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

[Mparis184]

The Celebrity website doesn't even list our cruise anymore - it must be sold out.  We will enjoy our cruise even though our balcony view is not what we expected!   The cruise the week after ours is listed and shows the only cabins available are inside cabins.  They were running some great promos and must have sold out their inventory.  

 

Marion

[Gimpy McFarlan]

Received an email from Celebrity today offering upgrades. Called my contact at Celebrity and they said there are only 40 cabins left. 😲 Was hoping to upgrade to an Aqua but none were available. 😕 My contact said there will probably be cancellations in January so I’m hopeful something will come available. 🤞🏻

[Mparis184]

My TA told me today the ship was sold out. 

[APDMOM]

“Good morning from some rough sees....😬”

 

LOL!  That is what I tried to post yesterday, but to no avail... I think everyone and their brother were on the internet.  I tried to post twice, but it timed out after 20 minutes.  Alas!  Now I am at home, on my couch, and my beautiful balcony view is history.  

 

However, I will complete this review within the next 3 days (that is my goal).  

 

Thanks to everyone for patiently waiting for my return. 🙂

 

The time lapse of us rocking and rolling on the high seas:

 

 

[ambrtonj]

1 minute ago, APDMOM said:

The time lapse of us rocking and rolling on the high seas:

 

That is pretty cool I must say. I enjoyed the journey and Thanks

[APDMOM]

Without further ado.....

 

My View:  Day 5 - St. Thomas (with an excursion  to St John)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Soon after we docked, the pilot headed out to guide in a new ship. When I looked out toward the balcony, it seemed like Symphony was about to crash into our balcony! It is amazing how well it can turn on a dime.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2018 by APDMOM
typo

[APDMOM]

To my disappointment, I found out that  Royal and Celebrity now only dock at Crown Bay. They no longer go to the dock by Havensight.  I loved the photo opportunities from that dock.  Also, there is very limited shopping at Crown Bay and you need to take a Taxi to get to some real shopping.  This is especially difficult for the crew members who have limited time off.

 

I had booked an excursion for St John for 10:30 a.m.  Fortunately, it was switched to 8:30 a.m. whrn they changed our port days.  If it were not for the app, I would have missed my excursion time change.  There was no direct communication about this change.  

 

It was definitely worth the $44 I ppaid for the tour, but St John hhas more to offer than you can cover in one day.

 

Tip:  This excursion is a great way to get an overview of St John and to decide if  it is worth a weeklong trip.

 

Views on the way to St John:

 

A view of our ship at Crown Bay Center:

 

 

A Hollywood House (It was featured in the original Charlie’s Angels):

 

Kelsey Grammer’s House (He was born in Charlotte Amalie):

 

The pipe coming out of the water is the main power supply to Saint Thomas!

 

Continued recovery efforts since the hurricanes of 2017:

[APDMOM]

More Views from the Ferry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

The Ferry: Island Girl

 

Tip:  If you take this ferry, I think the best seating is on the upper deck in the back.  You can get off a bit faster and get a nice breeze while traveling the 30-45 minutes between the two islands.

 

 

[APDMOM]

Views of and from St John:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Views of St John: Driving on the left side of the road:

 

 

Our Ride: (Chris was a very good tour guide!)

 

 

Noni Fruit:

 

This leaf will sprout roots if you pick it:

 

 

[APDMOM]

What is left of Caneel Bay Resort: 

They have not started repairs since Irma and Maria, as they are still in contract negotiations with the National Park Service.

 

 

 

The only way to get there at this time is by boat/kayak.  The entrance is locked up.

 

 

[APDMOM]

More Beautiful Views of Saint John and surrounding islands:

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Sailboats, Catamarans and Yachts in this Paradise, but I still prefer  cruise ship!

 

Favorite!!!  “Magnum, VI”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Views of neighborhoods and homes:

 

 

 

 

The Grocery Store:

 

The Elementary School:

 

 

[APDMOM]

At the end of the tour we had 30 minutes to walk around in Cruz Bay:

 

Rockefeller “donated” the land of St John to the National Parks for $1.

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Too soon, it was time to catch this lady back to the ship.  I would love to visit Saint John for a week!  However, it always turns out to be cheaper to cruise...

 

[davekathy]

Welcome home and thank you for taking us along on your cruise. We also hate docking at Crown Bay. We prefer docking at Havensight. We like the walk from Havensight into Charlotte Amalie and back to the ship. 

[K12Guy]

On 12/23/2018 at 7:23 AM, APDMOM said:

 

     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.  😂

 

I will say that when I read the title with your mention of a 'naughty room' I didn't think it had anything to do with ship security.

[Mparis184]

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful photos with us.  Seventeen years ago while cruising on the Summit we were married on Hawknest Beach on St. John and after the ceremony we went to the Caneel Bay Resort for lunch.  I was sorry to learn from looking at your photos that the resort was devastated during the hurricane, such a huge loss!

 

We were joined on the beach by a group of new Cruise Critic friends who joined us for the ceremony.  I have been on Cruise Critic for many years and we met some of our very best friends on these boards.  

 

Thank you all for sharing your cruise experiences with us and helping to make our cruises more enjoyable, you are the best!

 

Marion

[Mparis184]

[kkmiausa]

On 12/27/2018 at 4:50 PM, Mparis184 said:

Lovely sunset, I might be able to edit those lifeboats out of my photos!  Guess I will have to go up on the deck to take photos on this cruise. 

 

Marion

Why don't you see if there is anything else available? Possibly for some small upcharge? Believe it or not our friend who travels with us as a single had a veranda room on Seabourn, since there was not much of a single discount it would have cost her $5000 to upgrade to a penthouse when the offers came. When she got to the ship she was very disappointed at the location. I was able to speak to the hotel manager and asked if there was any possibility of paying extra for a PH if there was still one available and since she has always been very generous to us, we only paid $2000 more and she was given the PH. The point I am making is it doesn't hurt to ask.

[APDMOM]

11 hours ago, Mparis184 said:

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful photos with us.  Seventeen years ago while cruising on the Summit we were married on Hawknest Beach on St. John and after the ceremony we went to the Caneel Bay Resort for lunch.  I was sorry to learn from looking at your photos that the resort was devastated during the hurricane, such a huge loss!

 

We were joined on the beach by a group of new Cruise Critic friends who joined us for the ceremony.  I have been on Cruise Critic for many years and we met some of our very best friends on these boards.  

 

Thank you all for sharing your cruise experiences with us and helping to make our cruises more enjoyable, you are the best!

 

Marion

What a great memory to share, Marion!  Hopefully, they will be able to come to an agreement with the National Park on a lease.  The problem is that the Parks will not give them a long lease.  If I remember correctly, they are hoping to negotiate a minimum of a 10-year lease so that it makes the effort worthwhile.  I can see how they need to ensure they make a profit if they invest the money to rebuild.  

[Mparis184]

9 hours ago, kkmiausa said:

Why don't you see if there is anything else available? Possibly for some small upcharge? Believe it or not our friend who travels with us as a single had a veranda room on Seabourn, since there was not much of a single discount it would have cost her $5000 to upgrade to a penthouse when the offers came. When she got to the ship she was very disappointed at the location. I was able to speak to the hotel manager and asked if there was any possibility of paying extra for a PH if there was still one available and since she has always been very generous to us, we only paid $2000 more and she was given the PH. The point I am making is it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

Thanks kkmiausa.  I have tried that and am on a wait list if something else opens up.  I am going to call Celebrity myself tomorrow.  I have been working through my TA because Celebrity usually won't talk to you if you booked with a TA which we did. 

 

I will start with the Captains Club rep and see where that leads.   I will definitely keep calling Celebrity and my TA to see if that helps.  A lot of times they tell you to ask when you get to the ship because they may have real last minute cancelations but I have never had any luck with that.  Often they have a sign at registration telling you the ship is completely sold out and there are no other cabins available.  I think they don't want to go to the trouble of changing guests cabins at the last minute because there is so much chaos at check in.