Celebrity Equinox vs. RC Harmony of the Seas ? Help!

My boyfriend and I are 30 with no children (only fur babies!) and are pretty active but also like to relax. We are trying to decide between Celebrity Equinox and Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas. Itinerary for equinox is: key west, costa maya, Cozumel and grand cayman (out of Miami). Harmony’s itinerary is: Nassau, st. Thomas, Basseterre (out of ft. Lauderdale). We have already visited most of the ports in both itineraries, so that’s not the biggest make-or-break for us. (We will be traveling in August if that makes a difference!)

A few years ago we went on the RC Oasis of the seas (which I know is very similar to the Harmony) and really loved the Ship. We did NOT like how crowded the pool decks were and (sorry to say) we could have done with less children onboard. We really enjoyed how there was always a show or some form of entertainment on the Oasis (boyfriend loved the Comedy shows). The food was good, we purchased and utilized the drink package and did a couple of excursions. And we got lucky with lots of sunshine (I’m a sun worshiper). And I LOVED the onboard Starbucks!! (The more I type, the mire I sound like a RC fanatic! Ha)

However, We have heard from some people that they loved Cruising Celebrity. I haven’t heard much else besides service being wonderful and the food being great. For the dates we are looking at, Celebrity Equinox is the cheaper choice by a couple hundred bucks. I would like to hear from some experienced cruisers their opinion of celebrity (particularly the Equinox) vs. royal Caribbean Harmony of the seas.

Thank you SO much in advance!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We've done both, Equinox and Oasis. It's hard to which I liked better, just a different experience. Love the quietness relaxed feeling of the Equinox, but also love the hustle and bustle of the Oasis class.

Now I know this may sound weird, but I would probably go with the Equinox just because Capt Kate is on board. She is awesome as a captain and makes it fun.

I did "Live" reviews of both my Oasis and Equinox cruises from last year (Oasis more extensive) but check them out in my signature.

Same post in RCI board

Harmony it is an amusement park in the sea, Equinox is a cruise. You will not find in the Equinox ice rink, zip line, wave simulator, climbing wall, horse carousel, etc. That is why children and adolescents are few in Celebrity ships. For the itinerary I also chose the Equinox, I do not like Nassau and I prefer Grand Cayman. On both boats there are ample sunbathing areas next to the pool and in the solarium, the food and theater is much better at the Equinox. Bon Voyage

we are mainly Celebrity cruisers, but RC has major entertainment options beyond Celebrity, not just the zip line, skating rink, etc, but the actual Broadway shows. Celebrity has review-type shows, but also a great band.

If you enjoy comedy, Celebrity has had very good comedians, along with singers/musicians and magicians, and great acrobatic displays.

The atmosphere on Celebrity is lower key and I agree, you actually feel you are on a cruise while our RC cruise was focused almost entirely on being a distraction.....I’ve said before, if I want to go to Times Square, I’ll go to NYC. Bit of a cheap shot, but descriptive for me.

Den

IMHO, Harmony is a gong show everywhere you go. It’s just chaos...to get on, get off, to eat, to drink, to get a lounge chair, everything. I found it FAR from harmonious.

If you need to recharge your batteries with calmness, space and a martini bar...then Equinox is for you.

Only you know what you want and need.

If you were a little turned off by the number of children onboard a cruise during the summer months, definitely go for the Equinox. We love Celebrity and the Equinox is definitely one of our favorites. We've also sailed on Royal Caribbean, the largest of which was the Explorer of the Seas. Since we pick itineraries that sail during the normal school year, we didn't notice a ton of kids onboard but there were lines for everything! The ship was immaculate and well maintained and they have some great entertainment, much beyond what Celebrity offers but that is about all I can really praise.

The food, service and atmosphere is worlds better on Celebrity. Some may think the evenings are a bit too quiet, as we've heard that before, so you may want to take that into account when choosing. I still think you can find something fun to do late at night.

If you went on the Oasis you know what the Harmony is like.August is school vacation time so plenty of kids on Harmony.It is laid out just like Oasis just seemed more chaotic.You seem to know the plus and minus of It Just decide what is most important to you.

We just came back from the equinox yesterday. Our choices were the equinox vs the harmony. Have to be honest that it all came down to cost with the perks we got included. I still can’t believe it. We did the same itinary you are looking at.

You have the opinions and they all pretty much agree with each other. it's up to you as to what type of vacation you want. Celebrity is much more relaxed and seems less crowded. I like both but at different times.

I'd never do RCCL in August. It would be like going to Disney in the summer - no way :) I'll wait until the kids are in school.

I have not been on the Harmony but the Oasis and Allure and Equinox. I agree with others it depends what you want as both will be a great vacation. The last week of August will have less children on RC than early August. Conversly, I hardly saw any children on the Equinox.

Overall, if it comes down to entertainment being important than RC is the better option. There really isn't much entertainment on Equinox in the evening after the show. The Oasis Class has many more bars venue and the comedy show in the comedy cub is more intimate that seeing a comedy show in a large theatre.

The pool area was just as crowded on the Equinox and there were lines for food by the pool. The average age on Celebrity is older than 30 and older than you would find on RC. I decided if i want to just relax on vacation and not do much more then I will choose Celebrity, If I am looking to do a bit more and be entertained i will choose RC. You can't go wrong with either.

I am 29 and going back for my 2nd Equinox cruise this summer! I cruised on Royal with my parents for most of my teens and my parents did a longer Celebrity cruise and convinced me to try one last summer with them based on the ports (I really wanted to get to Key West!). I was worried I would be bored to death on a ship for an older market. However I teach all year and summer program so I really wanted to just get away and relax. There were so few kids running around which was nice to get away from for one week of my life! I also loved the food, and it seemed the staff everywhere was great. I bought the drink package, packed a few novels and set my sights on relaxation. I spent my days with drinks and a lounge chair. The pool deck was crowded but we were able to find chairs. I didn't love the shows as much as on Royal but there was always something to do if you looked! We went to the celebrity life activities, we wen to the shows, listened to the different music groups and just relaxed. My mom and I decided to go on a girls trip this summer and we were back and forth between Oasis and the Equinox and the relaxing environment was the winner!

You tried Oasis so now try Celebrity and Equinox and decide for yourself. At least you will have personal experience for future cruising.

Are you looking for 2018 or 2019? If its '18, I would definitely choose Equinox, pay less and get 1 perk like the drink package. No brainer for me :) August '18 prices for the Equinox are under $1000 with the drink pkg some weeks under $900. (balcony price)

Both ships will have the chair hogs and places around the pool will be at a premium during sea days. I don’t know why people need to lay around the pool when there are many other options to get burned. On the Equinox there are many places on the upper decks plus the lawn area.

I would book the Equinox. More relaxed, less kids, drink pack that includes the coffee shop espresso based drinks. The officers and staff are more visible and friendlier. You may also luck out and have Captain Kate. I hear that she is currently one of the Captains on the Equinox.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We did our first a Celebrity cruises in our early 30s, and granted it was a long time ago and a different experience, but we had a blast. We had very stressful jobs, and young children, and really needed to escape.

The other posters have given good descriptions, you have to decide what makes the trip fun for you. A cheaper cruise might be a good opportunity to try

Glad I found this thread. I'm 26, wife is 22. She's a teacher and I review a lot of legal documents (hint hint). Thus, we wanted a week of just pure relaxation with minimal children running around. We booked equinox for next month, glad to see I made the right decision versus RCI!

we prefer celebrity because of the more laid back atmosphere. we will have Capt. Kate on our cruise. from what i hear she makes a huge difference in the cruising experience.

later,

ezemoney

Allure was our favorite cruise & our favorite ship--why? SO MUCH TO DO. We love having several options to choose from all the time.

Like you, we have cruised most ports in the Caribbean, so those don't matter much. (tho would love S. Caribbean again)

THAT BEING SAID--we have cruised Celebrity our last 4 cruises. Why? VALUE. We too like a drink package & we are finding that with their GO Best/Better package, we are getting a balcony with the drink package thrown in for the same price as an interior purchasing the drink package on other lines.

It is an adjustment. Celebrity doesn't have the multitude of options--it's ship half the size, and it isn't their mission. After 11 cruises we have learning to relax more (thus appreciating the balcony a lot more). That being said, our sea days are pretty much the same on any ship. (and sea days are my fav!)

Buffet breakfast

pool (usually a deck up)

Burgers at the pool

Shower

Afternoon trivia

Drinks

Dinner

Show (hit & miss...we prefer comedy)

Gambling

Dancing (gotta be 70s-today, wide range of genres)

You might try Celebrity & see if you like it.

Too bad you aren't sailing July 28th--we are always looking for people to hang out with! (admittedly we are early 50s--but youthful!)

PS I find Celebrity coffee shop to be comparable to Starbucks! ;-)

There is a live review on the Equinix on cruise critic right now with great ship pictures and pictures of the Daily Program . That may help with your decision .

Having been on a B2B on both those ships this year it's very difficult to say, myself and wife are wife 29 so quite similar in age as well. It really depends on what you want from the cruise, relaxation or more fun activity based?

We actually found the Equinox pool deck way more crowded than harmony, mainly due to there only being one pool. On Harmony we would get to pool around 9am and get first row seats at either the main pool or beach pool, on Equinox by 9AM everything was gone on the main deck, maybe it was just the time of the year i don't know? I do agree with others that you feel like you are cruising on the Equinox, however onboard Harmony you forget you are at sea at times -It is a great fun with the amount of activities it offers though. We love both, but we know when we are on celebrity things will be more relaxed whereas on Harmony we will be up and about with a plan of attack each day!

Either way you will love both! For what it's worth we are sailing onboard the Equinox for our honeymoon in Sept.

RCCL is much more fun for your age group.