AlanAllyn

I found that an email to: contactmichael@celebrity.com

works very well. I sent some comments on my Equinox cruise in December and got a phone call back from Guest Relations within a week. We had a detailed discussion for half an hour (both positives and negatives).

You can order from the MDR menu during dinner hours. Your room attendant can get you a menu or you can look at either the MDR or the Oceanview. (It all comes at once.)

We are two couples in our late 50s who will be sailing to the Caribbean (10 day Ultimate Caribbean) aboard the Equinox in April. We were wondering if anyone has any insider tips to share?

 

Any foods not stated on the MDR menu that are available? There is also a vegetarian menu and they will make things not on the menu if you ask the day before.

Desserts not to be missed? Chocolate meltaway cake. They served it twice on the 11-day cruise.

Best place on board for sailaways?

Are breakfasts and lunches available in the MDR?Breakfast is available in the MDR every day except when they have a fancy brunch, usually on one of the last two sea days. Lunch is served on other sea days.

 

Do's and Dont's??

 

Any and all advice is appreciated!:D

Also, breakfast and lunch is served in the AquaSpa Cafe and in Bistro on 5 ($5 charge).

I will be returning from a cruise on Reflection on Feb 15, and my flight out of Miami got changed to 11:25 am.

 

Is this doable? And if I have to change it, will the airline charge me. I don't fly enough to know this kind of stuff.

If the airline moved up your time, they will likely change you to a later flight (if they have one) without charge.

Normally, you should be able to make that flight, particularly if you carry off your own luggage. If not, ask for an early disembarking number. But, Miami is a very busy airport on cruise days.

I was on the same cruise. We had towel animals 2 times. We were not asked about having the 4 page newspaper delivered daily, I found it about mid-cruise on a rack near the front desk.

 

I was only asked when I went to Guest Relations looking for the paper; it was too early that day for the paper to be out.

• If you ask Guest Services, they will deliver the news sheet (4 pages) to your cabin daily.

 

By news sheet, do you mean the daily list of activities on board?

No. I believe it was USA Times, with news, sports and weather around the country and world. There were also other editions, including Canada.

So just to verify then, when you were in Belize the ships time was Eastern time and actually one hour ahead of Belize time? Just trying to figure out excursions.

 

Thanks

No. The ship was on CST, the same as Belize.

Thanks for the several "heads up" comments. We leave on the same itinerary in 7 days. Can't wait. How were the ports? Any suggestions? How was the weather? Really don't care for the towel animals, had a lot of them on Disney. How was the main dining room food? What did you mean about the second formal being smart casual? Don't tell me I am going to have to replan my clothes. Ugh!!! It is hard enough to plan this with the holidays around the corner.:eek:

Beth is correct; we had two formal nights, first sea day and Cozumel. We had three or four days of rain, never had that before. We only toured in Costa Rica. The Veragua Rainforest tour (by Celebrity) was excellent, but involved much more walking and standing than was described. We are restricted to fish and vegetarian. We enjoyed the MDR every night.

Alan

There have been a lot of questions and rumors on these boards. Here are my experiences from the Dec. 9 Equinox cruise. It was 11 days to Grand Cayman, Cartagena, Panama. Costa Rica, Belize and Cozumel. It was the first cruise of the season, having just returned from Europe. I plan to post a review of this cruise in the review section. I will try to answer any questions you post.

• There are separate vegetarian menus with 2 appetizers, 2 soups, 2 salads, and two main courses. A few of these overlap with the MDR menu, but at least one of each type is always different.

• There are daily menus in the Aquaspa Café. There is no grilled salmon or tuna daily, but poached salmon some days.

• There is candy on the pillow each night, but no towel animals.

• Michael’s Club is open to all and very little going on there.

• “Friends of Dorothy” has been replaced by a daily LGBT get together.

• Elite cocktails were held in Sky Lounge; no coupons. Breakfast was in Tuscan Grill.

• The ship was full. (Someone with a flooded cabin (the only major complaining I encountered) could only be moved for one night, until Grand Cayman, where the occupant was catching up with the ship.) There were a few kids. The median age appeared to be around 70. The ship was not dead after 11pm. When we got out of the Sin City late night adult comedy show (standing room only in Celebrity Central) at 12:15am, Quasar was hopping; the Casino and Martini bar were both busy. We did not check out all the other venues.

• Celebrity literature says 2 formal nights on an 11 day cruise; on the first day they listed 3, but the second one became smart casual.

• Ships time moves back an hour to CST between Panama and Costa Rica and then moves forward to EST after leaving Cozumel.

• Café al Bacio only serves sweets, no sandwiches; it is open 7am to 1am.

Ice cream in Oceanview for 11am to 10 pm

Pizza and Pasta is noon to 1am

Bistro on 5 is 10am to 10pm

• Music around the ship has changed

Le Chic Duo - two young ladies from Quebec with guitar and smooth vocals

Sean Golden - guitar, singer

Trio Sunrise - guitar, a little percussion and male & female singer

Elaine Abras Quartet - jazz

7-piece band

party band

no a capella group

no piano bar

no string trio or quartet

• If you ask Guest Services, they will deliver the news sheet (4 pages) to your cabin daily.

• Select Dining uses the whole second floor of the dining room.

• Brunch in the MDR held on third (of four) sea day.

• Elite coupons include one for a scoop of gelato. Laundry and internet coupons haven’t changed.

• Music is often too loud, particularly in the Sky Lounge during the Elite cocktail hour.

The first CC Meet and Mingle was around 11 (or 11:15) am on the first sea day (2nd day of the cruise). The second get together is unlikely to happen, as I made the request, and Celebrity was very gracious to accomodate. It was on next to last sea day, again I believe around 11 am or so. Both times, it was held at the Sky Lounge on Deck 14.

You never know.

Last year, on the Century to Hawaii, we had a very active group and requested a lunch on the last sea day. They set us up on the second floor of the dining room, with the same menu as was being served to everyone else downstairs. The Captain even stopped by.

I am one of the very few (other than those in the big suites) who have paid in full for a cruise next month and am actually better off than under the old system. 11 days in balcony was 1 credit; now its 33 points (more than 30). However, I do lose on the other two cruises I booked - 14 days was 2 credits or 60 points; now it is 42 each.

See The Preismans dot com for their review of the Summit in September. Lots of photos of food.

In the past, Equinox has docked at Terminal 18, the one designed for Oasis and Allure. There is a large outdoor parking lot directly across the street.

When you enter the Port, there will a large electronic display listing which terminal each ship is at.

I have been on cruises where they do not change the ship's clock.

You leave and return on EST. Cozumel is on CST. You will know which time you are on; they will tell you to turn back your watch an hour when and if they are changing.

The Oasis class has the best set up IMHO. Hot breakfast and lunch served with beer and wine. Add to that two levels with a beautiful view overlooking the Boardwalk and Aqua Theater.

You are describing the lounge for Diamond+ and suites, not the Diamond lounge.

The other difference is that X has shorter hours.

I'm not on Century but I believe it is Captain Nikolaos Christodoulakis (Excuse the spelling!).

You spelled it correctly.

We sailed that cruise with him last November. He really does make a difference! Spoke with him almost every day.

Beautiful pictures.

Who did you do the Quebec Countryside tour with? Celebrity? Private vendor?

Was there a lot of walking?

Thanks.

We are booked for next September.

Perhaps, the probems at 24/25 is the reason they moved Eclipse to Miami for 2014-5. For us in Boca, that is probably as much of an inconvenience as 24/25

I just emailed Celebrity (special_needs) and was informed that there is no separate vegetarian menu.

Perhaps you got that response because =X= does not consider vegetarian a "special need." It is handled directly by food services with no notice required.

There are 2. I would guess day 8. That's what I am planning on. It certainly won't be the last night.

See you in December.

You might get a better response if you ask this under "Ask a cruise question."

Hi Everyone,

 

I've confirmed the ContactMichael@Celebrity.com email address remains active. I hope this helps !

Indeed, I just got a call back from X about some comments I sent to that address last week.

Last week I emailed Mr. Bayley about our first Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette in February. The majority of my email was positives about our on board experience, that is until we had to disembark.

I also told her that after my Reflection cruise I will probably return to Princess because I would not sail Celebrity out of Ft. Lauderdale again until this is fixed.

 

You do not need to return to Princess to avoid that problem at Port Everglades. Sail the Equinox. It use terminal 18 - the large new one built by RCCL for the Oasis and the Allure.

I don't know that there is a pc program. Marinetraffic.com shows a 2:30 am eta into San Juan

Where on marinetraffic? It just shows CP out of range.

I bought my Seiko on board several years ago and it is still working fine (have replaced the battery).