Equinox Mystery

[rleigh]

A popular topic of discussion recently is the change of schedule for the Equinox in 2017. I must admit that we have booked a sweet deal for May 5.

 

I started looking around at the schedule for the ship leading up to my cruise. I noticed something strange. The currently published cruises shows the ship doing an 10-day Eastern Caribbean on April 14 departing Fort Lauderdale and arriving back at that port on April 24 at 7am. The next cruise departs on April 24 out of MIAMI. I can't figure how Celebrity can get everybody off the ship, restock and refuel, get to Miami, load a new batch of passengers and then depart at the posted time of 6pm.

 

Anybody out there booked on either of these cruises with info, or can you provide some theories?

[drychi]

My wife and I are on the May 5, 2017 cruise as well. Come over to the roll call if you have not done so already. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

[pl281]

this is odd - I think that the miami port is an error

[dkjretired]

A popular topic of discussion recently is the change of schedule for the Equinox in 2017. I must admit that we have booked a sweet deal for May 5.

 

I started looking around at the schedule for the ship leading up to my cruise. I noticed something strange. The currently published cruises shows the ship doing an 10-day Eastern Caribbean on April 14 departing Fort Lauderdale and arriving back at that port on April 24 at 7am. The next cruise departs on April 24 out of MIAMI. I can't figure how Celebrity can get everybody off the ship, restock and refuel, get to Miami, load a new batch of passengers and then depart at the posted time of 6pm.

 

Anybody out there booked on either of these cruises with info, or can you provide some theories?

 

If they leave Miami a little late it's not a big deal

[jelayne]

We are on the 4/24 cruise, guess I won't book airline tickets yet:p.

 

I guess they could disembark passengers and then move to Miami & restock & refuel while we are embarking.

[oneputt18]

Equinox is switching to Miami , the 4/24/17 cruise isn't scheduled to embark until 6pm. So everyone off ship by 9:30, depart Pt Everglades 10am arrive Miami 11:30, start boarding and finish loading provisions. Sail at 6pm. If they leave a little late, no problem, 1st port is Bahamas.

 

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[rleigh]

this is odd - I think that the miami port is an error

 

Every cruise on Equinox from April 24 thru summer shows home base of Miami, ours included. Mind you, I would prefer Fort Lauderdale because cheaper and better flights from my home....

[rleigh]

Equinox is switching to Miami , the 4/24/17 cruise isn't scheduled to embark until 6pm. So everyone off ship by 9:30, depart Pt Everglades 10am arrive Miami 11:30, start boarding and finish loading provisions. Sail at 6pm. If they leave a little late, no problem, 1st port is Bahamas.

 

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I guess for those boarding in Miami the message might be: don't expect to arrive at the port at 10am and expect to be able to board. I'm thinking that everything will have to go right at FLL and the staff hustle to evacuate everyone double quick. I do remember a documentary about Voyager of the Seas that said 7-8 to refuel, but I might be wrong.

[WestCoastFlyer]

Here is my theory on this.

 

7:00 AM is the posted arrival time. It's not uncommon for a ship to be at or near port up to 2 hours before that. In your case the last 2 days of your trip are at sea so it would be easy to be tied up at the dock at 5:00 am.

 

5:00 AM ship arrives and the port crew start to unload baggage, trash, etc from Equinox just as they would for a normal trip. It's also possible that they start to load food and beverages for the next trip.

9:30 AM all passengers are off the ship and the crew starts to clean as they normally would.

9:30 AM - 9:45 AM Equinox departs for Miami which is 29 nautical miles away - 1 hr at 25 knots.

11:00 AM - 11:15 AM Equinox arrives in Miami

11:30 AM - finish loading food, beverages, fresh water, and fuel. I have to believe that they know exactly what items will be left to load if they have 4.5 hours in Ft Lauderdale before they depart.

11:45 - 12:00 PM Equinox is ready for passenger boarding. It's possible they will start check in at 10:45 am and hold passengers in the check in area before they allow them to board. Crew will still be cleaning just as they normally would be (they would be able to work the entire time from 9:30 AM)

 

I admit it's a very aggressive timeline. However, aside from not being able to load fresh supplies for about 90 minute to 2 hours, all work will continue on board as it normally would.

[jelayne]

I think I figured out what is happening. The Equinox was doing R/T FL for the winter and was scheduled to depart FL on 4/24 for Europe. When they decided to keep the Equinox in the Caribbean they probably couldn't get dock space in FL for the summer. So everything 4/24 & beyond will be out of Miami where they could get space.

[pl281]

Well I messaged Celebrity on Facebook and they responded...

 

"The Equinox is arriving in FLL on 04/24 and departing at 6PM from MIA. The ship will re position after disembarkation."

 

So WestCoastFlyer is probably pretty close with timing. In theory as long as they don't go out too far of the shore there is no customs to clear as they were already cleared at FLL.

[oneputt18]

Read post #6

 

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[NordicPrince]

Every cruise on Equinox from April 24 thru summer shows home base of Miami, ours included. Mind you, I would prefer Fort Lauderdale because cheaper and better flights from my home....

 

We flew into FLL for our cruise on Reflection out of Miami. The next day we took the SAS shuttle service from FLL hotel to Miami. It took 25 minutes and cost 15 p\p , 12 p\p for larger group.

 

Cheap easy painless. Highly recommend, make arrangements in advance.

 

We saved 125 p\p on the airfare from Newark EWR to Miami that way

and even more on a hotel. It helped that we took a 6 AM flight.

 

Enjoy your cruise. You will love Equinox.

[UpcountryTravelers]

That's a shame. Ft. Lauderdale is a FAR better cruise port (from the passenger perspective) than Miami!

Edited November 13, 2016 by UpcountryTravelers

[Husky61]

That's a shame. Ft. Lauderdale is a FAR better cruise port (from the passenger perspective) than Miami!

 

And that is a matter of opinion.:)