This was our 101st cruise and I can say the embarkation and disembarkation was the easiest and quickest we have ever seen.Our room was good, no problems, and our cabin steward did a good job. The crossing took 7 days to reach the Azores.5 of the days were sunny but brisk and 2 were rainy, we did not encounter any rough seas..When we reached the Azores it was rainy, and eventually ended up cloudy. The Azores are nothing special and I would just walk around the next time. Took 2 rainy days to reach sunny Cartegena Spain(they had an earthquake but we did not feel it.)Among other things we visited a family owned winery, where at the end we were given samples of their wine, and some food, which was good.We then went to sunny Barcelona, and visited Gaudi's Familia Church, no sense trying to explain that, you have to see it to believe it. We next went to Los Ramblas and had lunch, and walked around.Next stop was Toulon (Provence France)took a tour to a seaside town and had lunch, and walked around.Next stop was a cloudy Pisa and Exceptionally rainy Florence. The rain really put a damper on Florence, but we still had a great lunch and eventually it stopped raining and we got some shopping in.We stayed in Rome for two days after the cruise.I was really surprised at the reasonable costs for the tours on the ship. Now for the dining. The dinners were the best we have had in so many years. I was used to the mediocrity of cruise dining, so we were pleasantly surprised. Our waiter Ghedi, and asst. waiter Nino were the best we ever had, they really made it a pleasure every night. Breakfast and lunch were ok, but not as good as the dinners. I have to say their Pizza rivaled Princess and Carnival's.We really enjoyed the entertainment, it was varied and excellent.But you had to arrive at least 30 minutes early to secure a good seat. Many performances were sold out, and passengers had to stand.Lets discuss Europe. The dollar is useless,Europeans would not even use it for toilet paper. Also many places would not accept credit cards. Which meant you had to use the Euro. The exchange rte was for every $100 US you received around 70 Euros. Which made this trip very expensive. The Europeans treat US Currency like it came from a 3rd World Country.I am booked on the Eclipse for April 2012, on another transatlantic cruise but I am seriously reconsidering it because I assume the weather will be mostly miserable and the dollar worthless.I loved the Equinox and the actual shipboard life.I forgot to mention the Cruise Director Dru Pavlov and his nightly jokes, many of them(not all) were classics.