Celebrity Equinox Review

Issues from day 1

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Equinox
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Pokercam1972
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Sep 2021
Cabin: Sky Suite 1

There were issues from day 1. We just came off an 8 day Carnival before deciding to give Celebrity a chance. We are currently on the Equinox from September 5- September 17, 2021. We chose this cruise because #1 the reputation of the brand and #2 there offers (free classic drink package, free wifi and gratuities included). On the 1st day, embarking was pretty easy and seemless. After getting to our Veranda room and getting settled, we ventured to the bar to order a coke to drink. The bartender informed us that it would be $7.00 charged to my stateroom. I explained that we had the drink package. After arguing with the bartender he said "here is the coke, go down to guest relations and talk to them. If you don't get it sorted, I will have no choice but to charge the $7.00 to your room. We headed down, argued with the front desk for a few minutes, was asked to provide a receipt for what I purchased. I pulled up the Celebrity website site and showed him what I booked (the thing that is offered to every customer). Keep in mind that I booked this vacation directly through them (not a travel agent or outside source). They fixed the issue after a tremendous amount of frustration. Day 2: Went to the meeting with the cruise director Eddie. Was explained how several ports of calls were not allowing us to disembark the ship unless you had a excursion through Celebrity. No passengers received any email stating this was going to happen! We would have not went on a Celebrity Cruise if we would have known this information. I would like to think maybe they didn't know however, they just came from these ports and were not allowed to get people off. Went to the excursion desk to book excursions (since it was the only way to get off the ship) and met with the excursion director. We started to ask questions and she stated "just go on the app and find what you want to do and book it through the app". Is that not her job? We just needed to be explained to what everything was. We ended up booking Excursion through the app and we hope everything we chose is good for us.Went to the Silhouette Main dining. We both had a steak and ordered both medium rare. They both came out well done. Sent them back, they fixed 2 more and when they came out, both were well done again. Day 3: We set out and did a couple activities. It was Chic Night on Celebrity (semi formal). Before getting on the ship, we read the dress code policy for evening attire. As we just came off a Carnival Cruise where there was only 2 formal nights, we had to go out and buy all new outfits to fit in Celebrity attire (evening only). We showed up early 6pm to eat hoping we could eat without getting dressed in evening attire. Was immediately stopped at the reception to explain we had to change. We had no issues with that. Went to the room, shower and changed clothes. Went back to the dining room (Silhouette) and got a table. While we were waiting for our food we noticed that a man with shorts, and the woman he was with wearing bootie cut off blue Jean shorts with flip flops show up and get seated. We immediately motioned for the Manager to come over. We asked him how they could be seated and we were turned away? He said "I can only ask them but I cannot refuse service". We were very upset and confused. We then went to the Casino bar to play some slots and get our mind off the whole ordeal. The waiter came over, I ordered a Moscato and my husband ordered a Pina Colada with white rum only (if you don't order it that way they top it off with a brown liquor that we don't care for). He brought our drinks back. With my husband's 3rd drink, he felt something come through the straw. He pulled it out of his mouth. It was a big silver staple. Called the waiter back over, showed it to him. He apologized and went and got another one. No explanation, no anything. If my husband would have swallowed it, I am sure it would have torn his insides up. Day 5, we had to switch ports from Antigua to St Thomas due to a problem with the port at Antigua. When we arrived, we were there with another ship (a Royal Caribbean ship wich is the parent company of Celebrity). We took a tour with the passengers from that ship (a taxi around the island). We were coversating with a few of those passengers. They informed us that they just came from St Marteen the day before. We asked if they were allowed to disembark without an excursion. They informed us that they were in fact allowed to disembark on their own for the 8 hours they were there. St Marteen is our next stop. We believe the only reason we were are being told that we could not disembark without a excursion is a Celebrity business decision to boost excursion sells. I sent an email to corporate letting them know the terrible experiences we have had this trip. Day 6, late day my husband went and met with the guest relations director and the hotel director. My husband says that these 2 individuals are the most polite and caring individuals on the ship. He said that they really showed appreciation and cared about all the issues we have had. They upgraded us rooms to one of their suites (which is very nice) credited us back for the last 2 excursions we have, and sent us a bottle of wine. First, we did not want anything for free but if they were going to do something, it should have been on another cruise. We could easily have paid for the suite upgrade. We were already on day 7 of our cruise! The cruise was more than half way over! I guess my suggestions to anyone thinking of cruising with Celebrity anytime soon is, make sure all ports that you are stopping at our open for you to tour, make sure to be careful when you drink something on board the ship, research the excursions way before you get on the ship because the staff at the excursion desk do not want to help you, don't be upset if they ask you to change clothes and not other people and review all your paperwork to make sure you are getting everything that is advertised. Make sure and bring copied with you as proof. I also have a couple of more recommendations. If possible, get a Suite because they are much nicer and larger than the regular rooms. They also come with a different level of service than a regular stateroom. Last but not least, make sure you meet with the guest relations manager and the hotel director as they provide the best customer service on the ship. We are going to do another cruise when we return but unsure if it will be with Celebrity or NCL. We also wanted to try the Celebrity Apex out of Greece but may have to try another cruise line for that trip. We just retired and plan on doing a lot of travel here in the next 6-12 months.

Cabin Review

Sky Suite 1

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