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

[librarylady19]

Love, love Dominica and your photos truly capture the beauty of that island. I really wish Celebrity had more cruises that stopped there. We did Titou Gorge (so,cold it literally takes your breath away at first) Trafalgar Falls and the luxurious hot pools there and Champagne Beach with the marvelous and unjustifiably popular Levi Barron.

 

Really enjoying your review Tom.

[prim8keeper]

Love, love Dominica and your photos truly capture the beauty of that island. I really wish Celebrity had more cruises that stopped there. We did Titou Gorge (so,cold it literally takes your breath away at first) Trafalgar Falls and the luxurious hot pools there and Champagne Beach with the marvelous and unjustifiably popular Levi Barron.

 

Really enjoying your review Tom.

 

I totally agree that X should stop in Dominica more. I wondered when we were there if the reason the stops are so limited is because of the fact that they only have the one very small pier in addition to being further south. While we loved all the islands, St. Kitts and Dominica were our favorites.

[Caribbean Amphibean]

First of all, congratulations on the nuptuals. May your marriage be long, happy, and full of cruises.

 

Second, thanks for the great thread. I am enjoying each post.

 

Third, thanks for the baby monkey info. I had no idea.

 

And fourth, would you please talk about the balcony? We will be visiting Equinox for the second time with another couple we travel with in December (11 night western). We finally convinced them to get a balcony (they love inside cabins), and it connects to ours. You had one with your In-laws, and I was wondering how the experience is. I say this because it doesn't open up completely, so do you feel like the four of you are just looking around the corner? or do you feel like you can have a drink "all together".

 

I just want to manage my expectations. Any thoughts (from you or other posters) would be great!

[prim8keeper]

 

And fourth, would you please talk about the balcony? We will be visiting Equinox for the second time with another couple we travel with in December (11 night western). We finally convinced them to get a balcony (they love inside cabins), and it connects to ours. You had one with your In-laws, and I was wondering how the experience is. I say this because it doesn't open up completely, so do you feel like the four of you are just looking around the corner? or do you feel like you can have a drink "all together".

 

I just want to manage my expectations. Any thoughts (from you or other posters) would be great!

 

I think the balcony open divider situation allows for both scenarios.

 

The photo below is from Solstice but it also shows what the dividers look like when they are open in a regular non-hump balcony.

 

 

Since even with the divider open you only get a small portion of shared space I think it can allow you to have privacy if you want it, or if you want you can join everything together. It also allows you to move easily between the two balconies. We had a cabin crawl on that cruise and were able to fit quit a few people out there which made it very easy to entertain. Also, if we wanted to eat breakfast together we would pull everything more forward and towards the middle. In the future if we are traveling with friends or family and we were in the same type of cabin I would try to get adjoining ones so we could open up the balcony dividers.

[prim8keeper]

Day 8: St. Martin/St. Maarten

 

The morning we arrived in St. Martin we were running late so we decided just to grab a coffee and some pastries at the cafe. They have mini danishes, little muffins, etc. all of which are free. Afterwards we went down to meet the group for our excursion. One of our friends from the roll call had put together a private tour for the day with Bernard's Tours. It was a basic overview of St. Martin.

 

The route we followed was along the outside of the island so we could see everything. Our first big stop was Orient Beach however along the way we stopped at a few scenic over looks along with the french and dutch border. It was at one of these stops where our guide introduced us to their rum punch. It was served in tiny little glasses like a shot. I would say it was less punch and more rum, but it made for a fun day.

 

 

 

 

 

Our group elected to spend less time at Orient Beach so that we could spend more time in Marigot and at Maho Beach. At Orient Beach we visited La Playa. They had multiple bars and if you were so inclined you could rent two chairs and an umbrella. I forget how much they were, no one in our group did it. I believe they also came with a drink. While La Playa is further down our guide told us they stop there because it is cheaper than further up the beach closer to Club Orient (nudist resort). Most of us just grabbed a drink from the bar and hung out.

 

 

After 45 minutes or so at Orient Beach we headed for Marigot which is the capital on the french side of the island. If you have never been over there I would highly recommend it for the food. Our group elected to spend two hours in Marigot so that we would have time for lunch. Most of us decided to have lunch at La Vie En Rose which is located in a pink building right in town. They had wonderful sandwich's and crepes. Afterwards we walked up the street to get dessert at Sarafina's which is a famous french bakery. They have cases and cases of french pastries, sandwich's and a whole host of breads and other baked goods for sale. It was very difficult to decided what to get. My DH and I ended up splitting an eclair, a strawberry tart, and some type of coconut cake. All three were excellent and I don't think anyone from our group tried something they didn't like. Afterwards we walked around a little to burn off some the calories from everything we had eaten. There are a whole bunch of shops and vendors in town, however most of them were closed because it was the afternoon. The photo below is of the marina in Marigot.

 

[prim8keeper]

After we left Marigot we continued to make our way around the island towards Maho beach. For those who do not know Maho beach is where you can see the planes coming in and taking off since the beach is located right across the street from the airport. This was probably my favorite stop of the day. Make sure you go in the afternoon if you want to see the larger international flights coming in. There is a rather larger bar off to the one side of the beach which has a list of all the incoming flights. This is also not really a beach I would visit to swim at.

 

 

 

 

The first big plane we saw coming in for the day, an Air France from Paris.

 

 

It's really hard and takes some practice to get the entire plane in the shot!

 

 

[prim8keeper]

A panoramic shot of the whole beach. Another downside to this beach is you really can't sit in the center section because you will be hit by the jet blast/sand from departing aircraft.

 

 

Delta flight from Atlanta.

 

 

While we were there we also got to see the 747 depart.

 

 

 

It was at this point that we started to wonder if we should move over more.

 

 

The answer was yes. Note the debris you can see in the air being kicked up.

 

[prim8keeper]

 

Needless to say everyone in our group was finding sand in places you wouldn't believe for the next few days. I even had it in my short pockets. I don't really think there is a safe spot on the beach where you aren't going to be blasted by sand when that thing takes off. Most of the people who had been in the middle of the beach directly behind it, we were off to the left, had been pushed down towards the water or fallen over. It even blew over some of the umbrellas people had up way off to the right near the bar. They are also really trying to discourage the fence surfing. Part of the fence was recently damaged when the 747 came in too low and it's landing gear clipped it.

 

After Maho beach we made our way back to port since there were not going to be any other big planes for quit a while. You want to make sure to leave yourself plenty of time to get back since traffic coming from that area tends to back up easily. They are in the process though of building a new bridge which should help to alleviate traffic. Back in port we decided to do some shopping and bought two bottles of Sint Maarten Guavaberry Rum. They have a women standing out in front of their stall handing out samples of the Guavaberry Colada. Make sure to try it! If you like it make sure you buy some of the rum there because you can not get it in the US. After that we called it a day and headed back to the ship.

 

 

We were docked right across from the NCL Jewel.

 

 

On the other side was an MSC ship.

 

 

Going through security to get back onto the ship they did not take our liquor to hold until the end of the cruise. We also talked to friends of ours who had purchased rum in Barbados and they told us they also did not have their liquor held either. I'm not really sure why since we still had two sea days left before we arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale and Barbados was the halfway point.

 

Once back on board we grabbed a drink and then headed for our room so that we could just sit on our balcony and relax during sail away. I also drank some of the tea they provide in AQ class. They no longer put it in the same pots they use for coffee! As a result it now just taste like tea instead of some weird tea/coffee hybrid.

 

Panoramic shot of St. Martin as we were departing from our balcony.

 

 

[jerseygirl3]

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.

 

 

 

BERMUDA???? Yikes! Did I sleep through Day 6. I could have sworn we were in Barbados!!! :)

 

Love your photos! What type of camera did you use?

[prim8keeper]

BERMUDA???? Yikes! Did I sleep through Day 6. I could have sworn we were in Barbados!!! :)

 

Love your photos! What type of camera did you use?

 

Ha, your totally right. I've been thinking a lot about Bermuda since we just booked that cruise Friday. :rolleyes:

 

I have a sony cyber-shot TX30. It is one of those cameras that can take a beating and go into the water. I really like it. Its very easy to use as well.

Edited March 11, 2013 by prim8keeper

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[prim8keeper]

After relaxing on our balcony for a while we decided to get ready for dinner. Tonight we were going to dine in the MDR with our friends, none of which were in AQ. This was also going to be the first time we had dinner in the MDR.

 

After getting ready we headed down to the Martini bar for a before dinner cocktail while we waited for our friends. Once everyone had arrived we headed for the MDR. Both of the other couples we were dinning with did Select Dinning so they had just called ahead to make a reservation for all of us. It was not a problem for us to eat in the MDR even though we were in AQ. Overall I personally didn't care for dinner in the MDR, although I thought the wait staff was outstanding. They were very honest about what you should or should not order. While nothing was terrible, I just wasn't blown away. I started with a chicken soup (I thought the soups in Blu were much better), and then had a totally forgettable pasta dish. I am very lucky that my DH is an excellent cook who makes almost everything from scratch, so I know I am spoiled. Interestingly enough my DH who had not enjoyed lunch in the MDR did enjoy dinner. That said we did decide that we would continue to book AQ so that we could dine in Blu most nights.

 

After dinner we all hung around for a while chatting and then most people called it a night. After five straight days of being in port and being out in the sun all day everyone was starting to feel it. We headed back to the Martini bar so I could get my favorite cocktail there, the almond joy. It made for a perfect after dinner drink. We eventually then headed up to bed. Tomorrow was going to be the big brunch in the MDR so we wanted to make sure we got up early enough to eat breakfast in Blu so we would be hungry right at noon. We had also set up a time to meet our friends to play black jack in the casino.

 

I was also going to do this in the morning to burn off some of my cruise calories...FYI it didn't happen. Makes for a pretty picture though!

 

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

Maho Beach looks amazing, did you just take a taxi? I want to go.

[blythe]

I am enjoying this review so much because we were on this same cruise and the comments and photos bring back such pleasant memories! We have also booked a Bermuda cruise for this summer and are very eager to get back on board a Celebrity ship!

[prim8keeper]

Maho Beach looks amazing, did you just take a taxi? I want to go.

 

No, it was part of our day with Bernard's Tours. That said there were a ton of taxi drivers waiting to take people back. One guy even had a sign with a picture of the ship on it. So I wouldn't worry too much about getting back to port. It is also on the dutch side of the island and there is a number you can call and they will come get you. The taxi rates are also set, HERE.

Edited March 11, 2013 by prim8keeper

[jameybano]

Really enjoying your review. My DH and I took an identical photo in front of the St. Martin sign!

Barbados was my favorite beach water experience as well.

[prim8keeper]

Day 9: Sea Day #3

 

While we had planned on waking up early, it didn't happen. By the time we were ready for the day it was already 9 am and we decided to go to Blu for breakfast even though it meant we would probably would not go to the sea day brunch. By this point every time we went to Blu they would ask us if everything was ok, etc. since we had only been there for about half the dinners and half the breakfast. We just explained that we had been eating with our friends around the ship and trying all the various venues. The one maitre d' even commented that she had seen us around the ship with other people and wondered who they were. I think they just thought we were unhappy with the food or service, which wasn't the case.

 

Art on the way to Blu/specialty restaurants.

 

 

 

After breakfast we went down to the cafe for some coffee and to people watch for a while. It's such a great location to do that. We would also inevitably run into someone from our roll call. We then went back and fourth on whether or not we were going to attend the brunch. In the end we decided not to since I really wasn't that hungry and we figured if we didn't get there towards the beginning at 11 am, we would end up fighting with people for the last of the shrimp. So it just didn't seem worth it to me since we could order shrimp to our cabin. Instead we decided to go up and try the mast grill. We had never eaten there before and multiple people had told us they make a really good hamburger. They were right! Next time I'll have to make sure to go there earlier in the cruise. Afterwards we decided to go hang out on the lawn and just relax.

 

 

 

I would love one of these benches for my own back yard.

 

 

We also saw an MSC ship heading towards the islands while we were headed back towards Florida.

 

 

After hanging out on the lawn we decided to treat ourselves to gelato, plus we still had a little bit of OBC to spend. I stuck with the fruit flavors, my personal favorite is the mango, and my DH had the chocolate hazelnut. Afterwards we decided to head back up to our cabin to change and get ready for dinner since we had 6:30 pm reservations in Murano with our friends.

Edited March 11, 2013 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

Even though we were going to Murano for dinner we decided to dress up for our last formal night. After all we were going to Murano to celebrate! Once we were ready we went down to wait in the Ensemble Lounge to wait for our friends.

 

 

Once our friends arrived we headed to Murano for dinner. It was perfect timing too since one of the singers we did not care for was about to start. For dinner I ordered the exact same thing I had previously on Solstice because I enjoyed it so much. We started out our dinner with some Cristal to toast to a wonderful cruise, good friends, and our honeymoon. I then started with the diver scallop wellington style. I'm not usually a big fan of scallops but when done right they are heavenly. Afterwards, both me and my DH shared some pork appetizer that had a chili sauce (I can't remember the name) that was equally wonderful. For my entree I had the murano lobster (I'm pretty sure that is what it is called)? It is the lobster that is cooked table side. Again, I'm not a big lobster person, especially the lobster they have on cruise ships, but the sauce they cook this in is something I could just drink. Others then had the cheese course and we all ordered the obligatory chocolate souffle for dessert. It was a good thing we had made 6:30 pm reservation because we ended up sitting there and talking for four or five hours. All in all it was a wonderful meal and a great way to celebrate the cruise.

 

After dinner we stopped off at the Martini bar for one last cocktail and then headed up to room. On the way we stopped to check out Team Earth. I really like that X does this since in my field obviously conservation is a big thing. It was hard to believe that tomorrow would be our last day already.

 

 

 

 

 

[cruiser77]

Fabulous photos! Love reading your review.:)

[Hollywood Traveler]

Tom: It was the pork belly appetizer you and Pete shared in Murano. I had a whole one to myself. Very good.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Hollywood Traveler

[cruzccl]

Tom,

 

you mentioned there is a pillow menu? Is it only for AQ cabins? I asked on my last voyage and no one knew what I was talking about. Do you have any pics of the menu?

 

Thanks,

Bill

[prim8keeper]

Tom,

 

you mentioned there is a pillow menu? Is it only for AQ cabins? I asked on my last voyage and no one knew what I was talking about. Do you have any pics of the menu?

 

Thanks,

Bill

 

Concierge class and suites also have the pillow menu. That said I've never actually seen the menu since they had removed everything from our cabins for deep cleaning on both of our cruises. That's why on our first cruise I just asked the steward for one of each pillow. This last time I just used the regular pillows. I've seen other people comment that there is no actual menu and they just asked their room steward. I'd recommend on asking right away though since I've seen reports that they have run out of certain ones. Probably because of people like me who just ask for them all... :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mrsmagnolia]

:p Congrats on your wedding, may you have many happy years and happy cruising ahead....

Like everyone who read through your reports, they were so honest and warm hearted, felt like we were all there with you (OH NO)! LOL..

My DH and I are heading off to Fla this Friday for the same cruise, I am kind of nervous about our deck (6), got mixed reviews, but looking forward to it, anyway....the ship is 100% booked, so there was no changing rooms....

It's our 10 exclusive Celebrity cruise, first time on the S class ships....

 

Trying to talk DH into the drink package, I am more of a sipper of the bubblies and like to experiment with some of the drinks you mentioned, I have a few days to do some persuading....

 

We did most of these islands in the past, Dominica is the only one we haven't visited, booked a tour with bumping...(Levi)...

 

Did you find that getting lounge chairs around the pool together a difficulty?

 

Well looking forward to reading more on your review today later after work...

Thanks again.. I have a similar camera, hope I get some pics that are as good as yours...:rolleyes:

[prim8keeper]

Day 10: Sea Day #4

 

We woke up relatively early on our final sea day so we could cram in as much as possible. For breakfast we decided to go to Blu. You could tell they were starting to run low on certain items as the fruit plate was now only watermelon. After breakfast we decided to head up to the poll deck for a while and hang out.

 

 

 

After spending a few hours up on top we went back down to shower and change for lunch. My DH wanted to go to Bistro on Five one last time and we were meeting our friends in the casino after lunch to play some more blackjack. You can never eat enough Italian crepes during your cruise! Bistro on Five was very quiet. We were the only ones there the entire time. I always wonder why they keep Bistro on Five. While I think it is excellent and that seems to be a widely shared opinion here on CC, there never seems to be anyone there.

 

After lunch we met up with our friends in the casino to play blackjack. For a while we were doing pretty good, however the table eventually went cold and it was all downhill from there. They were also handing out special tickets for a casino drawing if you hit 21. They were handing them out at the other table games as well and had been for the whole cruise. We had a few so we decided to stick around for the casino drawing. I think the real ploy was to get us to stick around and gamble some more since you had to be there to win. So we got a drink and then I eventually starting playing blackjack again. My DH had already lost all his gambling money for the day. I just wanted to guarantee he wasn't alone apparently since I had been up.

 

After our failed attempt at the casino we decided to go browse the stores so we could spend the rest of our OBC. We had taken out some of it to gamble in the casino and I thought about taking out the rest in cash to just take home, but wheres the fun in that? We then headed up to the Cafe for an afternoon coffee break. We also decided to get some more gelato. My DH tried to order the spaghetti gelato however it was too soft to be pressed through the machine.

 

We also noticed the very, very long line coming from the future cruises office! Whatever you do, do not wait until the last sea day to visit them if you think you may want to book another cruise. We made that mistake on our first cruise and ended up having to wait quite a while. This time we had gone earlier in the week and just walked right in. They also now have a box out in front with forms that you could fill out. The lovely woman inside explained that this was also now an option. So if you just wanted to buy an open passages you could fill out the form and put it in the box rather than having to actually meet with them. For open passages they no longer give you any actual paperwork. It is all emailed to you. You could also use the form to book a cruise, but you had to know the exact sailing, etc. I also attempted to no avail to see if she would give anything up on if X will have 7 day European sailings starting in 2014. She seemed as though she might have known something, but wouldn't say one way or the other, just that it seemed likely. I'll explain more about what we got while we were there later.

 

After our coffee and gelato we decided to grab a drink and then just wonder around the ship some more. It seems like no matter how many days you are on it there is always something new to see. I kept forgetting to take a picture of what we termed, "the baked potato kid." I'm sure it probably had some fancy name, but it was a sculpture that had legs and what looked like a baked potato wrapped in tin foil on top from the waist up. Its located across from the shops on deck 4. Sadly, I never did get that picture.

 

This first photo was actually taken from our balcony.

 

 

As you can see the card room was very busy on sea days.

 

 

 

The photo below didn't come out great because of the glare, but it was one of my favorite pieces of art on the ship.

 

Edited March 12, 2013 by prim8keeper

[mmpgoodtogo]

Where is that hammock-esq thing located? Please tell me it isn't only for suite or AQ guests. It looks amazing.