Summit or Equinox? I'm new to Celebrity, please help!

I am looking to book a cruise for our family of 3 (me, husband and 10-year old son) for December 2018 and I've narrowed it down to a Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan, PR on the Summit or an Eastern Caribbean cruise out of Miami on the Equinox. The Edge was in the running as well, but, my husband really likes suites with a separate bedroom/living room and there is nothing available.

Both itineraries are appealing to us and flying to San Juan or Miami is absolutely fine. My main concern is with the ships themselves. Between the Summit and Equinox, is one more "luxurious"? Or in better shape than the other? In reading reviews, it sounds like the Summit is in in need of some love, so to speak, so I'm a little concerned about booking it.

If you sail on the Summit, we'll book a Royal Suite. On the Equinox, I'm considering a Celebrity Suite.

For reference, we've sailed on the NCL Gem, Breakaway and Pearl, DCL Dream, Fantasy and Magic and the Paul Gauguin. We did not like NCL (thought it was a bit tacky), but enjoyed DCL and the Paul Gauguin as we thought the ships were better kept and the service was much better than NCL.

Thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated!

I am looking to book a cruise for our family of 3 (me, husband and 10-year old son) for December 2018 and I've narrowed it down to a Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan, PR on the Summit or an Eastern Caribbean cruise out of Miami on the Equinox. The Edge was in the running as well, but, my husband really likes suites with a separate bedroom/living room and there is nothing available.

 

Both itineraries are appealing to us and flying to San Juan or Miami is absolutely fine. My main concern is with the ships themselves. Between the Summit and Equinox, is one more "luxurious"? Or in better shape than the other? In reading reviews, it sounds like the Summit is in in need of some love, so to speak, so I'm a little concerned about booking it.

 

If you sail on the Summit, we'll book a Royal Suite. On the Equinox, I'm considering a Celebrity Suite.

 

For reference, we've sailed on the NCL Gem, Breakaway and Pearl, DCL Dream, Fantasy and Magic and the Paul Gauguin. We did not like NCL (thought it was a bit tacky), but enjoyed DCL and the Paul Gauguin as we thought the ships were better kept and the service was much better than NCL.

 

Thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated!

Both ships are nice. The Summit has had a fairly recent refurbishment, but is an older M-class ship that has fewer specialty dining options. I would not hesitate to sail either one, but give the choice, I'd choose Equinox, a newer S-class ship with more options, a better more open plan buffet that's easier to navigate.Since you're booking a suite, the dining venue for suites is Luminae. On Summit, Luminae was carved out of the MDR. On Equinox it has it's own space created for that purpose. Also, considering the challenges still in Puerto Rico due to last summer's hurricanes, I'd prefer sailing into and out of Florida.

We've been on both. The Summit last Jan and the Equinox last month. I would go on either of them again in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact we're going on the Equinox again this July. Not because we thought it was better, but because of the itinerary.

Been on and liked both ships. Done and liked both intineries. We like sailing out of San Juan on the Summit because it's more port intensive. San Juan on the Equinox is a port stop and you don't get there until 3:30 PM. Bummer! Pick one cruise for this year and do the other cruise next year.

The Summit has the best itinerary plus the Southern route will be warmer for December. You'll be starting your cruise in the Caribbean and sailing South from there. The Summit is older, but we still love her. With the intensive itinerary out of San Juan, you won't spend much time on the ship besides one sea day and the evenings.

The Equinox is newer and has more to offer. I know you like the separate bedroom area, but the Celebrity Suite on the Equinox is very broken up. You have a small bedroom area with a small living area. The closet space will be tight for three as well. If you do choose the equinox, try and get one of the Celebrity Suites on the angle. It will give you a much larger balcony. For December, I would go with the aft angle first then forward angle second. There will be less wind with the aft.

Good luck.

Both ships are nice. The Summit has had a fairly recent refurbishment, but is an older M-class ship that has fewer specialty dining options. I would not hesitate to sail either one, but give the choice, I'd choose Equinox, a newer S-class ship with more options, a better more open plan buffet that's easier to navigate.Since you're booking a suite, the dining venue for suites is Luminae. On Summit, Luminae was carved out of the MDR. On Equinox it has it's own space created for that purpose. Also, considering the challenges still in Puerto Rico due to last summer's hurricanes, I'd prefer sailing into and out of Florida.

The OP will still be going to San Juan on the Equinox. It's a late afternoon port stop. Bummer! Flying in and getting hotel accommodations in San Juan are improving.

The OP will still be going to San Juan on the Equinox. It's a late afternoon port stop. Bummer! Flying in and getting hotel accommodations in San Juan are improving.

I totally agree with this.

Just my opinion but I would rather start my cruise in San Juan than stop there. I'm not a fan of the evening stop in SJ. It's a waste to me.

We’ve been on both and I really enjoyed the itinerary of the Summit RT San Juan. As far as the ship itself, I do prefer the S class ships in general but the Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox aren’t quite as nice as the Reflection and Silhouette.

I’d probably go with the Summit and the better itinerary. That being said, we are sailing on Equinox in late December (Christmas cruise).

Either one you pick, you’ll have a great cruise, enjoy!

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Both ships are nice. The Summit has had a fairly recent refurbishment, but is an older M-class ship that has fewer specialty dining options. I would not hesitate to sail either one, but give the choice, I'd choose Equinox, a newer S-class ship with more options, a better more open plan buffet that's easier to navigate.Since you're booking a suite, the dining venue for suites is Luminae. On Summit, Luminae was carved out of the MDR. On Equinox it has it's own space created for that purpose. Also, considering the challenges still in Puerto Rico due to last summer's hurricanes, I'd prefer sailing into and out of Florida.

Have you been to PR? Pretty much everything is up and running. We had a fantastic stay and embarkation from there last month.

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Thank you all SO much! This is such fantastic information! It sounds like we really can't go wrong with either one! I really appreciate the detailed info on the ships, itinerary, weather and staterooms.

I think I'm leaning toward the Summit at this point. We've never been to most of those islands and it would be nice to have warmer water. It's also slightly cheaper for the RS on the Summit than the CS on the Equinox.

I'm going to research flights and PR hotels now! Thank you so much!

Thank you all SO much! This is such fantastic information! It sounds like we really can't go wrong with either one! I really appreciate the detailed info on the ships, itinerary, weather and staterooms.

 

I think I'm leaning toward the Summit at this point. We've never been to most of those islands and it would be nice to have warmer water. It's also slightly cheaper for the RS on the Summit than the CS on the Equinox.

 

I'm going to research flights and PR hotels now! Thank you so much!

You're welcome. Checkout this link for San Juan. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131 You will find hotel recommendations there. We usually stay at the Hampton Inn or Embassy Suites.

Equinox would be our choice....nicer spa, more to do, Silk Harvest , newer ship even with the refurb, and just a short stop in San Juan rather than flying in there with a possible overnight..

Whatever you pick,.enjoy your cruise!

I know the go best suite perks are intriguing. But when booking a Royal suite or higher remember you get the Premium Bev package and Unlimited internet included with the suite even if you don't get the Go Best package.

For this reason we always look to see if we can get a Senior or Resident discount (which doesn't include the Go Best in the price). We find that the difference in fare generally greatly outweighs the $300 OBC and PrePaid Grats which is all you will be missing. Also we tend to be open to other Celebrity OBC like Shareholder Credit or Captains Club Credit as the Senior/Resident rates don't include perks.

Just food for thought.

You cannot go wrong on either ship in any suite. If you can get a Celebrity Suite on Summit you should consider it. Very large with separate bedroom. Nicer than the S-Class CS IMO. Also the Michael's Club on Summit is larger and nicer than S-Class Michael's Club.

You cannot go wrong on either ship in any suite. If you can get a Celebrity Suite on Summit you should consider it. Very large with separate bedroom. Nicer than the S-Class CS IMO. Also the Michael's Club on Summit is larger and nicer than S-Class Michael's Club.

Good point. I forgot about that too. We much prefer Michaels Club on the Summit compared to the S class.

You cannot go wrong on either ship in any suite. If you can get a Celebrity Suite on Summit you should consider it. Very large with separate bedroom. Nicer than the S-Class CS IMO. Also the Michael's Club on Summit is larger and nicer than S-Class Michael's Club.

Love the Celebrity Suites on the M class ships more liveable space and the dining table for 4 comes in handy!

We are planning on the Dec 15 Summit Cruise out of Puerto Rico, my husband and I are bringing our 9-year old son. We decided it was the best itinerary with a Puerto Rico start allowing for 5 port days, and current reviews of the port stops post-hurricane seem very positive. Reviews are excellent for the kids club even when there aren’t a lot of kids on board (but again with 5 port days don’t think we’ll spend a ton of time on board). This will only be our second cruise but I’ve obsessively scoured cruisecritic lol.

A couple of things to note:

1--A mid-December cruise will find VERY few children, if that matters to you. We found very few guest under 50 on our early December cruise...

2--A cruise out of SJU will likely find even fewer children.

3--Celebrity attracts fewer families than DCL or NCL

If you have cruised DCL you are accustomed to many children.

I'm not saying you SHOULDN'T do Celebrity with a child, just giving you a heads up. We have cruised with our children several times (DCL, RCL, Princess & Celebrity--tho they were teens on Celebrity). We have done Celebrity 3x, all in March, and saw very few children on these cruises.

Our children LOVED the kids club on DCL. Other lines were hit & miss.

This might not make a difference to your family, but wanted to let you know.

Thanks, again, everyone! I booked a RS on the Summit! I'm very excited and now need to get to work on airfare, pre-cruise nights, shore excursions, etc.

A couple of things to note:

1--A mid-December cruise will find VERY few children, if that matters to you. We found very few guest under 50 on our early December cruise...

2--A cruise out of SJU will likely find even fewer children.

3--Celebrity attracts fewer families than DCL or NCL

 

If you have cruised DCL you are accustomed to many children.

 

I'm not saying you SHOULDN'T do Celebrity with a child, just giving you a heads up. We have cruised with our children several times (DCL, RCL, Princess & Celebrity--tho they were teens on Celebrity). We have done Celebrity 3x, all in March, and saw very few children on these cruises.

 

Our children LOVED the kids club on DCL. Other lines were hit & miss.

 

This might not make a difference to your family, but wanted to let you know.

Thank you so much! My son will be fine. We went on DCL in March and he has completely outgrown their kids' club. He went to the club twice the entire cruise - once with me during a Marvel open house and once on his own only because he couldn't go to the adults-only restaurant my husband and I were going to that evening. When I picked him up, I found him playing chess with one of the counselors. He would much rather hang out with us, swim, play basketball and chess and go to the evening shows. He's also cruised on Paul Gauguin where there were, maybe, 4 children on the entire ship. I showed him the basketball court on the Summit and he was sold!

Check out the Intercontinental in PR. We stayed there in April pre-cruise, and it was excellent. The pool area was amazing- linked pools, waterfall, palm trees, poolside bars, ocean-front dining options. Stellar service, and rooms were recently refurbished. Saw no sign of hurricane damage at the hotel,but still many blue tarps in PR. Everyone was quite welcoming and happy to have the cruise ships back.

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I totally agree with this.

 

Just my opinion but I would rather start my cruise in San Juan than stop there. I'm not a fan of the evening stop in SJ. It's a waste to me.

Also, when you sail out of Miami in December, you might "lose" a day (in each direction) due to the cooler weather until you reach warmer climes. If you leave from San Juan, you have great warm and clear weather from the very beginning. If you don't care if you use the outdoor pool during the first and last sea day, then it doesn't make any difference. I am sure there are those who won't agree but that is my experience.

The other difference between S and M is M class ships have salt water pools and the thalassotherapy pool is wonderful, although it is for adults only.

Have to agree that the stop at San Juan via The Equinox is basically a waste of time due to arrival and departure times. Although I love Celebrity, you might take a look at The Viking Sea, 11 day West Indies cruise out of San Juan. Took this cruise this past January and it was phenomenal! More expensive yes but, worth every penny!

Check out the Intercontinental in PR. We stayed there in April pre-cruise, and it was excellent. The pool area was amazing- linked pools, waterfall, palm trees, poolside bars, ocean-front dining options. Stellar service, and rooms were recently refurbished. Saw no sign of hurricane damage at the hotel,but still many blue tarps in PR. Everyone was quite welcoming and happy to have the cruise ships back.

 

 

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Thank you so much for the suggestion! I will definitely check it out!

Check out the Intercontinental in PR. We stayed there in April pre-cruise, and it was excellent. The pool area was amazing- linked pools, waterfall, palm trees, poolside bars, ocean-front dining options. Stellar service, and rooms were recently refurbished. Saw no sign of hurricane damage at the hotel,but still many blue tarps in PR. Everyone was quite welcoming and happy to have the cruise ships back.

You're 10 YO will also love it:

Ken