16th June on The Equinox: Operation Warm & Happy

[Btank]

DAY 4 - COSTA MAYA (CONTINUED)

 

When we got back to the bus, we were each handed a traditional Mayan lunch consisting of:

• a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread
  
• a small packet of mayonesa
  
• a bottle of water
  

I handed my sandwich and a bag of Doritos that I had packed (remember that stop at CVS in Key West?) to Mark (who was well past his two hour feeding limit).

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Celebrity, you probably know what my opinion was on this.

 

From there, it was off to Dzibanche!

 

Yep, another hour of driving. Luis did his best to keep us informed and entertained, but by this time it was starting to be a struggle. Add to that the fact that he warned us in advance that there were no bathroom facilities onsite (we'd stop about a half-mile before at the ranger station for that). But eventually, we made it to Dzibanche:

 

One of the first stops in Dzibanche was... nowhere. Luis stopped in the middle of the entrance trail, and we played "Spot the Mayan Ruin". Can you see it?

 

How about now?

 

Not exactly to scale - this was a quick attempt to highlight the center of the mound. But, it gives you a good idea of how hard it is to clear these ruins and make them "presentable" to tourists like you and I!

[Btank]

Out of curiosity, did you find them difficult to find or to buy stamps with the postcards? Am also wondering when and where did you get to post them...

 

Hi dutchclogs - when it comes to Mexico, we just buy them and he mails them when we get back to the US. The rates for post cards in Mexico are ridiculous, and if your card does arrive to its destination it can take as long as (honest) 2 months.

 

On the other hand, one of our stops on Grand Cayman was a post office. It was pretty easy to get stamps there. :D

 

--bruce T.

[Btank]

DAY 4 - COSTA MAYA (CONTINUED)

 

Dzibanche is definitely the smaller of the two sites, but (in my humble opinion) was the more impressive. The ruins were larger:

 

 

 

 

But at the same time, were left in a more natural state:

 

 

 

It was very obvious that the jungle was trying to get its ruins back. They must periodically trim some of the growth back... but it has to be done very carefully? I would imagine an archaeologist going nuts if somebody started started hacking away at the ruins with a Weed Eater...

[Btank]

DAY 4 - COSTA MAYA (CONTINUED)

 

After an all too short 40 minutes or so, it was back to the bus. We had another long drive ahead of us:

We took care of Luis and our driver, and had about an hour or so to rest and recover before the all-aboard and departure.

 

BUT WAS IT WORTH IT?

I think it depends on what you're looking for. If you're like Mark, quantity was more important than quantity... and the chance to see two sets of ruins, in a part of Mexico that we don't make it down to (it's too far from Cancun), may make the trip worthwhile. But it you're like me, the limited amount of time at each site really grates on you. I would have much preferred a visit to one site with a longer stay, then maybe a stop for lunch in Chetumal and a chance to explore there for a bit, then back to the ship. Would a cheaper rate have done it? Not for me - and self-booked tours didn't seem to be that much cheaper.

 

But, as they say... your mileage may vary.

[Btank]

DAY 4 - COSTA MAYA (CONTINUED)

 

Back at the port, we took a quick walk through some of the various shops. PRO TIP: prices here seemed to range from higher to much higher than Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. You are a captive audience, and they are looking to take advantage of that! We did stop to take a quick picture of the ship:

This kind of reinforces the long walk, huh?

 

Back on board, we found our Celebrity tote bags waiting!

 

 

Some of you might be like me and ask yourselves... "Self, how do I get this back in that little pouch?" If so, I hope you're like me and didn't bother trying. That way, you end up with a tote bag and a little goodie bag to throw in the tote bag. :cool:

 

After a quick cleanup, it was off to dinner. My new best friend Sarvan came through again for me:

 

...and then it was off to see the evening show. The show that night was "Elysium" - and I worked hard to convince Mark to go. He grudgingly agreed; unfortunately, this was not his cup of tea. Really, it wasn't my cup of tea. And talking to a few people later on, it wasn't their cup of tea. This was more of a performance art piece - almost a little operatic at times. And here, the acrobats seemed to have been "spliced" on later ("We've got these two, what can we do with them?"). All in all, it was visually impressive - but I knew that was gonna be Mark's last show of the cruise.

 

After that, what else? Time for the casino and our $20 each. You can probably guess the outcome there.

 

Back to the cabins, and some much deserved rest before arriving in Cozumel! Our first priority when we hit the ground in Cozumel: getting the hell out of Cozumel. But more on that later. :D

[Btank]

day 4 - costa maya (the daily)

Cruise_Daily_2018-06-20.pdf

[Btank]

DAY 5 - COZUMEL

 

Goooooood morning! I'm not sure what woken me up early, but I had a chance to our out and watch us come in to Cozumel. As we came closer, it looked like Allure of the Seas was hot on our tail:

 

They were gaining on us. Were they late? Was the captain trying to gain the edge in a Royal Caribbean / Celebrity Smack Off? I'm going with the latter, because before you know it he did the cruise ship equivalent of a power slide, then backed into the berth right across from us!

 

Hmmmmph. Show-off. Since I was up, I headed down to Cafe al Bacio and enjoyed my cup of coffee while looking out of the window at The Big Wall O' Allure. And making grumbling noises.

 

At 8am, it was time for breakfast. I collected Mark and we went for our usual healthy + healthy breakfasts. Then, Mark went back to watch his DVDs while I disappeared to the spa for some much needed face maintenance. No shame here - I am secure in my masculinity, plus I have a face that looks like a cross between a burned-out Iraqi oilfield and Moonbase Alpha. After yesterday's fun in the sun, it needed some help.

 

From there, we headed off the ship. On the way, we looked at the long line of people waiting to check out beack towels from Allure. Being on Celebrity, our line treated us like adults and just left towels in our rooms. Take THAT, Captain Back Your Ship In!

 

As I said earlier, our first and only objective was to get off of Cozumel. Look, I don't have anything against Cozumel... and if things were different, I'd be out there beaching and snorkeling with the best of them. But, Mark is definitely not a beach person - and truthfully, he can't tolerate too much sun with the medication that he's on. And being annual visitors to Cancun, we've already seen the land part of Cozumel (PRO TIP: there's not much). So, we decided to go over to Playa del Carmen to have lunch and walk around. Plus who knows - I might even be able to find a camera strap! (Mark's suggestion)

 

FULL DISCLOSURE: we have lunch in Playa del Carmen every year. We stay in Cancun for a week, and each time we take a city bus (8.5 pesos each - around 85 cents US round trip) to the ADO station. For those of you not familiar with ADO, think like the US's Greyhound Bus line - only:

• the stations are clean
  
• the buses are clean
  
• the buses run on time
  

The trip from Cancun to Playa del Carmen is (if I remember correctly) 80 pesos each way. In other words, the round trip for two is $16 - and the bus leaves you right on 5th Avenue. Now you know why we go to lunch in Playa del Carmen every year.

 

Once we get there, we go to our favorite place - Karen's (https://www.facebook.com/karensrestaurant/). We've been going here for years... it's a good menu, with good prices, clean restrooms, and overall a very relaxing experience. PRO TIP: You can sit outside under cover if you'd like, but if you look inside towards the back you'll see a glassed in area. Air conditioning! Never, even turn down a chance to enjoy air conditioning in the Yucatan.

 

So, we took a cab to the ferry ($8) and bought two round-trip tickets on Ultramar. That was the most expensive part of the day - about $19 each. Once we got to Playa, we sat down and had a great lunch. The highlight of my lunch:

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Don't worry about the salt shaker! It has rice in it to soak up the humidity. Being a Florida kid, I saw that for years.

 

A couple of nights before, I had mentioned to my table mates and their two Gs that we were going to Playa for lunch. We had a good laugh about it, and I told them our tradition. They were off on a tour of Tulum, followed by the obligatory 5th Ave shopping experience. Needless to say, I recommended Karen's to them. On the way back from Tulum, they asked their guide where they should eat in Playa. "Karen's." So, they walked in just as Mark and I were finishing our meal! They were shocked to see us, until I reminded them that I had recommended Karen's first. G1 came to my rescue - "MOOOOooom, I TOLD you that this was the place!" Bonus points for G1.

 

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Yes, Playa del Carmen has sidewalk and doorway hawkers. Unfortunately, they have increased in number and volume over the years. But, they're pretty cool about it - almost all of them are polite, and will leave you along if you're polite back. A simple "No thank you" works wonders - and you can enjoy your walk and your browsing. If you try to ignore them (bad) or are rude (worse), prepare for them to go to full power - and maybe drop a snide comment as you walk away (whether you can understand them or not).

 

PRO TIP: Prices here are cheaper than Cozumel, and much cheaper than Costa Maya. If you have a need to get someone a Mexico T-Shirt - even if it was made in China or Viet Nam - Playa del Carmen is the place.

 

We finished our walking around - no camera strap to be had - and took the ferry back to Cozumel. After very little walking around (I just can't stand El Centro), we grabbed a cab back to the International Pier and our ship. A great day if I don't say so m'self!

[Btank]

DAY 5 - COZUMEL (CONTINUED)

 

I went to the end of the tourist section of the pier to grab a quick picture of Equinox, with the Great Wall O' Allure behind it.

Having sailed on Anthem a few months previously, I wasn't surprised at the size of it. But, I took solace in not having to check out a beach towel that I didn't need anyway.

 

We got back to our cabins, where Mark decided to spend some quality time filling out his latest batch of post cards. For me, it was off to the helipad - as Concierge Class, we had an invite for sail away from that venue!

 

Ok, this was kind of cool. A great view with a glass of champagne - what could go wrong?

 

Well, we wait... and we wait... and finally, cruise director Maarten comes out to welcome us - then tells us that we're waiting on a late tour group! See, that Celebrity tour premium can really make sense!! :rolleyes: The only disappointment: I couldn't see any pier runners (although I did see a couple of pier fast walkers).

 

But, all's good. We finally pulled away, and it was off to another good dinner with Mark.

[Btank]

DAY 5 - COZUMEL (THE DAILY)

 

Hey, Cruise Critic admins - here's a fun quirk. If I just type that line above and don't include any other text, the Forum converts it to lower case. That's kind of funky.

Cruise_Daily_2018-06-21.pdf

[GottaKnowWhen]

B. Thanks for your review! Informative and well written and entertaining... What is not to like?

 

Tell your brother that he is doing a good job keeping you centered.

 

Stan

[MisterMet]

DAY 5 - COZUMEL

 

 

 

Goooooood morning! I'm not sure what woken me up early, but I had a chance to our out and watch us come in to Cozumel. As we came closer, it looked like Allure of the Seas was hot on our tail:

 

 

 

 

They were gaining on us. Were they late? Was the captain trying to gain the edge in a Royal Caribbean / Celebrity Smack Off? I'm going with the latter, because before you know it he did the cruise ship equivalent of a power slide, then backed into the berth right across from us!

 

 

 

 

Hmmmmph. Show-off. Since I was up, I headed down to Cafe al Bacio and enjoyed my cup of coffee while looking out of the window at The Big Wall O' Allure. And making grumbling noises.

 

 

 

At 8am, it was time for breakfast. I collected Mark and we went for our usual healthy + healthy breakfasts. Then, Mark went back to watch his DVDs while I disappeared to the spa for some much needed face maintenance. No shame here - I am secure in my masculinity, plus I have a face that looks like a cross between a burned-out Iraqi oilfield and Moonbase Alpha. After yesterday's fun in the sun, it needed some help.

 

 

 

From there, we headed off the ship. On the way, we looked at the long line of people waiting to check out beack towels from Allure. Being on Celebrity, our line treated us like adults and just left towels in our rooms. Take THAT, Captain Back Your Ship In!

 

 

 

As I said earlier, our first and only objective was to get off of Cozumel. Look, I don't have anything against Cozumel... and if things were different, I'd be out there beaching and snorkeling with the best of them. But, Mark is definitely not a beach person - and truthfully, he can't tolerate too much sun with the medication that he's on. And being annual visitors to Cancun, we've already seen the land part of Cozumel (PRO TIP: there's not much). So, we decided to go over to Playa del Carmen to have lunch and walk around. Plus who knows - I might even be able to find a camera strap! (Mark's suggestion)

 

 

 

FULL DISCLOSURE: we have lunch in Playa del Carmen every year. We stay in Cancun for a week, and each time we take a city bus (8.5 pesos each - around 85 cents US round trip) to the ADO station. For those of you not familiar with ADO, think like the US's Greyhound Bus line - only:

 

• 
   
  
• the stations are clean
   
  
• the buses are clean
   
  
• the buses run on time
   
  

The trip from Cancun to Playa del Carmen is (if I remember correctly) 80 pesos each way. In other words, the round trip for two is $16 - and the bus leaves you right on 5th Avenue. Now you know why we go to lunch in Playa del Carmen every year.

 

 

 

Once we get there, we go to our favorite place - Karen's (https://www.facebook.com/karensrestaurant/). We've been going here for years... it's a good menu, with good prices, clean restrooms, and overall a very relaxing experience. PRO TIP: You can sit outside under cover if you'd like, but if you look inside towards the back you'll see a glassed in area. Air conditioning! Never, even turn down a chance to enjoy air conditioning in the Yucatan.

 

 

 

So, we took a cab to the ferry ($8) and bought two round-trip tickets on Ultramar. That was the most expensive part of the day - about $19 each. Once we got to Playa, we sat down and had a great lunch. The highlight of my lunch:

 

 

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Don't worry about the salt shaker! It has rice in it to soak up the humidity. Being a Florida kid, I saw that for years.

 

 

 

A couple of nights before, I had mentioned to my table mates and their two Gs that we were going to Playa for lunch. We had a good laugh about it, and I told them our tradition. They were off on a tour of Tulum, followed by the obligatory 5th Ave shopping experience. Needless to say, I recommended Karen's to them. On the way back from Tulum, they asked their guide where they should eat in Playa. "Karen's." So, they walked in just as Mark and I were finishing our meal! They were shocked to see us, until I reminded them that I had recommended Karen's first. G1 came to my rescue - "MOOOOooom, I TOLD you that this was the place!" Bonus points for G1.

 

 

 

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Yes, Playa del Carmen has sidewalk and doorway hawkers. Unfortunately, they have increased in number and volume over the years. But, they're pretty cool about it - almost all of them are polite, and will leave you along if you're polite back. A simple "No thank you" works wonders - and you can enjoy your walk and your browsing. If you try to ignore them (bad) or are rude (worse), prepare for them to go to full power - and maybe drop a snide comment as you walk away (whether you can understand them or not).

 

 

 

PRO TIP: Prices here are cheaper than Cozumel, and much cheaper than Costa Maya. If you have a need to get someone a Mexico T-Shirt - even if it was made in China or Viet Nam - Playa del Carmen is the place.

 

 

 

We finished our walking around - no camera strap to be had - and took the ferry back to Cozumel. After very little walking around (I just can't stand El Centro), we grabbed a cab back to the International Pier and our ship. A great day if I don't say so m'self!

 

 

 

Don’t ya just hate show offs? [emoji23]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[abbydancer2003]

I'm really enjoying this review, thanks.

 

A quick question - did they say why the itinerary was changed (Costa Maya and Grand Cayman swapped)? We're on 7/28 and it wasn't. It seems that every other Western Caribbean cruise was swapped, and I'm a bit curious as to why.

[cangelmd]

So enjoying your trip and your obvious affection and care for you brother.

 

 

Hearing about Playa del Carmen always brings back a dear memory for me. It was early June 1984, I was the non-swimming, non-diving member of a group of 14 friends who spent a week in Cancun, including a 2 day side trip to Cozamel for diving off Palancar. Since I didn't dive, and we were staying 6 in a room at the Hotel Lopez - main inhabitants, large roaches, no electricity between 1 and 4 am - I took the hydrofoil and bus back by myself to Cancun after the first night. This was pre-cruise ship days, and Cozamel and I presume PdeC were very different. I remember squatting in the shade on the dusty sidewalk of the one street in PdeC, drinking a Coke from the one open air restaurant/cafe/convenience store and chatting with a guy just out of college from Pennsylvania who was a couple of months into backpacking around the world. I was just out of med school and 3 years married, but he had a more interesting life. Good times.

[Btank]

A quick question - did they say why the itinerary was changed (Costa Maya and Grand Cayman swapped)?

 

I never heard it mentioned, but I didn't make it to the Captain's Club event either - maybe they brought it up there. We were a late booking, so the itinerary had already been switched by the time we signed up for the cruise.

 

--bruce T.

[dutchclogs]

Love the The Big Wall O' Allure reference. I failed to recognise Oasis on my first glimpse in Rotterdam -- I thought I was looking at a gigantic appartment block :o

[Palmetto Pilot]

Fantastic review! I've loved every word.

[joand452]

Oasis class is one of our favorite classes of ship! It's amazing how quickly that size ship can be maneuvered. Just the fact that any cruise ship can back into that tiny basin in Nassau is very exciting to watch. Especially from the deck of a cruise ship!!

[Btank]

DAY 6 - GRAND CAYMAN

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: sorry for the delay in posting... I was hosting international visitors at work this week. Those cruises won't pay for themselves! :cool:

 

An early start for me, even though we had a late arrival in Grand Cayman! I woke up around 6:15 or so... unable to get back to sleep and too early to wake Mark up for breakfast, I decided to go out onto the veranda and read for a bit. As we approached Grand Cayman, we were going through periodic showers. Being a veteran of South Florida beaches and rain, it ain't no thing. That is, until I happen to look up and to the rear of the ship and...

 

BLAM

Lightning hit the water behind the boat! Being a little bit of a weather geek, I started to count seconds in in my head... and never made it to 1. I'm guessing that it hit about 800 feet aft of the ship! At this point, the following things came to mind:

1. Wow, that looked cool!
   
2. I'm sitting outside surrounded on three sides by metal.
   
3. Surely there's a bunch of lightning rods on the ship that are grounded to the hull.
   
4. Logic need not apply here, I'm going inside anyway.
   

So, it was inside and off to my designated lightning shelter - Cafe al Bacio. I enjoyed a cup of coffee while waiting for a reasonable time to go wake up Mark.

 

After our standard healthy + healthy breakfast, we went back to the rooms to chill for a bit. As I said before, we had a late arrival into Grand Cayman - maybe because of the switched itinerary? But finally, Grand Cayman was in sight:

...and we headed down to the Celebrity Theatre for the cattle call - er, ahhh, assembly for the excursion tenders.

 

We were taking the Land and Sea tour, so we were one of the first few tenders to leave. We were on shore by about 11:30 - great! We're ready to go!! We walk off of the dock and into a series of tented overhangs thronging with passengers from four ships...

...and we wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Folks, I am a very warm blooded person - but I'm here to tell you that it was damned hot under that tent. Mark was absolutely miserable. It wasn't a total loss - I got to go to the facilities, which gave me the chance to see this sign:

After about 45 minutes - no exaggeration here - we're told to line up two by two to march to our bus.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Celebrity, this was probably the low point of our trip. The lack of coordination with the tour company and/or the early tender scheduling was a big detractor. I don't know if other excursions had the same issue, but you seriously need to look at how you can improve this experience.

[Btank]

DAY 6 - GRAND CAYMAN (CONTINUED)

 

At the bus, we were greeted by Glenford Scott - our guide for the day. He told us we could call him "Glennie" - which was amusing to Mark and I, since one of our childhood friends is still referred to as "Li'l Glennie". TO avoid confusion, I asked him if he wouldn't mind being called "Big Glennie". He readily agreed.

 

Our first stop was the "Sea" portion of the trip - a semi-submersible cruise. We boarded the boat and found our seats - er, ah, benches:

 

After about 10 minutes or so of looking at the dock pilings:

...we were off.

 

The guide (I didn't capture his name) was polite and knowledgeable, and gave us some interesting history of the port and the wreck we went over. Unfortunately, his repeated exhortations of the crystal clear waters of the Caymans kind of fell on deaf ears:

 

Even so, we did get to visit the wreck just offshore:

 

 

And the ship's mate did go overboard to feed the fish in order to bring a few closer to the window.

 

Then, it was back to the shore for the "Land" portion of the tour.

[Btank]

DAY 6 - GRAND CAYMAN (CONTINUED)

 

We had about a half hour of driving ahead of us. Big Glennie was an excellent host, and is obviously proud of his home. We heard a lot about the island, it's history, it's business and culture, and the enigmatic Mr. Dart - who apparently owned a substantial portion of what we were seeing. For some highlights, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Dart.

 

Finally, we got to our first stop - Hell. After numerous Hell puns, we exited to see Hell up close and personal. It was... well, Hellish.

 

Folks, I'm here to tell you that a little Hell goes a long way. After a mercifully short stop and post card run, I even bought and mailed one myself to my "personal" CEO back in the US ("I'm in Hell - wish you were here"). After a short stop at another souvenir shop for a 1" square piece of rum cake, we were then off to the Turtle Sanctuary... er, ahh, Rehabilitative Center... oh, the hell with it, "Turtle Farm".

 

Now, I've seen turtles in the wild - and I've seen 'em at aquariums - but I have to admit, I've never seen anything like this:

 

I'm used to seeing them one or two at a time. I would call this a veritable plethora of turtles, but Google tells me that a group of turtles is a "bale". At about this time, it finally sank in to Mark that these guys were being raised for food. It kind of put a damper on things.

 

But, we walked around the corner and I was able to get the money shots of the cruise. Mark wasn't quite sure how to handle this guy:

 

But he finally relaxed a bit, and I got a good picture of him and Big Glennie:

 

After a mandatory stop to wash our hands (I started singing the "Wash Your Hands" song, and told Mark "Washie washie"), we headed to the gift shop and back out to the bus. We headed back to the port, accompanied by reggae music (Big Glennie had run out of material by this point).

 

WAS IT WORTH IT?

Truthfully, no. Don't get me wrong, Mark had a good time - which made it a worthwhile day, but really not worth the cost and the aggravation of waiting in the heat for so long. The semi-submersible ride was too short and (through no fault of their own) suffered from limited visibility. The land tour was OK, but Hell was pointless. I think that if we were to return here, I'd almost want to take a more extensive land tour - or even rent a car and head out myself.

[Btank]

DAY 6 - GRAND CAYMAN (CONTINUED)

 

Back at the port, I got Mark to go on walk with me - sitting on the bus for that long had knotted me up! From there, it was feeding time for Mark - he was about 3 hours overdue at this point, and was worried that his ribs would start showing. So, if you're part of our crew, where do you eat? Of course - at an Italian place. Casanova's (https://www.casanova.ky/) is about a block or two down from the port - a little pricey, but good food. From there, a quick stop to take the obligatory Equinox picture:

 

...and then back to a tender for the ship.

 

On board, we cleaned up and headed for our second round of Silk Harvest. Like the first night, John and Amir were excellent hosts - and our drink steward was none other than Jaya from the Silhouette! I asked him what he was doing in Silk Harvest; he replied that he was covering for an employee that "wasn't feeling well". That made me think back to Gail from the OceanView, who we never saw again... as well as one crew member (protecting their identify) who was gamely doing their work while you could hear their stomach growling from 6 feet away. Was something going around the crew? I don't have anything to back it up, but I hope not.

 

I left Mark in the cabin and headed off to the evening show. After Elysium, he was not interested at all in going - which was a shame, because the show was the Motown act "Horizon". A great show! It was a shame, because I really think he would have enjoyed it.

 

On the way back, I stopped by the Future Cruise desk. I had been thinking of what do here, and after what was probably too much thought booked Equinox for next year on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. I don't know if we'll stick with it, but it should be interesting since it will be right after Equinox comes out of dry dock.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: the Future Cruise rep was extremely good at what he did - but while polite, had almost no personality. It was pretty jarring compared to almost everyone else I met on the ship.

[Btank]

DAY 6 - GRAND CAYMAN (THE DAILY)

 

Here it is!

Cruise_Daily_2018-06-22.pdf

[darleean]

Loving reading this! Thank you!!!

[cruise kitty]

wonderful review, thank you for sharing! Nice to read about two brothers who care for one another so much. :)

[charleysmom]

Loving your review and how your love for your brother shines through.

 

Quick question- what was the price for the weekly pass for the Persian Gardens? And did they actually offer a day pass? I’ve seen conflicting information about both of those. Thanks!