GORDONCHICK

Yes, but the last time that happened, they took it away and it took 3 hours to get it back! They usually just check the cord to make sure it's good on both ends.

Yes, but when out on an excursion, I'd like the cabin to be taken care of and it won't be if there's a card in there - or at least that's been my eperience.

those do NOTHING for me!

I am incredibly hot natured and I do not sweat, which means my body has no way to cool itself off when getting hot. It's really a pain, and I hope not to have another heat stroke. I travel with at least one fan, even on cruises. Years ago, I had no issues. But then some cruiselines (but not all) would pull my luggage when a fan showed up on the bag x-ray. I would then have to go to a specific room (sometimes called a naughty room - usually for people smuggling alcohol). You had to open your bag there and then engineers had to come clear my fan before I could take it and my bag to my cabin. With the newer ships requiring a card in the slot for the AC to work (or anything else for that matter) and it takes too long to cool the cabin off. The fan is for that (coming back from excursions) and for sleeping. The cabin is never going to get cold enough for me to sleep well without it. Does anyone else travel with a fan and have experience in this on X? I do on a couple of other lines, but not this one. Mine are small-ish (9X9) and the electrical cords are perfectly intact.

So S-class balconies are all regular balconies and not boxed in at all, correct?

I tried looking on the X website, and well, that wasn't helpful at all on this topic. I've seen talk on here about virtual balconies - and I'm guessing those aren't real balconies at all. I've also seen mention of the hulled-in balconies, which do not appeal to me at all. I just want a real regular balcony! We are looking at the Equinox. What should I be looking for or specifically be avoiding when booking?

Right now, we are more about the itinerary. We find most ships have their charm and are usually able to find it. Obviously, I have moved on. I am not bemoaning ships that are gone. I am simply asking more about the experience than the ships themselves.

We're looking at the ABC itineraries, none of which we've been to (why we like it). If we were doing Europe, we would go stictly by itinerary with no regard to cruiseline. But that is after a few land overseas trips, hopefully. We were supposed to spend 3 weeks in Israel in November of 2020, and well, you know how that went. In our years of cruising, we've found more similarities than differences between the lines, though loyalists poo-poo that. In most cases, we can appreciate most of the differences, though a few we choose to do without. When I used to spend a lot of time here on the boards (I don't have over 10,000 posts for nothing), I learned to combine the observations of others, and put more weight into some over others because I learned that our expectations and likes were more similar. Many times I can tell what's important to people without them coming right out and saying it. But not having cruised since spring of 2019, I'm looking for info in general and cruiseline specific.

All of that sounds awesome!

Thanks for the info everyone! I will check with my best friend, who may join us to see what cabins they've booked on their one X cruise. I know they enjoyed X, which is why we are considering it again. Since I haven't been on here in a few years, I've had difficulty finding the search tools, so I may have more questions.

But what were they doing BEFORE Covid?

It's in my signature, 2007.

It's been forever and a day since I've been on these boards! Looking to possibly book a cruise in the Fall of 2023 on Equinox. Here's the thing - we haven't been on X in a while! We loved the line (it was my first cruise) but no cruises were sailing out of convenient ports for us here in land-locked OK. Now that our son is a junior in college, we are looking to jump back into cruising! But I have a few questions... 1) I remember the food in the MDR as being pretty good. Neither of our previous X cruises did we go to upcharge restaurants (I don't even remember if there were any if that tells you anything!). I know food is very subjective and we don't have an expectation of 5 star dining. But can you get a decent steak in the MDR? Other favorite dishes in the MDR? Are specialties worth it? Which ones are your faves and why? Don't need to hear a single thing about sushi because neither of us like it. And I'm a foodie but DH isn't. 2) Looking at either veranda or concierge class. Is concierge worth the extra money to you? If so, why? The cabins look to be identical so my guess is extra services/amenities and probably location? 3) What has changed (good and bad) since I was last on X? I know the Meet & Mingles were not much back then, especially compared to what other lines do - has that changed? NCL has had the best Meet & Greets closely followed by MSC, IOE. Catch me up, X peeps!