Equinox 7/23-30 Review: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Quick review of our 7/23-30th Caribbean Cruise on the Equinox. This was our 2nd run on this ship as we did a Mediterranean Cruise in August 2014.

The ship is still in nice condition, our room was still in relatively good shape. The open spaces were still glorious and to me, laid out well. The Meet and Greet was a little odd. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, and Celebrity's crew came down and met us and juices and danishes were available. The down side....and maybe I'm being a little petty....we wound up 1 exchange gift short, so I came up empty handed (Boo-hoo),....but that's a chance you take...

San Juan: Took the Bacardi tour (thru Celebrity) and it could not have gone any better. Our bus driver (Alex) was entertaining and funny. Tour was nice. Next time, I will make the time to visit the castles.

St. Thomas: Rumporium Tour was cancelled the night before (thru Celebrity), due to lack of interest. That was disappointing, but in the end it worked out. Took a shuttle to downtown, and got hooked up with a tour guide 'Luen's Taxi'.....the guy was amazing!!! Great sights, including a look above at Maegan's Bay from Lookout Mountain. Some great stops If you're in Charlotte Amalie, and need somethingto do, or place to go, lookup Luen.

St. Martin: No plan. Walked up the pier, and shot a water taxi over to the beach and just chilled....well....not REALLY. It was HOT! Grabbed a couple of loungers and an umbrella for $20, plus a bucket of 3 beers and 2 waters and laid on the beach for a couple of hours. The water...the sand...the views....PERFECT!!! Be prepared however, you will see a number of ladies tempting you with their wares, but after about 30 minutes or so, they will move along. I get it. Tourism is where they pay their bills. And maybe you need a St. Martin scarf, purse, bag, towel or an aloe backrub. They have it all.

We rented the chairs and accessories and got the drinks from the Lazy Lizard. We chose to hit that place for lunch. Delicious. It's rated #1 on Tripadvisor for a reason. Met Nik, the owner. Very good dude!!! Food was fantastic.

Ship specifics, or as I say.....shipcefics! Sunset Bar; cannot beat the views and Zanu the bartender is THE MAN!! Oceanview Cafe, ranged from better than average to 'meh'. You won't remember any of it, but they do have plenty of selections. I had 2 rough breakfast items. Cold scramble eggs once, and then I attempted an omelet after my friends raved about theirs, and wasn't impressed. Mast Grill; back to inclusive in your meals, but my advice is to skip. Sadly, probably the worst meal of the trip.

Deserving to be singled out is the Silhouette Restaurant where we ate every dinner. While we booked 'Anytime' dining, after 2 days we had it moved to a 6pm seating with our waitstaff, headlined by Carlton and assisted by Vira. They were spectacular. Carlton is excellent at his job. Communicates beautifully, a wonderful sense of humor and having worked for Celebrity for 10 years, he knows what he's doing and how it's all supposed to be done. And they work so well, without being overbearing. Sit back, relax and enjoy a fine meal. To David, our bar runner, I hope he's yours as well. Great young man, who genuinely seemed excited to see us, whether it was in the restaurant, theater or Cafe Al Bacio. And he WILL remember what your beverage(s) of choice.

Speaking of Al Bacio....coffee, delicious, and their snacks were as well. Gelateria, while we visited only once was fine. Didn't feel compelled to go back. Gastrobar was fine. Martini Bar in the evening puts on some flair (or is it 'flare?). We were only asked the first day (several times) if we were interested in upgrading to premium (we passed). The Classic suited us well.

Solarium was nice and quiet, but some very odd, and uncomfortable square box type chairs, Only 4 of them I recall. Loungers were good. Didn't see the chair hog domination as I have in the past.......until you go check out the pool area.

Our room steward, Dimitri was great and anytime we requested anything, it happened immediately. My only complaint about the room, was the curtains were starting to show some wear on them. The ends of them have velcro strips to attach in the evening, and they were worn out. Worthless, should be replaced. But that's it. Everything else was top notch. BTW - Veranda Room 6120.

Entertainment was spotty which was too bad, because the opening night show (Elysium) was incredible. Only to find out that the lead singer was performing her last show. Too bad!! Saw 2 comedians (first comedian......wish I had that time back)(second comedian, was very good). Bingo...meh....pretty expensive for 4 games with the cheapest card package at $39 for 3 cards. Spent a little time in the casino (and came home a winner!!!)

Overall....2 trips with Celebrity after 2 with Princess and 1 Carnival....my opinion? We booked and Alaskan Cruise for June on the Solstice. The exact same trip we did years ago on the Golden Princess. The staff is BY FAR the best staff I have the pleasure to encounter on a cruise. Loved them!!! We felt like we were treated like Kings and Queens, from our room stewards, to the restaurant, the casino, even the onboard shops. Kudos to Celebrity....

The ugly......I found, at times, the way people talked to the staff reprehensible and disgusting. I cannot fathom what makes some people feel they can talk down, or attempt to belittle other people. This is 2017, and some still haven't learned to treat others with respect and appreciation. I hope that we went out of our way to make our team feel like we felt they were doing an incredible job. Besides being old school and handing out gratuity envelopes to them the last night, I also took the time to fill out 4 comment cards. Yeah....that probably took me a whole 10 minutes of my time to do. After all they did for us in 7 days.....you get it.

Treat everyone well, and you can make a difference or be that difference!!!

Happy sails,

Andy

Appreciate the detailed feedback, thanks!

Thanks for the review! Glad you had a good time! We'll be back on Equinox next May and are looking forward to a great time.

Thanks for this. We board the Equinox for our first ever Celebrity cruise on Sunday.

Thanks for the review. You commented on points that keep us returning to Celebrity. Will be back on Equinox in September.

Glad that 98% was positive and the ship had very little ugly. You get boorish people everywhere.

Have enjoyed our 3 trips on the Equinox tremendously.

Enjoy your cruising days.

Since you had the Classic pkg, what did you order at the Martini Bar, or did you just pay the difference?

Since you had the Classic pkg, what did you order at the Martini Bar, or did you just pay the difference?

Hey mafig,

They do carry the bottles of beer there. I had a couple of Coronas and my wife had a Strongbow before switching to the chocolate martinis.

Keeping the sun out and seas calm,

Andy

Our second Equinox cruise is this Sept. One of the reasons we are looking forward to it, is the crew. Friendly, helpful, competent, really want to please. Very glad to hear that we won't be disappointed.

Quick review of our 7/23-30th Caribbean Cruise on the Equinox. This was our 2nd run on this ship as we did a Mediterranean Cruise in August 2014.

 

Deserving to be singled out is the Silhouette Restaurant where we ate every dinner. While we booked 'Anytime' dining, after 2 days we had it moved to a 6pm seating with our waitstaff, headlined by Carlton and assisted by Vira. They were spectacular. Carlton is excellent at his job. Communicates beautifully, a wonderful sense of humor and having worked for Celebrity for 10 years, he knows what he's doing and how it's all supposed to be done. And they work so well, without being overbearing. Sit back, relax and enjoy a fine meal. To David, our bar runner, I hope he's yours as well. Great young man, who genuinely seemed excited to see us, whether it was in the restaurant, theater or Cafe Al Bacio. And he WILL remember what your beverage(s) of choice.

 

Overall....2 trips with Celebrity after 2 with Princess and 1 Carnival....my opinion? We booked and Alaskan Cruise for June on the Solstice. The exact same trip we did years ago on the Golden Princess. The staff is BY FAR the best staff I have the pleasure to encounter on a cruise. Loved them!!! We felt like we were treated like Kings and Queens, from our room stewards, to the restaurant, the casino, even the onboard shops. Kudos to Celebrity....

 

The ugly......I found, at times, the way people talked to the staff reprehensible and disgusting. I cannot fathom what makes some people feel they can talk down, or attempt to belittle other people. This is 2017, and some still haven't learned to treat others with respect and appreciation. I hope that we went out of our way to make our team feel like we felt they were doing an incredible job. Besides being old school and handing out gratuity envelopes to them the last night, I also took the time to fill out 4 comment cards. Yeah....that probably took me a whole 10 minutes of my time to do. After all they did for us in 7 days.....you get it.

 

Treat everyone well, and you can make a difference or be that difference!!!

Happy sails,

 

Andy

Great review Andy,

I appreciate .....that you appreciate how much hard work is involved by the crew. I know what you mean about the comment cards,and tips I do the same thing, and it means so much to all involved. Good Job!

Wow thank you so much! We will be going on the Equinox in 2018 after 2 Princess and 1 Royal Caribbean cruise so it is really good to read this and see that we are in for a treat!

Hey mafig,

 

They do carry the bottles of beer there. I had a couple of Coronas and my wife had a Strongbow before switching to the chocolate martinis.

 

Keeping the sun out and seas calm,

 

Andy

Hey Andy,

Sorry I didn't join in the Roll Call for this cruise. We had a wonderful cruise as well, with areas of "hit and miss" for us. Our dining was Luminae (Sky Suite) and although service was exceptional, food quality was inconsistent at best (nothing like our previous experience on the Solstice in January.) That being said, the Martini Bar was a saving grace ... those Chocolate Martinis are simply decadent!

I also agree that many cruisers treat the staff and crew abysmally. Frankly, it's embarrassing! These folks are working 18 hour days to ensure we passengers have a great cruising experience, only to be met with disrespect and disdain. Certainly not how we roll!

Thanks for your review.

Sharon

Wonderful review !!! looking forward to our Equinox cruise in September.

Nice review. Been on the Equinox twice and had a great time both cruises. It is sad that there are still so many jackholes out there. Unfortunately you will see them on every cruise regardless of the cruise line. Fortunately for the crew they are a small minority and I'm sure they are featured in the crew jokes and gossip in their off hours. They even get ridiculed here once in a while (as they should).

Thanks for taking the time to share.

Did you go to the GastroBar? Try any of the small plate food?

Thank you so much for the thoughtful update on the Eqinox. We were on the April 2015 sailing and enjoyed everything about her.

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We leave on Sunday on the Equinox, how many children would you say were on the ship? Do you recall any obnoxious behavior from them or the adults more importantly?

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

One question: We'll be on the Equinox very, very soon :) and have the classic drink package as well. Did you ever feel the desire to upgrade to premium? Any drinks that just begged you to splurge with the premium package? My wife and I are pretty simple drinkers (typically beer, rum and coke, margarita, etc...), but enjoy new options when on a cruise. Are typical tropical drinks like margarita's, daiquiris, mohito's etc... included in classic?

Dan

We leave on Sunday on the Equinox, how many children would you say were on the ship? Do you recall any obnoxious behavior from them or the adults more importantly?

No, but we avoid summer and school vacation times. The second week in August a lot of families are school shopping then getting ready for school because most kids in Florida go back this month. Enjoy your cruise.

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Thanks for your very candid review.

Hey mafig,

 

They do carry the bottles of beer there. I had a couple of Coronas and my wife had a Strongbow before switching to the chocolate martinis.

 

Keeping the sun out and seas calm,

 

Andy

I did not know they served beer. Thanks for your reply and your review!:D

Hey Andy,

Sorry I didn't join in the Roll Call for this cruise. We had a wonderful cruise as well, with areas of "hit and miss" for us. Our dining was Luminae (Sky Suite) and although service was exceptional, food quality was inconsistent at best (nothing like our previous experience on the Solstice in January.) That being said, the Martini Bar was a saving grace ... those Chocolate Martinis are simply decadent!

 

I also agree that many cruisers treat the staff and crew abysmally. Frankly, it's embarrassing! These folks are working 18 hour days to ensure we passengers have a great cruising experience, only to be met with disrespect and disdain. Certainly not how we roll!

 

Thanks for your review.

Sharon

And Sharon, more than anything, I was shocked as to how open and blatant people were in openly abusing of the staff. I would've been fired right about Day 3 if I had a gig on a cruise ship!! I'm pretty sure knocking someone out IS a fire-able offense. ;)

Taking a deep breath,

Andy

Thanks for the review, we are back on the Equinox in November for the fourth time.

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And Sharon, more than anything, I was shocked as to how open and blatant people were in openly abusing of the staff. I would've been fired right about Day 3 if I had a gig on a cruise ship!! I'm pretty sure knocking someone out IS a fire-able offense. ;)

 

I completely concur, Andy. It was downright awful. I've been cruising for many years (as I'm sure you have) and I think the degradation of crew (or staff) by passengers has escalated. Probably no different than air travel.

 

I cannot stand the current sense of entitlement in society. And honestly, I don't think I would have made it to day 3 if I were working onboard!

 

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and again, sorry we missed the Roll Call. We were sailing with my son and his girlfriend (they live in FL) and I didn't even think to join in. My mistake.

 

Safe travels!

Very nice review Andy and yes i don't know what is wrong with the world these days.