Equinox- Finally made it back to Celebrity after 3 years!!

[bEwAbG]

Jeans are ok in Blu.  Must have misunderstood or they were misspeaking.  Shorts are not.  Glad they're enforcing the dress code (though I know they relax it on the first night due to luggage concerns).

[Georgia_Peaches]

Following along. Have a wonderful time. I love embarkation day, though I don’t always entirely remember them 💁‍♀️🍷🍹🍸. 

[jean87510]

6 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

Jeans are ok in Blu.  Must have misunderstood or they were misspeaking.  Shorts are not.  Glad they're enforcing the dress code (though I know they relax it on the first night due to luggage concerns).

Hostess told me no jeans as I was wearing them.  I had a nice pair on not Wranglers.  

[jean87510]

Our cabin is all the way near the very end of the hall.  We are right near the gym which is on deck 12.  Currently Im here as I don't ever sleep well from years of a 7p-7a RN.  So here I am at 530am.  Yes, gym was unlocked!  Im good with that as I hate having to wait to use machines to lift.  Gym is typical cruise ship fare.  There is water in here plus cups!

As an aside, I have the basic wifi.  Working well this am.  

 

Edited:  There are Peloton bikes

Edited February 19, 2023 by jean87510

[OysterD]

3 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Hostess told me no jeans as I was wearing them.  I had a nice pair on not Wranglers.  

I'd try again, or ask someone else at breakfast maybe. I wore smart jeans in Blu probably 4 or 5 nights on 11 night cruise last year with no issues. 

[jean87510]

18 minutes ago, OysterD said:

I'd try again, or ask someone else at breakfast maybe. I wore smart jeans in Blu probably 4 or 5 nights on 11 night cruise last year with no issues. 

Yes, we were a little turned off from that as she said it loud so of course everyone was looking at our plebian pants.  We had a good laugh about it.

[jean87510]

Finished workout and didn't feel like eating just yet so I wandered down to Cafe Bachio on the 5th floor.  Very busy at 730am.  Had a nice Cafe Americano.

 

As an aside because Im on the 5th floor, one thing I think is really poor planning is the location of Blu but understand why.  It's on the 5th floor and quite a hike from my cabin especially with heels.  

[Lena11033]

12 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Yes, we were a little turned off from that as she said it loud so of course everyone was looking at our plebian pants.  We had a good laugh about it.

It sounds like maybe because people were complaining about others wearing shorts they went extreme with the dress code. But it does say on the website you can wear designer jeans (whatever they are, I know no rips) and a nice top. So I would try again because based on their dress code it is fine 🙂 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/onboard-dress-code

 

[countess5]

We just came off 19 days on Equinox and it was fantastic.

Make sure you go to the Sunset Bar and see Ernesto and DWI. They are outstanding.

Tell them Barbie and Kevin from the last sailing says hi! 

 

Ivas in the Tuscan grill too! 

 

Cheers! 

[dock]

Enjoying following along. 
On Equinox in the summer. 

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I booked this cruise back in July when prices weren't as high as now.  I haven't been on a Celebrity ship since January 2020.  Its been a long strange road to say the least.  I booked an AquaClass stateroom 1506.  

 

So flash forward to today.  We used Flights by Celebrity that gave us a same day flight from PHL.  Piece of cake.  Not exactly.  As we left our Uber and went to get our luggage tags, husband left phone in Uber.  I immediately started calling and finally the Uber driver answered and brought husband's phone back to airport! 

 

Our flight was supposed to land at 11ish but was delayed a bit.  We had a port check in at 11am.  Yep.  Missed it.  BUT absolutely no lines and we went right in.

 

So a new thing at least to me is the cards left on the door and the ability to drop off the carryon luggage!!  We went up to the OVC.  So now I can say the lunch had a lot of selections.  I made my giant salad a la Elaine with lots of stuff in it.  Then got myself an ice cream cone.  I ate in the back and was able to get a couple of Coke Zeros as I still have to workout and don't want to jog drunk.  😁

 

Back we went to the room to unpack our carryons and check out the room.  So now I can confirm nothing was in the room from the fitness menu.  There are binoculars, yoga mats, and umbrellas.  Bigelow products in bathroom. We changed into our swim wear and headed to the solarium as it is actually cool, uncrowded plus getting a decent signal.  We had the basic package but upgraded my husband to the premium.  Current speed of the premium is 3.8 mbps which isn't great but workable.

 

I'll try to post daily about the ship and our ports which are the ABCs and Cayman.  Any questions, please feel free and I'll try to answer.  I am not in the Retreat so can't help there.  

We just took the same cruise as you on Equinox.  But Nassau was the first stop which was a replacement for Aruba for some unexplained reason.  But we enjoyed the cruise very much overall.

[terrydtx]

We will be on the Equinox in June with our young granddaughter for her first cruise. We did the Equinox in 2021 just after she started sailing from Covid and loved the cruise.

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We just took the same cruise as you on Equinox.  But Nassau was the first stop which was a replacement for Aruba for some unexplained reason.  But we enjoyed the cruise very much overall.

Wow, Nassau exchanged for Aruba with no explanation is a horrible switch. I detest Nassau after being there so many times and love all of the ABC islands. The ABC islands and BVI are our favorite islands in the Caribbean.

Edited February 19, 2023 by terrydtx

[jean87510]

Decided to just go to OVC as wanted a grab and go plus was looking for special K which unfortunately there was none.  Not that crowded at 830am on a sea day.  

 

Went over around 10am to try archery.  Folks, this is a lot of fun and all ages over 18 were in my group.  Not complicated at all.  Then walked over to the Hot Glass class up on 15.  This also had about 20 people watching.  The Alcoves are up there as well.  We have used OBC and rented pre cruise for a sea day.  Why?  Well at 1030, the pool area is mobbed.  We have our own pool at home and just don't enjoy swimming with that many people.  We like to have quiet and be near a bar and have reasonable shade.  So I figured I'd check out the area.  

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Wow, Nassau exchanged for Aruba with no explanation is a horrible switch. I detest Nassau after being there so many times and love all of the ABC islands. The ABC islands and BVI are our favorite islands in the Caribbean.

ours as well.  We try to avoid cruises with Nassau or Coco Cay.  

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Wow, Nassau exchanged for Aruba with no explanation is a horrible switch. I detest Nassau after being there so many times and love all of the ABC islands. The ABC islands and BVI are our favorite islands in the Caribbean.

Agree.  We should have stayed on the ship on Nassau day.

[TeeRick]

15 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

ours as well.  We try to avoid cruises with Nassau or Coco Cay.  

Our favorite stop was Bonaire.

[terrydtx]

26 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Agree.  We should have stayed on the ship on Nassau day.

In August 2021 on the Equinox, we had no choice but to stay on the ship in Nassau. The day before we arrived, Nassau went to a Covid policy that only passengers with SHIP sponsored excursion could get off the ship. We had a private tour booked that we had to cancel that day. We were also the first cruise ship allowed to stop in Bonaire post Covid. We were not sure Aruba was going to let us dock until the week before the cruise. That was the only port we had to show our proof of vaccination to the customs people.

[swsf99a]

We will be boarding the Equinox when you depart on February 27th.  Our  10 day cruise goes eastern.  Tell them to keep the bars well stocked!! Is the Martini Bar busy? Following your review,  so…..

Have a great time on your sailing!

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

Well at 1030, the pool area is mobbed.  We have our own pool at home and just don't enjoy swimming with that many people.  We like to have quiet and be near a bar and have reasonable shade.  So I figured I'd check out the area.  

We stopped using cruise ship pools years ago after finding a well soiled baby swim diaper floating on the bottom of the pool. That was on our one and done Royal cruise. Also fighting off the chair hogs is another losing effort. My skin doctor is making too much from me every time I spend too much time in the sun as well.😁

Edited February 19, 2023 by terrydtx

[Georgia_Peaches]

57 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Our favorite stop was Bonaire.

Ours too!

[micday3]

Thanks for the review!!

We will be on the Equinox in late May heading to the ABC islands.  First time on Celebrity and first to the ABC islands so we are very excited.  We cruised on 5 other lines so looking forward to finding the one that fits us.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Our favorite stop was Bonaire.

I’ll be there for the first time next month. We’re renting a golf cart and exploring. Tips are welcome if you have any. 

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

I’ll be there for the first time next month. We’re renting a golf cart and exploring. Tips are welcome if you have any. 

Will you be there for a cruise stop?  Or longer?  It is actually a pretty natural and undeveloped paradise in many areas.  I think the population is just over 20,000 people.  The major activity for tourism is diving/snorkling.

[RichYak]

16 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Will you be there for a cruise stop?  Or longer?  It is actually a pretty natural and undeveloped paradise in many areas.  I think the population is just over 20,000 people.  The major activity for tourism is diving/snorkling.

Cruise stop on Millennium.