Single seven night, cruises 82-83 Captains Club points 2864; CS Cabin 1619 on deck 11 . Itinerary: Mia, Sea, San Juan, St. Thomas, Samana Dom Rep (Punta Cana, Dom Rep scratched due to weather) Sea, Nassau, Mia
Master: Captain Dimitrios Manetas; Hotel Dir.: Srdjan Cetkovic; GRM.: Phem Kuipers; Cruise Dir.: Patrick Leynes; F&B: Tudor Soacat; Staff Capt Dimitris Petras; Michael's Club Concierge: Fabio & Saber; Suites Officer: Sylvia Schmidt; Butler: Gene; Room Steward: Jorie; Waiters: Luis, Vikas; Asst: Carlington and Maria; MaitreD: Luminae: Nemad; Somelier: Yan; Michael’s Club server: non-descript.
Day 1- FLL/MIA
Vacations seem to come at just the right time and this one was no different. Originally scheduled on Summit but bumped off due to it's charter, we ended up on The Equinox. Cousins Gary and Joan, Brian and Lorraine met us at our house to ride together to Newark airport.
We got to the airport around 430, for our 615 flight. After checking the bags we stopped for bagels before we started boarding. The flight was a smooth one on United. Baggage claim went well. SAS transportation was waiting for us at the end of the terminal. He advised us that he was going an alternate way via I-75 since I-95 was backed up. Within an hour we were at the terminal and dropping off our bags with the Celebrity porters at the terminal.
Check in was a breeze and after a slight traffic backup on the gangway due to multiple wheelchairs, we were on the beautiful Equinox, on her last sailing prior to her Edge revolution dry dock. Next, with drinks in hand, we were off to Michael's Club (Mike's) where we met concierges Fabio & Saber who offered us more drinks.
We had a nice lunch in Lumanae then proceeded to the 2:45 muster drill. Our station was located in Murano restaurant. It was over in about a half hour and upon returning to the room, the luggage arrived and was ready to be unpacked in our Celebrity
Suite. Recently we upgraded to this stateroom from a sky suite -SS1. It features a veranda with lounge chairs and a table.
It also has a living room with a L-shaped couch, big TV.
Within the stateroom is a server and a combination desk/makeup area as seen on the right.
The bedroom is comfortable with a adjoining walk in closet. It also has a big TV. There is a bathroom with a tub shower combination.
Next we met for some pre-dinner cocktails in Mike's and capped off with our early dinner in Lumanae. We were bushed from a very long day and called it a night.
Day 2- Sea
A beautiful sea day opened the festivities and the second day and after breakfast in Lumanae we went to the pool. After a dunk in the hot tub and some lounging,
Lumanae serves lunch on sea days, so we took advantage of that.
The afternoon’s docket filled up with some shopping and trivia games which we faired rather poorly.
Tonight we went to the Tuscan grille for a nice dinner; so nice it took us longer then we planned so we missed the show but did not miss the casino.
Day 3- San Juan
Woke about 630 and Gene the Butler brought us coffee and danish. He is a really excellent butler and most times has our order to us within five minutes. He is excited to go home to Manilla after this cruise.
Soon after, we met Joan and Gary in Lumanae for Breakfast. Later, we went to deck 7 to talk to Edrilyn Langamen, the Captains Club Hostess about our upcoming Zenith status. She didn't know the answers and pointed us to the future cruise desk which we visited later.
We made our way up to the pool and found a shady area for a while. Then Gary and Joan joined us for lunch in Sushi on 5. I had the dynamite and Randi had two rolls.
Just before 230, we all went to a very windy helipad to watch as we sailed into San Juan. It was very beautiful! We got
talking to Sylvia, the suite manager, who said she would find particulars out about our Zenith situation.
Next we went to Mike's for priority disembarkation. They snuck us off first, through the forward gangway; the same one the crew uses. The girls went to Polo while I took a walk up the hill to get coffee creamers. They only had hazelnut and mocha so I got three. Meanwhile Randi also stopped at Walgreens and found a few more flavors.
That evening we stopped for drinks in the Ensemble Lounge before the show. The 7pm show starred Ashlie-Amber Harris who belted out, and very well I must say, Whitney Houston songs. Dinner followed at Lumanae.
After dinner we checked out the salsa swinging at the Latin Fiesta Party by the pool. That is Cruise Director Patrick is the center dancing up a Salsa Storm.
But that's not all! We landed up in Celebrity Central to watch an Adult Comedy Game show called, Frisky Feud.
Bedtime followed all the games.
Day 4- St. Thomas
All six of us showed up to Luminae for breakfast. Afterward, we showed them our Celebrity Suite which they liked.
While Randi and I had plans to walk to town, the other four in the group went to Emerald Beach, which was an easy get to, five minute cab ride away. They said it was a nice beach but had a steep drop off in the water.
At lunch in the Oeanview Cafe, Diego, the MatreD made Randi onion free pasta and steak while I had a variety. We met and sat with Travel Agents Rick and Cindy from Tampa. He reminded us of our friend George, with all the one-liners.
Then we had to rest at the pool. We saw Roger Federer there who appeared to get old. Later in Mike's, we met Raul from future cruises to discuss our Zenith status. He took the information and said he needed to talk with his manager, Fernando about our unique Zenith situation.
Martini tasting was next. Originally everyone was going, but it turned out to be only Gary, Joan, Randi and Mark to taste six varieties. Randi liked the Blue Martini best.
We attended the 7pm show before dinner again, and watched Elysium. We saw it previously and again, like last time, thought it was only average. Dinner at Lumanae for Randi was escargot, sea bass, lamb, breadsticks desert. I will have more on that later.
Everyone made a stop in the casino after dinner but I went to see the 80s quiz show. Gary and Joanie won a slots jackpot. That night Randi got sick; a case of onion contamination. We assume the waiter gave her the wrong escargot plate made with onions or perhaps the chef goofed.
Day 5- Dominican Republic
Due to weather, we did not port in Punta Cana on the southern side of the island. Instead we stopped at the northern port of Samana but we all decided to stay on board since it was a 30 minute tender ride. After Lumanae breakfast we took our pool positions to do some napping, then dozing, then more napping.
The chef came out to supervise Randi getting a non-contaminated lunch without onion at the grill. She had a hot dog and fries.
After going back to the stateroom to get dressed, everyone met for cocktails in the Gastrobar; a nice quiet venue where the wine cellar used to be. The 7pm show was Chris Funk, a cool magician. On the way out we bumped into Patrick, the Cruise Director and talked for a while.
He is getting off the ship and going home to the Philippines the same day we are leaving. He didn't want to do another dry dock after doing the last one on the Summit. He talked quite a bit about how that turned out and you can tell, he was very proud of the result.
We eventually made it to dinner at Silk Harvest; an Asian flair restaurant. Good food, but much, too much food. We also found out that this room will morph into LePetite Chef, leaving Silk Harvest only to be a cruising memory.
Day 6- SEA
After breakfast in Lumanae we went into the shops and picked up two shirts, a hat and a Celebrity beach towel. Then, we used up some ship credit in the casino. Randi played slots and I walked away from the roulette table, up $160.
We met the group by the pool and headed to music trivia. Thinking we had it locked up early, we ended up in third place. Meanwhile back to the pool, then Randi and I headed to our last Lumanae lunch.
We ended up in the Gastrobar again before the show, "Life." Celebrity really needs to improve here.
The 80's music contest directly after that was so much more enjoyable.
The ultimate dinner during the cruise was tonight in Murano. Everyone enjoyed! After a wonderful dinner, the
waiters brought over a cake and sung, "Happy Birthday" to Brian and Lorraine as well as "Happy Anniversary & Happy Retirement!" They certainly enjoyed that.
Day 7- Nassau
I woke up this morning and cashed out our refundable money on account. We met the gang in Lumanae then walked into town in Nassau. It was more exercise than anything else, so we soon headed back to chill and spent some time at pool. We tried for Sushi for lunch, but it was closed so we settled for the Oceanview. Thankfully Diego, a considerate MatreD, helped Randi with her food allergy as he did once before.
That evening the Herts joined us, to see comedian, Corey Rodrigues. He was a pretty funny black guy. Since his last name was Rodrigues and he was not Puerto Rican. He made that fact, part of his act.
Meanwhile, anniversary celebrators, Brian and Lorraine, went up to the Sunset bar to see the beautiful sunset. They got lucky because this cruise has been lacking in having many a gorgeous sunsets. This time, they were not disappointed.
It is always sad to be seated at the last dinner on board but we made the best of it. We said our good-bys and thanked our staff at Lumanae.
Also wanted to thank Yan, our wine steward for selling us Caymus Cabernet for a discount at $50 a bottle.
Day 8- Disembarkation MIA/FLL
I was up very early on disembarkation day; perhaps the only day I didn't sleep well on this cruise. We got to breakfast at 7 and by 8 or so we were in Mike's to be escorted off ship. After a short delay with overcrowding in customs, they radioed up and we left Mike's through a back door.
Disembarkation was easy. Customs was easy. Our ground transportation, SAS was a little slow to show up but we got to FLL
airport in plenty of time to sit around, and pick up lunch for the airplane ride home to Newark, which was again on
United. All in all, this was a good cruise but both Randi and I felt a 7 night cruise, is just too short and we think we like the crew on Summit more!
Thoughts for the survey.
Overall- While this was certainly an excellent experience, somehow we felt that the experience is superior on Summit. Staff did their jobs and did them well but there was that "little something extra" that seemed to be missing.
Ship- Looking forward to seeing this ship after dry dock. Although interior areas did not show it much, the exterior was overdue for a redo.
Entertainment- Celebrity must do better in the future with Production shows and Headline entertainment, even if it means paying more. We've given them time to revamp when changes were made a few years back but shows are still disappointing.
Michael's- Although we prefer the club's design much better on the Millennium class, we still were able to spend many hours in Michael’s, having fun. Tasty bits have certainly improved but what has taken a downturn is an under-stocked bar. It had to be at least three separate times that I asked for something but it was not available at this bar. The server had to go out to another bar to retrieve the item requested and return with it.
Stateroom- could not find a 'sleep' button on the tv remote although it probably was there. I just couldn't locate it so the tv played for most of the night.
Crew mentions- The outstanding crew member on this cruise was Gene, our Butler, who brought us coffee and danish daily. He is a really excellent butler and most times has our order was ready and he brought it to us within five minutes of us calling.
Special Mention- At lunch one day in the Oeanview Cafe, Diego, the MatreD made Randi onion free pasta and steak. He took very good care. Another day, we tried for Sushi for lunch, but it was closed so we settled for the Oceanview. Thankfully Diego, a very considerate MatreD, was there again and helped Randi with her food allergy as he did once before. Bravo.
Allergy Concern- Lastly, while it would take some time initially, it may be helpful in the Oceanview to place a card in front of a food item, listing ingredients for allergy prone people to read and make a determination.
Thank You,
Mark DeGennrao
On the cusp of Zenith.
