kwis29

We just boarded the Beyond. Our Magic Carpet Sky Suite has 2 loungers on the balcony, along with the typical small table and chairs.

On the Equinox, we were kept awake one night by vibrations that happened every 15 minutes. It was like a jolting vibration that woke us up every time it happened throughout the night. Difficult to explain, but we got no sleep. I am light sleeper. My husband is not, but he was woken up by it too. It was just one of the nights. No other vibrations were noticed.

I am glad to see Celebrity returning to Labadee. It was always one of my favorite ports since it served as the "private island" experience. Over the past several years, I wondered why Celebrity stopped going there.

I am also a loyal Celebrity customer who cruised with Princess this summer to Alaska. I agree with your comparison. Most aspects of the cruise with with Princees were just OK or medicore or in some cases not good. The only thing I really liked better was the set-up of the closet in the stateroom, and the fitness center was never busy. I would not return to Princess. No cruise line is perfect, but Celebrity is doing a better job and will keep my business going forward.

1 hour ago, Random Cruizer said:

So just to be clear, if I had covid in June, I don't even need a new test for my cruise Saturday?  I had a positive test back then--I just need proof of that, and a COR from the doctor, and I'm good to go this weekend?

Correct. I had Covid in June. No need for a new test for my cruise in July.

3) Tortola: morning view from our balcony. Breathtaking!

2) Nighttime view of the wake from our balcony

Some videos now that I have a real internet connection. We'll see if they work.

1) St. Maarten catamaran excursion. Stopped at Maho Beach to see some planes. 

Just returned yesterday from our cruise. Same experience as LeafsFanNL. No need for a pre-cruise test. No problems with COR at check-in.

Time to catch up now that we are home from a longer than expected day of travel. Quick note on internet speed: now that I am at home, it is no longer painfully slow to upload to Cruise Critic. What a difference!

Saturday: Nassau, Bahamas 

We had zero plans, so we slept in and mixed up our morning routine. We didn't leave our room until 9:30. That is very late for us. Our stateroom attendant was surprised to see us leave so late! He was amazing by the way. A bit shout out to Jason!

Breakfast first today, then a leisurely coffee. I think we might have gotten too much sleep, and I just couldn't wake up. Maybe a trip to the gym would help? DH disagreed so he stayed behind to watch the news and check work emails. 

I headed off for what ended up being my best workout of the trip. As I started running on the treadmill, we were pulling into Nassau right next to the Disney Wish. What a beautiful, new ship! The best part was passing by all the balconies and seeing the little kids wave. The guy running on the treadmill next to me and I had a great time. We were just laughing and running and waving and smiling for a solid 10 minutes. It was, for lack of a better phrase, some "Disney magic."

yes, I took these pictures while I was running- do not try this at home

I definitely felt energized after that, so DH and I broke our rule of staying on the ship in Nassau. It is our least favorite port, and we usually spend the day by pool. Instead- we walked around the port, got hot and sweaty, annoyed by all the people (3 ships in port, the most of the entire trip), and then returned to the ship. We should have just followed our rule! 

Time to pack, and DH had the best idea all day when he suggested that I grab a glass of Rosé to make the packing more enjoyable. 😀 

After an hour of packing, we went down to the pool deck and spent a lovely late afternoon by the pool. It wasn't crowded, so I was able to hang out in and around the pool and just savor our last hours of the Caribbean sunshine.

As we were getting ready for dinner, the Disney Wish was leaving. We had a perfect view from our balcony, so DH and I both went out to wave at all the kids again. It was so cute as they yelled "bye!" and "see you later" to us. Smiles all around again. 

the view from our balcony

Final night of a drink at the Martini Bar, dinner and then the show in the main theatre. Tonight it was a quartet of male singers who performed mash-ups of classic and new songs.

We only stayed for a few songs and then went to the casino. DH had some OBC left to spend, and he converted it to promotional chips. I spent some OBC at the shops. I was surprised by the lack of Celebrity merchandise. And any Equinox merch was outdated as evidenced by the ship being white as opposed to the newer paint job. After some losses at the Blackjack table and slots, we turned in for the night.

Sunday: Time to leave!

The final perk of Retreat guests is to have a nice quiet morning in the Retreat Lounge and then be personally escorted off the ship. We had a coffee and a croissant and some fruit and waited as long as we could since our flight didn't leave until 12:30.

There was a "secret" door and passage that led right out to the deck for departures. Connor escorted us to the front of the line (literally stopped the line of guests for us to cut in!) for one last beep of the sea pass. What a pleasant end to the cruise!

the secret door to Narnia (and also to leave the ship)

Our bags were waiting for us in the Retreat/Zenith area. Customs was super efficient. No need to have your passport out. Just a quick facial recognition and we were out the door. So much better than the old days of snaking through a long line eith your luggage. We have Global Entry, but I didn't see a separate line for that. Not needed anyway since there was zero wait.

It was pure chaos outside as so many people were trying to catch ride shares. No organization or system in place like at FLL or other airports. Luckily our Uber driver was experienced and called us to help us locate him more easily. 

Smooth sailing until our 12:30 flight was delayed for 3 hours due to weather in Chicago. Ugghh! Luckily DH found an empty gate in the Southwest terminal and we settled in to wait, hoping our flight wouldn't be cancelled completely.

We eventually made it back home, taking a longer flight path to avoid the storms. ORD was crazy! So many people everywhere due to the delayed and cancelled flights. Long lines at lost baggage. Groups of people sleeping everywhere. Lines of traffic outside. Such chaos compared to when we left last week and remarked at how calm the airport was.

By 7:15pm, we were home, cuddling with our dog (who has not left my side since then) and making piles of laundry.

I will write a review with thoughts on the Suite life and the cruise in general, but it is safe to say that we had a great time with little to complain about.

Thanks for following along! 

2 hours ago, CruiseNYC said:

Thank you so much!

Looks like our itinerary for next year is very similar although the order may be different. I’ve already started a file and added your Tortola excursion to wishlist. 
Love following along with your trip!

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the Tortola excursion. I have a lot more pictures as well that I could share

Friday: Sea Day

This will be a quick one with not many photos since we did a whole lot of nothing! 😀 

Happy to report that we both had a much better night's rest. There is still some rattling and shaking but nothing that prevented a solid sleep.

Back to our normal routine for a day at sea: gym, coffee, breakfast outside the Oceanview. The gym was again pleasantly not busy. My only gripe with the gym is the lack of floor space to stretch, do my ab routine, etc. The only space that would work is the group class area, but it was being set up for a group class. Maybe in the newer gyms on the Edge Class they solved this problem? Instead, I had to use some random carpet space next to the weight machines. Sorry to the people on the machines who had their space invaded by my stretching routine. Awkward!!

It was a hot day at sea! Not as breezy as our first sea day, which made our day up on the Retreat Deck even better than the last one. I don't have much to report since at the end of the afternoon, DH and I both said "what did we even do today?" We read our books, napped, and enjoyed the perfect weather in the shade. I can tell you that we continued to be spoiled by great service up there. Wow! You really live the "suite life" on the Retreat Deck. Shout out to Luis who runs around (and up and down stairs) all day!

We ordered lunch again from the Luminae deck menu, then enjoyed some time on our shaded aft balcony before getting ready for Chic night.

We received the dreaded luggage tags last night and information about disembarkation for Suite guests. I am not looking forward to packing. It is the worst part of the trip! 

The night ended with another production show. The aerial acrobats were the stars this time. So impressive (and scary)! It was the cast's last show since their contract is ending with this cruise. 

I had a dream last night about returning home to our dog, so that is a signal that my vacation brain is shifting back to home life. One more day to enjoy!

Thursday: Tortola

The last time we stopped at Tortola, we took an amazing cruise excursion to White Bay at Jost Van Dyke. We still rank it as our #1 beach. While we contemplated returning there for this cruise, we decided to try a new excursion instead: the Baths at Virgin Gorda. 

For the first time on this trip, we had a ROUGH night sleeping. Every 5-10 minutes, we were jolted around. Not the typical shaking. It was a severe jolt. Every 5 minutes. All night long. Let's just say that we were not our "best selves" when the alarm went off at 5:55am. We ordered room service breakfast since we had to meet for our excursion at 7:15am. It arrived promptly a little bit after 6am by our Retreat Host. He commented that we ordered such a small breakfast for the two of us. Made us wonder how many boxes people tick on that door hanger! The early morning views from our balcony were lovely.

After some fuel and much needed coffee, we started to feel rejuvenated for the excursion. We met in the main theatre and then headed down to the ferry that would take us to Virgin Gorda. 

Word of warning that we felt was not clearly included the description for this excursion: if you get motion sickness, I would not recommend this excursion to you. The ferry boat went very fast through some rough water for the 30 minute journey to Virgin Gorda. It was intense! There were a few options for seating: inside, upstairs (open air) or a few rows of covered seats in the back on the bottom level. We quickly grabbed the covered seats in the back to enjoy the open air but not the intense wind and sun on the top deck.

Once we arrived at Virgin Gorda, there were the typical open-air taxis waiting to take us to the Baths. It was a 10 minute ride.

The excursion included 2 guides who kept us all moving along to the 3 different stops. This is not an intimate excursion. There were a lot of people. Maybe 150 people? We ended up moving through the stops at our own pace to avoid some of the crowd.

The first part involves a 15 minute hike down to Devil's Bay for some beach time. This hike would be challenging to some. It is downhill, steep and slippery in some spots. The beach was gorgeous and the water felt great after the hike down.

You could wait for the tour guides to take you through the caves, but we wanted to be able to enjoy them without the large crowds. We headed off on our own and were so glad we did. We took our time to explore and were happy to not be held up by those who would struggle with maneuvering through the caves. It took  flexibility to crouch down and squeeze through tight spots, plus ladders and ropes. Watch some YouTube videos of the caves to see if you would be able to handle it. Also wear water shoes, Tevas, etc. All in all, the caves were spectacular.

The caves led us to the last section of the excursion for some beach time at the Baths beach. Another gorgeous spot where a lot of people were snorkeling. There was a small food and drink stand where we purchased two local beers and enjoyed some more time in the ocean.

About an hour later, we were called to return to the taxis and get back on the ferry. 

It was a well organized excursion and a unique experience. You can get to the Baths on your own, but I would recommend going on an excursion.

Upon returning, we did a quick loop of the port area. There were quite a few food stands that looked delicious and some stores to explore. It was a very nice port area. The views from our aft balcony were beautiful. DH and I agreed that Tortola is now one of our favorite Caribbean ports.

Up next, lunch at Oceanview and a glass of Rosé at the Sunset Bar before taking a long nap to make up for a lost night of sleep. We woke up refreshed and ready to have a great night!

We went to the Retreat Lounge in search of a redemption Manhattan from the previous disappointment in the Ensemble Lounge. It was perfect. My grandma would approve! (I love Luxardo cherries now, but she loved the classic bright red ones!)

Tonight, Sushi on Five satisfied our desire for Asian flavors and a more casual meal. I had a wonderful view of the clouds from the sunset. The meal was really great, and service was on point as well. We had edamame and potstickers to start. Then we shared pork Ramen and some sushi rolls. The specialty cocktails come from the bartenders at World Class Bar so those were yummy too. Overall, we were glad we returned to Sushi on Five, and it was a nice change from Luminae. I would suggest you give it a try, even if you don't like sushi. DH doesn't really eat much sushi, but he finds plenty of other items to order.

We ended the night in the Equinox theatre to see a Whitney Houston tribute singer who was on an early season of American Idol. It was OK. Entertaining for sure and we had a nice time, but we thought it could have been a bit more lively.

I spent some OBC on a perfume I scoped out earlier in the week and then it was bedtime. Another successful day!

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Enjoying your posts.   Really feeling like I’m aboard. 

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I look forward to your posts on your trip!

2 hours ago, TuesThursSat said:

I will be sailing on the Equinox in October in an S1 Aft suite. Do you know if the mattresses were replaced during renovation? Are they comfortable? In general what is your opinion of the room since the renovation took place. 

 

Thanks!

 

I don't think any renovations have happened yet for cabins except Aqua Class? No renovations done in our cabin. We find the mattress to be comfortable. Overall, the room is holding up. Some TLC is needed on the balcony for sure and small things in the bathroom.

Disclaimer: this post might be a mess due to issues connecting. I have tried multiple times and cant get all the pics to load. I hope you enjoy anyway!

Wednesday: St. Maarten 

Our first ship excursion today! Enough walking around town. It was time to get on the water! The morning started with having breakfast in our usual spot outside of the buffet, close to door was the occasional A/C. As we sat down to eat, a rainbow greeted us.  What a lovely way to start the day.

For our Golden Eagle Sailaway, we had to meet off the gangway at 8:15am. After a little too much waiting around, we took a quick 5 minute walk through the port and to our catamaran. Andy and I have been a quite a few catamarans, so our preferred spot is at the back of the boat by the captain. The front can be fun, but is usually crowded and honestly not as comfortable to sit. Once we dropped off our shoes, we boarded and secured our seat for the day.

The first stop was a snorkeling location for 45 minutes. We didn't get in the water. Instead we enjoyed the sunshine and Andy had his first Carib of the trip. There were a lot of people snorkeling from several boats. It seemed pretty crowded from our vantage point. One young girl did get stung by a jellyfish. The crew was quick to take care of her the best they could and she seemed OK when I saw her later.

Then we cruised down the beautiful coastline of St. Maarten and the the drinks started to flow! Rum punch, mimosas, beer and sodas. The captain pointed out Maho Beach and promised he would try to get us some planes on the way back.

We anchored off Mullet Bay beach for 1 hour of swimming. You had to swim in to the beach from the catamaran. Some folks struggled, especially returning back to the boat. Andy and I got in the water this time. It was gorgeous! The crew even brought a cooler of drinks to the beach if you wanted to enjoy a beverage while you floated with your noodle. 

After about 1 hour, we were all back on board and the captain quickly informed us that he saw 2 planes on the arrival schedule. We cruised down to Maho Beach and got to see one small and one bigger plane come in for arrival directly above us. I have a video so we'll see if it will upload. While we cruised back, they serve a simple but satisfying snack of a ham/cheese baguette sandwich.

If you are looking for a relaxed excursion on and in the water, I would recommend it. The crew was attentive, drinks flowed, the beach was great, snorkelers were happy. 

We headed to the Oceanview for lunch then passed out on some chairs in the Solarium for a nap. I spent the first 20 minutes watching a turtle pop in and out of the water. Andy was already fast asleep and kept looking around to point it out to someone else but the Solarium was pretty empty. I eventually feel asleep too once the turtle swam away.

Shocking news to report: we went to the Enaemble Lounge for a pre-dinner drink instead of the Marinti Bar. I really wanted to sit I those comfy chairs and listen to the solo artist. While the music was great, our drinks weren't. We were served the palest Manhattans I have ever seen. I always have Manhattans on a cruise in honor of my grandmother who would drink one Manhattan before dinner in the MDR. Oh well! We will try one in the Retreat Lounge and see if I can get a proper drink!

Luminae was a ghost town for dinner which meant the service was almost too attentive. It was a quick meal. Probably our least enjoyed so far (besides the wonderful company of course, right DH?)

Earlier in the day, we received an invite to a private Silent disco party in the Retreat Lounge. We weren't going to attend but just happened to be the Lounge once it started. The wonderful concierge Connor convinced us to join in after some initial resistance. We are glad we did. It was so much fun! We have seen this in past cruised in the Sky Lounge. It was neat to have a Silent Disco party with a small group.

Tuesday: St. Thomas. 

We returned to the gym this morning for another workout. So proud of us! It was even more empty than Day 1, so we assumed most people were getting ready for their plans in St. Thomas. We docked in Crown Bay, not Havenshight which we were not expecting. DH scoped out a local brewery that was within walking distance from Havensight so we had to adjust our plans. (Having docked at both locations, we prefer Havensight. More shops and better views)

After a leisurely morning of exercise, coffee and breakfast, we jumped into a shared taxi ($5 pp) to Charlotte Amalie. We walked around town and grabbed lunch at a place called Greengo's. We overheard some people talking about it and decided to take a chance. We're glad we did. Cute place. Great service. Reasonable prices. Refreshing margaritas and yummy nachos with fresh, interesting ingredients. Highly recommend!

Next we located St. John Brewers to satisfy DH's desire to drink local. They have a new retail shop and tap room. The bartender was extremely nice, and the AC was superb. I had a hard seltzer and DH had a freshly tapped IPA. We really liked them both. After a successful afternoon downtown, we flagged down a shared taxi right outside the tap room. All you need to do is yell out "are you going back to the ship?" and then hop on once you get confirmation from the driver.

We changed into swimwear and headed up to the Sunset Bar and then the pool deck, enjoying the nearly empty ship. The best time to go in the pool is on port days! The rest of the evening followed our pattern of drinks at the Martini Bar, dinner at Luminae. We love seeing the "regulars" at the Martini Bar. Really feels like a cruise when you see the same people over and over. Our usual waiter in Luminae was MIA- not sure if he is gone forever and just foe that night. Our new waiter was wonderful. 

We watched the production show Elysium in the main theatre. It wasn't as good as Topper but still entertaining. The captain gave a farewell speech since he is leaving the ship today. No news about who is taking over. Just set the GPS and hope for the best?

We had to set an alarm (!!) for the next morning as we booked an early excursion in St. Maarten. Spoiler alert: the excursion was great! More to come on that tomorrow

On 7/28/2022 at 3:22 PM, North of 60 said:

We are on Equinox in September (lowly balcony, not a suite).

My significant other, hereinafter referred to as "She Who Must Be Obeyed" or "SWMBO", likes the odd Gin and Tonic. But she is currently doing the weight watchers thing and is obsessed with asking "how many points is that?".

So - can you check if they have diet tonic on board, please?

If not, I will be relegated to schlepping a case of it onboard when we board.

 

Thanks for your help in keeping this Sherpa under-employed.

 

 

Cheers, and thanks!

Chris (and Bev) in Inuvik, NWT, Canada

DH just confirmed that diet tonic is available. Canada Dry.

Sad news: Aperol and sparkling rose not available 

On 8/1/2022 at 2:00 PM, North2Alaska10 said:

We are near Milwaukee and have direct flights to FLL. Was there a hotel along 17th St you recommend? Looking forward to your impressions of the Westin. Have a wonderful cruise. 

17th St is super convenient to the port but after experiencing the Westin on the beach, we would return to that area instead. 

23 hours ago, SanibelSusan said:

Is Joyce working Michael's? She was there when I was on Equinox mid-June. I stopped there each night on my way to dinner at Luminea. She said it was her 21st year with Celebrity - a great employee. I've been on 20+cruises, most with Celebrity in suites, & was anxious to go again after a nearly 5 year reprieve. I found the dining in Luminea then to be best I've experienced at sea, including on Equinox during a 2014 TransAtlantic. Though some of the item ingredients are an unusual combination, be sure & give then a try. I especially enjoyed that the portions were small enough that I could happily eat an appetizer, entree, & dessert. Nice also that they were not too rich - or too sweet. I went to the Theater each night, enjoyed every show. Also had great treatment in the spa. My only complaint was that internet service - even upgraded - was sporadic & slow. Not enough to deter me from going again though. I'm booked again on Equinox in Dec. Enjoy your trip & please keep comments coming. They are most appreciated.

We have not seen Joyce. We agree about food in Luminae. Perfect sized portions and interesting flavor combinations. Internet has been fine except for this morning when we docked in St. Thomas

Hello again! I'm back! I took a little break yesterday and the internet was not working this morning.

I would say that we had a highly successful day at sea on Sunday. We continue to remark how “not busy” it is around the ship. We woke up early to fulfill our goal of exercising most days. If you don’t exercise the first day, will you even try to exercise the rest of the vacation? The gym wasn’t too crowded during the time we were there (7:00ish to 8:00ish). Our next stop is always a coffee from Cafe al Bacio. We usually switch between lattes and Americanos, depending on our mood. Up to the Oceanview for breakfast. Again, both of these locations were not very busy. Our go-to spot for breakfast is sitting outside at the back of the ship (always a table right by the door so we can feel the occasional draft of A/C). 

Then we changed into swimwear and easily located two chairs down on the pool deck. A few early rain showers cleared up to gorgeous weather for the rest of the day. There were fun activities throughout the day (water aerobics, dance aerobics, music trivia, officer/guest volleyball). We were very impressed by the number of drink servers working on the pool deck. Sometimes a drink came back in 5 minutes, sometimes 15 minutes. Either way, it was being served to my chair so no complaints! After a full day outside by the pool, we headed into the Solarium for a quick nap. It was louder in there than we remember, with larger family groups talking very loudly. There was a sign that said family hours were 5:30pm-6:30pm.

After our short nap, we spent some time getting ready for Chic night. We still like to dress up a bit on these nights. The Martini Bar was hopping as we sat down for our usual drinks (Cosmo for me and Tanqueray 10 with a twist for DH). We had another lovely dinner in Luminae. The dish that stands out to me that night was the chilled lobster salad. Such unique flavors! We kept the night going with a quick stop at the World Class Bar and then headed into the theatre to watch the production show, Topper. There is no story line, but the song choices are great. The voices of the main singers were also very good. Some of the best I have heard on a cruise ship. I definitely plan on dragging Andy to the next production show! We ended the night in the main atrium to join in the fun of singing and dancing to ABBA. That was so fun! I think half thr ship was there. Highly recommend it.

The next day (Monday) was another long day at sea as we didn’t arrive into San Juan until after 4pm. We spent the day on a windy Retreat Deck to avoid a day away from the crowds. We were definitely spoiled with service up there. Drink servers, fruit skewers, cold towels, lunch delivered to our chair, afternoon raspberry sorbet! Wow! The staff to guest ratio was impressive. 

Getting off the ship in San Juan was the first time it was busy and chaotic. Lots of people in line everywhere in the middle of the ship. We went to the Retreat Lounge and Connor personally escorted us to the front of the line. Nice! 

In San Juan, DH researched a more “local” establishment he wanted to try for drinks and food. First we walked around San Juan, made our way to the fort.

After getting nice and sweaty, we stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall place called Birria y Empanadas. Guess what we had there? If you guessed beer and empanadas you are correct! It can be a bit intimidating when you go off the beaten path and step into a restaurant for the locals. But once we got our drinks and food and chatted with the bartenders, we were all good! The empanadas with hot sauce hit the spot and we stayed for a few more rounds of drinks. 

We returned to the ship and rehydrated with some bottles of water in the Retreat Lounge and turned in for an early night.

You should see a bunch of pictures in my last post. Please let me know if they don't appear. And ignore that random repeated pic at the end. It refuses to be deleted!

Embarkation went very smoothly yesterday. We used Certificates of Recovery and here was our experience:

Once June rolled around, we started talking about which type of Covid test we would use, but then . . . we both got Covid at the end of June. After 2 and ½ years of dodging Covid (mostly due to our Covid-consciencous lifestyle- we took it pretty seriously), I threw caution to the wind and went on a 40th birthday girls trip with a group of life-long friends. 5 out of 8 of us contracted Covid within 1-3 days after returning from the trip. Then DH got it from me. Since we knew we were cruising in a month, we made sure to get a PCR/NAAT test. This was before the recent rule change allowing more flexibility with the type of test. We then obtained Certificates of Recovery and didn’t need to worry about scheduling the pre-cruise Covid test anymore. When we checked at the terminal, they took pictures of our positive test results and CoR. Easy! I also realized a few weeks ago that my passport expires soon. Oops! I brought copies of my birth certificate and marriage license just in case. There was no issue for embarkation.

(Retreat Lounge at the terminal)

We boarded the ship as some of the first few passengers around 11:15. Dropped our small bags in the room, walked around the ship and made our way to Luminae for lunch. I had the Cobb salad. DH had the burger. We were both satisfied with our lunch and had a great table next to the window.

Next up was a cocktail or two on the Lawn and then we unpacked before sailaway. We love all the storage! It makes it so much easier to keep things tidy as we are prone to throwing all of our stuff on the couch and desk. 

For sailaway, we grabbed a drink from the Retreat Lounge and made our way up the Retreat deck. There was a crew member up there, providing drink service. 

When we returned to our room, we met our Retreat Host, Max from Kenya. Right away he helped us locate a missing hair dryer, took some clothes we needed pressed and confirmed our preferences for lots of water in the fridge and ice.

Quick change for cocktails at the Martini Bar and dinner in Luminae. I forgot to take pictures of our food because we were just enjoying ourselves and the wonderful ambience. I think that is a good sign! Andy played some blackjack to end the night.

So far, it has been a great cruise! There was an announcement that we were sailing at full capacity but it doesn't feel crowded yet.

Hmmm. Not sure what is going on with the photos. Anyone have suggestions for posting pictures? I was just using copy/paste from Google Pictures. I will try again from my phone, which is what I used last night. This morning I was using my Chromebook.

Good morning from Fort Lauderdale! Thanks to everyone who has commented so far and all of those following along! 

Before I recap this morning’s activities, let me get caught up on our travels to Fort Lauderdale. On Thursday night DH (Andy/Mr. Kwis29) received an email from Retreat Concierge Support at Celebrity regarding some preferences for our Suite. He filled out a short online survey about room temperature, bed configuration, which type of wine we preferred in our room, extra blankets/hangers, any celebrations and which day we might want to celebrate. Since we are “only” in a Sky Suite, we really weren’t expecting any pre-boarding communication from Celebrity. 

We woke up an hour before our alarm on Friday morning and set out on a 4:00am walk with our dog. It is a great way to start the day! At 6:30am, we were on the road to ORD. We made great time to our parking spot at Pre-Flight despite three stops (coffee, washer fluid, bathroom) and some bumper to bumper traffic due to a stalled vehicle blocking a lane. The Pre-Flight shuttle bus was ready and waiting to take us to the airport. 

Wow! What a difference to fly on a Friday during the summer, rather than during the chaos of Spring Break. It was a breeze to check-in our bags (DH’s was heavier than mine!), wait in a short TSA Pre-check line and grab some breakfast. So much less stressful without throngs of humans taking up every available physical space. The flight was uneventful, and we landed earlier than expected.

(an empty airport!)

Rideshare is very easy at FLL. Uber and Lyft had comparable prices, with plenty of cars available. It is always a good idea to compare prices on the two apps because I have encountered some significant price differences. 20 minutes later, we were at the Westin. 

We enjoyed our stay at the Westin. The bed was comfy, the view is lovely, the location is great. The only strange thing is the bathroom situation as there is not much privacy (visually and sound) due to a "window" into the bathroom- see pic below. There are some things that don’t need to be shared, even between a married couple of 10 years! 🙂 

Last night we enjoyed margaritas and guacamole at the hotel restaurant, Lona. Then we took a nice evening stroll along the beach walk before heading to bed. This morning we woke up early, went for a run along the beach and sat on the patio at the Starbucks in the hotel, leisurely sipping on our iced coffees. We are definitely in vacation mode now. It is very breezy today with choppy waters, so we might have a rocky start to the cruise! We are heading to the port in about 90 minutes. So excited to this cruise started after 3 years of waiting!

Our view of the sunrise from our hotel room: