Some Celebrity Equinox Questions

[DeRon]

We are considering a 10 Day Southern Caribbean cruise in February. We haven't been on this class of ship and have a few questions:

 

Does the ship feel crowded? If so, where?

 

Are the pools fresh or salt water?

 

Are there good tables for 2 in MDR?

 

Can anyone buy the dining package where you eat all meals in specialty restaurants (including breakfasts and lunches)? How much is it?

 

Is the entertainment on a 10-day cruise okay? Anything different than "cirque" type shows?

 

Thanks!

[Cruisechristi]

We sailed her this fall in the eastern med. She is a wonderful ship. Loved everything about it. No clue about the pools. We bought a three dinner package to try all the up charge restaurants. However, we sailed in the Aqua level and enjoyed our meals in BLU very much. Very nice and lots of tables for two. The entertainment is fine. The bars (martini and molecular) are great. This was my favorite ship after sailing on many. Have fun!

 

 

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[ORV]

We are considering a 10 Day Southern Caribbean cruise in February. We haven't been on this class of ship and have a few questions:

 

Does the ship feel crowded? If so, where? Only in the buffet.

 

Are the pools fresh or salt water?

 

Are there good tables for 2 in MDR? Define Good

 

Can anyone buy the dining package where you eat all meals in specialty restaurants (including breakfasts and lunches)? How much is it?Probably, they don't like to turn down money

 

Is the entertainment on a 10-day cruise okay? Anything different than "cirque" type shows?Comics, singers, etc. Didn't see any cirque type show actually.

 

Thanks!

 

It's a great ship!

[DeRon]

We sailed her this fall in the eastern med. She is a wonderful ship. Loved everything about it. No clue about the pools. We bought a three dinner package to try all the up charge restaurants. However, we sailed in the Aqua level and enjoyed our meals in BLU very much. Very nice and lots of tables for two. The entertainment is fine. The bars (martini and molecular) are great. This was my favorite ship after sailing on many. Have fun!

 

 

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Thanks! I see you sailed on the Caribbean Princess. We are trying to decide between these 2 ships...which would you choose again?

[Lsimon]

There will be places on the ship that seem crowded and lots of places and times when it isn't crowded at all. So there will be some variation. Worst crowds are buffet at prime times, immediate pool area on nice afternoon sea days, the big and certain show events held in the atrium and sky lounge which are big draws and may have standing room only (or no great seats). But the general feeling around this ship isn't too bad and it usually does not seem too crowded.

 

I think the pools are fresh water but not 100% sure of this.

 

Most, but not all, of the tables for 2 in the MDR are very close to each other. Side by side with only a foot or two at most between tables. I call this type of seating "delicatessen style seating" and I'm not fond of it when I see it in nicer restaurants or on cruise ships but it is becoming pretty common. I much prefer tables where my wife and I can on adjoining sides next to each other, when we're dining alone, rather than across from each other.

 

I don't think there is a dining package where you eat ALL meals in the specialty restaurants. You can certainly eat all dinners there if you wish but they are not open for breakfast and only one or two will be open for lunch, depending on the ship, and those might not be every day. Also, when open for lunch our experience has been the menu is the same as dinner.

 

There is only one Cirque type show during S class cruises and probably none on M class cruises. Others are a variety of cruise ship song and dance shows and guest entertainers. They'll also have two or three different event shows in the Sky Lounge or Atrium. These are more or less the party band playing dance music but with a theme that starts off with the ship's entertainment staff dancing or doing a routine as sort of a mini show. Also a variety of lounge entertainment.

 

I have to add that our Equinox Caribbean Cruise last March was fantastic and we had a great time. If you look hard you can find something to nitpick on any cruise but overall it was one of our best.

[fishycomics]

The MDR

 

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

The pools are all fresh water. All S-class ships have fresh water pools.

 

If you are referring to Blu as a speciality restaurant that is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you can eat breakfast and dinner there if you have an Aqua Class stateroom (and now I believe they allow suite guests as well). You cannot buy a package for Blu. Breakfast is not served in any other speciality restaurant and lunch is only served on rare occasion (usually one of the sea days).

 

Equinox is a great ship, we were on her in 2012 and will be back on her in 2 months.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[Milhouse]

It felt crowded on decks 4 and 5 outside the theatre, before and after shows. On 4 it bottlenecks a bit along the walkway in front of the shops as most people avoid navigating through the casino's around the tables & machines. On 5 it bottle necks near the photo gallery and boutiques because of the opening to deck 4. It's not so bad I suppose due to less capacity of the 2nd level of the theatre.

 

Personally I didn't find it crowded at the food stations in the buffet. (We're late risers though.)

And I think there was only one show (2nd production show which was the "Cirque show") that people had trouble finding seats.

 

Really enjoyed the Equinox and its crew.

[charben]

thank you for the information, we are on equinox in march for a 11 night carabean. Do you know how many formal nights there are? thanks nina

[tunaman2011]

thank you for the information, we are on equinox in march for a 11 night carabean. Do you know how many formal nights there are? thanks nina

 

Greetings

 

There are normally two formal nights on that cruise.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[footer6]

Thanks! I see you sailed on the Caribbean Princess. We are trying to decide between these 2 ships...which would you choose again?

 

I have sailed both Equinox and Caribbean Princess. It's no contest. Caribbean Princess is not in the same league. The pool area is quite small for so big a ship. I never got a chair. On CP, you had to arrive for a show at least a half hour early or else no seat. Equinox carries more passengers but never seemed crowded. The cabins and the food on Equinox are better. Maybe I'm being influenced by the fact that, when I sailed the CP she had one engine out, couldn't move at full speed and never could properly air condition the ship. But I don't think so. All this said, it doesn't mean I might not try Princess again, but the Celebrity Solstice class ships are head and shoulders above the Caribbean Princess.

[tlund]

We are considering a 10 Day Southern Caribbean cruise in February. We haven't been on this class of ship and have a few questions:

 

Does the ship feel crowded? If so, where?

 

Are the pools fresh or salt water?

 

Are there good tables for 2 in MDR?

 

Can anyone buy the dining package where you eat all meals in specialty restaurants (including breakfasts and lunches)? How much is it?

 

Is the entertainment on a 10-day cruise okay? Anything different than "cirque" type shows?

 

Thanks!

 

We sailed both the Equinox and the Caribbean Princess. The pool areas on both ships felt a bit crowded on sea days. The Caribbean Princess felt crowded in the area where the pictures are located. Shows did get crowded fast. On the Equinox, we were a bit disappointed that they conducted some activities in the foyer on 3. There isn't enough room for some of those activities and definitely not much space to be an observer.

 

Pools are fresh water. In fact, one of the pools on the Equinox was very warm water. On the other hand, the mail pool on the CP was freezing. CP also has a pool on the back of the ship which is a nice area.

 

On the Equinox, the tables for 2 were really close to other tables for 2. It seemed the people seated at those tables ended up talking to the tablemates next to them.

 

I know they had packages for the specialty restaurants. I think the most days we saw were 5 days. The specialty restaurants are only for dinner unless you are eating in Blu, which is the MDR for those booked in the Aqua Class cabins. Don't remember the pricing for the packages.

 

The entertainment is where we had an issue on the Equinox. The average age for the other passengers was pretty old so the entertainment was geared toward the older crowd (70s - 80s). Outside of the typical singer and dancer shows, there was a piano guy (the older crowd seemed to enjoy him), a violinist, a comedian (he was the best of the entertainment), a juggler (wasn't too good) and a Las Vegas type showman (he was just ok). We were very disappointed in the entertainment and were in our cabins pretty early. You can only drink at a bar so much. On the CP, we found the general theater acts were a bit cheezy, but they had the movies under the stars and a separate theater for comedians (on certain nights).

 

Because of the age of the other passengers on the Equinox, we think we will stick with Royal Caribbean and Princess for our cruises. Some people have pointed out that the age of the other passengers on the Equinox was older due to the fact that the cruise was more than 7 days. If you are looking at an 11 day cruise, you will have the same demographic. We are close to 50 and felt like babies on the cruise.