This was our second cruise on Celebrity having done the Constellation 10 day last January. Embarkation was for lack of a better word "disastrous"! The new port terminal is beautiful and inviting however the sound system is severely lacking. Due to to Noro outbreak on the previous cruise, a sanitization crew was brought in to clean the Equinox in an effort to prevent our cruise from suffering the same effects. This caused a severe backlog of passengers in the terminal. I'm sorry to say that despite the announcements which could not be heard from more than five feet away, the crowd became somewhat unruly when the "priority" passengers were permitted to board. Some guests asked the same question over and over again as to why were "those" people getting on before them and they most certainly didn't like the answers they were given. I give full credit to the cruise line staff who were patient and understanding and kept a smile upon their face despite the difficulties they were facing. Saying that, changes need to be made so that ALL guests understand and can clearly hear the announcements!

Trying to avoid having this ruin our holiday my DH and I boarded a beautiful and clean ship. The masses all headed up to the Oceanview Cafe but we headed off to Bistro on Five to avoid the noise and confusion. We had a beautiful and quiet lunch (we were the first people to arrive at port at 10am due to an early flight) which was quite satisfying. Due to the extra cleaning our rooms were not available until around 4-4:30 pm so we enjoyed the view from the Bistro and then headed off to our room.

Our room was an aft balcony which was nicely laid out. Yes there are fewer drawers but we used the cupboard over the bed to store our clothes as they dirtied. The view was fabulous once we got underway (6:10pm not 5:00pm) and we headed off to the Sunset Bar for our Sail-away with the CC group. The bathrooms are the most spacious we have had and there is plenty of space to store your sundries. Read more