Equinox LIVE Solo Review 11/19-11/28

[GenerationX]

Hello friends!  Guess what?  I’m back with another live review!

 

Thirty excruciatingly long days after I stepped off of my first post-shutdown cruise on the Summit, I’ll be boarding the boarding the Equinox on Friday to spend 9 nights sailing to Jamaica and the ABC Islands!

 

A quick about me and why this cruise: 

 

I’m a lawyer in my late 30’s and happily married to the world’s most wonderful husband who is graciously tolerating me leaving him at home for a solo trip for the 3rd time in 6 months.  When I’m not planning my next travel adventure or foregoing much needed sleep/meals to earn the money to pay for it, I enjoy cooking, wine, hiking and kayaking  (spoiler: my reviews tend to give lots of airtime to the food & drink experience onboard).  I’ve also been known to make a fool of myself on the dance floor for an hour or 3 when the martinis hit just right.

 

This will be my first cruise with Elite loyalty status with Celebrity.  To make a long global cruising suspension story short:  I originally booked this cruise as a 5 night sailing on Infinity in April of 2019 as a quick solo spring break getaway (I’m a firm believer you’re never too old to go on spring break) to ports I’d been to a million times and would probably never leave the ship for.  Over a series of cancellations, rebookings, future cruise credits and lift and shifts, my 5 night nothing special cruise has morphed into the longest cruise I’ve ever been on to 4 locations I’ve never been to and always dreamed of visiting.

 

In exchange for getting 4 extra nights and more exciting locales for the same price, I’ll be sailing in a basic veranda room rather than the aqua class and sky suites life to which I have become accustomed.  I got a suite fix last month on Summit though and will get another in March on Millennium, so I’m not too concerned about the step down in cabin class.  In fact, I’m looking forward to getting to try out more specialty dining without feeling guilty about missing the amazing meals in Luminae and its been so long since I ate in the main dining room that I’ve spent the last few weeks drooling over the menus in the X app and dreaming of revisiting MDR favorites I haven’t had in years (escargot here I come!).

 

I have excursions booked through Celebrity in each of the ports.  Because I am a woman traveling solo, when I’m traveling to countries that are unfamiliar to me, my overprotective mom pushes strongly for me to only do ship sponsored excursions for the sake of her ability to sleep peacefully while I’m gone (I’m a firm believer that you’re ALSO never too old to listen to Mom). 

 

I was able to book the excursions during a 35% off sale, so the prices were more palatable.  Plus right now, while planned ports of call and whether passengers can explore them without being on a ship’s excursion seem subject to change with the wind, I thought booking through Celebrity would relieve some stress.  If we miss a port [knocks wood], Celebrity will automatically put the excursion costs right back on my account and I don’t have to worry about to taking time out of my vacation to email independent excursion vendors last minute and push for refunds.

I’ll be flying into MIA a day early and staying an extra night post-cruise in Fort Lauderdale.  I wanted to avoid the rush of post-Thanksgiving travelers on disembarkation Sunday and I was able to book a room at the Hilton Garden Inn for free with points, plus save almost $300 in airfare cost by flying back Monday instead.

I didn’t request luggage tags, but some magically appeared in the mail yesterday.  Tomorrow morning I have my appointment at CVS for my pre-cruise COVID test then I’ll head home to finish packing and have an early bedtime to make a 5am flight to Miami on Thursday morning.

 

If there are any specific questions, reports, photos, etc. that anyone would like to know more about, please feel free to ask and I’ll do my best. 

 

Looking forward to taking you all along on another cruise!

 

 

[mchell810]

Wow that was fast!  Glad to see you'll be back onboard and I'll have something good to read 🥂

[FLCruiser97]

Looking forward to following you on your adventure on the Equinox. We sailed on her in September with about 1200 pax onboard. We too were in a standard veranda but didn't mind one bit. Plenty of room.  The ship and staff are great. Food was good and loved my latte every morning from Cafe Al Bacio. Oh, and BTW, you are a good girl to listen to your Mom. Have a great cruise.

[parrothead33]

Woohoo!  Can’t wait to enjoy another sailing with you.

Travel safe and have a martini or 2 for me.

Cheers.🌴

[tompeter]

Welcome back Onboard!

[rcssmom]

I am so excited to read your blog.  We are on right after you.  Your trip will get me there quicker.  Thanks for posting.  I love your writing style.  Have a safe and fun trip.

 

Karen

[lola2013]

Lucky you to be able to sail so soon after Summit.  I sailed Edge in September and have to wait until January for my Reflection cruise (boo hoo, right?).  

I'll be anxious to hear about your solo experience.  3 of my 4 cancelled pandemic cruises were meant to be solo (but would ultimately have turned into friend cruises) and now I have to wait until February, 2023, to sail solo on Equinox.  I'll be in a SV which is my favorite type of cabin.  Alone at the aft of the ship with a good book on a sea day is the way to go (throw in a bag of Doritos and I'm in Heaven)!

Bon voyage!

Susan

[l1lgreekprincess]

We are on this same cruise, can’t wait! I’m sure I will see you on the dance floor!

[brockmom]

I will say hello if I see you on board !

nothing wrong with a balcony stateroom, we have that too .

I am sure we will all have a wonderful 9 nights .

Safe travels !

Brockmom

[hcat]

Glad to see you are cruising and blogging again, so soon.

Following!

[GenerationX]

6 hours ago, rcssmom said:

I am so excited to read your blog.  We are on right after you.  Your trip will get me there quicker.  Thanks for posting.  I love your writing style.  Have a safe and fun trip.

 

Karen

 Thanks Karen!  I’m sure I’ll be very jealous of you when you’re coming onboard as I’m being kicked off. 😂

[GenerationX]

6 hours ago, lola2013 said:

Lucky you to be able to sail so soon after Summit.  I sailed Edge in September and have to wait until January for my Reflection cruise (boo hoo, right?).  

I'll be anxious to hear about your solo experience.  3 of my 4 cancelled pandemic cruises were meant to be solo (but would ultimately have turned into friend cruises) and now I have to wait until February, 2023, to sail solo on Equinox.  I'll be in a SV which is my favorite type of cabin.  Alone at the aft of the ship with a good book on a sea day is the way to go (throw in a bag of Doritos and I'm in Heaven)!

Bon voyage!

Susan

Hi Susan! So nice to have you following once again!  I’ll be thinking of how much nicer your life is in January while I’m shoveling snow and ice off my driveway as you sip a cocktail on the Reflection pool deck.
 

One of these days I still hope our solo sailing paths cross so I can meet “Lola” live!

[GenerationX]

At the end of October, I redeemed some rewards points from my Celebrity Cruises Visa card for $100 in OBC for this cruise. You get double points for any charges from Celebrity, so just booking my Summit cruise and the shore excursions for this cruise on it plus a little early Christmas shopping was enough to get me enough points for credits.  
 

In the past when I’ve done this, that credit didn’t show up in my onboard account until I got on the ship or even a day into the cruise.  Last night I logged into the cruise planner to print out all my confirmations and was surprised to see that credit available for spending pre-cruise.  I guess Celebrity really wants us to get busy spending money onboard!

 

 

 

[GenerationX]

Just got my negative COVID test results from CVS and checked in for my flight!

By the time I was 3 stoplights away from the pharmacy I’d already gotten the text saying my results were ready.

 

Having a farewell breakfast with Mom and picking up my evening chic night dresses from the dry cleaners then it’s time to head home to finish packing.

 

19 hours till wheels up for Miami!

[FLCruiser97]

Are you sailing out of Miami or PE? I think it's PE right?

[GenerationX]

2 minutes ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Are you sailing out of Miami or PE? I think it's PE right?

Yes, PE.  American Airlines didn’t have a direct flight into FLL from St. Louis, so I’m flying into Miami and then taking an Uber to my hotel in FLL.  It’s a little pricier Uber, but to me totally worth it in exchange for not having to worry about making a connecting flight!

[FLCruiser97]

1 minute ago, GenerationX said:

Yes, PE.  American Airlines didn’t have a direct flight into FLL from St. Louis, so I’m flying into Miami and then taking an Uber to my hotel in FLL.  It’s a little pricier Uber, but to me totally worth it in exchange for not having to worry about making a connecting flight!

I agree. I don't like connecting flights. Once I'm on a plane, I don't want to get off till I at my destination. 

[GenerationX]

I have good news and bad news:

 

The bad news is that my bottle of champagne is starting to run low.  

The good news is that this is the last of the 3 couches full of clothes (plus a coffee table of handbags and accessories) that I have left to pack!

 

[GenerationX]

Good morning from AA First Class!  Looks like we’ll leave for Miami right on time at 5am.  Walking drowsily down the jetway this morning I had the glorious realization that this is the last time I will be in cold weather for the next 12 days! Next stop, Florida!

 

[jimbri]

Have a great cruise

[FLCruiser97]

12 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I have good news and bad news:

 

The bad news is that my bottle of champagne is starting to run low.  

The good news is that this is the last of the 3 couches full of clothes (plus a coffee table of handbags and accessories) that I have left to pack!

 

Girl!! You have good taste. Enjoy SO. FLA. I'm here and it's 79 degrees. 

[GenerationX]

I’m in Miami!  It’s an overcast day here but stepping out of the airport into 80 degree temps was ah-mazing. The humidity is no joke either. I’m glad I didn’t waste packing space on bringing my flat iron. Can already tell that would’ve been fighting a losing battle.

 

My flight in was the nicest first class experience I’ve had since before the pandemic.  The hot towel service was back (still no glassware or pre-flight drink service though) and the meat breakfast option of a smoked salmon platter was much better than the cold Turkey croissant that was offered on my last 2 morning flights.  There was a passenger just behind me in economy plus who was in his late 20’s and on his very first flight ever.  Our flight attendant invited him to go up and visit the cockpit while the rest of the plane was boarding and then brought him and his travel companion two of the extra first class meals after we were served.  It was like being on the American Airlines of yesteryear!

 

I’m on my 45 minute Uber ride to Fort Lauderdale ($38.00 pre tip for an UberX) to see if I can check into my hotel early or at least ditch my 3 suitcases and then will find someplace to settle in for a couple of hours to take care of a few pre-vacation work emergencies.

 

Please cross your fingers for me that I can get that early check in. After getting up at 1:30am to make my flight,  by early afternoon I think I’m gonna be ready for the first of many poolside naps of vacation.

 

[lola2013]

1 minute ago, GenerationX said:

least ditch my 3 suitcases

3 suitcases?  Oh yeah!!!!!  Nothing like a solo cabin to house all of a girl's vacation necessities 🤩

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Girl!! You have good taste. Enjoy SO. FLA. I'm here and it's 79 degrees. 

Thank you!  I’m a little sad the sun isn’t out but I’m sure I’ll get plenty of that over the next week and a half.  Hoping the rain holds off or is just a standard Florida afternoon passing shower so I can get out and enjoy the warmth by the pool for a little bit!

[GenerationX]

4 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

3 suitcases?  Oh yeah!!!!!  Nothing like a solo cabin to house all of a girl's vacation necessities 🤩

Oh yes! A 9 night cruise with extra nights before and after in Fort Lauderdale? The shoes alone required their own suitcase! 😂