The Equinox is an attractive ship, but it lacks the art and architectural beauty of a Holland American ship. Embarkation went relatively smooth, and the champagne on entering the ship was a very nice touch. The ship has only two elevator locations, about a third of the distance from the aft and from the forward end of the ship. If you are located far aft, you have a real long walk to either stairs or elevators. I had two concierge balconies for four members of my family. They were reasonably spacious and comfortable.

Entertainment was inconsistant. Sometime it was pretty good as with acrobats, and sometime it was quite dull and disappointing. Entertainment in the lounges was quite good. Food in the Dining room was mostly good, but we had problems twice with steaks and broiled seafood. The lobster was very disappointing. The steaks were tough, and the seafood was dry and had no flavor. Escargot and shrimp every night helped to supplement the menu. Service was often slow. It was not unusual to sit 20 or more minutes between appetizer and salad, or between salad and entrees. The buffet on Deck 14 usually had reasonably good food. When you were having breakfast, it was really annoying to have to get up for more coffee or water as there was no cart with these amenities visible moving through the dining area as with many other lines. Free good ice cream, not cool whip, were always available.

Both food and service have deteriorated since my last two Celebrity cruises. We tried one of the specialty dining rooms, the Italian one, and the food and service were exceptional. There were several cold days on our Mediterranean cruise, and the Solarium, for adults only, with a pool and two nice jacuzzis were very nice and very welcome. Rating this cruise along side our 22 cruises, this was a three star experience and certainly not five stars.