Review of my 10-day cruise on the Celebrity Equinox

HELLO, here’s a little review of my cruise on the CELEBRITY EQUINOX 9-night / 10-day cruise CONCIERGE CLASS BALCONY CABIN at 1170 € per person EMBARKATION We arrived around 11:30 AM and were taken care of right away. Priority boarding is now only for suites, but it’s not really necessary since everyone boards quickly. In less than 15 minutes, we were on board. The best part? We could head straight to our muster station for the lifeboat drill—done in no time! AZAMARA, if you’re listening : ) Disembarkations at ports were also very smooth, with a little stand offering wet towels and refreshing drinks. THE CABIN CONCIERGE BALCONY 2108 Perfectly located, with a huge balcony, on the same deck as the pools, just below the buffet, and close to the elevators that took us straight to the restaurant or reception. Concierge class doesn’t come with many perks—we only went to the concierge desk once. We got a small plate of canapés in the cabin every day and access to a few invitations we declined, lol. What really stood out was the location and the large balcony. DINING The buffet is always great, with tons of choices—the best buffet of any cruise line, in my opinion, even if PRINCESS isn’t bad either. It was sometimes crowded, but the island layout meant we never had to queue, except for the last two days when we couldn’t serve ourselves due to a GASTRO outbreak... The only downside was the desserts, which weren’t as good as before. Is it the chef? Or a budget cut? The last day’s FAREWELL BUFFET was amazing. At the restaurant, we noticed a drop in quality, especially with the starters—mostly veggies or soup, basically cheap stuff :( . Though the escargots were still available and just as good. Also, we often got the pager because no tables were free, and service was sometimes really slow. We went to the specialty restaurant « LE MURANO » for around $50 per person. The menu is always the same, but it’s still delicious, with attentive service and the chef flambéing the lobster right in front of you. We loved it! THE PORTS OF CALL BARCELONA / AT SEA / LISBON (2 DAYS) / PORTO / AT SEA / TANGIER / CADIZ / AT SEA A great itinerary with 3 sea days in total. We had mostly great weather, even really nice weather during the 3 sea days. It was less sunny and warm in PORTO and CADIZ. We did everything on our own, except for the first day in Lisbon, where we took a guided TUK TUK tour with Filipe—it was AMAZING! He was really interesting, and we learned so many fun facts. Loved it! In PORTO, everything costs money, which was a bit disappointing. The churches and cathedrals are expensive :( TANGIER was a great discovery. Too bad no mosques are open to visitors, but it’s still a pleasant stop. We’d already visited CADIZ and love this city.

ENTERTAINMENT DURING THE DAY It’s always quiet during the day. You can play mini-golf or pétanque on the grass, and we didn’t hesitate to do laps around the deck. Of course, we also enjoyed the fantastic adults-only pool in the solarium, though sometimes we went to the outdoor pools too. This adults-only pool is still incredible—big and heated, except for 2 days when I complained because the water was suddenly cold. I don’t know why! Of course, some parents try to bring their kids in at the start of the cruise, but not on my watch, lol. After 2 or 3 days, they give up—the outdoor pools were well-heated anyway, so there was no reason to. Apparently, some people didn’t know CELEBRITY—they must’ve realized it’s not a cruise line for kids, pff. IN THE EVENING Apart from the comedian, we saw all the shows. Some were really beautiful, others just okay, but overall, it was a success. The dance nights, though, were pretty average, except for the ABBA night, which always delivers.

CONCLUSION CELEBRITY is still a pleasant cruise line, even if the quality has dropped a little. We still love that fabulous heated adults-only pool, the calm atmosphere on board, the few kids, no Italians, and the zen vibe. The ship is showing its age a bit, but nothing major. We had a great cruise with good value for money. Can’t wait for the next one on the CELEBRITY INFINITY in February! Thanks for reading 😉 PS: Some photos to come

Thanks Isa for this little review.

I’m taking the same ship in February in Concierge Class like you, but I paid significantly less (750 € per person with $200 onboard credit).

I’m not surprised at all because I read on Cruise Critic that some services on Celebrity are deteriorating at lightning speed. What a shame!

Regarding Concierge Class, the perks aren’t great (except for the locations). The plate with canapés seems unchanged. As for me, I always ask the steward to add a bit more...

However, you mentioned the ship feels a bit outdated, but I think it was recently renovated.

Looking forward to the photos!

Alfred

Hi Alfred, Actually, we found the ship a bit dated, but that’s probably compared to our previous cruises—we’d sailed on the APEX OCEANIA in the meantime. I didn’t notice any maintenance issues, though. The drop in quality was mainly in the restaurant dining. When I see the photos of your plates on PRINCESS, it seems like it was better—no scallops in the restaurant on the EQUINOX! :( A lot of the dishes felt cheap to me 😕 You got a great price for February—with that price, you can’t be disappointed 😉

Hi Alfred, Actually, we found the ship a bit dated, but that’s probably compared to our previous cruises—we’d been on the APEX OCEANIA in the meantime. I didn’t notice any maintenance issues, but the drop in quality was mostly in the restaurant dining. When I see the photos of your plates on PRINCESS, it seemed better—no scallops at the restaurant on the EQUINOX! :( A lot of cheap dishes, I thought 😕 You got a great price for February; at that price, you can’t be disappointed 😉

Got it! Yeah, I got a great price for this period, which is why I decided to go for the Concierge Class. I’m taking this cruise just to take a break. I would’ve loved to go for two weeks, but my wife’s out of vacation days. lol

By the way, do you know if we still get the bottle of bubbly in an ice bucket when we arrive in Concierge Class?

yes, the bottle was there, but in the fridge—we left it lol since we don’t drink 😉

In February, we’ll be on the INFINITY in AquaClass—have you heard of that ship class? This’ll be our first time!

In February, we’ll be on the INFINITY in AquaClass. Do you know this ship class? It’ll be a first for us

Yes, we know this class because we’ve already tried it on Silhouette.

I don’t know if anything has changed, but the best part of AquaClass was access to the Blu restaurant, where we ate really well, and to the Persian Garden. I hope the services haven’t changed for this class!

actually, I was talking about the INFINITY class 😉

Hi Isa, The INFINITY is much older in design. It’s a ship I really loved, but that was back in 2012... A time when sea-day brunches still existed, and you’d get an upgrade if you did a back-to-back cruise.

actually, I was talking about the INFINITY class 😉

Sorry Isa, I thought you were talking about the Aqua class. No, I don’t know that ship class. I’m a bit out of it right now because I still can’t get over this jet lag.

Thanks Catherine! They’ve updated it since, so I’ll check it out and come back to tell you all about it

Actually, they’ve "solsticilized" the Infinity and introduced, for example, AquaClass on board.

Well, it must be good—I have a friend who took it right after its last refurbishment and was happy with it. The key is not to expect the latest high-tech gadgets. Anyway, I’d happily take it again. 😉