Review Equinox 10 Day Ultimate Carribean

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Equinox – 10 Nights Ultimate Caribbean 4/6/2012-4/16/2012

Background- After a tough year health wise for my parents, we decided we needed a long vacation to rest and celebrate their recovery. We also chose this cruise to celebrate my father’s b-day (he’s perpetually 5 years old when it comes to celebrating his b-day). Dad turned 83 this year and mom will be 85 later this year. The cruise was especially for them, I was there to carry their bags and pills. This was our first visit to the Caribbean and our second cruise. The first one was also with Celebrity, (Summit) in Alaska a couple of years ago. If you have not been to Alaska and you love nature, I highly recommended. It’s truly a treasure.

The B-day boy, his better half and yours truly.

Ft. Lauderdale – we stayed overnight at the Hyatt Pier 66. A big letdown, especially since I booked directly with them and not through Priceline. Very disappointed in the room for the money we paid. We did not end up in the Tower, but on the first floor in one of the bungalows. Lots of noise outside until late in the hours, no view, and one of the beds squeaked like it was on its deathbed. Don’t stay there.

Embarkation – we took a taxi from the hotel, (btw, airport to hotel about $20 taxi fare, same from hotel to port) very close to each other. We arrived at the port by 12:30 pm and the entire process took less than 15 minutes (security, getting our photo, cards). Before we knew it we were climbing the plank to the 5th floor and being met by the crew with champagne. Everything was very organized and easy to navigate. We hanged out about an hour waiting for our room and I explored the 5th floor and the restaurants while waiting. After settling in the room we went to the buffet. Did I listen to everyone not go there on embarkation day? No! A madhouse, but we managed to find a table.

Cabin – 7131 (facing the bow, we were on the left side). Roomy enough for the three of us, I crashed on the sofa. A bit on the hard side, but it was fine. Plenty of storage, especially if you use the overhead storage as well. Our cabin attendants were lovely, did a great job. We were closest to the first set of elevators. To get access to the main body of the ship and the restaurants you had to use the middle elevators, and it was a bit of a walk from our cabin to the mid-elevators. And boy, do they keep those hallways chilly! Pack your parka.

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Ship – BIG!! Beautiful, clean, well laid out. My mother has no sense of direction at home, but she got the layout of the ship immediately. I was the one that needed some time to get my bearings. I was still discovering parts of the ship until the last day.

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The Grass Lawn – huge hit with my parents. Loved to lounge by it while in port. One side of the lawn is for smokers, the only place I ran into smokers on the ship. On our first day at sea, we discovered three birdies had hitched a ride with us and were busy eating whatever bugs were in the grass.

Fellow passengers – The majority of passengers were elderly. Many of them were equipped with canes, walkers, scooters, wheelchairs and the most important equipment of all, a zest for life. They were still out and enjoying life. It was also a great reminder to my parents, that no matter what life throws at them, you go on, make the best of it, and compared to some of the other passengers they were still spring chickens. No more whining at home now. The rest of the passengers were couples and families with children. The kids’ ages ranged from a 6 month old, an 18 month pink vision (both times I saw her in the elevator) to teenagers. None of the kids were a problem at all.

Crew – Awesome. From the bottom to the officers, each one said hello and was very nice. At the buffet, lots of cheery folks first thing in the morning, they really wanted everyone to feel good. Most of the crew was really looking forward to getting to Europe, they were sick to death of the Caribbean.

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Food – This is where Celebrity really blew it for us. We are not big eaters, my mom is an excellent cook and we hardly eat out (too much salt). The buffet was great, plenty of choices, breakfast and lunch, awesome. (The first two sea days it was a bit of a madhouse, but after that, no problem with crowds).

The main dining room was a huge problem for us. First of all, as many have mentioned before, the staff is way overstretched. Dinner took two hours no matter how little we ordered. The entire time, and I am not exaggerating, the waiters were running between tables. No time to chat and get to know them, just running, running, running.

The food was on the heavy side, I managed to eat it, but for my parents it didn't work, and too many items were fried, which they can’t eat. We only ate there three times out of our ten day cruise. The rest of the time we went to the buffet. We didn’t get dressed for the second formal evening; in fact we didn’t use half the nice clothes because we didn’t go to dinner anymore. And that was what we looked forward to being on a cruise, dressing up. This was a big let down and surprise for us, as this was not a problem on the Summit in Alaska.

These were my choices.

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Hanging Out – Loads to do on the ship, or just sleep as much as you want. Being fair skinned, the strength of the sun scared me, and so I avoided it like a vampire. (We are originally from Romania, after all). I did get some color from the excursions and hanging out on the balcony. There were plenty of people who were red by the second day, and some who worshiped the sun way too much for their own good.

On the first day I got roped into participating in a fashion show. Turned out to be loads of fun. Picked my dress from the shop and then they showered me with gold pieces. The bracelet I was wearing cost more than the cruise. Plus, I scored with the officer escorting me, the Hotel Director himself.

Medical Facilities – Unfortunately, we had to visit it way too many times. The facilities are amazing, they are set up for everything, and the waiting room for the crew was always full. On our excursion in St. Kitts, it started to rain and my mom’s foot slipped as she was getting on the bus and scrapped her shin. Only problem when we came back is that the medical facilities were closed. Their hours are 8-11 am and 4-7 pm. Quite surprised that they are not open 24 hours with so many elderly patients on board. We went back at 4 pm and they dressed her wound each day.

Then, if that was not enough, mom also caught the flu, not sure if on board, the plane or the hotel. The first couple of days, we didn’t know what was wrong, she felt fine but not fine. By Wednesday morning on our way to Barbados she was out of breath by walking from the bed to the bathroom. Needless to say, FREAKOUT on my behalf. I called the emergency line and they would have to call the doctor down, etc. I treated her in the room with Tylenol and hot water for her feet and by 7 am, the room attendant brought a wheelchair and we took her down to see the doctor. He took a blood sample and concluded it was the flu. Gave her medications and back to bed. We stayed onboard for Barbados. By 4 pm, she was up and enjoying the fresh air on the balcony. We went back for a follow-up the next morning and she felt so much better the doctor let her go on the excursion on Dominica, which she loved. But after the St. Maarten excursion, the heat and humidity caught up with her so we went back to the doctor again.

There are two doctors on board, one from Philippines and one from South Africa. Both were great, the South African doctor was very funny. “Madame, even though you are 84 going on 21, you need to rest when you have the flu.” Lucky we had 2 sea days ahead of us and she felt better. The head nurse was also quite awesome.

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Island/Tours – I chose to book all my excursions through Celebrity. Everything went smooth and on time.

St. Thomas – There were two ships in port that day. We were fortunate with an all day view of the port and yachts. We chose the island tour. It was a short tour on winding roads in an open bus safari. I think they overbooked, because my mom and I ended up in the front row with the driver. We made two stops, one including Mountain Top with amazing views of the other islands and the Bay. A quick tip – do all your shopping for knickknacks for friends and family on St. Thomas. Of all the ports, this one had the best selection of stores right off the boat.

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St. Kitts – An incredible welcome with a double rainbow. Again, only two ships in port. We chose the “famous” train around the island. Our leg of the trip began with a 40 minute drive to the train in small, air conditioned minivans. A good way to get the feel of the island, which includes many eyesores that need a good hurricane to finally get toppled. As they are switching to more tourism I think they would make themselves a huge favor if they cleaned up some of these hovels as they are clearly not inhabited. Anyway, back to the train. Each van is assigned a train car. Don’t end up in train car number one. It’s very noisy, as this train has not been greased since they originally put it on the tracks. The train ride from Disneyland it is not. It’s very rickety and it can give you more motion sickness than the ship. It’s almost an hour long, and after about 20 minutes you are about ready to get off. The views are nice, of the mountain, the ocean, the grass, but gets monotonous after a while. It was ok, but you only do this tour once.

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Barbados – Three ships in port, including the dreaded Carnival. As my mom was sick, we stayed on board. I can say that I will never travel with Carnival just by sharing the port with them. Mind you we were across the bay from each other and they still managed to give us a headache with the loud music they were playing near the pool.

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Dominica – our favorite island. We chose the Aerial Tram tour. You get there with a 20 minute hair pin, edge of your seat drive in a small minivan (and you have to come down as well!) Once there, be aware that to get on the cart, you need to climb about 20 steps, which could have been an issue for my mom, but she did it. Once onboard, there were only 8 of us including the guide. The ride is very smooth and slow, you can really take in all the jungle and are very close to the trees and plants. As Dominica has active volcanoes, in one spot there would be clean air, in another spot, a good dose of sulfur from the volcanoes. And for extra charm, a couple of mosquitoes. They love me, so I was not ignored on this ride. We were in the jungle after all. At the top of the ride, you have the option of taking a walk down to the next station or stay on. It was very relaxing and worth the money, bring a light sweater, it came in handy when it got cloudy and windy for a few minutes. I’d love to come back to this island and really explore it on foot.

 

[CruisingChick]

WOW - your pictures are amazing and your parents look terrific - you do to!!

 

I have to say the lawn on the ship looks great. We sailed Silhouette out of NJ in March and the lawn looked horrible.

 

Thanks so much for sharing.

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St. Maarten – (we were the only ship there that day). The hottest and most humid day of all. Another island tour with a stop at a butterfly farm. The Dutch side reminded us of California. The butterfly farm was fun, lots of butterflies, great to see them up close. The lady doing the presentation took her time, eventually I walked off and enjoyed the butterflies and then ran back to the air conditioned bus. The rest of the tour took us to the French side (the Dutch are better off and cleaner) stopped for some shopping in Philipsburg, but it was the kind of shopping for knickknacks of which I was already sick from the other islands, so I went back to the air conditioned bus. If you need last minute shopping, there are some shops in port.

Who doesn't like a good hat to rest on?

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We changed our mind at the last second and did go to High Tea. Go on an emptier stomach. We were full from lunch, but forced ourselves to enjoy the goodies.

[prim8keeper]

Love your review! We are going on this cruise in Feb and I can't wait. Glad your mom made a speedy recovery.

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LOVED IT!!!

Overall, it was a good vacation. We enjoyed the islands, the sun, not the humidity (I definitely prefer Hawaii) and the beautiful ship. Too bad the food was such an issue for us.

When my mom was sick I pictured her telling me she would never set foot out of the house again. A day later, she told me she could cruise for months. She truly loved the experience, even if she got sick.

[teajak]

Loved your review.We were on the cruise in HA cabin 7143 just down the hall from you.We were also 2 tables from you in the DR. We had the table for 2 all by itself at the window.I remember seeing you there.Great cruise, so we booked on board for Dec. 10 as I need a HA cabin and got the last one.Keep them cruising,I guess we always look on the bright side since my DH is 86 and I will be 84 in July and use a walker.Thanks for the greast pictures.Thelma and Jerry Jackson,Ellenton,FL

[texkan]

Great review and great pictures. We were on the sailing with you and enjoyed the Equinox.

 

What a nice daughter to take her parents on a cruise :)

[gw2fll]

Thanks for the great review. We are considering this cruise in March 2014 on Equinox. After seeing your pictures, I think we are ready to make the booking.

[Lois R]

What a wonderful daughter you are........the pictures are terrific.:D

 

Sorry you had such food issues but it sounds like overall it was

a good cruise:)

 

I lost my Dad last year (he was 90)....Mom passed many years ago.

 

It is so nice you were able to do this for them.:)

[Massnatives]

Loved your pictures and your great writing review - we are on Equinox December 10 (guess we shall see teajack there!).....different itinerary for us.

 

It's too bad the food was such an issue for your parents. Glad you had other options - loved you in the fashion show!

[Cruiser Susie]

We were on the Equinox mid-March, and had a wonderful time. I am so glad to hear that you did as well. Your pictures are gorgeous... your weather, while hot and humid, had beautiful blue skies! We did the aerial tram tour a few years ago in Dominica.. it was wonderful. You will treasure the memories of this trip with your parents forever. We took my mom and dad on an Alaskan land trip and cruise 7 years ago... had a wonderful time and have the pictures of the trip to cherish as well as the memories; my Dad passed away a few years after that cruise and like you, I am so glad we had the chance to do just that. Thank you for sharing your trip with us; despite some of the health and food concerns, I think you all had a memorable time together, which is absolutely priceless.

[tright]

Love your review and the pictures are very nice! Glad you and your parents were able to crusie together there is nothing like family. Wishing you and your parents the best of everything. We will cruise the Equinox this fall

[PathfinderEss]

What a awesome review. Your parents look great and like they were enjoying their selves. Your pictures were great.