Jim_Iain - 9/5 and 9/17 Equinox B2B - Come along for a Live Blog

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just talked with Butler -   his English is good but I dont' think he always fully understands me and said of course.   Just tell the shoreside concierge.    Then wanted to bring me some engraved PJ's. 

 

Thanks for checking.

[Jim_Iain]

9 minutes ago, 19pamela68 said:

This is Tuesday's correct?  Can you please take pictures of Monday's, unless you did and I didn't see it.  Thank you very much!  I really do appreciate it!  

Sure..  I thought I had posted it. 
 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[fstuff1]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Agree ---  Especially now.   The  crew seem to be bending over backward to accommodate any and all requests.    They are so excited to be back and just want to please and keep cruising going. 

 

I always believe in  asking and  the worse they could say is I'm sorry there aren't any available.

It helps that there's more crew than passengers on this cruise, instead of the normal 1crew per 2 pax

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by fstuff1

[Beba-Beba]

2 hours ago, MartinsCruise said:

Our first sailing was on the Galaxy which started our love of cruising.  

 

1 hour ago, rucrazy said:

Ours was the Century.. loved that ship!

 

[Altamar]

On our July 25 equinox cruise some days quasar was used for COVID testing 

[sunsetme]

Jim

any chance you can post some stuff for us paeans in lower classes such as the buffet, anytime seating (Is it crowded), the pool area on sea days, the casino, etc.

[Beba-Beba]

4 hours ago, MartinsCruise said:

Our first sailing was on the Galaxy which started our love of cruising.  

 

3 hours ago, rucrazy said:

Ours was the Century.. loved that ship!

My first was the Greek Line SS Nea Hellas in 1953.  My first with a Chandris/Celebrity ship was a cruise n stay on Chandris SS Bon Vivant in 1976 and I am still loyal.  But Celebrity will only give me credit for cruises after the Century in 1996.

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Beba-Beba

[TommyD3]

57 minutes ago, sunsetme said:

Jim

any chance you can post some stuff for us paeans in lower classes such as the buffet, anytime seating (Is it crowded), the pool area on sea days, the casino, etc.

We were onboard the first two weeks of August. Had early seating dinner in the MDR. Posted time was 5:30. People would drift in until about 6:30. At that point about half the dining room was filled. The problem was they had a limited number of waiters. Our waiter most nights had 18-20 guests to wait on. Service was no better than pre pandemic.

Buffet was normally not too crowded except when they first opened for lunch (12:00) on sea days.

[goofysmom99]

13 minutes ago, Beba-Beba said:

 But Celebrity will only give me credit for cruises after the Century in 1996.

 

I always save my seapass as my cruise souvenir.  Because I had it, when I first joined the captains club, I was able to email a picture of my 1993 Zenith seapass and, surprisingly, they accepted/counted it.  

[Oville]

38 minutes ago, TommyD3 said:

We were onboard the first two weeks of August. Had early seating dinner in the MDR. Posted time was 5:30. People would drift in until about 6:30. At that point about half the dining room was filled. The problem was they had a limited number of waiters. Our waiter most nights had 18-20 guests to wait on. Service was no better than pre pandemic.

Buffet was normally not too crowded except when they first opened for lunch (12:00) on sea days.

Any good news you can post about your cruise?  Sounds like it isn’t fun unless you are in suite or maybe AQ.  Looking forward to your response.

[Purplsmurf]

Hey Jim!

 

Just saw your post and powered through it. So glad you are back on board. We were supposed to sail with you last March and was looking forward to meeting you. We also didn’t find out it was cancelled until we arrived to Ft Lauderdale. My daughter and her fiancé were there in the morning and I flew in from Aruba. My husband was in the air on his way from Chicago when it was cancelled. My daughter was supposed to get engaged on the cruise, but ended up getting engaged on the beach in Florida. She gets married next Saturday! Our next cruise is in December…..if the Reflection ever gets going again…and then out of Southampton in May. MAYBE our cruises will cross again. Enjoy yours! I’m sure you will!

[CTSandy]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I miss Zenith and Mercury.     They were lovely ships.     The service was impeccable and if you went to the restroom they would pickup you napkin and replace it with a new one crisply folded. 

They do that on Equinox in Murano.  We had dinner there last week and my nephew left for the restroom and they promptly replaced his napkin.

[Beba-Beba]

47 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I always save my seapass as my cruise souvenir.  Because I had it, when I first joined the captains club, I was able to email a picture of my 1993 Zenith seapass and, surprisingly, they accepted/counted it.  

I have enough "proof" but Celebrity told me something about it having to do with the inception date the reward/loyalty program and the acquisition date of Chandris Cruises.  The reality is I will never get beyond elite plus.   A few more points will not help so I gave up.

 

Have you recovered from your quarantine ordeal?  You handled it so much better than I would have.

 

Mary

Edited September 8, 2021 by Beba-Beba

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, goofysmom99 said:

I always save my seapass as my cruise souvenir.  Because I had it, when I first joined the captains club, I was able to email a picture of my 1993 Zenith seapass and, surprisingly, they accepted/counted it.  

That’s how we got our extra CC points, photos of sea passes from Zenith and Horizon, 1993 and 1995.

[Oville]

27 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

That’s how we got our extra CC points, photos of sea passes from Zenith and Horizon, 1993 and 1995.

Glad Jim and Iain are having a great cruise.  Always love to read Jim’s take on their adventures. Certainly sounds like the Royal Suite crew are treating them well.

[TravelBluebird]

2 hours ago, sunsetme said:

any chance you can post some stuff for us paeans in lower classes such as the buffet, anytime seating (Is it crowded), the pool area on sea days, the casino, etc.

 

Hi; I’ll be on the Equinox on 9/17 for the ABC cruise, and intend to “live blog” here on CC.  This will be from the perspective of a first-time Celebrity cruiser in Aqua Balcony; will definitely be covering buffet, pool, casino, activities, entertainment, etc. Won’t be too helpful for anytime dining in MDR though because I’ll have most dinners in Blu.

 

This, of course, will be dependent on getting negative COVID tests and decent Wi Fi!

[h20cruzer]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thé tree looks a little sparse..

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, h20cruzer said:

Thé tree looks a little sparse..

Maybe it’s going the same way as the one on Silhouette, that was replaced at the Revolution in 2020.

[TommyD3]

7 hours ago, Oville said:

Any good news you can post about your cruise?  Sounds like it isn’t fun unless you are in suite or maybe AQ.  Looking forward to your response.

Cafe Al Bacio was great !!! Never a problem finding a seat. Same server always came by quickly and gave great service !!!! Less passengers onboard made a huge difference !!!

[Silkroad]

10 hours ago, sunsetme said:

Jim

any chance you can post some stuff for us paeans in lower classes such as the buffet, anytime seating (Is it crowded), the pool area on sea days, the casino, etc.

For MDR and OVC reviews, you may enjoy the very recent Equinox August 15 live review by @aring75

[Jim_Iain]

Last night was our first night.   Many dressed up and about 6 in Tux in Luminae.  
 

 

Chocolate near the front foyer

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered the Lobster Salad above and Iain had the  Chicken Liver Pate from the Main Dining Menu.

 

Knowing we are on  a B2B our server, Maria from Mauritius, leaves both menus with us every night.   

For our Main course we both had Rack of Lamb off of the Main Dining Menu .    For desert I had the Apple Crumble from Main Menu and Iain had a double Bailey's.

 

One has to watch what they ask for.     I had asked our server at lunch about the pallet cleanser that Abby wanted to know about --- so of course she served  us a pallet cleanser.  

Edited September 8, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Captains Club rose for first night and the special tote bag which we will leave behind.  I think we have a box full of them at home. 
 

 

[cheeseheads4ever]

Hi Jim,

Following along here from Florida. Not sure anyone asked this but was wondering what your feeling is on the Revolutionized Equinox. I understand that Equinox has not been completely upgraded. How does the ship look compared to completely revolutionized ships.

Just curious because we are in a suite January 2023. I know a ways out but something to look forward to.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Jim_Iain]

Arrived St Croix at 7:00 am to a beautiful day. 
 

 

 

look at the PAX streaming ashore

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, Altamar said:

On our July 25 equinox cruise some days quasar was used for COVID testing 

Interesting I will let you know where  we have it done.    I'll have to check on how many are B2B.   There are lots of us for sure.