Equinox - Not up to standards expected?

[jgsmfh73]

Just returned to UK from back-to-back cruises (Western & Eastern Caribbean). Two days into second cruise looked in bathroom cupboard for tissues and found plastic bag "hidden" at the back. Took it out and found a "Sharps Disposal Box" containing used syringes and needles. Very distressing to find this with all the possible implications had a needle gone into one of us. Staff very apologetic and blamed rush to sanitise ship at end of first cruise due to norovirus amongst some passengers. We pointed out it must have been there even before we got on ship for the first cruise. Obviously systems to record who has been given these boxes and handed them back (or not as in this case) failed miserably as did cleaning of stateroom and bathroom as it should have been found.

Had a couple of other smaller incidents like a waiter who had the day off on St Maarten and came to work that eveing slightly the worse for sun and drink and a wine waiter who proceeded to serve my wine to everybody else on the table but me!

Regular cruisers but first time with Celebrity and based on this probably the last! :mad:

Anybody else ever have problems like this with Celebrity or were we just unlucky? For the record the first cruise was fine with no problems.

[Karynanne]

It's unfortunate that you felt your experience on Celebrity wasn't perfect.

[phoenix_dream]

At the risk of being accused of being a mind-dead Celebrity fan, if the issues you mentioned are the worst you could come up with to trash Celebrity then I don't think you would be happy on any cruise (or any vacation for that matter). Just my opinion.

[DavidYYC]

Unfortunate but hardly distressing....

 

I think in the quest for the perfect experience passengers tend to forget that like us - the staff on board a ship, are simply humans and very hard-working humans at that. Sometimes things get overlooked or done less than perfectly.

 

How was the rest of your trip? If it was these three small things that ruined your expectations then.....I find tat rather petty.

[WpgCruise]

If any business does not meet your standards, you are free to go to one that does.

 

Best of luck in your future vacation plans.

[teajak]

Probably best for all that you choose a cruise line that is perfect. Be sure to let us know how that turns out!!

[Vol fan]

I notice this is your first post. Perhaps you took the name of the website literally.

 

I, too, would have been upset at finding the sharps, but would not have let it ruin my vacation. The other things would not have bothered me as they are easily remedied.

 

Happy cruising to you!

[Karen@Steve]

I am sorry that Celebrity didn't meet your expectations. Can you tell us what cruise line you've used before and if they satisfied your expectations?

[bplazo]

seriously? You are not going to sail on celebrity because of these very minor complaints. Maybe you should have sailed on the triumph.

[CathyCruises]

I'm sure it was distressing to find the needles, but hard to imagine deciding never to cruise again with the guilty company. My experience was that the steward forgot to make up our room on the first night of our TA--that was it, I asked the captain to turn the ship around and LET ME OFF!

 

Seriously, that decision does seem a bit harsh in light of the infraction, but you get to vote with your wallet and that's what counts!

[pete_coach]

I believe I was on that cruise prior to you.

Yes, there was a claim of noro-virus and there was certainly a huge effort to sanitize the ship in the few short hours for the oncoming guests. I suspect a few little things were missed in other areas too.

Having said that, your title "Equinox - Not Up To Standards Expected" is a bit misleading, unless you had significant expectations (which you never shared). I would have thought there was a long list of issues rather than a box of sharps and a sunburnt server. Surely you would have mentioned to the wine steward that you deserved some wine too?

Even your screen name of "igiveupivehadenough" a wee bit dramatic for a first time Celebrity guest, isn't it?

Everyone has the right to criticize and I would never say you cannot but, on a back to back, of at least 14 but probably more days, your list of "inconveniences" is pretty small. Sorry you had enough, hope you find a much better line with way better service and never any problems. :)

I don't expect you to come back and defend so, happy sailing in the future.

[wwcruisers]

Sooner or later, all of us find something amusing or distressing, that was inadvertently left in our cabins by a very busy crew -- a dirty cleaning rag, an unemptied trash bin, or a bathtub full of used towels. Easy solution -- call the room steward and get it taken care of. And yes, a "sharps" container (red with the biohazard symbol) would be a bit unusual to find. But, they are designed to safely dispose of needles and contaminated glass. Unless you purposely stuck your hand into the container, an injury would be unlikely.

 

Oh, and on our very first cruise (not Celebrity) the wine steward slipped and poured champagne all over my husband. Everyone at the table (including my DH) laughed about it, and the steward was very apologetic. We certainly didn't let it ruin our cruise. :rolleyes:

[fishycomics]

3000 people, and just 1 person......

 

sounds like you had a good cruise.

[gelo7]

Welcome to CC, I hope that you have happy sailings on your next cruise.

[jgnova]

There are times when I begin to wonder if some of these first-time / one-time posting "critics" are people we know (setting up a new account) trying to see how far they can go and still get a response.

 

j

[CSGuy44]

First World Problems!

[omeinv]

It certainly could be worse:

 

http://www.mandatory.com/2012/06/18/why-you-should-always-check-under-your-hotel-bed/

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[dln929]

I wouldn't be bothered if you decided Celebrity wasn't the cruise line for you. The Equinox crew works very hard to ensure that everyone has a great vacation. We found them to be personable and eager to please. You come across like a difficult person with unrealistic expectations.

[jgsmfh73]

1. Screen name was chosen after numerous other attempts at finding a name were rejected as already being used - frustration set in and lo and behold I came up with a name!

2. Cruised before with RCI and Princess.

3. RCI themselves sold me Celebrity Cruises as being "more up-market, more sophisticated and generally all round better" then RC itself. I found this not to be the case - I think RC are / were better but obviously just my opinion.

4. As I said the items were in our cabin prior to our boarding on 21 January so were not missed due to efforts to sanitize ship on 1st February.

5. Didn't say it ruined my vacation just don't expect to find used syringes and needles left in a bathroom (even if they were in a disposal box). Do not think this is being "difficult and unrealistic".

6. No problem with a sunburnt server but a bit of a problem with a drunken one who was incapable of working properly so the Maitre'D had to take over.

I'm sure Celebrity is a great cruise line for most people for most of the time. As I said the first cruise was fine the second cruise had a couple of "problems". Maybe our expectations, based on what we were told by RCI were set too high and if this had been our first cruise ever then we would probably have thought it was great but it wasn't our first cruise and we felt it wasn't as good as others we had been on. My opinion is that RC were better so future cruises will probably be with them as first choice, then Princess then Celebrity. Not ruling them out ever again but just not our first choice.

[fishycomics]

It's hard to please everyone. And how people think. why it's called an opinion, get it out there,see how people react/respond to it. and watch them boil.

 

Cruise is over, so if the op will ever go, oh h e did back to back first timer, not the best way to do things.

 

start out small go big, he went big ended ..

[blythe]

I do understand why the OP would voice these concerns. We were also on the Feb 1 Eastern sailing of the Equinox and experienced the issues involved with being on a post-norovirus cruise. We first sailed the Equinox in April of 2011 and it was the perfect cruise, my favorite out of all the various cruises we had taken. That is why we booked the Equinox again for this year.

The need to do a deep cleaning of the ship before we were allowed on did seem to interrupt and impact the flow of activities. We weren't allowed to board the ship until 2pm and then weren't allowed in our cabins until 6:30pm. We were determined not to let this bother us, however, and stored our carry-ons at Guest Relations and went our merry way.

The usual amenities for an Aqua Class cabin were delayed in arriving by several days but they did eventually arrive. Not a big deal but it did make the service seem a bit erratic. Our cabin steward, however, was great and did his best to be helpful and cordial. No complaints there at all.

We weren't allowed to do self service in the food venues for the first few days. It was a little bit inconvenient but again, no big deal. We enjoyed the food in Blu. (That's the main reason we book Aqua Class.) I do have to say that the service seemed a bit more harried. On 3 separate occasions, we did not receive every item that we ordered and we rarely got a coffee refill until I emphasized to the waiter how much I valued keeping my coffee cup refilled. I absolutely believe that the staff want to give excellent service and they work very hard to do so but we seemed to see more cracks in the service this time.

OK, now you can all laugh at me or shake your heads, but, guess what was the most disturbing thing for me in all this? Yikes, no books in the library at first! Oh, no! And I brought only one paperback with me! I am a compulsive reader, even on a cruise, and I was desperately casting about for what to do once my only book was finished. (Dare I "borrow" a chair hog book?) Thankfully, I had to go only one day without reading material before the cleaned volumes were returned. In my defense, I noticed that I was not the only frustrated reader who lurked about while the crew restored the books to the shelves. We all stood there furtively eyeing one another to size up the competition in the race to the shelves to scoop up enough books to last the rest of the cruise. Now the lesson in all this is that I had better bring 3 or 4 of my own books or else join the modern world and get a Nook! I am debating this option after this near-disastrous situation!

Seriously, all in all, this was not a perfect cruise but we did our absolute best to enjoy ourselves, meet new people, remind ourselves of how very fortunate we are, and discuss the important issue of our next Celebrity cruise.

[SeaGams]

I do understand why the OP would voice these concerns. We were also on the Feb 1 Eastern sailing of the Equinox and experienced the issues involved with being on a post-norovirus cruise. We first sailed the Equinox in April of 2011 and it was the perfect cruise, my favorite out of all the various cruises we had taken. That is why we booked the Equinox again for this year.

The need to do a deep cleaning of the ship before we were allowed on did seem to interrupt and impact the flow of activities. We weren't allowed to board the ship until 2pm and then weren't allowed in our cabins until 6:30pm. We were determined not to let this bother us, however, and stored our carry-ons at Guest Relations and went our merry way.

The usual amenities for an Aqua Class cabin were delayed in arriving by several days but they did eventually arrive. Not a big deal but it did make the service seem a bit erratic. Our cabin steward, however, was great and did his best to be helpful and cordial. No complaints there at all.

We weren't allowed to do self service in the food venues for the first few days. It was a little bit inconvenient but again, no big deal. We enjoyed the food in Blu. (That's the main reason we book Aqua Class.) I do have to say that the service seemed a bit more harried. On 3 separate occasions, we did not receive every item that we ordered and we rarely got a coffee refill until I emphasized to the waiter how much I valued keeping my coffee cup refilled. I absolutely believe that the staff want to give excellent service and they work very hard to do so but we seemed to see more cracks in the service this time.

OK, now you can all laugh at me or shake your heads, but, guess what was the most disturbing thing for me in all this? Yikes, no books in the library at first! Oh, no! And I brought only one paperback with me! I am a compulsive reader, even on a cruise, and I was desperately casting about for what to do once my only book was finished. (Dare I "borrow" a chair hog book?) Thankfully, I had to go only one day without reading material before the cleaned volumes were returned. In my defense, I noticed that I was not the only frustrated reader who lurked about while the crew restored the books to the shelves. We all stood there furtively eyeing one another to size up the competition in the race to the shelves to scoop up enough books to last the rest of the cruise. Now the lesson in all this is that I had better bring 3 or 4 of my own books or else join the modern world and get a Nook! I am debating this option after this near-disastrous situation!

Seriously, all in all, this was not a perfect cruise but we did our absolute best to enjoy ourselves, meet new people, remind ourselves of how very fortunate we are, and discuss the important issue of our next Celebrity cruise.

 

I was also on the 2-1-13 sailing and was amazed at how aggressive Celebrity was in sanitizing the entire ship. We learned that the cabins had been emptied, sprayed and items were only returned after they were sanitized and out of the incubation period. The cabin attendants bore the brunt of this work but did their best to keep up with their regular daily responsibilities. We were so happy that no one on our sailing got sick, and we all had a great time. Who cares if you didn't get your robe until the third day or had to ask for an extra roll of tp?

 

Toni

[cherylroslyn]

Just returned to UK from back-to-back cruises (Western & Eastern Caribbean). Two days into second cruise looked in bathroom cupboard for tissues and found plastic bag "hidden" at the back. Took it out and found a "Sharps Disposal Box" containing used syringes and needles. Very distressing to find this with all the possible implications had a needle gone into one of us. Staff very apologetic and blamed rush to sanitise ship at end of first cruise due to norovirus amongst some passengers. We pointed out it must have been there even before we got on ship for the first cruise. Obviously systems to record who has been given these boxes and handed them back (or not as in this case) failed miserably as did cleaning of stateroom and bathroom as it should have been found.

Had a couple of other smaller incidents like a waiter who had the day off on St Maarten and came to work that eveing slightly the worse for sun and drink and a wine waiter who proceeded to serve my wine to everybody else on the table but me!

Regular cruisers but first time with Celebrity and based on this probably the last! :mad:

Anybody else ever have problems like this with Celebrity or were we just unlucky? For the record the first cruise was fine with no problems.

You, yourself, said the bag was hidden in the back of the cupboard in the bathroom.

 

A staff member would not take the time to hide a bio-hazzard bag in the cupboard since they are supposed to be returned. Clearly the passenger hid the thing form the staff member.

 

If someone shoves it under the pipes in the cupboard it is a lot harder to find and it makes the stewards jobs more like an eqaster egg hunt.

 

I am not defending the mistake that was made, I am just saying saying that if the passengers would cooperate a little and leave the stuff on the desk maybe the turnover wouldn't be so difficult on these hardworking people.

 

Clearly the steward did not see it....

[miched]

Regular cruisers but first time with Celebrity and based on this probably the last! :mad:

Anybody else ever have problems like this with Celebrity or were we just unlucky? For the record the first cruise was fine with no problems.

 

 

Do you think that might be a clue or answer to why you had problems on the second cruise?

 

 

 

 

Did you do something to upset them and they remembered you from the first one. :D

 

 

 

.

[wwcruisers]

I do understand why the OP would voice these concerns. We were also on the Feb 1 Eastern sailing of the Equinox and experienced the issues involved with being on a post-norovirus cruise. We first sailed the Equinox in April of 2011 and it was the perfect cruise, my favorite out of all the various cruises we had taken. That is why we booked the Equinox again for this year.

The need to do a deep cleaning of the ship before we were allowed on did seem to interrupt and impact the flow of activities. We weren't allowed to board the ship until 2pm and then weren't allowed in our cabins until 6:30pm. We were determined not to let this bother us, however, and stored our carry-ons at Guest Relations and went our merry way.

The usual amenities for an Aqua Class cabin were delayed in arriving by several days but they did eventually arrive. Not a big deal but it did make the service seem a bit erratic. Our cabin steward, however, was great and did his best to be helpful and cordial. No complaints there at all.

We weren't allowed to do self service in the food venues for the first few days. It was a little bit inconvenient but again, no big deal. We enjoyed the food in Blu. (That's the main reason we book Aqua Class.) I do have to say that the service seemed a bit more harried. On 3 separate occasions, we did not receive every item that we ordered and we rarely got a coffee refill until I emphasized to the waiter how much I valued keeping my coffee cup refilled. I absolutely believe that the staff want to give excellent service and they work very hard to do so but we seemed to see more cracks in the service this time.

OK, now you can all laugh at me or shake your heads, but, guess what was the most disturbing thing for me in all this? Yikes, no books in the library at first! Oh, no! And I brought only one paperback with me! I am a compulsive reader, even on a cruise, and I was desperately casting about for what to do once my only book was finished. (Dare I "borrow" a chair hog book?) Thankfully, I had to go only one day without reading material before the cleaned volumes were returned. In my defense, I noticed that I was not the only frustrated reader who lurked about while the crew restored the books to the shelves. We all stood there furtively eyeing one another to size up the competition in the race to the shelves to scoop up enough books to last the rest of the cruise. Now the lesson in all this is that I had better bring 3 or 4 of my own books or else join the modern world and get a Nook! I am debating this option after this near-disastrous situation!

Seriously, all in all, this was not a perfect cruise but we did our absolute best to enjoy ourselves, meet new people, remind ourselves of how very fortunate we are, and discuss the important issue of our next Celebrity cruise.

 

Love your attitude, Blythe! IMHO, the OP's post would have had more credibility if he/she had cited specific issues related to the "post-NORO" situation onboard Equinox. But, the OP chose to let a container of over-looked medical waste in the bathroom ruin his/her cruise.

 

Well, that and a couple of dining room issues, that should have been dealt with at the time. And, I'm still not sure how he knew that his sunburned waiter had been drinking on his day in St. Maarten, but how could that have escaped the notice of his supervisors in the dining room? Perhaps the implication was that the staff should be kept onboard polishing the silver all day, rather than frolicking around in the port? :rolleyes:

 

Anyway, glad to hear that you made the best of a challenging situation, and that you enjoyed your cruise on Equinox. :cool: