This was my 8th cruise, and second with Celebrity, and I will certainly book with Celebrity again after 10 wonderful nights on the Equinox !!

Embarkation: We arrived in Rome 2 nights prior to the cruise, and had arranged private transport to the Port of Civitavecchia through our Inn hosts. Once we arrived at the port, at approximately 2:30pm, we were checked in and on board within 15 minutes. The process was the quickest we have ever encountered. I had studied the ship decks/layout many times online, so navigating the ship was quite easy. For this cruise we chose an aft facing cabin, though I was worried about excess movement, I still wanted to experience this location. My concerns about excess movement were all for nothing, as the Equinox was one of the most stable ships I have ever been on. Of course, we never encountered high/rough seas, so this certainly contributed to the smooth ride.

Dining: We chose Select Dining, and pre-reserved our dining times, because the Traditional times were either too early, or too late for our liking. Though we missed the enjoyable familiarity of having the same wait team each night, we still found the Select Dining quite suited to our desires, and we were lucky to have the same wait team on 4 of the nights anyway. When we checked in each night at the Select Dining station we never had more than a minute wait to be shown to our table. All of the staff we were served by were polite, proficient, and went above and beyond to make certain we thoroughly enjoyed the dining experience. The food was generally very good to excellent, and in our party of four, there were only 2 occasions when one of us was not completely satisfied with the quality of our meals. And besides, since cruise dining staff on every cruise I have been on will make every effort to ensure you enjoy your meal, including getting another entree etc...there is never reason to walk away from the table not completely satisfied. We did eat in the specialty restaurant Silk Harvest one night, and were overwhelmingly satisfied with the quality and QUANTITY of food there as well. The staff were extremely caring and attentive to our every need, and we enjoyed ourselves so much, that just being able to get up and walk out was in itself a chore. Truly a fun, satisfying and DELICIOUS experience !! Breakfast/Lunch/Snacks/Sushi etc in the Oceanview Cafe provided good quality, and selections to satisfy varied tastes and regional cuisines. Read more