Equinox 2/1/13 - 10 night Ultimate Caribbean in AQ Review

[swigso]

This is a really good review, brings back so many memories of

Our 30th anniversary cruise last October.

A note for your next cruise, if you like the deserts from the MDR,

If you ask they will arrange to serve them in Blu.

Celebrity are just a fantastic cruise line and Blu is superb.

Looking forward to the next instalment

[Hollywood Traveler]

 

 

 

The company is what truly made the dinner fun even if towards the end of dinner they did begin to sing show tunes.

 

 

And wasn't it lovely singing? The highlight of the cruise. :rolleyes:

 

Great review and pictures Tom. Can't wait for the rest.

 

Larry

[librarylady19]

To get back on topic....loving your review. equinox was our first S class ship - we sailed on the US inaugural way back in 2009 - and haven't looked back!

Hope to,take one of the 10 day cruises soon.

 

I love your comment that the drinks package is your entertainment ...that's how we feel too....so much variety too in terms of drinks and lounges.

 

We had the same hump cabin on Reflection (there its 2146) and have 1616 bold on Silhouette. Love the convenient location and the large balcony.

[RKF]

Sea Day #1:

 

The company is what truly made the dinner fun even if towards the end of dinner they did begin to sing show tunes. We ended up sitting there for several hours.

 

.

 

And what is wrong with show tunes? ;-)

 

We will be on the Equinox for a trans-Atlantic in Nov. so enjoying the details you are sharing. And congrats! John and I celebrated our 40th anniversary last year. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Dunmore2]

Congratulations. I'm really enjoying reading your review and seeing the great photos. Your idea of how to use the undrinkable sparking wine is the best plan EVER! I'd be there!

Thanks.

[bighairtexan]

And what is wrong with show tunes? ;-)

 

:D:D Not so much what's wrong with show tunes, but rather how CERTAIN people (Not saying myself and Hollywood Traveler) sang them. :eek: :rolleyes:

 

Great review Tom. Wish we were back there. And the bread they brought in the baskets wasn't even Bimini bread. They brought some kind of regular bread! :mad:

 

Bimini is ooey gooey guilty pleasure bread.

[Hollywood Traveler]

:D:D Not so much what's wrong with show tunes, but rather how CERTAIN people (Not saying myself and Hollywood Traveler) sang them. :eek: :rolleyes:

 

 

I believe I already pointed out how lovely the singing was. I just got the phone call from my agent today. Celebrity wants us for the main theater. Any date we can make it. And we can bring our own bread.

[SeaGams]

Tom, What a wonderful review.:D I feel like we're back on board, but unfortunately have to wait until next year.

 

Larry, Looking forward to watching your act in the main theatre. Can I be one of your groupies?

 

Sharon, That wasn't bimini bread? I thought they brought out two different kinds and one was kinda ooey and gooey.

 

Carole, Somehow we missed the Martini Bar too on this cruise and I'm trying to figure out what the heck happened. :confused:

 

Looking forward to more Tom.....:) :)

[Sunshine State Girl]

Tom:

 

I know how much time and trouble this is, but please keep going. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.

 

The photos are beautiful and bring back such fond memories.

 

Jan

Edited March 9, 2013 by Sunshine State Girl

[prim8keeper]

Hi everyone! Sorry the next installment has been so delayed. I've spent the better part of the morning trying to track down a package. At any rate here we go...

 

Day 4: St Thomas

 

We were lucky enough to be one of only two ships in St. Thomas and the weather was perfect. Since we had an early day we got up early so we could eat in Blu for breakfast. My favorite thing to order there is the Blu parfait (make sure to order this early on because often towards the end they start to run out of stuff to make this and the ratio of granola becomes huge compared to everything else) and the blueberry pancakes. You also can't beat the fresh squeezed oj. Although one thing we did notice is that you now have to ask for it as opposed to them just carrying it around on trays offering it to everyone shortly after you sit down. On our way down from breakfast to meet our friends at the passport bar for the day we stopped at the cafe to get some coffee to go.

 

For our day in St. Thomas we were going on a day sail with Simplicity charters over to St. John. We grabbed a taxi and headed for red hook. We were lucky enough to be put in a taxi just the four of us as opposed to be open air taxis. So we were able to leave right away. Our driver was from the island and gave us his card. He then promised to come back and pick us up at the end of the day. He was very nice and told us all about the island. In total for the day sail there were six of us and we all knew each other from the roll call (we had actually sailed with one of the other couples previously).

 

I can not say enough good things about simplicity's crew Charlie & Josh. They were fantastic. We sailed over to St. John while sipping on rum punch and listening to music headed for Honeymoon beach. We stayed there for a while swimming, snorkeling, and just hanging out on the boat while relaxing in the warm sun. We could also go into the beach by dingy if we wanted. One of the best things about simplicity was their dog Admiral Hinckley. She keeps an eye out for dolphins, turtles and helps set the sails.

 

I'm going to borrow a photo from our professional photographer boxerlover2 as she got some great action shots of the true star, Hinckley.

 

 

 

After our fantastic lunch of BBQ chicken, rice, cesar salad and fresh fruit we sailed over to another small island where we could snorkel, or explorer.

 

 

 

I love this photo because Hinckley managed to sneak in there...

 

 

After a while we set sail back for St. Thomas. When we got back to the marina our cab driver was waiting to take us back to port just like he said he would be. I would highly recommended this excursion to everyone. We have already booked them again for our 2014 cruise and while we are there next year I plan on booking them again for 2015.

[prim8keeper]

A few more photos of our day sail from St. Thomas to St. John!

 

 

 

 

 

[prim8keeper]

Day #4: St. Thomas continued...

 

Back on board after having had a busy day out on the water we went and grabbed an iglu (their version of a frappuccino) from the cafe and headed back up to our room to shower and change. By now we had made friends with one of the waitress and she would always ask us how our day was, etc. and if we wanted our usual. We would always ask her how her day was in return, but since she didn't start until 3 pm she usually had just woken up. After getting cleaned up we headed up to the lawn club for sail away. The excitement of sail away never gets old to me. So ever night we would run up and grab a drink at the sunset bar. Apparently the lawn also had a busy day.

 

 

 

 

After sail away we went to get ready for dinner. We had reservations to dine in Silk Harvest so we had some time to kill. We decided to walk around the ship stores to see what they had. We had a rather large OBC for this cruise so I planed on getting some things for my parents who don't cruise and we wanted to pick up our usual souvenir which is a ship magnet. We also noticed that some of the code red restrictions were beginning to be lifted and we had not heard of anyone getting sick.

 

This was also the night we learned the martini bar's main bartender had a whistle! Since we had been regulars as we walked buy he began to blow his whistle and waved to us to have a seat at two open seats. After hanging out at the bar for a while we headed to dinner. I was a littler apprehensive about dinning Silk Harvest. We went on Solstice and it was least favorite of the specialty restaurants. I thought the food was very hit or miss. It was either outstanding or just "eh." However, my DH really wanted to go and since we had the OBC I figured it couldn't hurt.

 

I was disappointed to learn they were also out of warm saki! I tried the cold saki since with the package it didn't really matter if I didn't drink it. While it was alright, I still prefer the hot. We ordered a variety of things. We started with a plate of sushi, which like before, was excellent. Afterwards we tried the orange chicken, which I didn't like, and the general tso's chicken which was pretty good. The chef also sent out something special for us to try. It had some type of crispy noodles, chicken, beef and shrimp. Apparently the chef was Indonesian and these was something from his home country. It smelled amazing and tasted even better! It was so good I just stopped eating the other food and asked for more. Even the couple who was sitting next to us commented on how good it smelled and wanted to know what it was so they could order some. I really wish they would redo their menus in Silk Harvest and get input from these chefs. I think the end result could be a much stronger restaurant. We finished with dessert, but neither one of us liked what we had. The desserts in Silk Harvest is much like the desserts in Blu, and really not all that good.

 

One of my favorite things about sailing on the S class ships is seeing what the art on the way back to the specialty restaurants will be. I really liked what Equinox had. I will continue to post additional photos as I continue the review.

 

 

 

We finished off the night with a stop at the Molecular bar. We didn't want to stay up too late since we arrived in port the next day at 7 am and we knew we had to be off the ship first thing for the group tour I organized with people from our roll call.

[prim8keeper]

Day #5: St. Kitts & Nevis

 

Before I start my review for our day in St. Kitts I would like to get out my soap box for a moment if you don't mind. As you can probably tell by my sn I work with primates and have for my entire career. I've worked in zoo's, sanctuaries, and currently in cognitive research. I've been lucky enough to have some of the most amazing experiences in my line of work so I completely understand why people are drawn to them.

 

I bring this up because the island of St. Kitts is home to green vervet monkeys. They were brought to the islands during colonial times and now live naturally all over the island since they have no natural predators there. One thing that you will commonly see either at the port or in areas where a lot of tourist stop are guys with baby monkeys who for a small fee, usually around $5, you can have you picture taken with. This is a picture I found on google.

 

 

I would please ask you NOT to do this. These monkeys are babies that are taken from their mothers for the sole purpose of making money. They have to use the babies because once the monkeys get larger they will easily bit people and lash out. Often to prevent this they will pull or saw their k-9 teeth. They will tell you that the monkeys are "trained," but the reality is you can never train a wild animal. The harsh reality is that the monkey has probably been hit so that it listens. Then once it gets too big it will be sold as a pet or possibly just "released" where it will most likely die. The mothers are used as a breeding factory to produce more babies which will repeat the cycle.

 

While this is specifically about St. Kitts this most likely holds true anywhere you go and there are primates you can interact with. So I urge to either go observe them in their natural habitat or visit a good zoo if you want to see them up close.

 

Thank you! I promise I'm now putting my soap box away.

Edited March 9, 2013 by prim8keeper

[jerseygirl3]

That is so sad about the monkeys. On this sailing we didn't even get off the ship. Last year on Silhouette when we walked through the town center those baby monkeys were literally thrown on me. It was very unnerving. That was one of the reasons we didn't get off the ship this time.

[Illinisue]

Day #5: St. Kitts & Nevis

 

Before I start my review for our day in St. Kitts I would like to get out my soap box for a moment if you don't mind. As you can probably tell by my sn I work with primates and have for my entire career. I've worked in zoo's, sanctuaries, and currently in cognitive research. I've been lucky enough to have some of the most amazing experiences in my line of work so I completely understand why people are drawn to them.

 

I bring this up because the island of St. Kitts is home to green vervet monkeys. They were brought to the islands during colonial times and now live naturally all over the island since they have no natural predators there. One thing that you will commonly see either at the port or in areas where a lot of tourist stop are guys with baby monkeys who for a small fee, usually around $5, you can have you picture taken with. This is a picture I found on google.

 

 

I would please ask you NOT to do this. These monkeys are babies that are taken from their mothers for the sole purpose of making money. They have to use the babies because once the monkeys get larger they will easily bit people and lash out. Often to prevent this they will pull or saw their k-9 teeth. They will tell you that the monkeys are "trained," but the reality is you can never train a wild animal. The harsh reality is that the monkey has probably been hit so that it listens. Then once it gets too big it will be sold as a pet or possibly just "released" where it will most likely die. The mothers are used as a breeding factory to produce more babies which will repeat the cycle.

 

While this is specifically about St. Kitts this most likely holds true anywhere you go and there are primates you can interact with. So I urge to either go observe them in their natural habitat or visit a good zoo if you want to see them up close.

 

Thank you! I promise I'm now putting my soap box away.

 

And a "huzzah" from me. (Really, how often do you get to use that word?) Thanks for your review, we will be on the same cruise 5 April!

[Hollywood Traveler]

And a "huzzah" from me. (Really, how often do you get to use that word?)

 

I'm still waiting for my first time. :)

[prim8keeper]

That is so sad about the monkeys. On this sailing we didn't even get off the ship. Last year on Silhouette when we walked through the town center those baby monkeys were literally thrown on me. It was very unnerving. That was one of the reasons we didn't get off the ship this time.

 

I can imagine. I think the island of St. Kitts is beautiful. It's is defiantly a get out on a tour around the island type of port rather than staying in town. Hopefully the pictures from our day will help give you something to look forward to next time you are there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[eesenior]

Thanks so much for your review so far! We are leaving on the same cruise next Friday and can't wait!

[bplazo]

That is so sad for the monkeys. I will make sure to avoid it.

[sunor]

Hi Tom,

 

First congrats on your wedding and I am enjoying your review. Looking forward to meeting you both in 2014.

 

Suz

[cazzi]

Great review so far we are up soon cant wait

[LRene]

Great review Tom. It seems like yesterday. Your picture of the atrium shows what an absolutely stunning ship the Equinox is!

 

I do think, however, that you are surely mistaken about what time we left the martini bar on formal night. I only do 2 o'clock one time a day. :)

 

Can't wait for the rest!

[prim8keeper]

Day #5: St. Kitts

 

Since we had to be up very early for St. Kitts, we docked at 7 am, we decided we would do room service for breakfast. Blu didn't even open until 7:30 am so I knew that was out of the question since we were meeting our group at 8 am. We have learned in the past to be choosy about what you order since its a 50/50 shot as to whether or not the food will be hot. As a result we just had some fruit, assorted pastries such as danishes, etc., bagels, and some cereal. Basically stuff that was already cold. My DH also then ran up one deck to grab us some fresh squeezed OJ from the buffet bar. We then enjoyed our breakfast out on our balcony.

 

After breakfast we went down to the passport bar to meet everyone for our excursion. I had planned an excursion for anyone on our roll call was interested. In total there were 12 of us. I have found it's best to limit the number to 10 or 12 since it allows you to be big enough to have a private tour, but you are also still small enough everyone can talk to each other and spread out in the van. Our tour was with Island Paradise Tours. Our tour was a basic tour of the island of St. Kitts that hit all the big highlights such as Romney Manor, Brimstone Hill Fortress, Timothy Hill and the beach.

 

 

 

 

Our tour started out with a tour of the city and then stopping at a overlook on our way up to Brimstone Hill Fortress. Our guide also told us all about St. Kitts as we went along. The weather was cloudy and there was some light misting rain however it stopped while we were at the fortress.

 

 

[prim8keeper]

These are more photos of Brimstone Fortress. This really was one of my favorite stops.

 

 

As the rain stopped we even saw a rainbow. After this there was sun for the rest of the day.

 

 

 

 

[prim8keeper]

 

 

This photo is probably my favorite photo that I took that day. With the mountains in the background and all the lush greenery I couldn't help but be reminded of Hawaii. It really was breathtaking. I probably could have stayed just exploring the fortress all day.

 

 

We could also see Nevis off in the distance.

 

 

After spending about an hour here we made our way to Romney Manor. We were making perfect timing as well since we were departing as all the cruise ship tours were arriving. The road up and down is a single lane with lots of blind spots and curves. We also saw some monkeys in the trees as we were departing as well.

 

We arrived to Romney Manor and Batik after a short drive. It almost felt like we were on a different island since the sun was now so bright and it was not out mountainous. While the gardens were very pretty I couldn't help but feel like the Batik was built for the purpose of just being a tourist stop. The photo below is all there was of the manor. The rest was basically a nice garden and gift shot in my view.