Jedi Jason

I sadly canceled the Harmony group cruise, Nov. 21, 2021.  I wasn't able to get the time off work.  Still trying to get on my first group cruise.
 
I did add a cruise on Explorer for December 24, 2022.  It is a nine night out of Miami that doesn't return until January 2 so we get both Christmas and New Years included which are both the first time onboard for us over those holidays.  It goes to St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Kitts and Barbados.
 

I sadly canceled the Harmony group cruise, Nov. 21, 2021.  I wasn't able to get the time off work.  Still trying to get on my first group cruise.
 
I did add a cruise on Explorer for December 24, 2022.  It is a nine night out of Miami that doesn't return until January 2 so we get both Christmas and New Years included which are both the first time onboard for us over those holidays.  It goes to St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Kitts and Barbados.
 

I cancelled my Explorer November 20, 2020 nine night southern Caribbean cruise before final payment expecting it not to sail and not having got time off from work approved yet.  I had a refundable deposit but some of the family going with did not so they made final payment with the intention of going on the cruise or getting a full refund if/when it gets cancelled.
I added the Harmony group cruise November 21, 2021 as a replacement since I don't think they would normally let me have the same holiday off for two years in a row but now that's not an issue.

I cancelled my Explorer November 20, 2020 nine night southern Caribbean cruise before final payment expecting it not to sail and not having got time off from work approved yet.  I had a refundable deposit but some of the family going with did not so they made final payment with the intention of going on the cruise or getting a full refund if/when it gets cancelled.
I added the Harmony group cruise November 21, 2021 as a replacement since I don't think they would normally let me have the same holiday off for two years in a row but now that's not an issue.

I cancelled my Explorer November 20, 2020 nine night southern Caribbean cruise before final payment expecting it not to sail and not having got time off from work approved yet.  I had a refundable deposit but some of the family going with did not so they made final payment with the intention of going on the cruise or getting a full refund if/when it gets cancelled.
I added the Harmony group cruise November 21, 2021 as a replacement since I don't think they would normally let me have the same holiday off for two years in a row but now that's not an issue.

I cancelled my Explorer November 20, 2020 nine night southern Caribbean cruise before final payment expecting it not to sail and not having got time off from work approved yet.  I had a refundable deposit but some of the family going with did not so they made final payment with the intention of going on the cruise or getting a full refund if/when it gets cancelled.
I added the Harmony group cruise November 21, 2021 as a replacement since I don't think they would normally let me have the same holiday off for two years in a row but now that's not an issue.

We had out first Celebrity last year on Summit and loved it.  Will be spending our "couple" cruises on Celebrity, and save Royal for group cruising, starting in 2021.  We have a couple more Royal to get through first, that we booked before we sailed Celebrity.  Will most likely end up cancelling a B2B on Freedom for Oct 2021 to sail Celebrity instead.

Happy soon to be retirement and hopefully some extra cruises for you.

I can do this ONLY b/c we will both be retired by then.  Otherwise, I would not be able to do it.

Yes prior to the cruise.  I think that you have to do it in advance because they want time to set up your card with the casino credit and have the wine bottles in your room when you arrive.
 

We love the four perks included promotions.  I would normally purchase all of those thing but you have to pay for tips anyway and I will spend the money onboard with or without the OBC.  The drinks and internet are a nice bonus.  If you enjoy your cruise as much as I think you will then you should consider Celebrity Edge or Apex which sail the Caribbean in the winter.

Thanks for the liveblog and all the great info. We booked our first Celebrity cruise last week, a four night on Equinox over Memorial Day after our April sailing on Oasis got cancelled. I was astounded how great a deal it can be. With the four perks and a casino discount, the sailing effectively cost less than 100$. 

OK, I just got a very unexpected surprise bonus from booking with Private Journeys...
After seeing @Matt's blog post about the Cruise Planner sale going on right now with Royal, I decided I should check out the Cruise Planner on Celebrity and see if they were also doing a sale. And wouldn't you know it, so they were!
Among the sales were excursions, so I was looking through what they had. And even though I was already all set with my private journey in Akureyri, I still was curious about what discounts they were offering on the excursions I'd seen so far. And new to the list was...
A whale watching excursion! ?
I was cursing and snarling, until I saw the price. $159 per adult.
Hang on a second... (frantically dig up my notes on the private journey)
The group of 12 that I'd booked was only $135 per person. And was both the same whale watching trip and the private 90-minute walking tour of Akureyri beforehand.
I honestly was not expecting this. I was ready to tell my entire group that we should cancel, book the regular excursion, and I'd return everyone's money. Instead, I just got to email them all and tell them that Private Journeys actually made it possible for us to come out ahead vs. the regular excursion! ?
 
Oh, and while I was scouting all the other sales being offered (no discounts on the drink packages -- BOO!), I spotted a killer 40% discount on the 4-device unlimited internet package. I hadn't planned on getting this at all because it's been pretty pricey; I've seen a steady $770-ish for a 4-device plan from day one, almost $14 per device per day. But the current sale price brought that same package down to $513, or just over $9 per device per day. That changed my mind, especially after my wife reminded me the kids will probably go nuts if they can't use their devices on sea days, especially if there are few or no other older teens on this cruise. The discounts weren't nearly as big for smaller packages -- only 20% off for a 2-device package, and 10% off 1-device -- making this an even better value proposition and a genuine call-out to families sailing on this trip.
Yes, I know that when we're all the way up north the satellite service is probably going to be really spotty. But we've got three sea days before we get to Greenland, along with the evenings of our days in Halifax and Sydney, so I'm betting the kids will get their bandwidth's worth. Plus, it'll let my older daughter keep in touch with her boyfriend through the whole trip. ?
Oh... and I guess this means I could take a stab at some kind of blogging while I'm out there... maybe...

Thank you so much for clearing that up for us!  It sounds like a great idea for us since I especially like to play the slots.  It will be a nice added perk to enjoy playing in a smoke free casino, too!  Your blog has been so helpful in navigating this great newly renovated ship!  We are looking forward to doing our first 10 day cruise ever on Equinox going back to the ABC's for 3rd year in a row and Key West and Grand Cayman in September.  It was an itinerary that was definitely calling our names!  Ha!
Thanks again for the awesome blog!  Please blog again on your next cruise!!!
Michelle

I hope everyone enjoyed my blog and learned something about Celebrity and Equinox. I will continue to consider Celebrity cruises when cruising without my kids especially if they offer promotions that give free perks. I hope to see you onboard my next RC cruise which is the blog group cruise on Brilliance of the Seas in October. If you have any further questions please post them in this thread. 
 
Jason Peterson 
 

In no rush to get off the ship we had a casual breakfast in the Oceanview cafe and shared a table with a retired couple from Mexico City. We enjoyed a nice conversation and left about 8:30 to grab our remaining bags from our room. All the numbers had been called and there wasn’t any line in the terminal but a line on the ship which we cut in line because we couldn’t tell where the line started since our elevator dropped us off right next to the ship’s exit. We weren’t asked to present our passports probably because we had required immigration in Key West. They did stop us briefly to ask if we had anything to declare.
 
We were in the parking garage and in our car in minutes. Now the depressing drive home began with the knowledge that our cruise was officially over.  A short stop at home to empty the car and then out to get some lunch before heading to the airport to pickup the kids. For some reason my seapass card didn’t work at the restaurant nor did my drink package. There were actually prices on the menu and I couldn’t get as many things as I wanted without paying for them all. I passed on the dessert for the first time in a week. I will post some random observations/opinions and take any questions anyone has. 

Key west is our last port so we took advantage. We’ve never been here before despite living in Florida which is a surprisingly long state. It is a four hour drive past Miami to get here so we went on a cruise that stopped there instead. It was inconvenient to stop there without it being the first port of call. The reasoning for that is the entire ship is required to go through customs but conveniently on the ship. Customs officers set up in the dining room. It seems like they instructed all of the passengers to arrive at the same time because the line went from one end of the ship to the other and then some. It went surprisingly fast despite the significant lines and they allowed you off the ship as soon as you finished. 
 
The Conch Train tour was our method for getting around while being told the history of the island. We only chose this one over the Trolley tour because it was $10 less each when I booked it via the cruise planner. We took it to the Southern Most point and our obligatory picture. Hemingway house was our next attraction we walked to from this stop. He was quite an interesting character besides being an award winning author. Tour guide Chris was very informative and passionate about the history. We got to pet some of the 6 toed cats that live on property. 
 
We hopped back on the tour vehicle for the remaining part of the tour and to get back closer to the ship. After the rest of the tour we did a little shopping and sampled some Key lime pie from Kermit’s. Sorry no picture because I ate it quickly since it was delicious and I hadn’t had lunch yet. I snagged a new Tervis cup featuring Baby Yoda.  We also visited Truman’s southern White House but weren’t allowed to take photos. 
 
We had a late lunch back on the ship at Mast grill.  While I am talking about food, the pizza in Oceanview Cafe is way better than Sorrentos. Better ingredients, better pizza. Sorry I couldn’t resist. It has a better crust, sauce and cheese. 

Thanks for such an awesome blog!  I'm so happy you both were able to take advantage of the Oct/Nov sale.  We are also sailing from this awesome same sale on the Edge in March ( it was cheaper than our Harmony in March) so we cancelled and booked the Edge with all 4 perks including the premium bev package.  That will be our actual first Celebrity cruise too!  We are Diamond Plus on Royal too.  We are thinking of adding on the beverages and more onto our premium pkg onto both of our cruises that you both did especially the Equinox.  So did you both use all your $50 casino cash before you cashed out or can you cash out and get $25 dollars back of the original $50?  A little confusing to say the least.
Any additional information would be gratefully appreciated!
 
Michelle

After hearing your three wishes podcast with @Matt I realized that I did not miss the dining room shenanigans in the MDR. There were no announcements over arguably the worst PA system ever encouraging you and/or your wait staff to stand up and dance or wave your napkins. It makes me cringe and I did not miss it at all on this cruise. I also was willing to give up the unique selections in the four different MDRs on Edge to have the same wait staff each night. 

The highlight of our trip so far La Bamba. It was amazing Mexican food. The chips and salsa weee good. We had a guacamole appetizer and the margaritas! One passion fruit and one blood orange. They were very good. My wife had the Mexican pizza for her entree. They list it as an appetizer but it was the size of at least a medium pizza. I had the La Bamba combo since I couldn’t decide. The combo had the Chile rellano which was great and the chicken enchilada really good but the beef taco was mostly meat and just OK. Our table mates, my wife’s family, got the chicken mole and fajitas both of which were really tasty and looked good. We tried the fried ice cream even though we were super full. It was OK. I think the corn flake crusting on it was an odd texture for this dish for me. I see why it is a favorite of others in this forum. I hope I was able to make at least @Lovetocruise2002 A little jealous. 

So we didn't expect the kids to have a longer than normal Christmas break due to a teacher in-service they scheduled for the first full week of January.  Our original plan was to have an Aunt stay with them at our house but we have since changed plans since they won't be in school to travel to our Aunt in Indianapolis in the hopes our Florida kids could enjoy some winter weather including snow while Mom and Dad relaxed on a warm Caribbean cruise.  The travel day to Fort Lauderdale will begin with dropping them off at the airport.  We booked unaccompanied minor tickets on Southwest for them.  After dropping them off at the airport we will head south towards our hotel.  We booked the Sheraton suites Fort Lauderdale at Cypress Creek in the North Fort Lauderdale area.  It is peak season in south Florida for hotels so the prices are higher and the selection  and pricing has only gotten worse as we approach our cruise.  We did book this about three months ago for around $150 a night nonrefundable since we were at or inside our final payment date.  We have plans to try out a new to us restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, La Bamba the evening we check into the hotel.

Check out my live blog from my Celebrity Equinox cruise.  I answered most of your questions over there.  Some of the photos include the embarkation lunch menu in the MDR and a listing of Concierge benefits as well.  We did the second seating so I don't know about dining preference.  I think it applies more to getting priority for preference on reservations.  I never used the concierge service but there is a concierge available to help book specialty dining reservations for example but not sure what else to expect.  The embarkation lounge if you use the term lounge loosely because it is just a reserved seating area but you will be the first ones on other than repeat cruisers and suite guests.  We did not use the continental concierge breakfast but rather went to the buffet leaving only our carry on bags in the room and returned afterward to collect them and walk off the ship.  Afternoon snacks varied greatly but included something sweet and usually some dip or spread and one other thing.  They were just enough for a couple of bites of each item each.  See my blog for photos of a couple of the deliveries.  If you have dietary restrictions or preferences you can request them.  I think you will enjoy your cruise and some of those concierge perks.  Get ready to book another one.

A few random pictures from around the ship. You don’t have to check out the pool towels and they are plentiful. Adventure of the seas was also departing today as well. There were a total of seven ships in port when we arrived. We have a comedy show at 7:00 and the late dinner seating at 8:30. 

Check out my live blog from my Celebrity Equinox cruise.  I answered most of your questions over there.  Some of the photos include the embarkation lunch menu in the MDR and a listing of Concierge benefits as well.  We did the second seating so I don't know about dining preference.  I think it applies more to getting priority for preference on reservations.  I never used the concierge service but there is a concierge available to help book specialty dining reservations for example but not sure what else to expect.  The embarkation lounge if you use the term lounge loosely because it is just a reserved seating area but you will be the first ones on other than repeat cruisers and suite guests.  We did not use the continental concierge breakfast but rather went to the buffet leaving only our carry on bags in the room and returned afterward to collect them and walk off the ship.  Afternoon snacks varied greatly but included something sweet and usually some dip or spread and one other thing.  They were just enough for a couple of bites of each item each.  See my blog for photos of a couple of the deliveries.  If you have dietary restrictions or preferences you can request them.  I think you will enjoy your cruise and some of those concierge perks.  Get ready to book another one.

I forgot to mention the app which runs on the same platform as the RC app. It had the chat feature that we didn’t use since we ha had the internet package and have iPhones. It also had the unlock your room door feature which I don’t find to be convenient since I usually have pockets for my sea pass card. I am throwing in a picture of Symphony if the Seas departing Miami as we passes by the port on our way to Cozumel and some pictures of the pool deck, solarium and lawn club. Cabanas in the lawn club were $99 on port days and $249 on sea days.