Jim_Iain - Solstice LIVE Mexico Riveria B2B - December 3 and 11

[Northern Aurora]

5 hours ago, abbydancer said:

One note is that about the only time they run coastals from LA to Vancouver is in the fall, when they move the ships to Alaska.  I've seen a few RT from San Francisco that stop there.

 

......

 

Actually, Celebrity Pacific Coastal are done both in the fall and the spring.  We have done several spring PC sailings as the ship moves from South America or re-positions from the Panama Canal.  In fact, we have done more spring Pacific Coastal than fall sailings.  Most of the time we have either ended or started the cruise in San Diego but a number of years ago we did one which started from San Francisco.  Celebrity has rarely used Los Angeles.  We are Zenith members of the Captain's Club with, shall we say, a number of Celebrity sailings.  Possibly your milage varies.

[abbydancer2003]

23 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Actually, Celebrity Pacific Coastal are done both in the fall and the spring.  We have done several spring PC sailings as the ship moves from South America or re-positions from the Panama Canal.  In fact, we have done more spring Pacific Coastal than fall sailings.  Most of the time we have either ended or started the cruise in San Diego but a number of years ago we did one which started from San Francisco.  Celebrity has rarely used Los Angeles.  We are Zenith members of the Captain's Club with, shall we say, a number of Celebrity sailings.  Possibly your milage varies.

Yup, everyone tends to do NB in the spring, and SB in the fall.  That said, my point was to finish in Vancouver, it's only in the fall, generally.  (I'm sure there may be occasional exceptions).  We do a lot of these, almost always on Princess.  We do like Celebrity better, but there are far fewer short flight options.

[venicecruiser]

Thanks for taking us along again on your adventure!  As always, great photos and commentary.

 

Safe travel home and Happy Holidays!

 

Claudia

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

We did the Pacific Coastal (which is what Jim refers to as Alaska Repositioning) followed by the first of the Mexico itineraries.  If you are not into beaches and don't find the Caribbean appealing I would suggest a Pacific Coastal either from or to Vancouver, BC.  We have done several and they are very enjoyable.  And from Vancouver it would be a great pairing to do the Rocky Mountain Mountaineer either before or after a Pacific Coastal. Just iIncredible scenery.

 

It will be interesting if Celebrity continues their Mexico cruises.  My impression is that they were designed since the Solstice couldn't be deployed in Asia and the South Pacific (or wherever it would have been before covid-19).  

Thanks Gerry....  I sure hope they port a ship on the west coast,  but haven't looked at all the schedules they just released.   Gives me something to do when I get home. 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, lilghallinsf said:

I can only understand how you feel. It sounds like there are so many new staff members and some don't know the proper way to acknowledge a misstep. As a business owner, we are always conflicted how to acknowledge a misstep. Do we say "we f'd up or just try to make it right". I agree since so many f'd up, someone should have acknowledged it, but I have a feeling no one wanted to admit to the mistake. Especially since you both are so kind and aren't screaming about your experience. 

 

They finally did acknowledge it.   I received a personal handwritten note for the Hotel Director who apologized for the missteps and hoped to be able to win us back as loyal guest.  Also received a typed note and a nice bottle of wine from Director of Loyalty.

[Jim_Iain]

4 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks Gerry....  I sure hope they port a ship on the west coast,  but haven't looked at all the schedules they just released.   Gives me something to do when I get home. 

Will be sure to.

[flviking]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:17 AM, Jim_Iain said:

 

With the exception of the Captain's Toast and Top Cruiser there have been ZERO events or recognition of Zenith's.

With the changes in the Zenith program we have decided after 22 years to try some  other cruise Luxury cruise lines.     We of course have about 9 cruises already booked with Celebrity but right now unless we cancel will be trying out Ponant.

Sorry you had this lack of an appropriate experience.  We are only E+ and will never get to Zenith.  Our experience with the airline and hotel programs is that it is not about customer loyalty but rather what have you done for me lately.  As Lifetime status was reached on Delta, American and Marriott well above the entry level there is minimal benefit.  So for the last ten+ years we are free agents.  We buy the seat/room/cabin we want and any loyalty benefits we accrue and receive are truly bonuses.  We are trying Scenic so we will see how that goes.  So far totally unimpressed with the pre cruise experience.  As the cost per day is well north of a Celebrity Royal Suite it better be awesome or we are one and done.  We've heard varying opinions on Ponant from good to great.  Though their pricing would imply great should be expected.  Looking forward to following along with your cruise line sampling.  Safe travels home!

[Jim_Iain]

Our Top Cruiser photo finally arrived - after having our butler track down. 

 

[Jim_Iain]

The dreaded luggage tags arrived last night.   While it is sad to leave we are looking forward to getting home for Christmas. 
 

[Jim_Iain]

The fliers for disembarking.  
 

 

[dlh015]

An extremely enjoyable 'live' needless to say. 

 

Thanks for bringing us along!

 

Safe journey home and Merry Christmas to you and Iain!

 

(Your timing is perfect...I just ran out of popcorn...)

[Jim_Iain]

Well we had a wonderful lunch in Luminae with James and Dean from Sydney.   We ended up chatting until almost 3:00.

 

During lunch the last 2 days the Dolphins have been putting on a performance.      Yesterday there were hundreds and they were jumping and doing flips to the delights of the lunch guest.

[Texed]

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

During lunch the last 2 days the Dolphins have been putting on a performance.      Yesterday there were hundreds and they were jumping and doing flips to the delights of the lunch guest.

I love to see the dolphins.  It tops off a great cruise.  On our cruise on Reflection in November, I was fortunate enough to be able to watch three sea turtles from our veranda in St. Martin.  Loved it.  😊

[DaKahuna]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Our Top Cruiser photo finally arrived - after having our butler track down. 

 

I really like the shirt you are wearing in this picture.:

[Jim_Iain]

43 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I really like the shirt you are wearing in this picture.:

 

It's interesting -  It's surfers standing in front of surfboards.   Many think the see Egyptians. 

[abbydancer2003]

5 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's interesting -  It's surfers standing in front of surfboards.   Many think the see Egyptians. 

Looked like paper dolls, but maybe that's just me.

[DaKahuna]

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's interesting -  It's surfers standing in front of surfboards.   Many think the see Egyptians. 

 

 I can't remember if it was while I lived in Hawaii or somewhere else but I believe i have seen the shirt before and was aware that it was surfboards but thank you for clarifying. 

 

 I use to have a dozen or so 'Hawaiian' shirts when we lived on Oahu but with the exception of one or two Reyn Spooner's, the others have all been donated to charity over the years.  

[Jim_Iain]

Ship was cleared early and Suites luggage available at 7:45.   
 

Ww were first off.  Tried for an Uber for 5 minutes without being accepted $58. 
 

a cab pulled up to taxi tank so cancelled Uber.  At LAX by 8:30 for a 11:00 flight.    Only traffic was once we arrived at airport.  
 

Beautiful crisp morning without a cloud in the sky 

 

BTW the taki was $63 and Lyft had surged to 120. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Ship was cleared early and Suites luggage available at 7:45.   
 

Ww were first off.  Tried for an Uber for 5 minutes without being accepted $58. 
 

a cab pulled up to taxi tank so cancelled Uber.  At LAX by 8:30 for a 11:00 flight.    Only traffic was once we arrived at airport.  
 

Beautiful crisp morning without a cloud in the sky 

 

BTW the taki was $63 and Lyft had surged to 120. 

 

I had the same experience when returning from a recent trip.  Taxi was cheaper than Uber or Lyft.  And definitely cheaper than my usual private car service which was unable to pick me up that day.

[JeanieC,Aston]

The talk re coastal cruises…

Ive seen top to bottom of US,both East and West coast.

 

We are used to Round Britain cruises here in UK (only a small island).

 

I wonder how long a cruise around the US would take,,,say from Seattle to Boston.West to East coast through the Panama Canal.

 

There could be some great cities/places to see on that trip.

Unfortunately it would exceed my budget.

Has any cruise line ever done it.
 

Btw Jim,great blog again. 

[abbydancer2003]

14 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The talk re coastal cruises…

Ive seen top to bottom of US,both East and West coast.

 

We are used to Round Britain cruises here in UK (only a small island).

 

I wonder how long a cruise around the US would take,,,say from Seattle to Boston.West to East coast through the Panama Canal.

 

There could be some great cities/places to see on that trip.

Unfortunately it would exceed my budget.

Has any cruise line ever done it.
 

Btw Jim,great blog again. 

Let's see LA to Ft. Lauderdale is generally around 15 days.  Vancouver to LA is 3.

 

We have a Miami to NY booked, and there are 2sea days to the ABCs, then 4 days back, so let's say 2-3 days ft. Lauderdale to NY, and 1 more to Boston.

 

So about 20-23 days, with a few ports on the canal transit.

[GottaKnowWhen]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The talk re coastal cruises…

Ive seen top to bottom of US,both East and West coast.

 

We are used to Round Britain cruises here in UK (only a small island).

 

I wonder how long a cruise around the US would take,,,say from Seattle to Boston.West to East coast through the Panama Canal.

 

There could be some great cities/places to see on that trip.

Unfortunately it would exceed my budget.

Has any cruise line ever done it.
 

Btw Jim,great blog again. 

I started to set up an extended trip: Seward Alaska to Vancouver to LA to Lauderdale. I was cautioned that it might not be permitted because of U.S. law that says that Foreign Flag carriers (like Celebrity) cannot carry passengers from one U.S. port to another. A round-trip, like from Seattle or from Lauderdale, is ok as long as there is one foreign port along the way. And a repositioning trip, like from LA to Lauderdale, is apparently ok. I was prepared to argue that my itinerary would meet the letter of the law, but if I lost the argument at the last minute, that would be a lot of plans to change and $$$$ to try and recover. 

In any case, Celebrity ship deployments and schedules changed, the question was moot, and I settled on a different way to overspend my budget.

 

Your notion would probably require a layover of 3-4 months in Florida along the way as ships go South out of Seattle (or West across the Pacific) in the Fall, which is when any East Coast ships are also deploying South to Florida/Caribbean.

 

Stan

[abbydancer2003]

1 hour ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

I started to set up an extended trip: Seward Alaska to Vancouver to LA to Lauderdale. I was cautioned that it might not be permitted because of U.S. law that says that Foreign Flag carriers (like Celebrity) cannot carry passengers from one U.S. port to another. A round-trip, like from Seattle or from Lauderdale, is ok as long as there is one foreign port along the way. And a repositioning trip, like from LA to Lauderdale, is apparently ok. I was prepared to argue that my itinerary would meet the letter of the law, but if I lost the argument at the last minute, that would be a lot of plans to change and $$$$ to try and recover. 

In any case, Celebrity ship deployments and schedules changed, the question was moot, and I settled on a different way to overspend my budget.

 

Your notion would probably require a layover of 3-4 months in Florida along the way as ships go South out of Seattle (or West across the Pacific) in the Fall, which is when any East Coast ships are also deploying South to Florida/Caribbean.

 

Stan

The ship would just need a leg that's LA or San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale, as those follow the law.  The ship will stop along the coast of South America (Columbia), or the ABC islands and it would have been fine.

 

[podsnel]

Thank you so much for another great live trip report! Someday I hope to jump on in the beginning of the trip to "take the ride" along with you, but it seems I am always late to your party! Looks like you had another wonderful Celebrity cruise- I just wanted to say, another vote for Regent if you are looking to try somewhere new- I am just Elite, so still enjoying Celebrity very much. Have you been on Flora? We just came back earlier this month- was a great adventure!! Hope to go back for the outer loop to see all of the islands (this time we were inner loop) and animals in a few years- 🙂

[cachouonacruise]

Thank-you very much, Jim, for taking the time to share your live cruise experience and pictures of Solstice and the Mexican Riviera. You are providing us with treasures in the shape of very detailed information! 

 

I wish you and Lain, very Merry Holidays and I have to say, that we will miss you on the Celebrity boards when you leave to join the Ponant Board! I really hope your Ponant experience will meet your expectations!