Making Memories: February 2016

Happy New Year Travels. We try to get away in January, as this is when my Birthday falls, plus it is cold and we like to escape the winter for a couple of weeks. We flew to Florida a couple of days ahead of our cruise on Celebrity Equinox. We flew into Fort Lauderdale. Our cruise left from Port Everglades. This is an 11 night cruise and will bring us to at least over 275 days at sea. We lost track of just how many cruises exactly. We stayed in Hollywood on the Broadwalk at the vintage Walkabout Beach Resort. This is more like an old fashioned boutique hotel only because it does not have resort amenities. We loved it. It is right next door to a Marriott which is where we had breakfast both mornings. We rented a car and were also able to use the Marriott's parking lot (small fee).

Here are some pictures from Walkabout.

The room was recently renovated and beautiful with a great beachy vibe. Equipped with a refrigerator, sink, microwave, the things you might need for a beach stay. It was great to be able to chill on the beach and just have a few steps to your room.

Boarding Celebrity Equinox was a breeze. We were greeted with Champagne and Mimosas.

We made our way to a bar and upgraded our beverage package from classic to premium. This works very well for us. We enjoy specialty coffees, especially in the morning, and we enjoy Pelligrino with meals and of course any cocktail we want. And, we also love not having all those paper receipts.

We went to Bistro on 5 after strolling around a little, and avoided the crowds in Oceanview cafe. Bistro on 5 did not disappoint. I do need to mention that there was some confusion as to if something had nuts in it or not. If you are allergic to nuts or have any kind of sensitivity be careful. Food was very good, service was very friendly, but just okay. We went to our stateroom when it was ready. Aqua Class (A1)#1599. An outstanding midship location, we loved it. We had a small bud vase with flowers, welcome champagne, apples, notes, invitations, slippers, tote bag, aromatherapy diffuser, a carafe of tea, 2 bottles of still water and a deep balcony. We booked this cruise when the itinerary was released. Equinox is such a beautiful ship! You immediately notice the tree, and the artwork all over.

We went to the Sunset Bar. Some folks from message boards were meeting there, but we didn't know anyone, and it didn't appear that anyone was looking around for other passengers. This was our first Solstice Class ship and I loved seeing natural grass on board! Just something new and unusual for me to see on a cruise ship. On this deck is also the CMOG -Corning Museum of Glass live demonstrations. I couldn't wait. I could sit for hours watching glass blowing.

Here is the Captains Club list of alcohol.

Waiting Martinis in the Sky Lounge, where Captains Club nightly event is held.

So, this is the first cruise that we actually did not take pictures of the menus. I apologize for that, but we were just so relaxed having dinner in Blu, those little details got away from us. For the most part all the food was very enjoyable and prepared well. The food theme in Blu is "clean cuisine", but honestly, I have to say that it isn't all really clean eating at all. This is pretty Blu.

This is breakfast, Day 1 in Blu.

Cozumel. We have been here numerous times before and we were looking to do something different. We booked the "Mexican Cuisine Workshop & Tasting" through Celebrity, it takes you to Playa Mia. This was so awesome! We had a great day! Words alone cannot explain how awesome this excursion was. We were greeted by the wonderful and charismatic Luis Esquivel. There were only 2 other couples, and it was a pleasure to meet them. I can not say enough about this excursion. After cooking, drinking and eating, we had ample time for the beach. Unfortunately it wasnt the best beach day, so we hung out, caught up online had more drinks. It was a wonderful day with memories forever.

As soon as we left Playa Mia on the bus, within 5 minutes it started to torrentially rain. Ha! We were one of the few prepared with ponchos and an umbrella. We scooted our way to the shops right at the pier, did some shopping, then walked to the ship (In our ponchos with day bags, umbrella and shopping bags with boxed breakables in tow!) It was wonderful to be back on board. We went to our stateroom to dry off and change.

Tonight we had dinner at Murano. Oh snap, here is a menu! The rest of the pictures from Murano are food porn!

We stopped in to the Gastrobar. Not beer drinkers, we were still able to get a cocktail here. And, I wanted to see this infamous book,
The Gastrobar Chronicles. Mostly entries from crew, passengers started to pen their tales too.

We enjoyed BLu and never did have the opportunity to go to Tuscan in the mornings for Captains Club...but here are the menus.

Also, remember, there is a sink all the way aft in Oceanview cafe. #washywashy

The shows that we saw were good. We didn't see many. Loved Liars CLub, as always! Was not fond of the comedian at all

January 15th, my Birthday. All I wanted to do was chill, see Costa Rica, hopefully get to see Monkeys and be on the beach by the sea. We booked this excursion with Celebrity.

It brought us to a small surfing town, Puerto Viejo. We had time on the beach when we got there. The drive was scenic and enjoyable. The beach was part black sand, part what I will call "normal" sand.

You could order drinks, and they delivered to your lounger on the beach.

Lunch was included; it is a little sandwich- don't be too excited for this!

We had time to walk around the village of Puerto Viejo where we and many others quickly went into the food market to seek out some good costa rica coffee. #score I also desperately needed hair spray. A side note: no one here speaks English. I learned that hairspray is called lacquer, pronounced lacka.

Here are some pictures from the village market.

As I sit and write this, I will add that this morning we had out first cup of our costa rica coffee and it did not disappoint. MMmmm it is so good! (we're grinding as we need it and keeping the beans in the freezer, but I think it will be gone in just a couple of weeks) We also ate some street food. We shared a chicken Empanada, it was very good. We also bought some chicken bites and chicharones- but these chicharrones were quite different than the crunchy chip like snacks you might be thinking of. I didn't quite get a good picture, but they were large cubes of pork belly cooked to perfection. Juicy, not fatty, I have no idea exactly how they did it.

On our bus drive back to the ship we saw Monkeys!! The bus driver and tour guide stopped a few times to show us things, but I was excited about the monkeys. Even if they were sleeping.

We had dinner in Tuscan Grille tonight. Steak Tartare is amazing. The food was excellent, service was not as good as the food. The assistant waiter just couldn't get anything right.

They did bring out this chocolate cake for my birthday. Thats some fancy-schmancy writing?

This is Quasar. A late night nightclub to make you feel like you are back in the 70s, totally retro and chic.

Colon Panama. There was much I wanted to do here, both go the the city and take a Gatun Lake ferry and go through the locks. We booked the excursion with Celebrity. The 8+ hour excursion through the locks it was! And, this excursion did not disappoint. There was a lot of waiting time, but everyone got up and walked around the ferry (lunch, water and soda provided) and the time went fairly quick. It ended up being a 10 hour excursion. Here are just a few pictures. P&O Aurora was on our side.

Me touching the walls going through the locks.

Yes, the entire experience was amazing. Next time we will venture to the city.

This was our bus.

Cartagena Colombia. We had an overnight here. This was our first cruise with an over night. I immediately booked an evening Horse and carriage ride through Old City. During the day, our first excursion was "Romancing the Stone". We also booked this with Celebrity. Our tour guide was great.

We first stopped at Fort San Felipe. Be prepared, as soon as we exited the bus, street vendors swarm in. The silver jewelry here is not silver, but you can bargain for a hat if you forgot yours. Some fellow guests on the tour came back on the bus and paid $6.00 for a hat that another paid $20. You can also buy cold water bottles here if you didn't have any with you. We took our #FortSelfie and were back on the bus.

Then we went to Boca Grande, also known as New City to our Emerald tour. Loved it!

The beaches here in Boca Grande.

More Cartagena

We had dinner in Blu,

Cartagena After Dark. Our Horse & Carriage ride.

This guy was bouncing on and off the carriages at the beginning miming.

Back on board

The next day in Cartagena we took a cab to Old City and walked around. You can take a bus when you disembark the ship, or walk to the end of the pier where there are some shops. You can buy COFFEE here. :) And, I did. At the Juan Valdez store.. There is also a sanctuary area with flamingos, parrots, toucans and of course, my favorite, monkeys! And, so much more!

A word of advice. You will most likely want to share a van taxi to get to Old City. And, no one speaks english. It should cost you $5.00 per person to get to Old City (one way). We shared a van going there and we were lucky going back, we walked out of Old City, and within 2 minutes of walking to see where we had to go to find a cab back, what seemed to be a 'cab organizer' saw us and directed us to a waiting cab.

Uh oh, more street food. DIY Food Tour. Arepas.

Then we found a little shop with Empanadas.

Back on Equinox we were invited to Sail Away on the Helipad.

So long Cartagena!

World Class Bar. We only saw people here once.

Bridge Tour !! I'm a ship-geek.

Tonight we had dinner in Luminae with Hotel Director, Christophe Belaubre.

Stay Tuned.....2 more days to go!

Well, we were really looking forward to Grand Cayman. We have been her many times and this time we planned on just taxiing over to 7 mile beach. Not Royal Palms because we have been there. Well, we got to the beach near Calico Jacks and you could barely see sand. There were 5 ships in port. I don't know what I was thinking. We found a bench and sat down. We ordered drinks and looked a the menu. We knew there was a slim chance anyone would get up and free up any loungers. There were no sun shades, umbrellas or huts of any kind for shade on the beach. We ordered food.

Reviewing food, this was great beach food. Fried, but not greasy. Flavorful. But, we wanted beach. After lunch we grabbed a taxi back to the ship. I did not even want to go shopping! Bye Bye Grand Cayman, Until next time.

Dinner Tonight, Silk Harvest

Service was outstanding. Food was great.

First they bring you out Wasabi Peas. Not as spicy as I would have thought. Really good, but leave room for your food!

Rumor had it that we loved our tuna sashimi,

Oops, sorry, it appears that I didn't take pictures of any of the other food was ordered and indulged on! Just the sushi and sashimi! Oh, and.........I had to have it,.

And, it was very good!

Oh! And dessert. Good I am sure, but not as memorable as the fish staring at me!

Tonight we saw Liar's Club. As always, this did not disappoint!

Two nights before we were to disembark we learned of the snowstorm hitting the northeast. We knew we needed to change our plans. We already had a nights stay in Florida after the cruise, so Mr. called to extend our reservation to 2 nights. Our rental car was no issue, they would rent it as long as we needed. Now for flights. Our son messaged us and let us know as soon as Jetblue announced free changes and we began to change our flight back to New Jersey. This worked out but was no easy feat. (Then we arrived to Fort Lauderdale airport and after waiting 1.5 hrs it was announced our flight was clear to land in Newark, NJ but it would be delayed. An hour passed and we were informed our flight was to be diverted to White Plains, NY- but there would be busses waiting to shuttle us back to NEwark. Or, we could reschedule our flight for FOUR, yes 4 days later. I was ready to go home. More to this story at the end of this post)

Here are some pictures I randomly took of the screens in the iLounge as we were trying to log on to change flights.