Equinox post revolution - limited sun deck space

[bandp407]

Now that deck 16 ( I believe) is the suite sun deck ,  I would imagine the main sun deck for non suite guests is much more limited. It always was challenging without going to deck 16. Can anyone who has recently sailed comment on the change? We sail on the Equinox in a few weeks and can’t help but wonder what it will be like. Carrying lounge chairs to the grass may become the only option to avoid lots of frustration!! 😃 It’s great to enhance the areas for suite guests but what about the rest of us.

[keesar]

More chair hogging and packed liked sardines.  

[chemmo]

Many of us booked in suites are wondering about the quality of life on deck 16 with no water (jacuzzi/Spa) and no bar....If suite guests enjoy the experience they should be filling what was previously a less well utilised area...If they don’t enjoy then it will be a ghost town up there and busier than usual around the main pool areas.

 

Very limited feedback from suite guests so far it will be interesting to see if the ‘retreat deck’ does soak up suite guests...

[jelayne]

If the Suite guests use the Retreat Sun Deck there are that many less people trying to get seats at the pool.  

[goofysmom99]

7 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If the Suite guests use the Retreat Sun Deck there are that many less people trying to get seats at the pool.  

Without amenities, that could be a big "if."

[39august]

How does one get a drink if there is no bar on the Retreat Deck? I have no interest in baking in the sun, so with no shade I doubt I will be using this anyway. I can't believe they didn't install some sort of canopy as on part of  the pool deck. 

[Fogfog]

Suites have some food/drinks service to their private space and the space looks lovely.

 

The # of pax on board didn't change so its not any more crowded by the pool etc... for non suite pax...in fact in may be less

 

The Suites space just added more chairs/loungers/tables/ etc in that private space.

 

The servers for the Suites pax are the same as those for the other Suites spaces... just spread out differently

 

 

 

 

[bandp407]

Will be interesting to see how it all plays out. If the suite guests don't utilize their sundeck( lack of shade)  and come down to the main areas on the pool deck and above, now we have even less room AND no deck 16 to escape to!

[The Fun Researcher]

On 6/16/2019 at 11:46 AM, keesar said:

More chair hogging and packed liked sardines.  

Is this from experience, or just an assumption?

 

Dan

[kearney]

22 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Suites have some food/drinks service to their private space and the space looks lovely.

 

The # of pax on board didn't change so its not any more crowded by the pool etc... for non suite pax...in fact in may be less

 

The Suites space just added more chairs/loungers/tables/ etc in that private space.

 

The servers for the Suites pax are the same as those for the other Suites spaces... just spread out differently

 

 

 

 

The number of passengers may not be more ...currently...since they were unable to add suites and I believe the additional inside cabins they planned...but at some point there will be more on the ship.

[Fogfog]

17 minutes ago, kearney said:

The number of passengers may not be more ...currently...since they were unable to add suites and I believe the additional inside cabins they planned...but at some point there will be more on the ship.

 

Yes they added interior cabins BUT they took out sleeper sofas in the balcony cabins so that those other cabins are limited to 2 pax instead of 3 or 4.

There were some matrix that showed the net...back when the first ships went into dry dock. 

I don't recall which thread it was--- it was one of the long threads of the revolution.

AQ cabins are always limited to 2. now many of the balconies as well

 

They must maintain a certain pax number because of lifeboats/safety regs. If I remember which thread, I'll share

 

[kearney]

1 hour ago, Fogfog said:

 

Yes they added interior cabins BUT they took out sleeper sofas in the balcony cabins so that those other cabins are limited to 2 pax instead of 3 or 4.

There were some matrix that showed the net...back when the first ships went into dry dock. 

I don't recall which thread it was--- it was one of the long threads of the revolution.

AQ cabins are always limited to 2. now many of the balconies as well

 

They must maintain a certain pax number because of lifeboats/safety regs. If I remember which thread, I'll share

 

Glad to hear that... do you know did they replace the sleeper sofas with chaise lounges....like on Edge? Those sit very low....  I am disappointed at the plan to reduce size of Sky lounge... actually reduce the forward view..to be more accurate.... also l like the openness of the atrium area... and hate the idea of filling much of this with inside cabins...  but better that than higher fares I suppose.

[hiccups]

We were on the June 1st sailing, and there were plenty of empty loungers on Decks 12, 14 and 15.  Deck 15 by the basketball court was pretty deserted most of the cruise, which I assume had to do with no drink service that I saw (I was only up there in the late mornings as part of my walks around the deck).  Lots of drink service and chairs on Deck 14!

[hcat]

1 hour ago, kearney said:

Glad to hear that... do you know did they replace the sleeper sofas with chaise lounges....like on Edge? Those sit very low....  I am disappointed at the plan to reduce size of Sky lounge... actually reduce the forward view..to be more accurate.... also l like the openness of the atrium area... and hate the idea of filling much of this with inside cabins...  but better that than higher fares I suppose.

Photos would be helpful if someone could post ,..

.On M class,  I think they replaced sofas with chairs...leaving big  space between  chair and  nightstands,. Not sure what was done on EQ..sounds like not very  much in the cabins, due to the shortened reno time

[citruscruiser]

The question is: how many really used that space on deck 16 when it was open to all? There was minimal shade. I don’t think it will affect the pool deck chair availability. 

[paulh84]

15 hours ago, citruscruiser said:

The question is: how many really used that space on deck 16 when it was open to all? There was minimal shade. I don’t think it will affect the pool deck chair availability. 

 

On a Caribbean cruise the (former) Solstice Deck was frequently completely full. 

[blueboro]

Wondering if they could not set up some type of moveable bar on that deck...similar to what they have sometimes on the open deck of the Oceanview.  Mainly just beer and soft drinks IIRC.

[dkjretired]

Another thing that I've read is the lack of shade.  I realize its a sundeck but sometimes couples with different wants or needs like to be together.  Wife likes the Sun so no problem, I'm a previous Melanoma patient and obviously stay in the shade.  I guess in August, I'll be taking up room in the Solarium.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

22 hours ago, Fogfog said:

 

Yes they added interior cabins BUT they took out sleeper sofas in the balcony cabins so that those other cabins are limited to 2 pax instead of 3 or 4.

There were some matrix that showed the net...back when the first ships went into dry dock. 

I don't recall which thread it was--- it was one of the long threads of the revolution.

AQ cabins are always limited to 2. now many of the balconies as well

 

They must maintain a certain pax number because of lifeboats/safety regs. If I remember which thread, I'll share

 

 

This is the first I have heard that any cabins were added to the Equinox. It was my understanding that due to the drydock relocating to Spain they were unable to do any of the major things like adding cabins.

[misterkevin]

On 6/16/2019 at 10:41 AM, jelayne said:

If the Suite guests use the Retreat Sun Deck there are that many less people trying to get seats at the pool.  

The Equinox only has 66 of 1426 total staterooms which are suites. That's less than 5%. While it will make some difference, it's not large. Plus there's no guarantee that suite passengers aren't going to want to be closer to the pools and hot tubs and take up deck chairs in the open space. 

 

I wouldn't count on much reprieve from the chair stalking. 

[Pickels]

Can you reserve your own lounge chair in the Retreat,  like you can on The Sanctuary on Princess Cruise Lines?

[Fogfog]

20 hours ago, hcat said:

Photos would be helpful if someone could post ,..

.On M class,  I think they replaced sofas with chairs...leaving big  space between  chair and  nightstands,. Not sure what was done on EQ..sounds like not very  much in the cabins, due to the shortened reno time

I think looking at the Millenium thread will show how they replaced those sleeper sofas with chairs...and thats likely the trend we will see on the rest of the fleet as they go through dry dock. Right?

 

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

This is the first I have heard that any cabins were added to the Equinox. It was my understanding that due to the drydock relocating to Spain they were unable to do any of the major things like adding cabins.

The point I was trying to make is that they have to balance the  added interiors (when done) with the removal of the sleeper sofas in other rooms. (see Millenium revolution thread for more information)

 

Bottom line is that the "suites" only sundeck is in a space that wasn't heavily utilized and on the ships Celebrity is carving out a space for those paying suites prices--to offer them an amenity.

 

Those suites pax may or may not have have been around the pool and other decks....

so in my mind this doesn't mean there are more pax near the pool.

Since it was a less used space--I don't think there is a great influx of pax from all other classes of rooms that used that space during the day that will suddenly descend into the pool area

 

[hcat]

A nice sofa ...sleeper or not is great for a nap or reading...the chair is not the quite  same!  Seems there was room for a  new sofa.....