Review of the Celebrity Equinox

Treated like a Celebrity!

written by CliveNorwich posted on 26/02/12

I apologise in advance that my review is lengthy but I hope you read it all and find it informative. I've have found several reviews that have proved useful so hope that mine will prove useful to you.

After a very long flight (after 90 minutes sitting on the tarmac at Heathrow before we left) my partner and a close friend arrived at MIA. The flight with BA was ok, acceptable food, bar service and frequent water or orange juice top ups to make sure we were staying hydrated. The legroom was ok but the seat width wasn't good, it took us a while to find ?our? spot but every time someone moved an overhead light came on or the Entertainment System's channel got changed! Either BA has reduced the seat width or my girth has expanded since I last flew with BA! On arrival at MIA although we were only 10th, 11th and 12th from the Immigration desk it still took over an hour to migrate our way through; saying that our Immigration Office was the first I've come across in the states with a personality and a sense of humour! By the time we got to luggage reclaim our luggage had been removed and stacked by the wall and we joined the long queue for US Customs. Finally over 2 hours after arriving we were met by the Celebrity reps and a short while later we were on our mini van on the way to Fort Lauderdale.

About 45 minutes later we were in our Room at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel, in one of the hotel's wings over looking the Marina. I'd been hoping for a Tower Room over looking Port Everglades but we weren't disappointed with the room we'd been allocated. All in all it's a nice hotel, with good facilities and a much better location than the Marriott Hotel Princess use at Doral. Considering we?d now been up for over 24 hours we just wanted a quiet dinner so decided not to get a cab to one of the many restaurants located around the Marina but eat in the Hotel's "The G" Bar. The burgers were excellent, however with a beer, taxes and 18% gratuities the bill was $27 per person. There were only feather pillows in the room, but a call to reception resulted in hypoallergenic pillows arriving within minutes.

At check-in we?d been given a letter saying to meet in Reception at 10.30am for our transfer to the ship; however when wandering through reception at 9am the following morning there were Celebrity Staff there already handing out numbers for the order to get on the coaches. We were already numbers 49, 50, and 51; they were expecting nearly 300 guests. Even with numbers when the first coach arrived at 11am our fellow guests tried to make it a free for all to get on the coach however the Celebrity and Hotel staff organised 'us' very well! After a short journey, virtually across the road we arrived at the Terminal and headed through Security to the Concierge Check-in, had our 'welcome aboard' photos taken and we onboard with our Welcome Champagne by 11.30am! Well done Celebrity!

For two of us who have already been on Eclipse before, Equinox felt very familiar as we boarded. As our Rooms weren't ready until 1pm we headed up to the Lido Deck with the intention of familiarising ourselves with the ship from the top downwards and decided to wait for lunch until after being able to drop our bags off. However the tour got postponed at the Sunset bar as we deciding to stop for Frozen Daiquiris! We eventually started our tour just as the announcements we made the Staterooms were ready so headed down to deck 9!

Equinox felt like she was new and showed no signs of wear and tear; apart from a few spots of rust here and there. Everywhere was kept spotlessly clean with dirty glasses and crockery etc being cleared away in the bars and Oceanview Café really quickly. Not once did we have trouble finding a table in the Oceanview Café and Bar. The pool butlers were also very evident around the decks, removing books, towels etc reserving sunbeds and restocking towels on a very regular basis. We never struggled to get a sunbed ? although personally we preferred sitting on the Solstice Deck away from the music and crowds. At entrances to restaurants, and when coming back on board, staff were there with bacterial hand gel. Most passengers were happy with this process however some American guests refused; one saying loudly "why would I want any of that" and pushed the young lady out of the way and made his way to the elevator! I'm sure if there had been a Norovirus outbreak he would have been the first to complain that Celebrity did nothing about it!

When I first went on Eclipse I thought she lacked the "WOW" that you get in the public areas of Princess or Cunard ships; however I actually think there is an understated "WOW" and now love the elegance and fineness on board the Solstice Class ships. I think all the glitz and glamour of other ships would now feel too much!

The age group of our fellow passengers was very much at the upper end of the spectrum, which some fellow passengers, who sail with Celebrity a lot, said wasn't the norm. However this meant that during the evening the ship did lack atmosphere. We were on Select Dining however during the time between the fixed seating dining times we had the bars to ourselves. The only area that was ever packed was the Equinox Theatre where you struggled to get a seat unless you were happy to get there at least 30 minutes before! For the second production show we got there at least 20 minutes before and couldn?t find a seat! Luckily a few people left shortly after the show started so we were able to get seats. Overall the Entertainment was excellent especially "Equinox" the Cirque du Soleil style show and the Broadway Night. Former West End star Lindsay Hamilton also put on a good show; her interaction with the audience was a joy! Once the show finished though the public areas once again became like a ghost ship. I would imagine though that there were seats available at the second shows! I would hope that the ghost ship feel was as a result of the elderly passengers and not a Celebrity norm. The only night there was any atmosphere was the night of the Chocolate Buffet!

Talking of lack of atmosphere - I think Celebrity really miss a trick on formal nights; other cruise lines really make a thing of them, providing cocktails, photographers and officers out in force and making a really party of it with the atrium becoming the heart of the ship. On the first formal night we went down to the Grand Foyer for a pre-dinner drinks at 7pm to find everywhere deserted; no cocktails, no officers, no photographers (just signs up with times the photographers are on duty which are geared around fixed seating dining) and to be honest no other staff around - other than the regular bar staff! It was like anyone on Select Dining wasn't invited to the party! We had dinner reservations for 7.45pm - just the time the photographers (and the Captain if you wanted a photo with him) came back on duty - ok the photographers were in the dining room taking shots over dinner but by the time we sat down to dinner they were back out in the public areas taking photos of those on second sitting - so we missed out twice!! I would hope that there was more "entertainment" going on around the fixed seating dining times but we have to say we were VERY disappointed! We ended up taking our own photographers on the Grand Staircase and getting other disappointed passengers to help us out in return for us taking some of them! After dinner we hunted down one of the elusive animals (a photographer) and managed to get our formal photos taken! The other disappointment was that Formal Nights weren't adhered to in the Restaurants. To be honest you couldnt really tell the difference between formal nights and the normal "smart casual" as several men were in shirt sleeves and not wearing ties. Lounge suits appeared to be the norm and we felt a little overdressed in our dinner suits and finery! It didn't feel special at all! Celebrity should police this more or stop doing formal nights!

It was really nice that throughout the cruise the senior offices were out and about showing their faces and mingling with the passengers; some even enjoying a coffee in Café al Bacio - they even took part in events, volleyball, fashion shows etc. It was clear that Celebrity felt it was important they are seen!

As already said we selected "Select (Anytime) Dining" and decided to stay in the MDR rather than try any of the speciality restaurants as to be honest the food was the best we ever had on a cruise, fantastic choice, well prepared and beautifully presented. We had a fantastic team of waiters on our first night; we felt the team on the second night (formal night) rushed us through our meal so on the third night we asked to be seated again with the team from the first night. Natalie (our Hostess) then asked us if we wanted to be seated there every night which we did. We were however in a small dining area at the back of the restaurant so missed out on the glamour of the MDR a bit, but I couldn?t recommend Emrah and Jasper enough. Marko, our Sommelier made up the great trio! Nothing was too much trouble for any of them - including Jasper the under-waiter who every night once the restaurant closed at 11pm would be back on duty at 1am, until 6am, along with four other under-waiters to deep clean the entire Silhouette Restaurant to try and stop any risk from the dreaded Norovirus! He was usually back on duty serving lunch as well! Wine (and drinks) in general were the same price as a hotel or other restaurants, with wine starting at $25 dollars + 15% (about £18). We tended to buy either by the glass or get a bottle which if it went unfinished would appear again the next night. Marko's recommendations were first class every time - not once did he try and "up sell" to get us to buy something more expensive than we intended! A definite must is the Martini Bar with Martinis at $10 - the Apple Martini is to die for!

We usually had Breakfast on our balcony, ordering Room Service via the television the night before ? however most mornings something was missed, ie only two cups, no milk, no cutlery ? however after a phone call this was soon corrected. The most errors happened the two days the TV ordering system was "offline" but again a quick phone call and everything was corrected. Be aware that most morning's breakfast was delivered at least 15 minutes before our booked time slot! We even tried booking a later slot but it still came at about the same time!!

Food in the Oceanview Café was always to a high standard with a really good choice. It took a couple of days to get used to the island layout as several stations are repeated while others aren't! We never had trouble finding a table and there were plenty of staff on hand to help. There were also abundant staff serving extra coffee as well as Sommeliers if you wanted something stronger! You must also make sure you try the Sushi (served from 5pm to 7pm each evening) and the ice-cream which is available all day!

I didn?t think the enrichment programme was as good as other cruises; everything was "chargeable" but didn't actually seem to offer much in return. I think Cunard have it right when it comes to enrichment! We did partake in a great wine tasting though for $20 - plentiful samples of 12 different wines! I don't know if it was the large samples (which you could keep getting refills of) or the rocking of the boat in the Tuscan Grille but I had to have a lie down after the course! Personally I think it was the rocking but my party thinks it was the wine!

If you like shopping there is plenty of choice in the "Shops on the Boulevard" or the "Galleria Boutiques" (selling designer products). We loved the "Equinox" Shop, but felt Celebrity missed out on a simple range of Equinox Postcards ? we desperately wanted to send home some great postcards of the ship but you couldn't! Serendipity was good for some cheap(ish) gifts but also a range of sweets, chocolates and stuff you'd forgotten to bring - toothpaste, suncream, combs, hairbrushes etc. The Duty Free Shop was well stocked and had good prices; Spirits were delivered to your stateroom on the last evening but you could take cigarettes, perfumes etc with you straight away.

We stayed in a Concierge Stateroom (9318) which was in a great position near the Atrium elevators, but often choose to use the stairs as we were only 4 four floors either way from the action! There were three of us staying in the stateroom and we found in general we had plenty of space to move around; some more storage space would have been useful though. We ended up using our cases under the bed for additional storage ? there was plenty of space for 3 large and 3 "cabin bag" sized cases under the bed. There is an additional rail half way down the wardrobe but we found with that in place there wasn't enough space to hang items on the top rail. The bathrooms are the best on any cruise ship, large, plenty of storage and a proper shower cubicle, with a glass surround rather than the usual shower curtain that sticks to you!

Jose, our stateroom attendant looked after us ok, although he didn't come and introduce himself on our first day, until we rang to say he'd only set the stateroom up for two people, two sets of towels, two robes, two glasses etc and only left canapés for two people. He appeared within minutes to come and introduce himself and rectified the problems. He also provided us with a third chair for the balcony on request. He always fulfilled our requests with a smile, but wasn't the most attentive steward I've ever had. A couple of times he seemed to forget there were three of us in the stateroom, when we returned from a day out we?d find only two sets of towels again! We also weren?t offered the "pillow menu" listed as a benefit in Celebrity's blurb; we spoke to Jose about this, he said it wasn't really a menu but if we wanted other pillows he could source some for us!

We'd booked a stateroom with a Sofa-bed, on Princess Cruises this means you get a Sofa that converts to a very comfortable double bed, we checked with both our TA and Celebrity, before booking, that we were getting a proper sofa-bed, suitable for an adult, and not a trundle. However Celebrity's idea of a sofa-bed is a thin mattress placed on top of the sofa (or if it's a child leaving the mattress in the trundle drawer under the sofa) - basically a narrow single bed! Although comfortable for one or two nights it proved to be too narrow and uncomfortable for eleven. Jose also left the mattress on the sofa during the day - tucked behind the back cushions, with the quilt and pillows stored on the coffee table which was wedged between the end of the sofa and the French doors. On previous cruises the bedding has been stored out of sight! We did request that he stored it in the trundle drawer but it never happened. Regarding the sofa I spoke to Guest Relations about the sofa bed arrangement saying their deck plans, their UK call centre and our TA all assured us we were getting a proper sofa-bed - they informed us the arrangement we had was all they had on Celebrity Ships! I'm assuming that all staterooms had the same trundle drawer so not sure why they mark certain staterooms as having a sofa bed - so that is something to be aware of if you're having more than two people in one stateroom. I personally wouldn't have 3 adults in one stateroom again.

Every evening, after dinner, we'd return to our room to find our bed turned down, sofa-bed made up, chocolates on our pillows and a copy of the ?Daily News? on the bed. Overall the Daily News is useful and doesn't contain the "advertising" that some of the other lines are guilty of. What I felt it did lack though was "news". Princess includes information like the number of passengers on board, numbers of different nationalities, number of children etc? - nothing major but just nice to know! I couldn't tell you if Equinox was full or half empty. Again not a major gripe but just "nice to know".

The TV also doubles as a computer, has movies on demand (both free and paid) which can be paused for 48 hours; you can check your on board spending, order room service, make dining reservations etc. It proved really useful, although as stated previously, the room service ordering system didn't work for two days. We didn't use the internet as we decided the rates felt a bit too high - plus who needs to check their emails when you're on holiday!

We all bought the Premium Non-Alcoholic Drinks package (originally for £154, however when booking an excursion later noticed the price had been reduced to £129 so we cancelled our packages and re-bought them.) This covered all canned soft drinks, bottled water (very handy for excursions), speciality waters, non-alcoholic cocktails, non-alcoholic frozen cocktails, smoothies and Speciality Teas and Coffees and we found this to be very good value for money. We didn't encounter any problems or attitude from staff (often mentioned on here) or have any trouble getting served so would highly recommend the package - it worked out at £11.72 a day! I did consider one of the alcohol packages but as my party aren?t big drinkers so I decided not to on this occasion. I'd still had a daily martini or G&T before dinner, wine with dinner and sometimes a drink after dinner. My bar bill for 11 nights was only $198 (£132 - only £12 a day which I didn't consider to be excessive). All drinks were free poured so my G&T was usually a double if not a triple! We all loved Café al Bacio and started having a light lunch here rather than in the Oceanview Café! The hot chocolate was heavenly! You can have it "in" or they'll serve it as a takeaway. I even tried the coffee which contained some blackberry jam, topped with cream and berries! I'm not sure I would have tried it if it wasn?t part of the package but it was delicious! A coffee lover's ideal dessert!

I thought that the Glass Show was a gimmick and would be a waste of space; however I had a really entertaining and informative couple of hours watching the show one evening after dinner. In spite of it being a fairly breezy night, meaning the glass was cooling down too quickly, the team of three managed to make some beautiful pieces in front of my eyes. Unfortunately nothing is for sale on board, most of what is made goes back to the Corning Museum to be sold there. However three pieces, which are made during the cruise, are auctioned off at the end of the cruise with the money going to joint charities of the Museum and Celebrity. An inside tip - stay until the end of he show because about three-quarters of the way through they give out free raffle tickets (which they only give out once - and not to anyone who turns up later); then at the end of the show they pull out three tickets and give away three pieces of glass. I?m pleased to say we won a piece! I have to say it was a real worry bringing a fragile piece of glass home but we managed it and it now takes pride of place at home.

I've loved the idea of the Lawn Club; however I'm not sure if we had a bad experience or whether our experience is the norm - not once for the twelve days we were on board was the entire Lawn Club open - usually the ship wide bit was roped off as the lawn was "resting" and more often than not, unless there was an event happening, one of the two side bits of lawn were also closed. In fact during the last two days, including a sea day, they completely re-turfed the two side bits, which was not only messy but also unsightly; rolls of turf, pallets and equipment were left laying everywhere and when finished these two areas were completely off limits. I understand and accept that it's not easy keeping a lawn at sea alive but didn't expect the amount of closure and maintenance we encountered!

Our travelling companion used the Gym every day whilst on board (I and my partner used the stairs). She found the gym to be well equipped and the staff helpful and knowledgeable. The best time to go was late morning or afternoon, but she said in general the gym quietened down after the first couple of days. I'd pre-booked a manicure in the Spa which was definitely value for money (about £26) however was subtly up-sold $110 worth of Elemis Frangipini Oil and Lime and Ginger Scrub! Other treatments felt very expensive; especially massages which were over £100.

All the staff on board were excellent. Everyone appeared to genuinely want to help and make sure you had a good holiday. I wish I could say the same about some of our fellow passengers! Some of them just forgot simple manners like "please" and "thank you", others felt they didn?t need to queue in the Oceanview Café or at bars and just pushed in, while others were just downright rude and treated the staff like something they had trodden in! Not once did the staff react - however with a smile a please and thank you I felt I got much better service from everyone I encountered! I had to bite my tongue on several occasions when standing behind fellow passengers; although one night after dinner I failed miserably after listening to a young South African "lady" constantly moan that the "service was too slow" (the under-waiter hadn't given her water when -they had been seated for a minute already!), that the staff were idiots and she was going to get the waiter sacked as he said her Father's special pasta dish had a Vodka, Cream and Tomato Sauce - apparently it was a Tomato, Cream and Vodka Sauce (I cook a lot and would have thought the vodka should go in before the cream in order than you can burn off the alcohol!). She demanded the waiter went and got the Maitre'd as she didn't like his "attitude and incompetence"! At this point I couldn't hold my tongue any longer and said to her she should learn some manners and realise that the staff were bending over backwards to serve her and that however much she's paid for her holiday that didn't give her the right to treat the staff as she was! (The attitude of the other passengers was a first for me, however our travelling companion said that although she had a wonderful holiday, this alone would make her think twice about cruising again - which is a real shame!) The next evening the Restaurant Manager came to speak to me after dinner to thank me for supporting his staff and to inform me I wasn?t the only person to complain about the South African family and that Guest Relations had spoken to them about their general attitude! After that evening we never got the bottle or glass of wine we ordered or paid for - we got to drink some very special wines! Emrah, Jasper and Marko were fantastic; if you encounter any of them on your cruise start they'll make sure you have a special time! Apart from the three of them I don?t know if Celebrity has a policy of their staff "not" remembering passenger's names or "their" drinks. Unlike Cunard and Princess none of the staff used our names or ever remembered what we were drinking - it was a touch I missed! We had a fantastic cruise director Que Hundermark who unfortunately disappeared after a few days to be replaced by Justin. Nothing was said officially but word on the decks (well I can't say streets) was a lighting rig on the stage had fallen on him and broken his leg and he was taken home to South Africa. Justin stepped in admirably and carried on as if nothing had happened.

Before leaving home I'd registered on CruiseCritic.co.uk and joined their Roll Call and been invited by Celebrity to their Cruise Critic Party which was held in the morning of the first sea day. On the Forum we also decided to have an "unofficial" sail away party straight after muster drill in the Sunset Bar. It was great to meet so many like minded fellow passengers and we all enjoyed a great sail away party. At the "official" party we'd all arranged (if you wanted to take part) to bring gifts from our home town - everyone who put in a gift got a number - each number was called and you could either pick a wrapped gift or "steal" one of the already opened gifts (a gift could only be stolen once). My party all took Mustard gifts (Coleman?s of Norwich) which I?m please to say went down very well with the other guests and all got stolen! For about £5 a head it was a great way to get to know some fellow passengers!

When it came to excursions we had mixed experiences. Starting with the positive - my partner and I did 4 Celebrity Excursions which cost us £198.50 each (pre-booked in advance - our companion pre-booked 2 costing £82).

Cozumel: We did the "Dolphin Push and Pull and Manatee Encounter" (£63.75 each). This was the most expensive of the excursions but was worth every penny. Having done the Dolphin Encounter at Cozumel before it was fantastic getting in the water and interacting with Chuck (our 12 year old male dolphin). I'd recommend that everyone does this at least once in their life - we had people in our group ranging from their twenties up to late seventies and everyone was able to participate fully - even non swimmers as the life jacket supported them in the water. Yes we did buy our photographs on a disk - the prices are based on number of people in your party - it was $110 (about £71) for the two of us to get our photos but we ended up with over 60 photos - ok they were a disk which probably cost 20p but to relive the experience again is priceless!

Belize City: Bannister Island - a private beach island off Belize (£29.25 each). Nothing major to report except it was a beautiful place where you could sunbathe, swim, kayak, play beach volleyball etc. When we first arrived and saw the lines of sun loungers we thought the place would be swamped but we virtually had the place to ourselves. Roaming bar staff took orders for drinks or food which were all very reasonably priced. A good day!

Colon: Here we decided to do Eco Cruise on Gatun Lake and Locks (£57.50 each). Our mini van drove us into the middle of nowhere to join our boat (very unexpected and breath taking journey at times, especially when the road appears to end!) where we toured the lake for about 90 minutes. Although it was a great trip we unfortunately didn't see much wildlife. Just before we boarded our boat, at around 10am, our guide told us it was too hot and too late in the day to see much wildlife; they would have been up earlier to find food and now having a siesta! So unfortunately we didn't get to see the monkeys that we were expecting to. Next stop was the observation centre at the Gatun Locks where we observed several ships negotiating the locks - having been through the locks before on the Coral Princess it was really interesting to see the operation from the other side. Colon isn't the best place - I've seen it from both the Cristobel Pier and Colon Pier side so I'd highly recommend doing an excursion here!

Grand Caymen: It has to be Stingray City (Stingray City & Barrier Reef Snorkel - £48.00). After a 30 minute boat ride we arrived at the barrier reef to be told that unfortunately it was too rough for the Captain to allow us into the water at the reef - although disappointing safety has to come first! Stingray City was open for business and we managed to interact with several of the beautiful creatures, even having our pictures taken with one! The Captain informed us we would get a partial refund for the barrier reef part of the trip - 50% of the cost of this excursion was credited to our on board account the same day. This was the best value for money excursion - even before the refund!

Our travelling companion didn't do so well on her excursions, her first one a "Jungle Hike" in Cozumel was cancelled due to her being the only person wanting to do it! She swapped to a San Gervasio Ruins & Beach Break which cost about £34. She had about 40 minutes at the Ruins, which she felt was disappointing followed by a bus ride to the beach where they stopped at a Mexican café where they were able to buy lunch. After lunch as everyone was heading to the beach they were told they would be leaving in 40 minutes - she therefore felt that she couldn't now swim as she wouldn?t have time to dry out before getting back on the bus.

Her second excursion was in Belize and was a "Jungle Bike Adventure and Bacab Eco Adventure Park". On Celebrity's details it said they would cycle for an hour - however they only got about 35 minutes on rusty old bikes; the breaks on hers didn't work! Lunch was apparently fantastic but again they didn't have time to swim before the long bus ride back. They were 10 minutes late back for the last tender but as it was a Celebrity excursion the boat was waiting for them.

In Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, we just did our own thing and wandered into town. There isn't much to do there but we wandered around the markets and found a café to buy brunch! We asked if we could pay in dollars for our brunch - the waitress understood enough to say that was fine. Our brunch cost us $10 each - we later checked what it would have cost if we paid in local currency - £1.08! Not such a good exchange rate! The locals are friendly but again I'd suggest doing an excursion or as we ended up doing enjoying a deserted ship!

Cartagena was one of the highlights of the trip! It was fun to watch the dozens of fishing boats (about the size of large canoes) for about an hour as we sailed into Cartagena. I thought several of them were going to capsize as they rode over the ships wake! The three of us joined one of the couples from Cruise Critic and the five of us negotiated with a taxi driver at the docks who took us to the Old Fort for $10. After a couple of hours at the Fort we walked the short distance over the river to the old town which is stunning. If you like Spanish Colonial architecture then this is the place for you - lots of brightly colour buildings with balconies! I had been worried about personal security here but have to say everyone we encountered was warm, friendly and helpful - apart from one man who thought I'd taken a picture of his donkey - I even proved to him by showing him my pictures I hadn't but he continued to follow us insisting I give him $50 until a policeman appeared and then he scuttled off! We then got a hotel porter to hail us a cab for the ride back to the docks - this time $10 each - $50 in total!

One criticism of the excursions - they all start incredibly early - mostly at 8am or 9am. They are really well organised getting you to meet in the theatre where you are given a number and then they call the numbers when the tour or tender is ready. You have to be in the theatre at least 15 minutes in advance of the tour starting so forget your holiday lay in and set your alarm!!

Thank you to those that have stuck with me! I hope my review has proved useful! All in all we had a fantastic time; yes there were a couple of small issues but the thing is how you deal with them - do you let them take over and ruin your holiday or do you put them to one side and get on with it! The delayed flight, the sofa-bed, lack of canapés or towels, the lack of atmosphere, the lack of photographers, not being able to find a seat in the theatre, not snorkelling the barrier reef, the attitude of our fellow passengers etc could have become a real issue ? I?ve seen reviews on here where a lot less has "ruined" someone's holiday. Personally in spite of a couple of minor niggles Celebrity is now my cruise of choice (I was a real Princess fan before); yes I think Princess has the edge on some aspects of service, its formal nights have a lot more atmosphere but Celebrity I think have the edge with their food and definitely with the Solstice class ships so I'll definitely be back!