EQUINOX DEUX - 11 Night Ultimate Caribbean - PV Trip Report 3/13/17

[abbydancer2003]

I'm fairly new on the Celebrity board, so this is the first review of yours I've seen and I'm enjoying. We do our first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection in early September - and I understand that the Equinox is the same class of ship.

 

I enjoyed the pictures of the Royal Princess - we saw her on her first day in Fort Lauderdale and watched the sailaway the same evening for a 2 day travel agent cruise, and then boarded for her first Caribbean voyage.

 

Thanks for posting. I look forward to more.

[FRMPEI]

Time Lapse Video of Royal Princess Sail Away

 

For those of you who don't quite like the cruise ship sail aways as much as I do. This first video clip I am sharing is for you. Personally I would much rather have the entire 25 minutes of sail away posted. :D I condensed the 20 minutes sail away down to 20 seconds in a neat little time lapse. For any video edit nerds out there I edit on my iMac using the current version of Final Cut Pro X directly from thunderbolt external HDD's. For the time lapse edit the clips were speed up to 6400%. The credit clip is compliments of of DW, Donna, for hitting the record button at the right time. I guess I should have given here a video credit? I have shared the video my Vimeo and YouTube Accounts. So please do me the honour of giving the video a click it is only 43 seconds long.

Vimeo

 

YouTube

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Kevin, I'm glad to see you writing on the boards again and I'm looking forward to a nice long photo and video-laden read over the next few weeks.

Like you I like to be in Ft Lauderdale a day before sailing to watch some ships sail out. The Royal Princess looked lonely in that huge harbor.

Below Decks is a guilty pleasure DVR treat for me- pretty girls and gym-rat guys make up a crew of misfits/unprofessionals which is good for "reality tv". The Med one certainly has some more interesting ports than the Caribbean one but the Caribbean works nicely during the U.S winters for cruisers like us.

I am looking forward to the Panama canal under your lenses and hope that you did take that Cozumel Segway ride...

Keep it coming!

Norris

 

Hi Norris,

 

I would love to be able to be a witty as you with my comments. Okay! I will try to be. I am in no rush to get this trip report done I have until at least next March. Below Deck we don't call that a guilty pleasure because we watch way worse show than that. On our Canadian version of the E! channel they are showing the current Below Deck Med (season 2). We got our oldest son hooked on Below Deck but for some reason he does not like the Med one. We love both.

 

I have a ton of Panama Canal photos and Videos to share. I also did some post cruise info research on the Panama Canal which I probably should have done before I left. When I read you recent Cozumel report I suggested to our group that we try the Segway because some guy on Cruise Critic tried it. We booked it then we had dose of reality on the cruise. What happens if one of us gets hurt? Stay Tuned to see what happens.

 

Thanks for checking in and adding your comments.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[poffles]

Awesome video, love the seeing the ship(s) doing it's turns in the fast time lapse you've done. Really cool Kevin.

[FRMPEI]

I'm fairly new on the Celebrity board, so this is the first review of yours I've seen and I'm enjoying. We do our first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection in early September - and I understand that the Equinox is the same class of ship.

 

I enjoyed the pictures of the Royal Princess - we saw her on her first day in Fort Lauderdale and watched the sailaway the same evening for a 2 day travel agent cruise, and then boarded for her first Caribbean voyage.

 

Thanks for posting. I look forward to more.

 

Hi abbydancer,

 

Yes! The Equinox and Reflection are both Solstice class ships. Equinox being the second one built while Reflection was the fifth and last one built. The major difference is that there is no Corning Hot Glass Blowing show on Reflection they replaced that with a speciality dining venue called Lawn Club Grill and added pay per use Cabanas on the Lawn Club. Personally I prefer the Lawn Club Grill over the Hot Glass Blowing show.

 

Royal's sister ship Regal will be up on the third day of our stay in Fort Lauderdale. I think they are both beautiful looking ships. Donna and I believe that it will be Princess that could potentially sway us away from Celebrity.

 

Thanks for joining in and adding your comments.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Awesome video, love the seeing the ship(s) doing it's turns in the fast time lapse you've done. Really cool Kevin.

 

Finally somebody likes my videos. :D Just for this little 45 second video it took me about three hours to put it together. I ain't complaining. :halo:

 

poffles Thanks again,

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

First Evening at Hotel

 

On the walk back to the Embassy Suites from the 17th Street Bridge I stopped in at the the Walgreens to pick up some SPF50 sunscreen and bug spray. Got to keep away the sun and the Zika from my delicate Irish Skin.

 

Walgreens

 

There is an Outback steakhouse pretty close to the hotel but decided to save that for Sunday evening when our travel partner arrived from PEI. We are such creatures of habits and just walked across the street where we knew a Chinese Food Take out was and brought it back to our room. We did the same thing back in 2014. But before Chinese Take Out we were going to check out the complimentary Cocktail & Snacks Happy Hour in the hotel's bar area from 5:30PM to 7:30PM. Donna had a glass of wine while I had a glass of Coke. It was so nice to be able to walk out in the evening with only a T-shirt and no hoodies or winter jackets. The Chinese food was just fair but it filled the gap. My back and shoulders were hurting so I did my regiment of physio exercises and my lovely wife even volunteered a much need back massage which really helped. This really was the only time during our vacation that my back and shoulders were in pain. I guess not sitting in front of a computer all day with poor posture helps.

 

Day one of our vacation is in the books and off to a really great start. Loving the hotel room with our great view of Port Everglades and its closeness to the shopping amenities. This day was quite different from 2015's hectic travel to Miami which was full of hurry up and get in line.

 

On our way to the Charlottetown airport I realized that I had forgotten my Islanders Baseball Cap and at the hotel Donna "thinks" that she also left a package with her ear rings in it. So we sent texts and later Face Timed our son, Nolan, to go to house and try to retrieve and give to travel partners.

 

Nothing to heavy planned for tomorrow Day 2, Saturday March 11 other than taking it easy, shopping, eating, and more cruise ship watching.

 

Just two more day

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Vacations are Great. -2 Days to Equinox!

 

No Alarm set you don't need one because it seemed that every hour you would hear an emergency vehicle outside your window going up or down 17th Street. Woke up around 6:00 AM took a peak outside still pretty dark outside. Looks like all of the cruise ships have arrived back in Port Everglades. To dark to capture any video so I slip back into bed until the suns shines in thru the curtains. The Embassy Suites offers a great complimentary hot breakfast.

 

 

The main foyer is quite busy with lots of cruise passengers filling up on complimentary breakfast. With so many cruise passengers leads to elevator chaos for the two banks of elevators from about 8 thru 11:30 AM.

 

View down to breakfast area from our floor.

 

Look across from our floor

 

Donna with some breakfast

 

So after breakfast I start my day like I always do on vacation... Apply sunscreen. Yesterday Donna made an appointment for 11:00AM at a close by Nails place to get a manicure and pedicure. Before Nails we took a walk to see what was up the other end of 17th Street. We found the Outback Steakhouse, Subway, Burger King, MacDonalds, Dennys, and a CVS. Found the same expensive pricing at the CVS as the Walgreens down the street. We went over to the Nail salon to se if they could take Donna a little earlier at 10:30 AM. The appt would be about a hour so my choices were 1) wait 2) get my nails done or 3) take a stroll down to the 17th street Causeway and check out today's cruise ship line up. You already know where i was headed? So off I went.

 

Donna and I Checking out our Fort Lauderdale morning from our room.

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Six Ships in Today

 

1) Caribbean Princess - Departs 4PM

2) HAL Eurodam - Departs 4PM

3) Celebrity Summit - Departs 4:30PM

4) Harmony of the Seas - Departs 4:30PM

5) Independence of the Seas - Departs 4:30PM

6) HAL Prisendam - Departs 11PM

 

Early morning shot from room

 

Entrance to Cruise Terminal near Walgreens

 

Intersection (on your left) to entrance to Cruise Terminal

This would have to be a quick trip down to the causeway and back to meet Donna. Of the six ships in today three of them have been to my home port of Charlottetown they are Caribbean Princess, HAL Eurodam, and Celebrity Summit. Walking up to bridge it was neat to see the Balearia Caribbean Catamaran car Ferry docked real close from my viewing vantage point. I google "it" and "it" is a car/passenger ferry to Grand Bahama.

 

 

Balearia has its own bridge to load the vehicles. Ready to leave.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Deval]

The next time you stay in Ft Lauderdale definitely check out Gilbert's in the Harbour Shops (the right end of the Total Wine / Publix plaza). A small family run place that serves up probably the best burgers in the city.

 

 

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[FRMPEI]

The next time you stay in Ft Lauderdale definitely check out Gilbert's in the Harbour Shops (the right end of the Total Wine / Publix plaza). A small family run place that serves up probably the best burgers in the city.

 

Hi Deval,

 

You know I think I did notice that place. In 2018 we will be sure to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[shipshape sam]

The next time you stay in Ft Lauderdale definitely check out Gilbert's in the Harbour Shops (the right end of the Total Wine / Publix plaza). A small family run place that serves up probably the best burgers in the city.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Do they charge what Celebrity is proposing for their new gourmet burger?

[lola2013]

The next time you stay in Ft Lauderdale definitely check out Gilbert's in the Harbour Shops (the right end of the Total Wine / Publix plaza). A small family run place that serves up probably the best burgers in the city.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Is this anywhere near the Galleria mall?

[Deval]

No it's off 17th St Causeway, just a short walk from Embassy Suites:

 

1821 Cordova Rd

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

 

 

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[jimbri]

So sorry to hear about your mom. I am enjoying your report and looking forward to the rest, especially the photos!

[lola2013]

No it's off 17th St Causeway, just a short walk from Embassy Suites:

 

1821 Cordova Rd

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank. I'm always on the lookout for a great burger but that's a little further than we can walk from our hotel.

[FRMPEI]

So sorry to hear about your mom. I am enjoying your report and looking forward to the rest, especially the photos!

 

Hi Jimbri,

 

Thanks! Please stay tuned I have tons of quality photos to share with you.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Before I head back up 17th Street to meet Donna for lunch I will give you a quick preview of the ships that are set to take on thousands of new passengers today.

 

Caribbean Princess - Launched 2004 - 113K GT - 290M long - 3142 Passengers

 

First time ever seeing this beautiful ship was back in April 2005 when had arrived back to Port Everglades from our very first ever cruise aboard the Celebrity Century. The Caribbean Princess at the time looked huge to me and I knew I wanted to go on that ship. But, we have never made our over to Princess yet. This ship has been in my home port of Charlottetown but, I must not of had my camera with because I can't find a good Charlottetown photo to share with you. Oh Yeah! There is another "little" ship in this picture.

 

Harmony of the Seas - Launched 2016 - 227K GT - 362 M long - 5479 Passengers

 

The Oasis class ships are just plain GIGANTIC. The only time I have seen one close up was in 2015 when we were aboard Silhouette and Allure of the Seas pulled in beside us at St Maarten. Huge! At the other end of the scale is one the older and smaller Holland America Ships. We meet a couple in the Hotel elevator who were leaving on the Prinsendam for a 56 day cruise.

 

Holland America Prinsendam - Launched 1988 - 39K GT - 206M Long - 740 Passengers

 

Back to super size ships with RCL's Independence of the Sea and HAL's Eurodam tucked in behind. When launched Independence of the Seas was the largest cruise ship in the world. She then lost that crown to Oasis of the Seas. Celebrity Summit is behind Eurodam hidden behind a building.

 

Independence of the Seas - Launched 2008 - 154K GT - 339M Long - 4370 Passengers

Holland America's Eurodam - Launched 2008 - 86K GT - 285M Long - 2104 Passengers

 

 

I am going to make a guess and say this next picture is a sailing school towing students out for lessons? Right or wrong?

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[CruiserRob]

Kind of funny when I run into some folks at CC meet and greets, not to mention any names like "bluwes", that think my screen name is FRUMPY... no it means FROM PEI and hence FRMPEI.

 

ROFLMAO, I knew immediately what your screen name meant, but in my mind, I still pronounce it frumpy :D

[FRMPEI]

ROFLMAO, I knew immediately what your screen name meant, but in my mind, I still pronounce it frumpy :D

 

 

Hi CruiserRob,

 

Where do you live in Ontario? We lived in Newmarket for 10 years.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

LUNCH

 

Donna finished up with her nails quicker than I figured and we meet up while I was walking back up 17th Street. So where do we go for lunch? We were going to try Carrabba's again but eventually ended at Duffy's Sports bar which is in the plaza next to the Embassy Suites.

 

Carrabba's Photo taken from Hotel Room.

 

We tried Duffy's back in 2014 and I left my credit card here. The food was just okay. Donna mentioned that her food was just warm and there was no excuse for that because there were very few customer in there with us. In hindsight I wish we had of went back to Carrabba's.

 

 

Donna pretending to enjoy here lunch

 

I had the healthy choice... no Fries!

 

Wall of TV's in Duffy's Sport Bar.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Deval]

Check out Boatyard the next time you're in Ft Lauderdale, eat outside on the water lots of yacht eye candy to amaze you. It's in the plaza next to the Renaissance. [emoji3]

 

 

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[FRMPEI]

Check out Boatyard the next time you're in Ft Lauderdale, eat outside on the water lots of yacht eye candy to amaze you. It's in the plaza next to the Renaissance. [emoji3]

 

I did notice the Boatyard on my many walks down 17th Street. Is it expensive?

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

POOL TALK & More Sail Away

 

When checking out the Embassy Suites Hotel from online the pool area photos looked quite nice. I was surprised to find out that it really was right next to a parking lot and they did a great job in creating this pool oasis. After lunch Donna and I set up shop in the pool area and found a place in the shade for me and some sun for Donna. While sitting and relaxing Donna's iPhone rings and it is #2 son, Nolan, Face Timing from PEI. Nolan found my hat but no ear rings for Donna (Donna later found them in her suitcase). He tells us that it is really cold back home at -17C and with the wind chill it was -30C. Two women close by over heard the temperature conversation and figured we were also from Canada. They were Mary Ann and Kathy from Ottawa, Ontario and we quickly became the best of friend for the next two days. The ladies were waiting for a third friend to fly in and they were leaving on the Regal Princess tomorrow, Sunday. Donna told them about the complimentary Happy Hour and we planned to meet back up then.

 

 

 

 

 

The time was about 3:20 PM and I knew it was time for me to get my camera and video gear ready for this evening's sail aways. First scheduled departure was Caribbean Princess at 4:00 PM. I set up two video cameras on the balcony of the hotel room and then made the 15 minute walk back down to the 17th Street Causeway Bridge. I don't know what it is with Donna and I can't understand it but, she did not want to come down with me this evening either? On the bridge I spoke to a couple from Halifax, Nova Scotia, they noticed my UPEI t-Shirt, they were leaving on their first cruise ever tomorrow on Celebrity Silhouette. I had two video cameras set up on the bridge railing to capture the sail aways. (Go Pro & Son HX50V).

 

Cameras attached to railing with Joby Gorilla Pods

 

Two ships were scheduled to leave at 4:00 PM (Princess and Eurodam) but there was no movement of any ships until 45 minutes later at 4:45PM. This evening's weather leant itself to ideal picture taking conditions.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

I AM IN SAIL AWAY HEAVEN

 

Harmony of the Seas was scheduled to leave at 4:30 PM and she was the first ship to leave this evening at 4:45 PM. This mammoth beast slowing breaks away from the dock and into the exit channel.

 

 

The waterslide on the aft of Harmony distinguished it from her sisters Oasis and Allure.

 

Caribbean Princess was quickly following behind Harmony of the Seas.

 

 

Independence of the Seas was third.

 

 

Oh no! It is not over yet we still have two more ships to leave. Prinsendam does not leave until 11:00 PM and believe or not I did not wait around for that?

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid