Summary thoughts on the Equinox

The Celebrity Equinox is the second in their latest class of ships. It is an interesting attempt.

Highlights include:

• New buffet design that eliminates trays and cafeteria lines to get your food. This worked really well.
• Hot glass show. I really didn't think this would be a big deal but I enjoyed it immensely. This was a highlight of the entire cruise for me.
• Good sized shower in the cabins.
• Free video on demand in the room was fabulous for me with my broken toe. I watched a ton of movies.
  

Lowlights include:

• New bed design that is curved such that one foot hangs over the edge. Very silly design.
• Life boats block the view on the promenade deck turning it into a waste of outdoor space.
• Big steel bar in the buffet window design that blocks your view of the coastline outside while eating.
• Limited access to the railings. Just about everywhere the railings are lined with deck chairs facing in.
  

The whole ship reminded me of a Las Vegas Casino where they want to focus your attention inwards so your spending money and not out enjoying the outdoors.

However, in summary I really enjoyed the cruise! The staff was terrific! Another plus was that Celebrity accommodated my gluten free diet really well. I could tell the corporation had really done what it could to support a safe eating experience. The only problems I had were with individual service personal (my dining room waiter and the dinner room service person) who seemed to think it was more trouble than it was worth to have gluten free diners so seemed to do their best to encourage us to make use of a dining venue that didn't include their having to bother with us. However the staff in the Bistro were fabulous and made us feel welcome every time. Same with the staff in the buffet. They never had a problem calling to see if an item was gluten free or getting an item with out the sauce if the sauce had gluten in it. Also whenever we spoke to the head waiters in the dining room we had great response. In addition the front desk personnel were excellent as well as our room stewards so overall we give the service a very high rating.

Fort Lauderdale Land and Sea tour

I had booked an afternoon flight in case our docking was delayed by coast guard inspections or immigration. As a result I was able to book the Celebrity Fort Lauderdale Land and Sea tour. After debarking, getting my bags and boarding the bus we started the bus portion of our tour. It was probably cut a little short because some of the folks had trouble finding their bags (we eventually left without 3 of them but I think the tour company caught them up to us at some point or took them to the airport).

The day was beautiful! Sun was shining and temperature was pleasant. We saw the beautiful Fort Lauderdale beach. Next time I come for a cruise I'm staying on the beach! We saw a few more city sights and then boarded our boat tour.
The boat tour guide was great but the sights we saw were obnoxious displays of wealth.

It's not that the homes were so much over the top, more that the current cost of them was unbelievable.

It was kind of sickening. However, the history of the area was interesting. The homes were built on water canals. Most homes had boats (or yachts).

Some of the yachts were really enormous.


I loved seeing the giant iguanas in the yards.


This home was supposed to be in the TV show Miami Vice.


The boat on the right is all wrapped up and being delivered to its owner. Wouldn't want to scratch the paint job.

We then pulled out into the area where the cruise ships are.


When we were on the Equinox the Oasis looked big but you couldn't really tell how big until you saw the ends of the ships side by side. On the left is the Celebrity Equinox. In the middle is the Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas. On the right is the brand new Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. It was huge!

It has an atrium down the center so they can have more cabins with balconies. It is sort of like two cruise ships glued together.

After a very enjoyable tour we boarded our bus and headed to the airport.

Fort Lauderdale

Sadly all good cruises must come to an end and ours ended in Fort Lauderdale. Pic. 1 is a view of the port area.

We pulled into port with the gigantic Oasis of the Seas in view. But before I got my side view pic. the Enchantment of the seas pulled in between us.



Pic. 2 is a view of the city.

Lazy days at sea

The lazy days at sea during a transatlantic are perfect for doing such things as exploring the ship and finding areas I had never been to before. Pic. 1 is of the helicopter pad at the front of the ship. Pics 2 and 3 are of a rainbow that appeared off the starboard side just before dinner.

Hot glass show

I returned to the hot glass show to see some more pieces being made. Every day they are showing different techniques so it is fascinating.

Crepes restaurant

A gluten free breakfast crepe with eggs, potatoes and a side of fruit.


Me at dinner.


A gluten free dinner crepe.


A gluten free desert crepe.

The crepes restaurant is getting alot of business from us because of the delicious gluten free crepes!

Equinox show - the second time

Again the Equinox show was excellent.

Afterward our stateroom attendant treated us to a towel bunny.

Transatlantic - 6 days at sea

The six days at sea during the transatlantic is giving us time to explore the ship after the port intensive itineraries we have had.

Some things of interest have been:

Gambling: We used our free gambling coupons and then put a little more in to thank Celebrity for having a non-smoking casino. We also participated in the free pre-loaded slot machines time when they turn the machines on with some credit pre-loaded and everyone can play until all the credit it is gone. It was lots of fun! Of course we put our winnings back into the machine but it was all for entertainment anyways.

I attended one of the talks which wasn't too good but then saw one on TV that was a little better. As a result I'll be attending one today to check it out.

We get free video on demand movies in our rooms. Some of them have been very good. It is a nice feature.

I went to the free spa sampler and got a 5 min. hot stone massage sample. Not worth paying for but fun. I don't think I will be using the spa on this cruise. The spa staff is a bit snippy. However I have used the weight machines in the gym a few times and they are really nice.

We've been sampling the different dining venues. Including the spa cafe where everything is super healthy and pretty tasteless. However, they do have some fruit infusions which are quite good.

We also sampled the gluten free crepes which were excellent (pic. 1). I didn't know they could make gluten free crepes otherwise I would have tried this option earlier. We stumbled across it while wandering the ship last night and a helpful server checked to see if they could make them gluten free and they could. We also discovered that they had one desert at the coffee bar that was gluten free and no cost to us. Of course we tried that right away.

Wine tasting

I have to admit that on all the cruises I've been on there are plenty of opportunities to sample different wines and I always pass as I don't like wine. But on this one there was Sangria at one of the stops and everyone said it was like fruit juice so I had some and it wasn't bad. Then on another day there was a dry white or sweet white sampler and unfortunately I got the dry white but everyone who got the sweet raved about it so I was wondering...

Then the cruise offered wine tasting 101 for people would had no idea what they were doing. It was $10 so my mom and I signed up and joined the masses of other people who had no clue. It was alot of fun as the presentation was excellent (pic. 1). We had 6 wines to try (pic. 2) and they were all described by the expert who told us how to taste them, what we were looking for and how to make the effect better. He made a nasty face with most of them (even coughing on one) so I know they tasted just as bad to him as they did to me. Only one was palatable to me but I would never go out of my way to drink it.

Even with the wines not tasting that great at least my opinion of them was verified by an expert. And we had a great time! (pic. 3)

Highlight of the cruise - Hot Glass Show

The show I'm loving the most on this cruise is the Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Show. They have been having them all this time but I was limiting my movements with my broken toe so haven't been attending. I got to the first one on the first sea day and am hooked! So far I've been to 4 off and on. The reason I say off and on is that there are 3 glass blowers. Each one makes a piece during each show. The change-over time is a convenient time to pop into the buffet for lunch as they generally run over the lunch hour.

I need to bring my camera more often as the pieces have ranged from the mundane to the truly spectacular and you never know what you are going to see in advance. They have been demonstrating quite a few different techniques so each show is unique. Attached are some pics from my first show but since then I've seen some really great pieces made so will have to bring my camera again to capture the creation.

I also have to give credit to the glass blowers for being excellent presenters. They manage to keep things interesting and do a good job describing the process.

Terrific Tenerife!

I loved Tenerife! If I could I would come back here and spend a couple of weeks exploring the island. The Canary Islands concentrates on tourism and does a wonderful job with it.

The tour I took was a ship's tour to the Pyramids of Guimar. However we started with a drive up into the mountains for a scenic view (pics. 1-3).

More scenic views

We were surrounded by forests.

We had another stop to take in the views.

We then headed down the mountain to the pyramids.

Pyramids

Thor Heyerdahl created the Pyramids of Guimar attraction among some ancient local pyramids. It is a wonderful resource, covering all pyramids in the world, discussing their similarities and differences. There is also a wonderful walk around the pyramids with signs describing some of the plant life and how it fits into the island's history.

More pyramid displays

There was a nice little museum with many interesting exhibits. Since we were about to start on our transatlantic the one with the currents that were used by the explorers was of particular interest (pic. 1). Pic. 2 shows one of the panels showing the different pyramids throughout the world.

Reed boats

There was a good discussion of the history of reed boats and the modern attempts to replicate them and cross the seas which were eventually successful. Pic. 1 shows a model of the successful boat. Pic. 2 is a cross section of a bundle of reeds.

Statues

In addition to the wonderful gardens there were some amazing statues. In pic. 3 a lizard is eating my newly healed broken toe. Bummer!

Leaving the Canary Islands

We had a wonderful sail away as we said goodbye to this side of the world and started off on our transatlantic trip.

It has been a great trip! The itinerary was fabulous.

My favorite port for the first cruise was Rhodes Greece. I hope to get back there some time. My favorite port for the second cruise was Tenerife. I could spend a couple of weeks exploring this island.

Lanzarote

I scheduled a ship's tour that minimized walking for Lanzarote. It turned out to be a good choice as there was almost no walking. First we stopped at a winery (pic. 1). The method of growing grapes included building stone walls to shelter them from the sun (pic. 2). There were extensive field for the grapes (pic. 3).