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

[Bluewake]

On 8/21/2021 at 7:16 PM, crimsonbird said:

Did you have to get off the catamaran?  Or could one just stay on?  Did the cat leave from near the ship?  I'm asking because my husband has some walking difficulty.   Thanks.

The boat pulled up to a small beach area and lowered a walkway. No handrails. Some got off to swim and others remained onboard.  Stayed about 30 minutes. That was the only stop.

[fstuff1]

14 hours ago, ROYALBOY said:

The price for “Le Petite Chef” for our Oct cruise is $55pp which is supposed to be the pre travel discount. Is that the price onboard, or are they discounting more onboard.

 

on silhouette nov 2019, i got le petite chef (version 1) for 50% off the first night!
cute, but wouldnt do it again, even at 50% off.
couldnt get version 2 for 50% off so didnt try it. (they alternated days for v1 and v2)

[aring75]

2 hours ago, Harrylinden said:

Do they still have the sandwich station?  I read somewhere else it was gone!

We did see it in the Oceanview a couple of days, but it wasn’t there yesterday. They did a pretty big Greek station and Indian (a little bigger area than usual).

[aring75]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

A quick question,  for lunch at Sushi on 5 do you need a reservation?

Reservations are recommended, but I think you could probably get in. It was less than half full at lunch. 

[crimsonbird]

21 minutes ago, Bluewake said:

The boat pulled up to a small beach area and lowered a walkway. No handrails. Some got off to swim and others remained onboard.  Stayed about 30 minutes. That was the only stop.

Thanks so much.  That's perfect.  Do u recall the exact name of the tour so I make no mistake when booking.  Appreciate!!

[terrydtx]

38 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Reservations are recommended, but I think you could probably get in. It was less than half full at lunch. 

Thank you, there is no way to do lunch reservations before we board, didn't know if they were required from the app while onboard.

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

No worries.  Jim's response above is pretty much what I was thinking.  It's a short stroll from our cabin so I'll just wander over when it's staffed.

 

I was looking back at some old photos and also on an Alaska cruise they had a special of $79 rate for the last 2 days of the cruise unlimited.

 

If I recall the hourly rate was shown on the Login screen where you select your package or upgrade.

[cltnccruisers]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I was looking back at some old photos and also on an Alaska cruise they had a special of $79 rate for the last 2 days of the cruise unlimited.

 

If I recall the hourly rate was shown on the Login screen where you select your package or upgrade.

I normally disconnect as much as possible when we cruise, though after this one all our future trips have wifi included.  Tempted to do a "working vacation" sometime but that could be risky.

 

I used a pay as you go on either NCL or Princess and performance was awful - but that was a long time ago.

 

I'll just have a chat with staff in the ilounge.

 

Thanks.

[aring75]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Thank you, there is no way to do lunch reservations before we board, didn't know if they were required from the app while onboard.

You can’t make lunch reservations until after you board anyway (I believe). Same for the Murano lunch. 
 

We made our 2nd So5 reservation directly from the app. I just now tried to do a mock reservation for lunch on the last sea day and it is still showing plenty of availability.

[aring75]

Day 9 - Aruba

 

 

 

 

 

 

Map of Aruba included with the planner. But it’s not very detailed. 
 

[aring75]

Waited until about 10:30 to get off the ship. We didn’t have a scheduled excursion here in Aruba, so decided to let all the tours off first. 

See the multi-colored canopy on the left? You will follow that to the terminal entrance after you exit the ship. 

 

 

 

Many of the small kiosks were closed, but as we got to the port shops, many were open. 
 

 

 

[aring75]

When you exit the shopping area right there at the port, you will turn right to head to the downtown area. 

There are quite a few stores open down here.

 

 

 

 

[aring75]

AND!

 

If you feel like having lunch overlooking the water, there are three or four restaurants within easy walking distance. 
 

We found a little place with a view of the harbor area and a glimpse of the Equinox. 
 

 

[cltnccruisers]

4 minutes ago, aring75 said:

When you exit the shopping area right there at the port, you will turn right to head to the downtown area. 

There are quite a few stores open down here.

 

 

 

 

Sidewalks and streets look pretty well maintained.

[aring75]

Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant has a pretty varied menu. Appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pasta, seafood, and burgers. 

 

 

We weren’t really starving, so we opted for some frozen drinks and shareable apps. 
 

The chips and queso app was a great way to start (try to remember to bring a small portable bottle of hand sanitizer).
 

 

We enjoyed the queso, but the chicken quesadilla was stuffed full and really good!

 

 

 

We thought we’d have room for the coconut shrimp after, but we were very full. We have dinner tonight in Tuscan Grill, so we decided not to overdo it. 

[aring75]

3 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

Sidewalks and streets look pretty well maintained.

Aruba is very easy to walk around. The downtown area has quite a few hotels, shops, and the Renaissance Hotel & Casino. Feels like a very affluent area with shops like Cartier, Prada, Bulgari, and the like. We didn’t actually go into any of these places, but they are there. 
 

Also, the cars drive on the right-hand side of the road. As a pedestrian, it feels much more familiar. In areas where the cars drive on the left, I feel like I’m constantly looking over my shoulder and double checking where the cars are coming from! 😂

[aring75]

Also, for anyone interested. 
 

Today’s Spa Special 

 

 

 

Also, I’m doing the Grgich Hills wine tasting on day 12. Got a reminder advertisement with today’s planner. I will report back what I think of it. 
 

[robinsra]

Did you see taxi stand and prices for the beach?

Thanks loving your review

 

[cltnccruisers]

11 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Aruba is very easy to walk around. The downtown area has quite a few hotels, shops, and the Renaissance Hotel & Casino. Feels like a very affluent area with shops like Cartier, Prada, Bulgari, and the like. We didn’t actually go into any of these places, but they are there. 
 

Also, the cars drive on the right-hand side of the road. As a pedestrian, it feels much more familiar. In areas where the cars drive on the left, I feel like I’m constantly looking over my shoulder and double checking where the cars are coming from! 😂

Terry mentioned the Dutch influence was more affluent that in St Maarten which we really like.  Looks like fun.  Maybe I'll "accidently" leave the credit cards on the ship.  😀

[cltnccruisers]

16 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Aruba is very easy to walk around. The downtown area has quite a few hotels, shops, and the Renaissance Hotel & Casino. Feels like a very affluent area with shops like Cartier, Prada, Bulgari, and the like. We didn’t actually go into any of these places, but they are there. 
 

Also, the cars drive on the right-hand side of the road. As a pedestrian, it feels much more familiar. In areas where the cars drive on the left, I feel like I’m constantly looking over my shoulder and double checking where the cars are coming from! 😂

Slumming a little - did you notice the ever present Diamonds International?  Donna gets charms there for herself and the granddaughters.  Needs all of A, B and C.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, cltnccruisers said:

Terry mentioned the Dutch influence was more affluent that in St Maarten which we really like.  Looks like fun.  Maybe I'll "accidently" leave the credit cards on the ship.  😀

You will find Curacao to be about the same. When we were there in Aruba about 6 years ago there were many multi millions dollar yachts tied up along the pier and anchored in the harbor.

[aring75]

8 minutes ago, robinsra said:

Did you see taxi stand and prices for the beach?

Thanks loving your review

 

There’s definitely a taxi stand, but I didn’t check prices, sorry! But there are also drivers offering to give tours after you exit the terminal area as well. 
 

So far, with the exception of the mask mandate and the vaccine requirement, Aruba has felt the most “normal” of the islands we have visited.

[aring75]

5 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

Terry mentioned the Dutch influence was more affluent that in St Maarten which we really like.  Looks like fun.  Maybe I'll "accidently" leave the credit cards on the ship.  😀

Really was nice walking around town. You can definitely see Dutch influence in the architecture and street & shop names. 
 

[cltnccruisers]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

You will find Curacao to be about the same. When we were there in Aruba about 6 years ago there were many multi millions dollar yachts tied up along the pier and anchored in the harbor.

This is starting to look like we might not just be floating around after all.  😀

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, aring75 said:

There’s definitely a taxi stand, but I didn’t check prices, sorry! But there are also drivers offering to give tours after you exit the terminal area as well. 
 

So far, with the exception of the mask mandate and the vaccine requirement, Aruba has felt the most “normal” of the islands we have visited.

Are the mask mandates being enforced?  I noticed several tourists in your earlier pictures were mask less walking around?