2024.01 Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Grand Cayman (Part 3)

First up, our room.  We selected a balcony room, however I didn’t pay attention to the important detail of “obstructed view”, as most of the balcony view was blocked by a lifeboat.

The upside is that the lifeboats were lower than the railing, so we still did have a view.  After leaving our luggage in the room we went and explored the ship.

Outdoor Spaces

Here’s a few pictures from outside spaces.  There is a main pool with a couple hot tubs, and the upper deck contains a walking trek.

We found the bar area at the back of the ship, and above the exterior portion of the buffet seating area, excellent in the evenings.  Only disadvantage was that this area was a smoking area, however it was possible to not be surrounded by smoke from guests.

For select guests (definitely not us), the front area of the ship with the helipad is used for a reception.  I got these pictures as the ship was leaving port one day:

Not far from the bar at the very back of the ship both areas a little forward was a little area that had grass.  Moving forward then there was a larger area where they played movies outdoors, giving a relaxing vibe to the area.

Gym

I made a habit of going to the gym in the morning of sea days.  For this ship there is a balcony accessible from the front of the gym area.  Having a great view from the ship was a great incentive to wake up early to catch the sunrise.  Some mornings were spectacular.

The gym had tons of equipment, and arriving early in the morning ensured that the space was quiet.  Interestingly though was that the morning classes were popular bringing people in each morning bright and early.

Interior

On several levels near one bank of elevators were some useful and quiet areas.  There was the loyalty program area, a cards area, and library to provide additional places to enjoy.  I found the library useful as it was quiet, and most of the sound from the decks below were not loud, nor distracting.  Around the loyalty program area it turned into a puzzle area as there was a very large table where multiple puzzles could be solved at the same time.

Near the forward elevators was this open area.  Not as impressive as the central elevator bank that was open through almost the whole ship, this area was sometimes nice and quiet and the central area was much busier.

At the front was a theatre that was used for shows daily.  We attended a few in which the quality was high and we never had an issue finding a seat.

One popular spot for me in the morning was on deck 6.  This was an open area in which there were a few shops, and most importantly in the morning a coffee bar.  Even though I’m not a coffee person, having a specialty tea to start my day was great.  Obviously, a tea would be delivered to her when she started her day.

There were several bar areas.  This lounge area we past when we went to the back of the ship for our specialty dinner.  The space was vacant during the day, but would progressively fill up.  By dinner time it would be jam packed, and live entertainment could be taken in here.

Pool Deck

In addition to the main exterior pool, there was an enclosed pool area.  This gave the ship’s air conditioning a chance to keep this area temperate and comfortable.  We spent some time in the pool one day, and noted that it wasn’t busy at all.  It was a calm and quiet area to relax in the water.

A few final spots, here are pictures of the spa area that you pass enroute to the gym, and I found a meeting/conference room one morning.

My comparison of crowds, and how busy areas were was in comparison to our cruise from 2023, where we were on a larger Royal Caribbean ship.  During our whole time, this ship felt like a proper size.  Not too small to be unable to support some extras or conveniences, and not overly large to feel like it was a floating city — after this cruise I felt the Royal Caribbean ship was aiming for small city approach.  Also, the demographics of the ship played a part.  On this ship, by the third day other guests had tallied a grand total of 4 young children.  We didn’t spot any teenagers, however with the cruise occurring in January I’m not surprised.  Most children and teenagers would be back at school after a break for Christmas & New Years.

Now let’s move on an important part, the food!

Explore other parts of this trip:

Part 1 – Air Canada Flight Toronto to Fort Lauderdale 

Part 2 – Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port & Convention Center

Part 3 – Celebrity Equinox (this post!)

Part 4 – Food onboard Celebrity Equinox

Part 5 – Port, George Town, Grand Cayman

Part 6 – Port, Oranjestad, Aruba

Part 7 – Port, Willemstad, Curacao

Part 8 – Kralendijk, Bonaire

Part 9 – Air Canada flight Fort Lauderdale to Toronto