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

[FlorenceItaly]

1 minute ago, GenerationX said:

Us too! Looking forward to sailing with you!!!

Oh YAY!!!  I am so excited!  GOOD TIMES!

[GenerationX]

21 hours ago, dgoz said:

Gen Z where are you finding these cruise sales that include OBC, premium drinks etc? Do you just keep checking the Celebrity site regularly or is there some other magic trick?

I do check the site regularly and play with dummy bookings.  I’ve found that for the good solo fare discounts sometimes you have to click all the way through to the deposit screen to see the full discount and perks for the solo deal.

 

I’m also on the Celebrity mailing list as well as mailing lists for a couple of travel agencies and I pretty much always open and scan all the emails to see what’s being offered. I’ve found that the sales that include really good perks are usually shorter in duration so it often pays off for me to be on top of it.

[graphicguy]

4 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

I do check the site regularly and play with dummy bookings.  I’ve found that for the good solo fare discounts sometimes you have to click all the way through to the deposit screen to see the full discount and perks for the solo deal.

 

I’m also on the Celebrity mailing list as well as mailing lists for a couple of travel agencies and I pretty much always open and scan all the emails to see what’s being offered. I’ve found that the sales that include really good perks are usually shorter in duration so it often pays off for me to be on top of it.

Yeah...it takes some drilling down, but as you say, if you click all the way through to the end (but before you give payment instructions) you'll see what the fare is, what (if any) OBC and perks you get.  They won't show that (or at least it's too hard for me to find) to get the fare and perks all in the same place, at the same time, for any particular cruise unless you follow it through.  That's particularly true for solo rates.

 

[goofysmom99]

I found a couple of solo fares this week with zero single supplement, just the fare for one which  includes perks.  I've been a solo traveler for 14 years and this is first for me (my previous low on X was 120%).

[Redking]

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

Thank you!  We have the same issue in our marriage. I just have an annual hours requirement rather than official vacation day count, and my job is one where I can keep most projects moving from anywhere that I have wifi, so it’s much easier for me to get away than my husband.

 

My trick to getting him onboard with my solo trips has been that I always cook or take him out for a really top notch meal right before I leave and we made a deal that while I’m away, all of my house rules are suspended (as long as the place looks like how I left it when I get home).  I think he enjoys being able to spend all evening playing loud violent video games on the living room TV with no earphones on, sitting his beer bottles wherever he wants without a coaster and being able to head to the river with his fishing pole without me blocking the doorway and asking if he finished fixing the sink yet.

 

I’m fairly confident that within 24 hours of my departure my home will look like a frat house and there’ll be men’s pants (and who knows what else) lying on my dining room table. But it’s totally worth it!

"Men's pants and who knows what else". Joys of variation in the English language. For me pants are trousers and what you call pants are underpants for me. Had me going there. I had visions of underpants scattered about the place, thought my she's a very liber lady 🤣😳 

[GenerationX]

It’s my traditional champagne and cruise packing movie time!  (If you’ve followed my other reviews or you just have really good taste in classic films, you already know the flick.)

 

Unfortunately even this sacred pre-cruise ritual of mine was not immune to today’s supply chain issues.  When I stopped at my neighborhood wine shop, they told me they haven’t been able to get a case of Veuve in for weeks. 😭 So I’m settling for a substitute this time.  I realize this is next level first world problems, so I’m not pouting too much.

 

[GenerationX]

45 minutes ago, Redking said:

"Men's pants and who knows what else". Joys of variation in the English language. For me pants are trousers and what you call pants are underpants for me. Had me going there. I had visions of underpants scattered about the place, thought my she's a very liber lady 🤣😳 

This reminds me of the time Jeremy and I were cruising and met a couple from Australia the second night and the wife started telling a story about how she was so tipsy that she lost “a thong” on a booze cruise excursion that day.  For a few minutes we were worried we’d accidentally booked a “themed” cruise. 😂

[GenerationX]

Good morning from STL!  Well the good news is (thus far anyway) my flight hasn’t  been canceled.  The bad news is we are on a 4 hour weather delay due to nasty thunderstorms rolling though St. Louis!  
 

I’m trying not to stress about it and making myself comfortable in the Admirals Club lounge with a bagel and beverages to take care of a few work projects.

 

On the plus side, this should allow me to get a good chunk of my pre-cruise workload done, so when I get to my hotel in FLL I’ll be able to nap a bit and just relax.

 

BTW, if you’re ever in STL and have Admirals Club privileges, the ladies who work in this lounge are fantastic! Super friendly, knowledgeable, candid with the information that they have and willing to go the extra mile to help out passengers in need of rebooking, hotel vouchers, etc. Even though it’s a relatively small lounge, I’ve rarely found it crowded (but disclaimer: I tend to fly early mornings).

 

Hopefully the storms will move through as scheduled and I’ll be wheels up in a few hours.

 

 

[lola2013]

23 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Good morning from STL!  Well the good news is (thus far anyway) my flight hasn’t  been canceled.  The bad news is we are on a 4 hour weather delay due to nasty thunderstorms rolling though St. Louis!  
 

I’m trying not to stress about it and making myself comfortable in the Admirals Club lounge with a bagel and beverages to take care of a few work projects.

 

On the plus side, this should allow me to get a good chunk of my pre-cruise workload done, so when I get to my hotel in FLL I’ll be able to nap a bit and just relax.

 

BTW, if you’re ever in STL and have Admirals Club privileges, the ladies who work in this lounge are fantastic! Super friendly, knowledgeable, candid with the information that they have and willing to go the extra mile to help out passengers in need of rebooking, hotel vouchers, etc. Even though it’s a relatively small lounge, I’ve rarely found it crowded (but disclaimer: I tend to fly early mornings).

 

Hopefully the storms will move through as scheduled and I’ll be wheels up in a few hours.

 

 

Safe travels 🛫

[countess5]

If you are trying Moët & Chandon you need to check this one out. Was produced prior to Moët & Chandon. Was recommend by a friend who is an executive chef. Taste and price outstanding! 

 

Cheers! 

[Pickels]

On 6/14/2022 at 10:18 AM, 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!

 

LOVE that smile!

[Shimsdan]

3 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Good morning from STL!  Well the good news is (thus far anyway) my flight hasn’t  been canceled.  The bad news is we are on a 4 hour weather delay due to nasty thunderstorms rolling though St. Louis!  
 

I’m trying not to stress about it and making myself comfortable in the Admirals Club lounge with a bagel and beverages to take care of a few work projects.

 

On the plus side, this should allow me to get a good chunk of my pre-cruise workload done, so when I get to my hotel in FLL I’ll be able to nap a bit and just relax.

 

BTW, if you’re ever in STL and have Admirals Club privileges, the ladies who work in this lounge are fantastic! Super friendly, knowledgeable, candid with the information that they have and willing to go the extra mile to help out passengers in need of rebooking, hotel vouchers, etc. Even though it’s a relatively small lounge, I’ve rarely found it crowded (but disclaimer: I tend to fly early mornings).

 

Hopefully the storms will move through as scheduled and I’ll be wheels up in a few hours.

 

 

 

Safe travels!  We received 6 negative covid tests yesterday, so one major stress relieved! Can't wait to start this new adventure.

[Jim_Iain]

On 6/15/2022 at 5:17 PM, GenerationX said:

Ok, so I know we have some real air travel warriors/experts on the boards so if any of you are reading this and can weigh in, that would be fantastic. Here’s my question:

 

I was just on an AA discussion board and someone posted that their red eye STL to MIA flight for tomorrow morning had been cancelled and they were told by AA the earliest available rebook was on Saturday (6/18, aka my sail date). 
 

I am scheduled to fly a nonstop red eye  STL to MIA on Friday morning (6/17) and when I just did a dummy booking it looks like there are still about a dozen seats left open on my flight.

 

My question is how concerned should I be that my flight is going to get canceled, given that it’s not being offered as a rebook option (even though it looks like seats are available) and that I’ll also be offered no alternative options to fly till Saturday (even though there are several other flights out Friday, albeit not nonstop, to Miami).

 

I don’t know if this changes the analysis but the person indicated that they booked a ways out on an extremely cheap fare (almost 900 less than what seats on my flight are priced at currently) so not sure if that would affect what rebook options would be.

 

 I know that whatever will be will be and situations like this are why I book the earliest flight (with a less than 10% cancellation rate) a day in advance so that I have a good chance at options and time to still make the ship if things go wrong.

 

Just checking to see if anyone has any insights that could drop my anxiety level a few notches!

 

Good luck on you flight.   I have a little experience flying being a 2 Million Miller on United.   Cancellations are really challenging and like other things on re-booking the available flights at your choice are often dependent on your Status  and price paid.    

 

Suggestions:   Have your airline phone  preloaded in your phone.   Immediately when you hear your flight is cancelled try first to log on via internet and select change reservation.   It may or may not let you since your already checked in.   If not and a member of the Airline Club head there immediately and see what they can do.    At same time try to call the airline (probably long wait time).

 

Finally to give yourself peace of mind go to this website:  FlightAware ( you can also load it on your phone.

https://flightaware.com/

 

Search for your flight -

You can see the performance of the flight for the past 2 weeks.

 

On the Right under Flight Details it will show Average Delay for both departure and arrivals

 

Now finally what I keep an eye on is right under word Flight Detail... in blue Select Track Inbound Flight.  This is where you will get your first clue that something might be problematic.   e.g.  if you inbound is arriving after your planned departure.   

 

Instead of actual flight you can search on Departure and Arrival airport.   Looks like a number  of American flights cancelled today.

 

[Ella2]

Flight delays are so stressful!  Fingers crossed you are in the air soon if not already there!  🤞

[cluso]

If she was on AA 944, she made it, 4 hours and 52 minutes late due to the storm.  It was a nasty one.  It landed not too long ago.  😁

[hcat]

Hoping all went well!

[kpark895]

23 hours ago, GenerationX said:

 Have a wonderful trip on the Summit! If you feel inclined to post some pics/reports while you’re onboard to help get me through till I board her in July, I will be forever grateful!

 

I will try, although I can't promise.  I tend to not take many pictures, leaving that job to my daughter.

[KKB]

21 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

I found a couple of solo fares this week with zero single supplement, just the fare for one which  includes perks.  I've been a solo traveler for 14 years and this is first for me (my previous low on X was 120%).

Celebrity has over 1600 listed on cruise plum right now😳

[GenerationX]

At last…I MADE IT TO MIAMI!!!

 

Please brace yourselves for a brief lecture on the merits of flying in at least a day early for your cruise.

 

My flight this morning was supposed to depart at 5am and put me in Miami at 9:30am.  However as noted in my previous post that didn’t happen.  

 

While I was hanging out in the Admirals Club, the agents were nice enough to give me the full 411 on exactly how things went so wrong.  As I mentioned we had a 3 hour weather delay. Then we were delayed an additional hour and a half while a replacement crew member came in from Chicago.

 

This 5am Miami nonstop has been a trusty flying friend for me. It’s one of the first flights of the day and the plane for the flight always comes in the night before. Usually the crew is either STL based and coming to start their workday  or just coming across the road from the airport hotel after working a late  flight the night before.  It has all the makings of a flight with the lowest risk that something could go wrong. Yet today here I am getting to Miami almost 5 hours late.

 

Had my cruise been leaving today, I would have gone from a reliable flight with only a 7% delay/cancel rate that would put me at the port with room to spare, to most likely missing the ship entirely (when you add in the time to get bags, find your transportation and get over to FLL to the port in traffic).

 

In chatting with others in the Admirals Club lounge it sounds like several usually reliable morning flights yesterday and the day before (including this red eye) were also canceled due to crew shortages/illness, so by this morning, rebooking options were extremely limited.  

 

When our delay went past 3 hours, I was given the option to rebook on another flight but all the available options on AA the Admirals Club ladies could find me would have put me in Miami tomorrow well after sail away! 

 

I’ve on occasion pondered the cost and time savings of flying in the morning of cruise, but today 100% cemented my mind that I will be doing no such thing anytime soon.  The travel environment is just too volatile.

 

Ok that’s enough doom and gloom. It’s a beautiful day in Miami and time for vacation to start!

 

Once I get settled in my hotel I’m going to head to the bar for a super late lunch.  I have dinner reservations in Las Olas tonight at 8:30 and hate to risk my appetite, but I’m starving (the first class meal on my flight was extremely disappointing…as in the strawberries in my fresh fruit bowl and cucumbers on my smoked salmon plate had MOLD on them…I wish I were kidding 🤮).

 

After that I think I’ll go for a quick swim then take a power nap by the pool!

[FlorenceItaly]

Great Happy Hour at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas AND at the Boat house behind hotel!

[MarKay525]

Hooray!! So glad you arrived safely, if not underfed.

 

Look forward to sharing your adventures, vicariously.

[abbydancer2003]

2 hours ago, GenerationX said:

At last…I MADE IT TO MIAMI!!!

 

Please brace yourselves for a brief lecture on the merits of flying in at least a day early for your cruise.

 

My flight this morning was supposed to depart at 5am and put me in Miami at 9:30am.  However as noted in my previous post that didn’t happen.  

 

While I was hanging out in the Admirals Club, the agents were nice enough to give me the full 411 on exactly how things went so wrong.  As I mentioned we had a 3 hour weather delay. Then we were delayed an additional hour and a half while a replacement crew member came in from Chicago.

 

This 5am Miami nonstop has been a trusty flying friend for me. It’s one of the first flights of the day and the plane for the flight always comes in the night before. Usually the crew is either STL based and coming to start their workday  or just coming across the road from the airport hotel after working a late  flight the night before.  It has all the makings of a flight with the lowest risk that something could go wrong. Yet today here I am getting to Miami almost 5 hours late.

 

Had my cruise been leaving today, I would have gone from a reliable flight with only a 7% delay/cancel rate that would put me at the port with room to spare, to most likely missing the ship entirely (when you add in the time to get bags, find your transportation and get over to FLL to the port in traffic).

 

In chatting with others in the Admirals Club lounge it sounds like several usually reliable morning flights yesterday and the day before (including this red eye) were also canceled due to crew shortages/illness, so by this morning, rebooking options were extremely limited.  

 

When our delay went past 3 hours, I was given the option to rebook on another flight but all the available options on AA the Admirals Club ladies could find me would have put me in Miami tomorrow well after sail away! 

 

I’ve on occasion pondered the cost and time savings of flying in the morning of cruise, but today 100% cemented my mind that I will be doing no such thing anytime soon.  The travel environment is just too volatile.

 

Ok that’s enough doom and gloom. It’s a beautiful day in Miami and time for vacation to start!

 

Once I get settled in my hotel I’m going to head to the bar for a super late lunch.  I have dinner reservations in Las Olas tonight at 8:30 and hate to risk my appetite, but I’m starving (the first class meal on my flight was extremely disappointing…as in the strawberries in my fresh fruit bowl and cucumbers on my smoked salmon plate had MOLD on them…I wish I were kidding 🤮).

 

After that I think I’ll go for a quick swim then take a power nap by the pool!

Glad you made it.  I agree with day early 100%.  In fact after major issue with the day before, my sister and I fly to Florida two days before.

 

In 2018, our day before canceled, and the best we could do on Jet Blue was Laguardia (we were at Kennedy) to Boston with an early morning flight to Ft. Lauderdale (ship was in Miami), arriving about 10am day of cruise.  I found a very expensive United flight from Newark to Miami, and we went there.  It was very late and almost didn't go out, but we did make it at about 1:30 am.  Now we give it two days.

 

[Jim_Iain]

Great to hear you made it.  

 

This year is the first time that we began flying in a day early and have certainly been glad we have.   Ii is so much more relaxed and give us a nice day to relax and enjoy the departure city.   I just booked a flight for April 2023 and booked a day early.

[Tak8]

I've watched too many passengers join 3 or 4 days late.  I'm not sure you can even do it now with the testing requirements to not fly down the day before.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Tak8 said:

I've watched too many passengers join 3 or 4 days late.  I'm not sure you can even do it now with the testing requirements to not fly down the day before.

When they started cruising after Covid the prohibited down-line embarkation due to Covid.  

 

To my knowledge that is still in effect buy my well have been dropped in some countries.  I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong.     I recall back in the fall with the SkyWest problem we had over 300 guest miss the ship and they were not permitted to join  the cruise at the next port.   We sailed with only about 400 passengers.