Rare KasioSails Posted July 15 Author #51 Share Posted July 15 Day 3 - First day at port We arrived in La Spezia (Florence) early in the morning. One thing I love about having a balcony or window is opening to see a whole new place. We opted to head to the ocean view cafe for breakfast. It was very good in my opinion with a large variety of items. It was a little crowded to find a table but not bad. After breakfast we headed to the theatre for our excursion. We went on the Pisa highlights and beach club excursion. It is a great choice if you want something relaxing. The tour starts with about an hour bus ride to Pisa with some cool knowledge about the area. Then we had just over an hour or so at the square to see the tower and take some fun photos. The tower is really cool to see and you might have time to go inside if you wanted as well. Then we headed back to bus to go to a beach resort. This is the main time on the tour - we had about 3.5 hrs to enjoy the beach and swim around. The water was a perfect temperature and depth to swim in all day. We swam for several hours then walked the streets for a few to see the shops and have a popsicle. It was hot - crazy hot - and this tour was very tolerable with the heat. When we returned to the ship we decided to just have dinner delivered to our room as we were all tired and sweaty. Our room has a full table and we could have the full Luminae menu delivered. It was a great benefit after a very long day. We relaxed a bit then decided to see what kids/teens programs were. YS attended the Birthday Bash which he said was very fun and told us all about it. OS said the teen stuff was meh like there sort of isn’t a lot of programming - one thing is that they have mixed the 10-12 with the teens. I’m not too sure my thoughts on this as 10 and 17 are very different. But it sounds like it sort of doesn’t matter as from OSs account once the younger kids show up the teens mostly leave. This is in contrast to last trip with a lot of teen fun. While the kids were at the clubs we gave the Solarium a spin. This is a lovely quiet space to relax in and it wasn’t too hot that I could tell. We got to meet a lovely couple from Sweden and discuss our shared love of Orienteering. Meeting new folks is one of the best things in a cruise I feel. We wrapped up the night with some lovely time on our balcony. I struggled to figure out the hot tub thing but enjoyed the time anyways. OS was hungry again so DH and him went to the Craft Social for some yummy bites. DH likes the craft social place better than the wine bar on the Solstice as he is more a craft beer guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 15 Author #52 Share Posted July 15 17 hours ago, Susanb10567 said: Did not see that on the Equinox last week. They still have a card room so people can play there… Agree - I didn’t see folks just hanging out. It was just a prime time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 15 Author #53 Share Posted July 15 14 hours ago, desibee said: That’s too bad about the lawn being closed. Did they say why? I would’ve thought they would finish working on it while it was in dry dock. Not sure - maybe it’s the heat. We have started to see some planned times for activities but we have not seen the just open time with the gear out we had before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanut head Posted July 15 #54 Share Posted July 15 Thank you for sharing your voyage with us. I was wondering if you had to get a specific cab to get you from your Barcelona hotel to the ship? I know that in Civitavecchia, cabs/vans need a special permit to get to the ship. Also, even though you are in an upper level suite, Craft Social is not categorized as a restaurant. Were you DH and OS charged for the food? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracie115 Posted July 15 #55 Share Posted July 15 2 hours ago, peanut head said: Thank you for sharing your voyage with us. I was wondering if you had to get a specific cab to get you from your Barcelona hotel to the ship? I know that in Civitavecchia, cabs/vans need a special permit to get to the ship. Also, even though you are in an upper level suite, Craft Social is not categorized as a restaurant. Were you DH and OS charged for the food? I don't know about the OP but we've boarded twice in Barcelona, taking a cab from our hotel and we just asked the hotel to call us a cab and they took us direct to the port. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegal1970 Posted July 16 #56 Share Posted July 16 (edited) Do you know which specialty restaurants are open for lunch on sea days ? Edited July 16 by cruisegal1970 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 16 Author #57 Share Posted July 16 Welcome back I know I am a little behind but I will finish all the days Day 4 -second in Florence We had a later excursion so we could sleep in a little later. The ocean view was much emptier than the day before and it was yummy again. We decided to enjoy the Tuscan farm experience. This is a really great excursion and I highly recommend it. The day starts with a beautiful ride through Tuscany to a small farm - once there is a short carriage ride to the house for a delicious family style meal. The food was wonderful and I heard the wine was really excellent. After the meal is a short bit if time to make and purchased desired wines/oils or take some photos. We were back to the port by mid afternoon with time to head to the pool before dinner. Our dinner was in Tuscan Grille - I had not been super impressed with Tuscan on our last night - but this time it was extraordinary. The food and service was top notch all around. I had the filet while OS/DH had the tuna. We all left completely stuffed. It was a relaxing evening enjoying the ship sites as the show didn’t interest us. We wanted to hang out in our awesome room and rest for an early evening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted July 16 #58 Share Posted July 16 19 hours ago, peanut head said: Thank you for sharing your voyage with us. I was wondering if you had to get a specific cab to get you from your Barcelona hotel to the ship? I know that in Civitavecchia, cabs/vans need a special permit to get to the ship. Also, even though you are in an upper level suite, Craft Social is not categorized as a restaurant. Were you DH and OS charged for the food? Any cab will do, but take note , if there a lot of ships in port it could take awhile to get a cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 16 Author #59 Share Posted July 16 20 hours ago, peanut head said: Thank you for sharing your voyage with us. I was wondering if you had to get a specific cab to get you from your Barcelona hotel to the ship? I know that in Civitavecchia, cabs/vans need a special permit to get to the ship. Also, even though you are in an upper level suite, Craft Social is not categorized as a restaurant. Were you DH and OS charged for the food? We just took a regular cab - nothing fancy And there wasn’t a charge for craft social but that may be newer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Les43 Posted July 16 #60 Share Posted July 16 Thank you for this great review - really enjoying it. Can you say a bit more about your R/S - pros and cons? We have one booked (on Connie) next summer and keen to find out a bit more about the R/S and the upper suite experience. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 17 Author #61 Share Posted July 17 It’s Day 5 - Santa Margherita Todays tour started rather early at 7:45 - one note so far except on day 5 the tours have started on time no waiting around. We decided to have breakfast delivered so we put out the order slip the night before for 6-6:30 delivery. Our butler brought our items about 6:35 and we set it all up on the table. It was fun to enjoy our food as we watched the ship get settled for tendering. After we were all ready we headed to the theater. Due to the tendering things were a little behind and we didn’t leave the ship until about 8:10. Our tour was the 3 pearls highlights - a very good tour that allows for self pacing to your desired activity level. There are several scenic tour portions on either a bus or ferry with short walking tours mixed in. If you were not up for the walking you could just meet the guide along the way. The weather was warm but not as hot as Pisa had been and we could find shade rather easily. When the tour wrapped up after about 5 hours and the kids were hot and tired so we headed back to the ship. After a yummy late lunch / ice cream break in the ocean view we decided to head to the pool. It was busy but not packed and we had a great time before dinner. Our dinner was at Luminae this evening and was very good - OS had the chicken and DH had the scallops - both enjoyed the entire meal. I was feeling tired so we took a short nap before the evening show a magician. YS absolutely loved the magic act on our last trip and this was the same. The act was very good - though I do think the previous act we saw was better. It is an enjoyable evening to watch. After returning to the room DH/OS went to hang out and play some sports while I hung out on the balcony to watch the coastline pass by. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 17 Author #62 Share Posted July 17 11 hours ago, Les43 said: Thank you for this great review - really enjoying it. Can you say a bit more about your R/S - pros and cons? We have one booked (on Connie) next summer and keen to find out a bit more about the R/S and the upper suite experience. Thanks Absolutely i am planning a whole post about the room after the main cruise. But I will say it’s very lovely 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 18 Author #63 Share Posted July 18 Day 6 Nice We enjoyed the lovely view of the coastline through the night and woke to a beautiful harbor view. Today was another tendering port but it was super efficient as there were local boats helping as well. Our tour for Nice was a self discovery one - we started with a short bus ride along the coast to a town center. We then had just under 4 hrs to explore as we wished at our own pace. We stayed for about an hour or so with our guide into some different areas and a beautiful church before pealing off from the group. During our alone time we had a wonderful lunch, shopped a local market and ended the time with some sweets. It was a very peaceful day and we just enjoyed the lovely sights. We met back up with our group and headed back to the ship. We decided on the boat ride back that Tuscan Grill sounded great again so we reached out to our butler who set it right up for 6. We used the down time to walk the ship and play some foosball. Tuscan was very good again - we were even more stuffed leaving then before. We were treated to a birthday / anniversary cake and song which was a delight. The evening show was called Topper - it was very well performed and quite entertaining. We decided for the show to sit in the retreat area of the balcony. A little tip for shows - big parts of the balcony are held for the retreat guest. But they release the site 15mins before - if you are running late these might be nice seats. After the show was a great pool deck party we headed up to for a bit before retiring to our room. While OS enjoyed the music we put YS to bed and hung out in the jetted tub on the deck to see the views. The tub is fun but takes forever to fill and slowly drains so it needs water constantly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #64 Share Posted July 19 It’s Day 7 - Happy Birthday in Marseille Today we returned to docking - though if going independent you would likely need to pay 5$ a person for the shuttle. Our tour today was a short bus tour of the coastline and city with a visit to a soap museum as well. We had the chance to stamp and take home our own soaps as well. It was super fun to read about the history of Marseille soap. I love making melt and pour soap creations and find the process of making soap very interesting. The museum is free and the stamping is just a few dollars so I would recommend adding it to a visit. We got a little bit of time in the tour to see the sites but not much. When we returned today I was surprised by birthday decorations in our room. My DH had coordinated with our butler for a surprise and it was a lovely one. I even had a little birthday hat to wear 😀 As it was midday we headed to the ocean view for lunch. The lunch in OV is really nice with a large variety of items. I typically make a giant salad as by this time of day I crave some sort of veggies. The seating has usually been ok - only really packed on sea days. But to the previous post I have now seen the card players just sitting at a table even on busy sea days. It seems unusual given the traffic and many other places to play. Before dinner we opted to split up - the boys headed to the pool deck for swimming and then sports. I wanted to try out the Persian garden suite benefit. It is now an included benefit. The thermal suite was lovely and quiet - it wasn’t busy I think since we were in port so I just relaxed on the warm chairs while listening to a podcast in my ears quietly. After a wonderful rest it was time to get ready for dinner. We headed back to Luminae this evening and DH had the tuna - the solstice class benefit of having the main dining available is really great as OS was able to get the salmon since he was not in the mood for more tuna. During dessert I was surprised with more birthday cake and a song (and a second very lovely birthday song from a young passenger in another family at the restaurant as well 😀). We finished the evening with relaxation - YS went to the kids club while OS stopped by the teen club then wandered the ship. It gave DH and I a chance to go back to the garden to rest. He had never been to any of these kind of facilities before - thankfully we were the only ones there so I could talk about what I liked about it quietly with him without disturbing anyone else. After a wonderful view of the sea we picked back up YS who had Dino fun at the kids club and headed back to our room. We wanted to start some light packing so it’s not all smashed into end. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWFM Posted July 19 #65 Share Posted July 19 When you embarked in Barcelona did you have to go through a health check? If you did what did it consist of? We are sailing on the Equinox August 25. When I checked in I noticed that our documents say we will be subject to a health check before boarding. We cruise often and have not had health checks since June 2022. Thanks for your report, so nice to follow along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #66 Share Posted July 19 Day 8 - Sea Day #2 Today was our second sea day (very port intensive itinerary) and after the whirlwind of the last days the theme of the day was rest. We started in the Oceanview cafe for breakfast. I actually preferred the OC to Luminae for breakfast most mornings. It was about 8 since we slept in a bit and it was pretty empty. After breakfast we had some time before the captain’s navigation talk so we toured around the ship for photos. For this trip I set up an old phone for YS to take pictures with. This turned out to be a great idea - he had a ton of fun and we got some new shots plus insight into what he finds interesting. The navigation lecture was in my opinion awesome and I highly recommend it. Our captain this trip is one of the most visible I’ve seen as well. After the talk it was time for lunch - we headed to OV since the selection is extensive and yummy. Today was no exception with sandwiches, lobster Mac and cheese, shrimp cocktails etc. It was also super crowded - one of the rare times I felt that. Overall this voyage hasn’t felt too crowded most times. I don’t know the count of passengers but it seemed less bursting than our last trip during spring break in 2023. There also seems to be less kids overall - but what looks to be more multi generational families which is lovely. We fussed a bit more then headed to our room - with a stop at the seemingly always closed Solarium juice bar. I ordered a glass of pineapple juice and it was so awful and rancid tasting I threw it away (hate being that wasteful). I think the juice area is one thing I miss from Royal. I loved the custom juice place in the spa. Once in the room DH worked a bit on packing - boo - and the boys enjoyed the tub on the balcony. It was so nice for a time like this - it was very hot and sunny but our tub was shaded and we controlled the temp. We were all pretty tired and wanted to enjoy our awesome room so we ordered some room service as a snack and just relaxed / packed slowly. Dinner was at Luminae after a wonderful officers reception at the retreat lounge. OS and DH each had the lobster for dinner plus split the scallops entree they each said it was wonderful. OS was also excited by the baked Alaska for dessert. He recently got braces and meringue has become his substitute for his beloved marshmallow. We had a little time walk around see the ship a bit more before heading to the show for the evening Life. It was much like the others - entertaining and well performed but confusing on plot. We ended the evening with a visit to the OV for ice cream and pizza while OS went to the silent disco in the sky lounge. All in all a great day - I really enjoyed the chill vibe and it makes me want something like an ocean crossing with time to just watch the waves go by. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #67 Share Posted July 19 On 7/16/2024 at 10:59 AM, cruisegal1970 said: Do you know which specialty restaurants are open for lunch on sea days ? I looked through the dining guide - Sushi on 5 looks to be the only specialty open. But on the first sea day was a special Tuscan seafood lunch and on the second sea day was thing called the Taste of Equinox with tastes from all the specialties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #68 Share Posted July 19 9 hours ago, LWFM said: When you embarked in Barcelona did you have to go through a health check? If you did what did it consist of? We are sailing on the Equinox August 25. When I checked in I noticed that our documents say we will be subject to a health check before boarding. We cruise often and have not had health checks since June 2022. Thanks for your report, so nice to follow along. Thank you for the compliment We just had the standard questionnaire - are you more than I think it’s 23 weeks pregnant and do you have and sickness symptoms kind of thing. Not sure if there could be anything else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #69 Share Posted July 19 On 7/10/2024 at 10:10 AM, Jazzbo said: We did a similar itinerary last fall on Reflection and thoroughly enjoyed it. Bon Voyage and have a fantastic time! We are headed to the Reflection next in the Spring - I always try to have the next trip booked before we leave for one so it makes the vacation ending less sad. We are excited to stay in a new type of room - the signature suite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #70 Share Posted July 19 On 7/13/2024 at 5:24 PM, Bask said: How are you finding the overall condition/shape of the Equinox? I saw some of your general Retreat comments, but has Luminae met your food/quality/service expectations? Sailing on Equinox next year (put a refundable deposit down)....and a little concerned about the age and condition of the ship. Had great cruises on quite a few S-class ships (never Eclipse), but its been years since we sailed on one. More recently we have been cruising on newer E-class ships. I really enjoyed our past S-class ships sailings, but as I said its been awhile. Enjoy your cruise! I have only this ship and the Solstice to compare for Celebrity and a bunch of RCCL ships. I would say she is in really good shape overall. We have some dings, some wear/tear like with the tub and a few random cleanliness gaps (bunch of candy wrappers behind the pillows for example) but overall quite nice. Nothing has made me say - that’s no good. The crew is very lovely and very good - I just think the Solstice was a little better in some places. Our Butler this trip though has been truly amazing way above our last trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #71 Share Posted July 19 On 7/13/2024 at 11:00 PM, jmps said: We, also, just got off the Equinox on the 11th. The ship is in very good shape from the May refresh. My wife did the glass “class” and loved it. If you haven’t considered it check it out. Glad to hear boarding was smooth. Our boarding was long delayed with internet issues causing a long line in the sun. The crew is across the board really good. We used a cabana for a sea day and liked it so much we did it again on the next port day. If you can please give your thoughts on them. Agree on the conditions of the ship. We didn’t use any of the cabanas since we just prefer the room - but they seemed very nice and I usually saw at least one in use. I was up on the lawn less this trip since the games were so limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 19 Author #72 Share Posted July 19 On 7/14/2024 at 4:53 PM, desibee said: That’s too bad about the lawn being closed. Did they say why? I would’ve thought they would finish working on it while it was in dry dock. So it took a bit but I worked it out - the Solstice just had stations near the bar for playing lawn games out during the day most days. We loved this as a quick game of bocce ball is a big family joy - we play at home too. On the Equinox - 1 I think the area is different with more seating near the bar but regardless the equipment is only out at very select times. Many of those times were terrible - like the middle of a port day which of course no one showed up to I heard. Even just the ping pong is hard to play - DH/OS struggle to find balls to play in the evening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 20 Author #73 Share Posted July 20 Day 9 - Amalfi Coast It’s the last day of the cruise ☹️ - but it was a packed one. Today we had scheduled a very long excursion to see a bit of Sorrento, visit a family farm to tastes limoncello / fresh mozzarella and visit Pompeii. It was a packed agenda that kept us ashore most of the day. We decided since the mtg time was early (7:45) to have breakfast delivered. It was nice to enjoy our table with the beautiful view outside. I didn’t think we would actually eat at our table but we really did enjoy it several times this trip. We were on a small group tour and that was nice as we could move more easily from place to place - but I must compliment my fellow travelers as I don’t recall any time people were not prompt to mtg places and times. Our trip started with a 2ish hour bus tour along the country side to the farm. It was very beautiful along the path and the views were amazing. But our tour guide spoke way way too softly for my family to hear anything - we were in the back but this is like 6 rows tops. And his attitude about was tough you should be closer - we did move the one row that wouldn’t put us in people’s laps and it may not difference. He basically talked to the driver in a whisper. So we spent 2 hours just looking at the sights as we didn’t learn a thing about the area. As I said though it was beautiful so that was nice. At the farmhouse we had a lovely demonstration of fresh cheese making along with a light sampling of cheese, wine, limoncello and bread with olive oil. It was enjoyable and informative but I preferred the Tuscan farm experience I think. We then all piked back to the bus for a ride to Sorrento with a bit of free time to see some of the city. As it was already crazy hot and busy with several ships in port we did a little shopping and just relaxed with some treats to cool off. Finally we headed to Pompeii - I wish we could have started there in the morning when it was just slightly cooler. In Pompeii we finally had the audio mics from our guide so I could hear him (though some stopped working) and these glasses to show us what some places would have looked like - they rarely worked and wasted a lot of time. The ruins were fascinating to see despite the wicked heat - everyone in my family was so glad to go. Our guide did a good job of walking us through different areas for the just about 1.5 hours we were in the ruins. I was nervous from a physical standpoint but the route we took inside had just slight continual elevation to walk not big staircases - we left via stairs. Overall I found it very doable with the cane I use for leaning on when tired. Our tour wrapped up with a ride back to the ship - it was just before 5 so we had about 30mins left before all aboard. We headed to our room for cool drinks and cleaning up as DH finished the major suitcase packing to put our bags out. I admit I started to tear up hearing the captain’s beautiful address as we pulled away from the final port. We had our final meal in Luminae and OS said his steak was wonderful as DHs duck was delightful too. We asked for our desserts to be sent to the room - which never happened - this was a multiple miss this trip - so we could enjoy one last visit to the Persian garden while the boys enjoyed the kids clubs. When we arrived at the garden we had less time then expected as the app (the app was very bad thus trip) did not match their hours but the 30min rest in the thermal room was still lovely. We then grabbed some treats from OV and grabbed our boys for a late night swim. The pool was so warm even at nearly 10pm. OS went back to the teen area that seemed to get more fun for him as the trip went on. While he was out and about YS had fun in our balcony tub before heading to bed. DH and OS then went to the sport court to play some basketball (there were no ping pong balls to be found) as well to wrap up the evening. It was pretty jammed packed but I suppose that is to be expected with a port day as the last day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWFM Posted July 20 #74 Share Posted July 20 Thank you for your response.That helps. I hope you are spending a little time in Rome. I am. sure it will be hot but the boys will enjoy it. If not safe travels✈️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KasioSails Posted July 20 Author #75 Share Posted July 20 It’s the last morning - we have a tour for Rome I will cover later but for now I can pass the sad moments reflecting on my room. Royal Suite / Retreat comments I have stayed in all kinds of cabins while cruising (not sure I mentioned but this was cruise #10 for DH and I starting with our honeymoon. The RS is definitely the fanciest we have stayed in I feel including a 2 bedroom aqua theater room. We were in suite #1118 and it was such a perfect location - so convenient to most things and many days we could see shoreline in the distance. Despite being so central it was very quiet in the room. During the disco I could hear the music if you opened the door but once it closed it was quiet - same with the pool deck party I could hear it on the balcony but not in the room. Some room highlights on no particular order - we loved having 2 bathrooms - it was so helpful when we all came back from something to be able split up. The large area between the couch along with the living room and table meant we never really felt crowded. There is so so much storage- you would need to be sailing for like a month to fully use all the storage spots. The separate shower / tub was a nice feature - each was very spacious and the shower had good water pressure. The jets in the tub are nice too. The walk in closet gave us a great space to store our luggage as well. The bed was very comfortable for sleeping and the boys said the pull out was pretty good too. I was happy our stateroom attendant was great about having the bed back to a sofa quickly so we didn’t lose the space all day. Overall in just room design I think it is obviously great - but it is pretty pricey and in a port intensive itinerary like ours it could seem unnecessary. I found I wanted to be sure I was getting the most out of it - but I am like that for all trips in all rooms. Is the retreat worth it? Yes and no for sure - we don’t really use the extra spaces like the lounge or sun deck that much (sun deck not at all). So that’s not worth it. But what is totally worth it for me is how much I can relax about planning. Things like rushing into the app for an embarkation time or dinner reservations or show seats just are not something to think about. It was so easy to just decide a plan and go with it. That was so amazing for us - especially with the boys. DH and I work long hours and sometimes we struggle with too many planning details (it’s one of the things that makes Disney seem daunting). So for us the space, ability to not struggle with planning or feel like we need to penny pinch on board is the ultimate benefit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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