Jim_Iain Live - 2nd Half World Cruise - B2B Singapore to Down Under 11/25 – 12/21

[Gracie115]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Gracie -  Thanks for your recommendations.     Now that I'm home I will explore our next cruises.   Like I said earlier -  I only have 3 cruises booked with Celebrity.   Two of those are in April of 2024.  I have never had so few cruises booked.....

 

I really trust your judgement and recommendations so Oceania will be on our short list.

 

 

 

 

Thank you Jim.

 

Something I haven't mentioned in of my posts on CC about Oceania, or at least the Vista, the ship we sailed.  They have a library that is absolutely amazing.  3 rooms of books on every topic.  Warm inviting comfy chairs.  I don't know if the other O ships have this wonderful space, the Vista IS their newest ship, but it was just a lovely surprise to find this space on the ship.  Most lines have eliminated or scaled down these areas to the point that they hardly bother.  I know that Kindles and the like are the thing to do now, I use my Kindle too, but even sitting in an area like this be it with Kindle or one of the hundreds of books available was a welcome treat.

 

Good luck on your cruiseline hunting, and on your upcoming Solstice cruise, I love the "S" class ships and especially the old Michael's Club, which Solstice still has.  Hopefully it will feel more like Celebrity than your Edge experience.  

[Joker54]

Merry Christmas Jim and Lain. We really enjoyed the “ virtual cruise” thanks to your many wonderful photos and keeping the blog going, it was as close to being there as one can get.

 

You took a lot of your vacation time sharing with us and as others have said- it is greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

on a separate note the DW and I both prefer Michaels club and look forward to being on Solstice March and April.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Joker54

[TPCRUISER2]

Thanks Jim! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Iain!

[DaKahuna]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Wonderful to hear.   Curious which ship and itinerary is your next cruise.   We are next on Solstice (revolutionized)  with the old Michael's Club.     We sailed her last year and love her.    My expectations are once again high.

 

 Solstice has the Revolutionized Retreat Lounge vs the old Michael's Club.  They had the new furniture but the bar with the high chairs was still there.  

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by DaKahuna

[Wookie01]

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Great to hear.    I never saw them working on the Magic Carpet and happy it is back in service.  It is a nice way to board Tenders.

 

Curious.    What time and day did they move from the terminal to the anchor location in Sydney Harbor.

I understand that it was at 3am, but I wasn’t awake to verify 😂

[Mike981]

Well I had two quotes that I wanted to comment on and somehow poof, gone.

 

One quote was you @Jim_Iain saying that you are afraid that you are becoming a whiner. I disagree with you, if being open and honest makes one a whiner, than color me a whiner. I believe that so many people live through you and lain on these trips and also learn SO MUCH from you two.

 

As others have said, I have no idea how you can do these wonderful extensive trip reports and still have time to enjoy your vacation. But - I sure love them. Your generosity knows no bounds.

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/22/2023 at 2:26 PM, DUTRAVEL said:

Welcome back to the Bay Area Jim - you brought the good weather with you. Gorgeous blue skies today and mild temperatures.

It was incredible approach into SFO.        100+ mile visibility and nice mild temperatures.    Turned a little nippy today down in the Valley.

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/22/2023 at 4:24 PM, MisterMet said:

Jim

 

What a great adventure and review.  Hope you and Iain have a Great Holiday Season and New Year.

 

Trip and Pam

 

It is nice to be home.   As much as we love cruising nothing better than being home and visiting the GrandKids.   My oldest is now towering over me at about 6'3"

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/22/2023 at 4:30 PM, Gracie115 said:

 

Thank you Jim.

 

Something I haven't mentioned in of my posts on CC about Oceania, or at least the Vista, the ship we sailed.  They have a library that is absolutely amazing.  3 rooms of books on every topic.  Warm inviting comfy chairs.  I don't know if the other O ships have this wonderful space, the Vista IS their newest ship, but it was just a lovely surprise to find this space on the ship.  Most lines have eliminated or scaled down these areas to the point that they hardly bother.  I know that Kindles and the like are the thing to do now, I use my Kindle too, but even sitting in an area like this be it with Kindle or one of the hundreds of books available was a welcome treat.

 

Good luck on your cruiseline hunting, and on your upcoming Solstice cruise, I love the "S" class ships and especially the old Michael's Club, which Solstice still has.  Hopefully it will feel more like Celebrity than your Edge experience.  

 

I was initially looking for something in February on one of the premium lines but they all appear pretty well booked out at this time.    I did end up booking November 2025 Lisbon to Buenos Aires -  I've had it cancelled 3 times now so this one may just happen.

[calicakes]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:38 AM, terrydtx said:

We got lucky on our flight from LAX to Sydney next month. We were able to upgrade from PE to BC on American for only $1200pp. Each Day AA has 1 night flight to Syd, but Qantas has 2 that leave within 90 minutes of each other, the AA flight 73 rarely runs with sold our BC so AA makes good deals for those who want to upgrade. I used the app Flight Aware to track passenger loads on the LAX to Sydney flights. Even today 23 days out our flight only had 25 of the 54 BC seats sold. PE is sold out and main cabin in about 75% sold.

@terrydtxShoot, I wish I would have known this.  We're flying PE to Sydney on Quantas( Code Share with AA) on Feb 19th for our Feb 25th Edge cruise.  I can't even see what our seats are on Quantas.  We paid over 7k for PE seats.  I booked a long time ago,  

[terrydtx]

51 minutes ago, calicakes said:

@terrydtxShoot, I wish I would have known this.  We're flying PE to Sydney on Quantas( Code Share with AA) on Feb 19th for our Feb 25th Edge cruise.  I can't even see what our seats are on Quantas.  We paid over 7k for PE seats.  I booked a long time ago,  

Do you have a Qantas record locator number? You should be able to use that to see or pick your seats online with Qantas. We have a flight on Qantas from Sydney to Melbourne after our B2B cruise and when we booked we got to choose our seats. I mentioned Flight Aware but I actually use Expert Flyer to see what seats are available on all flights.  Did you by chance book with Flights by Celebrity? If so you can call them to get seats and they should have provided you with a record locator number. We booked our PE flights with FBC, using AA to Sydney and Air New Zealand home from Melbourne.  We bid on a BC upgrade from Aukland to Houston on ANZ but will not know if it was accepted until 24 hours before our flights. However ANZ has one of the highest rated PE seats in the industry with most leg room, recline pitch of seat back and food and wine.

Edited December 27, 2023 by terrydtx

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/22/2023 at 4:41 PM, Joker54 said:

Merry Christmas Jim and Lain. We really enjoyed the “ virtual cruise” thanks to your many wonderful photos and keeping the blog going, it was as close to being there as one can get.

 

You took a lot of your vacation time sharing with us and as others have said- it is greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

on a separate note the DW and I both prefer Michaels club and look forward to being on Solstice March and April.

 

I think we will especially like Michael's Club after being on Edge Class.   It may be just us be we feel like we are in a Airport Lounge instead of an intimate club.

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/22/2023 at 8:22 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 Solstice has the Revolutionized Retreat Lounge vs the old Michael's Club.  They had the new furniture but the bar with the high chairs was still there.  

 

 

Are you sure you’re not confusing with a different ship.  I get them confused all the time.     I was on Solstice December 2022 and the Retreat was still the same old Dark Paneling,

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/23/2023 at 10:13 AM, Mike981 said:

Well I had two quotes that I wanted to comment on and somehow poof, gone.

 

One quote was you @Jim_Iain saying that you are afraid that you are becoming a whiner. I disagree with you, if being open and honest makes one a whiner, than color me a whiner. I believe that so many people live through you and lain on these trips and also learn SO MUCH from you two.

 

As others have said, I have no idea how you can do these wonderful extensive trip reports and still have time to enjoy your vacation. But - I sure love them. Your generosity knows no bounds.

 

Thanks Mike.     I try to be balanced and straight forward.    I was just rather disappointed with many things on Edge.    I'm really looking forward in hope that Solstice will be the same as it was a year ago when we did the B2B Pacific Coastal December 2023.    Even though she hasn't been Revolutionized we really enjoyed her.  

 

I've always been a multi-tasker and have a tendency of just doing these live posts in the background while sipping coffee in the morning before Iain get's up.    I will admit once in awhile Iain said are you going to talk to me or should I send you a message on CC.   That is a signal to put my PC and Phone away and give him some quality time.  

[abbydancer2003]

27 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think we will especially like Michael's Club after being on Edge Class.   It may be just us be we feel like we are in a Airport Lounge instead of an intimate club.

I was just in my first E class Retreat Lounge (Is Apex different than Edge?). It felt a whole lot less of an airport lounge that what they did on the Equinox and Silhouette, although those round bench tables in the back reminded me more of Denny's.

[Gracie115]

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I was initially looking for something in February on one of the premium lines but they all appear pretty well booked out at this time.    I did end up booking November 2025 Lisbon to Buenos Aires -  I've had it cancelled 3 times now so this one may just happen.

 

That looks like an interesting TA on an S class ship.  The cruise that follows, Buenos Aires to Buenos Aires has a wonderful itinerary, one I haven't seen before on Celebrity.  We have been looking for a South America cruise and this itinerary is enticing!!

 

 

[runningprophet]

2 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

That looks like an interesting TA on an S class ship.  The cruise that follows, Buenos Aires to Buenos Aires has a wonderful itinerary, one I haven't seen before on Celebrity.  We have been looking for a South America cruise and this itinerary is enticing!!

 

 

Looks like we will be on the same ship as you!  We booked the November 2025 transatlantic Lisbon to Buenos Aires along with the one following cruise.  Like so many we had this B2B booked and cancelled during the 'covid experience'.  

[JDPCruisers]

10 hours ago, abbydancer said:

I was just in my first E class Retreat Lounge (Is Apex different than Edge?). It felt a whole lot less of an airport lounge that what they did on the Equinox and Silhouette, although those round bench tables in the back reminded me more of Denny's.

Recently on Apex and Edge and they are essentially the same. We liked both and are booked on Beyond in the Spring and Apex again in 2025 for northern Europe. Some things they could change but overall liked it though we like Michaels a lot, but they have a different vibe to me. Our service in Michael on the Constellation recently was great, never lacked on any level by Jiro the Concierge, Preshant and bartender and Michelle the server. 

[JDPCruisers]

Just now, JDPCruisers said:

Recently on Apex and Edge and they are essentially the same. We liked both and are booked on Beyond in the Spring and Apex again in 2025 for northern Europe. Some things they could change but overall liked it though we like Michaels a lot, but they have a different vibe to me. Our service in Michael on the Constellation recently was great, never lacked on any level by Jiro the Concierge, Preshant and bartender and Michelle the server. 

Meant, Preshant the bartender.

[calicakes]

13 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Do you have a Qantas record locator number? You should be able to use that to see or pick your seats online with Qantas. We have a flight on Qantas from Sydney to Melbourne after our B2B cruise and when we booked we got to choose our seats. I mentioned Flight Aware but I actually use Expert Flyer to see what seats are available on all flights.  Did you by chance book with Flights by Celebrity? If so you can call them to get seats and they should have provided you with a record locator number. We booked our PE flights with FBC, using AA to Sydney and Air New Zealand home from Melbourne.  We bid on a BC upgrade from Aukland to Houston on ANZ but will not know if it was accepted until 24 hours before our flights. However ANZ has one of the highest rated PE seats in the industry with most leg room, recline pitch of seat back and food and wine.

I booked my flight through the American Airlines website. so.

I can't do anything on the Quantas website. I wanted the miles on my american account.

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

That looks like an interesting TA on an S class ship.  The cruise that follows, Buenos Aires to Buenos Aires has a wonderful itinerary, one I haven't seen before on Celebrity.  We have been looking for a South America cruise and this itinerary is enticing!!

 

 

 

We previously took a B2B  Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso, Chile and then on to Buenos Aires around the horn.   Incredible trip and stopped at all the ports on the cruise you are referring to.

This time I think we will be going to Iguazu Falls for 2-3 days and see both the Argentine and Brazil side of the falls.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, runningprophet said:

Looks like we will be on the same ship as you!  We booked the November 2025 transatlantic Lisbon to Buenos Aires along with the one following cruise.  Like so many we had this B2B booked and cancelled during the 'covid experience'.  

 

I just created a Roll Call for this cruise -   Look forward to meeting you.

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, calicakes said:

I booked my flight through the American Airlines website. so.

I can't do anything on the Quantas website. I wanted the miles on my american account.

You might give it a try.   In the past I have been able to create an account on Qantas and then either add a missing flight or just put in ticket locator number and pull up reservation and select  seating.  It should be able to find you AA locator number.

[champagnecruiser]

Hi Jim_Iain

Jim, we were away from home from Nov 1st until early December. Mostly at sea in the Caribbean. We had wonderful weather but not so wonderful Wi-Fi access.

I could see you were off on your repositioning/Aus,NZ trip but could not follow along. I have caught up now we are back home in Scotland. Looked amazing!
We are now recovering after Christmas celebrations with the family and getting ready for New Year!

We are heading back to Florida end of January for another month so maybe we will see you & Iain somewhere?
You were correct to draw attention to changes which were not for the better and, as always, you did so gracefully!

Your kindness ( in an email)  gave me courage to join in the chat sometimes and I thank you for that!

 

Happy New Year to both of you when it comes! 
Slainte Mhath!! 
 

[abbydancer2003]

4 hours ago, JDPCruisers said:

Recently on Apex and Edge and they are essentially the same. We liked both and are booked on Beyond in the Spring and Apex again in 2025 for northern Europe. Some things they could change but overall liked it though we like Michaels a lot, but they have a different vibe to me. Our service in Michael on the Constellation recently was great, never lacked on any level by Jiro the Concierge, Preshant and bartender and Michelle the server. 

Is Jiro from Mexico?  If so, and he's the same, I've been with him for 3 cruises.  Great guy.