Jim_Iain Live!!! - B2B Summit New England and Bermuda Jun 5 & 16th

[ZellaLamb]

On 6/16/2019 at 11:28 AM, Jim_Iain said:

I have a quick question about space for playing board games, as you posted a picture of people playing a game of checkers in a bar area.  Do they have any area designated or appropriate for board game play?  We were on the Summit last year, and they made arrangements for us to use QSine a few times during sea days, but overall it was difficult to find space and we were asked to leave a number of areas where we attempted to play games.  We are booked again this year, but were hoping that the renovation would have changed the situation from last year.  

Hi Jim and IIan, I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to speak with you on this cruise but I saw you across the room a couple of times. I've seen a few questions here that I think I can answer. I was also surprised about the lack of a game room so I asked about it. When they refurbished the ship, they got rid of the library and game room to put in more state rooms. The activities manager now sets out various games on top of a table in the reflections lounge during the day. There really aren't any good tables for cards or board games, except perhaps in the indoor pool area. Books have been placed in cubbies along the wall in the hallway going to the lounge. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Member123 said:

I also wanted to make mention to you that another CC member stopped by Blu to try to meet you. She arrived on Friday night, as I recall. I hope I get her name right: i believe that it's Easternskygirl. She really wanted to meet you, enjoys your trip reports immensely, and i promised that i'd let you know that she was on board. But, then I didn't get a chance to bump into you again on the trip! So, hopefully, she just comes on here and makes a comment.

 

Anyway.... NOT Chef Michael! Chef Daniel Boulud! OMG. I'm such a huge fan of his. I wasn't feeling well so I didn't get to go to the book signing. Devastated! But, my sweet husband went there and surreptitiously purchased two of his cookbooks for me. Hearing that Chef Boulud was chatting with the patrons and taking pictures made be a bit teary, but i so appreciated my husband's effort. (As an aside, he was really upset when we got home and he saw what TSA did to his luggage. He had wrapped the book very protectively and apparently the scanner wasn't able to see what the huge gray blob was on the screen...so you can imagine the condition of his carefully folded clothes. Plus, they just tossed the book on top of everything once they'd uncovered it. Still arrived in perfect condition! yeah!).....

 

Lots of changes are in store for the food with Celebrity, in all venues. It will be interesting to see how the restaurants and chefs onboard respond to Chef Boulud's suggestions......

Glad you arrived home safely.  

 

We we really enjoyed getting to know you.  We are still getting used to the new passengers.   Very few faces we recognize.  

 

We we are really looking forward to the Chef Dinner. 

 

[ZellaLamb]

19 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

The staff said it was just part of Homeland Security assuring the safety of the ship.  Surprised me as someone was flying a drone near the ship in Tear Drop Park. 

Did you notice the gun boat in Newport? I never saw a helicopter in Bayonne but noticed heightened security in Newport and Portland. 

[Jim_Iain]

6 minutes ago, ZellaLamb said:

Did you notice the gun boat in Newport? I never saw a helicopter in Bayonne but noticed heightened security in Newport and Portland. 

 

I did notice the Coast Guard Gun boat at Newport and Portland.    Security was very tight as you said and they compared ID and Seapass very closely.  I thought more closely than airport.  

 

BTW.  In Port Liberty we also had a gunship on port side up until being replaced by NYPD Helicopter.  

[ZellaLamb]

I loved following along on your posts, even though I was on the ship. It was fun to read about your experience from a Galaxy perspective. We've just made the lowly Select level. If you have any followers who would like to have more information about access for mobility challenged folks and for those of us who didn't have access to the Retreat, I would be happy to try and answer them! Have a great second half.

Kate and Rich

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, Member123 said:

Anyway, if you were going to call an Uber, you were to give them special zones in which to arrive (if I recall they were zones 7, 8, or 9... but don't put that down as fact because it could change and I may not be remembering correctly). You proceeded across the street if you had arranged for shuttle transportation. I have to say that the Uber area was packe

To grab a taxi, you had to walk through the Uber area and walk across the street; you can easily see the Taxi Dispatch sign when you exit the passenger terminal. We were being told that the Uber ride was either $35 or $40 to EWR. We were also told that the taxi cost was $75 plus tolls. We went to the taxi, anyway, as I just didn't want to be in the Uber madness.

 

Uber was in zone 8, 9, 10. I took an Uber and it was not madness. Pretty simple. I use it a lot though so I have the hang of it.  My Uber to Newark Penn station to catch an Amtrak, the fare was $19.25. Pretty good. 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Charles4515

[Jim_Iain]

20 minutes ago, ZellaLamb said:

I loved following along on your posts, even though I was on the ship. It was fun to read about your experience from a Galaxy perspective. We've just made the lowly Select level. If you have any followers who would like to have more information about access for mobility challenged folks and for those of us who didn't have access to the Retreat, I would be happy to try and answer them! Have a great second half.

Kate and Rich

 

Thanks Kate and Rich. 

 

I am am sure you will be a great resource for the mobility challenged.  

 

 

[Charles4515]

51 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Good to hear.  I didn’t notice last week.   Maybe on other side of ship. 

 

I don't think there was one last week. 

[Jim_Iain]

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Attended the Cruise Critic meet and greet. Was happy to finally meet FlorenceItaly.  

 

 

 

[GeorgesGal]

One thing I'm missing seeing on the Dailies - the drink of the day.  Don't they have that any more?  It was always a good way to try something I'd never have ordered.

 

Keep up with telling us of your wonderful experiences day-by-day!  Love following along.

 

Donna

[PistolPete13]

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small world.  I was standing right above that Fort taking pictures of the ship sailing by.  I assume you were on the helipad.  I'll try to get a cropped zoom of the deck when I get home tonight to see if you can spot yourself there.

 

Enjoy!

 

-Pete

 

 

[Minya]

6 hours ago, Member123 said:

Minya,

I was on the first leg of Jim's cruise. Just by happenstance, I met a lady who had booked a guarantee cabin and ended up on Deck 2. She said that she was very apprehensive but ended up absolutely loving both the stateroom and the location. She said it was one of the quietest cabins that she'd ever sailed in and thoroughly enjoyed just about everything in her cabin, from the window to the view to the quiet to the ability to get absolute darkness for incredible sleep. Very positive comments.

 

Thankyou so much for posting thats excellent to hear. I am glad I changed  to deck two because a number of comments from the rooms aft, a couple  or so rooms down onwards from the men's restroom the rooms that are favoured, complained about loud buzzing and vibration yet i could find nothing really negative about deck two except some hallway noise in a different section from my room. Any other deck two comments from folk most welcome and it helps other people considering deck two.  

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Uber was in zone 8, 9, 10. I took an Uber and it was not madness. Pretty simple. I use it a lot though so I have the hang of it.  My Uber to Newark Penn station to catch an Amtrak, the fare was $19.25. Pretty good. 

Thanks for letting us know where Uber and Lyft pick up passengers.    I noticed when we were being processed as B2Bs that one of the screens on the monitor indicated the pickup zones for them.   I tried to get a picture but it was revolving with welcome Newark etc and they told me no pictures in Customs area. 

[Jim_Iain]

Beautiful first day at sea.   Calm seas at about 5 foot, 75-80 with nice breezes.

 

  I did notice a teen vomit all over a lounger and part of the jogging track.  The staff quickly cleaned it up and sprayed lounger with a disinfectant.  Yuck.  

 

 

 

 

Teen Kids. Club looked like having a fun afternoon. 

 

 

Lots of kids in Hot Tub

[gerelmx]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

Jim, can you ask what is the cost for the upgrade of the Classic to Premium beverage package ?, I read in other reviews that they are charging $16.80 ($14 + 20%) instead of $12 ($10 + 20%)

this is on the Millennium in Alaska

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by gerelmx

[Jim_Iain]

At lunch today, I noticed a Vegan, Vegetarian, and Veggie Carving Station.  

 

 

 

[Eastern flygirl]

Jim-Iain    It was so nice to meet both of you as you were exiting The Retreat.  I do hope your second cruise is as smooth as the first one.  I forgot to mention a “Happy Anniversary” to both of you, that is really special.  I will always follow you on CC, and hope to sail with you again.  

[Jim_Iain]

Lots of activities at sea today.  

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

4 minutes ago, Eastern flygirl said:

Jim-Iain    It was so nice to meet both of you as you were exiting The Retreat.  I do hope your second cruise is as smooth as the first one.  I forgot to mention a “Happy Anniversary” to both of you, that is really special.  I will always follow you on CC, and hope to sail with you again.  

 

That is so sweet of you. 

 

I enjoyed meeting you also. 

[hcat]

Cellar masters looked nice..is that newer furniture? 

What goes on around there at night or is it just a pass through to the dining areas and  a lounge?

Can't recall M Class layout that well...

[Luv2Crus40]

Hello again.  If you have a chance, there was a premium wine that I loved but I forgot to write down the label.  I think the sommelier called it Cherry Tart and it's a Pinot Noir (California?).  If you happen to see this wine, could you let me know who makes it?  Thanks so much. 

 

Did you make it to St. George on the last leg?   We love walking around St. George.  Such a quaint little town.  Enjoy your 3 day stay in Bermuda!

[PhoenixCruiser]

I loved following along on your posts, even though I was on the ship. It was fun to read about your experience from a Galaxy perspective. We've just made the lowly Select level. If you have any followers who would like to have more information about access for mobility challenged folks and for those of us who didn't have access to the Retreat, I would be happy to try and answer them! Have a great second half.
Kate and Rich

Thank you for the offer! Did you take any photos of the bathroom? How was the wait for elevators?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[ZellaLamb]

2 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Did you take any photos of the bathroom? How was the wait for elevators?

I did take photos of my stateroom bathroom and some public ones but they did not come out good enough to share. I actually have photos of bathroom fails from around the world. Weird, I know.  It doesn't seem like they replaced the toilets in the public bathrooms and the ones in the accessible stalls and in the regular ones are quite low and difficult to stand up from. We were travelling with friends who work out every morning and they even commented about it. Also, none of the bathroom doors are automatic.  The one in our stateroom was a decent height with appropriate grab bars, a sink that I could roll under and a tilted mirror. I also had a roll in shower with a fold up seat.

The wait for elevators was never bad. I found that folks were very considerate about making room and there were many stair walkers on our trip.

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Thanks@Zellalamb! Those details help, we don't sail until November.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk