Equinox - a few questions (Southern itinerary + age)

We are looking at the 8 night Equinox sailing. Sails from Miami to ABC's and date is October 15-23/18.

We've never sailed with Celebrity. Only ever done one cruise with our kids - Disney. This cruise is without kids and to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We were exclusively looking at NCL and RC because I wasn't sure if Celebrity was suitable for us. We are mid-40's and looking for some good entertainment, solid sea days without a jammed packed pool deck (?) and great food.

1) What are the age demographics on this sailing/ship? Will we be in the minority at 44 and 46? No spring chickens but still... :)

2) Is the anytime dining recommended or is it a headache? How does that work? How much is it to get some specialty dining options?

thanks!

I'm 44 and dh 47 and just did the equinox last September. Loved it so much we are doing a different route on the same ship this coming September. We were probably on the lower age of the scale, but we did meet quite a few couples younger and/or the same age as us. Plus the "older" appeared probably mostly about 10 to 15 y older, so they were spring chicken as well...lol. By far wasn't a great age difference, and we all had a great time. Forgot the second part of the question- anytime dining ran very smooth and we were seated at same table every time we went there. We went to the Tuscan once and had a great meal (they gave 30% discount if we booked the first day), plus went to the buffet a couple of times after long days with excursions.

We have that cruise booked. It was originally an 11day cruise that was cut short by 3 days for a charter.

We don’t really pay any attention to the ages of the other passengers as it doesn’t affect us unless it is full of those under 30 that think the world revolves around them. I am more affected if the ship is overrun by large groups that are sailing together.

Have sailed on many different cruise lines and the pools will always be jammed packed on sea days.

Celebrity isn’t really known for its great entertainment and it has appeared to get worse over the years.

Food is subjective and I can always find something that satisfies me. I haven’t starved on any line because I eat to live and not live to eat.

Anytime dining is what I prefer. I like being in the company of my wife and don’t need to dine with others. I have never went to a restaurant on land and asked to share a table with others/strangers. There are plenty of opportunities thoughtout the cruise to meet others.

Anytime dining operates the same as a land based restaurant. You can walk up or make a reservation asking for a area and servers. And like a land based restaurant some times are busier than others and seem to mirror those times.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Having sailed on the Equinox three times and have one coming up the end of April, I am a big fan of that ship.

We are in our mid 60's and are by no means the youngsters on the ship, You will find many in your age bracket and some younger as well.

We usually sail in Aqua Class and always enjoy our breakfast and dining experience in Blu. We do hit the buffet for lunch on sea days and always find plenty of satisfying options.

While production shows are not Celebrity's forte, we have enjoyed the many special acts they bring onboard. We have seen the Frankie Valli tribute, the Motown reveue, several soloists and comedians, not all great, but most very entertaining. There are also other musical acts that perform in venues such as the Sunset Bar, Ensemble Lounge and Atrium. We have also gone to the evening parties on the pool deck as well as in the Sky Lounge. Have not participated in the "Silent Disco" but when we have seen folks there, they all seem to be enjoying it. In short, there is plenty to do outside of watching a production show.

I expect that you will enjoy your Equinox cruise.

My Husband and I will be celebrating our honeymoon on that cruise, We are both in our early to mid 30s. Come check out the roll-call. Sabres Doc has even started creating an overview list of where everyone's from: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55532497&postcount=152

Can't really say much about anytime dining. On my previous (and first) cruise we had assigned seating, this time we are doing select dining though. Given the times that the ship is in port in Aruba and Curaçao we thought it was the better option.

We've sailed on lots of different cruiselines, included the 3 that you mention. Celebrity has become our go to cruiseline. I'd say that the age group is slightly older than the other 3 lines, but that's okay by us since that means passengers are more focused on loungers in the shade. We've noticed many more younger passengers (30s and 40s) on our more recent cruises. The pool deck still gets full, but you can ask a pool attendant for help and they'll clear the towels off loungers that look to be abandoned. We can always find open loungers on the upper deck. We've chosen Celebrity because this cruiseline tends to be more relaxing than the others you mentioned. The only more relaxing line that we've been on was HA and that really did have a much older age group. I'd say the entertainment is ok, but not great. We enjoy sitting in lounges listening to a guitarist or pianist. The production shows seem to have improved over the last 2 years. We have enjoyed the glass show that was on the Equinox. However, we've read that Celebrity has recently changed the vendor and show format of the glass shows, so not sure whether that will be a plus or minus.

We currently only go with Select dining or Specialty restaurants. Although the food was fine in MDR, we now enjoy eating when we want to based on our own schedules. Select diners have an assigned floor of the MDR. You can make a reservation for a specific time a day in advance or you can just show up and wait until a table is available. The time when the first show ends is prime time (time changes from day to day), so it's best to avoid that time if possible. IMO, Celebrity's management of Select dining is much better than NCL or RC. It's been a very long time since we were on Disney, so I really can't compare these two with D. You can pre-book online specific specialty restaurants and select the day/time if you pay the full rate. You can also book multi-night packages at a discount, but you can't choose the days/times until you actually board the ship. This is what we do because we're able to sometimes catch a sale on the package rates at some point prior to the cruise. You can also wait to book individual specialty restaurants onboard, sometimes at a deep discount.

Good entertainment - not the selling point, relaxation is Celebrity's best foot forward for people in their 40s, good music in lounges but you need to pay attention to the daily program for times, prod shows are just OK, but we rarely go so we aren't the best to judge

Pool deck - was never completely full even on sea days, but as someone said you may have to get an attendant to move towels to get a spot in the sun. Equinox has a lot of "nook and cranny" decks, some with club chair type patio furniture rather than pool loungers, so you can have a choice of place to sit in the sun, or shade if that's your thing. Bars are handy.

Food is another best foot forward with Celebrity, even if it isn't as over the top as it used to be. For the best "Old Celebrity" experience, book Aqua Class or above. If you like the idea of the specialty restaurants, book a regular balcony and use the savings for multiple nights in the specialty restaurants. Either way, for your 20th let them know that and book Murano for that night, with or without a discount (I would consider doing that pre-board, even if you don't get the discount) - they will make that a special evening for you.

Non- music entertainment - they have several wine and food events, and we enjoyed all that we attended, although I would not do the Chef's Table again, once was enough (and I would NOT do it at as your special anniversary night). These wine and food events are usually in the afternoon of sea days and you pay extra - another reason perhaps, to book the lesser cabin and use the extra funds for activities.

The OVC has great food, too, by the way, better than Royal Caribbean, although physically slightly smaller space, so it gets crowded on departure day and right at noon on first sea day particularly.

Finally, since you mentioned food, Celebrity doesn't advertise this way, but they run as a "multiclass" vessel (like Cunard), so you should think of Blu or Luminae as your "main dining room" if you have booked their respective classes, with the only perk being that they run completely on anytime dining format for breakfast and dinner in the case of Blu and for all meals for Luminae.

The food in each of the "main dining rooms" is a little different - it gets "fancier" as you go up in cost - more duck, more game and game fowl, more lobster, other pricier ingredients. The service also gets better, and I think the wine list is a little better, but the wine is more related to the drink package you buy.

We don’t really pay any attention to the ages of the other passengers as it doesn’t affect us unless it is full of those under 30 that think the world revolves around them. I am more affected if the ship is overrun by large groups that are sailing together.

Not quite sure what you mean by that comment, I'm 28 and my wife 27, we would never think the world revolves around us....we've really enjoyed celebrity on our last few cruises and although we are in then lower of the age groups still find plenty people to talk to. I do however agree on the large group comment!

My finance and I started sailing Celebrity when we were 21. Now both in our late 20's and sail Celebrity exclusively now.

The crowd is definately older than the other 2 lines you mention. However, I think you will find plenty of people in the 30-50 age bracket. Especially considering this is a short Carribean cruise. The longer the cruise, the older the crowd seems to get.

On our cruise in January, we always found the prime seating around the pool was taken early, however there was always available lounges on the top deck.

We are able to keep ourselves moderately busy on sea days. We tend to attend most the trivia, craft (scrapbooking, adult colouring) and the golf and table tennis. We avoid the sales talk (however they certainly aren't as bad as the ones we experienced on Carnival).

The entertainment at night is hit and miss. Sometimes they will have great shows. Sometimes they are a bit cheesy. The solo acts are very hit and miss.

Food wise. We always use select dining ( unless we are in aqua which gives us access to Blu). We do enjoy the food in the speciality restaurants and go about 3 times a cruise. The food in the main dining room is certainly good, so don't feel as though you need to go to speciality restaurants for a decent meal. If you would like to use speciality restaurants, I would suggest purchasing a package before your cruise (often sold out onboard).

The buffet food is good. It has been better in previous years, however I'd still rank it much higher than other lines. We find the "speciality dish of the day" to often be better than the everyday fare.

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We are sorta your age group (only a few years older) and we prefer Celebrity to RC, NCL or Carnival. The entertainment is a little better on the others with more options but there's still pretty good bands/DJs in the evenings on Celebrity. The music in the main lounges runs from 50's to modern most nights. The theater shows are usually ok, but I prefer the shows on RC. The guest performers are usually good but the production shows are hit and miss. Celebrity is more layed back during the day. No silly belly flop or hairy chest contests. One thing I don't like is the lack of music by the pool. They will have the band play for maybe an hour mid afternoon sometimes a dance class where you can learn to "wobble" but other than that there's not much entertainment out at the pool.

Never done the anytime dining. The specialties run $30 to $50 but they often run specials of 25% to 50% off depending on how busy they are.

Add us to those in our 30's that prefer Celebrity over anything else. You will still be on the younger end of those on board, but don't let that deter you. It's just a really nice experience overall. There is still plenty to keep your as busy or as relaxed as you want. Production shows aren't top notch (nor are they really interesting to me on other lines) but they are okay. The pool deck can get crowded but it's nothing crazy. The food is excellent. We do Select Dining with a 4-5 night specialty package. 4 night is $250 so we use some OBC to cover that. Select in the MDR is simple. Just show up when you want. You may have to wait a few minutes if you go at peak times but I've witnessed none of the 'disaster' some people here claim it to be. We're actually a little timid to book on Royal again since it may feel like an overall downgrade.

My wife and I are on that cruise. We are in our early 60s and ..... Sorry, forgot what I was going to say.

My wife and I are on that cruise. We are in our early 60s and ..... Sorry, forgot what I was going to say.

We are doing that exact cruise this April 7th. Stay tuned for our review!

My recent experience on Equinox for a one week cruise is that Celebrity is making a concerted effort to make the line hipper and appealing to a more youthful demographic. The music onboard, the shows and vibe are all meant to appeal to Gen X and younger. I found the shows to be pretty decent, the live music great and the piped in music all over the ship to be quite good. They have mimicked NCl's white party on deck and hired cruise directors and DJs to spice things up. Not sure how that will work on longer itineraries that skew older.

I'm mid 40's and felt most of the passengers were older than me. Absolutely loved the ship. Very few kids on the ship and virtually no lines at the buffet. Got off the ship March 10th and had a great cruise. Elisyum and Jersey Boys were excellent shows.

We are looking at the 8 night Equinox sailing. Sails from Miami to ABC's and date is October 15-23/18.

 

We've never sailed with Celebrity. Only ever done one cruise with our kids - Disney. This cruise is without kids and to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We were exclusively looking at NCL and RC because I wasn't sure if Celebrity was suitable for us. We are mid-40's and looking for some good entertainment, solid sea days without a jammed packed pool deck (?) and great food.

 

1) What are the age demographics on this sailing/ship? Will we be in the minority at 44 and 46? No spring chickens but still... :)

 

2) Is the anytime dining recommended or is it a headache? How does that work? How much is it to get some specialty dining options?

 

thanks!

Here is a link to my youtube video from our Equinox cruise in November, 2017. It might give you a pretty good idea about the ship and the demographics.

I'm mid 40's and felt most of the passengers were older than me. Absolutely loved the ship. Very few kids on the ship and virtually no lines at the buffet. Got off the ship March 10th and had a great cruise. Elisyum and Jersey Boys were excellent shows.

We were on this Equinox cruise and really had a great time! We're older, mid-50's (I celebrated my birthday onboard) and met many different people in different age groups. Definitely will cruise with Celebrity again!

I have taken 3 cruises on Celebrity and are booked for another one this June. The last one was in December on Eclipse and it was 11 nights - so I think it skewed a bit older. We are last 40's. Started on our 1st cruise on Celebrity about 6-7 years ago. Love them. We have cruised HAL (very old demos), RCCL, NCL, Carnival and Oceania. The longer the cruise the older/less kids there are - but frankly we found a lot of younger people and even kids on our December cruise (and it was not the Xmas cruise). I think you'll be fine. I actually have a NCL on the Getaway booked for later this year, but I'm thinking of canceling as I like Celebrity so much better.

Select dining - 1st time we did it on Eclipse and it worked well - never a wait actually for us. We did the 4 night specialty dining and if you pre purchase it was a good deal - love Murano. Excellent. I was not a fan of Tuscano - but to each there own. MDR was for the most part good - only 1 night was I was not impressed.

Entertainment - we tend to find the shows so-so - some of them good - we liked the Rock City show. Comedian was OK. Jersey Boy knock off was decent. We tend to prefer the live music and loved Gilly and the Girl and went to all their shows that we could. The House Band was OK. DJ music throughout the ship at different times played popular/current music.

I like the size of Celebrity ships, find that they have less of the push of upsell of things, less announcements for this and that - which we like. It seems to overall have a nicer, relaxing upscale feel versus the other ones you are considering.

I think you will be very happy on this sailing. After 24 Celebrity cruises, IMO for Caribbean sailings, the age demographic has gotten younger over the years.

We are doing a 10 night on The Equinox in May. My husband and I are 60 and my son (26) and nephew (30) are joining us. They have done several Celebrity cruises with us and have always found lots to do. The only Celebrity cruise we have been on where the age skewed much older was a 2 week Panama Canal cruise about 8 years ago. In our early 50's it seemed we were among the youngest by 20 + years. But that didn't have any impact on how much we enjoyed the cruise.

We've sailed NCL, RCL, Princess, Holland America, Disney, Carnival and of course my favorite, Celebrity. Each cruise line and each cruise ship has a little different personality. Just like some people prefer Ford over Chevy, there are those that swear NCL or Princess or Disney is the best. My suggestion is whatever ship your on...make it the best cruise ever. We were concerned on our first Holland America cruise. Someone said it was like a geriatric ward. While there were definitely a large number of passengers that were older than us, we made a point to meet and talk with them throughout the cruise. One of our favorites was a retired high level judge and his wife from Canada. We still talk about them everytime cruise discussions come up.

 

We don’t really pay any attention to the ages of the other passengers as it doesn’t affect us unless it is full of those under 30 that think the world revolves around them. I am more affected if the ship is overrun by large groups that are sailing together.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Ouch! We’ll be cruising on the equinox in 4 weeks for my 30th birthday! Hope you don’t tar us all with the same brush!

My only cruise with Celebrity was last August to Alaska on the Celebrity Infinity and I was 47 about to turn 48. My impression of that cruise was less that the passengers were older and more that they were a more mature, thus less than a party atmosphere.

My biggest gripe of the cruise is that the buffet goes into "limited" service at 10 PM and completely shuts down at 11 PM. This wasn't a problem on most nights, but at Hoonah, Alaska, the ship docked at around 3:30 PM and departs at 10 PM. I had booked a "Alaska Wildlife & Whales" tour that took up most of the shore time, and my mother and I got back to the ship at around 9:25 PM. (My mom was going nuts as I was trying to check email prior to boarding the ship, and the Internet wasn't the greatest). When I got to the buffet, it was slim pickings.

Ouch! We’ll be cruising on the equinox in 4 weeks for my 30th birthday! Hope you don’t tar us all with the same brush!

I am referrring to those under 30 that think that way. If the shoe fits than so be it. 😱🤗

I sense that you know the set that I am referring to.

Happy birthday 🎂 and hopefully there will be many more. Life is a gift and should be appreciated and respected.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅