Short live review from Equinox, June 18th sailing

Flew into Miami at dawn with my daughter for this cruise, our first since Infinity in 2006. Celebrity shuttle from airport and boarding process were fine, although lots of lines to stand in, of course.

Equinox is beautiful, in very nice shape and very clean.

We are in a concierge class room, and as almost all of you know some feel the benefits might not be worth it. It was only a small extra cost for this cruise for some reason, but so far concierge class has seemed worth it to us. The separate line for embarkation, as many have said, seemed worthless (all lines seemed about equal), but the lunch in the dining room was very nice. After standing in lots of lines we were happy to just sit down at an elegant lunch and be served. My salmon at lunch was perfectly cooked, which as I know myself from cooking at home is tricky to do. You want it just cooked but not overcooked—and still very tender.

In the room, we had champagne, which was actually French. I forget the brand. But for a complimentary bottle it was ok as long as your expectations are reasonable imho. It wasn't too sweet, although calling it "Brut" as on the label might be a stretch. I had one glass in the evening and saved the rest in the fridge. The golden delicious apples there were also good. And, finally, the afternoon snacks provided were also good enough and welcome. The room also has the upgraded soaps and lotions, which were indeed nice imho, and some British brand that again I forget.

The binoculars, robe, and umbrella are also there, and I was able to request a memory foam pillow.

Dinner in the MDR was very good, and service was also quite nice. So far I feel like executive chef Javier De Jesus is doing a good job. I was worried that since 2006 standards there would have fallen, but it seemed pretty close to what I remember from back then. Nice presentations. Tasty food. Since I was trying to stay awake after sleeping little the night before I had the regular dining room coffee. It seemed perfectly fine to me, and I usually drink Peet's or Starbucks at home.

The show in the Equinox theater that night, which my daughter and I saw part of, was good. As many have mentioned, the British cruise director Rich Spacey is funny and lively. Comedian Jim Colliton was very funny imho, and it was a delight to see my daughter laugh several times. It was pretty much clean humor, and he had good interactions with the audience. A Capella group Eh440 was also good and tuneful.

Anyway, a good start so far. But unfortunately winds have canceled our stop at Key West. A sea day today.

Great start! What a shame you are missing Key West. :( Looking forward to more of your review.

As my daughter sleeps in, I'm now having a light breakfast at the AquaSpa cafe. It's nice imho. Fancy and sort-of healthy foods are there, and they are tasty. Upgraded teas are available free, and the regular coffee is again good imho. Not Peet's obviously, but good enough. Smoothies are extra, but I haven't tried those.

Finally, almost all the Celebrity crew members are very friendly, nice, and helpful.

Forgot to mention that I had trouble logging into the internet, but at the little

Apple computer center on deck 6 they were able to fix some settings on my Mac book that were somehow preventing it from working, and the internet now seems fine.

Hope you and your daughter have a fantastic cruise!

Hope you and your daughter have a fantastic cruise!

Thanks!

PS Only a couple of negatives so far. First, the paper products in the room are...ok at best. I'd call it Motel 6 standards, not "modern luxury." The tissues, in other words, are obviously not kleenex. They are adequate, certainly, but not soft.

Another thing is that in 2006 a pitcher of ice water was provided for the room—but this time, not only not provided but difficult to request. Ultimately room service brought up a pitcher of ice water about 6 hours after I first requested it. Doesn't seem like a pitcher of ice water should be a big deal, but....And I'm guessing every day I'll need to go through the same deal. We'll see.

Again, overall very pleased with the cruise so far. Just tiny issues.

Great start! What a shame you are missing Key West. :( Looking forward to more of your review.

Thanks!

Because of the canceled stop at Key West, cruise director Rich Spacey has added a special matinee of Star Wars Rogue One in the main theater this afternoon. Since my daughter is a fan, we'll probably see that. But since right now she's still asleep, I have plenty of time to myself to waste time by posting here. Should probably catch up on one of my books, but since I've already had breakfast, and have a nice place to charge my computer in the empty Card Room....

Forgot to mention that we got a window seat in the MDR at last night's dinner. For about 10 minutes while we were eating dolphins swimming alongside the ship were putting on a jumping show for us right outside the window! Daughter was delighted and took pix.

How was the weather the rest of your trip?

I watched you sail away yesterday from Miami. We'll be doing the same itinerary on 7/2!

Had lunch at my daughter's request at Sushi on Five. It was good, but I think I like our local sushi place better....

Love your comments. We go on the same ship on July 9 but different ports. Enjoy!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Have never seen dolphins from a cruise ship. What a treat! Would love to see a pic or 2.

Thanks for your review.

How was the weather the rest of your trip?

He's only one day in so I doubt he can answer that at this point. ;)

Enjoying the info, benjaminhuf. Will be onboard in mid-July in a CC cabin so looking forward to your reports this week!

Have never seen dolphins from a cruise ship. What a treat! Would love to see a pic or 2.

 

Thanks for your review.

Turns out my daughter took video. She says it only came out so-so....But it was beautiful.

A few little things....

Gilchrist & Soames is the brand name of the soaps and lotion (in Concierge at least) and as mentioned seemed nice to me.

Dinner tonight in the MDR was again good. Getting there early helps for getting a window seat. I had the rack of lamb, which was good, while my daughter had chicken which she also liked.

By getting to the MDR at 5:45, and skipping dessert (we had dessert at the Cafe al B after lunch) we were able to make it to the 7pm show of Topper. Not sure how to describe this show, but it does have some good singing, colorful costumes, some acrobatics, etc. We sat in the highest tier just in case we needed to leave, but stayed for the whole thing. Again, some of the singing was good imho, but obviously not for all tastes. The cast worked hard and got most of the crowd into it.

After that we saw some of the hot glass show up at the lawn club. That was neat! The three gals doing the show were talented, chatty, and had a lot of info and skill. They made a beautiful rainbow piece before our eyes.

Ice water in a pitcher turned out not to be a problem. After the first time and the six hour delay, Gelcy, our room attendant, has seen to it that we have a pitcher with ice water without having to ask. I tipped him an extra $5 for doing that, for which he seemed grateful. He and the others are good at doing that "intuitive service" most of the time, and so that when you're gone in the evening for instance, your room is made up and little chocolates are put on the pillows.

My daughter is enjoying the food, the luxuries, the shows, and the sea. She is reading novels and seeming to zone into a good space. Even though we missed Key West and one of the planned highlights of our cruise, snuba, she said that the sea day was a success. We've enjoyed hanging out and chatting. The matinee of Rogue One today, for instance, got us into a long chat about different sci fi movies over the years and their pros and cons over dinner.

Anyway, so far we are enjoying this a lot, which is good given the price when you add it all up....We are obviously very fortunate to be able to do something like this.

Thanks for the review.

Enjoying your review and looking forward to reading more about it.

He's only one day in so I doubt he can answer that at this point. ;)

 

Enjoying the info, benjaminhuf. Will be onboard in mid-July in a CC cabin so looking forward to your reports this week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Save

As I'm up at dawn this morning, and the weather is rougher, although from inside the ship it's still just a gentle rocking. From outside on our balcony it is a little bit stormy.

Thanks, folks, for your encouragement for my little review. If by any chance someone has a question, I'll try to answer.

By the way, I explained on another thread that my wife and son couldn't get away from work, which is why I'm fortunate to be taking this giant father's-day present of a cruise with my wonderful daughter.

Anyway, a couple of the reviews I read suggested that there might have been cutbacks in live music. I wonder if they read comments like that and responded?

Anyway, there is lots of live music on Equinox from my point of view, and it seems of very nice quality. For instance, down in the level 3 lobby or grand foyer, or whatever it's named, they have groups every day. I only sat to listen to one once so far, but the way it's designed you can hear them up through much of the ship near the back stairwell.

The one I stopped to listen to was a very tuneful duo singing songs like Bonnie Raitt's "Give Them Something to Talk About." Very nicely done version of this and other songs. Later they had a Jazz/Blues/Pop combo with 5 or 6 people that was more rockin' and also quite good.

On the first night in the top-level indoor lounge-martini bar, the name of which escapes me right now, there was a torch singer who also had a lovely voice. I just stepped in for a minute or two, drawn by her voice, but I didn't want to get asked for a drink order and left. But probably if I just sat and listened it would have been fine. I should probably try to experience more of these and actually sit and listen.

But today at 10:15, if I can remember to go to it, is the Cruise Critic meet and greet.

Another sea day today, but lots of things to indulge in....One of the Celebrity marketing phrases is "Welcome to the least productive day of your life" lol! But it's true I'm barely thinking about work, which is rather refreshing.

PS I'm something of a movie buff, and I do have one suggestion for Celebrity's movies that I'm pretty sure they won't listen to—but, anyway, they should get a bigger screen. The showing of Star Wars Rogue One, which is a widescreen Panavision movie (more than twice as long as it is tall at your local movie theater) was shown in something closer to the old-fashioned Wizard of Oz aspect ratio. They had the note at the beginning that "The movie you are about to see is modified to fit this screen." Remember that from the VHS days?

Anyway, imho a company this successful can surely equip their theaters to show actual movies the way they were meant to be seen.

FYI,

We are back on the Equinox for the 3rd time in Nov, great to read she is still up to par!

If you and the DD are into good burgers, try the one in the GastroBar, well worth the $10.

EW

FYI,

We are back on the Equinox for the 3rd time in Nov, great to read she is still up to par!

 

If you and the DD are into good burgers, try the one in the GastroBar, well worth the $10.

EW

Thanks. Might give it a try!

Enjoying your trip report immensely. Thank you for taking the time to share.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Really appreciate you taking the time posting the live from Equinox posts -- we are on the June 25th sailing. First time on Equinox and second time to Caribbean. Our last trip to Caribbean was March 2009 and due to bad weather many shore

activities got cancelled -- so keeping eye on weather. Thanks again.