AnchorsAweigh2011

We were on the Equinox in March and had a great time. Here is my top 10 things not-to-miss:

1) The Hot Glass Show.

2) The Mast Grill.

3) The Tuscan Grille.

4) Café al Bacio

5) The Fitness Centre. After the first 4 suggestions, I thought a little exercise was in order.

6) Sitting in the Sky Observation Lounge on a sea day, enjoying the majestic view.

7) The Slush Bar.

8 The Gastrobar.

9) The Sunset Bar.

10) The Ensemble Lounge.

I hope you enjoy your cruise ERIN123!

Welcome to Cruise Critic Mratner!

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about the viral illness on the Celebrity Equinox. Celebrity takes these norvirus outbreaks very seriously and does an excellent job of sanitizing the ship to prevent future outbreaks. I would rather have a later boarding time than get sick and not enjoy my cruise.

We were on the Equinox early this year and we were fine even though there were outbreaks on earlier cruises.

Bon voyage Mratner!

I enjoy the Solstice class ships. They are all well laid-out, modern and finely appointed. You won’t go wrong with any of them. They are all similar ships with a few differences that were well highlighted in the earlier posts. The Silhouette is our favorite Celebrity ship!

I would choose a Solstice class ship based on the itinerary!

While I like the idea of a Canadian News Channel, I’m happy with the present selection offered on Celebrity. I can always get the Canadian news on the daily Celebrity newspaper available at the customer relations desk or on the internet.

I think your concerns are well-founded and you may want to reconsider this excursion. The speedboat is fun, but it’s not for those who have motion sickness. The snorkeling is a huge part of this excursion, so the 4, 6 and 8 year old may feel left out.

We have used Stingray Sailing the last two years we were in Grand Cayman and enjoyed both of our excursions with them. You can check them out on Trip Advisor. They have excellent reviews and Chip has a beautiful 43-foot catamaran.

Welcome to Cruise Critic saltydoge!

On embarkation day we generally grab a caramel macchiato at Café al Bacio, tour the ship and then head out to grab lunch.

We generally eat on the back patio of the Oceanview Café or the Mast Grill. The Mast Grill is usually much less crowded and they serve tasty and outstanding burgers!

We then sit back, enjoy the beautiful sunny day and relax until our room is ready, which is usually after 1 pm.

After unpacking, we head to the muster drill before going to our sail away party!

We hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise!

Thank you for sharing your excellent review of the Oasis of the Seas. Your thorough, yet succinct review captured and highlighted the differences between Celebrity and RCI.

My wife and I would like to cruise on the Oasis of the Seas or the Allure of the Seas in the future.

Once again, thank you for sharing Andy!

Cruising is a small world. When we were on the Celebrity Silhouette a year ago we ran into my son’s high school Vice Principal and her family!

Two years ago we ran into a teacher from my son’s elementary school while on the Reflection. It appears that teachers like to cruise!

You never know you are going to meet on a cruise. Now we look around to see if we know anyone onboard!

I will believe it when I see it. Always interesting to watch people when we take our daily walk in the morning.

I was also skeptical about the issue jagoffee, but was pleasantly surprised to see how efficiently the 30 minute policy worked!

When we were on the Celebrity Equinox in March of this year, the new 30 minute policy prevented people from reserving chairs and not using them. It was much better this time. There were always chairs available on our cruise!

Well done Celebrity!

With the Canadian dollar continuing to drop compared to the US dollar, it will affect our future vacations and we will be rethinking our future bookings.

When you pay $1500 US per person for a cruise, it converts to $2024.40, based on a conversion factor of 1.3496 on our Visa. That’s a difference of $524.40 a person or $1048.80 per couple, which is a significant difference. When you factor in airfare, hotel and meals in addition to the cruise, the price goes way up!

It’s getting much more expensive to be a Canadian travelling on Celebrity!

Why do you transfer to your TA? Is there a benefit to going with the TA over staying with Celebrity?

 

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When we transferred our cruise back to our TA after getting an excellent price, the choice of our cabin, onboard perks for booking on the ship, we picked up an two extra classic non-alcoholic beverage packages for my son and my niece on our March cruise on the Equinox.

Where was this picture taken?

We generally book our cruises while onboard and they are usually lower priced with more perks. Once booked, we transfer the cruise back to our TA.

With this new BBB program, make sure you do your homework before cruising, so you’ll get the best deal.

Welcome to Cruise Critic mountainmamma!

You’ll enjoy the Solstice. It’s a great ship with an outstanding crew!

If you do not want to get dressed up for formal night, I would recommend the Tuscan Grille. You may want to try blackened Angus ribeye steak! It’s simply amazing!

Booking inexpensive flights can be hard to find. Generally, I say you should stick with one airline, so you can get the points, and book as early as possible. We generally book our flights 8 or 9 months before our cruise. By booking early, you can choose the time and day of your flight, so you can maximize your time in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The only drawback is you are out of pocket the cost of flight long before you cruise.

I have found the cost of flying has gone up over the past few years.

We have a cruise booked for March 26, 2016 and we have already booked our flights.

Happy cruising!

We do both ship and private excursions. When planning private excursions, I do my due diligence and research the tour company to make sure they have an outstanding reputation!

We have found that private tours provide the best excursion at the lowest price!

When in St. Maarten, I would recommend Soualiga Destinations Boat Tours. We toured with them in the past and it was by far the best excursion we experienced in St. Maarten.

Happy cruising!

Tipping is a personal choice and you’ll get a differing range of opinions on the subject. My wife and I like to reward outstanding service with an extra tip for our waiter, assistant waiter and cabin stewards on the last night of the cruise.

You should do what you are comfortable with and don’t feel any pressure to give extra

Happy cruising!

You can take the meclizine the morning you are boarding the ship because it starts working within one hour of taking it.

There are a few precautions and contraindications with meclizine, so check with your doctor or pharmacist first.

St. Kitts

 

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing these excellent pictures!

Welcome to Cruise Critic Lash52!

I usually enjoy the speciality restaurant and tip a little extra to recognize excellent customer service!

My favorite part of a cruise is when I retreat to my oasis of peace and tranquility, my balcony, to enjoy my first cup of coffee and stare out at the translucent, blue sea or the magnificent port the ship is docked in.

Happy Birthday Andy! I hope that you have a sensational day!

While I consider myself a newbie when it comes to cruising, I can’t help, but be mesmerized by the translucent beautiful blue Caribbean sea!