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

TravelBluebird

By TravelBluebird,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Jim_Iain "Live from...." Rare

Jim_Iain

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Looking forward to reading along.    Equinox is in fantastic condition and you are going to love the ship and staff. 

 

On suggestion for when you check in.   Don't put away your SeaPass and Vaccine Cert after they are first checked.     You will be asked multiple times for them. 

 

Another pointer.    Get a cover for your Vaccination Card or make a copy.     We have been required to take it ashore with us at every port and in most ports not allowed off the ship without it.   Having said that, we have never been asked to see it ashore.

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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32 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

We are fully vaccinated and have been self quarantining for the past 2 weeks...but even so, we are still a bit nervous about the test,  not about testing positive, but about getting the results back in a timely fashion. We are flying in to Fort Lauderdale Friday morning on a JetBlue non stop. It has been two years since we have even left Connecticut!!! Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Jim and Toni

 

I will check out your video; perfect timing I’m trying to distract myself while I wait to go take my COVID test (in 2 hours). Good luck with your tests!  I have fond memories of Connecticut from when my son went to Wesleyan; we used to come up for the parents weekends and loved your crisp Fall mornings! 

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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24 minutes ago, maggieq said:

I was just like your husband for our 9/4 edge cruise - no packing until we have those results then we can get excited and move forward.  

 

My husband said I’d just feel sadder if one of us tested positive and then had to come home and unpack the whole thing. I told him that wasn’t my plan; I was just going to keep it packed so as soon as I was negative I could get on a different cruise! 

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SonuvaBeach Great Review Rare

SonuvaBeach

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2 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

My husband said I’d just feel sadder if one of us tested positive and then had to come home and unpack the whole thing. I told him that wasn’t my plan; I was just going to keep it packed so as soon as I was negative I could get on a different cruise! 

Just keep thinking positive...or , in this case, better to think NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE!

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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8 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Looking forward to reading along.    Equinox is in fantastic condition and you are going to love the ship and staff. 

 

On suggestion for when you check in.   Don't put away your SeaPass and Vaccine Cert after they are first checked.     You will be asked multiple times for them. 

 

Another pointer.    Get a cover for your Vaccination Card or make a copy.     We have been required to take it ashore with us at every port and in most ports not allowed off the ship without it.   Having said that, we have never been asked to see it ashore.

 

Thank you, Jim! Your thread has been such a blessing; so much information for a Celebrity/Equinox newbie like me, and has added to my excitement for my trip immensely!

 

Thanks RE the tip on the Sea Pass and Vaccine Cert; we will keep them firmly in hand!  RE the negative (hopefully!) COVID tests; is it better to use a printed copy or the digital “copy” on our phone apps?

 

I have not made vaccine card copies; I think that is a good idea and will put them with our passport copies. I made little glassine sleeves for our vaccine cards out of some postcard sleeves that I had; inexpensive, and I hope will help protect them.

 

I look forward to meeting you and Iain on the ship!

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MartinsCruise

MartinsCruise

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56 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

I will check out your video; perfect timing I’m trying to distract myself while I wait to go take my COVID test (in 2 hours). Good luck with your tests!  I have fond memories of Connecticut from when my son went to Wesleyan; we used to come up for the parents weekends and loved your crisp Fall mornings! 

 

Good luck with your tests.  We did our BinaxNow tests this morning and we're both negative.  Whew!

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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We did the CV rapid antigen test. It was incredibly easy and fast.

 

There was a little 2-door white building set up in the parking lot. You park in designated spaces. They call you about 5 minutes before your test; you go in the patient door; swab your own nose. No charge; they just need your id and insurance card (we already insurance info in the app).   We were done (both of us) within 5 minutes of parking in the space.

 

We then received our results within a half hour; received them via text, e-mail and CVS My Chart app, All done!!

 

I don’t know if all CVS’ testing centers work the same way in all states; this was in Tennessee. We were able to make our appointment 10 days out I believe.

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DWhit

DWhit

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3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Another pointer.    Get a cover for your Vaccination Card or make a copy.     We have been required to take it ashore with us at every port and in most ports not allowed off the ship without it.   Having said that, we have never been asked to see it ashore.

Good info to know Jim!

 

I'll be making a copy of our Vax cards and putting them in plastic.  I like to keep credit cards, ID and SeaPass, etc.  in a waterproof container on my person when I am in port (we are often away from our towels and beach bags for long periods).  I will keep a copy of our vaccine records for this trip in the waterproof (the originals are too fragile and too valuable to take any chances, I'll leave them on the ship).

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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26 minutes ago, DWhit said:

I'll be making a copy of our Vax cards and putting them in plastic.  I like to keep credit cards, ID and SeaPass, etc.  in a waterproof container on my person when I am in port (we are often away from our towels and beach bags for long periods).  I will keep a copy of our vaccine records for this trip in the waterproof (the originals are too fragile and too valuable to take any chances, I'll leave them on the ship).

 

The waterproof container is such a good idea! I had a waterproof “wallet” that fit my iPhone, my ship card for on my person at the beach; I can’t find it, must have got lost in my move, but I agree it’s great and I’ll follow your lead and take the copies of the vaccine cards with me, not the originals!

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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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I found my waterproof camera pouch! Last thing I’m packing (thanks for the reminder, @DWhit)

 

It fits my iPhone X perfectly (I believe it comes in several sizes). It is touch-sensitive through the pouch, and has a clear area where your iPhone camera lens is, so you can take photos without removing from the pouch! Sometimes I use it for photography, and sometimes just as a waterproof wallet. It has an adjustable strap so can be worn multiple ways.

 

So far, besides sunning on a beach, I’ve used it while wading in water including a few taller “waves” that have hit me up to my neck, and on a water hammock in Cozumel. Never tried it submerged or snorkeling etc so can’t opine as to that.  Here are images of mine; several companies have them, this one is DicaPac, a Korean company:

 

 

9557E553-5313-4012-AC61-8C27C766A7CA.jpeg

30E8AE27-4448-4D17-ACDF-B988ED5E5DCE.jpeg

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SonuvaBeach Great Review Rare

SonuvaBeach

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41 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

🤞🏼 I’m rooting for you! Let me know how it went!

NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE! But it took almost two hours to get the results. CVS SPELLED MY LAST NAME WRONG ( but not my wife's last name, which is the same as mine) and spelled my email wrong, but not my wife's, which is the same as mine except for one letter...It took two hours online to get it straightened out and this was after spending 6 hours on the phone 10 days ago spelling everything letter by letter, and then having the tester at CVS make SURE it was correct (she said it was, and it was NOT!). But all is good! We are CRUISIN'!!!!!!! First Mojito is on ME!!!

Edited by SonuvaBeach
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TravelBluebird "Live from...." Rare

TravelBluebird

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32 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE! But it took almost two hours to get the results. CVS SPELLED MY LAST NAME WRONG ( but not my wife's last name, which is the same as mine) and spelled my email wrong, but not my wife's, which is the same as mine except for one letter...It took two hours online to get it straightened out and this was after spending 6 hours on the phone 10 days ago spelling everything letter by letter, and then having the tester at CVS make SURE it was correct (she said it was, and it was NOT!). But all is good! We are CRUISIN'!!!!!!! First Mojito is on ME!!!

 

Congrats!  🎉 But OMG how stressful! Glad you were able to straighten it out!  MOJITOS!

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batoryfirst

batoryfirst

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On 9/14/2021 at 4:02 PM, TravelBluebird said:

Ok; here’s a test to see how posting photos goes; also figured I’d do a picture of Russ and I since I think its nice to see who is doing a live blog, and also so people on the ship can say hello if they see us! This is us right after we got our COVID shots in Panama City Beach; we were so happy and felt (at the time) that COVID was going to be over. 

3FC38352-87F8-4AA0-A644-48C9BA9103E0.jpeg

This sure looks like J Michael’s 😎

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MartinsCruise

MartinsCruise

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45 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE! But it took almost two hours to get the results. CVS SPELLED MY LAST NAME WRONG ( but not my wife's last name, which is the same as mine) and spelled my email wrong, but not my wife's, which is the same as mine except for one letter...It took two hours online to get it straightened out and this was after spending 6 hours on the phone 10 days ago spelling everything letter by letter, and then having the tester at CVS make SURE it was correct (she said it was, and it was NOT!). But all is good! We are CRUISIN'!!!!!!! First Mojito is on ME!!!

 

I heard that they make a good frozen mojito at the Sunset Bar so that's where we're headed once on board.  

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