My View: An Equinox Christmas, Naughty Room and All!

[APDMOM]

 

     Hello, from Celebrity Equinox! 

 

     If you know me and have been following along with “My View” on a variety of cruises, you were probably shocked that this “rule follower” even has “naughty room” in the title.  Alas!  It is true! We were called to the naughty room for an alleged banned item in our suitcase.  We walked down to deck two, trying to scan my mind with the inventory of what this offending “item” might be.  When my mental packing list did not come up with anything worthy of Santa’s Naughty List, I started thinking.... what if somebody slipped their smokes of an illegal variety into the top zipper that was not locked?  My thinking went downhill from there.

 

    So, on our 30th cruise, we got to see how it works in the naughty room.  On our suitcase was a tape with the letters PS... and it was not followed by “I love you”.   It truns out, the scanner had picked up a “power strip” on the x-ray machine.  I thought, unless hangers look like a power strip, we have no such thing in there!  The kind security officer ran it through the machine again, and saw the “power strip”.  He asked our consent to look inside, and we clearly permitted this, seeing as we are strict rule followers.  He cut the zip tie, I opened the lid, and there it was... staring us in the face... my heating pad!  I forgot that I had thrown it in last minute in case my back acts up from the strenuous packing job.   Of course, it is not a prohibited item, but can definitely be confused with a power strip.  Especially since it was flush beside my magnetic light that I use in the closet.  Note to self:  Put the heating pad in carry on luggage!

 

    Crisis (and anticipated arrest, trial & execution) averted, we had a good laugh as we dragged our suitcase from the naughty room all the way back to our cabin.  You will also understand if you are a rule follower, I had to bite my tongue, as I felt like explaining the whole situation to EVERY fellow cruiser on the way to deck 8.  😂

 

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 1 - Miami

 

 

   Now that “The Curious Case of the Naughty Room” is closed, I will proceed with my official introduction.  We booked this cruise in September, after final payment was due, as the prices were very affordable for a Christmas cruise.  On average, we pay about $130 per person, per day (cruise, taxes, port fees) for a balcony.  This cruise cost $157 per person, per day for our family.  Considering it is a highly desired holiday cruise, and Royal Caribbean prices were around $240 per person, per day in a balcony, we got a great deal!  We are in a large angled balcony, pictures to follow later this week.

 

    This is our second Celebrity cruise (first was Celebrity Infinity in 2010 to Alaska).  We are “Elite” on Celebrity, thanks to our Diamond status on Royal.  This info is merely to help fellow diamond/elite members, not to flaunt my status.  LOL!

 

A few things if you are interested in following:

 

1.   I will try to post every day, but I am not sure how Equinox internet is... whether it is as good as Royal, we shall see.  

 

2.    I will probably fall behind, as I am on vacation.  Although I LOVE posting “My View”, I do not let it interfere with my vacation.

 

3.   I will try to post tips in red, so that they are easy to spot for “skim-readers”.  

 

4.   If you have questions, feel free to ask.  I will try my best to get an accurate answer onboard.

 

5.    Whether you just look at the photo’s or read my ramblings word-for-word, I appreciate your virtual presence here on Equinox.  

 

Bon Voyage!

[davekathy]

Now you can say you've personally seen the naughty room for yourself. Bummer you had to schlep your suitcase to your stateroom.  The fun side of it is you now have a new cruising experience. 

[APDMOM]

Getting Here:

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn West Palm Beach prior to our cruise.  The drive down to the port was a bit over an hour.  I was the official “Nag-a-gator”, loosely referred to as the “Navigator”.  We had a bit of a Google navigational mishap.  It said to follow signs for Miami Beach, as opposed to the tunnel.  This afforded us the first views of our ship, and turned out to be a great “error”.  I think we will take this detour from now on.  It is not a  pretty picture, but our first view of Equinox, entering Miami:

 

 

 

I love seeing our future ships in port... MSC Seaside, DV June 2019:

 

 

Two beauties:

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

We are off to see the presidential suite... Slow internet.  It will be sporadic posting. 😬

[helen haywood]

My husband once got called to the naughty room.  He doesn’t downsize his toiletries and had packed a jumbo bottle of mouthwash...which looked suspicious...

 

Love Equinox!  Have a great Christmas!!

[Silkroad]

4 hours ago, APDMOM said:

2.    I will probably fall behind, as I am on vacation.  Although I LOVE posting “My View”, I do not let it interfere with my vacation.

 

3.   I will try to post tips in red, so that they are easy to spot for “skim-readers”.  

Following. Great start to a fun & informative live review! Oh yes, the vacation should always come first. I love your idea of posting tips in red for “skim readers”, and I hope you won’t mind if I appropriate your idea for my next review😉

Edited December 23, 2018 by Silkroad

[George C]

Always enjoy your reviews, I went to naughty room once due to wine opener, other suitcase contains booze went straight to our cabin.

[upwarduk]

Following, as I will be  interested in your comparison to Royal.

[APDMOM]

I am back!  Thanks for all the comments and visits!  George C, that is so funny! 😂

[APDMOM]

Tip: We always take a picture of our suitcases, in case they get lost... or end up in the naughty room like this offending one:

 

 

 

We arrived at the port around 10:15 and decided to park instead of dropping off our luggage.  It was a real mess at the drop off point with double parking and traffic jams.  We walked with our luggage to the porters (an easy walk from the parking garage across the street).  

 

Tip:  If you can, it is easier and faster to walk with your luggage to the porters, provided you park at the port - Parking garage at Terminal G.  As penny pinchers, this is a splurge for us, but worth the frustration of Taxis and shuttles.  Parking cost = $22 per day. (I know, not my traditional “cruise budget” deal, but that long drive back home justifies it)

[APDMOM]

7 hours ago, Silkroad said:

Following. Great start to a fun & informative live review! Oh yes, the vacation should always come first. I love your idea of posting tips in red for “skim readers”, and I hope you won’t mind if I appropriate your idea for my next review😉

I don’t mind at all.  🙂

[APDMOM]

There was no line entering the port, not even through security.  We waited about 1 minute for a check in agent, but were on the ship at 10:45, free bubbly in hand:

 

 

 

My Favorite View... Following these two: (As you can tell, it was a cool day in Miami.  Of course, the “northerners” were in the pool while us Floridians had to wear jackets) 😂

 

[APDMOM]

We enjoyed a quiet lunch-with-a-view in the Ocean View Café:

 

 

Rooms were a bit delayed and were ready just before 1:30.  There are plenty of lounges to wait with your carry on luggage, like the library on deck 8 and 9, the card room on deck 6, or Quasar on deck 4, etc.

 

A Room With a View:

 

I love the unique views we can enjoy when you have a balcony, like this one of a plane getting ready to take off:

 

 

 

I will post more pictures of the balcony and cabin later this week...

Edited December 24, 2018 by APDMOM
typo

[APDMOM]

A walk around the ship on the way to Sunset Bar.

 

MSC Seaside:

 

 

 

[Mparis184]

Thanks for all the updates.  We will be on the Equinox next month so I will look forward to your tips, suggestions and comments about your adventure.  

 

Marion

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review.

[APDMOM]

Sunset Bar:

 

We met with some other cruise critic members at the Sunset Bar.  Tip:  This is a great place to catch some sail away pictures.  

 

Views of Miami:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Sailing Away:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Sorry, kids!  Rudolph is taking vacation on Equinox.

 

 

Beautiful Gingerbread Display:

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Dinner in Silhouette:

 

Tip:  I will rate meals with the following system:

Repeater = Will definitely order again

Okay = Good enough to try once, but not good enough to try again

A No Go = Not good...not worth the calories

 

I forgot to take a picture of the menu, but here is what we enjoyed. (Minus dessert, which “somehow” escaped the assault of my camera lens): 

 

Shrimp Louis (Repeater):

 

Mushroom soup (Repeater):

 

Jerk Chicken (Repeater):

 

Pork (Okay): 

 

At least I caught the dessert menu on camera:

 

We had Dulce de Leche (Repeater) and chocolate cake (Repeater, but not as good as Roayl Caribbean Chocolate Cake).

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 1 - Miami

 

We did not attend any of the evening activities, as we were all exhausted, as it usually is on our travel days.

 

 

[APDMOM]

Celebrity Dailies will be posted at the end of the week....

[APDMOM]

My View:  Day 2 -At Sea

 

Forward view from our balcony:

 

Aft view from our balcony:

[APDMOM]

Early Morning Views:

 

I like to wake up early to enjoy the quiet ship and sunrise.  Last night, we had hoped to see the full moon rise, but there were too many clouds on the horizon, so this morning is the consolation views od the “just past” full moon over Celebrity Equinox: