DragonOfTheSeas goes LIVE to Mardi Gras on the Equinox 2.20.17

[raprice18]

Hi neighbors!!!

 

You had more decorations on your door than X put on the entire ship.

Lol. You are too kind.

 

Please tell Carol hello.

[JaniceB]

Awesome review and pictures, throughly enjoyed it.

[brino99]

LOL--I guess I got him confused with someone else. I read the wrong "Celebrity Today." [or I am psychic]. :D

 

Rondell turned out to be hilarious. I was laughing so hard at his snorkeling bit that I started choking. I am pretty sure I have seen him on TV before, but not from his "That's So Rayven" (or however you spell it) show.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Rondell turned out to be hilarious. I was laughing so hard at his snorkeling bit that I started choking. I am pretty sure I have seen him on TV before, but not from his "That's So Rayven" (or however you spell it) show.

 

Thanks, that is good to know. I ended up getting busy and missing the show.

[brino99]

We are back. . . but, not quite where we started from. :eek:

 

A tanker overturned and created an oil spill. they asked the Equinox to move from terminal 18 [where we left from] to terminal 25. The port will provide shuttles to the old terminal so passengers can get to their cars. They have said there is no damage to the other terminal or the cars. However, a clean up operation is under way.

 

We are taking a taxi to the airport to get a rental car. We should have no problem with that. I image the disembarkation process may be slower.

 

We have a late flight and bought tickets to an exhibition baseball game at the new stadium of the Palm Beach for this afternoon. [National vs St Louis Cardinals] We have our fingers crossed it does not rain.

 

I haven't seen any posts on this thread or our roll call about the confusion over getting off the ship for the early "walk off" folks. To start off with, it was nearly impossible to get an elevator to get to deck 3, so I ended up carrying all our luggage downstairs. This was around 7:10 a.m. When I got to deck 3, the line snaked all the way from the stairs starboard side to the other side of the lobby, along the back of that area, over to the port side and back along that side all the way to the main dining room where they were serving breakfast.

 

We stood there expecting to disembark at 7:30 a.m., but that didn't happen. We didn't start getting off the ship around 7:50 a.m. and had to carry some or all of our luggage down to deck 2. Celebrity did have some people there to help carry the luggage. We then walked a distance to where the Customs & Immigrations people were and they had three folks working four lines. We had a 9:20 a.m. flight on Southwest and by the grace of God made it to the gate on time. As usual, the communication from Celebrity was non existent as we stood waiting to get off and not knowing what was happening and what time we would be able to disembark. The good news was they had not cut off my internet yet, so I was able to get on Southwest's site and see that our flight was going to be ON TIME. As it turned out, it left 40 minutes late due to weather in the area.

[Orator]

I haven't seen any posts on this thread or our roll call about the confusion over getting off the ship for the early "walk off" folks. To start off with, it was nearly impossible to get an elevator to get to deck 3, so I ended up carrying all our luggage downstairs. This was around 7:10 a.m. When I got to deck 3, the line snaked all the way from the stairs starboard side to the other side of the lobby, along the back of that area, over to the port side and back along that side all the way to the main dining room where they were serving breakfast.

 

We stood there expecting to disembark at 7:30 a.m., but that didn't happen. We didn't start getting off the ship around 7:50 a.m. and had to carry some or all of our luggage down to deck 2. Celebrity did have some people there to help carry the luggage. We then walked a distance to where the Customs & Immigrations people were and they had three folks working four lines. We had a 9:20 a.m. flight on Southwest and by the grace of God made it to the gate on time. As usual, the communication from Celebrity was non existent as we stood waiting to get off and not knowing what was happening and what time we would be able to disembark. The good news was they had not cut off my internet yet, so I was able to get on Southwest's site and see that our flight was going to be ON TIME. As it turned out, it left 40 minutes late due to weather in the area.

 

I left at 9:30 am and it was the easiest disembarkation I've experienced from Terminal 25. Guess different times make a difference! They repeated the announcement that there was an oil spill and and we would be using 25 rather than 18 and that transportation would be available to take passengers to the parking garage. This resulted in some of the delay. Thought that they did a good job considering the circumstances.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I haven't seen any posts on this thread or our roll call about the confusion over getting off the ship for the early "walk off" folks. To start off with, it was nearly impossible to get an elevator to get to deck 3, so I ended up carrying all our luggage downstairs. This was around 7:10 a.m. When I got to deck 3, the line snaked all the way from the stairs starboard side to the other side of the lobby, along the back of that area, over to the port side and back along that side all the way to the main dining room where they were serving breakfast.

 

We stood there expecting to disembark at 7:30 a.m., but that didn't happen. We didn't start getting off the ship around 7:50 a.m. and had to carry some or all of our luggage down to deck 2. Celebrity did have some people there to help carry the luggage. We then walked a distance to where the Customs & Immigrations people were and they had three folks working four lines. We had a 9:20 a.m. flight on Southwest and by the grace of God made it to the gate on time. As usual, the communication from Celebrity was non existent as we stood waiting to get off and not knowing what was happening and what time we would be able to disembark. The good news was they had not cut off my internet yet, so I was able to get on Southwest's site and see that our flight was going to be ON TIME. As it turned out, it left 40 minutes late due to weather in the area.

 

I left at 9:30 am and it was the easiest disembarkation I've experienced from Terminal 25. Guess different times make a difference! They repeated the announcement that there was an oil spill and and we would be using 25 rather than 18 and that transportation would be available to take passengers to the parking garage. This resulted in some of the delay. Thought that they did a good job considering the circumstances.

 

I agree with both of you.

 

When we woke up we looked out the balcony and realized we were not at the same location we set sail from. Soon after they began making the announcement regarding the oil tanker and explaining we were at terminal 25 rather than terminal 18; that the port would provide transportation to terminal 18; and that the taxi lines had been notified of the change.

 

They announced the change of terminals meant we would need to disembark on deck 2. There was no room on that deck to line up, so we had to line up on deck 3 and walk down to deck 2. The cruise line had people on the stairs to help passengers carry the luggage down the stairs. They helped us carry our 2 big cases down the stairs. They came up with this plan on the fly and I think it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

 

Having said that--the morning self disembark process was chaotic. The line for the self disembark on deck 3 wrapped around the central lobby and into the main dining room [that is where we began]. It was about 20 minutes late beginning. [7:50am vs. 7:30am] It seems longer when you are waiting in line. While we were waiting in line it would have been nice to get an update on what was happening.

 

 

Once it started, the line moved quickly. We made it through the line and customs by 8:40. It took us another ½ hour to walk to the curb, wait in the taxi line and get to the airport. Considering the situation I think that is the best we could hope for. JMHO

 

 

I am glad you made your flight. . . however, I would not schedule a 9:20 am flight. Too many things can come up that could delay your progress.

Edited March 8, 2017 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Baron Barracuda]

I haven't seen any posts on this thread or our roll call about the confusion over getting off the ship for the early "walk off" folks. To start off with, it was nearly impossible to get an elevator to get to deck 3, so I ended up carrying all our luggage downstairs. This was around 7:10 a.m. When I got to deck 3, the line snaked all the way from the stairs starboard side to the other side of the lobby, along the back of that area, over to the port side and back along that side all the way to the main dining room where they were serving breakfast.

 

We stood there expecting to disembark at 7:30 a.m., but that didn't happen. We didn't start getting off the ship around 7:50 a.m. and had to carry some or all of our luggage down to deck 2. Celebrity did have some people there to help carry the luggage. We then walked a distance to where the Customs & Immigrations people were and they had three folks working four lines. We had a 9:20 a.m. flight on Southwest and by the grace of God made it to the gate on time. As usual, the communication from Celebrity was non existent as we stood waiting to get off and not knowing what was happening and what time we would be able to disembark. The good news was they had not cut off my internet yet, so I was able to get on Southwest's site and see that our flight was going to be ON TIME. As it turned out, it left 40 minutes late due to weather in the area.

 

Walk-off is for people who can manage their own bags. If you need assistance you don't belong there.

 

Booking a 9:20 flight is just reckless. Doors close 15 minutes prior to take-off and between ship, CBP, taxi, airport check-in and TSA way too much opportunity for delay. Never personally book flights before 11am.

 

The walk to customs was not that long. Have experienced much worse. We disembarked at 9:00 (had #12) picked up luggage, cleared CBP in under 1 minute (thank you Global Entry) and were at FLL by 9:40.

 

Clearly heard the announcements several times in my cabin. Thought X explained situation adequately. Remember it wasn't their fault and they had to adjust on the fly too.

[travelberlin]

The Future Cruise Certificate should be sent to every passenger who paid $249 for the parade and not just those who complained. By limiting to only those who complained Celebrity is only encouraging future formal complaints by those who don't want to be shut out from compensation. They do have a list of all those who purchased tickets.

 

I am glad to hear that Celebrity is refunding the passengers who complained about the overpriced tickets. We had a similar situation with the tickets for the Sambadrom last year in Rio de Janeiro for Carnival. Our complains were dismissed by the guest relations manager. No compensation.

[brino99]

I agree with both of you.

 

When we woke up we looked out the balcony and realized we were not at the same location we set sail from. Soon after they began making the announcement regarding the oil tanker and explaining we were at terminal 25 rather than terminal 18; that the port would provide transportation to terminal 18; and that the taxi lines had been notified of the change.

 

They announced the change of terminals meant we would need to disembark on deck 2. There was no room on that deck to line up, so we had to line up on deck 3 and walk down to deck 2. The cruise line had people on the stairs to help passengers carry the luggage down the stairs. They helped us carry our 2 big cases down the stairs. They came up with this plan on the fly and I think it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

 

Having said that--the morning self disembark process was chaotic. The line for the self disembark on deck 3 wrapped around the central lobby and into the main dining room [that is where we began]. It was about 20 minutes late beginning. [7:50am vs. 7:30am] It seems longer when you are waiting in line. While we were waiting in line it would have been nice to get an update on what was happening.

 

 

Once it started, the line moved quickly. We made it through the line and customs by 8:40. It took us another ½ hour to walk to the curb, wait in the taxi line and get to the airport. Considering the situation I think that is the best we could hope for. JMHO

 

 

I am glad you made your flight. . . however, I would not schedule a 9:20 am flight. Too many things can come up that could delay your progress.

 

Sounds like you had a similar experience. We heard the announcements about the terminal change. However, if there were announcements about disembarking being delayed, followed by announcements as to when it would begin, we totally missed them.

 

Living in Tulsa, OK vs. some place like say, New Jersey, the flight selection varies. On Southwest, we had a choice of 9:20 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. Having sat in the Ft. Lauderdale airport before for a long period of time, I opted to take my chances with the early flight. I also could have booked an afternoon flight on American and paid out the wazoo. Trish and I have six more cruises booked (we leave for the next one in two weeks), so we have to pick and choose where we spend our dollars.

 

Had we missed our flight, it certainly would not have been Celebrity's fault. My post was pointing out and echoing what I heard from other passengers, which was a lack of information in some cases. As I am sure you now know, the tanker overturned about 7 hours before we arrived, so one would guess Celebrity had a heads up regarding the terminal change before the ship actually arrived in Ft. Lauderdale. But that's all "water under the bridge" now.

 

Thanks for coordinating the Cabin Crawl. It was a lot of fun.

[brino99]

Walk-off is for people who can manage their own bags. If you need assistance you don't belong there.

 

Booking a 9:20 flight is just reckless. Doors close 15 minutes prior to take-off and between ship, CBP, taxi, airport check-in and TSA way too much opportunity for delay. Never personally book flights before 11am.

 

The walk to customs was not that long. Have experienced much worse. We disembarked at 9:00 (had #12) picked up luggage, cleared CBP in under 1 minute (thank you Global Entry) and were at FLL by 9:40.

 

Clearly heard the announcements several times in my cabin. Thought X explained situation adequately. Remember it wasn't their fault and they had to adjust on the fly too.

 

Thanks for all your fascinating insights. Love the highlights. How did you learn how to do that?

[Lastdance]

Now that you have done a great review with photos, please explain what you used and how you did it. What tricks did you learn?.....many thanks in advance!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

Living in Tulsa, OK vs. some place like say, New Jersey, the flight selection varies. On Southwest, we had a choice of 9:20 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. Having sat in the Ft. Lauderdale airport before for a long period of time, I opted to take my chances with the early flight.

 

 

Thanks for coordinating the Cabin Crawl. It was a lot of fun.

 

We live a little over an hour from a medium size airport. There are not that many flights. We had similar choices as you and decided to take an evening flight. We booked a rental car through Alamo and drove to W. Palm Beach to see an exhibition game between the Washington Nationals and St Lewis [forgot the rest of their name--sorry] I am not a huge baseball fan but it was great to be so close to the field. I loved the park.. . . are you a Houston BB fan? [since you live in OK] They share the same facility. . . . maybe if one of your 6 other cruises are during the exhibition season this year or next. :)

 

Thank you--I found out a lot about the ship by organizing the cabin crawl. I always enjoy seeing the various cabins.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Now that you have done a great review with photos, please explain what you used and how you did it. What tricks did you learn?.....many thanks in advance!

 

I always use Photobucket.com to load my pictures. It is a free sharing site. You can pay a small fee for ad free access and more storage--but, i am frugal. :rolleyes: There are other sites you can use. This one works for me.

 

Once you upload the pics into your "bucket" you click on the picture and it will fill the screen with four option on the right hand side. If you click on the "IMG" listing and copy this you can paste this directly into the message you are writing. It is very easy.

 

If you plan to do a live review I suggest you create a document before you go on the cruise and write out the things you plan to do each day. It saves time. A couple of days I changed it completely and others I was able to copy and paste in what I had planned and then add pictures. . . . Remember I planned to not buy any internet time. I managed with my Verizon access in Mexico and New Orleans and the free Elite benefit.

[RBDB6]

I always use Photobucket.com to load my pictures. It is a free sharing site. You can pay a small fee for ad free access and more storage--but, i am frugal. :rolleyes: There are other sites you can use. This one works for me.

 

Once you upload the pics into your "bucket" you click on the picture and it will fill the screen with four option on the right hand side. If you click on the "IMG" listing and copy this you can paste this directly into the message you are writing. It is very easy.

 

If you plan to do a live review I suggest you create a document before you go on the cruise and write out the things you plan to do each day. It saves time. A couple of days I changed it completely and others I was able to copy and paste in what I had planned and then add pictures. . . . Remember I planned to not buy any internet time. I managed with my Verizon access in Mexico and New Orleans and the free Elite benefit.

 

 

 

Thanks Dragon of the Seas for this live account of the cruise we enjoyed with you. We had drinks with you several nights in the Ensemble lounge and watching the parade on Monday night from the 709. Nice to walk back to the ship with you too.

Sorry we didn't connect with you before we left the ship - darn...... :(

Best wishes to you and your husband - enjoy life always!

[Beba-Beba]

Edna / DragonOfTheSeas asked me to paste this overview of my activities while we were in NOLA. I will paste it on the 2018 Mardi Gras roll call too.

 

We thought that of the 3 days we were going to be in NOLA Sunday would be the best time to experience Bourbon St because it would not be crazy crowded. After dealing with the awkward slow moving immigration process with several of my friends being assigned vastly different times to get off the ship we just all went together and no one asked a single question. We were surprised how much walking was involved just to get out of the Julia Street Cruise Terminal. We set out to walk to Canal Street to view what we could of the Bacchus parade then meandered to Bourbon St to take in the goings on there. We quickly got the hang of getting people to throw beads to us. We decided not to retrace our path on Bourbon St so instead walked up Royal St where we came across Café Beignet and stopped to get our fix of beignets. Luckily The Praline Company was just up the street for souvenirs and gifts. We walked back to the ship stopping here and there along the way.

 

Monday, we took the Riverfront Street Car which stops just outside the cruise terminal to the Toulouse St stop and walked a couple of block to meet our Voodoo & Cemetery Tour conducted by New Orleans Ghost Adventures Tours (11am – 1pm, $25, Great tour) then wandered around the French quarter for a while. We took the street car back to the ship to freshen up, have a snack. At 4:30 we head up Julia St to St Charles St, a 15 minute walk, for our Lundi Gras Party at 709 and to view the Proteus and Orpheus Parades. You already heard out that disaster - so moving on. We left 709 just as the Orpheus Parade was rolling by. We got a glimpse of Harry Connick. Once back on board I headed to the Oceanview Café for something to eat since I did not eat or drink a thing at 709.

 

Tuesday, I decided to blow off the Mardi Gras all day Party at 709. A total waste of money but I did not want round 2 at that awful place. I took the street car to the French Market stop in the French Quarter and just roamed for hours. Going in and out of places and munching on local food. Visited the French Market for souvenirs and little gifts. The streets were full of costumed party people. I must say this area was far more risqué than what I saw on Bourbon street but fun. I felt very comfortable wandering in and out of charming streets representing another era. When I started getting tired I returned to the street car at the Bienville Street stop. I wanted to spend some time at The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk – retail therapy perks me up - but sadly it was closed for the holiday. I returned to the ship to continue our onboard festivities.

 

Sadly, Celebrity did not put much effort in providing Mardi Gras themed entertainment, menus or much in the way of decorations although there were some tasteful things scattered about the ship. Mardi Gras is about outrageousness not tasteful. Thankfully our 588 roll call members were prepared with costumes, masks, boas, beads, tiaras, jester hats and not to forget the 100 kazoos Kathy brought onboard and we were ready to party much to the amusement of the other passengers onboard – many of whom joined in - but mostly we had fun with each other.

Walking down the corridors on various decks was fun because so many doors were decorated. Some people went all out while others decorated minimally. One thing was for sure people went on this cruise with New Orleans and Mardi Gras on their minds. We had a BLAST.

 

Mary;)

[Orator]

It was a real pleasure meeting you.

[easyboy]

Edna / DragonOfTheSeas asked me to paste this overview of my activities while we were in NOLA. I will paste it on the 2018 Mardi Gras roll call too.

 

We thought that of the 3 days we were going to be in NOLA Sunday would be the best time to experience Bourbon St because it would not be crazy crowded. After dealing with the awkward slow moving immigration process with several of my friends being assigned vastly different times to get off the ship we just all went together and no one asked a single question. We were surprised how much walking was involved just to get out of the Julia Street Cruise Terminal. We set out to walk to Canal Street to view what we could of the Bacchus parade then meandered to Bourbon St to take in the goings on there. We quickly got the hang of getting people to throw beads to us. We decided not to retrace our path on Bourbon St so instead walked up Royal St where we came across Café Beignet and stopped to get our fix of beignets. Luckily The Praline Company was just up the street for souvenirs and gifts. We walked back to the ship stopping here and there along the way.

 

Monday, we took the Riverfront Street Car which stops just outside the cruise terminal to the Toulouse St stop and walked a couple of block to meet our Voodoo & Cemetery Tour conducted by New Orleans Ghost Adventures Tours (11am – 1pm, $25, Great tour) then wandered around the French quarter for a while. We took the street car back to the ship to freshen up, have a snack. At 4:30 we head up Julia St to St Charles St, a 15 minute walk, for our Lundi Gras Party at 709 and to view the Proteus and Orpheus Parades. You already heard out that disaster - so moving on. We left 709 just as the Orpheus Parade was rolling by. We got a glimpse of Harry Connick. Once back on board I headed to the Oceanview Café for something to eat since I did not eat or drink a thing at 709.

 

Tuesday, I decided to blow off the Mardi Gras all day Party at 709. A total waste of money but I did not want round 2 at that awful place. I took the street car to the French Market stop in the French Quarter and just roamed for hours. Going in and out of places and munching on local food. Visited the French Market for souvenirs and little gifts. The streets were full of costumed party people. I must say this area was far more risqué than what I saw on Bourbon street but fun. I felt very comfortable wandering in and out of charming streets representing another era. When I started getting tired I returned to the street car at the Bienville Street stop. I wanted to spend some time at The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk – retail therapy perks me up - but sadly it was closed for the holiday. I returned to the ship to continue our onboard festivities.

 

Sadly, Celebrity did not put much effort in providing Mardi Gras themed entertainment, menus or much in the way of decorations although there were some tasteful things scattered about the ship. Mardi Gras is about outrageousness not tasteful. Thankfully our 588 roll call members were prepared with costumes, masks, boas, beads, tiaras, jester hats and not to forget the 100 kazoos Kathy brought onboard and we were ready to party much to the amusement of the other passengers onboard – many of whom joined in - but mostly we had fun with each other.

Walking down the corridors on various decks was fun because so many doors were decorated. Some people went all out while others decorated minimally. One thing was for sure people went on this cruise with New Orleans and Mardi Gras on their minds. We had a BLAST.

 

Mary;)

588 Roll Call members! You really must have had fun!

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thanks Dragon of the Seas for this live account of the cruise we enjoyed with you. We had drinks with you several nights in the Ensemble lounge and watching the parade on Monday night from the 709. Nice to walk back to the ship with you too.

Sorry we didn't connect with you before we left the ship - darn...... :(

Best wishes to you and your husband - enjoy life always!

 

It was good to get to spend time with you on this cruise. Alan and I hope we see you on a cruise again soon.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

DragonOfTheSeas asked me to paste this overview of my activities while we were in NOLA. I will paste it on the 2018 Mardi Gras roll call too.

 

We had a BLAST.

 

Mary;)

 

Thanks Mary--I thought that since you did different things than we did in New Orleans passengers on future cruises might like to see the variety.

[brino99]

We live a little over an hour from a medium size airport. There are not that many flights. We had similar choices as you and decided to take an evening flight. We booked a rental car through Alamo and drove to W. Palm Beach to see an exhibition game between the Washington Nationals and St Lewis [forgot the rest of their name--sorry] I am not a huge baseball fan but it was great to be so close to the field. I loved the park.. . . are you a Houston BB fan? [since you live in OK] They share the same facility. . . . maybe if one of your 6 other cruises are during the exhibition season this year or next. :)

 

Thank you--I found out a lot about the ship by organizing the cabin crawl. I always enjoy seeing the various cabins.

 

We actually did a road trip last summer to a baseball game (St. Louis Cardinals) and two exhibition football games, one in Chicago and one in Green Bay. Most folks in Tulsa follow the Cardinals, the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers. Had no idea there was an exhibition game in town. That would have been fun.

 

We just booked the new Celebrity Edge. Now, there's a ship to do a cabin crawl on.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We actually did a road trip last summer to a baseball game (St. Louis Cardinals) and two exhibition football games, one in Chicago and one in Green Bay. Most folks in Tulsa follow the Cardinals, the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers. Had no idea there was an exhibition game in town. That would have been fun.

 

We just booked the new Celebrity Edge. Now, there's a ship to do a cabin crawl on.

 

That cabin crawl would be fun. I think I will wait a year until the prices come down some. [i hope] Have a good cruise. :)

[Beba-Beba]

It was a real pleasure meeting you.

 

It was my pleasure meeting you and Cynthia as well. Picking your brain was fun.

 

Mary;)