"Do You Feel Lucky?" Georgia Peaches takes a Blue Chip Cruise! Live from Equinox, July 2-8!

[Reel Love]

Thank you so much for a terrific review Georgia_Peaches, and for all of the time and effort you have put into reporting on the vaping situation as well as speaking to the Marketing Director and sharing the thoughts that many of us also have about this "test" in the casino.

I wonder if Lewis was the CD on your cruise?  He was on the Equinox when we sailed in early June and was hysterical.  A great CD!

Safe travels home  🙂

Edited July 8, 2023 by Reel Love

[CTSandy]

Thanks for sharing your comments and pictures!  Especially grateful for your meeting regarding the vaping issue - I did send an email to Celebrity but have received no response to date.  Congrats on the very nice win - I play video poker on Equinox and the Heidi machine is across from the bank of video poker machines - I can still hear the bonus tune😆

[Georgia_Peaches]

19 minutes ago, Reel Love said:

Thank you so much for a terrific review Georgia_Peaches, and for all of the time and effort you have put into reporting on the vaping situation as well as speaking to the Marketing Director and sharing the thoughts that many of us also have about this "test" in the casino.

I wonder if Lewis was the CD on your cruise?  He was on the Equinox when we sailed in early June and was hysterical.  A great CD!

Safe travels home  🙂

Thank you!  
 

Lewis was in fact, the cruise director and he was excellent!  

[CunucuMom]

On 7/3/2023 at 8:51 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

 

ps. @mafig, I know that you appreciate good a/c report and I’m happy to say our room has been cool enough for comfortable sleeping. I will also admit that I might have snuck a peek around the privacy walls of both our neighbors to assess if they were open door sleepers…neither appears to be 😎. 

 

Please excuse my "newbieness" but I'm curious about the interest in open door sleepers.  Is it because you can hear snoring or other sounds?  Does it impact your cabin temp or humidity if neighboring doors are open?  Smoking/vaping smells?

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

Please excuse my "newbieness" but I'm curious about the interest in open door sleepers.  Is it because you can hear snoring or other sounds?  Does it impact your cabin temp or humidity if neighboring doors are open?  Smoking/vaping smells?

Stateroom cabins are temperature controlled by master units. If someone sleeps with their balcony door open then it messes with (for lack of a more technical term) the a/c of neighbors on the same master unit. I have firsthand experience with this on MSC. My neighbor enjoyed sleeping with their balcony door open, thus deactivating our stateroom a/c…and it was miserable. I complained to the concierge but it didn’t really do much good. Since then, a room a/c report has become part of my standard practice…for all my fellow hot-stage-of-life friends 😊. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[riredsox]

On 7/4/2023 at 4:56 PM, mayleeman said:

@Georgia_Peaches Thanks for your updates. Sounds like you are wringing every bit of value our of this cruise!  Just sorry so much of it is focused on vaping. 🙊

 

On 7/4/2023 at 2:18 PM, Lastdance said:

Darn!  I just waited too long again this year; it is so nice to have a very light suitcase🤣

I wonder how the crew feel about these chartered cruises...okay, too much information.

I once had dinner at the Captains table (when they actually had a captains table) and it was with the chief engineer and the head of the shops.   They had just done a chartered nude cruise and said the passengers were all very respectful and nice.  They did dress for dinner but otherwise carried towels and put them down before sitting.   They crew have been trained to look straight ahead when walking around the ship.  The dinner was very funny with the stories they were telling.  

[Lastdance]

I think you can take a deduction on your taxes, as you were working for Cruise Critic on this cruise...😜

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise with all of us!

Edited July 8, 2023 by Lastdance

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, Lastdance said:

I think you can take a deduction on your taxes, as you were working for Cruise Critic on this cruise...😜

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise with all of us!

Idk if that’s in the tax code but worth a try 🤣

[bjahil47]

40 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Idk if that’s in the tax code but worth a try 🤣

As a retired IRS Agent I don’t think so unless you can get Cruise Critic to give you a paycheck.  Would be nice…just think of all the reviews we would have!  

[CunucuMom]

4 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Stateroom cabins are temperature controlled by master units. If someone sleeps with their balcony door open then it messes with (for lack of a more technical term) the a/c of neighbors on the same master unit. I have firsthand experience with this on MSC. My neighbor enjoyed sleeping with their balcony door open, thus deactivating our stateroom a/c…and it was miserable. I complained to the concierge but it didn’t really do much good. Since then, a room a/c report has become part of my standard practice…for all my fellow hot-stage-of-life friends 😊. 

Good to know!  Do they have anything in the room advising pax to not leave balcony doors open?  I would probably be "that guy" inadvertently throwing off the cabin temps of my fellow pax so I'm glad I asked.

Many thanks for a delightful trip report and best wishes for an uneventful and safe trip home.

[pd7277]

GP - Equinox put those high tops in the casino sometime after 2015.  I was surprised, think they were losing revenue from the slots they took out, but another way to look at it is this:  Usually it is either the husband or wife that gambles (I'm the gambling wife).  If my husband doesn't have a "happy place", then chances are neither of us are staying for too long.

We both have enjoyed our casino time on Equinox, him watching sports, me gambling.  Our next cruise is on Reflection which did not make the seating change. We will see how much time I spend playing with dice if there are only 10 bar stools available.😉

 

Vaping will be a no go for me.  Thanks for the report!

[Georgia_Peaches]

8 hours ago, pd7277 said:

GP - Equinox put those high tops in the casino sometime after 2015.  I was surprised, think they were losing revenue from the slots they took out, but another way to look at it is this:  Usually it is either the husband or wife that gambles (I'm the gambling wife).  If my husband doesn't have a "happy place", then chances are neither of us are staying for too long.

We both have enjoyed our casino time on Equinox, him watching sports, me gambling.  Our next cruise is on Reflection which did not make the seating change. We will see how much time I spend playing with dice if there are only 10 bar stools available.😉

 

Vaping will be a no go for me.  Thanks for the report!

Ahh, that makes sense.  The seating area wasn't there the last time we sailed Equinox but I too, am the gambling wife so very much agree that it's a great place for hubby to sit while I play.  Sadly, the banks of machines that were removed also happened to be some of my favorite (vintage) games...games like the original Zeus, Planet moolah, Block Party with the annoying sound effects, and Lil' Red...Oh well...nothing stays the same, I guess.  

 

As for Equinox itself, back then I remember it to be one of my least favorite S class ships but after this recent cruise (minus the vaping changes), it has easily become my favorite.

[SHIP TRAVELER]

GP Thank you for the great even handed review.  We have a blue chip cruise in our future and your feed back was helpful.  You addressed so many of the items I care about right down to the AC and food quality.  Now that Suites are so expensive and have such punishing cancellation policies many of us are seeing specialty restaurants as an alternative to Luminae.  My DH has never gotten used to the Butler knocking when we are trying to get ready to go out either mid-morning or before dinner.  There are many less intrusions in a veranda in OHO but I understand that Butlers need to meet the needs of more demanding people than us.

Again Thanks for your time and input.

[sunkey1]

On 7/4/2023 at 2:49 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

We went to Persian Garden today for our complimentary Elite perk visit. Can I just say, I’m glad we didn’t pay for a pass and had we booked an Aqua category because of the PG access alone, I’d be sorely disappointed. 
 

PG was attended by one gentleman on a heated lounger, DH and me. We helped ourselves to some ice water and then entered the steam room. It was exceptionally hot and after 10 minutes I was drenched in sweat. That’s fine and I appreciate a good sweat. But that was literally it!  We went into the aroma therapy room but it wasn’t operational. There is no snow room or coed dry sauna. If you want a sauna you can find one in the locker rooms but DH reported that the one in the men’s room wasn’t turned on. He did the rain shower while I dried off and collected my key. We spent longer in the line to get the access key (there was only one person behind the counter) than we did inside PG. I think this is one area in which Celebrity really falls short compared to MSC or NCL. 

Don't judge Celebrity's spa experience solely by the Equinox. From what I've heard, some of the other ships have wonderful spas. Same thing applies to judging lines by an individual ship - sailed the Carnival Magic last April and had that been my only Carnival cruise I would never have sailed them again. In contrast, I've sailed twice on the Carnival Mardi Gras as I enjoyed the ship that much.