Review of 3/27/15 Equinox Caribbean Cruise

Just off the 10 day Equinox Caribbean Cruise. Here's my concise but hopefully complete review:

Background: Traveled with our 3 grandkids (5,8,11),son, daughter and son-in-law. Extensive cruisers with 22 previous voyages on 8 cruise lines. Grandkids had 2 previous Disney cruises.

Cabins: Booked 3 adjacent 1A veranda cabins on the port side hump. Yes, the balconies are larger and we had the glass partitions between the 3 cabins removed which resulted in easy movement between cabins for the kids and us..and kept the kids out of the hallway! Cabins were fine but I was not a fan of the bed or pillows. Bed was sloping to the right and the pillows were like flat paper with no neck support.

Ship: Equinox is in excellent shape. Attention to detail very evident in all public areas. The Martini Bar, as always on the S class ships, was THE hot spot. Gastrobar beer selection was A+. Food menu looked interesting for a snack but who had room?? :)

MDR: This was the first cruise in several years on X where we did not have a Suite ( don't judge:)) which meant we ate in the MDR for the first time with the current menu. Our previous cruises have been in BLU which we liked very much. MDR seemed very hit and miss. Some nights were home runs especially the farewell lobster night. Others, not so much. Several nights it seemed that our wait staff had too many tables and service was very weak. The Head Chef, Robert Sauer (one of the top X chefs), commented at a presentation that the entrees are not finished until the orders come in. This means that the kitchen finishes the dish and plates it for the wait staff to pick up. If your food comes out cold or luke warm, it is not the kitchen's fault, it is the wait staff's. We sent food back on 3 nights and each night our service team was running around in total disarray. The menu mix each night had a choice of protein (beef/pork, poultry, fish, veggie) . Biggest complaint from my wife was the lack of chocolate based dessert options other than a chocolate cake slice on offer each night.

Specialty Restaurants: Silk Harvest was very popular with our grandkids. Picture Chang's at sea. Food was very good, fresh and hot and an interesting variety. Sushi rolls done excellent.

Dined at Murano adults only and sent the kids to make pizza at the Fun Factory dinner. Murano never disappoints. Excellent food and service and well worth the visit. On our last night, we all dined at Tuscan Grill. 6 PM reservation, arrived on time and had drinks, appetizers, soup and salads all served and eaten by 7 PM. THEN, no service (not even a wine refill) for 20 minutes before the entrees arrived. Done with those at 8:10 we waited another 20 minutes before dessert orders were taken. All told, the meal took almost 3 hours and caused us to miss the 9 PM show. The food was excellent but, again, it looked like the wait staff had too many tables to deliver "modern luxury" service.

Fun Factory: Our Grandkids had 2 previous exposures to the 'House of Mouse at Sea" so this was definitely a different experience. However, it only took a day or 2 for them to make friends and enjoy the activities. More structured than Disney but still a good venue for the kids.

Celebrity Life: These are the various presentations throughout the cruise. Our kids and us enjoyed the galley tour, pastry demonstration, Top Chef show, How the Ship Navigates, and How the Ship Moves events. I encourage all to attend these types of events usually held on sea days.

Casino: Ah, the ups and downs!! Well run with a very friendly staff..as long as they weren't dealing :D . Quite a good crowd and it seemed a late crowd on this cruise.

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Ports: It's the Caribbean. In winter. What's not to like?? Weather was perfect with the only rain drops on Dominica (which is not unusual). When asked which port she enjoyed the best, our 5 year granddaughter said "all of them!" Only disappointment was that we docked at St. Maarten on Good Friday. By law, all stores in Phillipsburg are closed on that day although there were a few outlets at the cruise dock open. Interestingly, there were supposed to be 4 ships docked that day but the other lines apparently rescheduled to arrive either on Thursday or Saturday instead of Friday.

Shows: We only attended a couple.The Juggler was absolutely brilliant and had us in stitches. The Cirque 'd Solei type show had our GK's in awe. The Magician did not disappoint. Well done.

Disembarkation: Paying attention to all the posts about the Customs mess at Ft. Lauderdale, we requested early disembark at 8 AM. Around 8:15, we were still being denied exit at the gang way on Deck 5. The "guardian" walked away from her post for a minute and we made our escape down to the baggage area where our bags were waiting and got in line for customs. Unbelievably, when we were only 3 people back, the Agent got up and left her seat for a break, leaving people in line while the "helpful" X staffers continued to direct other passengers into the queue with no agent. We bolted over to the line next to us and made it through to the cab line. All told, it took us 1 hour 15 minutes from the time we left the ship to the time we cleared TSA at FLL. Heed the comments, folks. This port has a serious problem with U.S. Customs personnel.

That's the summary but I'm happy to respond to any questions. Smooth seas and fair skys to all.

Just wanted to add a note about St. Maarten. Although we have been there several times, we never went to the infamous Maho Beach. Our 8 YO GS insisted and it was a highlight of the trip. Nothing beats a 747 landing directly over your head at about 75 feet up:D

We were on board also and LOVED the Equinox!! What a great trip:) thanks for review!

Did you keep any "celebrity life" handouts?Can you post them if you did?we are sailing April 17th for the first time with Celebrity and hoping for fun filled nights :)

Here are the ones form first day.

Thanks for your review. I will be on the Equinox in a week and would like to know about your excursions in each port. Did you use the ships excursions or use a taxi or book a private tour once you got on the dock?

If you did not use the ships excursions or a taxi could you please tell us about the tour and how you booked them with either a link or description. Nothing elaborate just the basics. Also did any of the tours take credit cards for payment

Thanks, Rick

We were on the same cruise and had a great time. As we exited the ship for our Fort Lauderdale tour, we were told we were selected for Customs Interrogation! I told them I better not miss my tour, we were escorted to a private room and a customs agent. He looked at us, asked us what we did for a living and said there was no need to go through our bags. From the time we scanned our sea pass until the time we were on our bus for the tour was less than 5 minutes!!

Thanks for your review. I will be on the Equinox in a week and would like to know about your excursions in each port. Did you use the ships excursions or use a taxi or book a private tour once you got on the dock?

If you did not use the ships excursions or a taxi could you please tell us about the tour and how you booked them with either a link or description. Nothing elaborate just the basics. Also did any of the tours take credit cards for payment

Thanks, Rick

Ask for Bridget at excursion desk but all of them are great. We did all with the ship this time we had lots of on board credit to use up and we worry about being left behind at a port which does happen.

St. Thomas: Stars and Stripes took us to two different snorkel spots on the same island. One had sea turtles the other had ship wreck and both had fish!!!

St. Kitts: Snorkel we saw eagle ray and sting ray and fish and another wreck and we LOVED it. We avoided the monkey people as I think it is just cruel plus unsanitary.

St. Kitts is just a great time we loved our capt.

Barbados: WOW the color of the ocean is incredible and the beaches are white sugar sand. We did a Pirate cruise which was loud:( It was full of carnival ship passengers. However the boy working on the ship gave the best turtle feeding it was awesome and it was lots of time on the water. next time we will go to a beach by taxi like Michael recommend.

Dominica: AMAZING BEAUTIFUL SPECTACULAR!! I had not ever even heard of this paradise. Like stepping back in time. We did whale watching and it was glorious. We learned so much and saw whales and dolphins and a baby whale. Next time we will go into the island to see more of the this great underdeveloped beauty. Id recommend doing one of the water fall tours.

St. Marteen: we took the catamaran it it was fantastic time. usually they have like 75 people we had maybe 18. We snorkeled at a set up place with helicopter and boat and tons of fish and then went to a beautiful beach by the airport to see the planes and swim. You could just take a taxi to a beach just leave plenty of time to get back as it can get really crowded at end of day.

Here are the ones form first day.

Thanks for posting them but I'm not able to read them,its to blurry on my iPad when I blow them up :( not sure how else to view them?

Are you able to post them larger?Thanks so much for your trouble :)

Thanks for your review. I will be on the Equinox in a week and would like to know about your excursions in each port. Did you use the ships excursions or use a taxi or book a private tour once you got on the dock?

If you did not use the ships excursions or a taxi could you please tell us about the tour and how you booked them with either a link or description. Nothing elaborate just the basics. Also did any of the tours take credit cards for payment

Thanks, Rick

On St. Thomas, we booked the ships half day fast cat snorkel tour as the price was comparable to DIY plus it had the advantage of allowing us the afternoon to shop before departure.

On Barbados, we DIY'd with a hired van ( we had 8 people) from Suntours. Excellent operation. we set our own agenda at $60 USD per hour. Went to Harrison Cave, Island tour, stopped for flying fish sandwiches, and ended up at the Agapaye Chocolate Factory to buy some take away :D.

On Dominica, we again used the ship tour "Falls Direct" . This was a 2 hour trip to Trafalgar Falls with a narrative from the driver and a guide for the half up to the falls. Worth the price and the scenery is fabulous. There is a bit of climbing but nothing overtly strenuous. Back in town to do a bit of shopping and back on board for lunch about 1:30 PM

St. Maarten is an easy DIY. Given it was Good Friday, we took the kids on an island tour, stopping at Maho Beach to watch the planes come in about 50 feet above our head! A truly unique experience. Cost us $200 USD for 8 people and 2 hours. Again, I thought good value.

Don't know what to tell you about St. Kitts. Not much to do there and the tours are over expensive. We walked around a bit and called it a sea day.

We used credit cards to pay for Harrison Caves admission, and to reserve the Suntours van. Also for any shopping. Gave cash on St. Maarten. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your review Aloha 1. We sailed on Equinox in January, and had a wonderful cruise. We're looking forward to sailing again next week.

Thanks again, and welcome home !

So sorry we didn't get to meet.

We did beaches on each island except Dominica. Took taxies/jitneys to Emerald Beach, St. Thomas; Dawn Beach, St. Maarten, Accra Beach, Barbados (ship tour people were there, so no umbrella's were available but for $15US pp, we were given $60 each in coupons for food & drink.), Carambola Beach Club @ St. Kitts (make advanced reservations)

Check out My Sisters Tours in Dominica; Trafalgar Falls, Emerald Pool, Soufrie Sulpher Springs, Mr. Nice. Great day with a lovely safe driver.

So sorry we didn't get to meet.

Actually, Bev, we DID meet at the sailaway. Of course there were about 60 of us there! :)

Safe travels and early congrats on 50 years! We'll be celebrating #44 on Reflection in a few weeks.

Thank you for your review Aloha 1. We sailed on Equinox in January, and had a wonderful cruise. We're looking forward to sailing again next week.

 

Thanks again, and welcome home !

Thanks, Andy. I'll post a Reflection review after our June trip.

One more note about Harrison Cave. If you go by yourself (no tour) be sure to book a reservation on line. Otherwise you may find yourself waiting quite a while. It's about a 30-40 minute ride from the ship and we cleared Barbados customs about 9:15 AM that day.

It's great to see that other people enjoyed this cruise! I was on it, too, and it was definitely one of my favorite cruises. The Equinox was beautiful, the staff were friendly, the islands were amazing. Even the jellyfish stings I received while snorkeling in Dominica were completely worth it, and I'd do it again!!

Thank you for your review! :)

Can you tell us who the officers are as we can't read the daily or make it larger?

Glad to hear that you head a great time! We will be boarding the Equinox on the 17th! Just a few more days!

Did you happen to see if the ship had the new Bistro on 5 menu? I saw some pictures of it and it looks delicious. I am hoping to get to try the new items.

Also, are they still doing Hot Glass Shows on a daily basis? This was one of my favorite parts of our cruise on the Solstice.

Thank You!

Also, are they still doing Hot Glass Shows on a daily basis? This was one of my favorite parts of our cruise on the Solstice.

 

Thank You!

Yes! It was the first time I've ever been to one of the hot glass shows, and it was amazing! I believe they had the show most evenings, with a day off when we stopped in Dominica.

We were on this cruise as well, and as first time Celebrity cruisers we were suitably impressed with the standards on the ship.

We felt the food in the MDR was good enough for our needs and far superior to what we have had previously on recent Carnival cruises.

I will say however that we were dissapointed with the Silk Harvest, but maybe because it was the first night they were having issues. Service was extremely slow and I was not at all impressed with the food in there.

We did the 3 speciality dining package, and even though we booked at Murano our table wasn't ready when we arrived which I thought was poor. Service again was slow and they got my entree order wrong.

Enjoyed the Tuscan Grill the best out of the three of them, service and food was of a high standard.

We booked a future cruise while on board for March 2017 for the western Caribbean again on th eEquinox, and although we have done some of the ports before there are sufficient new ones to interest us.

Having sailed a number of times with Carnival I dont want to turn this review into a Celebrity v Carnival debate, but we did feel that Celebrity all round was the better experience, apart from the pizzas and burgers, which are better on Carnival.:D.

Having said that we have been talked into sailing on the new Carnival Vista next summer by some of our cruise friends from the US, who we have sailed with before and we are even being joined by some english firends who have naever sailed before.