Celebrity Equinox is a modern ship which features a huge array of amenities to keep you occupied throughout a cruise. In the time I was on board I experienced some of these and this review will detail this. I was aboard for a ten night Atlantis Mediterranean cruise and you can read about my Concierge Class cabin in my previous post.
The SeaPass
When you check-in for your cruise you are issued with a SeaPass. This is the most vital item to have with you on a cruise as the card is used to access your room. In addition it is used to charge purchases to your on board account. It needs to be produced each time you order a drink so you need to keep it with you all the time.
Molecular Bar
There are many bars on board Celebrity Equinox and my favourite is the Molecular Bar. The intriguing name matched some of the intriguing cocktails and drinks that were served there by the friendly and efficient staff.
The cocktail featured Ketel One vodka and tasted delicious. Many of these were consumed by me on the cruise.
Sushi on Five
Dining on Celebrity Equinox is generally free. There are two or three specialty restaurants which attract a $25 cover charge and then there is Sushi on Five. This restaurant is like a restaurant on shore in that you pay per dish. I had a craving for Japanese food so one evening I decided to dine here.
The Bridge
The Captain of Celebrity Equinox decided to hold a 2 hour open day on the Bridge and naturally my friends and I went for a peek.
It was an interesting place to visit and you should definitely go if you have the opportunity.
Silhouette
Silhouette is the main dining room on Celebrity Equinox and I ate dinner here several times. Food quality ranged from excellent to very average. There are a decent variety of dishes on offer and the menu comprises of items unique to each evening as well as classic dishes that are always available. Classic dishes included Escargot and Prawn Cocktail starters while items appeared depending on location such as a Caprese Salad one of the nights in Italy. There were usually hot and cold soups such as Strawberry Soup and French Onion Soup. In addition there were a variety of main dishes. I estimate there were around eight to twelve choices of starters and the same for mains with two thirds changing each evening.
The servers are very efficient and sometimes a little too efficient. One night we had 5 different people ask us for drinks orders in a 10 minute period which was quite tiresome. One of the great things about dining on board is that you can order as much as you like. We routinely ordered two or three starters each or two mains and it was no trouble at all. You could try as much as you liked which was excellent.
Equinox Theatre
The ship features quite a sizable theatre which has been very well designed to ensure that everyone has a decent view of the stage. Sitting in various locations I never came across an obstructed view.
The theatre is also used as the staging point for shore excursions in the morning. Everyone arrives and checks in for their tours and then you are released in groups to your transportation. I found that unexpected but a smart use of the space.
Other Facilities
There are outdoor and indoor pools, a Casino, a nightclub called Quasar and many other bars. My group usually met at the Sunset Bar at the back of the ship as it was nice and relaxed and offers great views over the stern. There is also a Martini Bar and an English Pub both of which we visited once. One evening we played some Roulette in the Casino and the minimum we were permitted to convert to gambling chips was $50 so that is what we did. The croupier was very personable and we enjoyed our loss making time there.
The Oceanview Cafe is the self-service buffet that is open 24 hours which is handy for that 4am post-party plate to take back to your stateroom. They do a mean chicken curry in there! What’s also fun is that there is a whole lawn on the top deck which people used for sun worship on our only day at sea. I believe this is a unique feature to Solstice-Class ships.
Near to that was the Hot Glass Show which everyone seemed to slate throughout the cruise though I did see some people attending once. Cafe Al Bacio does coffee for a price – I overheard the Australians teaching them how to make a Flat White. The cakes and tarts from there were sugary delicious and free! There is also a pretty decent library on board for the book worms and I found a book that interested me quite easily.
Overall Thoughts
There is plenty to do on board Celebrity Equinox so a person would be hard to be bored. The on board service is generally superlative. The crew are genuinely nice and fun and they perform their roles with aplomb. We nicknamed the ship the Celebrity Upsell as the staff worked quite hard on parting us from our money. This did get to be a little tiresome and got to the point where a voicemail was left extolling the virtues of the specialty restaurants and encouraging us to make a booking. Despite this I would recommend Celebrity Equinox as it really does have something for everyone and I thoroughly enjoyed my time on board. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments please leave them below.
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The Hot Glass show is one of my favorite things on the 3 Solstice class ships that offer it. Maybe it just comes down to the artists you get to see and what they end up making but i always try to swing by to catch the show. Seeing the larger pieces coming together is really amazing.
Sushi on 5 is brand new on equonix, only added a few months ago but i’ve eaten a few times at Silk Harvest and loved it. Also it offered beers from all over asia, which as someone who always likes to try a new beer or two, was cool surprise.
They also have 4 other specialty restaurants as well – an Italian (tuscon grille – good but for me not worth paying extra), Fine Dining (Murano – enjoyed felt the food and service was great and a perfect spurge for special occasions), a “healthy bistro” called Blu (i believe it’s only available to those who book Aqua Class) and finally i know there’s a suit only restaurant/dining room but i forget what it’s called.
Like just about everything these days, you have to understand what your money is buying you and what it’s not. You can go on a cruise, eat plenty of food. Stick to water or juices (where available) and find plenty of activities/shows to enjoy while at sea. without spending a penny more. But there are plenty of upselling things you will probably want to try, just think of it like trying new stuff back on land. $40 for a your sushi on 5 meal sounds close to what it would cost you at a typical urban sushi restaurant. Personally i’d rather have these options onboard and pay than to not have them available at all.
It’s great to see that you liked the Hot Glass Show – perhaps I should have taken some time out and experienced it.
I knew Sushi on Five was new and I thought the price was reasonable – I agree with you that the price was similar to an urban sushi restaurant. The quality of the food was what I have come to expect from a sushi restaurant also.
Oh, I was certainly happy to try new things and to pay for it. However I found the constant reminders about it to be a little off putting. I just don’t enjoy being encouraged to buy things all the time. The people were never rude and never pushy it just didn’t agree with me that it was always there. I had a glass of Ice Wine and I was sorely tempted when I was offered the bottle to be kept for me to gradually drink on subsequent evenings.
Thanks for the reply – looks like the Hot Glass Show and more specialty restaurants are on the cards for me when I next join a Solstice-class cruise!
Royal Caribbean’s stock has taken a beating this year (Royal owns Celebrity). It’s down about 35%. I think that the industry is a bit flooded at the moment with so many ships already and more & bigger ones under construction/on order. Currently they seem to be placing their bets on being able to break into and do well in the potentially huge Asian market. Last year Royal sent their newest most tech heavy ship there – Quantum of the Seas.
So until they get a better foothold in Asia, cash may be a bit tight. They have been offering lots of booking deals on rooms and even offering extras like “all you can drink” packages. I’m willing to bet management has been pushing staff to get the upsells more than ever to try balance everything out.
Overall it’s a decent time to cruise for those looking for a good deal on a vacation. But it feels like the industry may soon cave in on it’s self or at least enter into a new period of mergers and acquisitions ending with 2 or 3 super companies ruling the seas worldwide.
That’s very interesting, Nick! I don’t know a lot about the cruise industry (being The Flight Detective!) so all of that is quite fascinating. It’s going to be interesting to see where the industry ends up going if there are so many ships coming online at once.
I wonder if cruising is even a thing in the Asian market at the moment. That being said, it was once mainly an American thing and it has since become popular in many places around the world, so I guess it’s not something to be discounted. I’ll have to keep an eye out for deals, cause I’d like to go cruising again. It really was very good!
“Celebrity Upsell”
Indeed!! They were quite successful!