Celebrity Equinox Cruise Ship Photo Blog

Photo blog of the Celebrity Equinox. Just back from a 10 night Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Equinox cruise ship, my second cruise on this beautiful ship.

Just back from a 10 night Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Equinox cruise ship, my second cruise on this beautiful ship.  I have now taken 19 cruises and I think the Equinox is the best so far. Here are some of my photos of the Celebrity Equinox cruise ship.

Photo Blog of Celebrity Equinox Cruise Ship

The Lawn Club on the Deck 12

The lawn club is amazing. Up on the top of the ship are two large areas of real grass!  We played bocce ball and was in a golf putting contest (which I won, see photo below).  The lawn club area makes this ship and the other solstice class ships really unique.

Putting contest at Lawn Club

 Well that is not all, right next to the Lawn Club is the Corning Glass Show. Given a couple of times a day while at sea, you have got to see this. True artisans at work.

Corning Glass Show
Rear deck of Celebrity Equinox

On the same level at the rear of the ship, there is a bar and sitting area. Up above you will the outside tables from the appropriately named Oceanview Cafe. This must have been St Thomas.

Dance Class

There is always some activity going on in the many foyers of the Equinox.  I believe this is some sort of dance exercise group. You don’t sign up, just show up. In the evenings there  games here.

Speaking of foyers, this one below is the Grand Foyer on Deck 3. Part of this foyer is the elevator atrium that shows four glass elevators as they go all the way to the top of the ship. Quite a sight. In the Grand Foyer there is always something going on, like dance classes, demonstrations, formal dancing, and mini “interactive” shows by the ship’s entertainment cast.

Grand Foyer

One evening the cast came down the stairs of the Grand Foyer and gave a mini show which turned into a dance party. It was wild!

Interactive Show on Equinox

The main entertainment area is the Princess Theater where two shows a night are staged. I liked this theater because there were no chairs and tables to bang around and camp your sitting.  Comfortable and every seat is a good seat, even in the balcony.

Princess Theater

On a returning sea day there is a great brunch from 10am to 2pm.  Do not miss this, it is excellent.

Brunch

 

One reason not to miss the brunch is the beautiful original food and ice carvings. Bring your camera like I did.

Food Carvings

By the way, we took a cooking class at the Murano Specialty restaurant and really enjoyed it.  You get a great meal with the package. You have to ask the restaurant about this as I don’t think it is advertised.

Cooking Class

Of course there is a 24 hour computer room (staffed during the day)

Computer Room

Other rooms include a library

Library

 

And a card game room

Card Game Room

Of course on a Caribbean cruise the pool area is very popular. Entertainment stage, hamburger and hotdog grill and bar right there too.

Outdoor pool

But we liked the Adult Pool in the Solarium.

Adult Pool

This little cafe is also in the solarium. They serve healthy food and have fresh fruit drinks and smoothies which we like.

Cafe in the solarium

Well there are many more attractive places on the Celebrity Equinox but this should give you an impression of this beautiful ship.

Boomer Cruise Vacations
Boomer Travel

Oh, I better let you see the outside of the Equinox.

Celebrity Equinox

Originally posted 2014-01-23 21:54:43.

Boomers Participate in Senior Games

Boomers Participate in Senior Games

This week I was a participant in the North Fulton Golden Games, a collaborative effort by 5 local cities that provides a month-long series of Olympic-style events and activities (shot put, discus, one-half and one mile walk, one-mile run, tennis, golf, and bowling) for adults age 50 and older.

Participants compete in track and field events, pickleball, tennis tournament, golf tournament, Bocce ball competition, ball room dancing, swimming and more. I came in first in the one-half mile walk in my age group and enjoyed several other activities. Our senior center helped with sign up and even transportation.

There is a state competition and in my state it is the Georgia Golden Olympics which is scheduled for September 17-20, 2014 in Warner Robins, GA. Every state has a similar event and here a senior games list by state. All this feeds into the National Senior Games Association which will have the 2015 National Senior Games in Bloomington/Minneapolis/St. Paul in July 3-16, 2015 in which they are expecting 12,000 athletes ages 50 and up from all over the county.

Here are some photos from our local senior games.

senior games torch ceremony

 

discus throw

 

shot put

 

mile walk
Toss event
football toss – good throw!
frisbee throw
horseshoe
crowd at senior games

National Senior Games will be in Minnesota July 3-16, 2015.

See post about my visit to the Georgia Golden Olympics

Originally posted 2014-05-03 07:39:49.

Boomers Stay Active With Outdoor Games

Boomers Stay Active With Outdoor Games
Many of us boomers had indoor jobs all those working years and couldn’t really spend too much time outdoors. Now that we are retiring, it is a nice benefit of retirement to get outside. Many boomers are getting outside with outdoor games which provide fresh air, vitamin D, exercise and socialization with your fellow players.

Games played on a schedule give you a reason to get out of the house and get going. For example, my wife Mary Ann and I play Bocee every Monday and Wednesday at Park Place Adult Center and we look forward to playing every time. Senior centers provide an opportunity to join some of the outdoor games right in your neighbor.

Active adult communities have all kinds of outdoor games for boomers. We just spent a few days at Sun City Carolina Lakes outside Charlotte NC and here are some of the most popular outdoors games being enjoyed there. All of the pictures below were taken by me at Sun City Carolina Lakes.

Boomers Enjoy Golf, which is one of the most popular outdoor games ever.

Boomers enjoy playing golf.

Pickle Ball is an extremely popular outdoor game enjoyed by active baby boomers. Quite a social activity as well as great exercise.

Pickleball at Sun City Carolina Lakes

Tennis of course is enjoyed everywhere by boomers and remains one of the most popular outdoor games.

Tennis at Sun City Carolina Lakes

Bocce Ball is a great social game and can be played by anyone. This one is my favorite.

Bocce Ball

Softball is another very popular game with boomers when a playing field is available like in a recreational park or active adult community. This is a great team sport and boomers love to dress up in their uniforms, rallying their team mates, and tail gating.

Softball is a popular outdoor game for boomers

There are many more outdoor games like horseshoes. volleyball, basketball, badminton, croquet, corn hole, ladder golf and others. These are many organized outdoor activities other than games for individuals like walking clubs, running, boating, fishing, swimming, bide riding and others.

Why Boomers Enjoy Outdoor Games?

Boomers are getting involved with these outdoor activities to enjoy the outdoors, get some exercise and meet new friends.

For more information about where to find outdoor games, visit Senior Center Directory, Active Adult Communities.

Find a beautiful Del Webb community like Sun City Carolina Lakes.

Tennis Class

Originally posted 2014-08-09 11:33:04.

The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show Feb 9, 1964

The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show

On February 9, 1964 my wife Mary Ann washed her hair late Sunday PM so that she wouldn’t have to go to church. The reason?  To stay home and watch The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show along with 73 million other people.  She took these photos that she still has. There are like 30 photos and the cost to process was $1.03. The photos held up well. Enjoy!

Mary Ann’s favorite George Harrison

 

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan
Dreamy eyes Paul McCartney

 

John: Sorry Girls, He’s Married

 

Ringo Starr
John Lennon

 

 

 

Photo package. $1.03 to process 30 photos

 

Originally posted 2014-02-09 07:26:27.

Halloween Costume Parties For Baby Boomers

Boomers like to dress up for Halloween and attend Halloween costume parties. See pics.

I first noticed how we Boomers like to dress up for Halloween when we took a 15 day cruise to Hawaii and on the return trip to LA we had a Halloween party on the ship.  Everyone had on a Halloween costume from the passengers to the ships crew.  Everyone was really enjoying the evening and the grand finale  was a contest to see who had the best costumes.  That was something to watch.

Our Boomer friends love to go to those Halloween costume party contest in bars and see if they can win some prize money.  They had a really unusual costume.  He is the electrical plug and she is the receptacle.  Here is a photo I took of them when they came over to my house on the way to one of the contest.  They won $150.

Getting back to the Halloween party, here I am on the left as a cat burglar with a badge arresting some escaped convicts.   Hey, who said this had to make sense.  

More Boomers Costumes at Halloween

I know it’s just a mask but this was one of the scariest costumes and the guy was playing the part too.  I think a different personality comes out when you dress up like this.

These ladies were having fun, maybe a little too much fun.

Ideas for trendy Boomer Halloween costumes for 2015 are dressing up as Adult Vampire Partysuit, Captain America,  Zombies and Hungry Games.  Also Boomers costume likes include politicians of course and Donald Trump’s hair will be interesting, but boomers like to dress up as hippies and rock stars too.  Nostalgia is great for  Boomer Halloween costumes, how about Bettlejuice, Sonny and Cher, Captain Kangaroo or Spock from Star Trek.  For him dressing as Zorro and for her Cat Woman. Adult baby boomer costumes are interesting too. Of course there is always the popular prisoner costumes.

Halloween costume theme to consider is animal themes, horror costumes and superhero costumes.

The Adult Ultron Muscle Costumes – Avengers: Age of Ultron look interesting.

What will be your Halloween costume this year?

By Robert Fowler

Lifeat50+ Photo Gallery

Lifeat50+ events by AARP

Lifeat50+ Photo Gallery

Just returned from my second Lifeat50+, the one in Boston In May 2014 and we had a blast! So did a lot of our fellow baby boomers. We learned, socialized, and got entertained.  Here are some photos I took while at Lifeat50+.  By the way the next one is in San Diego this Fall 2014 so you should considered joining us!

 

Friday night concert by The Spinners at Lifeat50+
The Spinners perform at Lifeat50+ in Boston
Mary Wilson, age 70, gets the Boomers partying
Part of Lifeat50+ is touring the host city; Boston’s Trinity Church reflection in modern building across street.
Our AARP Historic Boston tour in Paul Revere square
We had fun learning about tables at the #AARPTEK courses.
Lifeat50+ day of service – volunteers packing food for needy
AARP Discounts were plenty including Denny’s
Zipcar representatives at Lifeat50+ in Boston
Boomer and travel bloggers get a tour of AARP providers
Plenty of helpful folks all around in case you have a question or need to find something.

 

That’s Mary Ann checking her family history at Ancestry.com
TEK stands for Technology, Education and Knowledge.
From our Boston Park Plaza hotel we took a morning walk thru Back Bay Boston
Boomers trying out the massage chairs. We heard they were great!
Liberty Travel was a fun and informative stop. They are a full personal service travel agent.
All kinds of hats, glasses, beads, fun stuff was given away and worn.
Everybody was a winner at Lifeat50+
Just look at those faces! You can tell when folks are having fun. Come join us at Lifeat50+
Dan Marino at Lifeat50+
Boomers having fun at Lifeat50+
Several hundred volunteers at Lifeat50+
AARP Theatre had several boomer movies screenings

Next Lifeat50+ is in San Diego
 AARP Discounts

Thanks to Josh Chaney at SBC  Advertising, to fellow Boomer Bloggers Jennifer at Solo Travel Girl,  Chris of Chis Cruises, Christine at Frugal Travel Guy,  David & Veronica at The GypsyNester, Donna at My Itchy Travel Feet, Ronna, Mindy and  Felice at Better After 50 , Zippy at Champagne Living and Lisa at Grandma’s Briefs and Mary Ann of Retirement Media Inc.