Jim_Iain

Jim_Iain - 2nd Half World Cruise - B2B Singapore to Down Under 11/25 – 12/21 Welcome! Come along and join us for another adventure. As an introduction we are Jim (who writes these Live Posts) and Iain, who ends up in most of the pictures. We have been together 34 years - or as Iain just said “34 long hard years” LOL. Are were among of the first to be Gay Couples to be married in California. We were legally married June 2008 days after the California Supreme Court ruled the restriction of Gay Marriage was illegal. 5 Months later California had a referendum to change the constitution and make it illegal again. Luckily the State Supreme court ruled a small group of 4,000 marriage were grandfathered and would remain legal. It was another 7 years before the Supreme Court Legalized Gay Marriage Nation Wide. We have 3 kids and 5 Grand Children. We live in Sunnyvale, CA which is in my mind is a small town of 160,000 in the heart to Silicon Valley. Sunnyvale is about 50 miles south of San Francisco and 10 miles north of San Jose. Ok.. Enough of the background.

In the U.S. you can stay aboard in the Public area until final call. This is usually at 9:00. At about 9:15 after all the other guests have left the ship they begin B2B processing and have to Zero out the ship. Once the ship is zeroed out the allow B2B's to re-board the ship.

We usually only consume one an bring the other home. Your butler will bring you a box from Duty Free if you ask. I usually just wrap the same way I might for a bottle of wine. In all these years we have never had a broken one yet. Knock on wood.

Officially you are still on the Maiden Cruise. The others are preview cruises and are also often FAM cruises for Travel Professionals. The Maiden Voyage will have Celebrations, Special Events and Memorabilia. They will also be shaking out the little problems that pop up and get the crew trained.

Unfortunately no Elite+ and above You do however get one Premium Cup when dine in Specilty and a Scoop of Gelato. Full list of benefits by Status https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/Captains-Club-Benefits-Brochure_V12_10_20_23.pdf

I was wondering the same thing my self. A quick Google indicates top speed of Edge is right at 21.7 Kts which is close to what's she is doing Winds can also affect true speed but I think your math is pretty sound. I'm surprised no announcements haven't been made. Those that have private tours may be in trouble.

Can't post it - If you are a Zenith it was in your Welcome kit. Otherwise message me or ask on the Social Media Private Zenith Group.

Someone posted above the phone number to call and the prompts to press to get a call back. I've never tried it.

Yes - that is still the way it works

I also have T-Mobile - with mine I get 5Gb of 5G of Internet per month when out of the U.S. for free. Is this how yours work. I have already loaded the Airalo App on my phone and will use it if needed. It may be easier for me as our fist cruise begin November 25 and then a new month begins after Indonesia. I have definitely gone over the 5G limit in the past but luckily you still have free internet but they throttle you down to 3G for the remainder of the month. (still free).

INHO there is no better coffee on any of the ships including Millennium. Retreat uses a Nescafe Machine which I'm not a fan of. The stuff in OVC is battery acid. Al Bacio is the only Barista Coffee on Millennium. Sometimes if really crowded the set up a second drinks only Barista Bar at the Gelato Station across from Al Bacio The S and E Class have Al Bacio Segundo at the entrance to OVC but only serve the basic selection. Same coffee Yes all venues will accept your drink package for coffee.

Agree but many Travel Agents do not work on weekends. For me I usually can wait and sometimes I email and he even answers while not working.

I just looked at Edge for our sailing next week. It doesn't even say Suites are free. Give Zenith desk a call, I'm sure they can advise. I called earlier this week and they picked up on the first ring.

Yes the sound will be loud enough for anyone on the to clearly hear. I've only walked by and don't find it particularly bothering. It is much more subdued than most of the bars on the ship.

Yes and it is still Adult Only except for designated family hours. It is the same as Constellation.

The only Call Back number I've ever seen was for the Middle East. They use to have on on the U.S. site but when I used it never received a call back. https://www.celebritycruises.ae/en/request-a-call-back

Terminal does not have a Retreat Lounge - They do have a roped off area to sit with refreshments if you arrive prior to boarding begins. They have a separate entrance for Suites/Zenith on the left of the general board entrance. Inside their is a special Suite and Zenith CheckIn area. To the right they have about 40+ CheckIn Counters - I'm not sure if they have segregated lines for Status as I've never not traveled in a Suite. It is an older building but if you arrive at assigned time you should not have a problem to be processed quickly- If everyone shows up outside of their assigned CheckIn time they have been know to have lines setup outside - Often if they are not crowded the will let anytime slot board upon arrival. They also have a large seating area and if you arrive prior to boarding you will be given a boarding group number and after Suites / Zenith begin boarding they start calling group numbers.

If you log into Celebrity and shows you CC# and Status you are setup. The Captain's Club Concierge can also assist you on the ship.

That is the best way to get the best price. Book whenever you find a cruise and room you like. Then check regularly. I my case I just take a screen shot of the mock booking and send to my agent and ask for him to have my reservation adjusted. Minutes later he sends me a confirmation with the new price. I usually communicate with my agent via e-mail since I'm on the West Coast and if he is away for the evening he would have take care of my request before I'm out of bed.

Yum -- looks better than what I was served but much smaller of course. Armadillo is Yum.. LOL

Yes that is exactly how you do it. If you purchased with OBC it goes back immediately. If you charged it to a Credit card it will take 7-10 day to get back to your card.

Yikes... Makes me happy that I'm a Zenith. I called yesterday to the Zenith Desk and was answered on the first ring. Instead of calling in to upgrade packages - you might consider doing it yourself. Really painless. Just Click a couple buttons. I repriced 2-3 excursions yesterday.

We have only sailed in SS twice and I did use the foot stools as you described. On some of the ships they also have a TV table --- slips under the end of the sofa. I often use that as a laptop table instead. I much prefer the other class where they have an actual dining table for CS and above.

I agree. I check prices regularly.

On Silhouette we had a terrible poultry chef. Luckily he left after the second cruise. I ordered the Cornish one night and it was the size of a quail. On top of that it was like Texas Road Kill baked in the sun. I told the maitre d' it was worse than a road runner hit by a truck. When I ordered poultry he would go back and supervise the chef and at least I got poultry that was edible. Luckily once he was replaced all the poultry were at cooked properly and back to the normal Luminae standards.