Honeymoon on the Equinox! 12day Ultimate Caribbean. Power of the Poncho:A Trip Report

[mrspaper]

We had lunch at that restaurant in CR. It's owned by Eduardo's family. It actually wasn't too bad and the sun came out when we got there

 

Linda

Edited November 22, 2014 by mrspaper

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Really enjoying reliving our cruise with you. We had done the same tour with Mario the last time we were in Colon; so we just stayed on board and relaxed.

 

Hi! So happy to see so many cruises on here. Mario was great, we were very happy with our tour. We agree, if we did this itinerary again some ports we would stay on board. Thanks for stopping by an commenting.

 

Thanks for the review. I'm reliving the cruise with you. I can't recall that it rained when we got to Cayman. If you go to Cartegena again, consider a tour via Lee Miles, we had a great tour, our first time there. The Panama tour, I think was the best on the trip. Really enjoyed it. Boy, did the rain come down. Our first time in Panama, we also had torrential rain, even more so that when we were at the locks with you. We don't let it get us down

 

Linda

 

Hi Linda, so many of our roll call members on here, awesome!! Yeah the Cayman rain did go away later in the day- when we were by the pool back on board there was sun. I don't know why, but in Cartagena we were nervous to do a private tour. Now I know to go private all the way in Cartagena. Oh man, rain and rain lol. I guess we know next time to be better prepared for dealing with rain haha!

 

Thanks for the cheese and the meat pictures. .an easy way to see if menu changed. i had the 5 little shot glass dessert- way to much.

 

If you go back to Columbia use Mr. Emeral- he sets up private tours for locla guides. .he own a jewelry store.. but we had too much time at the mall where you paid him and not enough at the little shops -where you went. .but we went to fort, La popa, old shoes, walking tour of the town plus a museum and a drink break at Hard Rock.. i collect bears. but it was the only A/C we hd all day outside van. great day

 

You are very welcome! I wish I had more non-dessert pictures. We loved the cheese course. I am on the Paleo diet and the no-cheese rule is killing me! So we are going to have cheese on Thanksgiving haha.

 

And thank you for the tour tips! I guess we need to go back to Columbia. Thank you for the advice!

 

It poured in Cayman. I was on a tour that sat in a bus for a half an hour wondering if it would clear enough to take a boat out. It did and we had a rather cool day on the water.

 

This was the cruise where we learned to blow dry our shoes each evening. The humidity was so high, no hand washed or drenched items would dry in our cabin!

 

Nice to see our CC group here!

 

You're not kidding! We too had all different techniques to dry out haha. Alternating between umbrellas, ponchos, wet/dry shoes, backpacks to dry out it was an adventure! I agree, so nice to see our roll call here!

 

December is prime time rainy season in the western Caribbean, especially in Panama. One of the reasons they had such a hard time building the canal. If you do a full transit cruise, try to go the end of January or in February. It's an awesome cruise!

 

If you want to cruise in December, eastern Caribbean is a better bet for good weather.

 

 

Thank you for the great advice! I would love to do a full transit one day. I don't know if we will do an eastern Caribbean cruise, unless it was a great deal just to get away. From what I gather, it is mainly beaches and water activities? Growing up in Florida the beach, dolphins, jetskis, etc. really are not our thing... been there done that sorta deal. But I may be wrong! I know my aunt and uncle go on Eastern Carib. cruises all the time and LOVE it. I guess we will just need to go on one and find out, hehe.

 

Hula moon, is this Sharrie? (forgot how you spell it)

Costa Rica was the REAL rain

 

Yes it was! HAHA, I just posted Costa Rica and the RAIN that came with it. Our tour in Belize also involved a lot of rain.

 

I was on this same cruise and recall rain in Grand Cayman, Panama and Costa Rica. The rain in Costa Rica was mild in comparison to the other two (at least for the areas that I visited).

 

I guess that is the funny thing about Central America, you can be 10 miles apart and have different weather. We also had pouring rain in Belize. I think of all our tours we had the most and hardest rains in Costa Rica. Some roads were so slick and flooded I was getting a little worried we were going to get stuck or slide.

 

Loving this review! Had been hoping to go on this itinerary someday but as my Mother (travel companion along with my Father) never gets more than 2 weeks of vacation a year, I guess it will be a while. Anyway thanks so much for doing this. Loved your engagement review and have been waiting for this one. I must say your wedding photos are absolutely stunning! Happy (early) Anniversary

 

Thank you so much for commenting and the sweet words! I know, the time off is hard. My husband is about to start a new job (hopefully, fingers crossed) and it might be a while before we can go on another 2+ week trip with the line of work he will be in. Our anniversary is almost here! I was just researching how to defrost our wedding cake that has been sitting in the freezer all year, oh boy!

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Hi everyone! Thank you all so far for reading my report :)

 

It is very difficult for me to get on during the week so I am trying to post as much as I can on the weekends. I just posted Costa Rica and hope to get a few more up before the weekend is over.

 

Thank you for your patience :D:D:D

 

 

 

 

For some reason the quote feature is not working when I reply to this

 

"Maybe someone can help me with this picture; it was some type of old U.S. Military base we drove through? I remember the stories of my grandfather being in the “jungle” and him talking about the size of bats they encountered. I wonder if he once resided in a place like this? I wish I knew more about this picture!

 

CruisinGator, This might be a building on what had been a US Naval Base which we maintained until the 'turnover' of the canal. I understand that it is now home to squatters. Such a shame as it looked like it had been a beautiful piece of real estate.

 

And by all means, do try to take a full transit of the canal. My sister and I did that in 2002 with no flying. Took Amtrak from Orlando to San Francisco, then down to San Diego to board Legend of the Seas. Unfortunately, the Orlando run is no more; seems that some of the railroad bridges were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and never replaced. But..... you can always fly to NOLA and pick up the train. That's what we did two years ago for a 'circle the country Amtrak trip we took. Such fun! "

 

Thank you for the info! It was neat property, too bad it is falling apart now. And thank you for the advice on a full transit! We hope to complete one some day.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

It's like a roll call reunion! hi LoveMyLab and Mrs. papers! Let's be honest that was the a very wet cruise. We snorkeled in Belize and it was cold gray and sprinkled. So Cartegena was the best weather, unless crazy hot is not your cup of tea! lol

 

funny Happy Cruiser...I thought I researched the weather and learned Dec is the dry season. So, now I know when to try that route again. Thank you.

 

We had an SV for this cruise and I will never forget the sound of the rain pounding the slider and the sound of the blow dryer drying out shoes and clothes.

We did a ships tour in Panama, and we bailed water from our small sight seeing boat and laughed like crazy as the tarp ripped and we all got drenched. We took a vote and went back early.

 

Roll call party! HEY! haha.

 

Yes, this was a wet cruise! Haha I should have added in my journal "sounds from this cruise." LOL- like you said: blow dryer, rain, creaking. And oh my goodness, you had to bail out your boat! Haha, at least you got a good story out of it. We voted too in CR and went back early.

 

Since it's been quite a while since I did the research for my Panama Canal cruise, I thought I'd look it up again. Here's the result:

 

Panama's tourist season is during the dry season from mid-December to mid-April. This is true for the Pacific slope, but the Caribbean side can get rain throughout the year. The weather can be hot and steamy in the lowlands during the rainy season, when the humidity makes the heat oppressive.

Weather in Panama - Lonely Planet Travel Information

www.lonelyplanet.com/panama/weatherLonely Planet

 

 

Thank you for the information, oh yes, it was humid! Even for a Floridian it felt extra humid and steamy.

 

Hey Ashley! So excited that you have finally gotten to your honeymoon trip report We all love your writing style and I was excited to see one of my June 2014 Silhouette roll call friends, BarwickCruiser, following as well!

 

Just got home yesterday from our Celebrity Xpedition/Peru trip. Phenomenal. One to add to yours and Tyler's list but not until you are older...

 

Carol

 

Hi Carol, so happy to see you here! Yes, about time I started it! I am dying to hear about your trip!!! Some friends we met on board (the ones who have been on 20-30 X cruises) spoke very highly of that cruise and Peru. If you have the time, I hope you do a trip report. There are not that many floating around here. We will add it to the bucket list!

 

We have our Eastern Med. cruise planned but sometimes we talk and want to change it to try something new. Tyler is on a Maldives or Bali kick right now, I am on a Paris/Italy for NYE kick, then we discuss Galapagos LOL. Then we will jump to a lazy week in the Almafi coast land trip. We are all over the place! So many places to see! But with his potential new job it might be hard for us to get away for 3 weeks. That is why we are leaning towards a week-ish in Bali, Maldives, somewhere out there.

 

Obviously, Ashley is still on her honeymoon.

 

We hope you are OK, and come back soon to finish your review.

 

Thank you for sharing your wedding information with me. The venue and wedding photos are absolutely beautiful! Everyone looks so nice and happy. Lucky couple to be able to have such a magnificent wedding!

 

HAHAHA I like your comment ;) I wish we could go back on our honeymoon right now! Everything is good. The problem is I work virtually and I am a grad student so Monday-Friday I sit in front of a computer screen for 10+ hours between the 2 so my eyes are "over" the computer screen. I post mostly on weekends, sorry for the delay!!

 

And thank you for the kind words!! Yes, I am a very lucky bride! The Don CeSar is an amazing hotel if you ever are in the Tampa Bay area.

 

I think we also had one of Eduardo's tours. Betsey arranged it. It was the most disorganized company I've ever seen. he didn't have us listed and had to find a last minute driver. We had a car that seemed like it would fall apart. They tried to scam us for more money. We all wrote nasty things and I think he sent Betsy a nasty email back about what others were writing about him.

Do NOT use his tour, if you're reading this thread and heading to Costa Rica

 

Wow, I am so sorry you also had a bad experience but this makes me feel a little better. I wrote a pretty nasty review which is very out of character for me but I was so upset over being priced for a private tour of 6 and then being placed on a bus for 15. We even had the e-mails and proof of price quotes. And now that you mention it, they were very disorganized. We also had a hard time locating them in port. Whereas with Mario they provided very detailed directions on how to find them in port and the "secret" logo LOL.

 

We had lunch at that restaurant in CR. It's owned by Eduardo's family. It actually wasn't too bad and the sun came out when we got there

 

Linda

 

Glad to hear! I think we were so "over it" by then we were tired of just standing around. No one was there to serve us or anything?

[porrah]

Hi Ashley and Tyler.

We (Bert and Sylvia) were on the My friend Mario tour with you. We enjoyed it in spite of the rain. The thing I remember the most though, is the fabulous succulent, juicy pineapple we had as a snack. I have never ever eaten such delicious fruit. I find it hard to eat pineapple now, knowing how it can taste.

We are going on the Equinox again in December for the ten day voyage.

[az4ship]

I also has lastra as our wAiter. He was great!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Hi Ashley and Tyler.

We (Bert and Sylvia) were on the My friend Mario tour with you. We enjoyed it in spite of the rain. The thing I remember the most though, is the fabulous succulent, juicy pineapple we had as a snack. I have never ever eaten such delicious fruit. I find it hard to eat pineapple now, knowing how it can taste.

We are going on the Equinox again in December for the ten day voyage.

 

Hi!! I am glad you enjoyed the tour :) Yes, I agree, that pineapple was very good. Have a great cruise, it is just around corner! I hope you have dry weather this time.

 

I also has lastra as our wAiter. He was great!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Wow, I can't believe that! There are so many waiters compared to the number of people on CC so that is pretty awesome you had the same waiter. We loved Lastra! Since our section was empty we talked to him quite a bit. All of the wait staff in the MDR were fantastic. Thanks for letting me know!

[CruisingGatorGirl]

12/16/2013, Sea Day #3

We stayed in bed for a while this morning and caught the end of breakfast. We have another beyond the podium speaker today. I don’t ever remember really hearing about these sessions on our Med. cruise but there have been quite a few on this cruise! We really liked Roz’s sessions so we checked out the one today.

 

 

Today’s beyond the podium session is from a speaker talking about non-fiction writing. I thought sure, why not, lets check it out. Ehh, it was not the best. I guess not all beyond the podium sessions are equally great!

 

 

 

We went to the famous sea day brunch held in the MDR. The brunch today did not seem as people-crazy compared to the one on the Solstice. This time they had us enter from the main floor and we were seated right away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went straight to the back to hit the dessert section, haha! It is true, most of the items you can get in the buffet but the presentation is still very nice to look at!

 

 

 

 

After brunch we went for a stroll on the decks. Most of the upper decks were closed due to the high winds.

 

 

 

We found this open spot to read, after a few minutes the rain started again.

 

 

 

 

I tend to jump around in thought all the time. Tyler says my brain is like a pinball machine, just bouncing all over the place and he can’t keep up. I wanted to tell you that little story before I shared this bit from my journal:

 

 

I think all the time in the cabin is starting to give me cabin fever (HA!) but after staring at the picture on the wall I decided it looks like strands of hair under a microscope:

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Today was the Hot Glass Show auction! WOOHOO! We were instructed at our last hot glass show to wear our ponchos! If you read my Solstice report my parents so graciously purchased us a piece at the auction for an engagement gift. It was so special to us, brought tears to our eyes! We talked this morning about what we would be willing to bid. We really wanted to bring another piece of glass home with us to remember the honeymoon.

 

 

 

 

 

We were quickly out-bid, no surprise, we had a low limit! We all wore our ponchos hoping it would bring good vibes. I thought my poncho would bring some luck and maybe not a lot of people would show up.

 

 

 

This time the auction was help in the atrium/Grand Foyer due to the weather.

 

 

No luck, the poncho didn’t work, no glass. Oh well, it wasn’t met to be! I think all of the pieces sold for over $700, with the breast cancer one going for $1,600! It was still fun to wear the poncho with everyone else.

 

 

Next on our list for this sea days was Roz’s 3rd and last Beyond the Podium talk.

 

 

I got a frozen Iglu coffee drink from Café al Bacio to bring. Man, these are good!!! Her (Roz) talk was great! We really enjoyed hearing all 3 of her talks. Of course I also had to pick up some more chocolate squares while I was at the coffee stand. Her talk was followed by more nap time in the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

Just a funny tidbit, we have a new term we use to describe the weather on shore: HAB. It is really not an appropriate abbreviation at all, LOL, Tyler came up with it. Lets jut say, yes, Central America is VERY hot and VERY humid. I can’t imagine what it would be like in July! Costa Rica, for example, was HAB. I’ll give you a hint it starts with “hot” and is not something a lady should ever say, LOL. So we shortened it to HAB.

 

 

 

We attempted trivia today but it was too hard. We play trivia here at home a lot but it was really difficult today! We enjoy the daily crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles offered by customer service. We never noticed the daily puzzles before. We grabbed a couple extras to bring back home with us when we are missing cruising!

 

 

 

Like usual, we somehow ended up at another Hot Glass Show, shocker huh? LOL! (I’LL SPARE YOU THE PICTURES LOL). Now that we are entering the “friend zone” with the gaffers and gaffer girlfriend this becomes a social event for us, hehe. We also started noticing some of the crew in “plain clothes” (such as the evening performers) attending the Hot Glass Shows. We have had a lot of free time on this cruise, obviously if we are noticing these type of things!

 

Today the secret poncho club emerged and the Hot Glass Show, people must think we are crazy. Hey, you only live once! #YOLO

[CruisingGatorGirl]

I also signed up for a yoga class today. I enjoy yoga at home and thought it might be nice to try it on board since we have the time and it is raining. Doesn’t that sound relaxing? Yoga, on a cruise, sun setting, as it rains out and you can watch it from the inside. Yes, sounds pretty nice to me!

 

 

 

 

 

The Yoga instructor was named Marvin and it was $14. I was the only one who showed up so I got a private session, SWEET!

 

 

 

Just a picture I took on the way back, the ship is beautiful!

 

 

 

 

Afterwards I met up with Tyler in the stateroom. We tried to watch a movie but the TV was acting up.

 

 

 

Back to my “Cabin Fever,” I started paying attention to the artwork on the ship. I like art, I like museums. But I think I am going crazy, this piece of art was simply called “Black Square” (if I remember correctly).

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight the Captain came over the PA system with an unusual announcement for the crew, perhaps someone knows what it means? He said “Starcode, starcode, starcode deck 4, port side, entrance to Equinox Theater.” Hmm not sure what that was all about.

 

 

 

As you probably have gathered by now I have a lot of free time to write in my journal on sea days so this is probably pretty boring to you, sorry. A lot of the same… rain, Hot Glass Show, eating, gym, repeat.

 

 

 

I didn’t realize I pretty much type the same thing everyday until now, so, SORRY!!!

 

 

But I do have some surprising news. Are you ready? I still can’t believe it. Tonight was the first night at dinner we didn’t order dessert!!

 

 

 

But… we made up for it because I got a chocolate martini (finally!!). We met up with some of the entertainment staff in the Molecular Bar. Everyone ordered fun martinis. Some had the smoking/dry ice one, someone had a spicy one, and I had the sweet one (naturally). It was called the indulgence martini.

 

 

 

Our new friends mentioned they heard almost all of the tours for tomorrow (Belize) were being canceled due to the heavy rains. We shall see what happens. This was the one port where TYLER picked the tour! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? TYLER actually planned a tour!!!

 

 

 

So I will feel really bad if our tour gets cancelled. Belize was the port Tyler was looking forward to the most. Little side story- Tyler always wanted to go fishing in Belize. Anyone have experience with a fishing charter? We talked it over and he decided not to book one because it was pretty expensive and he likes to start fishing at the crack of dawn, which you cannot do on a cruise. He ended up picking an off roading Land Rover tour.

 

 

 

Some of the Gingerbread Set-up in the foyer

 

 

 

 

 

After hanging out with our new cruise friends we finally got to catch the Sin City Comedy show. I have mixed feelings about it; I think overall I would say we enjoyed the comedy show. Put it this way, on another cruise we would go to it… just not with my parents LOL.

 

 

 

Things were definitely starting to turn around for us. The cruise had a slow start but we really had a good day! Even though today was rainy and dreary we still made the most of it and really enjoyed ourselves. Things are running smoothly and I feel like I am back in “Happy Cruise Mode.” Now we are sad because we are past the half way point. But I am very happy we had a happy day!! Lots of happiness, happiness for all! Ok, now I sound like Buddy the Elf from the movie Elf.

 

 

 

I don’t know if was the poncho or the indulgence martini, but today was a good day!

 

 

 

We have really enjoyed running into our Roll Call members and other people from the CC boards all over the ship! I was surprised at how many people I met who just lurk and do not post…. I see you!

 

 

 

Alright, that is it for this post!

Next up, Belize! WOOHOO! Please don’t let the tour be canceled, please!

[hulamoon]

What a very nice present, a gift from the hot glass show! I have one from our first cruise and I love it.

[h20cruzer]

So glad you are finally writing this review. I loved, loved, loved your Med review and engagement. It even brought tears to my eyes a couple of times.

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures.

Norma

[pdcat21]

We too love the hot glass shows. My Dad has been lucky enough to win a piece on both of our Solstice cruises. I just wish he would share his luck with me:rolleyes:.

[hulamoon]

In post 83 you mention cabin fever, tihis was the cruise in which I decided how much I value suite space.

[karensc]

12/11/2013, Grand Cayman

 

 

(There will not be many pictures in this post but the rest of the trip I will have plenty! And sorry this is not the happiest of posts, but happiness is coming.)

 

 

Like yesterday, I woke up earlier than I wanted to. Maybe I am just always going to be a “morning person.” I guess a positive to waking up early is the quietness and serenity on board. The plan for today is to have our “beach day” of the trip. We plan on using the bus to go to a beach and rent SUP board (stand up paddle-board) and just relax.

 

 

We were really looking forward to relaxing on the beach.

 

 

Then, I open the curtains to step out on the balcony and was greeted with this:

 

 

Not exactly beach day weather.

 

 

 

We had breakfast in the buffet today and I got to try the waffles that everyone talks about. Yes, it is true, they were delicious!

 

 

 

We decided we were not going to let the rain stop us and headed towards shore. Along the way we ran into Bruce, the Captains Club host. He was very nice and asked how our cruise was going, he gave us priority tender tickets.

 

 

 

Once on shore, it was raining so we just wandered around the shops. I am a fan of David Yurman jewelry so we checked out the pieces being sold; didn’t buy anything.

 

 

 

 

 

There really is not a whole lot to see/do right there in the shops area. Once you have seen the shops, that is about it. We were bummed we didn’t make it to the beach so we headed back towards the Equinox. We were not impressed with Grand Cayman. (we are not really turtle farm people or swimming with dolphins, so this is probably not the best port for us)

 

 

 

 

 

Once back on board, the sun decided to appear, MAN. Of course, as soon as we get back the clouds break apart and the sun shines through. Darn! It was nice being on a near empty ship as most folks were out exploring. We were able to grab nice loungers by the pool and some burgers. Next time, I think we will skip getting off the ship in Grand Cayman and just stay on board.

 

 

 

You will notice I do a lot of things don’t make sense, haha! For instance, after the pool we headed to the gym, to be followed by ice cream- Hey, at least I burned some calories, better than nothing! I love the ice cream and toppings provided on Celebrity cruises!

 

 

 

One thing I will note about desserts in the buffet. Most of the little buffet desserts look better than they taste- trial and error. Now, I have no problem “Testing” them for you- It is research after all. I do have an addiction the little fruit tarts. Tyler doesn’t get it, he doesn’t like them. Please tell me I am not the only one who loves the little fruit tarts?

 

 

One thing about this cruise compared to our European cruise, I had more time to explore the ship. I saw on the daily activity sheet there was a “Smokey eye demonstration.” I thought sure, why not, I’ll check it out. I reluctantly got picked to be the model, only 3 of us showed up. This would have been great, except I still needed to shower so there goes the nice makeup!

 

 

 

So there is a secret, want your makeup done for free? Show up to the makeup demonstrations! I went a couple times throughout the cruise and hardly anyone came.

 

 

 

We got ready for diner early again and walked around the shops to visit our crew friends. The “Real or fake” diamond contest was sort of lame. It was really crowded and I don’t even remember what the actual prize was.

 

 

 

The seas picked up again tonight… maybe this is something I just need to except and get over? In the Mediterranean we never felt the ship move except one night. So far on this cruise I can always tell the ship is moving, always some kind of rocking. Now it is not always bad! But I can tell we are on a ship. Like I said before, I am sensitive to motion so I may not be the best judge of this.

 

 

 

The ship is rocking but I am not sea-sick at the moment; dinner was excellent in the MDR. We love our wait staff! The MDR so far has been pretty empty? (if you check out my pics in the above post I noticed it is empty in the background) Maybe this cruise is not sold out? Our wait staff only had our table and 1 other couple of 2, all the other tables were empty the entire cruise, strange. IS this normal for Early December cruises?

 

 

 

I am going to be honest in this report, at this point we were starting to miss our Mediterranean cruise, we were a little bummed. We knew going in we cannot compare the 2 cruises, they are totally different experiences. However we are humans and it is in our nature to compare. Between the rain today, empty MDR, things just do not feel the same, sad face. I know, we need to get over it, come on Ashley, at least you are on a cruise with your new husband! Get over it! I will try! It is true; there is a different energy and vibe on a Med. cruise (at least so far).

 

 

 

Back to dinner, as I just mentioned, there was another table for 2 in our section. They were the sweetest couple ever! I believe they are celebrating 50 years; we enjoyed talking to them and their marriage advice.

 

 

We tried the chocolate lava cake tonight, OM to the G. It is AH-mazing. Our new favorite dessert.

 

 

 

(in this picture you can see our head waiter in the back serving the only other table in this section)

 

 

After dinner we tried to catch the end of the nighttime Hot Glass Show. However it was storming so they had to cancel it for safety reasons. However the glass blowers were up there still and we were the only ones who showed up. So we started chatting with the gaffers (Ryan, Stephen, and Julian) and they were awesome. For the 2 guys they were on their first contract and Ryan, was the veteran gaffer. We enjoyed hearing their stories as this was Stephen and Julian’s first time on a cruise and to Europe (the Equinox just got back from Europe). And Ryan having been on Celebrity ships had a lot of stories.

Ok there, see, another really good thing about this cruise! The crew is amazing, compared to a busy Med. cruise we really got to interact with the crew a lot this time. I need to stay positive! For those of you with upcoming Equinox trips planned, the staff was fabulous!

 

 

 

OK sorry to stray away from the moment of positivity, there is one MAJOR problem on this ship… the NONSTOP CHRISTMAS MUSIC. This has got to stop and I am on who LOVES Christmas music. The problem is, there is a loop of about 10-12 Christmas songs so after a few days on the ship we already know the pattern and order of the songs and it is getting really old, really fast. I am not one to complain about the music and it does not bother me like many of the threads on here. But the Christmas music, oh boy, even a Christmas music lover is getting tired of it.

 

 

 

After dinner and chatting with the gaffers we headed down to the Sin City comedy show. It was standing room only so we left and will try to catch it another night.

 

 

Sorry for this “downer” of a post. Today was just not the spectacular day we hoped it would be. We are looking forward to a sea day tomorrow as we make our way towards Colombia! Woohoo!! This is what we are looking forward to. What will Colombia bring?

 

Sorry you did not enjoy Grand Cayman. We went for a week in March, and stayed in a condo with our son and daughter-in-law. The highlight of our week was swimming with the stingrays. Amazing experience even though the sea was a little rough at the time. Great and detailed review, thanks for taking the time to do this!

[Blondie008]

12/11/2013, Grand Cayman

 

 

(There will not be many pictures in this post but the rest of the trip I will have plenty! And sorry this is not the happiest of posts, but happiness is coming.)

 

 

Like yesterday, I woke up earlier than I wanted to. Maybe I am just always going to be a “morning person.” I guess a positive to waking up early is the quietness and serenity on board. The plan for today is to have our “beach day” of the trip. We plan on using the bus to go to a beach and rent SUP board (stand up paddle-board) and just relax.

 

 

We were really looking forward to relaxing on the beach.

 

 

Then, I open the curtains to step out on the balcony and was greeted with this:

 

 

Not exactly beach day weather.

 

 

 

We had breakfast in the buffet today and I got to try the waffles that everyone talks about. Yes, it is true, they were delicious!

 

 

 

We decided we were not going to let the rain stop us and headed towards shore. Along the way we ran into Bruce, the Captains Club host. He was very nice and asked how our cruise was going, he gave us priority tender tickets.

 

 

 

Once on shore, it was raining so we just wandered around the shops. I am a fan of David Yurman jewelry so we checked out the pieces being sold; didn’t buy anything.

 

 

 

 

 

There really is not a whole lot to see/do right there in the shops area. Once you have seen the shops, that is about it. We were bummed we didn’t make it to the beach so we headed back towards the Equinox. We were not impressed with Grand Cayman. (we are not really turtle farm people or swimming with dolphins, so this is probably not the best port for us)

 

 

 

 

 

Once back on board, the sun decided to appear, MAN. Of course, as soon as we get back the clouds break apart and the sun shines through. Darn! It was nice being on a near empty ship as most folks were out exploring. We were able to grab nice loungers by the pool and some burgers. Next time, I think we will skip getting off the ship in Grand Cayman and just stay on board.

 

 

 

You will notice I do a lot of things don’t make sense, haha! For instance, after the pool we headed to the gym, to be followed by ice cream- Hey, at least I burned some calories, better than nothing! I love the ice cream and toppings provided on Celebrity cruises!

 

 

 

One thing I will note about desserts in the buffet. Most of the little buffet desserts look better than they taste- trial and error. Now, I have no problem “Testing” them for you- It is research after all. I do have an addiction the little fruit tarts. Tyler doesn’t get it, he doesn’t like them. Please tell me I am not the only one who loves the little fruit tarts?

 

 

One thing about this cruise compared to our European cruise, I had more time to explore the ship. I saw on the daily activity sheet there was a “Smokey eye demonstration.” I thought sure, why not, I’ll check it out. I reluctantly got picked to be the model, only 3 of us showed up. This would have been great, except I still needed to shower so there goes the nice makeup!

 

 

 

So there is a secret, want your makeup done for free? Show up to the makeup demonstrations! I went a couple times throughout the cruise and hardly anyone came.

 

 

 

We got ready for diner early again and walked around the shops to visit our crew friends. The “Real or fake” diamond contest was sort of lame. It was really crowded and I don’t even remember what the actual prize was.

 

 

 

The seas picked up again tonight… maybe this is something I just need to except and get over? In the Mediterranean we never felt the ship move except one night. So far on this cruise I can always tell the ship is moving, always some kind of rocking. Now it is not always bad! But I can tell we are on a ship. Like I said before, I am sensitive to motion so I may not be the best judge of this.

 

 

 

The ship is rocking but I am not sea-sick at the moment; dinner was excellent in the MDR. We love our wait staff! The MDR so far has been pretty empty? (if you check out my pics in the above post I noticed it is empty in the background) Maybe this cruise is not sold out? Our wait staff only had our table and 1 other couple of 2, all the other tables were empty the entire cruise, strange. IS this normal for Early December cruises?

 

 

 

I am going to be honest in this report, at this point we were starting to miss our Mediterranean cruise, we were a little bummed. We knew going in we cannot compare the 2 cruises, they are totally different experiences. However we are humans and it is in our nature to compare. Between the rain today, empty MDR, things just do not feel the same, sad face. I know, we need to get over it, come on Ashley, at least you are on a cruise with your new husband! Get over it! I will try! It is true; there is a different energy and vibe on a Med. cruise (at least so far).

 

 

 

Back to dinner, as I just mentioned, there was another table for 2 in our section. They were the sweetest couple ever! I believe they are celebrating 50 years; we enjoyed talking to them and their marriage advice.

 

 

We tried the chocolate lava cake tonight, OM to the G. It is AH-mazing. Our new favorite dessert.

 

 

 

(in this picture you can see our head waiter in the back serving the only other table in this section)

 

 

After dinner we tried to catch the end of the nighttime Hot Glass Show. However it was storming so they had to cancel it for safety reasons. However the glass blowers were up there still and we were the only ones who showed up. So we started chatting with the gaffers (Ryan, Stephen, and Julian) and they were awesome. For the 2 guys they were on their first contract and Ryan, was the veteran gaffer. We enjoyed hearing their stories as this was Stephen and Julian’s first time on a cruise and to Europe (the Equinox just got back from Europe). And Ryan having been on Celebrity ships had a lot of stories.

Ok there, see, another really good thing about this cruise! The crew is amazing, compared to a busy Med. cruise we really got to interact with the crew a lot this time. I need to stay positive! For those of you with upcoming Equinox trips planned, the staff was fabulous!

 

 

 

OK sorry to stray away from the moment of positivity, there is one MAJOR problem on this ship… the NONSTOP CHRISTMAS MUSIC. This has got to stop and I am on who LOVES Christmas music. The problem is, there is a loop of about 10-12 Christmas songs so after a few days on the ship we already know the pattern and order of the songs and it is getting really old, really fast. I am not one to complain about the music and it does not bother me like many of the threads on here. But the Christmas music, oh boy, even a Christmas music lover is getting tired of it.

 

 

 

After dinner and chatting with the gaffers we headed down to the Sin City comedy show. It was standing room only so we left and will try to catch it another night.

 

 

Sorry for this “downer” of a post. Today was just not the spectacular day we hoped it would be. We are looking forward to a sea day tomorrow as we make our way towards Colombia! Woohoo!! This is what we are looking forward to. What will Colombia bring?

 

Grand Cayman is stunning - you need to get yourself out of the cruise terminal area and into the real GC

Locals wont hang around there

Caymana Bay - gorgeous area with beautiful shops and trendy bars/restaurants - where the wealthy locals hang out

 

The yacht club - minutes away in a taxi

 

Seven mile beach - the Ritz carlton or the Westin Brunch

You missed out on so much

For sure GC is the wealthiest island in the caribbean -

Panama = grotty

Costa Rica - same

sorry but you favored those ports over GC?

You didn't do your homework

I know GC very well - I wouldnt hang out along the front - grab a taxi and within minutes - be outta there..

Grand ole house? Abacus? Michaels at Caymana Bay - and all those stunning shops - you missed out girl!

And you didnt go swimming with the rays?

ooooh what a shame

I'd swap anywhere in the Med for GC any day of the week

Next time you are on a cruise - and go into GC - go into Gc's ,local info and get away from the Breezes - port front - area -

Billionaires dont live there for no reason - they just dont hang around Pirates Bar or Margaritaville. ;)

[CruisingGatorGirl]

What a very nice present, a gift from the hot glass show! I have one from our first cruise and I love it.

 

Thank you! Yes, that was very generous of my parents on our Med. cruise to bid on a piece and win for us. It is our most prized possession :) we hand carried it on the plane from Europe to the US! That is so neat that you have a piece too, if you are able to could you post a picture? I would love to see it! We were really hoping to be able to win one at the auction but we were outbid.

 

So glad you are finally writing this review. I loved, loved, loved your Med review and engagement. It even brought tears to my eyes a couple of times.

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures.

Norma

 

Thank you so much, Norma! You are so sweet, I appreciate the kind words :)

 

We too love the hot glass shows. My Dad has been lucky enough to win a piece on both of our Solstice cruises. I just wish he would share his luck with me.

 

Wow that is awesome!! I need to cruise with your dad haha! Be sure to follow this report until the end... you will see why, I think you might like it!

 

In post 83 you mention cabin fever, tihis was the cruise in which I decided how much I value suite space.

 

HAHA, yes!!! I have never spent more time in a cabin before. I bet it was so nice to be in a suite. I don't think I can ever book a suite because then I will be hooked ;)

 

Sorry you did not enjoy Grand Cayman. We went for a week in March, and stayed in a condo with our son and daughter-in-law. The highlight of our week was swimming with the stingrays. Amazing experience even though the sea was a little rough at the time. Great and detailed review, thanks for taking the time to do this!

 

Yes, we were sad too. On the bright side, it just means we have to go back and try GC again! Thank you for the comments!

 

Grand Cayman is stunning - you need to get yourself out of the cruise terminal area and into the real GC

Locals wont hang around there

Caymana Bay - gorgeous area with beautiful shops and trendy bars/restaurants - where the wealthy locals hang out

 

The yacht club - minutes away in a taxi

 

Seven mile beach - the Ritz carlton or the Westin Brunch

You missed out on so much

For sure GC is the wealthiest island in the caribbean -

Panama = grotty

Costa Rica - same

sorry but you favored those ports over GC?

You didn't do your homework

I know GC very well - I wouldnt hang out along the front - grab a taxi and within minutes - be outta there..

Grand ole house? Abacus? Michaels at Caymana Bay - and all those stunning shops - you missed out girl!

And you didnt go swimming with the rays?

ooooh what a shame

I'd swap anywhere in the Med for GC any day of the week

Next time you are on a cruise - and go into GC - go into Gc's ,local info and get away from the Breezes - port front - area -

Billionaires dont live there for no reason - they just dont hang around Pirates Bar or Margaritaville.

 

Thank you for the comments and tips, you provided us with some great ideas for next time! Hopefully next time we will have better weather too. Thank you very much!! Woohoo, now I want to go back!

[Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE]

If you ever go back to Grand Cayman, I would definitely recommend a tour to Stingray City, and particularly a small private tour. We went on a Fatfish jet ski tour to see the rays, and there were only 6 of us on the tour. We got to spend quite a lot of time with the Rays before all the big cruise ship tours with 100s of people showed up! We have found that small tour providers know when the big ship tours go where and avoid those times. This provides a much better and less crowded experience. I can't wait for the rest of your review!

 

I am soaking up all these Equinox reviews, as we are just 60 days away from our Equinox cruise! I always intend to journal, and I never make it very far into the cruise before I give up. The last cruise I made it two days in before I gave up! LOL!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Blondie008]

And thanks for the amazing review

Your wedding pics are beautiful - you are a stunning bride and handsome groom!

We are going on Equniox next year so enjoying your pics and thoughts

Many thanks!

[Waihekean]

Hi, Ashley

Another follower from your amazing Med review. So, really happy to find this one. I'm on the armchair now!:D

[matondo]

I am loving your review. We just got off the same itinerary last Friday (Nov 21). It is so fun hearing your perspective. This was the longest cruise we had ever taken. My DH and DD were ready to leave the ship at the end of the cruise, I on the other hand was begging for more!!

 

We also had a lot of rain as well. It was a wonderful ship and a fantastic cruise!

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for you review. I am really enjoying it. I have wanted to go to Cartegena. Your pictures made me want to go even more.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, thanks for taking the time to write and post it and your wonderful photo's.

[One_plus_one]

Hi Ashley, enjoying your review as always :) We are going on our first Med cruise on the Reflection on 29th May. I hope that our ships pass each other along the way and we can wave to each other! :D I must read your Med cruise review again to refresh my memory for our cruise. I still have the info you emailed to me, it has lots of helpful information in it too. May will be here before we know it and I just hope that I am organized enough before the trip!

 

Tracey.

[h20cruzer]

Just updating the thread to keep alive.

Norma