Equinox March 14 11-Night Review with Lots of Pictures!

[Cindy]

I spent some time at the Glass Show...I thought it was fascinating, and I really understood why blown glass is so expensive. What a labor intensive process!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cindy]

Lunch was in the Oceanview, where we really enjoyed the variety. They had several Irish dishes on offer in addition to the usual selections. Throughout the ship there was an effort to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and if one was so inclined (Jim was, I wasn’t) one could relive their college experience with a green beer in the Gastrobar! We spent some time (and some cash) in the casino in the afternoon, and just lounged on the balcony watching the world go by.

 

We started the evening off in the Martini Bar (where else?) and had a great dinner in BLU with greatly improved service.

 

 

 

When we got to dinner, we asked for a table with a different wait staff and were seated with Savio, Nona, and Milan (Wine Steward). We enjoyed their excellent service as well as the people at the surrounding tables, and sat in the same section for the rest of the cruise.

 

Savio was our waiter in BLU.

 

 

We went to the production show "Destiny" after dinner. I thought it had a lot of similarities to the show on Tuesday, with a focus on the aerialists.

 

 

 

 

[Cindy]

The dancing and the acrobatics were excellent, but Jim and I both thought the vocals were weak. Still, it was entertaining, and I’m glad we went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cindy]

 

 

 

 

 

We headed to bed not too long after the show, knowing that the morning would bring the first of four consecutive days in port!

[wallie5446]

I think they have a limited selection, but I'm not positive. If they don't the Gastrobar is also on Deck 4 -- conveniently right across from the Martini Bar!:D They have plenty of what your husband will be looking for!

 

We bounced back n forth but ended up homesteading the GastroBar! They made sure and keep a 'few' :eek: bottles of the red wine my wifester liked. I think Rick and I made it thru close to 25 of the diff beer choices.

[Texed]

We bounced back n forth but ended up homesteading the GastroBar! I think Rick and I made it thru close to 25 of the diff beer choices.

 

Mr. Wallie,

 

Was that one night in Gastrobar? :rolleyes:

[Cindy]

March 18, 2016 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

 

I had arranged a group of 12 from our roll call for the Natural History Tour through Greenway Nature Tours. This was a four & a half hour excursion that included a canal boat ride and a rainforest/jungle nature walk. We were meeting our group at 8:15, so we knew a sit-down breakfast was out of the question because of time. We went to the Oceanview which was fine (it served its purpose), but it was one of several times I was annoyed that the Equinox didn’t adjust breakfast hours to accommodate people on early tours.

 

Our group met for our tour in the Martini Bar and disembarked as a group. Our driver, Richard, was waiting right as we came off the gangway. We boarded our van/bus and we were off!

 

First we went to the river/canal boat tour. We had another Greenway Tour join us on the boat, but there was plenty of room for everybody and the driver did a good job of turning the boat for things of interest so everyone could see.

 

Richard, our guide from Greenway Tours.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cindy]

I always hope I’ll be in a boat that sees lots of wildlife, but that never seems to happen to me! We did see animals, birds, and reptiles, but many of them were quite far away and well camouflaged.

 

Howler Monkeys -- They weren't howling...they were asleep!

 

 

"Jesus Christ" Lizard -- Got its name because it can walk on water!

 

 

Blue Heron

 

 

These are Oropendola (yellow tailed bird) nests. No, I didn't remember that...Google is my friend!

 

 

A Cayman...see its eye peeking at you?

Edited April 20, 2016 by Cindy

[Cindy]

This was at the Coast Guard Station. These are all impounded drug boats.:eek:

 

 

Banana Tree

 

 

Banana Tree

 

 

When we returned to the launch point, we got fresh fruit and water – a welcome treat before we reboarded the bus.

 

We hadn't gone too far when Richard had the driver pull over at a Ylang Ylang tree. He picked a few flowers, and gave one to each couple as he explained the importance of the flowers as an export. They're the main ingredient in Chanel No. 5! All the ladies rubbed the petals on our wrists!:)

 

Flower from a Ylang Ylang tree.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Cindy

[Cindy]

Our second stop was for our Jungle walk. The trail was up a VERY steep, winding road…I wondered several times if our bus would make it, but it was up to the task.

 

 

 

The walk was interesting. It was steep and slippery in places, and I recommend sensible shoes for this part of the tour! I had on reasonably sturdy shoes, and still managed to slip and fall during our walk. That’s no surprise…if I can find a way to have a mishap I will! Fortunately I injured only my pride!

 

It was very humid and sticky in the jungle. The trees were thick and interesting, offering only glimpses of the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

We were on the lookout for sloths, but like the boat part of the tour those we spotted were so high in trees and so far away you really couldn't tell what they were. The famous Costa Rican tree frogs also eluded us. We saw ants and HUGE spiders:eek:, but none of the mosquitoes we were prepared for. In fact, I didn’t see a mosquito the entire cruise!

 

[Cindy]

On the way back to the ship we stopped briefly at a beach, and then had a short city tour as we made our way back to the pier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We thought it was a good tour, and the company (Greenway) did exactly what they said they would do. It wasn’t an overly inspiring or exciting excursion, but it was a nice day. If I returned to Costa Rica on a ship, I would probably visit the Sloth Sanctuary or the Jaguar Rescue Center to see more wildlife.

[Cindy]

We went straight back to the ship – opting out of shopping or walking around the port. By that time I was pretty hot and sweaty, and all I really wanted to do was sit in some air conditioning with a nice cold drink! We relaxed for a while and reorganized things to be ready for our Panama Canal tour the next day, and before we knew it it was time to head downstairs.

 

After a stop at the Martini Bar:rolleyes: we met friends for the first of two wonderful meals at Murano. I had the Diver Scallop Wellington Style, Veal Tenderloin, and Chocolate Souffle – all were excellent and beautifully presented too! Jim also enjoyed his meal, and I made mental notes knowing we’d be back in a few days!

 

Murano

 

 

Diver Scallop

 

 

Veal Tenderloin

 

 

Chocolate Souffle

[Cindy]

By the time we finished dinner we were both pretty tired, but we forged ahead and went to see the magician, Garry Carson. He was good…or at least what I saw of his show was good. Unfortunately I’m known for falling asleep at shows on ships – there’s just something about a belly full of food and wine, a long day in the heat, and the movement of the ship that gets me every time!:o Tonight wasn’t an exception. I woke up a couple times when people were clapping loudly, but for the most part I got a head start on my beauty rest.;)

 

Cruise Director John Grantham introduced the show.

 

 

 

 

I had really been looking forward to Masque at 10:30, but it just wasn't happening. I couldn't keep my eyes open. As soon as the show ended I went to bed. Jim ended up coming back to the cabin quite a bit after me. He stopped in the casino and got on a hot streak playing Blackjack!:D

[midwestchick]

By the time we finished dinner we were both pretty tired, but we forged ahead and went to see the magician, Garry Carson. He was good…or at least what I saw of his show was good. Unfortunately I’m known for falling asleep at shows on ships – there’s just something about a belly full of food and wine, a long day in the heat, and the movement of the ship that gets me every time!:o Tonight wasn’t an exception. I woke up a couple times when people were clapping loudly, but for the most part I got a head start on my beauty rest.;)

 

Cruise Director John Grantham introduced the show.

 

 

 

 

I had really been looking forward to Masque at 10:30, but it just wasn't happening. I couldn't keep my eyes open. As soon as the show ended I went to bed. Jim ended up coming back to the cabin quite a bit after me. He stopped in the casino and got on a hot streak playing Blackjack!:D

 

 

John is the CD on Equinox? He was on one of our Summit cruises.

[Cop Chef]

Thanks Cindy for the awesome pictures. Keep it going, your reviews are great, I can't wait to read some more.:)

[Cindy]

John is the CD on Equinox? He was on one of our Summit cruises.

 

He was in March, but I'm not sure if he's still there or if he was just filling in for a vacation.

 

Thanks Cindy for the awesome pictures. Keep it going, your reviews are great, I can't wait to read some more.:)

 

Thanks...I'm working as fast as I can!:D

Edited April 20, 2016 by Cindy

[midwestchick]

I believe he was filling in on the Summit. I like him much better than Ken Mills.

[liverpoollad]

Hi Cindy,

 

Thanks for posting the excellent photos, really enjoying them all.

 

One disappointment was seeing the aerialist show photos, my thoughts were "OH no ":(, I am seen so many of these I would think Celebrity would move on from them.

 

Cheers

[Jiminy1955]

Hi Cindy,

 

Thanks for posting the excellent photos, really enjoying them all.

 

One disappointment was seeing the aerialist show photos, my thoughts were "OH no ":(, I am seen so many of these I would think Celebrity would move on from them.

 

Cheers

 

 

I've never seen them since my first cruise with Celebrity will be next year. So I for one hope they don't get rid of them.

[Cindy]

March 19 – Colon, Panama/Panama Canal

 

This was it…the reason we chose this cruise. After three and a half years and several booked cruises worth of trying we were finally going to see the Panama Canal!

 

One of Jim's non-negotiables when we changed cruises was that we would still get to actually go through at least part of the canal. We chose a Celebrity tour through the canal for our excursion. The tour (CO26 – Panama Canal Tour) was expensive and we knew it would be a long day, but we thought it was worth it to actually go through some locks and have the comfort of knowing that if the tour ran over the ship would wait for us.

 

Originally, our tour was scheduled to leave at 8:00 in the morning. We had received notification that it had been pushed back an hour and that allowed us to go to BLU and have a nice breakfast before we reported to the theater for our excursion. We were a little paranoid because other breakfasts in BLU had been a bit slow, but we arrived right at 7:30 when they opened and had no problems whatsoever.

 

We went to the theater a little early, and were assigned to the second of six buses. Almost all the other Celebrity tours had left before they began filling the buses for our tour. We ended up very close to the beginning of the line for our bus and sat in the third or fourth row. Once the bus filled we were joined by our guide Ariel and we were off!

 

Ariel

 

 

I was surprised by Colon. I expected some poverty, but I was shocked by the trash lining the streets. I thought Colon was one of the dirtiest cities I've ever seen.:( There was garbage and debris almost everywhere we looked.

 

Please excuse the quality of these pictures because they were taken out of the window of a moving bus...

 

 

 

I'm usually pretty adventurous, but I would have to think long and hard before I would eat street vendor food in Colon.:eek:

[Cindy]

Before I go on, let me explain a little bit about what the Panama Canal Tour is and what it is not. When we booked this excursion we were under the impression that we would go all the way through the canal on a ferry. That is not what happened. Our bus took us as far as the town of Gamboa which is about halfway across Panama. It was a little over a one hour drive to get to Gamboa from the port in Colon.

 

After a short wait, we boarded our ferry which took us to/through Gatun Lake and then through the Gatun Locks before exiting the canal on the Atlantic side. We stayed on the ferry back to Colon, and then had a very short bus ride back to the ship.

 

I believe at some point after we booked this excursion it was changed. There were quite a few complaints from cruisers in the fall and early winter about the length of the tour and the amount of waiting they had to do.

 

People from one cruise said they had to sit on their buses at Gamboa for over two hours before they could get on their ferry!:eek: They visited the locks that we didn't see, but they did not go through Gatun Lake or the Gatun Locks. Those tours went all the way to Panama City before they were bussed back to Colon, but they could see little of the Miraflores Locks or the Bridge of the Americas because it was already dark! The reviews I read from people on that tour said they didn’t get back to the ship until 9:00 -- five hours after the scheduled return!:( I have to think that Celebrity reevaluated and changed the tour to make it shorter and attempt to eliminate some of the delays.

 

Something I didn't realize before I took this excursion was that you really truly are at the mercy of the Panama Canal Authority for your schedule. Once you board the ferry, that's it. The Panama Canal Authority determines what time you will go through the locks and who will accompany you through.

 

We were fortunate in that our excursion went off almost without a hitch and had minimal delays, but it was still a very long day. We were gone for almost 9 hours.

 

I'm glad we did the excursion because we had never seen the canal, but I would probably not choose to do it again. We had a decent lunch provided, we had brought protein snacks with us, and there was plenty of bottled water available, but the ferry itself was just not very comfortable for the many hours we were on it. At the end of the day I told Jim I would happily transit the Panama Canal again – from my balcony on a cruise ship!

 

With that said let's move on and see the canal!

 

Our ferry, the Fantasia Del Mar, was identical to this one. If you look closely, you can see the rows of plastic chairs. After six hours on one of those I was very ready to go back to the Equinox!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Cindy

[Cindy]

This huge ship was one of the first we saw. It went through the locks just ahead of us, and was scraping the sides!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See how overcast it was? Even though we live in Texas and are very aware of the sun and sun protection, for some inexplicable reason we decided the clouds were protecting us from burning. Of course, by the time the sun came out and we reached for the sunscreen it was already too late.:p

 

Something else I noticed was how much the color of the water changed during the course of the day. The water on the Pacific side was very brown, but the closer we got to Gatun Lake and the Atlantic side, the more blue and green the water became.

 

Our first look at the Kobe Star. This ship would go through the Gatun Locks with us.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Cindy

[LynMcGad]

Cindy--many thanks for the input on this excursion. I have been looking at the Celebrity offerings for the canal and your review is VERY helpful!

[Cindy]

We cruised for about 45 minutes and then lunch was served. The food was decent…certainly not gourmet but filling and welcome because by that time it had been many hours since breakfast!

 

The ferry was not spacious or easy to maneuver on, so lunch was served in shifts depending on where you were seated on the boat. We were lucky enough to finish going through the buffet line just as some people vacated one of the very few tables so we were able to sit down to eat.

 

By the time we finished lunch we were well into Gatun Lake, and both the water and the skies were clearing.

 

 

 

 

At 1:30 we came to a gap between two small islands, and we could see beyond the gap ships appeared to be stopped waiting for their position in the Gatun Locks. We were excited that we were getting close!

 

 

 

We caught up with the China Shipping Line ship and the Kobe Star, both of which had passed us earlier. There were tugs assisting to get the ships in position for the locks.

 

 

 

 

Finally the Gatun Locks were in sight!

 

[Cindy]

We slowly made our way over to the Gatun Locks and arrived just after 2:00. The Island Princess was making her way through, followed by a cargo ship, and we were told we had been assigned the next time slot in the right hand lane. Our ferry would share the trip through the locks with the Kobe Star.

 

 

 

 

While we were waiting, we learned a little more about how the canal operates. There are two shipping lanes at each set of locks, and even though the lanes operate independently, traffic only flows in one direction at a time. Every 12 hours the flow of traffic reverses direction, and it takes a ship 8-10 hours to completely transit the canal. Every ship is given a specific time slot, hence our slow cruising speed from Gamboa to the Gatun Locks…if we were early we would still have had to wait our turn.

 

“Mules” are used to pull big ships through the locks. 100+ years ago, when the Panama Canal opened, the job was done by actual mules. The modern “mules” are actually locomotives that are tethered to a ship to do the job. Our ferry didn’t use the mules…we went through under our own steam.

 

 

 

At 2:45 the huge China Shipping Line ship started her transit in the left lane. Some of their crew were excited to see us taking pictures of them!

 

 

 

 

By 3:00 the Kobe Star was tethered to the mules and in position behind us. We had to wait for the first lock to completely fill from the ship ahead of us, and then it would be our turn!