LIVE Equinox 8 Night Eastern Caribbean!!!!

[MEcruzr]

4 minutes ago, miched said:

What bar is the one shown in photo that is 4th from the bottom with all high chairs?

 

thanks 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Looks like an airline (American?) club room.

[MEcruzr]

17 minutes ago, miched said:

Enjoyed  your posts and observations about your cruise. 

 

Am curious why you never mentioned anything about the Captain, Cruise Director or CC Host?

 

It also appears as if you only attended one show and as most of us no longer interested in those production shows.   I think X should eliminate those shows and just book independent entertainers.  
 

How were the various entertainers in the bars and lounges?

thanks

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

We were also on this cruise. The captain was not readily available or "out and about". We went to one show, the comedian Ralph Harris. I agree that the production shows are a thing of the past. We only saw the CD there... once. The CC host was Jeffrey... we saw him once because we only went to the captain's club happy hour once. I can't speak to the entertainers in the bars/lounges. I do know they had a couple live band/singers on deck 3 near GR, under the glass elevators... so the music reached up past deck 10. The female singer was really good... the male, ok. They also did dance lessons there many days... and that music also drifted up. The Ensemble lounge had live music at night that seemed to draw a very large crowd. 

[george35]

We were given as a perk the CLASSIC drink pkg which I know is up to $9 per drink but my question is all my wife drinks is a LEMON DROP can anyone tell me if that is in the $9 limit???

 

george35

[nimiq]

5 hours ago, george35 said:

We were given as a perk the CLASSIC drink pkg which I know is up to $9 per drink but my question is all my wife drinks is a LEMON DROP can anyone tell me if that is in the $9 limit???

 

george35

I almost got the same question but me it’s for s Dirty Martini ?

[helen haywood]

Regarding the light not going on in the accessible rest room stalls, are you sure people were hitting the “lock” button once inside?  I find most new cruisers have no idea they need to hit that button and if they don’t the light doesn’t go on and someone can hit the button outside to open the door as it’s not locked.

[miched]

23 hours ago, MEcruzr said:

We were also on this cruise. The captain was not readily available or "out and about". We went to one show, the comedian Ralph Harris. I agree that the production shows are a thing of the past. We only saw the CD there... once. The CC host was Jeffrey... we saw him once because we only went to the captain's club happy hour once. I can't speak to the entertainers in the bars/lounges. I do know they had a couple live band/singers on deck 3 near GR, under the glass elevators... so the music reached up past deck 10. The female singer was really good... the male, ok. They also did dance lessons there many days... and that music also drifted up. The Ensemble lounge had live music at night that seemed to draw a very large crowd. 

We were also on this cruise and I wanted to see the opinions of others with my input influencing them.

 

When I read what you wrote is exactly the same as what we did and experienced.  We only attended 3 shows, the two by Ralph Harris and Hard Days Night.

 

The only time we seen the Captain was at the officers Reception in the Retreat Lounge The only time we seen the CD was at the shows.   
 

I don’t remember seeing the CC host  or who it was.  We went to the Elite lounge one morning and no one questioned us or approached us.  We sat down by a window and drank the coffee we brought in from Cafe al Bacio and then left.

 

I thought it may have been our fault of not seeing any of them as we didn’t go to many functions, attend the CC Mingle, or activities.

 

 Normally the officers and staff are all over the ship interacting with the passengers and there were more activities.  
 

I don’t know if it is up to the Captain or CD but there was no Liars Club or Not so Newly Wed  Show.  They did have I think Family Fued but we didn’t go to it.

 

As the OP made note of the staff was very busy at the Martini bar but it always is before the dining hours in the MDR.  At 8:30 when the 2nd seating opens up the bar empties out.   The same during HH, the place is packed until dinner time.

 

Over all the workers gave good service but they didn’t appear to have that same energy that enthusiasm.  

 

The Jazz Quartet normally played in the Ensemble Lounge and we spent some time there but not more than 30 minutes and left when their set ended.

 

We have been on many cruises with X and for some reason this one just didn’t have any life except for Halloween night.  Overall this cruise didn’t appear to be what we normally experienced on the other cruises.  .     
 

Reading the OPs  writings and your post makes me think that others experienced  the same.  

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

 
 

 

[nimiq]

They are changing the CD today actually it is now Dan France taking over.

[miched]

2 hours ago, miched said:

We were also on this cruise and I wanted to see the opinions of others with my input influencing them.

 

When I read what you wrote is exactly the same as what we did and experienced.  We only attended 3 shows, the two by Ralph Harris and Hard Days Night.

 

The only time we seen the Captain was at the officers Reception in the Retreat Lounge The only time we seen the CD was at the shows.   
 

I don’t remember seeing the CC host  or who it was.  We went to the Elite lounge one morning and no one questioned us or approached us.  We sat down by a window and drank the coffee we brought in from Cafe al Bacio and then left.

 

I thought it may have been our fault of not seeing any of them as we didn’t go to many functions, attend the CC Mingle, or activities.

 

 Normally the officers and staff are all over the ship interacting with the passengers and there were more activities.  
 

I don’t know if it is up to the Captain or CD but there was no Liars Club or Not so Newly Wed  Show.  They did have I think Family Fued but we didn’t go to it.

 

As the OP made note of the staff was very busy at the Martini bar but it always is before the dining hours in the MDR.  At 8:30 when the 2nd seating opens up the bar empties out.   The same during HH, the place is packed until dinner time.

 

Over all the workers gave good service but they didn’t appear to have that same energy that enthusiasm.  

 

The Jazz Quartet normally played in the Ensemble Lounge and we spent some time there but not more than 30 minutes and left when their set ended.

 

We have been on many cruises with X and for some reason this one just didn’t have any life except for Halloween night.  Overall this cruise didn’t appear to be what we normally experienced on the other cruises.  .     
 

Reading the OPs  writings and your post makes me think that others experienced  the same.  

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

I meant to say not influencing others opinions with my input.

 

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[MEcruzr]

4 hours ago, miched said:

 

 

The only time we seen the Captain was at the officers Reception in the Retreat Lounge The only time we seen the CD was at the shows.   
 

Over all the workers gave good service but they didn’t appear to have that same energy that enthusiasm.  

 

We have been on many cruises with X and for some reason this one just didn’t have any life except for Halloween night.  Overall this cruise didn’t appear to be what we normally experienced on the other cruises.  .     

 

Reading the OPs  writings and your post makes me think that others experienced  the same.  

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

 
 

 

Exactly. We saw the Captain that night at the Retreat but we left before he got to us.  There weren't many "stripes" around the ship that I saw. 

 

I wonder if the lack of life was a result of so many port days in a row? Tired passengers, bored crew. We also saw a lack of energy and enthusiasm. Our butler was average at best. The room steward was very good... always had a smile and "good morning". We found service exceedingly slow at times and often had to ask twice for things like a coffee refill. The slowest place to get a drink was at the Retreat Lounge. Never quite understood that. Unless I stood at the bar and waited, it would take twice as long to get it delivered to a table. We ordered a 2nd drink/wine and got up and left after 15 minutes. The bartender was like, don't you want your drink? Did I take too long? Um. Yes... and yes. She wasn't busy. Just not good at multi tasking (talking and working at the same time). 

 

Overall it was not my favorite cruise and definitely not my favorite ship. Last time I was on the Equinox was 2010. It might be another 9 years before I try it again. LOL

[miched]

1 hour ago, MEcruzr said:

Exactly. We saw the Captain that night at the Retreat but we left before he got to us.  There weren't many "stripes" around the ship that I saw. 

 

I wonder if the lack of life was a result of so many port days in a row? Tired passengers, bored crew. We also saw a lack of energy and enthusiasm. Our butler was average at best. The room steward was very good... always had a smile and "good morning". We found service exceedingly slow at times and often had to ask twice for things like a coffee refill. The slowest place to get a drink was at the Retreat Lounge. Never quite understood that. Unless I stood at the bar and waited, it would take twice as long to get it delivered to a table. We ordered a 2nd drink/wine and got up and left after 15 minutes. The bartender was like, don't you want your drink? Did I take too long? Um. Yes... and yes. She wasn't busy. Just not good at multi tasking (talking and working at the same time). 

 

Overall it was not my favorite cruise and definitely not my favorite ship. Last time I was on the Equinox was 2010. It might be another 9 years before I try it again. LOL

 

it is amazing that your cruise and what you experienced exactly mirrored ours.

 

To be fair we thought it might have been our fault as we really didn’t care or go out of our way to participate in anything.  We would spend time on our balcony, in the casino using our SBC, the Retreat lounge, Martini Bar, Ensemble Lounge, or Sunset bar.  and a few hours in every port.  We did use our free pass in the Persian Garden.  
 

At every bar we had to get our drinks at the bar.  Never had any server approach us and don’t know if there were any.  We took drinks into the theater from the Casino Bar.  Went to the World Class bar once and all the chairs at the bar were taken so we sat at a table.  Never got served until two seats opened up at the bar and we moved into them.   We had a drink and never went back.   
 

We went to the Retreat Deck a few times but never stayed too long.  
 

Rose and Judit in the Retreat lounge tended to stay behind the bar.  Other than embarkation day and the night with the officers there were never more than 8 passengers when we went in there and most times none.  

 

The last night in the Martini bar all the Martinis were being served in the small glasses.  They told us that they ran out of the regular glasses.   It didn’t really matter to us as we had a drink pack and could try something different instead of getting hammered on one or two.   Just found it strange.  
 

When we met the Captain In the Retreat Lounge he didn’t seem to be to cheerful and I think that reflected and impacted the staff and workers.  

 

Something that my wife brought up was no one asked or reminded us to be sure to take the survey and give them a 10 rating.   She is thinking it could be because passengers were complaining bout the requests.  

We have a few more cruises booked but none on the Equinox.  We were on it in last year during the same time and it was fantastic.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MEcruzr]

At the one show we went to there were very few drink servers. I went up and stood in line to get them at the pop-up bar they put near the entrance. Other than Luminae every drink we got I stood at a bar to get it. Not once did we order a drink and have it brought to us. Wait, once... at the CC happy hour we got one drink and left. Like you said, if you weren't sitting or standing AT THE BAR you did not get served. Even at the buffet. Weird. Especially since the tip was 20%. I never tipped extra this cruise. That says something. 

 

We did get the "please complete the survey and give me/us a 10". It was in Luminae from Arturo. Funny, he was getting a 10 and a positive comment anyway... yet, he was the one who asked! No one else did.

[miched]

Arturo was great.  After a few days we requested him as a server.  When he came to the table he thanked us for asking for him and said it meant a lot.  
 

He was one of the few that we gave a tip to that smiled along with a really nice thank you as we handed him the envelope.  
 

It was the first time we didn’t give 10s in everything.  In some areas we gave a 2.  Many 5 to 6.   There will probably be a red flag 🚩after our names when we get on the next cruise.  🤗
 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[MEcruzr]

LOL Us, too! I did not give all 10s either. We gave extra to Arturo and Rose. That was it this time. I was happy with the folks at Guest Relations... when they were decorating for Halloween I there grabbing a crossword puzzle and mentioned that I had extra Halloween "caution tape" if they wanted it. I brought 2 packages down and showed him a picture of our cabin door. He wrote down our cabin number. I couldn't think why... until a bottle of wine was delivered to our cabin from GR! I thought that was pretty nice of them and totally unexpected/necessary.

[calicakes]

I know I'm late to the party, but wow, that accessible inside cabin looks almost exactly like the accessible AQ cabin we had in September.  Super large for an inside. 

[miched]

3 hours ago, MEcruzr said:

LOL Us, too! I did not give all 10s either. We gave extra to Arturo and Rose. That was it this time. I was happy with the folks at Guest Relations... when they were decorating for Halloween I there grabbing a crossword puzzle and mentioned that I had extra Halloween "caution tape" if they wanted it. I brought 2 packages down and showed him a picture of our cabin door. He wrote down our cabin number. I couldn't think why... until a bottle of wine was delivered to our cabin from GR! I thought that was pretty nice of them and totally unexpected/necessary.

Nice.

 

It is those little things that make a difference.  
 

Was your cabin on deck 12 Starboard?   We seen a door that had a large Halloween plastic sheet decoration and I think a sign that said the witch is in.  

We talked to a few of the passengers in the Retreat Lounge but don’t remember any from Maine and would have mentioned that our DIL and her family are from there. 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[MEcruzr]

No, we were on deck 10 starboard. 

 

We met two couples from Maine in the lounge! I was traveling with my mother. 

[Reel Love]

4 hours ago, MEcruzr said:

 

Great door decorations!!!!!  

[MEcruzr]

35 minutes ago, Reel Love said:

Great door decorations!!!!!  

 

Thanks! I cruise with my 88 yo mom... she gets such a kick out of it. It helps her find our cabin, too. LOL

[Reel Love]

1 minute ago, MEcruzr said:

 

Thanks! I cruise with my 88 yo mom... she gets such a kick out of it. It helps her find our cabin, too. LOL

LOL....that's great!  I'm considering taking my almost 80 y.o. mother on a cruise and that is a brilliant way of helping someone on their first cruise to find their cabin (and just so there is no age discrimination, it would help me too as I am geographically challenged 😄)

[sdnich]

Hi Norma it’s Stefanie & David from San Diego it was nice to meet you on the cruise had a fun and good time dancing up in the sky lounge. We just got home Saturday from the second part of our B to B. We had a great time on both and I don’t know if we noticed as much of the poor service as you did!  sorry to hear that!! Now there  were definitely areas that were busier than others and a little slow service but we were never in a hurry ! Maybe our paths will meet again.

cheers!!🥂

[h20cruzer]

On 11/7/2019 at 7:29 AM, MEcruzr said:

Looks like an airline (American?) club room.

No its United.

[h20cruzer]

On 11/7/2019 at 7:36 AM, MEcruzr said:

We were also on this cruise. The captain was not readily available or "out and about". We went to one show, the comedian Ralph Harris. I agree that the production shows are a thing of the past. We only saw the CD there... once. The CC host was Jeffrey... we saw him once because we only went to the captain's club happy hour once. I can't speak to the entertainers in the bars/lounges. I do know they had a couple live band/singers on deck 3 near GR, under the glass elevators... so the music reached up past deck 10. The female singer was really good... the male, ok. They also did dance lessons there many days... and that music also drifted up. The Ensemble lounge had live music at night that seemed to draw a very large crowd. 

I agree with everything Mecruzr said, although I didn't see Ralph Harris.

Norma

Edited November 17, 2019 by h20cruzer
spelling

[h20cruzer]

On 11/7/2019 at 5:44 PM, helen haywood said:

Regarding the light not going on in the accessible rest room stalls, are you sure people were hitting the “lock” button once inside?  I find most new cruisers have no idea they need to hit that button and if they don’t the light doesn’t go on and someone can hit the button outside to open the door as it’s not locked.

Yes, when I tried to open person said busy. I then tried going in hitting the lock button and peeking out light not lit.

Light needed to be replaced.

[h20cruzer]

On 11/7/2019 at 7:29 AM, MEcruzr said:

Looks like an airline (American?) club room.

That's the United lounge at Ft. Lauderdale airport.

[h20cruzer]

On 11/7/2019 at 12:26 PM, george35 said:

We were given as a perk the CLASSIC drink pkg which I know is up to $9 per drink but my question is all my wife drinks is a LEMON DROP can anyone tell me if that is in the $9 limit???

 

george35

I belive the small lemon drop would be included but not the big martini's served at the Martini Bar.