Equinox Nov 10-21 2014 Ultimate Caribbean Pic Heavy Review - Emphasis On Ports

[whataboutport]

The final temple is the Mask Temple.

 

 

There are more normal looking steps on the side of this one.

 

Our guide told us that Lamanai is still mostly undiscovered. So there could be many more temples hidden in the jungle. I would have loved to stay here longer, but since it is such a long trek there, it really wouldn't be possible unless you were on a land based vacation.

 

After the last temple, we high tailed it out of there. We were the last group, and all other tourists had already long gone. Our guide was great at not rushing us, even though we were running late. She knew the ship would not leave without us since we were booked through the ship. Remember, we were on the first tender off the ship! But bc we were in group 3, we were the last to get going. The park was closed now, and the last of the rangers/employees hopped on our boat.

 

Now was the really fun part! Our captain went FULL SPEED back to the Mermaid Tavern. So if you want a really fast boat ride then I suggest that you DO choose to be in Group 3. It was like drifting in a race car. So much fun. The ride back with no stops only took 45 mins vs. 90 mins on the way out.

 

Our bus driver also did a great job driving us back to the dock area--in the pouring rain! He drove fast but I felt safe. There was a lot of passing slower cars. We even saw a small compact car, towing another one behind it, with the words "IN TOW" written in tape on the rear window passing cars. It was hilarious. No pics though, sorry. I was too busy laughing. Our bus driver even passed Group #2's bus just as we pulled up to the dock area.

 

As we jumped off the bus, we were greeted with several of Equinox's officers, and they told us which way to go to board the last tender of the night. We boarded and finally got back to the ship at 6:30; and hour and a half after our tour was supposed to be over! But this was one of my favorite and most memorable excursions ever. I love Mayan ruins and have been to several sites since I was a child. This was the most dramatic site out of all of them.

 

We finished off the night with taking advantage of that drink package and a late night snack at the buffet.

Edited December 3, 2014 by whataboutport

[PathfinderEss]

Awesome photo's, thanks for posting them.

[GOLDENBONNY]

How do you get to galley tour ? Is it free of charge ?

[whataboutport]

Awesome photo's, thanks for posting them.

Thank you! I think I am getting a bit better with my photos.

 

How do you get to galley tour ? Is it free of charge ?

Yes the galley tour is free, though it's not as in depth as I had imagined it to be. It usually is on the morning of the first sea day, and should be highlighted in the Celebrity today. Get there early to get in one of the first groups, so you can finish sooner and there will be samples left for you to try from the specialty restaurants. Or you can skip the galley tour and just wait by the specialty restaurants till they start handing out samples. LOL

[chamima]

Your photos are beautiful!

Thank you.

[Du vent dans les voiles]

Thanks for your wonderful review. We're doing this cruise in February and we have booked the Lamanai ruins with Celebrity.

Seems that we're going to have a great excursion.

Josée

[dodger1964]

Please post the itinerary of the cruise.

 

Really enjoying your recap!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[whataboutport]

The quote function isn't working for me for some reason.

 

Josee: I have been Googling for the name of the giant cool trees in Lamanai, and I have discovered that we didn't get to visit the sugar mill there. Pics shown here: https://www.google.com/search?q=lamanai+tree&client=firefox-a&hs=633&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VdF_VO6uEIKQoQTT4oL4Dw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1173&bih=611#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&q=sugar+mill+lamanai&imgdii=_

looks AWESOME! Make sure you say you want to see this! I had no idea. No other review I've read had been here. I've always wanted to see something like that, like at Angkor Wat in Cambodia how the trees take over the buildings. I'm sad we missed this.

 

I hope the link worked. If not, google "sugar mill lamanai" and you will see what I mean.

Edited December 4, 2014 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

Dodger,

 

Our itinerary was the 11 nt Ultimate Caribbean cruise (Western)

 

Ft. Lauderdale

Sea Day

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Sea Day

Cartagena, Colombia

Colon, Panama

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Sea Day

Belize City, Belize

Cozumel, Mexico

Sea Day

Ft. Lauderdale

[whataboutport]

Your photos are beautiful!

Thank you.

 

Yay! quote is working now!

Thanks for your comments. :)

I love your signature.

[Du vent dans les voiles]

The quote function isn't working for me for some reason.

 

Josee: I have been Googling for the name of the giant cool trees in Lamanai, and I have discovered that we didn't get to visit the sugar mill there. Pics shown here: https://www.google.com/search?q=lamanai+tree&client=firefox-a&hs=633&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VdF_VO6uEIKQoQTT4oL4Dw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1173&bih=611#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&q=sugar+mill+lamanai&imgdii=_

looks AWESOME! Make sure you say you want to see this! I had no idea. No other review I've read had been here. I've always wanted to see something like that, like at Angkor Wat in Cambodia how the trees take over the buildings. I'm sad we missed this.

 

I hope the link worked. If not, google "sugar mill lamanai" and you will see what I mean.

Thank you so much whataboutport for the link and yes it worked.

We'll definitely let them know that we don't want to miss that part of this excursion.

I'll have a closer look at the pictures later today.

I appreciate, thank you again.

Josée

[cruising_chow]

Great pics and review. DW and I are doing this in November 2015 except we are going to Costa Maya instead of Belize.

 

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Forums mobile app

[Du vent dans les voiles]

The quote function isn't working for me for some reason.

 

Josee: I have been Googling for the name of the giant cool trees in Lamanai, and I have discovered that we didn't get to visit the sugar mill there. Pics shown here: https://www.google.com/search?q=lamanai+tree&client=firefox-a&hs=633&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VdF_VO6uEIKQoQTT4oL4Dw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1173&bih=611#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&q=sugar+mill+lamanai&imgdii=_

looks AWESOME! Make sure you say you want to see this! I had no idea. No other review I've read had been here. I've always wanted to see something like that, like at Angkor Wat in Cambodia how the trees take over the buildings. I'm sad we missed this.

 

I hope the link worked. If not, google "sugar mill lamanai" and you will see what I mean.

Pictures are very impressive, we can't wait to actually be there! :)

Thank you

Josée

[whataboutport]

I'm glad you appreciate my pics Josee!

I found that the crazy trees are part of the banyan tree family, a type of fig, commonly called the Strangler Fig. It is a parasitic tree that takes over the Black Orchid, which is Belize's nation flower.

[Du vent dans les voiles]

Very interesting, we'll read more about this region.

Would please let me know at what time we should go to get the tickets for the tenders so we can hopefully be in the first or second group.

(Sorry if my english is not perfect, I'm french speaking.)

 

Merci beaucoup! ;)

[Darkwolfe]

Dodger,

 

Our itinerary was the 11 nt Ultimate Caribbean cruise (Western)

 

Ft. Lauderdale

Sea Day

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Sea Day

Cartagena, Colombia

Colon, Panama

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Sea Day

Belize City, Belize

Cozumel, Mexico

Sea Day

Ft. Lauderdale

 

Thanks for the review!

We're doing this exact same trip for our first cruise on X next November. Looking forward to it.

[whataboutport]

Weather got worse =( It rained off and on all day on Cozumel, and all watersports were cancelled.

 

Here is a short vid; you can see how big the waves are.

 

I was really sad when I looked out our balcony and saw this.

 

I've been to Cozumel several times and we've always been lucky with good weather. Not this time. We had booked with Eagle Ray divers for a three reef snorkel trip including lunch at the Money Bar for $69pp. We had already paid a deposit of $15 each, and I knew I had to some how check in with the company to check if indeed the tour was cancelled or not. If we were just no-shows, our deposit would likely be forfeited. Well I had no idea how to call international, and I was not about to turn on my cell phone. So we got a cab to take us to La Caleta marina. It was $8 one way, and actually not far. We could have walked it.

 

When we got there, we found the boat, the Miguelito, but the Captain didn't speak English. Luckily our cab driver spoke good English and he translated for us. They called Diana of Eagle Ray who I had been emailing with and finally I got to speak with her. She said she would refund our deposit, but bc of the bad weather, the harbor master closed everything down. I was sad bc our only other snorkeling this trip was in Grand Cayman.

 

I asked Diana what else she recommended for rainy days. I didn't really get a good answer. I know when there's bad weather, there's not much to do in Coz but shopping and drinking. I asked about Chankanaab, and she compared it with Sea World or Disneyland, and in fact, she hadn't been there since she was a child. Also all the free shows there would also likely be cancelled due to weather. There were the beach clubs, but I didn't really want to do that either while it rained....

 

So the cab driver recommended either he give us an island tour for $45pp (um, NO.), see some Mayan ruins (we were just at Lamanai the day before), or take us to downtown. We decided to to that. Well Downtown was the opposite direction, so he took us back past the ship which was docked at the International Pier, and then into downtown. Again, walkable! The road is just the main road along the ocean, and it's all flat. Most of it is shaded with trees, and it's nice. When he dropped us off our fare was $24 =(. What a waste. So that $30 we got refunded back turned into $6 bc of the cab fare. It was probably about a total of 2 miles. I walk my yorkies farther than that.

 

Walking around downtown, and along the back streets, we noticed a lot of shops were not open due to the weather. So not only is there nothing to do besides shopping and drinking, there isn't even much shopping to do!

 

I saw this nice courtyard with a pretty big Silk tree.

 

And this big building that isn't yet completed yet with even a bigger Silk tree. We have these at home and they are still babies.

 

This cute guy was patrolling the yard. I can tell he's well taken care of. He was a bit chubby. Brian Griffin if he was a real dog.

 

We poked around for half and hour and decided to walk back to the ship. The walk is nice, and even on a hot sunny day, it's not bad. Most of the sidewalks have shady trees. It rained on and off the whole way back.

 

We found this area that was rocky with some tide pools. I noticed a Carnival ship barely coming in now and I think it was now almost 11am.

 

This bar was also closed.

Edited December 7, 2014 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

We slowly walked along the tide pools for as long as we could. The rocks made some pretty big pools. Some were big enough to be a hot tub. And the water was still very warm!

 

More of the tide pools.

 

 

The only sea life we saw were some snails and a lot of really tiny fish that swam in and out of the pools with the waves.

 

Surfing and diving place, also closed.

 

This beach bar was completed flooded. They were open. Just kidding.

 

The places that were open were totally dead. We stopped in Senor Frogs to use the restroom and there was no customers and like 10 employees standing around. The bad weather is not just a bummer for us tourists, but also for the locals who they depend on for us to spend our money there.

 

We got back on the ship as it started to really come down. I felt for the Celebrity staff that had to stand out in the cold rain.

[whataboutport]

Finally back on the ship, I tried to take a pic of how far we walked. It looks far but it really isn't. I think the lighthouse is the halfway point between the pier and the Forum Shops in Downtown.

 

By now the Carnival ship finally docked and was letting off pax. You can see how windy it was. The flag is totally straight out!

 

And I finally remembered to take a pic of the flag on Equinox near the Sunset bar.

Edited December 7, 2014 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

So another day cut short. =( Since Coz was the last port, we were now officially in wind down mode. While six ports sounded like a good idea at the time, I think it's too many, as the excursions really add up! Also I was glad to go to Panama and Costa Rica, but it didn't really seem too Caribbean to me; no snorkeling, etc. and I could have never went to Cartagena and I would have been fine. But you never know unless you go yourself right?

 

Final overall thoughts about the ship:

 

Ship itself

The ship was just out of dry dock in April so it was spotless. I always saw crew cleaning areas that already looked sparkling clean. All staff I encountered was very friendly. Didn’t encounter any sourpusses at all. I found the elevators to be a bit slow, so we took the stairs a lot. Seems like the port side of lifts were not as busy and the starboard side.

 

 

Oceanview Cafe

We mostly ate in the buffet. Breakfast didn't change much day to day. Things got pretty tiring after so long. They had made to order omelettes/eggs, carving station of ham and applewood bacon (very good), eggs benedict station (terrible), and a very small Asian section; in addition to your normal stuff, fruits, waffles, pastries/breads, smoked salmon, etc.

 

I really liked the congee (rice porridge) on Princess. They changed it up every day. One day with pork, one day with ginger. Not for Equinox. Every day it was plain congee, and it was in a dish, placed on a warmer, not in a soup container so it was never hot. By the time you got to your table it was downright cold. Sucks bc I really like to have that for breakfast.

 

I usually love eggs benedict, and they had about 3 or 4 types each day. But the muffin was never warmed or toasted all the way through, and many times the egg over done. We ended up getting over easy eggs at the omelette station, ham from the carving station, an english muffin toasted from the bread guy, and then asking for some hollandaise to put over it. Much better.

 

The bar in Ocean view also serves cappuccinos, so no need to go to Bacio during breakfast.

 

Lunch was a lot better, and at 3:30 they would put out afternoon snacks with little cute sandwiches. We would take a few and keep them in our cabin's fridge for a late night snack bc after 9:30 all you could get was pizza or pasta, and room service choices are slim unless you want to pay extra.

 

Sushi comes out at 6pm. They changed it up a bit each day but you would always find at least two types of nigiri, and many different rolls. I wish they put out more salmon and tuna nigiri more. I saw a lot of the izumidai out. It’s labeled as snapper, but really it’s tilapia, my least favorite type of fish. When it’s raw it’s too firm, and when it’s cooked it’s too soft; and both ways there really isn’t any flavor. Bf loved the crunchy roll, which was an unagi CA roll with tempura crunchies on top. I wish they had hand rolls.

 

 

MDR

As I mentioned earlier, we only tried the MDR dinner once. We checked the menu for dinner everyday but didn't find anything we HAD to have to sit thru the 1 hr+ seating. We tried it again for lunch later on and we really enjoyed it. Just a lot more laid back and casual, and faster! And the staff seems much more attentive, probably bc they aren’t as swamped. We got a chicken panini, and the seafood kabob. The panini bread was perfect and a lot of cheese inside. The kabob had two large shrimp and one sea scallop w veggies on a bed of yellow rice. I ate every grain of rice on my plate! We never made it back though bc the menu offerings didn't appeal to us.

 

I heard that you can get MDR food thru room service. I asked about it and was told that our stateroom attendant has to do it. That kinda bummed me out bc I know they have tons of stuff to do. So I asked Edgar about it and he was that was true. He asked me what time we wanted to eat dinner and he would bring us a menu about an hour before. Then we call it in to room service, and he would have to bring it to us. Well the menu ended up not turning up (and we were in the room), so I just assumed he got busy and forgot. Not a big deal, as it wasn’t something I HAD to have, but just putting it out there for people who want to try this. But once I did call room service at 6pm and got a recording that they were closed.

 

Room service

Anything that looks too good to be free on the room service menu is bc it’s not free. You only have basic choices, burgers, dogs, sandwiches, fries, soups. The crab benedict, steak, smoked salmon, caviar (duh on this one), all is with an extra charge.

 

Mast Grill

They ran out of bacon and condiments a lot, and we found the ice machine empty on several occasions. That's the only minus I can say about this place, bc their burgers and hot dogs were actually pretty good. And the fries were usually fresh and nice and crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside. Convenient they had beers right there too, bc burgers and dogs always need a beer to go with them!

 

Aqua Spa Café

We only tried the juices once. We tried a green and an orange. They were so watery and gross we tossed them after one sip. Looked and tasted like dirty sink water. We never bothered to go back and try a smoothie.

 

Gastrobar

We had the Classic bev pkg and the only non domestic beer we would get was a German beer (Heifwenwaisser?), and it was good. The bottle is gigantic. It was always nearly empty in here, and I never saw anyone order the food. The prices of the food is at least 3x more than when the menu was first revealed, and the Mixology Mondays was gone. This is a full bar though. I thought it was just wine and beer at first. You can get anything you want here. But I found the staff here not as amazing as other bar staff so we didn’t come here a ton.

 

Martini Bar

While we didn’t order a drink from here bc of our Classic pkg, we did pass by a lot and it was always jumping here. They did have some Flair shows noted in the Daily but we missed them. I never noticed the music blasting loud.

 

Pool

The main pool is deeper and is fine for swimming, unless it's packed, which it always was. The music was never blasting too loud. Always looked like there were lounge chairs available.

 

Solarium pool is where we went. AC inside, no wind, quiet, no loud music. The pool is much shallower but still fine for swimming. Always chairs available.

 

Entertainment

The CD Paul Baya was fine. Not my fave but not a cold turkey either (like on our last Princess cruise). I liked how they showed a Funny Video of the Day every morning. The best one was the first one about the German Coast guard. (Vaat are you sinking about?) I knew there wouldn’t be things like belly flop contests and the like, but that’s ok. Pool Olympics was pretty freaking hilarious. The shows in the theater weren’t very good IMO. Living in Las Vegas we see a lot of shows, and usually for free, and even then we walk out lots of times, even headliner shows. The only show during this sailing that we sat through the entire thing was the last sea day show that was like a Cirque du Soleil show. There were several acts that I have not seen done by Cirque before so that was nice.

 

The comedians and musicians were ok. Kinda funny but we still walked out after about halfway through. The Elton John guy was pretty funny. I did not see a “Sin City Comedy” show listed in the Daily like I have read on CC, which is the one with the burlesque dancer. Perhaps they canned it?

 

The production shows with the ship’s cast of singers and dancers I thought were terrible. One show in particular reminded me of a high school talent show. One girl was clearly new as she did not hit even one of the moves, always a split second late and looking to her castmate. It was hard to watch. One guy looked like a young Justin Timberlake, with the short fro hair.

 

We usually expect to not like the shows, so we always sit in the back near the exit so we don’t disturb others.

 

Top Chef at sea wasn't as exciting as I expected but I sat through it. If you want to be a judge, sit down near the stage and scream and holler when they ask for judges. I was too late to see how they chose the contestants.

 

Disembarkation

We did Express walk off and chose to walk off at the end of the time window for Walk offs. This worked perfectly as we didn’t have to wait for the go ahead to start getting off and waiting with a bunch of others in the public venues. We got off the ship at around 8:45, thru customs in about 20 mins, and into a waiting cab (NO line) and to the airport thru TSA and at our gate before 9:30 for our 11:30 flight. Tip: most people hailing a cab is going to FLL. Ask people around you to share a cab if you are a party of two and so are they. The fare is about $17 and with tip $20.

 

Overall

Bf put this cruise as his least favorite and Princess as his most favorite as far as length of sailing and ports. This one was much too long for him, and not enough food choices. I think this was the only cruise where I did not gain weight! Even with the free booze. Though the food on Princess wasn’t that great either. We both agreed Allure had the best food. But the Equinox was the most beautiful ship in the best condition. Allure was too kiddie, Princess (CB) was in need of a lot of TLC.

 

Any other questions, please let me know! Thank you to all who followed along with me.

Edited December 8, 2014 by whataboutport

[attilamom1217]

Thank you so much for this review and the pictures. I will be taking this itinerary on the Equinox in November 2015. Can't wait. Your pictures have reignited my excitement.

 

Debbi

[Ryan&Ronnie]

I really enjoyed your pictures and info about the ports. We are going on this cruise on March 16, 2015 and found your info very helpful as most of the ports are new ones to us. We have excursions planned in all the ports and are also booked with MyFriendMario in Panama. Could you or did you post the Celebrity Today daily papers? I'm curious if there was the fabulous brunch on one of the last sea days (they did on Silhouette). Good info on the beverage package too! Thanks so much. :D

[wallie5446]

I'm curious if there was the fabulous brunch on one of the last sea days (they did on Silhouette). :D

 

We were on this sailing too, and the 'brunch' is no longer in the MDR, but toned way back, and in the Oceanview Cafe. ie: the buffet area.

[matondo]

We were also on the same cruise with you!

 

It was our first time on the Equinox. I agree about the food it was good not great. We loved the ship!

 

Our favorite bar was the Molecular Bar...WOW! We signed up for the mixology class and they were not ready for us so we changed it to the tasting and it pretty much turned into a mixology class as we all got to mix a drink. I did the last of the 5 tastings and I wish I could remember what all went in my drink because it was wonderful. All I remember is the Godiva chocolate liquor, raspberry liquor and then it gets a tad fuzzy:D.

 

We also did the wine and food tasting, the $25 one. My DD did the beer and food tasting. We enjoyed them all.

 

I think the weather really put a damper on the trip but there is nothing you can do about that.

 

A group of us from the roll call went with Claudia for a tour of Cartagena. I am glad to say I have been to South America but would we choose to go there again? Probably not, once was enough.

 

We are already planning our next cruise for 2016!

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

[cl.klink]

Excellent review and pics. Thanks for sharing.

- Joel