MR.Kwis29

2 hours ago, kwis29 said:

Hello again! I'm back! I took a little break yesterday and the internet was not working this morning.

 

I would say that we had a highly successful day at sea on Sunday. We continue to remark how “not busy” it is around the ship. We woke up early to fulfill our goal of exercising most days. If you don’t exercise the first day, will you even try to exercise the rest of the vacation? The gym wasn’t too crowded during the time we were there (7:00ish to 8:00ish). Our next stop is always a coffee from Cafe al Bacio. We usually switch between lattes and Americanos, depending on our mood. Up to the Oceanview for breakfast. Again, both of these locations were not very busy. Our go-to spot for breakfast is sitting outside at the back of the ship (always a table right by the door so we can feel the occasional draft of A/C). 

 

Then we changed into swimwear and easily located two chairs down on the pool deck. A few early rain showers cleared up to gorgeous weather for the rest of the day. There were fun activities throughout the day (water aerobics, dance aerobics, music trivia, officer/guest volleyball). We were very impressed by the number of drink servers working on the pool deck. Sometimes a drink came back in 5 minutes, sometimes 15 minutes. Either way, it was being served to my chair so no complaints! After a full day outside by the pool, we headed into the Solarium for a quick nap. It was louder in there than we remember, with larger family groups talking very loudly. There was a sign that said family hours were 5:30pm-6:30pm.

After our short nap, we spent some time getting ready for Chic night. We still like to dress up a bit on these nights. The Martini Bar was hopping as we sat down for our usual drinks (Cosmo for me and Tanqueray 10 with a twist for DH). We had another lovely dinner in Luminae. The dish that stands out to me that night was the chilled lobster salad. Such unique flavors! We kept the night going with a quick stop at the World Class Bar and then headed into the theatre to watch the production show, Topper. There is no story line, but the song choices are great. The voices of the main singers were also very good. Some of the best I have heard on a cruise ship. I definitely plan on dragging Andy to the next production show! We ended the night in the main atrium to join in the fun of singing and dancing to ABBA. That was so fun! I think half thr ship was there. Highly recommend it.

The next day (Monday) was another long day at sea as we didn’t arrive into San Juan until after 4pm. We spent the day on a windy Retreat Deck to avoid a day away from the crowds. We were definitely spoiled with service up there. Drink servers, fruit skewers, cold towels, lunch delivered to our chair, afternoon raspberry sorbet! Wow! The staff to guest ratio was impressive. 

 

Getting off the ship in San Juan was the first time it was busy and chaotic. Lots of people in line everywhere in the middle of the ship. We went to the Retreat Lounge and Connor personally escorted us to the front of the line. Nice! 

 

In San Juan, DH researched a more “local” establishment he wanted to try for drinks and food. First we walked around San Juan, made our way to the fort.

 

After getting nice and sweaty, we stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall place called Birria y Empanadas. Guess what we had there? If you guessed beer and empanadas you are correct! It can be a bit intimidating when you go off the beaten path and step into a restaurant for the locals. But once we got our drinks and food and chatted with the bartenders, we were all good! The empanadas with hot sauce hit the spot and we stayed for a few more rounds of drinks. 

We returned to the ship and rehydrated with some bottles of water in the Retreat Lounge and turned in for an early night.

 

More info on the empanadas place.  Lots of local Puerto Rican beer.  If you like trying beer from the places you visit, give this place a try.  I personally will always try something that I know I can't get stateside.  Local IPAs, sours, ales, lagers.

For someone that likes beer, you may be wondering why drink Corona on the ship?  1)  the beer selection on board is not that interesting to me.  2) I am old now and prefer my daytime beers to not be 7 or 8% imperial ipas.  I have martinis and wine to drink later.

As I have been on a steady diet of Coronas by the pool during the day, pre dinner Martinis followed by wine with dinner I can report the following:  IMO there are plenty of pool side servers during the day.  I do not expect every time I look up someone is there.  I always think about what I want in 15 minutes and grab the next server. 

Martini bar has been busy.  2 or 3 bartenders there for the pre dinner rush.  We have not had to wait longer than 5 minutes to scoop a seat.  Kelly and I have a knack for noticing when people are finishing up and sneak over to newly open seats.  I drink tanqueray 10 and they have it, so I am happy.

Wine service with dinner is a little slow if you want to see a wine list.  If you just want what you had night 1, I would anticipate it being much faster because you are not waiting for the very busy sommelier to deliver the wine list.

My first food and bev commentary.  For the bourbon/whisky drinkers out there....There really is not much on the ship as others reported.  Makers, Buffalo Trace, Jack, Beam.  That is about it (maybe a couple of others in craft social?). If those don't cut it for you, you should probably cancel your upcoming Equinox cruise.  I am not a Scotch drinker, but there appears to be satisfactory selection in world class bar and the retreat lounge.

Everyone is interested in our pre-cruise travel plans...right?  We live in WI but are within 2 hours of Ohare airport.  We started flying out of Chicago instead of Milwaukee the last couple of years (if MKE did not have a direct flight where we were going) to limit connections and time in airports.  We fly out of ORD tomorrow am direct to FLL for our Saturday Port Everglades cruise departure.

We are staying at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort.  We have sailed out of Port Everglades many times, always in the past staying along 17th St.  We are looking forward to staying in a different area, even though we really won't be there that long to fully enjoy the beach and the resort.

Similar to Kwis29 I am a long time CC lurker, never post (had to create an account today to actually post something).  Usually just follow along to what people are posting about.  Have learned a lot over the years from this site.  We research our trips A TON.  CC, Youtube (pick an Equinox youtube review from the last 2 years, I have watched it). 

Expect to hear me chime in occasionally on food and drink.  I am sarcastic by nature, but there is no sarcastic font so I will try to keep it at minimum (what I really want to say is I don't know how I am going stay hydrated if I can only find a water in those pesky metal bottles, hopefully I can find a wine that is drinkable with my premium package, as an avid bourbon drinker they better have Pappy Van Winkle available at all bars with the proper bourbon sipping glass, if I get a drink from the martini bar that is made with anything other than Gin I hope someone tells me within 3 minutes it is not really a martini). 

In all seriousness though, this site has been a great resource for us and we look forward to posting throughout our trip.

Looking forward to following along since 1) I am on the same cruise.  2) I am your husband.