Equinox review Apr 4 thru Apr 15, 2016

[Cruise Raider]

While we have cruised with Princess before we were never "thrilled" but did take a 10 day on the Royal in January with friends who are Platinum on Princess (we are Ruby). The service was the worst we ever experienced in 25 cruises. It was the "no to everything" cruise- literally.

 

I hate it when that happens and was on a Princess cruise like that recently. It is funny you mentioned it as I always use that same terminology -- cruise of 'no' or cruise of 'yes'. Our cruise of 'no' on Princess was followed by a cruise of 'yes' on the same line....so it all equals out I guess. I have never had a cruise of 'no' on Celebrity, though. There may have been a couple of missteps, as you can find on every cruise, but certainly nothing major and nothing to keep them from being knocked out of first place in my book.

[whitecap]

We, too, were on this Equinox sailing. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, everything from the service to the food in the main dining room with no major complaints. We ate at the Tuscan Grill once and found the food to be excellent. The only real negative would be the Internet. They were rolling out the new "faster" internet, and we were able to get unlimited use for $139 with our Elite discount. Most of the time, I honestly could see very little difference from the old Internet, sometimes just giving up on a page to load. When I asked the computer guy about it, he said it was because there were so many people on it! Really?? There was no way I could have ever streamed anything using this internet as they were promoting!

 

The excursion to the Panama Canal, where you observed the working canal and got to see the expansion was a memorable trip. We saw absolutely no mosquitos, although we slathered ourselves in repellent. In several of the places we went, the tour guides said that it just hadn't been rainy enough yet. All in all, a great, memorable cruise.

 

SevenSeas1492; sorry to hear that the internet was not what you expected. We had decided to purchase an advertised amount of minutes once onboard the Equinox however quickly found out that the minutes no longer exist rather you had to purchase the "unlimited" for $199.99. Speaking with a number of other passengers we also learned quickly that they were not pleased with the service stating is was no different from before. Also, I read with interest that even as "Elite" you were charged $139.00 and I compare this to our "Elite" status on Princess where the internet is "Free" for a large number of minutes (depending on the length of the cruise). Am I right in assuming that as an "Elite" on Celebrity you also receive a reduced price for laundry? As "Elite" on Princess laundry is "Free" and Princess ships have self service laundry.

I ask these questions not only to compare the cruise lines but as stated in my original post, we continue trying to determine what makes Celebrity the "Premium" Cruise Line. We continue to go back and forth on a possible Celebrity Reflection cruise but can't get passed all the extra charges.

[SevenSeas1492]

SevenSeas1492; sorry to hear that the internet was not what you expected. We had decided to purchase an advertised amount of minutes once onboard the Equinox however quickly found out that the minutes no longer exist rather you had to purchase the "unlimited" for $199.99. Speaking with a number of other passengers we also learned quickly that they were not pleased with the service stating is was no different from before. Also, I read with interest that even as "Elite" you were charged $139.00 and I compare this to our "Elite" status on Princess where the internet is "Free" for a large number of minutes (depending on the length of the cruise). Am I right in assuming that as an "Elite" on Celebrity you also receive a reduced price for laundry? As "Elite" on Princess laundry is "Free" and Princess ships have self service laundry.

I ask these questions not only to compare the cruise lines but as stated in my original post, we continue trying to determine what makes Celebrity the "Premium" Cruise Line. We continue to go back and forth on a possible Celebrity Reflection cruise but can't get passed all the extra charges.

 

 

 

Elite passengers on X receive 90 free internet minutes, which they discounted toward the unlimited package. Also, Elite members get a free bag of wash & fold items (up to 30 items); and with my husband also being Elite, we were able to get 2 bags of free laundry. No self-service laundry available.

[whitecap]

Elite passengers on X receive 90 free internet minutes, which they discounted toward the unlimited package. Also, Elite members get a free bag of wash & fold items (up to 30 items); and with my husband also being Elite, we were able to get 2 bags of free laundry. No self-service laundry available.

 

Got it thanks! As a comparison, each Elite member on Princess gets: 7day cruise or less 150 minutes of internet; 8-20 days 250 minutes and 21 or more 500 minutes. As far as laundry, free no matter how many bags you turn in and no limit as to how many times you can turn laundry in. And the minibar set up is "free" and items can be exchanged. So you can see that if Celebrity and Princess had similar cruises at comparable prices, we would lean heavily on Princess due to the benefits.

[kjj322]

We were on this cruise as well. My wife and I havd been on 30+ cruises on different lines but mostly RC. We enjoyed all aspects of this ship and can clearly see the difference in food, service and entertainment but agree some of the acts were better then others. Good point on the not so grand foyer it is to small and have seen bigger on smaller ships.

[bottomfeeder]

I ask these questions not only to compare the cruise lines but as stated in my original post, we continue trying to determine what makes Celebrity the "Premium" Cruise Line. We continue to go back and forth on a possible Celebrity Reflection cruise but can't get passed all the extra charges.

 

Celebrity is not "the" Premium Cruise Line. Premium is a category (probably something travel agents came up with) to describe the tier of cruise lines that are just a step above the more regular cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL in terms of cruise experience--i.e. more gourmet/high quality food, cabin and other ship decor, service, etc. They typically have a more favorable staff to guest ratio, for example. Princess is also considered a Premium cruise line.

 

That said, I don't think the lower benefits/higher charges you describe Celebrity as having are valid, at least as relates to elite status in the frequent cruiser program. Celebrity Elite members get a free 2 hour cocktail party almost every night of the cruise, or if too many Elite members are onboard they are each given 3 drink tickets to use in most of the bars onboard during that 2 hour period for free drinks. My understanding is (and it's been years since I've sailed Princess, mainly because I don't want to run into my ex-husband and that's the line he sails, so I could be wrong!) that Princess does not offer this. So unless you have no interest in the cocktails, the savings in drinks goes at least reasonably far to make up for the lower number of internet minutes and the smaller amount of free laundry you get.

 

Not to mention that on the 13 night cruise I just returned from, I was nowhere near using up my 30 items I could have washed for free. Partly because you don't want to send anything that can't be washed and dried on hot to the laundry service, but partly because I think the 30 items is a generous number. That said, I do miss the laundry rooms on Princess as an alternative to washing cold-water items in my cabin's sink!

 

I'm not trying to start any arguments either, I just wanted to point out some information that it seemed you were lacking in your quest to find out why Celebrity is "the "Premium Cruise Line."" :)

[whitecap]

Celebrity is not "the" Premium Cruise Line. Premium is a category (probably something travel agents came up with) to describe the tier of cruise lines that are just a step above the more regular cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL in terms of cruise experience--i.e. more gourmet/high quality food, cabin and other ship decor, service, etc. They typically have a more favorable staff to guest ratio, for example. Princess is also considered a Premium cruise line.

 

That said, I don't think the lower benefits/higher charges you describe Celebrity as having are valid, at least as relates to elite status in the frequent cruiser program. Celebrity Elite members get a free 2 hour cocktail party almost every night of the cruise, or if too many Elite members are onboard they are each given 3 drink tickets to use in most of the bars onboard during that 2 hour period for free drinks. My understanding is (and it's been years since I've sailed Princess, mainly because I don't want to run into my ex-husband and that's the line he sails, so I could be wrong!) that Princess does not offer this. So unless you have no interest in the cocktails, the savings in drinks goes at least reasonably far to make up for the lower number of internet minutes and the smaller amount of free laundry you get.

 

Not to mention that on the 13 night cruise I just returned from, I was nowhere near using up my 30 items I could have washed for free. Partly because you don't want to send anything that can't be washed and dried on hot to the laundry service, but partly because I think the 30 items is a generous number. That said, I do miss the laundry rooms on Princess as an alternative to washing cold-water items in my cabin's sink!

 

I'm not trying to start any arguments either, I just wanted to point out some information that it seemed you were lacking in your quest to find out why Celebrity is "the "Premium Cruise Line."" :)

 

Thanks I really do appreciate the response. First let me say that the reason I used the term "Premium" is because that is how the cruise line was described over and over again by the cruise director and all of his staff, in fact their words were "Celebrity has been rated the number 1 Premium Cruise Line for XXXX numbers of years". Again, Premium was not my designation but theirs.

As with Celebrity, Elite members on Princess also have a 2 hour cocktail/hors d'oeuvre event each night. Cocktails are not free but reduced in price. But of course you have the minibar, which is free, and filled with whiskey, gin, vodka, scotch, mixers, beer, water and soda.

Edited April 20, 2016 by whitecap

[ProfessorEFFE]

I appreciate your candid review. Thank you very much. Cruising is so subjective. I have never sailed Princess, it's just a happenstance that we haven't. Personally I like Celebrity the best out of RCI and Carnival. We had 2 cruises with a bad experience. One with Carnival and one with Celebrity. The other cruises were amazing.

 

IMHO Celebrity had a drop in food quality in the MDR. We tried Aqua class and found it (BLU) to be what we were looking for in dining.

 

I don't think I'd be apprehensive taking any cruise on any line but Costa. Not to malign that line but it only takes one disaster to make me shy away.

[southernbreezes]

Thanks I really do appreciate the response. First let me say that the reason I used the term "Premium" is because that is how the cruise line was described over and over again by the cruise director and all of his staff, in fact their words were "Celebrity has been rated the number 1 Premium Cruise Line for XXXX numbers of years". Again, Premium was not my designation but theirs.

As with Celebrity, Elite members on Princess also have a 2 hour cocktail/hors d'oeuvre event each night. Cocktails are not free but reduced in price. But of course you have the minibar, which is free, and filled with whiskey, gin, vodka, scotch, mixers, beer, water and soda.

We have enjoyed both of our Princess cruise's but........................

Really, Free laundry who cares we would never use the ships laundry service we have a laundry room at home and my wife would never let anyone do her cloths. Free internet who cares I go to get away from the phone and computer. Whats Premium the Lawn Club sit and have a glass wine no other line has this, Martini Bar the best bar at Sea, Pool chairs so nice, food and service Premium compared to Carnival. Compare both of the lines drink packages - Princess Ultra-Deluxe, Celebrity Premium package hands down Celebrity's Premium package wins. Sitting in my cabin and drinking from a free mini bar is not my idea of fun. Have you ever called Celebrity's customer service? The best. All of this makes them premium.

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