Celebrity Equinox Sept. 7 cruise review with photos - hopefully!!

[Hooked!]

Thank you for taking the time to share! Lovely photos.

[Rosethorn40]

It was only $236 per person to upgrade and all four of us were given the option when we checked in. It's a gamble though because we all tried on the return flight even at the airport and business class was completely sold out.

 

THAT is a great deal! Wow! We were given the opportunity to upgrade to business class when we flew from Dulles to Brussels on Brussels Air & if I remember correctly they wanted $750 pp, & I thought that was a fair offer. I tried to get them down to $550 pp, but the countered with $650 & would not budge. In the end we stayed with our bulkhead seats as they gave us the leg room needed, but we could save the $1300 for spending on the trip.

[searoses]

Thank you for answering my question about upgrading....your pictures are just beautiful!

[MsB1254]

THAT is a great deal! Wow! We were given the opportunity to upgrade to business class when we flew from Dulles to Brussels on Brussels Air & if I remember correctly they wanted $750 pp, & I thought that was a fair offer. I tried to get them down to $550 pp, but the countered with $650 & would not budge. In the end we stayed with our bulkhead seats as they gave us the leg room needed, but we could save the $1300 for spending on the trip.

 

We all thought it was a great deal too. It started out at $400 per person and I thought that was awesome but ended up at $236 per person for the four of us. I just don't think it probably happens that way very often - we just lucked out.

[riclop]

Thanks for sharing your pictures and review.

[etsdas]

Thanks for the beautiful photos and informative commentary. We are doing the B2B Oct. 15 and 27 - especially interested in news about the ship. In particular - what enrichment programs were there?

[MsB1254]

Thanks for the beautiful photos and informative commentary. We are doing the B2B Oct. 15 and 27 - especially interested in news about the ship. In particular - what enrichment programs were there?

 

I'm sorry but I just don't know. This trip the focus was on the ports for me - we had long tour days. For me it was just enjoying a nice dinner and then a short time in the casino or walking around the deck and then bed sweet bed and up bright and early.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review- Great photos!!

[villauk]

We disembarked as you embarked on the 7th. Thanks for the review and glad to hear you had a wonderful cruise. Up to now, your itinerary is in reverse of ours, so I feel like I'm going back in time :D.

[LuckiePuris]

Loving the review and photos!!

[MsB1254]

I guess you can tell that this was the first European cruise for all of us and I felt more comfortable with private tours then trying to do it myself the Rick Steves way. Maybe next time! Ok, I was a little nervous before the trip because I had read about pickpockets in the various cities. We all went prepared with waist wallets, around the neck pouches and my pac safe purse. I am happy to report that we did not encounter any problems. Of course, we all made photocopies of our passports and e-mailed them to ourselves and gave each other copies just in case but happily we did not need to use them.

 

Since we all arrived in Barcelona and had no luggage we learned a few valuable lessons. For me, I will never travel again without at least one change of clothing in my carry on bag. Some of our bags arrived late on Saturday we day we arrived. Neither of my two bags arrived and after reaching Air France on the phone was told they may still be at the airport. So around 10:00 p.m. we called a taxi and went back to the airport to see if we could recover my bags. We immediately ran into trouble trying to get back in the secure area where the bags arrive and the lost luggage desk. A very unhelpful security guard demanded to see our original boarding passes which were of course back at the hotel. We finally found an information booth and were told to go back and demand to speak to a supervisor and show them our lost luggage receipts. The time is now midnight and we were totally exhausted from very little sleep the night before on the plane. Finally, the security agent let us to into the area. After some time in line were were able to speak with a very helpful agent who was able to find one of my bags. Sweet relief that I would now be able to shower and change into clean clothes. This was the first time ever that I had actually packed half of everything in each bag and I will always do this in the future as I now felt that I could survive the cruise if I didn't receive the second bag.

 

We exited the airport and found a cab but this is where the real fun was about to begin we just didn't know it yet. We showed the cab driver the address of our hotel and he spoke english so we thought all was good. After we neared the Las Ramblas the driver refused to take us to the hotel and instead dropped us off at the main square of the Las Ramblas and pointed in the direction we should walk. I must have been brain dead and exhausted because we got out suitcase in tow. After at least a 1/2 mile walk at 1:00 a.m. at night and calls back to the hotel for directions we arrived safety. Very scary to me me not knowing where we were going in a strange city at night. Yikes - thank heavens I had switched on the international calling on my Verizon account. I like to stay in touch with family while I'm gone and it was very handy numerous times.

[MsB1254]

Today we booked a full day tour with Rome in Limo and a driver. The first two days in Marseille & Villefrance, France we booked the tour with licensed tour guides who drove their own vehicles. That means they could tour the sites with us and give us the history at each place. When you contract with some companies the driver is not a licensed guide and can still provide you with history and information in the vehicle but they just let you explore the different sites by yourself as they can not accompany you. Our driver for today was Elizabeth and we enjoyed the day spent with her. We went first to the Leaning Tower of Pisa as this was of particular interest to Betsy and on her bucket list.

 

The view of the port

 

Explorer of the Seas docking next to us.

 

Our driver Elizabeth waiting patiently for us in the van.

 

 

Betsy & Bob in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

[MsB1254]

 

 

 

 

views overlooking the city

 

 

[MsB1254]

Another view of the city

 

 

We had ordered on line tickets to visit the Accademia at 2:30 p.m. and our driver showed us where to pay for the tickets and where to wait in a short line to enter.

 

Michelangelo's David was the main attraction - very impressive to see the actual work of art

 

A few more from the Accademia

 

 

 

 

the beautiful ceiling

[MsB1254]

Very interesting to walk across a bridge with shops selling gold and jewelry on either side.

 

 

Our lunch spot for the day -

 

 

 

view from our table

 

and gelato a short while later

[MsB1254]

street performers

 

 

the street outside the restaurant

 

[MsB1254]

just loved the architecture

 

 

 

 

 

Bob & Lynne - brother and sister sharing a moment of rest

[BuzzA]

Your photos are AMAZING! Thanks for sharing your trip report.

[MsB1254]

Thanks for all the encouragement!

[gillsjottings]

So enjoying your review. Thank for sharing :)

[MsB1254]

So enjoying your review. Thank for sharing :)

 

Thank you. I clicked on your travel blog link and really enjoyed reading it and looking at all your wonderful photos!

[MsB1254]

We booked another full day tour with Joe Banana Limos and included a driver and not a licensed tour guide. The driver was informative and gave us all the information we need and directed us what to do and where to go at each of the sites we visited. Our first stop was Vatican City & St. Peter's Basilica.

 

 

 

 

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

 

 

 

[MsB1254]

 

Bob & Betsy

 

Wayne & Lynne

 

Looks like rain but remained dry

 

Narrow streets

 

We saw the Trevi Fountain but it was covered in scaffolding and enclosed by a fence so was not really worth taking any photos.

[MsB1254]

Us in front of the Colosseum

 

area by the Colosseum

 

 

[MsB1254]

Another wonderful lunch suggested by our driver of antipasto, two different types of pasta and pizza including red and white local wines.

 

 

Views of Piazza Navona

 

 

a street performer