Equinox LIVE!! 5.5.17 Dragon of the Seas goes to the ABCs

[BettyPC]

Looking forward to reading all about your cruise! Thanks for taking the time.

 

Betty

[internetwhiz]

I'm loving the menus and drink info. We are new to the ship and we sail next Monday when you disembark. Thank you!

[miched]

It was heavily advertised through the Celebrity website, email campaigns, travel agent websites etc. Was only available for a limited period last fall after they announced the deployment change. Rates were very good and perks excellent when first announced and some of the longer cruises booked fast and had steep price increases. Those that acted fast got a GREAT deal!

 

Yes we did. Have 3 booked for a total of 32 days. Just completed 11 of them on the Jazz cruise. 21 more days left in Oct. Will need the time to work off the Goodyear and extra baggage we now have.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[miched]

We have been to Grand Cayman several times. We love Seven-Mile beach and most passengers headed there today.

 

 

The last time we were here [in Feb] we stayed onboard and used one of the Elite perks. Elite Captain Club members can use the Persian Garden on one port day --while in port. We really like the relaxation.

 

 

 

It has a great view, too.

 

 

What view are you referring to? 😜

[emmy]

Good Morning from Equinox as well. Great vocal group last evening. Las Vegas Tenors. Getting closer to Aruba. Watch Equinox arrive on the PTZtv webcam in about 1 1/2 hrs or so http://www.portarubawebcam.com

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

THANK YOU for posting all the great info and pictures!!

Our first time on Celebrity and the EQUINOX is coming up in 2 weeks and your updates are getting us even more excited for this cruise!!

:D

[gordylad]

Great enjoying your report

[DragonOfTheSeas]

What view are you referring to? 😜

 

Ha,ha! I guess it depends on your definition of good. I find the sea view very relaxing.:D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Hello from Aruba!! What a beautiful day. We are just 18 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

 

The weather forecast is for a high of 83 and a low of 80.

We knew we were getting close when we saw the oil rigs.

 

 

This was our first glimpse of land. Look at the color of the water. the picture does not do it justice.

 

 

These are from the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are getting ready to go ashore. I will post more later. :D

[Champagne Cruiser]

I am cruising this itinerary in October so I am following along.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

As you exit the pier area you go underneath this canopy and there are shops and vendors with tours. This is still inside the port.

 

 

The Equinox was berthed on the second spot on the pier. It was a long walk to get to this point. The Carnival Sunshine had the closer area.

 

This area is directly across from the entrance to the port. There are a number of vendors with touristy items for sale. [better prices than inside the terminal]

 

 

We have been to Aruba 4 times. So, we wanted to do something different. Someone suggested riding the trolley to see the downtown area.

You can either board across from the cruise port entrance on these benches.

 

Or. . . go along the road left to what they call Welcome plaza. This is where the route begins.

 

 

The trolley took us along the downtown area by all of the shops. They were mostly high end US stores at first and then little stores as you got farther away from port.

[richsea]

Loving your photos! Thanks for taking us along! We've also been to Aruba multiple times, but never heard about tge trollies. Do you remember what the cost is?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Loving your photos! Thanks for taking us along! We've also been to Aruba multiple times, but never heard about tge trollies. Do you remember what the cost is?

 

It is a free trolley. I am sure it is paid for by the stores. It is mostly useful to get to the shopping areas.

 

However, with a little planning you can use it to get to other areas in the city. The first stop is the Archaeology museum.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

This is the Nikki Park. It is where the trolley turns around.

 

 

This was the Holland Aruba Mall

 

 

 

This is the Royal Plaza shopping area. I liked this the best. It was three floors and had a few interesting shops. They have an escalator going up--but, you have to walk down the steps.

 

 

The Iguana Joe's restaurant/bar was packed. It was on the second level.

 

 

Here is one street scene in Oranjestad. [more later]

 

 

 

The downtown area was mostly shops and banks. . . . but very picturesque.

[ILoveStThomas]

Thank You for your live review of your Equinox cruise.Hubby and I will be boarding when you get off!:p Enjoy the rest of your cruise.Will be following your review and MR T,s reviews of the cruise.Aruba is one of my favorite port's.Been there a few times.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

You could see the Royal Plaza and a small harbor from the ship.

 

 

 

 

We walked down to the harbor area.

 

 

 

 

 

We took the usual picture of the ship from the shore. :rolleyes:

 

Someone asked me about deck six cabins. So, I thought this picture might help.

 

If you look at this pic you can see where our cabin is. [we are actually on the other side--but, they are the same] As I mentioned we are on deck 6. Most of these cabins are listed as obstructed. Ours is a 2B which is not obstructed. But, look at the 3 white lifeboats below deck 6. Then look at the white storage area just to the right of the boats. Our room is directly above this. It is below the level of the balcony so it does not impede our view. However, you can not look directly down to the water. I will post a pic from above later.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We spoke to several tour vendors trying to find someone that would go to the Eastern side of the island for a tour. No dice.

 

We finally spoke with the owner of the Safari tour company outside the port gate. He told us you have to have a large group to make that worthwhile. It take several hours and currently there are lots of road construction projects the are making traffic unusually bad on that side of the island. . . . So that tells me that if you want to visit the National Park, the caves or Baby Beach you should do it with the cruise excursions. Better safe than sorry.

 

Since we did not take the typical tour this time I thought I would post a couple pictures from our last visit here just to give you an idea what it usually includes.

 

This is the California lighthouse. It is on the North and Western most part of the island. Built in 1914-1916.

 

 

The Casibari Rock formation is near the center of the island and provides a great view. It is a moderate climb. You can see the steps are cut into the boulders.

 

 

The other place most tours visit is the Alto Vista Chapel. There is a sign outside that reminds people that this is a place of worship and to be properly attired.

 

 

 

PS--the Safari tour outside the port gate was $20pp. That is a good price for Aruba. Each time we were here before we visited Palm Beach after our tour. It cost us $45 just to rent 2 chairs and an umbrella from the hotels. Everything in Aruba is a little pricey. So his tour was a deal.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

You know by now I am fond of sunset pics. This was the view from the starboard side.

 

 

But, I love the night lights, too.

 

 

 

Moon over Aruba

 

[miched]

We spoke to several tour vendors trying to find someone that would go to the Eastern side of the island for a tour. No dice.

 

We finally spoke with the owner of the Safari tour company outside the port gate. He told us you have to have a large group to make that worthwhile. It take several hours and currently there are lots of road construction projects the are making traffic unusually bad on that side of the island. . . . So that tells me that if you want to visit the National Park, the caves or Baby Beach you should do it with the cruise excursions. Better safe than sorry.

 

.

 

You could rent a vehicle for the day. We have done that at a few ports. In Aruba we rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle that was similar to a Jeep. It was great to go to the Natural Bridge that is no longer as it collapsed and driving all around the island seeing the "must" see sights.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[DragonOfTheSeas]

There was an excellent sail away on the pool deck as we left Aruba. They called it Celebrity ROX. They moved the loungers and replaced them with tables.

 

 

The Celebrity singers and dancers put on a show.

 

 

It was really hard to get clear pictures with the night lights. . . . but you get the idea. :D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Welcome to Curacao!! What a beautiful place to visit. DH and I visited here a couple of years ago. At that time we took a tour that last all day. It was dark when we returned to the port. We missed getting to walk around the city of Willaimstad. So we decided to do our own walking tour this time.

 

Here is a map of the city. There are two parts. Punda and Otrabunda. Punda is the commercial and government area and Otrabenda is where people live.

 

You can see the Emma Pontoon bridge [swinging bridge]

 

across the St Anna Bay. The port is just in front of the stadium on the left bottom of the map. [just out of view]

 

 

As you leave the port this was a listing of the taxi rates.

 

 

 

Next we passed through Fort Rif. This is an old fort the Curacao turned into a shopping/restaurant area. There were several nice shops here. It is worth a visit.

 

 

This was my favorite shop.

 

 

More views of Rif Fort.

 

 

[richsea]

We love Curacao! Did Equinox dock nside the swining bridge or outside. A few years ago we docked inside the bridge while on Millennium. Its great to watch it open, then get off the ship & you are right in town, so close to everything.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We love Curacao! Did Equinox dock nside the swining bridge or outside. A few years ago we docked inside the bridge while on Millennium. Its great to watch it open, then get off the ship & you are right in town, so close to everything.

 

We docked at the Mega pier outside of the swinging bridge. I agree it is great to dock inside the bay. We did that on a ship when we were here 2 years go.

 

It appears that they are building another pier. We saw them working on building out a rock foundation the looked exactly like the dock we were on.

[Stella777]

Tonight is Evening Chic. At 8PM there is an "Evening Chic Officers Soiree" in the Grand Foyer on decks 3,4,5. . . music and dancing. We will check in for a few minutes, however we have late dinner seating. So we will miss most of it.

 

I want to check out the Silent disco in the Quasar night club. [9:30pm] They give you a headset and you pick the genre to dance. [3 channels] We will be late due to dinner-- so, we hope the nightclub is not full. It will be interesting to see which 3 genres they offer. :D

 

I am eagerly following your thread! I did the silent disco on Anthem. I'll wait to hear what you think of it.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I am eagerly following your thread! I did the silent disco on Anthem. I'll wait to hear what you think of it.

It looked like lots of fun. It was too crowded for us to get in. We hope they do it again.