Celebrity Equinox or Ruby Pincess??

[cruiseaholic13]

We have been on several cruises all on RC and are ready to try a different cruise line. We have narrowed it down to these two and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has been on one or both of these ships. Looking for pros, cons and comparisons to RC. We are a couple in our early 40's traveling without our children :) Thank you!!

[KruzPrincess]

This is a tough call. I've been on the Equinox. I haven't been on the Ruby Princess, but I've been on the Crown twice as well as other Princess cruises. Personally, I'd pick the Ruby Princess. This is the Princess board after all, but it's a close call. I prefer how Princess does things. I think there's more activity and a warmer atmosphere on Princess. I like the Princess casual dining options better. The Ruby will be decorated with an olde world charm. The Equinox is more modern. The Equinox dining room is 2 stories and beautiful. It's less crowded on the Equinox and quieter in my experience. I like the cabin better on the Equinox with it's big screen TV and comfortable beds, but I like the cruise experience better on Princess. Food is subjective. My pick is Princess, but yours may be Celebrity. I think entertainment is better on Princess. You'll have a good experience on either ship. Celebrity passengers may be a bit older and sedate, but it all depends on the demographics of who books the specific cruise.

[Baileyboos1]

No contest here! MY DH and I are huge Celebrity fans. We have been on the Equinox and Eclipse. However, we are on the Golden next month to Hawaii. Celebrity tends to be a little more laid back which is what we like (no overhead announcements all day). It boils down to what itinerary you would enjoy most. Carmel neighbors here so feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

[retiredldo]

We head out on the Ruby in Feb but have not been on Princess for a few years but have done other lines, and this past year we did the 10 day on the Equinox and found it to be fantastic. The overall layout of the new ship was great. Entertainment was just ok, one guy did impressions of Ed Sullivan and others terrible. Food we thought and we were at a table for 10, as did our dining mates, that the food was good, not great. Alot of just average meals. The shipboard staff was one of the best we have encountered. Always saying hello, hi etc this was done to the folks just polishing the hand rails. Played water volleyball against the staff, that was fun as well. I will also add we had the concierge level cabin and found that to be a waste. Not sure what it really added. Shoe shining ? Will we go on Celebrity again absolutely a very positive experience.

 

One thing that has been mentioned is the upselling on Princess, always selling something, that was not as obvious on the Equinox

 

Regards

 

Pete

[cruiseaholic13]

Thank you all so much for your feedback!! This helps a lot!! Have any of you ever cruised with RC? My only concern so far with Celebrity is the possibility of an "older" crowd and lack of activity?? My hubby and I usually travel with another couple and they are not able to go this time...we really enjoy meeting people on the boat. Also, I LOVE to just lay by the pool and my hubby does NOT...(he also doesn't care for the casino). Just wondering what kind of activities Celebrity has going on during the day? If we choose this cruise there are 3 days at sea and I want to make sure there is something for him to do. Also, it sounds like the food and entertainment might not be as good on Celebrity?? Thanks all!!

[retiredldo]

There were plenty of things to do, they had multiple events by the pool, games glass blowing, what are you looking to do, we also felt the side bar entertainment was great, an acapello group was top shelf I can look up my review and post some more info if you like and the age group was very diversified

 

I am not a food wizard, but honestly feel that the food has been cut back on with all the lines from a cost perspective, smaller portions etc

 

Oh well

 

Pete

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I would try Princess next

[cruiseaholic13]

I guess I don't know...lol...for some reason I am picturing Celebrity as being an "older" crowd...quiet and desolate...haha. We are looking for something a bit less "touristy" and a little more upscale than RC, but still want to have fun and meet people our own age (30's, 40's). :)

[cruiseaholic13]

I would try Princess next

 

Thank you :)

[retiredldo]

I guess I don't know...lol...for some reason I am picturing Celebrity as being an "older" crowd...quiet and desolate...haha. We are looking for something a bit less "touristy" and a little more upscale than RC, but still want to have fun and meet people our own age (30's, 40's). :)

 

We are past the age group that you are looking for but I will say again, there was a huge diversty on that trip, I think more importantly the ship itself was fantastic well designed, well thought out Great use of public spaces.

 

We had looked at going back to celebrity in all honesty but saw the price points for Princess and have opted to give them a try

 

Pete

[wilson4]

I have been on both of these fantastic ships and feel that you can’t go wrong with either. I will try and clarify some of the pros and cons as I see them

 

A few things that we preferred about the Ruby Princess were:

Movies under the stars with fresh popcorn and hot cookies.

 

The pizza on the Ruby Princess was much better.

 

The pools were bigger, warmer and more attractive on the Ruby Princess.

 

The deck area was much more lively on the Ruby during the evening.

 

At the Ruby Princess breakfast buffet, we were greeted by a table attendant who provided teas, coffee, hot chocolate, juice etc straight away. With the Equinox breakfast buffet, it was difficult to get a hot drink from the trolley at any time during the breakfast. In fact it only happened about 3 times in a 10 day cruise and the coffee from the machine was not very good. We also had to leave someone at the table and take it in turns to get food as there was nothing to indicate that we had taken the table.

 

Some things we preferred about the Equinox include:

We had Select / Anytime Dining on both and although we went to the dining room at different times and with different numbers of people on Equinox, we were always shown straight to a table. This was not the case on the Ruby Princess where we usually had to wait with a pager to be called when a table became available.

 

We never had to wait for a table in the buffet area either and there was always plenty of space to move around the food displays. This was not always the case with Princess.

 

We loved the fact that on the Equinox, there were ample towels at the pool and you did not have to take them from the stateroom.

 

Everywhere on the ship there were lovely places to lounge in great comfort. E.g big hammocks shaded by voile on the main pool deck.

 

Interactive flat screen TVs where you could do allsorts including check your bill, order room service and view your photos due to a face recognition technology.

 

Both ships are absolutely beautiful and the service exceptional. I would be delighted to return to either.

[jg51]

Hello, "cruiseaholic13."

 

This may be hard to believe, but (among other ships) we have been on the Jewel of the Seas, the Ruby Princess, and the Celebrity Equinox (in that sequence). If we had to give a rating, on a scale of 1 to 10, for each experience, it would be as follows:

 

Jewel: 7

Ruby: 7.5

Equinox: 9

 

Of course, the above is subjective, and you may arrive at a different conclusion. Whatever you decide to do, we hope that you will enjoy the experience. By the way, we wish that we could give you lots of detailed comparisons, but (sorry) we do not have enough free time to do so.

 

By the way, despite the above rating, we will soon be aboard one of Ruby's identical sisters, rather than one of Equinox's sisters, because of a more desirable itinerary.

.

[arpster]

Equinox last year - Ruby Princess the year before...for me the Entertainment / Itinerary /pool areas / buffet/casual dining /excursion experiences / on the Ruby were all superior to those of Equinox.....Blu / Murano / Aqua Class / relaxation / boutique ambience and beautiful design were the highlights on Equinox.....both great holidays in different ways.

[KruzPrincess]

If you want Anytime Dining or Celebrity's version of it, be aware that if you choose that over traditional Celebrity charges all your gratuities in advance. Personally, I like to use my OBC to pay my gratuities and it annoyed me that Celebrity makes Anytime Dining people pay in advance. It doesn't make sense except that maybe they're trying to discourage people from using that option. I personally like to keep my money in my bank account as long as possible rather than let them use my money. On Princess, everyone is billed for gratuities the same way.

 

I have to agree that Princess has the best pizza.

[Wild Bill]

We have cruised on RC about 15 times, Princess 6 and Celebrity 4, along with several other lines. We have found that an older group seems to travel on Princess and Celebrity, but that isn't a bad thing. It just made our experience on both of those lines, a little more relaxed. We like all three lines, and mostly just chose the line by the price and itinerary.

[TomSailor]

We were once on Celebrity (Century) and twice on the Ruby (5 times in total on Princess).

We prefer Princess., but of course this is just our opinion.

With no doubt Ruby is a beautiful ship and the service was always excellent.

[BCEagle78]

We have sailed on both ships. Someone said earlier that you can't go wrong with either.

 

I did not find that age group to be that different between the two ships.

 

I preferred the dining/menu on Ruby but always seemed to have a hard time finding a table in the buffet in the morning. We never had a problem on Equinox.

 

We like to spend some time in the casinos. On Equinox, it is a non-smoking casino. That is not the case on the Ruby. The table games on the Equinox tended to have higher betting minimums than Ruby.

 

We spent some time by the pools on both ships, I give the edge to Equinox. The Equinox also has on the top deck, real grass. This seemed more of a novelty than anything else. It was interesting to see and to walk on but that is definitely something you won't see on the Ruby. The Ruby has the MUTS (Movies under the Stars). That was nice in the evening but during the day, I could have done without the constant noise level that having videos/movies going around the clock.

 

Both ships are a definite step up, in my opinion from an RCL product. Don't get me wrong, any cruise is a wonderful thing but I would cruise on Princess or Celebrity again, no problem. I am not interested in RCL again.

 

Just a few of my thoughts.