celebrity Equinox or Ruby Pincess??

[cruiseaholic13]

We have taken several cruises all on RC and are ready to try a different cruise line. We have narrowed it down to these two ships and would appreciate feedback from anyone who has been on either or both of these ships. We are a married couple in our early 40's traveling without our children :) Pros, cons and comparison to RC would be appreciated. Thank you!!

[skandls]

I have not been on the Equinox or Ruby but have sailed the Solstice and Diamond sister ships. The Equinox is a much new ship. The cabins are set up much like the Oasis - longer and narrower in comparison to the older Royal ships. The Princess ships have small 'cabin' space with more closet area. I do like the 'sofa' area on Royal and X ships. Unless you get a minisuite on Princess there is a chair - even that makes it difficult to get around the cabin.

 

The MDR food is similar - with an advantage to Celebrity. Our Solstice cruise was in Aqua Class which had its own dining room - the food is lighter and more ethnically diverse. On our other X cruises in the MDR the food was more 'continental' in style.

 

Entertainment is comparable between X and Princess. I don't think any ships can come close to the entertainment on the Oasis and Allure.

 

Misc thoughts. Celebrity is usually more 'dress code' proper. Not so many tuxes but a lot of suits and sports coats on formal night. If you like martinis the Martini Bar on the Equinox is a must. I also enjoyed the enrichment lectures on the Solstices. If you are at least Platinum on Royal you will get 'perks' on Celebrity - just make sure you call and get the Captains Club set up before you cruise.

 

I do like the Solstice class and we will cruise on one of them again.

[cruiseaholic13]

That is very helpful...thank you! Did you find that the crowd was a little "older" or "uptight" on Celebrity?? Also, did you feel there was as much to do on Celebrity vs. Princess? We are currently booked in the Aqua class on Eclipse. My only reservations about Celebrity are the possible "older" crowd and maybe lack of good entertainment. We have really enjoyed the shows on RC but are really ready to try something different. LOVE Martini's...that sounds AWESOME!!!

[cruizinEllen]

I have sailed equinox twice and Sapphire, Carribean, Golden and Grand Princess ships as well. Hands down I prefer Equinox. The layout of the ship is far superior (IMHO), more elegant, exceptional specialty restaurants. I would say the food in MDR is fairly equal. I feel entertainment goes to Equinox as well. They have a wonderful Cirque type show and a devoted comedy club. The theatre is larger and can accomodate all passengers. On Princess the theatre is small and you must arrive early to get a seat (altho shows were good ). I prefer the stricter non smoking policies on Celebrity. I honestly did not notice a difference in age of passengers on both lines.

[cruiseaholic13]

I have sailed equinox twice and Sapphire, Carribean, Golden and Grand Princess ships as well. Hands down I prefer Equinox. The layout of the ship is far superior (IMHO), more elegant, exceptional specialty restaurants. I would say the food in MDR is fairly equal. I feel entertainment goes to Equinox as well. They have a wonderful Cirque type show and a devoted comedy club. The theatre is larger and can accomodate all passengers. On Princess the theatre is small and you must arrive early to get a seat (altho shows were good ). I prefer the stricter non smoking policies on Celebrity. I honestly did not notice a difference in age of passengers on both lines.

 

Awesome!! We are already booked on Equinox in Aqua Class and are really looking forward to it...I just wanted to make sure we were making the right choice before the "cancellation period" is up! What would you say is the biggest difference between Celebrity and RC?

[spammie]

We just did our first Celebrity cruise on Equinox this past April. We were in an Aqua Class cabin also. We LOVED it so much we booked it again for next April. We are 48 and 57 and the crowd was a little bit older but it was also a 10-night cruise which they say tends to draw an older crowd. There were couples on the ship all different ages. We became friends with a couple from Canada who were in their mid 30s. The entertainment on RCCL is definitely better but we loved the ship and we certainly never ran out of things to do.

 

If you are in Aqua Class you will have your own dining room called Blu, the food is amazing and the service is top notch. Celebrity lets you bring on two bottles of wine and you don't have to sign out pool towels which is really nice. We loved everything about Equinox and cruising with Celebrity.

[cruiseaholic13]

Oh that's just exactly what I needed to hear!! Thank you SO MUCH!! We are already booked on Equinox in Aqua Class! Did you eat at Blu every night? Did you do any of the Specialty restaurants? I am thrilled to hear that you had a great time and booked again. Looks like you're getting ready to go on a cruise in just a few days!! Lucky!! Have a great time and thank you so much for the info!!

[CruisinManiac]

Another vote for Equinox! We spent 11 nights on her in May in a standard balcony with bed by the balcony. Loved the room, the bathroom and extended balcony. The entertainment on this ship was some of the best we have seen! We thought the dining room food was just OK, so we plan to book an AQ next time we sail on her class of ship. We did eat at Tuscan Grill once and it was superb! Go hungry.

 

If it hasn't already been mentioned, one plus for Celebrity is that you will get to use your RCCL status. We are Diamond, so became Elite on Celebrity. ;)

[spammie]

We ate breakfast in Blu on most days except for when we slept later and then we would have breakfast in their version of the Windjammer. I think it was called the Oceanview Cafe? They have a great outside deck area where you can eat which we really enjoyed. We didn't try any of the specialty restaurants on this ship because eating in Blu was basically being in a "specialty" restaurant every night. We did try the MDR one night for dinner and all we did was compare everything to Blu. Blu is really an excellent place to eat. Have a wonderful trip. What cabin did you book? my e-mail is pammattmom at yahoo dot com if you have any other questions. Wanda

[skandls]

We were on the Oasis the week before the Solstice. We did several specialty restaurants on the Oasis including the Chefs Table. On the Solstice we found the food and service in Blu so good that we did not go to any of the specialty restaurants.

 

It is nice being treated like an adult - different beverage packages are available and you can bring a couple of bottles of wine onbard.

[whitshel]

While we havent sailed on any Princess cruise, we are loyal Royals and tried our first Celebrity Cruise (Eclipse) this past spring and loved it. We had our 2 teen daughters with us as well and they also loved it. I would vote for the Equinox.

 

Here is a link to my Review with pictures.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1400893

[cruiseaholic13]

Awesome!! Thank you all so much for the feedback!! We have decided to go with Celebrity (Equinox, Aqua Class). We are super excited!! If you think of anything else that may be beneficial please pass it on!! Happy Cruising!!

[Feelin' Nauti']

Awesome!! Thank you all so much for the feedback!! We have decided to go with Celebrity (Equinox, Aqua Class). We are super excited!! If you think of anything else that may be beneficial please pass it on!! Happy Cruising!!

Congrats!

You made a wise choice.

[Mustangs20]

Please post a review after you sail. We're considering Equinox for a Mediterranean cruise in July - we're in the same age group as you and also worried about the night time entertainment. Going to be just the two of us after four cruises with the kids (now 19 and 22). Sailed on HAL last summer in the Baltic, and while the food was good, the activities after dinner were incredibly boring. Like the idea of the upscale service, etc. on Equinox and have seen great reviews, so very hopeful. We've been on Royal (best all-around), Holland (good food and service, boring entertainment), and Carnival (GREAT entertainment and things to do on board, so-so dinners and service). Have a great trip and please write a detailed review regarding the activities, entertainment and AquaClass amenities.

[Azulann]

MUSTANG 20

Did your cruise on the Equinox in Sept 2011.

Had only two sea days out of ten. Had late dining in MDR and did not finish until 10:30 or so. Spent many evening at Sunset Bar which had a great guitar/singer each eveing until about 11:30.

The Med Sea was calm the whole trip, always wanted to be outside in the evening. They did have a great singer /dancing on the pool deck one evening.

We needed to get off ship by 8:00 each morning and not back until 5:30.

It was a fabulous trip, beautiful ship and met people from all over the world on board.

Have a wonderful cruise.