Love the Equinox - How About Some Positive Thoughts?

[aml3679]

We have sailed on Carnival and RCI, but Celebrity is our cruise line of choice.

 

I have been a member of these boards for a while.  Lately, I have been getting discouraged with all of the complaining going on.  How about some positive comments?

 

There are many that complain about the drink packages, the food, service, tote bags, foot stools, in-room movie charges, etc.

 

People have a right to gripe, but once is becomes endless, it gets to be frustrating.

 

As far as the drink package - they have always added 18% on, now it is 20% for new bookings.  They are not the only cruise line doing this.  Just for the heck of it, I priced out the same cruise on Carnival, and found it to be more expensive than Celebrity.

 

The food:  Celebrity has some of the highest caliber food than most cruise lines.  Sure, you pay for specialty restaurants - another complaint - but they are worth it.

 

Service:  Workers bust their butts to make sure you have a good time.  There is not one time that someone did not have a smile and say something nice.  It is worth giving your cabin steward a little extra at the end - another gripe about tips.

 

Tote bags:  This does not mean much to us.

 

Food stools:  When I first heard this, yes, I was upset.  I ordered 2 nice blow up footstools to take with us that weight less than 3 pounds for the both of them.

 

In Room movies:  I love movies like the next person, but I do not go on vacation to watch movies.

 

These are just my humble opinions - but, I would love to have positives instead of negatives.

[shipgeeks]

I agree!  There were so many complaints before our September cruise that I wondered if things had really gone downhill.  Nope, it was just as good as our previous Equinox cruises.

None of the complained-about things affect us.  We don't care about in-cabin movies, footstools (just more furniture in the way), room service, or all the rest.  No hesitation in sailing X again.

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

None of the complained-about things affect us.  We don't care about in-cabin movies, footstools (just more furniture in the way), room service, or all the rest.  No hesitation in sailing X again.

 

I'm all for positivity and yes, I do think that any day on pretty much any cruise ship is better than most days not on a cruise ship 🙂

 

... but we should remember that just because the changes do not impact on our enjoyment, it doesn't invalidate the fact that they do impact on some others enjoyment.

 

If the nibbling away at features and facilities continues then eventually it will impact on each of us at some point...

[ROXY GIRL]

You know, some people just love to complain. Can't wait for my Equinox cruise.

I,ve been on 27 cruises and sure you will run into a few problems. I,m blessed that my husband is in good health and can travel. Celebrity is one of our favorites. For the most part the crew really works hard and I can't imagine working the hours that they do. It's your vacation. Sit back and chill.

[bikerunner]

I constantly find the people complaining funny and amusing.  Yes the service has changed and some things that people enjoyed were taken away and new things added. Some of the issues are valid.  Unfortunately it is a business and changes happened  The movie thing was interesting overall, personally have been on 12 Celebrity cruises, not a huge subset but enough I feel to comment,  and never new there were free movies. I don't have a tv at home so it is never important to me anyway.  Everyone looks at cruises differently.  I look at overall service and cleanliness along with food on the ships.  I have never been disappointed with any.  Sure there were some foods I didn't care for, guess what I got something else not that hard to do.  Take peoples grumbling with a grain of salt,  For the Caribbean Celebrity is the best option overall I think for what I am looking for.  Did not like MSC nor NCL at all.  Yes there are others but there even more on Celebrity.  I don't mind shopping around looking for good deals.  When I can get a Cruise for 240-250 pp per night on average (includes all air and hotel) overall Im very comfortable booking with Celebrity.  The ships I find immaculate and its a cruise, its vacation, I'm not going to worry that I did not get a tote bag or a chocolate.  There is plenty around to snack on.   

[Orator]

Equinox is a fine ship! Captain Manetas is currently in command and he will be rotated with Captain Tasos, who was previously on Solstice. I believe that Capt. Tasos takes command in November.  Both Captains are GREAT! Quality starts at the top and Equinox certainly has quality at the top!  

[helen haywood]

I love Equinox!!  I was so thrilled that they were unable to add the suites that would have cut the Sky Lounge in two!  I loved when Celebrity decided to keep her sailing year round from Florida!  I was thrilled when she moved from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale.  I think she is beautiful.  I could wish for some new shows....but that's only because I'm blessed to be a frequent repeat sailor on her.

[Terre]

We were on the Equinox last month and loved it.  I have no complaints and get tired of people complaining about minor stuff.  We loved the entertainment and felt it was much better than some other ships we've been on.  We ate all of our dinners and most breakfasts in the MDR.  The food was comparable to any other ship's we've been on.  The buffet was always good.  We had some issues, but were always polite with any complaining we did.

 

I thought the service was good and we had the best wait team we've had in a while.  I just have no complaints and don't understand why some people are so negative and complain about everything.  Maybe I just don't get out as much as they do or go to as many upscale events or restaurants, but I think anything is what you make it.  We've had issues, but didn't let them ruin our cruise/vacation, etc.

 

Here is a link to my Equinox review (with pics) if you'd like to read it. 

 

 

[Smmessineo]

I love the Equinox! My last 3 cruises were on it. My next 3 cruises are on Reflection, Constellation and Apex. The other day I was thinking "oh, man I'm going to miss the Equinox. I should've done a glassblowing class, I should've  had one more cigar on the shady side of the Sunset Bar last month" .

Beautiful ship, great staff ! 

But I'm sure the other ships are great too, each in their own way .

[Terre]

9 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

I love the Equinox! My last 3 cruises were on it. My next 3 cruises are on Reflection, Constellation and Apex. The other day I was thinking "oh, man I'm going to miss the Equinox. I should've done a glassblowing class, I should've  had one more cigar on the shady side of the Sunset Bar last month" .

Beautiful ship, great staff ! 

But I'm sure the other ships are great too, each in their own way .

The Equinox is the same as the Reflection.  I'm not sure about the glassblowing, though, don't remember it on Reflection.

[Alushar]

We had a great time on Equinox last month, first time on her but have sailed and loved the Silhouette, Eclipse and Millennium.

 

The service was good, the food was good, the drink was good. Yes we had some issues, one fairly major, but they were dealt with and didn't ruin our holiday at all.

 

It's the nature of the internet that it's easier to complain than praise and that happens often on here. Unfortunately sometimes the important things can get lost in the volume.

[helen haywood]

16 minutes ago, Terre said:

The Equinox is the same as the Reflection.  I'm not sure about the glassblowing, though, don't remember it on Reflection.

 

Well, there are a few differences in Reflection from Equinox.  On Reflection the Sky Lounge is half the size as suites were added on her port side.  Reflection replaced the glass blowing area with the Lawn Club Grille and added The Porch on that deck as well.  Reflection reconfigured the Sunset Bar to an oval in the middle of the area with stools all around and moved the staircase to Oceanview to behind the bar.  Also tiered seating areas there.  The pool is on the same deck as Oceanview on Reflection.

 

Cabins are the same on both ships although Reflection has more cabins.

[Mynki]

31 minutes ago, Terre said:

The Equinox is the same as the Reflection.  I'm not sure about the glassblowing, though, don't remember it on Reflection.

 

Reflection is also bigger with different types of suites available. Due to it's larger capacity some people report that it feels a little more crowded than other S class ships. Other points are covered above. 

[spunkygirl]

We just returned from a 10 day cruise to the ABC islands on the equinox. The food and service in the MDR was the best we have experienced on all of our previous sailings. Entertainment was also very good. We would book on this ship again.

[Pickels]

We were on the Equinox once, and her sister ship the Silhouette twice and are cruising next March on the Equinox for a second time.  We loved both ships, the service, food, staff and facilities were great, no negatives here.  Some people complain for the sake of complaining.  We've always said a vacation is what you make it.  If you're going to ***** about every little thing, you're not going to have a good vacation; if you go with the flow, and ignore the little hick-cups, you're going to have a great time. We're looking forward to the refurbished Equinox next March, can't wait!  Happy Cruisin' All!

[Hlitner]

I am not going to get into a debate about the current quality on X, but suffice it to say that I am among those who now avoid Celebrity unless we can snag an amazing last minute deal.  In a sense I now treat X as a budget cruise line...or at least a line that seems to be driven by its budget.  It was interesting to how Celebrity was rated on the recent Travel and Leisure cruise rankings (this is another topic here on CC).  As to the OP, if your only cruise experience is on RCI and Celebrity (both run by the same company) then your basis for comparison is not very broad.  Based on our most recent X cruise (a few months ago on the Summit) we thought that the food in the MDR was Ok to good, but not even close to what it used to be in the MDR.  The cut-backs were quite noticeable although the chefs try to cover-up the cut backs in quality or product with some decent cooking.   You might see something like "Surf and Turf" now being a tiny filet with a couple of butterflied (makes them look larger) shrimp.  A few years back it would have been a larger filet with a decent lobster tail.   Or a previous veal dish might now be made with chicken.  These are subtle ways a restaurant (or cruise line) can cut costs with the hope that many do not notice.

 

Hank

[bikerunner]

13 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I am not going to get into a debate about the current quality on X, but suffice it to say that I am among those who now avoid Celebrity unless we can snag an amazing last minute deal.  In a sense I now treat X as a budget cruise line...or at least a line that seems to be driven by its budget.  It was interesting to how Celebrity was rated on the recent Travel and Leisure cruise rankings (this is another topic here on CC).  As to the OP, if your only cruise experience is on RCI and Celebrity (both run by the same company) then your basis for comparison is not very broad.  Based on our most recent X cruise (a few months ago on the Summit) we thought that the food in the MDR was Ok to good, but not even close to what it used to be in the MDR.  The cut-backs were quite noticeable although the chefs try to cover-up the cut backs in quality or product with some decent cooking.   You might see something like "Surf and Turf" now being a tiny filet with a couple of butterflied (makes them look larger) shrimp.  A few years back it would have been a larger filet with a decent lobster tail.   Or a previous veal dish might now be made with chicken.  These are subtle ways a restaurant (or cruise line) can cut costs with the hope that many do not notice.

 

Hank

Im guessing the headline positive thoughts you missed.  We understand the issues some people have but this thread is not about what you feel are cutbacks etc.   There are plenty of them on here to post in.  Prefer listening to the many positive experiences overall

[Terre]

3 hours ago, helen haywood said:

 

Well, there are a few differences in Reflection from Equinox.  On Reflection the Sky Lounge is half the size as suites were added on her port side.  Reflection replaced the glass blowing area with the Lawn Club Grille and added The Porch on that deck as well.  Reflection reconfigured the Sunset Bar to an oval in the middle of the area with stools all around and moved the staircase to Oceanview to behind the bar.  Also tiered seating areas there.  The pool is on the same deck as Oceanview on Reflection.

 

Cabins are the same on both ships although Reflection has more cabins.

Lol, I was speaking in general, layout, etc.  I didn't mean exactly alike.