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

[Jim_Iain]

We are entering the Harbor for the Fjords but cold, drizzly and foggy at entrance.  They had to cancel the Helipad due to the weather. 
 

 

 

Hopefully things will improve.   Last week was incredible. 

[Jim_Iain]

Checking Windy my go to app looks like visibility will get better as we get further along. 

Green is 12 Km or better

[RichYak]

Well, thanks to you @Jim_Iain, as well as @Ken the cruiser, and your fabulous "Live From" threads, I've booked the Bayonne to Iceland trip for next August. A balcony cabin became available late last night and I grabbed it. My wife was ecstatic with the news, despite being woken from a sound sleep 🛌😀

 

We'd prefer to stay a few extra days in Reykjavik then fly home rather than do a B2B, so that's our plan at the moment.

[Jim_Iain]

Just now, RichYak said:

Well, thanks to you @Jim_Iain, as well as @Ken the cruiser, and your fabulous "Live From" threads, I've booked the Bayonne to Iceland trip for next August. A balcony cabin became available late last night and I grabbed it. My wife was ecstatic with the news, despite being woken from a sound sleep 🛌😀

 

We'd prefer to stay a few extra days in Reykjavik then fly home rather than do a B2B, so that's our plan at the moment.

Congratulations.     I think spending time in Reykjavik is a great plan.  I wish we could have at least set foot in the lovely town.   

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Congratulations.     I think spending time in Reykjavik is a great plan.  I wish we could have at least set foot in the lovely town.   

Thanks! Now I have a lot of reading to do. I need to re-read this and Ken's threads with a different eye and take notes. I also plan on reading the roll calls for this year's sailings. Plenty of work to do, but it's a labor of love, as I'm sure you'd agree!

[Jim_Iain]

Just past first glacier. 

 

and my first ever selfie. 
 

the crew are also enjoying

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Do you sail up one fjord and down the other?

[Ipeeinthepools]

5 hours ago, ptater59 said:

Hi Jim

Ii want to thank you for your blog about our trip.  I am on the ship with you but confined to cabin after having tested positive for covidon the 17th.
Reading your account of our trip and your beautiful pictures has helped thiscovid prisoner. On a happy note the crew and everyone has been so kind to us.  I know the ship is struggling with not enough help but the world may need to accept these new norms.

Again Jim a big thank you for your posts and what are we all doing tomorrow?

Patty from ATX

ATX is what the young folks call Austin , Texas

 

Are you still testing positive?  It seems like it might be about time for you to be released and experience this trip for yourself.  Hoping you get released soon.

[d9704011]

33 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Do you sail up one fjord and down the other?

You think that stretch of water is considered a fjord?  To me it's more like a channel, strait or passage; I always had a dead-end in mind for a fjord.

[cjcruiser27]

Great selfie shot!!  You should do more of them👍

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

You think that stretch of water is considered a fjord?  To me it's more like a channel, strait or passage; I always had a dead-end in mind for a fjord.

You are right , it is called a sound 

[ptater59]

3 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

Are you still testing positive?  It seems like it might be about time for you to be released and experience this trip for yourself.  Hoping you get released soon.

Still testing positive….. maybe tomorrow will be set free.  Thanks for asking!

[ptater59]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

So good to hear from you.   And hope you are released from Covid Prison soon.  When I tested positive it was only one day before we were sprung but sure puts a damper on things.

 

If you need anything just shout will be glad to leave it hanging on your door.

Thanks for offering to help… still testing positive.  Maybe tomorrow….I’ll see you’all in Bacio or Rendezvous!❤️

[Ex-Airbalancer]

9 minutes ago, ptater59 said:

Still testing positive….. maybe tomorrow will be set free.  Thanks for asking!

They keep you for 10 days if you test positive after 5 days, atleast that what they did with my wife on the Apex 

[MamaFej]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Where and when do you hang out pre dinner.   Will have to meet you.   We usually don't leave for drinks until 7:00 PM so may have to come out a bit earlier. 

 

I feel like I know you already.

We spent 12 hours in Sky Lounge today. Hubby staked out a great spot in the very front and center. We played a couple of games of Scrabble and just hung out until we got to the scenic part, then we sat in absolute awe and took time lapse videos and pictures. 
 

If you see a couple in their 50s playing Scrabble or Quirkle in any public area, it’s very likely us. We don’t always have a predictable pattern. 
 

Most nights, we eat early, so we could meet you for drinks after our dinner and before yours. We would love to meet you and your delightful husband in person. 

[MamaFej]

4 hours ago, d9704011 said:

You think that stretch of water is considered a fjord?  To me it's more like a channel, strait or passage; I always had a dead-end in mind for a fjord.

We sailed the sound, but did go into a fjord and got near a lovely huge glacier. The announcements made a big deal of the fact that we were the first Celebrity passengers to ever go into this fjord. 
 

Weather cleared up and the helipad was opened. From our vantage point in Sky Lounge, we watched a man propose. When the woman said, “Yes!” the bridge blew the air horn. Crew members took photos and brought out trays of treats. It was clearly coordinated with them and was lovely to see. I wish the couple many decades of happiness, discovery, and travel. 

Here is the path we took. 

 

[bespin]

Jim & Iain, thanks so much for live-posting your cruises, and for the great photos!

 

Packing question: what are you glad you packed, sorry you packed, wished you'd packed? 

 

We're doing a B2B on Summit next year, to Bermuda and then to Canada/Greenland/Iceland, and I'm collecting packing recommendations. 

 

 

[Oville]

2 hours ago, MamaFej said:

We spent 12 hours in Sky Lounge today. Hubby staked out a great spot in the very front and center. We played a couple of games of Scrabble and just hung out until we got to the scenic part, then we sat in absolute awe and took time lapse videos and pictures. 
 

If you see a couple in their 50s playing Scrabble or Quirkle in any public area, it’s very likely us. We don’t always have a predictable pattern. 
 

Most nights, we eat early, so we could meet you for drinks after our dinner and before yours. We would love to meet you and your delightful husband in 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Oville

[jagoffee]

10 hours ago, RichYak said:

Well, thanks to you @Jim_Iain, as well as @Ken the cruiser, and your fabulous "Live From" threads, I've booked the Bayonne to Iceland trip for next August. A balcony cabin became available late last night and I grabbed it. My wife was ecstatic with the news, despite being woken from a sound sleep 🛌😀

 

We'd prefer to stay a few extra days in Reykjavik then fly home rather than do a B2B, so that's our plan at the moment.

I have to watch your posts closely as we are doing just the opposite in August 2023.  We plan to fly into Reykjavik several days early.  I have to start planning.

 

These two live threads are adding to my anticipation and confirming my decision to book this bucket list cruise.  So much appreciated.

[BunnyLebowski]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:15 PM, donna1009 said:

Oh how I love the Summit.  I read from some other bloggers on the ship that it is understaffed. Are you noticing this?  Apologies if I missed it, but are you are 100% capacity?  Thank you for all the glorious photos  

I’m on this sailing with my spouse and our two teenage boys and can comment on the non-suite staffing portion of this question. 
 

We are cc elite despite only taking a handful of cruises, due to our love of the M class penthouse suite. We’ve also sailed in aqua class and this is our third time in a corner FV with an inside across the hall. We’re in the select MDR on this sailing. All this as background of what we’ve experienced in the past. My partner actually prefers not sailing in a suite if we can’t book a PH, because then we can just blend into the crowd and no one is overly concerned that we’re enjoying ourselves (we always are!). Likewise I enjoy not dealing with a butler as we prefer our privacy to all the attention. 
 

The select MDR this sailing is a complete cluster f. It’s shockingly understaffed. There aren’t even enough staff for them to write on the table cards that identify your servers. Instead of names they just write 0 because they don’t have anyone. 
 

Then there’s the issue of an unusually large number of passengers who wish to eat at 5pm. Like soooo many people need to eat early and it completely messes up the dining staff. We waited an hour to be seated for dinner the second night, after arriving at 5:45pm. 
 

Don’t expect a sommelier, we’ve only dealt with bar servers, and they don’t have the bandwidth to be topping off glasses, but they are happy to do a heavy pour. They aren’t even handing out the wine menu. We’ve asked, but never seen one this trip. If you’re easygoing like us, carry a drink in with you, and are okay with whatever red or white wine they suggest after you tell them what you’re generally are looking for, you’ll be fine. If you must have a certain wine or you’ll be disappointed…well, you might be disappointed.

 

Also I don’t believe there’s a waiter and an assistant waiter. More like one person doing their best.

 

In other parts of the ship, there’s zero bar servers wandering around taking orders in the solarium pool, at the Oceanview cafe or in the bars themselves. Someone did take my order while I was sitting near the martini bar.

 

We’ve seen quite a few staff in training, where they don’t seem to know what to do. Usually a more senior staff member will help them out.  

 

We’re grateful just to be here and are so thankful for all the hard work the staff performs. None of the above issues bothers us despite us knowing how attentive service can be in other circumstances. There’s so many places to eat and drink, we’re very satisfied. If we don’t get enough wine at dinner, we’ll grab a drink after, that sort of thing. Everyone is clearly doing their best and we’re not into making their hard job any more difficult. Every staff member has been truly excellent to deal with despite their obvious levels of overwork. 
 

We’re here for the scenery and to spend time together, so we’re very happy. But lots of people aren’t. Like there’s so much complaining happening over minor issues. Really letting the overworked staff member have it when something isn’t just right. Other passenger’s behavior is the only real disappointment we’ve experienced on this cruise.  

[Ipeeinthepools]

Unfortunately, we experienced the same staff shortages as Law Chick when we sailed on the Summit in May with only about 1800 passengers.  I was hoping that Celebrity would have resolved these staffing issues by now.  I hope Law Chick can continue to enjoy the cruise in spite of these issues.

[Smmessineo]

47 minutes ago, law chick said:

We're here for the scenery and to spend time together, so we’re very happy. But lots of people aren’t. Like there’s so much complaining happening over minor issues. Really letting the overworked staff member have it when something isn’t just right. Other passenger’s behavior is the only real disappointment we’ve experienced on this cruise.  

Thanks for this perspective! Your post, and @MamaFej have given great info on what the current rough spots are, without being doomsayers 😀. It's always good to keep the current situation in mind when comparing a cruise right now to past ones. We were lucky to be able to sail twice soon after restart , with ships at 1/3 capacity, and we joked  that we have to leave those out when rating our best cruises or it just wouldn't be fair. It felt like a 6 to 1 staff to guest ratio sometimes! If you stood still for a moment, there was someone asking if you needed anything. There was always a sun lounger or a window seat or room at the Martini bar. 

Now we have 21 nights on Equinox this December, we're prepared for things to be back to full capacity and probably more disorganized than usual. I've read enough here on CC that Im ready for it. And if i have moments when I am frustrated, I will remember how lucky we are to be there ! 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Smmessineo

[sgmn]

On 8/22/2022 at 9:53 PM, MamaFej said:

We are not fans of the canapés served in the afternoon in Concierge and up. As such, we politely request to have fruit and cheese instead. We have always been accommodated. 
 

Two of the following pictures were taken aboard the Constellation in May. Two were taken aboard the Summit yesterday and today. 

That's so much better than the normal offerings 

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, law chick said:

There aren’t even enough staff for them to write on the table cards that identify your servers. Instead of names they just write 0 because they don’t have anyone.

I read yesterday that 68 dining room staff left Silhouette the previous day and have not been replaced!!
This is really going to annoy passengers. 
 

Celebrity should have recruited if they planned to sail at 100%.

Apparently the next 2 Silhouette sailings are full, ours which finished on 13 th August was 93% full.

[sgmn]

13 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

They keep you for 10 days if you test positive after 5 days, atleast that what they did with my wife on the Apex 

Seems crazy when most countries,  if they still have quarantine, it's only 5 days as that's when you are most contagious