Review of Celebrity Equinox to Western Caribbean 7/30-8/6

[toodycat]

Celebrity Equinox

 

My husband and I usually cruise Disney, HAL or Princess.However, for our 30th anniversary, we decided to try the Celebrity Equinox for a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise to Key West, Costa Maya, Cozumeland Grand Cayman. The cruise left out of Miami.

 

Embarkation was easy. We arrived a little before 1 p.m. The ship was sailing at 3:30 p.m. This port does not have the madness one sees at Port Everglades. The staff was extremely friendly and the process was quick andefficient. No complaints at all.

 

Stateroom: We stayed in an Aquaclass suite, which includes access to the spa Persian Gardens (steam room, sauna and thermal lounges),canapés daily and dining in Blu, the wonderful specialty restaurant with a healthy but in no way depriving menu. Everything was tastefully decorated, in good repair and neat and clean. However, at 248 square feet, the word “suite” might be overreaching.The HAL and Disney suites we’ve stayed in were substantially bigger with HAL at 372 square feet and Disney at 304 square feet. However, both of these were much more expensive than the Aqua Class suite. Our cabin was more similar in price and layout to a Princess mini-suite. but definitely smaller and with only one TV, which was fine with me since I’ve never understood two TVs in one room. (A princess mini-suite is 323 sq. feet ) The bathroom had a sink, toilet and stall shower. The shower controls were a little mysterious---water shoots from many spigots---but we figured them out. The smaller stateroom led to less storage than what we’re used to. My clothing was crammed everywhere. We made it work, but there was a little more effort involved than usual. Also, there is a lot of information on the TV about menus, schedules and other aspects of the voyage, but no one mentioned that to us. We don’t turn on the TV often, so we spent a few days looking for the room service menu before asking the steward and learning that it was on the TV.

Something else no one mentioned was that our life jackets were under our bed. On all other cruises, they have been in the closet. I think this would be useful to point out.

 

Our steward was Mario. He was very efficient, helpful and friendly.

 

 

As for the canapé service, this was a little weird. We received a tray with four canapés every afternoon. Some were savory and some were sweet. However, none were identified. This is no problem when you are looking at mozzarella balls with tomato and basil, but when you see a bright yellow ball, you’re thinking,“Is that tofu or is it some sort of cheese? Is it yellow because it’s got curry in it or is it saffron?” Given the prevalence of food allergies, it would be helpful to know what you’re eating before you eat it. Also, the canapés never came with any forks. Odd.

 

Safety Drill: This was not impressive. We congregated in our drill station B1 and were crammed into a little space that was supposed to hold 40 people. OK, I get it.Lifeboats have to fit as many people as possible. However, I was pushed to the wall of the area and could see nothing much but the heads of my fellow passengers. Then, we were told to direct our attention to a safety video. The safety video was broadcast on a 32 or 37 inch monitor more than 20 feet away from us and to my extreme right, so I had no line of sight. Rather than covering the basics of what to do in an emergency, the video had a comedic plot with the safety information embedded in the dialogue. My husband, who could see, pointed out that the video made light of some of the precautions we would need to take in an emergency. This was not helpful. I don’t want to watch something adorable. I want to know what to do if the ship sinks. Furthermore, if the video mentioned that my life vest was under my bed,I didn’t hear it. . I would rather have a crew member with a megaphone telling me the key actions, maybe with them bullet pointed on a screen behind him/her, assuming I could see the screen. I have flown Virgin Atlantic and watched their cute story safety video, but at the time I was belted to a seat with a TV screen directly in front of me. Big difference.

 

Dining: Wow, wow, wow. We loved Blu. The service was spectacular, the atmosphere was beautiful, and the food was excellent. There was never a night when I felt like there wasn’t something on the menu that I would really enjoy. The one night that I felt a little in doubt, I tried the pheasant and it was outstanding! All of the soups are great. I really enjoyed the avocado and crab appetizer. The turkey roulade was also excellent. The food is clean and healthy,but the portions are a good size, and you never feel as though you are eating diet food. The bread selection is accompanied with butter, a pea and mint puree, and a beet nut spread. They are all delicious, especially spread on the lavash. The wine list even featured my favorite California Chardonnay. Breakfast at Blu was also delicious. The only thing I would recommend is the addition of oatmeal to the menu. It is certainly not hard to make, and it is many people’s healthy go-to breakfast. We really enjoyed Blu’s smaller size and the opportunity to get to know the staff. Much appreciation to Anitsa, Lynda, Edwin, and Reymond and all the others who helped make dining a Blu such a great experience. I really doubt that I would sail anything but Aquaclass on Celebrity, based on Blu alone.

 

Murano: We celebrated our 30th anniversary atMurano. This was spectacular. Charisma was our server. He was extremely personable and friendly. I had the phyllo dough baked pear starter and the obster tail in cognac sauce, which is prepared tableside. It was unbelievably good. Because it was our anniversary, we were treated to a beautiful chocolate mousse cake for dessert. There was so much of it that we had to take it back to our stateroom. Murano is a romantic, sophisticated restaurant. The $50 surcharge may seem steep, but it is worth it. This was the only specialty restaurant we visited.

 

Ocean View Café: We ate lunch here every day. The layout is easy to maneuver, and we never had a problem getting a table, even on sea days.Both my husband and I like spicy food, so we tended to gravitate to the Asian and Indian stations. The salad bar is very well-stocked and everything looks quite fresh. We found the desserts only adequate. A lot of the time you couldn't really taste the chocolate in them. The ice cream is about average. There is a surcharge for the gelato on deck 5, but it is far superior.

 

Spa Café: This is only open for a few hours in the morning and afternoon, but it is great place to grab a healthy breakfast like some oatmeal with fruit or a pumpkin bar or a whole wheat bagel topped with fruit and almond butter.The smoothies here are also excellent, and the gentlemen who run this café are kind and remember your preferences quickly.

 

 

Beverages: We don’t drink much, so we purchased the premium non-alcoholic beverage package. This kept us in smoothies, Evian, Pellegrino, non-alcoholic daiquiris and pina coladas and lattes for the week. It was well worth it. We don’t drink much, so I have no feedback on the bars, except that it looked like everyone at the Martini Bar was having a lot of fun.

 

Pool scene: Even though the pools on deck are beautiful, westayed in the air- conditioned solarium area most of the time. This area is lovely and relaxing. It is almost impossible to get a sunburn here. Also, thesolarium pool is adjacent to the spa, so if you want to use the thermal lounges and then go for a swim, it is quite convenient. Guests under 16 are not allowed in this pool. For the most part, that rule was observed. Also, if you leave your lounge for over 30 minutes, Celebrity has a policy that your belongings can be removed and brought to guest services. This is to avoid people saving two lounges with one set of flip-flops at 6 a.m. I never saw anyone’s stuff taken to guest services, but I did see a server putting out little pieces of paper that described the policy on empty lounges. Most people did not read the paper and thought it meant that the empty lounge was reserved.

 

Spa: I was anxious to try the Canyon Ranch spa because all my previous cruise lines use Elemis spas. I had a seaweed wrap and massage that was very relaxing and made my skin soft. Of course, the therapist tried to sell me the products she used---why wouldn’t she when she makes commission on it? I declined, but added a little extra to the gratuity that is already included.The spa is decorated in a soothing and attractive manner. The Persian Gardens, with thermal lounges, sauna and steam room are a great place to relax and gaze out at the ocean. You are only allowed to use a thermal lounge for 20 minutes at a time, but that seemed to me to be plenty.

 

Gym: The gym is well equipped, very clean and often busy. I was delighted to seethat it had Concept 2 rowing machines as this is the brand we use at home.There is ample space for doing your own exercises, so I practiced mat Pilates and my husband did his martial arts. The gym offers classes in Pilates,Yoga, Indoor Cycling and Boot Camp, but we did not sign up for any of them.

 

Shopping: I wasn’t blown away by any of the shops, but I never am. I am fussy about my jewelry and would never buy it on a ship just asI would not buy my art at a cruise auction. However, I did need some cosmetics and was able to find what I needed at the duty free shop.

 

Entertainment: We don’t cruise for the entertainment and are fine with spending the evening reading or having a quiet drink on deck. The few things we did attend varied in quality. Pub trivia was fun. The other people playing were friendly and good sports. The night we went to Karoake, it seemed to have been infiltrated by a bunch of teens, so we didn’t stick around to hearthem sing Rihanna tunes. We did not enjoy the comedian, AJ Jamaal, at all. A lot of his humor seemed to be the recycled jokes of other, earlier comedians; the name “shih tzu” is only so funny, and making fun of the servers’ Asian accents seemed really vulgar,especially because the servers had excellent English and many of the guests are Asian. Saturday night's rock’n’roll revue was outstanding. The lead singer and guitarist is excellent. Regrettably, he is also funnier than AJ Jamaal. The other star of the revue is Tara, the keyboardist who was able to sing both Ronnie Spector’s “Be My Baby” and JanisJoplin’s “Piece of my Heart.” Talk about versatile vocal range! Theirs was a really fun show and I just wish it had been longer. We tried Silent Disco one night. We wore headphones that had three possible playlists to dance to. It is hysterical to hear dancers singing along to the songs playing on their headphones. My husband decided Silent Disco wasn’t for him, but I would say that this is fun and definitely very popular. There was a line for headphones and ours were snapped up the moment we turned them in. The entertainment in the public areas was OK. Victor Cruz played acoustic guitar and sang, which was pleasant enough.The band “Sweet Criminals” played in the atrium. Their set list is extremely varied---everything from “Uptown Funk” to Pink Floyd. They do some songs really well and render others unrecognizable.

 

Ports:

Key West: We love Key West, but the humidity was intense, sowe just walked around the downtown, picked up a few things at CVS, browsed some shops and went back to the ship. I’ve already toured the Hemingway House,and I would recommend it highly if you haven’t been there. Rough weather kept us in Key West overnight, but Equinox guests were not permitted to return to port that evening. This was kind of a let-down as we would have liked to have checked out the famous Key West nightlife. However, it was entirely understandable since the ship was not scheduled to stay the night.

 

Costa Maya: I had heard bad things about this port and was planning on staying on the Equinox until a week or so before we sailed. I found out about Jaime’s Blue Reef Club and emailed Jaime to arrange a visit. He is a lovely person and the beach club is fantastic. It is a short $2 per person cab ride from the Costa Maya port. For $45 per person, you get lounges, palapa, dining table and chairs, unlimited food and drink. The ceviche, fish tacos, and chicken quesadillas are excellent. The servers made sure that we had plenty to drink. The water is crystal blue and beautiful. This was an outstanding way to spend the day in Costa Maya. I guess criticism of this port comes from people who are expecting a more built up downtown like St. Martin. Costa Maya is not like that, but it is a great place to visit. I would certainly return to Jaime’s.

 

Cozumel: I love Cozumel! It is my favorite port and I have probably been there at least half a dozen times. We spent the day at a hotel beach. The hotel is one we’ve stayed at on vacation. It used to have day passes, but doesn’t any longer, so we had to pay for a night’s stay.This was not inexpensive at nearly $400, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who does not have a sentimental attachment to this resort. The water is so unbelievably clear that you can see the fish swimming just by looking--- no snorkel gear needed. But, that is true of most of Cozumel.

 

We skipped Grand Cayman because my husband had severe sunburn by the end of the cruise. We were supposed to spend the day at the Royal Palms Beach Club. The manager was very understanding about our cancelling and did not charge us. I hope to visit that property next time we are in Grand Cayman. It looks like a five-star experience.

 

Disembarkation was very easy. We had breakfast in Blu and then left the ship. We went through customs and found our luggage within five minutes. No worries at all.

 

Overall, I was very pleased with the Celebrity Equinox. Weare already talking about booking another trip. Though I love Disney, HAL and Princess (Well, the Ruby Princess and the Caribbean Princess anyway.), Celebrity’s exclusive Aqua Class experience is really something special.

Edited August 11, 2017 by toodycat
typos

[lovecruzin]

Thanks for your review. You were given misinformation regarding the stateroom. The Aqua Class cabins are not suites, they are a different class of cabin with additional perks from regular balcony cabins, I believe they are closer to 200 sf, all of the non suite balcony cabins on Equinox are similar size. The smallest suites on Celebity ships are called Sky Suites, which are approx 300sf. If you had known what you were getting ahead of time, your expectations would have been different..and yes the storage is limited! 😐

[easyboy]

Glade you enjoyed your Equinox cruise. Thanks for the feedback

[cruzzzinma]

I had oatmeal in Blu in May.

[wallie5446]

Thank you for taking the time to let us view your experience thru your eyes.

EW

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for a very informative review. I enjoyed reading it. Aqua class sounds amazing.

[champagne123]

Thank you for your wonderful review! :cool:

[11kujo11]

Thank you for the very informative review. We love the Equinox.

 

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[toodycat]

I had oatmeal in Blu in May.

 

 

 

I didn't see it on the menu, but will definitely ask for it next time.

[toodycat]

Thanks for your review. You were given misinformation regarding the stateroom. The Aqua Class cabins are not suites, they are a different class of cabin with additional perks from regular balcony cabins, I believe they are closer to 200 sf, all of the non suite balcony cabins on Equinox are similar size. The smallest suites on Celebity ships are called Sky Suites, which are approx 300sf. If you had known what you were getting ahead of time, your expectations would have been different..and yes the storage is limited! 😐

Thanks. I think it was a relative who told me Aquaclass were suite, not Celebrity. I knew how many square feet our room would be when I booked. The reason we've never sailed with Celebrity before is that for years we've cruised with our son and needed a larger room for 3 people, and it was a better value to get a room that size with the cruise lines I've mentioned. In this case, since it was just DH and I, the smaller room was not an issue, except that we had to get a little creative in storing our clothes.

[ClaudiaB]

I'm glad another poster pointed out that Aqua Class cabins are just regular cabins like the rest of the ship, and not suites. Sorry you were led to that inaccuracy. We stay in sky suites most of the time for the larger room and suite restaurant, but if we don't we do aqua class primarily because of Blu. That is really the main advantage of AQ cabins. It is not diet food, many are under the impression that it is. It's just clean and healthier but as you know now, there are sauces and rich things there too.

 

There are lots of things you can get at Blu that aren't strictly on the menu. That's what we like about it! I often just ask for three little bowls at breakfast: a bowl of vanilla or fruit yogurt, a bowl of fresh berries, and a bowl of granola. I mix them. I do NOT like the muesli that is so often praised. I also know that you can get oatmeal. We also like more green veggies than are typically on the plate so we ask for more. Many times we'll ask for a large serving of steamed broccoli which we love, even if it's not on the menu that night, because we KNOW they have broccoli back there. None of this is ever a problem. I hope you tried the every day chocolate cake. I think it's one of the best desserts on the ship. It *is* as chocolatey and rich and sweet as you would like. I figured it would be ho hum but I tried it once. OMG. Sorry I did, because I ate it on every night on one cruise.

 

You mentioned the Oceanview desserts. I have to agree. But as Americans I have come to realize we tend to like our desserts really sweet and rich, much more so than many parts of the world. What you see in those pastry cases *look* really fabulous but the taste is, at least to me, often lacking. So hey, I just don't get them.

 

So happy you had a great trip. We don't take western Caribbean itineraries, we much prefer eastern, but any day on a cruise is a great day, right?

[JaniceB]

Thank you for doing a review on your cruise experience. It was very easy to read and very informative.