Arubamoose

We stayed there years ago and enjoyed it. Glad it is still there.

Thanks!! Will have to check them out.

We have not done a TA (our daughter giving birth to our first grandchild kinda killed that). But we did a TP on the Explorer in 2017 from Sydney to Seattle. We left Sydney on April 22nd and arrived in Seattle on May 15th. Our weather was perfect for all our stops in the Hawaiian Island and the South Pacific. No storms - no rain.

At pandemic lows we bought 100 shares of RCCL, CCL and NCL. Since then the RCCL stock price has gone through the roof. We have also had a nice "dividend" of at least $1000 of OBC. We haven't cruised the CCL or the NCL ships but will be in the future.

We did Tours by Locals. Our Tour guide was lilian.sierich@thefriend.com She picked us up at our hotel and she had a driver who took us around. We did both side of the falls. She spoke impeccable English and got us around without waiting. She was fun. We had a blast! Did a high speed boat ride to the falls. Thrilling. We stayed two nights at the Viale Tower Hotel. Rooms were decent. Rooftop bar was awesome for sunset. Walking distance to some good restaurants. We took a flight on LAN from IGR to Buenos Aires to meet our cruise.

Chops used to be really good. Last few times we did our BOGO there it was really mediocre. Service and ambiance was nice. Steak - meh..... I cook better myself. Usually don't do Italian because I am Italian and why? However, we did Jamie's on the Anthem for a BOGO and was pleasantly surprised. The service was great but the ambiance - meh.....

OK - Asian Carriers. Will be doing Singapore Airlines in Premium Economy to SIN from EWR. Using Chase Sapphire points. What Asian Carrier can I use my United Mileage Plus award on?

Haven't done the Beyond (2026) but have done the Apex and Edge. We've done an obstructed balcony (can actually sit outside of your room), which we loved and an inside. Had no issues with not being in a suite. The only thing is that we weren't able to eat in Luminae. No big loss with the other specialty restaurants that we did. Friends who had done a suite were really not that impressed for the price.

Pre Covid - years ago - we did the pizza thing up at the Lawn Club. It was very much hands on and we had a lot of fun. The pizza was so-so but the rest of the meal was great.

You missed a step before 1) Leave the pre-salted steak out in your refrigerator a few days to age.

There are now some UBER/LYFT drivers that offer car seats. It may take a few pokes around to see if they have two. You can reserve rides ahead of time. What are you using for the plane ride? My daughters use CARES - Child Aviation Restraint System - for their 3 and 5 year olds. You could possibly use that for the car ride.

When we were on the Anthem in February, they were pretty strict about using the BOGO on nights 1 and 2. We did Chops the first night and Jamie's the second night. I would have preferred later in the week as the menu's the first two nights are usually pretty good.

As am I....I logged in on my Dell Laptop and my iPhone.

We've done Bonaire Cruisers (who rent the golf carts) several times. A lot of fun!! On the south route - do stop at Foodie's for lunch. They book out quickly so if that's what you want to do - don't wait.

We did the very last balcony on the 9th deck on the Allure right above the Aqua Theatre. On a whim. We could see the ocean. We could see the rehearsals for the Aqua show from our balcony. We could watch the wall climbers. We listened to the staff at Johnny Rockets do impromptu shows down below. We could people watch. It wasn't too noisy at night. During the day it could be, but we were also out and about. Would I book it again? No. It was a LONG WALK from the elevators. I certainly got my steps in on that cruise. If it were that or an inside.....I probably would book it again....! 🙂

Absolutely make reservations for Eden....several times!! It was that good. Also, the Eden cafe did nice breakfasts and lunches. Loved the restaurant concept. Enjoyed the different themed offerings. Make sure you see the shows in the Club. Get there early as seating is limited.

We have plans to stay three or four nights in Singapore. We are IHG credit card people so we have hotel points and will stay in Clarke Quay. I am excited about the hawker centers. We just figure after such a long flight it would be to our benefit to relax at the Changi airport before we hit the ground. P.S. On your recommendations - I have already downloaded Grab!

Do tell about this Royal Pasta Day Promo.... I could definitely be on board about this!!!! We plan on using at least one of our BOGO's on Jamie's on the Anthem in a few weeks.

We are doing the Millie in 2025 and will book one overnight at the airport as we get off and then head to Singapore proper before our cruise. Everything I've read about it makes me excited to stay overnight!

No real formal nights. Button down and slacks are fine. Airline luggage weight restrictions killed formal nights.

We will also be on the next week's Equinox sailing. I so hope that they resume. Will report back after the cruise.

Aruba you can take the bus or a taxi to Boca Catalina or Arashi Beach. From Catalina go right, from Arashi go left.

We too had one on the Apex and loved it. An actual balcony. The porthole view was not really that obstructed.

Thank you for your straightforward and honest review. We are going on the Equinox with our best college buds in two weeks. Was mostly worried about the quality of the food on board. Happy to hear that the MDR was good. We are not expecting the wow dishes that we have gotten on Celebrity before (thinking back to the Michael Roux days) but glad that it was not awful as it been reported this year. Glad to hear Mast Grill was ok - we had it on the Apex last year and they were awful hockey pucks. Hopefully we can get close to rare or medium rare. Always do at least two or three lunches at Sushi and a couple of lunches in the MDR. We are not big buffet people but I do enjoy the Indian fare offerings. Not happy to hear about the entertainment. Our last four cruises were on E class and we were blown away by the shows and variety. We are coming into the Equinox with much lower expectations based on E class but we have enjoyed S class in the past. We did not get a drink package this time as it was cost prohibitive, especially with one non and one light drinker. We are Elite in our own right on Celebrity (D+ on RCCL) and haven't done a non- drink package cruise since before COVID. We have 7 pm dining just for that reason. How were they with the Elite drinks otherwise?

We upgraded to premium on our last Apex B2B in February. It was great at the martini bar and other bars as far as drinks go. DH likes premium single malt Scotch and I like to experiment. Wines by the glass was AWFUL. Everything that was premium was not available in the MDR and bars except they somehow miraculously sometimes appeared at the speciality restaurants. This time we will forgo and purchase as we go. We are Elite so we can do the Happy Hour and the breakfast and will bring on our two bottles of better wine and buy a few with our discount.