Anyone on board Equinox now with January 9, 2022 sailing?

[Treasure Hunter]

Ok so Captain just announced that we have our first guest covid case. A man with symptoms went to the medical center tested positive and is in quarantine. All contact tracing came back negative. I just got off an elevator where a woman had the mask under her nose. 

[JamieLogical]

I forgot to ask! Who is the captain onboard right now?

[TourDeCruise]

2 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

You know how it is in Maryland now. I get it… Hard to make a decision.  

We are being very careful…  Was on an elevator last night with 2 others.  A Boor and his wife got on and he announced, “I’ve got Covid”.  Elevator stopped at next floor, another person wanted to get on.  I just walked out…

 

Wow. Was he kidding trying to get people out of the elevator?  It doesn't make sense that Celebrity would allow someone with Covid to be out and about in the elevator with others as opposed to escorting him and his wife back to their cabin or the quarantine cabin? Hopefully it was a sick joke.

[TourDeCruise]

3 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

We booked this in September - very cheap rate for an Oceanview.  Later had successfully bid for Aqua Class. An increase of $50 pp pd… We are right in the middle of the ship with a shaded balcony and minimal noise from Pool Deck above.  The staterooms on either side are empty - no noisy neighbors. We dine in Blu where crowds are minimal and Host always finds us a socially distanced table.  Blu menu is “different”. No problem ordering off MDR menu.  Food has been great, servers even better.

 

We also will be in Aqua Class on the 1/21cruise after a successful move-up bid from our initial veranda cabin. We prefer the healthier menu over the MDR and even Luminae's suite-class menu. Who is your maitre d' in Blu?

 

Have you been to the Persian Gardens (Thermal Suite)? Are masks required when on the lounges or in the steam room and sauna, etc.?

[closecruiser]

7 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

We are currently on the Equinox, I have slow internet pkg so waited until today to jump on Verizon account.  
 

From my perspective, Treasure Hunter and Judatt have posted very accurate info.

 

We booked this in September - very cheap rate for an Oceanview.  Later had successfully bid for Aqua Class. An increase of $50 pp pd… We are right in the middle of the ship with a shaded balcony and minimal noise from Pool Deck above.  The staterooms on either side are empty - no noisy neighbors. We dine in Blu where crowds are minimal and Host always finds us a socially distanced table.  Blu menu is “different”. No problem ordering off MDR menu.  Food has been great, servers even better. 
 

We live in Maryland and could not stand the Winter cold and the Covid craziness any longer.  We always mask inside, DW double masks. Majority of folks comply as well.  We stay away from crowds and feel safer than back home.  I feel that the December cases were an anomaly and as long as capacity stays low, it’s safe. 
 

We did make a personal decision to cancel excursions.  Didn’t want to sit in crowded minivans.  It’s not personal, just one more layer of safety. 
 

The service, crew morale, food, weather, and entertainment have been great.  Ports don’t matter to us. All about the sun and beautiful scenery.  
 

At this point, I would stay for the 1/21 cruise, but DW has a busy schedule…

 

Hope this helps…

If I may ask, how far out did you bid for the upgrade? We sail the 11th of Feb and the other day I got a email about a upgrade but the starting bids were so high.   

[TourDeCruise]

11 minutes ago, closecruiser said:

If I may ask, how far out did you bid for the upgrade? We sail the 11th of Feb and the other day I got a email about a upgrade but the starting bids were so high.   

 

My dh bid very shortly after the email came to him. He bid $10 pp over the minimum bid. Several weeks later Celebrity accepted our bid to go from a veranda to Aqua Class, around $30 pp per day more. For us it was worth it because we like Blu more than the other restaurants including Luminae and we like the Persian Gardens.

 

[Treasure Hunter]

Today is Grenada. All guests will only be allowed off ( vaccinated) if on Celebrity excursions and must wear a mask both indoors and outdoors. We are staying on the ship. I remember our pre pandemic visit. The guide told us about the bloody war in the streets where people waved machetes. But our friends said the beach was beautiful.

[BigAl94]

13 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

 I just got off an elevator where a woman had the mask under her nose. 

You got in an elevator with someone outside your own group? Wow, haven't done that in over 18 months and certainly wouldn't start now!

[deliver42]

All I'd have to see is someone not masking or under the nose, and I'd wait for another elevator or use the stairs.

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

You got in an elevator with someone outside your own group? Wow, haven't done that in over 18 months and certainly wouldn't start now!

 

After I was fully vaccinated back in March 2021, I definitely rode elevators with other people. I would have been safe doing so before fully vaccinated, but I didn't really understand how the original virus and variants spread back then. Until Omicron, even unvaccinated people could safely ride in elevators with infected people. Unless they literally sneezed or coughed directly on you, there was no way you were going to get exposed to enough virus in that short amount of time to become infected. An elevator ride with the same people isn't usually more than a minute or two. Contracting a virus requires exposure times time. The time for the original COVID-19 virus and the early variants was much longer than 2 minutes. CDC advised it was 15 minutes within a 24 hour period. However, clearly Omicron is far more transmissible, so I fear the time of exposure required to become infected is lower now. Since we don't know how much lower, I think I would be cautious about riding an elevator with unmasked people until there is more data available to define exposure.

[Treasure Hunter]

It’s just infuriating. We know we have at least one case on board ( in quarantine) and people still can’t get it right. A woman sat down next to me at a slot machine with no mask because she had an empty wine glass in her hand. I said to her please put a mask on - you know you’re not drinking. She did but shot me a look first. Just follow the rules and we’ll all have a nice time and be safe. 

[Treasure Hunter]

We were in the empty elevator and got off when they got on. The ship is empty so there is no need to crowd elevators, they come quickly. 

[wanderlust4625]

Just wondering if anyone knows the current count of Covid cases on board.

Getting ready to get on next cruise.

 

[cbfb]

17 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I forgot to ask! Who is the captain onboard right now?

Captain Matt 

[cruisestitch]

16 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

 

Wow. Was he kidding trying to get people out of the elevator?  It doesn't make sense that Celebrity would allow someone with Covid to be out and about in the elevator with others as opposed to escorting him and his wife back to their cabin or the quarantine cabin? Hopefully it was a sick joke.

Read the posts again. 
 

a man tested positive

 

a woman was on the elevator

[chamima]

18 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Ok so Captain just announced that we have our first guest covid case. A man with symptoms went to the medical center tested positive and is in quarantine. All contact tracing came back negative. I just got off an elevator where a woman had the mask under her nose. 

 

19 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

You know how it is in Maryland now. I get it… Hard to make a decision.  

We are being very careful…  Was on an elevator last night with 2 others.  A Boor and his wife got on and he announced, “I’ve got Covid”.  Elevator stopped at next floor, another person wanted to get on.  I just walked out…

 

There is no way of knowing if this was the same guy or the "elevator man" was just an obnoxious boor.

[TourDeCruise]

40 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Read the posts again. 
 

a man tested positive

 

a woman was on the elevator

 

I already read the posts (don't need to read again). We cannot conclude that the man in the elevator really has Covid or that he is the same person who has been reported as having Covid. Likely not the same person as Celebrity would have escorted him (I would think anyway) or he would have been in quarantine or packing for quarantine.

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by TourDeCruise

[kptbylorraine]

This sounds like a game of “clue”. Who should be quarantined?

The man in the elevator who says he has Covid or the woman in the casino with no mask ?

I vote for both. 😊

Lorraine

[Treasure Hunter]

So we now have a second passenger who tested positive with mild symptoms in quarantine. Captain made an announcement that all contacts were negative. All above board. It’s not surprising because as the cruise goes on more people are just sitting at the bar chatting with strangers and walking around without their nose covered or with an empty glass at the slot machine. The staff is trying their best. We are stopping at Barbados tomorrow. Excursions seem to be working. We don’t leave the ship. Sitting in the sun and having lunch served works for me. 

[GottaKnowWhen]

44 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

So we now have a second passenger who tested positive with mild symptoms in quarantine. Captain made an announcement that all contacts were negative. All above board. It’s not surprising because as the cruise goes on more people are just sitting at the bar chatting with strangers and walking around without their nose covered or with an empty glass at the slot machine. The staff is trying their best. We are stopping at Barbados tomorrow. Excursions seem to be working. We don’t leave the ship. Sitting in the sun and having lunch served works for me. 

Thanks for providing your running commentary. We board in two weeks, it is nice to have an “inside perspective “ on current conditions. 
Stan

[Treasure Hunter]

It’s a beautiful ship with fantastic staff good food, gorgeous weather and I’ve been hitting in the casino what more can you ask. 

[TourDeCruise]

1 hour ago, Treasure Hunter said:

It’s a beautiful ship with fantastic staff good food, gorgeous weather and I’ve been hitting in the casino what more can you ask. 

Are you finding that a lot more people are also staying onboard for the day or spending more hours onboard when in ports than usual? I would expect that to be the case given some people have expressed they do not want to do shore excursions, shore excursions were canceled or no available space, and/or restrictions in place at some ports.

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by TourDeCruise

[Treasure Hunter]

I think it’s about the same just less people to start with. Today in Barbados people we met at trivia have a tour. People we eat across from  at breakfast are going to the sanctioned shopping near the pier but they took a taxi tour ( government sanctioned) in Grenada. We just don’t care about the ports. We’ll play trivia then go up to the sun deck to read , have lunch , read, nap, shower, play trivia, I’ll go to the casino, eat dinner, see show, casino while husband watches football. Sleep —-Repeat

[TourDeCruise]

23 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

I think it’s about the same just less people to start with. Today in Barbados people we met at trivia have a tour. People we eat across from  at breakfast are going to the sanctioned shopping near the pier but they took a taxi tour ( government sanctioned) in Grenada. We just don’t care about the ports. We’ll play trivia then go up to the sun deck to read , have lunch , read, nap, shower, play trivia, I’ll go to the casino, eat dinner, see show, casino while husband watches football. Sleep —-Repeat

 

I understand as we get into a routine too on the ship and have been to almost all ports. We do like to get off and walk on our own and an occasional excursion but enjoy a lot of ship time especially when others are off the ship! 

[TourDeCruise]

2 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

It’s a beautiful ship with fantastic staff good food, gorgeous weather and I’ve been hitting in the casino what more can you ask. 

 

In the cabin for the electronics charging, Equinox has the USB charging outlets, right? Two? Or do I need to use the electrical outlets in the cabin and bring USB plugs to charge our phones, tablets, cameras? I recall USB outlets in the cabin but want to make sure.