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

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/17/2021 at 3:54 AM, LouChamp said:

Love your reports and pictures. You two look so happy and as Ive said before we have been blessed to have cruised the world so the port pictures while informative for others are wonderful memories for us. But nothing beats the food pictures! lol. Enjoy! 

Thank.    It is wonderful how pictures of distant places can jog our memories of special places and times.  

 

We don't have anything planned for the ABC's with the exception of a Golf Cart rental that so many had suggested we book.   Any pointers on the others would be appreciated.   We will probably arrange a private tour. 

[Jim_Iain]

Iain treated me to a little Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganin  (Somewhere in Time).   He played it for me 32 years ago the night I knew I was in love with him.  

 

 

[Mr. Boston]

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Iain treated me to a little Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganin  (Somewhere in Time).   He played it for me 32 years ago the night I knew I was in love with him.  

 

 

Definitely a keeper!

[Jim_Iain]

@h20cruzerNorma

I also asked last night and was told same price as booking in advance.    These were posted in daily for today. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, peanut head said:

Jim,

 

You mentioned in one of your earlier posts that the bold print in the Daily Planner for the days/dates is when chic night is held.  What does the bold print for activities/events indicate?

 

Found out that the Bold on the Daily Planner are activities that are recommended activities.    They often include the contest drawings,  Beyond the podium, themed parties like the  Totally 80's Party tonight 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Daily 9/18

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

The first evening can always be a bit of hit and miss.    The Luminae was a bit busy but emptied out pretty quick after we arrived at 8:40.    

 

The Luminae was or least favorite menu.   We both opted for the Prime Rib from the Main Menu.   It was perfectly cooked to our request of Medium Rare and was both tasty and tender.    The portions were HUGE and we could only eat 1/2 each.  I had the Chef B Pistachio desert -  always tasty.
 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

First up today is a tour of Penthouse 1611

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Bathroom -  Just in case we invite a guest over for a shower - LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[erikb923]

Nice bidet 😁

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:36 AM, 39august said:

Jim, would you please post the names of the concierge/hosts and bartender in the Retreat for the cruise beginning today? We board next week and would like to get used to the names in advance. 

They have all remained the same   -

 

Jonathan and Yulia are the Retreat Hosts --

Micea is the bartender

[Jim_Iain]

Port info 

 

 

 

[Laurab23]

Thank you so much for all the pictures.

 

Laura

[Jim_Iain]

18 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

Thrilled to see the Connie in Port Everglades today.  We have 11 night in the PS in November and are relieved to see that she is at least on this side of the pond.  Jim, enjoy that lovely PS.  That is the exact suite Karen and I will be sailing in for our 12 night Hawaii to Vancouver.  I have to say that we are truly spoiled by the M class PS.  I love the totally separate pantry with a full size refrigerator and a separate entrance for the butler so they never need to enter the suite.  And, as you know, nothing compares to the M class PS verandah.  That is my cruise ship version of nirvana.  Enjoy the cruise and hope you get to meet Danny and Gary from Dallas.

Trish

 

Will look forward to meeting them and hope to meet them.

 

Your cruise to Hawaii sounds wonderful.     We have done it a couple times.    We rented a car in each port and just took off.    We overnighted in Lahaina and kept the car for 2 days.   The crew who had night time shore leave were disappointed in the overnight, as almost the whole town rolled up the sidewalks at 10:00. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Wow!  The penthouse is magnificent!  Loved the video of Iain playing the piano and your comment.  😍

 

It says something on the aggravation scale that one thing that jumped out at me is not the size of your closets, not the decor of your closets, not the space in your closets, but that there is no totally aggravating bar across the middle guaranteed to wrinkle every shirt, pants, skirt or blouse that it encounters, and which is only suitable for hanging the clothes of small children.

 

Rant over.

 

Joanie

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

Jim, I don’t know if you and lain ever venture off the ship for a dinner on an overnight, but here is a link to Passions on the Beach in Aruba.  https://www.amsterdammanor.com/passions-on-the-beach

We had a large group from our Role Call do a dinner there a few years ago. It’s easy to social distance on the beach. The fact that it was on Valentines Day made it just a bit more special. Although since that is my birthday I thanked the group for attending my special day. 
 

Ed

 

Thanks ... not yet sure what we will do.     Have made note of the recommendations.    We will take it one step at a time when we see how covid protocols are handled. 

[39august]

Thanks for the names, Jim. Is the bartender's name pronounced Mi-kah, or sounded out as it is spelled, please?

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Looked at the forcast again, shows no rain now, at least they could have given us our .10 ha ha.

Darn...      Here the South East is being deluged with rain and we just want a 1/10 of an inch.   I'm watching the 6:00 AM news now.

[dani negreanu]

10 minutes ago, 39august said:

Thanks for the names, Jim. Is the bartender's name pronounced Mi-kah, or sounded out as it is spelled, please?

 

@Jim_Iain

 

I suppose Jim (not being a Romanian like me 😉) misspelled M I R C E A 's name.

 

It should sound like the Russian space station MIR and CEA like cha-cha-cha 😁

 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, funatseascott said:

We are doing the happy dance as we were upgraded to the Celebrity Suite!!  Woot woot.  We didn’t unpack earlier hoping we would get lucky.  The staff moved everything for us so all good.  Darker now so not the best pictures, but here is our CS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy to hear you got upgraded to a CS.    I've always enjoyed  the CS. 

[az4ship]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Iain treated me to a little Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganin  (Somewhere in Time).   He played it for me 32 years ago the night I knew I was in love with him.  

 

 

 

[az4ship]

How beautiful!!!!

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Um, so hearing those muster drill horns just literally gave me chills or butterflies or something emotionally overwhelming.  Now I truly feel like I am living vicariously through you.  The time before my own return to cruising can’t come soon enough now.  Might have to watch this video a few more times just for kicks and grins.  Looking forward to reading what was for dinner tonight.  Cheers gentlemen.  Oh, do either of you play?  If not maybe your retreat host can find someone to tickle the ivories.

I can't even play chopsticks but Iain studied percussion and use to play with the BBC Orchestra.   He delighted me with a special tune I posted earlier this morning.  

 

The piano is also equipped with diskettes that play for you if you choose.    I much prefer Iain's playing  as the tune he played was very meaningful to me. 

[WNcruiser]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

The first evening can always be a bit of hit and miss.    The Luminae was a bit busy but emptied out pretty quick after we arrived at 8:40.    

 

The Luminae was or least favorite menu.   We both opted for the Prime Rib from the Main Menu.   It was perfectly cooked to our request of Medium Rare and was both tasty and tender.    The portions were HUGE and we could only eat 1/2 each.  I had the Chef B Pistachio desert -  always tasty.
 

 

 

 

That is a really a disappointing menu for sure. It’s a shame you have to keep ordering off the MDR menu and children’s menu to find something you like while in a suite restaurant. We will be on Apex for 14 days and won’t have that option. I am seriously considering moving from retreat to Aqua as their menus look much more appealing on most nights. 
 

Thanks for posting the menus, it may save me some $$! 

[Stem to Stern]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Iain treated me to a little Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganin  (Somewhere in Time).   He played it for me 32 years ago the night I knew I was in love with him.  

I have no words.  Okay, two.  REMARKABLE MOMENT.

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, jemttill said:

Jim, thank you so much for all your time and effort.  We are doing our first B2B on the Equinox in December with your last itinerary.  I realize that can change, but the information you have provided regarding the ship, the testing and the Covid protocols will probably still be relevant. Following you on this cruise has been amazing and fun.  We can't wait to sail in December!  I hope your cruise continues to go smoothly!

It is rally interesting to see the dynamics of each cruise.    This 9 day cruise seems to have attract a younger and louder passenger load.    We heard that we sailed at less than 1,000.     Prior to sailing there were 100 cancellations and about 40 no shows.   I don't know the exact number but I believe the 100 cancellations brought us down to 1,000 and the now shows to 960.

 

I have seen one child on board and they were dining in Luminae last night.