LIVE from Equinox (June 24, 2023), sailing on a budget

[tcmagnum]

14 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Dinner at Tuscan - short rib pasta.

 

 Effy necklace.

We also did dinner at Tuscan - And the short rib pasta!!  You have me drooling this morning.  
The Effy necklace….Each day at a certian time (check the daily planner for times), you go to the Effy store to get a ‘stone of the day’ that goes in round pendant.   Some days they will run out.  It was a fun way to see the stores.  Also something to do while waiting on our dinner reservations.  

[Pennstatedj]

Thanks for the CD name. I appreciate it. Thanks for doing your review. 

[jelayne]

We have gotten the Effy necklace on our last each 4 or 5 cruises.  

[calicakes]

It's funny to see the Celebrity Effy necklaces being sold on ebay.

[AbbyCruiser45]

Thank you everyone for filling me in on the Effy necklace! I don’t really wear jewelry. With that being said, does anyone on board want it? They only give one per room, as far as I know, and I imagine with all the families on board it could be fun for more people to have one! Let me know and I can leave it at your door. If I don’t get any takers here, I’ll post it to the Facebook group. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

31 minutes ago, calicakes said:

It's funny to see the Celebrity Effy necklaces being sold on ebay.

Sounds like it might be a nice memento for the person who actually sailed and did the collecting.  Hard to believe random people actually buying them off ebay.  Perhaps I could collect my charms and post on ebay to offset the cost of the cruise...guess I missed the boat back in March. 😂

[AbbyCruiser45]

It’s been a very peaceful morning on the Equinox so far. I’m already half way through my book and thankful I loaded up my Kindle before this. Breakfast at Oceanview was great as always! I know the hash browns are so basic, but as someone that normally has a healthy smoothie for breakfast, I dream of them!

We’ve split our time between the promenade outside Al Bacio and the Sky Observation Lounge. I’ve had a Bellini or two and I’m perfectly happy! We don’t know our dinner plans yet, but for those anxiously waiting, the burger is no longer on the menu tonight. It’s been pushed to Thursday.  

[lovetocruisee]

33 minutes ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

It’s been a very peaceful morning on the Equinox so far. I’m already half way through my book and thankful I loaded up my Kindle before this. Breakfast at Oceanview was great as always! I know the hash browns are so basic, but as someone that normally has a healthy smoothie for breakfast, I dream of them!

We’ve split our time between the promenade outside Al Bacio and the Sky Observation Lounge. I’ve had a Bellini or two and I’m perfectly happy! We don’t know our dinner plans yet, but for those anxiously waiting, the burger is no longer on the menu tonight. It’s been pushed to Thursday.  

 I can’t wait !!!

[CunucuMom]

Any changes to your Aruba itinerary due to the Miami diversion last night?  Hopefully the passenger is ok and will be able to do this cruise another time. Many thanks for the live updates and photos!

[CGinMTL]

I am sure the pressure is finally coming down. 

I was on a cruise were the captain would say " take your shoulders down, you are on vacation". I love it and try to tell myself that whenever applicable . 

 

 

[KKB]

Loving following your TR! 

We did ABC on Equinox & LOVED it.

Had a WONDERFUL Maitre d' & serving staff at dinner. Waiter was very solemn & professional all week (everyone else was quite animated--but then again, so were we)...when I mentioned I love 80s music he lit up like the 4th of July! He has a band with his children & invited me to visit them & sing with their band...it was wonderful to see him open up as well.

I just put that new Emily Henry book on my "To Read" list! Love Emily Henry.

(PS if you don't subscribe to BookBub, you should--you note your genre preferences & it sends you ebook deals daily. I have downloaded a free offering almost daily...plus a few .99-2.99 bargains!)

ENJOY your cruise--you deserve it after the completion of your degrees & the move!

Edited June 25, 2023 by KKB

[AbbyCruiser45]

34 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

Any changes to your Aruba itinerary due to the Miami diversion last night?  Hopefully the passenger is ok and will be able to do this cruise another time. Many thanks for the live updates and photos!

We’re hoping everything is okay with the passenger as well! The only update we’ve gotten is that a medivac did happen but it won’t impact our arrival to Aruba. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

29 minutes ago, CGinMTL said:

I am sure the pressure is finally coming down. 

I was on a cruise were the captain would say " take your shoulders down, you are on vacation". I love it and try to tell myself that whenever applicable . 

 

 

It really is! I feel super relaxed. Just enjoying having nothing on the schedule. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

As a quick update, Kaleb has looked at the MDR menus for the first time. He doesn’t read on here and I haven’t kept him in the loop. He said the menu looked pared down compared to last year. Then he got to the burger and he actually cackled. He’s not one to complain about things like this, so I was surprised to see that reaction even from him. Hopefully enough guests complain in the post cruise survey. 

[cruise_loverinlaval]

Hello, we got the same when we were on Celebrity Beyond in early December 2022.  I gave it to one of my nieces.

Edited June 25, 2023 by cruise_loverinlaval

[AbbyCruiser45]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

(PS if you don't subscribe to BookBub, you should--you note your genre preferences & it sends you ebook deals daily. I have downloaded a free offering almost daily...plus a few .99-2.99 bargains!)

My parents love book bup! They’re always telling me about the deals. The Happy Place is the only book I bought for this trip! I use the ebook library system through Libby otherwise. It takes some practice to get my holds lined up just right, but it works like a charm once you get used to it! 

[KKB]

1 hour ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

My parents love book bup! They’re always telling me about the deals. The Happy Place is the only book I bought for this trip! I use the ebook library system through Libby otherwise. It takes some practice to get my holds lined up just right, but it works like a charm once you get used to it! 

Im a Libby fan too! But the holds can be a headache. Plus DH & I r on same account (different devices), so he gets dibs on books when we travel together

[SSFrance69]

21 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Dinner at Tuscan was excellent! I mentioned in one of my first or second posts that we had a terrible experience last year on the Equinox at Tuscan. The meal took forever and our entrees were served cold and kind of crusty, like the sauce had been sitting. We left before dessert. Today was the complete opposite of that! Our server, Joel, was fantastic. He was on top of everything, gave great recommendations, and the pace of the meal was perfect. 
 

We split most of the meal with the pork belly, calamari, crab cake, and burrata (not pictured) to start. I had the filet with a half order of the short rib pasta. We split the lobster rigatoni and Kaleb had the veal Marsala (not pictured) and the carbonara (he should have gotten the half order). 

For dessert, I had the limoncello cheesecake which was fantastic. Kaleb had the doughnuts with extra vanilla gelato. They also brought out the standard chocolate cake to celebrate our graduation. We blew out the candle together! It was such a nice, indulgent night. The perfect start to our cruise! 

Also, when we got back to the room, there was a free (?) Effy necklace on the bed with our planner for the next day. Maybe this is a new promo? I’ve never gotten one before, or heard of this. Any thoughts?

Enjoying your review... thanks for sharing! That short rib pasta looks great! Was it as good as it looks? How was the veal marsala? I might order both of those on our upcoming cruise.

[AbbyCruiser45]

18 minutes ago, SSFrance69 said:

That short rib pasta looks great! Was it as good as it looks? How was the veal marsala?

The short rib pasta was fantastic! It is heavy, so if you’re getting something else a half order should be fine. 
 

I’m not a fan of marsalas so it was not my favorite. Kaleb loves any type of marsala and he loved it. He said it was the best dish he’s had on a ship! It was very heavy and large serving though, so if you want fresh pastas, it might not be the best choice. 

[hcat]

8 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Sounds like it might be a nice memento for the person who actually sailed and did the collecting.  Hard to believe random people actually buying them off ebay.  Perhaps I could collect my charms and post on ebay to offset the cost of the cruise...guess I missed the boat back in March. 😂

charms are tiny..i got them all but Why?

[AbbyCruiser45]

It’s been a great day at sea today. I’m almost through with my book and I plan to finish it over coffee tomorrow. We didn’t make it to the gym (promise already broken) but I do take the “no elevator challenge” and got over 10,000 steps. Did anyone onboard here the horn around 11? We were at the front of the ship and did not see anything. I’m assuming it was someone that was allowed to blow the horn on a tour. I’ve never heard the horn on a sea day without fog!

 

Lunch was great in Oceanview Cafe. They had fancy corn dogs which is a first that I’ve seen at the buffet. I feel like the selections are better than last year, so far. The salads are nicely done and the desserts seem more varied. Like today, there were different types of pies instead of the same type of cake with Different flavored icings. 

 

We spent most of the afternoon reading, playing cards, and bar hopping. The seated bar service has been slow in both Cafe Al Bacio and Craft Social. Both times we’ve been, we’ve ended up ordering at the bar. The drinks are worth it though!

 

We spent some time looking over the menu for MDR and honestly, nothing really stood out to us. I’ve included the pictures below. They still do offer the sirloin, it just did not make the screenshot. Instead, we did DIY 3 course MDR at the buffet. It was not bad at all! We had the made to order ceased salad, cooked to order steak, and it was French night. There was beef bourguignon, ratatouille, a white fish, and a couple other options I can’t remember. Of course there was also a lot of American grill food, like burgers and hot dogs. The dessert was also great with a fresh crepe and various other small, French themed desserts.  
 

 

After our dinner, we went to the show. It was a singer, Crystal Stark. She was on season 5 of American Idol and played songs from powerhouse women singers. There were quite a few “oldies” hits, which made Kaleb and I wonder what these shows will feature in 40 years! 
 

I ended the night watching the Yes or No game show. It was fun to watch, but I don’t think I could do it! The goal is to have a 3 minute conversation with the host without saying yes or no (or adjacent words like “yeah”). Only two people succeeded out of about 10!
 

We’ll have another sea day tomorrow doing about the same things, but I think we will go to the MDR tomorrow since it’s a chic night. I can hopefully provide a good update on it then!

[AbbyCruiser45]

5 hours ago, KKB said:

Plus DH & I r on same account (different devices), so he gets dibs on books when we travel together

Can you not have two accounts? If you’re with Amazon Prime you should be able to have at least two separate logins per account. My parents and I spilt a prime membership and I have a different login than they do.
 

Also if you don’t know, Libby books don’t leave your device if the return window passes while you’re in airplane mode. It is still “returned” in the ether, so the person behind you in line still gets it on time. I stack my holds to release all at once, then I shut my kindle into airplane mode for a month or two at a time. You just have to be careful though because if you ever take it out of airplane mode, you’ll lose access to the expired books immediately! 

[LisaLeone]

6 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

My parents love book bup! They’re always telling me about the deals. The Happy Place is the only book I bought for this trip! I use the ebook library system through Libby otherwise. It takes some practice to get my holds lined up just right, but it works like a charm once you get used to it! 

I just heard of Hoopla...another library app. It offers different books than Libby and, in some cases, the same without a need for a hold.

[lovetocruisee]

51 minutes ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

It’s been a great day at sea today. I’m almost through with my book and I plan to finish it over coffee tomorrow. We didn’t make it to the gym (promise already broken) but I do take the “no elevator challenge” and got over 10,000 steps. Did anyone onboard here the horn around 11? We were at the front of the ship and did not see anything. I’m assuming it was someone that was allowed to blow the horn on a tour. I’ve never heard the horn on a sea day without fog!

 

Lunch was great in Oceanview Cafe. They had fancy corn dogs which is a first that I’ve seen at the buffet. I feel like the selections are better than last year, so far. The salads are nicely done and the desserts seem more varied. Like today, there were different types of pies instead of the same type of cake with Different flavored icings. 

 

We spent most of the afternoon reading, playing cards, and bar hopping. The seated bar service has been slow in both Cafe Al Bacio and Craft Social. Both times we’ve been, we’ve ended up ordering at the bar. The drinks are worth it though!

 

We spent some time looking over the menu for MDR and honestly, nothing really stood out to us. I’ve included the pictures below. They still do offer the sirloin, it just did not make the screenshot. Instead, we did DIY 3 course MDR at the buffet. It was not bad at all! We had the made to order ceased salad, cooked to order steak, and it was French night. There was beef bourguignon, ratatouille, a white fish, and a couple other options I can’t remember. Of course there was also a lot of American grill food, like burgers and hot dogs. The dessert was also great with a fresh crepe and various other small, French themed desserts.  
 

 

After our dinner, we went to the show. It was a singer, Crystal Stark. She was on season 5 of American Idol and played songs from powerhouse women singers. There were quite a few “oldies” hits, which made Kaleb and I wonder what these shows will feature in 40 years! 
 

I ended the night watching the Yes or No game show. It was fun to watch, but I don’t think I could do it! The goal is to have a 3 minute conversation with the host without saying yes or no (or adjacent words like “yeah”). Only two people succeeded out of about 10!
 

We’ll have another sea day tomorrow doing about the same things, but I think we will go to the MDR tomorrow since it’s a chic night. I can hopefully provide a good update on it then!

    Sorry to interrupt your evening.  I was just wondering if you had a chance to find what non-alcoholic beer is offered (other than O’Doul’s)

[hiccups]

We did this itinerary on Equinox back in November 2019, and liked it so much we are booked again for this November!  I'm going to look into Renaissance Island--never heard of it, so thanks for the info!  Last time we just did a tour around the island and weren't too impressed.  Bonaire we'll go snorkeling again, and Curacao was fun just to walk around--not sure if we'll book something this time or not.

Congratulations on your PhDs, and enjoy your trip!