Detailed Photo Review of 3/14/16 Celebrity Equinox 11 Night Cruise

[Jiminy1955]

Lynn, I saw a little bit of everything in there. I don't think you should worry about it.

 

 

Oh Cindy thank you so much! I just let out a big sigh of relief!

[deladane]

Thank you for this amazing report and for taking the time to write about it. I just keep reading it while I'm waiting for my sailing aboard the Eclipse on July.

 

I laughed with the pictures of the green food on St Patrick's.

 

 

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I'll let J know you liked his green food dye idea haha I'll be on the Eclipse in 2018... I can't wait!!

 

 

Loving all your adventures and pics!!! We have been to all of the ports, but not on Equinox. We will sail on her in early NOV. DH is handicapped; cruising allows him travel freedom.

 

I am very adventurous which is okay with my DH as long as I go with others. Our adult DDs are not so happy with me. So, when I started reading your volcano adventure, I thought this is great! Before you finished the ladder scenario, I was out :eek:

 

Thanks for allowing me to tag along with your adventures. BTW try an almond joy martini w/chocolate - best ever!

Oooh that martini sounds delicious! Is that on the Celebrity menu? or just in general I should try it? And yes, the mud volcano isn't for everyone, but I'm so glad I had the chance to experience it!

[deladane]

Maybe I can check the mud volcano off my list now enjoying it here. :)

 

Loved the pics and video and description/commentary. The Martini's were a great end of day choice!

haha that's fine by me if you want to count reading my review as checking it off your bucket list!! Glad you're enjoying the review :) I miss my nightly martinis!

 

We really wanted to sail on Celebrity & are booked on the Equinox in March 2017.

However I just read a Celebrity Today from February 2016 on the Equinox posted on someones blog. It says "guests are asked to follow the Smart Casual & above dress code in the Equinox Theater for all evening performances". Does this apply to the bars & lounges too? We, DH especially, usually change into more comfortable clothes after dinner. I'm looking for opinions as to whether we should change our cruise to Royal or stick this one out and just change after attending the first performance.

We usually stayed dress in our outfits from dinner when we went to the shows at night, but I saw people in all levels of dress in the theater. No one enforced any dress codes that I could see!

[Jiminy1955]

haha that's fine by me if you want to count reading my review as checking it off your bucket list!! Glad you're enjoying the review :) I miss my nightly martinis!

 

 

We usually stayed dress in our outfits from dinner when we went to the shows at night, but I saw people in all levels of dress in the theater. No one enforced any dress codes that I could see!

 

Thank you so much! Between you & Cindy I feel so much better about it. I think once I talk to him we may stay in our dinner clothes just for the show. We have select dining & like to eat early so I think the 7:00 show is doable for us.

[wallie5446]

We really wanted to sail on Celebrity & are booked on the Equinox in March 2017.

However I just read a Celebrity Today from February 2016 on the Equinox posted on someones blog. It says "guests are asked to follow the Smart Casual & above dress code in the Equinox Theater for all evening performances". Does this apply to the bars & lounges too? We, DH especially, usually change into more comfortable clothes after dinner. I'm looking for opinions as to whether we should change our cruise to Royal or stick this one out and just change after attending the first performance.

 

I'm going to jump in, "Don't Change!"

We took no so called 'formal' wear for the first time! So we stayed comfortable at dinner and thru the evening and nightly activities.

[Jiminy1955]

Thank you all! Staying with Celebrity :)

 

Sorry Deladane I didn't mean to hijack this thread......it's been a great review!

[deladane]

Thank you all! Staying with Celebrity :)

 

Sorry Deladane I didn't mean to hijack this thread......it's been a great review!

 

No worries! I'm glad all of our advice lead you to stick it out with Celebrity as it was truly a fantastic vacation experience!! :)

[deladane]

Two martinis later, we made our way back to the Tuscan Grill for my birthday dinner at 6:30pm. This was a fabulous dining experience from start to end. We were seated at a window table overlooking the wake as we sailed through the night.

 

Having never been to a specialty restaurant on Celebrity, we asked our waitress to explain the process to us. She said that we could order as much or as little as we wanted from each category on the menu, and she made a few suggestions for popular dishes. I apologize in advance for my photos from this dinner... the ambiance was so dark and elegant that I did not want to use my camera's flash so all of the photos are very dark and a bit out of focus.

 

 

 

 

There is also a section of dishes that cost an additional fee on top of the $45 to dine here.

 

Homemade Braised Beef Ravioli

[deladane]

Ahi Tuna

 

Tuscan Onion Soup

 

Spaghetti alla Bolognese

 

Filet Mignon

 

Baked Pecorino Mac and Cheese and Truffled Parmesan Steak Fries

 

Every dish was beautifully presented and delicious. The only slight-miss for me was the Ahi Tuna as the sundried tomatoes overpowered the fish. By the time the desserts came out, we were both so full we could barely eat it!

 

Fondue for dessert

[deladane]

A few minutes later, our waitress came out with a birthday cake for me! It was a large piece of chocolate cake with a candle on top, and after I made a wish and blew out my candle, she offered to have it delivered to our cabin as she could tell we had no room left to eat it haha

 

 

We rolled out of the restaurant over 2 hours later at 8:45pm, and went straight to the theater for the comedian Keven Lee. I did not care for him much- he seemed very unprofessional by walking away from his microphone so we couldn't hear everything he said, and throwing his props all over the stage, and all of his jokes were dated. Maybe it was just the early wake up time, or the busy day in port, or the big dinner, but I nodded off a few times during the show. Luckily he didn't notice or he may have made fun of me!

 

We went back to the cabin for a quick nap when the show ended at 9:45pm, but ended up sleeping through the night. We were both really tired and needed the rest, although it would have been nice to stay out later with a sea day coming up tomorrow!

[biscornu]

Hello Dana, I thoroughly enjoyed this review and also the Med. one referred by Bimmer09 (Norris Adair). For in depth information on Tahiti you may wish to go to PescadoAmarillo.blogspot.com. The author, Jeannie, has cruised there x2 on Princess and has many posts on her blog spot. Best wishes on your wedding. Barbara

[eurotraveller1]

I'll let J know you liked his green food dye idea haha I'll be on the Eclipse in 2018... I can't wait!!

 

 

 

 

Wow! I'll try to inspire on your review to make one on the Eclipse, but I don't know if I'll do it as good as your reviews. If I don't, I'll let you know what differences I find between the ships.

[shipshape sam]

haha that's fine by me if you want to count reading my review as checking it off your bucket list!! Glad you're enjoying the review :) I miss my nightly martinis!

 

 

LOL. Some things I can enjoy vicariously. Now if you had gone to a brewery....

Edited May 6, 2016 by shipshape sam

[ImpulsivePuppy]

Deladane, I am enjoying your review so much I clicked on your links to read your other reviews and I have to say I am very impressed with your writing and the pics to balance it all out. You truly have a talent, you could write books and give Rick Steves a run for his money! Keep up the great work and thanks!!!

[bluwes]

Enjoying your review so far. We're on the same itinerary next March. First time on Equinox and first time in Cartagena, Costa Rica and Panama. So looking forward to getting our cruise "started" by reviewing your posts. Thanks for taking the time

 

Hi Barb. We are on the same cruise. Have you joined the roll call yet ?

[bluwes]

Dana,

What a great review, I have just spent all morning reading through all 17 pages.

We are on this cruise next March, and was wondering what to do in Cartagena, after they changed it to an overnight stop. I know now we wont be doing the Chivas bus !

 

Thanks for all the info.

 

Wes

[Cancruz]

Not on menu - ask and you shall receive. Don't forget to ask for the chocolate!

[deladane]

Hello Dana, I thoroughly enjoyed this review and also the Med. one referred by Bimmer09 (Norris Adair). For in depth information on Tahiti you may wish to go to PescadoAmarillo.blogspot.com. The author, Jeannie, has cruised there x2 on Princess and has many posts on her blog spot. Best wishes on your wedding. Barbara

Thank you! I'm so glad you are enjoying my reviews :) And thanks for recommending that blog, but I actually already have it bookmarked! haha I need to get through this review first, and then I can delve deeper into planning the Tahiti cruise :)

 

 

Wow! I'll try to inspire on your review to make one on the Eclipse, but I don't know if I'll do it as good as your reviews. If I don't, I'll let you know what differences I find between the ships.

Aww, no worries! Any bit of information helps! I'd also be curious to hear about your experiences in port as that's an area of the world I've never visited before :)

[deladane]

haha that's fine by me if you want to count reading my review as checking it off your bucket list!! Glad you're enjoying the review :) I miss my nightly martinis!

 

 

LOL. Some things I can enjoy vicariously. Now if you had gone to a brewery....

J would love it if we went to a brewery! We go wine tasting all the time as we live in the Bay Area and have several wine regions close by. I don't think I've ever been to a brewery, but if I do, I'll be sure to share the experience with you! haha

 

Deladane, I am enjoying your review so much I clicked on your links to read your other reviews and I have to say I am very impressed with your writing and the pics to balance it all out. You truly have a talent, you could write books and give Rick Steves a run for his money! Keep up the great work and thanks!!!

Wow, thank you! I relied heavily on Rick Steves when planning my Med cruise in 2013, and I even met him once when he was a guest speaker at a travel show. What an honor to be compared to him! :D

[deladane]

Dana,

What a great review, I have just spent all morning reading through all 17 pages.

We are on this cruise next March, and was wondering what to do in Cartagena, after they changed it to an overnight stop. I know now we wont be doing the Chivas bus !

 

Thanks for all the info.

 

Wes

 

Wow, you must be a fast reader as I know my reviews are a bit long-winded!! So glad you found the info helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions :) One bit of advice I will offer you is that you may want to see how many ships are in port the day you go to Grand Cayman. I had a lot of trouble finding excursions that weren't sold out when I started planning for this cruise last May. We had 7 ships and over 21,000 passengers in port the day we were there, so I hope you don't experience that kind of crowding, but you may want to book something now (if you didn't already book it) given that you are also sailing in March (spring break season!).

 

I see you are sailing on the Vista next... I can't wait to read the reviews after this week's inaugural cruise as she sounds like an amazing ship!!

[fninsn]

Thanks for reading along! We did have a wonderful cruise, and I'm having fun reliving it by writing this review :D I really enjoyed staying overnight in Cartagena, and I look forward to having an overnight stay in Aruba on my next Celebrity cruise. It's such a unique opportunity to stay overnight docked in a port, so I wanted to take advantage of it!!

 

Dana,

 

My husband and I spent a week in Aruba for our Honeymoon in September and loved it. I highly recommend an excursion called "Trikes Aruba". It's a 3 wheeled vehicle that is half motorcycle and half sports car and we had a blast on it!! It fills up quickly, so book early.

 

I also recommend that you head to Palm Beach (the High Rise Section) for your evening in Aruba. There are tons of restaurants and bars and lots of entertainment. You won't be disappointed.

 

Thanks again for a great review.

 

Linda

[bluwes]

Wow, you must be a fast reader as I know my reviews are a bit long-winded!! So glad you found the info helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions :) One bit of advice I will offer you is that you may want to see how many ships are in port the day you go to Grand Cayman. I had a lot of trouble finding excursions that weren't sold out when I started planning for this cruise last May. We had 7 ships and over 21,000 passengers in port the day we were there, so I hope you don't experience that kind of crowding, but you may want to book something now (if you didn't already book it) given that you are also sailing in March (spring break season!).

 

I see you are sailing on the Vista next... I can't wait to read the reviews after this week's inaugural cruise as she sounds like an amazing ship!!

 

 

 

We have been to Cayman several times, so if its a busy day we will probably stay on board as the departure time is now 3.30pm, so not long enough to do anything meaningful

[fninsn]

We really wanted to sail on Celebrity & are booked on the Equinox in March 2017.

However I just read a Celebrity Today from February 2016 on the Equinox posted on someones blog. It says "guests are asked to follow the Smart Casual & above dress code in the Equinox Theater for all evening performances". Does this apply to the bars & lounges too? We, DH especially, usually change into more comfortable clothes after dinner. I'm looking for opinions as to whether we should change our cruise to Royal or stick this one out and just change after attending the first performance.

 

I don't think you need to worry too much. The style of dress is a mixed bag with anything from shorts to tuxes, so give it a try, you just may like it :rolleyes:

 

Linda

[deladane]

Dana,

 

My husband and I spent a week in Aruba for our Honeymoon in September and loved it. I highly recommend an excursion called "Trikes Aruba". It's a 3 wheeled vehicle that is half motorcycle and half sports car and we had a blast on it!! It fills up quickly, so book early.

 

I also recommend that you head to Palm Beach (the High Rise Section) for your evening in Aruba. There are tons of restaurants and bars and lots of entertainment. You won't be disappointed.

 

Thanks again for a great review.

 

Linda

That sounds great! Thanks for the advice! I have a word document for all of my cruises where I take notes on ideas of what to do in each port, so I added your suggestions to my Aruba section on my 2018 cruise document :) I think I will try to do one day in Aruba at the beach or in the water, and one day on land, so thank you for those suggestions as the trikes sounds like fun!

 

 

We have been to Cayman several times, so if its a busy day we will probably stay on board as the departure time is now 3.30pm, so not long enough to do anything meaningful

Oh no! Especially with a tender port where you can't just run on board at the last minute, that's a bummer that they shortened the port time. I think a lot of people stayed on board in Grand Cayman from our cruise too as they had also been there many times before. All of my Caribbean cruises before this have left from Puerto Rico and went to the Southern Caribbean islands so I was one of the few first timers to Grand Cayman! Even J had been there before on a cruise with his family haha

[deladane]

Tuesday, March 22 ~ Sea Day

 

We woke up bright an early at 7:30am without an alarm after a deep 9+ hours of sleep. Since we had a few minutes before the MDR opened for breakfast, I spent some time playing with the interactive options on the TV in our cabin. This was my first time having an interactive TV like this on a cruise, and prior to sailing, I was very curious about what each of the screens did. Here is a photo of each of the screens, as well as the photo viewing page and the view from the bridge.

 

 

I was a bit disappointed that the MDR dinner menu was not listed on the TV... when you click on that option, it says to look for the menu outside the dining room! Gee, thanks for that! lol

 

At 8am, we headed downstairs for breakfast at the MDR. We opted to sit at a large table for 10 people, and a few of them were talking about how much they disliked the comedian last night. Glad to hear it wasn't just me!

 

I liked how they served everything I ordered on the same plate as it made for less clutter on the table!

 

This is the wine rack at the back of the dining room. When we took the Galley Tour last week, they told us what it cost and how many bottles it holds, but I totally can't remember those numbers anymore!

 

After breakfast, we wanted to sit on our balcony for a bit, but it was in the sun so we decided to go up to the Solarium instead. I figured, why spend time burning in the sun on a sea day when there are lots of shaded options? Let's save the sunburns for days at the beach! There were lots of chaises available when we arrived at 9:30am so we set up camp for over 2 hours as J napped and read his Kindle and I took notes in my trip journal for this review. At some point, we ordered some frozen drinks from the waiter- I love that they walk around to take drink orders so we could be very lazy and not get up! haha

 

 

As a side note, I was very impressed at how clean the bathroom was at the pool. I avoid the pool bathroom on Carnival as it is always a mess with wet slippery floors, but this pool bathroom was immaculate, even on a hot and busy sea day!

 

We got up to get lunch at noon. J had a burger from the grill and I wanted the stir fry noodles at the buffet. Sadly, they didn't have that today (after a bit of investigating, I learned that they only serve it for lunch on port days... when most people are off the ship and can't enjoy it), and nothing else appealed to me. J took one for the team and offered to eat again with me at the MDR. This was my first time having lunch in the MDR on any cruise as I am used to having a late brunch on all my other cruises.

 

 

I really enjoyed the fried mushrooms, and they had stir fry udon noodles so I could have that after all! J ordered a salad and a hot dog, and he enjoyed that as well.

 

Crisp Fried Mushrooms