June 4, 2022 Boarding the Celebrity Equinox

The rain continued all night due to a tropical depression which is now being called a probable cyclone. It is an offshoot of a hurricane from last weekend The heaviest rain is offshore after 7 a.m. but already there was five to eight inches and flood warnings issued for southern Florida from just south of Tampa across to the east coast all the way to Cuba. Cuba had overland flooding. Rain should be ending this afternoon. The track of the storm is moving northeast which may cause rough seas for the first day of the cruise. Our ship, Celebrity Equinox, arrived in port early this morning coming from Cancun encountering rain yesterday on its final Sea Day. The temperature this morning is 24°C. We are happy that we have our waterproof jackets and umbrellas.

We checked out of Candlewood Suites and went by shuttle to Port Everglades to board Celebrity Eclipse for Noon check-in. Port Everglades is the fourth busiest port in the world. The Celebrity Eclipse has a passenger capacity of 2,850 guests. The Internet on Equinox could be slow so we will be posting photos at some of the five ports. The itinerary is for stops at San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, Sint Maarten; Tortola, British Virgin Islands and Nassau, Bahamas.

The rain was pouring as the shuttle driver loaded luggage and passengers onto the bus. The drive was just 15 minutes to Terminal 25 for Equinox. Other passengers were being taken to the Carnival Princess also in port at Terminal 2. There were debarking passengers waiting for taxis at 11:30 a.m. The porters were sheltered by an overhang as they loaded luggage onto large wagons to send to the ship for delivery to staterooms later in the afternoon. We had to walk about 200 meters partially covered from the rain to get to the passenger entrance. Inside people were given a letter stating that face masks were required on the ship while in the Theatre, Casino and Celebrity Central, a small theatre on Deck 4 near a curved staircase which goes up to the Deck 5 shops. There are also shops on Deck 4. Guests compliance with the request will be interesting as there was only about 60% wearing masks on the Summit after a similar request partway through the cruise.

Standing by the escalator was a person checking the COVID tests, (the stairs were out of bounds) then up the escalator to clear security – no need to remove your shoes. Next was a line of at least 20 agents blocking the access to the football field size hall to further check-in guests. They checked your boarding pass, the COVID vaccine report and your passport, all of which had already been uploaded weeks ago. Then the COVID test results were viewed again, before letting you pass into the hall which already had over 600 passengers sitting and waiting to be allowed on the ship. All the Celebrity staff wore face masks but less than 30% of the passengers. We only waited about 15 minutes and then we were lining up to board the ship in groups of 25 or so to reduce crowding but there was little physical distancing. One last step, before we departed the hall, was to lower our face mask to compare our photo related to the boarding pass, which we had uploaded several weeks ago, to our in person face. We entered a series of enclosed gangway ramps to board the ship on Deck 5. We headed immediately to the muster station to check in to complete the Lifeboat drill. We had already watched the video while waiting in the hall. That was the last item on the Celebrity app to complete the boarding process.

We took the stairs to our Deck 6 balcony stateroom and found the keycards waiting in the holder by our door. Next, we found Café al Bacio for fancy coffees and cake for lunch rather than facing the multitude of passengers up on Deck 14 in the Oceanview Café buffet. There was no card in the stateroom to tell us where our dining table assignment was so we found the Captain’s Club agent on Deck 7 who looked up our table number. It is on Deck 3 with dinner at 6 p.m. We explored the ship which we last sailed on about six years ago. Over an hour after we had entered our stateroom, there was an announcement that the staterooms were ready for passengers. Since we have Elite status, we were able to have access to our stateroom early. We found the Craft Social bar with its wine barrels and window benches. A favourite place on the sister ship, Eclipse, for our companions on the British Isles cruise. Larry had a Franszikaner beer and I had a Strongbow cider.

The sun was out for a couple of hours this afternoon, as we explored the ship finding an extensive library opening onto the ten storey atrium on Deck 11 with more bookshelves on Deck 12. The atrium, which is a long sun tunnel, has a five deck high tree suspended between the decks. We took photos as we climbed to the Sky Lounge on Deck 14, which also has the Oceanview Café buffet on it. At the Sky Lounge we ordered Dark and Stormy drinks. We were introduced to them in Bermuda. At the Sky Lounge we had a view from the front of the ship and could see the helipad. Drinks finished, we went out to walk around the outside deck and took more photos of the port including the Port Everglades pelican sign. It was sunny, but the rain clouds were nearby. Docked on the other side of the pier was a cargo ship, BBC Hudson, which was loading small yachts. A comical way to tell the difference between a boat and a ship - “A ship can carry boats, but a boat cannot carry a ship.”

It clouded over after 3 p.m., which was the All Aboard time. Our luggage arrived so we unpacked, met our Indonesian stateroom steward, Gusti, from Bali. Then we returned to Café al Bacio for Iglus (Frappés) to take back to enjoy on our balcony and watch the sail away. There were catcalls and whistles that echoed from the apartment across the canal from some of the more exuberant somewhat younger passengers, especially a foursome just two balconies away. We can expect a livelier crowd on this eight day cruise. The average age of passengers on the Equinox is more than one generation younger than passengers on the Summit cruise. A heavy rain shower descended as the ship sailed away. The canal out to sea was just a few hundred meters away. In the 17 minutes it took to enter the Atlantic Ocean, the sun was peeking through again. The ocean had a mist rising from it. For the next 45 minutes there were occasional showers. There is a strong wind and three meter waves so you can notice a slight rock to the ship.

Our Early Seating time for dinner is 6 p.m. We sat at a table of eight. Our tablemates were retired Arnie and Sue for Austin, Texas, married 59 years; younger Deana and Adam from Wyoming married 12 years and retired John and Ann from south Florida, almost one year into a partnership. With a 6 p.m. dinner, there is no possibility to watch the 7 p.m. show, but lots of time to attend the 9 p.m. show. Tonight’s show features vocalist, Antonio Salci singing popular, Latin and gospel tunes. We danced in the Grand Foyer to the music of D’Coolers.

After dinner, the ship had been sailing for four hours in a south southeast direction toward the Bahamas our location was 26°05.38’ N and 78°32.41 W. The ship is travelling at 22.1 knots which is fast for a cruise ship.

Steps for today 8,227