This is honestly the worst cruise that we have ever been on. The customer service was horrible. The bar tenders near the pool were just rude and did not want to be doing their jobs. There was hardly any music pool side accept for the last day on board and there were never enough lounge chairs..... If you are looking for pool side service and a fun enjoyable experience, DO NOT BOOK THIS SHIP.... also, the specialty restaurant "Tuscany" had the absolute worst service.... I don't know why it is so hard for some people to just smile and make people feel welcome! Absolutely HORRIBLE, we will never use this cruise line again. The only good thing about this ship was the staterooms. The rooms were spacious but I would have traded that for an enjoyable time any day!.... not to mention " I could not believe the night club was a room were people had to wear headphones to listen to music. Literally people dancing in a room with no music.....the strangest experience ever! Read Less

Been on equinox before and enjoyed the activies and entertainment. This cruise’s entertainment was embarrassing. Two comedians, one juggler, one great singer and two shows with a new group of performers that were inexperienced and not talented. The dancers and aerial act was very good but the rest was so disappointing. Next when the ship’s CELEBRITY TODAY lists such activites as bean bag toss and meet the World Class bartenders and no bartenders show up, it proved to me that this cruise line no longer has an interest in entertaining their passengers. No cooking class, no dance class other then line dancing, no podium lectures no mention of veterans meeting in the CELBRITY TODAY. There was a large index card in front of guest services on a bulletin board that listed a veterans meeting. My husband went, only one other person showed up. There were many veterans on board, we spoke to as days went by that never knew there was a meeting. They put all other groups meetings in the CELEBRITY TODAY but not the veterans. I was bored and if I didnt bring my cards and two books it would have been worse. I realize many passengers enjoy gambling and drinking but to focus only on those two activies is not the cruise line I will revisit. The music was mostly latin and loud. The areas to play cards or read books was extremely noisy because all the piazzas music could be heard. So It was impossible to concentrate. We ended up staying in our cabin so we had peace and quite. No piano music to sing along with or steel drums that have always been part of a carrbbean cruise instead there was rock and roll and latin live music. I feels as though Celebrity no longer value the mature adult passenger so we will take our money elsewhere. Read Less

We are elite level Captain’s Club members and live in Florida so we could drive to the ship. This was a quick getaway to the Western Caribbean . Honestly, we sailed on Celebrity Expedtion to Galapagos in March and had an amazing experience. Unfortunately , that was not the experience on Equinox. We had a veranda stateroom and when we checked in the room was dirty! Hairs all over the sofa. We called our stateroom attendant who quickly brished everything to the floor. My husband had to teach him how to clean and fix this issue before I would reenter the cabin. From reviews here, we did dine in Tuscan Grille on our first night at a 30%discount and it was an excellent experience and best meal of the cruise . Dinners in the main dining room were average at best and poor a few times. Breakfast in the main dining room was very limited and average. The coffee available 24hours was never worth drinking as it tasted like brown water. The shore excursions had age limitations on many of them and when I complained, the staff blamed it on the vendor whe I said you selected the vendor. This limited which activities we could select and we were disappointed in two ports. One shore excursion to snorkel in Stingray City was NO snorkeling at all. They gave you masks but you stood in 2feet of water and there were so many people you could not swim around and there was nothing to see except the stingrays. The entertainers brought on the ship were excellent . The on board talent was excellent but the material they were given was awful, two of the three shows were terrible . Read Less

My wife and I were looking for a summer cruise with minimal children and maximum relaxation. My wife is a teacher and wanted a vacation before she had to deal with her third graders for the next year. This was her first cruise and my 4th (first with Celebrity, the rest with Royal Caribbean). To sum it up: Celebrity has spoiled us and we booked the Eastern Route for NEXT summer. We embarked in Miami and arrived at the pier at 11:00 after spending the night at the Hilton Miami downtown. Our Uber driver dropped us off in front of the port and we were quickly ushered into the terminal building for check in. It was a prompt process and we walked right up to our check-in desk. After a quick scanning of passports and handing of seapasses, we boarded. This probably took less than 15 minutes, but far the quickest I have ever boarded a ship. Upon embarkation, we were handed glasses of champagne and the fun began! Overall ship: The Equinox is in good shape overall for a vessel that has been sailing since 2009. We are eagerly awaiting the renovation and sailing next year on her after the face lift. There was some obvious wear, but nothing noticeable. The ship was very clean, and no complaints at all. Dining: We ate in the MDR every night except for the first night in Tuscan. My meal was good, but not worth the up charge. We ate in the MDR with the same waiter (Jefferson) every night. He was very accommodating and we loved him. I will say, the food in the MDR was outstanding. Entertainment: "Meh" is the best way to describe the productions. The comedy was good, but we didn't care for many of the headline acts. We skipped the last few nights to indulge at the Martini Bar. Activities were good, but remember you aren't sailing carnival or RCCL. This is a luxury line aimed at pampering and relaxation. Service: Simply outstanding. We did not lift a finger. From our steward, sommelier, and wait staff; it was flawless. This is where Celebrity shinned the brightest and earned our business for the foreseeable future. Ports: Key West: Least Favorite Port. Best way to describe it was Bourbon Street on an island (Duval). We did not enjoy, and would not make it a point to return. Costa Maya: We did the dolphin swim here and had a great time. 1 other ship in port made it rather crowded, but the area is nice, clean, and the locals friendly. Cozumel: Nachi Cocom. Always a great time, and I highly encourage you to make a reservation and visit. Grand Cayman: Always a pleasant place to visit. Good shopping, 7 Mile Beach,and one of my favorites in the Caribbean. 2 days at sea on the voyage. Overall: Great cruise and we're Celebrity clients for life. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we were celebrating our 16th anniversary and Cekebrity boasted of being adult centered with impeccable service. We chose Concierge Level, which is one step down from suites. I have to say, I am a little disappointed in that I expected more perks for the amount we paid for our room.. essentially we got the same room as a regular veranda but in a prime location with a few extra amenities. I’m not fully convinced the extra $2k was worth the upgrade. However, the service is 5 star on this ship. Our room attendant, Paulwin, knew us by name and took personal interest in ensuring we had everything we needed. In addition, although the pool area was overcrowded and constantly busy - we did not go more than 5 minutes without staff offering us drinks or service. We never had to wait to be seated for dinner, (although we are early birds and usually beat the crowds), and the restaurant staff was also highly knowledgeable and attentive. From the bar manager offering our favorite mixed drinks, to accommodating every special food request, our dinner experience was also 5 Star. Loved the atmosphere at night, live music on multiple floors, bands, jazz, instruments, and even a live orchestra with dancing one evening. The staff is incredibly helpful and friendly- all over the ship. The drawbacks: the ship has a small pool area and gets very crowded. The activities are limited and frankly not very entertaining (daily glass blowing classes..?? Really?) if you want to participate in the fun stuff, like jackpot bingo- you can count on a minimum of $100 to play. The theater shows were great, but just about the only option for free entertainment. The ships convenience store was limited to one cabinet.. so if you need anything at all, (snacks, facewash, books, magazines) you pretty much have to get it at the port stops or plan ahead and pack extra. With this being our first cruise, I anticipated most everything to be included in our cost - but that was not the case - which was quite frustrating given our room alone was $3300. Overall great experience. Would definitely explore other options for future cruises! Read Less

Originally selected to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday party on a ship with an awesome destination, few kids, no rowdy and lewd drunk guest, and various elegant accommodations. Although the elegancy was very well presented, there were very few small kids, and all the guests seemed to be mature and well behaved the ship's leadership itself is what spoiled the cruise. I don't feel that the Celebrity Equinox under its leadership of Captain Dimitrios Manetas is an honest ship. Very little empathy was given for cancelling a Marquee destination on my 7 days 3 destinations trip leaving me with 5 days at sea and only two stops. I understand natural disasters may change an itinerary but this Captain had very poor insight into making a decision early enough to plan empathic entertainment accommodations or a replacement port. The ship set sail on Saturday and the port (San Juan Puerto Rico) was cancelled in less than 48 hours after sailing with prior knowledge that a storm was in the area. The evenings entertainment was not reasonably boosted up to give an impression of being sorrowful that the port was closed. The Cruise Director Maarten Breuls offered the same schedule of entertainment as if nothing had changed with the exception of adding a glass blowing presentation that was previously offered and shown again in the days following the cancelled port. I do not believe that Captain Manetas understands that destination is an important point of consideration when picking a cruise. When a desirable destination is found most of the other stops along the way becomes least important. If the St. Maartin or St. Thomas ports were closed I don't feel it would have made as much of a difference as having the most desirable port, San Juan closed. There was also a medical emergency on the ship. The Captain and his Guest Relations Officer tried to use the excuse of "saving a passenger's life" as a reason the guests should be understanding of the San Juan destination being cancelled. The storm I can understand but it is the ship's responsibility to respond to medical emergencies while attempting to continue on with the ship's itinerary. The Captain repeatedly made it appear as the passengers chose to "save the life of another guest" and not go to San Juan. Although I would want the ship to respond to my family and friends' medical emergency I certainly would not want to interrupt the vacation of over a 1000 other passengers to the point that their itinerary is drastically changed as I know ships are trained and equipped to deal with these emergencies. The Captain did not even offer a substantial On Board Credit to make up for having an additional day at sea. Whatever the reason for cancelling the port stop rather it be weather or a medical emergency the Captain did not try to accommodate or refund the other passengers. It appears the when the destination port loses all the guests and their shopping money the Celebrity ship wins their shopping and entertainment funds. The Captain won more money for Equinox buy cancelling San Juan and not offering any On Board Credit refunds. This is a very dishonest practice that I would not want my family and friends exposed to if given another choice. As a former guest of various cruise ships Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. should be embarrassed by the poor mapping and weather foresight of Captain Manetas and the very limited entertainment offerings from Maarten Breuls on a day when a popular destination was cancelled. I was able to enjoy the Specialty Dining options: The Tuscan restaurant was elegant and the food was great but to be honest I could not remember it as much as when I came from the Murano French restaurant. The Maitre D' at the Murano was fabulous! The five or maybe it was seven course meal kept coming. We were so full we wanted to run out. The food was so delicious we couldn't leave any behind. The Maitre D' in the Silk Harvest Asian restaurant was also very friendly and accommodating to our needs. We loved the way he suggested food items that we would have not chosen before he suggested them with no risk of having something else if we did not like them. the entertainment on the ship in the Equinox theatre was good but not as great as I have seen on less expensive ships such as on mid level Carnival and NCL. The live entertainment was poor. They had a one act that was always seeming to be playing and the singer had some style with she sang the songs in an off tempo and pitch on purpose. Everyone I heard commenting were wondering if she thought that was cool. Unique isn't always creative. To be honest is was annoying. There was no R&B, Soul, or Pop live bands. If they think there was - shame on them. Again, I've seen better bands on least expensive ships. These acts were so mundane I thought they were for senior citizen home entertainment. There were very little things to do for the young and/or chic crowd that was not very pretentious unless you were at the World Class Bar or Martini bar. This is a very dressy crowd from 5 PM on which is fine but if you were not yet ready for that you had very few spots to go for other types of entertainment and activities. They force you into cliques and the biggest crowd is the expensive watch buying and premium liquor sipping groups. Very Boogie. No outside on the deck dances for adults and club goers and GET THIS not a single barbecue deck party. The only open air food service near the pool only served burgers and fries. To get food or drinks near the main pool was a hassle and a trip. No on screen projections or outside bands near the the pool on a risen center stage like other ships. If you were about the pool then be about the pool and keep out of the way of the big spenders who dominated the rest of the floors near the grand stairway. ALL day long all you hear is promotions to upgrade your drink package. If you do not plan to get wasted or near wasted every day of the trip its probably not the best purchase to make. Buy if you are a big drinker and can drink for several days straight. On this ship ou might need to when they give you extra days at sea. Read Less

Celebrity Equinox June 30 – July 7, 2018 Miami, Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya Cabin 8260 Introduction This was our 24th cruise and 4th time sailing Celebrity and second time on the Equinox. It’s a great ship in all respects. Murano Restaurant We had booked a dinner for Saturday prior to our sailing. The charge for the Murano specialty restaurant was reduced to $35 per person from the customary $50. I have to say it was one of the finest meals of my life, let alone on a cruise ship. I asked our waiter if he recommended any particular dish and he replied that he’s been working there six years and the menu has never changed. Diners love everything. You can view the menu on the Celebrity Equinox’s web site. Toppers (Sunday night show by the ship’s singers and dancers.) Welcome to Bizarro World. This is my first review, ever of a musical production anywhere. It’s a production that commands comment. Center stage is an enormous top hat with a clock face facing the audience. The show’s star wears a neck-to-ankles Gestapo-style leather coat topped with a Willy Wonka-styled purple top hat with a purple plume. Let my nightmares begin. We don’t know his name or the names of his two partners. One is a guy who looks like he escaped the show “Cats.” A fellow passenger called him “monkey boy.” The other is a woman, who I’ll call “Bo Peep” who wears a poodle-type dress and caries a parasol. I have no idea why they are in the show, it’s just strange. Here’s the show’s theme. Nazi Wonka, who sounds like Mr. Rogers, has to imprison all the ship’s singers and dancers in his huge stage prop hat and only releases them to sing, dance and entertain him, with presumably top 40 hits. He then locks them back up in his hat so his “friends” can’t escape. This is the whole show. I leaned over to my wife, Joanne, and said the entire show is a celebration in support of slavery, with the slaves forced to wear uber-gay outfits. I observed audience members deleting songs from their smart phones after the cast sang a top 40 number. Just sayin’. Over cocktails, a few nights later, I was comparing notes about the show with a new drinking buddy. He said, “what did you think of the singing tree?” I said, “what singing tree?” He said, “you know, the girl who was totally covered up.” I said, “do you mean the “Cousin Itt” Adams Family character wearing the crumpled crepe paper flowers?” He pointed at me, smacked his thigh and said, “YES, Cousin Itt.” Trust me, Cousin Itt was not the weirdest element of the show. I’m sure the troup were talented in every respect, but they need material that was not retrieved from some theater workshop trash bin. Fourth of July The main atrium was decorated in red, white and blue balloons and other patriotic touches. In the evening, six of the ships pastry chefs assembled a six by eight foot American flag made from thousands of red, white and blue iced cupcakes. An icer added the white frosting to the field of blue cupcakes for stars. No fireworks but still very cool. See the photos with the review. Camo Guy Getting Picture Taken So, we’re in the Martini Bar (ahem) on photo night, and this couple, across the atrium, is posing in front of a backdrop. His shirt is identical in pattern to the backdrop and he looks like a head with detached arms. Check out the photos included. I just love it. Costa Maya This was our first time in the port. We parked with the MSC Armonia and the Norwegian Getaway. It looked like about a four mile hike along the pier (in reality just a half mile) from the ship to the shops ashore. My knees took one look at the hike ashore and said NOPE. Lots of tours were available to see the Mayan ruins. Fellow cruisers rode a bus through the Mexican jungles for three hours, had two hours to view the ruins and three hours back to port. They used every bit of a $7 can of bug repellant and were still eaten alive by mosquitos. I’m just sayin’, hello Martini Bar. World Cup Soccer Our cruise director, Maarten Bruels, who is Belgian, took every opportunity to let everyone know who the Belgian team beat. The former Cellars Bar on deck four is now the Gastrobar and a de facto sports bar where the World Cup ruled the week on the TV screens. When Mexico played Brazil, I think they needed armed guards to keep an eye on proceedings. Pretty intense, all week long. The Non-Ship Based Entertainment Heard over dinner Tuesday night: Me: So do you want to go see the ship’s singers and dancers in “Elysium” tonight? Joanne: I don’t think you would like it. Me: It can’t be any worse than “Toppers.” (We didn’t go.) Dan Wilson . . . very good comedian. Tatiana Marie . . . a wonderful singer who does great impersonations. Rondell Sheridan . . . another very funny comedian. Uptown . . . THE BEST. Motown to Uptown Funk. Don’t miss them! Summary We just love Celebrity. See you there. Austin Kearney Atlanta, GA pepperdog@mindspring.com Read Less

This past June 30th we had the pleasure of sailing on the Equinox for its Western Caribbean itinerary (Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya). It was our 11th cruise overall, and our second time on Celebrity. Below are my notes, critiques and comments from throughout the cruise. Positives: - Public Spaces: First of all, I think the Equinox is the most visually stunning ship I've ever sailed on. The public spaces are so modern and clean that it feels like the ship is brand new. As has been noted, the spaces are also very well thought out. In particular, we really enjoyed hanging out in the adults only solarium, which maintained a serene feel at all hours of the day, despite crowds. It never felt too humid (a problem we've found with some of RCCL's solariums) and the area was lit with lovely colour changing lights at night. - Oceanview Café: The Oceanview Cafe deserves major props as well. The area never felt overcrowded, and the food served there was of very good quality -- unlike the overly cheap buffet fare we've sometimes found on other lines. I really enjoyed that there was always a curry option available as well! - Entertainment: I loved the musical shows put on by the Equinox's talented cast, and though the "story" was mostly lost, it didn't really matter. "Topper" in particular was really imaginative in its choreography and costumes. The 2 comedians that were aboard during our trip were also very good. - Friendliness: Celebrity's staff and officers have always been extremely friendly and talkative, and we really appreciate that about the line. Numerous times we struck up conversations with ships' officers -- a far cry from the fairly cold reception we received from officers on Norwegian. Negatives: - Main Dining Room: Though our waitress was wonderful, I unfortunately cannot say the same of the main dining room food during our trip. The soups I ordered were watered down and often arrived cold, and family members who ordered cooked-to-order items reported they were very overcooked. I ordered the Veal Cordon-Bleu on the last night, and was shocked at how tough and over-salted it was. Frankly, it tasted like a microwave dinner. Another thing we noticed was that the portions were absolutely tiny! It's painfully clear that Celebrity's been cutting back a lot here. When I ordered the beef tournedo, I was surprised by how small it was, accompanied by two lonely potato wedges and a sad little portion of broccoli. As a result, we frequently overheard people around us asking for double portions of different items. - The App: I love that Celebrity is trying to become more modern by integrating its app with the ship's activities, and I'd love to see this replace the daily letters sometime in the future, but it's clear that they aren't there yet. At least 5 times throughout the cruise, we arrived somewhere for an event only to be told that the app was wrong and the event was actually at the other end of the ship. - Debarkation reminders: I understand that it's important to be clear with guests about disembarkation details so as to avoid confusion on the last day, but debarkation tags in the room 3 days early? Not cool. We also noticed that as of the second-to-last day of the cruise, every single announcement and every single pre-show or pre-event monologue was accompanied by reminders that "today is your final port day of the cruise" "tomorrow is the final trivia of the cruise", etc. A small detail, but it was kind of grating to be reminded of this at every possible turn. - Not using available spaces: Less of a complaint and more of a remark. There were some spaces on the ship that we noticed were woefully underused. For example, there isn't a single event I can recall taking place in Celebrity Central. At one point there was a "majority rules" gameshow that took place in the hallway outside Celebrity Central, despite that space being completely empty and ready to host such an event. Similarly, the Slush Bar was closed for all but about 4 hours of our cruise. I'm really not sure what's happening with this space -- maybe Celebrity has decided to abandon the concept and turn it into something else in the next dry dock? Other Notes: - We stayed at the Hampton Inn Brickell before the cruise, and for the most part it was a lovely hotel, and I would highly recommend it to anybody staying in Miami pre/post cruise. That being said, definitely avoid the shuttle there. Upon arrival, we booked the cruise port shuttle for the following day, thinking this would be an easy stress-free way to get to the ship the next day. Boy were we wrong. When we got to the lobby for our shuttle the next morning (10 minutes early, might I add), we were practically yelled at by the shuttle organizer because apparently 2 other guests hadn't showed up and they were going to have empty space. (How is that my problem?) They huffed and puffed about it and seemed unwilling to take us, which I don't understand -- why would you turn away 4 customers because 2 others didn't show up? The hotel concierge was shocked by how rude they were being, and we ended up just taking an Uber (which was cheaper anyways). - We had heard about Persian Gardens day passes, so we inquired about this on the first day, hoping to take advantage of it on the first sea day. Apparently, though, Celebrity is no longer offering these (the spa concierge told us they were only doing expensive week-long passes now). That's a shame, as we would've bought the one-day ones. - In Key West, we were told by a crew member checking guests out that due to new US rules no food whatsoever (including prepackaged items) was allowed to be brought aboard from Key West. This seems bizarre to me, as it could only end up harming vendors in Key West. Anybody know if there's any truth to this? Read Less

This was my third consecutive voyage on Celebrity, and it continues to be phenomenal luxury. I will use note form to keep this brief: - Arrived early at port. Zero lines. On ship by 10:45. Easy and wonderful. - Luggage arrived when stateroom was available at 1:15 - Stateroom (with balcony) was beautiful and looked like it was still new. Zero wear on it. Clean. Great - Food and service in the main dinning were both amazing. While I hear great things about the restaurants at extra cost, it's hard to imagine as the main dinning room is so awesome. Apparently the extra cost restaurants give even better service as the waiters have a little more time. Billy Boy in the MDR was great. - Service all around the ship was exceptional. I would hang out in the solarium everyday, which is a great retreat (quiet and air-conditioned), and my dirty food dishes would be taken away within minutes of me stetting them down. There is a even one or two people devoted full time to just the solarium to be sure that standing water is removed, towels available, clean. Just amazing. Adults only. - Bar service was great. Only place you have to wait a little is a at the pool bar, even though there are often three tenders. Trick is to either just use waiter service at pool (which is plentiful) are walk up the stairs beside the pool bar to the Mast Bar, which is less busy. - Used the gym daily. It's great. Modern. Beautiful views. - Room service breakfast daily. Almost perfect. - Some kids and teens on board as it was summer (which is fine). Much more adult oriented cruise line which I like. - Stateroom attendant friendly and efficient. Fun to receive the calendar every night detailing the next day. - Main shows at night were great. Very different (MUCH better) than a land all-inclusive. Professional, especially the Celebrity entertainers. Loved the show called "Topper." - Cruise director (Maarten) enjoyable. - Captain was quiet, but that is fine. - Casino was busy. Would have liked lower minimums ($10 would be good) rather than $15 for BJ. One table was $5, but BJ payout was 6-5 for that table. - Snorkelling in Grand Cayman was fun. Well organized. Nice guides. Recommend shore excursions offered by Celebrity as you know what you're getting; quality. Amazing vacation. Will always stay loyal to Celebrity. Enjoy! Read Less

We sailed on the Equinox before and like the layout of the ship, it is easy to find your way around. We purchased Concierge level cabin and it was a good decision. We had easy priority boarding as well as departing the ship. Really Good Things: SUNSET BAR: We especially like the Sunset bar with the grassy area. What a treat to have a cocktail and a cigar in the evenings. The bartenders are really friendly, and they stock premium liquor. TUSCAN GRILL: The best restaurant experience was the Tuscan Grill. We ordered 1/2 servings of main dishes so we could taste more of the items on the menu. Be advised, even 1/2 servings are way larger than expected. The best items we had were the lobster alfredo pasta and the short rib pasta. Both were excellent. The lasagne was bland, and the pasta carbonera was just okay. Since the two entrees were so wonderful, it was okay that the other two were average. PORTS OF CALL: San Juan - arrived late in day so took cruise ship's walking food and culture tour, great food and interesting history stops (e.g., burial church of Ponce deLeon); St Thomas - took cruise ship's excursion "St John on your own" ferry to St John, hired taxi and went to Trunk Bay for swim/beach - not crowded. Beautiful. People were snorkeling as well; St Martin - hired a driver to take us around from Diederick SXM Tours, our driver was Diederick himself! Great time. He took us everywhere we wanted to go including French side for shopping, and Simpson Bay beach for lunch and sun/swim. Okay things: MAIN DINING ROOM: The main dining room was pretty good - we ate there a few times. One night they had lobster tail and it was surprisingly tasty. BUFFET: The Buffet was good and offered interesting food options (Indian, vegan, Asian) but as far as we could tell, the carving station never had roast beef - they had pork, ham, and meatloaf (I know! who would have figured the carving station had meatloaf?) Not so good: PREMIUM LIQUOR OFFERINGS: We bought the upgraded beverage package but were sad to find out that many of the bars on ship did not stock the best premium brands. We had to bar-shop to find them. It was obvious that the cruise line wanted us to settle for what was available at the most easily accessible bars. Now our pet peeves: POOL: Everyone looks forward to pool time! However, the pool chair situation is abysmal! People would reserve 4 to 6 chairs early morning and not come back to the chairs for 2 to 4 hours! In one instance, we complained to Carlos, the pool monitor and he said he hadn't observed this happening even after 2 different parties told him about it!!! In another instance, one family reserved TWO SETS of chairs for their use, one set in the sun and another set under the canopy. One morning we had been in our lounge chairs for at least two hours and next to us were 4 chairs with cruise ship towels on them for the entire time, there were no personal items on them, A lady came and took the lounge chair next to me and was there for 1/2 an hour when 4 people came up and said that she was in their chair, that all 4 chairs were theres. They intimidated her enough that she left. Cruise ship management of this abuse was non-existent. By 9:00 a.m., 75% of the lounge chairs had towels (and maybe a flip flop or book) on them "reserving" them for hours. There has to be a better way to handle this equitably. We will seriously consider another cruise line next sailing for this reason alone MARTINI BAR: The Martini Bar is such a unique spot to have a martini on the frozen bar! However, it was always crowded - to be expected - BUT the bartenders had to be cajoled to wait on us and they didn't make the drinks according to the bar menu (more than once). When called to their attention, they just laughed and acted like they were doing us a favor to fix them. They seemed to be more interested in currying favor with their regulars in order to garner tips. STAFF: The Staff were a real surprise. With a few exceptions (our cabin attendant, the Sunset Bar bartenders, and some of the servers who worked the buffet bars) staff were obviously not happy to be there. It used to be such a joy to interact with the staff on cruises, they would smile and be welcoming and friendly. Not so on this sailing. There was definite "attitude" as if they were doing us a favor by serving us. It is the little things that make or break a cruise since there are so many choices, these "little" irritations are reasons we will shop around. Sadly, we really like the Celebrity Equinox but not enough to give it another chance for our next cruise. Read Less