Detailed Photo Review of 3/14/16 Celebrity Equinox 11 Night Cruise

[deladane]

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel to make use of the beach supplies shed. They let us borrow beach chairs, umbrellas, water noodles, and sand toys to carry across the street, so we each took a chair and an umbrella and walked over to the beach.

 

 

It wasn't crowded at all in the section near our hotel, but we could see big crowds a little further south, closer to the bars and restaurants. We spent the next few hours relaxing, reading our books, and people watching. It really was a beautiful beach!

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

At around 3pm, we went back to the hotel to get showered and ready for the evening. Our original plan was to check out Las Olas Blvd. as I had heard it has a good restaurant and nightlife scene, but once we saw all the fun at the restaurants right on the beach, we decided to make the most of our beach-front hotel and go to the places on A1A. Our first stop was for happy hour at Cafe Del Mar. They had a live musician singing and playing guitar, and they had 2 for 1 giant frozen drinks for $19. Unfortunately, you can only get the happy hour specials if you sit at the bar, so we couldn't sit on the sidewalk patio outside, but we still had a great view even from inside the restaurant. I ordered a Miami Vice and J had a margarita, and both drinks were very strong!

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

After we finished our drinks, we walked along A1A and looked at the menus of all the restaurants to find a place to eat dinner. The Rock Bar had a varied menu with something we would both enjoy, and they had a great outdoor patio with tons of tables and banquets. As it turns out, they offered the same giant frozen drinks on 2 for 1 special as Cafe Del Mar, but they honored that deal at the tables instead of just at the bar, so I guess our happy hour deal wasn't all that special haha We got super lucky and someone was leaving from one of the outside tables right when we got there so we had no wait for prime seating.

 

 

 

We ordered another round of drinks and dinner. My 3/4 pound cheeseburger really hit the spot, and J enjoyed his tacos. We hung out here for a few hours enjoying our drinks and the fun atmosphere.

 

 

Blue Sky Margarita and an Ultimate Margarita

 

Cheeseburger (in paradise!!)

 

Tacos

 

After dinner, we stopped by a Subway in one of the strip malls to pick up sandwiches for lunch on the plane, then we went back to the hotel to finish packing and go to bed early as our flight home was early the next morning.

[deladane]

Sunday, March 27 ~ Back to reality...

 

After 2 incredible weeks in paradise, our vacation had come to an end. We woke up at 7am to a beautiful sunrise.

 

 

We called for an Uber at 7:45am to take us to the airport. The hotel office wasn't opened yet, so we dropped our keys in the drop box on our way out.

 

We got to the airport at around 8am and it was PACKED!! I guess all the people ending their cruises today were already getting to the airport. Since our cruise ended 2 days ago, it didn't even occur to me that this was a possibility haha Oops!! The line to check our suitcase took 25 minutes, and then there was another 30 minute wait in line before going through security. We got to the gate about 30 minutes before boarding, so we bought an overpriced blueberry muffin and a smoked salmon with cream cheese wrap to share for breakfast. The one downside to the Snooze Hotel was that they didn't offer any options for breakfast, and with the early morning flight, we didn't have time to grab anything else before heading to the airport. The breakfast was fine and served its purpose until we were mid-way thorough the flight and could eat our Subway sandwiches for lunch. Overall, the flight was long but uneventful, and we landed safely back in California in the early afternoon. The one thing that made the end of this vacation a little easier was knowing that we had not one, but two other cruises booked over the next two years!

 

Well that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed reading my review. Thank you again for all of your kind words and comments. I am happy to answer if you have any further questions :)

[lulurobby]

what a fantastic trip you had and the review is worthy of a travel book. Thank you so much for sharing.

[Jiminy1955]

what a fantastic trip you had and the review is worthy of a travel book. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

 

 

My sentiments exactly!

[Hugahav]

I looked forward to every new post! Dana, you did a marvelous job! We're taking the same cruise in April, and I've learned so much from reading your review...thank you so much! I can't imagine how much time and energy it took to put this together...both during and after your cruise!

 

THANK YOU!:D

 

I couldn't agree more! We're also taking this cruise in April and your review has me very excited about it! We've never been to the majority of the ports and after reading about your experiences I feel ready to make some good choices for our excursions. Thank you so much!

[minnie mommie]

Fantastic review loved all the pictures. Will not be on Equinox til January 2017, and wishing it was tomorrow.

[LynMcGad]

Loved your review! Loved seeing the menus too. I would look at the menus that you posted, decide what I would have and then scroll down to see what you picked. Funny how many times we picked the same things. We will be doing this itinerary on the Equinox next Jan and your review just really added to my anticipation. Thanks so much for a great review.

 

Lynda G

[Hocus]

Thank you for this great review, and nice to see photos of the food. I'll start reading your others reviews nog because we will visit those ports with the Equinox in december.

[RiotAct]

We did not have any drinks on Friday before debarking, so our quest to try every drink on the ship ended tonight. Although we did not accomplish our mission, I think we did a pretty good job over the last 11 days. We drank about 3/4 of the drinks on the menus on the ship, and a lot of the ones we didn't try was because either we couldn't find a bar to make that drink or because the ship didn't have the drink on board (most of the wines!) It was fun to be on this quest, and our dining room waiters and sommelier as well as the bartenders we went to most often all knew about our mission and were eager to help us achieve our goals. Throughout the week, they asked us about our progress and helped to find new drinks for us to check off the list. You will also notice the little D or J next to each drink and a + or - sign... we marked off who had each drink (or used no initial if we both tried it) and a + if we loved it or a - if we didn't like it (no + or - meant it was neutral haha). At least now we'll know the best drinks to go for on our Eclipse cruise!! Here is a photo of the list at the end of the cruise...

 

 

Aghhhh, disappointed! Lol I'm going to have to cruise on the Equinox now to give it a try.

[liverpoollad]

Thank you Dana for letting me join you on this wonderful trip of yours, it did seem that I was there(well almost)

 

You have ended at the right time as my wife & I are off tomorrow for our Med., cruise on Equinox,

 

Three words to sum up. fantastic!, fantastic!, fantastic!

 

Cheers.

 

Cliff.

[thmpsn]

Loved your review. We will be doing the same cruise in Nov. and you gave us so many things to look forward to as well as some great tips.

Thanks,

Karon

[bluwes]

Round of applause Dana for a brilliant review.

Cant now wait to be back on the Equinox on this exact same cruise next March.

 

Just the small matter of a beach break next month in Marbella Spain , followed by our Vista sailing in September.

[kpd21880]

We did not have any drinks on Friday before debarking, so our quest to try every drink on the ship ended tonight. Although we did not accomplish our mission, I think we did a pretty good job over the last 11 days. We drank about 3/4 of the drinks on the menus on the ship, and a lot of the ones we didn't try was because either we couldn't find a bar to make that drink or because the ship didn't have the drink on board (most of the wines!) It was fun to be on this quest, and our dining room waiters and sommelier as well as the bartenders we went to most often all knew about our mission and were eager to help us achieve our goals. Throughout the week, they asked us about our progress and helped to find new drinks for us to check off the list. You will also notice the little D or J next to each drink and a + or - sign... we marked off who had each drink (or used no initial if we both tried it) and a + if we loved it or a - if we didn't like it (no + or - meant it was neutral haha). At least now we'll know the best drinks to go for on our Eclipse cruise!! Here is a photo of the list at the end of the cruise...

 

 

Up Next: Debarkation Day :(

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Hi Dana, We leave on the Equinox in 2 weeks :) Our first time on Equinox and our 1st trip to the Med. Thank you for the GREAT review! Would you be willing to share a word doc or PDF of your drink list? My hubby and I would love to try it out! My email is katievriezen@hotmail.com

[Scrappy cruiser]

Thank you for a great review. I appreciate all the time and effort it took to produce.

[aml3679]

We are sailing on the Equinox in April of 2017 - Ultimate Caribbean and I love your reviews and pictures. We first sailed on Celebrity in 2005 and could not wait to sail with them again. Thanks.

[jigger]

wonderful review !!

[Champagne Cruiser]

Thank you for the great review. I absolutely second the poster who recommended you look at the http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com Her recommendations in Bora Bora (Patrick's tour) and Moorea (Hiros tour) are great (we will be there Apr 2017 on the Solstice). Meanwhile we will be in Grand Cayman (Reflection Nov 2016) and on the Equinox (Oct 2017 and Jan 2018) so I really enjoyed your drink tour!

[alliebrandy]

Enjoyed your review.

[cheeseheads4ever]

Incredible review.i wish i could put something like that together and once i get free time will.maybe you covered this but what kind of camera did you use?

Great memories.

[Calgary3]

This is without a doubt one of the best trip reports I've ever read and I have read hundreds, if not thousands. You are a wonderful writer and your pictures are fantastic. Since I just found this report by accident, I am off to read your previous reviews. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this review.

[CruisinCandy]

I really enjoyed your review.

 

The mud volcano was a pit stop on the Amazing Race in one of the most recent seasons. They hid clues in the mud for participants to find!

 

Thank you for all the time you spent as I found it entertaining and informative.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[deladane]

Incredible review.i wish i could put something like that together and once i get free time will.maybe you covered this but what kind of camera did you use?

Great memories.

 

My underwater camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX20 that I bought in 2012 so it's probably a few models outdated. It has some really strong pros and cons... I love that it has an easy panoramic mode and that you can take photos at the same time as shooting a video. Unfortunately, the lens is in the top corner and often ends up with fingers blocking the shot!

 

My other camera that I used for all the photos on the ship and for most of the photos in Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia is a Canon point and shoot that I bought in 2013 (Power Shot Elph 330HS). I think it has a newer model out by now, although last time I checked, the specs are pretty similar to my older model.

 

 

This is without a doubt one of the best trip reports I've ever read and I have read hundreds, if not thousands. You are a wonderful writer and your pictures are fantastic. Since I just found this report by accident, I am off to read your previous reviews. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this review.

 

Wow, thank you so much for your kind comments! I'm so glad you enjoyed my review and I hope you enjoy reading my older ones too (warning: the Mediterranean cruise review is very long, but you do get rewarded with hundreds of photos! haha)