A Suite Review w/Photos - Celebrity Equinox - Western Caribbean 7/14-21/18

[MisterMet]

Prelude

 

We decided to splurge a bit for our 15th anniversary and were looking for a suites deal when we chanced upon this ship and itinerary. This would be the first S-Class ship for us without our favorites, The Lawn Club Grill & The Porch. We'd never been to Costa Maya or Key West and fondly remembered the Bar Hop experience in Cozumel from a previous cruise. We also read numerous favorable reviews of the ship and so figured we'd give it a try. At the time, the free Go-Best w/ Premium Beverage Package suites offer was in full swing and by the time we were ready to book, most of the S2/S1 cabins were already booked. The aft 2155 S2 was available and since we really enjoyed the SV experience on Reflection, we picked 2155 instead of a cabin under the overhang.

 

 

 

I usually fly UA and am a Premier Gold; however, UA has no non-stop flights - requirement from DW - between AUS and south Florida in first class, so we booked AA to MIA instead. We also booked the Embassy Suites by the airport.

 

 

And then, it was an agonizing wait until embarkation day.

 

 

July, 13th: AUS-MIA

 

We'd planned for a relaxing lunch in AUS prior to departure, but this went out the window when we woke up to clogged toilets in our house. Frantic calls to local area plumbers and roto-rooters took up most of the morning and our lunch window evaporated. The ample time we'd allocated at the airport was also eaten up, starting with a full parking lot with valet as the only opton. It actually took us a lot more time doing valet than regular parking. Then, another 20min of waiting in line to check-in at the 'Premier' AA desk. There was absolutely nothing 'Premier' about this experience and the single agent assigned to service the line didn't really seem to care.This was followed by another long wait in an unusually crowded TSA Precheck line in AUS. By the time we realized that we could have used the Premier Line, it was too late for us to change lines. That said, all of these first-world problems melted away as soon as we boarded the flight. We had an amazing flight attendant who was on top of things from the get-go.

 

 

 

Finally, time for push-back and the trip begins!

 

 

 

 

Pre-dinner beverage and mixed-nuts (this aircraft doesn't have an oven and so the nuts were cold)

 

 

 

 

Southwest salad, which was quite tasty except for the overcooked chicken. The carrot cake dessert was really yummy.

 

 

 

 

Before long, it was time for touchdown

 

 

 

 

After a short curbside wait, we were on our way to the hotel on the fully-packed shuttle. Upon arrival, we were greeted to an empty reception desk. It took a few minutes for an agent to show up and check us in. We deposited our bags in the room and headed down to Grill 305, the hotel restaurant, for a quick bite.

 

 

 

The Mahi-Mahi fish tacos were quite delicious

 

 

 

 

and so was the key-lime pie

 

 

 

 

To be continued...

 

 

 

Thanks for your review. We will be in 1667 (right under 2155) on our 9/14 10 night southern Caribbean itinerary. How did you like the aft Sky Suite? Look forward to any advice you have about the stateroom.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[MisterMet]

Thanks for your review. We will be in 1667 (right under 2155) on our 9/14 10 night southern Caribbean itinerary. How did you like the aft Sky Suite? Look forward to any advice you have about the stateroom.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

Or anything else about Equinox for that matter[emoji1][emoji1]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[wineandbeach]

"The Cafe is our favorite place to grab a coffee drink, bottles of water, or the occasional glass of wine."

Does the Cafe serve wine? I had never heard that and that would be very good news. Do you know if they have champagne?, Baileys?

[darleean]

We are sailing this weekend .. and in same Cabin! our first suite experience also! Thank you for your review!

[pnsnkr]

Fellow foodie, I’m enjoying your review:)

 

Thank you. There are a few more pictures to post

[pnsnkr]

I’m really enjoying your review. We are doing this cruise in a few weeks on the sky suite directly below you. Looks like you had a wonderful time, that’s great to hear. Thank you so much for doing this. Keep it coming!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you. Wishing you a wonderful cruise! The aft views are amazing. Hopefully, you'll have favorable winds so it doesn't feel quite as stagnant as it was for us back there.

Thanks for sharing your photos and your ship experience review.

 

You are most welcome.

[pnsnkr]

We sailed with you guys last week, had a great time. Sitting in my office this morning trying to put off answering emails as long as humanly possible.

 

It was great, wasn't it? Yep, back at work for me as well. Workday broke my review rhythm. Let's see if I can pick it up where I left.

[charleysmom]

This is a wonderful review! We leave on Saturday and are getting so excited!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pnsnkr]

Thanks for your review. We will be in 1667 (right under 2155) on our 9/14 10 night southern Caribbean itinerary. How did you like the aft Sky Suite? Look forward to any advice you have about the stateroom.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I haven't yet got to the cabin part yet in the review, but here are a few observations. The fully covered balcony was a plus. We did hear chair movement and occasional banging (...?) from OCV above but it didn't bother us much and went right back to sleep. However, this may be disconcerting for a light sleeper. So, I'd avoid it. You are one deck below, so you should be good. Unfortunately, due to prevailing winds, the air was quite stuffy in the back and so we didn't really enjoy our balcony as much as we'd planned to.

Enjoy your cruise!

[islandchick]

Does the Cafe serve wine? I had never heard that and that would be very good news. Do you know if they have champagne?, Baileys?

 

They do have several wines available but not on the menu. I am not sure about the Baileys but they may have it because they have specialty coffees with alcohol. Sorry, but they don't have champagne.

[pnsnkr]

July 16th: Lunch at Luminae

We consulted the Celebrity app to figure out the menu options for lunch and then made our way to the 3rd floor via the aft elevators, or more aptly the midship elevators. The form and function of the elevators in the S-class ship makes for a wonderful topic of debate and discussion during Luminae's afternoon high-tea events. Or maybe not. They do afford you plenty of time to ponder over the various burning questions in your mind as the elevators skip right past your floor. At one point, I stood there long enough to try to figure out the elevator algorithm but couldn't come up with anything tangible other than 'spite.'

When we arrived at Luminae, we chanced upon the menu posted outside and were presented with a menu that was totally different from the one on the app. We did find a few options that might work out and so headed inside to be seated. We were promptly greeted and after a bit of consultation, taken to the small section in the back behind the dividers to accommodate our request for a window seat. We were later informed by the wait staff back there that we were now in the 'Business Class' section of Luminae. We all had a good laugh (of course, it was the 'First Class' section after all) and this set the right mood for our next installment at this fine venue. After the initial setup and taking the water preference and our drinks from one wait staff, Edwin came over from the other section to take our lunch order. It seemed like every guest is assigned the same wait person throughout the cruise, but we didn't bother to confirm this. We were warming up to Edwin and he was assigned to us for all our subsequent visits as well. We really enjoyed our experience with him as the cruise proceeded.

 

For the appetizer, I ordered the hamachi. It was a delightfully tasty mix of radish, avocado and the orange rind all combining together with the citrus marinated tuna to produce an explosion of flavor and texture with each bite. I thoroughly enjoyed this one

DW ordered the beet salad. It was quite good but the creamy feta cheese made it memorable

 

For the main course, I ordered the tuna. I asked for it medium-rare but in retrospect, should have ordered it rare or blue with just a bit of sear to it. It was still cooking while I was eating it and so ended up more medium near the end. I just don't like fully-cooked tuna. The dish was otherwise quite tasty when I skipped the cooked parts. Edwin noticed my picking at the pieces and commented that he ought to have placed an order for blue instead. As if it was his error...!!

 

DW ordered the mushroom ravioli. It was cheesy and had mushrooms; the two items that check off her list of good food and she was a happy camper.

 

While having our main course, the next table was already on their dessert course and were presented with a decadent piece of dark chocolate that looked like a lava cake. That would become our dessert order as well. And the looks did not deceive! It was an amazing dense rich piece of cake with molten dark chocolate smothered over it and the bananas and gelato acting as bonus rounds. For something that looks small, it was quite rich and I wasn't able to finish it all.

 

Speaking of gelato, we've always wanted to avail of our free one scoop each of gelato at the geletaria to celebrate our status as 'Select' CC members and have not gotten around to it in our last few cruises. So, we made a mental note to visit the geletaria during this cruise.

 

This lunch experience was way better than our first one on embarkation day and we left the venue with silly grins on our face.

Edited July 24, 2018 by pnsnkr
minor edits

[pnsnkr]

July 16th: sea day

After lunch, we headed over to the casino to inquire about the poker tournament. The 3p table was full and so I signed up for the 4:30p. We then visited the Shops on the Boulevard looking for good deals but didn't find anything worthwhile to buy. We headed over to the gastrobar from there as I wanted to check if they replenished their supply of Dogfish head 90min IPA, my favorite beer on the ship. As luck would have it, they had them available on this day.

Before long it was time for the Poker tournament so we headed back to the casino. DW played slots but was down $40 in 20 min and so she headed out to explore the ship. I survived a little bit longer but was eliminated at #4. The tournament only payed the top-two slots. I met up with DW after the tournament and we grabbed a couple glasses of wine from the Cafe and headed back to the room. By this time, Singh had already visited our room to deliver our canapes.

We sat in the balcony to enjoy the shrimp cocktail and cheese plate. Before long it was time for dinner at the Tuscan Grille.

Edited July 24, 2018 by pnsnkr
more updates

[Maven3]

I am enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to write & post it. Your canapés look awesome, did you request certain ones or is that just what they brought? When we were on the Equinox last October, we usually received 4 odd bite size appetizers on a square plate. Most of the time they weren’t that appealing and if by chance there was something good, we both didn’t have the chance to try it because they were so small!

 

 

Vickie

[39august]

I didn't see if the question about wine at Cafe Al Bacio was answered. Yes, there are limited wines available there. There is no menu showing them, but there is a chardonnay for $11, sauvingon blanc for $9 and a couple of reds for like prices.

[pnsnkr]

July 16th: Dinner at Tuscan Grille

We were 15min early to our 8p appointment and as luck would have it, we nabbed the best seat for couples by the window overlooking the wake. We love the Grille. It has the best location on the ship with splendid views; and, the ambiance is festive yet refined. And of course, the food. Our water preference was taken and promptly served. This was followed by a visit by the sommelier to take our drink orders. They had a super tuscan at $15 and fully covered by the premium package and so we settled on this as the wine for our dinner. It was quite well balanced, slightly better than the Decoy cabernet that is also available ship-wide on premium package.

The menu is quite extensive unlike Murano. On a typical 7-day cruise, we would visit the Grille at least twice on the ultimate dining package. However, this would be the only visit here during this cruise and so we took the time to finalize our choices and then placed our orders.

And then it was showtime...!

We departed from our usual no-bread policy and shared a foccacio. It was quite soft yet crunchy from the crust and went quite well with oil and vinegar. This really set the mood for the rest of what to come. (sorry no pic due to 6-pic limit per post)

 

We always order the antipasti board to share and this time was no different. What's Italian food without antipasti, we say. A bite of well-cured meat and fine-aged cheese topped with fig jam; oh, heavenly!

 

I ordered the crab cake for my appetizer. A lot of crab with just a little bit of bread, just the way like it. The aioli complemented it quite well

 

DW ordered the meat balls. They don't skimp on portion size here. The Grille does this dish really well; not too dry, not too mushy, just right.

 

For the main course, we ordered the broiled filet medium-rare. This dish has been consistently good no matter which ship we tried it on and this day was no different. The meat is absolutely tender and moist, cuts like butter and melts in the palate.

 

For the pasta, DW ordered the lasagna and I went with spaghetti & meat balls.

 

 

By this time, we were getting full and had to pace ourselves to make just a little bit of room for dessert. I ordered the fig gelato while DW went with the Limoncello cheesecake. The cheesecake was rich and delicious

 

 

The service was impeccable and the staff very warm and cordial. Overall, one of the best experiences at the Tuscan Grille. And, every dish was a winner. By the time we were done, it was almost 10p and crawled our way out of the restaurant and headed straight to our room.

[pnsnkr]

I am enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to write & post it.

 

Thank you, and you are most welcome.

 

Your canapés look awesome, did you request certain ones or is that just what they brought? When we were on the Equinox last October, we usually received 4 odd bite size appetizers on a square plate. Most of the time they weren’t that appealing and if by chance there was something good, we both didn’t have the chance to try it because they were so small!

Vickie

 

Our butler, Singh, took care of it. He stated that he would personally inspect the canapes and reject any that didn't live up to his standards to bring a replacement instead. At the end of the cruise, we didn't ask him which ones he rejected, we were happy campers.

[micheleata]

Enjoying your review and pictures!

[pnsnkr]

We are sailing this weekend .. and in same Cabin! our first suite experience also! Thank you for your review!

 

Hopefully, you will receive the same stellar service from Singh and Dudi. Here's wishing for favorable winds behind your sails.

[LIMPIT]

Wow, looked a wonderful meal

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[njaloha]

Celebrity loves to marry lobster with citrus and it has been my pleasure to enjoy it that way many times. The lobster salad in luminae is my favorite.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[AnnaDarel]

What a wonderful review. I'm drooling at everything.

[39august]

pnsnkr: We were on this same cruise. I am very curious about something if you would please answer this question. Did you receive a 30% off coupon for any specialty restaurant on Grand Cayman day? We did. I wonder if everyone got this discount or was it only due either to our Captain/s Club status or perhaps given only to certain class cabins.

[pnsnkr]

pnsnkr: We were on this same cruise. I am very curious about something if you would please answer this question. Did you receive a 30% off coupon for any specialty restaurant on Grand Cayman day? We did. I wonder if everyone got this discount or was it only due either to our Captain/s Club status or perhaps given only to certain class cabins.

 

No, we did not. We received the typical 30% off for embarkation day. Moreover, Grand Cayman was lobster night at Luminae and we wanted to try it.

[MisterMet]

 

 

I haven't yet got to the cabin part yet in the review, but here are a few observations. The fully covered balcony was a plus. We did hear chair movement and occasional banging (...?) from OCV above but it didn't bother us much and went right back to sleep. However, this may be disconcerting for a light sleeper. So, I'd avoid it. You are one deck below, so you should be good. Unfortunately, due to prevailing winds, the air was quite stuffy in the back and so we didn't really enjoy our balcony as much as we'd planned to.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks for your reply. We live in SW Florida, so we know all about hot, stuffy, and muggy! LOL Looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks again.

Edited July 24, 2018 by MisterMet

[sxyshell]

Excited for more of your review. We will be on the Eastern itinerary on 8/4! This is our first Celebrity cruise.