EQUINOX - 10 Day Ultimate Caribbean - Picture Trip Report 3/14/14...

[FRMPEI]

Yup, we're still with you and still loving the review!

 

Hi Linda ,

 

Thanks for staying around. Wow that is some signature of past Celebrity cruises. Noticed the absence of Equinox, but looks like you have solved with a couple Equinox booked. FYI I have always liked your screen name. :)

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

I'm checking several times a day for new posts!! Definitely enjoying this review, especially the pics with beautiful scenery and people in summer clothes....much better than looking at the snow in my backyard!!

Cathy

 

Hi Cathy,

 

That's what you get for living in the Ontario snowbelt. Thankfully our snow has taken a beaten but, the melt/rain has been washing some of our roads away. Keep checking lots of photos and stories still to come. Be patient because I only have the evenings to work on them. My written out notes ran out long ago.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Waiting patiently, thanks for doing such a good job!

 

Great! Patience is a good thing. From the Atlantic coast to you Pacific thanks for your kind words.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Popcorn in hand, waiting for the next installment

 

I tried again tonight to get that picture posted and it just wouLd not so I gave up and used a different one. Hope you have lots of popcorn? Because we are not done yet.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Loving your trip report; however, after 30+ years of reading deadly trip reports, I wish you'd have been working for me! Love Equinox, two fantastic cruises on her so far.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Writing a trip report is a great way to put your spin on your experiences. I do plan to get my http://www.PcwJunkies.com website back up and running and will most likely add a cruise section. I have already searched for Cruise related URL's but the one I wanted was gone. I may just use http://www.FRMPEI.com which I own. Just need time. Thanks for your kind and encouraging comments.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

What does "g'way with you" mean????

 

This is more of a East Coast of Canada thing. So if you and I are talking and you might be telling me a story. My response could be that. Which would reference :

 

Get out of here - ie: are you really telling that truth or are you full of it?

 

Of course I speak and spell the queens proper English. ;)

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Kevin,

 

cmalagngl here better known at home as Carl. We were on this cruise with you. Attended the Meet & Greet and the Slot Pull. What a great time. I am responding to your review to let you know you are bringing back such great memories of our time on the Equinox. We really enjoyed this cruise and to see your pictures just bring back great memories. I find it interesting how different people experience almost an entirely different experience than others. So far we did something entirely different in each port. I guess that is what makes cruising so great. You can do whatever interests you. Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together, the pictures are great. I really like your sunrise shots. For some reason I didn't make any of the sunrises on this cruise. It could be I had the premium drink package and did hang out at the martini bar. I know you are not into that but for those that are I highly recommend the upgrade or purchase. We had a blast with friends we met on the Xpedition in the Galapagos. Thanks again for the memories!

 

Hi Carl,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. The slot(almost spelled it again with a u) sure was a lot of fun. First time for me. I think Donna and I tend to do the simpler things at ports of call. Not much of a beach person or sun worshiper so we tend to stay away from them. We are really loving the zip lining thing probably because it is the closest thing to the excitement of roller coasters.

You are right to each his own excursion and make your own day of it. I just love taking pictures while I am cruising and always had at least one camera with me. Sunrise and sunsets are beautiful and so neat when you get a shot that you can say, " Gee I think I will make that my desktop wallpaper":). Expedition sound nice but I don't think Donna and I are ready for that one yet.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Hi Linda ,

 

Thanks for staying around. Wow that is some signature of past Celebrity cruises. Noticed the absence of Equinox, but looks like you have solved with a couple Equinox booked. FYI I have always liked your screen name. :)

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Thanks, Kevin. By the way, don't take your snow tires off just yet. We thought it was safe to come out too but today it snowed on and off all day. I haven't had the strength to look out the window lately. Will let it be a surprise in the morning.

[wakefield cruiser]

Yes Kevin still with you and reading with interest , keep the posts going Julie

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[spammie]

Wow! That will be four years in row on Equinox. I agree you love Equinox. Did you get to do both the 10 and 11 day? Thanks for your kind comments please stick with me I only have the evening to work on it.

 

Thanks Again,

Kevin Reid

 

Kevin, we have only done the 10-night because we love the Eastern ports so much better than the Western. Question for you - were you allowed to order off of the MDR menu in Blu? I inquired last year about that and was told no. On a couple of nights we ate in Bistro On 5 or the Oceanview just because nothing on the Blu menu thrilled me. Wanda

[4cats4me]

Kevin, we have only done the 10-night because we love the Eastern ports so much better than the Western. Question for you - were you allowed to order off of the MDR menu in Blu? I inquired last year about that and was told no. On a couple of nights we ate in Bistro On 5 or the Oceanview just because nothing on the Blu menu thrilled me. Wanda

 

 

 

Thank you for your extremely enjoyable review

We just disembarked on April 4

And had a wonderful time

I enjoyed looking at your review shortly before we left

And picking up where I left off now that We are back from our cruise!

Reviews with pictures are always the best!

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[mpace58]

Kevin, we have only done the 10-night because we love the Eastern ports so much better than the Western. Question for you - were you allowed to order off of the MDR menu in Blu? I inquired last year about that and was told no. On a couple of nights we ate in Bistro On 5 or the Oceanview just because nothing on the Blu menu thrilled me. Wanda

Seems confusion is a common theme by the staff in Blu. When were in Blu a couple of years ago we were told we could NOT order of the MDR menu, and that if wanted we could be transferred to the MDR, but if went to the MDR then we could not come back to Blu after that.

 

I did not like Blu at all, but DW did, and so I suffered through and ate a lot of snacks before and after dinner at Blu. YMMV.

[cmalagngl]

Kevin,

Check out the Expedition thread under roll calls if you have any interest at all in the XPedition. It is not a normal cruise but as stated summer camp for adults. If you like nature which from your monkey pictures I assume you do there is nothing like it on earth. We went in May when the Blue Footed Boobies (Birds) were mating. Unbelievably cute.

The down side if there is one is the activity level. Hikes and snorkling two times a day. You sleep like a bably because you are tired at the end of the day. The roll call blog convinced us to go and it had always been on our bucket list. I'm glad we went when we did because we were young enough, mid-late fifties, to still be in good enough shape to do the harder day time activities. I am so glad I did it and we may go back to do the other cruise. They offer two. So my advice is it you have any desire to do the XPedition, do it earlier in your life not later. You have to be able to hike several miles sometimes up hill. Also about 1/3rd of the activity is in the water snorkling so that might be a consideration. You don't have to snorkle but you miss swimming with the seals, seeing lots of fish and in my case a shark! It is not for wimps!

[bagelme]

Kevin ...your trip report is amazing! Thank you very much!! I spent all of last evening reading through it and so enjoyed it. I am leaving on the Equinox is just a couple of weeks...first Med cruise after it's dry dock, and reading your report has me so excited I can hardly stand it. My husband and I were on the Solstice to Hawaii last Sept., and now my daughter and I are doing the Equinox.

I do have an off topic question for you. I am considering booking the repositioning cruise that the Serenade OTS is doing out of Quebec City. I've never been to your Canada "neck of the woods", and wondering if going that late in the season for my first trip there would be advisable. It starts 10/19/15, so wondering how the weather and things to see would be at that time of year. I appreciate any info you would be able to share.

Pat :)

[whataboutport]

Wonderful review! I just finished reading thru all of it. Can't wait for the rest. :)

[dcarter4]

Kevin,

 

Thank you so much for this wonderful review! I must admit...I'm a bit jealous.

 

Before your posting, I had one of the most read reviews!!

 

It was more of a diary, called: "The Bahama Wedding Diary"

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1930867&page=9

 

It was a 5 month story about throwing a wedding in the Bahamas...in just 5 months...from a guys point of view!

 

It reached almost 17,000 views....but you are killing my total number of views with your great writing!!

 

...and your pictures look great, too!!

 

I saw your photo and descriptions of each camera...but which one do you use the most!? Which one is responsible for most of the wonderful shots?

 

The Sony?

 

Let me know...'cause you convinced me to buy a new camera (and those great grips)!!!

 

Keep up the great work, Kevin!!!

 

Dwayne

[OhioDogLover]

Bagelme -

l know you addressed your questions to Kevin, who knows a lot more about Canada than I do, but we took a 2 week cruise up the East Coast last October from NJ to Quebec City and back. It was wonderful. Quebec City is beautiful and fascinating. We love to go to Charlottetown, Halifax, etc. We hiked part of Gaspy. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

We walked from the dock over to the Junior hockey rink in Charlottetown, P.E.I.. They have a lovely harness racing facility there along with the rink. We brought back some Islanders gear. (We are confessed hockey nuts and had previously been to Charlottetown and had seen the interesting historical sites. Although I have read "Anne of Green Gables" we have skipped the Anne sites so far. Maybe next time.)

 

Just my two cents worth, but we had such a good time that DH and I strongly recommend this cruise to everyone.

 

Ohiodoglover

[poffles]

Loving your review, such a wonderful visual of your trip. As a fellow Canadian and Halagonian :p I totally get the PEI vantage point.

 

Thanks for sharing all your beautiful photos. Picture reports are the best!

[Team Alpha]

Hello Kevin, thanks for your comprehensive and entertaining review.

 

We are new to cruising (just one under our belt so far) with our second booked on Solstice in Feb 2015 - a circumnavigation of Australia. It was because we are going on the same class of ship as Equinox that I started reading your review i.e to get a feel for the ship and its amenities.

 

Our previous cruise was on Carnival Spirit whose home port is now Sydney (that's Sydney Australia not the Sydney in Nova Scotia). We sailed as 2 couples and had a great time. Having said that, we're looking forward to the 'step up' in quality that is Celebrity. Many of the cruise lines now have regular sailings from around Australia although they tend to reposition the ships here at the end of your summer for a southern hemisphere summer sailings and then back north again at the end of our summer ie. March/April. Solstice is on her repositioning cruise back to the West Coast of USA for a season of sailing up the coast to Canada/Alaska.

 

I must admit it took me sometime to work out that PEI stood for Prince Edward Island. It seems/looks like a lovely part of the world. We live half a world away in Geelong, Victoria Australia.....another beautiful part of the world.

 

A trip to the US/Canada incorporating a cruise either up the west coast inside passage or the Caribbean are definitely on the bucket list but some way off whilst we continue to work. Your review has only made me more committed to making such a journey.

 

Thanks again and keep up the excellent reporting.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[wallie5446]

Kevin I have a favor to ask of Pat, not trying to hi-jack! :D

 

I am leaving on the Equinox is just a couple of weeks...first Med cruise after it's dry dock, .

Pat :)

 

Pat, would you be so kind and fill us in on the changes made during the dry dock? Please!:) I know there will be many others between now and our sailing in Nov, but;)

Thanks,

EW & Dana

[Little London]

KEVIN where are you. You haven't posted since 17th April, and I am sitting here with baited breath!!

[bagelme]

Kevin I have a favor to ask of Pat, not trying to hi-jack! :D

 

 

 

Pat, would you be so kind and fill us in on the changes made during the dry dock? Please!:) I know there will be many others between now and our sailing in Nov, but;)

Thanks,

EW & Dana

 

Sure...I'd be happy to post what we discover new/different on Equinox. Won't be long now...leave for Barcelona two weeks from Monday! Super excited!

Pat :)

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

[bagelme]

Bagelme -

l know you addressed your questions to Kevin, who knows a lot more about Canada than I do, but we took a 2 week cruise up the East Coast last October from NJ to Quebec City and back. It was wonderful. Quebec City is beautiful and fascinating. We love to go to Charlottetown, Halifax, etc. We hiked part of Gaspy. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

We walked from the dock over to the Junior hockey rink in Charlottetown, P.E.I.. They have a lovely harness racing facility there along with the rink. We brought back some Islanders gear. (We are confessed hockey nuts and had previously been to Charlottetown and had seen the interesting historical sites. Although I have read "Anne of Green Gables" we have skipped the Anne sites so far. Maybe next time.)

 

Just my two cents worth, but we had such a good time that DH and I strongly recommend this cruise to everyone.

 

Ohiodoglover

 

Oh, thank you so much for chiming in! I appreciate any feedback I can get. That is good news! I was really concerned about the weather and being past the Fall Colors timeframe. We've never been to anything in that area as yet and really want to.

Thanks again! Pat

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

[k9x8]

This is more of a East Coast of Canada thing. So if you and I are talking and you might be telling me a story. My response could be that. Which would reference :

 

Get out of here - ie: are you really telling that truth or are you full of it?

 

Of course I speak and spell the queens proper English. ;)

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

2000 miles to the south, and we have the same linguistic roots from the same motherland.

Down here it's "G'oan wit'cha." That's as close as I can spell it phonetically.

 

Still here. Still enjoying your review and reminiscing about the Equinox.

[FRMPEI]

Thanks, Kevin. By the way, don't take your snow tires off just yet. We thought it was safe to come out too but today it snowed on and off all day. I haven't had the strength to look out the window lately. Will let it be a surprise in the morning.

 

Hi Linda,

 

Keeping fingers crossed ... I think the snow is done for us now. Hope you didn't get too much?

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid