Live From the Summit, 8/7 to 8/31, from an Aqua passenger viewpoint

[ecslady]

Ken - For your 3 hour self guided tour in St Johns Newfoundland, were there any admission fees to see the Stoneworks, etc. or was all that free?

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, ecslady said:

Ken - For your 3 hour self guided tour in St Johns Newfoundland, were there any admission fees to see the Stoneworks, etc. or was all that free?

No. Not even up at the Queen Battery “castle”. Turns out it’s a gift shop on the first floor plus some stairs you can walk up to the top. However, there is a fee if you want to go into the Johnson Eco Museum Center, the white building at the bottom of the hill in the above picture I mentioned earlier. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Today just before noon we were up in the Sky Lounge listening to Orly Orlysson answer questions. Then, just when he finished talking about the variety of whales in the Greenland Sea near his home in Husavik, Iceland, someone who was looking out on the water yelled “whale” and we all went to see the pod of whales just off the starboard bow of the ship!

 

At first I saw the water spot of one of the whales in the pod.

 

 
Then they started popping up! I took a bunch more pictures, but these were the best ones.

 

 

 

And for the first time on our cruise, I “think” I got a picture of a tail. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! 😁

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Well I have to say, except for getting rid of the game shows on Chic nights on this leg, Celebrity has definitely kept us entertained on the many sea days we’ve had on this cruise! This afternoon we went to a wonderful matinee performance by Karen Grainger in the main theater!

 

 

[AstoriaPreppy]

38 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Well I have to say, except for getting rid of the game shows on Chic nights on this leg, Celebrity has definitely kept us entertained on the many sea days we’ve had on this cruise! This afternoon we went to a wonderful matinee performance by Karen Grainger in the main theater!

 

 

 

I love that Karen hasn't worked on board for 2+ years, and is just wowing everyone on the Greenland/Iceland sailings this year. It's like she bottled up every ounce of talent while furloughed, and is just pouring it out on stage during each performance. She was a total delight on the last sailing!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

I love that Karen hasn't worked on board for 2+ years, and is just wowing everyone on the Greenland/Iceland sailings this year. It's like she bottled up every ounce of talent while furloughed, and is just pouring it out on stage during each performance. She was a total delight on the last sailing!

 

We agree. We she sings Hallelujah for her finale, you just want to pop out of your seat and give a super applause when she finishes!! 😁

[Jim_Iain]

23 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

This was at 5:25 pm in Blu. 
  

 
and this, by comparison, was at 6:25 pm in Blu this evening. 

 

 

Wonder if the difference is that tonight is the last Chic night.    We always eat around 8:45 and most evenings it is only about 25% full last night for some reason it was about 95% full.  

 

Will be interesting to see what tonight is like. 

[maggieq]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We agree. We she sings Hallelujah for her finale, you just want to pop out of your seat and give a super applause when she finishes!! 😁

Does she still do the patti labelle and Michael McDonald song “ on my own”. We saw her on our solstice cruise years ago. Her show was so good we went to the 2nd one that night.  

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wonder if the difference is that tonight is the last Chic night.    We always eat around 8:45 and most evenings it is only about 25% full last night for some reason it was about 95% full.  

 

Will be interesting to see what tonight is like. 

Tonight, which is the last Chic night, was pretty much at the same capacity levels as yesterday at those 2 times, at 5:25 and 6:25 pm.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, maggieq said:

Does she still do the patti labelle and Michael McDonald song “ on my own”. We saw her on our solstice cruise years ago. Her show was so good we went to the 2nd one that night.  

She did on the first show the other day, which was of course quite funny when she started switching quickly back and forth towards the end of the song imitating the 2 singers. 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after dinner we headed to the theater to watch The Grapevine Group which told a “love” story using Credence Clearwater Revival songs, and did a great job, besides the fact we knew every song they sung!! 😁

 

 

 

 
Then after the show we decided to head down to the Rendezvous Lounge to see how popular the replacement dancing option was compared to the usual game shows during the 7:30 - 8 pm time slot. But first, I had to take a picture of the sunset! 
 

 
Then it was off to the Rendezvous Lounge around 7:45 pm to check out the Latin Dancing which started at 7:15 pm.

 

 
I think the number of the dancers on the dance floor in the same time slot where a game show should be going on pretty much sums it up. Sorry, we love going to the game shows and when the new Activities Director, Emily, nixed the game shows on all Chic nights for some reason, it just bummed us out. Sorry.

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 11 - Aug 29 - Halifax, Nova Scotia 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Of course, we had to go see Sean Kent’s late night comedy show one more time, which of course was hilarious! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Today we booked the Historic Halifax Walking Tour as we had some extra nonrefundable OBC left. We didn’t go ashore on the first leg because they had canceled our walking tour and we had already been to Peggy’s Cove on a previous cruise. 😁

 

 

 
Looks like the HAL ms Zaandam is going to be joining us today.

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[lexmiller]

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Tonight after dinner we headed to the theater to watch The Grapevine Group which told a “love” story using Credence Clearwater Revival songs, and did a great job, besides the fact we knew every song they sung!! 😁

 

 

 

 
Then after the show we decided to head down to the Rendezvous Lounge to see how popular the replacement dancing option was compared to the usual game shows during the 7:30 - 8 pm time slot. But first, I had to take a picture of the sunset! 
 

 
Then it was off to the Rendezvous Lounge around 7:45 pm to check out the Latin Dancing which started at 7:15 pm.

 
 

 
I think the number of the dancers on the dance floor in the same time slot where a game show should be going on pretty much sums it up. Sorry, we love going to the game shows and when the new Activities Director, Emily, nixed the game shows on all Chic nights for some reason, it just bummed us out. Sorry.

 

We'd have been super bummed as well.  We also love the games shows and have countless medals, water bottles, lanyards and all sorts of varied Celebrity bling won as prizes, to prove it.  And like you, we love the entertainment - we never miss a show, even if we think hmmm, maybe not for us, we go and are generally always very happy!  We board in two days, will be taking our covid tests today.  Thank you for your live thread!

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

We'd have been super bummed as well.  We also love the games shows and have countless medals, water bottles, lanyards and all sorts of varied Celebrity bling won as prizes, to prove it.  And like you, we love the entertainment - we never miss a show, even if we think hmmm, maybe not for us, we go and are generally always very happy!  We board in two days, will be taking our covid tests today.  Thank you for your live thread!

You’re going to have a get time and as they say “Think positive and test negative!” 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

But speaking of the “C” word, we were curious if someone tests positive now on a Celebrity cruise and are quarantined in their cabin for a certain length of time, what protocols are in place to guarantee that person stays in their cabin the entire time?
 

I asked this question on the CC Roll Call and someone that is currently quarantined in her cabin said they are on the honor system not to leave. And that’s fine as there are probably other people walking around the ship that have it as well, but just haven’t been tested.

 

Which then triggered a follow-on question. What happens if someone who has been quarantined shows up at any service-providing location on the ship that requires either a sea pass card or acknowledgement of their cabin number before that can receive service, such as a dining room, ordering drinks at a lounge, or purchasing a product at some shipboard venue?

 

So I asked our Blu maitre d’ that question. First, he acknowledged that quarantined guests are on the honor system (for obvious reasons, as there are no longer any more isolated quarantine cabin sections onboard). However, if someone does decide to walk around the ship and attempt to receive service at a location where cabin identification is required, a red flag (so to speak) will show up next to the person’s name, and after notifying the applicable ship authorities, they will most likely be disembarked at the next port. We had a feeling this was the case, as it was explained to us, but just wanted to satisfy our curiosity.

 

OK, back to getting reading to go on our Halifax walking tour! 😁

 

[MamaFej]

15 hours ago, maggieq said:

Does she still do the patti labelle and Michael McDonald song “ on my own”. We saw her on our solstice cruise years ago. Her show was so good we went to the 2nd one that night.  

 

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

She did on the first show the other day, which was of course quite funny when she started switching quickly back and forth towards the end of the song imitating the 2 singers. 😂

People were talking nearby, and I misheard her in the intro, and had thought she said Patti LuPone. 
 

She started singing, and I thought, “That does NOT sound like Patti LuPone!” Less than a second later, I realized my error, and she most definitely sounded like both Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald. 
 

I saw her the next day and told her. We both laughed. 
 

I should have asked if she does Patti LuPone, too. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Had a nice historical (3+ mile) walking tour today visiting many Halifax sites. However, on our next cruise here with Princess next fall, we’re thinking of just walking along the very long pier area, as we have now seen both Peggy’s Cove and walked around the town. But at the same time if the Duck Boat tours are reasonable, we might consider that as an alternative since it also goes into the bay for a short ride besides touring the town. Anyway, here are some pictures of our “last” adventure ashore on our B2B cruise which will be coming to an end in a couple of days. 😁

 

Here’s what it looks like just outside the terminal. If you want to go for a walk yourself, just turn right outside the terminal and head down this road. There are plenty of shops, places to eat, and museums to visit the farther down you go along the shore line.

  

 

 

 

 
Then our tour turned left up the hill to walk around the various streets in the area that had stuff to see.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Of course, you know me, I get squirreled easily when I see wildlife! 😁

 

 

Then it was time to visit the Public Gardens, which were definitely in full bloom!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Then is was time to move on back towards the water to see some other sites.
 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back on the ship for one final shot of the island.

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[abbydancer2003]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Had a nice historical (3+ mile) walking tour today visiting many Halifax sites. However, on our next cruise here with Princess next fall, we’re thinking of just walking along the very long pier area, as we have now seen both Peggy’s Cove and walked around the town. But at the same time if the Duck Boat tours are reasonable, we might consider that as an alternative since it also goes into the bay for a short ride besides touring the town. Anyway, here are some pictures of our “last” adventure ashore on our B2B cruise which will be coming to an end in a couple of days. 😁

 

 

 

We did the Duck tour on our (to date) only stop in Halifax.  We loved it.  By the way, we just went to their office when we got off the ship and bought tickets there.

[Jim_Iain]

21 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Tonight, which is the last Chic night, was pretty much at the same capacity levels as yesterday at those 2 times, at 5:25 and 6:25 pm.

We were surprised.   Last Chic night in Luminae it was packed at 9:00.   Last night maybe 25% filled.  

[Jim_Iain]

Ken -  I really haven't been reading the dailies.   Some one asked me if they had a Laundry Bag deal during the cruise?    Curious if you noticed anything on it?

[Redking]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But speaking of the “C” word, we were curious if someone tests positive now on a Celebrity cruise and are quarantined in their cabin for a certain length of time, what protocols are in place to guarantee that person stays in their cabin the entire time?
 

I asked this question on the CC Roll Call and someone that is currently quarantined in her cabin said they are on the honor system not to leave. And that’s fine as there are probably other people walking around the ship that have it as well, but just haven’t been tested.

 

Which then triggered a follow-on question. What happens if someone who has been quarantined shows up at any service-providing location on the ship that requires either a sea pass card or acknowledgement of their cabin number before that can receive service, such as a dining room, ordering drinks at a lounge, or purchasing a product at some shipboard venue?

 

So I asked our Blu maitre d’ that question. First, he acknowledged that quarantined guests are on the honor system (for obvious reasons, as there are no longer any more isolated quarantine cabin sections onboard). However, if someone does decide to walk around the ship and attempt to receive service at a location where cabin identification is required, a red flag (so to speak) will show up next to the person’s name, and after notifying the applicable ship authorities, they will most likely be disembarked at the next port. We had a feeling this was the case, as it was explained to us, but just wanted to satisfy our curiosity.

 

OK, back to getting reading to go on our Halifax walking tour! 😁

 

So is it now official Celebrity policy that you quarantine in your booked cabin and not the "covid Brig "? Husband still threatening to not go on ourJanuary cruise if there's a risk we get moved🙄

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Redking said:

So is it now official Celebrity policy that you quarantine in your booked cabin and not the "covid Brig "? Husband still threatening to not go on ourJanuary cruise if there's a risk we get moved🙄

 

At least on Summit which is nearly full,  you quarantine in your original cabin.   If your travel partner is negative they are given an option to stay in quarantine with positive person or move to a cabin (usually an inside near original stateroom). 

 

In the rapidly changing world of Covid and Cruise Ships -  January is a decade away as to what protocols may be. 

 

All close contact tracing has gone away.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off! Next stop Is Boston in two days for our flight back home. It’s been a great 24 days, but it’s time to head home and take a break from cruising for a few months. All together after this cruise, we will have cruised 134 days since last August! 😁

 

It was fun watching the terminal workers take the gangways off, which was delayed for about 15 minutes or so until they got the word that Celebrity paid the bill! 😂

  

 
Then about 15 minutes or so later, we were off, and as I’ve said before, watching sail away from our aft-facing cabin is always awesome, especially when it’s in the 70s! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Ken the cruiser