REVIEW: EQUINOX 10 night Caribbean Jan 2-12

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

Our 3rd Celebrity Cruise did not disappoint. We enjoyed 10 days of beautiful weather, islands, met some interesting people, saw some great natural beauty, and enjoyed some good meals with friends and family

 

Embarkation

Unfortunately the worst embarkation we have ever been, we arrived at noon, and quickly got in line, only to be held back for over 30 minutes, other categories were bottle necked. The agent at the check in was horrible, seemed miserable and huffing, all the other agents seemed to engage the clients and quickly transacted, our agent couldn't get our reservation to come up, then he couldn't get the right date, then he needed two supervisors to show him how to do it, another 20 minutes lost

 

Room

Our 3rd deck ocean view room was a nice size, probably the largest we have been. Very large main bed and pull out sofa, for 3rd and 4th guest. Nice size closet, storage space above bed and room to store luggage under bed, did not like the lack of shelves to store socks, underwear, polos, etc, bearing in mind we were four in the room.

 

Ship

Loved the layout of this ship, easy to get around, and easy to understand. Nice concentration of shops, on two levels. The ship itself is elegant with bright areas, nice decor and well furnished

 

MDR

Silhouette main dining room was large, tastefully decorated and easy to maneuver, chairs had deep back and low arm rests, not making it very comfortable while enjoying your meal. Our waiter was totally focused, and did his best to foresee our needs. Food was a little on the salty side. Portions are on the small side, on oversized plates. Presentation is acceptable, considering the amount of plates that come out of the kitchen . Good variety of entrees and main dishes. Desserts were equally good. Coffee onboard is Lavazza a good medium roast

 

Buffet

Loved the food station design, no long lines, but individual areas with different offerings. Liked the omelette station. Good variety of items, with small changes daily. Pasta and Pizza station was available all day long. Pizza was just ok, available were pepperoni, cheese, vegetarian and an additional different choice every day

 

Shows

The theatre was smaller than I expected for this size of ship, also the dark wood decor, and somber colour schemes did not add to the elegance of the ship

Comedian Carl Banks started the cruise with lots of laughs, highly recommended. Stay away from the first seats, you will be targeted for jokes, but all in harmless fun

Levonda singer was good high energy entertainment. Impressionist was hit and miss with some characters, but enjoyable nonetheless. The rest of the shows were production style, poorly executed with mediocre singers. Aerialists were very good. Magician displayed up close slight of hand performance, with few wows. Beatles tribute band was quite good.

 

Ports

St Thomas

Took a two hour tour, with some nice highlights. Short stop at coki beach, clear waters, clean beach

 

Ports St Maarten

Spent the day shopping. If you want tax free items, this is your island. Very good deals on jewelry, gold, silver, watches, and diamonds.

 

Ports St Kitts

Tour to Timothy's hill, spectacular mountaintop views of both Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. A few hours touring the area with a beach stop at cockleshell bay. One of our favorite islands

 

Ports Barbados

Toured a few areas of this island, with a quick beach stop at Carlisle bay.

Ports Dominica

First time visiting this island, and lived all the green vegetation all over the island. Our tour gave us a glimpse of hot springs , falls, botanical gardens and some hilltop views of the coastal areas

 

 

Reception

Our few interactions were handled with ease

 

Animation team

Our CD (Paul) was very entertaining, and visible, his style was just right for this type of ship, Shauna did an ok job running activities, but her youthful high energy demeanor can be off putting to some.

 

Activities

Lots going on all over the ship, and poolside.

 

Dislikes

No pillow chocolates. No Sunday brunch bonanza.

 

Self debarkation

Easy, no issues whatsoever , well informed execution of the process.

Port Everglades taxi dispatchers are just awful, miserable employees, no decorum, civility or service standards. Taxi driver to the airport equally miserable.

Otherwise a great cruise with Celebrity...

Edited January 16, 2015 by MTL=CRUISEFAMILY

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[ORV]

We were on same cruise. Had a great time. Food was excellent in all venues. Had premium package, worked great. Entertainment was excellent with less emphasis on broadway style shows and more variety. Beatles tribute band, Hard Day's Night was a great diversion from standard shows. The juggling comedian was fantastic, kind of like a Robin Williams style with juggling. The comedian impressionist, Paul somebody, was very entertaining.

 

After reading of various downgrades on Celebrity we were once again very pleased with the product.

 

Would we cruise again on Celebrity again, in a heartbeat, with the right itinerary.

 

Only downside was the activity group. The CD, Paul Baya is a typical CD and the second in command is at best when she is leading dance groups, beyond that she is out of her element. The girl doing trivia most of the time is hardly understandable, which is a challenge.

 

All in all still a great cruise.

[phynny]

About to book a cruise on equinox. Want to book 2 balcony rooms and wonder where is best. Is there anywhere on this site I can check this out???

[wallie5446]

About to book a cruise on equinox. Want to book 2 balcony rooms and wonder where is best. Is there anywhere on this site I can check this out???

 

Top of the pg, the S-class spread sheet:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=911018

[helen haywood]

Where does the taxi dispatcher come into play? Do you not walk to a taxi line and go from there?

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

Where does the taxi dispatcher come into play? Do you not walk to a taxi line and go from there?

 

Once you get your luggage, you go toward the taxi area, and the dispatch will get you a taxi according to your needs, (we were 6)

Well none of the taxi vans were immediately available, and she started screaming, "you need to split up, and take 2 cars", I said, lets wait a minute, one will be available, once again, screaming, "don't start with me, you need to split up, and move"

 

We are not animals, no one needs to be screamed at , and I let her know it, politely.

[sawyer_boy]

Thank you for the review we are booked for this cruise in 2016.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[CruzeBoozer]

We were on same cruise. Had a great time. Food was excellent in all venues. Had premium package, worked great. Entertainment was excellent with less emphasis on broadway style shows and more variety. Beatles tribute band, Hard Day's Night was a great diversion from standard shows. The juggling comedian was fantastic, kind of like a Robin Williams style with juggling. The comedian impressionist, Paul somebody, was very entertaining.

 

After reading of various downgrades on Celebrity we were once again very pleased with the product.

 

Would we cruise again on Celebrity again, in a heartbeat, with the right itinerary.

 

Only downside was the activity group. The CD, Paul Baya is a typical CD and the second in command is at best when she is leading dance groups, beyond that she is out of her element. The girl doing trivia most of the time is hardly

understandable, which is a challenge.

 

All in all still a great cruise.

 

Was there a party band in addition to the Beatles tribute band?

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

Was there a party band in addition to the Beatles tribute band?

 

Yes, there is a party band, usually in the Sky lounge, but also played near the pool area, atrium and other venues.

 

Quite good.

[cazzi]

Thank you for the nice review

[Iamthesea]

Yes, thank you for the nice review. We take this cruise in two weeks. :)

 

Was there any Reggae/Caribbean steel drum type music played around the pool? What type of music did the party band play?

 

You mentioned that self-disembarkation went well. What time did you get off? How was customs...time to wait in line?

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

Yes, thank you for the nice review. We take this cruise in two weeks. :)

 

Was there any Reggae/Caribbean steel drum type music played around the pool? What type of music did the party band play?

 

You mentioned that self-disembarkation went well. What time did you get off? How was customs...time to wait in line?

 

No raggae type music, there is though a great dj and bongo player playing top 20 music, really good.

The party band played a mix of old and new dance music.

Disembarkation and customs was a beeze, maybe 10 mins,off the ship by 8 a.m at the airport by 8:30 - 8:45 ish.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you! :)

[Texed]

MTL,

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[ORV]

No raggae type music, there is though a great dj and bongo player playing top 20 music, really good.

The party band played a mix of old and new dance music.

Disembarkation and customs was a beeze, maybe 10 mins,off the ship by 8 a.m at the airport by 8:30 - 8:45 ish.

 

Just an addendum, we were off later as we didn't have a flight and were in no rush, we were scheduled for 9am but didn't actually get to leave our waiting area until around 9:30. Our disembarkation was a bit slower, no big deal in the grand scheme of things though, unless you were in a hurry.

[danstr1]

I was on the Equinox last year and will be doing the same cruise again next month. Were Sean Golden and the Stereo Girls still onboard this year? Sean was a vocal guitarist who often played at the Sunset Bar. The Stereo Girls were a duo who were often found at the lounge in the evenings among other venues.

[ORV]

I was on the Equinox last year and will be doing the same cruise again next month. Were Sean Golden and the Stereo Girls still onboard this year? Sean was a vocal guitarist who often played at the Sunset Bar. The Stereo Girls were a duo who were often found at the lounge in the evenings among other venues.

 

No.

[Iamthesea]

Just an addendum, we were off later as we didn't have a flight and were in no rush, we were scheduled for 9am but didn't actually get to leave our waiting area until around 9:30. Our disembarkation was a bit slower, no big deal in the grand scheme of things though, unless you were in a hurry.

 

This is what we plan to do on our cruise. Was customs backed up at this time (9:30ish?)

[ORV]

This is what we plan to do on our cruise. Was customs backed up at this time (9:30ish?)

 

Took us about 10=15 minutes to get through the line.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you so much. Hope it continues that way. :)

[lovestx]

We are considering booking this cruise for 2016. Curious how the weather was on the first and last sea days. We did a western Caribbean cruise a few years ago that went to key west and Cozumel in December and it was very cold and windy (the ship actually got stuck in KW dipped to wind). Don't want a repeat of that if possible.

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

We are considering booking this cruise for 2016. Curious how the weather was on the first and last sea days. .

 

Both days were perfect sea days, great anticipation on the first and relaxing, with good weather the last, no issues whatsoever..

[workstocruise]

We just got off the Equinox earlier this week from a Mediterranean

Cruise sailing from Rome to Barcelona. It's amazing how a different itinerary can change a ship. We had chocolates on our pillows every night, and the entertainment was outstanding. Paul Baya and one of the female singers did a duet during one of the shows and he has a fabulous voice. I was surprised.

We loved our cruise, the service was the best.

[lovestx]

Both days were perfect sea days, great anticipation on the first and relaxing, with good weather the last, no issues whatsoever..

 

Thanks!! Very helpful:):)