Equinox or eclipse

We were on the equinox January 2014. Absolutely loved loved it. I'm looking at going on the eclipse I'm finding that the reviews are not as good as the equinox. So now I don't know if I should do the 10 day equinox or the 14 day eclipse Of course 14 day is better but is the eclipse equivalent to equinox. Thanks for your input:D

They are pretty much equivalent. It would help if you would tell us what you loved about Equinox -- the decor? The crew? The itinerary? The specialty restaurants? The Gastrobar? The size of the ship? etc. etc. Then we can tell you how the other ship stacks up against it.

The ships are very much the same, but oddly enough I prefer the Eclipse.

If you are looking at the 14 night Exotic Caribbean Cruise I would highly recommend it. Done it once, have it booked for 2016, and would do it every year if I could afford it. Make sure to get involved in your Roll Call.

Cheers, h.

Sent from the nether world using magic

Depends on the crew. The ships were nearly indiscernible. Just different art.

We were on the equinox January 2014. Absolutely loved loved it. I'm looking at going on the eclipse I'm finding that the reviews are not as good as the equinox. So now I don't know if I should do the 10 day equinox or the 14 day eclipse Of course 14 day is better but is the eclipse equivalent to equinox. Thanks for your input:D

Hi Eva,

While I'm partial to Eclipse - mostly for the 14 night itinerary, which is the best Celebrity Caribbean itinerary by far - and quite possibly the best Caribbean itinerary of any of it's competitors..... both Equinox and Eclipse are basically the same ship. We've found the Officers and Crew to always be outstanding on Eclipse.

At this moment, the biggest difference is that Equinox offers a venue called "Gastrobar", where her sister ships currently feature a Wine venue (Cellarmasters), which will eventually disappear, in favor of Gastrobar.

BTW, I'm sailing on Equinox in less than 3 weeks, so I will share my insights and possibly offer a comparison, should there be any major differences worth sharing, after I've returned home.

The bottom line ? Either way, I highly doubt you can go wrong, as they are beautiful ships. I hope this is helpful !

Thank you all for your replies I think our favorite thing on the equinox was the service we received. I may be odd but I mainly enjoy cruising for the time spent on the ship. So far. Celebrity has been the best.

On ship experiences vary greatly, even on the same cruise. We are just off the 11 day sail on the Equinox last Nov, and 3 couples rebooked the 10 day for Nov 2015. Yet another declined to rejoin us this year as they thought it was the worst cruise they have ever been on:eek:

Either ship would be a good choice, IMHO :D

EW

I just finished the 14 day Eclipse to Exotic Southern Carib. The trip was wonderful, the ship excellent. I could do this same one next year. Very nice crew and captain. The Cruise critic events were not well publicized but that would have been the only glitch. We found the food in the MDR was above average for ships. Deserts not to my taste but that was okay as I saved the calories. Lots of Elites on board so the evening cocktail event was crowded but we waited until 6 pm when it cleared some as the early dining people left for diner. We had a good time and met some nice people on board.

BTW, I'm sailing on Equinox in less than 3 weeks, so I will share my insights and possibly offer a comparison, should there be any major differences worth sharing, after I've returned home.

Andy, if possible, could you get pics of the MDR menus each night? The last menus I've seen have been from 2013.

Mahalo!:D

Well if the difference in cost immaterial to you and arranging the additional days for the longer cruise is no problem then I would for sure do the 14 day. The itinerary is great and the extra time a boon. I don't think that there is a significant enough physical difference between the two (wine cellar vs gastrobar? - neither matters much to us) that would push toward one or the other. They are pretty much identical twins, with Eclipse just 1 year newer. Both are maintained in magnificent condition. The significant difference if any might be the perceived quality of the staff and crew, but then how can you anticipate who might be actually running the ship in advance? Staff and crew are always changing. We have never had a Celebrity cruise where we experienced anything less than excellent staffing and crew, so its the last thing I worry about in making a choice. Also consider travel costs to get to the port. If they are high, like with airfare, then 14 vs 10 days is a much better bang for the buck as far as travel cost goes.

Hi Eva,

 

While I'm partial to Eclipse - mostly for the 14 night itinerary, which is the best Celebrity Caribbean itinerary by far - and quite possibly the best Caribbean itinerary of any of it's competitors..... both Equinox and Eclipse are basically the same ship. We've found the Officers and Crew to always be outstanding on Eclipse.

 

At this moment, the biggest difference is that Equinox offers a venue called "Gastrobar", where her sister ships currently feature a Wine venue (Cellarmasters), which will eventually disappear, in favor of Gastrobar.

 

BTW, I'm sailing on Equinox in less than 3 weeks, so I will share my insights and possibly offer a comparison, should there be any major differences worth sharing, after I've returned home.

 

The bottom line ? Either way, I highly doubt you can go wrong, as they are beautiful ships. I hope this is helpful !

Food is very subjective. Since you were on the Eclipse 11/23-12/07 as we were, we would appreciate your assessment of the food between the Eclipse and the Equinox. We thought the food on the Eclipse during that cruise was OK, nothing very good. We did not starve. LOL

 

BTW, I'm sailing on Equinox in less than 3 weeks, so I will share my insights and possibly offer a comparison, should there be any major differences worth sharing, after I've returned home.

 

The bottom line ? Either way, I highly doubt you can go wrong, as they are beautiful ships. I hope this is helpful !

Hi Eva,

We have done 2 on each, but we prefer the Equinox. I am not sure why, perhaps it was because it was the first cruise ship we ever sailed on, and just has good memories for us. There really is not much to chose between the two, in my opinion.

We are however also sailing on the Equinox (as is Host Andy) in less then three weeks and once again are really looking forward to it.

We were on the equinox January 2014. Absolutely loved loved it. I'm looking at going on the eclipse I'm finding that the reviews are not as good as the equinox. So now I don't know if I should do the 10 day equinox or the 14 day eclipse Of course 14 day is better but is the eclipse equivalent to equinox. Thanks for your input:D

We were on the Jan.26 trip last year on Eclipse(our first Celebrity trip)We loved it so much we booked the Jan.18 trip this year. Hopefully it will be as good as last year.

We've sailed both. Food, ship, entertainment,. crew on both were stellar. You will love either ship if you go with an open heart and open mind. Forget the small stuff and embrace all the positive and you will have a great time on either ship. Greet crew members with a smile and a warm THANK YOU and you will receive amazing service. I find some folks make a living out of finding something to complain about if YKWIM and this misery/negativity is a breeding ground for contempt from the crew (although they do their utmost to hide it).

I really liked the Eclipse itinerary (exotic southern). Our Eclipse trip had a lot of brits onboard (as there was a crossing right after our sailing so a lot were doing b2b) so some food was catered to them especially in the buffet - no complaints as I am british born and we LOVED the fish and chips and the curries! And no worries there was still lots of "American fare" to be found.We tried Quisine and the Tuscany grill on Eclipse both were excellent. Absolutely nothing wrong with Equinox - I found the Captain was ever-present often eating in the DR at a regular table beside us or in the café in the morning - I found him to be the most accessible captain on any cruise ship we've ever sailed. We love the jazz bar on these ships pre dinner- we renamed it the "coolcat lounge". Sine I had the drink package (123 program), by the second night the waiters have my pre-dinner kir royale awaiting me as we approached the bar and a different special "nightcap" martini each night (better than the showy martini bar) - waiters are amazing at this bar. The gym/spa services are wonderful (check out specials on first day and in your daily - often there are daily "packages" at spa for good savings/value).

I think the Eclipse made better use of the lawn with sail away "picnic" parties and more activities - or I just didn't discover it on Equinox.

My fave is the Sillouette but her itineraries are only 7 day so we wont be sailing her for a while.

You will love either ship. Solstice class are wonderful vessels and I cant wait to be back onboard!

The Eclipse , Equinox, and now Reflection, are mainly the same ship.

Eclipse, and equinox, one is about 10 feet longer? The Reflection is a floor off, and a shorter platform on Bow top. Go into detail for example

Reflection Deck 14 is now a pool, and café, not like Deck 12 pool only, deck 14 café.

ships cruise, something different, your choice to go a 12, or 14 day.

to be aboard two differently named ships, no difference at all. Just on the Reflection you'll notice those changes of the identical ship.

Both the Eclipse and Equinox are built better, the Reflection is a very noisy ship,

I think both ships are great. Having done the Eclipse in Dec 2013 and a b2b on the Equinox Dec. 2014, I can say we loved them both. The Eclipse itinerary is hard to beat and for the itinerary alone we would choose it. You can't go wrong with either of them.