Equinox 1/20/14 NEVER AGAIN....

[youwash]

Equinox will be our FIRST longer than 7 :D sailing in Nov! It has always been a bucket list item, and like you, a fear that going back to just a week will be hard to do ;)

 

Could you please let me know how room 1625 was. We have that one booked for an upcoming back to back cruise. Thank you for your posts! Please be careful we went from 7 day cruises to 10 or 11 day cruises, our last two have been 21 days. It is very addicting!

 

Room 1625 was very nice. The bed is next to/nearest the closet and bathroom. The room was very quiet. We never heard anything -up, down or sideways. The hallway was also very quiet.

Just a short walk to the elevators. The beds were great and the pillows too.

 

On the balcony between rooms, at the divider between 1623 and1625 is that diagonal post with just a small glass divider. We were happy and suprised to find that they could open the divider. The post was still in the way at the bottom that one would have to crawl over (which my sister did when she locked herself out) But we didn't have to hang over the railing to talk.

 

Have been busy thinking since Friday--Someone else is in MY ROOM and sleeping in MY BED. LOL

[ISABELLA]

I sailed on Equinox TA last year in cabin 1621 and my friends were in 1623 - excellent location, quiet, close to mid elevators, next to suites.

[drarill]

Great review!! thanks for sharing your cruise with us!! I also like longer cruises, next for us… 11 nights on the Reflection!! can't wait!!!:):)

[youwash]

The highlight of the cruise, in our opinion was Colon, Panama. In preparation for our visit to the Canal I ordered 2 books from Amazon. Cruising the Panama Canal by Richard Detrich and The Path Between The Seas by David McCollough. Richard’s book is very informative and easy to read. He is from the travel industry and now lives in Panama and sometimes serves as a guide on cruise ships going through the Canal. The Path Between the Seas is more intense reading (I am still at it) but gives a step by step history of the Canal.

 

Panama Canal Tour CO26

Most important way to start this excursion is too take along a really big dose of PATIENCE. Our tour was not quite 9 hours. There is a very nice lunch included, make sure you have enough as it gets to be a long day. There is water and soda (no diet). Beer for purchase. They sell souveniers on board.

 

This is the only tour that is on a ferry.After getting our stickers in the theatre and waiting to be called we exited to the gangway and boarded a very nice bus and had a very good guide whose name was Jill. Very informative, but couldn’t help notice the little “digs” aimed at the USA, in relation to the Canal.

It was about a 1 hour bus ride to the ferry. You join it at a point on the way to the Pacific. It is a 3 level ferry and there were probably 250 people on it. We had a great spot to sit on the middle level all the way forward. There were 3 tables with chairs, inside. There was a good narrative by another guide but was hard to follow because fellow passengers WOULDN’T STOP TALKING.

You do really get a full experience of the locks. We had to wait in the lock for a big tanker to come in with us and he moved realllllly slow. But it was all part of it to see him attached to the “mules” and hardly any clearance on the sides. We exited the locks into the Pacific where the ferry docked and the busses were waiting. Then another ride of about an hour back to the ship.

There wasn’t much walking but the ramp onto the ferry was short but steep and when we got off the ferry the ramp from the dock up to the busses was really long and really steep.

Again, we enjoyed the tour. We thought it was well organized and they always were trying to see to the guests comfort. My only addition would be is that they should have a snack later on. People start to get crabby. After all they haven’t eaten for 3 or 4 hours.

[whataboutport]

The highlight of the cruise, in our opinion was Colon, Panama. In preparation for our visit to the Canal I ordered 2 books from Amazon. Cruising the Panama Canal by Richard Detrich and The Path Between The Seas by David McCollough. Richard’s book is very informative and easy to read. He is from the travel industry and now lives in Panama and sometimes serves as a guide on cruise ships going through the Canal. The Path Between the Seas is more intense reading (I am still at it) but gives a step by step history of the Canal.

 

Panama Canal Tour CO26

Most important way to start this excursion is too take along a really big dose of PATIENCE. Our tour was not quite 9 hours. There is a very nice lunch included, make sure you have enough as it gets to be a long day. There is water and soda (no diet). Beer for purchase. They sell souveniers on board.

 

This is the only tour that is on a ferry.After getting our stickers in the theatre and waiting to be called we exited to the gangway and boarded a very nice bus and had a very good guide whose name was Jill. Very informative, but couldn’t help notice the little “digs” aimed at the USA, in relation to the Canal.

It was about a 1 hour bus ride to the ferry. You join it at a point on the way to the Pacific. It is a 3 level ferry and there were probably 250 people on it. We had a great spot to sit on the middle level all the way forward. There were 3 tables with chairs, inside. There was a good narrative by another guide but was hard to follow because fellow passengers WOULDN’T STOP TALKING.

You do really get a full experience of the locks. We had to wait in the lock for a big tanker to come in with us and he moved realllllly slow. But it was all part of it to see him attached to the “mules” and hardly any clearance on the sides. We exited the locks into the Pacific where the ferry docked and the busses were waiting. Then another ride of about an hour back to the ship.

There wasn’t much walking but the ramp onto the ferry was short but steep and when we got off the ferry the ramp from the dock up to the busses was really long and really steep.

Again, we enjoyed the tour. We thought it was well organized and they always were trying to see to the guests comfort. My only addition would be is that they should have a snack later on. People start to get crabby. After all they haven’t eaten for 3 or 4 hours.

 

Thanks for your review! We will be on the Equinox in Nov. I was very interested in this Panama excursion. Do you only go thru one set of locks?

[youwash]

You go through the single lock at Pedro Miguel and the 2 locks at Miraflores

[Bville01]

We'll be in cabin 1623 in a few weeks. What did you think of the dining in Blu?

[youwash]

1623 the bed is nearest the balcony.

Glad you asked about Blu. The dinners we had there were all very good. We asked for, and were able to get escargot, shrimp cocktail, French onion soup and ceasar salad. Your experience may be different.

[TNhome]

Thank you so much for your very interesting and informative review! It sounds like you had a great time and made the most of it. I am really glad to see that you were pleased with the room. We booked it on our last cruise and didn't even think to check where the location of the bed was. By the bath is our preference so this works out well for us.

[stratixman]

We were also on the Equinox sailing 1/20. A fantastic cruise. Here are a few extra observations:

 

1) Absolutely the oldest, demographic of any Celebrity cruise we have ever sailed. Vast majority of cruisers were well into their post retirement years. Contrary to the impression given, there were very few children on this cruise. That demographics skewed toward a much more aged population makes sense given it was an 11 day cruise in the middle of January when most kids are in school and flexibility in arranging an 11 night trip can be more difficult for actively employed than for a 7 nighter.

 

2) The ship was in immaculate condition and with exception of item #3 following service was top drawer. Crew were fantastic and actively engaged with passengers in a variety of ways.

 

3) Alcoholic beverage service was the worst we have experienced on any Celebrity cruise. Our conclusion is that Celebrity purposefully reduced the number of wait staff in every venue, making service times prolonged. Outside on deck we had to go the bars and order/retrieve beverages because we rarely saw a waiter. In the MDR, our tables were never set with a wine list and and were never asked if we wanted to see one - we always had to ask. We were never asked if we wanted bottled water vs ship water - we had to ask. After managing to place wine orders, delivery tended to be very slow - didn't show up on several occasions until halfway though dinner. Empty winr glass replenishments? Good luck - very hit and miss. If we wanted to actually begin dinner with a glass of wine we pretty much had to bring it with us. After dinner/dessert drinks? Pretty abysmal service too. Twice we left without getting our drink orders because we had finished our dessert course and had other places to be. After that we didn't bother trying to order dessert drinks. Stopped in Michael's Club twice and never saw a server. Had to go to the bar and order - though the bartender did deliver to the table. Celebrity Theater? Was never able to order a drink in the theater - far too few servers and those we saw seemed to only be waiting on the aisle end seats. Sin City? Only one waiter servicing the venue both times when we attended. We brought drinks with us the second time - good idea because the waiter never made it past the very front row seats (we sat in the rear). The Martini Bar seemed far and away the most popular bar, especially during pre-dinner cocktail hour when it was quite packed and service suffered noticeably due to only staffing the bar with two bartenders during its busiest times. Best drink service was at the Molecular Bar, but we purposely visited only when it wasn't busy. When it was busy wait times suffered due to staffing by only two bartenders preparing the most complicated drinks for too many patrons.

 

We both had the premium beverage package and think a large number of cruisers on this sailing also had beverage packages. Lots of beverage package holders and fewer servers. Hmm.... Others have noted similar experience on other Celebrity cruises with large numbers of beverage package holders. We think there is method to their madness in reducing the beverage service levels.

 

4) Cayman Islands had pretty rough water. Gangway vertical movement, both at the ship and at the dock, was very pronounced. Given the predominant age demographic on this cruise we were surprised that Celebrity chose to tender in. There was a medical emergency that required the ship to return to Georgetown shortly after sail away to evacuate a passenger. Our understanding is that the emergency was for a passenger who broke their hip taking a tumble on the gangway. Real bummer as Cayman was the first port stop.

 

5) Excursions were some of the best we have ever had on any Caribbean cruise. We took tours in Cartagena, Colon, and Costa Rica (the only ports we hadn't previously been to). As for Colon, we also took the Panama Canal Tour CO26 - except our tour was 26A, denoting a second tour boat added just for those who were wait listed for the first tour boat. I think we got very lucky. Our tour boat ended up being a smaller, single deck motor launch. It was originally owned by Al Capone and brought down to Panama by Steve McQueen years ago. We had only about 60 or so on board. Pretty cool way to do the locks and canal.

 

All in all, with the exception of the afore described beverage service decline, we rated this an excellent cruise.

[youwash]

I agree about the majority of the people on board being of over retirement age. I only said I saw as many strollers as I saw scooters. I went into the cruise thinking everyone would have "one foot in the grave" the way people talk.

 

The passenger taken off at Grand Cayman was on the other side of my sister. Just before we left there she overheard talking at the open door that he was having what they hoped was an anxiety attack and was going to see the doctor. Next thing she knew we were turning back and they were hauling luggage out of their room.

 

There was another passenger taken off to an ambulance in Cartagena (I think) He came off on a stretcher just as we were reboarding.

[middlehaitch]

I am enjoying your review. As someone who has never done less than 10 nights I have always wanted to try a short 5 or 7 day cruise. We loved our Panama cruise and I am enjoying re-living the ports through your descriptions.

So glad you enjoyed yourself; it really shows through in your writing.

Cheers, h.

[rubinstein2r]

We were on this same cruise. We did an Indy tour with Friends For Cartagena and visited a community center and day care center as well as a walking tour if the old town. It was a high point for us. Other excellent Indy tour was the Embera Indian Village in Colon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[youwash]

We all had the premium beverage package, and I would say our experience was pretty positive. During the day we got most of our drinks at either the bar in Ocean View Buffet or the bar on that level at the very back. Usually it was very fast service with maybe 1 or 2 people ahead of me. We did eat lunch in there most days and there were bars servers waiting on us at the tables.

 

I also used the pool bar a number of times with no waiting at all. I guess our experience would be that we were going to the bar and not waiting for a server to come to us. We are not -sit by the pool type people-so we were just stopping at whatever bar was closest.

 

In the evening our bar of choice was the Ensemble Bar on 5. We always met there for before dinner drinks. The Raspberry Ricki is fantastic, and usually had one at least one a night, and then maybe a martini. The table service was very good except for the first formal night when they were swamped. We got our drinks ok but had to wait to have him run our cards.

 

We had dinner in all 3 of the specialty restaurants and in Blu. We couldn't have had better drink and wine service. The wine service was fast and all we could have hoped for in all of those restaurants. Two years ago on Solstice, we were not Aqua and had select in the MDR and we were VERY disappointed with the wine service. You shouldn't have to move up to Blu to get better service but it seems that may be the case.

 

The last formal night my sister ordered the suggested red wine and it was $17.50 and she was charged the extra amount ( as she was expecting) She thought it was a very inexpensive way to try an expensive wine.

 

We went to the Martini Bar one night but it was very busy. We sat at the little bar area next and had a server right away. This is the only night that I don't remember what I had for dessert! I had a Cosmo and then a dirty martini and then we went to Ensemble Bar and I had a Raspberry Ricki and then champagne with dinner. OH BOY! But I had a good time and no hangover the next morning.

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for sharing your review. We will be on the EQ for 13 nights in June. I am looking forward to it.

[youwash]

Could you please let me know how room 1625 was. We have that one booked for an upcoming back to back cruise. Thank you for your posts! Please be careful we went from 7 day cruises to 10 or 11 day cruises, our last two have been 21 days. It is very addicting!

 

For our rooms 1623 and 1625 we had a wonderful room steward named Noreen. My sister called her the mouse because she was so quiet and you knew she had always been there but you never saw her. We did have a towel animal one night. We did not receive the lip balm or face spritzer spray and when I asked her about it she said they were for suites only. I asked her if I could please have a lip balm and she brought me one.

 

We did have an issue with our on-demand movies and she got it fixed for us right away.

 

I was impressed with everyone on the ship. They were all friendly and smiling and always said hello or good morning.

 

The in- room bottle of sparkling wine was pretty good to me--and it got better with every glass I drank.