Equinox LIVE Solo Review March 23-30, 2019

[hcat]

Great review...making a list of things to do, food and bevs for our Summit cruise..after we return  EDGE.  

 

I also enjoyed the sky viewing  lectures, but  they  frequently cancelled it..poor weather and too windy on deck.  Hope they bring it back!....Cruising basics...sun, sea and sky!

Enjoy GC...

Edited March 26, 2019 by hcat

[sdnich]

 I am enjoying your review and your pictures looks like you’re having a great time . I will be on the equinox for my first B2B this Oct./Nov  and cannot wait !  My husband and I both love cruising so much I can’t imagine leaving him at home he would be so sad 😐  I also love that you and your husband love to dress up more it does make me a little sad sometimes the little to no effort by some people but to each his own !  And I also did get a big laugh of the amount of luggage and the fact your husband thought you were leaving . I  try to contain my luggage to one suitcase and a carry-on and  next cruise we will become elite so we will get free laundry yay !  Also our second part of our cruise is the  itinerary that you are on so will be following you and wishing that I was on the cruise also !!

Edited March 26, 2019 by sdnich

[Reel Love]

Wonderful review and really enjoying following your travels!  Thanks so much for taking us along :)

Quick question ..... there was a great selfie of you a couple of pages back where you are holding a green martini (wasn't a green apple martini; looked kind of creamy).  Do you recall what drink that was?  Thanks so much.  Cheers!

 

[jojoshumate]

1 hour ago, jojoshumate said:

Enjoying your review, re-visited Celebrity last year on Summit and think we need to do another!  If you can download apps on board—SkyView Lite is fun—point phone up and see what stars are there!!  Enjoy your cruise!!

Whoops—ignore that app—trying to use it now and appears it is under construction!  Save your internet minutes for your fun review!!

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, Reel Love said:

Wonderful review and really enjoying following your travels!  Thanks so much for taking us along 🙂

Quick question ..... there was a great selfie of you a couple of pages back where you are holding a green martini (wasn't a green apple martini; looked kind of creamy).  Do you recall what drink that was?  Thanks so much.  Cheers!

 

 

Thank you! The martini in that picture is the Tropic-tini.  It has blue curaçao and pineapple juice. If you like a sweeter cocktail, I think you’ll enjoy it!

[GenerationX]

It was a beautiful day of warm sunny Caribbean fun in Grand Cayman. I did the ship’s excursion to Stingray City and Calico  Jacks.  There weren’t many stingrays at the sandbar because apparently it’s their mating season and they congregate in the deeper water for that but our guides were able to entice a few over (one was particularly interested in me) and the ocean swimming and views on the boat ride out and back were great!

 

We got to Calico Jacks about 11am and I got one of the last remaining tables. It was packed!  I had chicken wings for lunch and asked for onion rings instead of fries as my side but they ended up giving me both. First world problems!

 

At this point in the review I want to take a sidebar and offer a word of advice to the readers of European descent who are planing their first trip to the Caribbean.  Go up AT LEAST 1 level in the SPF of your sunscreen and reapply every hour or 2 and after swims, even if your product claims to be waterproof.  Direct Caribbean island sun is its own special monster.  I saw sooo many bright red people, my skin hurt in sympathy.

 

After lunch I went for another aqua ocean water swim and drank a corona on a beach chair then got on the bus back to port.

 

Our excursion got back about a half hour before the last tender back to the ship was scheduled and the line for tenders was like nothing Ive never seen! It stretched well down the block from the port.  It was a hot wait mostly in sun, but Celebrity seemed to realize the problem and had crew members, including an officer, walking up and down the line passing out iced towels and cold water to keep everyone as comfortable as they could.

 

Between the heat and all the swimming when I got back to my room I was wiped out.  I took a quick shower to wash the sweat and salt off and then fell asleep reading my book and napped for 3 hours!

 

When I woke up we were well out to sea.

Edited March 27, 2019 by GenerationX

[GenerationX]

When I woke up from my beach coma, I still wasn’t feeling fit for public viewing yet so I decided to watch one of the free movies in my stateroom.  I passed on Adrift, the movie about a couple on a boat that gets lost at sea during a storm (who even decided that would be a good menu option for a cruise?) and watched the remake of Overbard. It was surprisingly not as bad as I was expecting.

 

After the movie I cleaned myself up and went to my second dinner at Silk Harvest.  I negotiated a deal for having 2 nights there and I figured since it’s going away soon, that would let me try more things while I can.

 

When I arrived, the maitre d Mohammed smiled and said “Ms. Charla my special guest, welcome back!” 

 

I also had the same waiter, Nino, who greeted me with “Ah, here is our queen!”

 

I sent Jeremy a FB message saying that from now on when I get home from a late night at the office, I expect him to greet me with “ah, here is our queen!”   He responded with a message saying “we’ll discuss it when you get home.” 😂 

 

As soon as I sat down, the rest of my bottle of Amarone from Tuscan Grille was at the table and being poured.  I’m beginning to think one of the other perks of solo sailing is everyone makes an extra effort to pamper you and make sure you’re comfortable.

 

Tonight for starters I had the Tom Yum soup and cream cheese wontons followed by the chicken fried rice and fried snapper for main course.

 

At our favorite Thai restaurant in St. Louis the Tom Yum soup comes in a creamy broth so seeing this one in a clear broth was unexpected, but the taste was pretty much the same.  It had an “American palate friendly” amount of spice. I think I liked the wonton soup my first time better though. 

 

The cream cheese wontons would’ve been fantastic if they added crab meat and made it a true Crab Rangoon, but with just the cream cheese they were just ok.  After the restaurant goes away it would be great if Celebrity added these to the late night room service menu because, to be candid, they would make wonderful post-party drunk food.

 

The chicken fried rice was much better than the fried rice I’ve had in the buffet on prior cruises.  The snapper didn’t have a lot of flavor on its own but when dipped in the soy ginger sauce it came with it was delicious.

 

For dessert I had the lemongrass creme brûlée but could only manage a few bites.  It’s very rich!

 

After dinner I went to the martini flair show and had an espresso martini then went up to the silent disco.  More on that next report!

 

 

[mfs2k]

Charla. I’m loving your posts. You’ve inspired me to turn my post into a daily update also. It’s fun for me to read your experiences and observe the similarities and differences with mine.

 

You’re awesome. 

[GenerationX]

44 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

Charla. I’m loving your posts. You’ve inspired me to turn my post into a daily update also. It’s fun for me to read your experiences and observe the similarities and differences with mine.

 

You’re awesome. 

 

Thank you!!!! I’ll have to start checking your post daily now! 😁

[hslaw]

Thank you for posting throughout your trip. It's comforting to know you can this much fun on a cruise by yourself. I almost did a solo cruise on celebrity years ago but sort of chickened out and coerced someone into going with me. It was a great time but I've always wondered if it would have been nice to go on my own. It's sometimes hard to find a travel buddy.  Can't wait for your next update!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Thanks again! I'm glad to know that solos are as catered to on Celebrity as I have been on Disney! I am used to being treated like a princess. 😛

[GenerationX]

Silent disco last night was just as fun as it was on my last 2 cruises.  This time, the first half hour was listed in the daily as a Generation Next event. I caught the last few minutes of it and there were lots of young people there most of whom stayed for the next 2 hours of the bigger party.

 

I think adding silent disco was a VERY smart move for Celebrity.  As a practical matter, as the line is trying to attract more young cruisers, they’re going to have to deal with the fact that the music tastes of 20-30 year olds are often very different from what retirees want to hear. The headphones with different music channels solves that problem and keeps everyone happy and on the dance floor.

 

I also worked my way through law school as head cocktail server at a popular night club in St Louis and learned a lot about DJ science. The key to keeping a dance floor going is the right mix of “bpm’s” (beats per minute) in the songs the DJ plays. Throwing in the right number of slower beat/lower energy songs between the right number of high energy songs to give people a rest but also not let the vibe get so slow you lose the crowd and your dance floor dies.  I could tell from my few minutes watching the Generation Next kids on the dance floor that those 19 year olds could handle a LOT more high BPM songs in a row before needing a break than I could. Again, silent disco makes that very adjustable.  Need a slower beat? Just change your channel!

 

I bumped into the French Canadian ladies again and we stayed dancing until the party ended at 1am.  We all went down to the martini bar where, as requested, I had an apple martini for Kym 😁 then I took a shower and went to bed.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for the live from reports.  We are on this itinerary in November. Have you had a chance to go to the Gastro Pub, and do they have a good wine selection?

[stinsowm]

Really enjoying your updates and photos from your trip.  I did my first solo cruise back in October and met so many wonderful people and had a great time!!  Enjoy each moment on the beautiful Equinox!! 

 

Walter

[CruisinRoxy]

We were on Equinox in February and loved the Silent Disco! Never laughed so hard at each other! Good advice on the sunscreen too. The Caribbean sun can be silently brutal.  But we found the cool towels and water very welcome! The crew did that at each port and it was fabulous!!

Loving your daily reports!

[hcat]

Hope you post the pic of you and the ray on the Cc website..where they have the photos..bottom of the page.

 

  It is really a great photo. !

[parrothead33]

3 hours ago, GenerationX said:

 We all went down to the martini bar where, as requested, I had an apple martini for Kym 😁

 

 

Thank you for the martini Charla!  You are the best.  I'm so glad that you are having such a good time and meeting lots of fun and interesting people.  Keep up the good work.

Kym

[GenerationX]

4 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Thanks for the live from reports.  We are on this itinerary in November. Have you had a chance to go to the Gastro Pub, and do they have a good wine selection?

 

I haven’t had a chance to spend much time in the Gastro Pub yet, but will plan to go there for my after dinner drink tonight or tomorrow and will report back.

 

I too enjoy a nice glass of wine!

 

I have heard other cruisers mention that the somolier there is very good.

[GenerationX]

Hola from Costa Maya!  

 

Ive been to this port several times and not really ever found it exciting so I took today a bonus sea day and and have stayed onboard.

 

This morning, even though I was up in time for MDR breakfast, I decided to give the buffet another try.  I figured it might be less crowded earlier in the morning and I was right! There were tons of open tables and no waits whatsoever for omlettes or poached eggs.

 

My good luck continued on the pool deck since most people were getting ready to head to port and there were plenty of prime seating deck chairs open at 10am.

 

There were only 2 drink servers working the pool this morning that I saw, but there were so few people around, they didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping glasses full.

 

When I got to the pool, maintenance workers were kicking people out of two of the hot tubs and putting the nets back over them.  No idea what that was about, but about 15 minutes later I saw several officers standing around the closed tubs, looking very focused and making calls on their “bat phones”.  Whatever the issue was, it looked like the team was on top of it.

 

I spent my morning doing a light triage of my work email backlog,  swimming and watching passengers on Adventure of the Seas docked next to us brave the Flow Rider.  Still debating whether I want to try that thing when we sail on Ovation in November.  I’ve been told our genie can arrange for private lessons at a time when I would be making a less public fool of myself.  It looks like fun but also a good way to end up with a skull fracture.

 

In the pool, I met a couple staying in a royal suite who got married in Grand Cayman yesterday.  They told me how blown away they’ve been by their Luminae and butler experiences so far and I felt a twinge of homesickness for the suite life.  

 

I have a note going of the things ive noticed/missed stepping down from suites and aqua class and towards the end of the cruise I want to do a full post just on that.

 

Ive spent most of the rest of the day shopping onboard and reading on my balcony.  We’re docked with our aft facing the pier so today I’ll get to watch for runners! 

 

I’ll also do a post momentarily on my shamefully glutinous lunch experience and unplanned afternoon shower.

[GenerationX]

For lunch today I was feeling too lazy to put my swim coverup on (sloth comes so easy on a cruise ship) so I went to the mast grill.  

 

I ordered a celebrity burger but was busy talking to the person behind me in line and didn’t pay attention as it was being made.  The celebrity burger is supposed to have “X-sauce” (Big Mac sauce) on it but there was none to be found.  They also added sauerkraut for some strange reason.  No biggie, I scraped off the kraut and put some ketchup and mayo on and problem solved.

 

I ate about half the burger and then decided to pop in the OVC and get myself some ice cream.  Just ice cream. JUST ICE CREAM.

 

Then I saw the lunch spread!  Somehow I don’t think I’ve ever been in OVC at lunch time before in all my cruises.  It’s absurd!  Fresh cut roast beef and mashed potatoes and gravy! Taco bar! Nacho station! Four, FOUR different types of curry! A made to order Caesar salad station and an entire island of desserts.

 

Before I knew what happened I was at a table eating a second lunch of nachos con carne, tortilla soup, flank steak and chicken Caesar salad. 

 

At at least I had enough shame to not get the ice cream after.  Sorry readers who enjoy comprehensive buffet reviews, for the sake of my digestive system I will not be setting foot in OVC at lunchtime again for the remainder of the cruise.

 

Completely stuffed I got a bottle of water and went down to read on the veranda.  2 chapters in I started to feel dozy and was just about to nod off with heavy eyelids when all of a sudden I was doused from head to toe with freezing cold water!!!

 

They must have been spraying off a deck somewhere above me!

 

Luckily my book didn’t get too wet and I was in a cotton dress that dried quickly in the 85 degree sunshine.  My apologies to my neighbors for the choice language I screamed in my moment of shock. 

 

On the plus side, the adrenaline burst gave me the energy to go spend some much needed time on the treadmill in the gym. 

Edited March 27, 2019 by GenerationX

[pd7277]

5 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Thanks for the live from reports.  We are on this itinerary in November. Have you had a chance to go to the Gastro Pub, and do they have a good wine selection?

Unless things on Equinox have changed since November, the Gastro Pub is a craft beer venue, plus some pub-style food.  It is still a bar, so other drinks, like wine and mixed drinks, are available.  They even made me a frozen strawberry daiquiri.   After the Equinox Revolution, the name is suppose to change to "Craft Central."  I doubt the theme/food will change.

[GenerationX]

It’s dinner time at sea!  I had to do some Pilates in my room before dressing to work up an appetite.

 

Last night at Silk Harvest my waiter convinced me to sign up for their special 8-course champagne dinner tonight.  

 

Having a pre-dinner cosmo in Ensemble and listening to the Nauticals play soul and blues.

 

Tonight’s main evening event will be the poolside white party, so that’ll put my outfit change count for today at 7.  

[micheleata]

I am loving your review and pictures! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

I am thinking of doing the stingray/CalicoJack excursion to burn thru some of our OBC.   Can you tell me roughly how many people were on the boat,  was it really packed?  And did you notice if there was a bathroom onboard?   

 

Thanks,  anxious to read more of your review!!!

[merdon]

What a great review. I'm thoroughly enjoying it and seeing it through your eyes as a solo cruiser (although I've never cruised solo). Maybe I will leave the hubby at home and try it. 🤣

We're sailing Equinox post revolutionizing in suite class so I'm looking forward to the changes.

Keep enjoying and posting!!! 

[MartinsCruise]

I'm really enjoying your review and thinking that cruising solo could be fun.  If you get a chance would you please post a picture of Dewa?  If it's who I think he is, he used to tend bar at the Sunset Bar on the Summit.  We spent a lot of time there because he was so entertaining!