Observations from the Equinox Retreat

[chemmo]

Thanks for the information on bath products, look forward to trying whatever we have.

 

Anyone know on Equinox if Elite/Elite Plus still get one free Persian Garden access on a port day? I am not a massive fan of Persian but on the S class I enjoy popping in one port day for a short while.

[Cruise a holic]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 4:51 PM, rattanchair said:

Dear Hap, We noticed something this afternoon at 3:30 tea and scones in Retreat lounge.  They made it buffet. We enjoyed it better when we were served. We do not eat buffets, ever! Having gotten sick numerous times eating buffets over the years. So many coughing on board.  We turned around and went to Cafe del Bacio and picked out an assortment and carried it back to our cabin. No scones at the Cafe. 'Sour grapes' ?

If my DH and I ever eat at a buffet, we try to be the first people on line, before the sickly or sloppy hand grabbers go on the line.  Works for us.!

[hiccups]

14 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

Does anyone know what the bath products are in the standard balcony cabins ?  Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash?

 

Anyone use the shampoo and conditioner, and if so thoughts nd impressions??  Would love not to have to bring from home if decent stuff.

 

Thanks

All products are in dispensers in the shower, and the brand isn't listed.  I never use hotel or cruise shampoo and conditioner so I can't comment on it.  Well, no, actually I use the conditioner to shave my legs, and it worked great for that  🙂  The shower gel was fine.

[vtcruising]

15 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

Does anyone know what the bath products are in the standard balcony cabins ?  Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash?

 

Anyone use the shampoo and conditioner, and if so thoughts nd impressions??  Would love not to have to bring from home if decent stuff.

 

Thanks

They appear to be Gilchrist and Soames because they have names like "shine", "lather" on them. The G&S products have the same names, but the X stuff is packaged in black.

 

 

 

 

X packaging:

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by vtcruising

[CulverCityCruisers]

2 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

They appear to be Gilchrist and Soames because they have names like "shine", "lather" on them. The G&S products have the same names, but the X stuff is packaged in black.

 

 

X packaging:

 

Thank you!  Realize now that I posted this question on the wrong thread.  Just get so involved in reading about the "changes", so thank you!!

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

How was that stuff?  Never heard of it.  Was a fan of the Bulgari products which were in all suites.

 

I looked up Santal 33 products on Amazon.  Relatively expensive.

[vtcruising]

54 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I looked up Santal 33 products on Amazon.  Relatively expensive.

I had to look! It is pricey! $39.99 for 6 oz of lotion, for example. It looks a bit more expensive than Bulgari. It is a sandalwood scent apparently. I ended up buying a sampler for $22 on ebay. 🙂

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, vtcruising said:

I had to look! It is pricey! $39.99 for 6 oz of lotion, for example. It looks a bit more expensive than Bulgari. It is a sandalwood scent apparently. I ended up buying a sampler for $22 on ebay. 🙂

Ah good idea! Take it with you on your next Edge or Apex cruise and pretend you are in a high end suite ( along with your blow-up footstool).

[Cruiseluv19]

On 6/30/2019 at 2:33 PM, rattanchair said:

Dear G,  Thank you, you are very kind. It was fun. Had nothing better to do since we no longer sightsee. The ship is our destination. If you enjoyed this thread, please check out my thread on our June 2 NCL Haven H6 aft penthouse review a couple weeks ago, Observations from the Breakaway Haven. Also please stay tuned for my' Observations  from the MSC Yacht Club'.  We snagged the  Royal Suite #16037,coming up July 20 in a couple of weeks. I only hope my observations are as poignant. I plan on putting together a comparison of these three 'ship within a ship' venues that cruise out of South Florida. Thank you again for your kind words.  RC

Thanks for all the pictures and reviews.  I would be very interested in your comparison of all three.  We do some sight seeing but we can only travel during the fall (alas, work gets in the way) and we have been to most ports during those months, especially with Celebrity.  Thus we enjoy the ship more and have started booking suites since we aren't spending any money on excursions or in the ports.  We would be willing to try another cruise line but are hesitant as we have soooo enjoyed Celebrity.

Thanks again.

[rattanchair]

3 hours ago, Cruiseluv19 said:

Thanks for all the pictures and reviews.  I would be very interested in your comparison of all three.  We do some sight seeing but we can only travel during the fall (alas, work gets in the way) and we have been to most ports during those months, especially with Celebrity.  Thus we enjoy the ship more and have started booking suites since we aren't spending any money on excursions or in the ports.  We would be willing to try another cruise line but are hesitant as we have soooo enjoyed Celebrity.

Thanks again.

Dear C, You are very kind. Thank you.

[rattanchair]

3 hours ago, vtcruising said:

I had to look! It is pricey! $39.99 for 6 oz of lotion, for example. It looks a bit more expensive than Bulgari. It is a sandalwood scent apparently. I ended up buying a sampler for $22 on ebay. 🙂

Dear VT,  Love your posts! We could care less about toiletries. We bring our own. Just in case one of us should break out with a rash from new exotic products. The toiletries do not make or break a cruise for us. Having a new roll of toilet paper every third day and a fresh bar of hand soap was greatly appreciated, and not requested, but appeared. We have talked about replacing our shower head for the rainfall type, we experienced in our suite showers, but we do not want to spoil ourselves out of cruising. More important to us is service. For example, I think you reported that some guests had a problem receiving a lounge chair on the Edge in the S1. Some guests were able, some not. We are booked for Thanksgiving 2019 on Edge; the S1 suite touts a 163sq ft balcony and we will request 2 reclining lounges. Our butler was kind enough on day one two bring us another webbed lounge on the Equinox. We just hope our butler on the Edge is just as accommodating.

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, rattanchair said:

Dear VT,  Love your posts! We could care less about toiletries. We bring our own. Just in case one of us should break out with a rash from new exotic products. The toiletries do not make or break a cruise for us. Having a new roll of toilet paper every third day and a fresh bar of hand soap was greatly appreciated, and not requested, but appeared. We have talked about replacing our shower head for the rainfall type, we experienced in our suite showers, but we do not want to spoil ourselves out of cruising. More important to us is service. For example, I think you reported that some guests had a problem receiving a lounge chair on the Edge in the S1. Some guests were able, some not. We are booked for Thanksgiving 2019 on Edge; the S1 suite touts a 163sq ft balcony and we will request 2 reclining lounges. Our butler was kind enough on day one two bring us another webbed lounge on the Equinox. We just hope our butler on the Edge is just as accommodating.

We also bring our own soap and shampoo/conditioner, but my DH does love the Bulgari products that used to be in the suites. 🙂

 

You shouldn't have an issue getting loungers for your S1 corner aft - they might already be there. We were on the first commercial cruise on the Edge on Dec 1 in a corner aft S1 (11268) and the butler said no originally when we asked for a lounger. The suite manager then came to our S1 and talked to us and a lounger was delivered. Another person in the S1 below us was following my live thread and did not get a lounger for that cruise, when she asked, and was quite upset (I would have been upset too). The optics were not good for X, IMO. I think the head people then had a chat because since then I haven't heard of anyone being refused a lounger in a Sky Suite. When I went back a few weeks later we got one lounger (could have had 2) and when someone asked about loungers on my live thread for his Sky Suite down the hall from ours for the next cruise, I mentioned it to the butler and she said she would have them set up before they boarded.

 

This picture should reassure you - it is from a cruise several weeks ago - there are 2 loungers on every S1 balcony. They are lovely balconies!

 

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by vtcruising

[rattanchair]

11 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

If my DH and I ever eat at a buffet, we try to be the first people on line, before the sickly or sloppy hand grabbers go on the line.  Works for us.!

Dear Cru,  We used to do that years ago for the' midnight  buffets'. Now we fall asleep in the 9:00 pm show. It is not the staff that we are afraid of on a cruise ship. They are well trained in food handling and the spreading of germs. It is our fellow passengers that have no couth, even in the suites, one should expect a higher level of sanitary etiquette. But do not count on it. Grab the tongs with a tissue, to play it safe. We consider any cruise to be a success if we come home, and 5 days hence, without a cold, flu or dysentery. Thanks for the advice.

[rattanchair]

13 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

We also bring our own soap and shampoo/conditioner, but my DH does love the Bulgari products that used to be in the suites. 🙂

 

You shouldn't have an issue getting loungers for your S1 corner aft - they might already be there. We were on the first commercial cruise on the Edge on Dec 1 in a corner aft S1 (11268) and the butler said no originally when we asked for a lounger. The suite manager then came to our S1 and talked to us and a lounger was delivered. Another person in the S1 below us was following my live thread and did not get a lounger for that cruise, when she asked, and was quite upset (I would have been upset too). The optics were not good for X, IMO. I think the head people then had a chat because since then I haven't heard of anyone being refused a lounger in a Sky Suite. When I went back a few weeks later we got one lounger (could have had 2) and when someone asked about loungers on my live thread for his Sky Suite down the hall from ours for the next cruise, I mentioned it to the butler and she said she would have them set up before they boarded.

 

This picture should reassure you - it is from a cruise several weeks ago - there are 2 loungers on every S1 balcony. They are lovely balconies!

 

 

Dear VT, Thank you for the photo of the aft cabins which we will never sail in again on most any ship.  Except for NCL Breakaway has a very deep 236 sq ft aft penthouse balcony which provides ample shade, but not the rest sailing out of south Florida. We are booked in cabin SA1-#11196 mid ship starboard, if I am not mistaken. Thank you for all your very good information on the CC boards. You are a treasure !

[vtcruising]

38 minutes ago, rattanchair said:

Dear VT, Thank you for the photo of the aft cabins which we will never sail in again on most any ship.  Except for NCL Breakaway has a very deep 236 sq ft aft penthouse balcony which provides ample shade, but not the rest sailing out of south Florida. We are booked in cabin SA1-#11196 mid ship starboard, if I am not mistaken. Thank you for all your very good information on the CC boards. You are a treasure !

I hate to be the bearer of somewhat bad news after you called me a treasure, but that S1 has a balcony closer to 80 sq ft. The aft S1 is 163 sq ft and they never differentiated those on the website. When you said 163 sq ft I assumed you were in the aft, hence the picture. They starboard S1will fit 2 loungers. I have stayed in both the aft S1 and a port side S1 with the smaller balcony and it's a toss up. We love the huge balcony balcony and wake view of the aft, but the suite has a much better set up midship. The beds face the ocean (they face a wall in the aft) and the bathroom mirror over the sink splits to make a window looking out to sea. A little gimmicky, but I enjoyed brushing my teeth while watching the sea. 🙂

 

The closets are better situated in the entryway instead of right by the bed and the dressers are bigger in the port and starboard S1's for some reason. The location is also great for getting to Luminae and the Retreat Lounge and Sundeck.  Anyway, we loved ours and I even booked the same one again for the next cruise. So, the good news is that the set up is very nice in 11196, but the balcony will be about half the size.

 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

9 hours ago, vtcruising said:

I had to look! It is pricey! $39.99 for 6 oz of lotion, for example. It looks a bit more expensive than Bulgari. It is a sandalwood scent apparently. I ended up buying a sampler for $22 on ebay. 🙂

 

Hmm.  I really don't care about the price since I'm not buying it.  And expensive doesn't necessarily equate to high quality.  I do care about the quality since I will likely be using it.  Sandalwood scent doesn't sound too appealing to me.  We shall see.  On Equinox next month.

[rattanchair]

5 hours ago, vtcruising said:

I hate to be the bearer of somewhat bad news after you called me a treasure, but that S1 has a balcony closer to 80 sq ft. The aft S1 is 163 sq ft and they never differentiated those on the website. When you said 163 sq ft I assumed you were in the aft, hence the picture. They starboard S1will fit 2 loungers. I have stayed in both the aft S1 and a port side S1 with the smaller balcony and it's a toss up. We love the huge balcony balcony and wake view of the aft, but the suite has a much better set up midship. The beds face the ocean (they face a wall in the aft) and the bathroom mirror over the sink splits to make a window looking out to sea. A little gimmicky, but I enjoyed brushing my teeth while watching the sea. 🙂

 

The closets are better situated in the entryway instead of right by the bed and the dressers are bigger in the port and starboard S1's for some reason. The location is also great for getting to Luminae and the Retreat Lounge and Sundeck.  Anyway, we loved ours and I even booked the same one again for the next cruise. So, the good news is that the set up is very nice in 11196, but the balcony will be about half the size.

 

 

Dear VT,  I stand by my words, "you are a treasure". Thank you for the info I could get no where else!

[Cruise a holic]

11 hours ago, vtcruising said:

We also bring our own soap and shampoo/conditioner, but my DH does love the Bulgari products that used to be in the suites. 🙂

 

You shouldn't have an issue getting loungers for your S1 corner aft - they might already be there. We were on the first commercial cruise on the Edge on Dec 1 in a corner aft S1 (11268) and the butler said no originally when we asked for a lounger. The suite manager then came to our S1 and talked to us and a lounger was delivered. Another person in the S1 below us was following my live thread and did not get a lounger for that cruise, when she asked, and was quite upset (I would have been upset too). The optics were not good for X, IMO. I think the head people then had a chat because since then I haven't heard of anyone being refused a lounger in a Sky Suite. When I went back a few weeks later we got one lounger (could have had 2) and when someone asked about loungers on my live thread for his Sky Suite down the hall from ours for the next cruise, I mentioned it to the butler and she said she would have them set up before they boarded.

 

This picture should reassure you - it is from a cruise several weeks ago - there are 2 loungers on every S1 balcony. They are lovely balconies!

 

 

Only problem is that during the day the S1's are so sunny we could never use it until sunset or before dawn.  DIdn't like fill sun- or the soot that occasionally came on our veranda-  So we didn't need any lounge chair.

[vtcruising]

34 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Only problem is that during the day the S1's are so sunny we could never use it until sunset or before dawn.  DIdn't like fill sun- or the soot that occasionally came on our veranda-  So we didn't need any lounge chair.

We had no problem with too much sun on a Carib cruise in the aft S1 so the lounger was lovely - must depend upon weather, direction, etc. We did notice a bit of soot at times, but my DH had to point it out to me because of the speckled balcony flooring. 🙂 

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread - thought the OP was going to be on the Edge in the aft so posted the picture.

[rattanchair]

21 hours ago, vtcruising said:

I hate to be the bearer of somewhat bad news after you called me a treasure, but that S1 has a balcony closer to 80 sq ft. The aft S1 is 163 sq ft and they never differentiated those on the website. When you said 163 sq ft I assumed you were in the aft, hence the picture. They starboard S1will fit 2 loungers. I have stayed in both the aft S1 and a port side S1 with the smaller balcony and it's a toss up. We love the huge balcony balcony and wake view of the aft, but the suite has a much better set up midship. The beds face the ocean (they face a wall in the aft) and the bathroom mirror over the sink splits to make a window looking out to sea. A little gimmicky, but I enjoyed brushing my teeth while watching the sea. 🙂

 

The closets are better situated in the entryway instead of right by the bed and the dressers are bigger in the port and starboard S1's for some reason. The location is also great for getting to Luminae and the Retreat Lounge and Sundeck.  Anyway, we loved ours and I even booked the same one again for the next cruise. So, the good news is that the set up is very nice in 11196, but the balcony will be about half the size.

 

 

Dear VT,  Just got off the line with Celebrity on cabin 11196.  They said the specifics, that they show on each cabin, show that cabin balcony of 11196 is 163 sq ft.  That is what the FCC told me when we booked the Edge while on board the Equinox in March.

Funny thing, I tend to believe you ,than I do them. Will let everyone know in November, unless someone kindly takes the time to write in. I always take a tape measure with me, to remind me of the suites we have booked in the past, for future bookings. Thank you.

Edited July 2, 2019 by rattanchair
missing lettrs

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, rattanchair said:

Dear VT,  Just got off the line with Celebrity on cabin 11196.  They said the specifics, that they show on each cabin, show that cabin balcony of 11196 is 163 sq ft.  That is what the FCC told me when we booked the Edge while on board the Equinox in March.

Funny thing, I tend to believe you ,than I do them. Will let everyone know in November, unless someone kindly takes the time to write in. I always take a tape measure with me, to remind me of the suites we have booked in the past, for future bookings. Thank you.

Sorry, but I am quite sure they are wrong. The people on the phone just can't know everything about all of the ships and cabins. My S1 suite on the port side (10147) is still listed as 163 sq ft on the X website and on cruisedeckplans, but I measured it (I did bring a measuring tape) and it was about 75 sq ft. Here is a picture of your suite balcony. You can see that the balconies are not huge (only about 5.5 ft deep, if I remember correctly). Every picture of that type of balcony that I have seen is the same size.

 

You do have a nice location - it's on a bump out and you won't have a pole on your balcony and have a firewall on one side to keep it quieter. The balcony is great, just not huge. 🙂

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by vtcruising

[Texed]

1 hour ago, rattanchair said:

Dear VT,  Just got off the line with Celebrity on cabin 11196.  They said the  cabin balcony of 11196 is 163 sq ft.

Funny thing, I tend to believe you ,than I do them.

 

Smart thing believing VT, very smart.  😊

[rattanchair]

20 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

Sorry, but I am quite sure they are wrong. The people on the phone just can't know everything about all of the ships and cabins. My S1 suite on the port side (10147) is still listed as 163 sq ft on the X website and on cruisedeckplans, but I measured it (I did bring a measuring tape) and it was about 75 sq ft. Here is a picture of your suite balcony. You can see that the balconies are not huge (only about 5.5 ft deep, if I remember correctly). Every picture of that type of balcony that I have seen is the same size.

 

You do have a nice location - it's on a bump out and you won't have a pole on your balcony and have a firewall on one side to keep it quieter. The balcony is great, just not huge. 🙂

 

Dear VT,  You are a gem!

[vtcruising]

32 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

Smart thing believing VT, very smart.  😊

I know some people who would disagree! 🙂

[rattanchair]

Just now, vtcruising said:

I know some people who would disagree! 🙂

Dear VT,  I would challenge them to a duel, for your honor. I am sure Tex would be my second.