Equinox Redeployment

When I read this posting about Equinox being brought back to the Caribbean, I immediately called Celebrity and found a great cruise on April 24, 2017 with three days in New Orleans from Miami!!! Great Itinerary which they call a Jazz Cruise and today, I checked the website and the suites are already sold out!!

Trish

Is it just me or did the prices jump overnight? I booked on opening day for the May 5 sailing and it's now $800 more than what I paid.

 

I guess everyone is leaping on these!

I booked the 11/6 10 day in AQ on Tuesday. The price tonight is up by $570!!!

Our Sky Suite on August 6th has also gone up more than $500 since I booked it on Tuesday...I guess the Caribbean cruises on the Equinox are selling well!

Good thing we booked when we did.

Shawn

The one thing you can expect with these summer sailings are lots of kids, that many Celebrity cruisers aren't used to seeing.

The one thing you can expect with these summer sailings are lots of kids, that many Celebrity cruisers aren't used to seeing.

True. A USA Today article (link below) addresses that, saying:

"Summer cruising means families, so Celebrity is beefing up its Fun Factory kids club on Equinox with a summer learning program that involves science adventures, making videos and other edutainment programs." (Unfortunate spelling error). :rolleyes:

I know that Adventure Ocean (the kid's program on Royal Caribbean), does a great job of keeping them busy and happy. We had 700 kids in the program on Voyager OTS, and you would never have known! Love that Celebrity will be in the Caribbean next summer!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/07/20/celebrity-equinox-caribbean/87341416/?csp=travel

When I read this posting about Equinox being brought back to the Caribbean, I immediately called Celebrity and found a great cruise on April 24, 2017 with three days in New Orleans from Miami!!! Great Itinerary which they call a Jazz Cruise and today, I checked the website and the suites are already sold out!!

Trish

Does anyone know whether tickets for the Jazz Fest will be available through Celebrity? I visited the official website (which feeds into Ticketron) and they state that tickets aren't available. Yet, ticket resale websites have tickets for sale at 2x or more the face value. If you can't get tickets for the days Equinox is in port, the Jazz Cruise aspect is somewhat lacking.

Throwing this question out to the folks who have already booked and spoken with Celebrity - have they talked about this at all? Or are they just filling the cabins and not dealing with the music?

True. A USA Today article (link below) addresses that, saying:

 

"Summer cruising means families, so Celebrity is beefing up its Fun Factory kids club on Equinox with a summer learning program that involves science adventures, making videos and other edutainment programs." (Unfortunate spelling error). :rolleyes:

I know that Adventure Ocean (the kid's program on Royal Caribbean), does a great job of keeping them busy and happy. We had 700 kids in the program on Voyager OTS, and you would never have known! Love that Celebrity will be in the Caribbean next summer!

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/07/20/celebrity-equinox-caribbean/87341416/?csp=travel

Edutainment is actually the new buzz word for combining education and entertainment. So no spelling errors. Just a new term.

The one thing you can expect with these summer sailings are lots of kids, that many Celebrity cruisers aren't used to seeing.

Which is why I booked a fall cruise after school starts :). I have been a loyal Princess cruiser but the special was too good to pass up. I'm looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise.

Edutainment is actually the new buzz word for combining education and entertainment. So no spelling errors. Just a new term.

Thank you, I definitely learn something new every day! Although (via google), the term edutainment has been around since as early as 1948, by The Walt Disney Company. :)

I am seeing Equinox scheduled for the Caribbean from this November through March 31, 2018. 7 night cruises beginning June 4, 2017 with the longer ones mixed in from September to November. They will switch to Port of Miami as of April 4, 2017.

 

Does anyone know for sure about switching to MIA on April 4? We are still showing as scheduled for FLL on April 14.

What is the deadline for booking these new Equinox sailings that come with all 4 perks (Go Best)? Somehow I thought it was today (July 23), but the fine print on the =X= website says August 31. Can anyone clarify? Thanks!

I would book sooner than later. These new itineraries are filling up and going up in price quickly. Must have been a built up demand for a Celebrity ship year round in the Caribbean. Of course, this awesome special, with low prices and all 4 perks, doesn't hurt.

I would book sooner than later. These new itineraries are filling up and going up in price quickly. Must have been a built up demand for a Celebrity ship year round in the Caribbean. Of course, this awesome special, with low prices and all 4 perks, doesn't hurt.

I agree, and I'm already booked. It's just that I told a friend of mine that today was the deadline to get all 4 perks, but am thinking I may be wrong on that!

Others are posting that their cabin rates have increased already in the few days this has been known. I think they are probably the Suites though. My balcony cabin in Sept 2017 still shows the original price and perks - at least last night it did.

What is the deadline for booking these new Equinox sailings that come with all 4 perks (Go Best)? Somehow I thought it was today (July 23), but the fine print on the =X= website says August 31. Can anyone clarify? Thanks!

We were told August 31 when we called Captain's Club. But, cabins seem to be selling quickly :)

We were told August 31 when we called Captain's Club. But, cabins seem to be selling quickly :)

Thanks. I called my friend and lit a fire under him, so he's all booked now, too! ;)

Thanks. I called my friend and lit a fire under him, so he's all booked now, too! ;)[/quote

 

 

Good thinking. We have friends boarding the Silhouette on Monday who are waiting til they are on board to book one of Equinox cruises. I'll be interested to see what the cabin availability is then. It's too good of a deal to let pass!

Booked the 11/6 last night through my big online agency, just received the invoice.

In addition to "Go Best" Celebrity gave us a $250 "Loyalty Credit" as a price reduction (have no idea where that came from) and $150 obc for post-cruise thank U promotion. TA threw in additional obc, so all-in-all a great deal.

BTW saw cabins disappearing from inventory as we booked.

Booked the 11/6 last night through my big online agency, just received the invoice.

 

In addition to "Go Best" Celebrity gave us a $250 "Loyalty Credit" as a price reduction (have no idea where that came from) and $150 obc for post-cruise thank U promotion. TA threw in additional obc, so all-in-all a great deal.

 

BTW saw cabins disappearing from inventory as we booked.

We just booked 11/6/17 too, what is the Loyalty credit and how do I get it too?

Thanks,

EW

I'll get on the RC in a bit, we have 8-10 others from previous cruises booking this one too.:)

I booked the 11/6 10 day in AQ on Tuesday. The price tonight is up by $570!!!

We booked it on Friday! See ya on the Roll Call.

EW

Bill and Rosie we love your videos (calorie free desserts at CHOPS lol)

Sailed with you one time on Serenade on a Jan 23 2010 cruise. Whenever I miss cruising I look at one of your videos. Just looked at your Jan 2016 B2B.

 

As far as repositioning of the Equinox, if you look at any online booking site they are offering 85% off Celebrity cruises in the Mediteranean. You can't make money like that. Who knows what the political climate will be next year, probably worse. Plus if I was a RCI shareholder I would be alarmed if management decided to risk putting a billion dollar ship in harm's way (nice target for terrorists). I'm showing my age but I remember the Achille Lauro incident where the terrorists invaded the ship and threw one of the passengers in a wheelchair off the ship (rest in peace Leon Klinghoffer).

 

As far as depending on passengers from Antarctica and the North Pole I have no comment on that. I'm glad you are happy enjoying your Celebrity cruises.

 

It would be nice if Celebrity would offer more longer voyages than just the 10 or 11 day cruises.

 

In the meantime my sister who lives with blindfolds on is going on a river cruise down the Seine flying back to the States from Paris. Oh boy.

Yes, I remember you...

Thanks for the very kind words about my videos, they are a labor of LOVE!

I will be On Celebrity Equinox in December 2016 and again in February 2017, so what for new videos...

BILL

The last thing I want to do is cruise the Caribbean :(

I was just going to post the same to Bill. We were "almost" on the same cruise once, but I found another one form my home port so I switched.:)

Love the videos, Bill.

And thank you to you too....:):):)

BILL

The last thing I want to do is cruise the Caribbean :(

And there is no reason you have to. There are still plenty of ships sailing Europe next summer, although if sales do not pick up, there may be more ships being redeployed away from there. I don't believe for one minute that the reason for Equinox's redeployment was because people have been clamoring for Celebrity to sail the Caribbean in summer. Its because sales were too soft in Europe. They put their ships where they feel they will get the highest fares.

If you have any hope of doing a transatlantic on Celebrity, for a decent price, maybe you should look at doing it this fall, even though those prices don't look that great. Taking 3,000 passengers from next years capacity will probably make the prices soar. Supply and demand.

Very astute observation... especially considering Constellation has also been taken off the transatlantic run. :cool:

Alas... my days of cruising Celebrity for $30pp/day may be over... :( :rolleyes:

BUT... I got a nice deal on Brilliance OTS for April. 14 nights, Tampa to Barcelona, in an Ocean View, for $699pp with $550 OBC. :eek: :D ;)