Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 #1 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Greetings I’ve done a few “My .02” Post Cruise Reviews but never really tried a “live” review or blog. We’ve got quite a bit of time at sea so I figured I’d give you a a Quasi-Evil attempt at a review, that will include many flashbacks. So what follows is a ; semi live; the margarine of reviews or Diet Coke of live reviews. No guarantees on the frequency of posts, but in any event I’ll complete my review at some point. Cheers Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #2 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Itinerary: I shall call it the “Irma” cruise- 7 nights E Med on X Equinox. San Juan; St Maarten; and St Kitts. A late afternoon arrival in SJ and 3 full sea days. A lot of time on the ship. Perfect ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #3 Share Posted February 18, 2018 A bit of background about me and my wife. This is our third cruise on celebrity our first on the Equinox. Our previous two cruises were on the Reflection. So much of what follows will be a comparison between the two ships. We are fifty somethings who currently live in Northern Virginia in the DMV area. We try to do at least one preferably two cruises a year. But often times we have to waive that for our desire to do extended European land vacations, so sometimes we don’t get to cruise as much as we’d like. We were lucky enough to be able to come down to Miami two days before the cruise to enjoy a brief stay in South Beach. I will share pre-cruise review of our stay in a later post. Okay we’ll get going in the next post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomato53 Posted February 18, 2018 #4 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Oooooo, this is candy; I'm having fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cangelmd Posted February 18, 2018 #5 Share Posted February 18, 2018 We did the "Irma" cruise in late January, but Equinox had not returned yet to St. Maarten, sadly, that was one of the draws of the itinerary for us. We enjoyed the sea days, hope you do as well - bon voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted February 18, 2018 I started this thread today which is actually day 2 of our cruise. We left Miami yesterday at 3:30 and are on our first Seas Day. We arrive in San Juan at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon. So I decided to start this review now. FLASHBACK: Pre Cruise in Miami. I had a ton of Marriott points just waiting to be used so we decided to stay 2 night s in South Beach at the Marriott Stanton. The rooms were nice and you can’t beat the location but that’s it! Wow it was a huge disappointment. Basically it’s being transformed into a boutique type resort. It is no longer a true Marriott. See my TA & FB reviews for more info. We enjoyed the 2 days in South Beach. Perfect weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted February 18, 2018 We did the "Irma" cruise in late January, but Equinox had not returned yet to St. Maarten, sadly, that was one of the draws of the itinerary for us. We enjoyed the sea days, hope you do as well - bon voyage! Oooooo, this is candy; I'm having fun! Hi thanks for following. We booked this cruise in October of 2016 and never gave a thought to changing after Irma. I’m looking forward to spending my beer money on the islands. Cheers Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted February 18, 2018 PRE-CRUISE FLASHBACK CONTINUED One real plus about the Marriott is that On Friday Night we had a great view to “watch the girls go by” cdn.com/20180218/72c1964be127176eaebf025bfdbbbbc6.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #9 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #10 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Other random thoughts about our pre-cruise in no particular order We flew on SWA from Reagan to Ft Lauderdale. Not a yuge fan of SWA but the airfare was considerably cheaper than AA or JB to Miami. Actually was a great easy flight. Ubered from FLL to Miami Beach. It was $40. It took over an hour due to the Thursday am traffic but still worth it. We had a great driver. (Although not required we tipped our driver extra, it was worth it. Felt bad for him that it was so cheap) Note that the Uber pick up spot is in between terminal 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Follow signs for “ride share limo” Also note in South Beach most all establishments will add 18-20% gratuity to your bar or food tabs. Be sure and ask. Up next: Flashback back to Cruise day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katysuerx Posted February 18, 2018 #11 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Fun! Thanks for the “real time” reviews. Side note: We stayed at that Marriott in 2012? Or maybe 2013 but it was still just a regular Marriott and it was an as expected stay. Nothing spectacular but I did love the views and the roof top areas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helen haywood Posted February 18, 2018 #12 Share Posted February 18, 2018 It's probably too late to amend your title, but I'm assuming you actually meant E. Caribbean. Not Med. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Fun! Thanks for the “real time” reviews. Side note: We stayed at that Marriott in 2012? Or maybe 2013 but it was still just a regular Marriott and it was an as expected stay. Nothing spectacular but I did love the views and the roof top areas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk From some of the other reviews of the hotel and based on my experience it’s apparent that they are in the middle of updating the hotel and doing some sort of transformation. Half of the public spaces were not in use. They no longer are using the space that housed the main restaurant and bar by the pool. It’s prime revenue space and it’s empty! Not sure if it will be in the Marriott family much longer (my speculation). Too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #14 Share Posted February 18, 2018 It's probably too late to amend your title, but I'm assuming you actually meant E. Caribbean. Not Med. Yeah Phat thumbs. Sorry, it should be “Quasi Evil.” I will also will choose to blame the internet, just because it’s the popular thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #15 Share Posted February 18, 2018 So another random comment before cruise day thoughts. Kudos to RCCL, RCI and X for the new app. It’s not fully functional and deployed for all ships yet but it is available for the Equinox. I like!!! All the daily ship stuff at your fingertips. it’s a great step in the right direction. Download it and check it out. Here are a few shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spammie Posted February 18, 2018 #16 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Yay! Following! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megessey Posted February 18, 2018 #17 Share Posted February 18, 2018 What is the name of the app? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #18 Share Posted February 18, 2018 What is the name of the app? RCI has a similar app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #19 Share Posted February 18, 2018 FLASHBACK Cruise Day. Gorgeous morning in South Beach. We took advantage of extra points for early check out and were out of our room by 0940ish. After I had a nice chat with the Manager on Duty we grabbed a cab and headed to terminal G. Easy! Took 15 -20 minutes door to door. Cab fare was &23.00 plus tip. We were checked in and were waiting (Aqua Class-more later) to board by 10:15. Boarding started at 10:50. Beer in hand at Sunset Bar by 1100. A view from South Pointe Park towards Dodge Island Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #20 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Muster and 2:45 and sail away at 3:30. Pretty much on time. There is a corny spy themed video—sort of amusing—followed by the obligatory germ cartoon. Total cluster. I wish there were a bit more time between Muster and dropping the lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #21 Share Posted February 18, 2018 6 ships in port so Empress was relegated to the other side of Dodge Island MSC Seaside A couple of Carnival ships but we won’t show those. [emoji849] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #22 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Symphony’s new home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #23 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted February 18, 2018 #24 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Thanks for the time taken to post a live review. It is always fun to come along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy3putts Posted February 18, 2018 Author #25 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Thanks for the time taken to post a live review. It is always fun to come along. Thanks. Just paying it forward. Many great live thread posters out there. I’m just sticking my toe in the water on this one. Can’t guarantee the quality and quantity as we get deeper into our journey. Taking a beer break for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now