Cruise from Lisbon to Buenos Aires: Nov-Dec 2025

We departed Europe via a cruise ship, the Celebrity Equinox, out of Lisbon, Portugal for a one-way Trans-Atlantic crossing (“repositioning cruise”) to South America. We had figured out that the cost was about the same as flying and we could avoid the jet lag. There was a Port Labor strike in Lisbon that caused us to leave Lisbon over a day late, which meant we could not do the scheduled stop in the Canary Islands. Thus, we had seven sea days before our first port of call – Salvadore, Brazil. We also stopped in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Montevideo, Uruguay before debarking the ship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We had very good weather for almost all of the 15 day transit and we were very pampered by the amazing crew and staff. Upon debarking in Buenos Aires we were disappointed to realize we would have to re-learn how to cook for ourselves again, make our own bed, do our own laundry, and find our own entertainment. And who is going to put the little piece of chocolate on our pillow every evening?

Upon arriving in Lisbon, this was our first look at our ride to South America. Celebrity Equinox can hold about 2,800 passengers and 1,200 crew. For this voyage the ship was full and this picture was taken while we were standing in a horrendously long line to get checked in. It was also pretty chilly as you can see by our coats.
The Captain of Celebrity Equinox, Morfis Passalis, held a receiving line every evening along with the ship department heads. Passengers could have a photo taken and chat with him for a few minutes, which we thought was remarkably available of him. Near the end of the cruise he gave a very engaging presentation in the ship’s theater about the process of putting together a cruise and sailing across the world.
Our inside cabin stateroom aboard Celebrity Equinox was surprisingly spacious. This was definitely a big upgrade from anything Susan had ever experienced in her Navy “cruise” days. Our cabin attendant made the bed every day and then “turned down” the bed in the evening with a piece of chocolate on the pillow.
Susan could not get over how big and how nice the bathroom was in our stateroom. And even better was the cabin attendant who cleaned it every day.
For our meals we normally ate either breakfast or lunch (but not both) at the Deck 14 buffet. Then we had dinner almost every evening in the 4th deck in the Silhouette Dining Room at this exact table in this picture. White table linens and a highly professional service staff including a very helpful wine sommelier.
The ship had tons of entertainment including, but definitely not limited to, a “Naturalist”, who gave talks every day while we were at sea. Her name is Celia Garland and she was magnificent. She has been working and entertaining on cruise ships worldwide for many years, so some of you may have encountered her before. Growing up as a kid, her parents hiked the entire 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail with her and her two siblings. She has had a very unconventional path in life: https://www.celiagarland.com/
I am going to do my best to describe this but feel free to say “whaaat??” A seafarer’s “Crossing the Line” ceremony is a maritime tradition marking a sailor’s first passage over a significant line, usually the equator, transforming them from a novice “pollywog” into an initiated “shellback,” under the rule of King Neptune. I guess you have to imagine for the last several hundred years how creative bored sailors could get while spending too much time at sea.
When Susan went through a “Crossing the Line” ceremony back in 1992 on a US Navy ship, “pollywogs” had to crawl through rotten food waste, slime, and pepper sauce to become a “shellback”. It was really gross and everyone had a bad head cold from it. For Adam’s Crossing the Line ceremony on Celebrity Equinox, he was tapped on each shoulder with fake olive branches, took his picture with King Neptune, and drank a Pina Colada. We are pretty sure Adam got the better deal – LOL!
Celebrity Equinox has eight glass elevators in its 12-story open atrium in the aft part of the ship. The Library on Deck 10 was always beautiful to see during a ride in an elevator.
The huge Sky Lounge on deck 14 has… well… loungers.
In this picture we are the ship circled in red. It gives perspective to how surprisingly straight of a line our path was from Lisbon to Buenos Aires. The entire 15 night cruise traveled over 7,000 statute miles (over 11k km or over 6k nm).
Salvadore (de Bahia), Brazil was our first port of call after seven sea days. The old town area is a Unesco World Heritage site and the ship was docked within walking distance to it. Most of the town, however, was still closed while we were there due to it being early in the morning and on a Sunday. So we simply walked around and admired the bright buildings and cobblestone streets. It is located in the tropics so it got hot and muggy quickly.
The Cathedral of Salvador in Salvador Brazil. There was so much gold on the ornamentation that it was hard to get your eyes to land and focus on something in particular. We felt it was best enjoyed by looking at it as a whole.
This was one of many wall murals in Salvadore, Brazil in the old town Unesco Heritage area.
As the ship approached Rio de Janeiro Brazil we could clearly see the iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer up on the mountain overlooking the city with its arms stretched wide apart (top center of this photo). In the foreground is the world famous Copacabana Beach.
The Statue of Christ the Redeemer is the largest Art Deco–style sculpture in the world. In order to get to it we had to ride a COG railway about 2,000 feet up to the peak of Corcovado Mountain. The statue is almost 100 feet tall (30 meters) and is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone. The last time Susan was in Rio (in 1998 when her US Navy ship stopped there for two days), the COG railway was closed – so it was kind of cool to get a second chance 27 years later.
After visiting Christ the Redeemer statue we took an Uber over to Ipanema Beach, which is a cleaner and more low key version of its famous neighbor beach Copacabana. The sand is very fine and the beach is huge.
On our last full day at sea the weather was balmy and there was a spectacular sunset. Two days later on December 6th we arrived in Buenos Aires. Overall we really enjoyed the cruise with the exception of the slow Wi-Fi and the slow embarkation and debarkation process. We will be in Buenos Aires for several weeks and will post about that in January. Happy Holidays to all!

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12 Comments

    • I thought of your trans Pacific cruise while I was putting together this post! Our highest seas were about 8 feet and we had a few days of almost calm seas. The ship’s stabilizig fins worked really well so the movement was remarkably small on the days of higher seas. The Captain said they can still sail in up to about 20 foot seas before safety becomes a factor.

  3. It sounds like a great way to cross the Atlantic, and very luxurious! Do you still have your Crossing the Line certificate? Your fellow Navy ship mates sure made you earn it, which sounded like it was totally gross.
    Enjoy South America, looking forward to hearing more!

  4. Susan and Adam, we are truly enjoying your blog and reading about this cool couple who will be coming to our Arabesque condominium In Mérida, Yucatán in April! We are saving up some ideas from your stories. Thank you so much for sharing.

  6. Susan and Adam, so lovely to see you both and follow your adventure! Wishing you a wonderful New Year 2026 full of wonder and excitement! Best wishes from all of us in Malta! 🙂

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