chimchimtx

Impatiently waiting in Ft Lauderdale for tomorrow’s embarkation on Equinox in Aqua. We were on her in September and loved Blu. My husband hasn’t stopped talking about the French onion soup. Hopefully the increased occupancy won’t be too much of an issue. We really enjoyed the reduced passenger count last fall.

Sorry to hear that. It was pretty bad in September and I was hoping for better with starlink when we return in a few weeks. I already purchased my husband's upgrade bc he has to have decent internet for work, but I was hoping to avoid it for the rest of us as we don’t need to be on that much and it’s a shorter cruise.

Oh yes, sorry, I misread that. I would think they would allow him to sleep in with his parents as all they care about is the money for the two cabins. Speaking for the couches on Equinox, they were pretty long so stretching out wouldn't be a problem but they were a hard leather contemporary design. It would be like sleeping on a rock. Since they are already expecting to pay for two cabins I would just try for adjoining cabins, and give it a try the first night. If it doesn't work and it is miserable then worst case they can have someone sleep with him in one cabin and someone gets to sleep by themselves in the other. I have found Celebrity to be as accommodating as they can within what they can safely do, so I am sure they will work with you to find a great solution. Enjoy your family cruise!

You really need to contact Celebrity on this but the limit to 2 to a room is partly a space issue. If even a few people had extra passengers then they would run out of room in Blu. Aqua class in only a single floor of rooms. So I find it highly unlikely that they would be allowed to book him into their room. You can't even select Aqua class with 3+ in a room. Is anyone in the family sailing solo in Aqua? They could add him to their room but then he just goes down the hall to sleep with his parents. The couches truly are miserable though. They aren't designed for sleeping like the cabins that allow 3+ which have convertible beds. I also recommend doing a suite and then asking permission to dine down in Blu with the rest of the family. Everyone will enjoy the cruise more getting better sleep.

Celebrity site says "in-room water service" for Aqua class. It doesn't technically state only 2 per day. We did start with 2 per day, but as I mentioned earlier a few days in he was leaving 4 or more per day. I drink a lot of water. I would put some in the fridge and the ones on the counter got replaced. We easily had 6+ at one point in our cabin. Sometimes new ones would appear again at turn down if we had used the ones from the morning. So no, while everyone's experience is different we were definitely not limited to 2 per day.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. We were on Equinox in September and had no issues. It was such a great cruise we are sailing her again in a few weeks. I know everyone's experience can vary even on the same cruise. If you really want to escalate you can search for the celebrity engagement team email. They are generally helpful and responsive. For future reference you can ask for water from any bar and take it back to the room. We used bottle water for taking meds/drinking partly because it was easier to pour in a glass and use than getting under the tiny faucet. But we brushed our teeth with sink water and had no issues.

What class are you traveling? Aqua and above include daily in-room water. We generally travel Aqua and two bottles are always in the room, but it's been my experience that just being nice to your cabin attendant gets you a lot of things that aren't normally included. When ours saw that we drank it all each day we started getting multiples. If you don't have in-room water you can always get it at any bar as suggested. (The buffet has a small bar inside that most people miss.) You can order two drinks at a time if one is water. The classic water is canned with a screw top so it is easy to take back to the room. On port days I would take a couple off the ship. I have been on other cruise lines that suggest pre-ordering cases of drinks and bringing refillable cups but I have not found that to be a need on Celebrity. Save yourself the hassle and just enjoy yourself. I don't think it will be a problem to find enough water.

You will pay the regular rate plus gratuity and it will be delivered by the bar separately from your room service food.

I suggest you get off early and pick up your cart as soon as possible if you are attempting to do both loops. They are very popular and we had long lines waiting to check in. Their process is not very streamlined and they are not in any kind of hurry. Island time I guess. They are super nice but the only person who moved fast was the kid who blurted out all the cart/driving instructions in less than 30 seconds. We had a reserved cart and it still took about 30 minutes to get ours. They do not have separate lines for reservations so we had to wait behind multiple people who came up asking general rental information while they decided whether or not to proceed with a rental.

Yes, there is a charge for premium wifi beyond the basic wifi included in your package. In September the basic wifi on Equinox was terrible for us (although others on the same sailing claimed they streamed a game on their basic package from the pool deck). If you talk to the ilounge they will tell you that basic is only for emails and text based items. No pictures or streaming. We did not even get that level of signal on basic. I am hoping with the conversion to starlink that basic will at least be fast enough for email now. Before leaving home I download books, music, shows, etc and don't bother with streaming anything onboard. For our upcoming cruise, we have already purchased the premium upgrade for my husband who needs better access for work. The signal does vary in different locations of the ship but my biggest complaint/feedback to Celebrity on our last cruise was that claiming they include basic wifi is false advertising when it not enough bandwidth for the most basic of uses.

Agreed. Admittedly we book Aqua class partly for the refurbished rooms but the rest of the ship was lovely when we were on in September. Well with the exception of those awful throne chairs in Al Bacio. Those I could do without.

All of that to say they will still give you a bill at the end with another tip line, so be prepared to have them act like you need to fill it out. We are actually big tippers and would give even more bc I think it’s only 18%, but personally I found the spa services to be a huge disappointment. I’m okay with inflating prices onboard if it’s good but I was very underwhelmed by both my massage and pedicure. They seemed to have perfected the art of looking busy without actually being busy. I’ve never had a massage where they spent more time gather different lotions or positioning the sheets so much. Then went for a pedicure later in the week and they did the exact same thing. Spent a lot of time moving things around. I won’t ever waste my time or money again. If I’m spending that kind of money I will do it at home where I know it will be excellent.

No show reservations on celebrity. Part of the reason I book them. I don’t know what I want to do until it’s time to go. But show up early if you want a good seat. Chair hogs still a thing but mostly the prime spots around the pool. I prefer Tuscan Grill first night at sunset for sail away dinner but lots of people will say they prefer the food in Murano. We have yet to make it there as we usually sail Aqua and Blu is fine for us the rest of the nights. I honestly don’t remember where we ate embarkation day. Buffet is open and pool bar. There is a special lunch for concierge class. I honestly only remember going to check in for muster then heading up to the sunset bar. 🤷🏼‍♀️

We did that same cruise last September. Just mentally prepare for rain. It’s the beginning of hurricane season and it can be great or not so great. We didn’t have any terrible weather but did have several overcast days and got drenched several days coming back to the ship. Then sadly didn’t get to get in the water in Curaçao at all which was our last stop. I highly recommend Gone Caribe for a private tour in Curaçao. Super couple. They will design the trip to your interests and it’s very reasonable compared to ship excursion pricing. They were able to pivot due to the weather and it was fabulous. Other excursions did get interrupted by weather as well so you might consider not planning all beach or all snorkeling excursions. But overall it was a fabulous cruise and we love the Equinox. We are back on her in a few weeks.

Mast grill burgers were terrible on Equinox in September but the room service burger was thick, juicy and delicious. Unfortunately it’s also no longer included for free due to the new room service charge.

We sat and watched them several times on our cruise and never really saw two people blowing at the same time. When people came together for a class they made one person sit and watch from behind the rails while the other person did their pieces then they switched. Just fyi in case you were hoping to actually work together.

Thanks for the review. We typically book S class when school is in session and see so few kids I wasn't even aware this existed. We are about to take my almost 22 year old and her BFF on a cruise to celebrate their college graduation. We showed them several ships to choose from with lots of fun things to do and warned them none of those things exists on the Equinox. We also made it clear there would be nearly zero people in their age group on board. They are both only children and 100% in the #2 and #5 category. They took one look at the other ships and shuddered, not #4s at all. They were both in town this weekend and commenting on how they can’t wait for unlimited drinks, food, and poolside reading time. I know they are the right temperament to really enjoy Celebrity even on an older ship. Bigger is not always better for everyone. My daughter would have definitely wanted the smaller ship when she was their age as well.

Frankly this would be fine with me. We loved Curaçao but Bonaire was just ok. Bonaire we did the golf carts which was fine, but it was very obvious that unless you are a diver there aren’t a lot of options. The beaches are small (where you can find them) and mostly rocky. The water is pretty rough near shore. Curaçao was the complete opposite. Much nicer beaches and a variety of things to see and do. Since you have an extended time in Curaçao I HIGHLY recommend you look up Gone Caribe and take a private tour. It's an excellent way to see the island and then you can plan to go back to your favorites the next day. They are very experienced with ship schedules so need to worry about missing the ship. They will meet you just outside the port and return you to the gates. Very friendly. Super clean cars. Very knowledgeable. Worth every penny and then some!

Be nice to your stateroom attendant. We were supposed to receive two a day but often got four when he saw we were drinking them all. We did not ask for more they just magically kept appearing. Also I highly suggest pouring them into glasses for drinking in your room or on the balcony. They come in metal cans and the edges are very sharp. A lot of people complain about it tasting metallic, but I think they are smelling it more than tasting it. I chilled mine in the fridge and drank it from glasses and it was great.

I second this. We sailed in September on a premium package and had a tough time. This time we are on a classic package and plan to just pay the difference per drink. And when I say premium was hard to find I mean they were brining $6 bottles of wine to the table knowing we both had premium. You can add it at any time during the cruise if you find what you are looking for is actually on board.

this is an equinox cabana although when you book it online it shows a picture of an alcove which sadly is not the same!

Wrong info from CS. In their defense it does say per day in the description but then you will see in large print to only book for one person. It’s confusing, but price is for the group. One person in group does the reservation. If you log in online and book it you will see it written out more clearly. Or look under dining on the app. Was your previous cruise on the Equinox? Their cabanas are not the same as what is pictured as Alcoves on other ships. We chose not to book after seeing them last cruise but we have OBC to burn this time and are considering it.

You pay for the wine. If I remember correctly you actually pay 100% plus gratuity and it is not included in your package. I do remember that it is delivered by a bartender separately from your food delivery which is how they justified the price. I think it's similar to mini bar charges.

Do you know if it only shows the name of the first person booked in the room as well? When we sailed last year neither premium beverage or wifi show up in order history. The only way to confirm it was to have Celebrity email a copy of the booking detail. This time it does show up exactly as you mentioned above for classic and basic wifi, but the name attached to it is only the first person booked into the room which is different from restaurant bookings which show (Guest 1, Guest 2). I am not super worried about it because our receipts from TA look identical for all four of us, and Celebrity STRUGGLES with technology so I have been assuming all along that it is fine.

We were on Equinox in September. I filled out the request the instant it hit my inbox. It showed multiples of each item available. Upon boarding the steward said they didn't have any of the items requested and offered me an alternative of the only two items they actually had which I think one was a yoga block. So in other words just because you reserve them doesn't guarantee you will get them.