We returned to Celebrity after a couple of Princess cruises, eager to experience one of X's vaunted Solstice Class ships. We are happy to report that the Equinox met or exceeded our expectations.
Embarkation: Smoothest ever. Port Everglades has it's act together. Taxi dropped us off at the curb around 12:30, luggage was whisked away by porters, and we walked in to the terminal and straight up to the check in desk. There is a separate line for concierge class, aqua class, and suites, none of which had a line. We were on the ship in minutes, and welcomed with champagne.
We went up to the buffet for lunch, and found the buffet area well organized and laid out so people don't feel crowded. Lots of choices of food from more exotic fare such as curries and made to order stir fry, to a station with comfort food like meat loaf and mashed potoatoes. Sandwiches, paninis, carving station, salads, pizza, pasta, you name it. And that's just the buffet. If you wanted, there are several other venues such as the Bistro and the Aqua Spa or even the grill at the pool.
Ventilation fans for ship interior were outside our stateroom balcony, making it rather noisy, but not a deal breaker. We could still hear the sounds of the ship at sea, and it rather buffered the noise from neighboring balconies.