My tales from the Equinox inaugural

[lucky white heather]

My experience of the Equinox Inaugural was ....WOW !! and Where....??

Wow , what a gorgeous ship,[ as is the Solstice, which I also loved, ] a Wow for the crew members, [ excluding the entertainment staff ] who were amazing, and a Wow for the food.

The Where is for ...where are the things to do ? There were virtually no quizzes, and the ones they did were at 9am. [ !] no games etc, [ one Battle of the Sexes ? ] and all day long the activities were centered around spending money in the spa, visiting the gym, visiting the casino, etc. [The hot glass show is the exception ....they were entertaining and informative. ]

The biggest Where ? is reserved for where were all the great live entertainers in the evening..they appeared to entertain the 6.15 diners, then disappeared, then appeared again after 8.45 diners went in to dinner, apart from the odd times they started at 8.30 the other side of the ship from the dining room ! . This was not just for one evening...but almost every night. ! Did any one else on 2nd. sitting feel this way ?

 

We only did the pre -inaugural 2 nighter so cannot comment but would be pleased to hear any responses to this post too

[Moeve]

We did the first 2 nighter out of Emshaven and not everything had been unpacked yet - including the soap dishes...... We were one of the few who went to inspect the medical facility and on our way there we saw stacks of boxes with all sorts of goodies still missing.

 

Someone mentioned that this ship didin't have the bells and whistles like RCCL while that is correct it just isn't part of the =X= concept. The Equinox however fits the =X= concept perfectly. Bearing that in mind this ship is down right gorgous and we are now really looking forward to going in January.

 

I found the show "Equinox" fabulous and I am not really a show sort of person - I don't always go to them but this one really caught on.

 

I don't like this coinless casino!! What fun is there printing a piece of paper and no clanking?

Over and above that I oppose useing my sea pass to play since I only play with a limit every night.

[Morris4me]

I don't like this coinless casino!! What fun is there printing a piece of paper and no clanking?

Over and above that I oppose useing my sea pass to play since I only play with a limit every night.

 

Is the SeaPass the only option for gambling in the casino? I called Celebrity on this recently and was told they accept cash in the machines.

[hellosailer]

Is the SeaPass the only option for gambling in the casino? I called Celebrity on this recently and was told they accept cash in the machines.

 

Certainly do accept cash in the machines- notes. Just don't give it back to you ROTFL!!!:D:D

 

When you press the cashing out button, there is a very poor imitation sound of cascading coins and then a ticket emerges which you can either cash at the Cashiers or put in another machine. Spoilsports:eek::eek:

 

WelshWizard hit the nail on the head. Lovely ship - but where's the fun? Such a pity and a wasted opportunity, as there were many Cunarders and P&Os on board who felt the same!! They were not converted!!

[coxswain]

Certainly do accept cash in the machines- notes. Just don't give it back to you ROTFL!!!:D:D

 

When you press the cashing out button, there is a very poor imitation sound of cascading coins and then a ticket emerges which you can either cash at the Cashiers or put in another machine. Spoilsports:eek::eek:

 

WelshWizard hit the nail on the head. Lovely ship - but where's the fun? Such a pity and a wasted opportunity, as there were many Cunarders and P&Os on board who felt the same!! They were not converted!!

 

 

 

Oh i loved the tickets on the IOS i saved them all up and cashed them on the day before last - broke about evens lol

 

 

 

 

 

jj......

[hellosailer]

Oh i loved the tickets on the IOS i saved them all up and cashed them on the day before last - broke about evens lol

 

 

jj......

 

Well, I don't WANT to know how I did!!! :D:D

[ZiggyKeys]

So, bottom line.... has Celebrity hit a home run with the Solstice class ???

 

Ziggy

[hellosailer]

Tough one to answer!! We would need to see the figures!!!

 

However, I do think that the concensus of opinion was that the entertainment staff and programming require attention - big time!!!

[aberdeinquine]

We too were disappointed in the entertainment -or rather lack of !:mad: Like Welsh Wizards I wondered why they had a quiz at 9am -we did turn up for a later quiz on the last sea day but there was nobody there! We were only about 2 mins late but saw no staff !:confused: We enjoyed the music but it was not exactly "interactive" -they just usually played and did not engage with the passengers. On others ships the entertainers have done requests or maybe a music quiz at around 10pm . Shows were ok -I was expecting a WOW for a new ship but sadly it was good not great just good.

 

The ship was lovely,the scenery beautiful but overall celebrity could do better :rolleyes:

Hello Sailer -Love the idea of an interactive/singalong Mama Mia-thats the sort of thing they should have on on a sea day afternoon!:)

[uktog]

Can you remember who any of the acts were that were brought on for the Theatre?

 

Whilst the second night show on Equinox was not quite what we prefer but it is always good to look at alternative shows and be "challenged". I would have a problem though if this was the formulae for everyone of the "big" shows.

 

For us we thought the entertainment looked about the same as is always on X - we prefer this to the more lively RCL ships and in fact are also happy on the even more sedate Azamara

[hellosailer]

Hmm...... well, these are contemporary ships!! Sedate wasn't the word - it was almost non-existent!!

 

Trouble is that these are large ships - HAL does sedate very well as do some of the British lines - its a question of competition. No reason why there can't be more variety without disturbing those who wish for sedate!! Question is, with ships this size and modern expectations, are these going to be successful financially? Hope so - don't want to use my share certificates for loo paper!!

 

Lynsey Hamilton, Pete Matthews? - loony juggler, and an American Karen something. High energy gal - not crazy about the act. Seen the other two previously - two or three times. The two Broadway-type productions - not very exciting and poor choreography!! I liked Equinox but many did not!!

 

The programme was extremely badly planned. Very strange. Disappointing.

[ZiggyKeys]

About the shows....

From what I'm reading in this thread it sounds like these shows, that probably would consume 3 to 4 hrs of cruise time for say a 10 day cruise, would turn off alot of potential customers.

 

I'm guessing it's a very tough nut to crack when trying to please everyone, but I would not let staged entertainment stand in the way of making a decision on which cruise to take.

 

JMHO.

[hellosailer]

About the shows....

From what I'm reading in this thread it sounds like these shows, that probably would consume 3 to 4 hrs of cruise time for say a 10 day cruise, would turn off alot of potential customers.

 

I'm guessing it's a very tough nut to crack when trying to please everyone, but I would not let staged entertainment stand in the way of making a decision on which cruise to take.

 

JMHO.

 

The staged entertainment was not the issue - it was the rest of it!! We cruise so often we expect to see the same acts over and over!!:eek:

 

Programming at strange times etc. Most of it seemed to be 'Spa Sales'. i.e. makeup, reflexology etc. etc. No film on a sea day when we struggled to find something to do. Next day in port - film!! Yadda yadda yadda. Difficult to explain - never had a problem on any other ship. Was on Prinsendam last year for three weeks - no problem!!

[WELSH WIZARDS]

Our disappointmemt also was not with the evening shows, as we normally miss the staged productions, and just watch the individual entertainers, it was the lack of things to do in the day time , and the bad timing of the few things that were arranged that disappointed us. If you check my past sailings you will see our favorite line is Celebrity and our favourite trips are TA's , so we love sea days, and have never , [ before sailing on the Solstice and Equinox ] had all day with nothing appealing to do. Usually we do not find enough time in the day to fit things in.

[Bestbubba]

Our disappointmemt also was not with the evening shows, as we normally miss the staged productions, and just watch the individual entertainers, it was the lack of things to do in the day time , and the bad timing of the few things that were arranged that disappointed us. If you check my past sailings you will see our favorite line is Celebrity and our favourite trips are TA's , so we love sea days, and have never , [ before sailing on the Solstice and Equinox ] had all day with nothing appealing to do. Usually we do not find enough time in the day to fit things in.

 

We are sailing on the TA in November too and this is all beginning to sound a little worrying. We love the sea days on TAs and as Jennie says, sometimes it's hard to fit everything in...looks like that won't be a problem this time:(

 

Sue

[excitedofharpenden]

We are sailing on the TA in November too and this is all beginning to sound a little worrying. We love the sea days on TAs and as Jennie says' date=' sometimes it's hard to fit everything in...looks like that won't be a problem this time:(

 

Sue[/size']

Sue, I really wouldn't worry too much. Remember this was the first revenue sailing of a new ship. There are always going to be details that need sorting, both organisational and physical. By the time of the TA I'm sure they'll have it pretty well down pat for those sea days

 

Phil

[Bestbubba]

Sue, I really wouldn't worry too much. Remember this was the first revenue sailing of a new ship. There are always going to be details that need sorting, both organisational and physical. By the time of the TA I'm sure they'll have it pretty well down pat for those sea days

 

Phil

 

I'm sure you're right Phil. (Well I think I'm sure;)) This is our first Celebrity cruise, plenty of Princess & RCI cruises under our belts, and we are really looking forward to trying something new.

 

Sue

[hellosailer]

Sue, I really wouldn't worry too much. Remember this was the first revenue sailing of a new ship. There are always going to be details that need sorting, both organisational and physical. By the time of the TA I'm sure they'll have it pretty well down pat for those sea days

 

Phil

 

Exactly my thoughts - at first!! Until I realised that the Cruise Director was the one from the Solstice - surely he had enough experience to produce a reasonable programme from day one? He had sufficient notice to do so after all:D:D

 

I truly believe that they need some young blood and new thinking for these lovely, contemporary ships. They are large enough to cater for both an older,sedate, crowd and those 'not so old' - it was just lacking in any energy at all!! Made HAL look jumping!! We know that these are not family oriented ships, but really, this was just not good enough!! Lots of bored cruisers!!!

 

I already know of two people who have cancelled and gone over to RCCL ta's.