Jim_Iain

Thanks much. It is hard to believe so my years have gone by. We are like the Odd have say that he is first my Best Friend in the world. Of course I am Oscar (Jack Klugman). I never really came out . I had fraught my inner self because I didn't want to be Gay. Of course everything including ---- Oh NO Conversion Therapy. Trust me it is the worst quack "medical/physocologic torture that could ever be done to and Individual. I finally figured out at 32 that with 3 kids I love dearly that I had to finally let my Wive of 12 years that I couldn't live a lie for the rest of my life. The response was almost a mirror of the 1982 Movie "Making Love" with Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson. My wife was so angry she outed me to the world including my boss, parent and friends. It was tough because because I didn't yet know what it meant to be a Gay Man and also got fired from my job. I probably shouldn't be sharing all of this. I met a wonderful hulk of a Guy that was 6'9" he was my everything - He Died of Aids 37 years ago today. In those day there were no drugs or treatment and when diagnosed was a death sentence. My next try at a relationship was also a failure - He committed Suicide. I swore off relationships. Eventually I met Iain after deciding to get my head back together and saw a Counselor for just 4 visits. He was a very results only counselor and describing all my terrible relationships he gave me my assignment - Make a list of everything of importance of Values, Character, Qualities and Things I enjoy in your perfect mate. Took me a full week to compile and I came back with the list. He took the list and sealed it. Now let's talk where you will meet that perfect person. I met Iain on what they called a Bulletin Chat Board. I'm was not looking for one night stands nor was Iain. We chatted and chatted for over 6 months and then finally met for a cup of coffee. What can I say - I already knew him and he was exactly as I dreamed and had everything on that list. OK i'm stubborn - I said I really like him and love our dating but for me I need to live alone for 6 months before committing to a relationship. He was certain of what he wanted so he hopped in his car (and he can barely drive) and rented an apartment 3 blocks from my home. We almost made the 6 months but the Big Loma Prierta Earthquake hit the day his Concert Grand Piano was delivered to my house. October 17, 1989 5:04PM. I spent 12 hours of terror - He works in the city and was walking from the Federal Reserve to the Train Station at that exact time. I started hearing of buildings collapsing on his route then on the highway collapses. This was before cellphones and the few payphones had lines miles long to make a call . I sat at the trains stations with no news and no trains until I saw a single engin coming down the tracks at 15 miles an hours checking the tracks and bridges. It wasn't until early morning that the first train arrived. We were in tears by the time we finally knew each other were ok. That became the day we moved in together.

@Daneenm Just noticed you live close by. Which facility do you work in? - My father use to live on Parlett which was just over his wall to the Old Headquarters. I think my Step Sister just retired as an HR Guru.

Long story short - I checked out Singapore Airline web site and found they had a nice price of 150,000 miles each. Went back to Chase Sapphire and moved the 300,000 miles Singapore Airline and was able to book using miles about 5 minutes later. Alanandra and Jarle have been doing such a good job on there long. I really wise we get to cruise together. The CC community is really small and I always get to know some we hae spoken to while ashore.

Thanks @parrothea33 - Travels have really been safe so far and hoping the reaming will be the same.

Welcome along --- You will hear me say many times. Feel conformable in jumping in. As you also get to know me I love to learn more about those that will be around for a month.

Long story short - I checked out Singapore Airline web site and found they had a nice price of 150,000 miles each. Went back to Chase Sapphire and moved the 300,000 miles Singapore Airline and was able to book using miles about 5 minutes later. I had to wait to book the return from Sydney until May of this year (11 months before our March Cruise from Sydney. For some reason when I checked Chase for United Non-Stop I was able to purchase cheaper on Chase than on United Airline Site for the same flight. It made sense since you also get 5X miles for Travel Booked directly via Chase Travel than the 3X miles you get for travel booked direct on another site. I was able to book RT at $5,000 each on a United Non-Stop.

This is an example of how dynamic air rates can be. I started tracking the first day the airlines opened for booking about 11 months out.

Airline Booking – As most of you have noticed, Covid really drove up the cost of air worldwide. Business Class to Singapore was absolutely obscene so began shopping - I finally found a really good deal booking with Chase Sapphire Mileage. If you have a Chase Sapphire you can find some pretty good deals. This time Singapore Air non-stop was running about $5,000 (and is now running $9,300). Time to do some shopping. I normally first go to Flights.Google.com and set up alerts and track the rates - Many believe that Air Rates don’t vary much, but I can tell you they often change on a daily or weekly basis. Here’s an example of one I was tracking - We are doing a Sydney – Honolulu – Vancouver cruise in April so decided to buy a Round Trip from Sydney home on December 21 (Xmas High season) and returning on April 3. While the graph shows the cheapest flight, I also track specific airline flights. As we can see there is a huge swing in prices. It is important when looking at the Cheapest Business Class to look at the details. The cheapest fare shown was on ANA because you had a 9 hour connection in Haneda. Some others looked cheap until you find one of the legs is in Economy - ugh.

Agree -- With unlimited Specialty, Free Laundry and 2 Bottle of Grey Goose it's difficult to burn off the OBC anyway. I think at the same time as my upgrade the minnimum bid for a MoveUp bid was $1,600 pp.

Thanks.. I never retirement to be such fun. I always thought I would be bored and have to find something to keep me busy but....Not gotten boredd yet.

It was a different promotion. My agent advised me in advance. I wasn’t concerned as the upgrade was so cheap and I have a huge OBC from agent. .

Thanks. 🙏

Great. I also love photography.

Thank. Will start updating soon already at airport

Thank Linda. Have a great cruise. Really love Silhouette

We have to stay home a couple months. I bought a Round Trip from Sunday so will is second half to fly to Sydney.

Yes. Both via HDMI and by a wireless streaming to tv. Search for many of my tutorials. I will post another after I board on Saturday IMG_2788.mov

Yes you can use unlimited devices on each account but only 1 at at time on each account. You can upgrade your account directly from the Celebrity app and your wife can use hers independent of yours. It is really easy to switch devices. You can either log off on one and log back in on the second device or you can just log on the second device and it will ask you if you would like to log the other off. Another option if you are slightly technical is on Windows PC(sure Apple also) Open Action Center - Turn on WiFi Hot spot and you can create a mini hot spot and with the PC logged into the account you share that account and connect your phone at the same time. Of course this will only work when you are in close proximity.

Planning – The World Cruise was an instant hit and all of the suites were gobbled up within days of being released. I initially booked a Sky Suite and wait listed for a Celebrity Suite. About 4 months later a CS opened up and I grabbed it. If I recall correctly, I was able to book a CS for the second cruise. I sent the itinerary to my best friends David and Robert who live in Sydney and they jumped on the opportunity to sail with us again. I met David on my first business trip to Australia 50 years ago (yikes I’m getting old) and instantly became good friends. They spent a couple years in San Francisco so was fun to have them close by. They are the couple that sail Ponant and talked us into trying them out as our first Non-Celebrity cruise earlier this year. I’m sure I will be sharing pictures of all four of us. Not much happened on the planning side for over a year when airlines first opened up the booking window 11 months prior to the cruise.

We booked this cruise days after the World Cruise was first announced about 2 years ago. We had previously done the Singapore to Abu Dabi and Abu Dabi to Rome in 2017 and while we loved it were not in a rush to do that segment again. First Off - Ground Rule - There are none except to be nice to on another. All are welcome to jump in and help out and if others are on the cruise with us feel free to add your pictures and comments. As usually nothing is off topic - OK… Like in Life I’m Rebel and like to break rules, J-Walk and do things my way.. As everyone who knows Iain is aware he is the polar opposite. Maybe that’s why we get along so well.

I hope I can keep up with her fantastic Job. I've been waiting for her to wake up to see her next installment.

Thanks Joker - I always get these visual's of what people look like from their CC Names... Here's my Visual.... LOL

Thanks - I enjoy reading all the Live posts. The sure help survive in between cruises. Charla is such a good writer - I'm sure I pale in comparison.

Thanks for following along.

Thanks Bernadette --- The excitement is building. I'm on the hook for dinner tonight - Almost ordered a pizza - getting in Vacation mood.