Hollywood Traveler

Yes! The meat was very tender. I preferred this dish over the signature burger.

Thanks. I will follow your advice.

Oh, and one question, Lucie. Were the short ribs as good as they look in the picture?

Lucie: As always, your photography is delightful. And the information is fantastic. Now that you and Kevin, and Tom and Pete, and Sharon and Bob, and practically everyone else but us have enjoyed the suite experience, we'll finally get our first chance at it on the Reflection in a few months. Now we can't wait. Luminae looks fantastic, just as Tom and Pete have kept telling us. We can't wait.

Once again, beautiful pictures and descriptions. Looking forward to the rest.

Incidentally, I don't know if you remember this, but it was from the pre-cruise dinner for a 2013 sailing of the Equinox. Not up to your quality of photography but still a lovely couple:

Larry

Absolutely wonderful, Tom. Thank you so much for going to all the work to post these lovely memories for all of us. You did a fantastic job.

Larry

Beautiful, Tom. Absolutely beautiful. I've liked all your photos, but this one is really special. Thanks again.

Larry

Tom,

I'm loving your review and seeing all the photos! You take beautiful pictures!

The Calabaza excursions was truly the best--great day on a beautiful catamaran and wonderful people to spend the day with. Snorkeling was excellent too!

I agree, Sharon. Calabaza was one of my all-time favorite excursions. We really enjoyed it, especially the time with you and Tom and Pete and Tom. Good food, good people, good drinks, good times. Playing in the water off the boat was fun, too. Next time I'll complete that backflip.

Larry

I have a question for all of my fellow Elite travelers on this cruise.

There is a "discussion" on another thread of how many items we were allowed in each bag of laundry.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45951335#post45951335

Our coupons said 20.

What did the rest of you get?

Hi Karen, Our Elite coupon had a 20 item per bag limit as well. We each got a set of coupons so I guess you could say we had a limit of 40 items for the cruise. I don't remember if it specified if a pair of socks for example counted as one or two items. All I know it came in handy on or two week Eclipse cruise.

 

Toni

Karen, our coupons had a limit of 20 also. Always before it had been 30. Not a problem for us, but we did notice the difference.

Larry

Hi Tom

There are SOME advantages to getting old! ;)

Let's see, Karen. Advantages of getting old. After we retire we have more free time. We, uh, well, let's see. We remember old movies. We remember when candy was a nickel a bar. We remember Nickelodeons. We remember what a nickel was. We . . . uh . . . we . . . what were we talking about? :eek:

Sorry, Tom. I wasn't going to post any pictures on your review, but I couldn't resist this one of an iguana posing for our favorite photographer on Aruba.

Your pictures are lovely. Can't wait for more.

Larry

Some things we observed are beginning to make this make sense in light of what you say about the contract expiring.

All of our bartenders were making their own concoctions (which they let us try out and some were VERY good, BTW) for an upcoming "contest".

I'm wondering (and hoping!!!) that only the name may change but the concept will continue without Junior Merinos affiliation.

Wow! Great call, Karen. And you beat the "official" announcement. Maybe someday in the future we can meet at the New Molecular Bar.

The Molecular Bar is one of the things that, to us, sets Celebrity above other cruise lines. We are there every night and really love their drinks and the ambiance there.

We would be REALLY disappointed to see it disappear and would seriously have to re-think the 5 cruises we currently have booked.

What a sad direction to take "Modern Luxury". :(

I agree with you Karen. But you have to be careful about the people you meet there. :eek:

Larry

Lovely photos, Tom. Thanks again for going to so much work. It's wonderful to relive the cruise through your lens and your words.

Larry

Tom

So excited to read your review and re-live that wonderful cruise.

Hi and love to your adoptive cruise parents!!! So glad we got to meet all of you!

(I do agree with Pete that you have to make a sea day out of one of the port days near the end)

Karen, I'm fairly certain Tom and Pete's adoptive cruise parents were absolutely delighted to get to know the two of you and I'm sure they hope to meet you again on a future cruise.

Tom, as always, your photos are a delight. I love the pictures of some of the plantings around your adoptive parents' house. :D Can't wait for the islands.

To all the rest of you we met on the cruise, you all made it really special. One of the most enjoyable ever.

Larry

We have many, many friends who we now cruise with that we have met on CC and they are all many, many years older than us and its always a great time! This was our first cruise without some of them and it just wasn't the same. Still fun, but I missed their special brand of insanity. The crowd on this cruise was actually younger than most X ships we have been on so we hung out with a lot of people our own age.

Thank you, Tom, for being so polite. I know that you really wanted to say "and they are all many, many, many, many, many, many years older than us."

Seriously, again, great review. I can't believe you went to all the trouble to post so many, many, many photos. They are all beautiful.

Larry

Tom, this is a wonderful review. Thanks so much. And if you keep this up with your other cruises you'll save me lots of money. I won't have to take cruises. I can just enjoy them vicariously through your reviews.

Larry

Be careful if you fall into the water to not B8. :)

 

BINGO!

:)

So a spreadsheet walks into a bar . . . chart. ;)

**PONDERING**

I wonder who you mean when you said "someone" is going to insert a spreadsheet joke??? :D :D :D

Q: What does the spreadsheet developer use when he goes fishing?

A: B8

I think this should be the new menu.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43101899&highlight=bistro#post43101899

Thanks for the link, Bighairtexan. The new menu looks good. Hope they make it fleet-wide soon.

We did a T/A on the Equinox November 2013. The seas were very calm. Did not have any rough days. The temperature keep getting warmer as we headed

west. Spend every sea day by the pool it was great.

We were on the same Equinox TA and Ozark74 has described it perfectly. Started out cool but refreshing and just kept getting warmer. Calms seas and smooth sailing the whole way. We had a balcony on the port side and loved the sun. Also beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Exactly! So much of our life experience is based on our attitude. Have a bad attitude and watch how quickly you become miserable..have a good attitude and watch how much more pleasure and enjoyment you get out of life.

 

I come on CC sometimes to get excited and fired up about my upcoming cruise. Then I read all of the complaints and negative posts and if I didn't know better, I might be worried about enjoying my trip. But I DO know better...I know that if the ship runs out of bananas or if it takes me 5 minutes to get a drink once and awhile, I'll still have an amazing time! Because I don't look at the negative and pout about every little thing, I don't let the little things bother me. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff and if something like a scowl on a buffet worker's face or bad tasting coffee isn't small stuff, I worry how you'll handle something major in life! Who are these people who live on these message boards and complain day in and day out? Give me some of your free time, please because I don't have time in my life to be a Debbie Downer and if I did have more free time, I certainly would put it to better use!

Nicely said. I agree. And, amazingly, it's not the majority, by far, on these board who whine and complain. But there are enough to make it an unpleasant experience for the rest of us.

We were also on this cruise and would agree with Prim8keeper that the food and service were both excellent. Also agree that Silk Harvest was vastly improved. We ate there twice, and they may have been the best two meals we had. Also we were never bothered by loud music.

So glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise as we leave on her on the 21st. Are you able to tell me a bit about who you enjoyed for musicians/entertainers on this ship? Another reviewer has reported that Sean Golden left the Equinox Jan 31st and I am interested to know who may have replaced him. We especially enjoy some nice music at the Sunset Bar most evenings. Any information would be welcome. Thanks.

We were on the Jan. 31-Feb. 10 Equinox cruise and Sean Golden was still there, performing at the Sunset Bar, the Ensemble Lounge and other venues.

Is the 15% service charge covered under the promotion? If we upgraded to the premium package will we be charged 15% of the actual price or just 15% of the difference paid?

The upgrade is $11.50 per person per day. That's $10 for the upgrade plus 15% gratuity.

Loved the review. I think you deserve a big HUZZAH! from all of us.

(There. My first time. No longer a huzzah virgin.)

Tom: It was the pork belly appetizer you and Pete shared in Murano. I had a whole one to myself. Very good.