Equinox March 13th, 2022

[TMaine]

Hi All,

We just got off of Equinox yesterday and had a wonderful cruise!   One of the best yet!  The staff were mostly great, the food was very good in the MDR, Tuscan and Sushi on 5.  Embarkation and debarkation were smooth and very quick in terminal 25, in fact so quick that we didn't even have time to admire the new terminal.   The ship is beautiful and when in port next to other brands, it really stood out!  

I was told by staff that there were 1,500 pax on this cruise.  I think on day 9 or 10 the captain said there were 3 positive covid cases amongst passengers and that was all that I heard mentioned about it.   Most people choose not to wear masks but it seemed a few started wearing them after that announcement. 

The entertainment was mostly very good but like food, this opinion can be very subjective! 

Best excursion:  Calabaza catamaran in Barbados, absolutely great day and met some really nice people from the ship and folks who were on a land based vacation.   

We did have one issue and that was someone smoking on their balcony the first two days.  We went to guest relations and they moved us to another room.

Anyway, happy to answer any questions! 

 

[cheeseheads4ever]

We are sailing on Equinox on January 2,  2023. I know a ways out but are very excited to have one booked. Wondering how soon can you book excursions for a cruise? we are less than 9 months out.  Just want to make sure we don’t book something then something better comes out. We’ve cruised a lot but just don’t remember how soon we can book excursions. 
Sorry to hear you had to move because someone was rude and careless. I would of had a problem with having to pack up and move so a smoker can break the rules. Probably hard to figure out where is was coming from.

Did you get any deals on specialty dining? How was martini bar? was casino generous?

Any other excursion recommendations? Not sure if we have the same intinerary.

Thanks for any info in advance!

 

 

 

[Bstein493]

Happy to see this review.  We are on the Equinox May 6th..9 day to the ABC's

[39august]

Last Sept. on Equinox the first day I told my husband that someone nearby was smoking  because I smelled it as soon as i walked out on our balcony.. This was in  sky suite. Sure enough, we found out that evening from the Retreat host that our next door neighbor had been visited by officers who told him he would be fined if this happened a second time. Also told him if he broke the smoking rules again, he would be disembarked.  I much prefer this approach to the situation instead of moving you to a different cabin. I would not have liked that at all. Why should you have to be disrupted? Other than that sounds like a great cruise. We will be back on EQ in May for b2b. Hope we still have  a lower than usual capacity. It was wonderful back in Sept. Best cruise ever.

Edited March 26, 2022 by 39august

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, TMaine said:

Hi All,

We just got off of Equinox yesterday and had a wonderful cruise!   One of the best yet!  The staff were mostly great, the food was very good in the MDR, Tuscan and Sushi on 5.  Embarkation and debarkation were smooth and very quick in terminal 25, in fact so quick that we didn't even have time to admire the new terminal.   The ship is beautiful and when in port next to other brands, it really stood out!  

I was told by staff that there were 1,500 pax on this cruise.  I think on day 9 or 10 the captain said there were 3 positive covid cases amongst passengers and that was all that I heard mentioned about it.   Most people choose not to wear masks but it seemed a few started wearing them after that announcement. 

The entertainment was mostly very good but like food, this opinion can be very subjective! 

Best excursion:  Calabaza catamaran in Barbados, absolutely great day and met some really nice people from the ship and folks who were on a land based vacation.   

We did have one issue and that was someone smoking on their balcony the first two days.  We went to guest relations and they moved us to another room.

Anyway, happy to answer any questions! 

 

 

Good to read that you had a nice cruise.  Also good to read that your Calabaza sailing went well.

[TMaine]

58 minutes ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

We are sailing on Equinox on January 2,  2023. I know a ways out but are very excited to have one booked. Wondering how soon can you book excursions for a cruise? we are less than 9 months out.  Just want to make sure we don’t book something then something better comes out. We’ve cruised a lot but just don’t remember how soon we can book excursions. 
Sorry to hear you had to move because someone was rude and careless. I would of had a problem with having to pack up and move so a smoker can break the rules. Probably hard to figure out where is was coming from.

Did you get any deals on specialty dining? How was martini bar? was casino generous?

Any other excursion recommendations? Not sure if we have the same intinerary.

Thanks for any info in advance!

 

 

 

I don't think you can book any excursions until after final payment but you may be able to review them before that. 

Guest relations was very accommodating and said they would try to figure out who it was but never heard if they had. 

They are usually running a deal for 30% off specialty dining the first night.  We did this for Tuscan.  They also have packages for multiple nights and your choice of restaurant but honestly not a huge savings especially if you choose Sushi on 5 as one of them.  We are glad we didn't do a package because the MDR was so good!  Much better than Millennium last September. 

We didn't visit the martini bar or the casino this time but the martini bar was well attended each night and everyone seemed to be having a great time! 

[cheeseheads4ever]

Martini Bar is always a hit for us especially cause the casino is next to it. I can have a drink and visit then my DW can go spend a few dollars. We’ve always had good luck but you know don’t spend what you can’t afford to lose.

Love silent Disco and fUll Moon Party. Now we are talking from 2019 so maybe things have changed.

Glad you had a fabulous time and we are so looking forward to going.

Thanks for the info much appreciated..If you think of anything else please send.

[cheeseheads4ever]

I actually do have another question? Go figure. How were things as far as supply’s or running out of during cruise? Things they were out of at the bars? Staff shortages which I’m expecting Yes. 
Just curious. We’re you disappointed in any way? We’ve been on a lot of a celebrity cruises and loved them all No issues…

Thank you!

[TMaine]

1 hour ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

I actually do have another question? Go figure. How were things as far as supply’s or running out of during cruise? Things they were out of at the bars? Staff shortages which I’m expecting Yes. 
Just curious. We’re you disappointed in any way? We’ve been on a lot of a celebrity cruises and loved them all No issues…

Thank you!

If there were any shortages, either staff or supplies, they weren't evident to us.  We didn't hear of anything either. 

We were a little disappointed that we left Porr Everglades late due to a maintenance problem (apparently a broken pipe) so didn't sail until 3am so we got to St Croix late and our excursion was canceled. 

[cheeseheads4ever]

Thanks so much for quick response…

[terrydtx]

14 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

We are sailing on Equinox on January 2,  2023. I know a ways out but are very excited to have one booked. Wondering how soon can you book excursions for a cruise? we are less than 9 months out.  Just want to make sure we don’t book something then something better comes out. We’ve cruised a lot but just don’t remember how soon we can book excursions. 
Sorry to hear you had to move because someone was rude and careless. I would of had a problem with having to pack up and move so a smoker can break the rules. Probably hard to figure out where is was coming from.

Did you get any deals on specialty dining? How was martini bar? was casino generous?

Any other excursion recommendations? Not sure if we have the same intinerary.

Thanks for any info in advance!

 

 

 

We were in a Sky Suite on the Equinox last August and loved the ship. We are booked on the Reflection in August this year and we were able to book excursions through our account online since January when we booked the cruise. You should be able to book now and cancel if something better comes up later. Enjoy your cruise.

[cheeseheads4ever]

Thanks so much! Will go on Celebrity and check it out.

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, TMaine said:

We did have one issue and that was someone smoking on their balcony the first two days.  We went to guest relations and they moved us to another room.

 

They moved you to another room instead of stopping the person from smoking on the balcony?  Strange.  Unless it left a smoke smell and you requested the move.  Did you get a better cabin?

[terrydtx]

9 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

They moved you to another room instead of stopping the person from smoking on the balcony?  Strange.  Unless it left a smoke smell and you requested the move.  Did you get a better cabin?

Not always do you know which cabin has the smoker unless it is directly next to yours. Smoke smell can travel some distance.

Edited March 27, 2022 by terrydtx

[SandG]

18 hours ago, TMaine said:

Hi All,

We just got off of Equinox yesterday and had a wonderful cruise!   
<...>

Best excursion:  Calabaza catamaran in Barbados, absolutely great day and met some really nice people from the ship and folks who were on a land based vacation.   

We did have one issue and that was someone smoking on their balcony the first two days.  We went to guest relations and they moved us to another room.

<--->

 

We were on the same sailing and I wholeheartedly agree with the rating of "wonderful".  We loved the itinerary and our food was very good.  We ate in the MDR all but 1 night.  We had a couple of disappointments only because our expectations are always so high on Celebrity, and so we had no complaints there.  The wait staff was great.

We definitely noticed and were very spoiled by the low capacity!  There was no problem getting a table by the window in the buffet, the MDR or the Tuscan Grille.  🙂   The same goes with getting a good seat in the lounges and theater.  The elevators also arrived quicker!  I'd say this greatly enhanced our enjoyment of the cruise.  It's going to be tough going back to full capacity after this.

Our best excursion was also on a catamaran in Barbados - Silver Moon.  We had sailed with them 3 other times and Calabaza was booked early anyway.  Calabaza put us on a wait list, but I think they lost track of us because I noticed that there were some openings later on.  At that point we decided to stick with SM and we had a terrific time anyway - we love their luxury cat.  Like Calabaza, they sail with only 12 passengers.  It was funny, we two were the only people from a cruise ship on our tour (I was getting rather nervous when waiting for pickup when there were no others with us).  The others were 2 English couples sharing an Airbnb, and a business man working in Barbados, entertaining a visiting brother and both their families, and they were all so nice and a whole lot of fun.  They asked us lots of questions about our cruise, and we were asked several times when our ship leaves as they were very concerned that we make it back to the ship on time.  😄

We also noticed a cigarette smell on our balcony early in the cruise.  I couldn't figure where it was coming from, and we weren't using the balcony so much in the first few days anyway.  We didn't notice anything later on, so I'm guessing that someone figured out the source and shut it down.  It's nice to hear that guest relations was so accommodating to you.  

[TMaine]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

They moved you to another room instead of stopping the person from smoking on the balcony?  Strange.  Unless it left a smoke smell and you requested the move.  Did you get a better cabin?

They said that sometimes it is difficult to find out who was smoking and we were unable to tell where it was coming from.  We were on deck 8, starboard, midship.  The first two days were sea days and we were cruising at 19+ knots so they were quite sure it was not coming from the deck 5 smoking areas.  They moved us to deck 10 port, midship and yes, a better cabin.   The stateroom attendant helped move us so it was no trouble for us at all.  

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, TMaine said:

They said that sometimes it is difficult to find out who was smoking and we were unable to tell where it was coming from.  We were on deck 8, starboard, midship.  The first two days were sea days and we were cruising at 19+ knots so they were quite sure it was not coming from the deck 5 smoking areas.  They moved us to deck 10 port, midship and yes, a better cabin.   The stateroom attendant helped move us so it was no trouble for us at all.  

Nice!  Glad it worked out for you.

[Wrunkles]

We were on this cruise too and had such an awesome time.  Our room attendant told us about the 3 cases but we never heard the captain mention that.  It was hard to hear him sometimes depending on where we were. 

I smelled smoke out on our balcony a few times.  We were on 7 midship port side.  I just figured it was a smoking area above us.  That was really nice for them to move you.  The staff were all so nice.  I'm having a hard time adjusting back to reality..lol

[lola2013]

On 3/26/2022 at 3:01 PM, TMaine said:

 

Best excursion:  Calabaza catamaran in Barbados, absolutely great day and met some really nice people from the ship and folks who were on a land based vacation.   

 

 

Totally agree about Calabaza.  We have done it twice pre-pandemic and it is by far the best day of the trip.  Sadly, we were not able to do it this past January when we sailed on Reflection.   Along with several others from our roll call, we booked Calabaza months in advance.  As recently as about ten days prior, all was good.  Then right before flying down to Ft. Lauderdale, we got a note from Calabaza letting us know that we couldn't do the sail because we would be mixing with land-based people.  The Celebrity "bubble" wouldn't allow us to mix.  We ended up doing the Celebrity Beach Break excursion and were at the beach where Calabaza was allowing snorkeling.  Talk about a punch in the gut!!!  So close and yet so far away!!!

Anyway, glad you enjoyed Equinox; we are booked for next February.  No Barbados on that trip, but someday..............

[babs21]

Will be cruising next month on Equinox. We have previously sailed on equinox and dined at Sushi on 5. Pricing was ala carte. Does Sushi on 5 offer ala carte prices or just flat fee?

[terrydtx]

49 minutes ago, babs21 said:

Will be cruising next month on Equinox. We have previously sailed on equinox and dined at Sushi on 5. Pricing was ala carte. Does Sushi on 5 offer ala carte prices or just flat fee?

Still ala carte for all menu items.

[kdawg954]

1 hour ago, babs21 said:

Will be cruising next month on Equinox. We have previously sailed on equinox and dined at Sushi on 5. Pricing was ala carte. Does Sushi on 5 offer ala carte prices or just flat fee?

 

I dined there and used one of my Dining package nights.  This was in 2017 though, so maybe things changed, but I just don't think its known that you can do this.

 

It was great as I was able to try so much stuff on the menu.

[daddyslittle girl]

On 3/26/2022 at 4:34 PM, Bstein493 said:

Happy to see this review.  We are on the Equinox May 6th..9 day to the ABC's

We,too will be on May 6th sailing,looking forward to it!