Arubalisa

There was a lot of seaweed, not Sargassum, we had that in Costa Maya. Just the sea grass which grows right there. There were people in the water but we did not partake. Seven Mile Beach is more more style, but that is just me.

In June on the Equinox we tipped at the end of the week. We were a family of four in two Sky Suites. My father is a very slow eater and going back to days of old, expects food to be served course by course without appetizer and soup arriving together. Rightfully so in my mind, but surely open for debate. ;) Not having sailed Celebrity in a few years we were a bit unsure what to expect service wise. To ensure there were no problems (in other words to make my life less stressful), once we were seated and had ordered lunch on our first day, I excused myself and went and greeted the maitre 'd with a "handshake" of $20. I explained to her, unlike most others, we enjoy leisurely meals and do not like to feel rushed through our courses. Our service every single meal was nothing less than perfect. I also slipped the butler Singh an extra $20 mid trip. We were leaving my father alone on the ship while the rest of the family went on a snorkel excursion. Without that I would not have been able to go on the excursion so in my life, well worth $20. :hearteyes: I pre-ordered lunch to be delivered to my father's cabin and again, wanted to ensure that my diabetic father received his meal in a timely manner. Singh was a busy guy and with the exception of that one lunch all we asked from our two suites was a tea time snack for my dad, let yourself in and leave it on the table if he is napping, and without fail daily, there was a delightful variety of offerings. I "think" we would have received the same service without the additional gratuities, but I wanted to have that bit of insurance. In my life, well worth $40. We also still tipped Singh, two Luminae waiters, assistant, sommelier, and cabin steward at the end of our week as well. We did not tip the concierge, we did not use her services. Hopefully this was not a faux pas.

Pricing apples to apples, no perks but pre-paid gratuities and cruise care, Equinox June 2019, today is $640 more for an S2 than booking on August 24.

In 2012 we booked back to back on the Silhouette, Christmas and New Years. We booked on November 17, 2012. There were so many open cabins we were able to book- 3 Aqua Class (A2) cabins for both weeks, same cabins (no cabin changes required). New Years cruise, our family had 3 additional cabins and all were adjacent to one another with the exception of 1. In summary, on November 17, we were able to book 5 Aqua Class (A2) cabins, all in a row, because the ship was wide open. NO huge discount either. Both weeks included: Pre-paid gratuities, $200 OBC and $70 shore excursion Eastern Caribbean 12/23-12/30 $3903 Western Caribbean 12/30/-01/06 $3579 back to back discount $3647 non back to back Having said this, we have most recently sailed the Equinox booking in March '18 for June '18. Both Eastern and Western had similar prices, however there was much less availability for all category of cabins on the Eastern Caribbean sailings. Booking in July '18 for June '19 on Equinox, all prices for Western and Eastern Caribbean were the same. There are currently no S2's available (sold out) on the June 8 Eastern Caribbean sailing and a handful of S1's. Penthouses are sold out as well. Just priced an S1 to compare, and with perks, the price for one of our S2's booked in July with no perks (prepaid gratuties and Cruise Care only- will buy the classic beverage package on board for that cabin) with 4 perks, the price TODAY is $2700 more than our S2. The two- S2's we booked- with 4 perks and cruise care- were $1570 cheaper than the S1's still available on the same sailing. Just like booking airfare, book when the price is comfortable for you, availability is limited. Can you afford to be shut out? FWIW, we no longer cruise over Christmas and New Years because we can do 12 nights (3 hotel rooms, all inclusive) in Aruba, including B.C. airfare, for much less than Aqua Class on a Celebrity cruise. LOL, Dad pays and won't cruise without at least Blu. ;) The bonus is having more room to spread out and swimming pools which are not standing room only. ;);)

and In my mind, these are both great examples of what sets Celebrity and perhaps the Equinox apart from the rest. ;) We'll look for you next June on the Equinox. Our family will be sailing B2B. One week this year was simply not long enough.

Interesting and I apologize in advance for the contradiction, the MCC and Suite managers both went out of their way to engage our family in conversation when we were aboard the Equinox in June. We had two lowly ;););) Sky Suites and did not request anything special yet they still spoke to us and inquired as to our wants and needs.

The App was NOT reliable for our June sailing on the Equinox. I would only suggest, at best, using the App as a "guide".

I agree. The pools on our Equinox sailing, June 16, were literally, standing room only.

Thanks. We just returned yesterday. Equinox used Kelly's Watersports. It served the purpose. Not stellar, not bad but got us to Stingray City and Rum Point Beach. Pretty much a typical big cruise ship excursion which was a great way for us to spend our on board credit.

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Since we are on the subject of Sky Suites and butlers, our family of four have an upcoming cruise aboard the Equinox in two :rolleyes:;) "lowly" ;) Sky Suites. From reading through various posts in this group, I have gotten the impression, long gone are the days of early morning cappuccino deliveries. No big deal, dh is an early riser and would gladly fetch it himself from Bacio. My father is disabled and in a wheelchair. His purpose of the cruise is great cuisine and hanging out on his balcony reading. My father would feel it inconvenient for him to have a member of our family take him to Michael's for afternoon tea or up one deck to the Oceanview Buffet. In an ideal world, his only use of the butler would have been to deliver an afternoon "tea time" snack. Seeing how overworked the butlers are, would he or the cabin steward be offended if we ran up one deck to the Oceanview Cafe and brought a couple of plates down for dad to enjoy on his balcony? We will not request any other services from the butler. Rightfully so, it seems they have their hands full with the Penthouse, Royal and Celebrity suite passengers.

Anyone who has cruised Celebrity recently, able to tell me the company which they use for the Stingray City Sandbar & Rum Point Beach Safari excursion? We have used Captain Marvin's and Nativeways in the past and normally would not use a ship's excursion but looking for a way to use our OBC. :confused::confused:

Our last stop in Cozumel was back in 2012. We were able to walk off the ship and just outside the pier gates we were able to book a snorkel excursion. Are these operators still present? We are debating what to do while there and may want to do something without advanced planning.

Thanks for the fantastic photos Radio, truly enjoying your reports. I can confirm that it indeed is. The movie starring Alexa Pena Vega and her husband Carlos, will air during their #SummerNights event. Most likely August. They are also filming a separate movie in Fiji starting Cameron Mathison and Catherine Bell. No ships in that movie, just beaches and waterfalls.

Do you recall the times of the shows?