Live(?) 7-day Equinox August 8, 2021

[Jazzbo]

We are waiting in our hotel room until checkout at noon. We’ll gather our (overly packed) bags, take them downstairs, and call an Uber. We did not get luggage tags and couldn’t print them, so we’ll be getting them at the pier for the first time.  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Ft. Lauderdale Airport / Cruise Port.  Meh.  The breakfast was truly horrible!  We only had one washcloth and one hand towel in our room, but 2 bath towels, fortunately.  The one good thing I can say is free parking for up to 14 days, and close to the cruise terminal.  They have a shuttle for $15 pp each way, but we’d rather Uber.

 

Driving down from Orlando yesterday was miserable.  The first hour and a half my husband was on the phone with our security company trying to get the app fixed and making sure the alarm was armed.  Then we hit lots of rain, and about 2 hours in, my iPhone quit working.  Then we hit a massive traffic jam (30+ minutes) due to a terrible multi-vehicle accident,  Phone had black screen with spinning wheel.  We could not manage to fix it, so after we arrived (an hour and half late), we headed to the Apple store at the Galeria Mall and had it fixed in minutes. Exhausted, we stopped and got a Publix sub and took it back to the hotel for dinner.

 

I know my stress will melt away once we’re onboard!

 

Vivien (& Larry)

[Jim_Iain]

13 minutes ago, Jazzbo said:

We are waiting in our hotel room until checkout at noon. We’ll gather our (overly packed) bags, take them downstairs, and call an Uber. We did not get luggage tags and couldn’t print them, so we’ll be getting them at the pier for the first time.  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Ft. Lauderdale Airport / Cruise Port.  Meh.  The breakfast was truly horrible!  We only had one washcloth and one hand towel in our room, but 2 bath towels, fortunately.  The one good thing I can say is free parking for up to 14 days, and close to the cruise terminal.  They have a shuttle for $15 pp each way, but we’d rather Uber.

 

Driving down from Orlando yesterday was miserable.  The first hour and a half my husband was on the phone with our security company trying to get the app fixed and making sure the alarm was armed.  Then we hit lots of rain, and about 2 hours in, my iPhone quit working.  Then we hit a massive traffic jam (30+ minutes) due to a terrible multi-vehicle accident,  Phone had black screen with spinning wheel.  We could not manage to fix it, so after we arrived (an hour and half late), we headed to the Apple store at the Galeria Mall and had it fixed in minutes. Exhausted, we stopped and got a Publix sub and took it back to the hotel for dinner.

 

I know my stress will melt away once we’re onboard!

 

Vivien (& Larry)

 

I hope the rest of your cruise goes smoothly.    Looking forward to reading your posts.

[Stem to Stern]

Following along.  A Publix sub does often help ease certain frustrations for me.  Have a great cruise!

[bandp407]

Following along. Have a wonderful cruise!!

[vickykay]

Looking forward to your live review!

[sarasotascott]

We will be boarding the Equinox on 8/15 and I have 2 questions for someone onboard now:

 

1.  Is the crew wearing masks?

 

2.  Do vaccinated passengers have to wear masks on board?

 

Thanks

[Jazzbo]

5 minutes ago, sarasotascott said:

We will be boarding the Equinox on 8/15 and I have 2 questions for someone onboard now:

 

1.  Is the crew wearing masks?

 

2.  Do vaccinated passengers have to wear masks on board?

 

Thanks

1. Yes

2. No

[Jazzbo]

Thanks, everyone! We arrived at the terminal about 12:40 for a 1:00 check-in. After some confusion with lines, people came by to direct all the 1:00 embarkation folks to one line, and the 1:30 folks to another. It was hot, but we were mostly in the shade. X started letting in 1:00 pax a few minutes after 1:00, and it took awhile to get checked in. It seemed like they may have been short of employees checking you in (after Covid clearance). The older gentleman who checked us in was having trouble with his tablet scanning our passports, Xpress passes, and tracelets. He had to toss Larry’s tracelet for one he could actually scan. We got to our AQ cabin, passes tucked at the door, with our luggage waiting. Sitting at the Sunset Bar with frozen mojitos (and brain freeze!) waiting for sail away. (2 more on the way) 😀 Ahhh….

[MOcruisers]

1 hour ago, Jazzbo said:

Thanks, everyone! We arrived at the terminal about 12:40 for a 1:00 check-in. After some confusion with lines, people came by to direct all the 1:00 embarkation folks to one line, and the 1:30 folks to another. It was hot, but we were mostly in the shade. X started letting in 1:00 pax a few minutes after 1:00, and it took awhile to get checked in. It seemed like they may have been short of employees checking you in (after Covid clearance). The older gentleman who checked us in was having trouble with his tablet scanning our passports, Xpress passes, and tracelets. He had to toss Larry’s tracelet for one he could actually scan. We got to our AQ cabin, passes tucked at the door, with our luggage waiting. Sitting at the Sunset Bar with frozen mojitos (and brain freeze!) waiting for sail away. (2 more on the way) 😀 Ahhh….

Tell Amar, Infran, Maria, and Eka at the Sunset bar thar Robert and Vickie from last weeks cruise says hi. It was the best place to spend your leisure time and they took great care of us. We had a blast. Enjoy your cruise.

[Jazzbo]

The previous post didn’t post yesterday. We had a wonderful meal in Blu. I had the chilled vichyssoise with grilled shrimp and Larry had the calamari salad for starters. We both had filet mignon with parsnip purée, red wine sauce, and asparagus. Larry had apple pie a la mode and I had dulce de leche crema catalina for dessert. The sommelier recommended a delicious Tempranillo crianza. We left completely satisfied.

[Jazzbo]

3 minutes ago, MOcruisers said:

Tell Amar, Infran, Maria, and Eka at the Sunset bar thar Robert and Vickie from last weeks cruise says hi. It was the best place to spend your leisure time and they took great care of us. We had a blast. Enjoy your cruise.

We have already learned that Amar makes the best frozen mojitos!

[FLCruiser97]

Hope your cruise goes better than your trip down to the port. I noticed that your departure was delayed. Did they tell you guys why?

Edited August 9, 2021 by FLCruiser97

[Jazzbo]

33 minutes ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Hope your cruise goes better than your trip down to the port. I noticed that your departure was delayed. Did they tell you guys why?

Initially it was because not all of the passengers had reported to their muster stations to complete the safety drill. Then the captain announced that one passenger had not been tested, so they were going to test that person onboard and wait for the results. Once we were ready, we had to wait for 2 cargo ships before we could start.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, Jazzbo said:

1. Yes

2. No

Just off the Equinox Sunday...outside the crew were not required to wear masks...which I was grateful for...too hot for that they way they work.  

[ymncruise]

When I filled out my equinox survey card, that was one of my recommendations. Way too hot to have to wear a mask outdoors. 

[Guppy99]

3 hours ago, sarasotascott said:

We will be boarding the Equinox on 8/15 and I have 2 questions for someone onboard now:

 

1.  Is the crew wearing masks?

 

2.  Do vaccinated passengers have to wear masks on board?

 

Thanks

Yes (although its becoming more relaxed. They were toild it will only be for a couple weeks.  They've been isolated on board for over two weeks in separate rooms for two weeks prior to the first voyage on 7/25.  I was on that trip. Vaccinated passengers did not have to wear masks anywhere on the ship/

Some still did though.

[Arzeena]

On 8/8/2021 at 11:52 AM, Jazzbo said:

We are waiting in our hotel room until checkout at noon. We’ll gather our (overly packed) bags, take them downstairs, and call an Uber. We did not get luggage tags and couldn’t print them, so we’ll be getting them at the pier for the first time.  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Ft. Lauderdale Airport / Cruise Port.  Meh.  The breakfast was truly horrible!  We only had one washcloth and one hand towel in our room, but 2 bath towels, fortunately.  The one good thing I can say is free parking for up to 14 days, and close to the cruise terminal.  They have a shuttle for $15 pp each way, but we’d rather Uber.

 

Driving down from Orlando yesterday was miserable.  The first hour and a half my husband was on the phone with our security company trying to get the app fixed and making sure the alarm was armed.  Then we hit lots of rain, and about 2 hours in, my iPhone quit working.  Then we hit a massive traffic jam (30+ minutes) due to a terrible multi-vehicle accident,  Phone had black screen with spinning wheel.  We could not manage to fix it, so after we arrived (an hour and half late), we headed to the Apple store at the Galeria Mall and had it fixed in minutes. Exhausted, we stopped and got a Publix sub and took it back to the hotel for dinner.

 

I know my stress will melt away once we’re onboard!

 

Vivien (& Larry)

I am looking forward to your cruise report.

Please enjoy yourself and have a drink or ten!😁

[Jazzbo]

Today we were in Nassau, and Larry and I decided to stay onboard. We started with cappuccino and an almond croissant at Cafe al Bacio. It was too late for breakfast in Blu, so we headed to the Oceanview Cafe. Half a grapefruit and a smoked salmon egg Benedict did the trick for me. Larry had 2. We both agreed we liked the classic better. We lazed around the Solarium, even got into a hot tub for a few minutes. We had no trouble finding loungers where we wanted to be. I headed to the spa — spent some time in Persian Gardens, then went to my seaweed wrap and full body massage (first time for the seaweed wrap). It was wonderful! I highly recommend “Beth” from the Phillipines (sp?). She did a real deep tissue massage and reflexology on my feet. 
After that, I met up with Larry in the Solarium and we headed to a very late lunch at Oceanview. Sitting on our balcony now just watching the sea. 😁

[hcat]

Sounds like a great day so far!

What company is running the spa.Canyon Ranch or the one from EDGE?

[MartinsCruise]

6 hours ago, Jazzbo said:

We have already learned that Amar makes the best frozen mojitos!

 

It was a very difficult decision but I just decided what my first drink on board will be next month!  Thank you for taking the time to take us along on your voyage.  We'll also be in Aqua so if you have an exceptional wait team in Blu, please let me know their names.  

 

Sue

[TeaBag]

Thank you for posting your impressions.  So nice to read one that is not in a suite.  We also like AQ class.  So sorry for your rainy trip down.  I watched you leave and wondered about the late departure, then saw the two cargo ships inching slowly along, making you even later.  Bon Voyage.

[luckybecky]

I'm enjoying your cruise! We were on the 7/25 cruise and I'm missing all the food and drink!

 

Thanks for posting.

[txtechmk]

Glad you enjoyed your seaweed wrap.  I had one of those at a resort years ago, and got really heated and claustrophobic!  I could not wait to have it removed!  The masseuse left the room, and I almost started yelling, but didn't....😏 

 

Looking forward to your review.  Hope all goes well.

[Jazzbo]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Sounds like a great day so far!

What company is running the spa.Canyon Ranch or the one from EDGE?

Elemis. At least those are the products the massage therapist tried to sell me. But she wasn’t pushy, so I added a nice extra tip.

[Jazzbo]

Sitting in the Martini drinking Bombay French 75s, not too sweet. Don’t judge me! I arrived about 10 minutes before Larry.  😁.🍸🍸