Ala Cart Cruise

Item: Celebrity Equinox
Rating: 3
Author: chiappelli1012

Celebrity Equinox Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

chiappelli1012

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 11, 2017

Ship: Celebrity Equinox

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 1146

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

We thought we would like to try cruising with a balcony, so this cruise we decided to upgrade. We wound up spending $1400 per person for the cruise, $500 pp for the flight, $500 for the excursions, and another $750 dollars in the end for tips, dinners, drinks, and the use of their "Persian Garden" (which was a room with warmed tile beds, a steam room, and a sauna.. always full of people snoring and/or technical difficulties with the music-one visit they had ESPN on the radio). Not even soda water without a charge on this cruise. This is the JetBlue of cruise lines: you will pay for absolutely everything.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Was served raw chicken for our first meal (lunch upon embarkation) in the main dining room. So we booked three specialty dinners and ate in the cafeteria for the rest of the cruise. They switched our dining time from 6pm to 8:30pm without giving us a choice. So we chose to eat in the cafeteria... glad we did.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

We don't have kids.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The guy who kept our room clean was wonderful.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our porter was wonderful.

Ship tip

The cafeteria had very good food for dinner. Do not feel like you have to dine in the main dining room every night. The galley tour was very interesting and worth waiting in line for. The $116 per person fee for the Persian Garden WAS NOT WORTH IT. Way too many people snoring away to relax.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

We had Cuban food at Puerto Sague in South Beach. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Try the Paella.. worth the wait.

Thumbs Up 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Dinner at Raices in San Juan. Incredible food.

Thumbs Up 19

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

3 out of 5

The basic beach excursion to the French side (Orient beach) was a great deal: Transportation and lunch included. Was very nice.

Thumbs Up 12

13 Comments

hokie1981 7 years ago

I booked through AA cruises and got the "go best" package for free look it up, I still see it here and there but booked end of Feb

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essum 7 years ago

Shop around and shop early and you can get almost everything included (I did). And don't pay off your cruise until just before the due date. Once you've paid in full, you can't get the cruise line (or travel agency) to price match. Sometimes it could be worth canceling and rebooking. Wish I knew all of this when I booked our first cruise 3 years ago. Could have bought a car for what I paid! 😁

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terry06 7 years ago

We booked through Expedia & got free wifi, free gratuities & $200 onboard credit.

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MapleLeaf4Ever 7 years ago

Celebrity the Jet Blue of cruise lines? Hmm... since when are meals and entertainment not included? ð

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KariandSid 7 years ago

Oh, and $300 on board credit.

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KariandSid 7 years ago

We got aqua class with beverage premium package for about $3200....excursions on my own!! Can't wait til Sunday!

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TracyKM 7 years ago

it's a cruise, not an all inclusive. we've never doesn't that much on excursions or tips/dinner/exclusive rooms. if those things are critical to your enjoyment of a trip, then very few cruise lines would suit you. But there are some out there, you just need to research

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france2017 7 years ago

us too !

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hokie1981 7 years ago

We booked a celebrity equinox cruise for two but I only book when the incentives are good. That means free premium beverage package, some onboard credit money, and prepaid gratuities to offset the airfare and any room upgrades. This year we used American Airlines cruises to get the perks. I set up cruise alerts for what I'm interested and watch.

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twangster 7 years ago

What? No excursions included with JetBlue? I'll never fly them again.

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GIL155 7 years ago

I thought Jet Blue gave you one free checked bag and one free carry on.

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twangster 7 years ago

Cruising isn't for everyone. If you don't live in the city where the ship leaves from, you will be required to pay for transportation to get there. Excursions are not mandatory. I flew Air France to Paris once and the airline didn't pay for my activities while in France, but I knew that when I bought my plane ticket. For what you paid, does another cruise line include all excursions and flights? That would be very good, so please do share which cruise line includes everything for $1,400 per person. I may start using them myself.

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cece1951 7 years ago

We have already spent 3500 per person on our trip with NCL and this does not include what we will spend on and off the ship. But will we have fun???? You betcha!

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Staff and itinerary make it great

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