An Even Longer Review of Equinox 1/17 Sailing!

[tip]

1) Our 29th cruise, but the first on a Celebrity ship---outstanding

experience!

 

 

 

2) Flight/Pre-Cruise Hotel

• Flew in two days early via Southwest from Manchester, NH (2 degrees below zero) to the mid-70's in FLL
  
• Stayed at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Blvd in Fort Lauderdale. Booked on Priceline. Great price--great hotel!
  

3) Embarkation--arrived at port around 11 a.m. On board ship about 15

minutes later. Celebrity is a well-oiled machine!

 

4) The Ship---beautiful, subdued colors and art, not too tacky. Very

well cleaned and maintained!

 

 

 

5) Stateroom

• Category 2-C Cabin 6260 (starboard side)
  
• Balcony with minor obstruction (you could see the top of the lifeboats, but we had a good view of the ocean)
  
• Plenty of storage
  
• Excellent service from cabin attendant
  

6) Smoking

• Thank you Celebrity for having a 21st Century smoking policy.
  
• It was refreshing to be able to enjoy the balcony without breathing in second hand smoke.
  
• I lost my share of money in the casino, but did not have to endure smoke while doing it.
  
• There are smoking areas on the outside decks on the port side as well as the port side of the Sky Lounge, but these areas were easy to avoid.
  

7) Dining

• Food was excellent in all venues. Excellent quality of beef for this carnivore!
  
• Dined in Murano (French specialty restaurant) on first so-called formal night---outstanding food and service!
  
• Utilized Select Dining for dinner on other ten nights in the Silhouette Dining Room on deck four. No problem in getting a table for two. Only had to wait on first night. All other nights the wait was no more than a minute or two. For the most part service was excellent. Some tables for two were rather close together.
  
• Ate all breakfasts and most lunches in the Oceanview cafe (buffet). Excellent variety of food well presented. You can find a table even during peak times if you head toward the aft section.
  
• Had burgers one day at the grill when returning late from a port visit. Juicy and not dried out.
  
• Utilized room service twice when returning from ports. Great chicken wings and cheese platter. Service was prompt.
  
• Visited the homemade ice cream stand daily!
  

8) Dress Code during dinner hours. (always a hot topic)

 

• Most folks were neatly dressed. Never saw jeans or shorts, but it wouldn't bother us if we did.
  
• On the so called formal nights, saw more tuxes than other ships (30% +/-), suits (40% +/-) sport coats with ties (20% +/-) and maybe 10% (+/-) wearing shirts with or without ties. Never heard a negative comment from or about anyone and how they chose to dress.
  

9) Activities/Things to do

 

• We tend to be more relaxed and don't care for 24 hours of non-stop, but there was plenty to do.
  
• Attended the Cruise Critic Connections Meet and Mingle
  
• We utilized the well-stocked library.
  
• Played trivia daily
  
• Heard an excellent speaker on each sea day who shared her experiences working in the white house.
  
• I lost my share of $$ in the smoke free casino.
  
• "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" spent her usual amount of time (and my money) in the on board shops.
  
• The Corning Hot Glass show is not to be missed. They even raffle off works produced. The One Who Must Be Obeyed was thrilled to win a beautiful vase!
  
• Most important of all--we read and just relaxed and watched the sea by on our balcony (great weather all week).
  

10) Entertainment

 

• We have probably been on too many cruises to appreciate the production song and dance shows. The only one we tried to attend was on the first night when we arrived just prior to the start and found a packed house.
  
• The classical strings were always well-received.
  
• Pianist Peganini was magnificent!
  
• Violinist Nicola was outstanding!
  
• Comedienne Matilda was entertaining.
  
• Jack Walker had an amazing voice.
  
• On the otherhand, impressionist Joey Van should be forced to walk the plank. Good thing we were in the last row. No one saw us when we walked out!
  
• Numerous live musical entertainment on board during the day and evening
  

11) Ports

• Did Paradise Beach on our own in Cozumel. Great Beach break. $2 per person gets you a chair and an umbrella on the beach. Beautiful beach with a brand new swimming pool as well. Bar and restaurant on site with clean restrooms and changing rooms. $13 cab ride each way.
  
• Went to Bananarama Beach (West End) in Roatan. $5 pp gets you a chair in the sun or shade. Beautiful beach with bar, food, and restrooms available. $20 pp round trip transportation.
  
• Took a tour booked on line with Eduardo from "Your Lucky Tours" in Costa Rica. Visited the rainforest for a tram ride and extensive tour. Also had a boat ride on a canal to see wildlife. Overall it was more than six hours and well worth it. It cost $40 pp for Eduardo for transportation and the guide with another $55 pp for admission to the rainforest. (MUCH cheaper than a ship's excursion)
  
• Booked a ship's tour to the Miraflores Locks and Observation Center in Panama. Interesting and a good chance to see the countryside.
  
• Visited the old city of Cartagena on our own. A shady cab driver dropped us off just inside of the first gate which meant a 15-20 minute walk to get to the Plaza de Bolivar, but it gave us a chance to take some great photos of the architecture and some of the locals. We visited the oldest church in the city, the gold museum, and the Inquisition Palace. Our most interesting time was spent on a bench in the plaza just taking in the atmosphere. Cab ride each way was $10.
  
• Having been to Grand Cayman several times before, we spent a few hours shopping and enjoying our last port day of warm weather.
  

12) Disembarkation. Again Celebrity has a well-oiled machine!

• Since we were not flying out on that day, we asked for a later disembarkation and enjoyed a long breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe. We just about closed the place and left at 9 a.m.
  
• We met in our assigned location (Silhouette Dining Room) and after about 20 minutes our number was called.
  
• Finding our luggage was a snap and we only spent about 10 minutes or so in line to get through immigration and customs.
  
• It was amusing to hear a woman in the "Non U.S. Citizens" line berate a Celebrikty staff member about how slow their line was moving. I did resist the temptation to tell her to include a letter of complaint with her tax payment to the IRS!;)
  

13) Post Cruise Hotel---Westin Diplomat in Hollywood Beach. Another

Priceline bargain for one of the most luxurious hotels that we have

ever visited. We had a balcony overlooking the beach.

 

14) We returned to New Hampshire on Saturday having missed two

snowstorms in two weeks, grateful to my brother-in-law for

snowblowing the driveway and bemoaning the fact that it is going to

snow again twice this week. We shall miss Celebrity and will most

certainly book again with this cruise line!

[timbo89]

"It was amusing to hear a woman in the "Non U.S. Citizens" line berate a Celebrikty staff member about how slow their line was moving. I did resist the temptation to tell her to include a letter of complaint with her tax payment to the IRS!"

 

Resident aliens (Green card holders) pay US taxes - so be careful to resist that temptation - you might get a lot of egg on your face.....

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[Azulann]

thanks for your precise review. I will be on the Equinox in Sept 2011 for a 10 day curise of the Eastern Med. Looking forward to experiencing this beautiful new ship between /after all of our wonderful port excusions.:)

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[Kiwis Afloat]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this review, especially since I should be getting ready to go to work. This will keep me smiling all day. Thanks!:):)

[tip]

"It was amusing to hear a woman in the "Non U.S. Citizens" line berate a Celebrity staff member about how slow their line was moving. I did resist the temptation to tell her to include a letter of complaint with her tax payment to the IRS!"

 

Resident aliens (Green card holders) pay US taxes - so be careful to resist that temptation - you might get a lot of egg on your face.....

 

But I was not the one being obnoxious!;) And having had a daughter who was for many years a green card holder, I understand the tax situation.

[Lois R]

Hi, glad you had such a good time:) and a really well written review.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[srpilo]

Good stuff :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks

Srpilo

[backyardponder]

Thanks! I'm on the February 4th version of your cruise.

[BamaD]

Thank you for taking the time to share this cruise information. I really like the number/bullet format.

 

Susan