Celebrity Equinox

Overview
The Eclipse has been designed like a luxury yacht, and although 85% of the Staterooms are balconies, for a cruise ship she has a very sleek modern profile. This modern theme is continued inside the ship, with elegant design and contemporary furnishings.

On the top deck, the innovative lawn club has teak wrap around decks which surround real grass lawns. A stunning area where you can play croquet, bowls, french boles, have a picnic, and watch the hot glass show.

The resort deck has a pool which is located in the solarium with two whirlpool baths. It is separated by the pool bar from the outside Family and Sports pools, and the Wet zone play area.

The Eclipse has a huge Library that extends over two decks (Sky and Penthouse), but a card playing area on panorama deck, is not a room. Located close to the central lifts, it is not the most peaceful location.

The entertainment and promenade decks are open plan, and provide excellent passenger flow, apart from when the main show has finished, where a bottle neck occurs for about 15 minutes.


Staterooms
I stayed in stateroom 9243, a c2 grade balcony. Again, the design was contemporary, with a large double bed, a sitting area with a white leather settee, and a large flat screen tv. The furnishings were of an excellent quality. The bathroom, with bath and shower, was big enough for a large person. The balcony was a decent size, so a very comfortable stateroom indeed.

Dining
Main restaurant – a stunning modern restaurant with the largest wine cabinet I have ever seen. However, like the majority of large cruise companies nowadays, it is the quality of the food that is suffering due to cutbacks, certainly not the expected Celebrity 5* standard.

Ocean View Café – grill and buffet. A very innovative idea here, as there are a large amount of food islands, rather than the normal long counter type self service methods. This makes for an ambient feeling of space. International cuisine is on offer every day from every corner of the world, with chefs ready to cook your food as you wait. If you fancy a sandwich, there is a Bread island, with every type of bread imaginable.
The quality of the food here is excellent, and the choice phenomenal. Try the Canadian bacon carved off the bone for breakfast!

Speciality restaurants – All of these restaurants offer world class gourmet cuisine, and the cover charge is well worth it. Murano (French cuisine), Tuscan Grill (premium meat including Kobe beef, and fish dishes), Silk Harvest (Asian Fusion), and Blu (reserved for Aqua class passengers)


Bars
My two favourite bars were the Galleria (located in the Art gallery area on the entertainment deck) and the Sky Observation lounge. The Galleria had a “liquid chef” who made superb perfectly balanced, scientifically calculated, ****tails. A great place to sit as you could see everything that was going on, even in the bars a deck below. The Sky Observation lounge is a wrap around bar at the top of the ship on lido deck, with stunning views out to sea, beautiful white leather furniture, and a wonderful atmosphere

There is also Michaels Club, providing a gentleman’s club atmosphere serving fine cognacs and malt whiskeys, the Cellar Masters, a wine bar with its own sommelier who offers a taste of the wine before you purchase it. Most people, however, tend to congregate in the Martini bar and Crush (where the large circular bar is literally made of ice). During the day I would recommend the Sunset bar, located aft of the Lawn club

Entertainment
The main shows are very American, and are based around Cirque du Soleil type acts. However they do have an entertainment court that has some amusing and entertaining street acts, Comedians appear in Celebrity Central, and the ensemble lounge has jazz and big band music
Celebrity also provide an enrichment programme with lectures by prominent people in their field. You can also take lessons in various subjects.

Summary
Pros - A superbly designed cruise ship, with attentive staff, great bars, and the largest selection of cuisine. A very enjoyable experience.

Cons – Not the best for children facilities, and the food quality in the main dining restaurant is not 5 *

During my 14 years with Cumbria Cruises, I’ve been fortunate enough to see a wide range of fantastic cruise ships, including most recently Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and Cunard’s Queen Victoria. I have not, however, had the chance to experience a Celebrity Cruises vessel, so it was with great anticipation that I headed off down to Southampton to see the brand new Solstice Class ship from Celebrity Cruises: Equinox.

From the moment I set foot onboard, I knew I would not be disappointed.

The unique Lawn Club on the top deck was absolutely amazing, freshly manicured grass on a cruise ship – I kept telling myself this couldn’t possibly be true but it was and I, along with my colleagues absolutely loved it! I could definitely imagine having a picnic or a game of croquet here though I’d be terrified of taking a divot and upsetting the onboard gardener!

Having had a quick glance round the public rooms, the Sky Observation lounge being a particular highlight, we headed off to view the cabins.

The Penthouse Suite, was the perfect place to start: The thought of unwinding in a Whirlpool Bath on your balcony or relaxing in your suite listening to tunes played on your in cabin Self-Playing-Grand-Piano certainly appealed. If that’s not enough, there’s the added incentive of in suite dining and two huge bathrooms, so if you fancy really treating yourself this is undoubtedly the suite to choose.

That said, each of every one of the cabins we viewed were excellent so whether you choose to book an Inside, Ocean View, Balcony or a Suite your choice will encompass the very best style and taste, meeting the pinnacle of the very highest standards Celebrity Cruises set. All cabins and public rooms I viewed were beautifully decorated and had a modern yet, very elegant feel to them.

The dining experience onboard was fantastic with a wealth of options to choose from. From lunch in the Ocean Café with its huge range of options to choose from (Chinese, Mexican, British, hot Meals & cold Salads) to one of the many Speciality Restaurants onboard the choice is outstanding and the quality as high as can be expected.

For around $15-$20 you could book a table in the Asian inspired Silk Harvest restaurant or the stunning Tuscan Grill, both of which looked absolutely fantastic and well worth the small cover charge.

Aside from the dining experience, the bars and lounges are definitely worth a mention. The fabulous Sky Observation Lounge at the top of the ship was a real treat, but if you prefer something a little different there’s the Martini Bar & Crush, a specialist wine bar & Michael’s Club to name but a few…..

If you like something different to drink or you’re a bit of a ****tail fan; I would suggest a visit to the Galleria Tastings Bar on Deck 4 where you may be lucky enough to meet the ‘Liquid Chef,’ Lilly, who will help you explore the modern world of spirits and ****tails.

Unfortunately, our experience only lasted one evening but from the brief time we spent onboard, I would go as far as to say that the Equinox was the nicest ship I’ve seen. Modern, yet extremely sophisticated the Equinox really does tick all the boxes:

- Fantastic service
- A wealth of dining options
- Great choice of bars & lounges
- Excellent & varied entertainment
- Elegant staterooms & amazing suites