Celebrity Equinox April 7-15, 2018 Post Cruise Mini Review!

My wife and I, my brother and his wife, and my sister and her husband all did this cruise together to the beautiful "ABC" islands (Aruba-Bonaire-Curacao) on the lovely Celebrity Equinox! Normally I write a full review on my cruise reviews webpage, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to it (I still need to write a review of our B2B cruise on Allure of the Seas 2016!), so I thought I'd put down a quickie review here. (I did write a lengthy review for the Ship Reviews here on CC, but when I went to submit it, it just wouldn't take it for some reason.)

I will do this mini review in subject sections.

Pre cruise shuttle: Super Shuttle was excellent! They ferried us from FLL to the Atton Brickell Miami hotel for the overnight stay before our cruise... and we liked their service so much, we scheduled them to take us from the hotel to the pier! Top notch, and reasonable pricing. I will always use them! (and they were always there waiting for us when we were ready to go!)

Pre cruise hotel:Atton Brickell Miami... this brand new gem is within walking distance to restaurants and stores and pharmacies and about a ten minute drive to the port. It has a nearly roof top pool... and the whole vibe is ultra modern chic. The rooms were wonderful (although the shower and it's multiple heads were a bit difficult to figure out) I'd stay here again!

The Ship: Celebrity Equinox is gorgeous, as are her sisters we've also sailed on, the Solstice and the Silhouette. We LOVE the flow, and the relaxed and laid back atmosphere. Equinox definitely needs some TLC though... especially her windows. The windows in the Persian Gardens (we always do the Persian Garden package) actually had brown ugly streaks running down them. Our Oceanview cabin (non-balcony) porthole was difficult to see out of most of the cruise due to streaks as well. Also, the steps into the Solarium pool needed some fresh paint. But over all, the ship is still just as elegant as she was when we were aboard her for a 12 night cruise back in 2015. (Once Celebrity Edge debuts this year, each of the Solstice class ships will be going into drydock to be "Edge-ized"... that is, brought up to standards with the new flag ship of the fleet.)

The Crew: Unfailingly, over-the-top, friendly! Not a bad apple the entire cruise. This is rare these days. Sure, the vast majority of cruise ship crews in the Royal/Celebrity family are awesome, but you do come across one or two forgettable crew members on each cruise. Not so, on this ship. Everyone was eager to help, and very willing to please. And SO much fun. Our waitstaff in the main dining room (the Silhouette Dining Room) at our table (225) were Moses (waiter) and Lesa (assistant)... they were both professional and hilarious. We had so much fun with them and I think they enjoyed us as well. (this was a DISTINCT improvement over our open seating dining on Equinox back in 2015 where the service was abysmal!) Chris was the drinks guy in the area. He was also so much fun whether helping us with drinks orders in the dining room or pool side during the day! The Cruise Director, Dan and his staff also had the ship activities hopping all day and night. Very infectious enthusiasm! (alas, this was Dan's last cruise week... so you might have a new CD on your cruise)

The Food: Not a single bad meal ANYWHERE! Not an exaggeration at all. The food in the Ocean View Buffet HAS to be the BEST food on any buffet on any cruise ship we've been on ever. Seriously, we often found food on Allure's buffet to be inedible garbage. The Equinox buffet was superb all the time. The food in the main dining room was awesome every night we ate there. Again, not a single bad meal for any of us. We also ate at the superb Tuscan Grille (worth every penny) and Silk Harvest (where they show you a menu then just bring everything on the menu to your table for you to eat family style!). Both have delicious meals. (I couldn't get anyone to agree to Murano's so no review of them this time) Another MUST do on the Equinox is the new (for us) Sushi on Five. We did lunch here one day and LOVED it! Again, totally worth the surcharge.

The Bars: Better staffed this time around and more floor and pool side servers as well! (although almost none venture into the Solarium) The Martini Bar is our favorite! (and apparently the favorite of everyone else!) Personally, I think the Gastrobar (a nice but mostly empty bar) should be taken out and a second frosted over Martini Bar added to that space. We loved the Martini Bar, but it was a daily fight to get a seat. We also love the Sunset Lounge Bar (directly aft, topside). The bar outside Murano's is also a great hangout! We had the Classic Drinks package (included in our cruise perks) and it was nice to be able to drink without thinking of that big bill coming at the end of the week. I wouldn't buy a drinks package, but if it's a perk that's offered, I'll always take it. (Note: even if you don't drink alcohol, a drinks package can still save money for you... those "virgin" drinks aren't free)

The Pools: The Main Pool is fun, but CROWDED and generally noisy with activities throughout the day, so we prefer the Solarium. Chair hogs are policed by pool butlers and fellow passengers (and Heaven help you if I catch you doing the all day holding of a chair you aren't ever in) and signs are clearly posted saying your belongings will be removed if you are gone for more than 30 minutes. Awesome, and it's about time! I got up every day at 6:30am and we got in our chairs and used them all day (only leaving them to grab quick bites at the Aqua Cafe, or the Mast Grill or the Ocean Cafe) and if we were leaving our seats for the day or because we thought we'd be gone long, we made a point to surrender them to people who were obviously looking for a spot. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone did this? Anyway, the pools and hot tubs are WONDERFUL and plentiful aboard.

The Restrooms: Ok... who reviews public restrooms? But aboard Equinox (and her sisters) public restrooms are even high-end classy. From the glass sinks, to the cloth hand towels (no paper towels in these restrooms!) to dry your hands, to the funny sayings over the urinals (you'll have to trust me on this one, ladies) to the constant upkeep by the cleaning staff, you'll be amazed at even the quality of the restrooms. Also, love the admonishment to use a towel (maybe there was paper just for this?) to hit the button (!) that opens the door.... just in case the guy in front of you has bad hygiene practices. Speaking of this, Equinox goes out of their way (as they should) to make sure your hands are purelled at every chance. Those who refuse should be denied access to the buffet, in my opinion.

The Shows: I found the production shows to be excellent. The blond female singer (can't remember her name) was especially talented. They didn't have the Cirque like individuals climbing down the walls anymore (miss that) but they made us still gawk at those brave individuals wrapping themselves in cloth and climbing to great heights and spiraling down without nets and flying just hanging on to a rope... all that daredevil stuff! The guest performers (singers and comedians) were also very good. The theater, while huge, fills up quickly.

The Itinerary: We've been to Aruba and Curacao on past cruises many times... we always enjoyed our visits there and this time was no exception. On Aruba, we took a cab to Palm Beach and rented chairs and an umbrella right near the RIU resort and a thatched pier with restrooms and shops and bar and food. Great spot! Cab fare one way was $14. Beach rentals around $50 I think. That night, we did the Kuku Kunuku Bus tour which took us to a beach stop for champagne and then on to a bar/restaurant for BBQ dinner outside then three bars with dance floors (where we each were allowed one free drink at each stop) where we spent nearly an hour at each drinking and dancing and laughing. This tour is NOT to be missed if bar hopping is something you love. When we got back to the ship at 10:30pm, we joined the poolside party in full swing there. At Curacao, we did the brief island tour and beach excursion that let us off for two hours at the Papagayo beach resort. There were loungers provided, but we paid a nominal fee for plush chairs under mushroom shaped umbrellas with towels! Great stop with a small beach and an infinity pool. Also shops and bars and restaurants! At Bonaire, we did another island tour (very interesting seeing the salt mounds and old slavery huts and beautiful vistas) and a two hour stop at Coco "beach". The "beach" was pretty unusable as the rocks in the water were bad even if you had beach shoes. The bar there had surly and disinterested bartenders (one in particular, a blond woman who was about as rude as she could be when being nice would have been so much easier) and severely limited drinks choices. Diet soda? Forget it. If any of our cruises visit Bonaire in the future, we probably will stay aboard the ship. This is not a beach island. Loved the itinerary though... two days at sea, followed by three island days, and then two days at sea... eight nights in all.

Embarkation/Debarkation: Smooth and simple... no hassle. They've got this down to a science.

Post Cruise Excursion: We had a 7pm flight out of Ft Lauderdale. Since the ride from Miami to Ft Lauderdale is about 30 minutes, we decided we didn't want to hang around FLL all day. So we did the HOP-ON-HOP-OFF style bus in Miami. They stored our luggage for us and drove us on a loop around Miami Beach and gave us a description of the local history. After 90 minutes, we decided to get off at the hub of the two loops the bus does at the Bayside Market. (this is where you meet back up with your luggage later) We immediately decided to hang out there before gathering our luggage by 2:30 pm for the 3pm shuttle to FLL (also included in the tour). The Bayside Market is so cool! We ate lunch at the Hardrock Cafe there. So much shopping and excellent bars! Next time we have a situation like this, we'll just have the cruise line valet our luggage home for us, and hop a cab to the Bayside Market to hang out. You can always grab a shuttle to FLL from there.

This cruise was such a fantastic cruise! Even more so as it was with family! We had such a blast that other cruises will have a hard time matching this trip.

I have LOTS of pictures from this cruise, but I can't figure out how to upload them here (and I'm a computer geek!), so I guess they will need to wait for me to get around to writing my review on my webpage.

If you have any questions about this ship, let me know!

Cheers,

Paul

Nice write up. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for confirming our dedication to Celebrity. We've never had a bad cruise on a Celebrity ship.

Bonaire is considered a Diving and Snorkeling Mecca. The beaches are very rocky and as you said not great for a beach day but what's under the water is amazing!

Thank you for your great review. Short enough to hold my interest, and detailed enough to know what to expect. Booked our first X cruise for Dec. 2019 on the Equinox.

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. Agree about the Equinox.

Bonaire is considered a Diving and Snorkeling Mecca. The beaches are very rocky and as you said not great for a beach day but what's under the water is amazing!

Enjoyed the mini review...ABC is such a great itin

And here are some other ideas for this port.

Our visit there was on a reverse wind pattern day.,we opted not to snorkel, those that did said it was a bit rough.

We enjoyed an island bus tour with Celeb...great history, nature and flamingo areas...excellent bus driver and guide, we had a short beach stop...mostly a photo op

Had a nice lunch and drinks in the port area overlooking the water. There was a small shopping area... clean stores, friendly proprietors; and there was a very nice craft market with island artisans, local spices,,,salts etc

Definitely not a cookie cutter Carib port.

We were on this cruise as well, and did excellent snorkeling in Bonaire.

Well-written report, thanks!

Great review.

We will be experiencing our first Celebrity cruise in June. We'll be aboard the Equinox and your review has certainly made us look forward to the trip.

Thanks again.

~Brian

Thanks for your review!

My wife and I were on this cruise as well. Reading your review is like I wrote it myself.

We are still talking about this cruise and have never had better service, food and fun in the Caribbean.

Awesome ship and staff!!

We were also on this cruise and agree with your review--just overall fantastic--no complaints!! Loved every minute and booked our next cruise while onboard to Australia/New Zealand on Solstice!!

Thanks for your review...doing a similar itinerary this fall on the Silhouette, and cannot wait. We are doing snorkeling in Bonaire, as we have heard such good things about it.

Silhouette is a wonderful ship- she has more restaurants and a cooler lawn club area and better Sunset Bar than Equinox and Solstice. You will love this ship!

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Thank for your review and it reflects my cruise on the Equinox in March 2018. We had a great time onboard and had a lovely cruise. I was in particular impressed of the Oceanview Cafe and the quality of food there as well as the very friendly and relaxed atmosphere onboard.

Thank you that was a fab write up looking forward to being on Equinox in October..Also doing the ABC islands for the first time:cool:

been trying to find a menu for Tuscan. What Items were on the menu that you can recall? Thanks in advance

Thanks for a great review. We will be doing this same cruise in August.:D

On Equinox now and totally agree with the OP.

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Excellent mini review ! Would love to know where you are posting the full review with pics :)

We will be on the Equinox for this itinerary on Friday!

We were on the Equinox last October and also went to the ABC-Islands. Just wonderful.....especially Bonaire where we took the water taxi to Klein-Bonaire. There you find the most paradise-like beach I have ever seen. Especially as there is nothing, no hotel, no Restaurant, no nothing, just paradise.:D

It will be some time before I get around to writing the full review with pics on my website (see below). As usual, we came back from our cruise to a host of problems we put off till "after the cruise" (need a new AC/heater installed, need a new fence... new car... etc).

I will definitely announce the review here when it's ready.

In short though, Celebrity Equinox is 100% worth it!!!

Thanks for the review. Going on Equinox for 10 day cruise Friday to the ABC islands. Cant wait

Did you do any specialty dining???