Embarkation

The Celebrity Equinox launched in 2009 and is one of the Solstice class ships. It was fully refurbished in 2019 and most recently in dry dock April, 2024 for painting & maintenance. It boasts a 1115 seat theater where it holds world class entertainment, a state of the art spa & fitness center (it made the gym I have a membership at look sickly), bars, pools, lounges, restaurants, a real grass lawn on the top deck & a glass-blowing studio. This is where we were headed as we prepared our luggage for transport and made sure we had our day bags ready for exploring the ship.

We had done all our pre-boarding check in online via the Celebrity Cruise app so when we arrived at the terminal all we had to do was hand over our luggage and have our boarding passes scanned a few times then up the gangplank we went.

All the online Cruise Chat sites we trolled the past year paid off as we were fully prepared to enjoy the day onboard. We had packed our pool attire, change of clothes & dinner clothes in our personal items in case we didn’t get our luggage in a timely fashion. In fact, our room was ready when we arrived & our luggage was delivered within the hour. Kim & Doug did have to wait a few hours for their stuff to be accessible. (Several days later we would encounter a woman on the elevator who’s luggage had traveled more than she had & was just now catching up with her!)

With luggage in hand we decided to unpack & set up our stateroom. Surprisingly, we had plenty of room. Between closet space, drawers, underbed storage and the 12 heavy duty magnetized hooks I brought with me we were able to stow all our clothes, accessories & bags.

We had decided to watch the ship depart the port of Barcelona from the Sky Observation Lounge which overlooks the stern of the ship. (OK, so when you cruise with a former sailor you must use correct ship lingo so: Stern is the back of the ship, Bow is the pointy front of the ship, Forward is toward the bow and Aft is toward the stern, Port means left when you are facing forward & Starboard means right when you are facing forward. There will be a test & I wandered around for days before I figured out where the hell I was going most of the time.)

Don & I had scouted out and obtained the best seats in the Sky Lounge while waiting for Kim & Doug to arrive. The rest of the evening would include dinner at the main dining room, a comedy show in the theater and maybe some music in one of the bars. We did have an early excursion planned the next day for our first port of call in Marseille, France. We would be riding through Provence to Avignon to visit the Pope’s Palace which is a UNESCO World Heritage site (scratch another one my list!). As more folks congregated in the Sky Lounge to view departure Kim & Doug arrived with another round of drinks. The blasts of the ship’s horn signaled that we were underway as we witnessed Barcelona recede into the background.

I hadn’t had lunch so I was excited to hit the dining room & indulge myself. We had opted for ‘anytime dining’ which doesn’t commit you to any set dining time. You simply show up when you want & get seated if there’s availability. If a table isn’t readily available they hand you a beeper so you can go somewhere & amuse yourself while you wait. We were seated immediately but my understanding is there’s like a 15 minute wait at most.

We didn’t know it yet but we were about to meet the people who would have a huge part in our absolute enjoyment of Celebrity’s fine dining options.

David, our head waiter had a personality as vibrant as his resume. Hailing from the Philippines, he is a master of many trades and a true entertainer at heart. With a past that includes stints as a movie actor, band singer, ship navigator, and food truck operator, he brings a unique flair to your dining table. His infectious humor & repitoire of songs kept us laughing throughout our meals. He runs his ‘battalion’ like a fine tuned engine having 29 years with Celebrity under his belt. Whether he’s recommending the perfect dish ‘for the table’, sharing a hilarious anecdote or explaining what it was like to be unemployed for 2 years during the pandemic (he sold Philippino comfort food from his truck), David’s charm and quick wit made every meal an unforgettable adventure. He was our hands-down favorite. So much so, that Don went to extremes to ensure we were seated in his section for every dinner. After an excellent dinner we waddled out to procure seating in the theater. Tonight’s opening performance was a comedy show with an Autralian comedian who also had quite a resume and kept us laughing. His show tonight was for more general audiences but he came back for an “adults only” late show a few nights later that we also caught.

We only missed 2 shows from the 10 days we were there and looked forward to the stellar offerings they had each night. The ensemble cast they had onboard were excellent singers & dancers who also were good sports when participating in the various activities that took place all over the ship. The cruise director, Drew seemed everpresent and actually came up and spoke with us on 2 separate occassions while we were waiting for shows to begin & the activites director, Nacho seemed to be the hardest working guy on the ship as he was always running one activity or another. There was no lack of entertainment opportunities on the Equinox. At night almost every lounge and bar had some type of live music from bands to combos to orchestras or a DJ was hosting things like poolside dance parties or the extremely popular ( and hilarious to observe) ‘silent disco’.

When we finally pulled the covers up the old salt occupying the pillow next to me, who normally suffers from terrible insomnia, was soon asleep like a baby with a lullaby. The open veranda door had the sounds of a ship sliding throug the sea wafting through our room and I imagined he was dreaming of being 18 years old in a crowded rack in the belly of an aircraft carrier.

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