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

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

When I was on Summit last Fall, had a CS on Deck 6 where wifi was good and Roku worked.  Then a CS on Deck 9 where the wifi was almost nonexistent and I had to step close to the door or out onto the balcony for a reliable signal.  Three tech guys tried hard find a workaround but it was no-go.

 

You got me thinking about the router up in the hall ceiling about 5 feet from our door. So at 9:15 pm I did a speed test right next to it and then went on our balcony and did another test a minute later with the door open. They were virtually identical. Maybe the router is way down the hall from you @Jim_Iain as they seem to be placed 40-50 feet apart in the hallways around our cabin.

 
 

BTW as I said, it doesn’t take much to amuse me, especially when it comes to the internet, as I have been around it in one form or another since 1983 when I used a 2400 baud modem to connect via a phone to a terminal access controller which was connected to the MILNET. 😂

[amomx5]

It was time to do my wine search this afternoon since they only have a limited supply of moscato which you can only buy by the bottle, even if you have the Premium Beverage package. And I think I have found a suitable substitute that I can get by the glass and it’s only 8% alcohol. I know, many of you like a more dryer wine. But for me the less acidic and more sweeter the taste is the better. 😁

 

Normally, I’m happy with a good German Riesling on the ship if I can’t find a tasty moscato. But when I tried this Riesling Spatlese, I found my new goto wine for the cruise!

 

If I drink wine I too like Moscato. I am happy the you did the experimentation so now I will know what to order- thank you😁. 

[Lbicklel]

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It was time to do my wine search this afternoon since they only have a limited supply of moscato which you can only buy by the bottle, even if you have the Premium Beverage package. And I think I have found a suitable substitute that I can get by the glass and it’s only 8% alcohol. I know, many of you like a more dryer wine. But for me the less acidic and more sweeter the taste is the better. 😁

 

 

 

I sure hope this is temporary issue! Moscato is my go-to.  We had as much by the glass as we wanted in the MDR on the Equinox in May…next two cruises are Equinox in September and then Summit.

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s definitely foggy and overcast, but the rain seems to have stopped for now. We had a Celebrity walking tour booked until it got canceled a few weeks ago. So maybe later on we’ll go for a walk in town once it clears up a little more.

 
 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

10 hours ago, amomx5 said:

If I drink wine I too like Moscato. I am happy the you did the experimentation so now I will know what to order- thank you😁. 

It’s funny about Moscato. When we were on the Reflection in Feb, they had 2 different types, but you had to have a Premium package to get it free by the glass. Then when we were on the Caribbean Princess in May on an 18 day PC cruise, you could only get it by the bottle as they only had a case of it. Luckily we had a bunch of OBC, so I reserved 5 bottles at $34 each. Then on our 21 day Regal Princess cruise in July in the Med, it was free if you had purchased any beverage package (or $8 per glass if not).
 

Then on this cruise it was only by the bottle, because of a limited supply. But when the bartender at the Wine Cellar brought out the German Riesling Spatlese, I had found my suitable substitute! Funny thing, though, on the Reflection back in Feb, Spatlese was $40 a bottle and not available by the glass. That’s one thing about Celebrity, they usually have tasty alternatives if they don’t have your first choice, especially if you have the Premium package. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Due to the skies not clearing up yet, as it’s around 1 pm, as well as it still being a little chilly, we decided to pass on walking around town. In addition from our view, Halifax just didn’t look all that exciting, especially around the pier area, so we decided to walk around outside on the ship as there were very few people that stayed onboard. 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

Since there was no line at Guest Services, I thought I’d stop by and ask about ArriveCan just to see how it works. First off, they did not check at the pier on embarkation day to see if we had filled out the ArriveCan information.
 

However, when the ship arrived in Halifax this morning, the Canadian Customs folks came onboard with access to their ArriveCan database in hand. They then proceeded to cross reference it with the passport numbers of the registered passengers onboard. If there were mismatches and/or it seemed pertinent to interview some of the passengers, they would then perform any necessary interviews before clearing the ship.
 

And, no, the GS person I talked with did not have any counts of how many passengers hadn’t filled out the ArriveCan forms prior to arriving in Halifax nor how many were interviewed. But I’m sure there were a few.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s an interesting lesson learned my DW figured out if you have an INDELB safe in your cabin like we do and you like to see each pin number as you type them in when locking the safe. I know, what a concept! 😂
 

 

Here’s what she learned. 
 

If you can’t see the numbers as you key them into your safe, it means the “hidden code” function has been activated.  To deactivate it, just follow the same instructions below that they give to activate it.

 

“HIDDEN CODE" FUNCTION

 

This function can be used to keep the codes hidden after they have been entered, for security reasons.

 

To activate this function, push the RESET key twice followed by the LOCK key.

This will activate the "HIDDEN CODE" function, and when codes are keyed in on the keypad the display will only show these symbols:  ▫️▫️▫️▫️

 

For reference, the Instruction manual can be found at link below.  The instructions are on page 18.

 

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/2100312/Indel-B-Safe-10-Box.html?page=18#manual

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We went for our walk around the track above the pool area and happily we only felt a few sprinkles. But we were still able to see some wildlife which is always a plus for us. 😁

 

 

 

Like I said, we’re easily amused! 😂

 

[luvcruzing]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We went for our walk around the track above the pool area and happily we only felt a few sprinkles. But we were still able to see some wildlife which is always a plus for us. 😁

 

 

 

Like I said, we’re easily amused! 😂

 

That looks like a lantern fly.

 

https://abc7ny.com/spotted-lantern-flies-north-bergen-invasive-bug-extermination/12109156/

[Laurab23]

2 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

That looks like a lantern fly.

 

https://abc7ny.com/spotted-lantern-flies-north-bergen-invasive-bug-extermination/12109156/

That is what I thought too. Should have reported it to someone or killed it.

 

[Jim_Iain]

Iain saw that same bug and was asking me what a cicada looked like -   I said not like that.

 

[Covepointcruiser]

We have be told to step on any lantern flies we find.   They will decimate the grape vines for wine so if you think there are shortages of your favorite wine now, just wait till these peaks decimate the vines!

[Ken the cruiser]

Down south in Alabama we have all kinds of bugs, good and bad. Being a fruit and former hydroponic vegetable farmer, I personally don’t care for squash and stick bugs. But at the same time, we also have honey bees so we don’t spray anything and let them all simply play together on our little farm.
 

But this “fly” wasn’t harming anyone, so we let it live. But no worries, I’m sure someone will inadvertently step on it. 😂

[NutsAboutGolf]

Huge favor if/when you get a chance, could you post a pic of the bathroom outlet usually mounted up high?  Hoping it'll give the wattage rating

 

Look like a great cruise!

[Ken the cruiser]

 

And we’re off. Next stop is St John’s, Newfoundland in 2 days!

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Huge favor if/when you get a chance, could you post a pic of the bathroom outlet usually mounted up high?  Hoping it'll give the wattage rating

 

Look like a great cruise!

No problem. Here you go!

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

No problem. Here you go!

 

 

Thanks a million!

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after a tasty dinner in Blu where I had one of the best filet mignon ever, we went to watch Domenick Allen, a singer in the main theater

 

 

 

Then we headed over to the Rendezvous Lounge to watch a very funny Whisper Challenge Game Show!

  

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 4 - Aug 10 - Sea day

 

 

 

 

 

[calicakes]

How do you feel the food quality compares to Oceania.

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, calicakes said:

How do you feel the food quality compares to Oceania.

That’s an interesting question since we haven’t cruised with Oceania since late 2018. However, I would say back in 2015 when we first started cruising with them, there was no comparison. O’s evening meals were much better, especially up in their Terrace Cafe where we ate most of our evening meals. However, it had definitely declined by the time we stopped cruising with them in 2018 as we found ourselves continually having to deal with heartburn due to all the seasoning they started to use in many of their evening dishes.
 

However, when it comes to the food served in Blu as well as that served in the Princess MDRs, on our 2 most recent cruises with them, both have actually been quite tasty with very little after-the-fact heartburn to deal with. But as they say, food quality is very subjective.

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[calicakes]

22 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That’s an interesting question since we haven’t cruised with Oceania since late 2018. However, I would say back in 2015 when we first started cruising with them, there was no comparison. O’s evening meals were much better, especially up in their Terrace Cafe where we ate most of our evening meals. However, it had definitely declined by the time we stopped cruising with them in 2018 as we found ourselves continually having to deal with heartburn due to all the seasoning they started to use in many of their evening dishes.
 

However, when it comes to the food served in Blu as well as that served in the Princess MDRs, on our 2 most recent cruises with them, both have actually been quite tasty with very little after-the-fact heartburn to deal with. But as they say, food quality is very subjective.

 

Thanks.  We had our first O cruise in February.  We decided to try O, because I felt the food quality on Celebrity declined( we had only traveled in AQ, so never had a dinner in the MDR).  Someone on the live blog I did for that cruise( Equinox, September 2019) suggested O.  I thought the pastries were excellent on O, much better than on Celebrity.  I loved the specialty restaurants on O too, loved they were all included.  The Miso Sea bass from Red Ginger was amazing.  One of the best fish dishes I've eaten. 

[Ken the cruiser]

This evening we also went to the late night comedy show with Sean Kent who has us laughing the whole time! I have to say a cruise is always so much more fun when there are plenty of opportunities to laugh!!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, calicakes said:

Thanks.  We had our first O cruise in February.  We decided to try O, because I felt the food quality on Celebrity declined( we had only traveled in AQ, so never had a dinner in the MDR).  Someone on the live blog I did for that cruise( Equinox, September 2019) suggested O.  I thought the pastries were excellent on O, much better than on Celebrity.  I loved the specialty restaurants on O too, loved they were all included.  The Miso Sea bass from Red Ginger was amazing.  One of the best fish dishes I've eaten. 

They did have nice speciality restaurants. We stopped cruising with O when we realized we could book either a Celebrity SS or a Princess VS for about the same price we were paying for a concierge veranda cabin, and have a lot more fun than on an O cruise. But that’s just us.