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

[prim8keeper]

A few more photos from Romney Manor.

 

 

 

 

 

[prim8keeper]

After visiting Romney Manor we drove over to the other side of the island where most of the hotels area. This side of the island is much flatter and dryer. It is also where you will see many of the big houses. Once there we stopped at Timothy Hill where you can see the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean sea on the other.

 

 

 

A group photo of some of us from that day!

 

 

You could also see Half Moon Bay from the other side where all the hotels and condos are.

 

 

After this our last stop was to visit Carambola Beach Club which was located on Friar's Bay. We didn't stay long though since most of us were starting to get tired and hungry. Our ship was also departing at 3:30 pm, so since it was now going on 1 pm we decided as a group it was best just to go back. The beach club looked really nice and I would defiantly consider going back there next time we are on St. Kitts. Several people from our roll call spent the day there and said it was a fun time. You can also walk down to Shipwreck Beach Bar & Grill which is where you will find some of the monkeys that run down and steal tourist alcoholic drinks while they are not looking. If you don't know what I am talking about

for a video. These monkeys are actually studied to gain insight into our own choices about alcohol. Its really interesting.

 

[Hollywood Traveler]

Wonderful, Tom. Thanks. Looking forward to the rest.

[prim8keeper]

Since we had such a great view from our balcony once we were back on the ship we decided to try room service for lunch. Prior to this we had only ever tried breakfast. The other huge benefit was that we could shower and change while we waited on our food.

 

 

 

The Fred Thompson ship was docked at what appeared to be a more commercial pier. Adventure of the Seas was docked on the other side of us.

 

 

Lunch was actually pretty good and came faster than we thought it would. I was very excited to learn that our expanded room service menu included creme brulee. After lunch we decided to go hang out at the cafe until sail away.

 

Another view of the cafe.

 

 

A view from uptop on the lawn club.

 

 

After sail away we went back to the cabin to take a nap and read on the balcony for a while. It was just more of the same that evening. Visiting the various bars and visiting with friends. We ate in Blu this night and I could not tell you what we had. We also continued to see the code red lifted. Snacks were now showing up at the bars and cloth towels appeared in the public bathrooms. We didn't know X did either of those things since up until now we had always been on ships that were in code red.

[librarylady19]

great photos! Seeing your photos of the lawn area reminds me of how much nicer this area is without the hideous cabanas.

 

We enjoyed a similar island tour of St. Kitts and totally agree with your assessment of Romney Manor!! If we go back, I'd definitely like to try that beach.

 

We discovered room service lunch on our most recent Summit cruise. We now like to do this at least once a cruise supplementing it with a quick trip to the pool bar or mast bar for drinks!! Also a nice option for "happy hour" on the balcony.

 

Don't know how I missed the creme brûlée.

Edited March 10, 2013 by librarylady19

[prim8keeper]

great photos! Seeing your photos of the lawn area reminds me of how much nicer this area is without the hideous cabanas.

 

We enjoyed a similar island tour of St. Kitts and totally agree with your assessment of Romney Manor!! If we go back, I'd definitely like to try that beach.

 

We discovered room service lunch on our most recent Summit cruise. We now like to do this at least once a cruise supplementing it with a quick trip to the pool bar or mast bar for drinks!! Also a nice option for "happy hour" on the balcony.

 

Don't know how I missed the creme brûlée.

 

We also can't wait to go back. It is such a beautiful island. I would also like to eventually get over to Nevis.

 

Yeah creme brûlée is one of the extra items on the menu under desserts in Congeries and Aqua. I was actually surprised how good it was and the top of it was perfect. That said the first thing I did when it arrived was find it and throw it into our fridge since the way they stack the plates the bottom of it was a little warm. Next time I think I'm going to try and order it more. :)

[prim8keeper]

Day #6: Bermuda:

 

I was looking forward to visiting Bermuda because everyone always said how nice their beaches are. I was also happy we were getting into port on the later side, 10 am, so we could sleep in. Getting up at 6:30 am on vacation just isn't right. Since we had the time went to breakfast in Blu. It was very good as usual. I did try the Solstice parfait, but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as the Blu parfait. The main difference is the Solstice parfait has strawberries instead of blueberries, and instead of granola they use oatmeal. It was kind of weird and I felt like it didn't all work together. After breakfast we ran back up to the cabin to get our stuff for the day and headed out to meet Hollywood Traveler and his wife to head off for Carlisle Bay.

 

 

 

Since it was a nice day we decided to walk to Carlisle Bay. It was not hard to get there as long as you have a map. You can find maps in the building in the port that includes all the shops. The photo below is us making our way through downtown.

 

 

While I never really felt unsafe we were approached quite a bit as to whether or not we wanted a taxi to take us around the island. I found all the vendors and cab drivers on Barbados to be on the aggressive side. Every where else they would just go away after you said no, however on Barbados most of them would not give up so easily. It was the same way on the beach. After about 20 minutes of walking, we may have taken a wrong turn, we arrived at Harbour Lights. You could rent two chairs and an umbrella for $15. Several others from our roll call were also there, but everyone else had taken a taxi over.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2013 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

We spent the better part of the morning lounging, swimming and having a few drinks. No matter how many beaches I visit I can never get enough of that crystal clear blue water.

 

 

 

We decided against eating at Harbour lights since the food was rather expensive and the menu was rather limited. We also really wanted to try the flying fish sandwich's Barbados is known for. One of our friends who cruises like she's addicted to drugs knew about a place back at the port. So we decided to pack up and take a taxi back to the port. It was $5 pp for all four of us. Right at the port you can get some great flying fish sandwich's! We had a flying fish sandwich and flying fish fingers (they come with a delicious sauce), fries and two drinks. It was around $20. It was $15 back at Harbour lights just for the sandwich just to give you an idea. They also had some really fun cocktails, although we passed since being so close to the ship we thought it made more sense to use our package. I don't remember what the name of it was called but it was an orange building on the outside front corner of the port building. They also had a giant monkey holding a drink so just look for it (see photo below).

 

 

After lunch we headed back to the ship. We did long around the stores at the port but we didn't really find anything. Most of the stuff was so generic you can get it on any island.

 

 

We decided to shower, change and then head to the martini bar for an afternoon cocktail. After a while we headed up to the lawn and sunset bar sail away.

 

[prim8keeper]

Up on the lawn I was able to get some really fun shots.

 

 

 

We also noticed how flat Barbados was compared to the other islands we had been to so far.

 

 

 

After sail away we went to the cafe to grab a coffee before we headed back to our cabin to get ready for dinner. We then settled into what had become our regular routine of visiting the various bars and hanging out with friends and others from our roll call. We talked about going to the show but we always decided to eat at weird times which made it difficult to get to either.

 

This night in Blu was my least favorite. I tried the pumpkin gnocchi and while it wasn't bad, it also wasn't very good. I was also starting to get the point where I was just tired of eating. Since we generally eat so much lighter in our every day lives things were starting to catch up with me. We did meet a lovely couple though who was a lot of fun to talk too. The woman also worked in the animal field and they had done something completely different in Bermuda.

 

By this point everything had returned to normal and there was no longer any code red restrictions. After dinner we decided to go walk around up on deck. Its so quiet up top at night. Afterwards we hung out at the Molecular bar where we ran into some of our friends and then called it a night.

 

[cruiseonly]

Great review.

 

What kind of safe does Equinox have. The one where you put in a four digit number, or one that uses a magnetic card.

 

thanks.

[prim8keeper]

Great review.

 

What kind of safe does Equinox have. The one where you put in a four digit number, or one that uses a magnetic card.

 

thanks.

 

It has a four digit code you put in. Similar to the safes you find in hotels.

[gelo7]

Nice review.

[prim8keeper]

Day #7: Dominica

 

My DH was lucky enough to wake up early enough to get some photos of the sunrise as we came into Dominica.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we once again had an early morning and arrival we had it set up so we could once again have room service for breakfast. I had once again organized a roll call excursion so right after breakfast we had to head down to the passport bar to meet everyone. In total there were 10 of us and we were going to be touring around Dominica with Nature Isle Explorers: Dominica. We had set up a custom tour that was going to visit Ti Tou Gorge, the Botanical Gardens, Trafalgar Falls, Sulfur Springs View & Screw's Spa.

[prim8keeper]

After meeting our guide we set out for the day. We did a quick tour of downtown and then headed off for the Botanical Gardens. On the way we stopped so we could get some great shots of the ship and Roseau.

 

 

 

 

 

After stopping at the overlook we headed down to the botanical gardens. I guess you can also hike up to that point from the botanical gardens but we obviously took the easy way. The botanical gardens were very nice but there was not a whole lot there. Apparently much of it was destroyed during a hurricane. One cool thing you can see though is a school bus that has been completely crushed by a tree. They left it there and the tree has since regrown. Unfortunately my picture didn't turn out.

 

Edited March 10, 2013 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

Some more photos of the botanical garden.

 

 

The famous bamboo house.

 

 

Inside the bamboo house.

 

 

Cannon Ball tree. Unfortunately the fruit in side smelled terrible.

 

 

[bplazo]

Great pictures!

[DebNJoe]

Great review and pictures Tom.

 

It was such a great cruise, so glad we'll all be doing it again next year! Can't wait to have a chance to see the things we missed ;)

[prim8keeper]

After the botanical gardens we headed Sulfur Spring's View. Dominica is made up of eight volcanoes which makes for some very beautiful views. It also means that it has one of the highest concentrations of potentially active volcanoes in the world.

 

 

After this stop we made our way Ti Tou's Gorge. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of this because it is too "refreshing" as they say. Personally I would say the water is cold to freezing! That said you do quickly become adjusted to it and as long as your are moving it's not too bad. You enter the gorge in the shallow end which quickly drops off to around 15 ft. It had been raining so the current near the waterfall was very strong and our guide pulled us over via ring. You will wear some type of float since there is no where to grab on to once you are in the gorge. While it was a really neat experience I think it is one of those things that you can do once and then check off your list. It was one of the locations where the Pirates of the Caribbean movies shot. I believe the second one.

 

After our refreshing dip in the gorge we headed to Screw's Sulfur Spa to warm up. Screw's Spa has 7 pools that are various temperatures. They go from hot to cool. All are heated naturally by the springs. We spent an hour here and it was very relaxing, especially after being in the cold water. It is well worth the $10 admission. Afterwards we were also given a variety of fresh fruit. The image below has been borrowed from HollywoodTraveler.

 

 

Our final stop for the day was Trafalgar Falls. It is a short hike, about 10 to 15 minutes, on a well maintained path to the waterfalls. It was amazing how dense the forest was. Can you spot the crab in the photo below?

 

 

Our guide swinging on the vines tarzan style!

 

 

 

They then have a platform where you can view the falls from. The path then continues on to the bottom of the falls where there are also some hot springs. We didn't visit them however since we had gone to screw's spa.

[Hollywood Traveler]

 

 

 

One cool thing you can see though is a school bus that has been completely crushed by a tree. They left it there and the tree has since regrown. Unfortunately my picture didn't turn out.

 

 

 

 

 

Tom: I did get a picture of the squashed school bus through the van window:

 

 

Still loving your review and photos.

 

Larry

Edited March 10, 2013 by Hollywood Traveler

[prim8keeper]

The Falls...

 

 

 

 

 

After the falls we made our way back to port. It was getting late and we were all starting to get hungry. The tour was wonderful! If you ever call comcast and end up speaking to Marvin in Dominica make sure to also ask him about excursions.

 

In front of the port there were all types of vendors set up so we did decide to explore a little. I'm glad we did as we found a guy who hand painted Christmas ornaments with scenes from Dominica on them. We ended up buying one for each of our parents that featured the falls.

 

 

Back on board we ran to our cabin to drop off our stuff and then decided to head to the buffet for lunch. Since it was going on 2 pm we didn't want to have to wait for room service, so we figured the buffet would be our best bet. This was also our first time at the buffet! I thought the food was pretty good and I liked the island layout which made it easy to get stuff. I knew we had dinner reservations again for Tuscan Grille so I should eat light, but I was so hungry I couldn't seem to help myself. Our friends on the other hand seemed to have much more self control. One even just ate a salad! Meanwhile I had pasta, bread, fruit, and a plate of desserts. So much for eating light.

[Illinisue]

Tom...sorry for going off post. Hollywoodtraveler, could you email me at susanlevey at gmail dot com. We'll be staying in Hollywood pre-cruise and would love to talk to you about restaurants.

[prim8keeper]

After lunch we went back to our cabin to shower and change. We then went to visit the cafe for our afternoon coffee break. Following that we went up to the sunset bar for sail away. This was probably the best sail away of the whole trip because the island was so beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was also the night they did nachos and margaritas up on the lawn. Earlier in the cruise they did wine and cheese up on the lawn. We always wanted to attend one, but they were always the same time as sail away so it just seemed inconvenient, especially if you eat dinner during the first seating or like to watch sail away.

 

After sail away we went down to hang out on our balcony and watch Dominica go by and change for dinner. The only reservation we were able to get at Tuscan were on the earlier side. We decided last minute to go there again since we still had a large portion of our OBC to use.

 

Prior to dinner we headed to the ensemble lounge for a cocktail. Since I ate such a big lunch so late I was kind of dreading going. By the time I was done with my appetizer, I ordered the same soup I had earlier in the cruise, I was already full. For my main entree I ordered the pasta bolognese. I had this when we visited Tuscan on Solstice and loved it. However, this time I was rather disappointed. It was obvious they had changed the recipe and it seemed like they were now increasing the quantity to make up for the drop in quality. It honestly tasted almost exactly like the pasta bolognese I had tried earlier in the day at the buffet. While I was disappointed in my entree our waiter and assistant waiter were fabulous. Since they knew we had the drink package they kept suggesting all sorts of things for us to try which was really fun. For dessert we shared the tiramisu which was excellent. After dinner I felt like I was going to explode so we decided to walk around the ship.

[Hollywood Traveler]

Tom...sorry for going off post. Hollywoodtraveler, could you email me at susanlevey at gmail dot com. We'll be staying in Hollywood pre-cruise and would love to talk to you about restaurants.

 

You've got mail. :)

 

Larry

[prim8keeper]

These are some photos of Equinox from our stroll.

 

 

 

A close up of the container that contains the live tree in the atrium.

 

 

 

Finally, since someone recently asked on these boards this is a photo of what your room will look like after turn down. This photo is form our 2011 cruise on Solstice.

 

 

After our stroll we ran into some friends and hung out at the martini bar for a while before calling it a night. Tomorrow would be our final port day.

[cruzccl]

Wonderful review so far thanks for sharing. I love the pics both original and borrowed. Congratulations to you and your DH also.

 

Bill