LIVE BLOG! From the EQUINOX - AUG 25th Sailing - CHICAGOPAUL

[Mike981]

Our local liquor store posted this today and I thought ... Paul would like this! Try it tomorrow morning perhaps ...

 

 

 

How to make a French Sunrise!

1.5 oz Grey Goose vodka

1 oz St-Germain Liqueur

1 oz fresh grapefruit juice

2 oz Martini Prosecco DOC

Grapefruit wedges

Fill wine glass w/ ice. Add vodka & liqueur. Add grapefruit juice. Top w/ Prosecco. Stir, garnish w/ wedges & stir stick.

 

 

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Oh man this sounds great.

[Cruisini]

We're on the same cruise and my DH is hard to drag onto the dance floor so I'll be up to dancing with you! LOL

 

Oh My Goodness! We are going to have so much fun!! :D I'll meet you on the dance floor!

[Cruisini]

Our local liquor store posted this today and I thought ... Paul would like this! Try it tomorrow morning perhaps ...

 

 

 

How to make a French Sunrise!

1.5 oz Grey Goose vodka

1 oz St-Germain Liqueur

1 oz fresh grapefruit juice

2 oz Martini Prosecco DOC

Grapefruit wedges

Fill wine glass w/ ice. Add vodka & liqueur. Add grapefruit juice. Top w/ Prosecco. Stir, garnish w/ wedges & stir stick.

 

 

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I can't wait to try this. Thanks Josie2!

[Etta1213]

Paul, your generosity in sharing is really special!

[chicagopaul]

Well we are crawling into bed. Many great stories for all of you I will share in the morning. We had amazing dinner. One minor negative (not dinner related) I will share, an amazing show on the pool deck and such great friends we’ve talked to.

 

The crew has continued to be amazing. Everything hasn’t been perfect, if I were to say that it would be a lie, but nothing ever is. It is the pursuit of perfection we hope for and that is one pursuit that is evident in many staff on board the Equinox. We are beyond lucky to travel and sail on such a vessel but even more fortunate to encounter so many wonderful people from around the world and have them become a part of our memories forever.

 

I’ll have some wonderful updates in the morning!

 

 

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[Hersh98]

Hello. I am sailing on the Equinox 9/14. I have enjoyed your blog and it's making me excited for my trip! Thank you for sharing your adventures with us.

[cheeseheads4ever]

Like I stated and coincidental that he would be onboard your ship during your cruise. Peter. Hes awesome. Tell him Larry and Cindy said Hi from Daytona Beach. He may or may not remember us..been a year and a half...

Super cool guy...

[kittyluvrnurse]

Your blog makes me really excited for 40 something days from now when we are in those same seats!! Gonna try to live a bit more a vaca— drink more, befriend more, stay up after dinner lol you know! Had you all been to abc before?

 

 

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[MrsB05]

Curious, was the show "Topper" you mentioned similar to the 1940s or so movie about the ghost?

 

DH wants to know if they allow cigar smoking at the Sunset Bar every night or just on occasion?

 

Thanks for all of your wonderful posts!!!!!

[chicagopaul]

Good Morning Everyone! It’s a beautiful sea day and thankfully less windy than yesterday! Let’s start with the daily and we can go from there?

 

 

 

 

[Nanjen]

I can’t believe this is the same Peter we had three cruises is a row! The first on Millennium in 2008 in Alaska then later in the year on the Solstice for her inaugural cruise and again on Solstice a couple years later. If it’s him what a great bartender!

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Curious, was the show "Topper" you mentioned similar to the 1940s or so movie about the ghost?

 

DH wants to know if they allow cigar smoking at the Sunset Bar every night or just on occasion?

 

Thanks for all of your wonderful posts!!!!!

 

 

 

No, not the same. This is more of a mythical mad hatter style about characters who live in a giant hat.

 

Yes, cigar smoking is allowed everyday 24/7 in the smoking section of sunset.

 

 

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[MrsB05]

No, not the same. This is more of a mythical mad hatter style about characters who live in a giant hat.

 

Yes, cigar smoking is allowed everyday 24/7 in the smoking section of sunset.

 

 

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Thanks! DH will be soooo happy.

 

Topper = sounds like one of the bizarre shows we saw on Anthem of the Seas a few years ago!

[chicagopaul]

Free drinks gambling in the casino today

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Last night was a busy night for us! We started of course at the Martini Bar. We had the senior officers party in Sky Lounge at 7:45 and I needed to meet Captain Kate. So at 7:45 we headed up to Sky. It was crowded but not as busy as I thought. There are not as many Elites on this cruise as we are used to. I think it is around 400/500 Elites and 100 Elite Plus.

 

Here are a few photos of Sky from the party.

 

 

 

Captain Kate and I

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Captain Kate was a pleasure to meet. I made sure to comment on her shoes, red bottom heels always deserve a compliment!

 

It’s funny how meeting her feels like meeting a Celebrity, no pun intended. She is extremely gracious. Talking to her, even very briefly, she is fully engaged and giving you her complete intention and is sincere. Beside the fact that she is the first American female cruise ship captain (which is very cool) she seems like a great captain. Her guest engagement on her morning announcements are interesting and she explains some fun facts and loves to talk about her job. That is the best part of sailing with her.

 

 

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[Cruising_Steve]

So true. When we were on Equinox last week, I have never seen such a line to meet a Captain. Her love of her career can truly be felt, and has been passed on to her crew.

As the only female Captain from the U.S. we told her she really is a unicorn. She liked that and said she should add that to her name tag.

 

On disembarkation day she was standing on the gangway thanking everyone for sailing with her and shaking their hands as they left. We have never seen a Captain do this before.

 

Thank you Paul for your posts, it makes me feel like we are still onboard!

 

Happy sailing and calm seas!

 

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[Happy Cruiser 6143]

The M Class can dock inside the floating bridge?!! That sounds wonderful! I’d love that. I’ve been here three times but only on S Class

 

Yup, we did the first time I went to Curacao. It was wonderful!

[chicagopaul]

Dinner last night was back in Murano and was fantastic. The best we’ve had yet in Murano this cruise.

 

We started with our usual cheese plate. I had the diver scallop and Edward had the risotto. We then did a little surf and turf. Chateaubriand and lobster. The lobster was cooked by our waiter Savio and I have to say it was the best lobster we’ve ever had whether st sea or on land. It was absolutely perfect. Truly perfect.

 

Star, our sommelier, had recommended a new Zinfandel with our entree and it was very good. I think I like the Ridge better but this was still a wonderful wine. We plan to do Steak Diane on the last night and she said she has something very unique to pair with it.

 

 

 

 

We just had some ice cream for dessert and a double espresso.

 

Between the service and food last night I’d have to rank this as one of the best overall meals we’ve had on Celebrity. Execution ok ever level was just phenomenal. Very pleased.

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

After dinner we made a quick stop at the Martini Bar of course and then took our drinks up to the Celebrity Rox pool party.

 

Three of our Martini Bartenders were working the pool bar. We had fun hanging out with them. Boon decided he needed a few new pictures, maybe for his Tinder profile? Haha, so we obliged.

 

 

 

The party last night consisted of a mix between the house band and DJ and the celebrity dancers. I have some amazing videos of them dancing and once I’m back with stringer WiFi I’ll put them together and upload to YouTube for you all. The dancers performed a handful of their own numbers and then they were dancing with guests. They seemed to be having a lot of and while the crowd wasn’t as large as the full moon party it was definitely a nice night.

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

My apologies for the sporadic posts today. Tapatalk, the app I use for cruise critic, is acting slow today. It’s not the internet on the ship, that is working fine!

 

I’ll have a few more updates for you shortly. Today we plan to book another cruise (I’ll let you know which one we choose). Tonight is also Evening Chic. We had a great lunch in Gastro which I will update you on. And I’ll have a few other odds and ends for you all too.

 

We are unfortunately nearing the very end of our cruise as we port back in Miami on Monday. These cruises, as with life itself I suppose, is always over way too soon.

 

 

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[Palms2Pines2Sea]

 

Star, our sommelier, had recommended a new Zinfandel with our entree and it was very good. I think I like the Ridge better but this was still a wonderful wine. We plan to do Steak Diane on the last night and she said she has something very unique to pair with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Paul and Edward! We met you at the Martini Bar on our springtime Transatlantic...enjoyed our brief visit with you.

 

The 2014 Hartford Zin is a brilliant wine, but regrettably not at all a good choice for your surf and turf entrée. It is VERY full-bodied...a BIG zin...and will completely overwhelm most everything you had on your dinner plates. I'm kind of surprised it was recommended, but it certainly sounds like your dinner was a HUGE success regardless!

 

(I drank a bottle not long ago with a char-grilled bone-in ribeye, liberally seasoned with Togorashi. Now that was heavenly!)

 

Great live report, great pics, and you are looking well. Have a fantastic rest of your trip!

[emmas gran]

Hello again Paul

Following your wine choices as I also like Prisoner so will be trying the Zinfandel you have posted. I usually drink heavy red from Australia but discovered Old Vine Zinfandel a couple of years ago.

If you can find it try Molly Dooker wines they are very good and some need chewing not drinking at 16% alcohol. I usually get it from ABC liquor stores when in Florida

Liz

[BCguy100]

Hello again Paul

Following your wine choices as I also like Prisoner so will be trying the Zinfandel you have posted. I usually drink heavy red from Australia but discovered Old Vine Zinfandel a couple of years ago.

If you can find it try Molly Dooker wines they are very good and some need chewing not drinking at 16% alcohol. I usually get it from ABC liquor stores when in Florida

Liz

 

Agreed re Molly Dooker and the family of wines. If you can find any Aussie wine with "Ben Glaetzer" on the label, grab it!

 

M

[sexyaznboy]

Thanks so much Paul, new fan here, going on Equinox for the first time to the ABCs for my birthday in October and love living vicariously through you guys! Thanks for your hard work in taking us along for the ride!