Equinox 9/17 LIVE BLOG; Aqua Class - 1st Time Celebrity! Let’s Cruise!

[TravelBluebird]

Back tracking a little bit to Formal Night. We got all dressed up, promenaded around a bit, then realized with only 1000 passengers no one else was really promenading around, so we went to the Martini Bar (I had the Candied Apple Martini. Interesting flavor; they definitely hit he candy apple theme, but it was a little too sweet for me).

 

Our Formal night menu at Blu was fantastic; so hard to pick something (menu is below). We settled on the Grilled Calamari, the Baby Spinach Salad, and the Pan-Seared Filet Mignon. All excellent, especially the Filet.  We like small portions when on a ship; that said, there were only 4 Calamari for the Calamari appetizer AND it was presented with Salad which was not indicated on the menu—if we knew that we wouldn’t have added a salad OR picked something different for the appetizer. We topped it off with a shared Apple Crumble a la mode. Wonderful, oatmeal crumble topping (lady next to us complained that there was too much topping; that is how we like it)!

 

It’s crazy how often Russ and I order the same thing; our tastes are so similar!

 

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

And, while I’m on the subject of dinners, last night’s dinner at Blu was another home run for us. We both had the smoked trout (presented on little bellini-like pancakes); then the Pork Loin and Apple Tartin a la mode (again shared). I must have drunker than I thought on my one pre-dinner Martini, because I completely bungled the main menu photo; here are the “clean cuisine” choices and the desert menus, plus our dishes:

 

 

[NBliving]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

I hope they add the B back to your trip!

 

Today we didn’t make it to the beach; it was too windy and we were too tired. We will be stopping at Mambo Beach in Curacao tomorrow; also did go to Arashi Beach yesterday; laid-back vibe, where locals go. Not a very “developed” beach which we like. I understand there is good snorkeling from the beach, but we didn’t snorkel there.

I made a note of Arashi Beach. We love to snorkel too! Thank you 😀

[ROYALBOY]

3 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

No COVID so far (knock on wood et etc).  Very empty; Jim from other thread said he heard 1,000. Last night and today you can really feel the emptyness!  I really have liked the two days in Aruba; would you prefer that or the Nassau stop?

We have been to Nassau so many times probably won’t get off the ship… we will just go where the ship takes us.

[TravelBluebird]

6 hours ago, NBliving said:

made a note of Arashi Beach. We love to snorkel too! Thank you 😀

 

Saw Eagle Beach tonight from a sunset schooner excursion. Gorgeous beach; 6 miles long, very white sand. Closer to the port than Arashi Beach. Lots of hotels and residences on this beach; but all beaches in Aruba are public, and so there should be some access spots.

[TravelBluebird]

6 hours ago, ROYALBOY said:

We have been to Nassau so many times probably won’t get off the ship… we will just go where the ship takes us.

 

I completely understand this; last time I was in Nassau I just went to a local restaurant for conch fritters and a drink. Been there many times too.

[TravelBluebird]

We really enjoyed our Sunset Schooner Excursion this evening. Ran from 5:30 to 7:30; boat for this (and also the Catamaran Sunset Cruises and snorkel tours earlier) picks you up right in front of the ship.

 

We were really lucky; the schooner can hold 110 people; we only had 30 so you could freely move around the boat for photography and sit where you wanted to sit. I can’t imagine 110 people on the boat!

 

Beautiful way to watch the sunset and see Aruba from the water. Also, although it wasn’t clear in the excursion information, extremely good hors d'oeuvre were served (deviled eggs with salmon roe, small bite caprese salad, chicken skewers with chili lime sauce) and there was an open bar. Great crew!

 

From tonight’s excursion, including my attempt at photographing the Celebrity Equinox at night from a moving boat, with no tripod:

 

 

[snowmobiler54]

8 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Back tracking a little bit to Formal Night. We got all dressed up, promenaded around a bit, then realized with only 1000 passengers no one else was really promenading around, so we went to the Martini Bar (I had the Candied Apple Martini. Interesting flavor; they definitely hit he candy apple theme, but it was a little too sweet for me).

 

Our Formal night menu at Blu was fantastic; so hard to pick something (menu is below). We settled on the Grilled Calamari, the Baby Spinach Salad, and the Pan-Seared Filet Mignon. All excellent, especially the Filet.  We like small portions when on a ship; that said, there were only 4 Calamari for the Calamari appetizer AND it was presented with Salad which was not indicated on the menu—if we knew that we wouldn’t have added a salad OR picked something different for the appetizer. We topped it off with a shared Apple Crumble a la mode. Wonderful, oatmeal crumble topping (lady next to us complained that there was too much topping; that is how we like it)!

 

It’s crazy how often Russ and I order the same thing; our tastes are so similar!

 

 

Hi Travel Bluebird. If possible can you find out if while in Blu if you can order from MDR menu, thanks

[TravelBluebird]

17 minutes ago, snowmobiler54 said:

Hi Travel Bluebird. If possible can you find out if while in Blu if you can order from MDR menu, thanks

 

I will ask in Blu tomorrow night!

[jmklade]

10 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

We really enjoyed our Sunset Schooner Excursion this evening. Ran from 5:30 to 7:30; boat for this (and also the Catamaran Sunset Cruises and snorkel tours earlier) picks you up right in front of the ship.

 

We were really lucky; the schooner can hold 110 people; we only had 30 so you could freely move around the boat for photography and sit where you wanted to sit. I can’t imagine 110 people on the boat!

 

Beautiful way to watch the sunset and see Aruba from the water. Also, although it wasn’t clear in the excursion information, extremely good hors d'oeuvre were served (deviled eggs with salmon roe, small bite caprese salad, chicken skewers with chili lime sauce) and there was an open bar. Great crew!

 

From tonight’s excursion, including my attempt at photographing the Celebrity Equinox at night from a moving boat, with no tripod:

 

 

That sounds and looks great!   Thanks for the nice play by play.

[okiedrifters]

20 hours ago, jmklade said:

One hint I do have is if you take a tour and go away from the bus...make sure you bring everything with you.  Some of the areas in Curacao were a little rough and they told us to leave everything in the bus because it would be watched when we swam with the turtles.  When we came back the side window of the bus

 had been smashed and everything valuable was stolen.  Our whole tour group spent the rest of the tour at the Curacao policy department.  Is is a beautiful island, just make sure to take everything with you.

Great tip! Same thing happened to us at St Martin…the only folks “watching” the van were the ones that robbed it!  Ours and 3 other vehicles also were vandalized. Was told it happens all the time. 

[FLCruiser97]

WOW! I just got through your 11 pages of posts. I've been reading since Monday. We just came off EQ last week on the 12-day and back to work now and wishing we were back on the ship. I am enjoying all the photos. I can relate to the photos of the inside of the ship and thinking, "WOW, I was just there last week". Thanks for taking the time to take us along with you. 

[TravelBluebird]

Today we tried out the “Curacao Highlights and Mambo Beach” excursion.

 

Big mistake. For us, we wanted a tour of the island that included a stop at Mambo Beach, maybe to stick your feet in the water. This was the description of the tour from Celebrity:

 

”Discover Curacao’s capital and unique sights, including Ottrabanda area, Queen Juliana Bridge, and enjoy views of the Floating Pontoon Bridge and Riffort, the Jewish neighborhood, the Plantation House, and the Chobolobo House of the Curacao liquor”.

 

The accurate description of the tour would have been “Bus tour highlights from afar of some of Curacao’s sights, with a stop at Chobolobo House before we drop you off for a 2.5 hour beach break, with transportation back to your ship.”

 

Well, we did not dress for the beach, nor bring sunscreen or reading material because we weren’t planning on a beach day, and we thought the tour would be like Aruba where you got off to see lots of things, including a beach.

 

Also, a note about COVID social distancing. There is none on these island highlight tours. We didn’t have as many people on this tour as the Aruba one, but about 25, typical closed tourist bus.

 

We did enjoy the stop at the Chobolobo house and bought some souvenirs for people there, but then next stop was the beach. It was at a hotel, small roped-off area for our group with loungers but not enough shade for everyone. I saw a bikini shop and thought “great! I’ll go buy a bathing suit and some sunscreen” Well NOPE, the tour guide said we were in a bubble and I couldn’t go there. A bubble? I’m vaccinated, have a mask, and passengers were allowed OFF the boat today in Curacao to go anywhere they pleased.

 

So, back to the roped-in area, and a fellow traveler said “welcome back to the leper colony”. Hmm.

 

Russ and I lasted a half hour, and then we asked if we could get a cab back to the boat (our plans for the rest of the day were to walk into Punda, the historic center of Willemstad). Our tour guide said we could not leave the bubble! Thank goodness another tour guide was there and told her she was incorrect, that protocols had changed.

 

So, we taxied back to the boat ($25). We then had a nice walk through the port area, over the floating pontoon bridge, into and around Punda, which we really enjoyed. 

 

We walked around, photographed, and shopped, and had drinks and a snack at the waterfront cafe, overlooking the floating bridge and port. Super hot day, so we are back on the ship now. It was lovely!

 

If you are thinking about walking this, it is closer than it looks—less than a mile, around 1,900 steps for me. Plus the walk is very entertaining; shopping, views of Willemstad/Punda, a fort that was turned into a shopping mall that you can walk through etc.

[TravelBluebird]

Some images from Punda; 2 images of the iconic buildings along the waterfront, going over the floating pontoon bridge, and a very nice Pina Colada at the waterfront cafe; these are from my iPhone, tonight after I can sort through/edit some of my camera photos, I’ll add more; also some photos from our aborted morning excursion.

 

The heart of Punda was very empty; masks were worn everywhere in buildings but hardly at all outside.

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

We also did not enjoy a  similar  tour as what u you described...  terrible guide, deficient in several way short visit to Synagogue..photo op, the natural food  market was closed and the one we were taken through was vile..the tourist trap was a short stop but not short enough.

Beach was going ti ve an outdoir lunch in the hit sun,,no shade.  We slipped into the restaurant providing the meal..found 2 seats at the bar,  made friends..they loved baseball.  Had a great personalized meal, nice drinks and good conversation with locals,,,  good save of a rotten tour, 

 

On a previous cruise we had a great day at a beach club.,so  all depends!

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, FLCruiser97 said:

WOW! I just got through your 11 pages of posts. I've been reading since Monday. We just came off EQ last week on the 12-day and back to work now and wishing we were back on the ship. I am enjoying all the photos. I can relate to the photos of the inside of the ship and thinking, "WOW, I was just there last week". Thanks for taking the time to take us along with you. 

 

Thank you! I was living vicariously through LIVE Blogs here at Cruise Critic since June when cruising re-started, so I’m glad it’s my turn now to provide the same for those who have not yet been able to get out on the seas (or those like you who are back from them!).

Edited September 22, 2021 by TravelBluebird

[hcat]

I do like your photos...and sounds like things improved when you ditched the tour!

[jmklade]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

Today we tried out the “Curacao Highlights and Mambo Beach” excursion.

 

Big mistake. For us, we wanted a tour of the island that included a stop at Mambo Beach, maybe to stick your feet in the water. This was the description of the tour from Celebrity:

 

”Discover Curacao’s capital and unique sights, including Ottrabanda area, Queen Juliana Bridge, and enjoy views of the Floating Pontoon Bridge and Riffort, the Jewish neighborhood, the Plantation House, and the Chobolobo House of the Curacao liquor”.

 

The accurate description of the tour would have been “Bus tour highlights from afar of some of Curacao’s sights, with a stop at Chobolobo House before we drop you off for a 2.5 hour beach break, with transportation back to your ship.”

 

Well, we did not dress for the beach, nor bring sunscreen or reading material because we weren’t planning on a beach day, and we thought the tour would be like Aruba where you got off to see lots of things, including a beach.

 

Also, a note about COVID social distancing. There is none on these island highlight tours. We didn’t have as many people on this tour as the Aruba one, but about 25, typical closed tourist bus.

 

We did enjoy the stop at the Chobolobo house and bought some souvenirs for people there, but then next stop was the beach. It was at a hotel, small roped-off area for our group with loungers but not enough shade for everyone. I saw a bikini shop and thought “great! I’ll go buy a bathing suit and some sunscreen” Well NOPE, the tour guide said we were in a bubble and I couldn’t go there. A bubble? I’m vaccinated, have a mask, and passengers were allowed OFF the boat today in Curacao to go anywhere they pleased.

 

So, back to the roped-in area, and a fellow traveler said “welcome back to the leper colony”. Hmm.

 

Russ and I lasted a half hour, and then we asked if we could get a cab back to the boat (our plans for the rest of the day were to walk into Punda, the historic center of Willemstad). Our tour guide said we could not leave the bubble! Thank goodness another tour guide was there and told her she was incorrect, that protocols had changed.

 

So, we taxied back to the boat ($25). We then had a nice walk through the port area, over the floating pontoon bridge, into and around Punda, which we really enjoyed. 

 

We walked around, photographed, and shopped, and had drinks and a snack at the waterfront cafe, overlooking the floating bridge and port. Super hot day, so we are back on the ship now. It was lovely!

 

If you are thinking about walking this, it is closer than it looks—less than a mile, around 1,900 steps for me. Plus the walk is very entertaining; shopping, views of Willemstad/Punda, a fort that was turned into a shopping mall that you can walk through etc.

I have to agree with you on the Curacao excursion as we did a similar tour and also one similar to what you did in Aruba.  I loved the Aruba tour because that was a "typical" sights and scenes tour.  The Curacao tour was from a distance and not great.  Once we did leave the police station, the group on the tour all went downtown near the floating bridge and had a blast.  I really wish we would have just done that all day because that area of Willemstad was really neat.

[TravelBluebird]

During dinner, the Captain announced 1 positive Covid test amongst passengers.

 

Passenger presented to Medical with symptoms, and they tested positive and have been removed from the ship in Curacao.

 

All of the close contacts were isolated and all have tested negative.

 

Also personal good news for us; we were not a close contact and the 3 couples we’ve spent the majority of our time with were also not close contacts.

 

Phew. I hope that is the end of it and that the passenger who was positive has mild symptoms// recovers quickly.

 

As we get towards the end of the cruise, I had thought maybe we’d get through with zero positives ,but alas, that was not to be.

[TravelBluebird]

5 hours ago, jmklade said:

I have to agree with you on the Curacao excursion as we did a similar tour and also one similar to what you did in Aruba.  I loved the Aruba tour because that was a "typical" sights and scenes tour.  The Curacao tour was from a distance and not great.  Once we did leave the police station, the group on the tour all went downtown near the floating bridge and had a blast.  I really wish we would have just done that all day because that area of Willemstad was really neat.

 

Yes; that is why we left early; we knew we wanted to spend most of our day in the Punda area of Willemstad,  (it’s even a UNESCO World Heritage Site!)

 

We normally don’t take ship excursions, BUT with the uncertainty of COVID and the possibility of not being able to leave a port unless we had an excursion, we planned at least 1 excursion per port.  Our only exceptions are if we want to do something far away//many hours from the port and we’re bumping up against that “all aboard” time, OR if we are in an area that we are very unfamiliar with and might be unsafe if you don’t know your way around (like Columbia, upcoming on a Panama Canal transit).

[TravelBluebird]

After exploring Curacao, I tried to rectify/understand my account bill vis a vis Excursions. There are multiple charges and refunds, and it makes no sense//doesn’t add up correctly, since all our excursions, except for 1 that was added on ship. were pre-paid. The only thing that should be on my account is the 1 added excursion that was then cancelled, and the replacement excursion for that. SO, 1 charge, 1 refund, 1 charge. 

 

Nope, evidently every time there was a substitution of an excursion provider due to COVID etc, I was refunded and re-charged. This happened several times. Now my bill is a mess and neither I nor Guest Services could make it add up; I’ll be off to talk to Excursions tomorrow.

 

I mention this just so when you are onboard with the COVID situation, be sure to check your bill several times, especially if you are taking ship excursions.  The rest of my account has been spot on, no troubles.

[TravelBluebird]

Before dinner, we enjoyed drinks at the World Class Bar, and went to the 7pm Claire Grobin show. She is a violinist, and a very good one. She played with the 7 piece Equinox “orchestra”, everything from Classical  to Broadway. Generally, this sort of show is not to my taste, but after COVID and missing live performances, I enjoyed the live music.\

 

Loved the World Class Bar; interesting drinks and not as busy as Martini Bar. I have images of the entire menu which I’ll post on sea days or when I return; I had the Johnny Walker Citrus Gold; it was like having a Scotch Martini, if that makes any sense (see images below). Russ had a non-alcoholic mojito-like concoction that wasn’t a mojito that he liked.

[TravelBluebird]

We had dinner with friends at Blue tonight; the conversation was good and we liked it very much except we missed the wonderful service of Calet and his assistant Milan.

 

I had the New England Chowder (OK) and the Seared Duck Brest (excellent). Russ had the Seafood Cerviche, the Snow Crab Avacado Timbale and the Slow Braised Colorodo Lamb Shank. We shared the No Sugar Added Cannoli “Tutti Fruitti,” My first no-sugar desert on the ship, very tasty, good shell on the Cannoli and good filling.

 

We ended the evening watching sail-away almost totally alone on Deck 14, and then the Abba Sing Along (not much singing and a little dancing).

[hcat]

Hope your excursions billing gets sorted out.  We check it every day..Sometimes towards the end of the cruise a few stray charges are tacked on..a phone call usually sets it right.

 

Question about the violin performer..was the violin electrified? 

(Pet peeve of mine.. I do not appreciate electric violins!)

[peanut head]

22 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Today we tried out the “Curacao Highlights and Mambo Beach” excursion.

 

Big mistake. For us, we wanted a tour of the island that included a stop at Mambo Beach, maybe to stick your feet in the water. This was the description of the tour from Celebrity:

 

”Discover Curacao’s capital and unique sights, including Ottrabanda area, Queen Juliana Bridge, and enjoy views of the Floating Pontoon Bridge and Riffort, the Jewish neighborhood, the Plantation House, and the Chobolobo House of the Curacao liquor”.

 

The accurate description of the tour would have been “Bus tour highlights from afar of some of Curacao’s sights, with a stop at Chobolobo House before we drop you off for a 2.5 hour beach break, with transportation back to your ship.”

 

Well, we did not dress for the beach, nor bring sunscreen or reading material because we weren’t planning on a beach day, and we thought the tour would be like Aruba where you got off to see lots of things, including a beach.

 

Also, a note about COVID social distancing. There is none on these island highlight tours. We didn’t have as many people on this tour as the Aruba one, but about 25, typical closed tourist bus.

 

We did enjoy the stop at the Chobolobo house and bought some souvenirs for people there, but then next stop was the beach. It was at a hotel, small roped-off area for our group with loungers but not enough shade for everyone. I saw a bikini shop and thought “great! I’ll go buy a bathing suit and some sunscreen” Well NOPE, the tour guide said we were in a bubble and I couldn’t go there. A bubble? I’m vaccinated, have a mask, and passengers were allowed OFF the boat today in Curacao to go anywhere they pleased.

 

So, back to the roped-in area, and a fellow traveler said “welcome back to the leper colony”. Hmm.

 

Russ and I lasted a half hour, and then we asked if we could get a cab back to the boat (our plans for the rest of the day were to walk into Punda, the historic center of Willemstad). Our tour guide said we could not leave the bubble! Thank goodness another tour guide was there and told her she was incorrect, that protocols had changed.

 

So, we taxied back to the boat ($25). We then had a nice walk through the port area, over the floating pontoon bridge, into and around Punda, which we really enjoyed. 

 

We walked around, photographed, and shopped, and had drinks and a snack at the waterfront cafe, overlooking the floating bridge and port. Super hot day, so we are back on the ship now. It was lovely!

 

If you are thinking about walking this, it is closer than it looks—less than a mile, around 1,900 steps for me. Plus the walk is very entertaining; shopping, views of Willemstad/Punda, a fort that was turned into a shopping mall that you can walk through etc.

We had a similar experience where the description of the excursion, in Athens, did not match the actual tour.  We also found the guide to be difficult to understand.  When speaking with the Retreat concierge, she told me to let the excursion's desk know about it for future reference.  I did that, and to my surprise, was told that others had also complained.  The next day, also to my surprise and b/c I did not ask for it, there was a 50% refund applied to my account for the cost of the excursion.  You may want to let the excursion's desk know about your experience, too.