Hello from the other side!

[poncho1973]

I'll be channeling Adele.  No, I won't, but it seemed like a fitting title.

 

My wife & I are booking our first X cruise on the freshly revamped Equinox and as your cousins from the other side (about 130 nights on many Royal ships from the Sovereign-class to the Oasis-class, specifics in my signature) I was wondering if anyone had any direct suggestions?

 

We have watched several videos online of the ship pre-dry dock and have done some reading here.  I've focused on the threads that focus on that ship's upgrade, but most of those threads have kind of devolved into people have very specific points they are upset about.  Like "my absolute favorite thing has been replaced by something that I'm convinced isn't going to be as good" and focusing on the deck plan changes.

 

Since we've never been on her, nor ANY X ship, those things don't mean a lot to us.  Slide me some info, please!

 

Married couple, active, no kids, since we're Diamond on Royal they have made us Elite on X.  We are casual drinkers, who won't have the beverage packages and we enjoy good food.  We're just about to book a regular veranda room.  We've been to every port this ships visits, so we're good on port info.  We just wanted help with X practices and Equinox herself.

Edited May 10, 2019 by poncho1973
clarifying

[Pier290]

She's AWESOME!  Highly recommend.

Outstanding service. Fabulous food. Fun but relaxed vibe.  Very very clean.

We are sailing on her again in September!! 

 

🌴😎🥂

[DanaDanes]

Welcome! Your demographic is similar to my husband and me. (Well we have kids but don’t bring them!)

 

 You won’t find the same level of frenetic activity on celebrity as you would on RC.  You will do well to schedule active port tours and relax on the ship. 

 

Where celebrity shines I think is in food, spa, relaxing.  If you can swing it, I would upgrade to aqua class. Similar room as a balcony but dedicated, upgraded small restaurant as your assigned dining room, with a better menu. And free access to steam/sauna room, called Persian gardens. We enjoy that every day after a little gym time. 

 

We also attend all all of the enrichment talks. These could be on anything from finding joy to anthropology. Always interesting. 

 

Be be sure to attend silent disco and full moon party. These are offered in about every itinerary and are always fun! 

 

[coast2coast]

Sounds like us! We are usually fairly loyal to Royal but have cruised Princess twice, HAL once, and Carnival (twice for me). Chose Celebrity for our August cruise because prices on Royal were outrageous. This is a family cruise with the two of us, our college-aged DD, my parents, and my brother. We ended up booking 3 side by side by side Veranda rooms. I'm hoping that the balcony dividers can be opened up between the rooms so we can walk from one to the other. Trying to find some Celebrity Dailies from 2019 for the Equinox but am having a hard time finding something recent. From ones I've seen from 2018, it looks like they do offer a lot of venues with live music, so I hope that hasn't changed. It looks like a beautiful ship, and I'm looking forward to the itinerary- Western Caribbean including Key West (haven't been there since I was two!), so I'm really excited about that stop. We're diamond on Royal, so elite on Celebrity I guess. I need to do a little research to see exactly what that means.

[TeeRick]

Poncho there is an active thread here "Equinox Revolution" that you are probably referencing.  It is not having the complete refurbishment that was originally planned but it will still be a beautiful ship and you will enjoy your cruise.  We have also mostly crossed over from RCCL to Celebrity.  In general after reading many comparison threads and offering my own experience, you might find the overall dining a bit better on Celebrity and the overall entertainment a bit less - but both of these things are quite subjective.  One thing you will likely notice is the more relaxed adult-oriented atmosphere on Celebrity and less kids.  Older crowd in general.

[helen haywood]

We were recently on Equinox and there was lots of live music.  Can't see any reason that would change, refurb or no.  There was music in the Atrium at two times an evening, there was a DJ inbetween.  There was music at the pool and/or the Sky Lounge.  Also the Ensemble Lounge and sometimes the Sunset Bar.  The only things I tell new cruisers to Celebrity are make sure to try the Mast Grill for burgers et al, open generally 11 - 6.  And that the treats in the glass case at Cafe al Bacio are free.  The coffees and teas etc there are for a fee but you can get pastries or cake to eat there or take away without ordering a drink.  Sometimes either the desserts in the MDR didn't appeal to us or we wanted a break before having dessert later so we go to al Bacio for dessert.  If you eat at the Buffet for dinner they have (in addition to lots of other choices) marinated steaks, pork chops, chicken and fish they cook to order.  A variety of Eggs Benedict is available in the Buffet every morning.  Hmm....I seem to be only giving food focused advice...

[DanaDanes]

6 hours ago, coast2coast said:

Sounds like us! We are usually fairly loyal to Royal but have cruised Princess twice, HAL once, and Carnival (twice for me). Chose Celebrity for our August cruise because prices on Royal were outrageous. This is a family cruise with the two of us, our college-aged DD, my parents, and my brother. We ended up booking 3 side by side by side Veranda rooms. I'm hoping that the balcony dividers can be opened up between the rooms so we can walk from one to the other. Trying to find some Celebrity Dailies from 2019 for the Equinox but am having a hard time finding something recent. From ones I've seen from 2018, it looks like they do offer a lot of venues with live music, so I hope that hasn't changed. It looks like a beautiful ship, and I'm looking forward to the itinerary- Western Caribbean including Key West (haven't been there since I was two!), so I'm really excited about that stop. We're diamond on Royal, so elite on Celebrity I guess. I need to do a little research to see exactly what that means.

Two of your rooms can be truly joined - it’s this weird/cool setup where the front door is set dlush with the alcove in the hall and you no longer have individual cabin doors. 

 

Depending on where you are on the ship, you’ll be able to open the balcony divider. Be aware it doesn’t make 1 big balcony - it really just creates a doorway between the balconies. 

 

Im not explaining this very well! 

 

[andyfriend80]

We sailed on Equinox last year and had a brilliant time.  It's a great ship and immaculately looked after.

 

We enjoy a fairly low key cruise and didn't really go to any of the shows etc.  I like sitting by the pool and it does get pretty busy but there is always a quiet spot to be found away from the pool decks.

 

We have another Celebrity cruise booked in September but are are actually thinking about taking a RC cruise next as we have a little one. 

[Luvcrusn]

If you choose to do specialty dining don't miss Murano. IMHO it's the only one worth the upcharge. The evening Elite cocktail happy hour is a bit different than the Diamond Lounge on Royal, but still nice. The morning coffee house breakfast is in the Tuscan Grille. While there are no hot offerings, it's a lovely way to start the day with beautiful views, quiet atmosphere and complimentary espresso/cappuccino and pastries, salmon, fruit etc. We find the food better on X and the level of service also better. Additionally, X has a mode laid back atmosphere without the water slides, rock walls, bumper cars, carousels, and wave pools.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Coming back from refeb in June and sounds like it will be even better. We are sailing June 22 cannot wait. So many awesome reviews. A few weeks ago sailed on the Reflection the sister ship. A wonderful experience for sure. I am sure you will have an excellent time. Great food.

[cangelmd]

Celeb will be quieter with better food and service.

The buffet is smaller and superficially you might think that RCL's is better (I'm talking about the smaller RCL ships, not Oasis or Harmony type), but I think Celeb's buffet is way superior. Good ethnic food, especially Indian food.

Agree with Mast Grill - I hear that you aren't big drinkers, but don't miss the Slushie Bar near the adult pool. The slushies are alcoholic, but I think you can get a virgin variety if you want, and they are really tasty - they're premium bev pkg priced, but a great treat.

 

The biggest difference to me on Celebrity is the ship feels less crowded and more outward focused on the sea. There is an atrium type space on Equinox as on RCL, but the windows seem larger and the curtains filmier, so there are very few areas where you feel they deliberated designed to block the sea view. Also, on RCL, there were times when the central space was literally shoulder to shoulder people just walking around - not there because the show just let out or there was a specific entertainment event, etc - you just won't see that on Celebrity, it overall feels much less crowded.

 

I would chime in on take an Aqua Class upgrade if you can get it. I enjoy Persian Garden, and I'm not a spa person at all! Blu is the main reason for AQ and it is a great experience.

 

What month are you considering? We will be on Equinox August 2019

[poncho1973]

On 5/10/2019 at 5:04 PM, cangelmd said:

What month are you considering? We will be on Equinox August 2019

 

Likely June, if we can.

[poncho1973]

On 5/10/2019 at 9:20 AM, DanaDanes said:

Welcome! Your demographic is similar to my husband and me. (Well we have kids but don’t bring them!)

 

 You won’t find the same level of frenetic activity on celebrity as you would on RC.  You will do well to schedule active port tours and relax on the ship. 

 

Where celebrity shines I think is in food, spa, relaxing.  If you can swing it, I would upgrade to aqua class. Similar room as a balcony but dedicated, upgraded small restaurant as your assigned dining room, with a better menu. And free access to steam/sauna room, called Persian gardens. We enjoy that every day after a little gym time. 

 

We also attend all all of the enrichment talks. These could be on anything from finding joy to anthropology. Always interesting. 

 

Be be sure to attend silent disco and full moon party. These are offered in about every itinerary and are always fun! 

 

 

Solid suggestions.  I've been to the silent disco on Royal and Norwegian, but I've never heard of a full moon party.  I'll start some extra glut workouts!  HAHAHAHA

 

We've been pondering the AquaClass.  That Blu looks appealing.

[poncho1973]

On 5/10/2019 at 10:04 AM, helen haywood said:

We were recently on Equinox and there was lots of live music.  Can't see any reason that would change, refurb or no.  There was music in the Atrium at two times an evening, there was a DJ inbetween.  There was music at the pool and/or the Sky Lounge.  Also the Ensemble Lounge and sometimes the Sunset Bar.  The only things I tell new cruisers to Celebrity are make sure to try the Mast Grill for burgers et al, open generally 11 - 6.  And that the treats in the glass case at Cafe al Bacio are free.  The coffees and teas etc there are for a fee but you can get pastries or cake to eat there or take away without ordering a drink.  Sometimes either the desserts in the MDR didn't appeal to us or we wanted a break before having dessert later so we go to al Bacio for dessert.  If you eat at the Buffet for dinner they have (in addition to lots of other choices) marinated steaks, pork chops, chicken and fish they cook to order.  A variety of Eggs Benedict is available in the Buffet every morning.  Hmm....I seem to be only giving food focused advice...

 

I'm loving these specific and informative suggestions!

[poncho1973]

I've seen several mentions of the Elite Happy Hour and how it is different from the Diamond Lounge.

 

Is it literally only 1 hour?  Is it in a specific place?

[helen haywood]

It is 5-7.  It seems to have currently evolved on most ships to unlimited drinks (specific drinks on the Captains Club menu) during those hours in the lounge each ship uses (I’m most familiar with the S Class where the cocktail hours are in the Sky Lounge) in addition to unlimited drinks during those hours (again, only those drinks on the CC menu) at most bars around the ship...with the exception of the World Class Bar, MDR or specialty restaurants.

 

In the Sky Lounge there are passed hot and cold canapés.  It is nowhere as comprehensive as the Diamond Lounge canapé Buffet on Royal.  But honestly, how much food does one need before dinner?  Also Celebrity doesn’t hold the cocktail party on embarkation night nor the night of the Senior Officers Party.

[RobCaron]

We are scheduled for July. Thrilled to see Le Petit chef dining is coming. it's been a highlight dining experience for our family.

[poncho1973]

13 hours ago, helen haywood said:

It is 5-7.  It seems to have currently evolved on most ships to unlimited drinks (specific drinks on the Captains Club menu) during those hours in the lounge each ship uses (I’m most familiar with the S Class where the cocktail hours are in the Sky Lounge) in addition to unlimited drinks during those hours (again, only those drinks on the CC menu) at most bars around the ship...with the exception of the World Class Bar, MDR or specialty restaurants.

 

In the Sky Lounge there are passed hot and cold canapés.  It is nowhere as comprehensive as the Diamond Lounge canapé Buffet on Royal.  But honestly, how much food does one need before dinner?  Also Celebrity doesn’t hold the cocktail party on embarkation night nor the night of the Senior Officers Party.

 

Thanks.  That's a pretty good window, a bit shorter than Royal, but still reasonable.

 

I had to google "passed hot and cold canapés", but I'm seeing those are basically appetizers or hors d'ouvres.  Gotcha!  Thanks.