LIVE!! FROM THE EQUINOX PRESIDENT's Cruise August 27th, 2017 - ChicagoPaul

[chicagopaul]

So we just arrived at our hotel in Miami, JW Marriott Marquis. I'll try to sound like some of my favorite travel bloggers. Bear with me here! We booked this hotel through Southwest Travel to earn an extra 2000 Southwest Points. A steal at $186/night. We paid with our Chase Saphire Reserve card to earn triple points on travel. Lastly, we have Gold status with Marriott thanks to the Amex Platinum card so we received a beautiful upgrade to a nice corner room with great views that would be even better if the sun was shining! Despite the clouds the rain is at least not constant. Here are a few photos of the room.

 

 

 

 

 

Now we are off to grab lunch. Probably just in the hotel but will head out for a nice dinner. Any recommendations we are all ears!

 

Thank you all again for following along.

 

 

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[cruzzzinma]

Probably just in the hotel but will head out for a nice dinner. Any recommendations we are all ears!

 

Mignonette Downtown was very good.

[Lastdance]

Looking forward to a great review full of experiences, photos and details. Thank you CP for sharing[emoji844]

 

 

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[hcat]

So we just arrived at our hotel in Miami, JW Marriott Marquis. I'll try to sound like some of my favorite travel bloggers. Bear with me here! We booked this hotel through Southwest Travel to earn an extra 2000 Southwest Points. A steal at $186/night. We paid with our Chase Saphire Reserve card to earn triple points on travel. Lastly, we have Gold status with Marriott thanks to the Amex Platinum card so we received a beautiful upgrade to a nice corner room with great views that would be even better if the sun was shining! Despite the clouds the rain is at least not constant. Here are a few photos of the room.

 

 

 

 

 

Now we are off to grab lunch. Probably just in the hotel but will head out for a nice dinner. Any recommendations we are all ears!

 

Thank you all again for following along.

 

 

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Great room, great price, great photos..Hope you have a Wonderful Trip!

Have enjoyed following you in the past and look forward to this blog.

 

Would love to know if LLP knows how frustrated her customers are with the X website & plans to remedy same.,....Any juicy tidbits about EDGE would also be nice to hear about!

BON VOYAGE!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Hi Paul, we'll be on the President's Cruise with you and perhaps will see you around the ship. One thing I hadn't anticipated is the presence of a large number of "VIPs" along with the president. Any idea as to how many there are and who they are such as high rollers, highest execs in RCI, highest level Zenith, travel agents or whatever? They probably won't interfere with what we are doing, but one never knows.

 

The other thing I wonder about will be the weather given the time of the year, but so far the part of the Caribbean we are headed for looks pretty quiet. I do feel great compassion for the unfortunate people now being impacted by Harvey and wish them all the best as they deal with this scary challenge. I feel kind of guilty going on a luxury cruise while so many people are experiencing the danger of a major hurricane, tornadoes and flooding.

[marshabear]

I am following along with you! We will board the day you disembark! I wish you fair winds and calm seas....

 

 

 

Marsha

[lovecruzin]

Looking forward to following along and hearing your experiences.We were on Equinox in May, The World Class Bar has 2 great bartenders, Ram and Igor.

The JW looks really nice and I love that bathroom!

Enjoy

[garyl62]

Hey Paul, I'm just an average guy, but living only 90 miles away from you, being a loyal Marriott guest and someone with a couple Celebrity cruises behind me and a couple more booked including one on the Equinox I'm looking forward to following your posts!

[zzrobot]

Red, the steakhouse, in Miami. My favorite restaurant from cleveland Ohio !

[silkismom]

Following along.

[Nanatravel]

We too are following along while packing to join the EQ as you get off on Labor Day. Lovely hotel photos.

 

We've cruised on a President's cruise just once and it was nice with a few gifts and events on board. This was before Blu, Lumanie or so many specialty restaurants. Hope your sailing is smooth and sunny.

[happicruzer]

I was almost on this cruise, however, I preferred (at the time of booking) more seadays for half the cost - thus, we get on as you get off. Thoroughly enjoyed our June Equinox cruise and looking forward to your review.

 

Will check out the webcam tomorrow.

[h20cruzer]

Paul, Paul, Paul I was just wondering a few days ago why I hadn't seen any posts from you lately. What a nice surprise. Please tell Edward hello for me.

I will be on the Equinox 10/27/17 10 night with friends and some people we met on the Reflection TA last year. Very interested in who tis bartending at the Martini Bar. One of my favorites is Santos, however he told me yesterday he will be working in the Sky Lounge when I am onboard, not sure where he will be on your cruise, if you could stop by and say Hi from me I would appreciate it. Looking forward to all your comments and pictures.

Norma

[chicagopaul]

Paul, Paul, Paul I was just wondering a few days ago why I hadn't seen any posts from you lately. What a nice surprise. Please tell Edward hello for me.

I will be on the Equinox 10/27/17 10 night with friends and some people we met on the Reflection TA last year. Very interested in who tis bartending at the Martini Bar. One of my favorites is Santos, however he told me yesterday he will be working in the Sky Lounge when I am onboard, not sure where he will be on your cruise, if you could stop by and say Hi from me I would appreciate it. Looking forward to all your comments and pictures.

Norma

 

Hey Norma! Great to hear from you! I will definitely look for Santos and give him your best. I'll let you know where I end up seeing him!

[chicagopaul]

I was almost on this cruise, however, I preferred (at the time of booking) more seadays for half the cost - thus, we get on as you get off. Thoroughly enjoyed our June Equinox cruise and looking forward to your review.

 

Will check out the webcam tomorrow.

 

I'll try to waive, see if you can see me on the webcam haha! We too enjoy the sea days. We ended up getting a pretty good deal on this cruise booking early and got lucky with a last minute price drop and upgraded to concierge from a regular balcony room.

 

If you LOVE sea days and have the time to spare, check out the November 26th, 2017 Eclipse cruise. We booked this one a few months back and ended up getting a very good deal in Aqua class with GO BEST. Not sure where pricing is currently at, but price per day / per person it ended up working out to be a very good deal.

 

Thanks for following along!

[chicagopaul]

Good evening everyone! It is just before 11pm in Miami and we're already back in our hotel room. We're keeping it simple tonight and didn't drink too much so we can board the ship refreshed tomorrow.

 

Tonight we ended up eating at db Bistro Moderne which is in our hotel and had decent reviews. The food was very good. There was a "Miami Spice" menu which we've seen advertised at multiple places. Maybe this is similar to "restaurant week" which we see in Chicago?

 

I had the crab cake to start which was excellent. All crab, very little filling. Fantastic flavor. Edward started with the lobster ravioli which was very good, I made him give me a taste. For our entree we both had the Seafood Zarzuela. This was a very homestyle dish (mussels, clams, shrimp, saffron, toasted bread). Edward liked it, but I think the clams weren't his cup of tea. Overall it was very well prepared, filling but still light. For desert Edward had the cheese plate and I had the profiteroles which I loved. I started eating them before I could take a photo. Photos will be posted below!

 

Tomorrow morning we plan to be up early and eat a decent breakfast at the hotel (thanks again for the gold status for Marriott which gives us free breakfast) so we can spend time drinking when we board the ship and avoid the craziness that is the buffet! Since we are staying in a concierge room we could choose to go to the concierge lunch in the MDR, but I'd rather hang out at the bars and meet people as they board the ship and get to know who is working the bars.

 

We plan to leave the hotel in a cab by 10:30am and should be at the port by 10:45/10:50am. We enjoy being early to board the ship.

 

Thank you again to everyone who is following along. I look forward to updating everyone on the VIP situation on board, what comments are made regarding the wonderful Celebrity website we love so much, and maybe we will get some additional information on the Edge Class? One could hope! I'll keep posting photos and feel free to keep asking me questions!

[chicagopaul]

 

 

 

 

 

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[champagne123]

Good morning Paul and Edward!!!!! I know it is early, but I am sure you will be up soon and wanted to wish you a Bon Voyage! Loving your review so far and looking forward to more. :cool:

[QueensChick]

Thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

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[chemmo]

Sincere best wishes for a great cruise! May the sun shine, and the seas be calm!

[Bruinboy]

Paul ... we always love joining you on your blogs. We will be on a different Celebrity ship next month so will enjoying hearing your thoughts on the cruise line. We booked really early for a New England cruise and scored an aft cabin. That will be our first time at the back of the ship. With the premium drink package it should be a delight. Happy cruising.

 

 

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[Bo1953]

Enjoy guys, looking forward to reading more as the days go on...

 

bon voyage!

[Alakegirl]

Hoping there will be a new head of Loyalty on board. If you see any announcement about this position, could you let us know please?

[Born to Cruise]

Wishing you two a fabulous cruise. I always enjoy your blogs! We have never sailed together unfortunately. But just a near miss on our next cruise. You will be on the Nov 26 cruise and we sail on the 27th of Nov aboard the Reflection. Anyway thank you for sharing your adventures with all of us.

 

Cheers,

JoAnne

[chicagopaul]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes!

 

Alakegirl - I will let you know if I see or hear anything!

 

We woke up this morning around 7:45. We had a pretty good sleep but both woke up a handful of times checking the clock. The weather is overcast today but it looks like we should be OK. Forecast is showing a chance of rain this afternoon but not a complete wash out.

 

 

We went up to the 36th floor to the concierge lounge for breakfast. It had a basic spread of eggs, bacon, potatoes, yogurt, pastries and toast. Several juices, coffee, and canned sodas etc. there was oatmeal, cereals, and fresh fruit as well.

 

 

Overall we're very happy with this hotel for the money. Loyalty status is definitely a bonus as the high speed internet is free, you get an upgrade which with this hotel can get you a decent change, and the free breakfast is a nice option to have.

 

I wanted to get a photo of the lounge but it was decently crowded and didn't want to post too many faces on here. There was a good view from the lounge and we could see the aft of a S Class ship but wasn't sure if she was ours. Too far away to make out the name.

 

We are back in the room now. We're going to finalize all our luggage items, toss on our luggage tags, and then will plan to hop in a cab around 10:20 or so. We like to be one of the first on the ship. It definitely helps with photo taking.

 

For all who have commented that are sailing with us I hope you had safe travels or are finishing up safe travels. Next post will be coming from the ship!

 

 

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