Live review with pics, Equinox, Oct 27, TA Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale.

[cl.klink]

Gastrobar is the new venue, on deck 4 starboard. It opens on one whole side to atrium, so while it is a dark wood themed place, one whole side is open and bright. I think it achieved a nice balance between making you feel like you're in a pub and not too dark. On embarkation and in some ports we entered though a wall of Gastrobar that opens to the outside. They have a large selection of beers, and wait staff generally helpful as beer sommeliers. Food options (for fee) were ok but not great by my taste. Hamburger was big and thick but meat tasted frozen-reheated. Cheesy ale soup was hearty but had a spicy heat I was not expecting, and it was not really cheesy. The area was not always well staffed because there was variability in how many passengers there. Almost no one in day. Better frequented in evenings. Several sporting events had it packed a few times. It is a unique niche for the ship and has seemed popular enough that with some tweaking may be a standard in most X ships soon.

 

Menus posted earlier.

 

Here is looking forward, toward casino. Gastrobar is to right.

 

Here is looking starboard toward Gastrobar.

 

More pics

 

 

 

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Café al Baccio is starboard, deck 5, off atrium. It has nice fresh coffee and hot drinks for a fee, but nice pastries and those are free. Nicely bright and cheerful space, one side opens onto main central atrium of ship, other side with floor to ceiling windows giving starboard views. A nice place to read, sip, or just sit.

 

 

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Bistro on 5 is sparsely used, perhaps because of the $7 fee. Bright and relaxing, it now has more than just crepes, though not a lot more. The food was ok but not my cup of tea. Might use it again for embarkation day as mentioned before. Else it's a nice place for a pleasant meal or snack if you want a respite from crowds. That said, if takes up a lot of prime space and is not used a lot. I wonder if the area is going to be repurposed for something some time soon. A common scene us fit staff to be hiding here, eating or talking.

 

Here us view from Café al Bianco.

 

View from entrance

 

Examples of food

 

Already posted menus.

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Thank you for your food reviews Joel and I would agree with you that if you are eating in Blu at least, there is no need to go to a fee paying restaurant.

 

I am interested in the Silk Harvest if you visit there as we are travelling with between 40 and 50 cruise friends next April and because of this we chose the MDR, but Select dining so we could all be together in the evening.

 

Thank you again for this review, very informative and interesting.

 

 

Have not tried Silk Harvest , not sure we will, though menu looks interesting. I can at least post that. Will let you know if I eat there.

 

- Joel

 

 

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[cl.klink]

joel...once again thank you, thank you and thank you for your fabulous pictures and brilliant commentary. i feel like i'm almost right there with you and your wife. i like the menus from both restaurants. i know i wouldn't have a problem finding more than enough to order.

 

 

 

did you ever eat in the main dining room or buffet? which did you prefer? did you ever order room service and does the room service menu offer many selections from snacks to sandwiches to full dinner? is there a grill on the pool deck for hot dogs, hamburgers tacos?

 

 

 

i will leaving on a 10 night princess cruise next friday, the 14th from san francisco to mexico. i think princess has fabulous pizza and i always look forward to having that on their ships. i always eat in their specialty restaurants and the food is probably very much like tuscan grill and muranos. they don't have anything like blu, and i'm looking forward to that experience on the equinox. however, on sea days, they offer a tradtional pub lunch service in one of the specialty restaurants: fish and chips, ploughman's lunch or bangers and mash. they're all very good and i like them all very much!

 

 

 

continue having a wonderful cruise. it sounds like you are making the most of every day and that's how it should be. i'll look forward to your next post.

 

 

Thanks for the kind words. I've been trying to make it so it can feel like we're all there together.

 

Yes there is a grill on pool deck. They have hamburgers and hit dogs. Not to worry!

 

Have not eaten in MDR or had room service yet, but will be adding info on this later. Room service menu on TV looked quite nice. We had good MDR experiences in past, though that was 3 years ago.

 

Here are photos from MDR:

 

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Wonderful pics! I have been quietly following along. We are on the sailing right after you get back. Thanks for all your work. One question: which camera are you using for the food porn, and are you using flash? I love to take pics of my food but I know the flash bothers some people. I only have a little Lumix point and shoot but it takes ok pics.

 

 

Almost all these pics have been on my iPhone. Flash turned off.

 

Food never seems to come out in any pic as good as it's looked so I've avoided taking those photos for the most part on this trip.

 

- Joel

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Sorry, one more question. Can you post a pic of the Aqua spa menu? If possible breakfast and lunch? Thank you! :D

 

 

No problem. Will do it!

 

Anyone else have any requests?

 

- Joel

 

 

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[wallie5446]

No problem. Will do it!

 

Anyone else have any requests?

 

- Joel

 

 

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Leave the light on! We are on our way:)

 

Thanks for the information Joel.

[gfkcruiser]

Great review. We have been on 4 S class ships in he past 4 years and last on Equinox a year ago in the Mediterranean. I have only done balcony or Concierge and love sitting and watching the ocean. So peaceful. Never done Aqua.

 

We ate in Tuscan on our anniversary a few years ago and I thought it was one of the best filets I had tasted. However, the crab cakes were burnt a bit and I did not eat them. We also did lunch at Tuscan as we sailed from Venice on another cruise. Only times in 15 cruises that we ate in specialty restaurants. We eat dinner in MDR 99% of the time and enjoy it. As for Bistro, I think in all my cruises I have never seen more than a few diners in Bistro at any one time.

 

We are sailing Equinox on 12/12/14 and look forward to the new venues.

 

One day hope to take a transatlantic.

 

Gail

 

 

 

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[DebbieMacG]

We tried Silk Harvest for the first time on our last cruise (third on Equinox) I can't believe we missed it before! The tempura prawns are amazing, as is the silk fried rice, orange chicken, twice cooked pork, pad Thai and more! We went twice x:D

[louhun88]

Great review, could you post the room service menu if you get a chance?

 

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[midwestchick]

No problem. Will do it!

 

Anyone else have any requests?

 

- Joel

 

 

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That would be great...looking forward to the menus. I'm debating on whether or not to upgrade to Aqua with the new promo. One of my concerns was eating 14 nights in the same restaurant. Also, we love the escargot in the MDR...is this offered in Blu?

I've been following but have no read some posts so I may have missed some things. :o If you posted the Blu menus, I missed them.

Edited November 7, 2014 by midwestchick

[bunkersoph7]

That would be great...looking forward to the menus. I'm debating on whether or not to upgrade to Aqua with the new promo. One of my concerns was eating 14 nights in the same restaurant. Also, we love the escargot in the MDR...is this offered in Blu?

I've been following but have no read some posts so I may have missed some things. :o If you posted the Blu menus, I missed them.

 

Great review... we will be on the Summit next month

[upwarduk]

I hoping Eclipse with have the Gastropub by the time we sail in July 2015. Thanks for the photos.

[cl.klink]

That would be great...looking forward to the menus. I'm debating on whether or not to upgrade to Aqua with the new promo. One of my concerns was eating 14 nights in the same restaurant. Also, we love the escargot in the MDR...is this offered in Blu?

I've been following but have no read some posts so I may have missed some things. :o If you posted the Blu menus, I missed them.

 

I did not copy each Blu dinner menu, changes nightly, but did post one earlier. Will do some more at end. We did have escargot on their menu one night. I'm told we can sometimes request MDR items but have not tried. They would likely need some advanced notice to make it easier for them.

 

Eating 14 nights in same place is a but of an issue, but menu in both Blu and MDR changes each night. ALso, in Blu, you can eat whatever time you want so that shakes things up some, often sit in different places different times, and can sit with different people. Of course, with Select Dining, could do similarly in MDR now too.

 

- Joel

[cl.klink]

Great review, could you post the room service menu if you get a chance?

 

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I'll put that together soon.

 

- Joel

[louhun88]

I'll put that together soon.

 

- Joel

 

Thanks :-)

 

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[excitedofharpenden]

We tried Silk Harvest for the first time on our last cruise (third on Equinox) I can't believe we missed it before! The tempura prawns are amazing, as is the silk fried rice, orange chicken, twice cooked pork, pad Thai and more! We went twice x:D

 

Loved Silk Harvest. The starters that can be eaten tapas style are delicious.

 

Phil

[midwestchick]

I did not copy each Blu dinner menu, changes nightly, but did post one earlier. Will do some more at end. We did have escargot on their menu one night. I'm told we can sometimes request MDR items but have not tried. They would likely need some advanced notice to make it easier for them.

 

Eating 14 nights in same place is a but of an issue, but menu in both Blu and MDR changes each night. ALso, in Blu, you can eat whatever time you want so that shakes things up some, often sit in different places different times, and can sit with different people. Of course, with Select Dining, could do similarly in MDR now too.

 

- Joel

 

 

Thanks, Joel. We prefer select dining.

[cl.klink]

Loved Silk Harvest. The starters that can be eaten tapas style are delicious.

 

 

 

Phil

 

 

Thanks! We decided to eat there on the Sunday night.

 

- Joel

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Thanks, Joel. We prefer select dining.

 

 

Yes, that flexibility is really nice.

- Joel

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Sorry, one more question. Can you post a pic of the Aqua spa menu? If possible breakfast and lunch? Thank you! :D

 

 

Here it is

 

 

 

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Great review, could you post the room service menu if you get a chance?

 

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Here is what you see on the TV.

 

 

You select everything in the screens that follow. I typed out the options below. First are the 24 hour items, then Breakfast.

 

24 HOUR ROOM SERVICE OPTIONS

 

Starters:

Chicken noodle soup

Soup of the day

Chicken skewers with yogurt sauce

Fruit plate

Classic shrimp cocktail

Antipasto platter

Golden Osetra Caviar with condiments (Market price)

Crab Cake

Beef Tartare

 

Salada

Caesar salad

Mixed green salad

Chicken Caesar salad

Nicoise salad with grilled tuna

Heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad

 

CMain courses

Hamburger

Grilled hot dog

Cheese pizza

Pepperoni pizza

Turkey club sandwich

Roasted chicken sandwich

Spaghetti bolognaise

Penne primavera

Grilled marinated chicken breast

Seared salmon

Ribeye steak

Grilled Mediterranean Seabass

Filet mignon

 

Side dishes

Mashed potato

Macronic and cheese

Creamed spinach

Grilled vegetables

Steamed rice

 

Deserts

Dark chocolate ganache cakse

Cheesecake with blueberry sauce

Assorted cookies and cold milk

Assorted cookies and warm milk’

Traditional Crème Brulee

Assorted cheese plate

Artisan French cheese platter

 

 

BREAKFAST

 

Dairy

Milk

Skim milk

Soy milk

Lactose free milk

Fruit yogurt

 

Cereals

Raisin brain

Corn flakes

Riske Krispies

Frosted Flakes

Special K

Oatmeal

Grits

Granolar Berry parfait

 

Cold meats

Salami

Black forest ham

Danish ham

 

Eggs

Scrambled eggs

Poached eggs

Eggs over easy, medium, hard

Plain omelette

Mushroom omelette

Ham omeletter

Black truffle omelette

Fresh egg omelette with smoked salmon and osetra caviar

Crab cake benedict

Angus steak and eggs

Chese omelette

Boiled eggs (soft or hard)

 

Fruit

Honeydew

Canteloupe

Piuneapple

Grapefruit

Kiwi

Assorted fruit plate

Chocolate covered strawberries

Tropical fruit skewers

Fresh mixed berry parfait

 

Breads

Assorted Danish pastries

Croissant

White tast

Whole weat oast

Rye toast

Plain bagel

English muffin

French bread

Multi-grain bread

Blueberry muffin

 

Hot

Bacon

Breakfast ham

Link sausage

Hash brown potatoes

Corned beef hash

Canadian bacon

Buckwheat pancakes

Blueberry pancakes

Plain pancakes

Banana pancakes

French toast

 

- Joel

 

 

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[cl.klink]

Excellent wine and cheese tasting today.

 

 

 

- Joel

 

 

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[whataboutport]

Thank you for the Aqua Spa menu and the room service menu. That is sure a lot of stuff to choose from!

 

Was the wine and cheese tasting a free or paid event?