Syracruisin

Syracruising, question regarding the Classic drink package. My husband drinks Manhattans but doesn't like Jim Beam bourbon. I understand you can upgrade the bourbon and pay only the difference of the actual cost of the drink. In other words, Classic has a $9 limit but a Makers Mark Manhattan would cost $12 to buy - so we would only have to pay the $3 difference. Do you know if this is true?

Yes, you'll pay the difference for any drink over $9. So if it's $12 for a Makers Mark Manhattan, he'd pay $3 - unless he makes friends with the bartender ;)

If he drinks more than three of them a day, it would probably make more sense to upgrade to Premium.

Debarkation

I panicked during "Life", because I had forgotten to put our suitcases outside of the room, so I ran back there and ran into our steward, Michael, who assured me that even though it was 10:00, I still had plenty of time. The next morning we arrived to a rain shower in Miami, and debarkation was delayed. My advice is not to book a flight home too early after your cruise, because we were held up for over an hour before the ship was cleared to begin letting passengers off. Debarkation went smoothly, and customs were a breeze.

My flight wasn't until the next day, and we had booked a night at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites - Airport East. It was a modern hotel and the room was beautiful and very spacious. The staff was also extremely friendly and accommodating, agreeing to hold our luggage until our room was ready. There isn't much around it to explore, though, and the weather was still spotty, so we just hung out in the lounge area watching TV and drinking coffee. The staff was able to have our room ready by 11 (it pays to be an IHG member), and we went in and promptly took a long nap! The hotel also has a free airport shuttle. Being so close to the airport, the takeoffs were audible, but we slept just fine.

Overall, I enjoyed the cruise on Celebrity, but I think the ship lacked some of the personalization and attention that Royal offers. Little things like no towel animals and no show in the dining room seemed to reinforce the robotic atmosphere onboard. The ship was clean, the food was good, and the staff was accommodating. It just seemed like it was missing some spark to make it special.

Last Day - Sea Day

I finally made myself a bacon, egg and cheese bagel sandwich for breakfast in the cafe. After breakfast, we went to the pool, where there were plenty of seats available. Some cards were scattered about on chairs where the hogs had left their belongings. Later, I went with my dad and brother to the art auction. It was the usual suspects - Peter Max, Tarkay, Najar. They had a Rembrandt sketch in their masterpiece section, but my onboard credit didn't quite cover the $14,000 cost so I had to pass. Free champagne.

I also used the sea day to finally try one of the famed Mast Grill burgers. It was fine, but really just a burger, and I don't understand why they aren't just available in the buffet.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the ship, eating and drinking. The best bartender was in the Oceanview Bar, and if it wasn't for the humidity (it's outside) we would've spent a lot more time up there.

Dinner was good - the big offering was Steak Dianne, which was really just a sauced-up version of the regular sirloin that's on the menu every night. Dessert options included cannoli and a sacher torte that was excellent. We had a good last night dinner with the waitstaff (don't forget to tip them!). We lucked out with the sommelier in particular; he hooked us up! But Celebrity didn't do the last dinner wait staff singing show that other cruise lines have. I know it's corny, but it's a fond farewell that was missing on this ship.

The final show onboard was "Life", a song and dance routine featuring a male aerialist, who was the highlight of the show. Late night comedy was James Stephens, who was again hilarious but wasn't really explicit as it stated.

Someone said that your on board account is charged 18% of the price of the drink package (even if it is added as a free perk) for the service charge. Is this true??

 

 

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We just had the Classic Package as one our perks, and we were not charged an extra 18% gratuity. It was included in the perk. If you upgrade, you'll have to pay the 18% tip on top of the $10/day price increase, making the Premium upgrade effectively $11.80/day.

Bartenders were eager to upsell you to the Premium Package if you asked about what liquors were included with Classic drinks. I get that it's a pain for them to have to recite for each customer what's included and what might cost you a couple bucks more. The best way to avoid that discussion is to snag a list from guest services of what liquors and drinks were included in what package, which I did. However, the ship didn't carry everything that was listed on that sheet (for example, I couldn't find Kraken rum anywhere despite it being listed as part of Classic).

You can get a Manhattan, Sidecar, Old Fashioned, Dark and Stormy, Cosmo, pina coladas and daiquiris, and many other "regular" drinks on the Classic package. The bartenders used Absolut as their call vodka of choice, and Jim Beam as their bourbon. Rum was some cheapo variety but then they floated Myers or Captain Morgan on top of frozen cocktails. Jack Daniels was only available on the Premium package.

You're right about that World Class bar. They don't have soda or water. Luckily, the coffee bar, Cafe Bacio, is right around the corner and does.

And yes, to those who were for some reason fuming about fountain soda on these boards, they were giving out cans of soda to people who had the Classic Package. I didn't see any fountain soda.

Grand Cayman

We were the only ship in port (three out of four this cruise!). It's a tender port, so there was a line to the tenders, but they moved pretty quickly. Family booked the Atlantis Submarine excursion with our OBC. The excursion wasn't until after noon, which was smack in the middle of the port time. A few of us walked out of the port area and around town while waiting. I will say prices in Grand Cayman are higher than Mexico, so if you're looking to buy souvenirs or gifts for people back home (T-shirts, etc), do it in Mexico.

The submarine excursion was interesting. We took a boat out to the sub, which then took us down 100 feet to the reef and Cayman wall. We saw a lot of different fish and coral, but no rays, turtles or sharks that day. The narrator was good, pointing out interesting fish or coral we passed. It was pricey, and I'd say without the OBC covering it I wouldn't pay $109 to go again, but it is pretty much the only way to see so much reef life that far below the surface outside of being a scuba diver.

After the excursion, we broke off, and half of us took a ride to the public beach ($5pp). There were people standing around offering chairs and umbrellas for $15. They didn't have any uniform or ID and I didn't know if this was a legitimate operation or just locals taking money from tourists. Either way, we didn't use the chairs so we declined and just went into the water. The beach was ok, but the water was crystal clear! There's a bar at the end of the public beach - Calico Jack's. Food prices (island bar food) were ok but drinks were expensive - $6 for a Caybrew, $12 for a pina colada. They're half that price at the Green Parrot in the port area. The beach also has bathrooms and rinse-off showers. We spent about an hour and a half at the beach before heading back. There were buses waiting to return people to the port.

Did some port shopping upon return, and met my dad at the Green Parrot next to the tender return area. We ended up taking the last tender back with the ship's crew! Make sure you make that tender, because the port closed up promptly at 5:30, and the crew boarded the tender, leaving no one left at port to let you on. The bartender had told us stories of people missing the tender and being stranded in Grand Cayman - an expensive mistake.

Dinner this night was lobster tail and beef wellington. It wasn't a formal night, though. Our waiter told us they switched the menus around from the previous night for some reason. Baked Alaska was the featured dessert.

The entertainment onboard was comedian James Stephens, III. He was hilarious, doing impressions, playing piano, etc. I thought it was the best show of the cruise.

They do offer that. Did you mention it to the waiter or Maitre'd? I took my niece who is gluten-free on the Summit and notified them prior to sailing of her special diet. They would bring the menu for the next night at the end of dinner and she was able to choose her meal and they modified many dishes to suit her diet. She loved the fact that she could get French Onion soup that was gluten free (now one of her favorite soups now after that).

We advised Celebrity of it prior to sailing and during dinner the first night. The only advice we received was to select from the items marked "gluten free". No advance menu option was offered. My brother isn't pushy so he just picked things that were marked as such, but I wish the ship would've been more proactive in giving him the option the Summit gave your niece.

Cozumel

After getting back on the ship in Costa Maya, we went to get the cruise shopping coupons for Cozumel and stumbled into a signup for a free cab ride into town. This turned out to be one of the best deals the entire cruise. We just signed up and the next morning met by the cruise shopping desk. The cruise shoppers then walked us off the ship, through the port area and into waiting cabs, which took us to downtown Cozumel and let us out at Diamonds International. From there, we were free to do whatever we wanted. No strings attached. I figured there had to be a catch, but nope, they just let you out on the street and they took care of the cab fare. We did some (a lot) of shopping before heading a few blocks up the avenue for lunch at Pancho's Backyard, which is in the back of Los Cinco Soles, a huge store worth visiting on its own for handmade as well as trinket souvenirs. The portions at Pancho's were large and delicious, and the margaritas were huge! The ship "shopping tour" had also given us a coupon for a free appetizer sampler, which was a nice bonus.

After lunch, we continued walking around, buying luchador masks (you have to really haggle but can get very good prices if you do) and some souvenirs. There are many, many shopping kiosks and stalls behind the main avenue. We were walking in the direction back toward the ship and decided to just walk back to the pier. I don't recommend it. It was several miles and took longer than anticipated, and the 90 degree heat and humidity didn't help. Take a taxi back! When we (finally) got back to the port shopping area, we bought some rum cakes from Mayan Fiesta.

Dinner was another formal night. The menu included crab cakes and beef carpacio apps, beef short rib (very good) and an unadvertised dessert special - Grand Marnier souffle. They also offered cherries jubilee.

The show was a Broadway tribute. A couple of the voices were great, a couple not so much.

Costa Maya

I had booked an excursion through Native Choice ahead of time for everyone. They offer a few different tours on their website, and we went with the Chacchoben Extreme Tour, which included a trip to the ruins, followed by the Bacalar Lagoon with lunch. Native Choice's office is outside of the port, and they provided directions via email. The walk was maybe a few blocks. You can hail a cab there, but to me it wasn't worth doing.

The tour itself was fantastic. It was the seven of us plus only two other people in the air-conditioned van, so nearly our own private tour. Our guide, Juan Carlos, gave us a narration of Mahahual and the surrounding area, as well as a brief history of the Maya and what to expect at the ruins. The ruins offered some good photo ops as we were led through a narrated tour of the temples. Bring insect repellent, because there can be a lot of mosquitos. I didn't notice any during our tour, but then again I was covered in bug spray (I used Repel Lemon Eucalyptus).

After the Chacchoben ruins, we were driven to a small resort at the Bacalar Lagoon. They fed us a fairly traditional Mexican lunch that was delicious and then gave us a couple hours to enjoy the lagoon. There isn't really a beach but rather an area with chairs, kayaks and a slide into the water. Wear water shoes because there are random rocks among the sand in the brackish water. The lagoon was beautiful (it's appropriately referred to as the lagoon of seven colors) and not too crowded (our group and one other that arrived while we were there) and the included kayaks were a fun way to experience it. Although the resort area was small, it was a perfect way to relax and sunbathe or swim around while being served (the included) margaritas, pina coladas or cervezas. All in all, it was a very worthwhile day to spend in Costa Maya.

Back onboard the ship, the evening show was Topper. It was better than Elysium.

Yeah, it seemed almost routine that various bars were out of different things. They even claimed to have run out of pina colada mix on more than one occasion during the cruise. Perhaps they need better runners to service the bars or manage inventory.

And no, there wasn't any flexibility on the drink package. I asked about any discounts the first day after they kept coming up and asking us to upgrade to the premium and was told there were none - it was a flat $10/day ($11.80 with gratuity) upgrade fee.

Although that package gratuity is pooled among the entire ship, the bartenders would avail themselves of extra tips from people leaving tip money on the bar for good service. I know we always tip "our" bartender extra on top of the shipwide gratuity.

Forgot to mention the muster station. On Celebrity, they had us gather on Deck 5 (inside the ship), then pack in against the wall like cattle and watch a corny James Bond type video that was supposed to teach about ship safety. It was so hot and full of dead air that by the time the "wash your hands" song came on after, people were begging to be let out. It didn't help that the ship's muster captains were just standing around doing nothing, nor did the captain's barely audible instructions in whatever language he was speaking. It was the worst muster drill so far in my relatively short cruising career. Finally, as people were edging further and further out of the area, the horn went off to signal the end of the drill. People fled out of there faster than if the ship was actually going down.

The day after Key West was a Sea Day. We got up early, grabbed breakfast (eggs benedict ok but not the best) and went out to the pool, expecting to find all of the loungers occupied by chair hog items. What we saw were a bunch of cards on the chairs. At first I thought maybe people were using their room service cards or scraps of paper to claim seats, but upon closer inspection realized they were placards placed there by pool staff. They stated (I'm paraphrasing), "Your stuff was left out for more than 30 minutes, so we took it. You can come to guest services to get it back." It was great. Throughout the cruise, we did not encounter a problem finding chairs around the pool. Celebrity really did a good job keeping seats open for people who actually wanted to use them at the pool.

That afternoon we went to trivia. Ship trivia on Celebrity was up on 14 in the bar (which is also where the art auctions are held). It's a little out of the way, but even worse, the bar wasn't even open during trivia or the auctions! That was just dumb on Celebrity's part. There was a room full of people who couldn't get anything to drink.

Dinner was formal, err "Evening Chic." Not knowing what to expect, I and the rest of the guys wore suits, and the women wore dresses. I was surprised to find people in everything from suits/tuxes to Hawaiian shirts to T-shirts. I'm no snob, but I thought the people in T-shirts looked out of place and tacky. Beef Tournado was the featured item, and it was very good. The chicken chiquita (chicken stuffed with banana and coconut rice) was good also. Pear honey soup app would've been good, but for the scallions (pears and scallions?). I had to try the frog legs too, and although they tasted... like chicken, I couldn't help but be a little creeped out knowing I was eating a frog.

The show was "December 63", a Four Seasons tribute group. They were fantastic. Funny and engaging, they really got the crowd going. Note to the crowd though, if you sit in the front row (talking to you, white hair with the heavy lipstick), you should expect that there's a chance the band just might call you onstage to serenade you. Please don't refuse to go along with it; it's rude and puts the entertainers and audience in an awkward position. Fortunately, they were quick witted and went on to select another, more accommodating, cruiser. I almost skipped this show because I've seen Jersey Boys and figured this would be a pale imitation, but I'm really glad we went.

We occupied Cabins 7201-7209. The rooms were fine but laid out a little differently. Ours (7201) had the bed closest to the balcony, and the couch was all leather. I think my brother's room (7205) had the bed first and their couch had fabric cushions. I think I preferred our layout better. The bathrooms were typical cruise ship bathrooms (small), although they did offer a small column of glass-doored shelves, and the shower seemed slightly larger than what I remember from Carnival or Royal.

Sorry for the delay; the NYS Fair is going on here so I had to get my carny on! Back to the review...

KEY WEST

We arrived at 7am and had to be off the ship by 9 for parasailing, which we booked through Celebrity. I'm not a big fan of ship-run excursions, because they're always more expensive, more crowded, and take more time while giving you less time at the attraction (slowest cruiser dictates the pace for everyone else). But we had a lot of OBC through Celebrity and the TA which we used toward this. The company operating it was Fury, which has an office right outside the port. Had it not been for the OBC, I'd recommend just going to their office when the ship docks and scheduling your trip for a significantly lower price. The excursion itself was great. I had never done parasailing before and was a little nervous to be sent up that high with a rope holding us to the boat, but once up there it was so quiet and peaceful, and we could see many islands (keys?), sandbars, different shades of blue in the water and a great view of the ship from the air. We also lucked out with a guide that was funny and told us stories about Key West and, with a crowd of some law enforcement members, told some stories of the seedier dealings on the key (and there's a lot more than I would've thought - a burnt out homeless island adjacent to million dollar homes?).

After the parasailing, we walked around. Two of our group split off at the Mel Fisher Museum, but the rest of us weren't willing to pony up the $15 entry fee. The two who went in are divers and enjoyed all of the artifacts inside. It was very hot and humid the day we arrived, so the walk all the way down Duval St to the Southernmost Point probably wasn't the brightest idea. There was a long line for the photo op there, but fortunately a sno-cone stand at the end to cool off!

During the walk down Duval St, we stopped at DJ's Clam Shack, famous from Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives with Guy Fieri. It lived up to the TV hype! The clams were definitely the star, but the conch fritters and fried shrimp were also delicious. Check it out and have a bite there; you won't be disappointed.

As I said, it was so hot, and the sweet and tart frozen Key Lime Pie I got at Kermits did not exactly quench my thirst, so we had to find someplace to cool off and get a drink ASAP! We opted for Captain Tony's, the oldest bar in Florida and original home of Sloppy Joe's. It's right around the corner from the current Sloppy Joe's. Perfect dive bar with a live musician and a great Pirate Punch (or three).

My parents had opted for the hop on, hop off trolley, and they were also shopping, but they met us at Captain Tony's after stopping at the Hog's Breath. They enjoyed the trolley and said they learned a lot during the narrated tour. Note to readers: look on Groupon or Living Social - they sometimes run deals for the trolley that's cheaper than buying tickets on the ship or in port. Just make sure it's the "hop on, hop off" one if you want to be able to do so, because there are multiple trolleys in Key West and some are just one straight tour from start to finish.

Dinner that night in Sapphire - I got the trout, which was good but small. I neglected to take any other notes of dinner that night, so I apologize, but although I remember everything tasting good it apparently wasn't too memorable.

The show this night was Elysium, which the ship is very proud of, as evidenced by their repeated glowing mentions of it. It was weird. There was no real in-depth plot (although it was supposed to be about a princess' journey through the seasons or something to become queen). The songs were mostly popular modern songs. The highlight was the aerialists, who were great to watch but sometimes wince-inducing!

Day 1 - Departure

Ubering it to the port was easy and cheaper by a couple bucks than a taxi. We left the hotel at about 10:15 a.m. The line for check-in moved quickly, and it really sped things up to have done online check-in ahead of time. There was a bit of a logjam to go up the escalator though from the desk to the ship, and they had the stairs roped off, so everyone had to wait in one line. The reason for the backup turned out to be the free champagne that was being handed out right as people boarded the ship. We chose not to wait any further in line once we stepped onboard and simply walked around everyone else and into the Equinox. The Equinox layout was a little different from the Royal Caribbean Promenade we had gotten used to, so the ship felt a little more broken up and closed off. Most of the central "hub" of the ship was split between Decks 4 & 5.

We met up with everyone in the Oceanview Cafe and had lunch. The food was decent, but we must have been approached by a dozen people asking us to purchase or upgrade our drink package. These requests continued everywhere onboard for the remainder of the first day, but thankfully stopped after that. We had the Classic Package and were fine with ordering off of it, but I will say it would be much easier to be able to just order whatever you wanted with the Premium Package. And don't even ask about getting any of the featured cocktails in the bar menus with a lesser spirit (i.e. Absolut instead of the Goose) in order to qualify for the Classic Package-- none of the bartenders were willing to do that.

Speaking of bartenders, aside from the ones in the Oceanview bar we found them to be pretty cold and robotic. The bars on Celebrity had a different vibe than RC, and seemed to be more businesslike. The message was almost "Here's your drink, now go," which we usually did. We would've spent more time at the Oceanview hanging out, except that it was on 14 through the buffet and was usually a humid 90 degrees out there.

Anyway, there were lots of available seats around the pools that first day. We sat out there for awhile and walked around the ship before dinner.

Dinner that night was ok, strip steak was cooked perfectly. The prime rib got good reviews, as did the salmon, although the portion was a little small. That seemed to be a theme with the fish dishes onboard. My brother is on a gluten-free diet for health reasons, and items were marked if they were gluten-free, vegetarian, etc. I wish they had offered to make additional menu choices gluten-free as Royal has done with other people I know who suffer the allergy, rather than just limiting him to two or so choices each night, but he survived and seemed to enjoy whatever he ordered. Wait staff also seemed a little stiff and too robotic the first night, but thankfully they loosened up as the cruise went on. The featured dessert was a variation of Creme Brulee - I can't remember the name - but it was fantastic.

There was a comedian that night, Wayne Cotter. He was funny and family-friendly, making fun of everyday observations. Afterward, we stopped at the casino bar while mom had a woman swoop in on her seat at Wheel of Fortune and proceed to win a $4,000 jackpot! Luckily, mom would go on to win quite a bit herself during the cousre of the cruise. Me? Not so much.

Late night menu in Oceanview for a snack - pizza, pasta,.sandwiches, and desserts

Key West Tomorrow!

Seven of us were just on the Equinox as a family (Mom, Dad, three adult kids including myself and two significant others). I'll try to make this a somewhat short review and open it up for questions if anyone wants additional info.

We all flew down to Miami from Upstate NY the day before the ship departed, which I seriously recommend due to the afternoon departure and the fact that I've had flights delayed out of northeast cities multiple times for differing reasons. We split our stay at the Intercontinental Miami and one of the Marriotts. I can't comment on the Marriott because I was at the IC, which was very swanky and although lacking a free breakfast did provide vouchers for free coffee at Starbucks. The room was large and very modern, with both a shower and tub in the bathroom, but no fan for some reason..

Uber to the hotels near the port were under $10. We got in after 10pm, so we basically just went to bed and didn't get to enjoy Miami. But that's ok, we had the cruise to look forward to!

Happy Anniversary! We will be on the ship too!

btw...coffee, alcohol, chocolate, those muffins you have with your coffee...all bad for you. Don't care when on vacation.

Coffee is actually good for you. The 18 cans of Diet Coke you want with your Classic Package? Not so much. And if it's free for you (as you stated), you have no right to complain about what form your soda is coming in. Sheesh.

Thanks for the review. We sail as a family on the Equinox on Sunday. Can you tell me what other options are offered on the ship that might entice people in their 20s-30s who might be looking for something a little more exciting than the glass blowing or Emma Thompson? We previously sailed Royal, and although I know Celebrity is supposed to be more "relaxed" and doesn't have the pool events or waterslide-type features, I'm getting a little worried we will be bored on the ship, although there really are only two sea days to have to worry about. Thanks again.

I'm trying to go to my cruise planner now, and I keep getting the following message:

This is idiotic. It's bad enough you have to re-log in with Reservation #, name and dates to manage your reservation after already logging into the Celebrity website. I just logged in, so why does Celebrity need to "protect my privacy"? I've gotten this boxed message before in the past couple of weeks, and it still keeps popping up, which leads me to believe that Celebrity either doesn't care that their website sucks or has IT people who don't know what they're doing, or both. Whatever the reason, it is frustrating enough to make me want to sail a different line next time, and we don't even board for another week.

The decision to only serve cans on the premium package simply is not defensible, no matter how you look at it.

It may not be appreciated, but it's certainly defensible. As has been said, canned soda costs far more per unit than fountain. And I get the drink package to drink alcohol, not soda. This is really making a mountain out of a molehill.

Looks like I'll be getting fountain soda since I have the Classic Package, but it doesn't matter to me if the soda is in a can or from the gun. I fail to see what the uproar is about. On my last cruise (Royal), the "fountain" soda was poured out of two liter bottles anyway. Canned soda costs them more, which is probably why it's now only available in the "premium" package. They want you to pay extra to cover its additional cost. Is it nickel and diming? Maybe a little, but that's what cruise lines (increasingly) do. At least they stopped charging $10 for a hot dog or hamburger.

If you're mixing the soda with rum, who cares whether it came from a can or the gun?

Celebrity's website is terrible. Call them. If they have a long hold time you can leave a message and they'll call you back. I did this to order luggage tags since the website wouldn't allow me the option. They called me back within a couple of hours and agreed to mail the tags to me. While the porters do have them at the pier, I'm wary of relying on theirs since the tag fell off on my last cruise.

You can also call them about dining, but if you went through a TA you'll have to go through the TA to make arrangements for linking reservations, etc.

This sounds similar to the Go Better/Go Best, in which they include "free" perks that you pay more for. In our case, the drink package and OBC was worth the $300 additional cruisefare price. The drink package discounts are worse advertising; they claim 20% off but the math never seems to equal that. Always run the numbers on promotional deals and check all of the available options.