Just off Equinox - Review

[Cruise till you drop]

25 minutes ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

"The times, they are a changing" as a famous person once sang.  People do there own thing and the X lets them slide. Sad indeed

But some of our more recent cruises were on X and we’ve never seen this.  All I’m saying is this seems like a rare occasion in my opinion

[peanut head]

Enjoyed your review. Overall, the voyage seemed to be what you wanted so that’s wonderful. 
 

We, too, were not as happy with our Murano experience (on Silhouette) feeling it felt rushed and the hostess to be on the curt side. We did mention it afterwards to the Food & Beverage Director whom we happened to meet later on. He asked us to return another night and although the experience was better we prefer the other specialty restaurants. 

[PatandStu]

On 9/29/2023 at 9:25 AM, Cruise till you drop said:

But some of our more recent cruises were on X and we’ve never seen this.  All I’m saying is this seems like a rare occasion in my opinion

We saw it most nights in the MDR. Disappointing when it was permitted on chic night. Men & women in shorts, tee shirts & flip flops. 
But, some very snazzily dressed folk too! 

[C4HCG]

On 9/29/2023 at 10:56 AM, Cruise till you drop said:

Must have been some cruise and perhaps just bad luck.  We’ve done almost 30 cruises on Carnival, Princess and Celebrity and have never witnessed any abnormal dress violations in MDR.

Us neither, but some people here will believe it, really struggle to understand posts like that. Respect people not happy with Celebrity for a variety of reasons, but that seems far fetched.

[funredhead]

Thank you for your review.  Wondering if you recall if there was a beyond the podium speaker on your trip?  I know some ships do, some don’t and it’s not every sailing.  But, on our previous Equinox sailings, we have enjoyed this. 
 

 

[MartinsCruise]

On 9/28/2023 at 6:23 PM, ebtrip said:

On X in Blu, it states there is a dress code. I don’t see why someone can’t put on a pair of pants and a golf shirt. This man always looked like he came in from the gym. If they’re from RCCL and there is no dress code, then go to the buffet. 

Last year in Blu we were seated at a two-top and soon after another couple sat next to us.  He had a sleeveless undershirt on with arm holes that hung half way to his waist, a baseball hat turned backward, shorts and flip flops.  His language went from bad to worse and he became louder.  I finally told him very nicely that I didn't appreciate listening to him while I was having dinner.  He told me that he paid as much as we did to sit there so he could do what he wanted.  The Maitre'D  asked if we wanted to move but since I wasn't the problem, I told him that we shouldn't have to move.  The other couple got up and left after that.  This could have been avoided if they would not have allowed him in when he first showed up. 

[hcat]

15 minutes ago, MartinsCruise said:

Last year in Blu we were seated at a two-top and soon after another couple sat next to us.  He had a sleeveless undershirt on with arm holes that hung half way to his waist, a baseball hat turned backward, shorts and flip flops.  His language went from bad to worse and he became louder.  I finally told him very nicely that I didn't appreciate listening to him while I was having dinner.  He told me that he paid as much as we did to sit there so he could do what he wanted.  The Maitre'D  asked if we wanted to move but since I wasn't the problem, I told him that we shouldn't have to move.  The other couple got up and left after that.  This could have been avoided if they would not have allowed him in when he first showed up. 

this is scary! what ship?

[Cruise till you drop]

43 minutes ago, MartinsCruise said:

Last year in Blu we were seated at a two-top and soon after another couple sat next to us.  He had a sleeveless undershirt on with arm holes that hung half way to his waist, a baseball hat turned backward, shorts and flip flops.  His language went from bad to worse and he became louder.  I finally told him very nicely that I didn't appreciate listening to him while I was having dinner.  He told me that he paid as much as we did to sit there so he could do what he wanted.  The Maitre'D  asked if we wanted to move but since I wasn't the problem, I told him that we shouldn't have to move.  The other couple got up and left after that.  This could have been avoided if they would not have allowed him in when he first showed up. 

 

Speaking of fact vs fiction, I’m having trouble believing this to me true.

[ebtrip]

1 hour ago, MartinsCruise said:

Last year in Blu we were seated at a two-top and soon after another couple sat next to us.  He had a sleeveless undershirt on with arm holes that hung half way to his waist, a baseball hat turned backward, shorts and flip flops.  His language went from bad to worse and he became louder.  I finally told him very nicely that I didn't appreciate listening to him while I was having dinner.  He told me that he paid as much as we did to sit there so he could do what he wanted.  The Maitre'D  asked if we wanted to move but since I wasn't the problem, I told him that we shouldn't have to move.  The other couple got up and left after that.  This could have been avoided if they would not have allowed him in when he first showed up. 

Totally agree. There should be some kind of decorum in Blu. 

[MartinsCruise]

57 minutes ago, hcat said:

this is scary! what ship?

It was on the Summit.  We've sailed in Aqua quite a lot but have never had an experience like this.

[MartinsCruise]

32 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

 

Speaking of fact vs fiction, I’m having trouble believing this to me true.

It's 100% true.  There is no need to fabricate something like this and just because you haven't seen something first hand, it doesn't mean that it hasn't happened.

[kathynorth]

2 hours ago, MartinsCruise said:

Last year in Blu we were seated at a two-top and soon after another couple sat next to us.  He had a sleeveless undershirt on with arm holes that hung half way to his waist, a baseball hat turned backward, shorts and flip flops.  His language went from bad to worse and he became louder.  I finally told him very nicely that I didn't appreciate listening to him while I was having dinner.  He told me that he paid as much as we did to sit there so he could do what he wanted.  The Maitre'D  asked if we wanted to move but since I wasn't the problem, I told him that we shouldn't have to move.  The other couple got up and left after that.  This could have been avoided if they would not have allowed him in when he first showed up. 

 

I wouldn't have moved either. I would have stood my ground and then filed a complaint with the F&B Director the next morning. 

 

To those of you who are non-believers, yes these situations do happen on Celebrity ships. However, I'm sure they happen on other cruiselines and also at land-based restaurants. We once took a very expensive small ship cruise and had the priviledge of sharing the ship with a man who couldn't seem to stop dropping the f-bomb.  

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, MartinsCruise said:

Last year in Blu we were seated at a two-top and soon after another couple sat next to us.  He had a sleeveless undershirt on with arm holes that hung half way to his waist, a baseball hat turned backward, shorts and flip flops.  His language went from bad to worse and he became louder.  I finally told him very nicely that I didn't appreciate listening to him while I was having dinner.  He told me that he paid as much as we did to sit there so he could do what he wanted.  The Maitre'D  asked if we wanted to move but since I wasn't the problem, I told him that we shouldn't have to move.  The other couple got up and left after that.  This could have been avoided if they would not have allowed him in when he first showed up. 

Many many other posts describing the dress code not being enforced...  Not sure why...

[PatandStu]

I’m the op. I wasn’t dissing celebrity-in fact most of my review was very positive. I did witness first hand men & women in shorts. I’m not sure why anyone would think I made it up just to be negative.  Folks in shorts behaved well so that wasn’t my issue.  I really don’t have a problem with dress shorts, my issue is that X clearly states the dress code in big letters at the restaurant entrance & in the daily planner. Why publicize a rule so strongly and not enforce it? 
 

[PatandStu]

20 hours ago, funredhead said:

Thank you for your review.  Wondering if you recall if there was a beyond the podium speaker on your trip?  I know some ships do, some don’t and it’s not every sailing.  But, on our previous Equinox sailings, we have enjoyed this. 
 

 

Yes, there were 2. I’ve forgotten names but one had two presentations: one on history of comedy & the other on Robin Williams.  The other speaker was a retired nasa mission specialist who spoke twice.  He was excellent. 

[PatandStu]

16 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Many many other posts describing the dress code not being enforced...  Not sure why...

We had a similar incident on another cruise line (not carnival).  It was a family and the dad and both boys, ages about 8 & 10, were dressed in sleeveless t’s, frayed jean shorts & baseball caps on backward. Voices got louder as the meal progressed with bathroom jokes being loudly told with lots of fart noises & f bombs. We asked the maitre’d to intervene. He shrugged & said he had already tried, to no avail. Thank goodness the family left before our main course arrived. 

[hcat]

hope folks snap some pics..no faces so we can see what this looks like.

 

we always played a silly game when we cruised on Royal C. at our 1st lunch meal in the  buffet..how many sleeveless tees do u see?

 

  Back then I guess it was snobby of us but seems that culture has now spread onto X and into dining rms...seats are very close to one another in BLU.  Do jot want to smell anyines  perfune or body odor!

[SusieAV8R]

8 hours ago, PatandStu said:

Yes, there were 2. I’ve forgotten names but one had two presentations: one on history of comedy & the other on Robin Williams.  The other speaker was a retired nasa mission specialist who spoke twice.  He was excellent. 

The speaker for the life history of Robin Williams (fabulous seminar IMHO!!) was Gil Goode.  I am generally not a fan of seminars, but I was/am a fan of Robin Williams so I attended instead of simply sending DH to "report back".  🤣  We thoroughly enjoyed the various selected clips of the life history of RW.  DH attended the seminar with the retired NASA speaker and really enjoyed it.  (Unfortunately I did not note the speaker's name.). He said he was on the next 2 X cruises after ours (09/14-09/24), if that helps anyone.  

[mickey89]

I have no problem with Celebrity's dress code or the way it's enforced, after all it a holiday.

More importantly people should take frequent showers and ensure they wear clean clothes.

[sunkey1]

On 9/25/2023 at 5:44 PM, PatandStu said:

This was our first X cruise after many on other cruise lines.

 

Cabin: had a regular balcony & it was fine for the 2 of us. Had continental breakfast on the balcony on sea days. Bathroom was large. Lots of storage spots in cabin. 

Entire ship a bit worn; more noticeable in some spots than others but it did not affect our enjoyment. 

We have an upcoming cruise on the Equinox and I'm just a little nervous as we were on her when she was much newer. Hopefully X does a better job of maintaining their older ships than some other lines do. Quick question as we also will have a balcony cabin - what were the bed pillows like? Were there options? Trying to decide whether to bring ours with us as we're both a little picky. ;)

Edited October 2, 2023 by sunkey1
mispelling

[PatandStu]

10 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

The speaker for the life history of Robin Williams (fabulous seminar IMHO!!) was Gil Goode.  I am generally not a fan of seminars, but I was/am a fan of Robin Williams so I attended instead of simply sending DH to "report back".  🤣  We thoroughly enjoyed the various selected clips of the life history of RW.  DH attended the seminar with the retired NASA speaker and really enjoyed it.  (Unfortunately I did not note the speaker's name.). He said he was on the next 2 X cruises after ours (09/14-09/24), if that helps anyone.  

The NASA speaker was Jim Kennedy. He has a website & was fascinating to hear. 

[PatandStu]

1 hour ago, sunkey1 said:

We have an upcoming cruise on the Equinox and I'm just a little nervous as we were on her when she was much newer. Hopefully X does a better job of maintaining their older ships than some other lines do. Quick question as we also will have a balcony cabin - what were the bed pillows like? Were there options? Trying to decide whether to bring ours with us as we're both a little picky. 😉

I didn’t have a problem with the pillows.  My friend in another cabin did and was brought a variety from the room steward to try. He did find one that was good. 

[Cruise till you drop]

5 hours ago, PatandStu said:

I didn’t have a problem with the pillows.  My friend in another cabin did and was brought a variety from the room steward to try. He did find one that was good. 

Thanks for responding to this as I’m also a pillow fanatic and usually bring 2 of my own pillows.  For me, they have to be down feather pillows with not a lot of feathers so I can flatten or smush my pillows as needed

[Host Anne]

First and foremost, I’d like to thank Pat & Stu for taking the time to share their review with us.  I felt it was well balanced and provided their honest cruise experience.

 

It’s completely inappropriate to accuse members of lying here on Cruise Critic.  It’s fine to believe or not believe what someone posts but it’s not OK to call other liars.  If you have an issue with something that is posted, we have an alert system that allows you to report a post.  But please be considerate when posting.

 

Next, I want to share an experience my husband and I had on Equinox in the summer of 2022.  I wrote (but never posted) a review.  But here’s one thing that REALLY happened….We decided to do a quick last minute cruise on Equinox to the Caribbean.  We just wanted to get away.  We chose Celebrity Select dining and did a mixture of dinners in the main dining room and specialty restaurants.  We ate in the main dining room for both Chic evenings on the upper level of the room. 

 

On one of those evenings, we were seated at a two-top next to the railing, overlooking a table for four just below us.  We were surprised when four guests were seated at the table and one of the gentlemen had a button down shirt open to his belly button, shorts and a backwards baseball cap on.  While we typically don’t care how other people dress, this was pretty noticeable because I don’t think in my 30 plus cruises on Celebrity had we ever seen someone dressed like this in the main dining room, let alone on a Chic evening. 

 

So out of curiosity, I asked the Maître ‘d and we were told that the staff was no longer permitted to turn anyone away from the dining room because of their attire.  I was pretty surprised but at the time, cruise lines were simply thrilled to have passengers sailing again.  I believe that attitude has morphed into the norm these days.

 

Do I like it?  Not particularly because I think the lack of respect for rules and others in general is gone.  I’m happy to read about cruisers like Pat & Stu that enjoyed their cruise.  I just wish others would respect cruise lines rules (or don’t have them) and other passengers….and Cruise Critic reviews.

 

 

[hcat]

On 9/30/2023 at 6:38 PM, MartinsCruise said:

It was on the Summit.  We've sailed in Aqua quite a lot but have never had an experience like this.

we have not been on Summit in  yrs but this is not what we hope to see on any ship..would be bad at the buffet but not in any dining rm... no respect from the offenders and no backbone for mgmnt!