Equinox LIVE Solo Review 11/19-11/28

[ptf2009]

Thank you for your review. Can you find out how many pax are on your cruise and how many is expected next cruise?

 

Have fun and enjoy every minute!

[ILgirl]

Not only am I enjoying your review and thanking you for taking the time but I LOVE your clothes!!  Any chance you would share shopping secrets?  Hope you have the best cruise ever!

[01Sweetpea]

4 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I hope you’re successful convincing hubby to get back out on the ocean!  Celebrity really is doing a great job at taking precautions to keep everyone safe. I honestly feel like safer on this ship than I do in my local Walmart.  I’m very excited about this itinerary too!

 

I got my mask on Amazon. Will post a pic of the listing.

 

 

Thank you for the mask link.  I’m a mom of a US Navy sailor, and the masks are perfect for me to show my son some ❤️.  I hope you’re having a great cruise and looking forward to reading along. 

[GenerationX]

One of my favorite things to do when cruising is to really doll it up for evening chic night. Over a year of being deprived of this joy made me want to step up my game even more this cruise!

 

I’m off to find a happy hour cocktail and while I’m drinking it I’ll fill you guys in on the rest of my sea day.  Cheers! 
 

[GenerationX]

2 hours ago, 01Sweetpea said:

 

Thank you for the mask link.  I’m a mom of a US Navy sailor, and the masks are perfect for me to show my son some ❤️.  I hope you’re having a great cruise and looking forward to reading along. 

 
Thank you to your family for your son’s service!  So far it’s been a great cruise!

[GenerationX]

2 hours ago, ILgirl said:

Not only am I enjoying your review and thanking you for taking the time but I LOVE your clothes!!  Any chance you would share shopping secrets?  Hope you have the best cruise ever!

 
Thank you!  A lot of my outfits come from Amazon but I also like Cupshe and Venus.com for vacation clothes.  This time of year Venus had lots of cute summer dresses on clearance so I try to stock up on tropical travel attire at a good price!

[GenerationX]

Ensemble Lounge.   Live Acoustic Guitar.  A nice tart Cosmopolitan that keeps getting refilled without me even having to ask. Does life get better than this? I doubt it.

 

Cheers from Equinox!

[ILgirl]

Thx for the tips!  Enjoy your evening!

[GenerationX]

Hello friends!  Can I just say, today has been a 10 out of 10.  

 

I’m currently sitting on my veranda finishing a glass of pinot and doing some star gazing before I head to bed.  Pro tip: if you are fortunate to have the means for a veranda stateroom,  I think this is the best way to end every night.  Just spend a minute or 2 sitting outside looking at the stars and the moonlight on the water. Then close your eyes for a second and just listen to the sound of the waves lapping against the moving ship.  Then go curl yourself up in bed. Trust me, you’ll sleep like a baby. Guaranteed or your money back.

 

Tonight was my first main dining room dinner and I was surprised to find that I’d been assigned to an 8 top table.  I thought I’d read that celebrity wasn’t allowing people from different travel parties to be seated together due to Covid, so I was happy I’ll actually get to know some new people.

 

Only one other couple was at my table tonight and they’re a younger couple from Texas on their first Celebrity cruise.  They told me that there’s another couple at our table (who were at a specialty restaurant tonight) who are in their 40’s and are lots of fun.  It turns out I have quite a bit in common with the Texas couple including a love of good wine (we had our sommelier Binu sign all of us up for 2 upcoming sea day wine tasting events) and the fact that the wife is a lawyer too!

 

For dinner I had the corn soup to start then had lamb chops with a side of the shrimp scampi pasta.  I really liked the corn soup and the lamb chops were cooked perfectly (I told our waiter I like my lamb prepared  just this side of still going “baa”) and they were just as good as I remembered from the MDR years ago.  The shrimp scampi was meh, I think they went a little overboard with the salt in the shrimp seasoning and the sauce was more like a creamy Alfredo than scampi.

 

Before dinner I went to see Ashlie Amber perform in the main theatre show.  If this unbelievably talented lady is on the entertainment schedule for your cruise, do not miss her show!  She does a fantastic Whitney Houston tribute performance. I saw her perform on Summit last month and was near tears a couple of times from the power of her voice and her personal story and almost cried again tonight.

 

At the end of the show, Captain Tasos came out on stage and introduced his executive team. On the way out of the theatre I somehow managed to end up right next to the team on the walk to the grand foyer for the full ship’s officers presentation and managed to get a quick selfie!

 

I decided to skip silent disco tonight since I have an early morning to get my workout in and be ready for my excursion in Jamaica.  As I was walking back to my stateroom at 10:45pm, the captain came on the address system with a “very important announcement”.  I’ve never heard a captain come on the address system this late at night so I immediately prepared myself to drop my wine glass and cover my ears for the super loud abandon ship signal then hike up evening my dress and kick off my Manolos and sprint for my muster station (I think the Bermuda Triangle lecture today made me paranoid).  It turned out, we’ve had a positive COVID case onboard.  The person is quarantined and will be disembarked in Jamaica tomorrow.  The captain said a contact trace has been completed and no further exposures have been identified.  I wonder if it’s a new crew member who came onboard and tested positive while in the pre-duty quarantine?  Fingers crossed that’s the last such message of the cruise!

 

I know I still owe details on my lunch and afternoon today and will catch you guys up on it soon. For now I’m gonna head in and let this beautiful ship rock me to sleep.

 

Sweet dreams from the Equinox!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[disfan123]

On the boat with you, it's already been a fantastic time!

[GenerationX]

16 hours ago, ptf2009 said:

Thank you for your review. Can you find out how many pax are on your cruise and how many is expected next cruise?

 

Have fun and enjoy every minute!

Thank you!  I actually talked to a couple of crew members about that on Friday and got different numbers but one said 1500 and the other said 1600 and they’re expecting about the same next cruise, but then expect the numbers to jump up after that one.  I think capacity for S class is around 2800, so we’re just a little over half full.

[GenerationX]

Good Morning from Jamaica! Like my outfit for today? Funny story behind it. I booked my excursion for today (a rum distillery tour and jerk chicken lunch) online pre-cruise and I don’t remember seeing anything about a dress code.  When I looked at the ticket they left in my stateroom this morning I discovered that closed shoes are required!  The only pair of non-open toed shoes that I bring to the Caribbean are my running shoes for the gym. So this is the look I’m rocking today.

 

I just had breakfast in the MDR and now I’m enjoying one more coffee and a mimosa before heading off on my tour in an hour. 

 

Yah mon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phabric]

I have enjoyed your review with all the pictures.

[CruiseNYC]

Loving your cruise!  Thank you so much for posts and pics.  Your outfits are wonderful - especially loved your glam look from last night.

Can’t wait to hear about Jamaica excursion! 

[CTSandy]

Loving this thread - especially love, love, love the outfit you had on for Murano with pockets - just striking!  We were on Equinox in August and really enjoyed it.  Thanks for sharing!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

If they are still doing Liars' Club with Captain Tasos, don't miss it.  He is a riot.

 

[Nebr.cruiser]

On 11/19/2021 at 9:27 AM, GenerationX said:

My friends TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!  I was up at 5am today dealing with yet another work emergency (funny how indispensable one becomes in the 24 hours before you turn off your cell reception for a week and a half) but I was too excited to sleep much longer anyway.

 

Last night I dressed myself up a little and walked three blocks down from my hotel to Lobster Bar Sea Grille for dinner. The bar was way too crowded for anything close to social distancing so I sat at a booth in the lounge.  My server Hernando was fantastic (if you go, ask for him!)

 

I had some delicious lobster bisque and since they’re in season also treated myself to a Key West stone crab claw to start.  For dinner I had a broiled 2lb lobster with garlic mashed potatoes.  It was not a cheap meal by any means but it was worth every penny I paid!  
 

If you’re like me and love all the shellfish but hate the work and mess that comes with cracking and picking out the meat, this place is a godsend.  The kitchen does all the splitting and cracking so you just get to dig your fork in and enjoy.  In fact my waiter noticed I was still trying to get some meat out of a knuckle of my stone crab and he just took the plate back to the kitchen and had the chef open it up more.

 

I’m all dressed in my embarkation day dress and just completed my health questionnaire and now I’m going to watch the safety briefing in the Celebrity app, put on my luggage tags, do online checkout from the hotel and catch an Uber to the port!

 

Stay tuned for more from ONBOARD EQUINOX!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute dress!  We'll be on the Equinox the 28th.  Enjoy!

[GenerationX]

Sail away from Jamaica tonight was beautiful!  I spent it sharing happy hour  wine and snacks from OVC at the Sunset Bar with some new friends from England that I made on my excursion today (full report on that coming soon).  I’ve showered off the sweat and dressed for dinner (it’s another pockets dress tonight!) and I’m ready to start a busy evening.  I’m going to the production musical show, then dinner at La Petit Chef followed by the ABBA sing along and late night dancing with DJ Yuli.

 

Pretty sure after my day in port today all that is gonna whip me pretty good but luckily I’ve got an entire sea day tomorrow to recover.

 

Good evening from Equinox!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ptf2009]

12 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Thank you!  I actually talked to a couple of crew members about that on Friday and got different numbers but one said 1500 and the other said 1600 and they’re expecting about the same next cruise, but then expect the numbers to jump up after that one.  I think capacity for S class is around 2800, so we’re just a little over half full.

Thank you so much for your quick response. One more question: Are any of the pools on the ship heated?

Your dresses are sooooo cute!!! 

[01Sweetpea]

You can never beat a dress with pockets!!!  Love your fashion style & your reviews. 

[phabric]

My sister is on the ship.  They left Jamaica early as everyone onboard and 2 hours later had to return to Jamaica for medical emergency 

[GenerationX]

Ok guys, can we talk for a minute about the Celebrity music theatre production show, Topper?  I think Celebrity has been doing this one for a while but I’ve never gotten a chance to go see it. I have seen the mixed reviews it gets though, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

 

How can I put this…when it comes to the plot and set/costume design, this show seems like something Andrew Lloyd Weber would’ve come up with if he’d partaken of the “herbal offerings” in Falmouth then watched the Tim Burton version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory followed by Janet Jackson’s music video for Rhythm Nation.

 

That being said, it was clear watching this show that the Equinox has an INCREDIBLY talented group of singers, dancers and acrobats.  The music was lots of fun pop favorites and I was thoroughly entertained the whole time.

 

If you’re a fan of great singing and dancing and can appreciate some avant-garde costuming, I’d say go and check it out just for that.

 

Apologies, I don’t have any photos from the performance because I was kind of too into it to mess with adjusting my camera settings to take good photos in the dark audience (which I guess also says something about my overall impressions of the show).

 

I’ve just sat down in Qsine for my La Petit Chef dinner and am waiting for the dinner show to start.  

 

It turns out we’re docking back at Falmouth right now for a medical evacuation. Please join me in sending prayers/good thoughts/positive energy for the ill passenger and their family.

 

After dinner I’ll head to the ABBA sing along.

[vickykay]

Love all your dresses I want to go shopping with you.

 

Hoping all goes well for the I’ll passenger.

[GenerationX]

Dear Celebrity Cruises,

 

Please note that throwing a 10pm ABBA dance party and then moving time forward an hour the next morning is a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

 

While I’m laying in bed willing myself to get up and go do some yoga so I don’t spend Aruba day in the throes of a back spasm (a limbo contest broke out in the grand foyer last night, I’ll explain later), I’ll do my first catch up post of today.

 

I had a wonderful time in Jamaica yesterday. The excursion I went on was the Hamden Rum Experience with Lunch tour booked through Celebrity.  Thanks to our lower ship occupancy and being the only ship in port, there were only 9 people total on the excursion so it felt very intimate.

 

These kinds of excursions, especially the more reasonably priced ones, can sometimes turn out to be 20% interesting info on the beverage making process and 80% sales pitch to get you to buy copious amounts of said beverage to take home.  This tour though I would say was 85% informative, and not just about the rum making process either. Our guide also gave us a great deal of interesting info about Jamaica’s history and the roles the European colonists/conquerers and the slave trade played in the country’s development and culture.  I think if a Jamaica category pops up in trivia this week it’s gonna be Charla’s time to shine.

 

The rum estate grounds are beautiful and it’s been a functioning sugar cane plantation and distillery for longer than America has even been a country!

 

When we arrived at the estate we were welcomed with rum punch and a local beverage of sugar cane juice.

 

After a short presentation on Jamaican history and the history of the estate we did a walking tour of the distillery. Much of the equipment looks old and well worn and our guide told us that is by design.  Apparently the smallest changes to the stills, fermentation facilities, etc. can significantly effect the taste of the rum. So the owners try to change as little as possible as infrequently as possible.  In fact when we went to the fermentation room, we were only allowed to go so far in because there was a risk that the perfumes, sun screens, etc. of the tourists going through constantly would mess with the rum flavor.

 

After the tour we went to a courtyard where we were served a made from scratch jerk chicken lunch while our guide told us about the origins of Jamaican cooking styles and spices.

 

After lunch we went to the tasting room where we got to sample the distillery’s overproof rum as well as a barrel aged one with a little bit of rum cake.

 

From what I know from watching Moonshiners on Discovery channel, water quality is priority 1 in making good liquor and this distillery sits on top of 2 fresh water springs so they pump the water straight out of the ground and into the distillery to make the rum.

 

I couldn’t resist buying some to take home, but held back on taking them up on the multi-bottle special sale so I can save room in my suitcase and customs declaration to buy some curaçao later in the cruise.

 

It was about a 30 minute drive back to the port where I stopped in a shop to get a Jamaica ornament for our Christmas tree and cooled myself off with one of the iced towels Celebrity sets up at the gangway before reboarding the ship.

 

After I went through the security area, I looked all around for the table where you’re supposed to check in alcohol you bought on shore (to be delivered to your room at the end of the cruise) but couldn’t find it.  Being the good little cruiser I am, I went back to one of the security officers standing by the metal detectors and asked where I should turn in my alcohol.  He looked around and seemed shocked that the check in table wasn’t there anymore!  It was only about 3pm and all aboard wasn’t for another 2 hours. I wonder how many people were partaking of “forbidden” rum in their rooms last night? 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GenerationX]

Well it took me till almost 9am, but I did manage to drag myself out of bed.  Perks of a half full ship: 1)  at 9:30 am on a sea day I was one of like 12 passengers in the whole buffet for breakfast; and 2) there’s so many open seats on the pool deck that I was easily able to snag a Bali bed and had drink service within 5 minutes of laying my towel on it.
 

I decided to go a little Havana vintage with my sea day swim look today.

 

Today’s agenda:

 

-Spend what’s left of the morning swimming, reading and writing.

 

-Lunch at Sushi on 5

 

-Afternoon Oregon Wine Tasting

 

-Lose No More Than $50 in the Casino

 

-Naps on My Veranda as Needed

 

Happy Monday Friends! At least I think it’s, Monday.  Pretty sure. I guess it really doesn’t matter that much in my life right now.