Just off Equinox. My first Celebrity cruise. Mixed review.

[gospelle]

First, things I thought were great...

1. The ability to browse your photos on the TV

2. The speed of evening room service ordered from the TV (under 5 minutes in many cases).

3. Free M&M's and Gummies at the ice cream bar.

4. Chocolate Caramel cookies!!

5. The Hot Glass show. Of course this is only on the Solstice class ships, but a certainly was a highlight.

6. Entertainment. Again, this varies by ship, but on this ship, it had a couple shows that were easily the best I've seen at sea. In particular the show called "The Equinox" was outstanding.

7. Cell phone service. I never made use of it, but it was a cool option to recieve and place cell phone calls while in the middle of the ocean.

 

Next, the things I thought were good.

1. The food. The same as Royal Caribbean in my opinion.

2. The buffet, again, similar to the windjammer, better than Carnival.

3. Staff. Similar service to both Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I was expecting "better service" from the "upscale" billing of this line, but found it was equally as good as any ship I've been on.

4. The ship. Public areas were gorgeous, if somewhat underused in cases. Slightly higher end than other ships I've been on, but not so much that it made a big difference. Signature elements like the real grass were cool, and we enjoyed them, but every ship has something unique and cool.

5. WiFi Internet. Like all new ships, a welcome feature.

 

The things I didn't like.

1. The concierge class. All of the perks were a dissapointment. Embarkation for the concierge class was equally quick as any other line. The canape's were fine as were the cheese/crackers that some on this board have suggested, but the problem is you have to fill out a card EVERY DAY and be present in your cabin to receive them. This was awkward and often resulted in not receiving the perk.

2. Breakfast Room Service. Regardless of whether I ordered on the card, on the TV, or on the phone, the orders were ALWAYS wrong and sometimes very late. After four attempts, we gave up and ate elsewhere.

3. In the evening, staff were often found using the basketball court. I thought this was a poor policy to allow it, or poor management of staff if it was being done against policy.

4. Disembarkation. Despite their claims in the letters sent to the cabins that they have a smooth process "unlike other lines", it was a complete fiasco. Part of this blame is on the customs/pier staff in Ft. Lauderdale but Celebrity is also equally responsible. Hundreds of people, mostly non-US citizens were held up for hours and many flights were missed regardless of whether it was Celebrity transfers or private arrangements. The worst I've ever seen bar none. It was only by dumb luck that our flight was delayed and we made our flight. Had it been on time (1:30pm) we would have missed it. Considering the ship docked at 7:00am, this is simply disgusting and unacceptable.:mad:

5. Wine. Far too much emphasis on wine. We don't drink wine or champagne and thought that it was nice that they were handing out free wine and champagne at some shows and at embarkation and at every Captains Club function, but the lack of alternatives were distressing and made me feel unwelcome. I was told flatly that I could not have a complementary drink at the Select/Elite senior officers reception. There was no waiter in the theater to take a drink order, even a paid drink, so I could enjoy a drink like everyone else during the show.

 

The bottom line. We enjoyed our cruise, we enjoyed Celebrity, but I think I will return to Royal Caribbean for the majority of our trips. I have canclled our booking on the Summit next year. This decision was made prior to our disembarkation experience as we thought the options for active people and non-wine drinkers was severely limited.

[Andy]

Hi Gosepelle !

 

Thanks for your review ! I'm sorry to hear about your Disembarkation, but thankfully, you made your flight.

 

I'm very curious to hear what you meant about the Concierge Class Canape's. I was just on Constellation, and the Canape's were left in my Cabin each day, whether I was in the Cabin or not. I never had to leave a card either. I've never seen that done on Celebrity.

 

Is this something new they are doing on the Solstice Class ? If so, it does not sound like a very good idea. I wonder if your Cabin Attendant was doing this in error. Personally, I never cared for the typical Canape's much, and I would like to see Celebrity could come up with some more interesting items.

[Lsimon]

...I'm very curious to hear what you meant about the Concierge Class Canape's....

 

Andy - Our trip on the Equinox is the only cruise we've run into this. So I don't know if it is unique to the Equinox or is going to be done on other Celebrity Ships as well. Along with the first day's CC Canapes our room steward gave us a card. She indicated that if, and when, we wanted the afternoon Canapes delivered again we should just leave the card out for her. This apparently is to eliminate all the waste for those that never eat these. We're seldom if ever in our cabins in the late afternoon and if we're hungry we'll either stop by one the cafe or order a cheese plate. So our Canapes almost always went uneaten on prior cruises. On our 14 night Equinox TA we never ordered them and didn't miss them. But we did see lots of them being delivered and noticed the cards left in the "mail slot" by lots of doors in the hallway.

 

Also - the card did say that they would only leave the food if someone was in the room when they delivered. I presume this is so they won't sit out in room temperature over time - only to be eaten several hours later when they might have gone bad. On one prior cruise (probably Millennium or Constellation a year or two ago) our steward told us he'd only deliver the canapes if we were in the room, but if he missed us and we wanted them we could quickly get them delivered by calling him.

 

All of this seems to make sense to me.

[gospelle]

Andy,

 

I've only been on this one Celebrity ship so can't say if it is happening across the line, but it was clear that everyone in this class had to do the cards. And it wasn't just one card, it was every day at turndown service, another card was left which gave you three time slots to choose from for delivery the next day (4:00-4:30, 4:30-5:00 or 5:00-5:30) and you had to have the card out in the hall by 11:00am.

 

When I inquired about cheese/crackers instead of canape's, I was told no problem, but I would have to write that on the card each time.

 

With all the things going on, we forgot to put out the card most days and it seemed such an effort to try and think of what time we would be in the room the next day that we mostly ignored it and thus did not recieve the perk.

[librarylady19]

My DH is a serious beer drinker and was pleased with the selections on Equinox. There were a variety of import beers available at the different bars. The sommelier at Blu even got him a beer from another location. There definitwly is an emphasis on wine but I found plenty of mixed drink choices too.

[Bohemian]

Thanks for the review. We are less than a month away from our first X cruise and we're not really sure what to expect. Of the negative points that you had listed, only the disembarkation is something that could effect us but our flight isn't till 4 PM so we should be OK. BTW, I'm not a wine drinker myself but I hope they have plenty of Jagermeister onboard. :D

[FinelyCruising]

Andy - Our trip on the Equinox is the only cruise we've run into this. So I don't know if it is unique to the Equinox or is going to be done on other Celebrity Ships as well. Along with the first day's CC Canapes our room steward gave us a card. She indicated that if, and when, we wanted the afternoon Canapes delivered again we should just leave the card out for her. This apparently is to eliminate all the waste for those that never eat these. We're seldom if ever in our cabins in the late afternoon and if we're hungry we'll either stop by one the cafe or order a cheese plate. So our Canapes almost always went uneaten on prior cruises. On our 14 night Equinox TA we never ordered them and didn't miss them. But we did see lots of them being delivered and noticed the cards left in the "mail slot" by lots of doors in the hallway.

 

Also - the card did say that they would only leave the food if someone was in the room when they delivered. I presume this is so they won't sit out in room temperature over time - only to be eaten several hours later when they might have gone bad. On one prior cruise (probably Millennium or Constellation a year or two ago) our steward told us he'd only deliver the canapes if we were in the room, but if he missed us and we wanted them we could quickly get them delivered by calling him.

 

All of this seems to make sense to me.

 

We too saw the card and left it the first day. We had the canapes every day when we got back to our cabin. It may be as a result of our eating them that they knew we did really want them.

 

I liked that I was not going to have to card this every day and I appreciated that the staff took these steps with us. I too think they are trying to avoid the waste.

 

Our cabin staff was more like Butler Staff and I thought I was in heaven. Sigh....

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I'm glad you gave Celebrity a try. Sorry it wasn't to your taste. If you prefer RCL, you should absolutely continue to cruise with them--it's your vacation.

 

I don't believe you can lay a customs snafu at Celebrity's door, they have no control over customs and immigration.

 

Our experience with Concierge Class embarcation and disembarcation has been different from yours--very smooth and quick every time.

 

I'm also a nondrinker. When boarding, I've been offered an alternative to the champagne. You have but to ask. Yes they do push drinks. I just smile sweetly and say no thank you if I don't want one. I've heard others complain if the waiters are not circulating constantly asking to take drink orders, so it seems that they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

[uktog]

They use these ordering cards on Azamara so I guess they are looking to roll it over to Celebrity

[gkm]

How strange. We were in conceirge class and never got a card. When we told our cabin attendant that we would prefer cheese and crackers each day, that was the end of that. They were always there whether we were in the room or not. I never saw a card for turn-down service.:confused: I agree with Cheryl. Our staff was almost like a Butler staff. They were always available when we needed something.

 

Garry

[librarylady19]

How strange. We were in conceirge class and never got a card. When we told our cabin attendant that we would prefer cheese and crackers each day, that was the end of that. They were always there whether we were in the room or not. I never saw a card for turn-down service.:confused: I agree with Cheryl. Our staff was almost like a Butler staff. They were always available when we needed something.

 

Garry

 

We had a similar experience in Aquaclass. Just told our wonderful attendant Vivianna on the first day that we would prefer cheese and crackers and received a plate every afternoon like clockwork. Services were always providing efficiently and with a smile. Sigh...if only things worked that way in "real life"

[Elaine0138]

We were in Aqua class and got the canape cards for two days then after that the cheese and biscuits appeared every day if we were in or out. We also had Vivianna :)

I had no problem getting a soft drink at the Senior officer cocktail party I had two, an orange juice and a coke. Also no problem getting beer in the theatre.

 

Immigration caused the problem with disembarkation not Celebrity.

[debkjw]

I disagree that immigration was the main problem with that disembarkation. First the gangway was placed to high and they did have a few falls and so they had to move it. They allowed people off the ship regardless of their numbers and there was a number of people in the luggage area whose luggage was still on the ship. Also as I personally was on an excursion doing the everglade tour, the staff told us to leave our waiting room and we waited over 30 minutes on the stairs as the gangway was being moved while people kept coming down on the elevators and trying to crowd right in where there was no room. They could have made an annoucement that embarkation was being delayed due to changing the gangway and for no one to come down for 20 more minutes. They could have been manning the elevators and not allowing anyone off and tell them to go back up and wait until people started moving off. Instead unofficially we heard that it was customs. Customs had nothing to do with the gangway. Also once you were off the ship there was a shortage of porters. I saw 3 separate people fall. No employees in sight trying to manage the crowds. I do blame celebrity for the major part of the disembarkation fiasco. It was the worst I have had in over 20 cruises.

 

debkjw

[ttax]

We're taking the Equinox in January. Did Celebrity offer the option of self-disembarkation - you carry your own bags off the ship? We did that last year on the Constellation and it worked great for us. Would like to do it again if it is offered.

[txsloth]

I disagree that immigration was the main problem with that disembarkation. First the gangway was placed to high and they did have a few falls and so they had to move it. They allowed people off the ship regardless of their numbers and there was a number of people in the luggage area whose luggage was still on the ship. Also as I personally was on an excursion doing the everglade tour, the staff told us to leave our waiting room and we waited over 30 minutes on the stairs as the gangway was being moved while people kept coming down on the elevators and trying to crowd right in where there was no room. They could have made an annoucement that embarkation was being delayed due to changing the gangway and for no one to come down for 20 more minutes. They could have been manning the elevators and not allowing anyone off and tell them to go back up and wait until people started moving off. Instead unofficially we heard that it was customs. Customs had nothing to do with the gangway. Also once you were off the ship there was a shortage of porters. I saw 3 separate people fall. No employees in sight trying to manage the crowds. I do blame celebrity for the major part of the disembarkation fiasco. It was the worst I have had in over 20 cruises.

 

debkjw

 

Are you talking about the TA or the cruise that returned on Dec. 4? This issue of the gangway being too high was reported after the TA...hopefully they learned their lesson.

[dkjretired]

We're taking the Equinox in January. Did Celebrity offer the option of self-disembarkation - you carry your own bags off the ship? We did that last year on the Constellation and it worked great for us. Would like to do it again if it is offered.

 

Yes, they do self-disembarkation. We did it on the cruise before the OPs and we were at the airport and through security at 8:10A.M. I wonder what happened on this cruise...

[FinelyCruising]

Are you talking about the TA or the cruise that returned on Dec. 4? This issue of the gangway being too high was reported after the TA...hopefully they learned their lesson.

 

You are correct, there were multiple issues; one related to the gangway, the other due to immigration, possibly others related to the terminal used.

 

But it was a Great Cruise!!!:D

[Texed]

Thanks for posting. :)

[cruiseman111111]

I hope it will be good on 3-5-10

[PrincessCarolyn]

We're taking the Equinox in January. Did Celebrity offer the option of self-disembarkation - you carry your own bags off the ship? We did that last year on the Constellation and it worked great for us. Would like to do it again if it is offered.

 

Yes! DH and I got off Equinox just yesterday.....we kept our luggage in our room and took it out ourselves at 8am the next morning. We didn't have to do anything. WE WALKED RIGHT OFF THE SHIP/DECK 6

The people who have to wait for the number/luggage are definitely waiting for a bit....the theater was FULL of people waiting to hear their number called.

 

carrying your own luggage off is definitely for us :)

[PrincessCarolyn]

Hey Gospelle

 

1st of all: Where were you at the cruise critic meeting on the ship? Sorry I didn't get to meet you.

 

2nd: This was also my 1st Celeb cruise and I have a mixed review as well (though mostly good) and I will be posting it shortly.

 

Great to be away but always better to be home :)

[librarylady19]

Welcome back PC,

I am interested to hear what the issues were on your Equinox cruise. We absolutely loved the 4 night...can't imagine what happened!

 

As for the disembarkation problems, I noticed that many people were confused for some reason. We were sitting in the MDR waiting for our number and noticed many people coming up asking questions of the poor girl assigned to the area. They obviously had paid no attention to the instructions in the letter left in the cabin. They had no idea what number they were, showed up late (after their group had disembarked), or ignored what the staff member was telling them to do. Dont know if this was a language issue or not but frankly I felt sorry for her!

Our disembarkation went very smoothly, luggage was clearly marked and waiting for us and a very courteous porter carried it out to a waiting taxi for us. Sorry to hear others had a less than positive experience; it can certainly put a damper on your cruise memories.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Our CC experience on the Equinox in November was great. I think its up to the Room Butler. We told our attendant that we didn't want those canapes and instead we asked for cookies, shrimp and finger sandwiches from the brunch. It worked and we had a great snack before our Michaels Club drinks during the Elite hour.

[snow bunny]

Do they allow non-US citizens to self disembark? I believe a lot of the issue was lack of Customs staff which should never happen as the cruise line has the manifest prior to leaving port. Customs should be aware that in X number of days that ship will return with the same number of non-US citizens who will need to go through customs! Hopefully the communication will get better before I get off the ship in January!:D

 

Missy

[Solstice23]

Thanks for the review,

 

Just got of the Oasis and the food was Better on the Celebrity Summit this Past March, and Service I guess it depends on who you encounter, we have had the best service on Celebrity far above NCL and Carnival much above Princess and a little bit more detailed service then RCCL

 

We will stick you Celebrity and or RCCL

 

and every time we have sailed on Celebrity, the Royal Caribbean ship doing the same itinerary has always been more, it nice to get some extras for less cost

 

I am glad you enjoyed some features though! :)