Equinox April 14, 2017

Just back home. This will be short but hopefully it covers some topics that have been posed recently.

Equinox and Celebrity are still very nice products. Yes things have changed but still some good stuff.

Specialty restaurants have great service and some very fine food, as they should for the upcharge. Murano is still outstanding, especially if your server is Sandra. Best deal is the multi-night package but you should usually get a discount if you are flexible with your dining times.

MDR is rushed so try to find a quiet section, yes there are some, and will get something akin to the service of a few years ago. You will still be out in an hour give or take a few minutes. The food was nice.

We were not asked to leave the room at 0700 for disembarkation. The given time was 0800 even though the ship had to travel to Miami for the next embarkation later that day.

The music volume was low and was really background.

I really enjoyed the Molecular bar but the World bar is now my favorite. The drinks are spins on classics but are very good. Less fancy liquid nitrogen stuff and more focus on the mixology. Igor and Ram know their stuff.

The crew and staff are outstanding. Friendly is an understatement. They are there to make your trip as enjoyable as possible. Try to get to know them.

We had an very enjoyable 10 days on the Equinox

Would totally agree wth you on this. We bought an 8 night speciality dining package which we thought was excellent value. We had five superb meals in Murano and couldn't fault the food or service. Tuscan was a bit inconsistent in that we had great service the first time, slightly worse next time and poor the third time. We did enjoy most of the food particularly the filet mignon, but the Parmesan chicken pasta was awful. What Italian would serve you spaghetti in tomato sauce with a breaded chicken breast on top smothered in mozzarella ? Yuk. Desserts here are not brilliant especially now the chocolate fondue is no more. The two meals in the MDR were rushed and not that good. The waiters in Select are so busy they don't even have time to introduce themselves. There were more younger people on this trip and quite a few children. The theatre entertainment was pretty good especially the Beatles tribute band and Tenors of Rock. The staff are friendly and many of them were going on vacation at the end of this trip. Bar service was much better than we've seen in a long time, never much of a wait for a drink. The Elite evening drinks events weren't busy even though there were 450 Elite and above onboard. Great service here too and lovely canapés. This was definitely the best of our last four cruises.

Lovescarborough,

I had the Branzino and tuna in Tuscan and Lobster and Venison in Murano's. I am half Sicilian so I never touch "homemade" pasta outside of a relative's house;)

I am nearly 60 but I am happy Celebrity is attracting more and more relatively younger people.

Thank you for your review. :cool:

They did have chocolate fondue in the Oceanview on the last sea day

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The Elite evening drinks events weren't busy even though there were 450 Elite and above onboard. Great service here too and lovely canapés. This was definitely the best of our last four cruises.

Where was it held? TIA

Where was it held? TIA

In the Sky Lounge as usual on S Class ships. Your welcome letter will give you times and details of events.

Thanks for the report!

Dis you have a chance to visit the GastroPub? How were the food and drinks? Thanks

Thanks for the review cruisingdelt. Sounds like you had a very nice time! I'm very much looking forward to sailing on Equinox in Dec. Your MDR comments and lovescarborough comments though make me question our current selection of Select Dining. We've always had traditional dining, but tried anytime dining on our HAL Noordam cruise and found the MDR experience disappointing. At the time we attributed it to just being the MDR experience on HAL, but now I'm questioning that assumption and thinking I may call TA and switch to traditional for both our upcoming X cruises.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Murano so much though. We are planning to get the package of 4 specialty dining so maybe we'll try it twice!! :-)

Thanks for the review cruisingdelt. Sounds like you had a very nice time! I'm very much looking forward to sailing on Equinox in Dec. Your MDR comments and lovescarborough comments though make me question our current selection of Select Dining. We've always had traditional dining, but tried anytime dining on our HAL Noordam cruise and found the MDR experience disappointing. At the time we attributed it to just being the MDR experience on HAL, but now I'm questioning that assumption and thinking I may call TA and switch to traditional for both our upcoming X cruises.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed Murano so much though. We are planning to get the package of 4 specialty dining so maybe we'll try it twice!! :-)

The little quiet spot was on the starboard side al the way aft. It is a little alcove with a great waiter, asst waiter and sommelier. We would usually show u around 6:15.

The little quiet spot was on the starboard side al the way aft. It is a little alcove with a great waiter, asst waiter and sommelier. We would usually show u around 6:15.

Thanks for the additional details and please excuse my ignorance on this, but do they give you an option of where you want to sit?

Thank you for the review.

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No! The chocolate fondue has gone!

We cruise Saturday and I had been looking at the new Tuscan menu....I had forgotten about the fondue until you mentioned it in your review!

What a pity, dipping strawberries and bits of banana into a rich chocolate sauce has been such an indulgent way to end a meal!

No! The chocolate fondue has gone!

 

We cruise Saturday and I had been looking at the new Tuscan menu....I had forgotten about the fondue until you mentioned it in your review!

 

What a pity, dipping strawberries and bits of banana into a rich chocolate sauce has been such an indulgent way to end a meal!

They do offer it at Oceanview during lunch...last sea day.

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Good review! Where did you eat lunch on embarkation day?

In the Sky Lounge as usual on S Class ships. Your welcome letter will give you times and details of events.

Thanks

Do you know the names of any of the maitre d's or assistant md's on the ship?