Monday Afternoon, August 31, 2009: Destination - The Celebrity Equinox, Civitavecchia, Italy

When we finally met up with the driver of our ride to head out to the port of Civitavecchia from our Marriott hotel in Rome, we were incredibly relieved. Our driver, a young woman, did not speak English, so we had little conversation. The Mercedes station wagon was a fairly nice ride for the 90 minute journey to the harbor. The countryside reminded me a lot of the scenery I saw when traveling between the San Francisco bay area and Sacramento,California back when I was a kid--golden rolling hills. It was lovely. Here are a couple of shots from out the window. Sorry, they are kind of blurry...but at least you can see a little of the Italian countryside.

As we approached the port we could see the ship in the distance. It was exciting! The ship is brand new and had only been out in service for about a month. At the time we were sailing, it was the largest cruise ship in service. The port really wasn't conducive for taking a picture and it was hard to get a picture of the whole ship since it was so big. Here are two pictures Dave attempted to get from the car, but unfortunately, they aren't the best because both of them are somewhat obstructed. Oh well...

Waiting in line to check in--it was a little odd when they took our passports and told us they would hold them until the end of the cruise. The immigration folks in Israel and Egypt required that the cruise line hold all passports for inspection---and they individually inspected each one. We did not get them back until we arrived in Alexandria at the near end of our trip. The Israeli Immigration authorities required each of us to report for a visual inspection (on one of our sea days) as they inspected our passports. That was certainly an interesting experience.

Finally, getting closer to boarding...

Celebrity is a class act! The cruise line offers all passengers water or punch to drink when you arrive as well as an ice cold washcloth to wipe your face. With the immense heat, that washcloth became the thing I loved about this cruise line! At every port they were offered--what a wonderful way to be welcomed "home". I was really disappointed when I got on the ship later at one port and missed the iced washcloth. ;(

Dave was pretty excited...can you tell?

Although I hate to admit it, I was pretty excited too...

Up on the 7th deck our room was 7239 and was just around the corner from the elevators. It was a fabulous location!!! And, no we never heard any noise from that elevator. I'd definitely pick this same location again---about midship and close to an exit. Our room was just to the right of the wood strip to the back of this picture. The reflecting metal strip was the edge of our door.

Our room. It was quite spacious with a king size bed, plasma tv, and a beautiful balcony. The service was outstanding! I loved our bathroom---finally a toilet on a cruise ship that didn't "roar" when flushed, and a shower that was comfortable to be in. It was actually quite large and it had a shower door rather than a curtain ( all those curtains on the other ships usually ending up sticking to me and then I'd end up with a lake on the floor--not this time!). Oh---and another plus, no step over humps on the doors! This ship has been very well planned and constructed. I loved the Radiance of the Seas (Royal Caribbean Cruise line) when we cruised through the inside passage of Alaska and have always regarded it as my favorite, but now I think the Equinox is a strong contender for first place. This ship was wonderful!

Wandering the ship, Dave took this picture from our balcony down the side of the ship---the railing out to the right was facing the water. It was awesome! We usually ordered room service (which is free) for breakfast and ate it out on our balcony. What a treat!

Every ship is required to have an emergency drill so that everyone knows where to go in the event of a real emergency. Our muster station was the main dining room, and the table we sat at was actually only a couple of tables away from the table we ate dinner at!. We struck up a conversation with the couple on the right--Rob and Glenda Hodges from Canada. We soon found out that they too were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary just as we were! What was even crazier, was that the couple to the right of me and across from Rob and Glenda were also celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. Yvon and Judy La Forge (not pictured) are friends of the Hodges and this was their first cruise. Little did we know we would all become fast friends and soon it felt like we'd always known one another! Our cabins were all close by too! We all hope to meet up again for a cruise through the Panama Canal in 2011.

The port

The welcome sign in port

Wandering around this beautiful ship

One of the first things I had to see was the real live lawn up near the top of the ship. It was awesome! I took off my shoes and walked barefoot through it! Living in the south between the scratchy St. Augustine turf and the fire ants, walking barefoot on a lawn in the south just isn' t the same. We ended up here several times throughout the cruise to play Baggo and Bacchi ball. The lawn was definitely a novelty!

Leaving port---on to the rest of our journey!

Although we had signed up to sit at a bigger table with several other couples, we ended up at a small table just for us. There was another single table just to the left of Dave, but they only came the first night and never returned. They were strange people, so we were actually kind of relieved. I heard the woman whisper to her husband that she didn't want to eat around other people. Oh well, her loss. The Hodges and La Forge's were at a larger table just a few tables away, and we usually joined them and their table mates for dessert. It was fun. We got to know a lot of wonderful people! And of course, we had a wonderful waiter, waitress, and other servers.

In the evening, we walked on deck to find this little light and water show. It was quite pretty. The water danced. During the day, the little kids would play in it.

We took more pictures of the ship that I will post later. I would say the decor of the ship was simple and understated. We've been on some pretty gaudy ships in the past, but this was not. There was a simple elegance to the Equinox, and with the simplicity of her floor plan, she soon became a comfortable home for our 13 day journey.

Next Installment: Naples, Italy!