Jim_Iain - Summit Live Post B3B Greenland / Iceland / Canada Aug 7, 19 and 31, 2022

[Jim_Iain]

We had continental breakfast in retreat. 
 

The almond croissants are our favorites.  They also have Greek yogurt and fresh berries but they looked picked over so didn’t take a picture 

 

 

 

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

3 hours ago, Orsino said:

We are also on Summit on 31 August. I'm new to celebrity, and was surprised to find that we could book main dining online before the cruise. We did ours around the time of final payment and nothing was available between 6 and 8PM. I assumed everyone else already booked the 6 to 8 times, but it seems that the seasoned Celebrity cruisers didn't know about booking ahead either. Or maybe Celebrity doesn't offer times between 6 and 8 at all?

Never pre book dinning as we never know what we doing any particular evening 

😁

[lexmiller]

8 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Never pre book dinning as we never know what we doing any particular evening 

😁

Agree 100% - that's the whole point to Select dining, in our opinion.  We do of course make reservations for specialty restaurants - but not until we board - we book the first day for evenings the rest of the cruise.  We have never had a problem booking specialty restaurants the day we board for evenings throughout the cruise - even for Eden!  And as far as MDR Select - sure, sometimes we have to wait, but that's ok, no problem at all.  We do usually try to come close to the same time every day in order to get a preferred service team, but if our plans interfere, that's fine.  In any case, the real point here - is that we NEVER book in advance.  This also prevents problems in specialty restaurants with the added fees - we have often had problems with that - our elite plus discount never figures in on the times we have pre-booked in advance, so we have to have a discussion about that every time.  And then there's the first night specialty restaurant discount issue......always easier for us to book and reserve, once we board.  And we've never been disappointed.  Including - being assigned to a main seating time but we want Select, but from home Select is booked for the cruise - once we board, we immediately see one of the many restaurant people who are floating around, and we have always been able to switch to Select.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

11 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Elite drinks between 5-7pm never stopped, but they are served at any bar except the World Class bar and the Sports bar.

Nibbles at the Sky Lounge are no longer, in fact I think they stopped pre COVID.

We did have a Captain’s Welcome gathering a few days into our Silhouette cruise, but this was split into 2 groups.

There was also a Senior Officers gathering in our 2nd week, but this was held outside on the Lawn on deck 14.

There is an Elite drinks menu.

 

 

Thanks that looks slightly expanded. And yes, now that you mention it I remember the coupons when there were too many cc onboard!  

[Stem to Stern]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Ok desert was fun last night.  We ordered one of each.

I see you guys had the place to yourselves.  You gotta love "late-night seating" in Luminae.

[Jim_Iain]

Just now, Stem to Stern said:

I see you guys had the place to yourselves.  You gotta love "late-night seating" in Luminae.

LOL.... we certainly didn't need to wait on line for dinner. 

[REEtired]

On 8/19/2022 at 11:10 AM, dani negreanu said:

 

 

We were lucky enough to be with @MamaFej on this cruise, which we picked for the 2 overnights in Iceland.

 

It was one of our best cruises, so much so that we recommended to friends to book the [almost] same cruise for June 2020 [no overnight in Akureyri...]. I told them that an overnight in Reykjavik is a "must" whereas one long day in Akureyri is enough. Personally, one of our tours there was just "meh"....

 

One couple was booked for June and the other one for July 2020. Same tour operator like ours, which, when Covid stuck and had to refund the payments, went belly up...

We were also lucky enough to be on the cruise with Dr Koob and his special arrangements for dinner one night at Lawn Club Grill. This was one of our best overall cruises.   

[REEtired]

On 8/19/2022 at 2:31 PM, dani negreanu said:

 

It was the BEST roll call ever.

 

@Jim_Iain -- so sorry about your cancelled stop tomorrow. Such a pity you don't get to enjoy another day in amazing Iceland.

 

I'm glad we got to talk about our stops in Iceland. I went online to check on the tour company, SAGA Travel, which we used then with utmost satisfaction, and they went belly-up during the Covid "era".

 

I'm happy to report that they're back in business, for all those who have Iceland in their future itinerary.

Yes a very fun group on roll call. SAGA Travel was excellent. Used them for all of our tours in both Iceland ports. 

[Jim_Iain]

Lazy sea days so thought I would give a glimpse of my daily walk.  
 

I start out near the elevator to the 

 

 

down the stairs

 

 

 

down starboard

 

 

up the stairs to Retreat Deck

 

 

Tap in

 

 

 

 

around Forward

 

 

Down the stairs

 

 

 

Walk Aft

 

Uo to Terrace

 

past basketball area

 

 

 

 

 

One lap completed. 24 more to go. 

 

[TeeRick]

27 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Lazy sea days so thought I would give a glimpse of my daily walk.  
 

I start out near the elevator to the 

 

 

down the stairs

 

 

 

down starboard

 

 

up the stairs to Retreat Deck

 

 

Tap in

 

 

 

 

around Forward

 

 

Down the stairs

 

 

 

Walk Aft

 

Uo to Terrace

 

past basketball area

 

 

 

 

 

One lap completed. 24 more to go. 

 

Everybody is in a heavy coat!

[Surfguyxxx]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Everybody is in a heavy coat!

I see that.  I'm on an Arctic cruise in 2023 and am starting to decide what I need to bring with me/buy there/not bring!

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Everybody is in a heavy coat!

Amazing. We certainly have had a variety of temperatures.   Today mostly in dense ground fog.   
 

Tomorrow’s forecast for St John’s is high of 78.  Time to break out the shorts again and pack away the sweaters and puffers. 

[Jim_Iain]

48 minutes ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I see that.  I'm on an Arctic cruise in 2023 and am starting to decide what I need to bring with me/buy there/not bring!

Best to get a medium weight puffer.  Plan on layers.   We didn’t require gloves and only used knit hats once. 

[Jim_Iain]

8/25/2020 Romantic Dinner at Tuscan Grill

 

The ship looked beautiful for Chic night

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the bean soup and a 1/2 portion of chicken.  Can’t imagine a full order

Garlic mash potatoes 

 

 

iain had the lobster pasta

 

 

desert was the donut.  It was so so. 
 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

We are really looking forward to seeing land.  Was nice to have time to rest.   The New England cruise will be very port intensive.  
 

We slept in today.  Even I who usually get up at 7:00 was still in bed at 8:30.  

[Stem to Stern]

28 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

We slept in today.  Even I who usually get up at 7:00 was still in bed at 8:30.

This reminded me.  What ever happened to the pillow menu?  Still in existence?  Wasn't this an Aqua Class thing?  Still enjoying your posts.

[39august]

Is the Retreat Sun Deck accessible for handicapped or are there only stairs? 

[lexmiller]

37 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

8/25/2020 Romantic Dinner at Tuscan Grill

 

The ship looked beautiful for Chic night

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the bean soup and a 1/2 portion of chicken.  Can’t imagine a full order

Garlic mash potatoes 

 

 

iain had the lobster pasta

 

 

desert was the donut.  It was so so. 
 

Are they still serving the house made limoncello as a digestif?  Was always super yummy!

[lexmiller]

3 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

This reminded me.  What ever happened to the pillow menu?  Still in existence?  Wasn't this an Aqua Class thing?  Still enjoying your posts.

No matter what class you are in, just ask your steward for the pillow(s) of your choice.  Years back, we asked to see the actual pillow menu and the steward had to stifle a chuckle, because such a thing did not actually exist on paper.  In any case, we always ask for our preferred type of pillow, and et voila, they are there in our cabin before nighty night time.  

[Stem to Stern]

I borrowed a pillow from our guest room this week and realized it was so much more comfortable than my normal pillows.  So, I have had pillows on the brain.  Years ago, we asked for the body pillow on board.  It was literally as long as the bed, heavy, and as big around as a human body.  There wasn't room for all three of us.  Sorry for the hijack, Jim.

[abbydancer2003]

29 minutes ago, 39august said:

Is the Retreat Sun Deck accessible for handicapped or are there only stairs? 

There is a wheelchair elevator - has to be operated by staff I think.  I also think it only goes to the lower level of the retreat sundeck, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

[mduffy1834]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Amazing. We certainly have had a variety of temperatures.   Today mostly in dense ground fog.   
 

Tomorrow’s forecast for St John’s is high of 78.  Time to break out the shorts again and pack away the sweaters and puffers. 

And it's supposed to be in the 90s in Boston this weekend until early next week - can't imagine packing for the trip you are on.  I'm beginning to think about packing for my trip to Iceland - 2 more weeks!

[Arizona Wildcat]

5 minutes ago, mduffy1834 said:

And it's supposed to be in the 90s in Boston this weekend until early next week - can't imagine packing for the trip you are on.  I'm beginning to think about packing for my trip to Iceland - 2 more weeks!

We spent about 3 weeks touring Iceland before the cruise.  Brought wool beanies- twice.  Rain jackets- twice.  Zip hoodies-  almost daily.  Long underwear- once.  Gloves- never.  Sweaters- almost daily.

Thin layers.  Iceland is rarely below 25F at the ocean even in winter.  Always warm in the very intense sun.

[WonderMan3]

On 8/25/2022 at 2:34 PM, Jim_Iain said:

LOL.... we certainly didn't need to wait on line for dinner. 

How late are you dining and how busy has it been at that time? We normally don't eat late but if it could help get a quiet Luminae where it becomes easier to be distanced from other tables then we may try that for our next cruises.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Stem to Stern said:

This reminded me.  What ever happened to the pillow menu?  Still in existence?  Wasn't this an Aqua Class thing?  Still enjoying your posts.

 

I've not seen it posted but they have always accommodated requests.   Just ask and you will receive.