Celebrity Equinox Reviews

Boarding the Celebrity equinox for my short break, to be honest I was expecting the “same old” kind of ship. (Beige) but I could not have been more wrong.

The staff we’re out to welcome me as I walked onboard, genuinely enthusiastic about their home, their jobs & their ship and so they should have been. The Equinox is truly a modern, luxury cruiser. Soothing modern design and innovative features made me feel at home.

She’s contemporary, but with traditional features. Innovative without being silly. I was really impressed with the focus on “the little things.” I won’t bore you with the details but they’ve really listened & acted on customer ideas (and that makes allot difference)

Some of my highlights
Walking on top deck – in the sunshine, barefoot on a REAL lawn!
Watching the hot glass show – intricate works of art created before my eyes.
Tasting – truly excellent food, from a quick snack to al la carte dining (as standard)
Feeling that I wasn’t just one of the crowd

This class of ship (Solstice class) is Celebrity’s largest class of ship ever. But the space has been used really well. They’ve created more small Intimate areas on the ship & larger main areas. So you never feel in a crowd & there is always somewhere to my taste just around the corner.

The standard balcony cabin I had was one of the largest I’ve seen, it was genuinely comfortable. It had everything we needed & more.

I did feel that she was a ship for couples, don’t get me wrong children are more than welcome & catered for very well – but the ship felt more couples orientated.

Overall I would sail on her again (tomorrow if I could) without any hesitation & I will continue to recommend her, and her identical sisters to every cruising couple I speak to.

Loved this ship - my favourite ever !
Great size ship, loads to do on board.
Food was top notch. So much to choose from, and always delivered with a smile.
Outdoor areas with the real grass and games was something completely new.
Solarium area on the ship was my favourite area, really relaxing with hammocks by the pool etc - totally chilled !
Really cool night club. just loved everything about it !

Equinox was my first experience of a Celebrity ship and I was extremely impressed! I have never seen such attention to detail in decoration on a ship, very contemporary, stylish and fresh. The lawned area is a great feature, it offers something totally different to experience onboard. The cabins have been designed to be more spacious than other ships and they certainly are! The most noticeable difference in size is the bathroom, especially the shower area, it was the biggest shower/bathroom I have ever had in a standard balcony cabin on any ship. The food onboard was exceptional in both the buffet restaurant and the main dining room with a huge range of choice. The staff onboard are exactly what you would expect from a 5* cruise line, attentive without being over bearing and friendly, nothing seems to be too much trouble for them. The public areas and lounges are very welcoming and each offer something different in the way of evening entertainment. Overall this was a fantastic experience and I would highly recommend both this ship and Celebrity Cruises.

This was our 4th cruise. The first was around the Eastern Carribean with RCL (Independance of the Seas) and the second was 10 days with same vessel to the Canaries from Southampton & lastly with the “Brilliance of the Seas” on a cruise/stay from Dubai round the Persian Gulf. Whilst we enjoyed Celebrity and would probably cruise with them again, we did prefer the RCI 'Brilliance of the Seas' as we found the ship smaller & although older,had a great feel of age old style & ambience. Celebrity Eqinox was very modern & a little clinical in design & seemed to cater on this cruise for majority of couples of whom many were from North & South America (as the ship was sailing from Fort Lauderdale to the Western Carribean), with the average age of passengers (50+ and older).
We felt there were a number of subtle cut backs & money spinners to previous cruises both in the food,drink & tours,so forgive us if this review is longer than some!
Remember our review is based on our own personal experience & may differ from others,but all we can do is say it as it was!.

PRE CRUISE: Our tour operator CCUK in the package offered, booked my wife & I to Miami via BA who impressed us with everything in their 'in flight' service, and thereafter a shuttle bus was arranged to take us to the Hilton, Fort Lauderdale Marina. A very good class hotel with our room looking out directly at the super yachts,the hotel being very close to the marina, port, and shops etc, within walking distance for buying the allowance of 2 bottles of wine etc to take on board by midday.
Our Balcony cabin was ready at 1pm. & a Bottle of Gin,6 tonics & a large octagonal selection box of nuts was provided as a welcome presumeably from Celebrity or our tour operator as there was no message with this? Oceanview buffet for lunch opened (good selection on the day and crew were very helpful.) Luggage arrived by about 2pm.Pleased to note lifeboat drill carried out before ship sailed. Ate dinner in MDR at 8.30 (despite the fact CCUK had done their best to reserve 'select any time dining' around 2nd Jan), plus we had prepaid a wine package with tips up front (as a pre requistite),but having gone direct to the MDR on boarding, the Maitre D on the desk was dissapointingly unable to oblige when we approached her.. Food we felt was average on some evenings compared to previous cruises, particularly in the Ocean View Cafe.The table for 2 booked in the MDR was cramped alongside another table for 2 & therefore offered little privacy. We thought the MDR service a little lax at times as more time seemed to be spent by our waiters on larger tables(no doubt where heavier tips were to be acquired?). The Wine package was mixed up on the 1st night as well as having to wait till nearly the second course before being served the wine.
ENTERTAINMENT: Shows in theatre at 7pm were of the highest calibre we have experienced,...really on a par to the West End Theatres.. Hosted by Cruise Director Jason who was good (if anything,sometimes too over exposed),but friendly and was always involved around the ship chatting to guests throughout the cruise.
Our balcony cabin was on Deck 8 & had better deck chairs then experienced before with RCI.The cabin seemed to have more hanging space & overhead cupboards for extra space than experienced before on RCI.The adjustable slim line TV was interactive (keeping a daily eye on bar bills was very useful!)and had a good selection of films/picture, plus the novelty of a continual CCTV of the ship's bow & progress. . Bed was extremely comfortable and bathroom was good with a shower, single wash basin and toilet. Shower head in ceiling was fantastic. Always plenty of hot water too, and quality towelling with beach towels as well.Our cabin steward was ZENON and was the best we have had. However Celebrity should take note of that particularly with British passengers, to automatically supply a kettle for tea, rather than having to ask for one.(as supplied on all RCI ships travelled on)
Towelling dressing gowns were not supplied on arrival, but when asked for, it was explained this was a delay in the laundry turnround situation.
Breakfast in the cabin was a real treat on several ocaasions & very prompt on timings required.
EXCURSIONS: We prebooked 3 only as we found these very expensive,but in particular the tour guide PETER(a Jamaican) was excellent & knowledgeable on the Belize Wildlife Tour.However we had incorrect advise re camera charges printed on the tickets on tour info for the Zoo of $24. Our tour guide advised us this had been abolished which was annoying as many ship's passengers on this tour did not take their cameras for obvious reasons.I am a keen wildlife photographer & advised Celebrity tour office on board of the situation who hopefully have rectified this error for future passengers.We were awarded 20% refund (each) off the tour cost for flagging this up. There are some reliable tour guide companies ashore that can be contacted at half the price which we used.
RESTAURENTS: We mainly used the Oceanview buffet for breakfast and lunch but more than often finding a table is always a nightmare though, no matter what time.The MDR was mainly used for dinner. Food in MDR was good on the whole, although there was not as much variety as RCI last year & fresh veg in short supply, unless asked for as extra.
For example the arrival of the anticipated 'once off'' lobster was dissapointing as it was very bland & the experts told us this was Carribean lobster which is cheaper than the local Maine Lobster.The Crème Brule however is to die for.The so called 'Shrimp' Cocktail, be warned, is our Prawn Cocktail, but our tip is don't settle for the unusual yukky 'red horse radish' dressing, but ask for the 'Thousand Island' or Mayonnaise dressing.Although the quality of ingredients may not be as good as other cruise lines, the presentation and variety of all the food was generally good. Even if you request something thats not on the main menu, they will present your food to you in a great unique way.
ACTIVITIES:Enjoyed the South American dance bands & attempted the Zoomba....great fun. We did do the 'Behind the Scenes' tour on the last sea day to be shown & explained how the kitchen operation comes together to serve the thousands of passengers & crew at sea, which was well worth while.
The library was used & well laid out, but could do with more stocking of soft backs.
Indoor pool was excellent haven with the closed roof against coller weather & the rather noisy outside pool.We couldn't really grasp why such loud thumping music prevailed here most days when the average age group of 50+ needed to be catered for, with perhaps some ambience music? The music seems to be catered for the stagehands/crew who set up the sound systems,.... or the DJ is out of sinc with the age group on board!!
ENTERTAINMENT: This is all down to personal taste again but we can say we enjoyed every act as they were all superb including the visiting comedian who although warned us he would nearly break all the taboos of colour, creed, age etc, & he was sesnible enough to just not go over the 'thin red line'..... very amusing & was not using extreme foul language and double entendre jokes,..... Again our personal opinion.
DISEMBARKATION: Having read various reviews was a bit worried about this & rightly so,as it was horrendous through no fault of Celebrity, but shortage of US Immigration Officers.. We had luggage group 17 which was for 9a.m. We went to MDR and waited to be called. At 9.30 we were not called until a good 1-1 ½ hrs later. We had to snake our way around a long line to collect our luggage and then had to take seats to wait & proceed to another snake line to clear customs.ALL IN ALL ABOUT 3 -4hrs!. There were only about 4 Immigration desks open and there was no seperation for different countries.A few hundred Brits were about to start a riot & many were stating they would not go on a ship again that diembarked at Miami!!! The US not only charge $14 for foreign nationals for the priviledge to enter their country(ESTA), but neither they or the shipping lines would seem to be aware of the possible loss of faith by many British & foreign vistors in problematic situation with Immigration & the possible loss of revenue at this port, if this continues! We waited about 15 minutes for the shuttle bus to take us to a hotel booke by Celebrity for a day room prior to a late flight.(we did not fancy a tour prior to the night flight).The Hotel departure day ticket was omitted to be printed off in the documents sent to us fro our tour operator which left us in a panic as to which Hotel & where we were booked in.(No Celebrity personnel was able to help us at the terminal).However we took a gamble that it would be the Hilton at Miami(being near the airport) & luckily our guess was correct!
Outward/Inward Flights to Miami
Inward to Miami BA 207 was brilliant with first class service, food & free drinks.The stewardesses were well dressed & polite.
Outward flight BA1529 shown on our printed schedule was another story.We were told we would instead be flying American Airlines (Boeing767) despite being shown as BA 1529 on our schedule by our tour operator. Our understanding was AA were used if BA seats were fully booked up. The service was appalling all the way from lack of assistance at Miami to acquire seating/boarding tickets via computer terminal(1/2 hour wait for attendance) plus initially unable to seat 2 together. Aircraft was so basic that there were no earphones in the seat pockets, only the odd overhead TV's with a charge of $2 to view a film. Told spirits would be charged at $7 but not that the wine was free. We complained quoting our BA flight out & prepared to pay cash but told abruptly credit cards accepted only & took our card. The Steward disappeared for some time only to come back with our credit card & announce the spirits would now not have to be paid !The Air Stewardesses in particular needed to go on a course on customer relations & look more closely at their attire. Stewards were ok. All in all we are amazed BA has any association with AA if AA are creating this sort of image & service!
WE WILL NEVER FLY WITH THEM AGAIN.
CLOSING COMMENTS:All in all not the best departures after a generally enjoyable cruise! Would we cruise with Celebrity again from Miami,...NO. However elsewhere – probably. We have not booked an open passage on board. as we have a busy 2014 in Europe.. Crew were very friendly and helpful and the ship was kept spotless,but we would re iterate the ship did not create that real feel of ambiance & value for money, unless presumably you are prepared to go the extra mile & put your hand in your pocket with quite a few more dollars for Concierge Class & Aqua Club. Sadly we are in a world recession & even the cruise lines are now feeling the pinch & of course subtly the paying passenger will suffer,not only with more pressure to spend more money on board, but inevitably with some cut backs!