M&JfromSDL

Sorry for the lag ya’ll. We had a great day in St. Thomas yesterday. Let me catch up from where I left off. 

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We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the Retreat sun deck.  It was a nice sea day of relaxing in the pool, listening to music and enjoying the occasional cocktail. 

We had a pre-dinner martini at the Martini Bar. This is becoming a routine and I think we will end up making martinis at home more often. 

Dinner Monday in Luminae was another mixed bag. 

Amuse bouche. 

Salmon Sashimi

Smoke Hake 

 

Fennel Soup with Lobster

Seafood Fettuccine

Dessert

We keep having running into unpleasant seafood which is disappointing. The salmon sashimi was okay but the lobster in my soup was really terrible. The shrimp and squid in our pasta dish were okay. 
 

I am not one for shows on cruise ships but I read on a social media post about how great the Charity Lockhart show was. The mail tech from the spa also recommended it. So we went and I have to say it was really good!  
 

After the show it was time for the casino. I watched two of favorite Nationals players play for their new team while my wife played video poker. 
 

We stopped by the Oceanview cafe for late night pizza then headed back to the room where our host left us a plate of cookies!

On 10/12/2021 at 10:55 AM, fsdorado said:

 

What kind of suite are you in?  We have our first Sky Suite booked for February 2022 on the Edge and we're very excited!!

 

 

Frederick

We are in an S2 (or S1) Sky Suite. 

9 minutes ago, hiccups said:

We’re onboard, too, in an IV cabin.  Interested to hear about your experience!

 

One thing that’s surprised me is unless I’ve missed seeing more shops, there’s only one that has the typical items I expect, like alcohol, makeup, sundries and branded merchandise.  I guess the space is dedicated to the pricey stores.

 

Have you heard what the occupancy is?

 

The Martini Bar seems to be the popular spot—we’ve had trouble getting a table for a before-dinner drink.  The wait staff is super busy!

 

We also celebrated our anniversary yesterday, and they brought us a huge square of the chocolate cake.  We’d already had dessert, so they brought it to our room via room service and we had some of it for breakfast.

Happy Anniversary!  I heard occupancy is 1001 this week. I hear you on the shops. I left my belt at home and was hoping I could grab one onboard but I guess not. 

Lunch at Luminae was so good today!  We usually eat dinner after sunset so it was nice to enjoy the view.
 

I have to say one of my favorite things about this ship is the connection to the sea. You can see it from almost everywhere. It’s nothing like the Oasis class ships. I love it!  
 

‘Fresh from Tokyo’ cocktail

Parsnip Soup

Vegetable Pancit

After lunch we parked on the sun deck and caught a few Zzzzz’s. The swings over the pool are my favorite spot so far. 

52 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Really enjoying your blog.  I especially like the perspective from you and your wife’s age demographic!  Enjoy your cruise and I will enjoy following along.

Thank you for following along and commenting!  
 

36 minutes ago, loge23 said:

Happy Anniversary M&JfromSDL!

Thank you for posting the great pix of your cruise.

The pictures from (I believe) the first night of dining ( the short ribs, and strip steak) were terrific, yet your comment was "just OK". What am I missing there?

Also, how casual was the couple that may have gotten a "what for" from the staff?

We're sailing on 10/23 and don't do formal anymore on any line, but we will be neat - your description of a button-down shirt and slacks will work for me, albeit a "Tommy Bahama" type of shirt. 

Enjoy the cruise and thanks for sharing!

Of course!  Thanks for following along and commenting. I’m trying to keep a positive tone. Dinner the first night was not great. The appetizer had an occasional fishy taste and my beef was well past over cooked.  I was disappointed at first but dinner last night and lunch today were excellent!  So I’ll write it off to an off night and keep moving forward. 
 

Tommy Bahama resort wear is the going attire on this cruise.  You’ll be fine. 

15 minutes ago, CruiserFromSC said:

If you have an opportunity, could you post some pictures of the seating in the Retreat?  The last ship we were on that was revolutionized had “munchkin” chairs.  But if this chair in your pic is from the Retreat, it looks much more comfortable.  Thanks so much.  Our first cruise on the Edge (and an Edge class ship) is in January!

Sure!  I plan to put a photo tour of the Retreat sun deck and lounge together. Hopefully I can get my 360 degree camera to work and give you a real tour. 

7 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

@M&JfromSDL Did you find the pedicure on line to book prior to your cruise?  I've been looking but nothing listed and don't want to take a chance on them being available.

I don’t remember it being in the cruise planner. I booked it onboard. I called yesterday afternoon and they could have taken me the same day at 630pm; they had this morning at 8:00 and 12:00 available. 

51 minutes ago, susiesan said:

When you were in Nassau, were people able to get off the ship on their own or limited to Celebrity excursions only? Inquiring minds want to know for our future cruise stops there later in the year.

You needed to be on a Celebrity Excursion for Nassau; on your own in St. Thomas and St. Maarten.  

1 minute ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Hilton Marina pool....Lovely and still the same;  Lobby....SO different.  We've stayed many times pre cruise and happy with the hotel even before renovation. Always stayed facing the cruise ships on upper floor as well...view is fantastic from the balcony.  Hopefully you were happy with the room reno?  Had to cancel our Nov. cruise...was looking forward to seeing the complete hotel reno.  Next year for sure.

Yep!  Very happy with the hotel. The room was fresh and clean. The new lobby will be great when it opens. There are a couple of nice gathering areas in the new lobby. 

Sorry to hear you had to cancel. We’ve had a few false starts as well. Pick a place, make reservations, a few weeks go by, and we have to cancel for one reason or another. 

After a walk around the ship exploring some of the areas we haven’t visited we settled in the Retreat Lounge.  I am updating this thread and the Mrs. is reviewing dinner menus for the rest of the week. 

The crew in the Retreat couldn’t be nicer and more accommodating. 
 

We initially planned to do lunch at Le Grand Bistro but switched it to Wednesday. Lunch today will be at Luminae. 
 

Current situation…

Monday - October 11th - at Sea

I’m all caught up. This should get a little more ‘live’ now. 
 

I had a crazy few days at work ahead of vacation. So unfortunately I didn’t get a pedicure

before we left.  Someone posted the prices for a gentleman’s mani/pedi and it was similar to what I might pay at home. I called yesterday and booked one for 8am. 
 

It was an early wake up but well worth it. I was impressed with the space. Our past spa experiences the room feels like a cave. This was much different. I could look out at the water the entire time. It was really relaxing.
 

Afterwards we checked out the solarium cafe for smoothies. They have a nice little selection of healthy bites for breakfast and the smoothie was pretty good too.  
 

Oh and I’m happy to report, the late night pizza is great!  
 

The nap was wonderful.  I’m really glad I got some sleep because I was able to enjoy the evening. In fact, we made it past midnight for the first time in a long time.  
 

Tonight was evening chic. I wore a button down dress shirt and slacks.  I did see a gentleman in a tuxedo.  We ran across a couple dressed casually in Luminae for dinner but it sounds like the crew said something to them about the dress code. 
 

Anyway, we had ‘happy hour’ at the Martini Bar. My Elderflower martini was really great and my wife enjoyed her tangerine and thyme.
 

I’m happy to report dinner in Luminae lived up to what you all said it was. The first night was just okay. 
 

Our server brought over a nice a amuse bouche. It was like a soft, silky caprese salad. 
 

I started with the signature carrot veloute. 

My entree was the Potato Mezzaluna Pasta which I forgot to photograph.  
 

We are celebrating our anniversary on the cruise. So in addition to the wonderful dessert we ordered, the crew presented us with another incredible dessert. 

We couldn’t finish it all so we took the extra dessert back to the cabin. As we walked up to the cabin door we noticed the door was sort of open and it was our assistant host decorating and leaving another dessert for us!  Such a nice surprise!

We changed into more comfortable clothes then hit the casino for a bit. 

We lounged around on the pool swings and eventually ordered up some lunch. We finished just in time for it to pour. 
 

The rest of the afternoon was crummy weather wise. We sat on the balcony for a bit and between the motion, the rain and ocean sounds, I needed a nap. 
 

Sunday - October 10th - Nassau

Our host rang us up around 9 to let us know breakfast was on the way. 
 

We opted to stay on the ship and enjoy the Retreat.

Scallop Crudo

Short rib

Veal Cannelloni

NY Strip Steak

Daniel Boulud Signature Dessert

The rest of our evening consisted the comedy show and visit to the casino.  We wrapped up with a nightcap in the Retreat Lounge and then to bed. We almost made it to midnight. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship;  a martini at the Martini Bar, sail away out on the Retreat sun deck, then dinner at Luminae. 

Alright time for some food pics! The staff in the restaurant are all excellent and dinner was well-paced.  

21 hours ago, dianedebuda said:

Name the Cuban foods?  They look delish.

Chicken Chicharones

Papa Rellena

Yellow Rice

Lechon Asado

Moro Rice/Beans

Palomilla Steak 

20 hours ago, marti2282 said:

Hope by now you’re onboard and enjoying that sparkling wine! Will enjoy following along!!

Oh we enjoyed!

20 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm along for your virtual journey.   Thanks for taking the time to post.   

 

Really enjoyed the train  trip.   How fun.

We have been following your journeys over the past few weeks. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

First Impression… The crew at the top of gangway cheering as we walked on. Unexpected and dare I say brought a little tear to my eye. We’ve sat at home over the course of the pandemic daydreaming about traveling again. And the day was finally here!  
 

I carried on a backpack with my camera gear and wanted to drop it at our cabin. When we arrived our Retreat Host was next door, introduced himself, and gave us an orientation to the room. For time purposes, we were dropped off at 12:30 and had finished the room Walkaround at 1:15pm.  Pretty good embarkation process!

Here are a few shots of the suite:

Saturday - October 9, 2021

Someday is Today! 
 

We ordered an Uber and our driver was there within 2 minutes. He dropped us off at the port at 12:30. 

We dropped our bags off with a valet. I have to say, I’m impressed with many of your bag tag efforts. I saw color printed bag tags within plastic holders on a lot of suitcases. Professional cruisers abound. 
 

The line on the right in the photo below is for regular staterooms. We weren’t sure we were in the right spot so we asked one of the workers where suite check in was located. 

He walked us through a set of doors and a nice woman checked our boarding pass and negative COVID tests. 
 

After that we were escorted to the retreat lounge for the rest of the check in process. Our passports and boarding passes were scanned again. 

They had a small selection of canapés and coffee/water out but the boarding was such a whirlwind so we didn’t partake.  
 

There was one last check of our boarding pass and at this time our vaccination cards as well. 
 

LET’S GO!!!!

I mentioned earlier that we stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. Overall I was impressed with the hotel. The rooms were recently upgraded and the lobby is almost done.
 

The hotel also features a nice pool area with an outdoor restaurant and bar. 
 

You can’t beat the location. Our Uber to the port was $12 and took 10minutes. We selected an upgraded high floor, water view room.  I got to dork out and watch all of the ship traffic over the two days we were there.

 The standard rooms are in lower wings without much of a view.

We decided to lay low and order in for dinner. I’m half Cuban and we don’t really have great Cuban food in the DC area. So when in Rome…

Dinner was from Las Vegas Cuban Restaurant which is a local chain here in South Florida. 

Afterwards, we popped down to the hotel bar for a couple of cocktails and to watch the Dodgers lose. 

Enjoying a nice cold Iguana Bait from Florida Keys Brewing Company while watching the Equinox sail away.

I love the view from our room.

The Hilton Marina has its own water taxi stop. 

Friday, October 8, 2021

I am an early riser so I took a walk down 17th to Publix and Total Wine.  We contemplated picking up a nice bottle of champagne for the cruise but decided against it.  I was able to pickup a couple of my favorite Floridian beers at Total Wine.  

We lounged around the hotel in the morning since  it was so hot out.  Around lunch time we ventured to Tarpon River Brewing Company.  It was a quick $8 Uber ride over.  The seating was indoors but they had their large garage doors open for ventilation.  The food was just okay but the beers were very good.  

Back to the hotel for some more lounging and watch Equinox sail out from our balcony.  

I should note, before we went out to dinner we took our binaxnow home COVID tests.  The process was pretty simple.  I wanted to take the test on the train so I could shed the anxiety but luckily we both tested negative.  

If you have specific questions on our testing experience feel free to post them.  We are heading to bed tomorrow.  We have a nice view of the port and hope to wake up early enough to see the Edge arrive.  Thanks for following along so far!  

We settled on Boatyard for dinner.  The food was good but the restaurant had a DJ and kind of turns into a lounge at night. Not really our scene but the food and service were good.  This is the Key Lime Baked Alaska.