Crosspost link to my review of Celebrity Equinox first time on X (typ sail on Royal)

[poncho1973]

I wanted to crosslink my review of our first experience on Celebrity, since we're regular cruisers on Royal.  Figured some folks might like seeing how we saw our first go on the other side of the company and how it went.  I know I've talked to several on Royal ships that have said they eventually want to try X.

Edited June 9, 2019 by poncho1973

[drrich2]

Thanks for posting. Liked the detail. I think it calls to a different demographic. I think it was way back in 2008 I booked a trip for wife, buddy and me on the Constellation. In the shuttle en-route there, in the back, my buddy (noticing the age demographic) told my wife 'I told you he booked us on the Constipation!' An 11 day cruise in February, IIRC, so keep that in mind, but almost no kids. Got up on deck one of the first things we saw was a guy with an obvious sternotomy scar. And the entertainment was more about talented vocalists, not acrobatics and 'athletic' endeavors.

 

I really enjoyed it, but it was a somewhat more stately, 'elegant' experience (and their specialty restaurant Ocean Liners was the bomb!). 

 

What did you think of Equinox's evening shows? Just wondering if it's a similar scene to what I recall.

Edited June 9, 2019 by drrich2

[poncho1973]

20 hours ago, drrich2 said:

What did you think of Equinox's evening shows? Just wondering if it's a similar scene to what I recall.

 

They weren't really our thing for the most part.  We watched part of a few: Topper, Hard Day's Night, and Elysium.  Sat near the back and left respectfully & quietly.

 

We like the comedian Fred Klett and they had a brand new thing with the American Ballet Theater that was pretty impressive.  They combo'd the ABT with these two singers (who I had to review my daily planner to ID) Greta Salóme & Kristen Hertzenberg. 

 

Greta is an Icelandic woman who apparently was on Eurovision, a singing contest in Europe that most Americans probably either don't know about or just vaguely know about.  She was pretty good and did a Lindsey Sterling-esque stomping violin song, too.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xQxQRdZasQ

 

Kristen is a theater singer (she was the lead in the Las Vegas version of Phantom, I think she said) who did a few normal songs in the style of Broadway and it was pretty awkward like when your wacky aunt thinks she's awesome at karaoke and you pretty much cringe through it... THEN she busted out some classical opera & theater songs and you saw she could really sing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9bBeYzMFuw

 

Regardless of these womens' talent, whoever was on the soundboard was bound and determined to screw it up.  Too much echo.  Too much reverb.  Too much treble.  The mix sounded like a person who has never heard music was on the board.

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by poncho1973

[kernow]

Thank you for the link, I enjoyed reading your comparison. We've done a few Celebrity cruises and enjoyed them, there are some things we really like on Celebrity and some things we prefer on Royal but we are happy to cruise on either.

 

Regarding your 'silverware' comment, I imagine the crew member didn't understand what you were asking for. In the UK we use the term 'cutlery' instead and I think there would be plenty of British people (who've never visited the US) who would have no idea what you were talking about. The term silverware here would refer to a collection of Sports trophies, cups, medals etc.

[TwinMamainMN]

We sailed on Equinox in 2011 and loved it! It felt a little "fancier" or more formal than when we sailed on Radiance, but I think a lot of that has to do with the location of the cruise (southern Caribbean vs. Alaska). We enjoyed the glass blowing demonstrations several times and loved the lawn club with real grass. Also the bar on the aft deck outside was a lovely way to chat with friends and have a couple of drinks and watch the wake. I would sail on Celebrity again if the price was right.

[irishgal432]

We just did our first Celebrity Cruise to Alaska.  The demographics were not that of an older crowd probably due to the itinerary.

 

 

I will say the Suite Amenities/restaurants/retreat were far better than anything Royal offers.  I am looking at booking further with Celebrity for those amenities, but  am now aware to watch the ship and ports based on your review.

 

I am hooked on Celebrity and will probably not be booking many Royal Caribbean Ships unless I am with my family or a group of friends.  

 

 

[tcmagnum]

Will go check it out...We loved Celebrity last cruise - The Connie...

[poncho1973]

8 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

We just did our first Celebrity Cruise to Alaska.  The demographics were not that of an older crowd probably due to the itinerary.

 

 

I will say the Suite Amenities/restaurants/retreat were far better than anything Royal offers.  I am looking at booking further with Celebrity for those amenities, but  am now aware to watch the ship and ports based on your review.

 

I am hooked on Celebrity and will probably not be booking many Royal Caribbean Ships unless I am with my family or a group of friends.  

 

 

 

I think the Alaska part is the key there.  And the suite part.

[PhoenixCruiser]

I appreciate your review.  Our first Celebrity cruise is later this year.

[poncho1973]

I have to say that it got a bit wacky over on the X forums. 

[brillohead]

10 hours ago, poncho1973 said:

I have to say that it got a bit wacky over on the X forums. 

Do you want me to go bring up chair hogs and tipping in that thread, to get the heat off your ageist meanie-butt?  😄

[poncho1973]

That was a nice post though, whether any poster agrees or disagrees doesn't really matter.  It's just cruise review.

[poncho1973]

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted in this thread, but realized that thanks to the hyper-agro older X folks in the review, that I neglected to tell a fairly interesting tale from Cozumel.

 

We were at Paradise Beach.  We've been to most of the places in Cozumel and while I like Mr. Sanchos a lot, we had a relatively short stop and really wanted to give PB a second lookover.  A shorter port day was perfect for that.

 

Generally speaking, we had a great time.  We had excellent service and a great afternoon.  They have a food truck with great tacos/burritos that I really enjoy.  We did the a la carte option and they ask you to spend $10 each there and only charge you $3 a person for the facilities. We weren't there long enough to run up enough of a tab to justify the all-inclusive fee, which I think is $60-70 a person?  I can't remember.

 

There was a couple directly in front of us that came about an hour after we arrived.  They immediately lit up the cigs and kept them going.  We moved far enough away to avoid the smoke and it saved us having to be closer to the show.

 

They were proudly flying the flag of another cruise line on their gear (shirts, lanyards, hat) and it was one that is SOMETIMES expected to have a select group of their clientele act out a bit.  Obviously, not all or even most normal cruising folks.  Just SOMETIMES this line is a little more known for it.

 

They were probably in their late 30s, from the deep South of the US, and they had the all-inclusive bands.  They immediately ordered EIGHT shots of tequila and a round of mixed drinks.  They weren't tiny folks, so even though that's not a smart idea, it wasn't a full stop sign moment.  Well, it turns out they were actually with 6-8 other folks sitting back by the pool.  Those folks weren't wearing the all-inclusive bands.  Well, those folks kept walking back and forth from the water (directly past the couple) and just happened to swipe a drink each time they headed back.  They were watching the servers and just timed it right.

 

Now, I'm not a snitch over a couple of shots or a couple of drinks, but this started getting crazy.  Not only was our couple getting straight WASTED DRUNK, they were ordering loads of drinks.  Then it started slowing the rest of us down because they were ordering so often, the servers weren't checking on everyone else in the section.  The moochers were also getting drunker (I think 2 of them were probably only Mexico legal to drink, if that, because they looked young and were the first to just be falling down drunk) and not being nearly as careful when they swiped the drinks.

 

The server says to me  "WOW, this couple drinks more than anyone I've ever seen!" and I said "Man, just stand here on this side of the palm tree when you deliver the next drinks and you'll see why."  About then, the youngest looking guy tripped over a chair and kind of just laid there.  He was helped up by a lady in the group and disappeared.  The server dropped off the next round of 4 drinks and stood by me at the tree.  Boom!  Another couple came by and snagged two of the drinks and walked back to the pool area.  They weren't really smooth either.  The server went to get someone.  This is when the crap hit the fan.

 

Someone in their group came up and said something to the couple in a nasty way.  Then they started to fight.  The insults were flying.  Cups were flying.  Beer bottles were flying.  She was blaming him.  He was blaming her.  He questioned her moral purity.  She insulted his prowess.  (That was a polite way to describe it?) She poured what was left of a drink on him.  He flat swung at her in one of those cartoon roundhouse punch ways.  He missed her by approximately 10 feet and fell down, so I wasn't overly worried.  She then attempted to hit him with a bag, but also missed him by approximately 10 feet and went to one knee, so I still wasn't overly worried.  He threw his wallet at her.  She picked it up and attempted to throw it in the ocean.  She missed by approximately 40 feet.  I waved over some workers and by the time they got over there, she was gone.  He was talking to himself and finishing whatever drink remnants were on the table.  He really chewed her out good, but she wasn't there to hear it.

 

She came back and grabbed her stuff and he was yelling about his wallet, which was not visibly present at that time.  He was yelling about leaving her in Mexico and she was telling him that he couldn't because she was the only one with room keys to the room they were sharing and so that made her in charge.  Not sound logic, but drunk logic is what it is.  The wallet argument continued and he told her that they were OVER, SO OVER!  And she cried.  Then people from the back group came up and tried to help, but then he screamed at them for costing them $285! I'm not sure if PB charged them all for the all-inclusive or if it was for something else.  They said they'd pay him back but they had to leave because the police were coming and they weren't winding up in Mexican jail.

 

I never saw police and never heard any sirens.  I never saw much in the way of security, but they did leave and did so in a hurry, while still yelling about $285.

 

The insanity was over relatively quickly.  The smoking and stealing drinks was over a longer span, but once the crap hit the fan until them leaving all happened in like 20-25 minutes or so.  My wife didn't want to watch the show, so she went and enjoyed a hammock.  I ordered a fresh, cold beer and watched it harder than Abuela watches her Telenovelas.  (when in Mexico...)

 

Getting plastered very quickly does bad things to people.

[brillohead]

Omigosh, it sounds like the Mexican version of that brawl at Disneyland (NSFW) that was all over social media this week!  

Loved your wording.... and I was totally picking up what you were putting down with the various innuendos!  

[poncho1973]

I started to film it and my wife put the hammer down on that. 

[sjb317]

20 minutes ago, poncho1973 said:

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted in this thread, but realized that thanks to the hyper-agro older X folks in the review, that I neglected to tell a fairly interesting tale from Cozumel.

 

We were at Paradise Beach.  We've been to most of the places in Cozumel and while I like Mr. Sanchos a lot, we had a relatively short stop and really wanted to give PB a second lookover.  A shorter port day was perfect for that.

 

Generally speaking, we had a great time.  We had excellent service and a great afternoon.  They have a food truck with great tacos/burritos that I really enjoy.  We did the a la carte option and they ask you to spend $10 each there and only charge you $3 a person for the facilities. We weren't there long enough to run up enough of a tab to justify the all-inclusive fee, which I think is $60-70 a person?  I can't remember.

 

There was a couple directly in front of us that came about an hour after we arrived.  They immediately lit up the cigs and kept them going.  We moved far enough away to avoid the smoke and it saved us having to be closer to the show.

 

They were proudly flying the flag of another cruise line on their gear (shirts, lanyards, hat) and it was one that is SOMETIMES expected to have a select group of their clientele act out a bit.  Obviously, not all or even most normal cruising folks.  Just SOMETIMES this line is a little more known for it.

 

They were probably in their late 30s, from the deep South of the US, and they had the all-inclusive bands.  They immediately ordered EIGHT shots of tequila and a round of mixed drinks.  They weren't tiny folks, so even though that's not a smart idea, it wasn't a full stop sign moment.  Well, it turns out they were actually with 6-8 other folks sitting back by the pool.  Those folks weren't wearing the all-inclusive bands.  Well, those folks kept walking back and forth from the water (directly past the couple) and just happened to swipe a drink each time they headed back.  They were watching the servers and just timed it right.

 

Now, I'm not a snitch over a couple of shots or a couple of drinks, but this started getting crazy.  Not only was our couple getting straight WASTED DRUNK, they were ordering loads of drinks.  Then it started slowing the rest of us down because they were ordering so often, the servers weren't checking on everyone else in the section.  The moochers were also getting drunker (I think 2 of them were probably only Mexico legal to drink, if that, because they looked young and were the first to just be falling down drunk) and not being nearly as careful when they swiped the drinks.

 

The server says to me  "WOW, this couple drinks more than anyone I've ever seen!" and I said "Man, just stand here on this side of the palm tree when you deliver the next drinks and you'll see why."  About then, the youngest looking guy tripped over a chair and kind of just laid there.  He was helped up by a lady in the group and disappeared.  The server dropped off the next round of 4 drinks and stood by me at the tree.  Boom!  Another couple came by and snagged two of the drinks and walked back to the pool area.  They weren't really smooth either.  The server went to get someone.  This is when the crap hit the fan.

 

Someone in their group came up and said something to the couple in a nasty way.  Then they started to fight.  The insults were flying.  Cups were flying.  Beer bottles were flying.  She was blaming him.  He was blaming her.  He questioned her moral purity.  She insulted his prowess.  (That was a polite way to describe it?) She poured what was left of a drink on him.  He flat swung at her in one of those cartoon roundhouse punch ways.  He missed her by approximately 10 feet and fell down, so I wasn't overly worried.  She then attempted to hit him with a bag, but also missed him by approximately 10 feet and went to one knee, so I still wasn't overly worried.  He threw his wallet at her.  She picked it up and attempted to throw it in the ocean.  She missed by approximately 40 feet.  I waved over some workers and by the time they got over there, she was gone.  He was talking to himself and finishing whatever drink remnants were on the table.  He really chewed her out good, but she wasn't there to hear it.

 

She came back and grabbed her stuff and he was yelling about his wallet, which was not visibly present at that time.  He was yelling about leaving her in Mexico and she was telling him that he couldn't because she was the only one with room keys to the room they were sharing and so that made her in charge.  Not sound logic, but drunk logic is what it is.  The wallet argument continued and he told her that they were OVER, SO OVER!  And she cried.  Then people from the back group came up and tried to help, but then he screamed at them for costing them $285! I'm not sure if PB charged them all for the all-inclusive or if it was for something else.  They said they'd pay him back but they had to leave because the police were coming and they weren't winding up in Mexican jail.

 

I never saw police and never heard any sirens.  I never saw much in the way of security, but they did leave and did so in a hurry, while still yelling about $285.

 

The insanity was over relatively quickly.  The smoking and stealing drinks was over a longer span, but once the crap hit the fan until them leaving all happened in like 20-25 minutes or so.  My wife didn't want to watch the show, so she went and enjoyed a hammock.  I ordered a fresh, cold beer and watched it harder than Abuela watches her Telenovelas.  (when in Mexico...)

 

Getting plastered very quickly does bad things to people.

Wow, we’ve been to Paradise Beach many times but have never had a show included.😂

 

Sherri🙂

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, poncho1973 said:

I started to film it and my wife put the hammer down on that. 

Oh, man, that would have been EPIC!!!!  

Tell your wife I said she's a big poo-poo head!  💩

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks for the review.  We just booked our first Celebrity cruise for next Christmas.  It is longer cruise - 14 days in South America, so fear we may have the oldens with us.  My son will probably be one of the few kids on board - but we just could not pass up the itinerary, Chile to Buenos Aires over Christmas and NYE.  The only other line offering the same itinerary over the dates we needed was NCL Star, and their suites were similarly priced with Silhouette, so we felt X had the nicer ship.  Bummer about the entertainment.  14 nights is a long time if the entertainment is not so good...

[poncho1973]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 11:33 PM, RSLeesburg said:

Thanks for the review.  We just booked our first Celebrity cruise for next Christmas.  It is longer cruise - 14 days in South America, so fear we may have the oldens with us.  My son will probably be one of the few kids on board - but we just could not pass up the itinerary, Chile to Buenos Aires over Christmas and NYE.  The only other line offering the same itinerary over the dates we needed was NCL Star, and their suites were similarly priced with Silhouette, so we felt X had the nicer ship.  Bummer about the entertainment.  14 nights is a long time if the entertainment is not so good...

 

You'll find a way to have a wonderful time!  That's a deluxe itinerary.  The shows were OK, so you'll be fine.  They were lower, but not bottom of the barrel.

[poncho1973]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 3:20 PM, brillohead said:

Oh, man, that would have been EPIC!!!!  

Tell your wife I said she's a big poo-poo head!  💩

 

I did this already.  She said that it would end up with ME being on YouTube or something when they gathered around me like Cro-Magnons on the hunt.

[Lionesss]

Thank you for the excellent review of your sailing.

 

One comment you made surprises me for any cruise line sailing.

 

Bland food. I thought cruise ships spiced it up to make all meals taste better.

 

This year as we sailed was the first time I noticed too much seasoning on RCI food (Allure)

 

In May I had a bad case of KANKLES, and two weeks ago asked them to do a no added salt or seasoning diet.

The food was still good, and no swollen ankles...........

 

Just saying 

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Thank you for the excellent review of your sailing.

 

One comment you made surprises me for any cruise line sailing.

 

Bland food. I thought cruise ships spiced it up to make all meals taste better.

 

This year as we sailed was the first time I noticed too much seasoning on RCI food (Allure)

 

In May I had a bad case of KANKLES, and two weeks ago asked them to do a no added salt or seasoning diet.

The food was still good, and no swollen ankles...........

 

Just saying 

There was a (new to me) jerk chicken dish on Symphony in March, and I heard several people complaining that it was "too spicy".  

Uhhhmmm... it's JERK CHICKEN -- it's SUPPOSED to be spicy!   

[Bobal]

Didn't read your review first time but just did as a result of seeing this thread.

 

I found it highly entertaining - and even more entertaining were some of the cantankerous 'oldens' commenting on it, and this is from someone who could well be classed as an olden - although I have to say some of the Celebrity cruises we've been on have made us feel like spring chickens.

 

We are D+ and Elite+ so have done a fair few on both but think the RC experience wins hands down over Celebrity, although I think Celebrity is perhaps slightly better for MD and buffet food. We would only now choose Celebrity for an itinerary we really want to do. The loyalty benefits are really not that great and the 'Elite Happy Hour' is anything but happy in our opinion. Entertainment - particularly production shows - is usually much better on RC

 

One thing I was confused about is your speciality dining experience (or lack of it). We've usually been bombarded with offers to dine in the specialities at discount prices and usually do so for at least half our dinners.

 

One - non-cruise related - comment I would like to thank you for is your comment about Millennials. As the parent of two Millennials totally agree that they get wrongly blamed for so much. Thank you

[poncho1973]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 3:42 AM, Bobal said:

Didn't read your review first time but just did as a result of seeing this thread.

 

I found it highly entertaining - and even more entertaining were some of the cantankerous 'oldens' commenting on it, and this is from someone who could well be classed as an olden - although I have to say some of the Celebrity cruises we've been on have made us feel like spring chickens.

 

We are D+ and Elite+ so have done a fair few on both but think the RC experience wins hands down over Celebrity, although I think Celebrity is perhaps slightly better for MD and buffet food. We would only now choose Celebrity for an itinerary we really want to do. The loyalty benefits are really not that great and the 'Elite Happy Hour' is anything but happy in our opinion. Entertainment - particularly production shows - is usually much better on RC

 

One thing I was confused about is your speciality dining experience (or lack of it). We've usually been bombarded with offers to dine in the specialities at discount prices and usually do so for at least half our dinners.

 

One - non-cruise related - comment I would like to thank you for is your comment about Millennials. As the parent of two Millennials totally agree that they get wrongly blamed for so much. Thank you

 

You're welcome.  I'm glad it entertained you, that's my point of view.  I don't write reviews for glory, just for fun.  Fun to write and HOPEFULLY fun to read.  We haven't written off X, but we have decided it would have to be something special.  That could be a specific ship, itinerary, or any other reason.

 

I was actually expecting to bombarded.  We were bombarded before sail away.  Then everything happened exactly as I said.  It was odd and made much more weird by the emptiness of venues.