Just returned from a nine night cruise. I have not cruised in nearly twenty years - my last cruise was on Celebrity Century in 2004 and it was outstanding in all areas but one; excursions.
We boarded the Equinox at Port Everglades at 12:30 - the very end of our scheduled boarding time. Embarking was fairly easy - we had received notification that masks were to be worn during check in but the majority of passengers were not wearing masks. Our room was ready and the only challenge was getting an elevator due to the several elderly people using scooters, wheelchairs and walkers. We took the stairs a couple of flights up and had no trouble catching an elevator to our deck. We were in cabin 8330, aft. I found the room spacious with plenty of storage. The veranda was larger than expected. Cabin and entire ship was immaculate. We mustered, toured the ship and had lunch at the buffet. The ship was at 60% capacity and there was seldom a wait for anything. The food at the buffet is served by staff. Our luggage was delivered by 3 PM.
We had reservations for the specialty restaurant, Murano. I was looking forward to this as the last time I cruised specialty restaurants did not exist. Expectations were high as in my previous experiences the food served in the main dining room had been excellent. I felt confident that the food in the specialty restaurants would be off the charts. We had the lobster bisque and the scallop wellington. Neither was especially good. The pastry for the wellington was tough and crumbed once cut. The scallop was tiny. The soup was overwhelmingly strong. We had the chateaubriand for our entree and it was served tableside. It was perfectly cooked but had absolutely no flavor - even when drug through the accompanying sauce it was bland. The dessert was the star of the dinner - chocolate souffle - and was one of the best things we had throughout the cruise. Service and atmosphere at Murano was great - the food was over-all disappointing.
We also dined at Tuscan Grill during the cruise and found it equally disappointing. The star of that meal was the lobster rigatoni and I would have returned to Tuscan Grill for that alone. The meatball app was the same meatballs served at the buffet. The rib eye was mostly fat. My spouse tried to order the flatbread and was informed that it was not intended for parties less than four. I’m sure if we had insisted that they would have served it. My spouse had the lasagna and it contained no ricotta cheese. Later in the cruise lasagna was served at the buffet and it was the same as lasagna served at Tuscan Grill. The atmosphere and service at Tuscan Grill was outstanding – the food was unremarkable. The buffet was enormous and there was a carving station at every meal. My personal favorite was the turkey which was served twice. The last full day of the cruise, at lunch, was the extravaganza. There was a steamship round carved and the other food stations served what they typically served. I liked the the vegetables served on the buffet where well prepared and fresh. Onion rings were served twice on the buffet and were hot and delicious. The buffet is over-all outstanding - it's just that certain dishes like eggs and pizza were both over and under cooked consistently.
The low points on this cruise was the quality of food served in the specialty and main dining room. It was either over-cooked or under-cooked and always lacking flavor. The main dining room was a ghost town. We were the only couple at an eight top. It was the late seating which probably contributed to the low numbers but the food wasn't good either. In contrast to previous cruises where the main dining room was such a fun experience with outstanding food - this experience was depressing. We dined there only three times. On previous cruises the dining room was where friendships were made and it was a festive atmosphere. The food was of the highest quality. We really missed this on this cruise.
The highlight of the trip was the martini bar. It was always filled with passengers and the bartenders put on an entertaining show. We enjoyed the sunset bar too. The bartender recognized us each day and provided excellent, personalized service. The pool bar was very busy and it was a wait to get a drink but up one flight of stairs the Mast bar was typically slow. Servers came around and took drink orders but a tip was expected. We had the classic beverage package and I was glad that I did not upgrade to premium. We drank throughout the day, every day, went to the martini bar each evening and had two to three martinis each, and enjoyed specialty coffees and coffee cocktails. My drink tab for two, at the end of the cruise, was $100.
I was also pleased with the basic internet provided. I seldom had trouble sending and receiving text messages. I saw several people making telephone calls through the trip seemingly without trouble.
Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze. There were some problems when we arrived at some ports with delays but the ship ran on schedule.
There were problems with excursions. We had paid to go to the Klein National Park in Bonaire to snorkel. Imagine our surprise when we boated past the national park and the captain of the catamaran said he never agreed to take us to the park and took us to a another reef off of a beach. Everyone on this excursion was fairly irritated that we didn't get what we paid for. Later I was told that on another excursion people had paid to go to a beach and were taken to a shopping center instead. If I ever go on another cruise I will not be booking excursions through the cruise line.
There was a Covid outbreak immediately. I saw one of my neighbors being taken from their stateroom and the crew packing them up. Later the Captain made an announcement that several passengers had tested positive and were being isolated. Isolation was on deck 3. Masks were required for the theater. When we were disembarking we saw those passengers being escorted off the ship to waiting black SUV's . Following our return we also came down with it.
Over-all I enjoyed the cruise as it afforded me a break and I got plenty of rest. The crew was excellent and the ship is beautiful. But Celebrity has changed since I last sailed with them . I can’t say if what I experienced is the result of Covid or just how cruising has evolved over the last twenty years. Perhaps a little of both?
