Equinox - Sweet, Suite Life

Royal suite and above.

Sodas, water and beers to your preference. We let the butler know first day what we wanted and it magically re stocks. As you also have the drinks package you could top up yourself during the day if necessary.

Two bottles of spirit changed to our preference.

Items not included were mini spirit bottles and wine. As previously mentioned we simply asked them to be removed to avoid confusion.

It has been really handy on lazy afternoons like today when we have sat on the balcony and watched the world go by.....also handy on trip mornings to just get bottles of water out of the fridge.

A skr suite is still very nice! If you have a drink package just pick up what you want occasional and bring it to the cabin. It not you can bring as much onboard as you like and send it to your cabin as you would luggage. Enjoy!

Happy sailing,

Jenna

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We tried bistro on 5 for lunch last port day. It had nice soups but the mains are a bit heavy for us if fine dining later. Today we returned to the cafe, the ease of just getting a quick snack appealed to us more than sitting down to a meal. Fortunately the cafe was a little less crowded today.

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Thank you for the review! We will be on the Equinox in a few days. We Can't wait!

Does the Equinox have the new Bistro on 5 menu yet? I saw a picture of the new one and would love to be able to try that while we are on-board!

Thanks!

Not sure is it was a new menu or not as we have never visited before.

Our menu had soups, Caesar chicken salad and a range of crepes and paninis.

There were also desert items but we did not get that far.

Sea day today and luminae was open for brunch. Food very, very nice and there was a menu to accommodate all. There were significant heavier items but also a lovely butternut squash soup and prawn Caesar salad for those of us who want to save some appetite for later. Husband and son both loved their BLTs. Service was excellent again and our waiter showed us the menus for the next two nights enabling us plan and blend luminae with speciality restaurant choices.

Last night we completed our trio of specialities with silk harvest. We booked this late and were very impressed with the managers willingness to accommodate us. Food very good and special points for the wine waiter who filled our glasses and left the bottle on the table and kept returning to replenish. I do not know why but I did find this more 'normal' than being asked if we wanted another glass of wine as we have in other restaurants. Don't get me wrong we have had no difficulty with our glasses being replenished (or with the wine quality). I guess it is just after so many years of buying a bottle I have found being served by the glass a little odd.

We also accessed a captains club event after lunch. Rossy is really lovely and she tries so hard to look after all the guests. It was really nice to see the event so well attended.

Michael's club has music again this evening. I do not think we will manage to be there tonight but do feel very strongly that events in Michael's really do add to the quality of a suite life experience.

As always (at least for the next few days) please do not hesitate to ask any questions.

With only two days of our cruise remaining I thought I would complete a review of the new perks to help you decide if the suite life is for you. As a newby to posting reports I lost my draft so apologies if you do end up with two sets of comments.

Accommodation. The royal suite continues to be a lovely room and we have enjoyed having the free minibar.

Drinks package. As cruisers who are not big daytime drinkers we probably would not have bought the package but we have enjoyed it. It has been great not signing slips and we have also enjoyed speciality coffees. Following reviews we had read we were concerned about the wine available within the package (we are not wine buffs but we know what we like). In all venues, however, our tastes were accommodated.

Wifi. We have all enjoyed the package, keeping in touch with family and friends and for me writing my first ever report for cruise critic.

Michael's club. We have used other bars around the ship but have really enjoyed meeting the same group of people in the evening for pre and post dinner drinks. We have also enjoyed the events planned and entertainment provided. Our concierge, Mellica, has quite simply been outstanding. She takes great pride in her role and wants to ensure that everyone has the best vacation possible. Norbert, and the rest of the bar staff have made made our vacation very, very special.

Unlimited speciality dining. We have really enjoyed this. It has been great in the morning to look at the luminae menu for the day and if it is not to our taste, or we simply fancy a change of venue, we can do so.

Luminae. On our last cruise as suite guests we felt guilty invading Blu everyday for breakfast. Luminae has given us a home base. The menus are innovative, use quality ingredients and service is stunning. Our waiter, Edin, quickly worked out our preferences and has made every effort to make our time in the restaurant special. The lack of lunchtime venue on port days has not been a big deal to us but we are aware that other suite guests have been disapointed by this. It is a difficult call. The staff need time off, it would be a waste opening if only a few guests attended....perhaps a way forward could be an enhanced lunchtime room service menu.

Have we enjoyed the suite life? Oh yes, very, very much!

Great Comments!

~Steve

Thanks so much for taking the time to post. I have enjoyed reading your comments. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Shirley

Our sincere thanks to the staff and fellow guests on the Equinox this sailing. It has been wonderful. Thanks also to those who read and responded to my reports -a first for me. I will now return to becoming an avid reader!

Our sincere thanks to the staff and fellow guests on the Equinox this sailing. It has been wonderful. Thanks also to those who read and responded to my reports -a first for me. I will now return to becoming an avid reader!

Thank you for your reports. Have a safe journey home. Hope you can get through the front door for all the election junk mail that will have arrived whilst you were away! We are glad to be escaping it all on Tuesday.

A gratuity is a gratuity, regardless of where it came from, or how (or even when) it is presented.

Just sayin'....

Sorry for posting the previous comment in this topic. By the time I realized I had mis-posted it, it was too late to edit or retract.

Sorry for posting the previous comment in this topic. By the time I realized I had mis-posted it, it was too late to edit or retract.

Cheryl,

This isn't a big deal but ,in the future, if you have mis posted you can always click that red triangle in the upper right corner and "report" yourself. In the "reason for reporting box" just write that you are the poster and you wrote in the wrong thread - or whatever the reason is that you want your own post removed.

And chemmo - thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the wonderful and informative review of the suite life. We will be sailing Equinox in July for the first time. Actually, our second cruise period. We booked a Sky Suite and will have our adventurous 6 year old with us. On our first cruise a couple of years ago on the Explorer of the Seas we had a small room and it was fine. For a number of reasons we are booking a suite and looking forward to the extras. I am not sure how this will all work for us with our son, but it will be an adventure! Thanks again.

I hope you have a great time on your upcoming cruise! One of the benefits of having a suite, which I did not comment on really whilst writing my review as I was focusing on the new suite enhancements was the additional space! With a child travelling with you extra room is a real bonus.

Just a few thoughts.

Luminae did have some children dining. A couple of families with very well behaved young children and another family with a teenage boy who did not look like he was enjoying the food much! As adults we did find the menu quite limited (4 entree dishes) and many of the portions large. We did miss the safety net of the MDR left side. We did ourselves request some off menu items some days and also used the specialist restaurants. We would suggest at breakfast each day you look at the evening menu and then you can let your waiter know in advance if you would like alternatives. The wait staff really appreciated you doing this rather than requesting changes last minute. It will also mean that you waiting time to be served will be kept to a minimum, important if your son does get tired in the evening.

I talked to a mother on the ship who had said that the children's club was great but that they had felt that there were limited shared parent/child activities. In particular she said the family had missed having 'crazy golf'. We did notice ourselves that the lawn club did not always have boules etc. out. After a day or two we did request them. They were there but unless you asked they did not seem to promote the lawn activities. The board room games tended to be more adult focused too so packing a couple of younger child card games etc may be worth while.

Have a great time!

Thanks so much for the comments. Our son is 6 going on 30. He really fashions himself as a professional. He LOVES "dressing fancy". The three of us eat dinner together all the time and he likes fancy places (although his pallet is still hot dogs, mac&cheese, chicken).

I think hanging out with older-than-average parents and no siblings has an effect. That being said, I am hopeful he will be very charming and well-behaved in a room like Luminae. If not, we are not the kind of parents that would ruin other guest's time and we would seek dining elsewhere. I, for one, am looking forward to the food!!!

His last cruise he was too young and uninterested many of the Kid's activities. I am hoping this will be different this time around so that mom and dad can have a little adult time and see a show or something.

Yes, on bringing things to keep him busy and games. Likely people will see him and dad lounging poolside a lot. I will make sure they have the lawn boules out. He will like that.

My wife has a food allergy and will no doubt will be scrutinizing the menus each day. Good advice! I understand that the line is very accommodating to food allergies when informed in advance.

Again, Chemmo and others, thanks for the helpful comments. After booking this cruise and the suite we started second-guessing ourselves.

Some years ago we were in the same place as you. We were a professional couple with a young son wanting a family holiday and some 'my time' for the grown ups. I am sure you really son will enjoy, as much as ours did, the dining experience. Don't forget if he gets over tired you can request in suite dining which could give him an early night.

Liaise with your waiter and I am sure all your dietary needs can be met.

On this, and on our last cruise, we probably spent more time talking with officers than ever before. Their clear message was 'tell us your problem as it arises and give us chances to sort it.' Well I can not really find a problem from our last cruise....The message is obvious, however, they do genuinely want guests going home with the wow feeling. If you do have any problems on your cruise share it with your butler, waiter.....

Have a great time!!!!

Can you comment on the different entertainment they had in Michael's Club?

Diane

4 special events in Michael's club on our recent cruise included:

1. Live soloists at 7:45p

2. Officers cocktail party on formal night (that's entertainment I guess?)

3. Sushi rolling demo in the afternoon on a sea day 3pm I think

4. Another soloist music performance in the evening

I've seen other parties and entertainment as well, but this was what I think there was on our most recent cruise on Summit. It will vary cruise to cruise and concierge to concierge.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

We have had Michael's club on three different ships now since it started last April.

Each was a little different but they all had a similar pattern of a couple of evenings with live music (on Equinox a guitarist, two classicists and a pianist). We also had a cocktail party first formal night with the captain and officers (on Solstice the captain came and joined us on a few other evenings too).

We also had an afternoon tea which was really nice. No sushi making though!

The entertainment times varied.

There was an event presentation by future cruises too. We did not attend this as we already are committed to two more cruises and do enjoy other types of holidays too. When we spoke with others in the evening one couple said it had been very interesting whereas another had said it had been a waste of time.

The waiters really are stunning and will go out of their way to get you any drink you want. During the day they have tasty little plates if you pop in. On one port day when we really could not face lunch we did enjoy these pretty little snacks!

Michael's on Equinox was quieter than on the Solstice and Summit. I think that this may be a reflection that those in penthouses and royal suites now have the drinks package. We did drink in other bars but did enjoy having our home base (and Norbert) for our pre and post dinner drinks.

Michael's is also where you concierge is based. Do ask her if you want anything arranging and she really will try her best for you.

Hope this information is useful to you.

Thank you Jenna and Chemmo. Information is much appreciated. We will be on a TA so I am looking forward to something different.

Diane

On a TA I am sure your Michael's club host will want to put a really good package together for you. If you can think of some possible events/activities you would enjoy let them know. Personally, I keep meaning to ask for some lessons on towel sculpture......