Jim_Iain - 9/5 and 9/17 Equinox B2B - Come along for a Live Blog

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, peanut head said:

Thank you for reaching out to me again.  I just informed my husband and he is ready to jump on board now.  I'm jumping for joy b/c I don't have to hear him gripe that we have to call the retreat host, or for me to run to Oceanview, for just a cup or 2 of java.  Yes, I know that's what he/she is there for but really(??) when we get up at the crack of dawn (around 5am) to do our morning run we hate to wake the retreat host up for this.

 

We just asked for a Tea Kettle so Iain can brew his tea.   You know how those Brits like their tea.   I'm same but coffee.    I had two pods of coffee this afternoon and it did a nice job. 

 

Now that we are retired --  crack of dawn is 7:45 for me and when Breakfast arrives for Iain.    For years he got up at 4:45 and swore after retirement 9:00 was more civil.  

[RICCruisers]

Jim, I don’t know if you and lain ever venture off the ship for a dinner on an overnight, but here is a link to Passions on the Beach in Aruba.  https://www.amsterdammanor.com/passions-on-the-beach

We had a large group from our Role Call do a dinner there a few years ago. It’s easy to social distance on the beach. The fact that it was on Valentines Day made it just a bit more special. Although since that is my birthday I thanked the group for attending my special day. 
 

Ed

[Luckynana]

36 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Such a beautiful sound!!!!  I was watching as you sailed away..enjoy the second part of your cruise!

[funatseascott]

19 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Jim I was wondering if you could check the prices for a 5 and 6 night package for speciality restaurants. Of course we could book on line at $182.00 and $204.00 respectively, however at this point it is requiring us to pick a date and time for each reservation which we don’t want to do. We have 3 cabins involved and to be frank  it’s a pain in the a** to try and link them. Much easier to speak to someone once we get on board. We are curious if prices are the same. 

[funatseascott]

We are doing the happy dance as we were upgraded to the Celebrity Suite!!  Woot woot.  We didn’t unpack earlier hoping we would get lucky.  The staff moved everything for us so all good.  Darker now so not the best pictures, but here is our CS.

[funatseascott]

Foodie pics

 

Breakfast was French Toast, Cheese omelette and eggs over easy.

 

Dinner was French Onion Soup and Jerk Chicken, which had plenty of spice, from mdr menu.  We have always loved this item.  Sophia had the Prime Rib, but had already cut into the food.  We are a little slow today from staying up late and getting up early.  She had mushroom soup to start with.

[Seany527]

23 minutes ago, funatseascott said:

We are doing the happy dance as we were upgraded to the Celebrity Suite!!  Woot woot.  We didn’t unpack earlier hoping we would get lucky.  The staff moved everything for us so all good.  Darker now so not the best pictures, but here is our CS.

Did you have to pay or was it free??  Lucky you!

[Stem to Stern]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Getting ready to set sail -

 

 

 

Um, so hearing those muster drill horns just literally gave me chills or butterflies or something emotionally overwhelming.  Now I truly feel like I am living vicariously through you.  The time before my own return to cruising can’t come soon enough now.  Might have to watch this video a few more times just for kicks and grins.  Looking forward to reading what was for dinner tonight.  Cheers gentlemen.  Oh, do either of you play?  If not maybe your retreat host can find someone to tickle the ivories.

[daydreamer16]

Really enjoying all of your posts!

I have a question, do you know if anyone on this cruise will be getting a resort day pass in either Aruba or Curacao? We are doing an 11 day in January and were interested in this. I asked on our roll call but never received a response.

 

Thanks, Denise

[canderson]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

First I have a retraction to post.  

 

I said there wasn't a coffee maker in the Renthouse but to my surprise there is one there.    I just asked our butler and he said they originally had them in RS also but had problems with them and removed them.     If in a RS or PS only you can request on.

That would be super.  Really appreciate that update.

I really do prefer my own coffee to most others in the morning.  Tempting . Lavazza uses the Keurig style cups, so it's tempting to find one of those little refillable jobs and bring it along in case I can score a coffee maker in a RS on Constellation.  Wow, we're down to 51 days! 

[funatseascott]

45 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

Did you have to pay or was it free??  Lucky you!

We had to pay, but as others with the move up program, cheaper then listed rate.

[jemttill]

Jim, thank you so much for all your time and effort.  We are doing our first B2B on the Equinox in December with your last itinerary.  I realize that can change, but the information you have provided regarding the ship, the testing and the Covid protocols will probably still be relevant. Following you on this cruise has been amazing and fun.  We can't wait to sail in December!  I hope your cruise continues to go smoothly!

[h20cruzer]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Hi Norma,

Hearing you may get a "lilttle" rain tonight --- we have been watching KPIX on YourTubeTV.    Amazing how excited  we can get over a couple hundredth inches (.01) of rain.

 

I'll ask tonight for sure.   

Looked at the forcast again, shows no rain now, at least they could have given us our .10 ha ha.

[brickellcruiser]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

when we got up for breakfast we noticed the previous guest had left the Penthouse snd they were busy getting it ready.  
 

We were invited to move our safe b CB intent over and by the time we were done with B2B room was ready snd everything moved over. 

We will be in that same exact PH (1611) when we embark on September 26. Take good care of it for us 😁

[funatseascott]

Bacio went overboard for us tonight.  Carlos has been honing his barista skills and made a sunset scene with Sophia and I with birds flying in the background. Very special to us.  Love this crew!!

[h20cruzer]

1 hour ago, funatseascott said:

Thanks so much.

[funatseascott]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

How true.    We luckily missed my grandson’s birthday last weekend.   My daughter just texted her Monther-in-Law tested positive after attending and is now in.hospital. 
 

 

 

 

Sophia and I wish her a speedy recovery!!  Covid is not to be messed with, if you have a way to defend yourself.

[funatseascott]

10 hours ago, 39august said:

Jim, would you please post the names of the concierge/hosts and bartender in the Retreat for the cruise beginning today? We board next week and would like to get used to the names in advance. 

Jonathan and Julia (yulia is pronunciation) are the retreat concierges.  Anastasia, I believe, is retreat manager.  With us not drinking, I don’t know the bartender but is the husband of Bianca (from Luminae).

[runningtide]

Hi Jim

A few weeks ago, for a variety of reasons which I outlined to you on an earlier chat, Linda and I decided to cancel this ABC cruise. On advice of my trusted TA, we didn’t officially cancel until last Friday. Regardless of the justifiable reasons for us to stay shore bound, I was still bummed out today. But THANKS Celebrity for twisting the knife….., on my Celebrity iPhone app, as you can see below, I kept getting hourly reminders for the safety briefings. I kept looking at the iphone , feeling like yelling……I CANCELLED THE TRIP………..IM NOT EVEN IN FLORIDA ………..HAVE SOME COMPASSION   !!!!!!

In all fairness my TA said it takes a while for a trip cancellation to work it’s way thru the system . In fact, I had her check twice earlier this week to be sure the trip was cancelled in Celebrities data base…, and it was. Sure made for some funny remarks between Linda and I today. 
Anyway…..  have a great second leg and I’ll be following along.  Thanks 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

8 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Hcat we have all used different TA's, so are you saying one of the TA'S can link even though the other 2 cabins are booked by different TA's? Thanks.

 

Yes, one of the TAs can link all the reservations.  He/she will just need all the booking numbers.

[funatseascott]

38 minutes ago, funatseascott said:

Jonathan and Julia (yulia is pronunciation) are the retreat concierges.  Anastasia, I believe, is retreat manager.  With us not drinking, I don’t know the bartender but is the husband of Bianca (from Luminae).

I’d like to correct myself.  It’s Yuliia and Jonathan, but pronounced like I wrote earlier.

[Catlover54]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

We just asked for a Tea Kettle so Iain can brew his tea.   You know how those Brits like their tea.   I'm same but coffee.    I had two pods of coffee this afternoon and it did a nice job. 

 

Now that we are retired --  crack of dawn is 7:45 for me and when Breakfast arrives for Iain.    For years he got up at 4:45 and swore after retirement 9:00 was more civil.  

Why 4:45, if I may ask?  mailman or surgeon?

[Benthayer Gonbak]

44 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

Why 4:45, if I may ask?  mailman or surgeon?

UPS job interviews are around that time too!  The argument is that that’s when you need to be at work, if you can’t make it to an interview at that time you’ll likely not last!  

[canderson]

Given the amount of coffee I'd need to function at that hour, and what that would do to any hope of manual dexterity, there's absolutely NO way I could have ever considered the life of a surgeon!

 

Geez, and I have the 7am appointment for cataract surgery next Wednesday!  If I'm getting up at 5:30, when is my SURGEON getting up?

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

45 minutes ago, canderson said:

Given the amount of coffee I'd need to function at that hour, and what that would do to any hope of manual dexterity, there's absolutely NO way I could have ever considered the life of a surgeon!

 

Geez, and I have the 7am appointment for cataract surgery next Wednesday!  If I'm getting up at 5:30, when is my SURGEON getting up?

 

in all seriousness later than you are!  My knee surgeon was later than they expected him but still there on time to meet everyone, sign the surgery knee, and start on time.  Cataract surgery doesn’t have as much it seems but there seem to be a whole lot of drops every 5-10 minutes to get you prepped before toy even meet the anesthesiologist!  And done forget all the paperwork!   

Edited September 18, 2021 by Benthayer Gonbak