LIVE 47 Days 3 Ships Caribbean Escape January 30th - March 20th!

[countess5]

5 hours ago, swigso said:

We love Sarasota 

 

We have looked there too, but I hear for guaranteed warm weather you have to be at Ft Myers or lower. Based on this year the cold went to Key West earlier. 

 

Cheers! 

[vickykay]

We felt the same.  Sarasota too far north.   We’re in North Naples and love the area and Bonita Springs.  Close to so much.

[clochette]

you are inspiring me this is exactly what i want to do when we retire.  can't wait to follow along

[countess5]

1 minute ago, clochette said:

you are inspiring me this is exactly what i want to do when we retire.  can't wait to follow along

I hope my reporting over the weeks ahead motivates you even more. As I had shared we did this last winter and it motivated us to do it again. 

 

Cheers! 

[countess5]

Pre-Cruise

 

Final day before departure to Ft Lauderdale. Time to make sure all the documents are pulled together, including that all important Passport! Reading another thread where they were left behind but thank goodness their son was able to get them to them in time. I'm sure your reading the same thread. Anyway, all docs are together and have checked into our flight.

 

Here's a question, paper or no paper for your boarding pass? I'm in the camp of paper. I have had so many times when the person in front of us can't pull it up on the phone and you see panic set in. I'm into tech ( some are laughing now since this really isn't that much of a tech thing), not as deep as some, but I just have to have that piece of paper in my hands! 🙄

That also goes for having my Xpress Pass printed out. 

 

Anyway, we don't have the usual animal pics to share of what we are leaving behind. You know, that picture of the cat or dog that has the look of "I know you are leaving me behind"! 🐕  We have never had any dogs, cats, birds or fish. For that matter we never had children. So it's just a house we leave behind. That's easy because we live in a 55+ community where the outside, when you get home, looks like it did when you left. 

We have some great friends to check in on our home while we are gone. We had a fantastic last night dinner with them at a local Italian Restaurant. 

 

Well, early morning tomorrow. Car service picks us up at 7:30 AM. We have to get to that hotel for the Eagles game! 🦅

 

Safe travels to those that are traveling.

 

Cheers! 

[MamaFej]

@countess5, although we have digital files of  everything , including our budget spreadsheet and trip calendar, I tend to print more than I need to. 

I justify it to myself by later using the back of the paper as score sheets for Scrabble, Qwirkle, and cribbage, which we play a lot of when on our 2-3 month trips.

I have a home made Scrabble set that furs into an airline amenities kit bag and we don’t travel with a cribbage board, scoring on paper works fine for us. 

[mac_tlc]

Please, don’t forget the passports 😜😜😜.

 

mac_tlc

[countess5]

Fly Day!!!!

 

Oh, Fly Eagles Fly! For those not familiar with the Philadelphia Eagles that is the beginning of our teams song! Sung every time there is a touchdown! 🦅

 

The airport is very quiet this morning but I would say 90% of the people here are wearing some kind of Eagle garb. 

 

Getting here two hours early flying through TSA gives us a lot of time to sit and wait. 

 

Check back in when we land and get to the hotel,

 

Cheers! 

[Spif Barwunkel]

Checking in on your fly day, countess. Smooth air for your quick flight to FLL. How high the Eagles fly will be determined later today, and I know that you are excited for that.

 

We cruised the same itinerary on Equinox in December last year, only difference was Barbados in place of Granada. Having stayed for a week on all of these islands many years ago, except Martinique, we were anxious to see them again. I would think that in all of your Caribbean travels you have probably visited these ports as well.

 

Eagles gotta be careful of Purdy/Kittle, could be a dangerous tandem, like Brady/Gronkowski or Mahomes/Kelce. Enjoy the games.      

Edited January 29, 2023 by Spif Barwunkel

[horseymike]

Hope you have an excellent time on your cruise / sojourn.

Looking forward to your updates, safe and happy travels 👍🍀

[countess5]

3 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Checking in on your fly day, countess. Smooth air for your quick flight to FLL. How high the Eagles fly will be determined later today, and I know that you are excited for that.

 

We cruised the same itinerary on Equinox in December last year, only difference was Barbados in place of Granada. Having stayed for a week on all of these islands many years ago, except Martinique, we were anxious to see them again. I would think that in all of your Caribbean travels you have probably visited these ports as well.

 

Eagles gotta be careful of Purdy/Kittle, could be a dangerous tandem, like Brady/Gronkowski or Mahomes/Kelce. Enjoy the games.      

Thanks for the well wishes! We have arrived in Ft Lauderdale. I love your Florida weather! Game is going to be tough. Let’s see how the rookie holds up with our rush.🤔

We haven’t been to Grenada in about 30 years, have a nice tour set up so should be fun. I really like Barbados and a particular catamaran company there.

 

Cheers!  

 

Cheers! 

 

[countess5]

Made it to Ft Lauderdale! Sunny and 79 degrees. 

 

Got to the hotel at 2 and guess what….room isn’t ready so we are sitting at the bar with the game on. I guess we will start here and then work our way eventually to the room. 

 

 

As a side bar,  the flight was great and timely however we flew with a family of 6, when I say flew with them it was like we were in their living room. Flew First class and Dad decided to bring the whole family into First Class. 4 kids, say 8,6,4 and an infant. Running. The 6 and 8 year olds sat in front of us and the rest were two rows back. first Class at 6 and 8, Nice! Anyway had the ear buds in and watched a movie on the IPad. Helps but the action going on back and forth was ridiculous. You can judge, that’s fine but it just blows my mine how parents think it’s their world and we are invited to live in it.   Ok rant is over.

 

Had to settle down with one of my favorites.

 

Relax mode kicking in, game on soon so until a bit later, if you are watching the game…… Go BIRDS! 🦅

 

Cheers! 

 

 

[MamaFej]

22 minutes ago, countess5 said:

 

Relax mode kicking in, game on soon so until a bit later, if you are watching the game…… Go BIRDS! 🦅

 

Cheers! 

 

 

Pretty darn exciting so far.

[countess5]

15 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Pretty darn exciting so far.

The Rookie has an issue. 
he’s out! 
 

Cheers! 

[Elainemh]

Super Bowl here we come.

Fly Eagles Fly

Edited January 29, 2023 by Elainemh

[MamaFej]

Congratulations, Eagles and fans!

[maggieq]

On 1/19/2023 at 2:30 PM, countess5 said:

OK, (sigh) let’s do this!

 

I say with a sigh because I have followed Live threads and I know they are a commitment. With that said however, I have been the beneficiary of many live threads that I enjoyed while not cruising and learning many things through them. They have gotten me through winter months when I was working and for that I say Thank You.

 

I also will give a huge shout out to those that have taken the time to take us on their individual adventures. You know the cast of characters………. Jim, Charla, (wink wink) to name just two of the big hitters! 

 

This will be a sharing of 47 days 3 ships sailing B2B side by side or whatever you want to call it. We start on Equinox for 19 days move to Beyond for 14 and then finish with Reflection ( I know one that is near and dear to some of us deep down) for 14 days. We will throw in there a prior nights stay before boarding Equinox and a one night stay on land between Equinox and Beyond ending with a nights stay the last debarkation day on Reflection, so a total of 50 nights. How we got here I will share a little later.  

 

Who will you be following? We are Kevin and Barbie from Pennsylvania, that end of the state where we say Go E A G L E S! Just a side note, big game this weekend. We are in our mid to later 60’s retired, actually 5 years ago on the same date as this up coming January 30th cruise. I walked out of the building in 2018 and flew to Ft Lauderdale the next day for a B2B on RCCL.. For those sports fans following, that’s the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl and we were on the back of Harmony of the Seas to watch it all happen, I digress….sorry. Anyway after our first B2B we said no more 7 day cruises. 

 

2019 we flew to Australia for a New Zealand/ South Pacific cruise. Between the two cruises we spent 10 days driving from Sydney to Melbourne flying back up to Sydney to board the South Pacific cruise. 2020 was another B2B on Equinox and then the “C” word showed up! All shut down for 2021 and learned during that winter we have to be somewhere warm!

Sooooo, in the Spring of 2021 we started looking in Florida for a place to rent for the winter of 2022. Friends and neighbors have homes down there so we flew down and searched. No luck, not for what we were looking for. 

 

That brings us to how did we get here. Winter 2022. We love cruising and you can see by my signature we have cruised a bit. We started talking about how we loved cruising and that the ships give us, accommodations, restaurants, bars, entertainment, warm weather, ever changing scenery, pools, someone else cooking and cleaning. What could be so bad?! Bingo, 49 nights 3 ships on Reflection, Apex and Silhouette. Challenge, that “C” word was still going on with a lot, I mean a lot of testing being involved. Jim, you know what I mean. We were tested before we left and then at the end of every week we were tested. If positive, well that was it. I have to say the stress at the end of each week was a bit overwhelming, but we passed every time. Every ship had there own way of notifying you. Some better than others. 

 

Friends of ours that we cruised on the Equinox with in 2020 from England surprised us and joined us for the last 21 days. A 10 day then 11 day on Silhouette. Short story after 10 days he had the “C” word and then 5 days letter she also got the “C” word. Isolation for them and that was sad. How we never got it, we still wonder today and as of today never have had it. Ok, did I just jinks myself? 

 

So with that I set the stage for what I hope to be a fun and informative Live. More details on what I will be sharing, accommodations ( let’s say for 47 nights no suites will be in the picture!) dining and other notes.

 

Cheers! 

Have a wonderful cruise(s).    We were on the back of allure for that same super bowl in 2018.  Very cool to watch in the aqua theatre.  

[bjahil47]

Have a wonderful cruise(s)!  Looking forward to your commentary!  

[countess5]

Morning on Embarkation Day!

 

First,  Eagles win! Wow off to the Super Bowl. A lot of texting with friends last night! The team stepped up and gave us a great result. Now onto playing Kansas City, would have loved to play the Bengals. 🦅

 

So we are up and having breakfast. I want to give a positive report on Embassy Suites. After reading what people were posting I almost changed our location. I am glad we didn’t. The staff is so friendly and the hotel is in good shape. Look it’s not the Ritz but for what it offers it works. We had great sandwiches ( Not that hungry) last night and a great breakfast offering this morning which is included with your stay. There was muffins, eggs, bacon, hash browns, cereal, coffee, juice and more I am sure that they were cooking that I didn’t see. They also offer a Happy Hour “open Bar” from 5-6:30. We didn’t attend because of the game, but you are given two tickets each for drinks. What I remembered from last time not top shelf liquors but come on what other place gives out free booze! 🍸

 

I can see the Equinox sitting in port from our balcony. The buzz downstairs at breakfast was fantastic. I am sure the majority are heading to a ship. 

 

Boarding at 11 AM. I’m sure it will be smooth. Note to come as the day moves on.

 

Cheers! 

[countess5]

First Day

 

Morning to all from just outside of the Bahamas! It’s a beautiful morning having breakfast n the balcony.

 

 

The current temp is 

 

I did an internet speed test on the balcony where I am sitting. I have Premium internet and they are using Starlink.

 

When we boarded yesterday the internet was pretty slow with everyone signing on but this morning it looks a lot better.

 

So embarkation was very easy, we showed up at our 11 AM assigned time only to sit in section 7 for a half hour before being allowed on the ship. We mad a bee line to Murano so we could set up our dining for the coming nights. All worked out great.

 

 

Once we concluded that challenge we dropped off our carry on, loaded the safe and made our way to the Martine bar to meet our friends for drinks and sail away. As I had shared we did 48 nights last year about the same time and with covid being around the ships were pretty empty. Well this year everyone is back! It was packed however we were able to grab chairs and a small table. Ernesto kept the drinks coming and eventually we were off. 

 

I have to say with covid and flu season still around, I could not believe how people packed into the elevators. Way too close for us so we just waited. A little tip I am sure most know, use the forward elevators. That is where our cabin is so the crowds are not as bad using them. 

 

Dinner was in Tuscan Grill last night with great service and wine that kept coming. Followed our dinner up with a show. Entertainment was Shamrock Tenors who did a nice job signing the Irish songs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[countess5]

Well I must of hit submit reply and not the “choose files” link. Here is a bit of the Tenors. 

 

 After that it was off to bed!

 

For those that are still questioning room service charges. The door Hager you place outside at night has it pretty well spelt out as to what you pay for.

 

Today it’s playing cards and relaxing. Something that is a little disappointing is that at the sunset bar there are no tables that can be used to play cards. All ships last year did. Equinox has little cocktail tables so we will be on the back of the ocean view cafe to play.

Another observation i will share also is that on the Silhouette they took out the grass and replaced it with seating. I really did like that since it opened the area up more. Equinox hasn’t gone through the full revitalization I guess because there is still the grass however they placed holes with flags for putting. doesn’t work. 

 

I’ll leave you for now with my current view. We are two days at sea on our way to St Kitts.

 

 

Cheers! 

 

 

 

[Norwaylady]

Great to follow!

Enjoy your day at sea😎 Im getting ready to leave the office..... 

[spammie]

Wow! So happy to have found your live thread!  This will help pass some of the time while we wait for our Apex cruise in April and for "our" Eagles to kick the "Chiefs a** at the Super Bowl!  We live in Delaware County!  E A G L E S - Eagles!!! 

[catgirl411]

So nice to find another “live from” with a positive tone! There are so many negative complainers on CC these days, particularly on The Celebrity boards.  Now i’m remembering why we love cruising! As I’ve said before, not everything is perfect on every cruise but in our experience there are always more positives than negatives!  Thanks for doing this…look forward to your future posts. And go Eagles (from  a very sad Bills fan)!

[brzymom]

I'll be following you closely on this cruise, and joining you on the next leg!! 

 

Enjoying your posts immensely. 

 

Not really a football fan, but since my DDIL is from PA, not far from Philly, we are def rooting for the Eagles!!