodating..we had a Classic Package and found it to be more than adequate. We used Select Dining option and never waited for a table for 4.

Our balcony cabin was spacious and Jose and Devan kept it perfect!!

We did not use any of the ship's excursions. We booked several from other sources and each one was great. Tendering in Nice was a bit disorganized but they seemed to add more tenders as the line was backed up.

Just a final thought on ports....we found Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus) was amazing. It saddens me to think that this port might be dropped in the future and visitors will miss this most historical place. We never felt unsafe and the people were just so happy to share their history and culture.

We returned to the states tired but happy to met some really lovely people from all over the world....

Come on though, what about the ice cream??? Generally and its always a matter of personal choice, the ice cream in Oceanview is very good, at times, flavour depending, its very very good.

 

Barring that the soft serve is delicious! ;)

My wife would second what you say. Not a big fan myself. On the last full day in Barcelona they had a whole section with different cakes. Perhaps they wanted to leave that memory in ones mind.

We were also on this cruise and could not agree with you more on the crew just being terrific and a pleasure to be around, especially for 13 days!! Ship was also in great shape!!!

We thought the food was very good in the MDR, we headed to the Café for yummy desserts.....MDR staff was excellent and so accomodating..we had a Classic Package and found it to be more than adequate. We used Select Dining option and never waited for a table for 4.

Our balcony cabin was spacious and Jose and Devan kept it perfect!!

We did not use any of the ship's excursions. We booked several from other sources and each one was great. Tendering in Nice was a bit disorganized but they seemed to add more tenders as the line was backed up.

Just a final thought on ports....we found Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus) was amazing. It saddens me to think that this port might be dropped in the future and visitors will miss this most historical place. We never felt unsafe and the people were just so happy to share their history and culture.

We returned to the states tired but happy to met some really lovely people from all over the world....

We also had Select and on night three we found the perfect Wait Staff. We commited to go around 7 pm each night so as to get in their area. They made a real difference towards our enjoyment of the Cruise. The folks at the tables close by were very pleasant too.

Glad you enjoyed your Med cruise on the Equinox.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the review.