Jim_Iain – East meets West Equinox Caribbean – B2B2B -March 14 to April 4

[Mr. Boston]

Exitedly following along.  Your posts definitely won’t be the same old same old They already aren’t!  Congrats on the upgrade as well. Certainly a nice place to be in quarantine if it came to that. Your positive outlook is such a welcome oasis from the news.  Safe travels.

[boontj2003]

27 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

LOL---- Iain said well at least if were were quarantined we will be comfortable. 

Exactly!! I’ve sailed during spring break and had to stay in FLL. Prices are outrageous!!!  Last time a hampton inn put a $600 cc hold on our room too. I was like this is hampton inn not the ritz Carlton!!!

 

have a great cruise!! Excited for you!

[actdir]

32 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

LOL---- Iain said well at least if were were quarantined we will be comfortable. 

Way to go on the upgrade.  Thanks for keeping us posted.  I look forward to vicariously sharing your adventure.

[toddmanka]

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I believe it was your count that I read.  I didn't want to post the persons handle.  We are going to have a great cruise.   I can tell already.    Got a great surprise while out on my walk today.     Will post about it later.

 

Leaving Friday on Reflection over 600 cabins canceled. When does Celebrity cancel all cruises?

[NCNina]

Looking forward to following along— hope you and Iain have a wonderful cruise! DH and I are scheduled to sail on Equinox April 4th in our first Sky Suite to celebrate our 40th anniversary; we’re waiting to see what the next couple of weeks bring before making a decision about whether to cancel.  In the meantime, we’ll live vicariously through you—we always enjoy your posts! 😎

[eyecantwait]

I'm so glad to be traveling vicariously with you again and looking forward to your posts!

[garyl62]

Looking forward to following along as usual.  We're heading out on the Summit next week so I'll try to compare some notes with you regarding occupancy levels and anything out of the ordinary.  Looks like my RS bid isn't going to be accepted, I'm a little surprised, as there were 4 of 8 available and we bid about 120% of minimum.  Maybe our minimum was lower as we were in a CS already.  Oh well, we really wanted to try out the CS with that wall of windows to see how the cabin works as we are thinking about doing AK in this same class.  I digress...… enjoy your trip, looking forward to following along.

[parrothead33]

Great news that you and Iain got the RS.  Looking forward to another wonderful review.  Be safe and enjoy.

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 The difference between the 2 "accomodations" made me smile 😁

 

Wishing you and Iain smooth waters, excellent weather, worry-free cruises 🌼

Good news... .We originally booked Holiday Inn Express for $335 Ugh... due to Spring break.   Late this afternoon I got an E-Mail from the group that own Holiday Inn and they have put in a waiver of their cancellation policy for the next month.   I called and cancelled for a full refund and re-booked at Embassy Suites on 17th (we stay there often) for $199 per night.  

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Mr. Boston said:

Exitedly following along.  Your posts definitely won’t be the same old same old They already aren’t!  Congrats on the upgrade as well. Certainly a nice place to be in quarantine if it came to that. Your positive outlook is such a welcome oasis from the news.  Safe travels.

Thanks much.   I always appreciated your wonderful recommendations on Boston.   What a beautiful city.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, toddmanka said:

Leaving Friday on Reflection over 600 cabins canceled. When does Celebrity cancel all cruises?

I'm sure RCL Executives are hard at work to figure out their next steps.   Trumps announcement really shot a hole in the European spring season.   I'm sure we will hear more shortly. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, garyl62 said:

Looking forward to following along as usual.  We're heading out on the Summit next week so I'll try to compare some notes with you regarding occupancy levels and anything out of the ordinary.  Looks like my RS bid isn't going to be accepted, I'm a little surprised, as there were 4 of 8 available and we bid about 120% of minimum.  Maybe our minimum was lower as we were in a CS already.  Oh well, we really wanted to try out the CS with that wall of windows to see how the cabin works as we are thinking about doing AK in this same class.  I digress...… enjoy your trip, looking forward to following along.

 

Don't give up yet.   Last Friday all suites were sold out on our cruise.   I'm hearing they aren't processing upgrades until about 72 hours prior to sailing.   At one point the PS was available but when I went to put a bid on it there wasn't even an option.   It's now gone.   There are still 4 RS available, 4 CS and a load of SS.     Lots of cancellations this week.

 

[Groovybusybee]

Following along vicariously, hope you have a great and healthy cruise.

 

Unfortunately our around Japan cruise has been cancelled, we have cancelled and rebooked for  next year our Baltic cruise and our replacement April fly/drive holiday to Florida next month has a huge question mark over it. 
 

Can’t wait to hear about your travels.

 

Debbie

[upwarduk]

Quote

I'm sure RCL Executives are hard at work to figure out their next steps.   Trumps announcement really shot a hole in the European spring season.   I'm sure we will hear more shortly.

 

I had already been thinking that the TA’s might not happen.  Now of course passengers might be stranded in Europe once they get off the ship.

I keep reading updates, as our Aug 1st cruise has 4 ports in Italy. We are outside the Celebrity ‘48 hr cancel for any reason,’ by one day! I even looked up our Travel Insurance to see if I had declared any auto immune disease, allowing me to cancel, so that I would get a refund, instead of a future cruise certificate. 

Then I read that if you are over 70, you will need a Drs note to declare fitness to travel. Does this effect either of you, as I imagine timing is now very tight for you.

Edited March 12, 2020 by upwarduk

[mac_tlc]

Congrats on the upgrade! Sounds like the trip is trending in the right direction. Interested to hear what a 2/3 or 1/2 full ship feels like.

We were hopeful of experiencing it ourselves on the 3/22 Anthem of the Seas sailing, but, alas it is not to be 😔.

 

mac_tlc

[Eastern flygirl]

I think you will be fine, especially in your new upgrade.  We are scheduled to sail 

March 29, but we are over 70 and not sure they will let us embark.  I will be following your every word.  Have a safe cruise, and don’t forget your passports😄

[effinaround]

Jim, when do you travel?  With Princess cancelling all cruises until May 11th, I think it is only a matter of hours before RCI group does the same thing.  The travel ban last night pretty much sealed the deal.  The cruise lines just can't run an operation with so many restrictions and the avalanche of changes can completely overwhelm the operation.

Edited March 12, 2020 by effinaround

[AnnemarieC76]

@Jim_Iain I am so excited to read and to travel virtually with you!! I think it is exactly what many of us need.  We got off Equinox on February 29th and it was an amazing and wonderful ship and cruise, and this wasn't even just because we got engaged on it, lol! 

Celebrity staff was wonderful....we tried Celebrity for the first time in August on the Summit and we were so impressed we booked the Equinox...and loved every second of it! Now I need to wait to book another until our honeymoon...so I will be so excited to read about each of your moments on this amazing ship 🙂 

[BEAV]

Always enjoy following your live blogs. It’ll be especially interesting this time around. If Celebrity abruptly pulls the plug like Princess, I hope they do so before you fly to Florida tomorrow. 

 

I’ve reserved a front row seat for this show!  

 

Good luck and safe travels. 😉

[Jim_Iain]

The Nitty Gritty -  $$$

It was nearly impossible to figure out in advance how much the free portion of the cruise would be as it is calculated at the least expensive cabin in the Veranda classification for a 7 night Caribbean cruise.   We initially booked a place holder as our year to book was coming close.   Eventually we settled on this string of cruises.

 

For a break down we were charge $326 pp for the AQ room and as you would guess this comes with no perks.  Taxes and Port charges are $139 and we added PPD gratuities of $105 pp for a Total of $569 pp or $1,138 total.  Somewhere along the line I was able to pick up a $100 OBC.  Yesterday we were advised that we had won an upgrade to a RS which ran a little over $800 pp.  The upgrade has added a bit of excitement to our travel plans.

For transport we opted to Fly American Airlines from SFO to FLL at a cost of $542 pp First Class. 

 

For hotel accommodations in Fort Lauderdale we originally booking Holiday Inn Express.  Due to the Spring Break prices are sky high and the cost is $313.   The accommodations weren’t top priority as our flight doesn’t arrive until 12:30 PM (9:30 body time) so will just be a crash pad.   Last night Holiday Inn issued a cancel for any reason exclusion and I ended up cancelling and re-booked into Embassy Suites where we often stay at a price of $200. Prior to the Corona virus the prices were above $500 a night which was the reason for finding something cheaper.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Wednesday, March 13

Well the suite cases came out this morning and starting to get things organized.  

 

 

 

What do we pack –

I’ve been asked a number of times how we pack for a 3 week cruise.   I have to admit we have that down pretty good.   We pack enough clothing for ½ the number of days of the cruise and use laundry often.   One of the perks of Zenith is unlimited laundry, dry cleaning and pressing so this helps a great deal.  For this cruise we will probably pack for 8 days.   For Chic nights we bring Dinner Jackets, Tux shirts and Bow Ties.    Since this will be a warm weather cruise the sweaters will not be coming along.

 

Creature Comforts –

 

We usually don’t bring many creature comforts along but I swore on the last cruise I was bringing a couple rolls of TP and a bar of my favorite soap (not a fan of the shower gels and shall we say their TP is a bit lacking).  I also usually bring along a LED alarm clock with big numbers on it so I can see what time it is when I wake in the middle of the night.  

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Then I read that if you are over 70, you will need a Drs note to declare fitness to travel. Does this effect either of you, as I imagine timing is now very tight for you.

 

My understanding is that was a proposal made yesterday and as of now there has been no action on requiring Doctor's notes.    Just in case i messaged my doctor yesterday and he sent me a pdf with declaration that I am in good health and fit to travel.   With this being a B2B2B I wanted to make sure i had in case they implemented.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Congrats on the upgrade! Sounds like the trip is trending in the right direction. Interested to hear what a 2/3 or 1/2 full ship feels like.

We were hopeful of experiencing it ourselves on the 3/22 Anthem of the Seas sailing, but, alas it is not to be 😔.

 

mac_tlc

 

It should be interesting to say the least.  Because things are so crazy on the first night I had suggested to Iain that we eat in Murano's for the first night and he said why bother we wont have any trouble getting into Luminae. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Eastern flygirl said:

I think you will be fine, especially in your new upgrade.  We are scheduled to sail 

March 29, but we are over 70 and not sure they will let us embark.  I will be following your every word.  Have a safe cruise, and don’t forget your passports😄

 

Hopefully things will begin to settle down by 3/29.   I think it is important to judge your risk factors in collaboration with you doctors.  

 

I had been saying to Iain that it is really unfair how health providers and others put arbitrary age numbers out there and regulate around it instead of seeing us as individuals.   My last visit my Doctor told me that after 70 they discontinue doing PSA tests.   I was taken aback and told him fine I will continue to monitor it myself at a private lab. 

 

While there can be generalities about health at different ages I contend I'm healthier than most 50 year olds. 

[hcat]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Good news... .We originally booked Holiday Inn Express for $335 Ugh... due to Spring break.   Late this afternoon I got an E-Mail from the group that own Holiday Inn and they have put in a waiver of their cancellation policy for the next month.   I called and cancelled for a full refund and re-booked at Embassy Suites on 17th (we stay there often) for $199 per night.  

Much better...pricewise and they have the evening cocktaiks and great breakfast