Equinox Cruise July 16th review and thoughts!

[Solstice23]

Let me start by saying, we have been home for under a week and just really miss the people and staff aboard the Equinox so much so we Cancelled our Allure of the Seas cruise in March and have now booked the Eclipse.

 

Sailing 10 night eastern Med July 16th

Stateroom class Aqua

 

 

Stateroom

We had stateroom 1554 with angled balcony and also the window washing equipment. When I had fund this out prior to the sailing I tried to switch us even to a Sky suite but none were available and Celebrity Customer service worked hard to find a solution. In the end they took care of us in other ways to make this up to us, and will be making note of this in future brochures and online ( we hope)

 

Overall it was not that bad but going from AFT views to a ladder, well was a hard adjustment but it did not ruin our time. The stateroom attendant Alvin was one of the best we ever have had heres why

1. 1 piece of our luggage had not arrived for over 4 hours ( strange for us ) when I asked front desk they were just so busy on first day they asked me to wait longer, so I inquired with Alvin. Alvin went down himself to locate out missing luggage with my suit inside that needed to be sent for dry Cleaning! He called up with frantic voice asking us to describe it in detail because he could not find it. After a few mintues later the knock on the door with Alvin smiling with luggage in hand! from this moment on I knew we had a great guy!

2. I cut my toe on the glass door in the Sauna and asked him for a band aid, every night after that he would place new clean ones with the papers on the bed. Nice touch and helpful

3. We did not like the brand of bottle water from Italy provided in the room, I asked him for a different one even if we had to pay. Alvin would leave bottles of Evian in our room and we were never charged.

4. We do not eat the cannapes ( spelling sorry) so we asked him if we could just have some cookies each afternoon, and he provided just that! this helped not missing a butler in a suite! thanks Alvin

 

We have been on other lines and at times can never find our stateroom attendant most recently on the Caribbean Princess ( he was awful no smile not even a hello) and even on the Oasis of the seas it was like staying at the W or Westin or Four Seasons... they were there to clean room and turn down but other then that nothing. thanks again Alvin

 

The room was nice and the washroom the best of any balcony cabin we have had on a ship! We would rather have a nice size Washroom to and balcony and comfy bed rather then small washroom with sticky shower curtain and a large room. The storage was not as good as Millennium class but so many other areas made up for it in the room we did not care! Plus we prefer closet doors ....Caribbean Princess did not have them and we are neat freaks so walking in and seeing our clothes hanging drove us crazy last summer.

 

Room Service when we used it late night was FREE and a decent menu and never more then 20 minutes.

 

Service on the Equinox

 

WOW WOW WOW we have always enjoyed Celebrity Service levels and understand things can change a teams dynamic within 1 week, but the Equinox was just a happy staff in general and SERVICE was abound all over!

 

We are good Friends with Hotel Director Raffaele Bernardini and have been for a few years. He was out standing and his staff followed his lead. I have never seen more officers out and engaged with guests then on Celebrity and this ship takes the prize! they were everywhere. THANK YOU for everything Raffaele

 

We enjoyed the Officers dance off with guests as partners it was enjoyable and not tacky like belly flops into a pool contest.

 

some personal Shout outs to a few staff that made out trip amazing

 

Karen in the Cafe al Bacio. You were outstanding and always smiled and new our names after 1 purchase and would get to us once we sat down from that moment on! thank you

 

Cruise Director Dru Pavlov, We had him on a Celebrity cruise years ago and it was great to see him again. He is truly a professional without being annoying or over the top ( cant stand that) never needing to try to hard but just being himself makes him tops in our books! sorry we beat you in officers BOCCE :)

 

Guest relations Manager Charles Manheimer

Awesome new addition to Celebrity as of May from the Ritz Carlton. Thanks for the laughs, and inviting us to the officers boys club in the sky lounge! I still do not think you actually work but hey! Charles was off to the Solstice at the end of the Sailing.

 

Assistant Waiter in BLU Kantip! Sweet efficient, Always had every thing ready for us and even made sure at Murano, Tuscan and Silk Harvest and the Captains table that we had our regular berevages and side of Asparagus!

 

Darren Assistant Hotel Director. Thanks for being personal and also funny.

 

The Maitre D in both Silk Harvest and Tuscan were amazing and have never felt as special.

 

DJ was one of the best we have ever had also...playing lots of top 40, and top hits current from europe. We were so thankful not to hear to much 80's and 70's music over and over

 

More to come......

[Texed]

Owen,

Thanks for the review. :)

[Solstice23]

Food

 

Ok I have something to say here.....For us food is subjective and can vary dish to dish night to night ship to ship. I am over hearing people complain about food while on a cruise, from the elevator to a bus ride to a tender GIVE ME A BREAK! on this sailing the food was very good to excellent everywhere we went. What people need to realize is trying to cater to guests from all over the world, and all used to different tastes, seasonings and selection is almost near impossible!

 

We were in silk harvest enjoying a great dinner and the people next to us almost ruined it. They kept saying well this should be more spicy ..this is bland UGH "send it back" What is odd is how when they said hello they noticed us eating and asked what was our favorite dish, we naturally told them. After they starting eating it they leaned over and said " how can you eat that, in England its much better"

In all reality I have no idea how a ship full of Passegners from Europe ( spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands , Canada, USA, England, Australia, and other parts of Asia can possibly please everyones tastes. SO GET OVER IT and if you do not like something please discuss it quietly or keep QUIET. Furthermore do not treat the Wait staff as if you are some King or Queen of some Country, its really awful and tacky

 

Favorites were

BLU was well worth it over a Sky Suite, the Meals were hot and fresh and faster then in the MDR. Breakfast was our favorite part of this venue, the Musli cart and Poached eggs were amazing and we could sit and dine quietly and still be out in 30-40 minutes! No idea how to not sail in Aqua Class again, problem is our friends in March have a triple Concierge room so to eat with them we will have to book a sky suite :(

 

Murano was outstanding and some say better then Tuscan? others say the opposite, my feeling is it depends on what you order and how hungry you are when you arrive! it makes the difference. The service in Murano was not as good as SILK or Tuscan for us. They gave us the worst table but we still enjoyed the dinner and our waiter was great just did not stand out like Tuscan or Silk.

 

Silk it was our first time yet our 3rd time on solstice class, and we really enjoyed it as did we Tuscan

 

Bistro on Five great went 2 times first on embarkation day ( best choice then)

 

 

Beverage package

I had Purchased the Premium Beverage Package prior to sailing it was about 55.00 CND per day. WOW what a deal

I had Latte, Frozen caps, Mineral Water, Large water bottles Evian to take ashore, martinis of all kinds, my Crown royal, Juices, Vita Water, It was well worth it and you never had to sign and had no problem getting service.

 

more to come...

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Sounds like you had a great cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Andy]

Hi Toronto !

 

Thanks for your excellent review. I look forward to hearing more. I'm glad you had a great Cruise on Equinox. Welcome Home !

[Solstice23]

A special note to fellow passengers......

 

no matter what country you are from please say "please" and "Thank you" the amount of of rude people I continue to run into more and more on ships is really starting to upset us.

 

Secondly the complaining in general and freaking out over the smallest thingsome examples.

 

I was in the computer lab and the internet went down and was slow mostly.More then 5 passengers all over the ages over 40 acted like children by yelling and arguing with the attendant. I on the other hand raised my hand and when he cam e to me let him know I was unable to complete anything could he please credit this time back that really was not used. He was kind and did just what I asked. People need to calm down, when the attendant explained to everyone that write all details down he would have it credited some guests rudely said " as if see what that happens, one even said you cant even speak clear english and I am supposed to trust you"

 

its really just on called for.

 

another example was a man who was asked to remove his glasses while getting back on the ship so they could see his face and ship picture while punching in room card. The passenger said " can you see me now? or are you visually impaired with those eyes" what's worse is that his children were with him, leading by example is always great :)

 

Other times people just being rude to staff was hard to handle so I usually would just try to ignore it.

 

I really do not know what else to say about our trip it was Amazing... I did not go in detail with the ports but just incase we did a private tour a few times and ship tours....my thoughts are people who boast about "private tours" need to understand the are not special! we did both and between both options they were good and bad in areas. Celebrity did do a good job with getting tours organized and people off the ship with not to much cattle call this time so that was a plus!

 

Turkey, Sicily, Rhodes were standouts to us...We still found the people of Santorini not to be friendly but we still had a great time.

 

Any questions please ask. If I think of more I will write more.

[Solstice23]

Opps I forgot entertainment ...I will write soon!

 

the LAWN CLUB is still one of our favorite spaces and NO to the more deck chair option we like it the way it is, and so did the European Families it seemed. I will wrtie on the entertainment shortly.

[Woobstr112G]

A special note to fellow passengers......

 

no matter what country you are from please say "please" and "Thank you" the amount of of rude people I continue to run into more and more on ships is really starting to upset us.

 

Secondly the complaining in general and freaking out over the smallest thingsome examples.

 

I was in the computer lab and the internet went down and was slow mostly.More then 5 passengers all over the ages over 40 acted like children by yelling and arguing with the attendant. I on the other hand raised my hand and when he cam e to me let him know I was unable to complete anything could he please credit this time back that really was not used. He was kind and did just what I asked. People need to calm down, when the attendant explained to everyone that write all details down he would have it credited some guests rudely said " as if see what that happens, one even said you cant even speak clear english and I am supposed to trust you"

 

its really just on called for.

 

another example was a man who was asked to remove his glasses while getting back on the ship so they could see his face and ship picture while punching in room card. The passenger said " can you see me now? or are you visually impaired with those eyes" what's worse is that his children were with him, leading by example is always great :)

 

Other times people just being rude to staff was hard to handle so I usually would just try to ignore it.

 

I really do not know what else to say about our trip it was Amazing... I did not go in detail with the ports but just incase we did a private tour a few times and ship tours....my thoughts are people who boast about "private tours" need to understand the are not special! we did both and between both options they were good and bad in areas. Celebrity did do a good job with getting tours organized and people off the ship with not to much cattle call this time so that was a plus!

 

Turkey, Sicily, Rhodes were standouts to us...We still found the people of Santorini not to be friendly but we still had a great time.

 

Any questions please ask. If I think of more I will write more.

 

Sad but unfortunetely true......:(:(:(

 

Bob

[junglejane]

Hi, Toroto25 and thanks for your review. We'll be on the Equinox next summer and can hardly wait. This will be our first time on an S-class ship and I'm a little unclear on the casual dining. We have booked the early traditional seating with our 2 kids. We picked this instead of Select Dining because our kids both have food allergies and we prefer to keep the same waitstaff every night so they are familiar with our allergy concerns. But let's assume that one day we come back from port too late for our MDR seating. What are our casual dinner options? What kind of food is available in the buffet? Is it limited to pizza/pasta/salad or are there other choices? Thanks again.

[Winters in NZ]

Toronto25...I enjoyed your sociological observations. The childish behaviour and rudeness of some of my fellow cruisers has always been a source of amazement and indeed at times, entertainment, but I do agree with your philosophy that we should be acting like human beings while in the presence of same.

[Ma Bell]

I couldn't agree more with your observations. I sometimes wonder what kind of lives these people have at home, that they can be so rude and miserable on vacation.

 

Nothing is ever perfect, but I can't imagine a group of people who try harder to make sure we have a wonderful experience.

[texascruzer]

Toranto25 thanks for the review. You mentioned you were in cabin 1554 and had an obstructed view. I am sailing Equinox in November and have 1552 and was wondering how much of an obstruction I will have in this cabin and if you think I should change cabins?

 

Thanks

[Solstice23]

1552 was fine bit looking aft you do get semi obstruction but 1552 is great !

 

Celebrity made it up to us on our next cruise.

[Solstice23]

1552 was fine bit looking aft you do get semi obstruction but 1552 is great !

 

Celebrity made it up to us on our next cruise.

[elena7seas]

Toranto25 thanks for the review. You mentioned you were in cabin 1554 and had an obstructed view. I am sailing Equinox in November and have 1552 and was wondering how much of an obstruction I will have in this cabin and if you think I should change cabins?

 

Thanks

 

Here are our pictures form AQ1552 on the Solstice.

 

http://leftcoasters.smugmug.com/Travel/Cruise-Ships/Celebrity-Solstice-Aquaclass/7051726_Pzoiv#451751605_oZ5t3

 

It was a great cabin. If you look on the last page, you can see that you do not see the window-washing equipment (WWE) when you are looking straight out from the cabin, but you wil see it as you start to approach the balcony railing. It will be in your view for panoramic pictures, or when you are looking aft.

 

On our cruise, the WWE was not in front of 1554 all of the time. I also think I got used to it after a day or two, and it didn't bother me any more.

 

I didn't know that it was going to be there until I arrived on the ship, so was a bit annoyed, but I got over that soon. 1552 has a terrific balcony, and it gets some sun, which is a bonus. It's a quiet cabin in a convenient location.

 

In my case, I would not give up the wonderful balcony just because of the WWE next door, but YMMV.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!! :)

[texascruzer]

1552 was fine bit looking aft you do get semi obstruction but 1552 is great !

 

Celebrity made it up to us on our next cruise.

 

Thanks! Appreciate your opinion and glad they made it up to you. I would think they would change the class of 1554 to an obstructed view cabin.

[texascruzer]

Here are our pictures form AQ1552 on the Solstice.

 

http://leftcoasters.smugmug.com/Travel/Cruise-Ships/Celebrity-Solstice-Aquaclass/7051726_Pzoiv#451751605_oZ5t3

 

It was a great cabin. If you look on the last page, you can see that you do not see the window-washing equipment (WWE) when you are looking straight out from the cabin, but you wil see it as you start to approach the balcony railing. It will be in your view for panoramic pictures, or when you are looking aft.

 

On our cruise, the WWE was not in front of 1554 all of the time. I also think I got used to it after a day or two, and it didn't bother me any more.

 

I didn't know that it was going to be there until I arrived on the ship, so was a bit annoyed, but I got over that soon. 1552 has a terrific balcony, and it gets some sun, which is a bonus. It's a quiet cabin in a convenient location.

 

In my case, I would not give up the wonderful balcony just because of the WWE next door, but YMMV.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!! :)

 

Thank You! It is so nice to hear I have chosen a good cabin. I am sure I will be just like you and after I have identified it, I will probably not even notice it. :p

[DivasDare]

Wonderful review!

[Solstice23]

Wonderful review!

 

Thank you

 

I have more to come just need to work :)

[Solstice23]

Hope to write more by Wednesday

[Solstice23]

Entertainment part 1.

 

The overall shows in the theatre were much better then On the Solstice even though some were similar or nearly the same. The singers seemed strong but some of the Male Dancers needed to work harder. Everytime we saw them off ship she would say "they should be practicing"

 

Given that the group had just came onboard less then a month before they were good.

 

We did not have a comedian and We spoke to Drew ( cruise director) about it. He explained Celebrity thought with so many Europeans it was not needed. Actually many wanted one and its only 2 nights in the smaller venue I feel. We enjoy comedy and we missed out on this. The pianist was a snore for us but many liked him.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Enjoyed reading your review! We felt the same about the Equinox, which was our first Celebrity cruise. After cruises on Princess, Carnival and Holland America we felt that we had FINALLY figured out how to have a great vacation.

 

I completely agree with your comments regarding behavior, though we didn't see any of that on our cruise. Doesn't mean it wasn't there. Funny that you commented on the passenger reaction to being asked to remove glasses. My take on that was "good for them, they are really checking to be sure faces match." I even commented on it in my review because it was more than a cursory glance. Interesting that something like that was offensive to that passenger. Shows how differently we all see things!

[Solstice23]

Its funny reading from people sailing around the same time as us complaining about the drinks!!!!

 

Drinks 5.00- 7.00 on average is cheap to be honest, not to mention the beverage packages made it totaly worth it.

[Woobstr112G]

Entertainment part 1.

 

The overall shows in the theatre were much better then On the Solstice even though some were similar or nearly the same. The singers seemed strong but some of the Male Dancers needed to work harder. Everytime we saw them off ship she would say "they should be practicing"

 

Given that the group had just came onboard less then a month before they were good.

 

We did not have a comedian and We spoke to Drew ( cruise director) about it. He explained Celebrity thought with so many Europeans it was not needed. Actually many wanted one and its only 2 nights in the smaller venue I feel. We enjoy comedy and we missed out on this. The pianist was a snore for us but many liked him.

 

Thanks for your continued posts.....:):):)

 

Bob

[MJonTravel]

Great review, Toronto25. The first day of your cruise was the last day of ours. Really enjoyed Equinox.