A different sort of adventure

Celebrity Equinox Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Celebrity Equinox

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 10, 2018

Ship: Celebrity Equinox

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 1021

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Well, first of all, I don't want to compare apples to oranges. We are used to cruising with Regents. Just to get everyone up to date, the cheapest stateroom on Regents costs about $3000 more than the most expensive stateroom on Celebrity. The ships have about 750 passengers, and everthing is included at no additional charge. Tips, everything. The passengers are a little older and a bit more "upscale". It's the Cadillac of cruise lines. We decided to try something a bit more affordable and a good friend recommended Celebrity. The first difference we noticed was that there were a whole buch of kids; turns out it was Spring break in Canada. The kids were mostly accompanied by parents so they weren't running wild, but they were loud. The drink package seemed to bring out the worst in people. You have to buy a drink package so folks were making quite sure they got their money's worth. Way too much overindulgence. With Regents everything is included so you don't have to shell out extra money to drink, so it seems a little calmer. All dining areas were crowded and loud. That being said, the waiters, sommoliers, and asst. waiters were first class. Very engaging and happy to provide wonderful service. We almost alway go on daily excursions. The excursions offered were on the expensive side and some just weren't worthwhile. It took a while to adjust to the differences from what we had experienced on other cruises but here's my last impression. Find the quiet bars, the Sunset bar, and the forward observation deck/bar. Don't eat at the buffet, it's good food, but just too loud. Really explore the ship and the activities, there is more than just liquor and deck chairs. We booked another cruise on Celebrity for next Spring, to Bermuda. The only change we made was to shift from the Concierge Deck to the Aqua Deck. Aqua deck gives access to an almost private dining room with alledgedly healthier meals. We switched hoping to lessen the crowding and noise level. So, all in all, we felt like the Cruise was very satsfactory and a good deal for the dollar.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Easy. Took shuttle from Hotel and it drove us right up to the luggage trolley. We spent a very few minutes, got baggage tags, and boarded the ship.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Food was excellent everywhere on the ship.

Martini Bar & Crush

5 out of 5

You just have to go there. The bar tenders are the most entertaining anywhere.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Used the fitness center several times. Attended some educational lectures which were actually commercials for shore excursions, but that's okay; I knew that's what they were going in. Did a wine tasting. Not worth the time or money. They just poured out 6 kinds of wine and said "Go to it". Too crowed and no information.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Shows, cruise director; all first class. We went every night.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Every staff person was awesome.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Everything was clean, spotlessly clean. Purell hand sanitizer everywhere. It was flu season and I think they were being ultra cautious.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
As always, cabin was too small. But that's to be expected. Everthing worked well; TV, toilet, telephone.

Ship tip

It's a party boat. Loud, lots and lots of alcohol. Deck chairs all taken by about 7:30 and people leave their stuff there all day. If you don't stake out a chair, you won't get one until 4 o'clock or so. If you're taken back by all of the noise, there are some quiter places on the back of the boat. They are also smokong areas, but the wind realy keeps the smoke away.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida Did not visit port

Just used it to geto n and off the ship.

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5
Took the on-off tour. Highights were the butterfly garden and Hemmingway's home. I really wished we could have spent two days there, but they don't let the cruise ships stay overnight; it blocks the sunset.

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

3 out of 5
Did an excursion. It wasn't fun at all, but I don't think it was supposed to be "fun". It's funny how when you get away from the port you see the abject poverty up close and personal. Don't recommend the big Mayan Temple tour. It's 2 1/2 hours in by bus, and 2 1/2 hours back. We saw a smaller temple and that was just fine with us.

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Took a cooking class. One of the highlights of the trip. "You don't have to leave a tip, but please remember we've got a wall to pay for" :-) Spent about 2 hours on the beach. Fun day.

George Town, Grand Cayman

3 out of 5
Did and excursion to the botannical gardens and to the Pedro San something house. Terrible tour guides both places and not very interesting, anyway. Way too expensive; almost $100 each. We would have done much better just shopping on our own.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Kept our luggage in our room, lined up at 7:00 to disembark, grabbed a shuttle, and were at out gate by 8:00.
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2 Comments

phil20261014    6 years ago

You saved lot a money on celebrity cruises

sailorrose    6 years ago

I think if you are going in early May you will avoid college kids. Most of the time very few children on board but again my friend is Canadian and she was also on a cruise filled with 2000 Canadians as it was Spring Break. So glad you enjoyed!

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