Morgsmom

On the Equinox this past week there was a separate toaster and special GF breads (SEVERAL varieties) at the breakfast buffet. It was away from the regular breakfast breads so you'd have to hunt it down a bit, but it was there.

I am NOT GF, but have a bad pineapple allergy. As a result I can't trust the tongs at the "cut fruit" stations so I stick with whole fruit. My DD is highly shellfish allergic; she would not have been able to even walk into the MDR on lobster night without having an attack.

I was on this sailing and didn't hear, or see, anything...

Just read Project Gal's review of her Christmas Equinox cruise and was disturbed at her statements that X is now expecting luggage out in the halls BEFORE dinner the last night and also to vacate rooms by 7AM....has anyone else on any other ship experienced this? We were Equinox in November and this was not the procedure so I'm hoping it was a one time thing.....can anyone confirm or deny this change?

Just got off of Equinox this morning and since we were "walk offs" I cannot confirm the timing of putting out luggage but I CAN confirm the 7am room vacate notice.

Well I guess that I am part of the 1% -- 1) I do bring Lysol wipes with me and wipe down every surface that my hands might come in contact with including remotes, knobs, drawer pulls, etc when I enter my cabin. I am in no way a germ freak; rather I acknowledge that my steward has 14 cabins to attend to and that his/her forgetting to clean a couple of things might potentially impact my vacation if the previous pax had been sick. It takes a few minutes and gives me a little peace of mind.

Secondly, I LOVE doing laundry mid-way through a cruise, as I enjoy doing it at home. I can pack 1/2 as much (usually a standard carry-on for a week) and have fresh, clean clothes halfway through. It's also important as we do water activities and sometimes come back with salt water t-shirts and shorts and those take forever to try to hang up and dry off.

To each his/her own I guess. May we all embrace our diversity in how we vacation this new year.

Happy (almost) 2017

Those of us traveling on the Equinox on 2 Jan (Monday)just got emails or texts regarding "intestinal illnesses" and "enhanced sanitation" at turnover.

Can anyone on the current sailing comment? Thanks in advance.

Wow, I didn't know that you could pre book select dining. I just did the same thing. Wish that "X" had made that known earlier but happy to have that option.

Hum, that's a hard one to answer. If you are flying in the day of the cruise I'd go with Fort Lauderdale as the airport is only 10 minutes and a $10-$15 cab away from Port Everglades. Pt Canaveral is a GOOD hour away from MCO airport and has much more expensive transfers.'

Tampa is also an easy port, however cruises out of Tampa are generally limited to just western Caribbean and the cruise lines don't usually put their newest/nicest ships out of there.

If you are flying in the night before since you will be coming from the snowy north, you will have to stay overnight, in which case a night in Orlando might be fun, with a drive to the port the next day. Or some folks drive straight out to the Cocoa Beach area and spend the night there.

Our first Celebrity cruise is next week but I will say that Disney does an OUTSTANDING job. Food, service, kid's programming is all top notch. As PP indicated they also do a wonderful job segregating "adults only" areas and programming.

Castaway Cay is a GREAT private island, again with a separate adults only section.

Biggest reason we've had to pull back is the pricing. We've been doing 2 or 3 "mainstream" cruises a year for what one on Disney would cost, even with FL resident discounts.

Oh, no, this is most upsetting... we leave on Monday on the Equinox. We have the Classic package and were going to upgrade onboard to get better wines. (The liquors in the classic package are perfectly fine for us). But if I paid the $140 extra I would expect to be able to find the "premium" wines that are listed.

I understand the statement about the sommelier in Luminae, but the cruiseline has more than made up for the $$ of the wine with the cost of the suite.

So the question is to upgrade or not. We have plenty of wines that we enjoy, but I agree that a KJ does not belong on the premium package.

Loved it!! Especially the "good mornings"!! Thanks so much for posting. We'll be on the Equinox next week.

Nice that you had a good cruise and want to tip extra. Many workers deserve more than the usual tip. Give them the extra tip out of sight of other workers. That way they might be able to keep the tip. If you tip them within sight of other workers, they must turn it over to tip pool. Be discreet.

I don't believe that this is correct unless you have removed your Auto Gratuity. Anything ABOVE that can be kept.

And the # of school aged kids really depends. A lot of schools don't start back up until Jan 4th so parents might keep them out for the few days of "overlap." Others won't. No way to know.

I'm happy to read this. DW and I will be in Falmouth in October. Part of the reason for choosing the itinerary we did was because DW REALLY wants to see the falls. We recently found out she is pregnant and will be around 22 weeks when we cruise. When looking at the excursions through the cruise line, they all say pregnant women should not do the excursion. Hearing someone else successfully did it while pregnant helps a lot! :)

From my perspective I would NOT do it while pregnant. I did DRF with my DD when she was about 8; I am 5'2" and was probably around 110" at the time. It was all that I could do to keep both of us upright while getting knocked around quite a bit by the water and I consider myself a strong mama bear. I would not do it personally while pregnant, but everyone has their own choice to make. I would certainly consult your OB before booking.

Travelling to falmouth Jamaica in Janurary and thinking of doing Peat Taylor's Tubing and Blue Hole excursion. I will be travelling with my eleven month old, will this excursion be difficult for my daughter and I.:confused:

You will NOT be able to do either of these with an 11 month old.

Look at either Pete Taylor or Coutney Taylor. They are both reputable.

and a new Hard Rock is opening in Montego Bay this week!

thanks for the live notes!! love it.. and it looks like we will bring on our own bottle of Dom!!

Ok, I regretfully disagree. Just got off the phone with the mis-nomered "Customer Service" who once again LIED TO ME directly to my "face" about the smoking areas sometimes changing. In short they said "tough luck, you lose" in no such words.

So hubby and I are now out a LOT of $ or we face being locked inside our balcony while others enjoy their "right" to smoke right under us.

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE X. Never again.

If there are any open cabins in your category, you can switch with no issue.

Unfortunately the ship is completely sold out. Lesson learned. First and, perhaps, last Celebrity cruise.

Thank you for confirming. I am now, officially, dreading my upcoming cruise. I wish that X had put such information on deck plans. Yes, I probably should have done better research. (thank you for those who will flame). This is turning out to be a disaster when it was supposed to be lovely.

OH MY GOSH.... so glad I found this thread but unhappy that the "1A" cabin we were assigned falls into this category. I called X but they can't confirm if the smoking area is, indeed, under my balcony. I am HIGHLY allergic to cigarette/tobacco smoke... Unfortunately the ship is sold out. Let's see what they say.:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I've seen people take way too much smoked salmon on their plates from the buffet. I would rather that it be served from behind the buffet so that the ship doesn't run out (which I have along with bacon).

Ah, yes, the bacon brigade... When we were on the Fathom Adonia this summer there was an attendant serving smoked salmon "roses" (rolls) to combat such hogging of the yumminess. I think they did a good job of deterring those who fill their plates and don't eat it all (my #1 pet peeve)

I bring a battery operated tea light and put one in the bathroom at night. It glows enough to see when I need to get up in the middle of the night. It weighs next to nothing and packs easily.

 

Monica

I now do this, too! a 2 pack of the battery tea lights (your choice of flickering or steady) can be found at the dollar store.

Other life savers for me: pop up hamper, a few kitchen sized garbage liners (to separate dirties on the way home) and a few gallon sized ziplocs for excursions (to hold wet bathing suits, sweating water bottles, etc.)

Is this a common onboard offer? It's our first Celebrity cruise but I'd be enticed to plunk down some $ to book another cruise whilst onboard if this were the case.

wow! I didn't even realize that there were different room configurations with regards to this. May I ask how one might determine (in advance) how your stateroom is set up?

You will not be able to order a martini from the Martini Bar but the other bars have a small martini which should fit into the $8 limit.

 

However, for just $11.80 per day, why not upgrade to premium? You don't have to think what is or is not covered. Spending a few thousand on your cruise - another hundred or two isn't going to make a difference. The cruise is not a time to cheap out.

 

Enjoy life!

The more I read the more I think I'm going to upgrade Hubby to the Premium and I'll stay on Classic. That way we can "take turns" if we want something higher end.