Loved our "Grand Slam" cruise on the Equinox!!

[kelmac]

Hello Everyone,

 

Lauren and I finally did it -- we completed what we call the "Celebrity Grand Slam" (our term, not Celebrity's). That is, we've sailed every ship that was ever built for Celebrity Cruise Lines. That includes:

 

Horizon and Zenith

Century, Galaxy, and Mercury

Millennium, Infinity, Constellation, and Summit

Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette, and Reflection

 

14 ships in all.

 

Note: we left off the Meridian and the Xpedition -- they both were built for different cruise lines and sailed under the names Galileo and Sun Bay, before being converted to Celebrity ships.

 

It was an excellent cruise and we love every minute! This was the Xmas/New Years cruise that sailed 21 December 2015 out of Ft Lauderdale. Here is a very short review Kelster style:

 

The Good:

--Service all around the ship was top notch and excellent in every way.

--The food was very good in general and the Executive Chef, Javier De Jesus had every venue in excellent shape.

--Loved the new menus in Bistro on Five and the Tuscan Grill.

--Rossy the Captain's Club Hostess did a great job and we loved our time up in the Sky Lounge during the Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith cocktail time. No drink coupons needed this cruise.:)

--Captain Leo and all the officers were very visible around the ship. His crew seems to love him. Nice guy!

--Alejandro the CD is clever, and full of energy!

--Lauren and I kind of Hosted the Connections party and we had a great turn-out. Alejandro and several officers attended. Met some really wonderful people!

--This was the first time in many, many cruises that we didn't upgrade to a balcony cabin, but I must say, out inside cabin on deck nine was great. Kadeck, our Steward, really spoiled us. I forgot that S-class ships have 200 sq ft inside cabins.

--The overall passenger mix was really a positive. Many Europeans, South Americans, Canadians and people from all over the states. Few extra smokers, but they kept to the zones. :rolleyes: Only a small number of Chair hogs.

--Christmas and New Years festivities were great as usual. Way to go Celebrity.

--Solarium was one of our main hangouts -- security was ever present and not a kid could be found in this area. Aqua Spa cafe was a big hit.

--Entertainment was pretty good + three different comedians. Nice!

--Embarkation at terminal 18 was very smooth and disembarkation was the best ever for us. We did walk-off and picked up our car at the airport by 8:30am.

--Weather was excellent the entire cruise. A little rough water between Cartagena and Colon, but we like a little ship movement. Water like glass between Cozumel and FLL.

--On our last at sea day the crew spotted a small refugee boat north of Cuba (not doing so well) and we made a 360º turn and stayed on site until the Coast Guard (plane + boat) showed up to make the rescue. We were up in the Sky Lounge at the time and it was exciting. I hear it happens all the time, but in my 58 cruises -- this was our first.

 

The Bad:

--glad we stayed on the ship in Belize, as the tendering process seemed very slow -- like the last groups were close to 1:00pm getting off.

 

The Ugly:

--I wanted to book next year's Holiday cruise while onboard, but at over $4,000 per person in a basic inside cabin with no perks, this will end our Celebrity run for a while.

 

If you have any questions, let me know, and as always Enjoy!

Kel:)

[FRMPEI]

Kel,

 

Congrats on the grand slam glad that you enjoyed your selves on this cruise. Ouch! $4000.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[wwcruisers]

Kel -- Thanks for the wonderful review! So happy that you and Lauren were able to complete your list of ships -- that's impressive! Know what you mean about the rising costs of holiday cruises. Booking early, we were able to get a decent price on our 2014 Eclipse Holiday cruise (where we met you guys). We had such a good time that we looked for 2015 sailings, as soon as they came out -- yikes! :eek: And, honestly, I couldn't even bring myself to check the holiday cruise prices for this year. We're finding ourselves pretty much priced out of the regular season, so I'm not too surprised at your report on the prohibitive prices for Christmas cruises. Looks like our sole Mardi Gras count-down clock is going to get pretty lonely, this year! :(

[bostonfred]

Hi, we leave next Monday and are still undecided on what to do in Colon, Cartagena and Costa Rica. Any feedback about excursions you took or heard about would be much appreciated....thanks, Fred:p:p

[kelmac]

Kel -- Thanks for the wonderful review! So happy that you and Lauren were able to complete your list of ships -- that's impressive! Know what you mean about the rising costs of holiday cruises. Booking early, we were able to get a decent price on our 2014 Eclipse Holiday cruise (where we met you guys). We had such a good time that we looked for 2015 sailings, as soon as they came out -- yikes! :eek: And, honestly, I couldn't even bring myself to check the holiday cruise prices for this year. We're finding ourselves pretty much priced out of the regular season, so I'm not too surprised at your report on the prohibitive prices for Christmas cruises. Looks like our sole Mardi Gras count-down clock is going to get pretty lonely, this year! :(

 

Hi Suzanne,

 

The cost trend has been going up over the last three years and we can't afford that with all our total travel (at least 10 weeks of the year). Our next three cruises, including next Xmas will be on NCL ships (Yikes :rolleyes:, I know). We try and Celebritize our experience by adding the UDP (Ultimate Dining Package) and eating lunch in the MDR; we avoid the buffet. It's about 40% cheaper than Celebrity.

 

Hi, we leave next Monday and are still undecided on what to do in Colon, Cartagena and Costa Rica. Any feedback about excursions you took or heard about would be much appreciated....thanks, Fred:p:p

 

Hi Fred,

 

I did make another visit to the "new locks" of the Panama Canal this cruise.(Colon) I had been there two years ago and wanted to see the progress. They are about 90% completed and should open this year. I've been through the canal three times and have been fascinated with everything canal related since I read the book "The Path Between the Seas" by David McCullough. The real highlight was when our tour bus took a short cut right over the top of one of the new sliding canal lock doors. Very Cool. You visit the old locks as well. We've been to Cartagena and Costa Rica so many times, that we just stayed onboard and had the ship to ourselves (almost):)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[cruise47]

Thanks for sharing your "Grand Slam Sailing Experience with Celebrity Cruise Lines."

[bostonfred]

Kel, appreciate the quick response...Fred:):)

[wave rider]

BostonFred

 

We have been in Cartagena twice and each time booked a private tour with Claudia. She is not only a very nice person but the tours were fantastic. Each time was different. The second time she took us to a restaurant frequented by locals. The food was wonderful and we were able to get a better idea of the local atmosphere. Her name is Claudia Vidal and I know you can search for her contact information. Have a great trip.

[vickykay]

Thanks Kel for your review. We met a couple in a hotel yesterday who had just gotten off the

Equinox and had only positive things to say. We board March 4th, the only ship we have not been on. We also had a terrific cruise in the Reflectionthis past May.

 

Viicky

[Texed]

Mr. Kel,

 

Thanks for posting. Our Reflection cruise for Christmas/New Year's was great also. :)

[kelmac]

Mr. Kel,

 

Thanks for posting. Our Reflection cruise for Christmas/New Year's was great also. :)

 

Hi Ed!

 

Fresh waffles and British Back bacon for me every morning! Good to hear you two had a nice cruise.:)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[hmorrow]

Hi Kel

We enjoyed meeting you and Lauren at sail away.

Sorry we missed the connections party- we overslept

 

I can almost ditto every good thing you had to say about the cruise

Especially the great food- all over the ship.....

 

We won't book another Xmas cruise because of way too many children for us.....

And yes-VERY pricey

We're also doing an ncl in the near future-ta

With specialty package etc-haven't sailed on ncl in years-should be interesting

Helaine and Kelly

Edited January 7, 2016 by hmorrow

[kelmac]

Hi Kel

We enjoyed meeting you and Lauren at sail away.

Sorry we missed the connections party- we overslept

 

I can almost ditto every good thing you had to say about the cruise

Especially the great food- all over the ship.....

 

We won't book another Xmas cruise because of way too many children for us.....

And yes-VERY pricey

We're also doing an ncl in the near future-ta

With specialty package etc-haven't sailed on ncl in years-should be interesting

Helaine and Kelly

 

Hi Helaine,

 

It was nice spending time with you and Kelly! Holiday cruises do bring out the families, although the kids do provide a certain amount of energy. (good and bad):)

 

We too, gave up on NCL back in 2001 after their early version of FreeStyle cruising. We decided to give them another try last spring on the Jewel and the experience was surprisingly excellent. To upgrade the experience, the UDP is a must. Since NCL has numerous alternative restaurants, we could eat every meal with great cuisine, without too many repeats. At lunch, we would head to the MDR and we avoided the buffet most of the time. We will visit the Jade in March and see if this really for us.

 

NCL has loads of kids too, but like all lines, if you cruise when the kids are in school……., We've dropped HAL and Princess for now and are trying NCL and certain ships of RCL. Cunard, Oceania and Azamara will always be an option, if you can get a "deal".

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[wallie5446]

Welcome Home Kel.

 

Your sailing sounds just like ours was over Thanksgiving.

 

EW

[storelady]

Hi Kel,

 

Enjoyed reading your review. Will be on the Equinox in late March. Can you tell me the performance times of the shows in the main theater?

 

Happy times and smooth sailing on your upcoming cruises.

 

Thanks,

 

Darcy

[kelmac]

Hi Kel,

 

Enjoyed reading your review. Will be on the Equinox in late March. Can you tell me the performance times of the shows in the main theater?

 

Happy times and smooth sailing on your upcoming cruises.

 

Thanks,

 

Darcy

 

Hi Darcy,

 

The show times were usually 7:00pm and 9:00pm. We had early seating, but Lauren and i would finish in time to hit the early show (usually around 7:15).

The pace in the dining room would vary evening to evening. (we had a table for two)

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Caribbean Chris]

That's quite an accomplishment - congratulations!

[storelady]

Kel,

 

Thanks for the info. We have early seating also, but that is cutting it pretty close for a 7 pm show. We may have to take in the later one, especially if we want a good seat. I hate to rush through dinner.

 

Regards,

Darcy

[Lois R]

Hi Kel, glad you and Lauren had a good cruise:)....my sis and bil were

on the same sailing. They had fun as well.

[kelmac]

Hi Kel, glad you and Lauren had a good cruise:)....my sis and bil were

on the same sailing. They had fun as well.

 

Hi Lois,

 

It was a great group! Elite lounge was really full of energy and met some really happy people. Have a wonderful time on your upcoming river cruise.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[BrendaJ]

Nice job on the Grand Slam. I'm afraid we're too late to catch anything but the M and S classes, although we did get a chance to try the Galaxy. For some reason, the Eclipse eludes us. We will have done all the other ships by this time next year.

 

I'm curious - do you have a favourite ship?

[kelmac]

Nice job on the Grand Slam. I'm afraid we're too late to catch anything but the M and S classes, although we did get a chance to try the Galaxy. For some reason, the Eclipse eludes us. We will have done all the other ships by this time next year.

 

I'm curious - do you have a favourite ship?

 

Thanks Brenda!

 

Excellent question. My wife always says she likes the Millennium the best, but I think she just likes the name?:rolleyes::) We did our first Med cruise on her, but other than that, and maybe the art onboard, I can't remember what would have made it special. It was our first dining experience in the Olympic Restaurant, which was a big deal in those days.

 

I have a load of "special moments" -- Our first cruise together in 1993 (the Horizon); cruising the brand new Constellation (2002), with her original paint job; our first balcony (Galaxy); our 14 visits to the Captain's table (every ship but the Zenith and the Equinox); the Infinity cruise where we hit 365 days of cruising; my wife's birthday and our 20th anniversary onboard the Reflection; and many more, including other cruise lines.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[bravostar]

Would love to hear about the new Bistro on 5 menu. Do you by any chance have a copy?

[kelmac]

Would love to hear about the new Bistro on 5 menu. Do you by any chance have a copy?

 

Hi bravo,

 

I didn't pick up the menu -- but let me see:

 

--New Daily specials, like bacon mac and cheese, lamb chops…,

--Sandwiches, Hamburgers…,

--Soup of the day + everyday Onion Soup or Chicken Noodle.

--Same original Crepe menu.

--Salads, including grill chicken Caesar Salad.

--Milk shakes and Floats (Root beer, Coke…,)

--Dessert menu.

 

Milk shakes were great, better than the one's on Oceania or Royal Caribbean.

 

I'm sure there were additional items, but that's what I remember. Daily specials all looked wonderful, but I can't recall specifics.

 

We traditionally always eat in Bistro on Five on embarkation day and avoid that "first day" fray in the buffet. The $10 cover is fine with us, and it was so good, me made another visit later in the cruise.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Cruise Raider]

Nice....we are on that same cruise in April, although they replaced Belize with an overnight in Cartegena ... said Belize was too dangerous but now wonder if that is true as you stopped there. ???

Either way, we love Celebrity and revisiting one of our favorites, the Equinox.

I see someone already read my mind and asked you which was your favorite out of all the Celebrity ships....ours is the Infinity but followed by the Equinox....but we haven't been on nearly as many of the ships as you have.

 

Thanks for the excellent review.