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Equinox 2/3/18 Sailing – Live Blog, Photo Blog, Cat Blog, Dog Blog, Vlog?

David Kane

By David Kane,
in Celebrity Cruises

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h20cruzer

h20cruzer

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Stop by the Martini bar and say hi to one of my favorite bartenders, Imade (Brata). Makes a great drink and is very friendly. looking forward to your humorous review, will be very refreshing.

Also another favorite bartender Santos should be in the world class bar.

Norma

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pa-annie

pa-annie

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We've started a video blog of the cruise! Chech out day one here:

 

 

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We want to cruise with you folks ... what a riot. Just finished your Reflection review, absolutely great and now you're back again.

 

FYI ... your Equinox video blog is labeled:

Celebrity Cruise Equinox - Caribbean Feb 4 "2017":

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David Kane "Live from...." Rare

David Kane

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Em-BARK-ation 2/3 2 of 3 - Hopefully, desperately trying to catch up - questions answered shortly!

 

And, we're back and still on the first day...:o.

 

Once inside Michael's Club we were visited by a number of the staff while we had our first round of drinks (Johnny Walker Black for me, a Berry Smash of some kind for XZ - note that Michael's now has a small drink menu available). First up were Mishe and George, the Shoreside Shopping Consultants. We vaguely knew this position existed in the past, but had never really interacted with them before. Well, let me tell you; this is THE power couple on the Equinox. They are everywhere! They have their own station on the TV, maintain long desk hours by the Destination Desk, and are always around, interacting with guests while, at the same time, not being at all pushy. They are extremely knowledgeable about all the ports of call and, while they 'wink' towards steering guests to certain shops, their charming personalities and wealth of knowledge makes them a joy to spend a few minutes with - I didn't feel at all 'up sold' on any of the areas they mentioned; I would encourage anyone reading to seek them out and spend some time with them - they are true gems.

 

And speaking of gems, we also met Shane, the straight-shooting destination concierge. I don't know if there is a new directive, but the old pretenses are largely gone from the 'sales' pitches. Instead, as mentioned above, a very knowledgeable and personable gentleman with impeccable diction stops by and gives you a what-can-only be described as the best 'elevator pitch' you will ever here about excursions. He is both witty and polite and ready to assist you if you are interested in any of the Celebrity excursion packages.

 

Lastly, we met the Michael's Club Concierge; Adriana, and the head bartender, Ira. (Perhaps only I find it amusing that I here her name and think of 'Ira Glass' from 'This American Life'). As it turns our, Ira will quickly become one of the rockstars of this cruise, but on embarkation day, Michael's Club is always very, very busy. There are good, lively mix of people here, including several groups of back-to-back-to-back(?) guests. XZ and I play a round of Cribbage (I win, naturally, as Cribbage is my game - we've been keeping score by marking our boards for years and I'm up about 143 to 121...but I think she had a few Whisky's at one point and kept moving my pegs so...some of those wins may have been, you know, unearned - kind of like the result of the Superbowl...) and then we head off to Luminae.

 

Luminae is one of the reasons we book suites. We have always had tremendous luck with the staff and found the Maitre'd's and servers to be personable and engaging. And this cruise suddenly gets elevated as we meet the staff for lunch. First up is Anitsa, one of the Maitre'd's - she of the polka-dotted shirts and welcoming smiles. Because we tend to always eat early we manage to grab a prime window seat far in the back, with Cathy as our assistant waiter and Tyrone as our head waiter. In about 7 easy seconds of conversation, Tyrone jumps to the head of the line of possible sleeper-superstars among the staff. He has an easy way about him and a keen sense of humor. While lunch is a short affair, we discovered on a previous cruise that dinner the first night is really when you get to know your staff. I could go on and on about the Duck Confit, the Signature Burger, how Cathy is Thai (and XZ spent some time there and knows a bit of Thai) but we'll get to all of that a bit later as we get to see this wonderful staff about 26 times in the coming week.

 

After lunch we return to Michael's Club for another round then the rooms are immediately ready. I imagine it must be a tough go on the staff, but the turnaround time on embarkation has gotten silly fast - I think we were in our room by 1:10. It happened so fast we didn't even get to tour the ship!

 

We spend the next hour (!) unpacking. I could belabor how awesome the aft-Sky Suites are and how the layout is both secluded and accessible but I believe XZ will vlog about it shortly, and those pictures are worth about 100.000 of my words, considering how far behind I am on this supposed "live" blog so far.

 

The butler, Dominick, stops by to run us through the suite - we are aware of how busy he is on the first day but he takes the time to settle us in and, again, in the coming days we'll get to spend some more time getting to know him. Suffice to say he is polite, personable, and an expert on all things Celebrity. (I will also go so far as to note there is a special 'perk' to having Dominick as your butler - but I don't want to give away any of his surprises. Suffice to say, if you are AFT on the 12th floor, you'll enjoy a certain unadvertized benefit :confused:). We also met the room steward, and I can't believe I don't have his name written down, which is pretty crappy of me considering he voluably greeted me 6 times today in the corridors. I feel a bit badly here, and will be sure to remedy it.

 

Muster started early at 2:45pm and we were in Blu. They played a series of amusingly cheesy videos, including one about handwashing (which is to say, do it often and always - are you washing your hands right now? You darn well should be!) and then we were free to go - the muster captain was Sonja and, as noted, wearing life jackets isn't required ...which means it's optional and now I can't wait to wear my life jacket for the next muster! That seems like a bad, but fun, idea, right?

 

Since we had been up and driving at 1am XZ immediately...fell alseep. Being made of sterner New England stock myself (don't look at me, she's the huge John Elway fan...) I took a tour of the ship. Originally I was going to the Cruise Critic sail away at the Sunset bar but...the Sunset Bar on the Equinox is WAY smaller than the Reflection and way way smaller than the Summit/Infinity and 156 people (!) had signed up for our CC sailway so I strolled around instead and found THE place for sailaway.

 

I know a lot of my observations get buried in these wordy posts, and so I'll build a better one of this when I get back, but there is a front-facing walk right outside the Gym on 14 that overlooks the Helipad! No one is out there (as no one really uses the gym at this time) and it is THE best place for sail away, hands down. (Note: The Equinox has an interesting tradition of inviting Conceirge-Class guests to the Helipad sailway - a great benefit for that class of cabin!).

 

Around 5pm XZ managed to rouse herself and we dressed for dinner, which takes a good hour or so, especially as my moustache and beard were being rather unruly this evening. We stopped back by Michael's Club on the way to dinner and had the chance to meet a wide variety of interesting guests.

 

 

Next Up: The Luminae Staff continues to impress, the Casion Dealers liven up the evening and we meet a World Class Fashion Icon!

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evelyn inkpen

evelyn inkpen

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We want to cruise with you folks ... what a riot. Just finished your Reflection review, absolutely great and now you're back again.

 

FYI ... your Equinox video blog is labeled:

Celebrity Cruise Equinox - Caribbean Feb 4 "2017":

 

 

 

D'oh!! great catch [emoji23] when ever we are on cruises I often say "what day is it?" but apparently it's what year is it too!!

 

 

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bonedoc7

bonedoc7

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Reading this live review is a wonderful distraction. Loving the chance to sail with you. We board the equinox on Feb 17th in a suite, so very happy to hear michaels and luminae are living up to your expectations thus far

 

 

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misterkevin

misterkevin

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In addition to being entertained by your wit and joie de vivre, I want to thank you for the insider tip about the best kept secret sail away location in the Equinox.

 

"...but there is a front-facing walk right outside the Gym on 14 that overlooks the Helipad! No one is out there (as no one really uses the gym at this time) and it is THE best place for sail away, hands down."

 

We look forward to cruising the ship in October, and your "Arrogance of the Seas" comment was hilarious.

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evelyn inkpen

evelyn inkpen

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Can you let me know which dock you berth at in San Juan? There is some controversy on our cruise as to which one...every other time its right down town OSJ...however they are saying this year its way over by the Island Airport and there is nothing to do once you get off the ship without taking a taxi somewhere. Thanks. Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

We docked at Old San Juan and it was a lovely location to hop off for a visit to historic downtown. [emoji41]

 

 

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evelyn inkpen

evelyn inkpen

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Dave.... don’t forget you and XZ have to visit the library to search for the special book!!

Also I’m loving following along on your adventures....

 

 

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Ohhh the book! We'll take a look for sure. We did a quick stoptoday and it was a great selection... even some WarHammer books. Yay!

 

 

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David Kane "Live from...." Rare

David Kane

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Em-BARK-ation - 3 of 3 -

 

Struggling gamely to get through the first day of review, we now reach dinner, which was an excellent affair. We always enjoy dining early and, being the first ones in Luminae, we got a fine table in the far back corner next to a window. JV introduced himself as the sommelier and was knowledgeable and outgoing (I will say that, and this isn't a dig by any means, Maggie on the Summit did the *best* job I have ever seen describing wine and food pairings). Tyrone has taken to giving us frank dinner recommendations and, in a bit of a spoiler for the rest of the week, has been spot on each time; tonight was the Filet Mingon (spelled wrong) and for two people (spelled right) who usually don't eat much red meat, it was spot on.

 

After dinner we stopped by the Casino for a bit of $1 Roulette. The staff here is fun! Oddly enough, there is an alignment of British dealers in Fortunes (FORtunes on Deck FOUR - as we desperately try to remember our floors and stairways versus the Summit - I had one guy literally follow me back to my Aft cabin last night because he thought I was walking to the 'back stairs' which, as we all know, don't really exist? So I'm not the only one who gets turned around on these larger ships) which makes table conversation move along quite nicely and keeps the atmosphere light and enjoyable.

 

From the Casino we stopped by World Class, which, aside from Michael's Club, will quickly become our favorite bar on the ship. The bartenders here have a certain level of class (lol) which comes from being given the opportunity to take time in making the drinks. In a previous experience it took us a few days to learn a) you only order what is on the menu and b) you clearly tell them if you're taking a drink to go...otherwise you end up with 11 Reidel Glasses in your stateroom, and a confused room attendant (whoops). It turns out that Igor had previously been paired with several of the other World Class bartenders we had had the pleasure of meeting before, so with that point of contact we knew this would be a great week.

 

Carefully taking our 'punishment glass' to go (XZ and I noticed that, if you order from, say, the MDR menu in Luminae your food arrives on what we call a 'punishment plate' as it has none of the extra presentation efforts that go in to an actual dish from the correct menu - the 'punishment glass' is similar, although they haven't taken to handing out Red Solo Cups as of yet) we headed for the Theatre to have our semi-annual love/hate relationship with Elysium. Man. This show. The costumes are fantastic, the vocals are spot on. The choreography and lighting are thematic and enjoyable. The story is...unfathomable. I wish they had just a little bit more narration, so 700 rather confused guests could enjoy more of the show and spend less time glancing at each other and whispering "What is...going...on?"

 

Post Elysium we briefly sniffed at the Casino, grabbed some late night pizza (the best kind of pizza!) and finally, finally went to bed. And, as we do, let's check in with the doggo!

 

40010570252_b3f12fa8c2_b.jpg

 

 

And yes, indeed there is! In fact, the light switch for the bathroom in 2151 has a specific nightlight setting. Instead of pushing down to turn on the light, you can push UP to activate the nightlight! Who knew! It took me 3 days to figure that out a brief 4 minutes of confusion at 3am when I thought we had a ghost in the vanity!

 

Next Up: Sunday! We get up late, succeed and yet fail at a Cabin Crawl, and journey to Sushi on 5!

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Hawkstar33 Great Review Rare

Hawkstar33

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Great reading. We go btb 3/10 - 3/24. Any info on conditions in Puerto Rico, or St Maarten would be of great help. Nothing can beat an eyewitness. My concern aside from damage, is the flu situation or any other type of health issues that you may have heard something about. It may help us decide in advance what we can possibly do on those days. So many differing reports make it difficult to understand what is true and false. Ty in advance and enjoy

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