Live Blog Equinox Southern Carribean(ABC's) Sept 13th-23rd

[calicakes]

3 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

The only water now in AQ is two complimentary bottles on the first day.

Not really a big deal because we do have a drink package.  On previous cruises, they would leave 2 large bottles a day and it would just pile up. 

[maggieq]

Has the weather been better for today?

[calicakes]

1 hour ago, maggieq said:

Has the weather been better for today?

Yes!!  There was quite the lightening storm during the night.   It was a touch overcast when we got up, but it cleared up.

 

It was very warm, about 87F.  We both got some nice color even though we slathered on the sunscreen. 

[Spiritedcharm]

@calicakes We are on the Equinox next week and hope to bring our Apple TV along to stream movies. Would you mind checking the brand and model number for the TV? We want to bring our universal remote along and it would be a great help to program it before we leave! Enjoy your cruise!

[calicakes]

4 minutes ago, Spiritedcharm said:

@calicakes We are on the Equinox next week and hope to bring our Apple TV along to stream movies. Would you mind checking the brand and model number for the TV? We want to bring our universal remote along and it would be a great help to program it before we leave! Enjoy your cruise!

Here you go.

[Spiritedcharm]

4 minutes ago, calicakes said:

Here you go.

 

You are awesome! Thank you so much!

 

[calicakes]

Room service breakfast. I ordered it last night for 6:30am. It was 15 min late, which stressed out Julie. She runs on Lombardi time. We were supposed to meet in the theater at 7. The eggs were bland and cold. Everything else was fine. Julie rushed me so I had 1 pancake and called it finished.  I pulled out one of my creature comforts for the eggs. It didn't improve the flavor. Julie had oatmeal. No pic. Sorry. She was in a rush to eat.  The watermelon was ok. The other melon was flavorless.

[candacee]

Hi Randi! Thank you so much for bringing us along - really enjoying your posts. If you have a moment please could you post a snap of the AQ room service menu? 

[calicakes]

Here is the menu. I think it's the same menu everyone gets.

[calicakes]

10 hours ago, Spiritedcharm said:

 

You are awesome! Thank you so much!

 

Hi

You're welcome.

I did read on another thread about the new TV's and not being able to pre-program the universal remote before leaving home.  You might want to check that out. 

[Spiritedcharm]

I was able to program my Harmony remote for that model TV. We'll see if it works next week!

[calicakes]

We did an X excursion today.  I booked it on a 20% sale. We paid 76.00 a person. It was stingray city and barrier reef snorkel.  

 

I'm glad I booked an excursion thru X because Grand Cayman is a tender port and we had priority for tendering. 

 

The excursion was not too impressive.  We took about a 20 min bus ride to another location where we boarded a boat.  We had a 30 min ride to Stingray city.  The water was gorgeous, crystal clear and so blue.  There were tons of stingrays.  They come up as soon as they hear the boats.  The guide gave a brief demonstration on the boat and then everyone got into the water.  You could hold them, feed them and take pics with them.  You can also kiss them.  We touched them, but I didn't want to pick them up.  We also didn't get our pics taken with them.  At one point, another boat began to drift over to our boat, it was about an inch away.  We all scrambled to get out of the way.  

 

 After that, we left for the reef.  That was about another 15 min boat ride.  The water was amazing, but there were very few fish.  Lots of coral, but I expected a better snorkeling experience.   Back on the boat and one of the guides brought out an IPAD and showed people their pics.  She told everyone if they paid cash, they could have their pics for 40.00 and access them right now.  If they paid with a credit card, they would pay more and have to wait.  I don't know if that is standard operating procedure, or not.  It felt a bid shady to me. 

 

 

[calicakes]

[calicakes]

Dinner in Blu. Visod is our server. Emilia is his assistant. Hes very nice. He brings much more food than we order. I hate wasting food, so this bothers me.  I had the fish cake. It was tasty. I ordered the risotto. Unfortunately, it was way undercooked. I guess it was good I had a second entree, boullubaise. Julie ordered the classic chicken breast. He also brought her the meatloaf. @chicagopaul said it was terrible so julie wasn't going to order it. She tasted it. She said it was ok. The potatoes were cold.

[calicakes]

When we finished with the excursion, we were brought back to the port.  There was very little open due to it being a Sunday.  I found the prices in the shops very, very expensive.  A t-shirt was 25.00.  We're at the point in our lives where we're not shopping for "stuff".  We're working on getting rid of things before we move to FL in 4 years.   So, there is really nothing we need or want. 

 

We were back on the ship around noonish.  We headed to the buffet for lunch.  It was really crowded.  I didn't expect it to be so busy on a port day.   We went back to our cabin and took a nice nap.  

 

We're going to a game show @ 8pm.  The server told us to set our clocks ahead an hour tonight.  I'm confused as to why they do this on a sea day( tomorrow).  I would assume it would happen the night before a port day.  

 

I forget to take a picture of dessert.  We shared the chocolate lava cake and cherries jubilee.  Both were really good. 

[helen haywood]

They change clocks on a Sea day because if they did it on a Port day the people who forget to do it would miss excursions.

[calicakes]

8 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

They change clocks on a Sea day because if they did it on a Port day the people who forget to do it would miss excursions.

That makes sense. 

[takemewithyou]

Grand Cayman.....a little concerned.....we are there on a Sunday, also.

You say there was very little open?  You mean the main tourist stores and shops and restaurants were not open?

[calicakes]

2 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Grand Cayman.....a little concerned.....we are there on a Sunday, also.

You say there was very little open?  You mean the main tourist stores and shops and restaurants were not open?

There were a few stores open, not that many.  I expected a lot more to be open considering the ship brings in over 2 thousand people.   We didn't walk further down from the port area.  When we drove thru town, there wasnt much open either.  Do you have something booked? 

[calicakes]

We just returned from a game show.  It was a guessing game.  They divide the room into 2 teams.  My team lost : (.  The game show was 25 min total and no prizes were given out.  I really wish X did more of these type of activities.  

[takemewithyou]

5 minutes ago, calicakes said:

There were a few stores open, not that many.  I expected a lot more to be open considering the ship brings in over 2 thousand people.   We didn't walk further down from the port area.  When we drove thru town, there wasnt much open either.  Do you have something booked? 

Thanks.  No, we did not book anything.  Not in to water sports, etc.  We just wanted to leisurely stroll around.  We were there once before, but it’s been years.  We both recall lots of shops and restaurants.  How about all the cruise type shops like Diamonds International, etc......where those even open?

[calicakes]

1 minute ago, takemewithyou said:

Thanks.  No, we did not book anything.  Not in to water sports, etc.  We just wanted to leisurely stroll around.  We were there once before, but it’s been years.  We both recall lots of shops and restaurants.  How about all the cruise type shops like Diamonds International, etc......where those even open?

Yes. Diamonds International was open.  There were a few booth type places open selling t-shirts/magnets, etc.  One person selling tours and snow cones.  We walked across the street looking for a pair of pants.( nothing).  There were a few shops selling more t-shirts, Hagen Daz and a couple other places selling the same type of souvenir stuff.  We didn't keep walking.  

[takemewithyou]

Oh no!  That sounds pretty pitiful......how about bars and restaurants?

maybe this will be a very quick trip ashore and back to ship!  No wonder you said it was busy at the buffet at lunch time!

[DebbieMacG]

Wow your accessible cabin looks great, thanks for the pics, I was unable to get an accessible for my cruise on Silhouette last October and have failed again for next year. I use a power wheelchair which is the width of the door, literally, there’s then no where to store it or manoeuvre it in the cabin and no where to sit in the shower. I’ve got four other cruises booked with four other lines, all accessible cabins but never seem to be able to get one with Celebrity!

[calicakes]

14 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Oh no!  That sounds pretty pitiful......how about bars and restaurants?

maybe this will be a very quick trip ashore and back to ship!  No wonder you said it was busy at the buffet at lunch time!

Honestly, I know Margaritaville was open.  I think the larger chain restaurants were open.  We didn't walk that far up the street.  I just noticed a lot of small mom/pop places closed when we drove thru town.  The driver also told us that everything is pretty much closed on Sunday.   The pool was super crowded too,  I do think a lot of people stayed on the ship, especially since it is a tender port.