Flashback Trip Report: Equinox 8 Day Eastern Caribbean (7/30 - 8/7)

[AbbyCruiser45]

Alright everyone! I did not want to do a live report because I am up and moving a lot, but I’m going to journal my trip to the best of my memory in this thread. I’ll do several posts either today, or over the next few days (dependent on whether I can attempt to be productive at work today). 

 

I’ll give some background on our group before getting into the day by day. I am a younger cruiser, in my late 20s. I was traveling with my boyfriend, sister, her fiancé, and my parents. My parents are retired and are recently avid Celebrity cruisers, while my sister’s fiancé has never cruised, and the rest of us have only sailed less than 5 cruises. This was our family trip for the year and only my second Celebrity sailing. I was really interested to see how it was because my first sailing was on the Edge last year at low capacity (maybe 40%?) and the Equinox sailed at full capacity for this trip.

 

We booked this sailing over a year ago for the 16th of July, but it was moved due to a chartered sailing. We booked 2 inside rooms for us “kids” and my parents booked a normal balcony room. Next, I’ll talk about everything that we did leading up to boarding!
 

[AbbyCruiser45]

Pre- Cruise Anxiety and Travel

 

Leading up to the trip, we all got the Covid test worries. My dad was fine to board because he was traveling with a Certificate of Recovery after catching Covid on the Apex. To ease some concerns, we all took a PCR test 11 days before sailing in case any of us happened to test positive. My parents and I had just traveled internationally, so it was a good precaution. We took our proctored Celebrity test on Thursday morning (boarding on Saturday) and we all tested negative! This was not a surprise because we all took an unproctored test the evening before so that I could sleep. Despite being the youngest in the group, I am the one that plans and manages everyone, so I was carrying a lot of this travel anxiety. 

 

On Thursday, we all traveled separately to the Atlanta airport area because my parents had a ton of expiring Southwest points. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn since our flight was at 8AM the next day. Not too early, but too early to get a group of 6 together to leave for the airport before 4AM. When I rolled my suitcase into the airport hotel, I heard a big crack. One of the wheels snapped and cracked the body of my suitcase. My boyfriend and I ran to a Walmart and were met with a shelf full of rose gold suitcases. To each their own, but I cannot stand pink. It was my only option though.

 

  

 

After that hiccup, we had an okay night of sleep, boarded the plane with no delays, and got to Fort Lauderdale! We stayed at the Embassy Suites, which is a great option for groups because of the evening reception and morning breakfast. We got to the hotel around 10AM and they were already ready for us to check in! We considered this hotel cosmic karma since we checked out of the ATL hotel at 5AM that morning. We threw the bags in the room and then headed down to grab the water taxi. We bought the full day pass and just hung out on the boat for most of the day with a stop for lunch. If you haven’t done the water taxi in FLL, I highly recommend it. We had a lovely time on the water and seeing very expensive homes. We got off the water taxi at stop 6 and got lunch at 411 South Bar and Grill. It was a little pricey, but very good with a great view. 

 

We rode the taxi all the way back and then took a break at the hotel to freshen up before dinner. We enjoyed a few free drinks in the lobby before walking to 15th Street Fisheries for dinner. It is a bit of a walk from the Embassy Suites (~15-20 minutes) but well worth it. We got there around 6:15 so we could snag a dockside table. The food is always perfectly done here, and we got loads of appetizers to share around. After dinner, we all crashed and were in bed by 9PM after a long travel day. My next post will be about embarkation and the first day!

Edited August 8, 2022 by AbbyCruiser45

[AbbyCruiser45]

 

Embarkation Day!

 

I woke up bright and early and ran to the public balcony at the Embassy Suites to get the first look at the Equinox! She was there and waiting along with the Infinity. After having coffee in the room, I met my mom and sister for a walk down to the big bridge to grab another look at the ship before breakfast. 

 

We had the included breakfast at the Embassy Suites and then parted ways to get everything together. We wanted to leave around 10:30 for an 11AM PAT, but the hotel had us get the 10AM shuttle. Luckily, when we got to port, there was still room in the line n the shade. They let us into the terminal well before 11AM to start security and health checks, but we had to wait at the curvy benches until about 11:20 AM to board. The only issue with boarding is that my dad had to go in a separate line to present his certificate of recovery and we learned that this was also the line for the unvaccinated travelers, few of whom were wearing masks. We were a little frustrated with that and talked with a port manager. He said that traveling with a certificate of recovery is becoming more common, so they will consider making a separate line from the unvaccinated travelers. I hope I don’t ruffle any feathers with this, but with little social distancing and no masks, it seemed wild to have them in the same line. 

 

We had another small hiccup upon boarding. We all went our separate ways to drop bags off. My boyfriend and I got to our room to find no Sea Pass card at our room. We flagged a stateroom attendant down and they said we needed to go to Guest Relations. My boyfriend had horror flashbacks because this happened to him in January and they ended up moving his room, after he was in line at Guest Relations for 40 minutes. Luckily, it was not a repeat incident. No one was at Guest Relations yet, and they just printed our key and sent us on our merry way within 2 minutes. While we were there, I went to the Specialty Dining desk and I was able to easily move our Tuscan Grill reservations that night from 8:30 to 6:30. 

 

This was my first time in an inside room, and I was actually surprised by how much I did not mind it. Don’t get me wrong, a balcony would be my preferred choice, but as my boyfriend and I are getting started in our careers, we wouldn’t mind an inside if it means traveling more. I thought it was very spacious. My only complaint is that there was not a lot of drawer storage, but this was the same in a balcony room. 

We grabbed a quick lunch at Ocean View, which was back to self-serve. This was not my favorite, but it was fine. It was good to at least control the portions, as I tend to get a little bit of a lot of different food items. I had my first drink of the trip, which is always a Mojito. Afterwards, we took self-guided ship tour starting at the very top of the sports court and winding all the way down. Here are some pictures of the still mostly quiet ship.  

At this point, we were close to sail away! Sail away is my favorite part of any port day. We went to the sports court initially, but it was a bit crowded, so we walked our sparkling wine through the gym to that deck. This became our favorite spot to watch sail away. 

  

 

But wait, this day is still going! After sail away, we tamed our wind-swept hair and met at Craft Social for some pre-dinner drinks. We then took off to Tuscan Grill for our much anticipated first night dinner. Unfortunately, it ended up being a bit of a train wreck. I posted about this in the moment in another thread, so it may sound familiar. We got a lovely table for six and were served wine and water quickly. We placed our order around 20 minutes after sitting down and then the waiting began. The appetizers came out pretty late, but all of them were incredible. Between all of us, we got the crab cake, pork belly, calamari, burrata, and the beef carpaccio. The burrata should not be missed. It was served with a whole, blanched tomato (which was a little off putting to look at, I wish I got a picture) but was seasoned perfectly. Unfortunately, the second course of steak came close to an hour later at about 9. We had considered leaving before that point, but our server reassured us it was being prepared. The steaks were also wonderful. I got a ribeye and it was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Someone in the group got the filet and said it was one of the best steaks they’ve had. The pasta came out 15 minutes later and was served cold. It was not good. We ordered the ricotta gnocchi, short rib ragu, and the lobster Alfredo. The sauce on the lobster Alfredo was hardened and was not pleasant to eat. The gnocchi were virtually inedible. The sauce and gnocchi were cold and dry. I only took a picture of the gnocchi. We left soon after without dessert. We were apologetic to our server and stressed that we knew it was a kitchen issue and did not blame her. Jumping to tomorrow quickly, the head waiter found us in Oceanview and offered a full refund. He explained that it was a combination of a full dining room and a “young” kitchen in their training. He thought the timing and presentation of our meal was unacceptable. That is it for embarkation day though! The next day was a blessed sea day, but I’ll get to that in the next post!

[AbbyCruiser45]

Sea Day #1

 

Something about me is that I have a hard time relaxing while on vacation. At home on the weekend, I can sleep in, read, watch TV and just hang out. But on vacation, I need to be up and moving! I was happy to find that the coffee station in the buffet was 24/7, so I was up getting coffee around 6:15. I sat outside of Mast Grill to catch a beautiful sunrise.

 

I met my mom and sister around 7 for a morning walk on the jogging track. The track is a little short, so we extended our walk by looping up to the Sunset bar and then forward into the Sky Observation lounge. We did this about 3 times and got close to 5,000 steps. After a lackluster Embassy Suites breakfast the day before, I was so excited for the buffet breakfast. My favorite items are usually the hash browns, congee, and waffles. The fruit was also great because it had some fresh mint mixed into it. I got some combination of this most days, plus the eggs benedict. 

 

After breakfast, we did settle into a lazy morning of reading on the pool deck in these lounge beds (the picture was taken on embarkation day). It was a perfect morning with a beautiful view. I got a Bellini mid-morning and before I knew it, it was time for lunch! I believe lunch in the buffet was Caribbean themed this day. There were plantains, beef pies, and jerk chicken. It was all really good. The rest of the afternoon was laid back. We played bocce ball, got some drinks, watched the sea, and then played trivia around 4. Since it was a sea day, this was also our first Chic Night! I got the Yellow Corn Soup to start and it was very good. For my entrée, I got the Shrimp Scampi which was also great. We ended our night as we do each day with a walk around the upper deck. It is always so peaceful. And that is it for our first sea day! There was nothing too eventful this day. If you are looking for any reviews on the theater shows, you are in the wrong lace! I don’t tend to go to the theater and did not attend any this sailing. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Today was really like a sea day since we get an early start to the day. We were scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 4PM, so we had most of the day ahead of us at sea. We treated today the same as yesterday. Morning walk, breakfast, reading, playing cards, and then lunch! We did pop into the casino after lunch where I dropped about $80 on the slots and lost it all within 10 minutes. Meanwhile, my mom won over $500 in the same amount of time (same type of machine, both max bets). Such is life and luck!  

 

We made sure to get up to the gym deck to watch the sail in. It was a beautiful trip into port because we sailed right by the fort. It was neat to see all the buildings in the downtown area too since the rest of the ports aren’t that big. 

 Disembarking in San Juan was quite the journey. I’m not sure if it was because of an afternoon arrival or short staffing, but it took close to an hour to get off the ship. We started in a slow-moving line in the casino and it would all through decks 3 and 4. I’ve never experienced anything like it, nor have my parents who sail more than I do. We mustered through and had a lovely evening in port! We took off towards the fort to walk the sea wall. It was just stunning. By the time we got to the fort, it was long closed, but it is still worth the trip for the views. The way we walked went by a cat sanctuary, so we got to see quite a few cats lounging around. 

Dinner was the highlight of this port though. We went “off the beaten path” to a restaurant in the La Perla neighborhood, La Garita. As a group, we felt perfectly safe walking there, but if I was alone, maybe not. The food was outstanding though. The highlight of their menu s definitely the mofongo. The restaurant also has breathtaking views of the ocean. If you are just a couple going to dinner, you’ll be seated at a bar stool style seating at an open-air window looking right out. It was stunning and worth the walk.

After that, we headed back to the ship for some wine and dessert at the buffet. My boyfriend and I jumped in the hot tubs afterwards for a little relaxing time. It was a great day! After this, we hit 3 ports in a row, but my work productivity is increasing and I have an appointment this afternoon so I probably will not post more until this evening or tomorrow!

[Pickels]

Great review, Great pictures, thanks for taking the time to post!

[peanut head]

What a wonderful review!

 

Did you walk back from the Fort in PR the same way you walked there?

[AbbyCruiser45]

14 minutes ago, peanut head said:

What a wonderful review!

 

Did you walk back from the Fort in PR the same way you walked there?

No, we did a big loop! From dinner, we walked back on C. Norzagray which had beautiful views, wide sidewalks, and was well lit. It went past another fort too

[Maggie North]

Thanks for the review and photos; my hubby and I were on this cruise! Fourth time on Equinox, but our first time in 6 pm dining...were assigned to a table of 7! Eek! So we quickly made a reservation at Tuscan for the first night, with a request to be moved to a table for 2 in the MDR. Our Tuscan experience was fabulous; everything was delicious. Plus we got to see a favorite sommelier - Carene!

By the next morning, we received word that we were reassigned to a table for 2...everytime we saw Melvet, we thanked him profusely. (We were told at Future Cruise Desk that if we have set dining because Select is unavailable, we can request a table for 2). 

Cruise was great...had a couple of cool excursions to Trunk Bay from St Thomas and Jost van Dyke from Tortola. 

Service is always so special...everyone was helpful and friendly and courteous. We were invited to several officer events (since we were in Concierge Class); got to meet some fabulous folks! We sail on Equinox again next month, so we hope to see some of the same faces. Our favorite World Class Bar bartender will be back home by then....heavy sigh...but he certainly deserves some time off as he extended his contract due to another crew member's family emergency. 

Appreciate reading your experience! Thank you for sharing!

[Tee & Chilli]

Excellent review 

[AbbyCruiser45]

 

St Thomas, USVI

We woke up and enjoyed a walk, breakfast and then a fantastic sail in to St. Thomas! Okay. So, I was a mental mess leading up to St Thomas. Let me explain why. As I said in an earlier post, I am the youngest in the group at 28, but besides for paying for the trip, I plan and book everything. Last year we had a not so great excursion in St. Thomas and I felt bad, even though no one blamed me. I had gone back and forth between Magens Bay and the Celebrity Secret Sands Beach and Skyline Drive excursion.  Read really mixed things about Magens Beay due to crowds, so we ended up choosing the excursion. Well the beach had no dining facilities, the chairs were run down, and the beach was very rocky with a lot of seaweed. 

 

 

Cue to this year, where I need to make a decision about St. Thomas. After reading more, I decided to just try out Magens Bay. And WOW. What a great decision. This in now our favorite beach! I think a lot of it has to do with when you get there and how many ships are in port. We were the only ship in port and were off the ship around 9. We were able to easily find a shared, open air taxi, and we were at the beach by 9:40. There were people there, but fairly empty. We rented 6 chairs and 3 umbrellas and while we weren’t surprised at the price (about $100), we were surprised by the cash deposit. I had not seen that described online. We were able to pay the rental fee with a credit card, but the deposit had to be cash and was $90. We had the cash, which was good, but if it was me and my boyfriend alone, we rarely carry that much cash (classic millennials). So, we would have had enough for the taxi round trip and tips, but not a cash deposit.  All was well though and we enjoyed a great morning and early afternoon floating around. We saw many sea turtles in the swimming area and had lunch at the beach bar. It was fine, but pricey. If it was just me (I am not a huge beach person), I would have gotten there as early as we did, snagged a free picnic table in the shade, enjoyed the water for a few hours, and then go back to the ship for lunch. We ended up leaving around 2:30, I believe, and the crowds were really picking up at the beach. Up until then, it felt pretty manageable, especially since we set up far away from the bar. 

 

Back on the ship, we took care of an issue that came up for my sister and her fiancé. Her fiancé is a professional runner and was up at 6AM each day to go run. The issue was that their room was next door (not across the hall) from a crew door for room service. From 5 – 6 AM each morning the door would open and close, shaking their cabin wall. I guess it would usually stop after 6, but that was when they needed to be awake anyways. They brought this to the attention Guest Relations before leaving for Magens Bay and were told that they may be able to change rooms, and to come back after the beach. Low and behold they got switched to a concierge balcony! Quite the upgrade from an inside. Guest Relations was really understanding of this and had the room attendant help them switch rooms. It took less than an hour and then they were treated like concierge guests with canapes and flowers. I was just a little jealous! 

 

That evening, we watched the sail away on the helipad. My parents were invited, and my mom went to the Captain’s Club desk to see if we could come along too. This was such a fun event and we had great weather for it! There was a cool breeze and it was just fantastic watching us sail into the sunset. The sparkling wine was a great bonus too, since that is my normal sail away drink. 

We had dinner in the main dining this night. If my memory is correct, I had the crab cake and French onion soup to start and the braised beef short ribs and the penne primavera for entrees. Everything was great, but the short ribs in particular are just fantastic. When I was on the Edge, the truffle polenta was very strong, but it was milder this time. We ended the night as we always do, with a little walk on the upper deck. My boyfriend and dad ended the night at the poker table, with not much success unfortunately! The next day will be St Maarten and that is one of my favorite ports!

 

[AbbyCruiser45]

St Maarten

 

The port arrival time was 8 AM for this day, so we were up and moving with the plan to get off ASAP! We watched a lovely sail into the island and saw some showers pass across the island. We docked next to the Harmony of the Seas. It was wild to see a ship that large! We were off the ship a little after 8, grabbed a taxi easily, and were off to Sonesta at Maho Beach. We booked this with Resort for a Day and were given all-inclusive access to the resort. We got to the resort by 8:40 and checked in and got wristbands. We went to this resort last year, so we were pretty excited for the day. 

 

 

The resort has several chairs and umbrellas that are not quite on the beach but overlook the ocean.  The resort provides towels also. We got a few chairs and then immediately hopped in the water. We spent the day cycling from ocean, pool, reading. The current was moving from the airplane beach to the resort, so we would usually get in the water by the airport and float back to the resort. We got to see several small planes throughout the day, and then around 1PM we got to see a series of large planes. It was a lot of fun. 

 

We went to the resort’s buffet for lunch which was not as good as on the ship, but just fine. We ended up leaving around 3:30 and went back to the ship. As a group, we parted ways. I freshened up, and then went to Café al Bacio for my favorite Tia Cappuccino. It is not as good as it was on the Edge though! I think it was missing a caramel drizzle. We caught sail away at the Sunset Bar while listening to live music. After that, we tried out a few drinks at World Class Bar before dinner. I am probably mixing up the order of dinners at this point, but I believe that I had the spinach turnover, sirloin, and quattro formaggi gnocchi. All excellent as always! 

Edited August 9, 2022 by AbbyCruiser45

[AbbyCruiser45]

Tortola, BVI

 

Tortola quickly became our new favorite port. It was just so beautiful! The arrival time was early this morning, around 7, so we missed out on the sail in besides us backing into port. We met for breakfast early at 6:30 because we had a 7:30 excursion! My boyfriend is the worst morning person in the world, so to try to mitigate that he ordered room service the night before for a 6:30 AM delivery. This backfired because they ended up calling him at 6:15 to let him know it was on the way, and then it was delivered 5 minutes later. I was already up at the buffet, enjoying the views at this point. 

 

 

We normally don’t book ship excursions, but we really wanted to go to the Baths at Virgin Gorda and this seemed like the best bet since the ferry times to Virgin Gorda are fixed and we had an early departure at 3PM. The excursion process was very smooth, and we were on the boat to Virgin Gorda by 7:30. We chose to do the Baths and Snorkel excursion. For this one, a boat drives you straight to the Baths, where you hop in the water and swim to shore. From there, we hiked through the rock formations in the Baths, and then had free time to snorkel at the beach. The snorkel back to the boat was the best part because you went around the rock formations and saw many fish and coral. This was one of the favorite things that I have done! Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures. I did not want to worry about my phone in the dry bag while swimming, so I left it on the boat. I will say if you get motion sick, this excursion might not be for you. The boat was small and fast over nearly open ocean and rocky waters. It was a thrill ride at some points! 

 

 

The excursion was only about 4 hours, so we were back on the ship in time for lunch. The lunch today had an English Pub theme and we were so excited because we assumed this meant fish and chips. Instead, it was heartier with Shepards pies and potatoes. Not to worry, there were actually fish and chips the next day at the lunch buffet and they were excellent. After lunch, I headed up to the Sunset Bar and got a French Caribbean frozen drink. I’m not sure if it was the large amounts of rum that got poured in, or close to 2 hours of snorkeling, but I started to nod off while reading! It was then that I learned the beautiful benefit of an inside stateroom. I set an alarm on my phone for 30 minutes and took the best nap in a perfectly dark and cool room. I could have slept much, much longer but I did not want to be groggy and miss sail away! 

 

 

The sail away from Tortola is just incredible. You go by so many islands and you can even see Virgin Gorda and the Baths in the distance off the right side of the ship. Afterwards, we went to the casino where my mom won $700 and I felt bitter after losing another $100 (although they were all promo OBC credits so it did not really matter). We watched the sunset on Deck 5, which was such a nice view. Dinner this night was the poached pear and gorgonzola cheese, beef bourguignon, and the pappardelle con funghi. All excellent, but the poached pear appetizer was especially delicious! A fun thing happened on the TV this night, I discovered that for some reason my cabin had channel 24 which was Crew Safety and Training videos. I learned all about how Celebrity trains crew to great guests, called "Elevated Greetings". Saying simply "hello, hi, howdy, or yo" are not allowed. Instead, they must say "good morning, good afternoon, or welcome home". Of course they should use your name if they know it. No one else in my group had access to this channel, so it must have been a funny glitch. We have a sea day and just Nassau remaining! 

 

[AbbyCruiser45]

Sea Day #2

 

This sea day was much welcomed after many ports in a row! Not too much happened today, I took very few pictures. We basically stuck to our ideal sea day routine: morning walk, breakfast, reading, lunch, reading, activites, casino, and dinner! My boyfriend and I enjoyed some time in the Sky Observation lounge playing cards, and then we grabbed some coffee at Al Bacio to take out to the deck 5 outdoor chairs. It was really such an enjoyable day. The French Caribbean has become my favorite frozen cocktail. It was so good! The bartender thought he was making it for 2, so I think there was double the rum, but that was fine with me. I enjoyed this while my dad and boyfriend played bocce ball. The trivia we went to was an "Oldies Music" trivia. We were thinking at least around the 70's. We cracked up when the first song was clearly from the 50's....suffice to say, we did not do well. 

 

 

Since it was the second sea day, it was also the second Chic Night. We took some nice pictures ourselves in the hallway leading up to the Ensemble lounge before listening to some live music. Dinner was excellent. The Blue Cheese souffle was superb. I got the lobster and a beef wellington for entrées. I’ve heard that they used to offer a filet instead of a beef wellington. I would prefer that because I always find the wellington a little underwhelming. Dessert was the Baked Alaska which was a fun treat. We ended the night with a deck walk under a bright moon! 

 

[AbbyCruiser45]

Nassau

 

The last day of the trip included a shorter stop in Nassau from noon to 5:30. My boyfriend and I were in team “let’s not get off the ship” but the rest of the group wanted to swim at the old Hilton British Colonial. Luckily, Resort for a Day had an offer for a day pass to the beach for only $25/person. Since it was so low, I did not mind getting it and only staying for an hour or two. We had a pretty typical morning, and then around 11, we headed up to the gym deck to watch the sail in. I don’t love the options in Nassau, but the sail-in is actually really pretty. We watched a storm pass over the island and then we docked next to the Disney Wish. We had a fun time joking about how the people on board the 4-night sailing probably paid the same that we did for our 8 night. I quickly quoted the Wish and found it to be true. A 4-night Wish, inside cabin was $2,100 with no inclusions except regular dining and soda. We paid $800 more for an 8 night with wifi, tips, and drinks. Really just wild pricing, but Disney sure can sell it. Anyways, it was actually fun to be docked to them to see the brand-new ship. 

 

 

We grabbed a quick lunch at the buffet before getting off the ship. It was my favorite buffet of the trip, Italian themed. They had a caprese station, polenta fries, and eggplant parm. All really nicely done for a buffet. We got off the ship easily and walked down to the Margaritaville Waterpark ticketing, as per the instructions for our Day Pass. We chatted with the ticketing agent and she explained that Margaritaville actually bought the British Colonial. So they will own that entire stretch of waterfront. It’ll be interesting to see what they do. The two areas were connected by a nice boardwalk. At the beach, they gave us towels and there were plenty of chairs and umbrellas available. The pool was closed for renovations, but they did have a bar and food, though we did not get anything. We floated in the clear water for about an hour, and then my boyfriend and I headed back to the ship. I'm just now realizing that I took no pictures of this beach, so I inlcuded pictures from last year. Not much has changed. We freshened up and then hit Al Bacio for my last Tia Cappuccino and read for a bit. The rest of the family met us at Sunset Bar to watch the Disney Wish head out of port. Several others were doing the same, waiting for the Wish horn. The other ships play “When You Wish Upon a Star” as their horn, but the Wish does the Starwars themed. I was disappointed, my boyfriend was thrilled.

 

 

 

We grabbed Mudslides (YUM) from the Sunset Bar and walked over to the gym deck for our last sailaway of the trip. This was such a nice time and we were going to miss it. Afterwards, we spent the last of our promo credit in the casino (lost it all) and then went to dinner. I got the crispy thai beef spring roll as a starter. My mains were the NY sirloin and the beef and veal Bolognese. The Bolognese was the first item I felt just okay about. I was planning on getting the spinach and ricotta ravioli, but our fantastic waiter recommended the Bolognese. It was good, just nothing too special. And that was our trip! It was such a special time. In my next post, I’ll briefly talk about getting off the ship and then I’ll write up an overall review. Thank you for those that have been following along!
 

[AbbyCruiser45]

Overall Review

 

Wow, that was a lot to post! I wanted to give a more detailed overview because people that do these help me plan my own trip and I really do appreciate it. Quickly, I’ll say that getting off the ship was a breeze. We had a 10:40 AM flight, so we chose to walk our luggage off the ship. The facial recognition for customs was working, so we were off the ship and in a taxi in about 5 minutes. 

Overall, we had a fantastic time. I was really worried that the ship would feel way too full sailing at capacity, compared to less than 50% last year when I was on the Edge. I will say, it was busy and overwhelming the first day when everyone was out and about, looking at all the spots on board. After that though, the ship absorbed the crowds well. I was also concerned because I had heard service and food quality was lacking this year compared to last and before. I did not feel that at all. Everyone I interacted with was fantastic. On the last few nights, service in the MDR was a little slower, but still under two hours for the full meal. 

 

I will say, some of the passengers left some to be desired. Some were rude to staff. Others did not use hand sanitizer while entering the buffet…..”I washed my hands this morning.” Sir, it is lunch time. Also, it probably does not need to be said here but please be kind to your fellow passengers. A guest was snarky to my mom while in the buffet. My mom had a full plate of desserts at lunch and the woman said “That is just too much” to my mom. 1). It is none of your business. 2). It was for my dad and myself as well, she was just bringing it back to the table. 3). My mom just finished 3 months of chemotherapy for stage 3 colon cancer. She literally was not able to eat most things while recovering from surgery and during chemo. It just made me upset that someone would feel the need to be snarky to someone they don’t know. 

 

With that being said, I’ll get into the specifics for each category I’ve broken down below!

 

Cabin

As mentioned earlier, I was worried about sailing in an inside cabin but it ended up being perfectly fine. I slept great and still woke up on my own, no alarm, between 6-6:30 AM (my normal sleep schedule). I do think the cabins could use more drawer storage. There were only 5 drawers and 3 of them were tiny. I resorted to keeping my clothes in my largest packing cube, perched on the pulldown in the closet. Other than that, the cabin was great. The bathroom had a lot of storage and a glass door shower. 

 

Food

The food was one of the highlights of this trip! The breakfast buffet was excellent, I just wish they had something different each day. The lunch buffet was really nicely done with a lot of variety each day. We had a Caribbean, bbq, British pub, and Italian themed days. The desserts at the lunch buffet were fantastic too. The bread pudding with the vanilla cream sauce was always a highlight. What I missed on the Equinox form my edge sailing was the 4pm snack time buffet with scones and clotted cream and little tea sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong, we did not need food at this time, it was just a little treat. 

 

I already discussed the issue in Tuscan, and I do think this was an isolated incident. I heard from others on this trip that they had a great Tuscan dinner. For main dining, everything was fantastic. The steaks were already cooked perfectly, and our waiter gave us really good recommendations. 

 

Drinks

We had the premium package and took full advantage! I am mostly a wine drinker at home, but I tried several cocktails on board. My favorite was the French Caribbean, but they also make a fantastic mojito. Now I’m a grad student, so my budget for wine is approximately $5/bottle, so I may not be the best judge, but I thought the wine on board was great. I got some variety of a sparkling wine each evening that I thought was great. The sommelier we had most often at the MDR was Willy and she was just great. She paired wines perfectly and always brought us something new to try. 

 

Public Spaces

I really wish that an Edge class and Solstice class ship would have a baby. There were so many things I liked on each ship, and several things I missed while on Equinox. If you read through each of my day reports, a spot we were at most frequently was the gym deck to watch sail away. We loved having this outdoor, forward facing space that was completely public which is not available on the Edge class ships. I also like the layout of this ship more and the ample bars. I did really miss the Magic Carpet and Eden. I think the Magic Carpet is a great, flexible outdoor space. The only comparable space to Eden on the Equinox would be the Sky Observation Lounge. While I found the views in the Sky lounge to be great, I just thought it was colder feeling than Eden. 

 

Service

The service was great and personable. I do think there were some staffing issues, but I rarely felt that being passed onto us. We only asked our room attendant for three things (a different pillow, to clear the mini-bar, and more hangars). All were addressed quickly and nicely. I mentioned that my sister raised a noise complaint to guest relations, and they moved her from an inside cabin to a balcony, no questions asked. The inside cabin was 9248, so maybe avoid that one due to the food service corridor being next door. It was not only the sound of the door closing, but each time the door closed, it shook the wall of their cabin. 

I do think the staff were under pressure. In the Main Dining room, my mom was in the restroom when the salad course was served, so they did not pour her dressing. We waited about 5 minutes after she got back before flagging someone down. The head waiter gave what can only be described as a “what the f***” look to the assistant waiter (who was in charge of the salad), before nicely helping us. I hope the staffing issues resolve soon, because I think the staff were balancing a lot. 

 

Entertainment

I don’t take advantage of a lot of the entertainment while on board! I am perfectly happy to read, play cards, and drink. The live music we did attend was great. We went to a feew trivia games and those were quick, but good. My dad and boyfriend did attend some Beatles talk that was hosted by the Cruise Director. They said it was funny and nicely done. My dad was hoping it was recorded so he could watch it again later on the TV. 

 

Covid/Health

The biggest change from this year to last was the shift to self-serve in the buffet. So far, everyone that has tested in my group has tested negative. We joke that we don’t know how we’ve managed to do this after BBQ day in the buffet. Let’s just say there was a lot of finger licking happening that day. Other than that, this was a normal sailing. There was very little mask wearing, I myself did not wear a mask. I’ve heard reports of people saying it sounded like the whole ship was coughing by the end of any given cruise. I did not notice that for this trip. 

 

Internet

The final point is the internet. I had the basic surf package and I thought it was perfectly fine. I was able to browse the internet, post on Cruise Critic, text friends, email, and post videos to social media. Two members of my group had the stream package because they run online businesses. They did not have any issues throughout the trip. Unfortunately, our inside cabin was a semi-dead zone for WiFi. I was able to receive texts in the cabin, but not much else. Other than that, I could not complain.

 

-----

I'll end this like I ended this vacation, with a beautiful sunrise over Port Everglades. We even got to watch dolphins swimming next to the ship. Thank you to those that have followed along! Feel free to ask any questions about the trip or ports and I’ll be happy to answer! Happy sailing!

 

[Smmessineo]

Thanks for your review! We will be on Equinox for 3 weeks in December, in an inside stateroom . We haven't sailed on her since 2019.  After 2 cruises on Edge in the past year, I was wondering how the Equinox would compare now. Your descriptions and comparisons were great!

I am looking forward to ordering a French Caribbean !  And that wonderful Italian buffet....now I'm hungry😀

[spammie]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your trip and thoughts about the Equinox.  She is our favorite ship and we will be doing the same itinerary next Sunday in a Suite.  We actually did this same cruise in May in a regular balcony cabin.  Our service in the MDR was so slow we only ate there two nights and then after that had dinner in the Ocean View.  We loved dining in the Ocean View as we aren't huge eaters and don't like sitting for 2+ hours for dinner.  Of course this was before they made it self serve again.  I felt bad for the crew in the MDR when we were there.  They were obviously short staffed and overwhelmed. 

 

 

[Bobbiegentry]

Much appreciated!! We are doing our first X cruise on the Equinox in about two weeks so we are reading everything we can about the ship. 

You've provided a great deal of much needed information. 

[LMaxwell]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:35 AM, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Pre- Cruise Anxiety and Travel

 

Leading up to the trip, we all got the Covid test worries. My dad was fine to board because he was traveling with a Certificate of Recovery after catching Covid on the Apex. To ease some concerns, we all took a PCR test 11 days before sailing in case any of us happened to test positive. My parents and I had just traveled internationally, so it was a good precaution. We took our proctored Celebrity test on Thursday morning (boarding on Saturday) and we all tested negative! This was not a surprise because we all took an unproctored test the evening before so that I could sleep. Despite being the youngest in the group, I am the one that plans and manages everyone, so I was carrying a lot of this travel anxiety. 

 

On Thursday, we all traveled separately to the Atlanta airport area because my parents had a ton of expiring Southwest points. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn since our flight was at 8AM the next day. Not too early, but too early to get a group of 6 together to leave for the airport before 4AM. When I rolled my suitcase into the airport hotel, I heard a big crack. One of the wheels snapped and cracked the body of my suitcase. My boyfriend and I ran to a Walmart and were met with a shelf full of rose gold suitcases. To each their own, but I cannot stand pink. It was my only option though.

 

  

 

After that hiccup, we had an okay night of sleep, boarded the plane with no delays, and got to Fort Lauderdale! We stayed at the Embassy Suites, which is a great option for groups because of the evening reception and morning breakfast. We got to the hotel around 10AM and they were already ready for us to check in! We considered this hotel cosmic karma since we checked out of the ATL hotel at 5AM that morning. We threw the bags in the room and then headed down to grab the water taxi. We bought the full day pass and just hung out on the boat for most of the day with a stop for lunch. If you haven’t done the water taxi in FLL, I highly recommend it. We had a lovely time on the water and seeing very expensive homes. We got off the water taxi at stop 6 and got lunch at 411 South Bar and Grill. It was a little pricey, but very good with a great view. 

 

We rode the taxi all the way back and then took a break at the hotel to freshen up before dinner. We enjoyed a few free drinks in the lobby before walking to 15th Street Fisheries for dinner. It is a bit of a walk from the Embassy Suites (~15-20 minutes) but well worth it. We got there around 6:15 so we could snag a dockside table. The food is always perfectly done here, and we got loads of appetizers to share around. After dinner, we all crashed and were in bed by 9PM after a long travel day. My next post will be about embarkation and the first day!

The water taxi is incredible and way underrated.  The ONLY way to see the best of Fort Lauderdale 

[AbbyCruiser45]

14 hours ago, Bobbiegentry said:

Much appreciated!! We are doing our first X cruise on the Equinox in about two weeks so we are reading everything we can about the ship. 

You've provided a great deal of much needed information. 

You will love it! We really had such a great time. 

[Loucat]

I loved your review. Such detail and informative content. Great job and thank you for sharing your cruise with all! 

[vickykay]

Great review and photos!  I hope your mom is doing well.

[calicakes]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:37 AM, AbbyCruiser45 said:

A fun thing happened on the TV this night, I discovered that for some reason my cabin had channel 24 which was Crew Safety and Training videos. I learned all about how Celebrity trains crew to great guests, called "Elevated Greetings". Saying simply "hello, hi, howdy, or yo" are not allowed. Instead, they must say "good morning, good afternoon, or welcome home". Of course they should use your name if they know it. No one else in my group had access to this channel, so it must have been a funny glitch.

I'm LOL'ng at this.  We've had 5 Celebrity cruises and in February, we decided to try Oceania.  There were 338 guests on our Caribbean cruise( ship capacity 1250).   We could not walk more than 500 feet without a crew member greeting us. I think 20 people greeted us every morning at breakfast.  They must get the same training.    

[Northern Aurora]

On 8/9/2022 at 10:37 AM, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Tortola, BVI

 

Tortola quickly became our new favorite port. It was just so beautiful! The arrival time was early this morning, around 7, so we missed out on the sail in besides us backing into port. We met for breakfast early at 6:30 because we had a 7:30 excursion! My boyfriend is the worst morning person in the world, so to try to mitigate that he ordered room service the night before for a 6:30 AM delivery. This backfired because they ended up calling him at 6:15 to let him know it was on the way, and then it was delivered 5 minutes later. I was already up at the buffet, enjoying the views at this point. 

 

 

We normally don’t book ship excursions, but we really wanted to go to the Baths at Virgin Gorda and this seemed like the best bet since the ferry times to Virgin Gorda are fixed and we had an early departure at 3PM. The excursion process was very smooth, and we were on the boat to Virgin Gorda by 7:30. We chose to do the Baths and Snorkel excursion. For this one, a boat drives you straight to the Baths, where you hop in the water and swim to shore. From there, we hiked through the rock formations in the Baths, and then had free time to snorkel at the beach. The snorkel back to the boat was the best part because you went around the rock formations and saw many fish and coral. This was one of the favorite things that I have done! Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures. I did not want to worry about my phone in the dry bag while swimming, so I left it on the boat. I will say if you get motion sick, this excursion might not be for you. The boat was small and fast over nearly open ocean and rocky waters. It was a thrill ride at some points! 

 

 

The excursion was only about 4 hours, so we were back on the ship in time for lunch. The lunch today had an English Pub theme and we were so excited because we assumed this meant fish and chips. Instead, it was heartier with Shepards pies and potatoes. Not to worry, there were actually fish and chips the next day at the lunch buffet and they were excellent. After lunch, I headed up to the Sunset Bar and got a French Caribbean frozen drink. I’m not sure if it was the large amounts of rum that got poured in, or close to 2 hours of snorkeling, but I started to nod off while reading! It was then that I learned the beautiful benefit of an inside stateroom. I set an alarm on my phone for 30 minutes and took the best nap in a perfectly dark and cool room. I could have slept much, much longer but I did not want to be groggy and miss sail away! 

 

 

...... A fun thing happened on the TV this night, I discovered that for some reason my cabin had channel 24 which was Crew Safety and Training videos. I learned all about how Celebrity trains crew to great guests, called "Elevated Greetings". Saying simply "hello, hi, howdy, or yo" are not allowed. Instead, they must say "good morning, good afternoon, or welcome home". Of course they should use your name if they know it. No one else in my group had access to this channel, so it must have been a funny glitch. We have a sea day and just Nassau remaining! 

 

 

 

Ooooohhhh -- I would love to watch the crew safety and training videos.  I'll have to check next month when we are on the Solstice just in case.  We rarely do a single cruise itinerary leg but generally do at least B2B or longer cruises.  Sometimes on turnaround day we will just stay onboard, and at times hear interesting announcements during the time period when the gangway is closed and boarding has not yet commenced for the new passengers.

 

Thank you for a lovely review.  It was informative and interesting.