Review of Equinox E. Med. Cruise 5/11/12

[tright]

I am also loving your review and pictures are GREAT I am so glad you are taking the time to post. thank you

[sooper]

After our dinner we chatted the night away with our new friends at the Martini Bar.

 

The martini flight was a great deal and delicious too:

 

We were naughty and stayed up a bit late, it was really hard to get up so early the next day! But this night was just the start of many... :p

 

Day 5 - Kusadasi:

 

Very festive morning start

 

Ephesus was even more grand and amazing

 

And, we're back to the cats

 

The terrace houses were worth the extra fee

 

Really great experience. But then it went flat from this point on. (For me and my husband at least. I think some others in my group felt differently as they loved this day more than the one before.)

 

We then went to the House of Mary, where I didn't care to go but it was a group thing so we went along. It was literally 3 minutes in and out. I didn't bother to take pictures. Bought some pashmina shawls, and then we went to lunch.

[sooper]

What a SOOPER review!! :p Love the photos... thanks so much!

 

Hi Jill, your photos are wonderful and we did have a great time, didn't

we:)

Not sure if I am even doing a review.....yours will be more than

sufficient:D

 

I am also loving your review and pictures are GREAT I am so glad you are taking the time to post. thank you

Thanks all ~ I'm so glad you're enjoying this! :)

 

Hi Lois ~ yes you should definitely do a review too. I think we have different perspectives and would be interesting to see your pictures! We had a fabulous trip!

[Lois R]

Thanks all ~ I'm so glad you're enjoying this! :)

 

Hi Lois ~ yes you should definitely do a review too. I think we have different perspectives and would be interesting to see your pictures! We had a fabulous trip!

 

I posted my photos....click on the Flickr link in my signature and you will

see the EQUINOX To the Med Album.....there are just over 200 of them

but there are no captions.

It was really a pleasure meeting you and Joe. I think I only made it

to the Martini bar a couple of times over the whole cruise. I never

stayed up late the whole trip...guess I am getting old:rolleyes:

[sooper]

Lunch:

 

Feta cheese with peppers

 

Eggplant salad - the other super tasty dish from this trip that I'm still thinking about

 

Lamb and beef dishes were OK...maybe we were still hung up on the wonderful gyros the day before. (But I'd heard from the others that their chicken dish was great.)

 

 

I think most of us were still getting used to so much walking and waking up so early, and the late nights probably, so we decided against the museum after lunch. We had a quick stop at the Temple of Artemis. Most of us stayed in the van and only a few avid photographers got off for a few photos.

 

All that's left with a bird's nest on top:

 

And then...that was the end. The guide proposed a carpet making tour and some people went with her, while the rest of us opted to go back to the port. We didn't go because we were tired, not interested in purchasing one (didn't have a mansion to house the expensive carpets), and thought it was a sales pitch too. It could be a good deal compared to what is being sold in the U.S., but we didn't know anything about carpets, so we wouldn't know a deal if we saw one.

 

Walked in the Grand Bazaar at the port, there were lots of shops and was a good place to get souvenirs, and you can get a good deal if you are a good haggler. Also found an internet cafe and a store. I bought some Turkish Delight candies, and our friends liked them.

[sooper]

I never

stayed up late the whole trip...guess I am getting old:rolleyes:

Nah...you were just smart and have more restraint to conserve your energy. ;)

 

Meeting you and the others on our roll call was what made this cruise so memorable! Now I'm worried that our future cruises won't be as fun. :o

[sooper]

Back to our balcony:

 

We decided to meet some friends and try the Main Dining Room for dinner. Where we sat was in an area in the back and was quieter, but when we walked through the room it was really very very noisy. Service wise we had a great waiter, but then he told us he came from Blu, so can't compare there. The menu had a lot more choices than at Blu, and it was good timing as there were many seafood choices that looked delectable.

 

Crab cake to start

 

Mushroom polenta - hmm hmm good but salty

 

We shared a chicken curry - also good

 

Fish

 

Small portion of seafood pasta to try - very good, but a bit salty.

 

I think the food was very good, with over salting being the same issue in both dining rooms. The ambiance was quite different and Blu really was very serene, being a smaller venue, but if there's a big price difference between Aqua and a regular room I could do without serenity at dinner time. Haha.

[sooper]

Desserts - that was not as good as a Sicilian cannolo but I didn't mind:

 

Spent some time with my friend Jack in the casino. Then we tried the Molecular Bar.

 

Cool looking drink:

 

I like the rosy one - beautiful and delicious:

 

We had self-tour the next day, so we could sleep in a little.

 

Day 6 - Rhodes:

 

Balcony view of the medieval city, cool looking

 

Another city of cats

 

[sooper]

A thirsty bird

 

Very interesting looking but hard on our soles - how did the people walk and live on these roads?

 

 

They sculpt their gelati here

 

More gyros, and they were good, but not like the ones in Athens

 

We then visited the Archaeological Museum, there were so much to see

[sooper]

We made it to the Palace of the Grandmaster before they closed at 3pm

 

Walked around and browsed the shops. Found a great artisan gelateria, and yes we had a gelato. Then we saw the bus station, and right next to it was a good looking gyros place for just 2,30 euros each. We had to have one. And it was huge and tasty too.

 

We walked behind the station and what did we find - gyros for 1,80 euros each. No, we laughed, could not eat any more; had to pass. There were spice shops so I bought a bunch of spices - a hit with friends who cook.

 

Back to the ship

 

We were still full so went dinner later, admired the sunset first

[DivasDare]

Great review and I love your pictures -- extremely balanced and beautiful. Oh to have a glass of this... my favorite also.

 

[sooper]

Enjoyed the fried cheese

 

Smoked salmon salad was, yes, salty

 

Now 3 tables have warned us that it was really salty, but I wanted chicken broth, so I had the waiter bring me hot water to mix it in:

 

Fish, very good with the skin, with sauce on the side

 

Good pork chop

 

Very rich chocolate dessert:

[erewhon]

Enjoying your review and photos.

Thank you.

 

Greece is a beautiful country.

[sooper]

Great review and I love your pictures -- extremely balanced and beautiful. Oh to have a glass of this... my favorite also.

 

Enjoying your review and photos.

Thank you.

 

Greece is a beautiful country.

Thank you ~ appreciate the compliments!

 

I've learned so much from this forum, so I hope my experience will help someone else. :)

[jennifers490]

great review-love the pics! i felt like i was always busy but seems i missed so much, could have used another few days just to enjoy the ship :)

[sooper]

Day 7 - Santorini: THE day I was most looking forward to arrived. First experience with the tendering process, and did not like it one bit. We thought we could sleep in and avoid the rush. Well, the constant announcements of the tender ticket number, every few minutes, in multiple languages, were really loud and bothersome. We had ear plugs too, since we were worried about being under the pool, but we had never heard anything from above. Regarding noise issues, our only other was our super inconsiderate neighbors, who slammed the doors coming and leaving.

 

Anyway, in my comments card I suggested Celebrity to utilize a visual number display or limit the announcements to public areas sans the hallways.

 

Our tender was actually the last one before it was open to everyone. We wanted to get to the cable car before the second ship arrive to avoid the crowd, but I think we got to the shore at the same time and lined up with the other passengers.

 

It didn't take too long, about 20 minutes from the shore to the top, including the wait. Returning would be a different story...

 

Wow, wow, and more wows when we got out of the cable car. The views were just A-mazing, albeit a bit windy.

 

Very very blue

 

I'd heard someone said, "if you don't have a postcard-worthy photo, then you were not using a camera." So true.

 

Tons of pictures later, we walked to the bus station to head to Oia. There was a crowd, and then it got more bigger, with no visible line up. I know it was a good dirt cheap transportation, but really did not want to fight the crowd, so we decided to share a cab with two sisters that we met there. It was quite a drive and was glad we went that route as 5 euros cab fare each was a reasonable price to pay for efficiency and peace. (We later heard from our friends who took the bus that they had to stand the entire way, and it was not a smooth drive there.)

 

 

Door to paradise

[sooper]

Photos can't fully convey the beauty, but giving it a try

 

 

 

I was necklace shopping and bumped into two friends. So we walked down to Ammoudi Bay for lunch. There were quite a few steps and dodging the huge donkey poo was a skill learned fast.

 

Poor overworked donkeys

 

Thank him for the fresh fish?

[sooper]

Great calamari

 

Tasty fried local zucchini and eggplant

 

Grilled scorpion fish - delicious

 

After our nice lunch the helpful owner/waitress called a taxi for us, and we went back to Fira. The cable car line was already long at 3:15pm. Our friends attempted to find the big blue domed church with me, but decided to head back to the ship. I didn't want to give up, so we walked fast to Firostefani. We ended up finding the church...but from below. Still, scenic everywhere we went.

 

Didn't have time to find the way to the top as we had to hurry back to the cable car line, which got even longer by 4pm. I think we ended up on the second to last tender, but the ship did wait for some passengers who arrived even later.

[sooper]

great review-love the pics! i felt like i was always busy but seems i missed so much, could have used another few days just to enjoy the ship :)

Thanks Jennifer! I agree, just gotta go back to the ship soon. :D

[Iamthesea]

Sooper, enjoying your review. We were on the Equinox last May. :)

 

Your photos are outstanding, especially capturing the blue colors in Santorini. Could you please tell me the name of your camera. I am due for a new one. :D

[sooper]

Dinner at Blu - love the decor:

 

Not so much the eggplant appetizer

 

Fantastic crab salad - we requested this for the next night too

 

I like all seafood

 

Funny looking chocolate dessert

[sooper]

Sooper, enjoying your review. We were on the Equinox last May. :)

 

Your photos are outstanding, especially capturing the blue colors in Santorini. Could you please tell me the name of your camera. I am due for a new one. :D

Thanks Iamthesea. Did you have the same itinerary?

 

My camera is the Canon T3, it's an entry level DSLR. Editing the photos with Lightroom made a difference. And the gorgeous sunny weather was a big help too. :D

[4getmenot]

That's the camera I was thinking of getting for our trip. Any tips for shooting in manual mode?

[4getmenot]

Sorry to overload you with questions - you mentioned getting on the last tender before it was open to everyone. Does that mean you got priority tender tickets delivered to your AQ stateroom the night before Santorini?

 

When you left Oia, did you get a general sense for the availability of cabs?

 

Thank you so much for the wonderful review!

[sooper]

Day 8 - Mykonos: Another self tour day, and tendering. But a huge difference from the fantastic day before.

 

Prior to the cruise we had unofficially signed up with our roll call group and planned to get off the ship early to catch the early boat to Delos. But with so many days touring and the late nights, we leaned toward sleeping in. The tendering announcements woke us up earlier than we'd like, so we went and got breakfast. It was raining and many people decided on staying in, making the Oceanview Cafe the most crowded I've seen. We rushed off to the tender boat, trying to catch the boat to Delos.

 

Once on shore we asked the Delos boat ticket selling attendant if it was raining in Delos, because then we wouldn't go; she told us that the weather there was different and it would not be raining, and we, in our wishful thinking, believed her and bought the tickets. After we got there of course it was raining and windy and cold, so we turned right back. Basically we wasted money and time on the boats needlessly.

 

We met some friends who went on the early boat to Delos and searched for a place for lunch. I had a place in mind, but once we found it, it wasn't open for business. We ended up in the nearby Niko's Taverna.

 

Spanakopita / spinach pie - it was okay, I've had better in the U.S.

 

Great grilled octopus

 

Good mussels

 

Fried zucchini - were not tasty like the ones in Santorini. The baked eggplant was okay.

 

Fresh grilled fish

 

I think I over ordered and over ate from the morning frustration...