Celebrity Equinox review

[LynandBill]

This was our 25th cruise and our 30th wedding anniversary. We are Elite status with Celebrity.

 

Pre cruise (Excellent)1 night at Courtyard by Marriott in Ft Lauderdale Beach. Very nice hotel, great location, close to restaurants and beach. Next day took taxi to ship at 11:30 am(much later than we usually arrive)

 

Embarkation (Good) Every other Celebrity Cruise we've been on was excellent. We had a choice of Elite or Concierge Class check in line. We chose Elite and realized they only had 2 check in workers in Elite and there were about 25 people in line. Concierge line was longer to start but way faster with 5 check in workers. Usually we are onboard with 15 minutes , this took over an hour. No big deal..10 wonderful days ahead!

 

Ship (Excellent) Great condition and simply beautiful ...we love the S Class ships.

 

Stateroom: 1044 Concierge Class: (Excellent) great location near front steps and elevator. Angle balcony was amazing and big. Just a little smaller than the aft balconies on M Class ships.

 

Stateroom Attendant (Excellent). We asked him (Gino) to empty mini fridge, bring some extra wire hangers and if at all possible could we get wine instead of the bottle of champagne. Within an hour all were done and even brought us 4 wine glasses. He gave us this service for the whole cruise. He was.. well.. Excellent!

 

Dinner: MDR Early seating table 115...table for 2 but not really because 3 tables lined up about a 1 1/2 ft apart. The waiter served the 3 tables pretty much as one, even waiting for all couples to arrive so he could start.

 

Our waiter and assistant waiter (Poor) Sorry but just poor!!!! They just didn't work well together..at all! We have had 25 cruises and we always think service is very good to excellent. Example and this is just one example....one dinner we are waiting for our entrée. Haven't seen the waiter or assistant in 15 minutes. We are finished appetizer, soup and salad. Tables next to us are pretty much done their entrée. The assistant comes out and realizes our plates are still sitting at the station. He then serves it to us. As he's giving us the plate the waiter comes back and must have realized it had to be cold because he came right over and grabbed the plates apologizing for it being cold. We had not said a word. He was correct as I touched it and it was cold. Now we wait for the next 2 plates and the people at the table next to us are leaving and the assistant is setting that table for the late seating as we are just starting our main course. Still, not cooking or cleaning is great. Just surprised to see this service on Celebrity. 24 out of 25 being excellent is still great odds!

 

Room Service: (Excellent) Concierge Class breakfast menu and great service.

 

Silk Harvest (Excellent) The best service, very nice atmosphere and great food.

 

Café al Bacio (Excellent) great service, very friendly staff ,used this everyday because we had the classic drink package. Everything on that drink menu is included with that package.

 

Oceanview Café (Excellent) food was very good, many choices and stations are spread out ,so it never seems like some other ship lines at the buffet. Servers walking around for soft drinks. Great service.

 

Mast Grill (Excellent) very good cheese burgers, fries. Nice venue for out near pool.

 

Pizza (Good) This has been changed since our last cruise.For my personal taste I like the way they made it before. Just ok but that didn't stop me from eating a slice or two everyday!

 

Pool Attendants (Excellent) always walking around clearing towels off unused loungers. Also, great crowd on this cruise, not the normal get up at 630 and save many chairs crowd.

 

Celebrity staff (Excellent) Everyone is always greeting you with a smile and hello!

 

Captain's Club Host (Excellent) very friendly, just a pleasure to talk to.

 

Classic Drink Package (Excellent) limited wine selection for dinner but that was fine as we liked the classic choices. You can also go to any bar( except Martini bar) and get a smaller martini with the Classic Package). Bar waiters are very friendly and Head Bar Waiter(as usual) Carlo is the best! We always seem to run into him even on many of our cruises.

 

Barbados: We read about this excursion in cruise critic awhile back and independently booked Silver Moon Catamaran. We went with the 12 person Cat as we just did this in November also and loved it. It was just as good this time. This is our favorite catamaran excursion ever. The Best!!!!!!!

 

Another great Celebrity Cruise. Looking forward to our next cruise on the Constellation. Thank you Celebrity!

[bunnyrab]

Great review. Right to the point. Thanks Heather.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[luv2cruisemore]

We were also on the 1/10 Equinox sailing and agree, it was wonderful. We had a terrific waiter and assistant in MDR. We had select dining at 6:30 each night so they they gave our group the same table every night.

 

We did eat in Murano but we weren't overwhelmed. Food was excellent...too rich, and the service took too long. We've eaten in Murano and many of the other specialty restaurants before, but unless you get a freebie or must use up OBC, I feel it is unnecessary.

 

We booked next January's Buenos Aries to Valparaiso on board which gave us great value. Cabin upgrade, $250 OBC, 1-2-3 Promotion, excellent cabin location. We were also able to transfer our Rez to a TA (major "box" store) and get their $450 OBC.

[LynandBill]

We were also on the 1/10 Equinox sailing and agree, it was wonderful. We had a terrific waiter and assistant in MDR. We had select dining at 6:30 each night so they they gave our group the same table every night.

 

We did eat in Murano but we weren't overwhelmed. Food was excellent...too rich, and the service took too long. We've eaten in Murano and many of the other specialty restaurants before, but unless you get a freebie or must use up OBC, I feel it is unnecessary.

 

We booked next January's Buenos Aries to Valparaiso on board which gave us great value. Cabin upgrade, $250 OBC, 1-2-3 Promotion, excellent cabin location. We were also able to transfer our Rez to a TA (major "box" store) and get their $450 OBC.

Besides our waiter this was such a great cruise. Our next cruise we are trying Aqua class . The next cruise that we have concierge class I think we will try select dining. On princess we really like anytime dining. Do you know the hours for select dining?

[Duanerice1]

Thanks for the review. We have the same cabin but not until December. Way off but time will go fast. We always pick Select Dining. Love it.

 

You will enjoy Aqua class. The cost was just too much on this cruise to justify be we love Aqua. We'll see if there are any major price changes, it may happen yet.

enjoy,

Duane

[whataboutport]

Great review!

 

What is Select dining though? Is that like anytime dining?

[LynandBill]

Thanks for the review. We have the same cabin but not until December. Way off but time will go fast. We always pick Select Dining. Love it.

 

You will enjoy Aqua class. The cost was just too much on this cruise to justify be we love Aqua. We'll see if there are any major price changes, it may happen yet.

enjoy,

Duane

 

You will love that cabin. Location is great and balcony is amazing. We are excited to be trying Aqua. The price dropped below our C1 catagory so we went for it.

[LynandBill]

Great review!

 

What is Select dining though? Is that like anytime dining?

 

They are the same just different names for each cruise line.

[drarill]

Excellent review!! thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us!:)

[shoelover536]

Thanks for the review. We sail on her in September and I can't wait. We love her sister the Eclipse. :D