Thoughts on Equinox

[4cats4me]

What about going in March. Will there be young people?

 

You would find younger crowds near Easter or winter breaks, whenever that might be. For example, we've always had a pretty good mix of ages in Feb when going during President week but had an old demographic during the first week in December. Conversely, we've always had a hoppin' nightlife during April cruises

Went once in March and it was also quite festive. There really are many factors.

 

But last year most were 40-65 and very much a party crowd, but we also had a lot of non-Americans too, which made for a more lively atmosphere, since the Europeans like to stay up late and party:D

[enborgle]

For what it's worth, hubby and I are sailing Equinox the first two weeks of March after originally rescheduling our trip from late January. We are both 28.

[2Fltravelers]

A crew member told us that they had replaced the chef yet again in Silk Harvest right before our cruise. They went through a total of three. Apparently it was based on feedback they were getting from the guest so it does sound as though X is really trying to step things up.

 

That's good to hear. I hope that Silk Harvest gets it right now. It is a lovely space.

[prim8keeper]

That's good to hear. I hope that Silk Harvest gets it right now. It is a lovely space.

 

It really is. What I have always found interesting about Silk Harvest is that every time we have dined there the chef has always created something from their home county for us as well as what we ordered. Every time that dish was by far the best dish of the meal. Makes you wonder why they need such a set menu. Just let the chef be a chef and keep it flexible.

[UMDTERPS1]

Has anyone heard what will happen with the Equinox when it goes into dry dock this April?

 

My wife and I took the 2012 TA and will be taking the 2014 TA back from Barcelona.

 

Michael

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[SevenSeas70]

So we just returned from a 10 night cruise on the Equinox. This was our second time taking this cruise so I thought I would share some of the things I noticed that changed since last years cruise.

 

Since music always seem to be a hot topic on the boards I thought I would just throw in my two cents. There wasn't any place on the ship where I thought the live or canned in music was too loud.

 

I was also on this sailing and had a similar reaction to most of the conditions on the Equinox. We ate dinners in the MDR and generally enjoyed the careful presentation of the dishes. One dinner in Murano was exceptional and well worth the extra charge.

 

My reaction to the music was different, however. (This could be due to the difference in our ages, if your avatar in fact represents your appearance. I'm older.) The music around the pool was often quit loud--and canned, for example during Zumba sessions. In addition, the sound level in the Equinox Theatre was deafening. Singing voices and instruments were distorted and often unpleasant enough to get me to leave an otherwise entertaining show. Someone seems to think that big is good, but in this case the opposite was true.

 

Of course, these are individual reactions, but a middle ground could be easily reached.

 

Otherwise it was a great cruise, ship, and crew.

[prim8keeper]

I was also on this sailing and had a similar reaction to most of the conditions on the Equinox. We ate dinners in the MDR and generally enjoyed the careful presentation of the dishes. One dinner in Murano was exceptional and well worth the extra charge.

 

My reaction to the music was different, however. (This could be due to the difference in our ages, if your avatar in fact represents your appearance. I'm older.) The music around the pool was often quit loud--and canned, for example during Zumba sessions. In addition, the sound level in the Equinox Theatre was deafening. Singing voices and instruments were distorted and often unpleasant enough to get me to leave an otherwise entertaining show. Someone seems to think that big is good, but in this case the opposite was true.

 

Of course, these are individual reactions, but a middle ground could be easily reached.

 

Otherwise it was a great cruise, ship, and crew.

 

I skipped sitting by the pool and attending the shows so that is probably also a factor. I did sit in the solarium and in there the music was pretty low even when we were right by the speaker. My avatar is correct, I'm 31.

 

For the person who asked about the dailies, I have not forgotten. I'll try to get to that tomorrow!

[prim8keeper]

Has anyone heard what will happen with the Equinox when it goes into dry dock this April?

 

My wife and I took the 2012 TA and will be taking the 2014 TA back from Barcelona.

 

Michael

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

From my understanding its mostly just changing out things like the carpet, drapes, pillows etc. and then doing whatever they need to do under the ship. We didn't hear anything about any major changes. The crew said it was only a week or 10 days or something pretty short.

[Hollywood Traveler]

We were also on this cruise and would agree with Prim8keeper that the food and service were both excellent. Also agree that Silk Harvest was vastly improved. We ate there twice, and they may have been the best two meals we had. Also we were never bothered by loud music.

[Cessna140]

Were there a lot of people really dressed up on formal nights?

Edited February 14, 2014 by Cessna140

[BABA 7]

St. Thomas

 

This is one of the locations where we did an X tour. We did the tour that went to St. John and then allowed you to explore on your own. While it was ok and defiantly easier than having to taxi over to redhook to grab the ferry, I would not book this tour again. It left directly from the pier where we were docked. The boat they use for this excursion is rather small which meant it was difficult to get out of the sun which was not ideal. Also on the way back it started to rain and there was no where to go. We did have a great time in St. John though. Overall the way the whole tour was run was off putting including the fact that X printed the wrong time on the tickets which meant we all spent an extra 30 minutes standing outside in the sun prior to the tour starting. I will fully admit this may have colored the way I saw the rest of the excursion.

 

St. Kitts

 

Here we did another X tour. We hiked up to the summit of the volcano. We booked the ships tour for this since it started earlier and meant we didn't have to worry about missing the ship since it takes six hours. Our tour guide for this tour was excellent. The hike up the volcano was difficult at times but defiantly do able although we did loose three members of our group along the way. That said, since I have now checked this off my bucket list I wont be doing it again. :rolleyes:

 

Barbados

 

In Barbados we went on our own to the beach. We went to the boatyard. It was a quick $5 pp taxi ride to get there. For $15 you got a chair, a shared umbrella, a welcome drink, had access to all the toys/facilities and got to take a shuttle for free back to the port (those started around noon). One tip for this is that if you are going to go make sure you go early otherwise they will run out of chairs.

 

Dominica

 

In Dominica we took another X tour where we went river tubing. This tour was a lot of fun. In addition to the river tubing we also stopped at Hibiscus falls which was very nice. This was our second time to the island so we had previously done a general island tour which I would recommend to anyone who is visiting this port for the first time. Its a beautiful place.

 

St. Martin

 

In St. Martin I organized a private tour for a group of friends from our roll call who had all cruised together the previous year. We visited Orient Beach, Marigot and Maho Beach. This tour was a blast but I had done the exact same tour the previous year with the same company so I knew it would be fun. I have some videos I took at Maho that I can post if anyone is interested.

 

will be doing the same cruise on the 14th of March....just a quick question re the river tubing in Dominica...how fast is the water, are there any rapids and also, how long is the run time wise?

 

Baba 7

[drfun48]

Were there a lot of people really dressed up on formal nights?

 

Dressed up...yes modern fashion no. Many of the women wore gowns obviously from granddaughters' weddings,and the tuxes looked like they could have been worn on the Titanic.

[prim8keeper]

Were there a lot of people really dressed up on formal nights?

 

More than I have seen in the past. However, there was a much older crowd on this cruise than my previous cruises. I was surprised by how many tuxes I saw. We just wore suites for both. On the second night though we didn't bother with ties.

[prim8keeper]

will be doing the same cruise on the 14th of March....just a quick question re the river tubing in Dominica...how fast is the water, are there any rapids and also, how long is the run time wise?

 

Baba 7

 

It was a mix of fast rapids and then just a slow flowing river. I think there were four or five big rapids total. For the most part though it was just slow. The bus to and from where we started and ended was about an hour and we spent an hour, possibly more, tubing. Plus you have about 20 minutes at the falls. I think overall it was around four, four and a half hours long.

[luvstosail]

Dressed up...yes modern fashion no. Many of the women wore gowns obviously from granddaughters' weddings,and the tuxes looked like they could have been worn on the Titanic.

 

Who are you to say that ??? The Fashion Police???

 

Luvstosail

Boston Ma

[A Sixth?]

will be doing the same cruise on the 14th of March....just a quick question re the river tubing in Dominica...how fast is the water, are there any rapids and also, how long is the run time wise?

 

Baba 7

 

As others said, a mix of slow and faster, but hardly white water/white knukles. As I recall it took about one hour or so of actual river tubing.

 

Here's a Trip Advisor video I posted of the start of the Whacky Rollers Tubing and what is a bit of a typical section of the river.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ProfileGallery-i29559647.html

[drfun48]

Who are you to say that ??? The Fashion Police???

 

Luvstosail

Boston Ma

No just someone who observes and opines. I've done over 40 Celebrity cruises,mostly with younger crowds. This last January had a more mature group. While they were dressed appropriately on formal nights,their styles were not as current as with younger groups. Also did see a frighteningly large number of older gents in Speedos...yuk.

Who are you the free speech gestapo ?

[prim8keeper]

As others said, a mix of slow and faster, but hardly white water/white knukles. As I recall it took about one hour or so of actual river tubing.

 

Here's a Trip Advisor video I posted of the start of the Whacky Rollers Tubing and what is a bit of a typical section of the river.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ProfileGallery-i29559647.html

 

Just as an FYI X no longer uses Whacky Rollers Tubing for that tour. They now use another company.

[BABA 7]

St. Thomas

 

This is one of the locations where we did an X tour. We did the tour that went to St. John and then allowed you to explore on your own. While it was ok and defiantly easier than having to taxi over to redhook to grab the ferry, I would not book this tour again. It left directly from the pier where we were docked. The boat they use for this excursion is rather small which meant it was difficult to get out of the sun which was not ideal. Also on the way back it started to rain and there was no where to go. We did have a great time in St. John though. Overall the way the whole tour was run was off putting including the fact that X printed the wrong time on the tickets which meant we all spent an extra 30 minutes standing outside in the sun prior to the tour starting. I will fully admit this may have colored the way I saw the rest of the excursion.

 

St. Kitts

 

Here we did another X tour. We hiked up to the summit of the volcano. We booked the ships tour for this since it started earlier and meant we didn't have to worry about missing the ship since it takes six hours. Our tour guide for this tour was excellent. The hike up the volcano was difficult at times but defiantly do able although we did loose three members of our group along the way. That said, since I have now checked this off my bucket list I wont be doing it again. :rolleyes:

 

Barbados

 

In Barbados we went on our own to the beach. We went to the boatyard. It was a quick $5 pp taxi ride to get there. For $15 you got a chair, a shared umbrella, a welcome drink, had access to all the toys/facilities and got to take a shuttle for free back to the port (those started around noon). One tip for this is that if you are going to go make sure you go early otherwise they will run out of chairs.

 

Dominica

 

In Dominica we took another X tour where we went river tubing. This tour was a lot of fun. In addition to the river tubing we also stopped at Hibiscus falls which was very nice. This was our second time to the island so we had previously done a general island tour which I would recommend to anyone who is visiting this port for the first time. Its a beautiful place.

 

St. Martin

 

In St. Martin I organized a private tour for a group of friends from our roll call who had all cruised together the previous year. We visited Orient Beach, Marigot and Maho Beach. This tour was a blast but I had done the exact same tour the previous year with the same company so I knew it would be fun. I have some videos I took at Maho that I can post if anyone is interested.

 

I'll be sailing on the Equinox in March....love your posts...could you expand you info of the river tubing....length of time tubing...etc.

 

Thanks Baba7

[CruzeBoozer]

Sean was still on board during our sailing, but we left on 1/31 so maybe that was his last cruise. We came across several crew members who's contracts were ending after our sailing. Overall I would say that the singers were ok, but overall were not great. Then again I saw people listening to them every night and I think its subjective. Some nights it was great, other nights, not so much.

 

I also looked at my dailies and it seems that the DJ spent his time in the sky lounge where we did not go. They did have a live band and dancing in the atrium on several nights though.

 

 

 

Ok, I'll post all of them.

 

You previously mentioned posting the Dailies do you still plan to do so? Thanks.

[A Sixth?]

Just as an FYI X no longer uses Whacky Rollers Tubing for that tour. They now use another company.

 

Oh, we were there this January (actually every January for years) but didn't do anything in Dominica this time.... thought Whacky Rollers did a great job...

 

In any case I assume the "new" company uses the same river and it's a fun ride, maybe not spine chilling, but fun. :D

 

[prim8keeper]

Oh, we were there this January (actually every January for years) but didn't do anything in Dominica this time.... thought Whacky Rollers did a great job...

 

In any case I assume the "new" company uses the same river and it's a fun ride, maybe not spine chilling, but fun. :D

 

 

It was very interesting. We originally booked the tour and it was with Whacky Rollers. Then in December X started canceling all the X tours in Dominica. Everyone on our roll call had something canceled. The new company is Hibiscus Eco-Tours. They were very good. In addition to the tubing you also now stop at Hibiscus falls which was very pretty.

 

Don't fear though, the water was still "refreshing!"

[prim8keeper]

You previously mentioned posting the Dailies do you still plan to do so? Thanks.

 

I'm scanning them all in now so I'll start posting them in a few minutes. :)

[prim8keeper]

Captain's Club

 

Welcome Letter & Coupons - Classic Members

 

Dailies

 

Embarkation - Friday, January 31, 2014

Ft. Lauderdale - Friday, January 31, 2014

At Sea - Saturday, February 1, 2014

At Sea - Sunday, February 2, 2014

St. Thomas - Monday, February 3, 2014

St. Kitts - Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Barbados - Wednesday, February 4, 2014

Dominica - Thursday, February 6, 2014

St. Maarten - Friday, February 7, 2014

At Sea - Saturday, February 8, 2014

At Sea - Sunday, February 9, 2014

Disembarkation - Monday, February 10, 2014

 

Port Shopping Maps

 

St. Thomas

St. Kitts

Barbados

Dominica

St. Maarten

 

Misc. Documents

 

In the Spotlight

Future Cruise Bookings

Galapagos

 

The only thing I am missing is that on the first night Aqua class guest received a card in their stateroom inviting them to join at any specialty restaurant for 50% off on the first night.

[prim8keeper]

I'll be sailing on the Equinox in March....love your posts...could you expand you info of the river tubing....length of time tubing...etc.

 

Thanks Baba7

 

We meet at the end of the pier in Dominica which was very easy. From there we took a 30 minute bus ride to Hibiscus falls, which was our first stop. We spent about 20 minutes there. After that we drove for another 20 minutes or so to where we went into the river. We spent a little more than an hour in the river tubing. It was a mix of fast rapids with just a slow moving river. They would also stop us all at certain points so they could make sure everyone was together. This usually happened before we entered an area with rapids. We exited the river in a remote area however there we some locals who were selling food, drinks and various other items. Afterwards it was an hour drive back to the port. I think the whole tour was 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

 

Below is a photo of the falls.