Commissioner Mulready released the following statement on the passing of former U.S. Senator Tom Coburn:
“Tom Coburn was a friend, statesman and supporter of mine who will be greatly missed. Dr. Coburn was a fierce public policy leader and someone who wouldn’t shy away from working across the aisle to solve our state and national issues. When I was campaigning for Insurance Commissioner, I called Dr. Coburn and asked him to meet with me to discuss some healthcare and health insurance issues. He agreed to meet and graciously sat with me in his home for over an hour.”
“He also stepped out and provided support to me during my 2012 re-election campaign. He acknowledged and supported my efforts to address the challenges with our state’s healthcare and health insurance policies at a time when many of his supporters would not.”
“He will be greatly missed. Sally and I extend our heartfelt condolences and prayers to his family during this difficult time.”

www.caresuitesokc.com

Story and photos by Darl DeVault

Seniors either retirement privileged or close to that status face an important question around the world as we now see the importance of aging in place brought on by COVID-19-driven orders to shelter in place.
The question for those trying to add to the quality of life they have built for themselves throughout their decades of hard work and life experience is do they allow themselves to become dependent?
Seniors have grown up in an age of independence, of individual rights for those pulling for the greater good.
We have recently heard many directives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during this COVID-19 Global Pandemic. The CDC says during a COVID-19 outbreak in your community, stay home as much as possible to further reduce your risk of being exposed.
Perhaps for seniors the CDC’s definition of aging in place “the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level” should define their future.
A member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Kara De La Pena, who owns a metro urgent care mobile practice, is advising her patients to make changes to their home to compensate for their disabilities. This allows them to age in place.
And yet many healthy, disability-free seniors have chosen to amass in retirement communities. With 15 years of delivering medical services, De La Pena has seen a downside to this choice recently while delivering urgent care to her patient’s home.
“The number of patients with serious complications I have seen recently during this pandemic is astounding—often times requiring careful consideration of sending them to a higher level of care or leaving them to manage their symptoms,” said De La Pena, an advanced practice registered nurse whose practice is based on making house calls.
Her certifications in advanced cardiac life support, basic life support, and pediatric advanced life support allow her to fully evaluate her senior patient’s situations. De La Pena has been adding aging in place expertise to her delivery of medical health care as the owner of NP 2 Go.
She says although centers that cater to disability free seniors have a great array of services and amenities, they also come with a serious medical restriction.
Those places are only as medically secure in a pathogen pandemic as the least informed and observant of warnings of social distancing among that population.
While these retirement communities tout wonderful food, convenience, comfortable-bus special excursions to cultural events they fall short in medical privacy. Someone trying to self quarantine cannot prevent other seniors from ignoring the scientifically established demand to stay in their area during a pandemic.
It is not physically possible for self-quarantining seniors to live in a totally private area in a retirement community. Even the milder restriction of shelter in place is impossible when others can insist on inflicting their social visits.
Sharing beautiful common areas can be a minus, just as the pressure to attend a variety of planned activities can short circuit the best intentions to be safe. Some residents may not be able to resist the temptation to socialize with friends and neighbors every day.
Seniors trying to do the right thing in a pandemic are at the mercy of those people who have the least ability to understand science. Some people do not understand the gravity of the situation, or exercise social inhibitions in a time of emergency.
If a senior remains in their home, aging in place, they are far more likely able to avoid a medical emergency based on the spread of a pathogen.
“Sheltering in place is nearly impossible in communal living, which is why aging in place is of utmost importance-now and in the future,” De La Pena said. “Our physical health and mental health often meld together for a balance which creates a homeostasis that directly affects our personal health. Aging in place provides independence, prevents communal illnesses, and promotes self-care.”
Aging in place means solving safety and inappropriate accessibility issues. It creates home living that is safe and accessible without sacrificing individuality. With our leaders calling this pandemic a war, why be on the front lines when you can choose to be a non-combatant by sheltering in place?
“For my older patients there are no potentially promising treatments available in this COVID-19 crisis. Sheltering in place is the only course of action that reliably gives seniors the possibility of a treatment benefit,” De La Pena said. “If seniors have already given up their right to age in place, they have no confidence that the possibility of a treatment benefit is in the offing.”
Now many seniors and retirees can see had everyone been able to truly shelter in place from the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, there would have been far fewer deaths in their demographic.
Instead, because of illness and disability and the choice of leaving their homes, many seniors were extra vulnerable while amassed in facilities other than their homes.
The concept of aging in place is as new as the agenda of collective living in retirement and yet it is lagging in importance. A major reason the concept is not widely advocated is business cannot make a great profit from sharing this information with the public.
Business can make a profit by building facilities and luring people out of their homes to be a part of a larger collective.
America has just received an enormous wakeup call about how dangerous this collective living can be. Again, if everyone deemed vulnerable who did not require daily medical attention could have self-quarantined our nation’s COVID-19 virus stats would look much better.
The government has created a new phrase in the last few years—disability free aging.
With the new pathogen pandemic connectedness apparent in the world it begs the question. Shouldn’t those seniors and retirees who are disability free be clinging to the independence and relative safety of living in their own homes.
“Again, while I visit a cross section of ages as patients in their homes, I am very concerned for our senior population with COVID 19 spreading. Aging in place is the safest form of defense for seniors now,” De La Pena said. “I plan on highlighting more government initiatives and programs to help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible. By performing aging in place assessments, I hope to empower more seniors to find ways to age in place as long as their home is a viable sanctuary.”
She recommends everyone with questions about the aging in place agenda visit this informative section of the federal Web site: www.nia.nih.gov/health/aging-place-growing-older-home
Steve Persa, 77, is staunchly an aging in place advocate in Oklahoma City. He sees this pandemic through the eyes of a retired Oklahoma Blood Institute employee who helped solve Oklahoma’s blood supply problems for decades.
“As long as I am healthy and mobile, I will continue to live in my home,” Persa said. “This latest COVID-19 shelter in place episode reinforces my resolve to do so.”

www.arborhouseliving.com

Seniors Can Treat Life Experiences in Book Format

Story and photos by Darl DeVault

After decades of work and life experience, many seniors and retirees have the concept of writing a worthwhile book in their heads. But the challenge of finding a traditional publisher willing to accept their book idea as viable usually discourages many of these would-be authors.
Their struggle is understandable. Traditional publishers make their decision to publish based on whether the proposed manuscript can be turned into a page-turner. They are looking for minimum sales of nearly 10,000 books. This means many worthwhile ideas and manuscripts are rejected, and many good books are never even attempted.
The Digital Age presents seniors with a modern solution to this problem. Print-on-demand publishers enable new authors to bring their book ideas to market with a minimum of concern. Some of these non-traditional publishers—some call their business model “subsidized publishing”—offer to publish a print-ready publication for a one-time setup fee of only a few hundred dollars. The author-client can then purchase these digitally printed books at wholesale prices in lots as small as 50.
Moreover, subsidized publishers link with booksellers like Amazon to leverage their investment in these digitally published works. Combining the author setup fees and purchases with the revenues from outside book sellers like Amazon enables publishers to realize a profit for books without best-seller status.
“I was able to get my manual for training service dogs published last year without the long search for a traditional publisher,” said Barbara Lewis, longtime dog trainer and retired head of New Leash on Life in Norman, Okla. “This was a much-needed book that has helped a lot of people in Oklahoma and outside the state.”
Lewis spent decades training dogs and managing the nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that specializes in the training of dogs that assist people with daily living skills. She was able to capture her life experience in Successful Working Dogs, a 90-page illustrated dog training manual. The book helps people who need working dogs to better choose and use these animals in their daily lives.
Many aspiring authors need help with editing and designing their books before approaching a subsidized publisher. To minimize extra charges from of a subsidized publisher, aspiring authors should submit their books in a version as close to printable as possible. This often requires the services of a professional editor and designer with the skills to polish and format the final version of the book.
One Oklahoma City go-between for authors and subsidized publishers is Larry Floyd, 67, who helped Lewis get her book into print. He offers his services under the business name of TurnKey Communications. A longtime journalist and author living in Surrey Hills, Yukon, Floyd provides editing and publishing consulting for numerous authors.
His services can be as in-depth as ghostwriting the book, or as minimal as formatting the finished product for the publisher.
“When I talk to people about what I do,” Floyd said. “I’m always surprised by the number of people who say they have an idea for a book. Sometimes it’s related to their profession, sometimes it’s an idea for a children’s book. I guess there’s a book idea somewhere inside almost every adult.”
Floyd, who also teaches U.S. history part-time at OSU-OKC, says he gets great satisfaction from helping someone with unique skills or experiences share their story as an author. “There is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there, especially among retirees,” he said. “Many of them spent busy decades honing an expertise in a particular field without the extra time to share that knowledge in a publication. In retirement, they now have the time and with digital publishing the means.”
The subsidized publishing costs can often be recouped by authors by selling anywhere from 300 to 500 copies of the book they purchase wholesale from the publisher. These sales can come from signings by the authors at bookstores and appearances at professional meetings. Social media like Facebook can also play a key role in the new authors’ sales.
In addition to individual authors, businesses and nonprofits often have a marketing need for a book about their organization or services, but these kinds of books have little attraction to a traditional publisher. Subsidized publishing offers an ideal solution for these kinds of business or organizational needs.
Floyd recommends would-be authors approach subsidized publishers with caution as some of these businesses are infamous for rip-offs and deception. Aspiring authors new to the publishing world are often flattered and talked into spending much more than necessary to see their book in print.
At TurnKey Communications, Floyd says he helps steer first-time authors through many of the complexities of the publishing world, both subsidized and traditional. He also helps these authors market and sell their books through his online sales and fulfillment service.
For additional information or a free consult on how to get a book idea into print, contact Floyd at info@TurnKeyCommo.com or call (405) 373-3467.

https://www.mcmmedicare.com/

Oklahomans Urged to Send Cookies to Frontline Health Care Workers

First Lady Sarah Stitt, Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma (GSWESTOK), and the Oklahoma State Medical Association have launched Cookies for Courage, a program that allows Oklahomans to purchase a box of Girl Scout Cookies for medical professionals fighting COVID-19.
“Cookies for Courage is a great way for Oklahomans to let our health care workers know we are thinking of them during this very difficult time,” Stitt said. “Oklahomans always pull together in tough times, and this is a very sweet, very simple way to support our medical community as they work to protect us all.”
Cookies can be purchased online for $5 per box or $60 for a case at www.gswestok.org/cookiesforcourage. The cookies will be distributed to health care workers and others on the frontline. Proceeds from the program will support leadership opportunities for young girls through the Girl Scouts.
“Oklahoma’s physicians, nurses and other providers are working extended hours to keep our community safe during this health crisis. We are grateful to the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and its members for providing this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to those on the front lines of patient care,” said Oklahoma State Medical Association President Larry Bookman, M.D.
Girl Scout cookie season was set to run through March 22, but due to COVID-19, in-person sales have been paused. Individual Girl Scout troops have the option of returning their unsold cookies to GSWESTOK or continuing sales online through their individual Digital Cookie websites.
“Oklahomans always set the standard for how we care for our people,” said Shannon Evers, CEO of Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma. “Cookie season was cut short this year because of coronavirus, and while that’s disappointing for our girls, they recognize that there’s an opportunity here to show love for people who are fighting this pandemic on the front lines.”

https://www.safesolutionswalkintubs.com/

by Greg Schwem

For 30 years I’ve made my living as a standup comedian. I’ve stood on iconic stages including the Grand Ole Opry and the Chicago Theatre. I’ve gazed out at crowds as large as 10,000 and as small as six. We won’t talk about the six.
My moods following my performances have run the gamut from elation to despair. From feeling like I’m the first person to set foot on an uncharted planet to wanting to jump into a recently dug grave and instructing the backhoe operator to “just bury me now.”
The one commonality to all these shows was a live audience. The coronavirus has, for the immediate future, taken away my ability to perform.
Or has it?
Enter the concept of virtual entertainment, an idea that has never really taken off considering that, despite the available technology, most people ultimately think it’s weird to watch a hologram of Prince or another deceased rock star “playing” live on stage. The connection a performer feels to an audience works in reverse too; the audience must feel that same connection.
So when a show I was scheduled to perform for 1,200 members of the dairy industry in Madison, Wisconsin, joined the scrap heap of cancellations on my calendar, I was not hesitant, rather overjoyed, when the organizers said they wanted to me to perform virtually.
Of course, that would mean performing standup comedy to a camera, without a crowd. The audience, I was told, would watch from bedrooms, hotel rooms and home offices, surrounded, most likely, by nobody.
Not exactly the ideal audience for a comedian. Still, the show must go on.
At 8 p.m., I entered a conference room that looked as if preparations were in place for some sort of invasion. A half-eaten takeout pizza sat on a round table big enough to seat 10. Snacks, drinks and sandwiches purchased from an attached hotel represented lunch for the staff tasked with running the virtual operation. Dinner too.
A few IT personnel stared intently at laptops as another virtual presenter, speaking from God only knows where, gave a speech entitled “Practical Proven Systems for More Profitable Innovation.” I heard his voice and saw the PowerPoint slides he had assembled for his talk, but I didn’t see him.
Instead I saw an empty stage and a single camera pointed at it.
“That’s where you’ll be,” the conference organizer told me.
When the previous speaker had concluded, another member of the organizational team grabbed a mic and said, “We have some questions.” These questions, I assume, were submitted by attendees watching virtually. Of the 10 people in the conference room, nobody raised a hand.
The unseen presenter answered several questions and then it was time for me. Like a normal show, a tech clipped a lavalier microphone to my shirt; like a normal show I stood slightly offstage awaiting my introduction. And, like a normal show, I bounded onstage when I heard my name.
The next 45 minutes were left to my imagination.
The conference room participants — seven staff members and three techs — did their best to laugh at my jokes, which, naturally, included a few references to the massive elephant in the room.
“I’m staying in a very nice hotel here in Madison,” I said. “I only live two hours from here, so I don’t really need a hotel. But I was out of toilet paper and the hotel had some.”
Strangely, the longer I performed, the more confident I was that somebody was laughing somewhere. A few laughs from the 10 people in the room were all I needed to keep going. Yes, there were some uncomfortable moments, but it’s also uncomfortable doing standup at a party in the hull of a Catamaran. OK, I brought up the audience of six. Sorry.
I hope there will be no more virtual shows in my career. I hope to be back on stage soon, where I can see and converse with real audience members.
But COVID-19 has taught me one thing: Laughter cannot be quarantined.
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.)
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)

aefuneral.com

Dear Savvy Senior, Amid all the troubling coronavirus news, I’ve also read that there are various coronavirus scams going around right now taking advantage of innocent people who are afraid of getting sick or are worried about those that have. What can you tell me about coronavirus scams and what can I do to protect myself? Scared Senior

Dear Scared,
Unfortunately, coronavirus scams are spreading nearly as fast as the virus itself, and seniors are often the most vulnerable.
These con artists are setting up websites to sell bogus products, and using spoofed phone calls, emails, texts, and social media posts as a ruse to take your money and get your personal information.
The emails and posts may be promoting awareness and prevention tips, and fake information about cases in your community. They also may be asking you to donate to victims, offering advice on unproven treatments, or contain malicious email attachments.
Here are some tips to help you keep the scammers at bay.
Click carefully: Don’t click on coronavirus-related links from sources you don’t know in an email or text message. The same goes for unfamiliar websites. When you click on an email or download a file, you could get a program on your computer that could either use your computer’s internet connection to spread malware or dig into your personal files looking for passwords and other information.
Ignore bogus product offers: Ignore online offers for coronavirus vaccinations or miracle cures. There are currently no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges, or other prescription or over-the-counter products available to treat or cure coronavirus online or in stores. If you see or receive ads touting prevention, treatment, or cure claims for the coronavirus, ignore them because they’re not legitimate.
Beware of CDC spoofing: Be wary of emails, text messages or phone calls claiming to come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or the World Health Organization (WHO). These scams could take several forms – such as fake health agency warnings about infections in your local area, vaccine and treatment offers, medical test results, health insurance cancellation, alerts about critical supply shortages, and more.
For the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus, visit CDC.gov/covid19.
Beware of fundraising scams: Be wary of emails or phone calls asking you to donate to a charity or crowdfunding campaign for coronavirus victims or for disease research. To verify a charity’s legitimacy use CharityNavigator.org. But, if you’re asked for donations in cash, by prepaid credit card or gift card, or by wiring money, don’t do it because it’s probably a scam.
Beware of stock scams: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning people about phone calls and online promotions, including on social media, touting stocks of companies with products that supposedly can prevent, detect or cure coronavirus. Buy those stocks now, they say, and they will soar in price.
But the con artists have already bought the stocks, which typically sell for a dollar or less. As the hype grows and the stock price increases, the con men dump the stock, saddling other investors with big losses. It’s a classic penny-stock fraud called “pump and dump.” Making matters worse: you may not be able to sell your shares if trading is suspended.
When investing in any company, including companies that claim to focus on coronavirus-related products and services, carefully research the investment and keep in mind that investment scam artists often exploit the latest crisis to line their own pockets.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

by Nick Thomas

Turning 97 in March, Carl Reiner shows no sign of slowing down. “I wake up with ideas!” the veteran actor, writer, director and producer says from Los Angeles says.
One of those ideas was to colorize episodes of his crown television jewel, “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Two color episodes were produced in 2017 and last year Reiner selected a couple more favorites, with plots loosely based on his family’s experience, which aired on CBS over the holiday season.
“I’ve done a lot in my life but have to say that show is what I’m most proud of,” Reiner says. “We couldn’t afford to shoot it originally in color and make a profit, but I’m so pleased with the colorized episodes – they look fantastic.”
In “Where Did I Come From?” young Richie (Larry Matthews) questions his parents about his birth, much like Reiner’s own children did, while in “Never Bathe on Saturday,” Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) gets stuck in a hotel bathtub, ruining a vacation for hubby Rob (Dick Van Dyke).
“I wrote that based on the time my wife and I were away, and she noticed the faucet dripping while taking a bath and wanted to get a plumber,” Reiner recalls.
Reiner says it was important to produce colorized versions close to the originals.
“Luckily some enterprising photographers were on hand during the original filming and took color photos of the set and actors,” he notes. “So some colors are very accurate, like the rooms. Colorization has come a long way and I wish we could do all 158 episodes, but it’s very expensive.”
Reiner’s 2017 HBO documentary “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,” in which he narrates a series of interviews with active nonagenarians, was also recently released on DVD.
“In my opening section, I’m reading the newspaper obituary section and remark if I’m not in it, I’ll have breakfast,” he says. “They thought that would make a good title.”
The documentary features 90-plus-year-old guests still active in areas such as sports, fashion, music, comedy and acting such as Dick Van Dyke, Kirk Douglas and Reiner’s longtime cohort in comedy, Mel Brooks. “Truly a collection of remarkable people,” Reiner says.
But of all the people Reiner has known, he has the highest praise for his late wife, Estelle, to whom he was married for 65 years.
“While you do live in your memories as you get older and especially after losing a spouse, if you’ve had a good marriage it sustains you,” he says. “She was perhaps the most extraordinary woman I ever met and could do everything better than anyone else. I think about her every night I go to bed, so she’s still alive in me, no question.”
A prominent comedy writer throughout his career, Reiner also continues to work on new book projects this year.
“If you have something to do every day, you’ll hang around,” he says.

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has donated more than 25,000 protective gloves to the Integris Baptist Medical Center. The donation came after Integris officials put out a call for personal protective equipment, or PPE.
Across the state and nation, shortages of PPE have heightened concerns that first responders and medical workers might be at higher risk of contracting the COVID-19 coronavirus and passing it on to patients.
OMRF has suspended most biomedical research during the pandemic. So, researchers joined together to gather spare laboratory supplies, which also included masks and other PPE desperately needed in hospitals, clinics and testing facilities.
“Our scientists reacted immediately to the request,” said OMRF’s Lijun Xia, M.D., Ph.D., who helped spearhead the effort.
“As a medical scientist, I knew that it was essential to get Integris staff sufficiently equipped so they could help patients in Oklahoma,” said Xia. “When I heard their supplies were running low, I was really concerned and wanted to contribute as quickly and as much as possible.”
OMRF healthcare providers continue to treat patients in the foundation’s rheumatology and multiple sclerosis centers. “So, it’s vital that we still retain adequate supplies to protect caregivers and patients when they visit,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “But this is a crisis, and if we can help other medical professionals who are risking their lives by sharing part of our inventory, we will.”
In addition to the PPE donation, OMRF scientists are teaming with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in an emergency effort to process COVID-19 tests. Led by Joel Guthridge, Ph.D., a team of OMRF scientists is temporarily relocating to OU Medicine, where they will operate a high-speed polymerase chain reaction system OMRF has moved there temporarily, as well as a new robot OMRF has purchased to help accelerate testing.
The goal of the effort is to increase the state’s testing capacity. When fully operational, OMRF and OUHSC scientists hope the facility will be able to process up to several thousand tests a day.
“Experts say Oklahoma’s numbers will increase dramatically when more testing becomes available,” said Prescott, a physician and medical researcher. “The sooner we can get our arms around the true magnitude of this health crisis, the better we’ll be able to fight it.”
Testing will also help those worrying about whether they’ve contracted COVID-19. “Knowing whether you have the virus could improve your chances of recovery,” said Prescott, “and aggressive quarantine measures can save others from contracting it.”

A team from INTEGRIS Volunteer Services and other staff are busy making much needed eye protection and face shields for our caregivers on the frontlines of the current COVID-19 crisis.
While many of our volunteers are seniors, this particular group only consists of select members of the volunteer auxiliary who are under the age of sixty in an attempt to protect individuals in the age group considered most vulnerable to the illness.
The volunteers started making the protective gear on Wednesday afternoon and have already completed 1,000 pieces. They have enough supplies, thanks to a partnership with Hobby Lobby, to make a total of 10,000 face shields. The group plans to work Monday through Saturday until they are done.
This is yet another example of Oklahomans willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever is necessary to properly defend our troops for battle.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

You may think it odd that I would be telling you about the virtues and short falls of a cruise line, in an atmosphere of distrust and downright boycott of any cruise at this time of health issues. And I agree. However in recent memory Celebrity Cruises has not had any mass ship borne infection with its passengers as had other lines in the news.. Maybe due to luck, maybe due to good hygiene, as on my January cruise there was hand sanitizer at every turn of the corner and at every group gathering.
Lets face it: travel comes with risks. In most cases the risk is out weighted by the rewards of comforting destinations, emotional and intellectual satisfaction, and identifying with world wide humanity. The risk was there when I took my first international trip to Egypt and Greece in the early 1980s; as we traveled between the assassination of middle east leaders. Now the Cruise lines are suspended and booking now for the future of 6 to 9 months ahead is not available or even thinkable. We were so glad we had our Egypt adventure, as I’m sure you have had looking back on your completed trips.
The Celebrity Equinox has many extras that secured my vote and my deposit for a cruise in January, booked in September. In retrospect there were so many more pluses than minus to the cruise. It was a joy to board the ship. There was lots of walking from curbside to security, check in and off to the cabin which was available on time, not always available on other cruise lines. And in short time, the luggage arrived, there was ice, the pre-ordered flowers were delivered as was the shower bench and we were introduced to our cabin steward, Revlon, who throughout the cruise was quite efficient.
A short coming was the mini non insulated ice bucket. While there are ample drink stations on many floors, none on mine, as it’s nice to take a soft drink from the nicely stocked mini fridge ($3/soft drink) for a quick pick me up or beverage enjoying the view from your own veranda. Yes a small inconvenience, but hey, it’s your cruise and should be without bumps that could be corrected.
All of my prepaid tours, events and dining extras were executed without exception, and it was easier than I thought, to add more once boarded. I have been on cruises where if you did not book your most wanted extras, there were sold out upon boarding, not so with Celebrity.
The tours offered on line before the cruise were minimal, but plentiful in the brochure on board. We had a most delightful three stop food and beverage tasting in St. Thomas. There was a trek over uneven streets to arrive at the 3 locales, but once there each were atmospherically and deliciously different. One was a tasting of local foods in an historic family owned and operated restaurant. The second was beverage making in a quaint bar, and the third a make shift banana fosters show and tasting. Each locale was near, but off the beaten track, and if you didn’t know it was there, you could miss it, which made the tour mysterious and inviting. It was a pleasant tour, and only disappointing in that on that tour, was that we were not driven to the photo sight so often seen in brochure that looked down upon the white sand St. Thomas crescent beach.
I had heard from other cruise veterans that Santa Domingo was a beautiful tropical place, so I was looking forward to my tour. There were several choices but most sounded too strenuous for this cane carrying senior, so I picked one that was on a small bus to three spots of interest. I just knew one would be a local beach from a resort or such, and I could just take in the lux surroundings with a tropical view with beverage in hand. As the saying goes,”Expectations are the road to disappointment.”
I was not happy with the non destination our small bus of cruisers were taken. One was a long drive to a large parking lot where off in the distance a sunken dilapidated wooden pier could be seen. The history, if there was some, was lost on me. Next was a park with a small bandstand where costumed dancers were waiting for the recorded music to start. Most got off the bus to see this local amateur folkloric dance-dozen swooshed their skirts and stomped there feet. Next was a primitive open air eating place, where the driver had his dinner of rice and such. The rest of us, could buy bottle coca cola and such and wondered what was next on this tour. It was a stop at a gentrified and not yet completed colorfully painted strip mail of sorts, where over priced souvenirs could be purchased before returning to the ship. Needless to say this was no beautiful, tropical enchanting tour. I’m sure other tours which included hikes and snorkeling were well received. I gave this one a 1 on a scale of 10 as high, on the subsequent emailed evaluation.
The Equinox has many venues for entertainment. The top deck boasts a real live green grass lawn where bowling can be enjoyed or sitting in chairs and watch an outdoor movie after sunset. I preferred the more structured performance by the exceptional talent displayed at three different jute box musical in the main theater. There really were no bad seats and if you got there early you can order soft drinks and the like. The production shows usually had well known songs sung live with an array of costumes and a thin story line. I was not always thrilled with the content but the execution ans energy of the performances were without equal.
Besides memories of near gourmet meals in the premium based specialty restaurants, the Hot Art Glass blowing experience was fun and offered a real home grown – your breath – take away souvenir. I had done this on a limited basis before, but there is nothing like putting your lips on the end of blow pipe where on the other end was a glob of glass at 2,000 degrees. Scheduling this event can be tricky as the on line booking App does not register your exact reservation time, and you must sign up for a time in person. This was one of their prepaid options I made at home before the cruise.
You may think I was hard on my Equinox evaluations, but as stated before, I got no compensation from the cruise line and my honest, picky evaluation, might prepare you in your booking. I heartily endorse Celebrity Equinox, as the highest compliment, is that I look forward to booking again.
Celebrity offers at; (www.celebritycruises.com) and 1-888-751-7804)