The Fun Researcher

2 minutes ago, ecslady said:

 

A footstool was a perk or feature of booking a certain class of balcony cabin (concierge & aqua, I believe), and now that was taken away.  That is what is upsetting to me, at least, and probably others.

 

Yes, I will miss the footstool and Yes, I will make do and improvise, but there is absolutely no way I will bring my own.  I try to minimize what I pack, especially on long cruises to Europe, etc.

Makes sense.  The other thread complaining about this issue has a link and a photo of an blow up foot stool.  Looks like it wouldn't take up much room at all when travelling, but as a very light packer myself, I get it.

Dan

Posted this in another thread.  While it's a shame to lose something that used to be included by X, I would suggest bringing your own if it's that critical.

11 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Guess you don't have a bum left knee.

Funny you say that, but I injured my left knee in college and it's never healed completely.  Still flares up with the weather or with overuse during exercise.

I would suggest bringing your own if it's that critical.

Not really much to adjust to IMO other than having the right expectations.

The cabin will be smaller in general, and will be pitch black day or night if you turn the lights out (one of the things about insides that I love).  

Depending on the time of the year, the room will be less humid and more constant in temperature.  That's one thing I don't like about balcony cabins.  Open that balcony door and the outside air rushes in and can drastically change the feel in the room for a good bit.

I would plan to spend most of your time in the public areas to enjoy the views rather than camping out on the balcony.  Personally we are the types that would much rather be on the pool deck or higher and get our views and such that way, rather than sitting on a cramped balcony. (matter of opinion)

We bring battery operated tea lights and turn them on before bed, or during naps, so that you can see where you are going when you wake up. Sometimes all it takes is one in the bathroom, with the bathroom door left open.  That can sometimes be all the light you need to get around in the dark.

We use the cabin mainly for sleep and to change before meals.

Dan

For all of you who are upset about the footstools, I would imagine that there are portable/foldable versions out there that you could bring with you in your luggage, or if you are on the balcony alone, use the other chair as a footstool.

It really does bewilder me that footstools are such a hot button topic.  Of all the things to worry about on a cruise, but hey I guess folks can prioritize whatever they want.

Dan

2 hours ago, mikkelhansen said:

Post #302 on page 13 has both the "original" and the "revised" revolutionization schemes.

Much appreciated, thank you!

Dan

2 hours ago, colliercruiser said:

 

Anyone remember the time when this Equinox Revolution thread was about the significant upgrades intended for Equinox, those which could not be accomplished due to the shift in dry dock and the final result?  I never realized that some items, such as table sizes on the veranda and whether a bottle of so-so sparkling wine was found in the cabin, are of similar significance.  😕

This is completely selfish on my part not trying to look back at the previous 37 pages to find my answer, but...

Can someone list the things that were planned, but were not completed due to the shortened dry dock?

Thanks,

Dan

41 minutes ago, chemmo said:

 

Why not get your kids involved in the research? As a teen our son was more interested in the port activities and destinations than a specific ship. With a lively port schedule involving water sports and sight seeing he enjoyed the more relaxed ambience of Celebrity.

 

If you join them in on discussions they will board understanding Celebrity is a different (not better or worse but different) experience than RC.

Thanks.  That is a good suggestion, and they are involved currently.  They have watched a good walk-through of the ship, and helped decide one of our excursions so far. (Maya Chan beach in Costa Maya which we loved last time we visited)  The good thing is that it's a fairly port intensive itinerary for a 7 night cruise.  (Key West, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and Cozumel).  Ports tend to fill up most of the day, so after dinner and the nightly entertainment there really isn't much else needed on those days.

All they've cruised is Royal Caribbean (4 cruises) which has tons of entertainment, so I'm just hoping that they adjust well to the more R&R pace of Celebrity.

Dan

The one time we sailed with Celebrity on the Equinox, we felt the entertainment in the theater was pretty close to what we were used to on the Freedom and Voyager classes of Royal Caribbean.  No complaints

Now, talking entertainment as a whole, well yeah there is MUCH less on the Equinox.  No rock climbing wall, flow riders, water slides, ice rink, laser tag, Escape room, putt putt golf (all of which the newly Amped Navigator had for our 9 night southern route this past March)  I do wish the Equinox had even a decent putt putt golf area, but not even that.

We still filled our time relaxing on Celebrity and enjoyed it.  We felt the service and food was a small, but noticeable, step up from Royal.

I am a little concerned with bringing our kids on the Equinox this upcoming March.  They are getting older and don't do as much of the "one and done" activities, but the fact it, Celebrity has almost nothing besides the nightly shows.

Dan

On 6/16/2019 at 11:46 AM, keesar said:

More chair hogging and packed liked sardines.  

Is this from experience, or just an assumption?

Dan

2 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

You dished it out, you need to learn to take it.  🙂

I disagree.  I don't feel the OP "dished" anything out.  Personally, I'm also considering staying away from this part of the forums.  I've predominantly posted in the RCCL forums, as that's what we've cruised the most, but we have cruised the Equinox in the past and really enjoyed it.  I've been in this part of the forums again just recently because we've booked the Equinox for this upcoming March.

I can't believe how "wound tight" some of these folks are, and self righteous truth be told.  They take offense when no offense was meant or implied.  ...and how about just seeing the humor in every day life?  

Dan

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

There are entirely too many knickers in a knot in this thread.

Amen!  To 1000th degree

Dan

35 minutes ago, debshomespun said:

Changed our 5/13/20 Equinox 10 day sailing from 2 perks (drink pkg & $300 OBC) refundable, to 1 perk (drink pkg) and saved $900. Already have $200. OBC to use towards gratuities. Much better deal IMHO. Very happy. 

I'll be interested to see if we have an opportunity to save some money by going non-refundable as well, once we book flights.  That's the trigger point for me to be o.k. to book non-refundable.  If I've invested the cash for flights then we are going for sure.

Dan

As others have said, when I repriced our cruise with 3 perks all it did was add to the price of the cruise (at least as much as the value of the 3rd perk).  No thanks.  I'm happier with the two selections of Classic Drink Package and $150 OBC for two.   I could care less about getting the gratuities paid for because they are coming out of the OBC already.  The high speed internet is one of the last things I want on a cruise.  We like to disconnect, and only send pictures and photos to friends and family back home when we get to certain ports.

Dan

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

I hope always sensitivity is a key ingredient to this site..

The key word in my comment was "overly"  😉

...and FWIW I love seeing all ages of passengers on a cruise ship.  Young, middle age, old, older...  as long as they are having fun and not being a nuisance to fellow guests.  I'm a bit of an old soul myself sometimes and love conversations with generations significantly older than me, but I also love dancing and drinking to the latest beats out on the dance floor as well.

P.S.  I'm hoping I make it long enough to be counting steps to ballroom dances.

Dan

Note to self:

...a bunch of seemingly overly sensitive folks in this forum.

Dan

2 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

Don't lose hope...keep checking pricing and availability. Our B2B around the horn of South America seemed to be sailing near capacity until about 4 months out. Pricing plummeted and cabins were plentiful. For many cruises large travel agencies reserve blocks of cabins and then release them closer to the sail date.

Good Luck!

Thanks, I'll keep my eyes open for a 4 person room with an upper berth.  That just looks like a more comfortable option.

2 hours ago, cynbar said:

Yikes, that sofa looks really small (and uncomfortable) for even the two youngest in your group. I know it wasn't your original question, but do you think you may have some unhappy kids on your hands? Fussy kids can quickly ruin a vacation. Sorry to be negative but now is the time to consider that.

 

Would it be that big of a deal for your parents to be on a different deck, rather than incur the extra $600 charge?

Yeah, it does look pretty cramped.  Not sure why Celebrity chooses that layout rather than upper berths, which just function so much better.  I may end up moving us up one deck to snag that room that has an upper berth.  It's not that much different of a walk to my parents Veranda cabin.  It just adds a flight of stairs in between.

I have already shown my kids the room and my 12 year old doesn't care at all and the others said would probably be fine.  They really do understand that they aren't in the room much based on our previous cruises.  Honestly for them, and my wife and, it's typically for sleeping and getting ready for dinner.  Other than that we much prefer the public areas of the ship, even more so than hanging out on the balcony of a Veranda cabin. (nothing against balcony cabins mind you)

Dan

47 minutes ago, micheleata said:

Yes,  that is what you will get..   You didn't mention when your cruise is, but I suggest going onto the Celebrity site and doing a dummy booking to see what rooms are available.    The rooms on the map with a square and a triangle have both the convertible bed and the upper birth.   Then I would call to switch cabins if there are any available.

Thanks for the advice.  March 21, 2020.  Pretty full already and very limited for 4.  I took your suggestion and I did see one room left that has both the upper berth and the sofa bed.  It's about $150 more than what the kids are in now, and it's on another deck so my wife and I would need to rebook that catagory as well, so another $100+.  My parents who have a balcony would also need to relocate at over $600 difference, so it's not looking too promising.

I'll ask the kids if the situation is a no go, but they are pretty easy going overall and we don't spend a ton of time in our rooms.

Dan

46 minutes ago, Husky61 said:

With one small bathroom?😲

Not unusual for there to be 4 in a stateroom.  The bathroom on the inside cabin appears to be the same size as the bathroom in the balcony cabin we had on the Equinox last sailing. 

They aren't the ones having to pay for the cruise.  They will survive.  :) Our stateroom has a bathroom also if needed.  That's the bummer with these Celebrity ships, no connecting inside rooms.  Having that connecting door really makes the two rooms feel like one large space with two full baths.

Dan

We’ve cruised many times on Royal with our kids, utilizing two connecting inside cabins.  (Wife and I in one, and kids in the other)  Unfortunately Celebrity doesn’t offer connecting inside cabins on the Equinox.  We have 4 children going with us next cruise (ages 18, 18, 15, 12) and booked them an inside cabin with a “convertible sofa bed”  I found this photo on the internet and want to make sure this is what they will have.  I much prefer the 4 person cabins with upper “Pullman beds” on Royal to this situation, but at least I can prepare them.  I assume two will sleep on the sofa (one on main sofa and one on the part that pulls out?), and the other two on the separated twin beds

Room with and without sofa converted in attached photos.  Room 7178 to be specific.

Thanks,

Dan

4 hours ago, Droink said:

WOW!  Drink prices have really gone up in the last decade or so.   

Unfortunately true.  We've only sailed X once and liked it, but we had the drink package included since we booked a balcony cabin last time.

We typically sail Royal Caribbean and the drink prices since 2014 have gone up  crazy amounts.  A basic rum and coke used to be around $6.50 and is now over $10.

Dan

Great review.  Felt balanced and fair to me.  We've only sailed X once (no kids, just our adult friends), on the Equinox like you.  The rest have been Royal Caribbean.

We are booked on the Equinox with our kids and my parents this upcoming March mainly because I couldn't find a good ship and itinerary on Royal the week we need to go, but I also think my parents will like X better. (their only other cruise before this was the Celebrity Summit to Alaska about 10 years ago).

We really liked the Equinox and agree with most of what you said, but we went in early August and the demographics were nearly identical to the Royal cruises we've been on.  Lots of families and I would say an average age in the 40's.  Same age group.  I think your time of year played a lot with makeup of your fellow cruisers.

We felt that the food was a small step up, as was the service.  I missed the Royal Promenade, and didn't care for the chopped up feel of the ships interior.  However, the outdoor space, especially the lawn and Sunset bar made you feel SOOOOOOO connected to the ocean and the views, which we value highly in a cruise.  Also loved the indoor pool during the heat of the day.

I just hope that our kids have enough to do.  They've mostly grown out of the flow rider, rock climbing, etc, but most of the stuff they will still do once each cruise anyway.  They surely will miss the putt putt golf, ice skating show, Escape Room, and the laser tag from our recent cruise on the Navigator.  (LOVE that ship now)  The Equinox has nothing besides the pool.

Dan

2 hours ago, GSBrockman said:

Coco Cay from the March first time docking of the Anthem. 

 

Thank you!

Dan

Great review.  Appreciate the balanced viewpoint.

Dan

On 4/4/2019 at 4:32 PM, nanowerx said:

They aren't replacing it with anything. Essentially just saving the money they were spending to use the characters. You might get a couple of extra lame parades, but don't expect any new kid-friendly characters or events.

 I think you just have to look a little harder,  or consider how Royal is now spending their money on the kids . For instance, the Navigator just got two waterslides added, laser tag, and an escape room,  all of which my kids vastly enjoyed more than DreamWorks material.

 Royal has tons of activities for kids. To me, DreamWorks felt like  an afterthought anyway versus everything else that was already available. 

Dan