Betsynh

3 hours ago, onyourmark said:

If she forgets, don't worry. I saw people dancing draped with the Celebrity-supplied white bathrobe from the cabin.

Yes! There were about 5 people in robes… I suppose you could make a toga?!? It wasn’t called a white party, more like a Full Moon Party (toga reference takes on new meaning here…)

You'll have a great time no matter what!

3 hours ago, onyourmark said:

This might help!  Also on the cruise, have to mention that Captain Theo was incredibly visible and approachable, even with his wife and young kids in tow.

That’s perfect! I didn’t take a pic. Thanks so much. I thought Captain Theo was great. We bought one of the stuffed captain bears for our grandson and named him Theo. Took pics all over the ship with him and made a storybook. Lol. 

12 minutes ago, dbub said:

We too were also on this cruise and agree with the original posters opinions.

 

A few points: Yes!! The Equinox staff is fantastic and friendly!! The ship is in good shape with no areas I would avoid. We were in a veranda with an extended balcony (on the slant of the hump). Only chairs, no lounger. Entertainment was very enjoyable. We felt the comedy venue (4 forward) was too small for a non-repeating show and chose to leave one time when it was shoulder-to-shoulder standing-room only.

 

We had late seating (8:30 PM) which was < 50% full. Our table for 6 was just the 2 of us. We found another partially full table the next night and found some great people to eat with. Wife is also GF and enjoyed the pizzas and pastas at lunch. Our dinning room head waiter offered the "next-night's" menu to allow for GF preparation in a timely manner. Didn't need specialty restaurants and they seemed a bit more pricey than before the pandemic.

 

My wife also did the "Hollywood Glass." Reservations every 20 minutes and seemed to be available 6-8+ hours a day. Emmie is a fantastic teacher and very patient. Prices are $120-175. I would recommend observing others before partaking so that you can be ready to do as much as possible without getting behind.

 

The 5-7 Elite "Happy Hour" was less timely for us with late seating. We did figure out to get some unopened beers, water and soda with a few shots "neat" to enjoy after resting and before dinner. We found a few bartenders to be "helpful" regarding the limited Elite Bar menu ... 😉😉

 

Finally, the itinerary worked great for me as I have a relatively intense job. Enjoying 2 sea days initially and 2 more before returning to work the day after the cruise was perfect. We were very lucky to arrive to FLL early the night before the cruise on Southwest Airlines just 6 days after their problems occurred and returned home only 3 hours late connecting in Atlanta after their shutdown due to tornado warnings.

Sorry we didn't get to meet while on board. I chatted with a couple of different folks while waiting for GF pizza! Maybe one of them was you!

Glad you made it home safely. I’d definitely sail her again, but also want to explore river cruises in Europe! Haven’t done one of those…

11 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

Cute!!!!

Can I ask if you got to choose your color and/or your time?

And how much was it?

Yes! There were several options to choose from and we liked the starfish. I think there was a bowl, vase, fish, jellyfish and a couple of others. We were able to choose colors and decide if we wanted a wavier pattern (thinner lines/colors) or more blotchy (my word not theirs) with the chunks of glass. Ours was about $120 and we tipped on top of that, but not sure if our Elite discount was taken into consideration. I didn’t realize there was a discount (5% maybe). A great keepsake!

I forgot to mention that we made a starfish at the Hot Glass studio on deck 15. We could take turns so we each got to help! So fun and a nice memento to bring home. 

16 hours ago, Arubamoose said:

Looks like you had a great time!

 

What tour operator did you book your Ladera VIP tour with?  The ones I found on line (Trip Advisor and Expedia) did not include a catamaran back to the ship.

 

TIA!!!

It was a Celebrity excursion booked long before we sailed (and sold out early). A bus in both directions would’ve been miserable for me with the twisty, hilly roads. 

Just off the Equinox having booked an inside “sail only” cabin determined to exploit the Elite benefits as much as possible (we aren’t big drinkers). If you, too, are sailing on the cheap just to see if you can, here’s what we did:

Breakfast in the Tuscan Grill in the morning offered fresh squeezed juices and specialty coffees at no extra cost. Hubby doesn’t drink coffee but ordered an extra for me if I wanted it! Go to the buffet after for hot breakfast if you want more than simple plated offerings.

5-7pm you can get unlimited numbers of drinks from a limited menu. We did a dash around the ship and filled our fridge with water (saving $4.80 with tip each) and a couple of cans of soda before grabbing a glass of wine to take to dinner (we ate at 5:30pm).

Free 90 minutes of basic WiFi (hubby didn’t use his, so I used his minutes after mine ran out).

We didn’t use the laundry benefit, but got the free scoop of gelato. Got to meet the Captain and senior officers.  Have a great time!

Just off the Equinox and it said the service is provided by Starlink if that helps any. We had 90 minutes of free basic Wifi as Elite while was reasonably fast for checking emails, and opted to cough up $10/day for Verizon’s International Travel Pass while we were in Martinique and St. Kitts to connect back home (talk/text) with ease. That’s not an option for sea days, though.

Last week a older passenger in front of us in shorts was turned away from entering the MDR on Equinox…

Prime rib was on the menu in the MDR on the Equinox this past week. Also Steak Diane on another night (delish!). The classic sirloin was only so-so.

On 1/4/2023 at 4:05 PM, bjahil47 said:

Sounds like you are having a great time!  We have been on Equinox 6 times, with a B2B scheduled in September.  I have to eat gluten free, too.  I’m surprised you enjoyed the pizza as the last time I had it, it was terrible and last cruise I did not try it.  I will give it another chance!  The pasta, sauce and meatballs are very good!  Also, go to the Spa Cafe for some gluten free breakfast/lunch choices and their GF Apple Cookies are good.  Last two cruises the gf cakes were horrible - like a wet sponge cake.  I have always eaten the gelato but last cruise I was told none of them are gluten free.  I could not get an official answer so I stayed away from it.  
 

Enjoy your cruise!

Here’s a pic! It’s pretty much the same crust I get at my local pizza place, but cooked properly and the toppings to sauce ratio was good. 

2 minutes ago, Colorado_Ag said:

Thanks for taking us along on your trip! We are getting on Equinox in a few hours. Safe travels home!

You’re going to have a great time!! Enjoy! 

10 minutes ago, chamima said:

What did you think of the Balata Gardens in Martinique? I'd love to go there but the taxi fare is high .

The gardens were beautiful but the paths were really steep. We had about 45-60 minutes to walk around. It was more than enough for me. I sent hubby off to find the suspension bridge on his own as I needed a break. 

5 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

WOW - There isn't a single thing on there that my vegan husband could eat!

There are rumors of a separate vegan menu so I sure hope it really exists!

(If Celebrity is really looking to save $$ on food costs you'd think they'd add some vegan options on the main menu)

 

What did you think of the Balata Gardens in Martinique? I'd love to go there but the taxi fare is high .

 

*

I saw lots of Indian food in the OVC. I’m GF (required) and try to avoid meat whenever possible (optional), so my expectations are pretty low. They had a Sushi place… don’t know about vegan menu but they were very helpful in MDR with gluten. Mast Grill had veggie burgers but they weren’t GF according to the person I asked. Good luck!

Writing this from FLL airport waiting to depart. We were all checked in and through security by 8:20 and we didn’t self-debark (#6 for luggage). And we had to pull some heavy stuff out of hubby’s suitcase to meet weight limit. Left ship around 7:40. No line at Customs. Only quick facial recognition and off to taxi area. $20 ride included generous tip. 
 

We had a great time overall. The entertainment improved as the days wore in. The group Electric Soul was phenomenal. I screenshot descriptions for each nights entertainment although the production cast appears to be leaving. 
 

We loved DJ Chris Fernandez. He kept the ship hopping by the pool during the day and Sky Lounge late night. No Caribbean reggae-type band. Activities team was great. CD Pete did a couple of talks about growing up near Windsor Castle and about life on board. Both were excellent. Hubby was nervous about cruising more than 7 days but thoroughly enjoyed the extended time. Great job Celebrity! See you next time! 

BTW, we each did another $10 Verizon day in St Kitts to check in again. Much better for us than purchasing wifi beyond our free 90 minutes. 😀

I do NOT recommend our St Kitts shore excursion and let Celebrity know. We booked a Coastal Cruise, Beach and Steel Drum Cruise with the specific goal of enjoying a beach in Nevis, as specified on the description. It was more like a booze cruise and took us to a beach in St Kitts. We rented chairs and umbrella for $15 and the people next to us said they took a cab from the ship. How’d you do that? Aren’t we in Nevis? Nope. It felt like the boat was bringing us to their friend’s rental area to make extra $$. Misleading and a little sketchy. We’d been to that same beach a few years ago by cab. Ugh. Pick an excursion with Nevis in the title. Hope it’s rectified. 

St Lucia was a highlight! We booked the Ladera VIP Resort which included a bus tour across the island to see the Pitons and to have lunch at the swanky Ladera Resort (it’s about $2,000 per night).  We had a few minutes to enjoy their gift shop before hopping on a catamaran for the return trip. It was an amazing day despite a couple of short rain bursts. Lots of hairpin turns for the bus… yikes! 

Barbados we did the ship’s Tiami Catamaran and Turtle excursion. The boat crew was awesome and we snorkeled to see a couple of small turtles, schools of fish, a shipwreck (all were close to shore since I’m a chicken), and we swam to a beach to relax in the sand for a bit. The captain gave us all noodles to ensure we made it safely! 

Martinique was a Best of full day bus tour with walking. Some history, rum factory, lunch, botanical gardens. Don’t love long bus days but very interesting as we’d never been there. 

Excursion thoughts:

we had a great itinerary— Antigua, Martinique, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts. 
 

We joined a group from our CC Roll Call on an eco tour with Adventure Antigua. We got to feed turtles and hubby climbed Hell’s Gate. 

On 1/7/2023 at 7:58 AM, deliver42 said:

We're on the same cruise next December. Can't wait. Did you have to get tested before the cruise or did they drop that on longer cruises?

No testing at all. We brought our own kits in case we felt poorly but we’re fine the whole trip. 

On 1/6/2023 at 9:55 AM, phoenix_dream said:

Can anyone on this cruise confirm that the changes mentioned in another thread (about "Ambush charges") are in fact correct?  Other than the lobster one which has been confirmed.

The only thing I noticed about an unexpected charge was for a second lobster tail. It was offered the second chic night and had a $ symbol where the allergy info is listed. The waiter was clear about it though. Just surprised. 

1 hour ago, chamima said:

@Betsynh - Thank you SO, SO MUCH!!!!

That was so considerate of you !!!!!!! 💜

You’re welcome! We’re not really drinkers so hoping we got the right section! 🤣 Enjoy your trip! We had an amazing time. 

On 1/7/2023 at 11:13 AM, chamima said:

@Betsynh - If you're bored one day or one evening could you stop by the shop on the ship that sells liquor and find out what kind of bourbon they have for sale. We have a TON of OBC and my husband likes good bourbon so I thought that might be somewhere to spend it.

Thanks!

Yes!! Took a couple of photos of their whiskey section!! Hoping you can identify from there!