Same Ship Different Season: An Equinox LIVE Solo Review (6/18/22)

[GenerationX]

Hello My Dear CC Friends!

 

Guess what I’m doing in 3 days? 

 

Flying to Florida to sail away again on the Equinox!  Anybody in the mood for another GenX live review?

 

When last we spoke (at the end of Gen Z and I’s wonderful mother-daughter Millennium cruise in March), I was due to stay on land until hubby and I sail together again in late July.  

 

But then came a series of both fortunate and unfortunate spring events including…

 

1) An extremely stressful several weeks at work which ended with me FINALLY closing a deal that I’d been losing sleep/meals over for over a year; 

 

2) An Omicron outbreak rearing it’s ugly head at Gen Z’s school and then making its way to my home (fortunately thanks to vaccines Gen Z and I had only mild cold symptoms and hubby, who had fresh booster immunity, never tested positive) taking us all back to the days of lockdown;

 

3) A nice surprise on our tax refund thanks to our brilliant accountant; and 

 

4 ) A very reasonable reduced solo supplement fare for a last minute 8 night Caribbean cruise booking!

 

By the time I got wind of said fare deal, the ship was completely sold out for aqua and suites (been a while since I’ve seen that, oh well, half full ships were fun while it lasted) so I’ll be sailing in a concierge class stateroom this time. 

 

Concierge rooms weren’t priced too much higher than basic verandas so I decided it was worth spending a little more to have an included sit down lunch at embarkation, the free bottle of bubbly to drink while I pack on the last day, and 16 extra Captains Club points.

 

I was on Equinox just last November visiting  the ABC islands, but this cruise has an entirely different itinerary.  Our ports this time will be Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tortola and Nassau.  Stay tuned for a separate post shortly about my plans while onboard and ashore.  I booked during a sale where upgraded internet, premium beverage package and OBC was included in fare so I will be indulging in lots of specialty dining and a few excursions.

 

As always please feel free to jump in and ask any questions and let me know if there’s anything in particular onboard that folks would like info on. I’ll of course be thorough when it comes to sharing reports on and pics of food, drink and nightlife.

 

Looking forward to taking everyone along on another cruise!

 

[AbbyCruiser45]

I'll be sailing this same itinerary at the end of July! I cannot wait to see how it goes and what you have planned in port! We are back and forth about what to do in St. Thomas. It'll be my first time on Equinox, but the rest of my travel party has sailed. I hope your pre-departure is smooth!

[Jim_Iain]

@GenerationX  Can't wait to follow along on you journey.   You do show how much fun it can be to sail Solo, something I've never done.

 

 

[cameronp12]

The wife and I will be on this same cruise! Looking forward to it! We are flying from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale Friday evening.

[Barwick Cruiser]

If my hubby didn’t love cruising as much as me I’d def try a solo cruise…and that’s because of your awesome reports! Was so excited when I saw your thread and am now looking forward to reading all about your latest adventure! Glad to hear all of you are doing well with the latest Covid intrusion on your family! 

[GenerationX]

33 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

@GenerationX  Can't wait to follow along on you journey.   You do show how much fun it can be to sail Solo, something I've never done.

 

 

Thank you Jim! Oh and thank you for your fabulous  report on your spring Silhouette journey. I’m so sorry that your trip had a rough ending .   You should definitely try a solo sailing sometime! That is if Iain will stand for being left behind!

[GenerationX]

32 minutes ago, cameronp12 said:

The wife and I will be on this same cruise! Looking forward to it! We are flying from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale Friday evening.

Looking forward to sailing with you! I hope to meet you onboard. I fly down Friday morning on a red eye from St. Louis.  Fingers crossed for smooth travels for us all!

[sdnich]

I have always enjoyed your trip reports ! I am catching this one in the beginning usually I am doing a catch up !! 
Cheers and hope you have smooth sailing !!

[Ella2]

I'm on this sailing as well!  First Celebrity cruise in a very long time.  If I spot you onboard I'll say hello!  😁

[Jazzbo]

Yay! I love your "live from" reviews!

Edited June 14, 2022 by Jazzbo

[lola2013]

Looking forward to your Equinox solo review.  I booked Equinox for next February as a solo; but as with the last four or five solo cruises that I booked, I had friends/family decide to come along which has been great!  So it will be December, 2023, before I sail solo on Apex.  

I'm sure you'll have a blast...as usual!!!

Susan

[GenerationX]

2 hours ago, Ella2 said:

I'm on this sailing as well!  First Celebrity cruise in a very long time.  If I spot you onboard I'll say hello!  😁

Welcome Back to Celebrity! Yes definitely come say hi! One of my favorite parts of solo cruising is meeting so many new people.  Although my husband also says that even when we sail together, by day 5 I know everyone on the ship. 😂

[MzShae]

I love your live reviews. I've been thinking about solo cruising & you make it look like a blast. Looking forward to your adventure.

[Tak8]

As a solo cruiser and thinking about Equinox for a May '23 Caribbean cruise , I'm looking forward to your insight.  I sailed Celebrity once before, but prefer Princess. 

[go.without.you]

Hey Gorgeous! I received so many compliments on my Globe dress on Edge in March. One lady stopped me as I walked by the pool then 5 minutes later came back and said, "It will be at my house Thursday". LOL!!!

 

I'm doing Reflection in November in Aqua. They haven't Edgified the top deck for suites yet so I didn't want to pay extra just for Luminae and Retreat Lounge. However, its going into dry dock for a few days and no one seems to know renos will be happening. See if you hear anything.

[LouChamp]

Love reading your reviews.  We love Celebrity and look forward to reading your posts. As I always say with my fellow cc’s…take lots of food pictures!

Have a great time!!!

[Redking]

Woohoo you're back! Suffering Live Review withdrawal symptoms since @Jim_Iain finished their holiday. Sounds like you need a break. Enjoy!

[ruag8tr2]

Cant wait for the review!  Following for sure.  Enjoy the cruise.  

Edited June 14, 2022 by ruag8tr2

[WNCtourist]

Looking forward to another of your excellent reviews!  I'm having severe cruising withdrawal and your reports help me deal with it!

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Thank you Jim! Oh and thank you for your fabulous  report on your spring Silhouette journey. I’m so sorry that your trip had a rough ending .   You should definitely try a solo sailing sometime! That is if Iain will stand for being left behind!

 

No way would he let me go on a cruise by myself.  LOL.   I wouldn't let him leave me home either.  After 33 years we are pretty much tied together as one package.   

 

I do however sometimes go on excursions by myself when he won't get out of bed for an early excursion.  

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, Redking said:

Woohoo you're back! Suffering Live Review withdrawal symptoms since @Jim_Iain finished their holiday. Sounds like you need a break. Enjoy!

I share your withdrawal! After @Jim_Iain and @JamieLogical finished their wonderful reports, I kept hoping for a couple more live reviews to get me through the final stretch until I step onboard on Saturday.  Glad I can help fill the void for others!

[GenerationX]

4 hours ago, go.without.you said:

Hey Gorgeous! I received so many compliments on my Globe dress on Edge in March. One lady stopped me as I walked by the pool then 5 minutes later came back and said, "It will be at my house Thursday". LOL!!!

 

I'm doing Reflection in November in Aqua. They haven't Edgified the top deck for suites yet so I didn't want to pay extra just for Luminae and Retreat Lounge. However, its going into dry dock for a few days and no one seems to know renos will be happening. See if you hear anything.

Hello!!! Omg that is so funny about the map dress.  I may need to reach out to that Amazon seller and ask them to start paying me a commission. 🤔😂

 

Enjoy Reflection!  I’ll let you know if I hear anything about restart of refurbs.  I’ll be in aqua class for our cruise next month on Summit and will be sure to do a review of that cruise too!

[Janthere]

Have a fabulous cruise! How is your mini-me dealing with being left out this time haha 

[twoflyers]

DH and I just got off the Equinox on Sunday (same itinerary).  The staff is amazing, friendly and welcoming.  Captain Matt starts every morning with birthday and anniversary wishes - so nice!  We did not go to all of the shows, many were ones we'd seen before, but Jared Freiburg and the Vagabonds, and Brianna Foulk (a Tina Turner cover) were definitely worth seeing.

We found the food in the MDR generally to be very good and the wait staff to be excellent - although handling many tables.  We had the premium wine package and found our wine sommeliers (ours were Ravi and Novia) were terrific. 

Our veranda cabin was comfortable, very clean and well serviced by our awesome cabin steward.

The itinerary is great - found interesting things to do in each port (exception was Nassau, where we did not get off the ship).  We did not do any ship excursions.

On the evening of day 7 (5:30 p.m.) Captain Matt announced that the ship had gotten to the 1% Covid level which required CDC reporting.  Mask compliance during the cruise was fair/good where required (casino and theater), otherwise rare.   We wore masks everywhere, unless eating/drinking and tried to maintain "social distancing".  We have another cruise scheduled for 06/25 so we tried to ensure that we would be "negative" for our 06/23 pre-cruise test.   

The Equinox is a great ship with a great crew, but is ready for a refurbishment which looks to be scheduled for in 2023 at the earliest.     

You'll have a great time - ENJOY!! 

 

 

[KKB]

10 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Hello My Dear CC Friends!

 

Guess what I’m doing in 3 days? 

 

Flying to Florida to sail away again on the Equinox!  Anybody in the mood for another GenX live review?

 

When last we spoke (at the end of Gen Z and I’s wonderful mother-daughter Millennium cruise in March), I was due to stay on land until hubby and I sail together again in late July.  

 

But then came a series of both fortunate and unfortunate spring events including…

 

1) An extremely stressful several weeks at work which ended with me FINALLY closing a deal that I’d been losing sleep/meals over for over a year; 

 

2) An Omicron outbreak rearing it’s ugly head at Gen Z’s school and then making its way to my home (fortunately thanks to vaccines Gen Z and I had only mild cold symptoms and hubby, who had fresh booster immunity, never tested positive) taking us all back to the days of lockdown;

 

3) A nice surprise on our tax refund thanks to our brilliant accountant; and 

 

4 ) A very reasonable reduced solo supplement fare for a last minute 8 night Caribbean cruise booking!

 

By the time I got wind of said fare deal, the ship was completely sold out for aqua and suites (been a while since I’ve seen that, oh well, half full ships were fun while it lasted) so I’ll be sailing in a concierge class stateroom this time. 

 

Concierge rooms weren’t priced too much higher than basic verandas so I decided it was worth spending a little more to have an included sit down lunch at embarkation, the free bottle of bubbly to drink while I pack on the last day, and 16 extra Captains Club points.

 

I was on Equinox just last November visiting  the ABC islands, but this cruise has an entirely different itinerary.  Our ports this time will be Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tortola and Nassau.  Stay tuned for a separate post shortly about my plans while onboard and ashore.  I booked during a sale where upgraded internet, premium beverage package and OBC was included in fare so I will be indulging in lots of specialty dining and a few excursions.

 

As always please feel free to jump in and ask any questions and let me know if there’s anything in particular onboard that folks would like info on. I’ll of course be thorough when it comes to sharing reports on and pics of food, drink and nightlife.

 

Looking forward to taking everyone along on another cruise!

 

OMG I remember following your TRs!! SO excited!

Seriously, we need to sail together!

I am doing my first solo this July (after a week w/ DH)

BTW, we have Equinox booked Nov. 12--the INT are a heck of a price!

Looking forward to your TR!

Edited June 15, 2022 by KKB