JamieLogical's November 13 B2B Summit Live Blog

[JamieLogical]

12 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

Totally non cruise question JamieLogical-I see you are from Rochester. Ever  go to Marge's Lakeside bar? My daughter is a bartender there summers.

 

Laura

I have not. I will have to check it out!

[Laurab23]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

I have not. I will have to check it out!

It is down by Seabreeze,

[CruiserFromSC]

10 hours ago, RichYak said:

Both Penthouse Suites, all the Royal Suites, and most of the Sky Suites are on deck 6. Rest assured that deck 6 is a passenger deck.

 

13 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I know that near the floor on the right side of the bed (as facing the foot of the bed) there is a US plug, as I am using that for my phone charger. This is in a Sky Suite. There is also a US outlet just above the desk, along with a USB port. Will check the other side of the bed when I get back to my room.

 

Thank you you both for your replies!

[JamieLogical]

I am sorry for not posting about yesterday yet. I tried to post this morning before breakfast, but CC was not playing nice with my laptop. I typed up all my notes in Google docs, so once I can get my laptop onto CC again, I will copy/paste everything and then try posting photos.

[kirtihk]

On 11/12/2021 at 8:43 AM, JamieLogical said:

After my COVID test yesterday morning, I went for my pedicure, then headed home to pack. I now have everything packed except for a few personal hygiene items and the 360 camera with charger. My husband is still working on pulling the videos of our Breakaway sailing off the camera to free up space.

 

Prior to my solo sailing back in July, I learned about the magic of bundle packing. It has changed my packing style forever! I used to just roll my clothes, thinking I was being clever. But, no more! With bundle packing, I have learned that I can fit a truly insane amount of clothing into a single carry-on sized roller bag.

 

 

Laid out on the bed there are the follow items:

• 9 pairs of underwear
• 11 pairs of socks
• 4 bras
• 9 camisoles
• 4 long sleeve linen shirts
• 2 cotton t-shirts
• 2 moisture wicking t-shirts
• 2 pairs of yoga pants
• 1 pair of trail pants
• 5 pairs of dress pants
• 2 maxi dresses
• 2 sweaters
• 1 pair of slip shorts
• 1 pair of shoes
• 2 tankini tops
• 2 pairs of swim shorts
• 1 swim suit cover-up

And here they are all bundled to go into my suitcase:

 

And here is my slightly preggers-looking carry-on:

 

If you want to learn more about how bundle packing works, here is my favorite video showing how to do it:

 

Thank you for sharing with this info, my dear neighbor.  We will try to implement this technique for our first cruise on Ponant Le Bougainville, Nice to Istanbul in June 2022 since our last cruise (also on Ponant, Easter Island to Tahiti South Pacific crossing) in March 8-24, 2020 (2.25 years later!!!; and thanks to gorgeous allowances from above, we've been always adding the following "cheerful" mantra phrase: "if even it happens to begin with").

Edited November 17, 2021 by kirtihk

[txtechmk]

Love reading your review!  And enjoying all the photos.  We do not sail until January, so your posts are getting me very excited....

[colliercruiser]

@JamieLogical We just got back on board… and to answer your question, all of the shops on the main street are open.  We didn’t venture beyond that.

[graphicguy]

23 hours ago, RichYak said:

Pro tips here! 👆

Lots of cruises to practice on.  You don't realize your consumption (at least I don't) as you space out drinks at different venues for different reasons (Bloody Mary and/or Mimosa in the a.m., beers in the afternoon, wine with dinner, after dinner drinks, nightcaps, etc).

 

By the time you roll into bed, and dive headfirst into that "been drinking all day sleep", you're faced with the inevitable pre-hangover hangover.  

 

Water to stave off the dehydration, aspirin to stave off the "foggy head".  By the time you sip the first Bloody Mary the next day, you're back to ship shape.

 

LOL!

[colliercruiser]

46 minutes ago, colliercruiser said:

@JamieLogical We just got back on board… and to answer your question, all of the shops on the main street are open.  We didn’t venture beyond that.

Forgot to mention that we’re in Nassau… for those following remotely.

[stjohncruisers]

Can anyone tell me if Donavan is back on the Summit. He is the singing server in the back of the buffet in the morning. He is one of our favorite servers. 

[kirtihk]

34 minutes ago, stjohncruisers said:

Can anyone tell me if Donavan is back on the Summit. He is the singing server in the back of the buffet in the morning. He is one of our favorite servers. 

I don't remember a person's name: there was a man on our 2 Celebrity cruises (one of them was Eclipse; I don't remember the second ship) singing in the morning and "begging" everyone to "eat your banana; banana is important for your health".  If it was raining, and someone complained about it, he was saying "what rain? enjoy your day, think of what's ahead of you; stay positive".  He was the best mental doctor so needed these days for all of us to stay mentally away from the generated disaster of the present.  Seriously, the fear produces the stress; the stress leads to depression, and depression is the key ingredient of having non-healthy deadly living conditions promoting one's wasted years.  I'm strongly against such existing.  Back to the singing man: I remember him forever and hope to see him again save and sound (if I'm allowed to step on a ship again).

Edited November 17, 2021 by kirtihk

[stjohncruisers]

2 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

I don't remember a person's name: there was a man on our 2 cruises singing in the morning and "begging" everyone to "eat your banana; banana is important for your health".  If it was raining, he was saying "what rain; enjoy your day, think of what's ahead of you; stay positive".  He was the best mental doctor so needed these days for all of us to stay mentally away from the generated disaster of the present.  Seriously, the fear produces the stress; the stress leads to depression, and depression is the key ingredient of having non-healthy deadly living conditions promoting one's wasted years.  I'm strongly against such existing.  Back to the singing man: I remember him forever and hope to see him again save and sound (if I'm allowed to step on a ship again).

That does sound like Donavan. Glad to hear he is still around. We have been on the Summit a few times and always enjoy him. Also, one of our favorite ships.

[JamieLogical]

CC seems to be working again on my laptop, so here is what I wrote up this morning:

 

Yesterday I felt 100% better than the day before, for which I was very glad. I was up in time to see a bit of the sunrise and then had my room service coffee and chocolate croissant while typing up my notes from the previous days. Had another lovely breakfast in Luminae, this time going for the more conventional eggs and corn beef hash. It was very good and I think I will order the same this morning!

 

After breakfast, I came back to the room to post photos, then it was up to the Sky Lounge for Officers vs. Guests Archery! I really did not know what to expect with this one, but knew I didn’t want to miss it! It turned out to be a ton of fun. The arrows for the archery had large, round, padded heads and there was an inflatable target booth set up. The targets were four small, plastic balls that were suspended by streams of air shooting up from cones. You just had to knock a ball out of its airstream, so it fell down, to earn points.

 

I signed up to participate, along with a LOT of other passengers and several officers. Each person got to shoot two arrows. At one point the captain even came down to join us and he ended up going right before me. I did better than he did and he congratulated me. I managed to earn two points in the first round, which put me in something like a 12-way tie for first place. All of us then moved onto a final round, where I was the first to score a point and thought I might have a real shot at winning, but it was not meant to be. Two people who went after me ended up getting two points each and tied for first, while I finished third. Oh well, it was still a great time!

 

By the way, in order to stave off another hangover, I made a rule for myself to drink water after every round of alcohol. So I did spend a little time at the Sunset Bar after breakfast drinking a bottle of water to counter the two mimosas I had had. And I didn’t get my next drink of the day until I was at lunch!

 

I had lunch in Luminae. This time I opted for the Signature Burger and was a little disappointed, because I had heard I had to try it, but it was definitely no better than about ten different burgers I can get at home. I guess I am lucky to have a lot of places that do really good “craft” burgers near me! Have definitely had much better onion jam. At least I got to sit next to my friend I’ve been seated next to for breakfast every day, so I had good company.

 

After lunch, I came up to my room for my traditional post-lunch nap, but ended up just watching some TV and not actually sleeping. Then I decided to head down to the Theatre for the Broadway Cabaret Matinee they were doing. That was actually really good and I am glad I dragged myself out in the afternoon to see it.

 

After the show, I went to Cafe Al Bacio and sat in a comfy chair while reading and having my afternoon coffee with Bailey’s. There was a string duet playing there that I hadn’t caught anywhere else on board, so now I am going to keep an eye out for them in the planner. Interestingly, several of the performers from the Cabaret ended up at Al Bacio after the show as well.

 

I came back to the room and finally finished getting the last of the photos for the previous days posted while sitting out on the couch on my balcony. Then I noticed the sun was setting and I didn’t have a good view, so I went up to the Sunset Bar for a drink and to watch the gorgeous sunset.

 

Thiago, the acoustic guitarist I’ve been stalking, was playing in the Rendezvous Lounge at 5:30 so I went down to listen to his set before dinner. Even behaved myself and ordered water there, having had a drink at Sunset. Thiago was great as usual and I went to dinner at 6:15, when his set ended. It was lobster night all over the ship, so I enjoyed some French Onion soup from the MDR and Luminae’s take on lobster, which was really really good. As an added bonus, I got seated next to my breakfast/lunch buddy!

 

After dinner, I hung out at Rendezvous and got a couple more of the Attempt #3 Mr. Worldwides that are the closest to the real thing. I met another person from here on CC who hadn’t managed to bump into me yet and we had a great chat before and after the main event, which was the Battle of the Genders gameshow. That was a really silly and fun time. The women won, of course. Then I chatted with my new friend some more right up until the time we were about to be late for the Main Theatre show, NYC3.

 

They called themselves a cross between a boy band and a top 40 station. They played all pop songs that I had definitely heard before, but didn’t really know. I am not a big fan of current pop, but they had great energy and got the crowd going, so it was still fun. I skipped out of that right before the last song, though, because I wanted to get back to the Rendezvous Lounge for Thiago’s next set.

 

This time I ran into my Canadian friend from the helipad sail away. I hadn’t seen her all cruise, so I was really happy to run into her again. We chatted all through Thiago’s set, so I didn’t get to pay as much attention to it as I would have liked, but it was worth it, because it was a really good conversation. We even ended up having late night snack together in the buffet and chatted until WAY past my bedtime. So even though I am not hung over today, I am a little sleep deprived.

 

This morning I have to take my antigen test for my B2B right after breakfast. Which reminds me, I need to get a move on so I can get to breakfast right at 8:00 today!
 

[kirtihk]

11 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

By the way, in order to stave off another hangover, I made a rule for myself to drink water after every round of alcohol. So I did spend a little time at the Sunset Bar after breakfast drinking a bottle of water to counter the two mimosas I had had. And I didn’t get my next drink of the day until I was at lunch!

Trust a Russian: a. clever move; b. don't drink mixed drinks (hangover is elevated by at least 5x vs. a neat drink).

[JamieLogical]

Sunrise from my balcony:

 

Breakfast in Luminae:

 

 

Archery in the Sky Lounge:

 

 

 

Cruise Director, Rich actually hit one with his head turned and his mask over his eyes:

 

The Captain getting ready to go right before me:

 

Lunch in Luminae:

 

 

Colorful desserts for lunch in the buffet:

 

 

Broadway Cabaret in the Main Theatre:

 

 

Coffee and snack at Cafe al Bacio:

 

Sunset from the Sunset Bar:

 

Thiago in the Rendezvous Lounge:

 

Dinner in Luminae:

 

 

 

 

Komang has nearly perfected my Mr. Worldwide:

 

Battle of the Genders gameshow:

 

 

NYC3 in the Main Theatre:

 

 

[jpsykes]

1 hour ago, kirtihk said:

Trust a Russian: a. clever move; b. don't drink mixed drinks (hangover is elevated by at least 5x vs. a neat drink).

Amen to what kirtihk says. Those sugary additives will get you. 

Drink top shelf if I can as usually filtered better IMHO and either neat or just over ice.

 

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Then I chatted with my new friend some more right up until the time we were about to be late for the Main Theatre show, NYC3.

 

They called themselves a cross between a boy band and a top 40 station. They played all pop songs that I had definitely heard before, but didn’t really know. I am not a big fan of current pop, but they had great energy and got the crowd going, so it was still fun. I skipped out of that right before the last song, though, because I wanted to get back to the Rendezvous Lounge for Thiago’s next set.

On the November 22nd sailing and the following one will be a different but similar headliner group called THE BOYBAND PROJECT (you can Google them). They're actually four guys probably in their 30s who were all performers on Broadway but then got together to form a band. Part of their act is a tribute to the boybands of the '90s, a la Backstreet Boys, and they have that down pat from the choreography to the song renditions. They also do other music such as Frankie valli and the four seasons and they are excellent with on point harmonies. We saw them on the Edge 2 weeks ago and I found out I'll see them again on the Summit. Don't miss their show!

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

On the November 22nd sailing and the following one will be a different but similar headliner group called THE BOYBAND PROJECT (you can Google them). They're actually four guys probably in their 30s who were all performers on Broadway but then got together to form a band. Part of their act is a tribute to the boybands of the '90s, a la Backstreet Boys, and they have that down pat from the choreography to the song renditions. They also do other music such as Frankie valli and the four seasons and they are excellent with on point harmonies. We saw them on the Edge 2 weeks ago and I found out I'll see them again on the Summit. Don't miss their show!

Totally agree!!!!!!!

I saw the Boy Band Project on the Edge in October. I LOVED THAT SHOW! I saw the 7 pm and then went back to the 9 pm show.

Another one I saw on the Edge before that was Uptown. Equally good but I enjoyed the BBP more.

We were on the Oct 9 and Oct 23 sailings.

GRACIASSSSSSSS!😁

Edited November 18, 2021 by Arzeena

[wrk2cruise]

On 11/16/2021 at 5:43 PM, CruiserFromSC said:

Jamie, thank you so much for posting from the Summit.  We are scheduled to be on board next Monday, Nov 22.  We are in a Sky Suite on deck 6.  If you have the opportunity, would you mind checking to see if passengers are staying on deck 6 or is it being used for crew members joining the ship and quarantining for two weeks as it is on other ships?  Thank you so much and HYDRATE!!  😃

 

We were on the sailing prior.  Crew was using deck 7 forward of the forward elevators for quarantine.  I was going to check on a cabin on turnover day for a friend and the fire doors on both sides were closed.  I opened a crack and there were tables outside every stateroom door that they use to deliver meals.

[hiccups]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

Totally agree!!!!!!!

I saw the Boy Band Project on the Edge in October. I LOVED THAT SHOW! I saw the 7 pm and then went back to the 9 pm show.

Another one I saw on the Edge before that was Uptown. Equally good but I enjoyed the BBP more.

We were on the Oct 9 and Oct 23 sailings.

GRACIASSSSSSSS!😁

We were on the October 9th sailing, too... I think that was the one with Uptown?  Glad to hear about the Boy Band Project, since we'll be on Summit on 11/22 (along with a few other posters here, I see!).

[hiccups]

Enjoying your review!  We were on Summit for its 2019 Thanksgiving cruise, and are boarding Monday for this year's 5-day Thanksgiving cruise.  It's great to see the pics and remind me of all the places to check out when we're back onboard again.

[prbffd28]

Good morning Jamie, first off, thank you for taking us along with you and I must say it's been an enjoyable review so far. The most comical were your posts about the alcohol consumption, I totally get it, definitely easy to let it get the best of you as I have done many times. I have found, as others have posted, water is key and if you want the extra benefits, for future reference, I have found the Rebound patches work well as do the AfterDrink pills, they are all natural as far as I can tell.

We took our honeymoon trip on Summit in August and had a wonderful time, I would say the best cruise we've been on so far, it was only our 4th and 1st with Celebrity. The crew is awesome, can't say enough great things about them.

A few you may have met already are Beatriz and Agus in the Sunset bar, Joey that's in Oceanview in the morning and MDR evenings and his wife Bianca that works mornings in Cafe' Al Bacio. The 2 others are Rendy and Ari at the Martini Bar, those guys are the most talented and comical bartenders I have come across. Please tell them all Perry & Joanne from Maine say Hi ! We still stay in touch with Beatriz, she is wonderful. We are hoping to be back onboard soon.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and thanks again for taking us along!! 🙂

[JamieLogical]

Sorry for the late recap this morning. I had to get an early start to get breakfast before Luminae closed and get the last my things packed up to be out of my room by 8:00 and then they turned off the wifi from the previous leg at 8:00, so I am now connecting via my cell service, using my phone as a hotspot.

 

Time for yesterday's recap!

 

I had breakfast in Luminae and then it was off to get my COVID test for my B2B. That was all sorts of confusing. Testing was supposed to be from 8:45 to 9:30. When I got there at 8:40-ish, there were already a ton of people. Coming off the aft elevators, I was apparently at the wrong end of the whole production... I kept going from station to station getting directed further forward. Finally, I got to the first station where they had a big printout of a spreadsheet with everyone who needed to be tested. Apparently it was half the ship, because there were only 550 passengers onboard and the spreadsheet had a lot of rows and several pages. They highlighted my name and directed me to sit down in the next room, which was full of rows of chairs. I asked what would happen from there and was told they would be calling us back row by row.

 

I sat down, but then quickly realized that I had left my passport and my vaccine card in my room and the instructions had said to bring those, so I ran back upstairs. When I came back down, I sat in the second-to-last row of chairs, because the other rows were mostly full and I wanted to keep at least some kind of social distancing, because there were unmasked children in there. Well, over time, it became clear that there was no order to when they were calling people back. The row behind me quickly filled up, meanwhile people from the front rows were called back, and then people who came in after me where, rightfully, filling those empty seats in the front rows, but then they were getting called back before those of us sitting in the back rows. After seeing a whole bunch of people who arrived after me getting called back, I had had it. It didn't help that there were people who needed either antigen or PCR tests and they were conducting those tests in separate rooms and the antigen tests were getting called back sooner, which meant there were empty seats in the more front/middle rows that late arrivals were filling up as well.

 

Anyway, I did eventually bully my way into getting called back. The woman calling people back acted all apologetic and was so sorry she missed me. As if it is possible to miss me. I am the only person on the ship with bright purple hair. I don't exactly blend into a crowd. How could she not see a woman with purple hair sitting there for 40 minutes while others came and went? The test itself was quick and easy. I did not receive my results via email as promised. I received a paper copy on my door late last night. Also, they never asked me for my passport or vaccine card, but apparently that was an error on their part, because in the afternoon I got a call in my stateroom asking if they could come take a picture of my vaccine card, because their colleague at the testing had forgotten to do so.

 

With my testing out of the way, I decided to do morning coffee at Cafe al Bacio and try one of the cinnamon donuts I had heard some other guests raving about. It was very good and I enjoyed reading in the comfy chair for a while.

 

I then tried to go see Jungle Cruise in the main theatre, but when I arrived, no one was there. I ran into a couple who said that on the paper daily planner, it said the movie was up at the Rooftop Terrace, but the app said it was in the Theatre, which is what I had seen. I went up to the Rooftop Terrace and it was indeed playing up there, but I decided it wasn't worth it because the screen was very hard to see against the bright sky and it was very windy up there. I didn't feel like running back to my room for my sun glasses, so I just killed some time until lunch.

 

Since it was a port day, Luminae was closed. I did lunch in the buffet, which was fine. I usually gravitate to the Indian food at the buffet, but I wasn't drawn to any of the lunch options, so I ended up with some macaroni and cheese, beef stew, and pepperoni pizza. I was surprised how good the macaroni and cheese was. I usually have bad experiences with that on cruises and the broth from the beef stew mixed really well with it, though the beef itself was a little tough and chewy.

 

I grabbed a few more slices of pizza and headed back to my room to watch an on demand movie. That was actually really good and then I took a little nap. I had run into my room steward in the hallway earlier and he informed me that the Aqua Class Veranda I was moving to for my second leg was already empty, so he could move some of my stuff for me that night. So, I promised him to have everything I wouldn't need for last night and this morning packed up so he could go ahead and transfer it for me. After my nap,  I got changed into some clothes I thought would fit okay into my backpack and packed up a case of my laundry and any clothes I needed for the next leg into my carry-on size bag. He moved all of my hanging clothes on the hangars, so that was very convinient!

 

At 4:30, I headed to the Sunset Bar, where Thiago was supposed to be playing, but it was raining so that had been canceled. I ended up at the Martini Bar for a bit and then at Cellar Masters to listen to Gemini Music Duo, even though wine isn't my thing. I found out that Gemini Music Duo was getting off the ship today. That was disappointing as I was hoping to catch them more on this second leg.

 

I headed down to Rendezvous Lounge for a minute to see if Komang was there to make me a Mr. Worldwide, but he wasn't, so I listened to the House Band Indigo and watch a few couples dancing. Then it was off to Luminae for my final dinner there. The menu wasn't great and every single table that got seated requested the MDR and Blu menus! I ended up eating off the MDR menu and wasn't impressed with any of my food. Oh well.

 

After dinner I went to the casino to use up the rest of my OBC and cash out my tickets. I ended up down about $200 for the trip, but since that was all OBC, I still feel like I came out ahead!

 

I really wasn't feeling the late night activities onboard, so I decided to go up and stock up on pizza and cheese from the buffet, take that back to my room, and watch another movie.

 

So, it was a pretty early night for me, which was good because of the early morning today!

 

Will post some photos after lunch.

[JamieLogical]

Forgot to post my drinks from yesterday!

 

Day's Drinks: Mimosa x2, Americano with Bailey's x2, Moscow Mule, Murano Martini, Zacappa Vanilla Mojito

[micruiser2002]

Well I have figured out why I had a reminder to bring a euro type plug.  iteems the royal suites only have euro type plugs next to bed and sleep sofa.