While I'm going to review some of the negative aspects of this cruise, let me say at the outset that overall the cruise was good and that we had a good time. My negatives mostly relate to how this ship and trip compare to prior Celebrity experiences, and how we think that Celebrity has started listening too much to their accountants.

We had two connecting cabins for the four of us (wife, 2 teens, and me). Our room steward was, as is usually the case with Celebrity, very good. The cabin was kept clean (not so easy with teens), and the bathrooms were surprisingly "roomy for a ship" and well laid out. We didn't bring fancy attire (no suit, dresses, etc.), and we had two cabins, but there was still a shortage of dresser storage. The closets were okay, but only marginally so. I honestly don't know what people who brought their "fancy clothes" do. As far as that's concerned, I wish Celebrity would not require dress up nights for the early seating. I wore a suit for many years, my wife still wears business attire for work, and the last thing we're thinking of doing on vacation is dressing up. I suggest that the early dinner seating wear what they like and the people who enjoy dressing up pick the later seating. In the past, we'd throw a jacket over our usual clothes, and get into dinner that way. This trip, the maitre d' ambushed our son and forced him to borrow a jacket, all the time glowering at us for not being better dressed ourselves.

Before I get into other particulars, and in contrast to my feeling that the accountants are in charge, the Equinox has something called a "hot glass show" put on by the Corning Museum of Glass. It was absolutely fascinating, and we went to every show we could after we discovered it. Even our teen son, who didn't get to a show until the last one (if you know teen boys, you understand), was captivated and wished that he had listened to us and gone earlier. The glass blowers (gaffers) change every few months, but I have no doubt that whoever is there will be first rate (on our cruise, we had Helen Tegeler, Laurie Kain, and Ian Schmidt). The show is largely improvised; no two shows are the same and I felt that I could watch them for days if I had the chance. They know what they're doing, they're very personable and generous with their time, explanations, and glass, and they do wonderful work. I cannot praise this show highly enough, and kudos to Celebrity for doing something for the passengers that doesn't result in an onboard charge. We frequently skipped the official theater show and went to the glass show instead. Bravo! Read more