Equinox Review 3/31/18 - 4/7/18

[tampacruiser]

Background: Traveled with wife, both mid 50s, 11th cruise, 3rd with Celebrity

 

Embarkation: Smooth! We received an email not to arrive until noon due to a coast guard inspection. We didn't want to sit at the hotel so we went to the port early anyway and arrived at about 10:15. Walked in to security, no line we were the only ones. Up the escalator to check in, literally took about 3 minutes. We were Aqua Class so they directed us to a smaller waiting room where there may have been 10 other people in there. A few minutes later they came and said we were boarding. We went on, made our dining reservations for the week and were outside the Ocean Cafe at 10:55. It was not scheduled to open until 11:30 but they said they were going to open early. By 11:15 we were seated and eating!

 

Cabin: 1587 Aqua Class Deck 11. Nice size room, plenty of storage for 2 people. Celebrity S Class ships have one of the nicer bathrooms out there. The balcony did have a large overhang from the pool deck above and two large support struts coming out of the side of the ship. People either love or hate this. We loved it. Shade on the balcony most times. The struts did not really affect my view at all

 

Food: This is always subjective so I here is my opinion. Food overall was great! We ate in Blue 4 nights and it was great and the service was amazing. (we had sailed on Solstice twice previously and ate in the MDR which we found to be mediocre so this was a pleasant change) we also did a 3 night dining package and did Silk Harvest, Murano, and Tuscan Grill. I think TG turned out to be my favorite. Our waiter was great and our choices were really good. Murano came in a close second (we ate at Murano previously on Solstice) Silk Harvest was good for what it was and a nice change to normal cruise fare.

 

Entertainment: Again this is subjective and I will give an opinion. My wife and I both musicians and have performed in groups so maybe we can be too critical, but we both actually thought the talent of the singers, dancers and acrobats were really good. Here is were they lost some ground. All 3 production shows incorporated current/pop music. In an effort to be up to date and relevant they built the story lines around these songs so in most cases there really wasn't a story line to follow! Still entertaining though. 2 comedians both good, The first I had seen on TV before and recognized him from some Disney Channel shows my kids used to watch. The 2nd was a finalist on a recent season of America's Got Talent and we had remembered him that show. There were also some other musical entertainers on board, a party band, a jazz/rock band, a young lady who sang with guitar an a couple that sang with a guitar, also the ships orchestra from the shows performed a few times around the ship. Overall entertainment was better than I expected and a lot more of it compared to the 2 Solstice Cruises I previously took. Oh also the Cruise Director was ok. It was his first week on. Everyone was expecting Richard Spacey, not sure what the hub bub about him is but he is off. Maarten Bruels is on now and he is going to be moving to the Edge once its up and running.

 

Activities: During the day there was not much. Lots of seminars that included the option to purchase things, Pool was crowded on sea days, but even with the chair hogs there seemed to always be seats somewhere. The night time vibe on the ship was very different than our Solstice experiences. On Solstice both time, once in Caribbean and one in Alaska by 10pm the ship was a ghost town. Not this time on Equinox. The CD had theme parties everynight and they were well attended. Sometimes up at the pool, in the grand foyer or in the Sky Lounge. On 70s night in the Grand Foyer the place was packed and people were having a good time....Nice to see some nightlife on the ship!

 

Ports: San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Kits.... we got off an walked around a bit on each, did not do any excursions. the 3:30 arrival at San Juan is awkward, St. Maarten which was our favorite stop in the past was visibly beaten by Irma. Very sad to see but the people are still there and still welcoming tourism so I did my part to contribute to the economy and help them get back on their feet!

 

Customer Service: GREAT....probably best of any ship we have been on . Everyone working on board greeted us and seemed very happy. Room Steward, Wait staff, Bartenders....I had read contrary to this on here but I saw no issues. The crew went out of their way to make sure everyone was happy and having a good time

 

Disembarkation: We did walk off with our luggage. We went down to deck 5 at 7am, by about 7:15 the line was moving, we got off fairly quickly, about 5 minutes in line for customers, out to our LYFT and on our way to the airport...again very smooth!

 

Summary: Great cruise, great ship, good food and entertainment. Very relaxing week and would repeat with Celebrity again.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[davekathy]

portofrome...Thanks for posting. We were on the 24 March and the 31 March sailings. Both cruises were fantastic. Great ship and staff. Wish we were still on the Equinox. :cool:

[oneputt18]

Thanks for the review, we agree with you about the staff, best of any ship we have sailed. We are sailing Sunday for the fifth time on the Equinox.

 

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[vetteguy91]

Thanks for a very good comprehensive review. We are also sailing this Sunday. Our first time on the Equinox.

[Clarea]

Enjoyed the report, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Georgia_Peaches]

We were on the same cruise and had an awesome time. Agree with your assessment. I just have to comment on the embarkation e-mail. We also received that e-mail but had no trouble boarding before the specified time. When I spoke with an agent about the fact that I was surprised to be boarding ahead of schedule I was told...and I'm not making this up...that there was apparently a jewelry heist from one of the shops early on in the cruise that was returning the day we embarked. Gentleman said they searched all luggage, which was the real reason for the possible delay...not the coast guard inspection as the email indicated. At any rate, the jewelry was apparently recovered and the 2 suspects were apprehended and removed in handcuffs. Not sure if all that is true but it makes for a good story.;)

[davekathy]

We were on the same cruise and had an awesome time. Agree with your assessment. I just have to comment on the embarkation e-mail. We also received that e-mail but had no trouble boarding before the specified time. When I spoke with an agent about the fact that I was surprised to be boarding ahead of schedule I was told...and I'm not making this up...that there was apparently a jewelry heist from one of the shops early on in the cruise that was returning the day we embarked. Gentleman said they searched all luggage, which was the real reason for the possible delay...not the coast guard inspection as the email indicated. At any rate, the jewelry was apparently recovered and the 2 suspects were apprehended and removed in handcuffs. Not sure if all that is true but it makes for a good story.;)

We were on the 24 March cruise as well as the 31 March cruise. There was a Coast Guard inspection on the 31st as we saw a few of them still on the ship with an Equinox officer when we re-boarded . Even our TAD info that was delivered to our stateroom's two days prior to TAD advised us of the scheduled Coast Guard inspection on the 31st. The inspection did go quickly with no delays for us re-boarding. Saw new cruisers boarding just after 11:00 AM. First I've heard of the jewelry store caper. ;)

Edited April 12, 2018 by davekathy

[Georgia_Peaches]

We were on the 24 March cruise as well as the 31 March cruise. There was a Coast Guard inspection on the 31st as we saw a few of them still on the ship when we re-boarded with an Equinox officer. Even our B2B info that was delivered to our stateroom's two days prior to TAD advised us of the scheduled Coast Guard inspection on the 31st. First I've heard of the jewelry store caper. ;)

There was indeed a coast guard inspection. According to the agent, the expected delay was not due to the inspection but rather, the possibility of it taking a long time to recover the jewelry. On a side note, I shared the story with a couple during our muster drill. So happened the gentleman was a retired detective...he called B.S. on the story. We had a good laugh, though.

[Silkroad]

Great review. Thanks! Your review makes me even more eager to sail on Equinox than I had been:)

[7960Ken]

Great review and organized very well. We are so excited to be on the Equinox for the first time in August. It can't get here fast enough.