DevilinaBluDress

Good morning! My son and I are currently on the Equinox for his Spring Break from University of Wisconsin-Madison. We are staying in Aqua Class A1 cabin 1601 with an extra large balcony. It's day 3 and we are a few hours from our first port, San Juan, PR.

Starting our embarkation day with a Lyft ride from Ft. Lauderdale to the Port of Miami. Riding shotgun in the car was the most chill dog ever, Max. We had a bit of an adventure getting on the ship. Will was pretty anxious (he's on the autism spectrum) and described his upset stomach as a GI distress to the nurse. This resulted in us almost not being allowed to board the ship! Ultimately, Olga from guest services came to talk with us about the options. Understandably, they take GI symptoms VERY seriously. Will needed to go straight to the medical area and see the ship's doctor who in an abundance of caution restricted Will to our cabin for at least 24 hours of no symptoms and prescribed one Prilosec per day for three days. Frankly, this wasn't much of a hardship for us. Will hung out in the cabin, surfing the internet and playing his Nintendo Switch while I brought back food from the buffet and drinks for him. We also used room service a lot. I explored the ship and acquainted myself with just how much I should use the premium drink package per day. 😉

Yesterday was a sea day and St. Patrick's day. I took the kitchen tour in the morning while Will slept in. I ate a small lunch at Sushi on 5 for the 20% offer from the tour. I finished just in time to learn that Will was now free to leave the cabin! We celebrated in the Oceanview café overlooking the aft wake. There were an abundance of green desserts in the buffet and Will discovered that he likes Stella. We explored the ship. Had afternoon tea in Cafe al Bacio. Nice and relaxing. Took a little nap back in the cabin. Our evening was a lot of fun! We ate in Blu, then I went to the 9 pm Jeff Nease comedian show. He was very funny. Then Will and I went to the Silent Disco. What a hoot! It was so much fun! It was also fun to  take off the headset and listen to all the off-key singers without the music. 

Today we had room service breakfast on the balcony and used our in room bottle of sparkling wine to make Mimosas. We went to the $10 accessories sale and watched the guest/officer archery contest from Cafe al Bacio. We are contemplating where to eat lunch and looking forward to seeing Old San Juan again. 

So far, it's a great relaxing trip. If anyone has questions, let me know. 

Molly

On board now. There was an invitation in my room to a Cruise Critic meet and mingle scheduled for tomorrow. Trouble is for us, my son is in medical isolation for at least 24 hours. We won't make it, I fear.  He is OK. I think Anxiety got the better of him, but better safe than sorry.

On 3/3/2019 at 12:20 PM, Oville said:

That typically is night 3.  Beware of relying on the app before you board.  Once onboard it corrects itself.

Sitting in Blu on the first night of our cruise. The short rib dinner not filet is on the menu tonight.

That's a possibility, I guess. On the roll call, someone mentioned that there were over 40 people signed up.

Today we received an email that for our cruise starting tomorrow on the Equinox was canceled because according to them, we didn't have enough people signed up. The mystery is that we did have more than 25 signed up. Perhaps they changed the minimum number?

Xport,

I just took a second look at my old trip report. It was a sea day that I had the salmon lunch from room service. Maybe it was on the MDR menu on the TV room service menu? That would jive with what you shared.

I wrote a trip report right after my cruise in 2015 that mentioned seared salmon on the room service menu. It seems the offerings may have changed since then hence my question. 

Wondering what you can order after breakfast (lunch, snacks, dinner) in Aqua class. In 2015, I was able to order seared salmon with veggies for lunch through room service. In the Celebrity app, it lists items like club sandwiches. What are the current offerings beyond breakfast through room service? Is the app correct and the offerings are cut back?

Looking forward to your updates! We are booked in your room for a future trip.

Thanks!

I'm sure what your preference is, but I thought I'd want the bed by the bath on my last cruise. Turns out I was really pleased with bed by the balcony and have booked another bed by the balcony for our next cruise.

I received notice that the 3/16/19 sailing has changed from Punta Cana to Tortola, too. Also call time has changed for Nassau to 12:30-7pm.

One tip and one trap: before you get on the ship, load a bartender's manual/recipe book on your Kindle. That way you can look up new "classic" drinks to ask for on board that will fit in the beverage package. One my first Celebrity cruise I thought the drink of the day would be included in the classic beverage package. Nope, it isn't.

Molly know its a while since the cruise but just to say how much I have enjoyed your reviews and photos. We were on the same cruise and in an Aqua cabin but like most cruises everyone has a totally different vacation despite being on the same ship. Enjoyed reading how you spent your time and the excursions you went on.

 

PS we still have our name badges too ... many thanks for the work that went into them Bev.

I imagine that there were almost 3000 different vacations just on our cruise alone! I hope you had fun, too!

Molly

On the Equinox, we were able to connect the HDMI after asking It to unlock the extra HDMI port. No problem!

Yes, the second Groupon was 2 hours at the Game Room arcade.

Did you catch the part about the chocolates? After the joking customs agent sent us on our way, all the bars were given away or eaten in about a week after we got home. The hands-down favorite was the Rum/coconut /caramel flavor.

Molly

The inevitable day has arrived. Our time on the Equinox has come to an end. Will and I woke, did last minute packing and headed to Blu for one last breakfast. We ate, said our good-byes, gave our bottle of Merlot (was in exchange for the champagne on day 1) to the hostess and then headed off the ship at about 9 am. There was a long line which we joined. About 30 minutes until we were talking with the customs officer. I mentioned that I had chocolate (remember- I bought some at the Apagey Chocolate Factory in Barbados). The customs officer asked where the chocolate was from and then told me that I was not allowed to bring it to the US. I was crestfallen! They were planned to be gifts for family and friends. I spent a lot of money on this chocolate, too! The customs officer then broke into a big smile and said, "Just kidding!" He then sent us on our way. That was a little drama that I was not prepared to deal with!

Past the terminal, we took a quick cab ride to the airport to pick up a rental car I had reserved through Hotwire. Our flight wasn't until 8:45 pm, so we had plenty of time to explore the Ft. Lauderdale area. I had picked up a couple of Groupons to area attractions to fill our day. I also hoped to meet a friend for lunch (which didn't happen due to her work commitments.)

After getting the rental car, we were off to Groupon attraction number 1: Cooperstown Airboat Tour of the Everglades. It was a bit hot and there was some confusion about which tourists were on which airboat, but about 15 minutes after we arrived, we were speeding along the Everglades seeing alligators, herons and other wildlife and plants. after the tour, Will even held a baby alligator - a highlight for him, he said. I'll take his word on it (and a picture.) We skipped the educational presentation and got back on the road to attraction number 2.

We ate lunch at Bahama Breeze at Sawgrass Mills before spending two hourss at the Game Room, a video arcade. Will had a blast playing Dance Dance Revolution and other games. I learned that I am not a Guitar Hero, Indy Car driver nor a motorcross racer. I really don't play video games well at all!

Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then it was time to get to the airport, return the car and check in for our flight. When we got to security, the pre-check line was closed, so we had to go through the regular security line but did not have to remove our shoes. It's the small things, sometimes. ;-)

Our flight happend to happen just as the Badgers were playing in the Basketball Finals. The whole plane were fans and were very excited that we'd be able to watch the game on our mobile devices. However, there was a glitch and no one was able to watch until the final 5 minutes which, apparently, were the 5 minutes that no Badger fan wanted to watch. Oh well, we'll get them in 2016!

Back in Milwaukee at about 11:30 pm and on the road back to Madison in cold drizzle. Welcome home! Home at 1 am and back to work and school in the morning.

It was a great trip from beginning to end! We've booked (onboard) our next adventure - The President's Baltic Cities Tour on Silhouette for June 2016. This time 2 cabins for the whole family. Looking forward to being on another Celebrity ship!

Day 11 video:

On Saturday, the ship was rolling side-to-side. I wasn't the only one who was seasick or looked like I'd had a few too many to drink. We laid low in the cabin most of the day. Will ate breakfast alone at Blu because I was under the weather. It was so nice that the Blu staff knew him well and he could feel comfortable going there on his own.

We were invited to a Bridge tour (remember we asked during the Cruise Critic Celebrity meet and greet?) and I went up to the spa to get ready and took too long since I wasn't watching the clock closely (still a little sea sick and moving slowly.) Will didn't miss it, though. No pictures because Will didn't take his camera. I tried to join it, but there was some miscommunication about where I should meet security. Oh well, it was my fault since I was 5 minutes late. Will really enjoyed it, though.

I finally felt better around lunchtime and ordered the salmon from room service. I ate it on the balcony as a treat. It was perfectly done and very yummy!

In the afternoon, I went to the Secrets of the Pastry Chef demonstration and learned, sort of, how to create a pastry bag from parchment paper.

It was formal night and Will wore his Goodwill $4 blue blazer with grey pants for dinner. As usual, I also had some thrift store threads on and got some compliments on my extra sparkly sequined jacket. After another wonderful dinner at Blu, we went to the last Hot Glass Show of the cruise.

Then on to Equinox the Show to see Ariana, the contortionist we met earlier in the week perform. It was the best show of the week, IMO. Will really enjoyed it from our back seats where he could move around, if he felt like it, without disturbing others.

Will then went back to the cabin while I went to the Gastropub bar to root the Badgers basketball team to victory over Kentucky. It was a lot of fun but also a little weird because as a Madison resident who works for the University of Wisconsin and also an alumna from UW-Madison, I am used to cheering my team with only Badger fans. It was a little tough to be in a bar with people rooting for Kentucky, mostly. Of course we Badger fans made ourselves known. I had a traditional Brandy Old Fashioned to celebrate the win!

Sunday, Easter, was another sea day. After breakfast in Blu, Will and I went to the guest relations to find out if it was too late to enroll in the luggage valet service since we were flying Southwest late on Monday night back to Milwaukee. Apparently I had missed seeing that the deadline was on the Dominica night (there was a small blurb about it in the daily). Celebrity was accommodating, again, and we were able to still sign up. We were told we'd get our new luggage tags by 5 pm-ish.

We spent some nice relaxing time in the Persian Gardens - I was still saddle sore from the horseback riding, so the heated loungers were especially nice. I went to the Top Chef at Sea competition which, as a super fan of the show, was quite fun. I wasn't exuberant enough to be picked as a contestant - note to self: jump up and down to be picked.

For lunch, we had our one and only specialty restaurant experience at Tuscan Grille. Oh. My. Gosh. What a wonderful meal! Will and I especially liked the steak tartar and the tiramisu. Will said he could swim in the shrimp scampi noodles which were creamy with lots of garlic.

I took some pictures of the special Easter lunch buffet at the Oceanview Cafe. Lots of carved watermelons and ice sculptures.

Back at the cabin we finished the first season of Breaking Bad and just relaxed. No luggage tags, yet, so we stopped at the Guest Services. I was told that perhaps after dinner, they would be there. Dinner at Blu. No luggage tags, yet. Apparently, we were the only ones on the whole ship who hadn't received them yet because Southwest Airline only will do them 24 hours before departure. After dinner, I went to the meet the Hot Glass Artists event. Came back to the cabin around 9 pm and, finally, our luggage tags were delivered. Packed and put out the bags by 10 pm and then to bed.

G'night!

Sea days adventure:

Still loving your review! I wonder if Pete Matthews is based in St. Maarten, since he was also on our Equinox trip earlier in the month. He was quite funny!

-Molly

Day 8 Friday St. Maartin

Up early showered and dried my hair in the Spa. I've found this to be a great way to get ready and not disturb Will. Kind of like a second bathroom, but better because the hairdryer is better and there's a make-up mirror.

Read and watched the ship arrive at the St. Maartin port from my "second stateroom" otherwise known as the relaxation lounge.

Will slept in until 8:15, then we ate breakfast at Blu. I went out of my usual comfort zone and had the Smoked salmon and asparagus frittata which had caviar and goat cheese on top - super yummy!

Then I showed Will the Persian gardens room which he seemed to like. He had not been up there yet.

We then met with our 10:30 am excursion which was horseback riding on the beach. Along with our group was one of the glass blowing artists, Helen. The excursion started with a 20 minute ride to the stable which was a nice trip through town and over a mountain. Helen told us to look for goats on the mountains, but we didn't see any. The stable was right next to the power plant for the island. We were outfitted with helmets and given a locker to put our things in. Then we were matched with horses. The first one Will was matched with was deemed not slow enough for him since he had not ridden since he was 5. It was an hour ride up and down mountain trails. On the way up, Will was having a little difficulty with his horse occasionally stopping. John, our guide, attached a lead to Will's horse and pulled him along the trail. Then we went down to the beach where we were given flotation belts and we were guided into the water. One of the horses pooped into the water, so part of the time we were trying to avoid the poop. Then we went back up to the stable for rum punch/ punch and to look at the pictures (270!) taken by the stable photographer. $60, if you wanted to buy them. I passed. I took a lot of photos along the trail and John even took some for me.

Back on ship by 1:30pm for lunch (pizza for Will, Aqua Café for me.) I was already a little sore, so up to the Persian gardens for me. Will joined me for a while, too. I tried one of the herbal steam rooms for about 5 minutes. Then I tried a whirlpool in the solarium. It was OK, but not hot enough IMHO.

Dinner at Blu. Will prefers to sit at the end of a sofa and unless we get there at 5:35, typically we end up sitting away from the windows. At first I thought this might be a repeat of the first night when it seemed that we were in a forgotten corner, but the last three nights in the unpopular section have been wonderful. The waiters and sommelier have anticipated our needs- extra humus is always on the table for us: Will has his soda. The only downside, IMO, is that no one is close enough to socialize like at the two tops near the window. Ce la vie! I started bringing my kindle to read while Will reads his.

After dinner, we went to the t-shirt sale, but didn't find any that we liked. No Dominica ones by the time we arrived at the sale.

We headed back to the stateroom. I started feeling nauseous and decided to go to bed ( the anti-nausea med makes me sleepy.) Will went to see the movie Fault in Our Stars. I woke up for a few minutes to learn that he liked the movie. Back to sleep. G'night!

Horseback riding adventure on St. Maarten:

Kevin,

I just love your trip reports! I'm about to post my St. Maarten day - quite a bit different than yours. It's fun to compare and contrast.

-Molly

I've been looking at Autism of the sea. Maybe after our trip to Alaska. Have you heard anything about them?

I don't know much about them except that they help cruise lines become more aware of autism and become more autism-friendly. I think they also do charter cruises.

-Molly

IEP's they are so fun right [emoji27], just had my daughters last week.

Your trip looks like a lot of fun. How do you get invited to the helipad?

We didn't do anything special (to my knowledge) to get the invitation to the sail away. The invitation just appeared the night before.

-Molly

I am also taking my autistic son on an 11 day cruise. I was worried about how he would be but after reading your report I think that I have made the right decision. Thank you for your report.

I'm so glad that you are finding my review helpful! Did you see the post that Celebrity is now a silver-level Autism on the Seas cruise line? I think that they were very accommodating for my son.

-Molly

Sorry for the delay this week for getting the rest of the trip report done! April is a crazy month work-wise so far. It may be a week or two before I can finish the report because I have some time consuming work and family commitments this week like Will's IEP meeting for next year.

On to our favorite day of the whole trip (which is saying a lot because it was all fun):

It was a dreary, drizzly day as we came into port. Looking out of our balcony was the most beautiful double rainbow! Dominica was the least commercialized of the ports we visited on this trip. Even the dock was wooden and relatively short. Just off the dock was an outdoor market selling touristy items. On our rollcall, we met JackieJ who had arranged for a small whale watching tour with Captain Jerry. Words cannot describe how awesome that trip was - you must watch my video below to get the feel of it. Of note for those with sensory issues, the exhaust of the boat was a bit smelly and the engine was very loud. However, the experience was once in a lifetime and I fully recommend it!

After whale watching, we went back on board for lunch at the Aqua Cafe/Mast Grill. Since the ship/port/dock was so close, it was very easy to get on and off the ship in a short amount of time.

For the afternoon, we went back to the Fort Henry Hotel (where we met Capt. Jerry for the tour), purchased beverages and received the wifi password for the very fast Internet on the covered patio. I was even able to Skype with my husband. I didn't watch the time and soon it was time to get back on board. When we got back to the room, I saw the invitation for sail away from the helipad that we had received the night before. We didn't have time to change since we needed to gather right then. So off to the helipad we went.

The sail away on the helipad was a lot of fun! We were given mimosas, lots of pictures were taken and we had a chance to talk with the Chief Computer Operations and Finance Officers. A large part of the invited group to the sail away were folks who were cruising with their motorcycles. One fellow I talked with said that a couple of years ago, he told his wife that he would only go on a cruise if he could take his Harley, so here he was. He said that Celebrity would unload the bikes first thing in port and then they'd ride the islands all day. Sounded like a lot of fun!

On this trip, one of the books I read was Cruise Ship Stories-12 Years of Working on Cruise Ships by Guy Beach. I had just started it the night before and one of the first stories is about the crew bar. On the Equinox, the crew bar is under the helipad. Kind of a cool coincidence to see it just as I was reading about one.

After the sail away, we went back to the cabin to shower and change for dinner at Blu. Of course it was another wonderful dinner!

Will wanted to see the movie of the day, Grand Budapest Hotel, I wanted to see the juggler show and spend some time at the Persian Gardens so we each went our separate ways. I caught the last 45 minutes of the show by Pete Matthews. I'm glad that when I came in, he didn't notice because about 10 minutes later another couple came into the show and they were called out by Pete many times. The show was fun and Pete was talented. Then up to the Persian Gardens to wind down for the evening. I was alone in the Persian Gardens and fell asleep reading about life on the cruise ship. When I awoke, the spa was closed! Luckily it was easy to reach over the counter and get my sea pass from the file box. Will said that he really like the movie. We watched a little tv and went to sleep.

Day 7's adventures:

-Molly

On the March 27th cruise, Celebrity had sticky name tags printed with our names for the Connections party. One of our Roll Call members made tags with our CC username, first name and hometown on it.