Detailed Photo Review of 3/14/16 Celebrity Equinox 11 Night Cruise

[deladane]

While they did not have any jaguars at the Jaguar Rescue Center, they did have a spotted wild cat...

 

The pelicans really claimed control of the Center haha

 

Apparently last night, 3 eels got into a lagoon in the Center and it clogged up the drains so they had to empty the water for maintenance. When they did that, they found a ton of eggs laid by the frogs who usually live in that lagoon, so they transported the eggs on these large leaves and clipped them onto a tree for storage.

 

 

 

This deer has lived at the Center for so long that she is unable to reintegrate into the wild. The volunteers tried to get her back into the wild, but she wouldn't go, so now she just roams the grounds of the Center. She is so calm and used to having humans around her all day, so we were able to pet her and let her lick our hands.

 

 

[deladane]

 

 

Look closely at the middle of the photo to see a HUGE spider...

 

 

This baby owl is only 2 weeks old... I wanted to pet him because his feathers looked so soft and fluffy, but he was in a cage and we couldn't touch him.

 

An adult owl

[deladane]

This tree is covered in spiny thorns. I've never seen a tree like that before!

 

 

 

The tour ended at around 11:20am. Wait, what? The tour is over? But we never got to hold a baby sloth or have howler monkeys dance on our heads!! Rachel made no mention at all of this being a possibility, so we weren't sure if the description from Oscar Brown Tours was inaccurate or outdated and this was something that used to be done but no longer happens, or if it only happens when they have a baby sloth at the Center and they just didn't have one today. Either way, we were somewhat disappointed because that was one of the main reasons we wanted to take this excursion, and we spent months anticipating the fun of holding a baby sloth! Despite this disappointment, the Jaguar Rescue Center was a great experience to see some unique animals up close, and it was nice to support their cause by paying for our admission ticket.

 

We tipped Rachel as we said our goodbyes and thanked her for a wonderful tour. Elvis was waiting for us outside when we reached the exit, and we discussed the agenda for the rest of our day. J and I were starving because we ate breakfast over 4 hours ago, so Elvis said we could go to lunch next, but that was still over an hour away from the Jaguar Center. Cliff bars to the rescue!! We shared a Cliff bar to hold us over, and set out for the drive back to Limon.

 

On the way, we passed the Sloth Rescue Center. It is much closer to the port than the Jaguar Rescue Center (20 minutes from the port, vs. the 60 minutes we had to drive), so it might make for an interesting excursion. I got a kick out of this sign for a sloth crossing...

 

 

We caught a glimpse of the Equinox as we drove through Limon.

 

 

J and I live in San Jose, CA, so we kept our eye out for any references to San Jose, Costa Rica. J realllly want to buy a San Jose t-shirt but we couldn't find one anywhere in Limon (not that surprising considering we were several hours from San Jose!)

 

Do you know the way to San Jose? hehe

[debandbruce]

loving your review and looking forward to more, thank you!

[marieps]

I know you'll be "preoccupied" on your honeymoon on the Gauguin (congrats BTW), but I certainly hope you post a review on that trip too! It's on our bucket list and can't wait to share your adventure in the South Pacific! You're doing a fantastic job.

[HAM]

Change your Eclipse cruise to February 4😆 I would love to cruise with you...and have a review afterwards to look forward to.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

LOVE your review; we are cruising Feb. 4 2018 also. Hey J, nice NY shirt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[deladane]

loving your review and looking forward to more, thank you!

 

 

Thanks for following!!

[deladane]

LOVE your review; we are cruising Feb. 4 2018 also. Hey J, nice NY shirt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Haha thanks :) although we live in CA and we met out here, we are both born and raised in NY :D

[deladane]

I know you'll be "preoccupied" on your honeymoon on the Gauguin (congrats BTW), but I certainly hope you post a review on that trip too! It's on our bucket list and can't wait to share your adventure in the South Pacific! You're doing a fantastic job.

 

 

Oh don't worry, I fully plan to do a review for that cruise! The fact that there are very limited Cruise Critic reviews from that cruise line was one of the few doubts I had about booking that honeymoon haha how on earth will I adequately research a trip when there are only a handful of active cruise critic members in that forum?!? So fear not, I will definitely come back with a detailed review to help those cruising after me!

[Shirley C]

Loving the review and all the pics.

 

Shirley

[Cruise Raider]

Oh don't worry, I fully plan to do a review for that cruise! The fact that there are very limited Cruise Critic reviews from that cruise line was one of the few doubts I had about booking that honeymoon haha how on earth will I adequately research a trip when there are only a handful of active cruise critic members in that forum?!? So fear not, I will definitely come back with a detailed review to help those cruising after me!

 

deladane

We are back from our wonderful cruise on the Equinox and wanted to thank you so much for your advice on the free walking tour in Cartagena....it was awesome.

We did hear various pricing options for cabs but remember you mentioned it wasn't that much so we just went down the line and asked if we could be taken to Santa Teresa Plaza for $10 .... the third driver we asked agreed. Best thing about it, it was air conditioned. Yay! The way back, we were only charged $8 but with a cab driver with no English so a bit nervous we were actually going back to the pier but no problem in the end.

We were actually approached by this guide at the clock tower that kept stating he was our guide.....very pushy. When I asked him if our names were on the list, he looked puzzled but kept insisting he was our guide. I am glad we ventured on to find our actual guide back by the naval museum. The weather was a bit cooler with a nice breeze on the first day we were there, which was on a Sunday. We booked the morning tour for the following day and OMG -- it was extremely hot that day. We made it but we are not used to that kind of heat. So, anyone else doing this tour, I would actually recommend the afternoon tour instead of the morning one as deladane has stated. We were never so happy as to see that shuttle bus from the zoo to the ship as we were after this tour. Two ice cold beers later, we were back in good shape.

[deladane]

Loving the review and all the pics.

 

Shirley

 

Thanks Shirley!

[deladane]

deladane

We are back from our wonderful cruise on the Equinox and wanted to thank you so much for your advice on the free walking tour in Cartagena....it was awesome.

We did hear various pricing options for cabs but remember you mentioned it wasn't that much so we just went down the line and asked if we could be taken to Santa Teresa Plaza for $10 .... the third driver we asked agreed. Best thing about it, it was air conditioned. Yay! The way back, we were only charged $8 but with a cab driver with no English so a bit nervous we were actually going back to the pier but no problem in the end.

We were actually approached by this guide at the clock tower that kept stating he was our guide.....very pushy. When I asked him if our names were on the list, he looked puzzled but kept insisting he was our guide. I am glad we ventured on to find our actual guide back by the naval museum. The weather was a bit cooler with a nice breeze on the first day we were there, which was on a Sunday. We booked the morning tour for the following day and OMG -- it was extremely hot that day. We made it but we are not used to that kind of heat. So, anyone else doing this tour, I would actually recommend the afternoon tour instead of the morning one as deladane has stated. We were never so happy as to see that shuttle bus from the zoo to the ship as we were after this tour. Two ice cold beers later, we were back in good shape.

 

Oh wow, I'm so glad you enjoyed the tour and that my pointers were helpful in your time in Colombia! That's crazy that the guide approached you near the clock tower... it happened to us right outside the cruise port, but that makes sense considering they know there are thousands of tourists coming into their country (likely for the first time) and most of us will need a guide of some sort. But down near the clock tower, how would they know you came from a cruise ship or that you are looking for a tour?

 

How was the rest of your cruise? Are you planning to write up a review??? :D

[deladane]

We finally arrived at Playa Bonita for lunch at 12:30pm. Elvis explained that we would eat lunch at Quimbamba restaurant, and we could order a chicken, fish, or beef platter with rice and beans, a side salad, and fried plantains, and a drink. We both ordered the chicken, and then walked over to the beach to take a few photos.

 

 

 

Then we went back to our table to wait for our lunch to be served. It was really crowded- Elvis said he has never seen it this crowded and attributed it to having a cruise ship in port. The restaurant does offer free wifi, but we were not able to get our phones to connect. Bummer!

 

 

 

We waited... and waited.... and waited some more, but still no food. Elvis asked the waitress several times why our food wasn't ready yet, and she just kept saying it's almost done. Had we known that we would wait 45 minutes for our meal, we would have spent more time exploring the beach!! That felt like a huge waste of time. When the food finally did arrive, it was very tasty. There was a delicious marinade on the chicken, and I also enjoyed the fried plantains (although they were a little bland).

 

 

After lunch, it was a 5-minute drive to our next destination: the Tortuguero Canal. This seems to be a popular activity for tourists in Limon, where we would take a small boat down the canal and get to see some animals in their natural habitat.

 

[deladane]

There were several boats lined up near the dock, but apparently Oscar Brown Tours has a contract with a specific boat and it was currently on a tour with some other tourists so we had to wait 20 minutes for them to return. Again, we felt like this was a waste of time and could have been avoided with better coordination.

 

Some of the other boats that we weren't allowed to use:

 

r

 

Ooooh, I see our boat finally coming back down the canal so we can start our tour!

 

The good news was that we had a private boat tour, which was especially good because our boat only had 6 seats (it was about half the size of the boats shown above). We climbed aboard and off we went!

 

 

It felt a bit like "Where's Waldo" when looking for the animals in the trees. Our boat guide (I can't remember his name!) was great about finding the animals, but then he tried to tell us where to look to find the animals and that was harder than I anticipated. It was a lot like finding a needle in a haystack, but it was very satisfying when we did eventually see the animal!

 

I spy a monkey in the trees!

 

[deladane]

Smile, J!

 

Riding along the canal

 

A little lizard climbing out of the water

 

A blue heron

 

Our boat guide grabbed a coconut from the water- I wished he had a knife so we could cut it open for a snack... oh well!

 

Selfie on the canal!

[deladane]

These boats are for one of the bigger hotels... they looked a lot newer and nicer than the boat we were in, but they also held about 50 passengers each!

 

Beautiful vines falling down from the trees

 

 

Our guide drove the boat to the side of the canal into the mangroves to search for a cayman. It took us a few minutes to find him, but then we saw his eyes peeking out from the water...

 

 

It was hard to get a good photo, but you can see the top of his head in the center of the photo...

 

Another boat coming down the canal

[prairiesailor]

deladane:interesting pictures & your review.We did the 10 night on the Equinox a couple of years ago.Have you contacted Celebrity about the problems with breakfast in the MDR? We have always tried to get a problem fixed on the ship but sometimes we have sent emails off to the President.We give the positive aspects of the cruise as well as any exceptional staff names but also our concerns & problems.We have always had a telephone call from the Presidents office thanking us for taking time to provide them with our opinions.In some cases they have even provided us with something for our next cruise.It could be a bottle of wine or even an OBC.You might want to try it & see what response you get.Can't wait for more.Thanks again.Alfred

[deladane]

deladane:interesting pictures & your review.We did the 10 night on the Equinox a couple of years ago.Have you contacted Celebrity about the problems with breakfast in the MDR? We have always tried to get a problem fixed on the ship but sometimes we have sent emails off to the President.We give the positive aspects of the cruise as well as any exceptional staff names but also our concerns & problems.We have always had a telephone call from the Presidents office thanking us for taking time to provide them with our opinions.In some cases they have even provided us with something for our next cruise.It could be a bottle of wine or even an OBC.You might want to try it & see what response you get.Can't wait for more.Thanks again.Alfred

 

We did take the time to fill out the survey we got via email after the cruise, and I think we mentioned something about the MDR breakfast hours on there. We definitely left a lot of feedback about things and people we liked and did not like, and I am sure someone will read that and hopefully take action accordingly.

 

At the Cruise Critic M&G at the beginning of the cruise, Jamie the hotel director asked us to report any problems as we experienced them so something could be done to make a change while we were on the ship, but we didn't think to report a complaint about the MDR breakfast hours as it seemed unlikely they would change those hours mid-cruise (it would likely involve people changing their work hours and I doubt that is flexible enough to be changed on the whim of one passenger!) I guess I don't know that for sure if I don't ask, but oh well! It certainly did not ruin our cruise by any means!! :D

[cruisequeen4ever]

Love your candy countdown idea!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[prairiesailor]

deladane: we fill out the survey as well but have found that by going to the top you sometimes get satisfaction.When we had to leave a Celebrity cruise due to family death we sent an email to the President about the excellent support we had received from the staff on board.. I received a phone call at wok from the president of Celebrity's office thanking us for our email.I got another call a short time later from the same lady & was told we would find a $700 OBC on our next cruise.This was for our thoughtful email as well as rebooking the same cruise itinerary that we had to leave.Last year we had a problem with a waiter in Select dining on our second last sea night.We went to guest relations about our concern.The maitre d came down & told us to see him next night.When we got back sent off email about the good points of the cruise, names of people who went out of their way to make our cruise enjoyable & problem with the waiter.Another phone call received thanking us for taking time to email.We discussed everything in the email & were then told we would be receiving an OBC for $100 on our next cruise.The lady we talked to said they welcomed all feedback.Try an email you might be suppressed at the results it can bring.Alfred

[deck chair]

Hi Deladane and J!

 

Really love your travelogue and your great personality. Looking forward to more posts.

 

I am curious how you go about posting the pictures. Any pointers?

 

Thanks.

 

Deck Chair

[deladane]

Love your candy countdown idea!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks! :)

 

Hi Deladane and J!

 

Really love your travelogue and your great personality. Looking forward to more posts.

 

I am curious how you go about posting the pictures. Any pointers?

 

Thanks.

 

Deck Chair

Thanks! :) For posting the photos, you need to upload them onto a separate site because Cruise Critic can't host your photos. I use Flickr. Once the photos are loaded onto Flickr, there is a place to click to share your photo. I copy that link that just paste it into my review. You can also use the little icon on top of the text box- it is a yellow square with a picture of a mountain in it- and paste the link in there to insert it into your text. You can only use a max of 6 photos per post. Hope that helps!

[deladane]

deladane: we fill out the survey as well but have found that by going to the top you sometimes get satisfaction.When we had to leave a Celebrity cruise due to family death we sent an email to the President about the excellent support we had received from the staff on board.. I received a phone call at wok from the president of Celebrity's office thanking us for our email.I got another call a short time later from the same lady & was told we would find a $700 OBC on our next cruise.This was for our thoughtful email as well as rebooking the same cruise itinerary that we had to leave.Last year we had a problem with a waiter in Select dining on our second last sea night.We went to guest relations about our concern.The maitre d came down & told us to see him next night.When we got back sent off email about the good points of the cruise, names of people who went out of their way to make our cruise enjoyable & problem with the waiter.Another phone call received thanking us for taking time to email.We discussed everything in the email & were then told we would be receiving an OBC for $100 on our next cruise.The lady we talked to said they welcomed all feedback.Try an email you might be suppressed at the results it can bring.Alfred

 

Oh wow, good to know!! We should try to do that... I'm always happy to spend OBC ;) hehe

[deck chair]

Hello Deladane and J

 

Thanks for the tips. Will give it the old college try! I hope I get to meet the two of you in the future!

 

Deck Chair