Equinox retreat experience

[Attyaz901]

My husband and I are booked on the equinox selling July 2 in a suite. Interested to hear of other’s experience with the Retreat perks on equinox.  Also, does someone from concierge reach out precruise to help with bookings or do I wait to do it once on board?  Thank you!

[lallak1]

We are just off the Equinox on Monday. Our first time in Retreat. We did get an email prior to cruising asking if we had any special requests…..it didn’t make it to the ship! However, the concierge’s in the retreat lounge were fantastic! So don’t hesitate to ask them for any assistance once on board. We loved the retreat deck….it was very underutilized, so never had issues getting a chair. 

[39august]

Who were the Retreat concierges,. please? We will be back on EQ in Retreat in 3 weeks. So ready to be back! Do you know who was in the World Class Bar?

[lallak1]

Janelle and Laura were the concierges. Not recalling the World Bar bartender.

[lallak1]

1 hour ago, lallak1 said:

Janelle and Laura were the concierges. Not recalling the World Bar bartender.

Found picture of World Class bartender from our cruise 

[lovetocruisee]

15 hours ago, Attyaz901 said:

My husband and I are booked on the equinox selling July 2 in a suite. Interested to hear of other’s experience with the Retreat perks on equinox.  Also, does someone from concierge reach out precruise to help with bookings or do I wait to do it once on board?  Thank you!

 We will be on your cruise July 2.   See you in the Retreat 👌🏽

 Kevin

[teetoppz28]

12 hours ago, lallak1 said:

Found picture of World Class bartender from our cruise 

 

I believe his name is Armandt from South Africa. He makes a fine Zacapa Old Fashioned! 🙂 

[TeeRick]

Laura was the Retreat Concierge on Equinox when we sailed in January.  She was wonderful.  The Equinox Retreat Lounge is one on S-Class ships that was upgraded (from Michael's Club).  I found it to be bright and comfortable, but hardly utilized.  The Retreat Sun Deck is on the front of the ship up several sets of stairs.  No elevator access if you are physically challenged with a lot of stairs.  Also very under utilized.  Luminae was excellent (food, ambience and service) as usual.  If you are in a Premium suite (above Sky suite and Celebrity suite) you will get dining in Specialty Restaurants included.  Equinox has Murano - don't miss it!

[Big_G]

37 minutes ago, teetoppz28 said:

 

I believe his name is Armandt from South Africa. He makes a fine Zacapa Old Fashioned! 🙂 

 

We were on Reflection 2 weeks ago and pre-cruise we were warned here on CC that Celebrity no longer carries Zacapa. They were using Bumbu Rum at the World Class which caught a bad rap from some CC posters. To be honest I wasn't disappointed.

[teetoppz28]

Just now, Big_G said:

 

We were on Reflection 2 weeks ago and pre-cruise we were warned here on CC that Celebrity no longer carries Zacapa. They were using Bumbu Rum at the World Class which caught a bad rap from some CC posters. To be honest I wasn't disappointed.

 

There were at least a dozen bottles of Zacapa 23 and a couple of Zacapa XO onboard the Equinox on my last cruise this March 18-27th. I used a majority of my OBC on the upcharge for it, as it's well worth the cost! There is hope! 🙂

 

[Big_G]

43 minutes ago, teetoppz28 said:

 

There were at least a dozen bottles of Zacapa 23 and a couple of Zacapa XO onboard the Equinox on my last cruise this March 18-27th. I used a majority of my OBC on the upcharge for it, as it's well worth the cost! There is hope! 🙂

 

 

Thanks, we're on Equinox in May so I'm hoping.

[terrydtx]

We are on the Equinox in a Sky Suite for the June 4 sailing, this will be our second Equinox SS. We already received earlier this month our email from shore services about any special requests. Our 2021 Equinox Retreat cruise sold us on only booking suites with Celebrity. The food, drinks and service was so much better than our pre Covid Aqua Class cruises. The only disappointment was the Retreat sun deck with little to no shade and it was so hot up there in August.

[39august]

Hope they don't use up all that Zacapa the next couple of cruises, as we board Aril 24 for b2b! I read somewhere that the replacement Bambu rum was banana flavored. Yuk. 

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, 39august said:

Hope they don't use up all that Zacapa the next couple of cruises, as we board Aril 24 for b2b! I read somewhere that the replacement Bambu rum was banana flavored. Yuk. 

I will be fine as long as they still have Mccallan 12 year old Scotch in the Retreat Lounge like we had on the Reflection last year.😁

Edited March 31, 2023 by terrydtx

[JFontaine]

18 hours ago, Attyaz901 said:

My husband and I are booked on the equinox selling July 2 in a suite. Interested to hear of other’s experience with the Retreat perks on equinox.  Also, does someone from concierge reach out precruise to help with bookings or do I wait to do it once on board?  Thank you!

You didnt mention which suite you are booked in. If it is a Royal Suite or Penthouse expect contact from a shoreside rep a few weeks before the cruise. I'd ask them to make any specialty dining reservations.   Luminae doesn't take reservations (with some exceptions).  

[Attyaz901]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Laura was the Retreat Concierge on Equinox when we sailed in January.  She was wonderful.  The Equinox Retreat Lounge is one on S-Class ships that was upgraded (from Michael's Club).  I found it to be bright and comfortable, but hardly utilized.  The Retreat Sun Deck is on the front of the ship up several sets of stairs.  No elevator access if you are physically challenged with a lot of stairs.  Also very under utilized.  Luminae was excellent (food, ambience and service) as usual.  If you are in a Premium suite (above Sky suite and Celebrity suite) you will get dining in Specialty Restaurants included.  Equinox has Murano - don't miss it!

We are in. Celebrity suite so we won’t get unlimited specialty dining but we will hit all of them.  Still undecided about Le Petite Chef. Any thoughts?

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, Attyaz901 said:

We are in. Celebrity suite so we won’t get unlimited specialty dining but we will hit all of them.  Still undecided about Le Petite Chef. Any thoughts?

Unless you have kids with you, IMO do not waste time or money in Le Petite. Also if this is your first time in a Suite, you should try Luminae before you hit all the Specialty Restaurants. Other than Eden on E Class ships, we find the Luminae to be equal or better than any of the Specialty restaurants in food and service. Murano is hit or miss, and Tuscan Grill has really gone downhill post Covid. The current pricing for specialty restaurants on Celebrity have just gotten ridiculously high for what the serve. We sail only in suites and no longer waste our money on the Specialty dinning venues.

Edited March 31, 2023 by terrydtx

[teetoppz28]

25 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I will be fine as long as they still have Mccallan 12 year old Scotch in the Retreat Lounge like we had on the Reflection last year.😁

 

My wife happily reports that they had plenty. That is her scotch of choice! 😎 

[39august]

I agree with Terry on specialty dining if you are in Luminae. The service in Luminae is far better. And the prices now with the added mandatory gratuities was about $104 per person, with our Elite discount. We are done with the specialties  except for Sushi on 5.

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, 39august said:

I agree with Terry on specialty dining if you are in Luminae. The service in Luminae is far better. And the prices now with the added mandatory gratuities was about $104 per person, with our Elite discount. We are done with the specialties  except for Sushi on 5.

We love doing a lunch or two at Sushi on 5.

[chamima]

20 hours ago, 39august said:

Who were the Retreat concierges,. please? We will be back on EQ in Retreat in 3 weeks. So ready to be back! Do you know who was in the World Class Bar?

 

18 hours ago, lallak1 said:

Found picture of World Class bartender from our cruise 

 

 

Adrian and Armandt (in the picture) are the World Class Bartenders. They are the BEST!!!

Tell them Allan and Karen say hi and miss them. (If you remember please tell Adrian that I'm trying to make my own Azteca at home but the results are nothing like theirs)

[TeeRick]

I'll offer a somewhat different perspective.  First I agree with everybody that Luminae is wonderful and it is included.  The previous posters (and me too) have cruised Celebrity suites quite a bit and they perhaps see no reason to spend for Specialty Dining when you can go to Luminae.  But the first time perhaps you want a little more variation and experimentation.  And perhaps you have on-board credit to spend or don't care about the extra dining fees.  So on Equinox on our last cruise (January) we went to both Murano and Tuscan Grille and very much enjoyed both.  And of course loved Luminae.  We have been to Le Petite Chef on several ships but not last cruise on Equinox.  If you have not been yet, it is a unique and fun experience.  Even more fun with a larger crowd if you are sailing with others.  Even though we sail in suites quite a bit on Celebrity, we do enjoy the specialty dining as a nice change.  

[lallak1]

24 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I'll offer a somewhat different perspective.  First I agree with everybody that Luminae is wonderful and it is included.  The previous posters (and me too) have cruised Celebrity suites quite a bit and they perhaps see no reason to spend for Specialty Dining when you can go to Luminae.  But the first time perhaps you want a little more variation and experimentation.  And perhaps you have on-board credit to spend or don't care about the extra dining fees.  So on Equinox on our last cruise (January) we went to both Murano and Tuscan Grille and very much enjoyed both.  And of course loved Luminae.  We have been to Le Petite Chef on several ships but not last cruise on Equinox.  If you have not been yet, it is a unique and fun experience.  Even more fun with a larger crowd if you are sailing with others.  Even though we sail in suites quite a bit on Celebrity, we do enjoy the specialty dining as a nice change.  

I agree with this. This was our first time seeing in a suite so we loved Luminae, but we also did the Chefs Table ( which is held in Murano's private dining space and includes a galley tour DURING service!), Le Petit Chef and we did the pop up Indian dinner (Taj Mahal, which is held one evening in Sushi on Five). All were fantastic!

[lallak1]

5 hours ago, Attyaz901 said:

We are in. Celebrity suite so we won’t get unlimited specialty dining but we will hit all of them.  Still undecided about Le Petite Chef. Any thoughts?

Loved ale Petite Chef….so fun and the food was great too!

[DCPIV]

One of the best perks of the Retreat is that you likely won't even need to know where the Guest Relations or Shore Excursions desks are. The Retreat Concierges or your Butler can handle just about anything. If they cannot handle your request for some reason, they likely can get you to the front of the line. 

 

If you do want to make or change any reservations (dining, glass blowing, excursions, etc.), so do through the Retreat Concierges rather than through your butler. The Concierges can make it change a reservation right then and there. They have direct access to the systems, so you will know right where you stand. The butlers are wonderful, but they have to go through someone else, and it might take a while for them to get around to it and then let you know. Better to just get it done. 

 

There's no harm in making some dining reservations before sailing. You always can cancel them if you find you'd rather just stick with Luminae.  However, it can be difficult to get a reservation after you set sail, at least for your preferred time. They do book up.