Jim_Iain – Silhouette Live Post April 8, 21, 30 - B3B - TransAtlantic, Portugal Spain, France and the Norwegian Fjords

[Jim_Iain]

I'm usually very even keel but when I get ruffled STAND CLEAR.  After being confined to our cabin it is like you are totally cut of and SERVICE HAS GONE TO H*LL.

 

Room service called about 6:00 to take our dinner order.   They said it would be around 7:00 PM  - No problem.   8:00 came and went and still no dinner.   We called our Butler who suddenly has become unresponsive and he brought a bucket of ice and asked about dinner.   He went off to get it and at 9:00

 

I sent off a message to the Hotel Director and called the Retreat concierge - Edelyn.    She is the only redeeming factor and had our dinner delivered by the Butler within 15 minutes.    We had earlier tried Guest Relations and Room Service ending up hanging up after no answer.   She even called back to confirm everything was delivered.  

 

I swear if you test positive and confined your on your own to fight for anything you want or need.

 

Ok... now time to calm down...    OHmmmmmmm

 

They have an electronic Attention To Detail via a QR code -  I sent a very terse message to John Flynn - Hotel Director while I was fuming  -

[Jim_Iain]

Ok. I'm back to my mellow self.  

 

We were rewarded better than @jetblue when our food finally arrived.   It was plated fairly well.  Since we hadn't had lunch we were ravenous.  

 

A huge tray was delivered and we began uncovering.    For Starters I had Caprese Salad and Iain Cream of Mushroom soup. --

 

Since there was no spoons Iain drank from the bowl.   
 

 

 

 

For dinner steak and chips. When starved who cares what it looked like

 

 

For desert I had the Raspberry thing from Chef B menu and Iain the Tiramisu 

 

 

They also brought the magic crystal box with Chocolate covered strawberries 

 

 

They told use they would bring us breakfast but I said bring some coffee and sweet rolls just in case they again fall through.  At least we will have something in the morning.  

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[juanrod]

Sitting done for lunch break and my daily read of your adventures to see you tested positive.   So sorry this cuts this part of your adventure off , but as always you are so positive about shift to your next adventure and look forward to your review of your air Bnb.   Glad neither of you have symptoms and hope you can get more tests so you can enjoy time in Scotland with your family.  And also your grand kids are adorable.  

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

We are both always positive and see these sudden changes as only pebbles on our way to the next adventure.   How can I be so lucky to have found a partner that shares the same values and attitudes as me. 

 

We have had some of our best adventures from the totally unexpected.

 

This!! so much this.  It’s what makes a good traveler (and a good travel writer, too).  Pebbles (and even the occasional  stone) in one’s path may make the way a little harder to traverse, but they do NOT block the way to the next adventure.

 

I’m sad that you can’t take the next cruise, but glad you have found a lovely place to stay in Southhampton and then will be with Iain’s family.

 

You are both so careful—I’m just so convinced its a false positive. Stay safe!

 

 

[helen haywood]

It almost seems like a quarantined passenger’s cabin phone is somehow silenced.  I can’t really believe that Guest Services had a ringing, non-answered phone going on for 20 minutes!  Or perhaps a quarantine cabin’s phone is somehow flagged and ignored.  I know that sounds crazy but I’ve read so many reports of quarantined passengers not being able to reach Room Service or Guest Services…

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, delondin said:

I would be interested to hear if this has changed your view of cruising in any way. Maybe shorter cruises or just avoiding the uk!  I’m from the uk 

Nope.   Not in the least.    Each cruise is so different and I took my chance for my love of sailing.   I don't regret it in the least, just disappointed we won't be able to visit Norway for the first time.  

 

I will start working on finalizing our plans for our upcoming B2B2B on Summit Round trip TA to Greenland and New England and Canada starting August 7.    

 

I can't but LOVE the UK as it is Iain's homeland.    I would only say that the British Government may have moved too quickly in in removal of all restrictions.    I'm sure they are hoping for in to revive their travel industry and hope it doesn't come back to haunt them. 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

25 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm usually very even keel but when I get ruffled STAND CLEAR.  After being confined to our cabin it is like you are totally cut of and SERVICE HAS GONE TO H*LL.

 

Room service called about 6:00 to take our dinner order.   They said it would be around 7:00 PM  - No problem.   8:00 came and went and still no dinner.   We called our Butler who suddenly has become unresponsive and he brought a bucket of ice and asked about dinner.   He went off to get it and at 9:00

 

I sent off a message to the Hotel Director and called the Retreat concierge - Edelyn.    She is the only redeeming factor and had our dinner delivered by the Butler within 15 minutes.    We had earlier tried Guest Relations and Room Service ending up hanging up after no answer.   She even called back to confirm everything was delivered.  

 

I swear if you test positive and confined your on your own to fight for anything you want or need.

 

Ok... now time to calm down...    OHmmmmmmm

 

They have an electronic Attention To Detail via a QR code -  I sent a very terse message to John Flynn - Hotel Director while I was fuming  -

 

Thats what has been being reported from the red zone!  Can you imagine actually having symptoms and not getting any response?   Good for you! 

[raudacruise]

Wow, I received lots more attention in my Deck 6 jail cell. No issues at all with Room Service. 

 

Edelyn is a gem. Can’t wait to see her in January.

 

 

 

 

 

[JFontaine]

If I was left without food for so many hours and had someone available to let me back in to suite I'd double mask and go to the buffet and bring back food.  No symptoms, double mask (one of them a good mask) a 5 minute trip to the buffet would pose little risk to mankind. Good luck to you guys. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Had a male friend decide to run the dishwasher while his wife was visiting elsewhere for a few days.  She came back to a sparkling floor, he learned the difference between dishwashing and dishwasher soap!   He said the kitchen was about knee deep in bubbles! And, he caught it in the very beginning of the cycle! 

Oh no... My daughter and her husband stayed out our place one year when we were on a cruise.   they did the same thing.  

[mavrick2oo]

1 hour ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Had a male friend decide to run the dishwasher while his wife was visiting elsewhere for a few days.  She came back to a sparkling floor, he learned the difference between dishwashing and dishwasher soap!   He said the kitchen was about knee deep in bubbles! And, he caught it in the very beginning of the cycle! 

Now that everything comes in pods, I accidentally put a washing machine pod in the dishwasher. Talk about bubbles! My husband was not pleased with me, but the bright side was the kitchen floor sparkled!

 

I keep the detergents in separate locations now!

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

So sad to learn of your what I assume is a false positive test result.  Currently on the Summit and our test to see if we can remain on the ship for the B2B is coming up.  Fingers crossed we don't suffer the same fate.  Hope all goes well with your unexpected stay in England and that you can visit with Iain's family in Scotland.

 

Our current cruise is a bit different from yours as there are around 325 pax on board and the captain keeps referring to it as our private yacht.  I've yet to share an elevator with anyone.  But Luminae is full.

Linda

 

i was thinking of you earlier about your electric outlet problem.   Here are a couple more things I have to solve plug limitations. 
 

UK adapter with 3 US plugs

 

Standard  3 prong extender

 

My favorite as seen on tv

 

[VitaminSea53]

Well Celebrity got off easy since you are at the end of your cruise and aren't being sent to the 3rd floor dungeon.  After the reports from JetBlue's quarantine (very fair and nicer then I would have been), a lot of folks said they were thinking of cancelling and avoiding Celebrity cruises until they change their handling of Covid-19.   If you had been sentenced to an OV  room for days on end, the commentary would have been interesting because you have a good attitude as well but "enough is enough" and Celebrity may have taken notice. 

When will Celebrity accept that Covid-19 is the Flu?  It is not a death sentence....  If you get really sick, you go to the medical facility.......  Eliminate testing, quarantining and get back to the business of cruising.

[mchell810]

22 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

If I was left without food for so many hours and had someone available to let me back in to suite I'd double mask and go to the buffet and bring back food.  No symptoms, double mask (one of them a good mask) a 5 minute trip to the buffet would pose little risk to mankind. Good luck to you guys. 

 

I have to agree with you!  I can be patient about a lot of things but I need to eat at regular intervals for health reasons.

[bobby3334]

Thanks for your wonderful blog.  I have been reading all major lines transatlantics from US to UK and as many roll calls as possible on major ships.  I cruise a great deal but am in no rush at the moment although I did a great Alaska cruise but it was only half full.  It is my understanding from a number of medical friends that with the nasal swab antigen test there are rarely false positives but frequent false negatives which makes one wonder about the use for boarding the ships.  A second point is you can be masked and as careful as possible but the virus itself is so small (hundreds on the tip of a pencil) masking and distance is not infallible.  When I read you were planning on 3 back to back cruises it crossed my mind you weren’t going to make it due to the length and the luck of the draw.  Friends have done 3 but relatively short week long successfully (21 days).  But it was when you described the complete change of passengers at Southampton and many presumably unvaccinated (due to age) school children and almost total lack of masking I became alarmed for you and your final cruise.  Thank goodness it was your third cruise and not your first and apparently you are asymptomatic.    The very best to the two of you.  All the ships I have looked at seem to be planning as they go and neglecting the positives.     Mike 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

4 minutes ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Well Celebrity got off easy since you are at the end of your cruise and aren't being sent to the 3rd floor dungeon.  After the reports from JetBlue's quarantine (very fair and nicer then I would have been), a lot of folks said they were thinking of cancelling and avoiding Celebrity cruises until they change their handling of Covid-19.   If you had been sentenced to an OV  room for days on end, the commentary would have been interesting because you have a good attitude as well but "enough is enough" and Celebrity may have taken notice. 

When will Celebrity accept that Covid-19 is the Flu?  It is not a death sentence....  If you get really sick, you go to the medical facility.......  Eliminate testing, quarantining and get back to the business of cruising.

Flu has the RX Tamiflu which is easily accessible and can knock out the symptoms quickly.  Right now the newer COVID RXs are not only not readily available, they pricing is prohibitive.  I can only imagine what it would cost aboard ship!  To me testing and quarantining will subside when there are good treatments for COVID, we aren’t there yet!  And, we still don’t understand enough about long COVID, that takes time. 

[Jim_Iain]

Feeling like a contagion 😷 ward as we have to put our suitcases in plastic bags before putting out. 
 

[Jim_Iain]

I can’t say how wonderful much of the staff has been.  Our phone has been ringing off the hook as some of crew are finding out of our quarantine.  
 

Laurene who has been so helpful in protecting us from close contact called to tell us the wait staff and she were so upset that we would be with them for Norway.   Her heartfelt wishes were so warm we chatted for 5 minutes.  She is by far the best Maitre’D.   I wanted to go down and giver a big hug. So sad we can’t say our in person farewells. 

[chemmo]

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I can’t say how wonderful much of the staff has been.  Our phone has been ringing off the hook as some of crew are finding out of our quarantine.  
 

Laurene who has been so helpful in protecting us from close contact called to tell us the wait staff and she were so upset that we would be with them for Norway.   Her heartfelt wishes were so warm we chatted for 5 minutes.  She is by far the best Maitre’D.   I wanted to go down and giver a big hug. So sad we can’t say our in person farewells. 

A good reason to cruise Silhouette again in the near future….You need to say goodbye to the staff before you say hello again!

 

Best wishes for a restful break now in a lovely part of the country. We spent time in the New Forest a few years ago and loved the little villages and the food quality of their pubs.

 

Stay safe, stay happy and once again sincere thanks for both the information and entertainment your reports always give…

[sgmn]

Safe travels to your Airbnb tomorrow. You can probably get a supermarket delivery to the holiday house so you don't have to go into stores.. If you do a Google search you should be able to find the nearest supermarket. 

Though it won't affect you when you resume your holiday again there has been a big drop in cases in the UK reported today. I think we reached our Omicron peak a few weeks ago.  Though it could be because we're not testing so much but ONS is pretty accurate 

 

BBC News - Covid infections in record drop of nearly one million, says ONS
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61270786

Edited April 29, 2022 by sgmn

[Covepointcruiser]

Now we all know that there is no equal treatment for those testing positive with COVID.    You were allowed to remain in your RS and were served on China instead of paper.    Smoking in a RS bathroom or on the balcony will cause problems for those using your cabin on the next sailing.   We will see if your debarkation is similar to JetBlues.    Being a Zenith passenger also may have played a part in your treatment.

[Tigrou]

55 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I can't but LOVE the UK as it is Iain's homeland.    I would only say that the British Government may have moved too quickly in in removal of all restrictions.    I'm sure they are hoping for in to revive their travel industry and hope it doesn't come back to haunt them. 

 

Whilst not wishing to talk politics, I have to say that the British Government's decisions in regard to the lifting of covid restrictions was likely based more on hospital admissions and the impact on the NHS for the whole UK population than the possibility that those who choose to take cruise holidays may end up being quarantined due to a cruise line's policy.

 

If people were going on cruises, coming back to the UK and filling all the intensive care beds then that would be of concern, but that is not the case.  I'm no fan of Government, whichever party is in power, but I really can't see that a decision made for the everyday lives of the UK people should be blamed for holidaymakers, whether from the UK or overseas, catching covid in the relatively risky environment of a cruise ship. 

 

 

[goldsmip115]

I am so sorry to hear this, Jim.  Your plan B sounds very promising under the circumstances.  I’m sure that you are both disappointed about missing the last leg of the voyage but hopefully you will be fully recovered and enjoy Scotland as planned.  Reading about all of the Covid cases onboard ships has certainly caused concern for me and Karen on our upcoming Millenium cruise next Tuesday. We are exquisitely careful and plan to be on that sailing. But it is incomprehensible to me to be moved from the Penthouse Suite to deck 2 or 3 if we test positive.  And, of course, having to quarantine in Canada after being away for 12 nights.  I do think Celebrity needs to rethink their quarantine policies for those that test positive.  I’m not sure what the ideal answer is, but it certainly isn’t relegating passengers to deck 2 or 3 and forcing them to isolate with only their cardboard boxes and plastic utensils. They will see a huge cancellation in bookings, especially for European cruises if that continues.  At least with our cruise we can debark in a US port for 8 of the 10 nights.  I would cancel my cruise if it was a European voyage given what I have read in the last few weeks.  How wonderful that you can at least stay in your Royal Suite and your basic needs are being accommodated.  Be safe and please keep posting.

[JFontaine]

49 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Feeling like a contagion 😷 ward as we have to put our suitcases in plastic bags before putting out. 
 

This is such a crazy photo. It is nearly impossible to get Covid 19 from touching something.  Someone fairly sick would have to sneeze or cough on top of the handle, and very shortly thereafter someone would have to touch the handle and then fairly immediately their unmasked nose.  Of course, the exact same thing could happen on top of the plastic. I wish Celebrity spent this effort getting quality food delivered on time. 

[cachouonacruise]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I will start working on finalizing our plans for our upcoming B2B2B on Summit Round trip TA to Greenland and New England and Canada starting August 7.    

 

I don't know if your trip to Canada will bring you to our home town.
 

In my opinion, Quebec is one of the nicest Canadian cities and the cruise port is right there in the old Quebec, so for a day, you will not need any excursions. Just walking in the old streets, visiting the art boutiques, the unique restaurants and other boutiques will fill that day.

 

Montreal, where I live, is similar. Though, not as unique as Quebec, but there is still so much to do on foot from the old port, so you will not need an excursion, unless you want to go to Mont-Tremblant.

 

Charlottetown is very friendly and so is Halifax. Our guide to Peggy's Cove was exceptional. Sailing on Bras d'Or Lake during our Sydney stop, was a blast.

 

P.s. Bravo for finding a way to change your plans on a dime, in a way that is satisfactory to both you and Lain! Enjoy the end of your trip!