JamieLogical's 5/29 Equinox Semi-Live Review

[lovecruzin]

Having fun reading this and your daily drinks! 
Although no Cadillac Margarita for the Nachos?

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Jamie, the linen shirts, any comments about the fit? Do they run large, run small? Are they long enough to cover those rear ares that those o er 50 want to cover 😉.I would wear one as you do, over a tank or camisole

 

I like the fit. They are long in the back and the slits go far enough up the sides to accommodate my hugely wide hips. I like that the sleeves have straps/buttons so you can roll them up to make them 3/4 length. I would say they run true to size. I could button mine all the way up if I wanted, but I keep the top two buttons undone to show my camisole underneath.

 

[MarKay525]

5 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Not likely to post a picture of myself, as I have a pretty strict policy against selfies, but here are some links to give you an idea:

Jamie - thank you so much for taking the time to post the links - you have great taste in clothes, although the pants do give me flashbacks to the 70s! Love the sandals.

I shall start working on acquiring my newest cruise uniform. Kay

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, MarKay525 said:

Jamie - thank you so much for taking the time to post the links - you have great taste in clothes, although the pants do give me flashbacks to the 70s! Love the sandals.

I shall start working on acquiring my newest cruise uniform. Kay

 

The patterns I bought them in give no 70s vibes. Not sure if they might be available from a different seller.

 

This is my favorite pair... Very cruisey:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GDZ8TDF?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

Edited May 31, 2022 by JamieLogical

[C4HCG]

Hi - who are the house band on this sailing? We did the ABC in early May on Equinox and it was a group called D Coolers who were frankly rubbish. Big part of our hols to sit and relax listening to good music which should on a Caribbean cruise be reggae / ska. This group played popular songs that they ruined by doing so in their own style making the songs almost unrecognisable.

[Jenjohncourt]

Hi Jamie! I’m on the next sailing so I’m loving all the information and pictures. 

[SerraG]

On 5/30/2022 at 3:43 PM, Bluewake said:

We also were on the May 21st cruise and among the few passengers who, like you, wore a mask in all interior areas of the ship. While the official report was a 1% infection rate as of Friday, of course, that is the rate known to the ship.  Based on the increasing number of people we encountered who were sniffling and coughing as the week passed, it wouldn't be surprising if the actual rate was higher but people hadn't reported being ill.  Did you happen to notice the line of black SUVs parked on the pier next to the ship when we disembarked? One of them brought a couple to their car which was parked near ours.  The driver was dressed head-to-toe in hospital gown, hat, shoe covers, and mask.  I assume they were allowed to drive home.  Not sure where others were taken.  For what it's worth, we didn't feel that the precautions we took detracted from our enjoyment in any significant way.

Yes, we saw the black vans and medical people in their infection control gear.   Our friends had to take a special elevator down the then and then were driven to their own car, which they were allowed to drive home. 
 

The masks were not an issue, but we did find eating outside all the time burdensome.  We missed the main dining room and actually being served in Cafe al Bacio.   The ambiance is not quite the same when you’re eating the lemon tarts off a paper napkin balanced on your lap and overlooking life boats. Lol.  

[toddmanka]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The patterns I bought them in give no 70s vibes. Not sure if they might be available from a different seller.

 

This is my favorite pair... Very cruisey:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GDZ8TDF?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

Have you heard how many  passengers are sailing . Back in March only 1300  Iam sure Celebrity trying to get the numbers back up. But the premium liquors  selection was empty  No Crown  No Woodford 

[MarKay525]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

The patterns I bought them in give no 70s vibes. Not sure if they might be available from a different seller.

This is my favorite pair... Very cruisey:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GDZ8TDF?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

Great minds think alike - this is one of the patterns I selected I went to the website. K

[haynesra]

Jamie great review as usual. Love your drinks reviews as well. Got off Solstice 2 weeks ago, first Celebrity cruise after many NCL, fell in love with Martini Bar! So what was the Strawberry Fields drink you listed? Didn't see it on my cruise. Also, I have say I really like Oceanview's pizza as well.

[SJ1_]

On 5/30/2022 at 9:33 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

I am one of the bump-out balconies on deck 7. I left a note for my room steward asking for a foot rest for my balcony and when I came in last night, I had two out there, so those aren't in the pictures.

we had the same room except on Reflection .    we get on the Celebrity

Equinox when u get off.   Ur review makes me feel we are already there!

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, toddmanka said:

Have you heard how many  passengers are sailing . Back in March only 1300  Iam sure Celebrity trying to get the numbers back up. But the premium liquors  selection was empty  No Crown  No Woodford 

 

It's not just Celebrity --  blame it on Covid -  too many people at home drinking, drank up almost the complete inventory worldwide.

 

Diageo PLC said soaring pandemic demand is depleting stocks of Crown Royal whisky, Lagavulin Scotch and Don Julio tequila. These bestselling brands can take months or years to age before hitting liquor-store shelves, making it hard to quickly increase production.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[SkystheLimit]

46 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's not just Celebrity --  blame it on Covid -  too many people at home drinking, drank up almost the complete inventory worldwide.

 

Diageo PLC said soaring pandemic demand is depleting stocks of Crown Royal whisky, Lagavulin Scotch and Don Julio tequila. These bestselling brands can take months or years to age before hitting liquor-store shelves, making it hard to quickly increase production.

Admit we might have contributed to the shortage with our pandemic choices.

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by SkystheLimit
verb

[Redking]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's not just Celebrity --  blame it on Covid -  too many people at home drinking, drank up almost the complete inventory worldwide.

 

Diageo PLC said soaring pandemic demand is depleting stocks of Crown Royal whisky, Lagavulin Scotch and Don Julio tequila. These bestselling brands can take months or years to age before hitting liquor-store shelves, making it hard to quickly increase production.

Might buy Diageo shares. Those bottles of Lagavulin and Don Julio in our drinks cabinet might be worth more than we paid for them soon 🤣

[Redking]

2 hours ago, SkystheLimit said:

Admit we might have contributed to the shortage with our pandemic choices.

 

Crisis situation with our wine supplies at the end of the last NZ lockdown.

Crisis averted by our spirit supplies.

[toddmanka]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's not just Celebrity --  blame it on Covid -  too many people at home drinking, drank up almost the complete inventory worldwide.

 

Diageo PLC said soaring pandemic demand is depleting stocks of Crown Royal whisky, Lagavulin Scotch and Don Julio tequila. These bestselling brands can take months or years to age before hitting liquor-store shelves, making it hard to quickly increase production.

No shortage at Total Wine and Spirits in Florida hundreds of cases on shelf

[Dar & Bob]

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's not just Celebrity --  blame it on Covid -  too many people at home drinking, drank up almost the complete inventory worldwide.

 

Diageo PLC said soaring pandemic demand is depleting stocks of Crown Royal whisky, Lagavulin Scotch and Don Julio tequila. These bestselling brands can take months or years to age before hitting liquor-store shelves, making it hard to quickly increase production.

We were on the Edge in April, not sure about Crown but they did have Woodford but not in Eden where they feature it in a drink and wanted to substitue Jim Beam... we said nope.  I know on the Magic carpet they had Don Julio both Blanco and Resposado.  Not sure if they just make sure certain bars like the Martini bar and the Magic Carpet had the "better" liquors. 

[JamieLogical]

23 hours ago, 39august said:

Jamie, would you verify that the Las Vegas bartender at WCB is named Isaiah, please? That is who was there May 6 and May 15. 

 

Yes, it is Isaiah in the WCB with Z this week. Honestly, not a fan. I get to WCB right at 5:00 most evenings and poor Z is there all by herself and making 4-5 drinks at a time for the initial rush. Isaiah strolls in 20-ish minutes late. This has happened all three nights of the cruise so far. I keep asking Z where her partner in crime is and she gives an exasperated "I have no idea".

[JamieLogical]

15 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Hi - who are the house band on this sailing? We did the ABC in early May on Equinox and it was a group called D Coolers who were frankly rubbish. Big part of our hols to sit and relax listening to good music which should on a Caribbean cruise be reggae / ska. This group played popular songs that they ruined by doing so in their own style making the songs almost unrecognisable.

 

D'Coolers are still onboard, but I haven't heard them play. So far I have listened to BR4 a couple of times and last night the classical duo.

[JamieLogical]

11 hours ago, haynesra said:

Jamie great review as usual. Love your drinks reviews as well. Got off Solstice 2 weeks ago, first Celebrity cruise after many NCL, fell in love with Martini Bar! So what was the Strawberry Fields drink you listed? Didn't see it on my cruise. Also, I have say I really like Oceanview's pizza as well.

 

Strawberry Fields is on the menu at the World Class Bar only. It uses egg white, which is only carried there.

[JamieLogical]

14 hours ago, toddmanka said:

Have you heard how many  passengers are sailing . Back in March only 1300  Iam sure Celebrity trying to get the numbers back up. But the premium liquors  selection was empty  No Crown  No Woodford 

 

Last night I asked Z and she said ~2500! That's a lot more than the 1019 that we onboard in January!

[vkb2751]

8 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Last night I asked Z and she said ~2500! That's a lot more than the 1019 that we onboard in January!

can you please find out how many onboard for next cruise. Thanks

[karmamule]

I think your 5/30 summary was a great encapsulation of the ideal cruise day for us. Leisurely pace, good food, tasty drinks, meeting some fun new people, and doing it all on a lovely ship with friendly staff. Heaven!

 

Our first Celebrity cruise (on the Apex next January) can't get here soon enough. 🙂

[TeeRick]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's not just Celebrity --  blame it on Covid -  too many people at home drinking, drank up almost the complete inventory worldwide.

 

Diageo PLC said soaring pandemic demand is depleting stocks of Crown Royal whisky, Lagavulin Scotch and Don Julio tequila. These bestselling brands can take months or years to age before hitting liquor-store shelves, making it hard to quickly increase production.

Now that is truly depressing!🙁

[JamieLogical]

6/1

 

The time change threw me for a bit of a loop in the morning. I woke up before my room service warning call. Thankfully my 7:00 room service came ay 6:42, so I didn't have to wait too long. With it being a sea day, I thought I would get a late start and just try the buffet for Breakfast, but it was a mob scene up there and I gauged my wait time for cooked-to-order eggs to be a good 10-15 minutes, so I decided to just go down to the MDR, because it was still before 9:00.

 

The MDR was no less mobbed. There was a light out the door. Can't say I've ever seen that at an MDR for breakfast on any cruise ship. They said they were out of tables for 1-2 people and they could only seat people willing to do a sharing table. I said I was willing, so I got to join that line, while others stood off to the side, waiting for tables to clear up.

 

There was some serious confusion about where to seat our little rag tag group. Initially there were 7 of us and they tried to seat us at a table for 6. Then we moved over to an 8-top and the the two people in the back of our group had disappeared, so we were down to 5. So then we were escorted back to our initial table. But we did eventually get seated and had a pleasant breakfast with a nice chat. There was a couple from West Palm to my left and a couple from Austin to my right. One of the guys to my right was on his first cruise ever! So that was fun to get his take on how he liked it.

 

After breakfast, I headed up to OceanView to get my mimosa to take up to the Lawn Club. Is it very bad that Komang already had a wine glass with Grand Marnier in it, chilling in the fridge, so it would be ready to go for my Grand Mimosa when I showed up? I decided it was good!

 

It was a very dreary and rainy morning (actually full day), so I pulled my chair in under the overhang and then proceeded with my lazy morning as usual. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the non-smoking side of the Lawn Club by the Sunset Bar now has a putting green with several holes cut in it. Several people braved the rain and putted balls around. It was fun listening in on them as I read.

 

I took it a little slower with my drinks in the morning. For lunch I took advantage of the fact the MDR is open on sea days. I had the Mozzarella Sticks and the Teriyaki Duck Breast. Also, because it was a sea day, the casino was open throughout the day, so I decided to pay my tithes early and get that out of the way, but the fates smiled upon me and I won almost $400! That seemed like an excellent time to call it quits, so I went up to my room to try to nap.

 

However, my husband texted me with some amazing news! The reason I have been sailing solo frequently since the restart is that I get more vacation time than my husband does. I get 5 weeks plus the week between Christmas & New Year's off. My husband only got two weeks, plus some personal time and floating Holiday that he could stretch into three weeks. He was due to earn a third week in the next fiscal year, since he would have been at his job 5 years at that point. But he got a notice that they are doing away with vacation banks for his job rank altogether! They want everyone to just maintain a good work/life balance. So no more PTO banks at all. He can just take time off as needed and as his boss approves. The manager band at his company already had this policy in place and they just decided to extend that down a level to the rank where my husband is. This means no more trying to plan vacations around Holidays to save him a vacation day and such. And it means we can now travel a day or two earlier for cruises and not be so rushed.

 

So, after my casino win and my husband's news, I wasn't very nappy. I just read my book some more and relaxed until it was time for my afternoon coffee. I headed down to Cafe al Bacio around 3:15 and there was literally not a single seat. Not even on the side across the Grand Foyer. I had to wait a bit for someone to get up and quickly snag their seat!

 

I finished my book as I was drinking my coffee, which left me embarrassingly crying in public. So I went back to my room to change for dinner, since it was Evening Chic night. Then headed down to Ensemble Lounge to chat with Abdul and enjoy some French 77's. I ended up adopting the girl that works there and Abdul is her dad no (he also adopted her), so now Abdul is my husband? My baby daddy? I'm really not sure.

 

At 5:00, I of course headed over to World Class Bar to see Z. I got to talking about our Bartesian to some of the other passengers there and I think now they owe me a commission, because one guy totally ordered one off of Amazon while we were sitting right there.

 

I didn't dilly dally too long at WCB, because it was lobster night in the MDR! For me lobster night is a big deal, not because of the lobster, but because it's the night they have Blue Cheese Soufflé!!! There was a decent line at the door again. I said I would start a sharing table. I was soon joined by three of the people I had sat with on night 1, the older couple I told you about and the woman from California. She had made a couple of friends and they sat with us as well. It was an incredibly pleasant meal. The older couple.. the wife, May.... she it just such an awesome human to talk to. She gave me a hug when she saw me! I hope I get to eat with her again at least one more time on this cruise.

 

After dinner, I was going to stop by WCB again, but it was mobbed, so I went and sat at Ensemble for a bit. It was also mobbed and I could tell my baby daddy and daughter had had a long night. They both looked tired. I then tried the Martini Bar, but again, no seats to be found. I finally got a seat at the WCB once the 9:00 show had started and a lot of people cleared out to head to the Theater.

 

I got to actually chat with Z a bit more and she seems so happy. She has met the love of her life, who also works here on the Equinox in engineering and they have moved to Athens together (he's Greek) and she is trying to learn Greek. It was good to finally get to catch up with her a bit.

 

I really wanted to stay up late enough to see Liar's Club, but I was so sleepy without my nap and with the time change, so I decided to call it an early night.

 

Day's Drinks: Grand Mimosa, Ginger Mojito, Mojito, French 77 x2, Birthday Cake Mojito, Strawberry Fields, Raspberry Fizz w/ Vodka, Rum Mule, Celebrity No. 10