Equinox cabin selection help

[ShedQueen77]

Hello all! I'm new to the Celebrity board, so please be patient with the newbie! :D

 

I'm excited to be surprising my husband with an anniversary cruise on Equinox. We were married in Barbados in January and fell in love with the Southern Caribbean as a whole. We cruised Carnival the first time around and while we had a fantastic time, we wanted to try a new-to-us line for this repeat vacation. We were looking for a more upscale experience, and it looks like Celebrity fits that bill for us.

 

I've been doing a lot of reading and it looks like I stumbled onto Celebrity's newest ship. Purely by accident, but what a great price! I never expected to find a price competitive with Carnival. For that I am grateful and excited!

 

I'm having a bit of a dilemma picking a cabin. I'm looking for just a normal, run of the mill balcony cabin, which are what the 1A, 2B, and 2C's are, correct? The Sunrise deck looks to be the deck between two decks of cabins, which is where we generally like to be.

 

However, the categories are confusing me. What is the difference between 1A, 2B, and 2C? Just the location of the cabin? The sizes look to be the same, unless I missed something. Do I want to be on the "hump" part or should I look for something more off to the sides of the "humps"?

 

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. As soon as I can get this cabin thing figured out, I'll be on my way to joining the elite ranks of a Celebrity cruiser! :D

 

ETA another question: Would you consider Celebrity to be a line that would be OK for kids? I'm still undecided if this cruise will be for just us or we'll be bringing them along.

[hajekfam]

The difference between 1A, 2A, 2B, etc is location. They are all regular verandah cabins.

As far as a "good" cabin (the one with a little more balcony, a slightly larger cabin, etc.) for those categories - no one really knows until the Solstice is finished and has its first cruise (12/14/08). Solstice is the first ship of its class for Celebrity and is very different from the other classes. The Equinox will be built the same as the Solstice.

[dkjretired]

In answer to the second part of your question, Celebrity is a great line for traveling with kids. I took mine on 8 cruises over the course of the years and their programs are highly underated.

[Conrycol]

I'll second the kid part, we took our 3 kids this past February and are booked on the Solstice this coming February with all of us again. The kids will have a great time on the ship!

[ShedQueen77]

Thank you for your replies. I didn't know if there was any special "secrets" about the locations of the cabins or anything like that. ;) I'll be awaiting replies for those who get to go before me.

 

I'm glad to hear that the children's program is good. I was worried about them not fitting in on the ship.

[forensic]

Your husband sure has a great wife and what a great present you have selected! As far as cabin selection is concerned the former poster is correct. No one will know any "inside tips" until a number of people have sailed on the Solstice starting in mid-December. As you look at the deck plans, the cabins that are on the edges of the hump have slightly larger balconies, such as 7219, 7241, near the stern 7303 or 7305 look like they have very nice balconies. If you would want to spend the extra money Sunset Verandah Staterooms are terrific. On Celebrity's M class ships the Aft Staterooms all have extra large balconies, no one knows yet if the Solstice or Equinox will also have that feature but many people will book those staterooms anyway. They aft of the ship offers great views and my DH and I have always found them to be very quiet as long as you are not right under the Aft lounge deck.

 

My personal feelings are that you will be happy in whatever stateroom you select. These are going to be beautiful ships and I think Celebrity will do their very best to ensure that everyone enjoys their cruise.

 

I agree that if you do take your children they will have a great time! The children's area looks fabulous!

 

Bon Voyage! And welcome to this board! Which cruise are you going on?

[ShedQueen77]

Thank you for your kind words! :) You had some great advice to get started with. I will be checking regularly when those reviews start rolling in.

 

I chose the 10 night out of Ft. Lauderdale. We were married in Barbados while on board a Carnival cruise and really would like to go back. There are also two 'new to us' ports along the way, St. Kitts and St. Martin.

 

I did notice Celebrity's new smoking policy though. (Wow, please don't start the arguments! lol I've been around these boards enough to know how this can roll! :D) This *may* pose a small problem, but I think it'd be worth moving the duff to a smoking area when the need arises to have the opportunity to sail on such a new, beautiful ship! :)

[forensic]

We love St. Maarten's have been there a few times and will be going back twice this December on the Solstice. It is one of our favorite places. I hope you both like it also.

 

I am pretty much anti-smoking as I have had too many burn holes in my clothes from the smokers that pay no attention or have a little too much to drink. IMO the smokers have only fellow smokers to blame for the smoking bans. BUT I do think that smokers will still find plenty of pleasant places to smoke. Usually the aft deck bar is a great place. My DH smokes cigars, only when we cruise because he can get good Cubans when we cruise and he and I almost always go to the Aft Bar for a quiet drink and his cigar after dinner. I like cigars, they smell good and he smokes less than a dozen a year. He is also VERY conscience of where the smoke is blowing and if he cannot avoid it blowing in someone's face - he put it out!

 

I wish you a wonderful cruise!! If you liked Carnival I think you will LOVE Celebrity! IMO;)

[ShedQueen77]

We're cruising in January in an oceanview cabin, which means no smoking in the cabin anyhow. Since there is no balcony, I'll have to move my tush somewhere else to smoke. We may be allowed to smoke in the cabins (Carnival), but I refuse to do it. Way too confined of a space and everything in there would reek. YUCK!

 

My husband still doesn't know what I'm working on! lol It's HARD to keep quiet about it.

[FinelyCruising]

We love St. Maarten's have been there a few times and will be going back twice this December on the Solstice. It is one of our favorite places. I hope you both like it also.

 

 

 

 

I love St Maarten too. Every time we go we find something new to do. Of course that is right after jewelry shopping.