Arubalisa

Agree, big box store. Easier to view as well.

Christmas/New Years 2019 we looked long and hard at Celebrity 12 nights on the Silhouette or B2B on the Equinox or Summit. Aruba, all inclusive, for 12 nights, with business class airfare, was still less expensive than oceanview cabins. We likely could have done HAL B2B for about the same as Aruba but handicap cabins are hard to come by and booking this late <<eye roll>>, we would not have had 3 cabins together. For a family traveling together, 3 cabins or 3 hotel rooms, the savings are CONSIDERABLE. Upside, no chair hogs and we have a huge beach to spread out on. Life is good. 😍

Doubt it. We did not have one in a lowly Sky Suite. 😉

My father did the same when booking Sky Suites. He only drinks soda, does not care for internet on vacation, would only use the OBC to gamble, and has never felt the need to dine at any of the specialty dining restaurants. He does not "buy" the perks, and saves a bundle. He is a Florida resident, but as Georgia residents, with no perks, we would have paid the same price on our Sky Suite. We use the perks and they were a good value so we did purchase them.

Sorry for going back to the original question. She will be on the Equinox still, early June. https://www.instagram.com/p/BuJuW1khJ1r/

Even on the Equinox we found Luminae to be much quieter than Blu.

The Captain indicated she will be on board the Equinox in June. MAYBE as a passenger, so she would not have her cat with her. 🤔

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.