the_dylaness

Hello, Looking forward to sailing on the Equinox again... our last time on this ship was the end of February 2020. On our June 2022 Reflection cruise we found that the best wine selection was (understandably) in Cellar Masters so we usually went there for a glass prior to dinner. Getting wine service in the MDR was hard and basically the list of wines available was only loosely connected to reality. I had forgotten about Craft Social replacing Cellar Masters on Equinox but noticed today when looking at deck plans. Where is the best place to go for a more expanded wine selection on Equinox?

I see your edited version... getting back to traveling has been kind of hard after all that has happened, you're 100% correct. Bringing a few supplies doesn't seem like overkill to me personally (to each their own!) and anytime I travel I always bring an entire "PRN bag" of "maybe we'll need it, maybe we won't" medications... scopolamine patches, meclizine, GI upset meds, allergy meds, EpiPen, muscle relaxants, cough and cold meds... can't be too prepared, right? 🙂

(I've brought COVID tests, 2 per person, and an SpO2 monitor on the 2 cruises I've taken since the pandemic, and will bring same next week!)

Why not? Doesn't take much space, less than a single pair of shoes.

My kids really like the Celebrity kids club precisely BECAUSE there aren't too many other kids. On Disney it was so loud and overwhelming and pandemonium-ish.

Or I'll just bring Paxlovid and a SpO2 monitor with me and a ton of COVID tests as needed... $1400 savings right there 🙂

Also remember that for Camp at Sea they must be fully potty trained including ability to clean themselves up after any type of toilet trip... when our son was just barely 3, he did need a little assistance with certain types of toilet trips, so not sure if that would be an issue for you.

One of my dream itineraries has always been an Eastbound Panama Canal sailing. (Why Eastbound? So I can get the crummy jet leg and long flight out of the way first, since I live in the righthand side of the country...) I would also love to see Scandinavia and the fjords. Not sure if I would want to do this on X or a smaller line. What a great "problem" to have! Enjoy whatever you choose.

My husband packs a baseball cap on our cruises solely for the purposes of covering his unruly bedhead when he goes to get coffee for us both every morning. He always brings me coffee in bed at home every morning; why change it up on the cruise?

There weren't a ton of kids on our 10 night Med cruise this past June nor our 10 night Thanksgiving Caribbean cruise in 2018; club still open. We have never done longer than 10 nights on X with our kids but even on lightly attended sailings it's always been open.

I'm interested to learn about this as well. They had pickle ball when we were on Oasis of the Seas but the few times I passed by (it was only for maybe a couple hours each morning that it was Pickleball time) it was too busy and didn't look fun. Actually pretty much sums up that cruise.

Thank you, you've correctly interpreted my post.

I travel on Celebrity with and without my school-aged kids. They KNOW they are not allowed to go to the Solarium. We often go there if they are in the kids club or since we sometimes travel with another family member or nanny, with them. I also like having a place i can go for an hour or two for some peace and quiet and I certainly don't want to have to deal with anyone else's little darlings in the Solarium. If there are family hours then so be it; those are the rules the cruise line has set. I've not had that happen on any of our X cruises but all the ones with kids were warm weather cruises. We are amongst the group who do sometimes take our kids out of school for cruises. I had no idea this was so irksome to some of the posters here. The reason for this is that both my husband and I are usually unable to take time off during the times the kids are out of school, so if we want to enjoy a family vacation, most of the time it has to happen during the low demand times. We are both in healthcare and so to ensure people have access to care during all times of the year, not just when kids are in school, only a handful of people at both of our jobs can be out at any given time; coordinating that across both of our employers for us to both be out at a high demand time is almost impossible. Of the six holidays my employer recognizes, I've been assigned four of them for 2023. It's part of the job. So, maybe some of the delinquent parents so carelessly taking their children out of school and showing no respect for the value of education are actually the same people who are keeping essential healthcare services open 24/7, and taking the kids out of school enables them to still enjoy a family vacation. We'll continue to follow the rules with respect to the Solarium and hope that others do the same. We have not had this problem on any of our X cruises, thank goodness.

Sounds pretty smooth! I have the same question as the OP though (I think!?) is there separate or priority checkin for Elite guests?

Yes, I did, thanks! I know it's not true, you know it's not true, but the X reps don't even know it's not true. So sad.

@DCPIV I have a feeling you may not have an answer to this question as I sure wouldn't be checking on the OVC buffet spread if I was able to go to Luminae 😉 but did you happen to check out the OVC options any night? When we sail as a couple we rarely if ever have dinner in the buffet, but when traveling with our kids we do quite often because it's just sometimes easier than a 2 hour sit-down and everyone can find something they like. I've been reading about the cutbacks and wondered about your recent experience. (We are sailing on Equinox in 16 days which I know is not Reflection but maybe S class OVC is at least similar?)

Also--- 28 minutes on this call and purchase still not gone through. How does this take so LONG!?

Thanks for confirming I haven't lost my mind. I pushed back and she talked to a supervisor who did confirm it is refundable (as it should be!) but then still explained to me that my non-refundable OBC (from TA, credit card, part of booking, whatever) would be transferred to a future cruise if I did not use it. Um, no, I don't think so.

Or "she" 🙂

I'm on the phone with X now and they say that if I purchase 1000 obc and don't use it all then it's not refundable, will just be transferred to my next sailing. I don't have another X sailing booked and don't want to do that, but this seems in stark contrast to what others have said. Hang up and get another CSR or what? Weird.

I've sailed only once each on SB and SS but my experience absolutely mirrors what you've said here. We still talk about the friends we made on a 7 night SS cruise... couldn't think of a single one we came into contact with on SB (same cruise length). Probably anecdotal and "YMMV" but you hit the nail on the head at least regarding our personal experiences.

Not Gen X here... millennial, actually, although on the older edge of it (and hate to admit it because everything I read about millennials in the media is disheartening at best.) First Crystal cruise was in 2017 and second in 2019. I would say that other than losing 1000s of dollars in deposits in the bankruptcy debacle, they were probably my favorite line to sail on if traveling sans kids. For comparison, I've also sailed on (in no particular order) RCCL, Disney, HAL, Princess, Silversea, Seabourn, Celebrity, Carnival, & Norwegian. I've booked Pullmantur as well which was cancelled (on my end due to inability to get time away from work) and also Viking (cancelled due to the Cuba travel changes) and will be trying Azamara and Regent soon. Cost wise, per person per day, everything from an inside on Carnival to a Star Class suite with a "genie" on RCCL and many (mostly) things in between. The size of Serenity was great for us- large enough to have some good evening entertainment (we really enjoy live music) and variety in dining, but not so large it felt like cattle-herding. I was really amazed that on perhaps my 2nd day onboard on my first Crystal cruise an officer greeted me by title and name while I was getting breakfast in the buffet- that isn't necessary for me to have a good time but felt emblematic of the service Crystal offered. I would say our other favorites were probably Silversea (we also just happened to have one of those great cruises, where everything went to plan or better, met great fellow travelers, etc, so I might be conflating some of the "stars aligned" aspects with the cruise but overall we had a blast) and Celebrity, because our kids like them (whoever said "happy wife, happy life" must not have had children!) Re: Celebrity, the price point is right for us to travel multiple times per year, and the size of the ship, children's facilities, etc suits our family travel needs. We'll see how the new cost-cutting measures there go- frankly I'm not optimistic. We've sailed more with Celebrity than any other line. Carnival was truly awful (unless you need to lose weight quickly?) and Norwegian was ok-ish but only in the Haven which even then was a poor facsimile of luxury but a good way to take kids cruising, I guess.

I'm sorry to hear you were ill and hope you're recovered. Gives new meaning to "Azamara Pursuit".

I was so excited to read this and imagined myself dining each night on the bridge, steering with my feet while enjoying copious amounts of wine and delicious food. Oh well 😉

Turning it down seems very reasonable and you did it politely. Perhaps you opened up a spot for someone who would be very excited to do this, and made their day!