In the elevator in the morning, we met a friendly woman our age, who said she was on her first cruise and had had a rough night. There was a vibration in her room that prevented her from sleeping, she was feeling queasy, and spent much of the night wandering the ship, watching the nocturnal thunder storms. Later in the week would we meet her again!
As previous Royal Caribbean members, we could transfer our reward points to Celebrity and already be "returning" customers. The points do not transfer back to Royal. At the first level, you really don't get much. The free scoop of gelato was nice...but it was pretty dang similar to the ice cream in the Oceanview Cafe. One thing that was fun was special invitations to events, such as meet crew and officers on the helipad at departure. This tour of the galley though, was open to all. We made sure to be there early because our waiter said it fills up quickly. Rob wasn't sure he wanted to do this, but I did! What a chance to get behind the scene pictures!
When you break it down, there's really only two styles of ship decor. Flashy, bright and modern, or dark, woodsy and elegant. The dining room on the Equinox is flashy and bright. A nice change from the Royal ships. Sometimes I felt like I was in the midst of a pipe organ though. We all gathered in for our pre-tour slide show, enjoying our complimentary drink. Our tour guide was not the easiest to understand, and our group was really too big. It was hard to hear him at times, in the noisy galley.
Everything for the dining rooms and a couple of the small food venues happens here. There are two levels of dining rooms, and this ship has two galleys. Some ships don't--waiters much run up and down stairs to retrieve food. Each of the specialty restaurants has their own galley. Much of the Oceanview Cafe is made here too. This area above was the pastry area. Man, I wish I had those big, narrow ovens for giant cookie sheets!
Lamb shank, already roasted and waiting to be braised, I believe.
Another prep area. Maybe this was the special section where they prepare food for guests with allergies. They talked about that, how meticulous they are to avoid contamination. It does take a bit of the spontaneity out of food selection, but knowing they are really concerned with customer safety, is reassuring!
There were a few activities on in the afternoon, but I really don't recall going to any of them and I have no pictures. There was this picture though. I had forgotten my little speakers for my mp3 player. Rob fashioned a redneck speaker using our ice bucket. It wasn't too bad! I think we spent some time in the hot tubs, watching an incredible rain storm come across the ocean and cross the ship. No wonder the pools were so cold. Just because it's the Caribbean, doesn't mean the rain is all that warm. At least, not yet.
The weather was a little rough later in the day. Not terrible, but a bit noticeable.
This model ship is hysterical. There are no ginormous pools on this ship.
It was "Evening Chic" night. That's the new formal night. Some people still get really dressed up. Rob didn't even put on a tie :(
Frog's legs were on the appetizer menu, so we made sure to try them. They were quite good, just like chicken wings. I didn't care for the
cold pea puree (follow the link to see the menu). We realized we'd be able to see the beautiful Caribbean sunsets from our table, at least until we hit the "turn around" point. However, the windows are good for viewing out of, and the evening weather was pretty much overcast most dinners.
I wish I remembered what else I had that night!
Rob had some sort of apple crisp, I think, and mine was a pastry with lemon curd, I think, and "various fruits". Well, it was a little skimpy on the fruits. But yummy.
After dinner, we went to the theatre for "Elysium" which is one of those acrobats, dancers and strange plot type shows. I suddenly started feeling queasy when we sat down. We moved to more centre-stage seats and tried again. Nope. With every slight movement of the ship, my stomach moved. I had forgotten my SeaBands, and knew there wasn't time to go back to the room for Gravol and have it take affect (which would make me sleepy anyway). I felt so bad I had to leave and miss the show. I mean, I really wanted to see it and was disappointed I couldn't. We found out at the end of the trip during a back stage tour that it was actually one of the roughest nights the show cast has had and their main actress couldn't perform due to seasickness. I felt a bit better hearing that, because I'm not usually that affected by the sea. I guess being at the very front of the ship, down low, and in a closed in space, all contributed to my queasiness.
We were looking forward to the next day, and being back in Grand Cayman.
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