Just off Equinox today 10/8 - my experience

[Cruising Princess]

After 45 cruises on Celebrity - I have a lot of experience sailing in all cabin categories from inside to suites.  So I hope you can appreciate my level of experience sailing with Celebrity. 
 

we disembarked today after 8 night sailing.
 

Here are my initial impressions of this sailing:

 

The ship is in need for some major maintenance.  Our balcony ceiling had a lot of rust and grime.  The railing had been sanded but never revarnished.  So you couldn’t lean on it for fear of splinters.  
 

Bar area on Deck 5 - sofas and chairs lost all their support.  When you sit you sink down very far.  Impossible to stand up when wearing heels without assistance.

 

Dinner in Murano was passable but nothing like previous years.  Quality declined from the salads to grade of meats.  Service was good but at $60 plus 20% tip it’s not worth the money.
 

2 nights in Tuscan - service very slow.  Food not much better than MDR.  A lot of misses.  Avoid ordering any pasta or Italian dishes. The lasagna and chicken parm tasted like they contained Indian spices. Pastas were overcooked and came out  cold.  
 

MDR - biggest let down. Quality of ingredients and proteins have dropped significantly. Some fishes totally overcooked, salads with no taste, and their seasonal vegetables were the same every night with beans and carrots until we got to night 6 when they switched everything to peas and carrots.   And of course the lack of options on menu didn’t surprise me to see more than half the people around me ordering French onion soup or escargot.  And don’t get me started on the ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes on almost every dish.  Finally on  night 7 I ordered a baked potato. It came out undercooked and hard as a rock.  
 

Outdoor pools have a lot of chipped paint in bottom - needing a lot of maintenance.  On port days there were no bar servers roaming around asking to take drink orders.  Bartenders worked hard and most were friendly.  
 

Entertainment was forced and lacked any spark.  One evening however they had silent disco and the DJ kept people on dance floor.  I’m in my sixties and even I was bored most of the time.

 

In summary this was the first time in over 60 total cruises where I said that I couldn’t wait to go home.  The cruise left such a bad taste in our mouths that we just cancelled our next cruise. 
 

 

 

[horseymike]

X has forgotten what made them so popular .

[ECCruise]

Thanks for relating your experience, @Cruising Princess

 

Does not give warm and fuzzies by any stretch. 

[bnurick]

22 minutes ago, Cruising Princess said:

After 45 cruises on Celebrity - I have a lot of experience sailing in all cabin categories from inside to suites.  So I hope you can appreciate my level of experience sailing with Celebrity. 
 

we disembarked today after 8 night sailing.
 

Here are my initial impressions of this sailing:

 

The ship is in need for some major maintenance.  Our balcony ceiling had a lot of rust and grime.  The railing had been sanded but never revarnished.  So you couldn’t lean on it for fear of splinters.  
 

Bar area on Deck 5 - sofas and chairs lost all their support.  When you sit you sink down very far.  Impossible to stand up when wearing heels without assistance.

 

Dinner in Murano was passable but nothing like previous years.  Quality declined from the salads to grade of meats.  Service was good but at $60 plus 20% tip it’s not worth the money.
 

2 nights in Tuscan - service very slow.  Food not much better than MDR.  A lot of misses.  Avoid ordering any pasta or Italian dishes. The lasagna and chicken parm tasted like they contained Indian spices. Pastas were overcooked and came out  cold.  
 

MDR - biggest let down. Quality of ingredients and proteins have dropped significantly. Some fishes totally overcooked, salads with no taste, and their seasonal vegetables were the same every night with beans and carrots until we got to night 6 when they switched everything to peas and carrots.   And of course the lack of options on menu didn’t surprise me to see more than half the people around me ordering French onion soup or escargot.  And don’t get me started on the ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes on almost every dish.  Finally on  night 7 I ordered a baked potato. It came out undercooked and hard as a rock.  
 

Outdoor pools have a lot of chipped paint in bottom - needing a lot of maintenance.  On port days there were no bar servers roaming around asking to take drink orders.  Bartenders worked hard and most were friendly.  
 

Entertainment was forced and lacked any spark.  One evening however they had silent disco and the DJ kept people on dance floor.  I’m in my sixties and even I was bored most of the time.

 

In summary this was the first time in over 60 total cruises where I said that I couldn’t wait to go home.  The cruise left such a bad taste in our mouths that we just cancelled our next cruise. 
 

 

 

The Eclipse, but was this fish dish even offered?  Sorry you had a suboptimal experience.

   

[Susanb10567]

Very disappointing to hear…we are heading on the Equinox on the 14th…first time on a S class ship and first time not sailing in the Retreat…we are in Aquaclass…

 

Planning to keep an open mind…and enjoy ourselves….we are booked on the Equinox this summer for Spain and Portugal and the Solstice in 25 for Thailand and Vietnam…based on our cruise coming up we may need to reevaluate our future bookings…

[jelayne]

I hope you completed the post cruise survey.

[lv2cruisgrl]

 Please do the survey they send you. It is disappointing that the old ships have been neglected. We won't sail on any of them just because they are such a mess. Celebrity you are loosing my $$$!!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I could have written almost the same review. We were in the PH in September and it was well maintained so no issues there.

 

Luminae's menu was blah. We ate in Murano's most nights and some things were hit and miss from our last time there. Cancelled our Reservation in Tuscan because we liked the Luminae menu better. We went to Sushi on 5 for lunch several times and did the Taj dinner. All excellent. 

 

Did not like the entertainment on board. The night of the Taj dinner the music on deck 3 was so loud we literally ran out of the restaurant and passed on dessert.

Service through out the ship was fantastic.

 

We too could not wait to go home, which was delayed a day because our flight was cancelled the night before and nothing was available for the day we disembarked.

 

We filled out the survey and had no qualms about detailing our experience. We cancelled a March cruise when we got home.

[helen haywood]

20 minutes ago, bnurick said:

The Eclipse, but was this fish dish even offered?  Sorry you had a suboptimal experience.

   

I’m not the OP, but was recently on Equinox…never saw that dish!

[NMTraveller]

Your experience is consistent with most of the food reviews.

 

What is new is the maintenance issues on the ships.  Equinox and Edge this week.

[Georgia_Peaches]

36 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

Very disappointing to hear…we are heading on the Equinox on the 14th…first time on a S class ship and first time not sailing in the Retreat…we are in Aquaclass…

Which is why you just have to see for yourself. When we sailed on Equinox in July we had one of our best Celebrity Cruise experiences ever. Not to take away from OP’s impressions…which I completely respect. Everyone will (and should) form their own opinions. We didn’t dine in Murano that time but had a fabulous experience in Tuscan. We were in a standard veranda stateroom. I will concur that there are some tired spaces on the ship and entertainment was hit and miss. We spent a lot of time in the casino which was our entertainment. Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Edited October 8, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[chemmo]

I think most of us understand the reasons for the delay in the full upgrading program but it seems that a bit of money needs to be spent ‘patching the cracks’ in the meantime…There have been a few  posts in recent days about general lack of maintenance and ‘shabbiness’…

 

After the Second World War in England a cheap white paint called distemper was in great demand. People were living in properties that needed some serious work but in the meantime people made them as fresh looking as they could…

 

Perhaps Celebrity could learn a bit from this attitude…

 

[di T]

37 minutes ago, chemmo said:

I think most of us understand the reasons for the delay in the full upgrading program but it seems that a bit of money needs to be spent ‘patching the cracks’ in the meantime…There have been a few  posts in recent days about general lack of maintenance and ‘shabbiness’…

 

After the Second World War in England a cheap white paint called distemper was in great demand. People were living in properties that needed some serious work but in the meantime people made them as fresh looking as they could…

 

Perhaps Celebrity could learn a bit from this attitude…

 

Chemmo! That’s what it needs distemper, lol but to be honest Celebrity need to address all these problems with the food and the ships, or we will all be looking elsewhere.

[kywildcatfanone]

You didn't mention Oceanview Cafe or mast grill,  did you eat there at all?

[Cruising Princess]

More thoughts….

 

we upgraded to Premium drink package. Many of the wines on the premium list were out of stock. So had to drink $9 and $10 value wines. Seemed interesting that they hadn’t run out of any of the cheap oops mean classic wines. 
 

I was unable to get any water besides a No named filtered water. No spring water. No Evian as stated on premium package. Also no Vitamin Water or bottled ice tea. 
 

the premium package was not worth the cost. 
 

Oceanview cafe was similar to past cruises but you can see how a lot of dishes were poorer quality or in some cases watered down like the refried beans at Mexican station. How sad since a can of beans is so cheap!

 

there were less options at lunch and dinner. They would repeat some dishes at different stations making you think there are more options than not.  Overall passable but disappointing value. 
 

Mass Grill was still good. Love their fries!

[Georgia_Peaches]

4 minutes ago, Cruising Princess said:

I was unable to get any water besides a No named filtered water. No spring water. No Evian as stated on premium package. Also no Vitamin Water or bottled ice tea. 

Thank you for mentioning this.  I was planning on upgrading to Premium once we board next month using OBC but I think I will confirm what's available before doing so.

[Cruising Princess]

4 hours ago, bnurick said:

The Eclipse, but was this fish dish even offered?  Sorry you had a suboptimal experience.

   

they did not offer this specific dish but did have Almond crusted Hake one night. My husband had it and said it was good. 

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, di T said:

Chemmo! That’s what it needs distemper, lol but to be honest Celebrity need to address all these problems with the food and the ships, or we will all be looking elsewhere.

Maybe everyone could bring a bucket of paint and a brush 🤣

[SusieAV8R]

5 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Which is why you just have to see for yourself. When we sailed on Equinox in July we had one of our best Celebrity Cruise experiences ever. Not to take away from OP’s impressions…which I completely respect. Everyone will (and should) form their own opinions. We didn’t dine in Murano that time but had a fabulous experience in Tuscan. We were in a standard veranda stateroom. I will concur that there are some tired spaces on the ship and entertainment was hit and miss. We spent a lot of time in the casino which was our entertainment. Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Our experience on Equinox in September mirrors yours, Georgia_Peaches.  We had a terrific cruise!  We did dine in Murano (DH and I split a Chateaubriand with lobster) and it was a very enjoyable experience; similar to past cruises.  We have a B2B2B booked on Connie over Christmas/NYE and are so looking forward to it.  Like you, I believe cruisers have to determine for themselves whether X is a fit for them or whether maybe they should consider another cruise line.

[cruise wizard]

We will have our first cruises (B2B) on the Equinox in January of 2025 out of Port Canaveral. I hope that some / most of the issues will be addressed and corrected by this time. We have cruised on the Eclipse, Millennium, Summit, Infinity, Edge and this coming February on the Constellation.

[sun bum]

17 hours ago, Cruising Princess said:

was unable to get any water besides a No named filtered water. No spring water. No Evian as stated on premium package. Also no Vitamin Water or bottled ice tea

 

We were on the Equinox Sept.24 - 30. NO issues getting any of the premium items in the package. We picked up each day, Evian and Vitamin waters at the Cafe' al Bacio or after breakfast at II Secondo Bacio, located in the OVC. Our meal and service at Tuscan was amazing!  Yes, the ship looks a little tired in places. The railing on our SV balcony could use some varnish but it in no way affected our vacation. We did our research and knew what to expect as far as the condition of the ship. We spent a lot of time every day at the pool. Getting someone to take our drink order, even on pool days, was no problem. Every day, several times a day, there was a waiter bringing around a tray of the "Drink of the Day " special. Our only complain was how rude a few of the passengers were to the staff.  This was our 17 cruise.16 of them have been on Celebrity. We will be on the Ascent in January and the Beyond again in October. There's a reason we keep coming back. 

[Cruisegirl6]

22 hours ago, Susanb10567 said:

Very disappointing to hear…we are heading on the Equinox on the 14th…first time on a S class ship and first time not sailing in the Retreat…we are in Aquaclass…

 

Planning to keep an open mind…and enjoy ourselves….we are booked on the Equinox this summer for Spain and Portugal and the Solstice in 25 for Thailand and Vietnam…based on our cruise coming up we may need to reevaluate our future bookings…

We are on the same cruise first time also on S class and sailing Aquaclass this time also.  

[Arzeena]

44 minutes ago, sun bum said:

We were on the Equinox Sept.24 - 30. NO issues getting any of the premium items in the package. We picked up each day, Evian and Vitamin waters at the Cafe' al Bacio or after breakfast at II Secondo Bacio, located in the OVC. Our meal and service at Tuscan was amazing!  Yes, the ship looks a little tired in places. The railing on our SV balcony could use some varnish but it in no way affected our vacation. We did our research and knew what to expect as far as the condition of the ship. We spent a lot of time every day at the pool. Getting someone to take our drink order, even on pool days, was no problem. Every day, several times a day, there was a waiter bringing around a tray of the "Drink of the Day " special. Our only complain was how rude a few of the passengers were to the staff.  This was our 17 cruise.16 of them have been on Celebrity. We will be on the Ascent in January and the Beyond again in October. There's a reason we keep coming back. 

Thank you.

 

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, cruise wizard said:

We will have our first cruises (B2B) on the Equinox in January of 2025 out of Port Canaveral. I hope that some / most of the issues will be addressed and corrected by this time. We have cruised on the Eclipse, Millennium, Summit, Infinity, Edge and this coming February on the Constellation.

We have had no major issues on the Equinox. A couple of cruises when supply chain issues were going on in the world, they did run out of some drink items on some days. They always gave us alternatives. It was fine for us. No complaints.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by Arzeena

[1620rock]

42 minutes ago, sun bum said:

We were on the Equinox Sept.24 - 30. NO issues getting any of the premium items in the package. We picked up each day, Evian and Vitamin waters at the Cafe' al Bacio or after breakfast at II Secondo Bacio, located in the OVC. Our meal and service at Tuscan was amazing!  Yes, the ship looks a little tired in places. The railing on our SV balcony could use some varnish but it in no way affected our vacation. We did our research and knew what to expect as far as the condition of the ship. We spent a lot of time every day at the pool. Getting someone to take our drink order, even on pool days, was no problem. Every day, several times a day, there was a waiter bringing around a tray of the "Drink of the Day " special. Our only complain was how rude a few of the passengers were to the staff.  This was our 17 cruise.16 of them have been on Celebrity. We will be on the Ascent in January and the Beyond again in October. There's a reason we keep coming back. 

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your Equinox cruise and were able to get the Premium NA items.  DH only drinks 1 -2 drinks with alcohol but he likes the teas and Vitamin Waters and will drink 4-5 a day and I like the premium juice smoothies and waters.   

 

We are on the Equinox in two weeks and getting a little worried about recent reviews.  We also have final payment for January Silhouette cruise due before we board and having second thoughts.

 

Were you able to order the premium water in the MDR , Pelligrino, AquaPanna or similar or did you have to bring it with you from the other bars?  We have never had a problem with that in the past and hope that hasn't changed.