Jim_Iain Live Blog - Infinity B2B - Carribbean and East Bound TA

[Jim_Iain]

41 minutes ago, misspuss said:

Oh, good! another  Jim _Ian blog! I will be following eagerly. I was so amazed  by your transpacific blog that we booked the same cruise for this September. We had never considered  a transpacific, but you guys seemed to have had such fun (dispute the two typhoons you experienced) that we are going to try it. I hope you have a great cruise.

Thanks.   You will love the Transpacific.   Lots of sea days but the weather is on the cool side.  

[Jim_Iain]

As an introduction, we are avid Celebrity Cruisers and reached Zenith in October 2018.  We live in Sunnyvale, CA which is in the heart of Silicon Valley and about 1 hours south of San Francisco.  The only problem with cruising is that it is a a long way to most of the ports we sail out of.   Now that we have both retired it makes is so much more comfortable to plan extra time at either the origin or destination.  This time we are flying into Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise and then spending a couple weeks in Scotland after the cruise.  As many might guess, Iain's a Scot, and it is always nice to visit his family.

 

We booked this cruise about a year ago as a filler cruise until we finally get the opportunity to try the Edge in October.  We booked a RS on the Trans-Atlantic portion of the trip.   It has taken me years to finally convince Iain into taking an East Bound TA.   He loves the West bounds with gaining all those extra hours each evening and the thought of loosing 6 hours wasn't something that really excited him.  Hopefully it won't be that cumbersome and he won't be moaning too much.  

 

 

 

[Silkroad]

We haven’t done a WB yet, but we loved our first EB (Reflection 2017) so much that we’re doing another later this month (Edge). Despite losing time on the EB TA, I really appreciated having the longest flight at the end of our holiday. After your Typhoon adventures last year, I hope you and Iain have very smooth seas for your crossing😊  We had seas smooth as glass until we skirted a storm a day off Tenerife. BTW congratulations on achieving Zenith!

Edited April 14, 2019 by Silkroad

[Jazzbo]

26 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks.   I'm hoping for a nice smooth cruise.    Last October/November we were hit with 2 typhoons and 1 hurricane on 3 cruises.    We still had a wonderful time but hoping for a nice smooth warm crossing.  

 

Fingers crossed for smooth sailing!

[Covepointcruiser]

It’s too bad Celebrity doesn’t change the time on eastbound cruises the way Seabourn does.   I much prefer losing an hour from 2pm-3pm than an hour of

They also showed the movie “Groundhog Day” to further celebrate the event.

[remarcm]

Following and thanks.

[Jim_Iain]

48 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

We haven’t done a WB yet, but we loved our first EB (Reflection 2017) so much that we’re doing another later this month (Edge). Despite losing time on the EB TA, I really appreciated having the longest flight at the end of our holiday. After your Typhoon adventures last year, I hope you and Iain have very smooth seas for your crossing😊  We had seas smooth as glass until we skirted a storm a day off Tenerife. BTW congratulations on achieving Zenith!

 

Good to hear.    I think we have done more than 12 Westbound - Southern, Central and Northern Crossing.   Generally the best weather is on the Southern Crossing but as you say... you can never tell.

 

 I often use a Wave Height Model at http://www.stormsurf.com/flash_apps/height_natla.shtml

It shows the projected wave heights in an animated fashion for the next 7 days.   Currently looking like a nice projection.

[Jim_Iain]

51 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

It’s too bad Celebrity doesn’t change the time on eastbound cruises the way Seabourn does.   I much prefer losing an hour from 2pm-3pm than an hour of

They also showed the movie “Groundhog Day” to further celebrate the event.

I had not heard of that before.   On the Westbound TA's the crew love it because they get an extra hour each evening to party.   

[myjillian]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

At the base each message is a + to the left of Quote.     Click the plus for each multiple quote you wish.   A quote box will pop up on bottom right with the number of quotes you have selected.   When complete Click the Quot box and it insert all of them.

 

Thank you so much...as soon as I hit my 3000 mark I'll do that instead of individual comments LOL😁

[myjillian]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Good to hear.    I think we have done more than 12 Westbound - Southern, Central and Northern Crossing.   Generally the best weather is on the Southern Crossing but as you say... you can never tell.

 

 I often use a Wave Height Model at http://www.stormsurf.com/flash_apps/height_natla.shtml

It shows the projected wave heights in an animated fashion for the next 7 days.   Currently looking like a nice projection.

We prefer Westbound TA's we just feel more rested....we lived in Cupertino in the mid to late 70's for about 6 yrs.  

Edited April 15, 2019 by myjillian

[Carnevale]

We are so looking forward to your posts.  You have been so very helpful as we are getting to know Celebrity and as we are doing the west bound TA on Infinity in October we expect there’s a lot to learn from your experiences.  Have a wonderful time!  We appreciate the time you will take to share your experiences!

[Mr. Boston]

Thank Jim, I always appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us as well as your writing style. Safe travels!

[lola2013]

Looking forward to your review.

Bon voyage!

Susan

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, myjillian said:

We prefer Westbound TA's we just feel more rested....we lived in Cupertino in the mid to late 70's for about 6 yrs.  

I'm not sure if you have been back since the 70's.   It has REALLY changed.   There have not been any orchards left in Cupertino for about 10 years now and Cupertino remains  one of the most expensive communities in the nation and also has one of the best school systems in the Bay area. 

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, Carnevale said:

We are so looking forward to your posts.  You have been so very helpful as we are getting to know Celebrity and as we are doing the west bound TA on Infinity in October we expect there’s a lot to learn from your experiences.  Have a wonderful time!  We appreciate the time you will take to share your experiences!

I am sure you will enjoy.   I will try to let you know as much a possible.    We were last on Infinity November 2017 and she was in pretty good condition.   

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Mr. Boston said:

Thank Jim, I always appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us as well as your writing style. Safe travels!

Thank you.   When I saw your name I flashed back to last year and our visit to Boston.   What a wonderful city.

[Jim_Iain]

We have always sailed in CS and above cabins, but hitting Zenith had me curious as to how we would do booking a room with no perks in an Aqua Class.  I found a 4 day Caribbean cruise just before the crossing and felt it could work well as an experiment. I was able to book a Aqua Aft for $699 pp.   After final payment the prices of the suites dropped and I ended up upgrading to a Sky Suite Guarantee for $150 pp. extra.   So much for the experiment.  After   almost 7 weeks we still din't have a cabin assigned.  

 

At 6 weeks prior to the first cruise I placed a Move-Up Bid offer on a RS.   At that time I had not received a move-up e-mail so just went to the site and put in my name and Reservation number   The minimum bids were:  PH $750-2,000 pp, RS $500-1,50 pp and the CS was $350-1,250.  I put in a low bid of just over minimum for the Royal and chose not to bid on the other cabins.   At 16 days prior to cruise I received notification that my bid had been accepted and was assigned cabin 6133 (wish it was the same cabin as our B2B TA).

[Jim_Iain]

Things are coming together.  Received luggage tags on Friday (couldn’t request them until I won the move up bid.   Express pass was easy to fill out and is the type you upload your pictures.   

 

[Lastdance]

Oh how I enjoy seeing those luggage tags, as they represent that the dream is real!

[Beachlover1989]

Can't wait to follow along on your vacation!  It will help me get through the 4 1/2 months until our next cruise!

[abbydancer2003]

I'm following.  I still hope to meet Iain someday.  Also jealous of your time in Scotland.

[silkismom]

I'm following along, as often as possible we will be in Holland for a river cruise. 

[caymancouple]

On 4/14/2019 at 10:52 AM, Jim_Iain said:

It is time to hit the seas again and we are so in need of a cruise.   While we don't suffer from severe cold winters like many, it has been a very wet but mild El Nino winter in Northern California.   

 

We initially booked the TA cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona, but ended up adding on a short 5 day Caribbean prior to the crossing.   While we don't leave for 3 days, I thought I would start getting the blog started.   Please feel free to jump in also ask questions.    I will try to fulfill all requests.

 

First up is the Itineraries - 

 

 

 

See you onboard both cruises.  We are doing the exact same ones.  We leave for Miami tomorrow, and on to Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday.

Edited April 15, 2019 by caymancouple

[zencruisers]

Following along. Enjoy!

[voyager70]

Always enjoy your live blogs, thanks for taking us along once again and have a wonderful time on your sailings!