Equinox July 2 Review

[shubsens]

We are a married couple in our 40-50’s and we sailed on the July 2nd Equinox itinerary and this was our first cruise. We decided on Celebrity as it had good reviews/awards and the itinerary matched the time we had available. After looking at all the options we decided on the Aqua room (1540) with the 2 perks. This seemed to be a good value and we liked the idea of the Blu dining. For the 2 perks we opted for the Pre-paid gratuities and beverage packages. We added an internet package we could share for the week. On the second day of the cruise my DW upgraded to the premium beverage package (good idea to wait until second day as you can see if you really want drinks up to 13$, or if the $9 limit is enough for you). Next time we'd upgrade both parties as it was awkward at certain bars that one person couldn't drink many of the options (You could pay extra and we did a couple times).

 

Embarkation

 

The drop off area was complete chaos as people are also waiting to be picked up after debarking. We got there around 10:20 am (we were worried we had come too early as it stated 11am on our documents) but was great as there was no waiting in lineups. Our luggage arrived pretty fast to our room and we wonder if it's because we were one of the first to arrive so first bags on the ship. Aqua class bookings seemed to be whisked by lines of people to the check in desk and then into a private waiting ro***** within minutes and I could not believe how smooth that went.

 

After about a half hour waiting they let us on the ship, we spent the first few hours exploring and headed to the Buffett before our rooms were ready. As others have mentioned there was the constant barrage of staff asking me if I want to upgrade my beverage package (between 20-40 times)

 

The Ship

 

The lawn is thin and patchy as it is hard to maintain, some sea days people put down towels to lay out when all the chairs were taken. At times the wind direction makes the diesel smell drift over you.

 

The fitness club was a good size and we used it every second day and it was almost full each time we went in. The equipment was in good shape and the selection was surprising. Only thing missing was bars that you can put various weights on. The location is good at the front of the ship with the view and I even saw a school of Dolphins while on one of the machines. My DW took one of the Zumba classes, was fun but would be hard during heavier waves (13 or 15$ I think).

 

The pools seemed small and were overfilled some of the times and on sea days the chair hogs were in full force. There was a water feature which was not working beside the adult pool and would have made more sense of space to make the pool larger instead. We spent a lot of time at the adult pool and found chairs most of the time without issue especially on port days. If you are having a hard time finding a chair go speak to pool butler and he will help you find something. I do find they keep the solarium (adult pool area) a bit too cold for relaxing beside a pool. Once in a while a kid would wander in, and it would take around 10- 20 minutes and a staff would find their parents and politely explain to them it was an adult pool (was kinda funny cause everyone kept staring until they got kicked out). Some days there was a two hour period posted that 'families' were allowed in the interior solarium pool.

 

The casino seemed empty most of the time expect for late at night. We were both surprised by the amount of 1-2 cent machines. There were enough 5-10 dollar tables and the only disappointment was walking by 5-dollar roulette and empty 10 dollar roulette tables. Not sure why they don’t have full 1 dollar tables instead of empty 10 dollar tables. I did play the ship lottery and won 100 dollars on a 10 dollar ticket. There was some sort of an electronic poker tournament, think the one we saw was no limit, which is hard because someone is bound to have more money then you!! Also if you were watching the game behind the players, when they flipped their 'electronic' hand up to peek at it, the bystanders could see their hands and technically could give their friends across the table signals.

 

There were more shops than what I expected and I bought a watch on one of the days they had their sales. (Wait until the end of the week to buy anything incase it goes on sale). If we had OBC I think we would have used the shops more.

 

We visited the future cruise office but found it was not really a great incentive (I believe you would get $150 OBC with a 6-8 days cruise in an Aqua room- more for suites, less for inside rooms). We will just wait for a deal in the future or maybe even decide to try another cruise line since we have only sailed Celebrity.

 

Bars/Drinks

 

We never had to wait for a drink except when I would walk up to the busy outdoor pool bar. Drink selection was good at all the bars and there seemed to be something we liked everywhere we went. Our favorite bars were the Martini and would go to the Ensemble bar before dinner each day. We like wine and found what we were offered was pretty good. We did find service more intimate when tipping, and should have started earlier on the cruise (on top of the already 18%)

 

The Room

 

We really liked the layout and it met all our expectations. You can unpack your whole suitcase and then store it under the bed. The TV on a swivel was a good idea and having the channel with the bridge view and boat location were great. It wasn’t until the 3rd day I found the restaurant menu channel by accident. The balcony was amazing with the view but most of the time it was just too hot to sit out there for too long.

 

The bed was much more comfortable than that I expected and we slept very well. The room noise started about 8:30 every morning as someone must have been getting ready for the day up in the Spa. Sounded like they were dragging the ships safe across the floor so no need to set an alarm. We did room service breakfast one morning and it was good too (they call before coming up and call afterwards to ensure you are happy).

 

The Food

 

Dinner/Breakfast

 

We ate mostly in Blu and we thought it was 4 star quality. Sometimes there were temperature issues with some of the food, but I didn't want to complain because they seem to fuss over others too much (almost embarrassingly) when they made a small comment about their food being over/under cooked.

 

The waiters and help staff worked really hard to make every meal an experience. We discussed trying one of the specialty restaurants once for the experience but found we wanted to go back to Blu each night instead. We would book Aqua again for the Blu experience. You didn't feel overstuffed as the appetizers were small, and if the main was too big then we would skip dessert.

 

If you wanted a special drink off the daily menu, they took away the menu before sommelier came around and then you couldn't remember the name of the drink. I should have really pushed to see a wine menu, we never saw one and I would have felt more comfortable ordering. It seemed the only one allowed to serve drinks was one sommelier in the whole Blu restaurant, seemed strange as he is way too busy to serve everyone. Sometimes we thought we should bring a drink with us as we sat there for a very long time before being offered wine/drinks with dinner. The daily menu says recommended wines that will go with dinner but never shows a price, so is it $30 a glass, $9 a glass??? I would love to know what I'm agreeing to pay.

 

We split our lunches between the Buffett and the Aqua Spa café. We really liked the buffet as the choices and quality were very good and I feel in love with the Indian and Fajita/taco stations. I would recommend getting there within the first half hour before things get touched too much if you know what I mean! Getting a drink in the buffet area was hit and miss and I found if you sat at the edge of a setting area you were invisible. The Aqua spa café was very good with healthy options to offset the buffet nicely. We did try the Mast Bar for a burger and fries and it was just ok.

 

The internet (GRRRR)

 

Well this still angers me. I have worked in computing-IT for over 30 years and have even build WIFI networks. This was one of the worst WIFI experiences that I have had to pay for. I will be writing Celebrity asking for a refund as Celebrity is supposed to be a upscale experience and the WIFI was pretty much a Joke and to charge money for that is almost criminal.

 

I could go on and on about each dropped connection throughout each area of the ship but this sums up the entire week long experience.

 

We were docked in Cozumel and I went out on the balcony. Across from our ship were 2 Carnival ships about 250-350 Meters away. For the millionth time my connection dropped so I brought up my WIFI settings on my phone. I should have grabbed a screen shot of this, as I looked down at my phone I see ZERO Celebrity WIFI networks and 4 Carnival WIFI networks with 5 bars. I guess if I wanted WIFI that actually worked I will need to sail Carnival or follow a Carnival ship a half a mile away.

 

Ports of Call

 

A different time of the year and it would have been more enjoyable as the heat was pretty intense being from Canada. We made the best of it and still enjoyed the Ports and left the ship to check them out.

 

Key West is a small neat place to visit. There are the usual tourist traps close to the ships but found some deals in the town.

 

In Costa Maya, we had booked Maya Chan way back in January hearing it books quickly. You are treated royalty from the moment you arrive. They work so very hard to make you happy and enjoy the experience and the food was really good, most people ate seconds/thirds. They will wade out into the water to serve you drinks. Unfortunately a storm came through after lunch and we held out for a long time hoping it would clear but ended up leaving early.

 

With Costa Maya and Cozumel there was the “Cruise Compound” as you get off the ship. In Cozumel we did walk around but could not find all the places we had researched and at an information booth we were told that downtown Cozumel is actually 15 minutes away by taxi. Perhaps some ships dock in that area as you can see a pier on google maps.

 

In Grand Cayman we ended up taking a taxi to the Royal Palms $2 to enter, ended up spending $102 CDN for two chairs and one umbrella and fish and chips. It says free wifi, but don't expect it as it only briefly worked. The beach, food and service were 5 star and we had a great day. Grand Cayman was our favorite stop on the cruise, if we pick a future cruise in the Caribbean we would make sure one of the stops is in Grand Cayman.

 

The Shows

 

The comedian was good, I felt sorry for him in the late show when he started down the medial Marijuana route and some families left so he quickly switched back to airline jokes. It’s the late show so not sure why people with families were in attendance or being offended.

 

Ashley Amber

 

Sings Whitney Houston songs, amazing voice and a must attend show.

 

Family Feud and Wheel of Fortune

 

It was fun with the audience participation, they did a great job and it was worth the time.

 

Trivia

 

We did the trivia once in the Sky Lounge and it was also fun.

 

Disembarkation

 

Well lessons learned on this one. We opted for the last disembarkation time. We figured that way we could enjoy breakfast and slowly leave, but you need to vacate your room by a certain time. Blu served breakfast on last day, but was early, so you didn't need late debarking. In hindsight we would do the complete opposite and take our luggage with us and self debark to avoid the lines/ chaos. No need to get in those huge lines of people self debarking, just wait until they all leave and then they will do a last call of self disembarkers. Also, helpful hint: they give you tags for your luggage, for example blue 45, but you put them all on your bags the night before -- don't forget your number or you won't know where to meet to disembark and which carousel to pick up your luggage at.

 

The only place that we could see open on the ship was the coffee bar with the very long lineups. Also everyone is using the same washrooms around the debarking areas and they are not being maintained, running out of toilet paper, not being cleaned, and after having such great service all week it is quite shocking they would allow you to leave on this note.

 

Last thought

 

Would we go on a cruise again? Yes. Are we going to rush out and book one, No.

 

It was a life time experience and we really enjoyed it, everyone on the ship works so very hard to make each guest happy. I think overall, we were treated like royalty 24X7.

 

If we could find something similar to Aqua on other cruise lines we might try it for the experience. Celebrity doesn’t really seem to do much as incentive to cruise with them again. The rewards program is designed for someone with many cruises, I am in Captains club but with one cruise that is worth – well zero.

 

Regrets: we kept saying we wanted to try the Gastropub for food and never had the chance, same with the Sushi 5. Also being in Aqua we had access to the relaxation lounge but were too busy to use it (ironic I know).







I tried to upload some pictures but something about not having a key?

[easyboy]

Great review. I like the format too!

 

 

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[davekathy]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[champagne123]

Wonderful review! Thank you for sharing. :)

[Scotraveller]

Great review, thank you for sharing! Very honest and I suppose you learnt a lesson or two to take to your next cruise.

One thing I would say - from experience - is not to get overly fussy and only choose Aqua Class, I did that and eventually ended up on the Constellation in an outside cabin in January because I booked late'ish. It was fabulous and I honestly didn't miss the balcony or Blu - we had fantastic service in the Main Dining Room and food too wasn't as big a comedown as I thought it might be. Of course I would do Aqua every time if I could but sometimes the price difference is too much, so think about outside or standard balcony,I doubt you'd be as disappointed as you think. Put it this way, I could have had at least two cruises for the price I paid for my outside compared to Aqua - so two cruises in outside or one Aqua? I know what I go with now. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Toofarfromthesea]

Terrific review. It is particularly germane to me as my wife and I will be taking our first cruise in 11 days (11 DAYS!!!!!) and it will be on Equinox in Aqua class. Hard to imagine a more relevant review for us.

 

We also have a Sept. 2018 Med cruise booked on MSC Divina in their yacht club class, so it will be interesting to compare.

[JaniceB]

Thank you for sharing your first cruise with us.

[Clarea]

Nicely written, enjoyable review, thanks!

[TommyD3]

Do they still use the blue customs forms at the Miami port? We flew into Miami airport a few months ago and they had replaced the blue customs forms with rows of kiosks that scan your passport and take your picture.

[Husky1987]

Nice review, thank you.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your thorough review.

 

Keith

[shubsens]

Do they still use the blue customs forms at the Miami port? We flew into Miami airport a few months ago and they had replaced the blue customs forms with rows of kiosks that scan your passport and take your picture.

 

We are Canadian so I don't think we were given any forms. At the customs desk they just wanted to see our passports.

[toodycat]

Great review! Thanks so much for all the info about Blu. We are staying Aqua class as well. Sorry to hear about the Wifi :(

Edited July 20, 2017 by toodycat
Typo

[shubsens]

Great review, thank you for sharing! Very honest and I suppose you learnt a lesson or two to take to your next cruise.

One thing I would say - from experience - is not to get overly fussy and only choose Aqua Class, I did that and eventually ended up on the Constellation in an outside cabin in January because I booked late'ish. It was fabulous and I honestly didn't miss the balcony or Blu - we had fantastic service in the Main Dining Room and food too wasn't as big a comedown as I thought it might be. Of course I would do Aqua every time if I could but sometimes the price difference is too much, so think about outside or standard balcony,I doubt you'd be as disappointed as you think. Put it this way, I could have had at least two cruises for the price I paid for my outside compared to Aqua - so two cruises in outside or one Aqua? I know what I go with now. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Thanks for the advise and it is definitely something to thing about when we do future bookings.

[Kaos28]

Just off the July 16 sailing on Equinox. The internet worked excellent on my IPhone 6 and IPad everywhere on the ship except could never get service on the balcony in a Sunset Veranda room (stateroom was fine, just not on balcony).

{We were docked in Cozumel and I went out on the balcony. Across from our ship were 2 Carnival ships about 250-350 Meters away. For the millionth time my connection dropped so I brought up my WIFI settings on my phone. I should have grabbed a screen shot of this, as I looked down at my phone I see ZERO Celebrity WIFI networks and 4 Carnival WIFI networks with 5 bars. I guess if I wanted WIFI that actually worked I will need to sail Carnival or follow a Carnival ship a half a mile away.}

[Toofarfromthesea]

I'm a little confused. In the first paragraph you say the internet was excellent everywhere except your balcony, yet in the second paragraph you imply the internet doesn't actually work. See my confusion?

[Kaos28]

The second paragraph was quoted from the OP's review.

The first paragraph was my experience which was that the Internet worked fine everywhere on the ship except the stateroom balcony.

Sorry for the confusion (I cut and pasted only that portion of the OP's trip report rather than hitting the Quote button).

 

I'm a little confused. In the first paragraph you say the internet was excellent everywhere except your balcony, yet in the second paragraph you imply the internet doesn't actually work. See my confusion?

[Toofarfromthesea]

The second paragraph was quoted from the OP's review.

The first paragraph was my experience which was that the Internet worked fine everywhere on the ship except the stateroom balcony.

Sorry for the confusion (I cut and pasted only that portion of the OP's trip report rather than hitting the Quote button).

 

Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.

[roseleblanc114]

Thanks for the review! We are sailing on the equinox in January. First cruise and our honeymoon. We upgraded to aquaclass also. Can't wait. Love reading all the reviews and hints.

 

 

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[cazzi]

great review

 

Thank you

[loge23]

Also on the 7/16 cruise on the Equinox and was very impressed with the wifi, which was light years ahead of what we experience on Princess.

We booked Concierge class while friends of ours were in Aqua. Aside from Blu, which my friends felt a bit restricted to, I'm not sure what the difference of Aqua is.

We ate in several restaurants - all good (Tuscan was best), but also were very happy in the MDR.

We found the wine service and selection superb.

Disembarkation was one hot mess. Dozens of passengers complained loudly about lost luggage after waiting an hour past our allotted time and place. I finally found my bags at the conveyor belt that I was not assigned to. Nice cruise though.

 

 

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[mek]

Thanks for the review - will be on Equinox on 8/13. We don't usually cruise the Caribbean in the summer because of the heat, but this year it was the only thing that worked into our schedule. Hope it not too hot for us, but we'll stay inside if it is.