December 2015 - 10 Night Ultimate Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip) Cruise on Celebrity Equinox
Gleaming Celebrity Ship: Super Service, Great Food and a Wonderful Itinerary
AtlantaCruisers
Third Mate
Joined 12/2015
1
Cruise1
Review38
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Celebrity Equinox
Sail date: December 11, 2015
Gleaming Celebrity Ship: Super Service, Great Food and a Wonderful Itinerary
This was our second Celebrity cruise (both on Equinox) and our 6th cruise overall. We are a 60ish couple and we travelled with our children and our two toddler grandchildren; there were a wide range of needs / interest to satisfy. We really liked the quiet "adultness" of our December '15 voyage.
There were many highlights to commend / recommend on this 10 night voyage: we had the dine-at-will package (buffet) and were again pleased with the variety and quality; the ship is ultra clean and has a modern design; crew is always at the ready to assist with any need (especially appreciated since we had babies to tend to). We ate at four of the upcharge specialty restaurants and found it a bargain as well as a good way to break up our dining experience.
The port stops of St Thomas, St Kitts, Barbados, St Maarten and Dominica provided a diverse offering of off-ship exploration opportunities. Each island had its own unique flavor and we felt welcome anywhere we went. Dominica, with its raw forested beauty and tall peaks was especially beautiful, even as roads and attractions were being rebuilt after the August hurricane.
We have sailed with Princess and Royal Caribbean before but find that Celebrity gets the highest marks for the things that matter most to us: quality food, service and ship size. Even with 3,000 other cruisers on the Equinox, we never felt crowded or waited on line for anything. Our prior experience would have been enough to sail with Celebrity again, but their offering their famous "1, 2, 3" package (choice of alcohol, gratuities or shipboard credit) locked us in.
Cruise tips
Take a cab or tour to the French-side town of Marigot for a leisure walking adventure in the Paris of the Caribbean. We also enjoyed nearby Orient Beach (except the $20 beach chair rental fee).
A bustling but friendly port.
Dominica is the Hawaii and Bali of the Caribbean. It is less developed and naturally forested beautiful. The only issue is there was ongoing repair being done on roads / buildings after the August hurricane damage.
In fairness, we didn't make it out of the tourist zone very far on this island.
Celebrity Equinox
Invest in the upcharge fine dining package. Each restaurant is superior and a good value.
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This was our second Celebrity cruise (both on Equinox) and our 6th cruise overall. We are a 60ish couple and we travelled with our children and our two toddler grandchildren; there were a wide range of needs / interest to satisfy. We really liked the quiet "adultness" of our December '15 voyage.
There were many highlights to commend / recommend on this 10 night voyage: we had the dine-at-will package (buffet) and were again pleased with the variety and quality; the ship is ultra clean and has a modern design; crew is always at the ready to assist with any need (especially appreciated since we had babies to tend to). We ate at four of the upcharge specialty restaurants and found it a bargain as well as a good way to break up our dining experience.
The port stops of St Thomas, St Kitts, Barbados, St Maarten and Dominica provided a diverse offering of off-ship exploration opportunities. Each island had its own unique flavor and we felt welcome anywhere we went. Dominica, with its raw forested beauty and tall peaks was especially beautiful, even as roads and attractions were being rebuilt after the August hurricane.
We have sailed with Princess and Royal Caribbean before but find that Celebrity gets the highest marks for the things that matter most to us: quality food, service and ship size. Even with 3,000 other cruisers on the Equinox, we never felt crowded or waited on line for anything. Our prior experience would have been enough to sail with Celebrity again, but their offering their famous "1, 2, 3" package (choice of alcohol, gratuities or shipboard credit) locked us in.