merknerk

We are boarding Equinox next Saturday. How was the check in with corona virus in the news?

7 hours ago, aml3679 said:

Finally, after booking over a year ago, we leave today for Fort Lauderdale.  We are staying at Tranquilo Beach resort by Marriot.  We leave on the Equinox for an 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise.

 

We are so excited.  It has been such a stressful year for us.  We moved to Florida in October 17th and I, being an experienced nurse, could not find a job close to home.  Therefore, for the last year I have been traveling for work and we hardly saw each other after 34 years of marriage.  Thankfully, I finally found a job an hour from home.  Need to travel 3 hours a day, but I get to be home most nights.

 

We love sailing on Celebrity after sailing on Carnival and RCI.  This will be our second time on the Equinox, our favorite ship so far.  Our first trip was 10 years ago on the Millenium where we renewed our vows at 25 years.  Our first cruise ever.

 

We just got upgraded, 2 days ago, to Aqua Class - our first time ever.  We are excited about trying Blu for the first time and using the Persian Garden.

 

We used our $300 OBC to eat in all of the specialty restaurants except Sushi on 5.  We love both the Tuscan Grill and Murano's.  We loved Silk Harvest but are looking forward to eating at Le Petit Chef.

 

This is the first cruise where we did not book any shore excursions.  Nothing much interested us and we have been to Nassau before.  We said that we spent so many hours on shore excursions that we were tired when we got back to the ship and missed most of the evening's activities.

 

We are all packed and ready to go.  We will leave the house by 8, get breakfast and drive the 4.5 hours to Fort Lauderdale.  We will get to the pier by 10:30 and hopefully will have a drink in our hand by noon.

 

Looking forward to checking out the whole ship, enjoying the wonderful food and the shows.

 

Looking forward to no cooking, cleaning, or laundry.

 

By Monday hope to have our feet in the water and our ass in the sand like Jimmy Buffet sings.

 

HAPPY SAILING EVERYONE!

When you return , we are boarding !!! Love the Equinox. This will be our second time on her. Enjoy your cruise !!!

2 minutes ago, micheleata said:

We leave in 16 days are have not once thought of cancelling.   First time on the Edge!

 

We are bringing extra medications, extra Clorex wipes, some books and magazines.   We will wash our hands often, try not to touch anything and wipe down our cabin extra good.   (Along with our hotel room & airline seat/tray/armrests.)

 

 

We are also bringing extra medications and wipes and will wipe down our cabin and of course hand washing. The Edge looks amazing !!

45 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

If it were me I would not cancel a Caribbean cruise.  Very little risk and a lot of extra screening in place.  Understand why you and hubby are a bit anxious and your decision of course.  Is your Caribbean cruise 14 days??

My husband and I are on Equinox the 22nd. Yep, I too have been anxious and I totally understand. We also thought of canceling. We were going to rent a car too and hang out in Florida. We made the decision to GO !! I feel that the situation with Diamond Princess has the cruise ships fully aware and  are going above and beyond  to ensure our safety. I now feel good about going.  I do hope you go and enjoy the sunshine of the Caribbean. We live in northern Montana and have a long day to get to Florida. Can't wait to be in warm weather !!!

7 hours ago, h20skibum said:

I am a little late in getting this live review started, but better late than never. It has been a while since I did a review on a Celebrity ship, so it is time for one. 
 

For the past few years, my wife and I escape the Pennsylvania winter for a while, by renting a beach house over the holidays, then take a cruise.

 

So with that brief intro, let’s get started. 

Can't wait to hear. We will be sailing on her in February. This will be our second time on Equinox. First time was 2012.

 

 

 

We were on this cruise. Thank you for sharing !!

We will have the 22nd and 23rd there before the cruise. Thanks for any info.

We will be on Breakaway in a few weeks. Does the ship celebrate Mardi Gras in any way ? What was the sail away like? I have heard that the Mardi Gras parades have started so just wondering. 

Hello Everyone, does anyone know what the sail away is like during Mardi Gras ? Just want to be in the right place at the right time. Thanks

We will be sailing on Breakaway. Our room is 11192. Does anyone know if the bed in this room is king or queen ? 

Hello Everyone, We are sailing on Breakaway in February during Mardi Gras. This being our first time in New Orleans ( especially during Mardi Gras ) we could use some advice from you. We are staying in Gretna. What are some things to not miss and also what to avoid ? We have already been told to stay away from downtown in the evening. Best transportation to and from cruise port and to downtown and the parades,  best places to eat , good tours. We are from a small town in the Northwest so I am sure this will be an eye opening experience but we want to be smart about it. I have heard that Gretna also does their own Mardi Gras celebration if anyone knows about that. Thanks so much Cruise Critic members , your advice is always so helpful. This will be our 18th cruise and I always turn to fellow cruisers like you.

Are the hop on hop off busses safe to tide during Mardi Gras ?

Oops I meant ride.

I absolutely second the recommendation to take the Hop On Hop Off busses. We have done it several times and sometimes just ride around and around.

 

If you want to visit the cemeteries, the Canal Street streetcar will take you to them. Make sure you get on the right streetcar. The same line has cars going to City Park.

 

We almost always take a swamp tour, too. Our favorite is the Honey Island Swamp Tour. The Jean Lafitte is OK, we just like the other one better.

Are the hop on hop off busses safe to tide during Mardi Gras ?

We are on that cruise you should join our roll call:)

Could you explain roll call. Been on cruise critic for a while but do not know exactly what it is for sure. Thank you.

We are staying in Gretna in West Bank. Does anyone know of any good restaurants there ? Also how far from French Quarter? Transportation besides taxis. Thanks so much for all the replies so far. Getting some great ideas !!

Hello Everyone, We will be sailing out of New Orleans February 24. We have never been there. I know that Mardi Gras will be going on. Booked a room in West Bank. Any advise on any subject would be great. We have been on many cruises but this will be totally new for us. Thanks so much.

Paradise beach is amazing. Very clean and lots of water toys. We were there with our family last year , 15 of us and everyone had a wonderful time. Just a short taxi from the pier. Go to their website for prices. Also have very good food there. We are going again in February.

Kroooz-cams.com

Precisely!! That is exactly why I wanted to have some honest opinions, and I was given plenty. I am really excited that I chose a good ship to celebrate my 50th Anniversary! Now, I just hope they have cabins available for when we are ready to book in one year, which will be one year from cruise in 2020. Family members with children are hoping there will be a “Kids Sail Free” promotion at that time, and maybe even reduced deposits.

Keep checking for kids sail free. Six out of our seven grandchildren sailed free. It was great !!

We sailed with our family of 15 just a couple of weeks ago. Feb 4-11. ALL of us loved this cruise !! My husband and I have been on a few cruises, this was our 17th. We can't say enough about this ship. It was clean and there was so much for the grandkids to do they were busy all the time. I would sail her again in a heartbeat. Most of our family are from Montana and our son lives in San Antonio so we all flew out and rented a 15 passenger van. We actually got in on the kids sail free special so 6 of the grandkids got quite a deal. I honestly have zero complaints.

We are leaving on Liberty of the Seas next Sunday. Sure hope Royal Caribbean replaces Falmouth Jamaica for Cocoa Cay for us also. I started this thread and definitely have concerns. My husband and I have been to Jamaica twice and enjoyed out time there. We are traveling with our family...15 of us, seven grandchildren and the unrest there now is quite a concern. As of now we will stay on the ship

We are on Liberty next week. Praying for clear weather when we return back to Galveston. We are driving to San Antonio to fly out that afternoon. I know Galveston can be fogged in often this time of year.

Hopefully we will get a post from someone that has recently gone there. As for myself I will probably stay on the ship and encourage my family to do the same. With all of this going on I doubt that things will change in the next couple of weeks. Maybe just maybe the caption will pick another beautiful island or a sea day.

Which port or resort is she at? Hopefully she is ok.

She is not there. She is traveling there with us on our upcoming cruise. Pretty concerning.

Just received a text from my daughter in law and she said that because of violence in Jamaica they are in state of emergency . Only certain parts . Are warning travelers not to go outside resorts. Any ideas how this will effect cruises ? We will be sailing there in a couple of weeks with our family.