Celebrity Equinox March 25, 2016

[Ravbo]

Hi,

 

We are Bob & Terry from Florida.

 

Celebrity is our cruise line of choice.

 

Currently have 3 Celebrity cruises booked with this being the next cruise.

 

Anyone else on this cruise?

 

Bob

[Ravbo]

HELLO HELLO Can anyone hear me ????

 

Is this thing connected ????

[MandB]

Hi. We are Max and Bob and are also on this cruise (for our 36th anniversary and honeymoon). We are from the Fort Myers area. Not sure how much action you will get on this thread since there is such an active thread on the regular roll call board. Just noticed it says you are from Cape Coral; we are in North Fort Myers, up near the Shell Factory.

 

Max :)

Edited January 19, 2016 by MandB
Extra info

[Ravbo]

Hi Max,

 

We have lived in the SW section of Cape Coral since 1994 (in the 8 lakes area) and in Florida since 1980. We plan to move to a condo in Ft. Myers after we retire.

 

I am following the thread on the regular Equinox roll call board and have posted on the spreadsheet. We are usually at the Martini Bar before dinner. Hope to see you there.

 

Bob

[MandB]

Hi Max,

 

We have lived in the SW section of Cape Coral since 1994 (in the 8 lakes area) and in Florida since 1980. We plan to move to a condo in Ft. Myers after we retire.

 

I am following the thread on the regular Equinox roll call board and have posted on the spreadsheet. We are usually at the Martini Bar before dinner. Hope to see you there.

 

Bob

 

Hi Bob,

Before which dinner? We actually like to partake of the early seating for dinner. Bob retired in 2012 and I retired in 2013. We bought our home here in Florida in December 2013 and moved here permanently when we sold our home in Ohio in March of 2015 (I actually changed my permanent residence in 2013). We really like the area around here.

 

Max

[Ravbo]

We will be dining in Luminea which is open seating with no fixed dining time.

 

We are flexible. We can met either before or after your early seating.

 

Bob

[MandB]

Maybe we could meet up at the sail-away somehow to have a drink.

 

Max

[Ravbo]

Hi Max,

 

Sorry for not replying sooner. I missed your reply.

 

Sail-away sounds great.

 

How to arrange this:

Set someplace/time to meet?

Exchange mobile phone numbers?

Other?

 

Bob

[MandB]

Bob

 

Drop me an email at maxcyhall@earthlink.net and I will email you my cell number and maybe we could text each other after we get on the ship.

 

Do you guys ever eat at Mel's Diner up on Pine Island Road?

 

Max

[d&a Delaware]

Hey guys,

 

David and Allen here (actually Allen has never participated on Cruise Critic, so I just go ahead and post for two ;) ). I so seldom find a roll call for one of our cruises here on the G&L board that I seldom check it anymore. So this is a pleasant surprise to find you here, as well as on the standard roll call thread. :)

 

I expect we will try to attend the Sunset Bar M&G right after muster drill -- being organized on the other roll call, and maybe we can meet you there. We have Select dining (the anytime option in the MDR) and like the flexibility. We have been to all of the islands we are visiting, and may not even go ashore. Certainly nothing planned in advance. One of the reasons we booked this cruise was the large number of sea days (4), and for me the ship is pretty much the destination this time. Celebrity is by far our preferred cruise line, and we have managed to accumulate status so that we hit the "Elite" free drink venue for happy hour before dinner. But I understand that X also puts the three free drinks daily on our sea pass now, so a meet at another venue (Martini bar?) is doable as well.

 

We look pretty much as we appear in the pictures with my postings --just a few more years on those smiling faces. During the day I will be putting around the ship on my small mobility scooter, and Allen is likely to be at the gym. If you spot either of us, just flag us down and introduce yourselves. Looking forward to meeting you on board.

 

David

[Ravbo]

Hi David & Allen,

 

Welcome. Thanks for responding. Like your Allen, my Terry does not post on cruise critic but I include him in the signatures (I guess it is a habit after 35 years).

 

Not sure if we can make the Sunset Bar at sail away but will try.

 

If we don't meet at sail away, we are ALWAYS at the Martini Bar before dinner. We also have flexible dining times and usually have dinner +/- 7:30 in Luminae.

 

We also have been to most of the islands in the caribbean many times. Also have nothing planned in advance. We both still work so a relaxing cruise is purfect for us, just like to relax and just enjoy the ship.

 

We currently have 7 future cruises booked going all the way out to March 2018.

Cruising is very addictive (at least for us). This cruise will be # 24.

 

Looking forward to meeting everyone in March.

 

Bob & Terry

[d&a Delaware]

Hi again Bob (and Terry),

 

Sounds like the Martini Bar pre dinner is a good bet. And our stateroom numbers are on the spreadsheet, so we can always leave a message :).

 

Allen and I have also been on a lot of cruises (not as many as you guys) and are "addicted" to cruising as are you, partly because cruises are really neat and fun, and also because they accommodate both my limited mobility and Allen's need for a lot of fitness related activity. We have always booked at least a balcony cabin, sometimes a low end suite, but because we require an accessible cabin to accommodate my scooter we often get suite size space at a regular cabin rate. Our favorite cabins are the aft Concierge Class cabins on Celebrity M class ships, where there is a tier of three accessible cabins with huge balconies overlooking the wake. We can host a wine & cheese party for 20 people on one of those balconies. So we prefer M class to S class (thelasotherapy pools help), but S class is not so bad either. Looking forward to talking with you guys about relative new benefits on Celebrity for suite passengers. Maybe we will have to recalibrate our calculations.

 

David

[Ravbo]

Hi David,

 

Our stateroom number is also listed on the spreadsheet (just checked to make sure).

 

I noticed you are staying at the Embassy Suites.

We are also there. Even though we live in Florida (only 3 hour drive from port) we are going to Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday March 22. This allows us time to start decompression from work. We used to live in Ft. Lauderdale in the 80's and are friends with many people still in Ft. Lauderdale. This gives us a few days to reconnect with old friends over dinner.

 

Talk later.

 

Bob

[clk cabriolet]

WOW! i never knew there were gay roll calls before today. i was just surfing the website and found this one so here i am.

i'm sure you recognize my name from the regular roll call. in fact, i started the roll call back in 2014 and david and allen were also one of the first people to join. its a long story why i had to change my name from usc traveler to the one i use now and i won't go into it now.

 

so nice to meet you, rob/terry. and its good to see max/bob on here. hope your wedding was fabulous and that the passing of your mother took away your happiness. what is, is...right? congratulations on your wedding and looking forward to meeting all of you.

 

this is my first celebrity cruise and first equinox cruise, obviously. i always travel alone as i'm single and prefer it so i can mingle or not and do whatever i want to do. i'm retired and i'm 71 years old. i'm in an aqua room and i can eat wherever i want except for luminae. i'm not an early diner but usually like to eat around 7:30. i definitely have to eat in murano and i'd like to try the tuscan grill too.

 

i will be at the sunset bar after the muster drill on sailaway day. hope to meet you there. my flight arrives at 5:20 pm on the 24th. i'm staying at the crowne plaza. if everything works for me getting to the hotel relatively quickly, i'd love to pop over to the embassy suites to meet the other roll call members at the cocktail party there. if i'm not there, i'll see you all on the 25th! i can't wait. i'm so excited about this cruise. i love the caribbean island and i've been to some on this cruise and some notl. one question for you all. are the beds comfortable or do you request an eggcrate mattress? thanks.

 

anyway, i've rambled on too much; so glad to have found this roll call. it's not very busy, is it? but at least its here and i'm happy to have found it.

Edited March 17, 2016 by clk cabriolet

[d&a Delaware]

Hi David,

 

Glad you found your way to this G&L roll call, but you are absolutely right that roll call threads here are no where near as active as those on the Cruise Line boards. That is where the action is, particularly for our cruise for which the Celebrity Roll Call thread has bee exceptionally active. Still, this is a nice place to check in with "family".

 

David

[clk cabriolet]

david....its always nice visiting with family:)

[Ravbo]

Hi David,

 

Glad you found this thread. Welcome.

 

I had some late meetings yesterday and missed you post until this morning.

 

We are Bob & Terry from Cape Coral Florida.

 

I hope you will like Celebrity.

 

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line with over 20 Celebrity cruises to date.

 

We will be driving to Ft Lauderdale on Tuesday. Not retired yet. Really need this break.

 

Welcome again.

 

Bob

[clk cabriolet]

bob...good to meet you and terry. hope you can make it to the sunset bar on sailaway day. are you meeting other friends on the ship?

[clk cabriolet]

bob and davd...a couple of questions. what do you think of the mattresses on celebrity? i used to get an eggcrate mattress on princess but they have since improved their mattresses and i don't use one anymore. i'd like to get your opinion. i also read that the bath towels aren't much to think of and aren't very large but the pool towels are a better towel. do you agree? is it easy to get pool towels in your room? and lastly, do either of you plan or have planned to do any excursions? i'm not doing an excursion in st. kitts nor st. thomas. but i'm doing the catamaran day trip in barbados with some other roll call people. sounds like a good day to me. and i'm booked with bernard's tours in st. maarten to do an island tour and go to maho beach to see the planes landing at the airport.

[d&a Delaware]

David,

 

Allen and I have always been happy with the beds/mattresses on our cruises, most of which have been on Celebrity. If you should not like your mattress once on board, just ask your stateroom attendant for an eggcrate foam top and I understand they will be happy to oblige if one is available.

 

On any given cruise some of the bath towels are older and thinner, and some are newer and thicker. Again, be friends with your stateroom attendant. Same quality variation in pool towels, which I guess are a bit larger. You can certainly bring one back to your stateroom, but if you had to show your seapass to get one, be sure to return one to the same place at some point in the cruise to get your account cleared. Often on a port day your stateroom attendant will provide a pool/beach towel in your cabin so that passengers do not take stateroom towels ashore.

 

We have no excursions reserved or planned. This is really a "ship is the destination" cruise for us -- just to really unwind and reduce stress. That said, I think we may go ashore in St. Thomas to go to the Greenhouse restaurant (mentioned in the other roll call) for a lunch of conch chowder and conch fritters. And in St. Kitts, I would like to persuade Allen to join me in hiring a cab to take us to Romney Manor/Carabelle Batik to shop for some shirts and gifts. The tours that stop there do so for a short time only. For the same price I was able to hire a cab on my own several years ago for a round trip with as much time as I wanted at Romney Manor. That's the only thing I want to do.

 

Sitting at the bar at Maho Beach is fun, but we did that several years ago. I don't do sandy beaches at all because of my mobility/stability issues. Allen may want to do a beach excursion at one of the islands.

 

David

Edited March 19, 2016 by d&a Delaware

[clk cabriolet]

david...thank you so much for your advice and opinions. i am planning on going to the greenhouse in st thomas but i want to look around the town and do some shopping before lunch. maybe we could meet at the restaurant with the other people. i think their plan to meet at 1pm. after lunch and with shopping finished, i'd like to get back to the ship.

 

i don't have any plans on st kitts and don't want to take a sightseeing tour, but your idea of hiring a cab and going to the batik place interests me. would you mind if i tagged along with you and allen? maybe we could talk more about it on the ship.

 

i do agree with you about the ship being the destination. when i cruise to mexico, i really don't bother getting off the ship anymore for two reasons: 1. ive been before and don't need to see it again and 2. the ship is so peaceful when almost all the passengers leave.

 

i'll take your advice about being nice to the room steward. i'm always nice to them. they work so hard and really try to please everyone, but some passengers just don't understand how to not be demanding.

 

the old saying "you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar" always works for me.

[Ravbo]

Hi everyone,

 

Trip update.

 

Everything is on the bed in the spare bedroom. Packing tomorrow.

Monday is last minute items and unfortunately my primary client has a problem so I have a meeting on Monday afternoon.

 

We leave Tuesday at noon for Ft. Lauderdale. As I have explained in other places on the boards, we lived in Ft. Lauderdale in the 1980's. (WOW that sounds like a long time ago). Many of our friends still live there so we go early to see everyone and have dinner. Terry and I also have a tradition of a nice seafood dinner the night before we board so we have reservations at out favorite restaurant "Trulucks". We also go early so I can start winding down. I tend to be a very hyperactive AA personality and need time to decompress.

 

SOOOO looking forward to this holiday.

 

Bob

[clk cabriolet]

bob....ok, i finally put my rolling duffle bag on the spare bed and unzipped it and opened both sides of it. it made my dog a little nuts. now he knows i'm going somewhere but that's all i'm doing today. i don't want him to get all upset and nervous. i'm taking him to the groomer monday, so i am planning on folding shirts and pants while he's gone and putting some shoes in the bag. then i'll close the door so he can't see what i've done. i know this sounds ridiculous but if i didn't to that, he would sit on top of the open bag and not move thus preventing me from putting more clothes in. that's his method for keeping me home with him. we are the best of buddies:)

 

will you be eating stone crabs as part of your dinner. i am crazy for stone crabs but won't be having any this trip.

[Ravbo]

David,

 

The dog story really made me laugh because it sound sooo much like us.

 

As soon as Blondie (white lab) saw we were laying out the cloths, she knew something was up. She has been looking sad, her ears down and stays right next to us. It will get worse when the black suitcases come out tomorrow. She really gives us a guilt trip.

 

We try not to upset her too much. Terry says the only problem with vacations is we have to leave Blondie. We feel guilty every time we leave. We used to actually fly his parents or my parents down to stay with her when we went out of town (does this sound like we really spoil her. The answer is absolutely). After the parents got too old, we found a wonderful pet sitter to come and stay in the house while we are gone. This way Blondie gets to stay in her own house so our leaving is much less traumatic for her (and us). We would never think of a kennel (jail). The pet sitter is really great and Blondie really likes her. The pet sitter works for our VET so she knows animals and if something happens (sick/injury), she knows what to do. And since she stays in the house, we get a house sitter AND a pet sitter at the same time.

 

As far as the restaurant, will probably start out with escargot, then caesar salad ending up with an entre of a South African Lobster Tail. The menu call the lobster "The Rolls Royce of lobster". Wonderful meal.

 

They do have FRESH FLORIDA STONE CRAB CLAWS in medium, large and jumbo sizes. Everything at Trulucks is absolutely fabulous.

 

Good luck with your packing.

 

Bob

[clk cabriolet]

bob...did i mention that charlie is a blonde cockapoo. he is 4 1/2 years old and i rescued him when he was 6 months old. he wasn't abused but i think the people who bought him couldn't put up with all the puppy training and turned him in to the aspca. my wonderful luck in finding him and he finding me. we have a wonderful life together which is excactly the kind of life blondie must have with you and terry. some friends of mine that i've known for almost my whole life, we grew up in los angeles, moved to an adult community called saddebrooke near tucson. they love charlie and always offer to keep him when i travel. its around a 2 1/2 hour drive to their house but i don't mind taking him and picking him up there. i would never leave him in a kennel, ever! he's treated very well and gets to know all the other dogs in their neighborhood right away. he stayed with them in december when i went to london for 12 days so he probably will remember some of those dogs from then. i'm very lucky to have them.

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....that dinner sounds yummy to me! i make a big fuss about stone crabs but i forget that since you live in florida, so its no big deal for you. i am a huge fan of ceaser salads and grew up eating it in los angeles and bevery hills where they would make it right at your table. i understand murano, on the ship, does it too, so that's why i'm anxious to eat there. do you know the caesar salad was invented in tijuana? yes, it was by a man nemed, of all things, caesar!!! and i wouldn't turn down lobster no matter which country it's from!

 

at least you have a pet sitter that will stay at your house and blondie will be in her own surroundings. i think that's very important for the dogs. once i had a pet sitter stay with charlie for three days. she is my next door neighbor's daughter and goes to asu nursing school but loves to pet sitting and also stayed overnight at my house with charlie. is charlie spoiled? of course he is:)

 

lookikng forward to meeting you and terry.

Edited March 19, 2016 by clk cabriolet