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

[Jim_Iain]

Talking about bad Karma.   Many of you remember my Silhouette journey when I came down with Covid.   I was quite disturbed by lack of any help or response from my call to  the Retreat Manager, Daniel.  

 

Last night when going to the Retreat some dear friends, Gary and Gail, passed by on the stairs..     Guess who just came on as the Retreat Manager...... You guessed it. 

 

Yikes -   I hope they didn't read my survey to him word for word.    I basically said that he was totally useless and that he should be fired and replaced by one of the best Retreat Concierges we have ever had.    She was guardian angel,  and was the only one that was able to get us food after trying unsuccessful  until 10:00 PM

Edited August 20, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Norwaylady]

5 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Talking about bad Karma.   Many of you remember my Silhouette journey when I came down with Covid.   I was quite disturbed by lack of any help or response from my call to  the Retreat Manager, Daniel.  

 

Last night when going to the Retreat some dear friends, Gary and Gail, passed by on the stairs..     Guess who just came on as the Retreat Manager...... You guessed it. 

 

Yikes -   I hope they didn't read my survey to him word for word.    I basically said that he was totally useless and that he should be fired and replaced by one of the best Retreat Concierges we have ever had.    She was guardian angel,  and was the only one that was able to get us food after trying unsuccessful  until 10:00 PM

 

Sometimes people just need to know that they failed their task/job. Its the only way they can learn.

 

Then they have the choice to:

1. step up the game and learn from it.

2. dont bother, stay on the same road and hope it won't happen again.... (but you know, you might be bitten again later....)

 

I hope he choose the "correct" answer🙃

 

[barneyboy]

31 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I had mine but one of the pins broke a spring.  You don't realize how much you use your watch until you don't have one. 

When that happened to mine I managed to hold it together with an elastic band until I got a new one. 

[upwarduk]

Jim_Iain said

’My Fitbit is plugged in and already up to 25%.’   
 

I had to resort to buying a ‘proper watch’ recently on Silhouette, as I couldn’t get my Fit Bit to charge.

At least it meant that we used some OBC that we had donated via Best Price Guarantee.

Edited August 20, 2022 by upwarduk

[upwarduk]

25 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yikes -   I hope they didn't read my survey to him word for word.    I basically said that he was totally useless and that he should be fired and replaced by one of the best Retreat Concierges we have ever had.    She was guardian angel,  and was the only one that was able to get us food after trying unsuccessful  until 10:00 PM

I’m glad to see that all your comments have not been super positive. 
On my review of our recent Silhouette sailing, I have been slammed for commenting on blips that have occurred on a 93% occupancy ship. The biggest section that seems to have struggled is the Excursion Dept.

[Jim_Iain]

25 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

 

Sometimes people just need to know that they failed their task/job. Its the only way they can learn.

 

Then they have the choice to:

1. step up the game and learn from it.

2. dont bother, stay on the same road and hope it won't happen again.... (but you know, you might be bitten again later....)

 

I hope he choose the "correct" answer🙃

 

 

Daniel is a nice guy, don't get me wrong.    Will be interesting to see if he has grown.    When we last met him he had just joined Celebrity and had never been on a ship before.    His background was that he had  managed a restaurant.    

 

The cruise ship industry is a totally different animal.  

 

Unlike many Retreat Managers it would be difficult to carry on a conversation.   At times he would just stop talking clasp his hands and then just silence and just stand there.   It was like pulling teeth to keep the conversation going. 

[Jim_Iain]

28 minutes ago, barneyboy said:

When that happened to mine I managed to hold it together with an elastic band until I got a new one. 

 

I eventually broke mine apart to see if I could fix.   Bought some Crazy clue to see if I could glue it in place.  Failed.    I got do to the pc board and the pin was inside a little cylinder and with the broken spring wasn't make the electrical connection.

[Jim_Iain]

10 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I’m glad to see that all your comments have not been super positive. 
On my review of our recent Silhouette sailing, I have been slammed for commenting on blips that have occurred on a 93% occupancy ship. The biggest section that seems to have struggled is the Excursion Dept.

 

I agree.   Some of the CC poster can be confrontational and unfortunately 60-70% of those I meet on board tell me they never or rarely post because of the number of times they have been "attacked".  

 

I guess you have to have a tough skin and I often use the expression "my experience" or "my understanding"  to thwart the occasional --- YOUR WRONG.

 

If someone is truly offensive to me or others,  I give them a spot on my ignore list.  That way I never see a post from them again.  

 

I have met some really really nice people aboard and on these boards. 

[Jim_Iain]

Up early.   Beautiful out and possibly 1 meter seas.  Enough you know you are at sea but no major rolling. 
 

No chair hog.    Maybe some of you know but to my knowledge they don’t heat the outdoor tools. This guy looked very comfortable and must be a polar bear. 
 

 

 

Here’s the smoking area next to Mast Bar where cigar smoking is permitted

 

 

 

 

 

[upwarduk]

I notice that the loungers are all close together, as they were on Silhouette, without small tables between every 2 as there used to be.

Where do you put drinks?

[Jim_Iain]

53 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I notice that the loungers are all close together, as they were on Silhouette, without small tables between every 2 as there used to be.

Where do you put drinks?

May be that no one is using them.   They stacked most of them on 11 to allow people to view from that area.    Too cold to sit outside. 

[ohiojohn]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

After my fist coffee of the day I decided to check on @ohiojohn progress.    I have a feeling they are delayed if Cruise Mapper is reporting correctly.  Since it is now 8:03 AM here -   they look like they are at least going to be late to port and are experincing 4.7 meter ( 15 ft) seas.

 

Hi Jim,  your feeling is 100% correct, we did not make much distance during the heavy winds and rough seas, so our first port is cancelled.  We did 6 days in Reykjavik prior to our cruise which started the day before the Summit arrived. We saw so much during the 6 days and as a bonus we had sunshine much of the days.

[baggal]

14 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Oy, Linda, I'm so very sorry to read that. Since both couples of my friends were refunded, I assumed everyone was refunded and so many refunds were the reason for bankruptcy.

 

I therefore retract my recommendation of SAGA Travel.

I hate to bash a business but I have to add my two cents.  Way back in late 2019 when I was planning a Norway/Iceland cruise on HAL in July 2020 (and we all know what happened to that) I carefully read SAGA travel's fine print.  At that time, even if the ship's captain decided not to risk making a port, SAGA would only agree to a refund of the tour payment (payment in full before the cruise) if THEY determined that the weather, etc. was really that bad.  In the case of a disagreement with the captain's judgement, no refund.  Really?  I immediately booked an excursion with HAL, who issued a full refund when I canceled the cruise in early March 2020.  Buyer beware!

[Smmessineo]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the smoking area next to Mast Bar where cigar smoking is permitted.

Thank you so much for the photos!

 

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, ohiojohn said:

Hi Jim,  your feeling is 100% correct, we did not make much distance during the heavy winds and rough seas, so our first port is cancelled.  We did 6 days in Reykjavik prior to our cruise which started the day before the Summit arrived. We saw so much during the 6 days and as a bonus we had sunshine much of the days.

Good to hear you had such a good time in Reykjavik.   I think we should both have a good time in Akureyri tomorrow.    Looks like the storm is just to the south. 

 

We have been having a smooth day at sea bu currently in a fog bank ant the horns are blaring.   The fun of sailing is that we never know what the weather will bring.

 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Talking about bad Karma.   Many of you remember my Silhouette journey when I came down with Covid.   I was quite disturbed by lack of any help or response from my call to  the Retreat Manager, Daniel.  

 

Last night when going to the Retreat some dear friends, Gary and Gail, passed by on the stairs..     Guess who just came on as the Retreat Manager...... You guessed it. 

 

Yikes -   I hope they didn't read my survey to him word for word.    I basically said that he was totally useless and that he should be fired and replaced by one of the best Retreat Concierges we have ever had.    She was guardian angel,  and was the only one that was able to get us food after trying unsuccessful  until 10:00 PM

 

Gah!  I suppose that means he will still be on board when we cruise in October.  We had a terrible retreat concierge once upon a time and all sent in bad reviews.  Next thing we knew, he had been promoted to Retreat Manager.  Go figure.

[Jim_Iain]

[Jim_Iain]

12 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Gah!  I suppose that means he will still be on board when we cruise in October.  We had a terrible retreat concierge once upon a time and all sent in bad reviews.  Next thing we knew, he had been promoted to Retreat Manager.  Go figure.

 

12 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Gah!  I suppose that means he will still be on board when we cruise in October.  We had a terrible retreat concierge once upon a time and all sent in bad reviews.  Next thing we knew, he had been promoted to Retreat Manager.  Go figure.

 

He is a RETREAT MANAGER  -  UGh.     

 

In my Mind Mar would have been a good candidate.  She is busy trying to train Lyle.  Dragos is gone for just one month and then Daniel will be going on on Eclipse joining the ship in Honolulu.

 

You may have a combination of Lyle and Daniel and no word who will replace Mar when she leaves on 9/11

[Jim_Iain]

Part II  -   Reykjavik to Boston - August 18, 2022 (slightly modified due to cancellation of Isafjordur.

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

First night we ordered Prime Rib. I ordered Medium (at the recommendation of some). I would say it was closer to a medium rare. 

 

 

Iain ordered his Medium rare and it was as rare as mine last cruise.  

[mduffy1834]

Been folllowing this from the start and sounds like you're enjoying yourselves.  We will be flying into 

Akureyri from Reykjavik (spending 3 days there) for our son's wedding in 3 weeks.  Looking forward to your postings from the north country.  He is getting married at Asbyrgi Canyon and we are staying about 30 minutes from Akureyri.  Would love some insight as to what to do.  Safe travels.

[Jim_Iain]

My favorite Barista - Andril    
 

[Jim_Iain]

I have to say our room attendant, Nelson is going to be a really good one.  
 

I chuckled last night.  We got 2 Dailies and 2 chocolates each. 
 

 

Also I had left a sweater on a chair and he folded it and placed it neatly on the chair. 
 

I always pull the sheets out at the bottom of the bed so my feet can hang out.   Instead of making  the bed tucked in like most he did it more like a duvet.  Love it. 

[IWillGoAnywhere26]

4 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I have to say our room attendant, Nelson is going to be a really good one.  
 

I chuckled last night.  We got 2 Dailies and 2 chocolates each. 
 

 

Also I had left a sweater on a chair and he folded it and placed it neatly on the chair. 
 

I always pull the sheets out at the bottom of the bed so my feet can hang out.   Instead of making  the bed tucked in like most he did it more like a duvet.  Love it. 

It's the little things...

[Jim_Iain]

8 minutes ago, mduffy1834 said:

Been folllowing this from the start and sounds like you're enjoying yourselves.  We will be flying into 

Akureyri from Reykjavik (spending 3 days there) for our son's wedding in 3 weeks.  Looking forward to your postings from the north country.  He is getting married at Asbyrgi Canyon and we are staying about 30 minutes from Akureyri.  Would love some insight as to what to do.  Safe travels.

We had a great visit a couple days ago and loved it. 
 

We have another tour planned tomorrow