Strange Bar Closings on Equinox Today in Grand Cayman

[prmssk]

5 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Obviously you weren't on the ship.  And this was not a typical port day - GC is a tendered port and we did not dock at George Town so once tendered in there was literally a parking lot with the buses for the tours and I think a few cabs.  There were about 5 vendors set up. All of the snorkeling, stingray city and water related tours were cancelled.  So more than half I would say were still on the ship.  At lunch as has been mentioned some of us like to enjoy a beer, wine or cocktail.  There were 4 bartenders to take care of everyone left onboard and as people came back from their excursions it got worse.  People were shoulder to shoulder 4 or 5 deep on the horseshoe shaped bar.  

As I said obviously you weren't ther.

No, obviously I wasn’t there. But this comment of yours is the first (at least that I have seen) that actually described an issue someone saw. Most of the posts have all been about speculation. And what you describe sounds like a rare everything went wrong kind of situation. It’s not normal for so many excursions to get cancelled. 
 

And I have stayed on the ship while at Grand Cayman so I do have some experience with what the crowds are like on that port day. What you describe is not a normal Grand Cayman port day. 

[mac_tlc]

Here is your latest hourly observation from the Beyond.

 

Taken from the same spot as last hour😜. 
 

mac_tlc

 

Heading to LeGrand Bistro for lunch so the next real observation will be around 2pm.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by mac_tlc

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Here is your latest hourly observation from the Beyond.

 

Taken from the same spot as last hour😜. 
 

mac_tlc

Have you gone to guest services yet to demand your drinks refund or more OBC? 😁

 

Seriously I have waited for over 30 minutes at crowed bars on sea days and no one should be complaining about this. Every been to the Martini bar before and after dinner?  It is a mad house of people waiting to order.

Edited February 3, 2023 by terrydtx

[mac_tlc]

BREAKING NEWS:

 

No alcohol being served in LeGrand Bistro.

 

 

mac_tlc

[Mcgeneseo]

At 12:37 pm it took DH 5 minutes to walk from Mast Grill to the pool bar to get a rum runner and beer and return to mast grill. Four people at the bar, two bartenders. If you want a drink with lunch, stop at pool bar before going to lunch. Lots of people seem to be doing that. It seems very quiet on the ship.

[mac_tlc]

And here is your 2pm update:

 

 

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

And here is your 2pm update:

 

 

That does it, now I would be at Guest Services demanding a free future cruise for this total inconvenience. Now I know in June I will be able to still get drunk as a skunk😎.

Edited February 3, 2023 by terrydtx

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

And here is your 2pm update:

 

 

Thanks for the actual photos.  At least on Beyond that day, the Pool Bar was not overwhelmed.  It is very similar to what I experienced at the Pool Bar about 4PM on our GC stop on Equinox last week.  I should have taken a photo too.  There were 4 bartenders and almost non-existent waits.  We left port 5PM and everything opened immediately.

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, terrydtx said:

That does it, now I would be at Guest Services demanding a free future cruise for this total inconvenience. Now I know in June I will be able to still get drunk as a skunk😎.

@terrydtx you sail suites (like me) so here are some planning suggestions to get you skunky🤪.  You can go to the Retreat Lounge and grab a beer out of the cooler until 5PM.  Or maybe talk to your butler to load you up in your suite refrigerator before the dreaded GC stop.  Or take 4 bottles of wine on departure day and save them for the GC stop.  Or get your Butler to stand in line at the Pool Bar.  Or stand in line at the Pool Bar -bring a book (short one) to pass the time.  ☺️  You don't need to go to Guest Services- go to the Retreat concierge and demand your free cruise! 

 

I know folks- this is tongue-in-cheek for suite passenger options!  

[terrydtx]

37 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks for the actual photos.  At least on Beyond that day, the Pool Bar was not overwhelmed.  It is very similar to what I experienced at the Pool Bar about 4PM on our GC stop on Equinox last week.  I should have taken a photo too.  There were 4 bartenders and almost non-existent waits.  We left port 5PM and everything opened immediately.

Why is not one person complaining about the long lines at the pool bar on sea days when the pool is standing room only?  On those days it can take 30 minutes or more of waiting in line for a drink.

[Dar & Bob]

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Why is not one person complaining about the long lines at the pool bar on sea days when the pool is standing room only?  On those days it can take 30 minutes or more of waiting in line for a drink.

Simple answer because there are many other venues to get served as well as waiters taking orders and roaming with drinks to serve.  

[terrydtx]

31 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

@terrydtx you sail suites (like me) so here are some planning suggestions to get you skunky🤪.  You can go to the Retreat Lounge and grab a beer out of the cooler until 5PM.  Or maybe talk to your butler to load you up in your suite refrigerator before the dreaded GC stop.  Or take 4 bottles of wine on departure day and save them for the GC stop.  Or get your Butler to stand in line at the Pool Bar.  Or stand in line at the Pool Bar -bring a book (short one) to pass the time.  ☺️  You don't need to go to Guest Services- go to the Retreat concierge and demand your free cruise! 

 

I know folks- this is tongue-in-cheek for suite passenger options!  

I noticed that since @mac_tlcposted pictures yesterday of the pool bar during the stop at GC, the biggest complainers have gone silent in this thread. We always have our Butler keep our mini fridge well stocked with red wine and beer, so we will be just fine. Also we will be going ashore with our GD to swim with the sea turtles. I hadn't thought about the beer cooler in the Luminae lounge, great idea.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, Dar & Bob said:

Simple answer because there are many other venues to get served as well as waiters taking orders and roaming with drinks to serve.  

The last time I had a server get me drinks at the pool, I waited well over 30 minutes for my order.

[TeeRick]

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

The last time I had a server get me drinks at the pool, I waited well over 30 minutes for my order.

I never use the Pool area or hot tubs.  I never use the Pool Bar except maybe early evening if nice out.  In fact the other options (Sunset Bar or Martini Bar) are pretty packed at dinner time and there are usually longer waits.  We waited 15+ minutes last week at the Martini Bar to get a bartender to come over to us and we were sitting at the bar!  Fortunately we like the World Class Bar and went there instead.

[terrydtx]

14 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I never use the Pool area or hot tubs.  I never use the Pool Bar except maybe early evening if nice out.  In fact the other options (Sunset Bar or Martini Bar) are pretty packed at dinner time and there are usually longer waits.  We waited 15+ minutes last week at the Martini Bar to get a bartender to come over to us and we were sitting at the bar!  Fortunately we like the World Class Bar and went there instead.

We have only used the pool bar on Caribbean cruises when it was too hot to go to the Retreat sun deck on the Equinox. In 2021 on the Equinox the Martini Bar was packed the first couple of nights from 5pm on. I mean elbows to elbows until after the third night when an outbreak of Covid was traced back to 4 bartenders in the martini bar. The bar was closed for one day and all of the bottles and glasses were removed to do a complete sanitization of the venue. After that the martini bar was a ghost town. That was back when every passenger had to wear those Tractlet bracelets and the ship knew everyone who had been in the Martini bar when those infected bartenders worked. Last year on the Reflection we gave up trying to sit in the martini bar after 5pm due to the huge crowds, so we spent most of our time in Michaels Club.

Edited February 4, 2023 by terrydtx

[cw2go]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

I noticed that since @mac_tlcposted pictures yesterday of the pool bar during the stop at GC, the biggest complainers have gone silent in this thread. We always have our Butler keep our mini fridge well stocked with red wine and beer, so we will be just fine. Also we will be going ashore with our GD to swim with the sea turtles. I hadn't thought about the beer cooler in the Luminae lounge, great idea.

 

This might be because what is now being posted from yesterday is NOT the same experience that prompted this thread in the first place. 

 

 

Patty 

[jwlane]

23 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 posted from yesterday is NOT the same experience that prompted this thread

Ummm, reread OP's original post, and get back to us on that "experience".

[Dar & Bob]

24 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Ummm, reread OP's original post, and get back to us on that "experience".

I did read the post and I was on that sailing and experienced people 4 and 5 deep all around the bar.  As I said in my post #204 there were many passengers still on board.  You weren't there and belittling cw2go who understood the conditions were NOT the same as what happened on the January 12th sailing of the Equinox.  Nowhere near the same.  They told us waitstaff would bring drinks which one did and one refused.  DH went and found the beverage manager who straightened that out. 

They did find one helpful idea which was to bring out a cooler cart full of beer, soft drinks and waters and he just took down room numbers on a piece of cardboard to charge to the people later.  The latest cruise has been fortunate in that they docked at George Town where passengers had a choice.  We were at Spotts Bay, which has a Parking Lot, period.  That and the fact that all excursions dealing with water - snorkelling, stingray city, etc were cancelled.  Only land tours were still operating.  Therefore the ship was crowded - This was NOT THE SAME EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER 

[cw2go]

On 2/3/2023 at 9:39 AM, terrydtx said:

 

 

This thread has gone on long enough let's just more on.

Move on or keep complaining? Pick a position! 

[OysterD]

I find it fascinating that after 12 pages of speculation and gossip the thread is no closer to a definitive answer than when it was started!

It's like a feature length episode of Columbo. We all knew who was responsible from the start, the govt of GC, but thus far nobody has found any absolute proof to pin it on them! 

If I could be bothered (as in, will I ever go to GC and if so could I manage without an alcoholic drink for a couple hours..yeah, I'll survive) then I'd just shoot the port authority in GC an email and ask what the scoop is. But where's the fun in that!

[terrydtx]

20 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

The latest cruise has been fortunate in that they docked at George Town where passengers had a choice.

When did GC start having a dock for cruise ships? My understanding is all cruise ships tender in GC?  Tenders dock in Georgetown but according to the GC tourist sites there is no cruise ship docking facility in Georgetown.

Grand Cayman Cruise Port Guide: Review (2022) | IQCruising

[cw2go]

40 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Ummm, reread OP's original post, and get back to us on that "experience".

 

Ummm, were you there? Do you have first hand knowledge to contribute? Do you run Celebrity's F&B department? 

 

I have no reason to doubt those who gave first hand reports that this situation on the day of post was NOT the same as yesterdays!  FWIW, there was a lot more information shared in this thread other than just the original post so from there I feel confident in my response. 

 

Why so combative, how does this effect you?

 

Get back to us on that,

Patty 

 

 

[DCPIV]

I've spent more time reading this thread than I expect to spend waiting on a drink at the pool bar while at anchor at Grand Cayman in a few weeks. 

[MACruisers]

I’m going to hold judgement until I board the ship in a few weeks and we stop at GC, but my thought are not so much about lines as it is distance/inconvenience.  For example, if you are on the suite sun deck and go down to the pool bar, by the time you get back to your chair, the drink will be half gone. Same can be said if you are hanging out in the rooftop garden or other venues not in the immediate main pool vicinity.  

I hear the suggestions about stocking up on beer and wine but that can’t be done with a frozen cocktail.  
 

I understand Celebrity not wanting to pay to get licenses for all bars, but maybe obtain a few licenses and spread the open bars around the ship, like ocean view for diners, perhaps the retreat sun deck or sunset bar.  I’m sure there is a better solution than only one bar.  
 

Of course, this is a first world problem and this too shall pass. 
 

 

[DCPIV]

5 minutes ago, MACruisers said:

I’m going to hold judgement until I board the ship in a few weeks and we stop at GC, but my thought are not so much about lines as it is distance/inconvenience.  For example, if you are on the suite sun deck and go down to the pool bar, by the time you get back to your chair, the drink will be half gone. Same can be said if you are hanging out in the rooftop garden or other venues not in the immediate main pool vicinity.  

I hear the suggestions about stocking up on beer and wine but that can’t be done with a frozen cocktail.  
 

I understand Celebrity not wanting to pay to get licenses for all bars, but maybe obtain a few licenses and spread the open bars around the ship, like ocean view for diners, perhaps the retreat sun deck or sunset bar.  I’m sure there is a better solution than only one bar.  
 

Of course, this is a first world problem and this too shall pass. 
 

 

 

You are either a slow walker or a quick drinker. Either way, my hat is off to you. That's a nice way to cruise!