We had stateroom 1660. A concierge balcony room on Deck 11. 

The stateroom was way AFT on the starboard side of the ship. The bed was by the balcony patio door. The bed was facing AFT. Except for a small stain on the leather of the divan, the stateroom was in excellent shape. We find the design of the Equinox balcony rooms to be very efficient and well thought out. You do have to stop luggage under the bed, but there is enough room for this. On our two previous cruises we had Junior Suites on RCI ships. We did love the size of those Junior Suites, their full bathrooms and the walk-in closet. But to be totally honest, we did not suffer from going back to a much smaller balcony room on the Equinox.

It is the first time we cruised at a time other than summer. This means that, for once, we truly could enjoy our balcony on a daily basis and not roast or steam cook :-)  
Being at the further AFT portion of the ship, the room was in a quiet area. It does mean some more walking from the elevators all the way to the room, but with all the food we ate, that little walk was definitely needed :-)

Our room steward was Arvin. Arvin was perfect for us. Super efficient, but discreet. Do not get us wrong. He would always greet us and have a short chat, but not too much. Not always in your face. He quickly understood our routine and our little quirks and adapted accordingly. The room was always spotless and replenished with everything we could want or think of. We could not have been more pleased with his service.

We explored Key West by ourselves on foot. That was a good idea as Key West is very easy and pleasant to get around. We visited the Ernest Hemmingway house and then just walked along the various streets of this nice city. The ship was docked at the Navy pier. A shuttle was provided for free to get the ship passengers to downtown Key West. The shuttle ran non-stop during the day.

Key West

We had initially booked a catamaran and snorkel excursion with Celebrity. Rough sea conditions forced the excursion operator to cancel our activity. They offered other land based excursions. We decided to go for a beach break to a newly inaugurated beach club some 20 minutes away from the port (La Bamba beach club).
The beach club itself was quite nice. Simple but clean and new installations. Service at the beach was very good (the excursion included an open bar) and efficient. The only problem was the water. To our surprise, the ocean water was brown with a good quantity of sea weed and plastic/paper items. To the beach operator defense, there was 4 folks that spent the whole day raking the sand to get rid of the sea weed. They work non stop to keep the beach clean and they did succeed. But there is nothing they could do with murkiness of the water and the floating items. It did not stop us from enjoying the beach break, but it did put a bit of a damper on the experience. But again, service was very good, transportation fine and well organized and the staff all they could to have the place real clean.
The benefit of having booked our original excursion was that we got reimbursed the cancelled tour the same day and we paid the beach break on our Sea Pass. So no cash to pay.

For our stop in Cozumel we had booked a tour of the underground caves of Rio Secreto. What a great choice! As the caves are located on mainland we had to take a high speed ferry to Playa Del Carmen. Then a 40 min bus ride to the caves center. The 40 min bus ride was about 20 min on the roads and highway and another 20 min on a dirt road in the jungle. A relatively bumpy ride, but nothing to be concerned about as the drivers were really careful in navigating the pot holes. Nothing worse than driving in Montreal (I am only half joking here J ).
Once arrived at the caves, our group was broken down in smaller groups of 8-9 people and assigned a specific guide. We were lucky in getting assigned Natalia. We were then given water shoes, a wet suit, a life vest and a helmet equipped with a head lamp. All the equipment was in very good shape and clean. Lockers with locks were provided and the center had very nice and clean changing rooms/restrooms. A quick shower was ordered to make sure we do not bring any chemicals in the caves.
Once fitted we were guided through the jungle to the reentrance of our cave. We ended up spending more than 1.5 hour in the cave. What an incredible experience! Portions of the exploration was on dry ground, but other portions were in the water. The water was super clean. Fresh, but not super cold. With the wet suit it was fine. Sometimes the water was deeper than our feet, but nothing to fear as the life vest insured everyone would simply float around. And what a very different and pleasant feeling.
As you will read in reviews of this tour, you are not allowed to bring cameras or phones with you for safety reasons. And to be honest it makes sense and I would agree with the policy. There is a photographer that accompanies the group and takes snapshots throughout the whole trek. After the tour you are offered to purchase the photos. 25$ per phot or 99$ for all the photos of the tour (about 28 photos). The photos were quite good, but still a bit pricey. Up to you to decide.
Once the tour completed we changed back to our regular clothes and were taken in a nice pavilion for a Mexican buffet. Good honest food that was fresh and tasteful. After the 2 hours tour, the food was well appreciated.
Natalia was very good as a guide. She had a lot of information and insights to share with the group. She had a nice “tongue in cheek” sense of humor that was appreciated. And throughout the whole tour (inside and outside the caves) she was really mindful and careful in making sure everyone was doing fine and was safe. The ground in the caved is uneven and littered with obstacles, so everyone has to be careful and Natalia made sure we were all safe.
As you can see, this was a tour we really really enjoyed. A very unique experience. All very well organized and operated with very nice facilities. And with very friendly, knowledgeable and professional staff (especially Natalia).
The whole tour and transportation back and forth to the ship took about 8 hours.

We had booked the “Turtle Encounter and Island Tour” with Celebrity. Once off the ship (done through tender in Grand Cayman) we had to wait an extra 10-15 min because of some confusion. Due to rough sea conditions, all excursions that included the stingrays were cancelled. That created an understandable confusion as guests were offered to book other excursions. Overall, a 10-15 min wait was not bad for such a cancellation. 
Once ready, we were driven directly to the Turtle farm and the island tour was postponed to after the turtles. Which was fine with us.
Once at the Turtle Farm we were given a quick tour by a local guide. The tour done we were given the opportunity to spend some quality time with turtles that we could take in our hands for some pictures. A real special moment for my wife who really loves turtles. We were free to spend as much time as we wanted as the remaining 1.5-2 hours was free at the Turtle Farm. The tour also included the opportunity to snorkel a nice man made artificial lagoon that is home to nice fishes and turtles. Snorkeling equipment was provided and we were free to spend as much time as we wanted in the lagoon. We did take our time and at some moments we were all by ourselves, letting the underwater life coming close to us. A great experience!
After the stay at the Turtle Farm the group left to do the island tour. As Grand Cayman was our last port of call we decided to skip that portion of the tour and go to the beach for 1.5 hour. We boarded a public bus (small van) and paid 2.50US$ per person to go to a beach club (Royal Palm). The entrance to the beach club was 2US$ per person. The beach was splendid, turquoise water and beautiful sand. Once finished it was a 5 minutes taxi ride (5US$ per person) back to the pier to catch one of the last tender to our ship.

But again, service was very good, transportation fine and well organized and the staff all they could to have the place real clean.The itinerary was :

      Miami - Key West - Sea - Costa Maya - Cozumel - Grand Cayman - Sea - Miami

This was our 5th cruise (1 Princess, 2 RCI, 2 Celebrity) and our 2nd cruise on the Equinox (first in 2014).

Celebrity Equinox Review

Great cruise on the Equinox

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Concierge Class 1

Port Reviews

Key West

Find a Celebrity Equinox Cruise from $399