LIVE BLOG! From the EQUINOX - AUG 25th Sailing - CHICAGOPAUL

Cheers Cruise Critic! It is that time again; Edward and I are boarding our next cruise tomorrow and we are excited to bring you all on board with us. It’s my hope that each live blog I write is better than the last and also easier to read so I will do my best to categorize everything for you. This way if you don’t want to read something you can easily skip forward! Feel free to ask questions and comment on anything!

For those of you who have not followed me before or have no idea who in the world I am (which is probably most of you!) my name is Paul and I’m 31 from Chicago. My partner is Edward and he is 36. We’ve been cruising on Celebrity for roughly 8 years and this will mark cruise number 15 with Celebrity.

Per the usual I will be posting our daily activities and a minimum of 10 photos on here that will help recap our day whether it is our activities in port, what we had for dinner, or even the onboard entertainment. I’ll be sure to post restaurant and bar menu photos along with the daily activities guide. I will also go into detail about anything we purchase and will give you full pricing details so you know what we’re paying so you can use that information for your future cruise. I’ll even discuss our flight details, cab costs, hotel costs, etc. I know some of these topics may be considered bit “taboo” but at the end of the day it is important information so why not share it! So without further delay lets dive into the details of this cruise and then starting tomorrow all the fun food, drink, more drink, more drink, food, and ship photos will follow.

If you’d like to follow along for extra photos not posted on here feel free to follow my Instagram. My Instagram account name is: PaulKBlackburn

Ship: Celebrity Equinox

Sail Date: August 25th, 2018

Itinerary: 9 Nights

Day 1: Miami

Day 2: Key West (7am to 5pm)

Day 3: At Sea

Day 4: At Sea

Day 5: Aruba (8am to Midnight!)

Day 6: Curacao (8am to 8pm)

Day 7: Bonaire (7am to 4pm)

Day 8: At Sea

Day 9: At Sea

Day 10: Back in Miami :(

Cabin: Concierge Class (C3)

Price: $1,765 Per Person INCLUDING GO BEST

Just to remind everyone in case you forgot (which is easy to do with all of Celebrity’s different promotions!) the GO BEST gives us the following: Premium Drink Package, Pre-Paid Gratuities, $150pp onboard credit, and Unlimited Internet

Airfare

We booked through Choice Air (or Flights by Celebrity as it is called now right?). The pricing was virtually the same as if we booked direct with the airline but since you get the choice air insurance it made complete sense to book through them in the event there is an issue. Hopefully we don’t have to worry about that, but better safe than sorry.

Airline: American Airlines ORD to MIA, nonstop

Price: $518 Round Trip, Per Person, First Class

The first class pricing you just could not beat. Southwest who we fly often was only marginally cheaper than AA first class and AA economy wasn’t much cheaper after you factor in baggage fees, etc.

We did not plan to take a cruise in August as our next cruise was already booked for November on the Reflection. However, when we looked at the total pricing for everything from the GO BEST to cabin class to the flights we felt it was too good of a deal to pass up. These are some of our favorite ports as well in the Caribbean (especially Key West, there is something very….nostalgic?).

Our flight leaves at 6:30pm Chicago time today, Friday and we arrive roughly at 10:30pm in Miami. We’re staying at the Intercontinental and hopefully will have a view of the port when we wake up in the morning. Our hotel was a pretty good deal having only used 11,000 Chase Rewards points for the night. We were booked at the Kimpton originally but ended up switching to this hotel since it has a bar open until 2am with a full dinner menu until midnight. This way if we want to unwind a bit with a little food and a cocktail then we have that option.

Cruise Insurance: One topic that some of you have asked me about in the past is cruise insurance. Do we purchase it? We don’t purchase typical cruise insurance which covers cancellation, etc. Instead we utilize our Chase Sapphire Reserve card (Visa Infinite) as they give us triple points on travel but also because their travel coverage is phenomenal. Lost baggage is covered and even trip cancellation. What we do buy however is travel medical insurance which covers any medical issues and of course medical evacuation. Technically Chase and even our Amex Plat has some of this coverage but it is not nearly sufficient enough so we still opt for purchasing the medical insurance for the trip. For this trip the cost was $74.00 total for both of us and it included very generous medical coverage. The plan is through AIG.

OK! Now that we have all those boring mundane details out of the way it is time to have some fun. I’m going to get back to packing. If you want to see who I am in person just click on the video link below for a video of me rambling for a few minutes talking about this cruise. The next photos you should see will likely be our airport photos.

As always thank you all so much for following along and feel free to ask any questions at all that you may have!

Here is all the above summed up in a YouTube video.

[emoji51] love your live forms and just saw you posted on Instagram so I hopped right over! Enjoy. We will be embarking Reflection as you disembark in November. And we’ve sailed the Equinox several times. Great itinerary you have also.

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YAY!!! So excited for this! It was great meeting you last year on the Presidents Cruise! Love your vlog style and your pictures! Wanda

Paul, glad to see another post from you. I like that you mention the prices for others to use as reference. Your medical insurance seems low. Did you cover the total price of the trip so any preexisting conditions would be covered?

Can't wait to follow along with you! We are on the same itinerary in Sept for 10 nights with an additional stop in Grand Caymen. Thanks for the info about the medical insurance.

Michele

Also I could not load the video...

Hey Paul, just stopping by to say hello to you and Edward! Will be following along! Talk soon xo

Thanks Paul! I love your style and I can't wait to follow along! Have a great cruise!

Yay! Paul! We are doing the November Silhouette TA - Boston, NYC and Bermuda - based mostly on your cruise along, it sounded like y'all had a great time and sold us!

Wonderful! I love following your cruise adventures. I hope you and Edward have a fabulous time:)

I have been waiting all month for this. I will not be on the Equinox until 2/16/19.

Can you see if the glass blowing show will still be going on in Feb? It was okay once but its like watching grass grow for me. Who is working in the Martini Bar?

Most of all I hope you and Edward have a wonderful time!!!

Norma

Looking forward to reading about your cruise! I have before, and in my opinion you do the best job of this!!! We would love to cruise with you 2 sometime.

Looking forward to following along, we are cruising on the Equinox October 5.

Following along, we will be on Equinox in November so looking forward to an advance peek at the good times to come.

Thank you to everyone who has already commented. I’ll check on the glass blowing Norma! Regarding our travel medical insurance I need to double check but I do believe it included pre existing provided it was prior to 60 days before the cruise? Keep in mind it’s just medical, no cancellation or even cancellation on the event of medical.

So far things are off to a great start. We ordered an Uber Black just before 3pm. Within 45 seconds it arrived. Literally 45 seconds. The benefit of living above a hotel! There was some traffic getting to ORD but i was able to read your comments and take care of some work emails.

We checked our bags with AA and breezes through TSA precheck. We’ve found ourself at a bar a few gates away from our gate. Sipping on Ketel One on the rocks right now. We still have over an hour to go before boarding. I always enjoy getting here early and relaxing. I hate to rush. Though if I traveled for work I’m sure it would be the opposite.

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Count me in as another who's very happy to see another one of your reviews and will be watching for updates with photos, prices, descriptions etc etc! We're on Reflection in Jan for 14 nights, not sure if it's the same itinerary as yours in Nov but I'll def be looking forward to that blog as well!

As for the cost of the medical insurance, I'm sure a huge factor is your young age!! The older you get the more the cost goes up and up!!

Enjoy your flights and your cruise and thank you for taking us all along!!

Cathy

Hi Paul

I'll certainly be reading your posts.

Will you exceed 85,000 views again ?

Have a great cruise.

Peter

Wonderful! We’ll be on Equinox the cruise after you!! So I’ll be avidly following!! Is Captain Kate onboard for your cruise?

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Great to see you again Paul, looking forward to following along!

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Greatly looking forward to your live blog! You do such a great job I feel like I’m sailing with you and Edward. This November we are in Key West for the first time during our sailing on Infinity. Look forward to your recommendations!

Hi Paul

 

I'll certainly be reading your posts.

 

Will you exceed 85,000 views again ?

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Peter

Fingers crossed! Thanks for following along again! Hope you’re doing well. Which ship is your daughter on now or is she enjoying a nice break?

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So we had another drink at the bar and it’s starting to hit me. Currently waiting at the gate as the previous flight deplanes. I am going to start with champagne and then maybe to white wine? Haha

In all seriousness thanks for all the wonderful compliments. Keep any questions coming!

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Looking forward to your posts. They are always informative and very enjoyable to read. Enjoy your cruise.

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Can’t wait to read again about your adventures we are doing the same itinerary in October (minus Key West). Bon Voyage!!

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Looking forward to your trip report Following along... When are you on Reflection in Nov

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I leaps look forward to reading about your trips

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