1st time Celebrity Equinox cruisers

[alibaba1]

Celebrity Equinox - December 11, 2015 - 10 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise

 

1st time on Celebrity – underwhelmed. Cabin A2 – 1642 – Aqua Class

 

Parking lot – no garage?

 

No direction – where to check in

 

In terminal directed to line 4. Should have been line 2 - Aqua. Mentioned to clerk, nothing done.

 

Given room key card, no instructions, no “map”

 

2 crew sanitizer squirters on the gangway causing blockage.

 

On board - No greeter, no direction.

 

Found entrance, asked to sit until cabin ready at coffee shop. Waiter asked: drink? We have the drink pkg, what is available? Told to pick up list at guest services.

 

Cabin ready, dropped off carry-ons, proceeded to café (Lido). Café all roped off, even though food in trays. Guess we’re too late for a bite.

 

Off to the muster drill. Ensemble Lounge. Watched videos –couldn’t hear - too loud; everyone talking.

 

Back to cabin – no facial spray, no pillow menu, what euro face towel? Also no brochure, no deck floor plan.

 

Connections Party – Thank you Captain for joining us.

The rest of your crew seemed unenthusiastic and didn’t join you on stage in welcoming the group – a crowd of over 150. And were those goodies for us?

 

Blu restaurant – overrated. Had dinner 5x on 11 ngt. Twice with friends. Rib eye? Was ¼” minute steak. 2nd time waited 45 min. Maitre’d said 20 min; couldn’t move two tables together?.. anyway, we had the lobster tail. What chef forgets to remove the membrane? Inedible.

 

Oceanview Café – aka Lido on other cruises. It’s help yourself, folks. Get your own silverware. Get your coffee, get your iced tea, etc. It’s DIY…Tables are not set as on other lines. Forget getting a cup of coffee or a drink. We had a cloudy day, sat at a “dirty” table, took over 40 min for staff to clear the table.

 

One day on our way to the Café deck 14 there was a set-up for BioFreeze. I mentioned that it’s a great product and we put it in the goodie bags, for runners, when we run marathons. An “X” employee (Ilhan), who was supposed to be working on dining reservations came over and rudely said: “You Run Marathons?” Yes, I do. Over 15 years, on the steering committee, Palm Beach; with Dave McGillivray – the race director of the Boston Marathon.

 

Casino – Our group had a “slot pull” – what? One waiter? The bar was totally understaffed as long as we were there for the 11 days. Need more staff. Still unbelievable that you can’t pull resources from your OBC account to play in the Casino.

 

Mentioned to manager @casino re:$400 OBC and 5% charge. He said go to “ Guest Relations” – no fee. Wrong!

 

Celebrity Today item - Dec 11 -7pm - Free Charm Collection - Desk 3 – inquired re: charms between 7-8:30??? No one there, GR was going to call. Waited 20 mins. ----------left.

 

Guest Relations sent us down to Future Cruises re: transferring OBC - they didn’t have the answer…

 

Thought we could use $400 OBC to purchase liquor as gifts. What a sparse selection! No Grand Marnier?

 

Persian Garden – relaxing? no lemon water – both containers – empty.

 

Spa – dusty, plastic flowers – hopefully it’s only a holiday thing.

 

Wanted blanket. Looked everywhere; then under bed. Found dirty bedsheets in a basket next to our luggage. No Blanket.

 

Canapes request – invited guests to our cabin, requested canapes for 4 people. Plate had “4” things.

 

Inconsistent room cleaning. Dirty glasses left behind, fruit not being replaced.

 

Had to ask for binoculars.

 

Don’t mind the carpet not being vacuumed every day; but it’s what we pay for; a clean cabin.

 

Last day – no fruit…, even dish taken away ----in the past inconsistent fruit delivery.

 

Blue binder missing, all notes – can’t see what’s in refrig.

 

We went to dinner at Blu, to say thanks.+

 

OK, so we’ve packed our bags, everything is cleaned out – all drawers, etc. we have our items for tomorrows travel in the closet. Our personal items – clothes, underwear, jewelry – personal! Guess what we find? Two robes for the next people. Do we not own that rental space until we leave? That is a private place. You (room attendant) are only there to make the bed and clean the cabin. Not to invade our private place.

 

We wanted to have a Concierge cabin, our TA recommended the Aqua. Overpriced.

 

Also wanted to mention you ("X") cancelled the Celebrity Oct 17, 2016 we had booked with the 1-2-3 promo, never received the notice; received the $50 deposit.

 

Oh forgot to mention – thanks for the white nylon carry bag and the navy tote. The metal grommet and the tag off the navy bag broke off. Made in China.

 

We are considering cancelling the November 28, 2016 on the Equinox. Love Oceania and HAL.

 

Just one more thing - When I called "X" to mention not receiving an after cruise survey they said: they didn't have our e-mail.

Now, how did they contact us re: confirmation for the connections party? Obviously they had our e-mail.

[CRUZBUDS]

Wow -- other than that Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

 

I'm sorry you had so many disappoints -- I don't think have had that many in all of our cruises combined. We've been pretty lucky :)

 

Happy New Year!

[gopro63]

First sorry to hear you were disappointed.

 

Not all goes well, for everyone right. I will agree but mapping is quite clear by each elevator and blue card etc...

 

I am sure you were not alone on this and many did enjoy. a lot can be said but better luck next time

Edited December 31, 2015 by gopro63

[ghstudio]

It's amazing how different folks experience the same cruise. We were on the exact same cruise and to be truthful, it was one of the best cruises we've had on Celebrity....and those that follow my posts probably are shocked by that statement....but I digress. Just for frame of reference, we're elite plus and we've been on most of celebrity's ships on cruises around the world.

 

We had the best service, both food and wine service we've ever had in select dining...granted, we asked for the same wait staff each night. Our cabin was spotless. We had no delay at all checking in although we were in the longest line...captain's club, not concierge cabins (we had a 1A)...we were greeted on board with drinks and we had a map of the ship which we didn't need....and so on. We were with two other couples and the cruise was so good that we actually booked it again for 2016...again in A1's because it's crazy to us to pay over $400 for an aqua cabin...although we do enjoy Blu, it's not worth an extra $40 a day when we could buy the ultimate dining package for $29 a day....crazy pricing. Can't comment on the buffet...we avoid, but the breakfasts in the MDR were very good and lunch was usually something from the aqua spa cafe or mast grill.

 

One question on the OP's post....I have never heard of removing a membrane from a lobster tail....not sure where that came from.

 

I guess it's different strokes for different folks....

[hmorrow]

On the Equinox now

Has everything been PERFECT? No, it never is- it's life! , but we are having a wonderful time and will hate to get off on Sunday

We are having a totally opposite experience.

Helaine

Edited December 31, 2015 by hmorrow

[vedettes1]

Helaine, I hope you consider getting off Equinox a day earlier. A lot of us are planning to board on Saturday! Just kidding you.

[Cruise Raider]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise ... or at least it sounds like you didn't. We had one of our best cruises of all times on the Equinox - have two more booked. Sure hope it hasn't gone downhill that much because it was superb. I am pretty confident we will still enjoy both of these future cruises.

 

We booked AQ a couple of years ago after meeting a couple on the Equinox that just raved about it. We also were big fans but now am reading a lot of complaints about it and the prices for this class seem to have skyrocketed. Sure would love to taste that lobster like I had in there again .... wow, was it something special.

 

We recently sailed on the Infinity and this even beat out our Equinox cruise. Most people said it felt like the staff didn't care ... we felt like we were treated like royalty each and every moment. So, different experiences lead to different opinions. Hopefully, your next cruise, which ever line you choose, will be kinder to you.

[rockdoctor]

Wow. You must have had The Perfect Storm. Sailed on the Equinox 4 times. Never a complaint. Just kudos to everyone from the butler to the room steward to, well, everyone. Equinox is my favorite ship.

[Cindy]

I'm sorry so many things went wrong for you!:( Our first (and so far only) Celebrity cruise is right up there at the top of our list, and I can only hope #2 (in AQ, on the Equinox!:eek:) is just as good.

 

I hope you think about trying again. As wonderful as we thought our first HAL cruise (with you on the Noordam) was, our second HAL was the exact opposite. There really wasn't anything about the cruise we enjoyed, except our wait staff. I've come to realize that a cruise line can be very different from ship to ship, and even from week to week on the same ship. If I was going to base future cruises on HAL only on cruise #2 I'd never sail on them again, but I'd definitely consider them again based on cruise #1.

[Mermaid rock]

In the buffet area , we had waiters bring coffee, water etc., and they kept it spotless!

[Mermaid rock]

We found our first Celebrity Equinox 10 day cruise on Dec. 11/15 one of the best of the 7 we have done !! Please read my review . It was an excellent value for the cost !! Yes, it is strange how one person finds everything so wonderful and another is disappointed. I am sorry that you were not happy .

[WpgCruise]

We were on the exact same cruise and to be truthful, it was one of the best cruises we've had on Celebrity.

 

It's just amazing to me how the experiences of two people on the same sailing can be so different.

 

I'm not discounting the O.P.'s experience, clearly they had expectations that were not met. Hopefully their future sailings will be more enjoyable.

[phyllisrf]

We were on this cruise as well. Loved every minute....service, food, ambiance and specialty restaurants....all superb. Perhaps the OP needs to find a better fit on another cruise line.

[ghstudio]

We were on this cruise as well. Loved every minute....service, food, ambiance and specialty restaurants....all superb. Perhaps the OP needs to find a better fit on another cruise line.

 

A number of the items mentioned by the OP should not have happened...they really are failures on Celebrity's part and some others really are out of the control of Celebrity (the garage/check in stuff). when things start bad it's easier to find the bad trees instead of the beautiful forest.

 

I don't think the OP needs to change cruise lines....most of these things can happen on any ship...you get a bad cabin attendant, waiter, etc....it happens. My guess is that if the OP tries celebrity again, they will have a much better cruise.

[midwestchick]

That 's quite a list of negatives. :eek: probably the worst I've read. I guess we've been fortunate.

On that note, I will say that on our last cruise, when we returned from dinner, we were locked out of our refrigerator and our beer, water and soda were removed and set out to get warm. We've never had that happen before and it was not appreciated. We usually have our cabin attendant empty items for purchase when we first get there, but our's did not. We were told to just set them by the tv. :rolleyes: The robes, which we usually have removed, were also back in the closet, but no big deal....we had pretty much removed our clothes from the closet.

Other than that, we've had very good experiences on X.

[bethd]

Also on this cruise with friends and family who all agreed, one of the best cruises we've been on in a long time. Was it perfect? Absolutely not, but I've never been on a vacation that was.

 

Can't wait for the next one.

[hmorrow]

Helaine, I hope you consider getting off Equinox a day earlier. A lot of us are planning to board on Saturday! Just kidding you.

 

Yep

Too much wine -ha ha

We lost track of days/time

Great problem to have

On our way home now

Helaine

[ShawninFL]

Wow!!

 

I'm not discounting your experience at all and I'm sorry your trip didn't meet your expectations, but couldn't come across a list half this long of disappointments from our 30+ cruises.

 

Happy Traveling where ever your next trip takes you!

[Aldeya]

Celebrity Equinox - December 11, 2015 - 10 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise

 

1st time on Celebrity – underwhelmed. Cabin A2 – 1642 – Aqua Class

 

 

OK, so we’ve packed our bags, everything is cleaned out – all drawers, etc. we have our items for tomorrows travel in the closet. Our personal items – clothes, underwear, jewelry – personal! Guess what we find? Two robes for the next people. Do we not own that rental space until we leave? That is a private place. You (room attendant) are only there to make the bed and clean the cabin. Not to invade our private place.

 

 

 

This was one of the surprises for us on our November Equinox cruise. The day BEFORE embarkation:

- came back to the cabin from breakfast to find out that all my cosmetics in the bathroom were on the counter , the tray they were placed on was gone.

-two robes for the next cruise guests were on the hangers.

- the cosmetics tray appeared in the evening with all amenities for 2 next guests. OUR amenities were gone.

- the wine glasses in the room were changed, the rose was gone, etc.

 

I fully understand that the room attendant and his assistant are very busy on the day of debarkation but we also felt all these "preparations" were an invasion of our privacy. We had a full paid day on board and shouldn't have been inconvenienced.

This was the first for us in all our cruises.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Aldeya

[midwestchick]

This was one of the surprises for us on our November Equinox cruise. The day BEFORE embarkation:

- came back to the cabin from breakfast to find out that all my cosmetics in the bathroom were on the counter , the tray they were placed on was gone.

-two robes for the next cruise guests were on the hangers.

- the cosmetics tray appeared in the evening with all amenities for 2 next guests. OUR amenities were gone.

- the wine glasses in the room were changed, the rose was gone, etc.

 

I fully understand that the room attendant and his assistant are very busy on the day of debarkation but we also felt all these "preparations" were an invasion of our privacy. We had a full paid day on board and shouldn't have been inconvenienced.

This was the first for us in all our cruises.

 

I'm making a mental note, after our last experience. I will specifically ask to be certain this does not happen to us and I will tell them not to lock us out of the refrigerator. :mad::mad:

[chamima]

This was one of the surprises for us on our November Equinox cruise. The day BEFORE embarkation:

- came back to the cabin from breakfast to find out that all my cosmetics in the bathroom were on the counter , the tray they were placed on was gone.

-two robes for the next cruise guests were on the hangers.

- the cosmetics tray appeared in the evening with all amenities for 2 next guests. OUR amenities were gone.

- the wine glasses in the room were changed, the rose was gone, etc.

 

I fully understand that the room attendant and his assistant are very busy on the day of debarkation but we also felt all these "preparations" were an invasion of our privacy. We had a full paid day on board and shouldn't have been inconvenienced.

This was the first for us in all our cruises.

 

 

That's a REALLY bad room steward!

Had he/she been bad the whole cruise?

I think I might have been tempted to either call the steward back to change everything back or had a little chat with his or her supervisor.

 

The robes in the closet on the morning of departure DOES happen sometimes - that one is not as big a deal.

 

I don't know how embarkation day duties are divided up but we've noticed that on Princess - where we can get into our cabin as soon as we board - the last day of the cruise isn't interrupted by as much preparation for the next cruise as it is on Celebrity - where they theoretically have longer for cabin prep since you can't get in until 1 or 1:30. :confused:

[Aldeya]

That's a REALLY bad room steward!

Had he/she been bad the whole cruise?

I think I might have been tempted to either call the steward back to change everything back or had a little chat with his or her supervisor.

 

The robes in the closet on the morning of departure DOES happen sometimes - that one is not as big a deal.

 

I don't know how embarkation day duties are divided up but we've noticed that on Princess - where we can get into our cabin as soon as we board - the last day of the cruise isn't interrupted by as much preparation for the next cruise as it is on Celebrity - where they theoretically have longer for cabin prep since you can't get in until 1 or 1:30. :confused:

 

Actually the room attendant and his assistance were quite good. The cabin was kept clean. We had only one request for the whole cruise and it was promptly taken care of (and compensated accordingly :)

 

I was quite upset but it was our first Celebrity cruise so we thought that this is the way things are done on this cruise line.

[Cindy]

This was one of the surprises for us on our November Equinox cruise. The day BEFORE embarkation:

- came back to the cabin from breakfast to find out that all my cosmetics in the bathroom were on the counter , the tray they were placed on was gone.

-two robes for the next cruise guests were on the hangers.

- the cosmetics tray appeared in the evening with all amenities for 2 next guests. OUR amenities were gone.

- the wine glasses in the room were changed, the rose was gone, etc.

 

I fully understand that the room attendant and his assistant are very busy on the day of debarkation but we also felt all these "preparations" were an invasion of our privacy. We had a full paid day on board and shouldn't have been inconvenienced.

This was the first for us in all our cruises.

 

I've had new robes show up the night before disembarkation on many cruises...different lines. That doesn't really bother me, as by that time most of my things are packed and out of the way.

 

I WOULD be upset to have all that done unless I had spoken to my attendant and given the OK, especially on the day before the cruise ends. On the last morning, I've frequently told a steward we're going to breakfast but they're free to start servicing the cabin as long as they don't touch our personal belongings that are waiting for disembarkation.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Cindy

[cheeseheads4ever]

I guess I've never seen so many negatives on one cruise. Maybe we are easy to please but we do look for good customer service and let them know when is is and not good.

Like I tell people who want to cruise if you want 100% perfect time stay home. Food will not be seasoned perfectly they take care of 2000 plus people you can't make everyone happy. Too much seasoning and people complain not enough and people complain..

We've been on over a half dozen cruises and haven't had 5 things to complain about. We are on Equinox in November really are looking forward to it.

We've been on cruises and read write ups on the same cruise and can't believe we were on the same ship. Just never experienced the horrific issues people have had.

Really sorry you had a bad time. We are retired and this is what I've worked 30 years for..... TO CRUISE!!!

[DavidYYC]

<<<<OK, so we’ve packed our bags, everything is cleaned out – all drawers, etc. we have our items for tomorrows travel in the closet. Our personal items – clothes, underwear, jewelry – personal! Guess what we find? Two robes for the next people. Do we not own that rental space until we leave? That is a private place. You (room attendant) are only there to make the bed and clean the cabin. Not to invade our private place.>>>

 

OH. MY. WORD!!!!

 

We have been on the Equinox 3 times and loved it every time. We are not nit-pickers though - we don't move from place to place, minute-to-minute, seeking fault and failings.

 

Sorry for you.