LIVE - Equinox 8/15/21 - Ultimate Caribbean - It’s finally here!

[tvnewsengineer]

7 hours ago, luckybecky said:

 

Your review has been wonderful so far!! Interesting about the cabanas on the lawn deck. We almost never saw them in use on our cruise but it sounds like it was a great investment for you! 

 

I have a favor to ask, regarding Marko your bartender. I'm pretty sure he is the same guy we fell in love with several years ago on the Millennium in Alaska. He was on his very first cruise contract. We were so excited that he was on our Equinox cruise a couple of weeks ago! He is now working the Sky Lounge every night. 

 

I didn't realize that he is also working the cabana area, but I'm not surprised. Bringing you that Rose is exactly the kind of thing Marko would do. 

 

So, on our 7/25 cruise, Marko wrote down his Facebook name for us because we want to follow him on FB and cruise with him again if the opportunity arises. Then I promptly lost his note. 😳 (Ask him if he ever found my $200 casino voucher-- man, I was losing it on that cruise!)

 

So anyway, if you happen to run into Marko at the cabanas, or in the Sky Bar -- he is there for hours every night -- please ask him to friend us on FB. Paul N Becky Niendorff. (He knows me as Rebecca because that is the name on my card). There aren't many Niendorffs on FB so he should be able to find us. 

 

His fiance Andrea works in Cafe Al Bacio so you'll see her when you get your morning coffee. She's a sweetheart. 

 

Regarding Marko...He was outstanding on the 7/25 cruise as I am sure he normally is... He makes a drink...he called it the Marko, but was still working on the name...that he made the last night of the cruise for my wife...soon after he made her another and 3 more for the people around who saw it and wanted to try it. Ask he for one to try.

[Stem to Stern]

8 hours ago, mayleeman said:

FYI, the CC site was all screwed up this afternoon.

I had the same strange issues.  Freaked me out seeing all of the error messages and other Cruise Critics' handles on my screen.

@aring75I really appreciate your acknowledgement of the outstanding barkeeps you have come across on board.  It will be fun to seek them all out and try some of the signature drinks you and others have recommended on this live thread.  I added room service pizza to my on board nourishment bucket list.  That looked good!  All of your photos and narratives are wonderful!  Thank you so much for taking us with you!

[mayleeman]

2 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

Did you lose your activity lists by any chance?

 

Apparently I did but I never use those. I just look at stuff I have posted under my profile, and that is still there. A number of people on the Help thread have lost theirs, too.

[Stem to Stern]

All of my previous activity has disappeared also.

[justcon]

11 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B083DFFS6T/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A15A5X3ECOJ9R0&psc=1

Good afternoon. We've been tracking your progress. In regard to hooks, we like the following - they swivel and have strong magnets:

Amazon.com: siMul 55lb Colorful Swivel Magnetic Hook - Heavy Duty Neodymium Magnets for Refrigerator Door Key BBQ Grill Locker Coat Powerful Magnetic Wreath Hanger Strong Magnetic Hooks for Cruise Cabins 6 Pack : Home & Kitchen

[Fatty_Nicky]

12 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B083DFFS6T/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A15A5X3ECOJ9R0&psc=1

Thank you, I just went to purchase these hooks when I get the strangest message from Amazon saying they are unable to ship these hooks to my area due to warranty restrictions etc…. Weird!

[aring75]

1 hour ago, retiredTed said:

I'm curious Mark, when you went to the Martini bar after dinner last night, was it crowded? Please give us a feel for capacity.

 

Enjoying your drink-by-drink report from the Equinox, thanks 😄 

This is Angela, but Mark says to say “Hi.” 😁 (He would never have the patience for a live thread. He hates having to use his phone to type anything.)

 

The Martini bar was pretty crowded right up next to the bar. That surprised me. I mean we’re not being “COVID paranoid” or anything, but we are trying to practice some common sense measures like staying out of crowds. 
 

There were plenty of open tables though. And we chose one of those. We were near the action. But not right in the middle of it. That felt reasonable. 
 

Also. The drinks were fantastic. 

[39august]

How long did you have to wait to get a drink sitting at a table? I have tried that and gave up as no wait staff came around after about 15 minutes. 

[aring75]

Coffee and a pastry in Café al Bacio this morning (I’ll try to get to the elite breakfast in Tuscan Grill at some point).

 

 

Café Americano and a latte.

 

 

Mark tried my americano and decided he liked the strong coffee better. Got one to go. 👍

 

 

[aring75]

2 minutes ago, 39august said:

How long did you have to wait to get a drink sitting at a table? I have tried that and gave up as no wait staff came around after about 15 minutes. 

 

Since the passenger load is so light (still have to try to get that info if I can) someone came by for our order within 5 minutes. We got up and went to the counter to get the 2nd round to-go. Almost no line. 
 

I want cruising to get back to normal, but seriously. I’m going to miss this so much. 

[aring75]

Café al Bacio menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cont’d on next post

 

[aring75]

18 minutes ago, 39august said:

How long did you have to wait to get a drink sitting at a table? I have tried that and gave up as no wait staff came around after about 15 minutes. 

 

Sorry. I thought you were talking about the coffee place. 
 

At the martini bar we had three different people try to get us more drinks. Service was stellar. 

[aring75]

Okay had to repost. 
 

Café al Bacio menu - cont’d

 

 

 

 

[19pamela68]

Just got caught up reading your blog!  Thank you so much for doing this!  We'll be doing this same cruise at the end of November.  I'm paying a little more for the Drinks and more package.  Let me know how you enjoy that.  But you paid less then I did.

My request for you, if you don't mind, is picture of the "Celebrity Today" for each day, Please!  I'm a planner.  Also would like to know of any "special/themed" nights.  For example: white night, 70's, Motown.....

Love that you are taking and posting pictures also.  I'm a picture taker too.  

I do like that it's not crowed but I hope there's a little more people when we'll be cruising.  

Thank you for all you do and enjoy!  

[SonuvaBeach]

36 minutes ago, aring75 said:

 😁 (He would never have the patience for a live thread. He hates having to use his phone to type anything.)

 

I'm with HIM! I hate using my cell phone on vacation...EVER! I usually put it in the safe and it stays there til we leave the ship.

[davekathy]

3 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

I'm with HIM! I hate using my cell phone on vacation...EVER! I usually put it in the safe and it stays there til we leave the ship.

I'm with you and him. 👍

[aring75]

Starting off the morning in the cabana with fresh fruit skewers. 
 

[ptcflyer]

12 hours ago, Seany527 said:

Wow, that’s a shame to hear. I was on the week prior to you and I’m willing to bet it was the best food I have ever eaten on a cruise.  The flavors were out of this world. Temperature was great and service in the dining rooms was top notch. 

Was on August 8 Cruise on 'Equinox'.  Out of our dozen or so cruises...   Best wait staff service.    Best room attendant service.    Bar service was virtually on demand.. no waits.     Food was very good... and was even better when we let our waiter select for us at dinner.... he knew what was good on each night.     We had 4 people waiting on us at dinner.    Not having to crowd into elevators or stress about finding a chair on sea days was priceless.  Didn't see any shows...    But the Equinox team was trying very hard...  We were greeted by virtually everyone of the crew throughout the cruise.      And the cherry on the top was that this was a complementary Blue Chip Club cruise...   Can not complain about value.    I do so appreciate the sacrifice and challenges that he crew members have had to go through just to get their jobs back.   Their personal stories of trying to get home and survive until they could get their jobs back through the pandemic are so worthy to hear and appreciate.    

[aring75]

Mark says he feels validated with so many supporters. 

 

For those of us who don’t hate using their phones on vacation…

 

They have USB chargers in the cabana. 
 

[aring75]

4 minutes ago, ptcflyer said:

Was on August 8 Cruise on 'Equinox'.  Out of our dozen or so cruises...   Best wait staff service.    Best room attendant service.    Bar service was virtually on demand.. no waits.     Food was very good... and was even better when we let our waiter select for us at dinner.... he knew what was good on each night.     We had 4 people waiting on us at dinner.    Not having to crowd into elevators or stress about finding a chair on sea days was priceless.  Didn't see any shows...    But the Equinox team was trying very hard...  We were greeted by virtually everyone of the crew throughout the cruise.      And the cherry on the top was that this was a complementary Blue Chip Club cruise...   Can not complain about value.    I do so appreciate the sacrifice and challenges that he crew members have had to go through just to get their jobs back.   Their personal stories of trying to get home and survive until they could get their jobs back through the pandemic are so worthy to hear and appreciate.    

You said this very well. We have had amazing service everywhere. Ours is a Blue Chip cruise as well. But it has probably been one of the best cruise experiences in a long time. The level of service reminds me of our first cruises 20 years ago. 

[cltnccruisers]

1 hour ago, Fatty_Nicky said:

Thank you, I just went to purchase these hooks when I get the strangest message from Amazon saying they are unable to ship these hooks to my area due to warranty restrictions etc…. Weird!

Well, you're from Jupiter.  Maybe it's not an interplanetary warranty.  Sorry - it was just hanging out there......

[happy cruzer]

First, thanks for the wonderful review with pictures!

 

Second a question,  you mentioned a drink that was too sweet.  I tend to like very little syrup or sweet stuff in cocktails and  zero drinks.  On Princess, had no problem requesting that they just put a splash in.  Do you think that would work on Celebrity?

 

Thanks.

[cltnccruisers]

30 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

I'm with HIM! I hate using my cell phone on vacation...EVER! I usually put it in the safe and it stays there til we leave the ship.

I use the camera on mine but that's about it.

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

How long did you have to wait to get a drink sitting at a table? I have tried that and gave up as no wait staff came around after about 15 minutes. 

I'm assuming at the Martini  Bar? We waited maybe 5-7 minutes at a table. Bar was crowded as Angela said. Long enough to just wonder if they had seen us tucked away, but not really long enough to notice.

In general, our service was swift (8/1 sailing), but I can see how it could be erratic if the waiter had to go fetch something, or just helped someone else, etc. Also MB is usually quite busy as you can tell from CC. I can certainly see how you could hit a bad patch and get a 15 minute wait.

[aring75]

19 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

First, thanks for the wonderful review with pictures!

 

Second a question,  you mentioned a drink that was too sweet.  I tend to like very little syrup or sweet stuff in cocktails and  zero drinks.  On Princess, had no problem requesting that they just put a splash in.  Do you think that would work on Celebrity?

 

Thanks.

Yes. I absolutely think they would do this for you. I had never tried that drink before so just had it as-is. If I tried it again, I think I would do exactly as you suggested. 
 

There are just so many choices!! I want to try everything. 😁