Three Days on Celebrity Equinox

Miami

The alarm clock went off at zero-dark-thirty and the cat looked at me like I was crazy for getting up so early. But Ron wanted to be on the road before the morning rush so we were already past Sarasota by the time the sun came up. Along Alligator Alley, the recent cold snap had turned the trees the colors of fall. The reds and oranges were pretty, but I was ready for spring! Enough of this cold weather! Unfortunately, another front was sweeping down from Canada so it looked like we were in for a chilly cruise.

We got to the port a little after 11 and were onboard at 11:45. Our first stop was the Martini Bar so Ron could sign up for the drink package. Then it was on to the Oceanview Café for lunch. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease and my doctor said I should follow a gluten free diet. I was sticking to the diet at home and feeling much better, but wasn’t sure how well I would do while cruising. After a little research, I found out that Celebrity had lots of gluten free options, including gluten free pasta at the buffet’s pasta station! I was happy that I wouldn’t have to miss my favorite spaghetti Bolognese. All the buffet items were marked with symbols to indicate if they were gluten free and there was even a small section for gluten free desserts. I guess I didn’t have to worry about going hungry. :-)

After we finished lunch, we explored the ship. Equinox was gorgeous! The layout was very similar to Summit’s layout, with a curtain-lined staircase in the Grand Foyer leading up to the bars and the coffee shop. But even though Equinox was much larger than Summit, it wasn’t overwhelming. There were lots of cozy nooks around the ship that give it an intimate feel. I loved the two-level library and the soaring atrium with a live tree growing in the middle of it. Everything was modern but warm and inviting. I really think it was the prettiest ship we have been on. I wish Celebrity had more 3-day cruises!

Grand Foyer

Library

Martini Bar

Main Pool

Solarium

We set sail from Miami a little after 3:30. Ron and I had planned to watch the sailaway from the aft bar but it was getting colder by the minute, so we retreated to our cabin to watch from our balcony. I was glad we’d been able to get a balcony this trip. The cabin was in a convenient location too – midship on Deck 7. It was large for a cruise ship cabin with a full-size couch and an interactive TV where we could check our Sea Pass account balance or even order room service. On the bed, we found three cards saying that we had onboard credit, a Christmas gift from Mary. Thank you, Mary!

We had signed up for Select Dining, which meant we weren’t stuck with a set dining time. Since we’d had such an early start that morning, Ron and I were ready to eat at 6. We headed to the Silhouette Restaurant, where the hostess sat us at a table for two by a window. I’d read on Cruise Critic that you could ask for gluten free bread with dinner. Our assistant waiter quickly brought out a basket of gluten free bread for me (and regular for Ron). I hadn’t tried gf bread before and was surprised how good it was, especially dipped into the garlic-butter sauce from my escargot. Guess what – escargot was gluten free! Yay! :-)  Besides escargot, I ordered mushroom soup and jerk spiced chicken with black bean and pineapple rice. Everything was delicious. The gluten free desserts weren’t quite as exciting. The only options were ice cream and crème brulee. It was too cold for ice cream but the crème brulee was pretty good. While we ate, we chatted with the two couples sitting at the table next to us. They were from North Carolina and had gotten 10 inches of snow the day before. Their flight had been cancelled, so they had rented a car and driven all night to get to the ship. 10 inches of snow! I wondered how much snow Jenny and Mama had gotten.

We spent a little time in the casino after dinner, playing Black Jack. I really like that Celebrity has non-smoking casinos, but the lowest table was $15! Most ships have at least one $10 table. Everyone at the first table looked unhappy so Ron and I sat down at the other table, which was empty. Pretty soon more people joined us and we were all laughing and having a good time. When we stopped for the night, I was up $65. We had a drink at the Martini Bar and took a quick walk around the pool deck before going to bed.

Silhouette Restaurant

Nassau

In the morning, I didn’t want to get up and kept right on sleeping until 8 o’clock. It felt so good to sleep in! By the time we finally got out of bed, the ship was already docked in Nassau. Our balcony faced the western end of Paradise Island, where we could see huge waves crashing on the rocks and whitecaps on the water. The cold front had followed us all the way to the Bahamas. I was really surprised that the ship hadn’t been rocking the night before, but I hadn’t felt a thing.

I have to admit that breakfast was hard for me. There was a whole section in the buffet filled with croissants and cinnamon rolls and that Royal Caribbean/Celebrity cranberry bread that I love so much. Sigh… They did have a gluten free bread station where the attendants toasted bread in separate toasters to prevent cross-contamination. I picked up a chocolate muffin but it was not good, very dry and crumbly. Oh well, I could still have my grits, scrambled eggs, bacon and Cheerios topped with blueberries. I missed the pastries though.

Our plan for the day was to check out the new Baha Mar Resort and Casino, which had finally opened after years of delays. We weren’t in any rush to get off the ship since we had all day in Nassau. At around 10:30, we leisurely disembarked and walked to the bus stop to catch the #10 bus to Cable Beach. While we waited for our bus to fill up, we talked to a local gentleman who told us about how the buses worked. He explained that the government didn’t run the bus system; each bus was privately owned. In many cases, the drivers were not the owners and they had to pay the owners a certain amount of money before they made any for themselves. It was very interesting talking to him.

It only took about 15 minutes to get to Baha Mar once the bus finally left the stop. The hotel was huge and Vegas-esque. We really wanted to see all the facilities to find out if it was someplace we’d like to stay on a future visit, but we weren’t quite sure how much of the hotel we could access. Since I was bundled up in jeans and a hoodie, it was obvious we weren’t going to try to use the hotel pool or beach chairs. But just in case, we tried to be unobtrusive as we walked around. There were several pools with lots of palm trees and cabanas and even a swim-up bar – very pretty. I snapped a few pictures and then we headed for the casino. Like on the ship, the lowest level Black Jack table was $15. Normally Ron and I like to get a vibe from a table before sitting down because if people seem unhappy, it usually means they’re losing. But there was only one $15 table so we didn’t have a lot of options. The mood was fairly somber so Ron decided to sit it out and watch while I played. Ron was the smart one. It didn’t take long for me to hand over my daily gambling allowance. But I did keep a $1 chip for my souvenir chip collection.

Baha Mar Resort

It was time for lunch by then anyway. Outside the hotel, we caught the bus to the Fish Fry where we had lunch at Twin Brothers. We ordered grouper sandwiches (I skipped the bun) with a side of rice and peas. Of course, we also had to have a cup of Sky Juice. We discovered Sky Juice in Nassau a couple of years ago and were hooked. Sky Juice is made with alcohol, coconut water and condensed milk with a little nutmeg. Ron had tried to make it at home but it didn’t come out quite the same. It turns out that Bahamians use gin and not rum. Our drinks must have been made with fresh coconut water too because they had such great coconut flavor. So refreshing!

With the rest of the afternoon ahead of us, we decided to walk back into town instead of taking the bus. Along the waterfront, the wind was blasting, but we actually saw a woman in the water at Junkanoo Beach. We decided she must have been from Indiana or Montana. Definitely not Florida – no Floridian would get in water that cold. :-)  There weren’t many brave souls on the beach but the Tiki Bikini Hut was doing brisk business. We detoured up the hill to John Watling’s Distillery for a mojito and then shopped at the booths at Festival Place before getting back on the ship. I’m not a big shopper but I was happy to find a coffee mug with artwork by Bahamian artist TIFF. I purchased one of her prints a few years ago and love it. Now every morning when I drink my coffee from the mug, I’ll remember this cruise.

The Fish Fry

John Watling's Distillery

At dinner, the gluten free options were limited. All they had was trout and vegetarian dish with roasted mushrooms and ginger – meh. I ended up ordering the pork tenderloin with dirty rice and tomato jam. It sounded safe enough. It was actually really good, very tender, and I loved the spicy tomato jam. Once again, ice cream and crème brulee were the only choices. I didn’t want to eat crème brulee the whole cruise! The assistant waiter asked if he could check with the chef to see if he had anything else and then brought out a slice of cake which tasted like a chocolate fruit cake, topped with a chocolate ganache. Now that was more my speed.

Ron was really sleepy that night so we didn’t spend much time in the casino or go to the production show. We just went back to the cabin and watched a movie from bed. I couldn’t even tell you what the movie was because we were both asleep in minutes. We’re such party animals. :-)

Sea Day

This time it was Ron who didn’t want to get up in the morning so we lounged in bed until almost 8. I wish I could sleep like that at home!

After picking up a smoothie from the Aqua Spa Café and breakfast at the buffet, Ron and I hit the gym. I joined Planet Fitness last year with the goal of getting in shape by my 50th birthday. But then…well, last year happened. I only used the gym a handful of times before I got sick and then Daddy died. But now that I was feeling so much better, I was ready to push the restart button. My treadmill was in front of the full-length windows where I could see a couple of cruise ships anchored next to their private islands. The seas were calm and Equinox was cruising slowly since Miami wasn’t far away. I realized I was feeling something I hadn’t felt much in the past year – happy. It was a whole new year and a new beginning. 51 could be the new 50. :-)

We kept our workout fairly short because I didn’t want to miss the Hot Glass Show at 11 o’clock. This was what I had been looking forward to the most on this cruise. When I was in the 3rd grade, we visited Jamestown, Virginia, where I was fascinated by the glassblowers. I still love glassworks like the gorgeous sculptures by Dale Chihuly. The Hot Glass Shows on Celebrity are sponsored by the Corning Museum of Glass. For our demonstration, there were three glassblowers who took turns doing the glassblowing, assisting and narrating. It was one of the most interesting and unique shows I’ve ever seen on a cruise. One thing we learned was that the biggest danger for a glassblower isn’t getting burned; it’s dehydration. I also never realized how essential the assistants were in the process. They were constantly opening ovens, adding additional glass for handles or bases, or helping to shape the pieces with hardly any verbal communication. They seemed to know exactly what was needed and when. It was real teamwork. Although coloring was added to the glass, at first it all looked orange. But that was because it was 2000 degrees! As the artists worked, the colors in the glass slowly began to emerge but the final colors wouldn’t be revealed until the following day when the pieces had completely cooled. Unfortunately, by then we would be off the ship so we wouldn’t get to see the finished creations. But we did check out some of the artwork from previous shows that were displayed around the ship. Beautiful.

In the afternoon, we just chilled on our balcony and then went to the World Class Bar on Deck 5 to see the Mixology Class. The World Class Bar is a collaboration between Celebrity and Diageo Global Travel, producer of alcoholic brands like Johnnie Walker, Ketel One and Guinness. All the drinks on the menu were created by winners of the World Class international bartending competition. The mixology class cost $35 a person so Ron and I decided to just sit and watch, but after the class started, I really wished I had signed up! It looked like so much fun. The two bartenders walked the class through making three different drinks while explaining proper techniques and how to balance sweet with sour flavors. The drinks were a Peach Collins, a martini similar to a Cosmopolitan but with blackberry liqueur, and a Bramble made with Brazilian cachaça. Cachaça is sugarcane-based like rum, but is made from pressed and fermented sugarcane juice instead of molasses. Even though Ron and I weren’t part of the class, one of the bartenders gave us a sample. It did taste a lot like rum. Between the glass show and the mixology class, I felt like I’d had a very educational day. :-)

World Class Bar

At dinner, we asked to be seated in the same section as the previous night because we liked the location and our wait team. Not that the service the first night had been bad. Actually, all the dining room staff had been excellent. Celebrity knows how to run a dining room, unlike Carnival which sadly has cut their staff so much that the poor waiters barely have time to do more than throw food at you. With my new diet, I especially appreciated the attentive service this trip. The waiters were very knowledgeable of ingredients and took the time to go over the menu or even offer off-the-menu options. That night I ordered escargot (again) and rack of lamb. Ice cream and crème brulee were still the only gluten free desserts, but the ice cream was After Eight, one of my favorites, so I was happy with that.

When we were done eating, we went back to the casino for one last round. We weren’t feeling any love at the first table so we moved on to an empty table where the dealer said, “Sit down! I’m bored!” The dealer, Emerson, was hilarious and a lot of fun. Soon the table was full and we played for a long time until a new dealer came on. Before going to bed, we took a walk around the pool deck, then stood out on our balcony, where we could already see the glow of lights from the Florida coast. Two cruise ships sailed along next to us, all of us heading home.