LIVE - Equinox 8/15/21 - Ultimate Caribbean - It’s finally here!

[jg51]

On 8/19/2021 at 9:54 AM, Seany527 said:

It was replenished almost daily. Maybe one or two days I opened it up and it wasn’t refilled. I’m sure if I asked the room steward to replenish he would have. 
 

The mini fridge was filled exactly the same way as if there were two people in the room. However the Evian water on the counter, I only received one bottle per day.  

.

Got it.  Thanks again.

[lovetocruise0999]

How difficult is it making dinner reservations for speciality restaurants? For upcoming cruise on 09/05 it already shows unavailable for some. Has it been pretty easy onboard? 

[aring75]

4 minutes ago, lovetocruise0999 said:

How difficult is it making dinner reservations for speciality restaurants? For upcoming cruise on 09/05 it already shows unavailable for some. Has it been pretty easy onboard? 

We made three reservations ahead of time. And made two more after we got onboard. Most restaurants have only shown availability at 6:00 or 6:30. Or at 8:00-8:30. So times may be somewhat limited, but almost every night has had a few slots. 

[jg51]

On 8/19/2021 at 6:42 AM, aring75 said:

Card room is still there. Deck 9. And it is definitely used to play cards, mah jong, dominoes and other games. It doesn’t seem like anyone is actively discouraging its use. And games are available on the shelf.  I would think if they decide not to allow this, the games, cards, etc. would be put away.   Also, all tables are 4-top and looks to be about 10 or 12 tables in the room. If I can get there when it’s empty, I’ll take a photo. 

 

On 8/19/2021 at 7:58 AM, aring75 said:

Card Room

There are two or three tables not shown in the photo. But you get a good idea. 

 

.

Dear "aring75,"

 

Thanks so much providing facts and comments about the card/game/puzzle room -- and for going out of your way to get a great photo of it when it was vacant.  (It looks just as it did in 2010 and 2013, when we were aboard this beautiful ship.)

 

We have to apologize for (accidentally) being away from this thread for almost three days ... but we made up for it, just now, by reading pages 20 to 27!

 

Dear "aring75," you have probably heard of a "perfect storm" (defined online as "a particularly violent storm arising from a rare combination of adverse meteorological factors").  It is a term that normally has a negative connotation ... but today we want to use it with a positive connotation, if we may be permitted to do so. 

 

Guess what?  A "perfect storm" -- the most significant "factor" of which was your enthusiasm and this fantastic thread of yours -- rose up during the past week, and it moved us to book (two days ago) the very same cruise that you are enjoying now.  We will be aboard the Equinox, a bit later this year, if Heaven is willing that we should pass a virus test.

 

We owe you so very much for all the information and photos that you have provided, which will make our cruise amazingly easier than it would have been.  We will be able to review -- in advance (taking notes) -- the MDR and SR menus [regular and dessert], the bar menus and wine lists, the "Celebrity Today" issues, and much much more -- all thanks to your generosity.

 

However, we don't want to start speaking as though you are all finished.  We know that you are only about halfway through your twelve days, so we hope that you will continue to have a "blast" during your next five or six days.  If we think of anything more to ask you, we will speak up (hoping that you won't mind).

.

[closecruiser]

What shows did you see.   Was there a ventriloquist?

[FishOn55]

On 8/20/2021 at 11:15 PM, aring75 said:

After dinner, we lost a little bit in the casino. It started getting crowded so we ducked out. 
 

Grabbed a couple of drinks and headed to the Celebrity Theater for the show. Tonight’s description was somewhat vague. 

 

But we had our libations. Tonight was a Bailey’s and a White Russian (this was a new drink for me - it tasted like super boozy chocolate milk). So, you know, delicious. 

 

 

 

Ready for this mystery show!

 

 

 

This is not meant to be political at all, but does anyone else think Cruise Director Eddie Jenkins looks like Ron DeSantis’ brother?

 

 

Turns out the performer tonight played the xylophone. 
 

No seriously. 
 

It’s apparently called a xylosynth, and it’s a cross between a xylophone and a synthesizer. 
 

 

 

 

Guy was amazingly talented and obviously very very good at what he does. I think I just might not be a real xylophone fan. 
 

Mark absolutely loved it though. The man won’t do an Abba singalong, but thinks xylophone guy is great. Figures. 
 

David the xylophone guy did a bit with lasers that was pretty cool. I wasn’t supposed to take pictures though, so don’t tell!

 

Ron Desantis' brother...absolutely on point.

[fstuff1]

On 8/20/2021 at 6:54 AM, aring75 said:

You can purchase credit pre-cruise. But the limit is $500 for table credit (with a $50 bonus) and $500 for slot credit (with a $50 bonus).
 

It is important to note that the table credit is in casino chips and must be played through. We purchased $250 each (table & slot credit) and were not happy about the table chips. I can understand requiring that the bonus chips must be played through, but the rest is YOUR money. It should have no restrictions. 
 

The slot credit is simply given as a voucher you stick in the machine and can be cashed out with the casino cashier. Same for the $50 per person Drinks & More credit. 

 

unless something has changed from 2019, you do get credit for using the $ won when playing through chips bought from website.
Lets say you bought $250 table chips + $25 bonus chips.
you're betting $25 per hand.
the sensors on the table log EVERY hand you play.
 

When you color up to leave, the dealer will punch in #s into terminal in front of him of how much you are leaving with along with how much were bonus chips.
your rating = All the $ from hands logged minus the $275 you got from Celebrity's website.

 

so if you played 100 hands ($2500 play through), your rating is based on $2500 - 275 = $2225.

 

i dont buy slot vouchers. 
In my experience, Celebrity slots are set to the manufacturer minimum (ie: 85% return which is 15% casino profit)

 

edit:

ahh.. you mean you dont get credit for the $250 you bought.
i guess that's the cost of getting 10% bonus chips.
so the +10% bonus isnt really +10% because of the cost of a slight lower rating on play.

 

i would still do it. i get 3% cashback on travel from my credit card so buying $500 chips on celebrity gets me +$15. 
to me, that more than makes up for the slightly lower play rating.

and i get $50 bonus chips.

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by fstuff1

[fstuff1]

do they give masks on board incase i run out? 

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, fstuff1 said:

do they give masks on board incase i run out? 

My sister was on the Edge 2 weeks ago and when they got to their cabin they each found a Celebrity branded cloth face mask in the cabin.

[fstuff1]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

My sister was on the Edge 2 weeks ago and when they got to their cabin they each found a Celebrity branded cloth face mask in the cabin.

 

cool. something that can be washed in laundry (or even in the sink with soap in a pinch)

[TeeRick]

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My sister was on the Edge 2 weeks ago and when they got to their cabin they each found a Celebrity branded cloth face mask in the cabin.

I'm sure some room stewards have put these on towel animals already.😀

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, fstuff1 said:

 

cool. something that can be washed in laundry (or even in the sink with soap in a pinch)

Yes as long as you do not mind having "CELEBRITY" as your smile for a week, LOL

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

I'm sure some room stewards have put these on towel animals already.😀

I have seen pictures of this.

[cltnccruisers]

31 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My sister was on the Edge 2 weeks ago and when they got to their cabin they each found a Celebrity branded cloth face mask in the cabin.

That's a nice idea.

[goofysmom99]

39 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My sister was on the Edge 2 weeks ago and when they got to their cabin they each found a Celebrity branded cloth face mask in the cabin.

Senior staff and entire crew wear them, too.

[aring75]

We have not received any cloth “Celebrity” masks and I have only seen crew members wearing them. 
 

When we met up for our shore excursion a man behind me at the desk asked for a mask. They were handing out disposable ones. 

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, aring75 said:

We have not received any cloth “Celebrity” masks and I have only seen crew members wearing them. 
 

When we met up for our shore excursion a man behind me at the desk asked for a mask. They were handing out disposable ones. 

My sister was in a Edge Villa, so maybe they are the only ones to get the Celebrity masks, or they  are only on the Edge.

Edited August 22, 2021 by terrydtx

[cltnccruisers]

7 minutes ago, aring75 said:

We have not received any cloth “Celebrity” masks and I have only seen crew members wearing them. 
 

When we met up for our shore excursion a man behind me at the desk asked for a mask. They were handing out disposable ones. 

Too bad.  It would have been a nice PR touch if nothing else.

[aring75]

Just a quick note about the alcoves/cabanas. When I booked, I saw that there were discounts offered if you booked multiple days. Also, we took advantage of this offer when we sailed Reflection in Dec 2017. 

 

 

 

In the online planner for this cruise, the cabana reservation was listed as an “alcove,” but a quick call to Celebrity assured me that these were different names for essentially the same thing. 
 

However, I have inquired about this discount twice now. I was told this morning that there will be NO discount offered onboard Equinox. 
 

We booked four sea days and three port days for this cruise and there will be no discount offered, so we chose to cancel our remaining bookings (two sea days & two port days).

 

 

The onboard discount we received on Reflection was approximately 20% for booking the entire cruise and around 15% for us (we had only booked 7 out of 10 days). It would have been fine if the discount wasn’t as high, but it didn’t sit right with me that they just said, “Nope. Sorry.”

 

I will mention, they did offer to give us lunch in Murano (which we had already booked at a discount).

 

 

I just wanted to make sure anyone reading along understands that the cabanas on Equinox DO NOT qualify for the discount listed on the website when you book. 

[aring75]

7 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My sister was in a Edge Villa, so maybe they are the only ones to get the Celebrity masks, or they  are only on the Edge.

I did see a photo someone posted from their Edge sailing of these cloth masks, so you could be right that they are only offered on the Edge. 
 

Now that I’m thinking about it, I do think I saw them for sale in one of the shops. I’ll have to look again. 

[COLArmy]

19 hours ago, aring75 said:

As of late last night it was the government of St Lucia who said Celebrity Tours only. (Keep in mind very few of the port restrictions are actually decided by Celebrity.)

 

This morning, as we were in the theater waiting to leave for our tour (so about 8:45-9:00am) they adjusted their decision to allow vaccinated passengers to visit the island freely, but with specific rules and requirements. 

 

Just another example of needing to be able to adjust your plans if needed. And be as patient as possible with the ever-changing info and restrictions. 
 

You probably already know this, but if I were you I would keep in close contact with your tour operator. They may have pretty up to date information since they are located right there on the island. And you will be able to cancel or adjust your plans if necessary. 

I took your advice and contacted the tour operator to ask for any update info form their end and also let them know that the government has been deciding (almost daily) on this as a "heads up" and we don't want to cancel at this time but it may be cancelled for us and will not be their refund policy time line due to last minute changes by the government.  Thanks for the advice and info.  I have been staying in touch with all the tour operators for our private excursions frequently for this reason (Constant changes to policies).

Edited August 22, 2021 by COLArmy

[aring75]

14 hours ago, closecruiser said:

What shows did you see.   Was there a ventriloquist?

No ventriloquist. At least not yet. 
 

There was a magician last night. Didn’t see that one, but I’ve reviewed/described all the other shows we’ve been to. 
 

Also, I’m posting the daily planners, so you should be able to get some pretty good info there. 

[aring75]

1 minute ago, COLArmy said:

I took your advice and contacted the tour operator to ask for any update info form their end and also let them know that the government has been deciding (almost daily) on this as a "heads up" and we don't want to cancel at this time but it may be cancelled for us and will not be their refund policy time line due to last minute changes by the government.  Thanks for the advice and info.  I have been staying in touch with all the tour operators for our private excursions frequently for this reason (Constant changes to policies).

Great!
 

It sounds like they are working with you and being flexible. Thanks for the updated info. This could definitely help future cruisers as well. 

[cltnccruisers]

2 minutes ago, aring75 said:

No ventriloquist. At least not yet. 
 

There was a magician last night. Didn’t see that one, but I’ve reviewed/described all the other shows we’ve been to. 
 

Also, I’m posting the daily planners, so you should be able to get some pretty good info there. 

Maybe he didn't want the competition so the magician made the ventriloquist disappear.

[aring75]

Just wanted to let you know that they have an omelet station and an eggs Benedict station in the buffet for breakfast.