Equinox 12/12/2014

[GOLDENBONNY]

WE just back from our first Celebrity cruise. Overall we had nice vacation but we really expected much more from so called “premiumnotcarnival” line. I will give short review now and will post long review later .

1. Embarkation-very fast and we loved how they put different lines for different decks

2. Ship – beautiful and spacious. Big disappointment not to have sea water in pools .

3. Food- DR food was very good for mass market cruise line . We had no problem . Buffet food – I would say was good but after 3 days you will mention it’s 99% same food every day and get tired of it. Main problem we had was dessert station . We found it very plain ,no variety and eat ice cream instead . On last day of cruise they put great dessert station and even chocolate fountain ) . WE love afternoon high tea on cruise but X had it only once and only for VIP passengers . We had our drinking package so good tea was no problem to find in Café al Bachio . No midnight buffet no chocolate buffet no any other special even in buffet .:p )

4. Drink packages- was nice to have for but would never buy it. We just don’t use so much alcohol and soft drinks to make it worst to pay. Probably because of packages they don’t have Bar menu in most bars. Good luck find out what brands they have and how much. Had to finger point to premium Cognacs to find out how much . Really not convenient and embarrassing. Many times bars run out of drinks and bar attender had to run around to find it.

5.Cabin- we had regular balcony cabin 9171 . Cabin is very quiet and balcony is biggest we had on other cruise lines. Cannot say same about our bed or pillows. Twice they had problem with laundry and did not deliver bath towels .Good we had one clean towel left for 3 of us in one evening to have shower. Beach towels we receive on first 2 days in port and then they vanished as well. Our room attended told us to take pool towels because laundry has problem. We talked to other people on cruise everyone had same problem . Many times even boxes in pool had no towels

6.Service – DR was best we ever had on cruise. Very fast and pleasant . Martini bar has a great crew but stay away from Passport bar it’s like they do you a favor to serve you there and you will always get smallest amount of alcohol from them. Buffet run out of glasses and cups all the time and they bring paper one to use….not to “premium” for me

7. Entertainment-say what? This area screaming for improvement . Those 2 singers they have I hope they come for free . they cannot sing at all . Rest of the performance is not much better . We left every show after 10 minutes . Only one you can watch was Circus show but even this was nothing special compare to other cruise lines . We usually love all games with CD but on this ship they had it in hallway on deck 4 were only probably 10 seats available and rest of people have to stand around and watch . Why not to do it in lounge so everyone can seat and enjoy ? ??? No live music by the pool no games . Only music by the pool was Zumba for 30 min. rest of the day it’s Spa music to put you to sleep. Luck of music and live bands is all over the ship . no piano player even. Huge disappointment in this area for us.

I have to work now .Please ask any questions I will be happy to answer.

PS. We did not found Celebrity any better or premium from other cruise lines (maybe just in food area)but we don’t cruise to eat so we probably book our next X cruise only if no one elsy will give me better price or port of call.

English is not my first language so please forgive me mistakes if any .

[TNhome]

We were on the same cruise and have to agree in aspects. Gone are the days of the brunch, and the chocolates on the pillows, the flowers for aqua and concierge class and the special things you find on a premium cruise line. A real disappointment I must admit. We too found they ran out of the premium alcohols needed as well as some some beers in the gastropub. Also they advertised a celebrity bloody mary but no bar had all the ingredients to make one.

As for the bedding, I have to admit is quiet time for the Equinox to change out the mattresses and pillows. They were not as comfortable as we have come to expect from celebrity.

We did a back to back on this cruise and although we had a great cruise it was not what we were accustomed to with Celebrity. This is hitting only on the negatives although we found many positives especially with the crew.

[cruisehome]

will be on this ship next December

 

so will be interested in this review

 

carol

[Duanerice1]

Same cruise here. Agree to a lot of what was said but I had flowers and plenty of towels in CC :)

 

I had a great time but something was missing. Not as good as our prior Celebrity cruises. I mean the staff was great, actually one of the best we've encountered, MDR food was good, etc. The entertainment was sub par except for the guest performers as I found most of them pretty good.

 

And I agree, who in the heck thought of putting games in the foyer/hallway? Really? I just don't understand that one.

 

The bed was not up to expectations either. I thought they changed all these when it went in for refresh. I wasn't impressed. In this day and age when all cruise lines and hotels have good bedding there is no reason to have anything sub par.

 

Again, had a great time and Celebrity is my line of choice but I still cruise on others including Carnival when the price is right. But I like the "calmness" of Celebrity.

 

And really Celebrity is not a premium line. They are a mainstream line, just a different mainstream. I mean the price is right there with RCCL and some Carnival so they can't be premium. But they are still my favorite.

 

enjoy

[OuiOnboard]

Thanks for taking the time to post your opinions re. your Equinox experience.

X provides the best fit for us right now with mostly friendly and attentive service, pleasant atmosphere, opportunities for good dining, and clean modern ships. To avoid the MDR , we choose AQUA/BLU or get a Balcony with the Specialty Dining Package to satisfy our moderate foodie needs. We have an Equinox B2B set for Nov-Dec next year and eagerly await our warm, sunny sailings. We hope they can hold the line on changes/cutbacks/deletions going forward, even if they must increase the fares a bit more.

With regard to NCL and some of the other lines, we find them a little crowded and noisy for our tastes.

Happy sailings to you.

Edited December 30, 2014 by OuiOnboard
addition

[black forest]

Hi,

 

thanks for your review. We will cruise the Equinox next December, first time Celebrity. Looking forward to your long review.

[cshim]

I found the bed and pillows very comfortable but as we were in CC we had pillows to chose from. We had no problems with towels. In fact our cabin steward was excellent.

 

I don't agree with the OP about the entertainment. The singers were excellent but the circus show did bore me.

 

The only issue I had was that they left us queuing in the pouring rain in St Thomas to board whilst the crew stayed in the dry.

 

I had a fabulous cruise and would definitely go on the Equinox again.