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

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

Is the Retreat Sun Deck accessible for handicapped or are there only stairs? 

It is accessible -  Just outside the SkyLounge - there is an elevator to the Sundeck.   There is then a ramp from the upper area and an accessible lift to the tub.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, lexmiller said:

Are they still serving the house made limoncello as a digestif?  Was always super yummy!

They did not offer but I believe you can order.

[Jim_Iain]

Just now, mduffy1834 said:

And it's supposed to be in the 90s in Boston this weekend until early next week - can't imagine packing for the trip you are on.  I'm beginning to think about packing for my trip to Iceland - 2 more weeks!

We saw that... Shorts and T-Shirts for sure.

 

 

[Oceansaway17]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:30 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Hard to say.  Going East we had perfect weather on our particular cruise but missed one port on way home.  Could be the opposite next year

 

resl advantage of going west is you gain hours which is easier on crew and passengers 

Which is why it was a good idea to do B2B.

you got to have good weather for that port once.

Enjoy 3rd cruise to NE.

Do you need to test again? I suppose you have to do ArriveCAN again if doing Canada on 3rd trip 

[Redking]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

8/25/2020 Romantic Dinner at Tuscan Grill

 

The ship looked beautiful for Chic night

 

 

 

 

 

Looking sharp lads. Nice shirts!

[peanut head]

I noticed that on your morning walk, you passed the b-ball court and I believe that was a pickleball net in the picture.  Do you know if they actually planned for pickleball?  If they had balls and paddles available?  

[TraderSam]

On 8/25/2022 at 1:08 PM, bob@karen said:

 

I completely agree! One couple made such a scene in the dining room one night that we left early. I can’t handle seeing the hard working staff being so disrespected. 

The guys from JJ Cruise are currently onboard doing the Iceland B2B and have just covered an incident in Blu on their YT channel. They were clearly horrified at what happened.😕

[Wink87]

1 hour ago, TraderSam said:

The guys from JJ Cruise are currently onboard doing the Iceland B2B and have just covered an incident in Blu on their YT channel. They were clearly horrified at what happened.😕

I just watched them on youtube. Nice guys. Wow, what a horrible person that passenger is.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, TraderSam said:

The guys from JJ Cruise are currently onboard doing the Iceland B2B and have just covered an incident in Blu on their YT channel. They were clearly horrified at what happened.😕

 

Ugly story.  One hopes the maitre d' will have security remove the customer permanently if it happens again.  The crew certainly does not need to be exposed to this.  Nor should the diners be exposed to this.  I would have told the maitre d' that I didn't feel safe dining in the same room as this man.

[Purplsmurf]

1 hour ago, TraderSam said:

The guys from JJ Cruise are currently onboard doing the Iceland B2B and have just covered an incident in Blu on their YT channel. They were clearly horrified at what happened.😕

Just watched it. WOW! How someone can do that is absolutely awful! I can’t  believe they let him stay in the restaurant. If I was close to him I probably would’ve said something and then ask to move if he was allowed to stay. Mistakes happen. It’s no excuse to scream like an idiot at such a hard working crew member. I’m still at a loss for words after watching it.😡

Edited August 27, 2022 by Purplsmurf

[SkystheLimit]

37 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Ugly story.  One hopes the maitre d' will have security remove the customer permanently if it happens again.  The crew certainly does not need to be exposed to this.  Nor should the diners be exposed to this.  I would have told the maitre d' that I didn't feel safe dining in the same room as this man.

Agree completely.  Two words "security risk" to crew and passengers.  Really no way to know how much the person may escalate his behavior or possibly someone else responding to the situation.  

[MamaFej]

Service has continued to improve. Attention to detail has continued to improve. It’s almost as if we are on a different ship from the one we were on the first three days. We haven’t seen a dirty cream pitcher, soup carafe, etc. since I reported them on day 4. 

I have to wonder if there were more management changes besides Leigh, the utterly awesome Assistant Beverage Manager I have mentioned before. I’ve quite literally never noticed one as much as her. She really makes the rounds! 
 

Nandha, the Blu sommelier, who also brings us water and soft drinks in Cellar Masters in the afternoon, continues to exceed expectations. We have sung his praises to Leigh and to other officers.

 

It took quite a long time to get our order taken in Blu tonight. They are definitely understaffed. But that’s life in a COVID-esque ramping up world. We were utterly spoiled on very low passenger occupancy cruises. We’ve been on two where crew outnumbered passengers. We knew it could not and should not last. Now that passengers are nearly at capacity, and crew are not, we know that extra patience is required. No big deal. 
 

 We continue to be grateful that we are able to do the amazing things we are doing. 
 

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, peanut head said:

I noticed that on your morning walk, you passed the b-ball court and I believe that was a pickleball net in the picture.  Do you know if they actually planned for pickleball?  If they had balls and paddles available?  

 

9 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said:

Agree completely.  Two words "security risk" to crew and passengers.  Really no way to know how much the person may escalate his behavior or possibly someone else responding to the situation.  

The spouse was at customer relations.  Clearly very upset.  A member of security stood quietly nearby.

 

Agree service greatly improved.  Just wish communication about Canada port requirements was done properly.   Tomorrow morning in St. Johns should be interesting for those not following the directions - very confusing and changed again in the nightly program.

[cinderellen]

I just watched the JJ cruise video. I have followed them for a while and they seem to be very sincere and kind young men. I don’t know how I would react to witnessing such behavior. My first thought would be he should be removed from the restaurant but who knows what his reaction would have been. I can’t imagine how awkward the rest of the dinner service must have been. Sad. 

[MamaFej]

Whoa! I just watched the video y’all are talking about. This is the first I have heard of this, and we tend to dine early in Blu. 

We have definitely not seen any behavior close to what was described. We have overheard people commenting that service is slower than usual, but folks seem to be pretty understanding. Even the guy who got a hamburger bun instead of English muffins for his eggs Benedict on Day 2 was disappointed, but chill. 
 

Major yikes!!!! My heart breaks for the crew affected. 

[Luv2Crus40]

I noticed on your walk on Deck 11 only half the deck chairs were out?  Was that because of the cold?  Used to seeing chairs on both sides of walking/jogging tract.

[Loucat]

Is there a link  to see the video?

[MamaFej]

Just now, Loucat said:

Is there a link  to see the video?

https://youtu.be/NrWsq32keKs

[MamaFej]

Just now, Arizona Wildcat said:

Agree service greatly improved.  Just wish communication about Canada port requirements was done properly.   Tomorrow morning in St. Johns should be interesting for those not following the directions - very confusing and changed again in the nightly program.

I sincerely hope no one misses the ship! The non- time change thing could end up being a problem. 
 

Celebrity could definitely improve their communication. 
 

We were playing cribbage, Qwirkle, and Scrabble for a few hours on the Gelateria side of Deck 5 yesterday, with a clear view of CR. The line of folks queuing for help at Guest Relations was always long, often reaching the staircase. We had walked by several times earlier. X could have avoided this by clearly communicating ArriveCan requirements ahead of time. X could have sent emails with info and instructions well before boarding, and required the QR code to board. They could have had people on the ground in Reykjavik, helping the unprepared before allowing them to embark. 
 

I must thank my fellow CC posters.  If it were not for you, I would not have known to take care of ArriveCan before boarding (since Celebrity decided against informing us). We have all our ducks in a row, and I felt bad for those who do not. 

[MamaFej]

As long as I’m ranting, I think that a logical solution to the problem of folks refusing to check in to their muster stations upon embarkation (necessitating many, many, many, MANY announcements) is to program the computers to NOT allow drink nor any other purchases, nor reservations for any Sea Passes which have not yet been scanned into muster stations. 

 

Admittedly, this cruise was better (less bad??)  than the previous two. Still, my suggestion stands.  

[Purplsmurf]

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

Service has continued to improve. Attention to detail has continued to improve. It’s almost as if we are on a different ship from the one we were on the first three days. We haven’t seen a dirty cream pitcher, soup carafe, etc. since I reported them on day 4. 

I have to wonder if there were more management changes besides Leigh, the utterly awesome Assistant Beverage Manager I have mentioned before. I’ve quite literally never noticed one as much as her. She really makes the rounds! 
 

Nandha, the Blu sommelier, who also brings us water and soft drinks in Cellar Masters in the afternoon, continues to exceed expectations. We have sung his praises to Leigh and to other officers.

 

It took quite a long time to get our order taken in Blu tonight. They are definitely understaffed. But that’s life in a COVID-esque ramping up world. We were utterly spoiled on very low passenger occupancy cruises. We’ve been on two where crew outnumbered passengers. We knew it could not and should not last. Now that passengers are nearly at capacity, and crew are not, we know that extra patience is required. No big deal. 
 

 We continue to be grateful that we are able to do the amazing things we are doing. 
 

 

We have sailed with Nandhaa and have become friends. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to sail with him recently. Twice we were supposed to and he had changes at the last minute. I agree that he does a wonder job! You are fortunate to have him as your sommelier 

[MamaFej]

Just now, Purplsmurf said:

We have sailed with Nandhaa and have become friends. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to sail with him recently. Twice we were supposed to and he had changes at the last minute. I agree that he does a wonder job! You are fortunate to have him as your sommelier 

Last night, we told him that he had surpassed Jennifer (Millennium October 2019) on our list of Favorite Sommeliers, and that he was rapidly approaching Greyson (Constellation May 2022) level. He told us that he was also on Constellation in May, in Tuscan. He had been texting with Greyson the night before! 
 

He is absolutely ON SPOT with his recommendations! He is highly skilled, and I would not at all be surprised to run into him as a Cellar Master in several yea, if we are fortunate enough to still be cruising 

[cinderellen]

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

Whoa! I just watched the video y’all are talking about. This is the first I have heard of this, and we tend to dine early in Blu. 

We have definitely not seen any behavior close to what was described. We have overheard people commenting that service is slower than usual, but folks seem to be pretty understanding. Even the guy who got a hamburger bun instead of English muffins for his eggs Benedict on Day 2 was disappointed, but chill. 
 

Major yikes!!!! My heart breaks for the crew affected. 

I can’t imagine the humiliation 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Which is why it was a good idea to do B2B.

you got to have good weather for that port once.

Enjoy 3rd cruise to NE.

Do you need to test again? I suppose you have to do ArriveCAN again if doing Canada on 3rd trip 

Not sure yet.  It will be dependent on number of positive cases.  So far no announcements.  Casino and theater requires masks. 
 

yes ArriveCAN has to be submitted for each trip. Rather easy as all the data is already there. 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, peanut head said:

I noticed that on your morning walk, you passed the b-ball court and I believe that was a pickleball net in the picture.  Do you know if they actually planned for pickleball?  If they had balls and paddles available?  

I’ve seen people playing pickle ball.  They do have paddles and balls available.  Not sure how you have it setup as sometimes it’s just basketball