Equinox Live June 16-23, 2018

I am wondering what the classic martin goes for in the martini bar... is it still $12? Also, what is a typical pina colada go for these days? We usually don't get a drink package... beginning to wonder if we should for our next cruise

Oh, YOU were the one banned from the Lawn! And who was the guy dancing at all the theater shows...can’t remember his name.

 

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Alan! He could really cut a rug!:D

I’m just glad I saw him dancing in the theater and not at the pool!

BermudaBound, enjoy your sea day tomorrow!

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Love your review and pics !!!

Norma

Loving your review and pictures! We were on the Equinox last November cruising the ABC Islands. I can never see enough pictures. Thank you for sharing!

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Can you please post the list of senior officers. Thank you.

We sail on Equinox 7/14.

We are safely back on board. I think this is the first I’ve ever spent time in key west reasonably sober. We walked around downtown this morning and it was deserted. Of course, once majesty of the seas pulled in and the bars opened, so did the town.

We were on the Equinox in April (ABC islands) and will be on her again in July with the same itinerary as yours.

What time did you get off the ship in Key West that it was so deserted? And about what time did things start opening up?

Love reading this blog! We sail on Saturday. Can you tell me if The Whiskey House has been open at all during your cruise? From what I've read it is a small venue by the Lawn Club with limited hours. We don't want to miss anything! Hope your week is wonderful!

Love reading this blog! We sail on Saturday. Can you tell me if The Whiskey House has been open at all during your cruise? From what I've read it is a small venue by the Lawn Club with limited hours. We don't want to miss anything! Hope your week is wonderful!

I sail Saturday too!!! So glad there is a live report for this ship right now!

Thanks so much, BermudaBound. I love seeing all the pictures. The MDR menus are especially helpful. Have you been to the Martini Bar yet? We will be boarding the Equinox for the same itinerary on 7/14.

BTW, my mom and I were also Bermuda bound in 2014. On the Summit 6/15-22.

I'm on this itinerary (although AFAIK still in the original order) at the end of July, so following.

Did they say why they switched things around?

Thank you for sharing your live review of the Equinox. We will be boarding her on July 14th and are super excited!

Can you share information related to the time change? Did this happen in Key West? Specifically, I am looking for ship time vs. ET when in Grand Cayman as we are chartering a sailboat for the day and want to ensure we have the time correct.

Thanks in advance.

Good morning from sunny Costa Maya. I have the international plan on Verizon which gives unlimited phone/text/WiFi for $5.00 a day in Mexico and $10.00 in grand cayman - Hence the reason we didn’t opt to pay for a celebrity internet package (which is quite expensive IMO).

Let me see if I can respond to some of you first....

You sorceress! Forums

IKR? If I had a nickel ;)

I am wondering what the classic martin goes for in the martini bar... is it still $12? Also, what is a typical pina colada go for these days? We usually don't get a drink package... beginning to wonder if we should for our next cruise

I’ll grab some photos of drink menus for you. We have yet to visit the martini bar as We do not have the drink package. We booked under residence rates during a fluke time where there was only 10% single supplement. For anyone interested, if you follow the “solo pricing” thread on CC, people are kind enough to post when they find excellent solo deals (I have been known to cruise solo also). I was hem-hawing between the new MSC seaside, the equinox, and HOTS. Someone posted about the equinox solo deal and that swayed us. By the time i went to book the deal was gone but i just kept watching and it came back for one day in April. Balcony price was $899 pp and a SOLO balcony price wAs $989.pp. No perks at that rate. Cin and I are great friends, and have shared many rooms traveling through Europe/cruising/etc... but it is nice to have our own space. For about $10 a day a steal in my opinion.

So, cin and I each have our own room and 4 bottles of wine which are now gone. The drink package would have cost us nearly $1000 pp more since the zero single supplement was not available on perk packages. I can drink a cocktail or two, but even in my drinking days it would be hard for me to run my bar tab to make the package even remotely cost effective.

Can you please post the list of senior officers. Thank you.

 

 

 

We sail on Equinox 7/14.

Sure, here you go...

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What time did you get off the ship in Key West that it was so deserted? And about what time did things start opening up?

Those photos of key west were taken around 10 am. I got off the ship to go to cvs and pick up a few things before my aunt got in town. By the time she arrived (noonish) the town was significantly busier. By 2 pm it was game on.

Interesting side note- along with bio- freeze (50s haven’t been great to my knees), I picked up a 6 pack of Coke Zero and walked it right back on the ship with zero issues. The man next to me in the security line had a 6 pack of bud lite and was also ushered through without question. I read that celebrity was lenient on bringing soda aboard and do appreciate the gesture. The “things you should know” paper clearly states that alcohol purchased ashore would be collected, but the bud lite guy placed it on the conveyer and then walked right through.

Love reading this blog! We sail on Saturday. Can you tell me if The Whiskey House has been open at all during your cruise? From what I've read it is a small venue by the Lawn Club with limited hours. We don't want to miss anything! Hope your week is wonderful!

I’ve walked by the whiskey club numerous times (the sunset bar is my favorite place to grab a beverage), but I have yet to notice it open. I’ll keep my eye on it for you.

I'm on this itinerary (although AFAIK still in the original order) at the end of July, so following.

 

 

 

Did they say why they switched things around?

That’s an interesting question. From what I gather, the equinox was supposed to sail Europe this summer. The late change in itinerary to the Caribbean is probably why so many of us are benefiting from deep discounting and could contribute to the late itinerary changes.

When I first looked at the itinerary it was in reverse order of what we are currently sailing. I think it was Grand cayman first (early morning arrival and mid afternoon departure). We are now visiting grand cayman last and the times changed to 10-7. I’ve never watched a sunset from 7 mile beach so that is exciting. As mentioned today is costa maya and tomorrow Cozumel. The times in each Mexican port were also changed significantly, but I don’t have my notes with me right now.

Regarding the time change.... we moved clocks back on hour after key west. Since i didn’t have internet yesterday my phone and Fitbit never reset and I was an hour off. Once I turned on my phone this morning, the clock reset. Currently it is 8:45 am ship time (9:45 am est). I believe we stay on this time until we leave grand cayman but will confirm (please remind me if I forget). Basically, the island visits will be central time and the time changes take place proceeding sea days.

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Thanks so much for your live review! DH and I are looking forward to our 1st voyage on Equinox in late July. We’ve been on her sister Reflection and always have had a wonderful time.

Quick question: From photos I’ve seen of the loungers on Equinox, those that are in the shade seem to be facing the ocean, as opposed to those on Reflection, which are perpendicular to the sea. Can you confirm this? We always prefer the shady spots on the ship, but if these loungers face the sea, it seems there might be fewer of them than on Reflection.

Thanks, and have a great cruise!

Karen--are you sailing the 28th? Come join our roll call!

I think I answered all the questions but please do not hesitate to post again if I made an oversight.

I’m currently sitting on the balcony sipping coffee. I didn’t pre order to have it delivered at a set time because we have zero plans for the day. I slept in and called when I woke up. Even so, my coffee and danish were delivered promptly (unlike other lines where I was told that since I didn’t order via the tv or breakfast card the night before I was basically out of luck). I was told no for the first time though ::: gasp::::. I asked for coffee and cinnamon roll and was told that room service did not have cinnamon rolls. He did offer a danish which turned out to be lemon (yum) and was delivered warm! It is the little touches all over the ship that go a long long way for me.

Here is my view this morning....

And costa maya- which was built specifically for cruise ships and reminds me of an amusement park. Totally not my thing.

I’m probably going to disappoint all of you looking for shore information. The truth is I’ve been to these ports too many times to count. When I want to visit Mexico, I rent a hotel on the beach. I’ve done each of the ruins twice, which was two times too many for my taste. The beaches close to here are having a terrible seaweed problem, and we plan to do massages in cozumel so for us there is no reason to head to the beach. Today we will enjoy the ship. If we can muster up enough energy, I may take a stroll through the “complex”, but other than that- I consider today one of the beautiful days to enjoy the ship pool without crowds.

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Please tell Maarten Bruels that Dave say's he is the man! And give GRM Julie Sherrington our love! Cheers!

This next part is totally out of order, but my notes on what we’ve done since leaving the net.

After sail away from key west mY mimosa nap lasted longer than planned and the incredible meal we had at bistro245 in the keys meant we weren’t up for the first formal night in the dining room. Instead, We dress up a little bit, but headed to the buffet.

Speaking of dressing up. This ship has, by far, the widest range of attire I’ve ever noticed. Everything from Tux’s and crystal gowns to shorts and ron john T-shirts (didn’t see shorts in the restaurant, but lots in the show, casino, and bars). I’d say it was 25% very decked out, 25% borderline sloppy informal, and 50% ranging In the middle. And lots of men in short sleeves even on formal night. I’m not one of those who care in the slightest, but with all the threads on the topic I did find myself noticing.

Here’s an example of what I mean by outstanding crew. For dinner, The pasta station has around 20 ingredients to to choose from and four different types of pasta. I asked for penne with mushrooms and onions. When the pasta maker realized the mushroom dish was empty he asked me to wait one moment and went to the salad bar to get some. Seriously. It’s those little touches where staff truly go out of their way which are making us fall in love with the equinox.

We went to see Topper. It was pretty typical cruise ship entertainment. I didn’t find it outstanding or memorable in any way. Some of the performers were better than others. Plot was predictable. Costumes colorful. All in all a fine way to spend an hour.

We played our daily limit in the casino and called it an early night. Actually the casino is the only thing on the ship not showing any love. Super tight.

Yesterday was a typical sea day. We were up and got our seats around 8 am in the solarium. By 9:30 they were all claimed. It’s true that the chair savers are in full force and it does look like a shortage of chairs may exist. Nothing as bad as the “away” ships, but the pool deck was very crowded today.

There is a pool attendant and he has a clear tupperwear type of bin with various hats, books, and flip flops so there is evidence they are at least trying.

Our day consisted of Lots of lounging, reading, napping, repeating. We did banana nut muffins and pumpkin granola bars for breakfast from the aqua spa (which I believe is currently under used as a venue- so much potential). I Had my typical salad from the buffet for lunch. Salad bar, like the pasta station, is loaded with choices. More than I remember on other ships. I’ve decided there is a blue cheese dressing burglar onboard as every single time I’ve went to get dressing the blue cheese is empty. All the other are full to the brim. It’s now a running joke .We are easily entertained.

Dinner last night in silhouette was nothing remarkable. Everything was perfectly acceptable and my expectations were met. I had some fish dish that had scallops and shrimp. I’ve never quite understood why people hold high hopes for a kitchen serving 2,000 plus people. I didn’t leave hungry and enjoyed all my selections. Service was excellent. Overall a win.

The show last night was a headline broadway singer. Apparently she was a back up for Barbara steisand at some point. She was quite good. She mentioned being in a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, but only did one Stevie Nicks tune. Overall another enjoyable show.

Last night was also the full moon pool party (during a crescent moon). Fun times. Lots and lots of dancing (glad it got the biofreeze this morning). The overall vibe on this ship is sort of a refined fun. I haven’t seen any sloppy drunks, but everyone seems to be participating and making the most of their vacation. The average age is easily late 50s/early 60s, but like the crew, the passengers are very friendly.

The pool party ended around midnight and we stayed up until

Stupid-o-clock in the casino. I actually spent double my daily limit with no luck. All that napping I suppose. Last night we laughed a lot and danced a lot. What more can one ask for (besides a little love from the one armed bandit)?

Here are the dailies from the sea day. Sorry about the tanning lotion smear..

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And today’s daily...

The port day spa specials:

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Aqua spa choices for lunch. The area is really nice, it just seems it’s missing choices. I expected a bit like park cafe where they would grill a panini or something similar. Not sure why I feel this way, but it just seems like the space is under utilized and could offer much more to take the strain off the main buffet. Anyway- here are the lunch choices:

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However the choices in cafe de’bacco are amazing and all included...

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After a thread entirely devoted to milk, one simply must take the shot-

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Please tell Maarten Bruels that Dave say's he is the man! And give GRM Julie Sherrington our love! Cheers!

Cruise ship directors rarely grab my attention but Maarten Bruels is very good. As is his side kick who played “wind” in a cute little skit last night. They did get the crowd going at the crescent (I mean full) moon party. The added touches of the acrobatics, pool bubble, and dance routines seemed to pump up the crowd. I can see where he would be quite popular.

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The photos are very helpful.... gives you an idea on what to expect. We are on this same cruise in a few weeks.... love this ship.

Just a note to try the desserts at Cafe al Bacio some evening. Sometimes the MDR's choices don't seem appealing to us or we are too full to eat right then....we find the offerings at Cafe al Bacio far superior to the MDR. Glad you are enjoying yourself!