Live Blog! – B2B2B Seward to Japan – Millennium 2018– Join us for our next adventure

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Esperanza7 said:

Hi Jim. 

Thank you so much for your time and effort during your amazing vacation. I too was so sorry when it got cut short and now all that lovely information has disappeared!! That was part of my reference guide for when we board in Shanghai on the 27th!! lol 😊 

If you still have one, and it's possible, could you please post just one of the Dalies. There were a few things I wanted to check over regarding times, etc.

Happy to hear you had a great time despite all the changes.

Karen

 

Hopefully as they work their way through the setup the picture will come back again.

Here's a couple of the dailies -

Edited October 17, 2018 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Forgot to mention one thing.   Captain Alex left Millennium on October 13 for his vacation.   He was accompanied on the cruise by his wife and lovely daughter.    He was celebrating his birthday in Tuscan On October 11.   

[KikisDad]

Thanks again for taking us along. It was fun while we were on the Infinity comparing dailies between the two, almost identical ships. Looking forward to your TA

[jimbri]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review and photos.  Looking forward to your next trip!!

[Esperanza7]

20 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Hopefully as they work their way through the setup the picture will come back again.

Here's a couple of the dailies -

 

Thank you very much for posting these for me. Answered my questions. Look forward to following your next adventure! 🙂 

Karen

[Orator]

On 10/16/2018 at 7:09 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Zenith at Last -

Many of you may have wondered why we took the Alaska land tour at the very beginning of this trip.    I had calculated that at the end of the B2B2B we were going to be 1/2 day short of achieving Zenith.   When discussing with Celebrity they advised that you are awarded Captain's Club Points at the same rate as your room when adding a land tour.   So I added the 3 day land tour solely to hit Zenith.   

This post will end this blog but will be around for any questions, suggestions or recommendations.   I'll be back shortly blogging our next adventure. 

We leave on November 1 for London and the Silhouette Transatlantic -  Beaches to Broadway Cruise.   

Welcome to Zenith! Hope to cruise with you again.

[BEAV]

Welcome home, and thanks again for the wonderful, comprehensive blog. 

We’ll consider ourselves very fortunate that our Japan itinerary following the Transpacific was devoid of changes and typhoons. Hope you get everything straightened out with your cancelled private tours. 

Its difficult for me to pick a port that was our favorite because we enjoyed them all so very much. But I think the experience that most comes to mind is what you touched on about Nagasaki. I felt such a sense of peace and joy there despite the horrid events of the past. The Japanese people have done a fantastic job of making good out of bad with their call for expressions of peace.

We, too, loved the quick and swift business class flight on ANA from NRT-SJC (we’re in Walnut Creek). We also didn’t have the ramen on the flight. But I still remember having the best ramen of our entire trip in the ANA lounge at Narita! Funny, it’s often the little things that are some of one’s fondest memories!

Congrats on making Zenith! I think we’ll be stuck at Elite+ for quite a while. But it’s all good! 

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Orator said:

Welcome to Zenith! Hope to cruise with you again.

Thanks -  I am sure we will cruise again together.  If I recall you love TA's also.

 

[Jim_Iain]

11 minutes ago, BEAV said:

Welcome home, and thanks again for the wonderful, comprehensive blog. 

We’ll consider ourselves very fortunate that our Japan itinerary following the Transpacific was devoid of changes and typhoons. Hope you get everything straightened out with your cancelled private tours. 

Its difficult for me to pick a port that was our favorite because we enjoyed them all so very much. But I think the experience that most comes to mind is what you touched on about Nagasaki. I felt such a sense of peace and joy there despite the horrid events of the past. The Japanese people have done a fantastic job of making good out of bad with their call for expressions of peace.

We, too, loved the quick and swift business class flight on ANA from NRT-SJC (we’re in Walnut Creek). We also didn’t have the ramen on the flight. But I still remember having the best ramen of our entire trip in the ANA lounge at Narita! Funny, it’s often the little things that are some of one’s fondest memories!

Congrats on making Zenith! I think we’ll be stuck at Elite+ for quite a while. But it’s all good! 

 

It will be interesting to see how the service on Air France is on our next flight on November 1.   Has been many years since I flew them but got a $1,100 business class fare SFO to LHR.  

I saw the Ramen at the ANA lounge -  it was tucked away in a back corner with a window into the chef.   They also added a sushi bar with hand made sushi being made to order.

[Andy]

Hi Jim,

Thanks very much for your updates. Enjoyed them very much. Congratulations on becoming Zenith. We became Zenith around a year ago, and are totally thrilled. You will love it. Welcome home !

[Jim_Iain]

16 minutes ago, Andy said:

Hi Jim,

Thanks very much for your updates. Enjoyed them very much. Congratulations on becoming Zenith. We became Zenith around a year ago, and are totally thrilled. You will love it. Welcome home !

Thanks -   I am just waiting to have it applied in the next week.   The most value to us will be the Unlimited Premium Drink Packages, Free Internet and Free Laundry.    Our next cruise is a TA without any perks so it will have a lot of benefit.

[Jim_Iain]

Wow... just noticed that all my pictures are back again.  CC is doing a GREAT JOB on this upgrade.   I know many don't like change but to me it is a real improvement to their previous version of the software.  

Just think of it as an upgrade like Apple rolls out.    Each time their are bugs but they are generally fixed quickly.  In the long run you will love it.    Especially if you post pictures. 

[giggleshanks]

Seems to get a little better each day.............. But I'm no longer receiving notifications. 😞

 

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, giggleshanks said:

Seems to get a little better each day.............. But I'm no longer receiving notifications. 😞

 

Try going to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/followed

 

It is a list to all of your subscribed threads.   You can control notifications from there.   I'm getting notifications.

[Jim_Iain]

I was thinking of a pointer that future cruisers to Japan might want to keep in mind.

 

While in Japanese Territorial Waters the ship is unable to open the Casino and Shops.   On the Japanese Explorer Cruise we only had them open for 3 nights - Which were on the nights we headed to and from Busan, Korea.  The closure also includes the small apothecary section and all the daily promotional sales.

[Tinknock50]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Try going to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/followed

 

It is a list to all of your subscribed threads.   You can control notifications from there.   I'm getting notifications.

I actually had more problems with the old way, especially from my Roll Calls. The new is working perfectly with that.

[giggleshanks]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Try going to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/followed

 

It is a list to all of your subscribed threads.   You can control notifications from there.   I'm getting notifications.

Wow! Thanks.... I was able to go back and unfollow threads from as far back as 2010! All others say "notifications once a day".

Just not many people out there since they disabled the phone app.

[h20cruzer]

Jim did you get that $1100.00 fare on Choice air, it not may I ask where?  I seem to be in your footsteps, I Leave on Nov 7 on Air France. I' m in premium economy, still 26 seats left in business hoping i can upgrade when I do my boarding pass. I did premium economy, thought it was good, but nothing beats a lay down flat seat for sleeping.

Norma

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Jim did you get that $1100.00 fare on Choice air, it not may I ask where?  I seem to be in your footsteps, I Leave on Nov 7 on Air France. I' m in premium economy, still 26 seats left in business hoping i can upgrade when I do my boarding pass. I did premium economy, thought it was good, but nothing beats a lay down flat seat for sleeping.

Norma

Yes I got the fare on Choice Air.    I purchased it right when the flights became available about 11 months before the flight.     I've been searching for flights to Europe in March and haven't seen any cheap fares lately.   All I can say is keep looking - that's what I'll be doing. 

[Jim_Iain]

It's time to begin a new blog for our upcoming Transatlantic Cruise on Silhouette departing Southampton on November 3.   For those that would like to come along the link to the new Blog is at:

 

 

 

[dani negreanu]

On 9/10/2018 at 2:31 AM, h20cruzer said:

If you make it to Juneau try Tracys Crab shack 1328, 432 S Franklin St, Juneau, AK 99801 King crab is very very good, not cheap though.

 

It was amazing, and in 2013 I've paid 25$ for a portion. It was sooo good, that I decided "what the heck, I'll have another portion..."😁😁

[GeorgesGal]

Jim followed along since I'm on the 9/2020 Vancouver to Tokyo, and we have two ports in common:  Otaro and Hakodate.  I found the Otaro entry where you used Tours by Locals, an though I checked their site, I didn't find the tour which you took with your guide via public transportation.  Do you remember the name of the tour?  And most that I saw departed from Soporro!?!?

 

I didn't see any entries for Hakodate, though.  Was that another cancelled port?

 

Any help will be most appreciated!

 

Donna

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

Jim followed along since I'm on the 9/2020 Vancouver to Tokyo, and we have two ports in common:  Otaro and Hakodate.  I found the Otaro entry where you used Tours by Locals, an though I checked their site, I didn't find the tour which you took with your guide via public transportation.  Do you remember the name of the tour?  And most that I saw departed from Soporro!?!?

 

I didn't see any entries for Hakodate, though.  Was that another cancelled port?

 

Any help will be most appreciated!

 

Donna

Hi Donna -

It was called Otaru Sapporo from Sapporo The guide we used was Kunihiro (very good).    It doesn't say by train but found that in Japan almost all tours are via public transit.   If you want a private car it can be arranged but the driver and car are a separate transaction and VERY expensive. 

 

https://www.toursbylocals.com/OtaruSapporoFullDayFromSapporo

 

In Hakadote we just toured on our own.   It wasn't much of a city and it was a rainy day.    We went into town and walked around for about an hour then grabbed the shuttle back to the ship.   

 

 

[GeorgesGal]

Thanks, Jim, for this info.  Did you have to get yourselves to Sapporo to meet your guide, or did he come to Otaro to meet you?

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

Thanks, Jim, for this info.  Did you have to get yourselves to Sapporo to meet your guide, or did he come to Otaro to meet you?

The guide came to the port and was waiting for us with a sign with my name on it.    I actually spotted him from our balcony and sent him a text message that we were on the way down. 

 

The guide was excellent and helped us understand how to use the ticket machines at the train station.   It isn't intuitive but fairly easy after you learn how it works.   We used the train, taxis and street cars on our journey.   We also had him take us to a local place for lunch where tourist don't go.