Back from BTB Equinox 6151

[Hawkstar33]

Another great vacation onboard a very smooth operating ship. Nonstop, hardworking crew, lead by the many visible officers, and of course, a great Captain. Ship appearance stands above all others while docked together in various ports. Crew members are always painting, shining, power washing, etc. For us, my wife and myself, we had no issues. Our stateroom attendant, working by himself, JOE, was top notch. Aside from his normal duties, he answered every question we had, and helped us without hesitation. Marko, and his team treated us like family, and made Silk Harvest our favorite Specialty Restaurant. With the help of a few perks, we ate there 5x in the 2 weeks. Nice menu where you could try something different each time. Tuscan and Sushi on 5 were very good, Murano took the back seat for us. Will be back with more. Don't wanna bore anybody.

[oneputt18]

Another great vacation onboard a very smooth operating ship. Nonstop, hardworking crew, lead by the many visible officers, and of course, a great Captain. Ship appearance stands above all others while docked together in various ports. Crew members are always painting, shining, power washing, etc. For us, my wife and myself, we had no issues. Our stateroom attendant, working by himself, JOE, was top notch. Aside from his normal duties, he answered every question we had, and helped us without hesitation. Marko, and his team treated us like family, and made Silk Harvest our favorite Specialty Restaurant. With the help of a few perks, we ate there 5x in the 2 weeks. Nice menu where you could try something different each time. Tuscan and Sushi on 5 were very good, Murano took the back seat for us. Will be back with more. Don't wanna bore anybody.

Thanks for the review, Equinox is our favorite ship.

 

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[Silkroad]

Thanks for the review. We’ve been contemplating an Equinox itinerary, so this is great. Did you dine in the MDR at all, or stick with specialty restaurants?

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback, won't be bored at all.:)

[Hawkstar33]

Funny you asked about the dining. We actually did not go in the dining room at all during either week. It's nothing against the dining room staff. With the help of a few perks, 50% off first night elite, and obc each week, we did Silk 5x, Tuscan 3x, Sushi 3x lunch 1x dinner, and Murano 1x. Again, there is enough variety to keep us happy. Food is excellent and always fresh and hot. Everybody is usually very friendly, and service is typically great. Dynamite shrimp and scallops was over the top in Sushi on 5. Tuna Romanesca in Tuscan, awesome. Shrimp in Silk, lost count how many I ate. Chef from Silk took the time to come out and thank us for coming. He was told how many times we had been there. I thought that was awful nice of him to do, and made us both feel very special. Oceanview filled in the other nights for dinner. Really good selection which changed each time we did go there. Fresh grilled meats, fish, etc.

[Hawkstar33]

While it's fresh, I will keep going. Let me go back and say that we dropped our bags curbside, checked in and were on the ship by 11:30 or so. Waited a bit in terminal and was glad we wore our sweatshirts, as it was a bit cold in there with the ac on. On ship, welcome champagne, and off to the pool bar. Pool bar staff was excellent. Crisanto, Murat, Jimmy, John, Basilio, Demitri, were like machines. Nonstop all day. We have known several of these gentleman over the years. They are extremely hardworking, and I personally am glad to see any of them while cruising. Ricky behind the bar gets an atta boy too. I didn't see anyone complaining. Beverage packages keep these guys hopping for sure. Couple good comedians, Beatles show was great. Casino was busy at night. Onboard shopping was okay, nothing crazy. Some good liquor deals. Some good sales for the women, according to my darling wife.

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

Ricky behind the bar gets an atta boy too.

 

Love Equinox and Ricky is one of our favorites at the pool bar! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences!

[Hawkstar33]

Richard Spacey and staff were a ball of fire. Several really good dance events. Have sailed with him before. He is full of energy and gets people moving. People love dancing with the headphones on. Nu image was an excellent, versatile band, who played in several locations on the ship. Pool deck during day and grand foyer in late afternoon to name a few. Speaking of pool deck; if you sleep past 10 on a sea day, you will have a hard time getting a lounge chair. Prime sun spots go quickly and the rest follow. There were pool monitors on duty and everyone seemed to get along from what we saw. We would grab an early daiquiri and head to the top Solstice deck. Weather of course dictates chair availability.

[Silkroad]

Great review. Looking forward to the next installment. Thanks for the dining information:)

[39august]

You said something about elite 50% off on the first night. Do you mean that Elite members get 50% off a specialty restaurant on the first night? I've never heard that before. Or did you just mean you asked for a discount and got 50% off? Either way, which restaurant, please? We will be on Equinox in July for only our second X cruise. We were so happy with our first Celebrity cruise on Silly in Dec. that we have 5 more booked!

[Hawkstar33]

I'm jumping around a bit but as I think of things they just flow out. Oceanview for lunch upon boarding the ship seems to be the go to spot. This is when it was busiest. Also very busy on port days for breakfast, and you will see it busy as folks come back on board after being on land. We do the same. Eat before you go, grab some bottled water, and off exploring. We get back and grab a small snack before dinner. Small because you don't want to ruin dinner. Very hard to do, as there are many good things to choose from. Crew members have their hands full keeping up with the cleanup of dishes etc, but they did a great job. Several bosses walking around making sure of that. Well oiled machine. Several of the Chefs were walking around. They were friendly and answered peoples food questions eagerly. Imput from the guests is critical in putting out a good product. Which I think they do. Next, Café Albacio. Always busy, specialty coffees, teas, and nice selection of cakes, cookies, and pastries.

[Hawkstar33]

Let me clarify. We were given a 50% off specialty on the first night of the second week of cruise. A btb perk, not for all. Sorry my mistake. For sure they give 30% off on first night of sailing. You may get choice of restaurant, as long as it is not booked already. As soon as you get on the ship, there will be crewmembers everywhere selling upgraded beverage packages, and specialty restaurant packages. This is when I go book. Better chances of you getting the place and time you want. They have crew that do this throughout the trip. You will see them outside of Oceanview everyday. Ask for special prices. They do bend a little. In any event, it's the way to go for us. We take full advantage of these deals. Some people feel the dining room is just fine. Taking my wife to any of these specialties, makes it more special. Make the most of it I say, if you can.

[39august]

Thanks Hawk. We will be b2b in July on Equinox. I will look for and ask about the discount for the second cruise's first night. I had no idea. I wonder if the is fleet-wide or only on Equinox? Anyone else experience this?

[Xport]

Thanks Hawk. We will be b2b in July on Equinox. I will look for and ask about the discount for the second cruise's first night. I had no idea. I wonder if the is fleet-wide or only on Equinox? Anyone else experience this?

 

If you booked both of your sailings at the same time, you likely received a Back-To-Back Discount against the price of your second cruise based upon the duration of your second cruise [i believe it's $50 for a seven night cruise]... It will show up on X's Booking Confirmation & Invoice for the second cruise as a line item under code "YDR6-B2B Savings"... If you haven't received it, it is not--best I know--too late to inquire...

 

I can assure you that the practice of offering a specialty dining discount to back-to-back guests on the first night of the second cruise is not a fleet-wide practice [including on Equinox]; I've done a number of them up to a B2B2B2B... Sometimes--but not always; it's not a given--the Hotel Director may chose to offer consecutive cruisers with some additional nicety/consideration beyond the cruise fare discount...

• In the past--particularly when the group was large--luncheons have been staged on turnaround day in one of the dining rooms [ie; Blu] or one of the specialty restaurants... Since the advent of the boarding day lunch for Concierge Class passengers and Captain's Club Zenith members in the MDR several years ago, I've read that B2B guests are sometimes invited to that...
  
• On occasion, I've instead been provided a voucher for an additional bag of laundry or a modest additional allowance of internet access...
  
• At other times, nothing "special" was offered...
  

In my experience, such consideration--when offered--will be addressed during the meeting [either the night before or on the morning of turnaround] addressing all protocols/processes for consecutive cruisers...

 

From a loyalty perspective, specialty dining discounts are offered to Elite + [15%] and Zenith [25%] members...

[Hawkstar33]

Well lucky us I guess. We either got it at the meeting for btb ers the day before, or when they gave us our new ship cards the morning of the second cruise. I do believe there were a couple other coupons in the envelope, a spa discount, and something else, but won't say for sure. Nonetheless, we used it at Tuscan that first evening back onboard. Now I wanna mention a crew member, who is that one worker on every cruise that just stands out amongst all. His great attitude, smile, and friendliness, put a smile on our faces each time we saw him. His name is NINO. His singing and serving coffee for breakfast in Oceanview, or his excellent service as a waiter in Silk Harvest, put him highest on our list. Be sure to watch for him.

[Hawkstar33]

We visited Key West, where we just walked around. Everybody was kinda just waking up, as we were on land early. It's really clean and to be honest, I did not know what to expect after the storms. Everything was open and we were very happy it was. Some folks rent scooters, some golf carts, bikes, trikes, train trolley, etc. Had a beautiful drink at Irish Kevin's, shopped, and had an enjoyable day. Many things and options available to all. Also a CVS pharmacy right there, in case you need something you may have forgotten. Costa Maya, $2 cab pp to Mahahual beach. There are several places along the strip. Each offers different deals. we went to Nohoch Caye, all inclusive-day pass. Food, drink, a few spring breakers. Fair deal. We booked in advance, others just walked up and made deals. We enjoy it there. A few small kids there. They had some buckets and shovels for the kids. Bad part was tide was on way out so depth for swimming was 4-5 ft in spots only. But still nice. SAFE. Port shopping on way back to ship. Clean Port..Next was Cozumel. All inclusive Sabor- Day Pass. Good also. Port was packed with several ships as usual. Grand Cayman port shopping, some walking along strip. Good liquor deals in port. Deliver right to ship. A great port itinerary. Lucky to say we will be doing same next march on Edge. Very Blessed.

[Hawkstar33]

Second week was fun for us. We never did a btb, so it was great to have an entire ship to yourself for about an hour or so I'd say. Good for taking unobstructed photos or videos of your favorite spots. Plenty of time to walk around. I thought that to be a bonus. I believe there were about 30 of us that did it. San Juan was 1st port. People were gracious, and willing to bargain along the shorefront, and adjoining streets in the port area. All walking distance. Did not eat there, but the smell of local food was very enticing. It was a late day port arrival which made it a bit different for us. Locals were happy to have the ships back. Wife got a knock off MK pocketbook, and I scored a nice hit with a quacamole bowl and crushing implement made of mahogany. Back to the ship.

[Hawkstar33]

St Maarten is one of our favorite ports. It was a very humbling experience, traveling thru devastated areas affected by that brutal hurricane. Sept 5 is a day these people will not soon forget. We docked at the normal dock in Phillipsburg. There were obvious signs of port damage but under reconstruction and safely barricaded areas. What was really obvious was the lack of boats in the harbor. There were a few world class yachts but lack of smaller vessels. The marinas on the other hand were full to capacity with damaged vessels. We took the water ferry into town where most places were open or in the process of opening. We grabbed the first cab driver and asked him to take us to Orient Beach, on the heavily damaged French side. Having been there several times, I knew the way. Or so I thought. Well most of the way. Then like a sick dream the road ended and turned to sand. There was a shipping container with a torch cutout serving window, 20 chairs and umbrellas, a sign that said open, a few porta potties, and destruction of everything we remembered. A few taxis were there and that was it. We had arrived at the clothing optional section of Orient Beach. The garbage in the low brush along the roadside the entire way, should have tipped us off. Or the most visible damage of windows, rooftops, and car windows. We looked out and the water looked its gorgeous color green, blue. Turn around and your jaw drops in disbelief. We walked down the beach to what used to be KON Tiki Beach club. Not anymore. Electric wires and a few pipes were all that was there. All building were washed away or imploded. The guys that ran the watersports along the strip were back trying to get business going. Their office was a guard shack. They gave us 2 chairs, umbrella, and 2 rum punches for $10. They were hoping more people would come and stay for the day. They had 4 jet skis, kayaks, sail boards, and were giving it their best shot. We were thrilled and appreciated their efforts. Rum punch, bottled water, and that beautiful water. We were thankful. We promised to write about them to let folks know they are there. After that we went back to port for some shopping and back to ship.Delays in obtaining government permits are holding up rebuilding of the gov owned beach resort land. According to the guys we spoke to. They are making the best of it. Tourism is 100% of their income.

[Hawkstar33]

St Kitts was untouched by storms. They consider themselves very blessed. We took a cab to Cockleshell Beach. Several places along beach to go. Each sells food, drink, chairs etc. Reasonable prices. Nice clean water. Heavily used chairs where we were, but cover them with a towel and you are good to go. Wanted to do the parachute behind the boat deal, but cheaped out. $250 for 2 people for 15 minutes will make me look around somewhere else. A nice day though overall. Hot sand. Need sandals unless walking along waters edge. Last port..Heading home