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

[TravelBluebird]

22 minutes ago, batoryfirst said:

This sure looks like J Michael’s 😎

Sure was J Michael’s! Great little place down by the marina!

[TravelBluebird]

24 minutes ago, MartinsCruise said:

 

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

 

Sounds like a plan! 

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours 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 --- I'm sure you will pass fine. 

[TravelBluebird]

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Good Luck --- I'm sure you will pass fine. 

 

I did! And it was so fast too; we had our results from CVS in email, app, and text almost immediately!

[jimbri]

Have a wonderful cruise.  Looking forward to your review.

[batoryfirst]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

Sure was J Michael’s! Great little place down by the marina!

Right outside of the back gate to our neighborhood. 

[Reel Love]

TravelBluebird, have an absolutely fabulous time on your first Celebrity cruise!!!!  😊   A great cruise line and a great ship.  Can't wait to read about your impressions and experiences...... Always love reading a blog from someone with "fresh" eyes to Celebrity.  Helps bring back memories of the things that made me fall in love with Celebrity when we first started sailing with them almost a decade ago.  Thank you for taking us along.  Enjoy!!!

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, batoryfirst said:

Right outside of the back gate to our neighborhood. 

 

Best area in Panama City Beach!  Away from the crowds and giant condos; has all the boats!

[TravelBluebird]

46 minutes ago, Reel Love said:

TravelBluebird, have an absolutely fabulous time on your first Celebrity cruise!!!!  😊   A great cruise line and a great ship.  Can't wait to read about your impressions and experiences...... Always love reading a blog from someone with "fresh" eyes to Celebrity.  Helps bring back memories of the things that made me fall in love with Celebrity when we first started sailing with them almost a decade ago.  Thank you for taking us along.  Enjoy!!!

 

Thank you so much, and thanks to you and everyone else who will be following along! I’m at that wonderful spot right before a cruise—I’m all packed up, all chores done, just basking in the excitement and knowledge that my journey starts tomorrow morning! 

[Stem to Stern]

Congrats to everyone on all of those negative tests.  I will be watching for a pic of those frozen mojitos from the Sunset Bar.  Bon voyage.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Stem to Stern

[happycruiserco]

Has anyone used the CVS or Walgreens in Ft Lauderdale closest to the port?  We did B2B on the Edge in July, so of course they did the antigen test onboard a day or 2 before the last day of the first cruise.  We are trying to figure out how to do testing if we do a side-by-side sailing.  One, if we move from Apex to another Celebrity ship same day (possibly they would still do on board for us), but more challenging if we move from Celebrity to Princess ship same day.  

[countess5]

7 hours ago, happycruiserco said:

Has anyone used the CVS or Walgreens in Ft Lauderdale closest to the port?  We did B2B on the Edge in July, so of course they did the antigen test onboard a day or 2 before the last day of the first cruise.  We are trying to figure out how to do testing if we do a side-by-side sailing.  One, if we move from Apex to another Celebrity ship same day (possibly they would still do on board for us), but more challenging if we move from Celebrity to Princess ship same day.  

Great question, we are working on this right now. This winter we are sailing Silhouette for two weeks then going over to Princess for two weeks. We have a day in between and there is a CVS right by the port that does the rapid test, but from what I have been reading Princess does not accept the rapid test. In addition they require mask on board at this time in all public’s areas except outside. 

Working on going from Silhouette over to Reflection then over to Apex. TA is getting answers on, if Celebrity will provide the test on board since we are staying with Celebrity. 

We just came off the Edge two weeks ago and Celebrity does it right when it comes to Covid protocol! They are working with ShareCare.

 

I will update once we get answers to how this all works. 

 

Following and thank you for the blog! 

 

Cheers! 

[SonuvaBeach]

14 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Sounds like a plan! 

We'll be there!

[TravelBluebird]

Tested, rested and the journey begins!

 

Super excited; its been so long - I haven’t even been on a plane since COVID started, and I was Platinum or 1K with United for years, so that is saying something. Having no airline status at the moment feels like flying by the seat of my pants!

Taking Southwest today for a direct flight to FLL (United doesn’t have many direct routes from Tennessee to anywhere, evidently). Been years since I’ve had to line up for a seat on Southwewst, but we’re A29 and A30, which I understand is pretty good.

 

Can’t wait to just SEE the port in Fort Lauderdale, and then our big, beautiful ship! I board at 1:30 tomorrow; couldn’t get an earlier slot since we booked the cruise about a month out, but I don’t mind. 

[CruiserRob]

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

from what I have been reading Princess does not accept the rapid test.

From Princess FAQ

Guests must be tested with a SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viral test that could be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

• Antigen tests include:
  • Rapid antigen test

[countess5]

2 minutes ago, CruiserRob said:

From Princess FAQ

Guests must be tested with a SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viral test that could be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

• Antigen tests include:
  • Rapid antigen test

Just reading threads, there is confusion since some say yes and some say no.

celebrity is very clear and we did it with a Rapid Test.

the real major issue “at this time” is the wearing of a face mask while in public areas. 
 

Cheers! 

[SonuvaBeach]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

Tested, rested and the journey begins!

 

Super excited; its been so long - I haven’t even been on a plane since COVID started, and I was Platinum or 1K with United for years, so that is saying something. Having no airline status at the moment feels like flying by the seat of my pants!

Taking Southwest today for a direct flight to FLL (United doesn’t have many direct routes from Tennessee to anywhere, evidently). Been years since I’ve had to line up for a seat on Southwewst, but we’re A29 and A30, which I understand is pretty good.

 

Can’t wait to just SEE the port in Fort Lauderdale, and then our big, beautiful ship! I board at 1:30 tomorrow; couldn’t get an earlier slot since we booked the cruise about a month out, but I don’t mind. 

We are arriving at Fort Lauderdale airport at 9 AM, but our check in time is 12PM. I guess we will have breakfast in FLL airport!

[TravelBluebird]

24 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

We are arriving at Fort Lauderdale airport at 9 AM, but our check in time is 12PM. I guess we will have breakfast in FLL airport!

 

That will work! We are banking on a late check out from the hotel, which I can usually secure from the Bonvoy program; if not, we’ll be somewhere near the hotel eating late breakfast/early lunch with our luggage!

[SonuvaBeach]

18 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

That will work! We are banking on a late check out from the hotel, which I can usually secure from the Bonvoy program; if not, we’ll be somewhere near the hotel eating late breakfast/early lunch with our luggage!

We seem to think alike!! We are finishing up our last minute packing right now...then it's a quick weight workout, a 30 mile bike ride, and then it's MILLER TIME!!!  Dinner and a couple cocktails before heading to the airport at 4AM for our flight...

Edited September 16, 2021 by SonuvaBeach

[TravelBluebird]

Massive back up on I-40 due to a crash. No faster alternate route. Good thing we left super early for BNA because otherwise I’d be so stressed!

 

Oddly, husband usually likes to leave much later; but he was all packed and ready to go, and he looked at me and said “well, lets just leave now!”  Phew!

[SonuvaBeach]

2 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

Massive back up on I-40 due to a crash. No faster alternate route. Good thing we left super early for BNA because otherwise I’d be so stressed!

 

Oddly, husband usually likes to leave much later; but he was all packed and ready to go, and he looked at me and said “well, lets just leave now!”  Phew!

Your luck is holding!!! I have no doubt that you are going to LOVE the Equinox! Have you been to the ABC islands before?

[StartrainDD]

2 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Tested, rested and the journey begins!

 

Super excited; its been so long - I haven’t even been on a plane since COVID started, and I was Platinum or 1K with United for years, so that is saying something. Having no airline status at the moment feels like flying by the seat of my pants!

Taking Southwest today for a direct flight to FLL (United doesn’t have many direct routes from Tennessee to anywhere, evidently). Been years since I’ve had to line up for a seat on Southwewst, but we’re A29 and A30, which I understand is pretty good.

 

Can’t wait to just SEE the port in Fort Lauderdale, and then our big, beautiful ship! I board at 1:30 tomorrow; couldn’t get an earlier slot since we booked the cruise about a month out, but I don’t mind. 

We love Southwest.  Ask at the gate desk how full the flight is; if less than 66% full you may be able to share three seats for the two of you.  Typically if you get a window on the left side of the plane you will have a view of the port on approach.

 

See you onboard tomorrow!

[TravelBluebird]

15 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

Your luck is holding!!! I have no doubt that you are going to LOVE the Equinox! Have you been to the ABC islands before?

 

Well...that luck may NOT be holding. Evidently this massive backup was caused by an accident that occurred at 7am that has practically entire I40 closed in both directions.  At the moment, we MAY make our flight even having left  with what would have been 3.5 hours arrival before flight in normal times.

 

We have not moved at all since my last post.

 

Husband and I have now agreed to look at roads BEFORE getting on no matter how early we leave. I’m sure we could have gone all the way around through Chatanooga or something.

 

On a brighter note, we have not been to the ABC islands before and can’t wait!

[TravelBluebird]

8 minutes ago, StartrainDD said:

We love Southwest.  Ask at the gate desk how full the flight is; if less than 66% full you may be able to share three seats for the two of you.  Typically if you get a window on the left side of the plane you will have a view of the port on approach.

 

See you onboard tomorrow!

 

We will do that! Assuming we make the flight (see post above)...😭

[TravelBluebird]

As a back up I see there is a direct 7:40pm flight tonight that has seats, so we’ll get to FLL no matter what.

 

Still, this is an insane backup.  We have maybe moved 1 mile since my first post.