First time Celebrity cruisers review of the Equinox: May 5th to 15th, 2017

[bradleyk]

 

I would like to start with saying that we really enjoyed our time on the Equinox. This was our third cruise together and first time on Celebrity. We habe previously sailed a 4 day on Royal Caribbean and a 7 day on the Norwegian Getaway. I will not touch on every aspect of the cruise. But focus on our over all experience.

First some issues we had...

Embarkation was a mad house. Though it was the first time that we arrived at the suggested time instead of earlier. It was a lesson learned and we will go back to arriving early. TO BE CLEAR THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF CELEBRITY ALONE. As we know this csn happen with an ship, on any line. Also we feel that the model of having to set specialty dining reservations on board is outdated. With NCL reservation dates and times, with a pre-purchaseed package, are able to be made prior to sailing either on line or over the phone. Also once we had made our reservations when we first boarded. The hostess at the Silhouette dining room informed us on the first night that some had been cancelled. And was unable to tell us why. So we went to guest services and were told that we needed to go back to a specialty restaurant to fix the problem. The agent has unhelpful at best. Also our room steward was less than average at best. But we felt he really tried hard and was friendly. I make mistakes and realize others will also. None of the issues caused any real problems and honestly gave us something to laugh about.

Now for what what we did like, which BY FAR, outweighed any issues that we had.

We both found that Celebrity was more relaxed and less formal than we expected. We never felt out of place even though we were in the youngest 10% on board. Believe me we were lightweights compared to some our fellower cruisers who were decades older than us. We felt over all the food on board was good. The food in the main dining room was what we expected, basically banquet food. It was not stellar but not bad either. We know it is very hard to do so when feeding thousands of people at the same time. We did really enjoy Tuscan, Murano, and Silk Harvest. The food and service here were great. Also the buffet was always fresh and had plenty of options for us. My wife actually suggested next time that we eat dinner in the buffet more and spend less time getting ready so we have more time to relax and enjoy the pool and sundeck.

 

 

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[bradleyk]

This leads me to what we really enjoyed about Celebrity. It was incredibly relaxing! We never had issue finding a chair on deck. Though we always opted for one on deck 14 close to the Mast Bar. We enjyed being able to get a drink easily and watch the ocean as we sailed along.

Once again we found our fellow cruisers to friendly and welcoming to us newbies. Some would ask about being some of the younger people on board. This was actually nice since there weren't screaming kids doing cannon balls into the pool. When we wanted we would just walk down the steps and get in the pool. It only got really crowded on the last seas day. We also loved relaxing after dinner at the Sunset bar watching the wake and sipping on a drink.

 

 

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[BettyPC]

We are trying Celebrity in May of 2018 and look forward to the experience. Glad you had a great time!

 

Betty

[bradleyk]

We also realy enjoyed room sevice and cafe al bocio. Each morning we would have coffee, cereal, and fruit on the balcony before going to the gym and then on to the buffet for a full breakfast

 

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[bradleyk]

I had booked the Edge prior to sailing on the Equinox but may cancel. Only because after sailing the Equinox we feel that 7 days just may not be long enough for us!! So we made a deposit while on board for a 9 day Silhouette sailing.

I know I am forgetting a few things but I am going to end this review for now. I do want to thank all our you out there that helped answer questions I had before we sailed. I also want to say hi to everyone from my roll call that I was able to meet in person on board. You all were great and helped make for a fabulous cruise! I will leave you with a few random photos from our time on the Equinox.

 

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[bradleyk]

 

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[wallie5446]

Great to have followed along with your comments thru out the cruise. I hope I didn't build it up past your expectations. ;)

EW

 

PS: we have friends that we sailed Equinox with in 2015 that got on yesterday. And had to torment us with live video of sail away!

[benjaminhuf]

Great review. Thanks!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Thank you very much for your pictures and your comments. We were on the very same cruise. Yes, I agree that passengers your age were about ten percent of the total. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. I also enjoyed tremendously the maybe ten adorable infants and small children on board. They were so cute. I often wondered what they thought of all the grannies and grandpas on board.

 

I would be curious to know what you thought of the entertainment such as the bands and the shows if you went. Did you think it was skewed to a much older crowd or did you feel it was appropriately contemporary?

 

We agree with you about the evening buffet, so much more relaxing and quiet than the daytime scene there, especially on sea days. We ate there every night. I know this isn't for everyone, but there definitely were some regulars there most nights.

 

We've also booked Edge, but I am somewhat uncertain about how I will feel about this new class. We like Solstice Class so much, it might be a bit jarring to sail on such a different ship.

 

Again, thank you both for the photos and your review of Equinox.

[miched]

I had booked the Edge prior to sailing on the Equinox but may cancel. Only because after sailing the Equinox we feel that 7 days just may not be long enough for us!! So we made a deposit while on board for a 9 day Silhouette sailing.

 

We always sail for more than 7 days, sometimes by doing a B2B. You could have done the same on the Edge and that is what I did, B2B in March 2019

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[journeycollector]

Thanks for your review. We'll be first timers on Celebrity and Equinox in December, so I appreciated the details in your report!

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review.

 

 

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[Scrappytraveller]

Hi! It was great meeting you, glad you enjoyed it. Say hi to Jen for me.

P.S. 7 days is never enough! [emoji16]

 

 

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[bradleyk]

Hi! It was great meeting you, glad you enjoyed it. Say hi to Jen for me.

P.S. 7 days is never enough! [emoji16]

 

 

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She says hello... and totally agrees [emoji3]

 

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