Norwaylady

Day 7 Bonaire Cruise Compass

Dinner was good, no big surprises here🙃 crew friendly and good service. it was surprisingly fully booked by guests tonight. Since we didn’t depart until 22.00. Today’s menu: We had shrimp cocktail, salad, quinoa salad, onion soup and lamb kebab. Dessert: Banana fosters & coconut sorbet😋 After dinner it was bedtime 🥱

It was red beets😅🤭

canapés arrived today: This was a new twist… but not our cup of tea😅 the olives 🫒 YES. The rest 🤔🤔 Tonight’s show was Matt McGurk, magic ✨ show. Let’s just say we had our dose of him on Sil last year….. he did 2x shows and magic school🤭 So Mr said no way😝 We will go to sunset bar. Mr was quicker than me getting ready. So he was upstairs watching the sunset when I arrived. He shared a table by a very friendly couple from FL/France. We stayed outside until it was dinner time🥰 the temperature was good and it was a little breeze.

Observations on Equinox As many of you know, she will go into dry dock after her transatlantic. It’s not a full renovation. It’s a necessary maintenance dock to remain sailing. She is ready for some TLC in dry dock. It’s very visible on the water line and you see it well when tendering. Carpets are worn & torn. Lots of tiles are broken or damaged. They must change all carpets on public decks 3-4-5. They are very ready for a change. Some of the furniture in public areas are well used. Visible signs of wear over time. In the theatre the lights in the stairs are partially not functional. The LED strips are partially functional or dead. Our stateroom on the other side is well kept. No big signs of wear and tear😉 curtains, tv and carpet has been changed one round since she was new. So it okay. Personally I think the set-up in the staterooms on S-class is good. It’s not old oldies look and it’s functional. AND the most important for me! It’s a real balcony🩷💛🧡🩷😎 If they do all carpets and furniture in public spaces it will look great again. The outside will receive new paint and the waterline will be fine. That will overall make it look great again 👍🏻 I think Equinox carries her age well🥰💙 So over to something that is more a personal preference thing…. When we started sailing X it was a no policy for visible tattoos on crew. I’m not a big fan of tattoos. (Sorry🤭 you know I’m a bit conservative🤣🤣 in some ways) This has been holding stand and I’m personally not very happy for it. (Had I shown up having a tattoo when I lived home…. Let’s just say that I would be homeless & left out of the testament🤪🫣🤭🫡😵‍💫) My brother has a tattoo on his back and my father was rather furious about for a long time…. I don’t love it🫣 but it’s his right to do so🙃 he’s an adult. I almost feel out of my sun lounger on the second sea day. Someone in a higher position walked over deck 14 in his white short arm shirt 👕 and it was big sleeved tattoo stretching all the way on his arm😳 I was just like 😳😵 what???? No sleeves to cover up? This was not the case on Edge, so I don’t know if it’s captains decision or of this is something corporate has decided to open up for…… Back to the good things🥳🥰😍🙃 Crew is very kind and we have a great table for dinner. The crew is excellent and definitely deliver excellent service. Speed of our dining is great for our preference and everything is very well done. Keep up the good work👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Crew in Al Bacio is very visible and friendly. Nothing wrong here👌🏻(except for this afternoon🙈) Live music is good. House band and the orchestra is on the ball. Entertainment in the theatre has been good🙃 CD Angela and activity manager Dave is visible now & then. Activity on offer is wide and of different things to do during day & evenings. We are not the “number” one users of activities. We like trivia sessions, but we haven’t attended them yet😅 Senior officers have been “screamed” out on two occasions for mingling in grand foyer around 20.00. So no pointy fingers or anything to address as of this point of our cruise😎 (The daily canapés is a “dead” project… when it comes to chefs creativity😂😂😂)

Out & about😎 We have been to Curaçao 🇨🇼 before. We have been on a guided walk in the city centre, on a snorkel 🤿 tour etc. So this time we had no big plans. We decided for a walk and a beach stop at Mambo Beach 🏖️ YES, the very crowded beach area where all cruise guests from SY & EQ was🙈 The walk from the pier to Mambo is a very nice way to explore Willemstad and deutsch houses. Lots of colour, details and character. It’s a good walkway/sidewalk all the way. So it’s safe from cars and traffic. Mambo Beach is a shopping mall & beach complex. It’s 3.50$ pr person in fee for entering. Beach lounges are additional fees. It was a full house+ lots of tours stoping here and everyone else😅 so no beds or chairs available. El cheapo Norwaylady rolled out the towel on the beach😂😂😂 it was so loaded of people😜😎 Mr needed to cool off a bit🏖️ After 2 hours on Mambo beach 🏖️ we decided it was time to walk back to towards the city centre and our ship 🚢 We passed a grocery store on our way to the beach 🏖️ Mr had a great speed from the beach to the grocery store🤣🤣🤣 He was “smelling” a local serveza 🍺 Local beer 🍺 was collected from the fridge and we found a ice cream and some Limonade for me🧃 Then we continued our journey back to the ship. We arrived back at 16.30. Mr called for a Al Bacio stop☕️ Some coffee, club soda and a little bite for him😋 ( it’s strange… I had to reverse👀 they do have mini sandwiches 🥪 in the selection of daily cake👀👀) I think we arrived just during crew turnover. It was a bit of for service and just a bit of for the staff. We waited for a while before someone came and then the order came halfway to us…. Someone else was delivering it. Coffee, club soda (no glasses) and the order for Mr bites don’t🙈🤭 Well well…. He will not starve to death ☠️ 🤭🤣😋 Hopefully dinner later will make up for it😋

it must be a old form….. I was very surprised 😳 But you know…. I look like a pirate 🏴‍☠️😂😂😂 extra safety precautions😂😂😂

Mr was all dead ☠️🤣😴😴 So no early start today😜 No shore excursion booked. I dragged Mr out of bed just before 9… King of the evening, king of the day😎 It was OV for breakfast today☺️🫡 Mr was a happy camper😁 had omelette and OJ on the terrace. I was on the boarders of just give up🤪😝 it was not crowded, lots of tours had walked off the ship already. But I hate the idea of fetching my own food for breakfast, walking around, walking back to get coffee or something…. 😵‍💫 I found my yoghurt and some banana 🍌 to taste it up and my cat pellets🤗 mission accomplished🫡 Angelo had stopped by to make up the room while we had breakfast. B2B letter was on the bed: it’s the first time I have received a health letter ✉️ to fill out for turnaround day. I always do it by the app the evening before turnaround day or early morning of the turnaround day🤓 for our b2b and it has worked out great.

So i promised some pictures from our snorkelling 🤿 trip 🏖️🐡🐠🐟🪼 I have just uploaded some photos to my phone. Looking promising for a little reel for IG😂😎

This is a great sailing🙌🏻🥰 Cheers to a great start of your journey🥂 Have a great time! looking forward for more pictures and activities from you guys😎⚓️

Day 6 🇨🇼 Curaçao

It was more people for dinner tonight than earlier days…. We suddenly had a couple next to our table🤗 they seemed nice 👍🏻 from California😎 On the next table, it’s a 4 table seated by 2 people. They have made it clear and LOUD that this IS sailing number 19 on X! So we demand a full service and we will make sure we get what we want attitude😛😅🤭🫣🫡 We are keeping a little lower approach🤭😆🙃 haven’t said a word about the status here… They are probably nice people, but we are like air when we arrived🤣 So I think we will continue to keep this arrangement😝 Back to dinner! 🍽️ Today’s menu: We had the salad, gumbo, shrimp cocktail, gnocchi and flank steak. The starters were delicious and tasty. Main course was hit or miss tonight. The flank steak was delicious and tasty. The gnocchi on the other side was tasteless. It’s Quattro formaggi…. Aka 4-cheeses sauce. Yes, that would make it a little bit tasty? No, this sauce was made with a Norwegia cheese😂😂😂 aka no taste, just white sauce. Well well…. I probably wouldn’t starve myself to death before breakfast🤣 There’s always something good for dessert🙃😋 Menu Today was the 🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍 Bonanza That meant limited options for me😝 I took the apple pie and Mr had the passion fruit curd. (And the dreaded sambuca🤪 in a glass) Safe to say…. Someone was going to bed after dinner😜😴

Tonight’s show is the vocal cast, Intimate broadway cabaret. Let’s hear what they will sing 🎵 for us tonight🎵 Well, what a night (get the lyrics😜) Vocal cast are very talented, nothing wrong in them🎵😌 Broadway musical and live band? What can go wrong??? Nothing! We went for dinner as usual 20.30.

Since we arrived in port, by our gangway. We took a Clark Kent onboard😜 Showered off some saltwater and changed into dry clothes. Today’s canapés had arrived Mr & I wanted to go for a little walk. No plans of shopping or anything specific (you know that’s not true🤣🤣🤣😜) Someone wanted a local 🍺🍺🍺🍺 So off we went for a stroll. We took the city centre grand tour🙃 Mr found what he was looking for👀🍺 Do you think they used old cruise carpets? 😜 At 17.30 we decided it was time to go back onboard for some coffee and start the evening routine🙌🏻

We went to the sail-in😎🚢🥂 I think the majority was occupied by getting ready for arrival and eating🤭 Good for us😂❤️🤭 Not crowded at all😎 Service of mimosas, champagne and blue drinks💙🩵💚 After docking we went to get ready for our snorkelling trip. I booked this trip using OBC. We left 10.30. We were picked up in port by catamaran. 2 stops today. A reef 🪸 and a ship wreck. Temperature was great today, not to warm and no wind😎😎😎🤿🪸❤️ First stop was the reef. It took around 35.minutes to sail there. Visibility was great but it wasn’t the best experience of my life🐡🐠🐟🪼 Next stop was the ship wreck. It’s perfect for diving and snorkelling🤿 After the snorkelling, free bar was opening onboard. You know those deadly rum punches 🍹🍹🍹 And then it was time to return to port. We arrived in port 15.00. It will upload my GoPro later for pictures.

Bon Voyage ⚓️🥂🚢 We have several sailings on EQ🙃 we are happy for her❤️ Im ready to waive you welcome in Oslo🥰🚢⚓️

We love Aruba 🇦🇼 every time ❤️🪸🤿

Aruba delivered perfect temperatures for my taste😎🤿🪸 We are just back from snorkelling 🤿 and a stroll in town😎 They played a mix of new and old. Potpourri of Bethowen, Elton John, 60/70 classic hits. Unfortunately the cello was very covered up in the orchestra and the piano 🎹. So not bad, it was good. But it was just lacking some “polish” to perfect it.

Rise & Shine my friends💛🤩💛 Today’s plan is a snorkelling 🤿 session on a shore excursion by the ship. Meeting time in the theatre 10.30. We are docking in Aruba at 10.00.

We are invited to a helipad sail-in today⚓️😎🚢🥂

Cruise Compass Day 5 Aruba

Dinner time 😋 (mr favourites thing of the day😂😂) Menu We had beef carpaccio, apple pear salad and korma or beef short rib. The carpaccio was good (as always) the salad was fresh and good. The korma was good and spicy 🌶️ For dessert: We had vanilla ice cream and cherry jubilee.

Tonight’s show is Branden & James Cello & singer. Celebrity orchestra is backing. Good show and music 🎵 but not complete sold. Could use a little more polish🙃 After the show, in grand foyer was electric soul holding a pop-up preforming. It was a full house in grand foyer😅 So they must be doing something right😂😊

So back to cruising reality⚓️😎🚢 Sea day… how to do as little as possible in the longest time possible😂 After the captain’s club meeting I texted Mr, asked if he wanted some lunch… And I needed to tell him about the news from home💔🌹🐕‍🦺 We had something to eat in OV. It was British 🇬🇧 food themed today. I was not very hungry, so made myself a little tuna sandwich and melon 🍉 Mr on the other hand…. Was happy for some made to order pasta and a portion of fish & chips🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 The fish & chips looked delicious and the fish was crispy and delicious😋😋😋 It was crowded in the front of OV, but we had no problem to get a table on the terrace. After the lunch, Mr walked downstairs to do some more work. And I had to call the Queen to get more information about what happened today❤️ I found a sun lounger in partly shade and was just enjoying the sunshine and view of the ocean. At 16.15 I was finished in the sun. So I walked downstairs. Today’s canapés: Chefs brilliant skills are really showing off🤭😂😝🙌🏻 I wish they would have more rotation and more creativity🤓

@Lena11033 @hcat @theopup @kabmab ❤️ thank you! it’s never easy when things like this happens❤️ I know he had a great time at my parents 🏡 The Queen is a master of spoiling the “children” aka animals😂🤭❤️ And my father is a “dog” man🐕‍🦺🐕‍🦺