NaplesBeachBum

I'm with you on the music. We enjoy guitarists at the Sunset bar or strings in al Bacio in the afternoon, the guitarists, jazz, strings and duos in Ensemble Lounge or RendezVous in the evening and house bands in the Sky Lounge or the Atrium later at night.

 

I'm sure we won't be there at night for the wild discovery in the Club, except to check it out to see what it is about. I am intrigued, love to people watch and I have to do the research for my CC review. :D

Looking forward to reading your review. I've got a back-to-back booked in April 2019 and all this talk about Andromeda and wild discovery at the Club has got me intrigued as well.

I agree that this would be a serious design fail! I’m usually out on the veranda long before DH wakes. I slip behind the drapes to the veranda to avoid awakening him, which would be impossible with the design you describe. UPDATE: DH says he’s not bothered, so I guess we’ll chill and wait for the initial reviews in December....

DH is the early riser in THIS family. and I agree, it would not really bother me. If it woke me up, I simply would turn over and pull the blanket over my head. So yes, will chill and wait for the first reviews to come out.

Thanks for the quick reply. Mine says they are not leaving port until 6pm, so I"m worried that they won't let us onboard before the boarding time of 2pm. You left at 4, so maybe 1 pm might be ok for us to get on.

From looking at your previous posts, I notice you're on the Apr 24 Jazz Cruise as my husband and I are. What's different about this cruise is that the Equinox will be letting off it's passengers in Ft Lauderdale and they all have to clear customs before the ship proceeds to the Port of Miami. Which is why they've told people that boarding time wont be before 2 pm. Boarding time will depend on when the Equinox docks in Miami. We're still planning on getting there before 2 though.

On this cruise as well. According to the New Orleans port schedule here: http://corelserver1.portno.com:8082/cruisemain.htm, the Equinox will be docking at Port Julia. You may have to resubmit the info for April 2017 at the top to see our ship's schedule.

Thank you. That makes me feel better. I was hoping it would port at Julia Street.

DH and I are booked on the April 24th Equinox cruise. At first I was excited about getting tickets and going to the jazz festival however after finding out the price of tickets is about $80 per person, the venue is tents in an open field and the weather has traditionally been rainy, we plan to just tour the city and enjoy the restaurants and jazz clubs. Does anyone know if the ship will dock at Julia Street?

Can anyone tell me the current red being served? Has it improved in the last year?

New to Celebrity. Just turned Platinum on Royal, so was issued a "Captain's Club" number when booking a 14 day Southern on the Eclipse. Can anyone tell me what the Captain's Club cocktail hour is. Is it a daily happy hour or a Welcome Back type one night event?

Thanks again for the responses! My kids will be farmed off to grandparents, who I trust 10000% with making sure they are well taken care of. It's just a bit of the mommy guilt and my fear that the first time we actually try to take a vacation, that's when something will happen. Obviously it's a quicker flight back to them from the Caribbean than Europe. But mainly, it's just me being paranoid, lol. Not that it will stop from enjoying my vacation while I'm on it.

 

I really want to be able to experience Europe when I'm there, so if a cruise is not really going to give me that, then I will save that for a later time.

 

I see that there seems to be a mix of opinions on which is better, eastern or western Caribbean. Can anyone give me specifics as to why you feel one is better than the other? I was leaning more towards eastern, but a lot of you have said you loved western. (I realize in the grand scheme of things, I will have fun regardless because it's a cruise and I get to go on vacation with the hubs.)

 

My husband is NOT a beach guy. We will spend zero time lounging by a pool or on the beach. (It's sad for me because I LOVE the beach!) So we need options for excursions that are a bit more active. Is one itinerary better than the other for that? (Sidenote: he just got a gopro and is itching to use it for something cool, lol)

Eastern is more sophisticated, Americanized if you will. Western is more historical (and water sports oriented). But it's really a mix of both. We did Mayan ruins on our first Western and city shopping on our second. Check out the Port of call forums and pick what interests you.

My vote goes for doing Eastern Caribbean on FOS. Then you'll be hooked and want to do Western...then Southern. Save Europe for a land vacation.

Can't say anything about the walking tour but DH and I did take the trolley tour this April (2015). You book the tour INSIDE the gates but it goes on a nice little tour of the area outside the gates. Nothing to be afraid of. You WILL see poverty and there will be vendors outside the Church they stop at and let you walk around. It's a fun thing to do the first time in Falmouth.

Hi. Checking in. Can't wait to read more about our trip. Sorry we didn't run across each other while on the ship.

Hi! Subscribing. I was on this trip and part of the roll call.

You have to get it off us on the 19th Sailing first [emoji3]

and I'm the lucky one to be on both those sailings. OP, beautiful photo of the flowers. Can't wait to see the ship photos.

Love these photos. Will be in an aft balcony on the Freedom next April.:)

I booked over the phone, and the rep certainly made it sound like I didn't have a choice. I didn't mind--I wanted MTD--but that seems a tish bit dishonest to tell a customer they can't book early or late seating when there is availability.

 

 

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I booked in August, using a TA and asked for early seating main dining and was told it was not an option - could not even be wait listed and was offered MTD. OK, not what I wanted but that works. Guess we'll have to wait until after January to find out the real story.