Centexcruiseaddict

ok thank you so much. So I just ignore the prices on the menus then,. I was wondering how that works.

I guess this is how you ask a question, but here goes. If I'm the included dining package, can I only eat at Moderno and Teppanyaki, which charge a flat fee? Im im able to use the package at Le Bistro and Cagneys, how much are you limited to before you have to pay extra?

Thank you

I don't remember if I ever asked this, but is the refridgerator in the stateroom cold enough to keep insulin at its proper temperature. I know I can get a sharps container from the room attendant.

24 days until our first Princess Cruise.. Island Princess to the Canal. So excited. the days are like weeks now.

Yes, it’s chilly and windy the first couple of days and the last day from Ensenada. If I book for the whole cruise, what I’ve done is have them put my lounger along the windbreak wall. Another trick is to put the lounger so your back is to the wind and have them put a large golf umbrella behind the lounger.

Is this what you pay extra for? We're in a balcony, how does this differ from the already paid for balcony. We're interested in booking the Sanctuary, but is it mostly for guests without balconies, because frankly I dont see alot of difference.

Just checked their website, they dont say how much the tours are or when they start.

any problem getting back to the ship on time. my wife's biggest fear is that something might happen and we miss the ship. I hate to pay the higher prices for the ship excursions though.

Intercontinental. top notch A-1 luxury hotel at great rates

Holiday Inn... dump!!! days in room at Marriott price. only good thing its across from Bayside Market

Trying to decided if we should stay in Miami or FLL. Our flight gets in FLL at 3:30 in the afternoon. I have a reservation as of right now in FLL at Embassy Suites on 17th Street. But I can get a room at Holiday Inn POM for a little cheaper.

 

Has anyone stayed at either of these places recently give me their opinions of which hotel to choose.

Stayed at the Holiday Inn POM last week. Avoid like the plague. Snotty clerks with attitudes, over priced food in the restaurant and mostly high priced Motel 6 rooms that look nothing like what is on their website.

I agree with the above, but if you want to stay closer to POM (some with a view of the port :cool:) check out the Holiday Inn POM, Hyatt, Intercontinental, Doubletree and the next door Marriott. All are very close to Bayside Market.

I agree with all those hotel properties except the one we stayed in last week. The Holiday Inn on Biscayne, across from Bayside Market. The room we were assigned was nothing like on their website. We were charged a Marriott rate for a Motel 6 room. I understand supply and demand, especially with cruise port hotels, but at least be reasonable, and honest.Although we asked for an upstairs view of the port we got a 3rd floor room facing the construction in the back Thank God it was only for one night. The front desk clerks have attitudes. I was an Innkeeper for Holiday Inn for almost 15 years and if that guy who checked us in worked for me he would have been seeking a paycheck elsewhere.

Again , thank you for posting. However on the ones you posted it shows only one chic night. I thought there were two on a 7 night cruise. did that change. asking cause im choosing clothes to take with .

Amazon sells everything!! Lookie here' date=' a his and hers so you can hog two chairs! LOL

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bachelor-Party-Inflatable-Female-Woman/dp/B01MZ1ZGC0/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&qid=1485967328&sr=8-35&keywords=blow+up+dolls[/quote']

LOVE IT!!!;p

Just off the Equinox yesterday. My wife and I took this cruise as part of a group of 11, including friends and family. For context, this is our third cruise on X. We are Elite due to our Diamond status on Royal. We have also cruised a few times on Carnival. The following is a brief review based on our experience. We are pretty easy to please so keep that in mind! Any questions, just ask.

 

Pre-Cruise: Flew into Fort Lauderdale a day early. Chose FLL mainly due to availability and cost of flights from Hartford but stayed at the Hampton Inn Brickell in Miami. Uber from FLL to the hotel was $41. We had dinner on Friday night at Havana 1957, a Cuban restaurant near the hotel. Great place, good food, free entertainment!

 

Embarkation: Left the hotel by Uber (I think it was around $10) and arrived at the port at 10:30. We checked in right away and were put in a holding area until around 11:15 when they cleared the ship and allowed us to board. Easy process.

 

The Ship: First time on the Equinox and it didn’t disappoint. A close copy to its sister ships that we have been on (Reflection, Silhouette). The Gastropub was a nice change and new to us. Very clean and well-kept (no surprise). The Hollywood Hot Glass was up and running and there were some demos taking place early in the cruise and then passengers signed up for workshops. We didn’t take part but I heard many people talking quite favorably about the experience. I love the size of this ship. My last cruise was on the Carnival Imagination for a quick 4 night in the West Coast. While the cruise was fun, the ship was very small. Last spring I was on the Allure for the second time. We loved the cruise but do think that the Oasis class is a bit too big for us. The Equinox seemed perfect. My wife said she enjoyed the “smaller ship”. Pretty sad when 120,000 tons is a “small ship”!

 

Cabin: We were in a 2A cabin (7272) on the hump. We have been in that general location for all three of our X cruises. Perfect accessibility to elevators, stairs, etc. After many cruises, it was our first time with a bed near the bathroom and not the balcony. We really enjoyed it and it seemed as if we had more space. Good cabin steward although we are low maintenance. I only ask for ice each day and that’s about it. He greeted us in the hall daily and was quite friendly.

 

Food: We ate in the MDR for all of our dinners at a large table in the center of the dining room. Hernando was our waiter and one of the best we have ever had. He was awesome. He was friendly and efficient, making good recommendations along the way. Our wine steward, Rashid, was ever present and with 11 of us having the drink package, just left bottles on the table and kept coming around and filling our glasses if we hadn’t. The menu was great, food was hot and seasoned well. A few in our group had never cruised with X prior and they noticed an uptick in food quality from Royal. Desserts were excellent, as well. We love long and leisurely dinners in the MDR, especially with a group and each night were there until the lights came on! A highlight of each day.

 

We ate breakfast and lunch each day in the OceanView café and were happy with the selection. I love the Eggs Benedict made to order each morning, a nice touch that X has that Royal does not.

 

For those who like late night options, the late night pizza ends at 1:00am. My adult son and his friends wish it were available longer. No 24 hour pizza like on other lines!

 

Many of the group made good use of the Mast Grill with their burgers, toppings and fries. High marks. Various members of our group visited Sushi on 5, Café Al Bacio, and Aqua Spa Café. All good options.

 

Entertainment: We love the shows at night and went to a show each night. There were three production shows, a comedian/impersonator, male R/B singer, and a Jersey Boys type band. I might be missing something else but overall the entertainment was pretty good and quite entertaining. Lots of activities throughout the ship with late night up in the sky lounge, two nights of parties on the pool deck and the ever popular Silent Disco! Quite fun. I made good use of the casino as my late night entertainment as well!

 

Service: This is where the ship really shines! Staff is very friendly and accommodating. Every crew member who passed us in the hall, on deck, in lounges, acknowledged us. Their goal is to server the passengers and they do a very good job at it! My last cruise on Royal (Allure) was just missing something, probably due to the size of the ship. Service wasn’t bad but just didn’t have the extra effort that was ever present on the Equinox! Kudos to X.

 

Ports: Key West, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Grand Cayman. We did Key West on our own. Our first time there and loved it. Did a lot of walking and took the Conch Railroad tram. Very informative. On Costa Maya, we took a taxi to a beach. $2 for the taxi, $10 for the beach, including chairs. We had food there and drinks but very low pressure and good service from our beach waiter. Fun day. On Cozumel we took a private snorkeling excursion. Just 12 of us in a boat, three different snorkeling sites. Saw lots of sea life. Ocean was pretty choppy and some of us were a bit queasy as we were in the water for over 2 hours total. On Grand Cayman we just tendered into town and walked around. Very crowded but we still contributed to the local jewelry economy!

 

Debarkation: Ate breakfast in the Ocean View and were out of our cabin by 8:00am. We waited in the Tuscan Grill and had our number called at 8:45. We were off the boat and through customs, in a Uber on the way to the airport at 9:30. Plenty of time to make our 11:45 flight out of FLL!

 

In closing, it was an awesome week. Great weather (although a bit cloudy at times), with temps hovering around high 70’s F. My only complaint was chair hogs were in full force during sea days. We hung out on the Solstice Deck and ended up taking bags off of a couple of chairs that had been unoccupied for almost 4 hours, so that others could sit down. The people came back and were annoyed but I told them I would get a crew member to settle it and they just went off in a huff. I know the rule is 30 minutes but if somebody is gone for an hour, ok, I get it. But 4 hours? I had no guilt about taking their towel off.

 

Thanks for reading. Any questions, let me know, I’ll try to answer and if I can’t, I’m sure somebody else will be able to!

Thanks for so much for posting such a wonderful review. We're on her in 11 days and your review only adds to the excited anticipation we've experienced since we booked. I sure your experience will be just as good as yours. Thanks again and happy cruising.

Thanks for the video.

Thank you for posting this. Boarding Equinox a week from this Saturday in a Concierge stateroom.

On our next cruise concierge class was cheaper than veranda or ocean view cabins. And because we booked on board we will get one extra perk and also more OBC. For me Concierge is worth like $200 per person per cruise. The embarkation lunch is very nice, the locations are nice, and actually we like daily snacks delivered to the room.

I read somewhere that the complimentary bottle of sparkling wine isnt in the room when you get there and that you have to request it. Is this true?

Thanks for the info! SAS said they can't service us from FLL airport to a Miami hotel. I will contact QLS.

YOu might want to contact SAS again . We have reservations from FLL to the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. Its the Miami (MIA) they dont serve.. Id double check if i were you, as they're rates are excellent.

Thanks for a great review. We're on the same ship, same itinerary , same deck and same side, so this was a great preview of what we'll experience in 4 weeks. This is the first Celebrity cruise for us, so looking forward the wonderful service and ambiance the line is known for. Again thanks for such great detail in sharing your experience.

Hope these are helpful to someone!

Doing this same itinerary in 4 weeks. Very helpful, Thank you for posting. Very thoughtful:D

All the way down on the bottom of the page under What not to pack

it says "Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages"

Ahh I found it. thank you very much. Sure is in small print. Well at least I wont have to schlep around 2 12 packs of soda.

Used to be possible, yes. However, current rules are:

 

What not to pack?

...

• ***Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages
  

More here:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/int/company/customer-support/help-and-faqs/pre-cruise/before-you-board

 

It was just a matter of time until they pot a lid on it. Whatever you bring, you don´t buy from them!

Maybe Im not reading in the right place. but following this link, I see the Alchohol policy but nothing pertaining to carrying on bottled water or other non alcoholic beverages.

I have never seen anyone bring Red Bull but why not? It is a soft drink. Sure beats paying $4.50 a can on board.

 

I noticed that Disney allows each passenger over 21 to bring a six pack of beer. Not so on Celebrity. Just as well as the mini fridge does not keep things ice cold.

 

I recently heard of a drink called a Jaeger Bomb. Red Bull with Jeagermeister. Sounds terrible. To me, Jaegermeister tastes like Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup. Any reviews from anyone on this drink?

If they'll eat Tide Pods. then they'll drink Vicks Formula 44.

Thanks. Now I just have to figure out how to get it between the airport (FLL) and cruise port. Or wait until the first port.

WE're using SAS from FLL to the Holiday Inn Cruise Port across from the port. There is a CVS about 2 blocks from that hotel. That might work for you if you can get the guy to stop there.

used jiffy jeff also $15 pp

 

from FL hotel to port of miami,

 

mercedes van used, they were prompt and delivered us to the checking queue

 

recommend them.

Jiffy Jeff is ok if you got 4 or 5 or more. if its just 2 of you.its $135. , something like that.

Has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn Downtown across from Bayside Market? I was thinking of this hotel one night prior to my cruise.

We're staying there the night of 3/30. if that's before your cruise. we'll write a review of the hotel and services. Everything I've read say no shuttle to the port. but that could have been updated and not said so on the site. If it is, that's great, if not, all the pictures show a bunch of cabs out front.

The Texas law applies to the Galveston cruise port, not Houston Bayport.

 

Last I saw, Bayport was located with in the borders of the State of Texas, so why would the law not apply to Bayport?