Strange Bar Closings on Equinox Today in Grand Cayman

[horseymike]

9 hours ago, George C said:

I was thinking the same thing, but if in a royal suite you have your liquor setup in suite.

Good to know George, but that is not the case for most onboard.

[terrydtx]

12 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

No, the Retreat Lounge, Michaels Club, was totally shut down on our GC stop on Reflection.  You can be sure we will take steps to have wine available when we are next in GC since we don't leave port until 7:00 PM.

 

So if we have dinner at 5:30 no wine or drinks are available? 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

9 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

So if we have dinner at 5:30 no wine or drinks are available? 

That would be my guess since we were in Sushi on 5 for lunch and no wine available.  Celebrity should just find another port.

[chamima]

9 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

So if we have dinner at 5:30 no wine or drinks are available? 

 

If you want wine with dinner I'd suggest buying a bottle the night before.

If you have a drink package I think you're out of luck by the glass.

TG our cruise leaves GC at 4:00.

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

If you want wine with dinner I'd suggest buying a bottle the night before.

If you have a drink package I think you're out of luck by the glass.

TG our cruise leaves GC at 4:00.

I just checked and our Equinox cruise in June leaves GC at 4:00 as well, so we will be good. 

[rjrpar]

10 hours ago, George C said:

I was thinking the same thing, but if in a royal suite you have your liquor setup in suite.

Very informative, good to know

[horseymike]

On 1/15/2023 at 4:57 PM, phoenix_dream said:

Good heavens the uproar that someone might have to go without alcohol for a few hours during the day or heaven forbid walk to a particular bar to get your fix. Makes me wonder what kind of crowd is sailing Celebrity these days. 😁😁

The kind that wants to get what they paid for.

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, horseymike said:

The kind that wants to get what they paid for.

But Celebrity is not responsible for port restrictions.  That's what's bugging me about all this complaining to be honest. You book a cruise that includes a certain port. Your choice to do so. That port has these restrictions.  So in essence yes, you are getting what you paid for. You paid for a cruise stopping in a port with liquor restrictions.  Now I will grant you that these restrictions seem to be fairly new, as we never encountered them in GC before.  But that is not Celebrity's fault.

[CruiseCrew123]

I believe these restrictions have only been implemented in the last few weeks and like a lots of others we booked our cruise over a year ago . Celebrity could be a bit more transparent and not leave it to the captain to announce the night before 

Edited January 20, 2023 by CruiseCrew123

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I don't even remember an announcement the night before. This is new.  Even the server in Sushi on 5 had to check with his manager to confirm. I wonder if Celebrity had to pay a fee for each bar that was open and choose to only open one.  

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I don't even remember an announcement the night before. This is new.  Even the server in Sushi on 5 had to check with his manager to confirm. I wonder if Celebrity had to pay a fee for each bar that was open and choose to only open one.  

It was "announced " via the daily schedule delivered each night.  I have heard of this happening on other lines as well so I think this is truly a GC thing. Despite drink packages I think a number of people still pay for drinks so shutting down more bars would be counterproductive, and it didnt happen on any other port this sailing.  Not to mention it would mean they lied to us, which would not sit well when people found out.

[Markator]

Photos from Retreat Sundeck. Empty and closed. 
The lone open pool bar really wasn’t crowded at all when I had been by. Most people must have been off ship. 

[George C]

7 hours ago, horseymike said:

Good to know George, but that is not the case for most onboard.

We splurged a couple of times but normally get sky suites, move up gives everyone a chance at a simi reasonable cost . Did love our 1 penthouse.

[CruiseCrew123]

Could you still use the retreat deck or was the whole area closed ? 

Edited January 20, 2023 by CruiseCrew123

[Markator]

3:45 pool bar 

getting busier as last tender back in 45 minutes 

[Markator]

17 minutes ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Could you still use the retreat deck or was the whole area closed ? 

Yes retreat sundeck is fully open just bar is closed. 
 

Bar Servers are providing drinks just they have to go to pool bar to get them for guests so no real loss of enjoyment in Retreat Sundeck. 
Don’t get all riled up over it. 

Edited January 20, 2023 by Markator

[horseymike]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

But Celebrity is not responsible for port restrictions.  That's what's bugging me about all this complaining to be honest. You book a cruise that includes a certain port. Your choice to do so. That port has these restrictions.  So in essence yes, you are getting what you paid for. You paid for a cruise stopping in a port with liquor restrictions.  Now I will grant you that these restrictions seem to be fairly new, as we never encountered them in GC before.  But that is not Celebrity's fault.

This has never been the case until just recently.If GC wishes to impose some sort convoluted liquor law that is their business, but Celebrity does not want to inconvenience paying customers they will and should adjust their itineraries as needed.After all it is the customers who are paying for their cruises.

[CruiseCrew123]

26 minutes ago, Markator said:

Yes retreat sundeck is fully open just bar is closed. 
 

Bar Servers are providing drinks just they have to go to pool bar to get them for guests so no real loss of enjoyment in Retreat Sundeck. 
Don’t get all riled up over it. 

Thank you so much for confirming this . I’m on this itinerary on 1/29 in a suite for the first time . My back up plan was to send my personal butler (husband) to the main pool bar - he will be very relieved 😂 😆 😝 

[helen haywood]

OP here.  Could not access Cruise Critic while on Equinox since I started this thread.  The internet was really awful.  

[OysterD]

15 hours ago, horseymike said:

This has never been the case until just recently.If GC wishes to impose some sort convoluted liquor law that is their business, but Celebrity does not want to inconvenience paying customers they will and should adjust their itineraries as needed.After all it is the customers who are paying for their cruises.

So are you suggesting that with a few weeks notice Celebrity should have cancelled the stop in GC because a handful of people might be unhappy they can't have alcohol for a few hours on the ship?! 

 

Forget the hundreds or thousands onboard who booked months or years ago and want to visit GC, they're irrelevant? The only important thing is to keep happy the few customers who need to be able to drink alcohol at every bar on the ship for a few hours? Bizarre. 

[cruisestitch]

15 hours ago, horseymike said:

This has never been the case until just recently.If GC wishes to impose some sort convoluted liquor law that is their business, but Celebrity does not want to inconvenience paying customers they will and should adjust their itineraries as needed.After all it is the customers who are paying for their cruises.

I can just imagine the hue and cry from people who really wanted to go to Grand Cayman if they would get an announcement like this “a few days ago,  Grand Cayman changed their liquor laws so we cannot serve liquor on the ship while there except from one bar. Therefore our call on Grand Cayman tomorrow will be canceled”

 

😵‍💫

[cruisestitch]

39 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

OP here.  Could not access Cruise Critic while on Equinox since I started this thread.  The internet was really awful.  

Strange, I am on the equinox now and I have had no problem the entire trip. As a matter fact I was just commenting to someone how good the Internet had been. As always, YMMV

[TeeRick]

We will be in GC on Equinox this week.  I will provide an update to the bars on the ship while anchored.

[islabahia]

Are any other cruise lines reporting the same bar closing during GC port stop?

[chamima]

1 hour ago, OysterD said:

So are you suggesting that with a few weeks notice Celebrity should have cancelled the stop in GC because a handful of people might be unhappy they can't have alcohol for a few hours on the ship?! 

 

Forget the hundreds or thousands onboard who booked months or years ago and want to visit GC, they're irrelevant? The only important thing is to keep happy the few customers who need to be able to drink alcohol at every bar on the ship for a few hours? Bizarre. 

 

No I don’t think they should change any ports for this year but I do remember years ago we had a cruise that stopped in Bali. When we got there we couldn’t get off for many hours after our scheduled time because the Indonesian government kept changing the fee Celebrity had to pay. After that they didn’t sail to Bali for many years.