Sky Princess vs Celebrity Equinox

[JerseyGirlatHeart]

A little background … we are in our 60’s, retired, and have traveled both cruise lines in the past several times.  Sailed on Equinox (Aqua Class) in January and on Sky (Mini suite) in February so it is fresh in my mind.  Please realize everything is subjective and this is just our experience.

 

Ship:  Both ships are beautiful in different ways.  Equinox was much easier to navigate; Sky has narrow staircases and halls, some places you had to go up, across and down to access.  The Sky seemed much larger, and held about 800 more passengers.  I prefer the sleek elegance of Equinox.

 

Entertainment:  The pool music on Sky was much better (and more of it); Equinox pool music was lacking.  Production shows were much better on Sky, we felt as if the production shows on Equinox were too “message” oriented (political/social justice) and did not resonate with us or probably half of the other passengers.   The Theater on the Equinox is grander, the Theater on Sky reminded me of a school auditorium, or a church without pews or balconies.  The guest entertainers were better on Sky.  We enjoyed Movies under the Stars on Sky, much nicer experience then Equinox Movies on the Lawn.  We were able to sit in the hot tub and view the movie, thick cushions were put on lounge chairs and blankets supplied for a cozy night.  Popcorn was available, but a little stale.  Hot tubs and pools are open on Sky until midnight; they closed at 9pm on Equinox.  Love a late night swim.  Prefer the Sky for Entertainment.  

 

Equinox quality of food far, far better; but liked the Canapés on Sky.  Hamburgers were awful on Sky; Mast Grill so much better.  We ate in Blu on Equinox, but was able to order from the Main Dining Room Menu if we wanted.  Sky had a nice menu in the Main Dining Room (there were three, one for set dining and two for anytime dining … all menus exactly the same.). Though menu sounded nice quality was terrible on Sky, just not an overall pleasant experience.  Ate dinner at the buffet once on Sky, and it was worse then the Main Dining Room.  Equinox hands down for food quality!

 

Had a mini suite on Sky which was similar in size to an Aqua Cabin on Equinox.  Sky had a full size bathtub and more storage.  I liked the closet setup on Sky, sort of like a walk-in closet with shelves, hangers, safe with access to bathroom from the closet area.  The Balcony was far superior on Equinox, we were in angled cabin 1599; on Sky we also had an angled cabin (under skywalk) M427, but balcony was much smaller.   Rooms both had pluses so would call this category a Tie.

 

We had challenges with Princess Medallion App before boarding, IT could not figure it out, spent many hours on phone with Princess.  Ended up going to port without issues fixed … caused me anxiety; I had no problem with Celebrity App.  Once on board, and IT issues with Princess resolved, it was nice to have the ability to find shipmates, open cabin doors, charge drinks with the medallion.  Ordered drinks via medallion system for delivery on pool deck, took about 15 minutes … very convenient though downside is that you cannot customize, additionally a few times an item was ordered it was delivered to someone else.  “Check in” on Celebrity App much smother then Sky; but once Princess gets kinks worked out with Medallion System/Ocean App they will be light years ahead of Celebrity.

 

Fitness Center is nicer on Equinox.  The Gym on Sky is adequate, no spin bikes for use unless you pay, more equipment in Equinox.  Equinox in my Preference.

 

The  staff on board, in general, are far, far below Celebrity Staff level.  On Sky it was been our experience that the food and beverage staff does not go above and beyond, they seem to be just “going through the motions”, as compared to Celebrity where the majority of the staff bent over backwards to make everything perfect.  I realize that there will always be mistakes, but over and over and over on Sky…EXCEPTION our room steward Jules, from the Philippines, was been OUTSTANDING!  Shout out on Equinox to Rambo and Mickey in Blu!  Celebrity Crew made for an awesome vacation.  

 

Note:  we spread our mom’s ashes at sea on Princess (her favorite cruise line) and loyalty staff helped us set up a nice private ceremony.  They provided a table to display items, an officer attended in full dress, Bio engineering inspected the container to ensure it was biodegradable, and we had a private area on Deck 7 in the back of the ship to say our final goodbyes and drop the container in the ocean.  A photographer took pictures, and if the wind was not so bad a musician would have played.  Once dropped, the container bobbed in ship’s wake with a trio seagull escort.  Very fitting for our travel loving mom.

 

Overall we will cruise each line again (maybe not Sky as I feel Management is currently lacking).

[MISTER 67]

First of all both are very nice ships and I agree the Equinox because of it's smaller size is easier to get around. Cabins are larger on the Equinox but we spend very little time in them so it's not that big of a deal.

We sailed on Celebrity in 2019 for the first time in 18 years and on the Equinox twice, once in June and once in September, what I noticed is that Celebriity which was known for great food back in their early days still has good food but no better than Princess and Holland America and the fares can be quite a bit higher. To us the higher fares are not justified when compared to Princess and HAL, everything else being equal such as service and entertainment we will pass on future Celebrity cruises and stick with our 2 favorite lines.

Edited March 1, 2022 by MISTER 67

[Lady Arwen]

We sail primarily with Celebrity, but also with Princess if the itinerary suits us better.  We’re sailing in September on Emerald for a British Isles itinerary, which is far better than what Celebrity offers.

That being said, in our opinion Celebrity has much better food, comparable service and superior cabins.  Royal class on Princess is similar to S class on Celebrity.  Edge class on Celebrity is a class of it’s own with nothing comparable on Princess.

I’m surprised your experience on Sky was disappointing.  We’ve sailed on Royal Princess and it was quite nice.  Perhaps if you try Enchanted, you may find it more to your liking.

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience with us.

[waddle]

We’ve been on Celebrity Equinox and Eclipse and really rate the ships, great choice of bar areas,  food choices, love the indoor pools. Lawn on top deck is a unique touch

 

Only been with Princess once so far (Diamond) although going on Regal Princess end of March. Food and entertainment were excellent last time so looking forward to a bigger ship and different experience

[kokopelli-az]

We've been on the Equinox many times (last time being in Aug 2021) and were on the Sky in February 2022.

The Sky was nice but the Equinox is our favorite ship by far.    We have the Equinox booked two more times for 2022.

[peanutter]

Thank you so much for posting this comparison.  Perfect timing for me as we just booked the Equinox last night for an April cruise - our first cruise since the lockdown.  While we have sailed with Celebrity 5-6 times in the past (the little Horizon was our first ever cruise!), the last several cruises we've done were with Princess (more than a few on Royal and Regal but not on Sky).  I have heard the Equinox is "beloved" by crew and past passengers but wasn't sure about the details.  Nice to get the latest info and was heartened to hear Celebrity's food and service were outstanding (as we have always found it to be).  Thanks again and happy traveling.

[Lady Arwen]

14 minutes ago, peanutter said:

Thank you so much for posting this comparison.  Perfect timing for me as we just booked the Equinox last night for an April cruise - our first cruise since the lockdown.  While we have sailed with Celebrity 5-6 times in the past (the little Horizon was our first ever cruise!), the last several cruises we've done were with Princess (more than a few on Royal and Regal but not on Sky).  I have heard the Equinox is "beloved" by crew and past passengers but wasn't sure about the details.  Nice to get the latest info and was heartened to hear Celebrity's food and service were outstanding (as we have always found it to be).  Thanks again and happy traveling.

Horizon was our first Celebrity ship, too!  We really do like Princess as well, just a different product.  Love the International Cafe!  Equinox is special for sure.  Enjoy!

[MISTER 67]

45 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Horizon was our first Celebrity ship, too!  We really do like Princess as well, just a different product.  Love the International Cafe!  Equinox is special for sure.  Enjoy!

We also sailed on the Horizon, a 7 day cruise to Bermuda returning back to NYC 3 days before 9.11.2001.

Our first cruise with Celebrity was on the Century in 1996, that ship was a beautiful classy ship with an amazing 2 story dining room at the rear of the ship with 2 story ceiling to floor windows.

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, MISTER 67 said:

We also sailed on the Horizon, a 7 day cruise to Bermuda returning back to NYC 3 days before 9.11.2001.

Our first cruise with Celebrity was on the Century in 1996, that ship was a beautiful classy ship with an amazing 2 story dining room at the rear of the ship with 2 story ceiling to floor windows.

Yes, I was so sad when Century left the fleet.  Also loved Zenith and Horizon!  We docked right in downtown Hamilton in Bermuda!  Special times for sure.  

[nini]

Strange. Maybe the Equinox is better than the Celebrity Reflection. Service and food quality was very poor on the Reflection, especially the flies all over the buffet food. The staff did not appear to care... Snooty baryenders. We had been on the Regal Princess a month before and the Reflection was quite a disappointment.

[caribill]

On 3/1/2022 at 12:04 PM, JerseyGirlatHeart said:

Sky had a nice menu in the Main Dining Room (there were three, one for set dining and two for anytime dining … all menus exactly the same.). Though menu sounded nice quality was terrible on Sky, just not an overall pleasant experience.  Ate dinner at the buffet once on Sky, and it was worse then the Main Dining Room.  Equinox hands down for food quality!

 

 

 

Others have reported that before the pandemic food quality was significantly better on Princess than it is now.