CELEBRITY EQUINOX WESTERN CARIBBEAN 7/27/19-8/3/19

[MisterMet]

This was our third Celebrity cruise, 5th Caribbean cruise, and 2nd Western itinerary.  We booked this trip while we were on the Equinox in September of 2018 on our 10 night Southern Itinerary to the ABC Islands.  My wife and I are both in our mid 50's and reside in SW Florida so it is easy for us to drive to the Port of Miami or Port Everglades.  We booked Concierge Class with the 4 perks, aft facing balcony cabin 9378.  We like bundling to get a bit of savings and upgrades and it works for us.

 

Even though we live relatively close to Port Everglades, I like to start our vacations early, so we booked a nights stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina for Friday, 7/26.  We had a standard King room in the tower facing the 17th St Causeway and the Port which made for some excellent scenery and surprisingly very little noise.  The hotel was very nice with a nice pool, pool bar, gym, valet parking, restaurant, and cafe.  The room was spacious and newly remodeled and the bathroom was quite elegant.  We paid $185 for the room and $35 for the unlimited valet service.  As a Hilton Honors member, we received free Wifi and a few other amenities.  It was really nice to relax at the pool, read a book, have a beverage, and just chill for a while before thinking about what to do for dinner.

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[MisterMet]

Although there were some nice restaurants at the Hilton, we like to eat at the 15th Street Fisheries.  It's within sight of the hotel, but because of the canal you have to drive to get there.  It has a casual waterfront porch downstairs, and a more formal dining experience upstairs.  You can order off both menus wherever you dine, however.

 

The view from our balcony at the Hilton was pretty cool and afforded us some excellent views...

 

[MisterMet]

The excitement of embarkation morning got to me and I was up at 5:00 am on Saturday.  I peeked out the window to see if the Equinox or Caribbean Princess had pulled into port like the previous post's pictures had shown.  Alas, I had risen too early and they hadn't arrived yet.  I arose with high hopes and returned to sleep with wisdom, knowing that they would be pulling into port whether I saw them do so or not.  I would capture those photos three hours later after enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee and three more hours sleep knowing that we soon would be stepping onto the newly refurbished Equinox by around 11:00 AM.

 

We made reservations at the nearby Park-n-Fly and were shuttled to Pier 25 at around 10:45.  The new terminal is quite stunning and the new check in process is VERY, VERY easy.  We had the Celebrity App, the sail pass visible, printed sail passes, had them scanned, waited about 10 minutes for Concierge Class to be called (the first ones to board the ship) and we were on by about 11:06.  We went directly to our room, picked up our sail pass cards, dropped off our carry on luggage (of which we had lots), and were now free to roam about our beautiful home for the next 7 days.

 

[MisterMet]

We really like the Concierge lunch served in the Main Dining Room on Embarkation Day.  We had a nice window table and enjoyed our first meal on the ship.  DW had the salmon and I enjoyed the chicken.  We both love the always available chocolate cake, and we could not wait to show our cards for our specialty coffee drinks from cafe al Bacio (love the doppio espressos and cappucinos).  By the time we finished our leisurely lunch, we were able to get into our room and meet our cabin attendant Putra.  He took excellent care of us throughout our voyage.  We had him empty our mini bar of its contents so we could fill it with beverages of our choice from our beverage packages, and made a simple request of ice in the morning and evening.

 

The refurbishment of the cabins was basically limited to carpeting and new linens.  They DID remove the footstools on the balconies.  DId we miss them?  Maybe?  Game changer for us?  NO WAY.   I really didn't expect that they would have my LA-Z-Boy recliner out there to begin with anyway!  The balcony table IS smaller.  However, it gives you more room to use the balcony.  We like to have breakfast out there on port days.  We could still manage it.  We're more of the continental breakfast type so it wasn't a big deal.  Even if it meant holding a plate while I was eating (god forbid), it still wouldn't be a game changer for us.

 

We really like the fact that the cabins have so much storage.  We were easily able to stow everything (we brought a LOT of stuff) and not have the room cluttered at all.  I'm a hat person and put my hats on hook magnets.  We also utilize a magnetic clothes line hung in the shower for our many bathing suits.

 

[MisterMet]

After the Muster Drill in the Tuscan Grille, we headed back to our balcony for sail away and a chance for our friends and family to watch us sail past the Port Everglades webcam.  The skies were threatening to say the least as the Equinox lead the parade of the Enchantment of the Seas and Caribbean Princess up the Stranahan River and out into the Atlantic on their respective voyages ahead of what looked to be some pretty bad storms.

 

[MisterMet]

Now clearly out into the Atlantic on our way to Key West our first port, along with Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman, we began reacquainting ourselves with this lovely vessel.  The Equinox is an extremely beautiful and elegant ship.  The artwork is modern.  The decor tasteful.  The venues are well laid out and easily accessible. Here are some pictures of points of major congregation:

 

DECK 4 Shops Area

 

CELEBRITY CENTRAL

 

ENTRANCE TO EQUINOX THEATRE

 

DECK 12 PORT SIDE

 

CAFE AL BACIO

 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by MisterMet
TOO MANY PICS

[Cruisenouvelle]

Thank you for this review and the photos! We will be on 6 nighter in September.

[MisterMet]

We purchased the 3 night Specialty Dining Package for $129 pp. prior to sailing.  We LOVE Murano and wanted to try Tuscan Grille.  We'd read many things about Le Petite Chef on CC and wanted to try it too.   We had booked our Celebrity Select dining nightly for 8:15 and were supposed to eat in the MDR for the first night but canceled our reservation so we could do Le Petite Chef.  WOW was it fun!  It's a set menu and an  animated event in QSine.  I'll post a few pictures for you, but won't tell you much more about it as I don't want to ruin the experience ahead of it.  I will say we really enjoyed it.  The food was excellent and most of the people I talked to who were there with us thought is was great as well.

 

 

 

[MISTER 67]

Nice review T.

[vickykay]

Following along.  We’re doing the same cruise in Feb. Where Naples are you?  We have a small condo ( winter escape from upstate NY) in North Naples.  

 

Vicky

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by vickykay
Spellimg

[MisterMet]

Day 1 (or Night 1) ended as it usually does with DW and I  up in the Oceanview Cafe.  Decaf coffee, pizza, and a few cookies and desserts topping off a day of being treated exceptionally well by the Celebrity crew.  The service on board is always so great.  This cruise was no exception.  We headed back down to cabin 9378 with to go cups of decaf ready to sit on the balcony and watch the wake lull us to sleep.  Although we would be pulling into Key West in the morning, we would be sleeping in as we were staying on the ship.  As Florida residents, we've been to KW many times and we figured another sea day would be just the ticket for us.  A great first day was had.  We were looking forward to 6 more.😀😁

[MisterMet]

3 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

Nice review T.

Thanks Geo.  It was a great time.

[MisterMet]

3 minutes ago, vickykay said:

Following along.  We’re doing the same cruise in Feb. Where in SW Fl are you from?

 

 

Naples

 

 

[MisterMet]

19 minutes ago, vickykay said:

Following along.  We’re doing the same cruise in Feb. Where Naples are you?  We have a small condo ( winter escape from upstate NY) in North Naples.  

 

Vicky

 

 

 

 

We live along Livingston Road in Carlton Lakes north of Immokalee.  My wife is originally from Groton in the Finger Lakes Region.  I'm a downstater from Sleepy Hollow and one of the Golf Pros at Hunters Ridge in Bonita Springs

[vickykay]

I know exactly where you are.  We’re right off Wiggins Pass Rd.  The rest of the year we live in Niskayuna,, a small suburb of Schenectady.  Looking forward to following along with your review.

[Cruise a holic]

Love the beautiful flowers!  I assume you ordered them

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Thanks for doing the review! I’m currently booked on her for Feb break but am weighing my options (in consideration of my big trip in 2021 for my 50th this Feb will probably be the last big thing until after that because I have PLANS!), so all info helps me with that!

[Oville]

1 hour ago, MisterMet said:

We live along Livingston Road in Carlton Lakes north of Immokalee.  My wife is originally from Groton in the Finger Lakes Region.  I'm a downstater from Sleepy Hollow and one of the Golf Pros at Hunters Ridge in Bonita Springs

Where in CL?

[Oville]

BTW, enjoying your review.  We too are big fans of the Hilton Marina.

[MisterMet]

52 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Love the beautiful flowers!  I assume you ordered them

Gift from friends.  They are beautiful 

[Oville]

We are across the pond, HPL, small world.

 

Celebrity is are go to cruise line but don’t live in Naples year round.  We’ll have to meet this winter, I love walking down Waverly Green.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Oville

[MisterMet]

4 minutes ago, Oville said:

We are across the pond, HPL, small world.

 

4 minutes ago, Oville said:

We are across the pond, HPL, small world.

Stop by and say hello sometime.  Love to talk cruising.

[MisterMet]

KEY WEST DAY 2

 

As I mentioned before, living in SW Florida, we've visited Key West many times via land, air, and sea.  I'm a huge Jimmy Buffett fan from way back and even the pull of Margaritaville and Duval Street wasn't enough to make us get up early and off the ship.  We slept in and enjoyed breakfast in the MDR before getting in some laps on the jogging deck.  We were also up for a bit of Music Trivia and teamed up with Michael and Sarah from Wash., D.C. in the Sky Lounge for our crack at some Celebrity swag.  Unfortunately, we came up a bit short in our attempt, but we really enjoyed Michael and Sarah and gave them a bit of advice on how to navigate KW.

 

The Equinox was docked at the Naval Base and passengers were bused off the pier to town.  This pier gives cruise ship passengers a great chance to see some cool stuff at a active naval base.  From our balcony and the side of the ship we saw at least three groups of Seals returning from maneuvers, two naval helicopters circling the island multiple times, an amphibious dock being re-positioned.

 

We spent most of the day at the Solarium pool relaxing and enjoying a rather empty ship.  Lunch in the OVC was good and allowed us to spoil ourselves with ice cream and extra desserts.  At around 6 we headed back to the cabin for showers, our canapes, and to get ready for  Comedian Steve Bruner at 7 PM in the Equinox Theater.  We then headed for our first night in the MDR.  Our Select Dining Reservation at 8:15 at Table 441 introduced us to Waiter Herickson, Asst. Waiter Wutelais, and Sommelier Mervin all of whom took great care of us anytime we ate in the MDR.  Dinner was excellent and the service was beyond attentive.

 

With bellies full, we tried our hand at dancing at the Full Moon Party on the Pool Deck.  Maarten the Cruise Director really got the crowd rocking and everyone was enjoying a full blown raucous bash.  It was a total blast!  He is by far the best Cruise Director we've encountered over our many cruises.  Great energy and ability to get everyone enthused to participate.  It was a great day overall.

 

  

 

[nimiq]

Following and great review so far 😉

 

will be cruising Equinox in November.

 

thanks again

sea ya

Eric

[JACKYJUSTKIDDING]

Following