Final Decision Time- Reflection or Equinox

[Hawaiino]

It comes down to suites and sites. They depart within a few days of each other, 5/27 vs 5/30.

 

Equinox departs Barca and tours Italy, focusing on Venice, for 12 nts. Our TA has "W" suites at just under $500/nt. I know we might get lucky, or unlucky, in so far as which type and where it is, but it seems that you can't really go wrong, getting a suite for the price of a cabin.

Reflection is 11 nts., departs Rome and goes Eastern Med, focusing on Istanbul and Greece. This has no "W" option, so TA has Aqua Suite for $650 nt.

 

The incentives are minimal, a little OBC and some reduced tour costs. I have no preference on the itinerary since we have never been on a cruise and we have never been to any of the places, other than a few nights in Barcelona. Is one of these itineraries significantly superior to the other? Is the Refection that much nicer of a ship than the Equinox? Our cabin costs on the E would be low enough to cover quite a bit of our wine and dine extras as compared to the R.

 

Bottom line, it's a small difference in cost and the most important is to have a great first time cruise. Your advice is appreciated.

 

Mahalo

[JaneStarr]

It comes down to suites and sites. They depart within a few days of each other, 5/27 vs 5/30.

 

Equinox departs Barca and tours Italy, focusing on Venice, for 12 nts. Our TA has "W" suites at just under $500/nt. I know we might get lucky, or unlucky, in so far as which type and where it is, but it seems that you can't really go wrong, getting a suite for the price of a cabin.

Reflection is 11 nts., departs Rome and goes Eastern Med, focusing on Istanbul and Greece. This has no "W" option, so TA has Aqua Suite for $650 nt.

 

The incentives are minimal, a little OBC and some reduced tour costs. I have no preference on the itinerary since we have never been on a cruise and we have never been to any of the places, other than a few nights in Barcelona. Is one of these itineraries significantly superior to the other? Is the Refection that much nicer of a ship than the Equinox? Our cabin costs on the E would be low enough to cover quite a bit of our wine and dine extras as compared to the R.

 

Bottom line, it's a small difference in cost and the most important is to have a great first time cruise. Your advice is appreciated.

 

Mahalo

Personally, I'd go with Equinox :)

Jane

[FortyNinerLiz]

Personally, I'd go with Equinox :)

Jane

 

Definitely do the Equinox!!!!!!

[Hawaiino]

Thanks for the endorsement of Equinox. Is it the ship, the staff, the suites, the shore trips , or the supper? ( hopefully all of the above)

[JaneStarr]

Thanks for the endorsement of Equinox. Is it the ship, the staff, the suites, the shore trips , or the supper? ( hopefully all of the above)

My main reason for choosing the Equinox is the "Sweet/Suite" Life and the wonderful memories I have of the service on that ship from our transatlantic cruise on her maiden crossing in Nov 2009. Any suite on the ship would beat an Aquaclass cabin, in my book.

I'm sure that Reflection would also provide a very nice cruise, but I have no personal experience on that ship. They are able to charge a premium for Reflection due to being a new ship, but Equinox is not old. The price difference makes this an easy decision for me. Both itineraries would be great for first time cruisers. I also like that the Eq cruise is an extra night.

 

You really can't go wrong deciding on either one of these cruises :)

Jane

[HazyDavy]

The only real advantage I see of the Reflection booking would be that with the AQ Suite you have guaranteed seating in Blu which gives you a better dining experience over the mdr, IMHO, and flexibility in dining times. Not having to arrange your touring schedule to get back in time for early seating, if you end up with that in the mdr, could be a real advantage on a port heavy cruise. Granted, in a suite on the Equinox you will have access to Blu on a space available basis, with the AQ suite on Reflection it's guaranteed. Other than that, I would go with the Equinox.

[JaneStarr]

The only real advantage I see of the Reflection booking would be that with the AQ Suite you have guaranteed seating in Blu which gives you a better dining experience over the mdr, IMHO, and flexibility in dining times. Not having to arrange your touring schedule to get back in time for early seating, if you end up with that in the mdr, could be a real advantage on a port heavy cruise. Granted, in a suite on the Equinox you will have access to Blu on a space available basis, with the AQ suite on Reflection it's guaranteed. Other than that, I would go with the Equinox.

For what it's worth, we never had a problem getting a table in Blu when in a suite on Equinox. I'm sure this might vary, if you try to eat at a very busy time. We prefer to eat at 7:30 pm or later, and didn't have a problem the 2-3 times we joined friends there.

 

We actually preferred the Main DR or Specialty restaurants for most suppers. We did really enjoy some breakfasts in Blu, especially on disembarkation day. Blu was packed, but they found space for us pretty quickly.

 

One advantage of booking the suite on Equinox is that your Butler can serve dinner to you right in the suite from any of the restaurants on the ship (as long as they are open). We never took advantage of this on Equinox but did one night on Silhouette with another couple. The butler is supposed to serve you course by course, but ours seemed to be having an "off" trip and didn't do this. We still enjoyed ensuite dining with our friends.

 

Not sure of the current offering, but last summer Suite guests on Solstice class ships were given 2 complimentary specialty reservations on cruises over a certain number of nights. Shorter cruises were given 1. Pretty sure the 12 night suite comes with 2 nights in a specialty restaurant. We really enjoyed this suite enhancement!

 

I'm sure you will have a great time on either ship.

Jane

 

Editing to add the below info:

Make your cruise even more personal by purchasing Specialty Dining...

 

Please Note:

As an added benefit, All Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Eclipse suite guests receive complimentary dining in their choice of Specialty Restaurants. Suite guests can choose from Murano, Tuscan Grille, Silk Harvest Restaurant and/or Qsine:

 

• 1 complimentary dining reservations per suite for cruises of seven nights.

• 2 complimentary dining reservations per suite for cruises of eight nights or longer.

 

In order to place your complimentary Specialty Restaurant reservations, please call 1-800-722-5941.

[jagoffee]

My main reason for choosing the Equinox is the "Sweet/Suite" Life and the wonderful memories I have of the service on that ship from our transatlantic cruise on her maiden crossing in Nov 2009. Any suite on the ship would beat an Aquaclass cabin, in my book.

I'm sure that Reflection would also provide a very nice cruise, but I have no personal experience on that ship. They are able to charge a premium for Reflection due to being a new ship, but Equinox is not old. The price difference makes this an easy decision for me. Both itineraries would be great for first time cruisers. I also like that the Eq cruise is an extra night.

 

You really can't go wrong deciding on either one of these cruises :)

Jane

I believe the OP has an Aqua Class Suite which is a new Suite category different from the regular Aqua Class.

 

Good point about the price if you can get equivalent suite categories.

[JaneStarr]

I believe the OP has an Aqua Class Suite which is a new Suite category different from the regular Aqua Class.

 

Good point about the price if you can get equivalent suite categories.

 

Thanks for the info! That would make my decision closer, but I think I would still go for the 12 nights on Equinox vs. 11 nights on reflection.

Jane

[El_aurens]

Thanks for the info! That would make my decision closer, but I think I would still go for the 12 nights on Equinox vs. 11 nights on reflection.

Jane

 

Also, a 12 night cruise would entitle the OP to an extra Captain's Club point. Total of 3 points for one cruise. A point for the cruise itself, another point for the Suite, and one point for cruising 12 or more days. That's if the OP is interested in achieving Elite status quickly. I'm assuming this is their first Celebrity cruise.

[DebbieMacG]

I would go for the Equinox :)

[Hawaiino]

Mahalo to all. Seems Equinox has significant support, maybe substantive as well.

Yes, this is our 1st time cruise, and I do want to gain status. Our future goal is to do the Galapagos next year or the year after. So it was either X or Silver Seas with their announced new ship. X offers a much more approachable price point, so that's how I got to this point of my planning.

Still have to bone up on;

Elite status

Shore excursions

Wine/Dine choices on board

[Hawaiino]

HMMM....just went on the X website to check some things out, decided to see which suites were listed for the various cat.

They've dropped Accessible Sky Suites below "W" rates, by $400 for two. This suggests an oversupply of S2's at $5300 for two, since S1's are still priced at $7,600. Quite a discrepancy.

Is this normal? When you see something like this it would seem obvious that you will be assigned one of these low demand suites? So...

 

Why?

Why pay a premium for "W"?

Why are S2's valued so much lower than S1's?

 

Does this question deserve a separate thread? Or has this already been discussed previously ?

[gelo7]

I would go with the Equinox.

[JaneStarr]

HMMM....just went on the X website to check some things out, decided to see which suites were listed for the various cat.

They've dropped Accessible Sky Suites below "W" rates, by $400 for two. This suggests an oversupply of S2's at $5300 for two, since S1's are still priced at $7,600. Quite a discrepancy.

Is this normal? When you see something like this it would seem obvious that you will be assigned one of these low demand suites? So...

 

Why?

Why pay a premium for "W"?

Why are S2's valued so much lower than S1's?

 

Does this question deserve a separate thread? Or has this already been discussed previously ?

I can't answer the "why" question. If you see an S2 that you would like, why not snap it up for the discounted price? There is no guarantee you would be assigned to a higher suite category.

Jane

 

PS Look at the "Sticky" thread at the top of this board labeled "S-Class Cabin Compilation". You can check out any S2 cabin that you might be considering.

[Tommy3putts]

What about the itinerary? I won't sail on my first Celebrity cruise until 2014. I am really interested in the 11 day eastern med with the overnight in Istanbul. Looks like it will be on Reflection, but if it were Equinox I'd sail on that ship. I'm just saying the itinerary is also important. Just my .02.