First time Celebrity cruise impressions: Equinox July 25

[Elkins45]

I just finished my Celebrity survey so while it's still fresh in my head I thought I would come here and share my thoughts for better or worse.

 

My wife and I sailed on the July 25-August 1 first return to service sailing of the Equinox. This was my fifth cruise and first with X, the previous ones being either Carnival or Princess. Rather than trying to compose a narrative I'm just going to post bullet points and you can decide whether they are positives or negatives.

 

• This is only the second cruise I've paid for, Alaska being the other. My wife gets "free" cruise offers from he casino all the time so our other cruises have only cost tips, port fees and transport to the port. We paid close to $1800 for the two of us for an inside cabin.
• The embarkation process wasn't bad. I used a X transfer from the airpot and met my wife, who was already in town after sailing on the Edge by herself the previous week. We were scheduled for 2:00 but they did let us on a little early, which was nice because their transfer company dropped me off around 12:00 and the sun was hot. There wasn't great communication between the workers because you could ask the same question to two different people and get different answers.
• We were in cabin 7150. It was extremely clean and in great condition but it was easily the tiniest cabin I've ever been in. The beds were curved at the foot so no matter how I tried to position myself one foot was hanging off. Fortunately I don't go on cruises to spend a lot of time in my cabin.
• The ship was elegant in an understated way. Very nice, spotless and quite comfortable. I can't say it was a whole level of luxury above the Princess ships I've experienced, but it was very nice.
• The Captain and Cruise Director were nice and personable. The Captain did a donut in the harbor to celebrate their return to cruising and he seemed quite proud of it. He did a talk about the building and operation of the ship and was both funny and informative.
• Buffet was served. You grab your plate and the servers handle the utensils and put the food on it for you. I never had to wait more than a couple of minutes so it wasn't an inconvenience at all. I actually liked this better than the old way of everybody putting their filthy hands on the spoons. Given we were sailing at reduced capacity I'm not certain how well it will work once they return to 100%.
• Service in the main dining room started out very slow and improved only to moderately slow by the end of the cruise. You could tell the staff hadn't worked together before and so they were not communicating well and getting in each other's way. I expect this will improve a lot in coming weeks and they develop a routine.
• Overall food quality was excellent. I think this was probably the best food of any of my (admittedly few) cruises. I thin there was only one entree that I didn't care for and that might just have been a taste preference and not a quality issue. If I had access to food this good at home I would weigh 400 pounds!
• I was told that since Celebrity is a premium cruise line I would see a different level of behavior than the Carnival ("the Walmart of cruise lines") crowd, but I didn't see as much of a difference as I was expecting. There were not as many loud, public drunks but they were just replaced by more people being jerks to the staff. Some people just love being bullies and apparently poor foreign cruise ship staff just trying to make a meager living are their favorite targets. The poor girl who stood outside the buffet directing people to wash their hands took way more abuse than anyone should have to endure. I saw some really nasty and uncalled for behavior from people who were old enough to know better.
• The shows were great. They had two well-known comedians, Dan Grueter and Ronn Lucas, as well as some great production shows. Best dancers I've seen on a cruise.
• The reduced capacity made many things easier. You hardly ever had to wait for an elevator and leaving/entering the ship at the ports was speedy.

 

My overall impression is that we had a great time, and it was great to get back out on the ocean on a big ship again. My enthusiasm was somewhat tempered because between the time in late May when we booked and the time we sailed three of the original ports (PR, DR and Tortola) were deleted. Of the three ports we visited (St. Marrten, St. Thomas and Nassau) only one was on the schedule when I paid for the cruise. I know we could have shifted but my wife had a short time window and we wold have lost $400 in flight change fees. I really wanted to see PR and had already been to 2/3 of the ports we visited.

 

We had a good time and both agree we would do it again, but based on this one example I'm not sure that I see as big of a difference between the X experience and my four previous cruises on 'lower tier' lines as I was expecting based on this forum.

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Elkins45

[BSR]

Enjoyed reading your review. 

[MR_T]

Always great to hear what a first time celebrity cruiser thinks, especially when they have some experience of other mass market ships of similar size. 
 

regarding the rude guests unfortunately this is something we’ve experienced on most if not all of our cruises (around 20 in total with around 15 on celebrity) some people are just born without any manners or basic decency towards other human beings. 

[jagoffee]

Elkins45, good to hear that you enjoyed your cruise.
 

 What airlines did you fly?  I am curious as to who is still charging a change fee.

 

I have never cruised in an inside cabin.  Are you saying that Celebrity’s inside cabins are smaller than Princess’s inside cabins?

[Silkroad]

Thanks for posting your review. Though we’ve considered other lines, we’ve only sailed Celebrity to date, so your comparisons are quite helpful. 
 

Sadly, we’ve seen some obnoxious passengers on occasion. I’m sure it’s gotten worse since the pandemic began. Selfishly, I’m hoping they won’t be on our upcoming cruises😂

[better_at_sea]

I love Solstice-class ships! Personally I've had slightly better experiences on Celebrity compared to Princess and Norwegian, but I have yet to try Royal Caribbean. 

 

I'm happy to hear that guests are being served at the Buffet. As a germaphobe I hope they keep it that way 😉 

 

 

[Cruise a holic]

Thank you for the review.  Hopefully, you can try a sky suite or above and enjoy the amenities of that level of service.  Really a great experience.

[mlanders]

Did the menu change each night in each of the for dining rooms? I can not tell if they keep same menu each night.  Maybe each MDR has a different special nightly?

[Jim_Iain]

Thank   you for a well balanced review.   Many of us love hearing about how things are going as Celebrity starts up their cruises. 

[Cg52]

Thank you. Very helpful review. I would suggest trying them again when they have time to get everything up to speed. You may see a difference then.

[bama4cruisin]

1 hour ago, mlanders said:

Did the menu change each night in each of the for dining rooms? I can not tell if they keep same menu each night.  Maybe each MDR has a different special nightly?

The OP sailed on Equinox, which is an Solstice (S) class ship.  The S class and Millennium (M) class ships have one MDR (complementary)as well as various specialty restaurants which are for a fee.  Edge class ships have 4 smaller dining rooms which comprise the MDR as well as specialty restaurants.

 

In the MDR on S and M class ships, the menu changes daily.  However, there is a section of “classics”, also referred to as always available, which remain the same throughout the cruise and across all ships.

 

On E class ships, the menus of the 4 restaurants that are MDR’s have 3 sections:  the rotating menu that is one night per cruise (that is the same in all 4 restaurants), the “classics”, and a few options that are called “exclusives” to that restaurant.  The exclusives remain the same throughout the cruise, and while not on the menus of the other 3 restaurants can still be ordered in any of the 4.

 

On all ships, the menus in the specialty restaurants are the same every night.

 

 

[TeaBag]

I'm glad you enjoyed your Celebrity cruise and took the time to give us your impressions. 

DH always says the thing he likes best about cruising is the people he meets and the thing he likes least is the people he meets.  Sorry you had to meet the jerks.

I would like to encourage you to sail with Celebrity again in a balcony cabin.  Since you now are in Classic tier you can get a one category upgrade in most categories at time of booking.  That means you could book the lowest balcony category, 2D on Solstice class and upgrade to 2C etc.

 

The following is copied from the Celebrity web site:

Classic Perks

• All Preview-level perks
• Special welcome event
• Access to exclusive events on special sailings
• One pre-cruise category upgrade to AquaClass (where available)
• 10% discount on internet access and upgrades
• 25% discount on photo packages (print or digital)
• $100 off The Studio photo package
• 5% discount on Premium Beverage Package upgrades when purchased pre-cruise
• One complimentary scoop of gelato

Happy cruising.

[Elkins45]

3 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Elkins45, good to hear that you enjoyed your cruise.
 

 What airlines did you fly?  I am curious as to who is still charging a change fee.

 

I have never cruised in an inside cabin.  Are you saying that Celebrity’s inside cabins are smaller than Princess’s inside cabins?

We flew Delta but we booked using Flights by Celebrity. I’m not sure but my impression was that the change fee was to Celebrity.

 

I’m saying this particular inside cabin was smaller (or at least felt that way) than the ones we had on the other lines. This particular cabin might be unusual in that regard. It’s a sample size of one 🙂

[FLCruiser97]

Thanks for your review. I have often found that with many seasoned cruisers, they tend to stick with the brand that they are comfortable with and won't venture out to see what the other lines have to offer. Elkins45, you now have comparisons.

[HappyCamper49]

On 8/4/2021 at 10:18 AM, MR_T said:

Always great to hear what a first time celebrity cruiser thinks, especially when they have some experience of other mass market ships of similar size. 
 

regarding the rude guests unfortunately this is something we’ve experienced on most if not all of our cruises (around 20 in total with around 15 on celebrity) some people are just born without any manners or basic decency towards other human beings. 

Wonder how these rude bullies would feel if they were treated in the same manner as they dish out to the poor staff?