Hello, readers! I just got back from Key West, Florida and the Bahamas on the Celebrity Equinox, of Celebrity Cruises.
This was the first Celebrity cruise, and first cruise ever I’ve taken. My husband and I went on the trip and I wanted to detail the experience for those who have never been on the ship, or maybe never been on a Celebrity cruise at all.
Overall, remarkably, I could not find anything that went all that wrong with the cruise. This is a big surprise for me, considering I look for details for my articles that might show the overall big picture of all things travel related. We had a great time. Maybe I’m just easy to please because I’m on vacation. But I really am struggling to find anything that went wrong. Incredible!
The best part of the entire cruise was the service. I’m from Seattle, Washington. I’m used to bussing my own tables, and hospitality that is less often a human being saying, “How can I help you?” and more often, “Here’s a robot when you call customer service for help and the robot doesn’t even answer your question, or help you with your specific question at all. We might call you back, but probably not.”
Not the case on Celebrity cruises. I felt like we were treated like royalty. And I don’t say that lightly. It wasn’t just that the people working there were nice. They went above and beyond their job.
We had a stateroom attendant who was extremely kind to us. Always offering help (I would get lost finding where my room was a lot), and keeping our room in top notch shape. There was even a problem one morning where we didn’t get exactly the right room service breakfast order. It was promptly fixed before I had even called, and then for the rest of the trip they called us to make sure everything was correct each morning.
The cabins were the right size for us, just two people, and larger than I expected for a cruise ship. Some people complained in reviews that there wasn’t an outlet near the bed. I don’t really care about that. I can walk two feet and find an outlet to charge my phone on the room’s desk. Trust me, you’re on a world-class vacation. You’re not getting your limbs sawed off. You’re on vacation.
Dining was great. We got a 3 specialty restaurants package, where you go to a fancier, reservation-only restaurant, and get a huge meal, with several courses. We were stuffed by the second course. I honestly don’t know how we finished the rest of the meal. Truly not a real problem.
My favorite part of the entire cruise was a show, in a small theater, called “Love and Marriage.” Three couples, of different ages and years of marriage, came up on stage and answered some pretty saucy questions about their love and marriages. The host was hilarious, as were the guests. I felt like everyone in the audience was enjoying the show too, as they were laughing just as much as us. I’d detail the questions they asked, but it would make you blush.
The other fantastic show featured an Aretha Franklin tribute concert. The singer, Cece Teneal, was an incredible singer. She really honored Aretha’s contributions to music. The band playing with her was great too. Cece really got everyone out of their seats dancing. Later, I heard she did a “Divas of Soul” concert that I am disappointed I missed out on. But that’s on me.
We went to the Solarium every day. It’s the indoor area featuring pools and hot tubs, though there are outside pools and hot tubs on the ship too. I liked the quiet atmosphere, and even fell asleep one day laying in the sun, enjoying a comfy lounger, which tells me it must have been truly relaxing.
As far as taking your family on the cruise, I would recommend it for your older kids and leave the younger kids to other cruise lines. There were young kids on the ship, but not many of them, and they were extremely well-behaved. So I think the Celebrity line is better suited for adults and older children.
I feel that the value you get for the money spent is right on par. I would say Celebrity is an upscale cruise, with upscale prices. Not budget, not moderate, and not luxury, but somewhere between moderate and luxury. I would say we felt like we got great value for what we spent. Even with small details missed like getting the wrong order. That kind of stuff doesn’t really bother us.
I looked at the reviews of the cruise we went on, before and after we went on the cruise. And I gotta say, I feel like a lot of the negative reviews are people having first world problems. You’re on an amazing vacation, on a beautifully decorated ship, and all you can do is complain because your coffee wasn’t made to your liking? Really?
Maybe some people go on more luxurious lines, where everything is perfect, but I don’t really care about that. I understand humans are capable of error, and that doesn’t bother me. There’s not enough beef dishes on the menu? You can find a buffet, that’s included in what you paid, and there’s every kind of cuisine you can imagine, cooked to your liking. And you still find things to complain about? Wow, I bet those people are a hit at parties.
Someone complained in that reviews that trivia wasn’t fun. We went to trivia a lot, and people were really enjoying themselves, including us. The hosts were fun and engaging.
We saw pop-up choreography that you could join in on. That was a lot of fun to watch: just people enjoying a drink and dancing to some pop hits.
I think if you are expecting your vacation to be perfect, without a single error, you should stick to the luxury cruise lines, or maybe make your expectations more reasonable. We had a great time. I wish that reviews didn’t have a negativity bias. People are more likely to leave negative reviews than go out of their way to make a positive review.
That’s why I wanted to write my positive review. Maybe it will help balance out the negatives people seem to find in the insignificant details.
Remember, you’re lucky enough to take a vacation. A lot of the global population doesn’t get to do that. Stay humble, and you’re sure to have a great time.
I know we did!