Jim_Iain

Iain just asked ---- What time do we need to leave.... hmm... I usually check the flights for a week before just to see how on-time they are. This mornings flight left early but arrived a little late. Since it is only about 30 minutes to the airport and a Saturday I figure we should leave at 7:00 AM. Luckily we are flying First Class and have Pre so should have no back ups at the airport. I also check out FlightAware for the past weeks performance. Looking Solid. Pretty straight shot and you can see the rain coming in.

Thanks much for following.... I can't believe by this time we will be getting close to departure. It still hasn't fully sunk in. My turn to cook dinner tonight - we alternate nights. I've recently found a group on FB that people post Mom's Favorite Recipes. I saw this one this morning and couldn't resist Smothered Chicken with Creamed Spinach Bacon And Mushrooms

Thanks - we are prepared for the cooler weather. We very rarely get hot temperatures where we live. Sunnyvale is adjacent San Francisco Bay and we usually get nice breezes off the bay. Luckily we only had to use our Air Conditioner 2 days. Today has been a wonderful day in Sunnyvale, we hit a high of 77F. We have our Puffers out as well as an umbrella just in case.

Glad you have joined in. No live post would complete without your.

I've been there a couple times but not in about 8 years. When we were there it was much as you described. I think there were more Bald Eagles than people but was a nice walk from the ship into town.

Surprised to hear that. I suspect that you disembarked at one of the old wooden piers. They have a new James R Herman Cruise Terminal that is very modern and up to date with both Embarkation and Disembarkation facilities. Yikes... I've never been to Astoria so I have no idea what to expect.

Thanks... that's true of all cruise lines. If you have VPN turned on you can't reach the ships captive logon screen. I've gotten caught by that a couple times before I remembered I had to turn off the VPN. I'm a terrible at hacker and really interested to see if I can figure out how to change ports on their TV's. I understand they have the ports locked. Ponant was the same and I got around it by plugging my device into the same HDMI port that the ship used for their channel. I've not yet seen a picture of the Samsung TV's that Oceania uses.

Ahh... so I'm partially correct. That sounds like a great cruise. I guess the Ensenada port is required to make it legal.

Ahh... you obviously correct. Bad on me... I was just assuming it was a Mexican Cruise. We did a B2B to SFO with an overnight right after Covid. On the fist cruise it was colder than we had planned so we took the train home and changed out our wardrobe. It was really fun because we met friend for dinner that we hadn't seen during Covid. Thanks for the correction.

I think my biggest displeasure on E-Class is Luminae. It seemed that on all 7 of our e-Class cruises in the past year had the same problems. The food was pre-cooked and served diner style vs cook to order. On a number of occasions the plate was too hot to touch but the protein itself was cold in the middle. A number of dishes also arrived with missing elements etc. I had the Carbonara one night it it was totally inedible. It was like a big ball of starch with no sauce and the poached egg was hard boiled. It was only meal i've ever sent back. The waiter was of course apologetic but by that time I totally lost my appetite and just decided to leave. On Apex it may have been the poultry cook but everything came out so over cooked I couldn't get it off the bone. Finally the MD would go back and supervise the cooking of poultry. I swear a road runner run over by a truck in the desert would have been better than most of the poultry. Luckily at the end of the first cruise the chef left the ship and the new one did a good job of cooking poultry.

Thanks Gracie --- The count down is on. Packing is done and all i have to do is cook dinner tonight. Smothered Chicken with Creamed Spinach Bacon And Mushrooms

I got food poising on Celebrity on a Pacific Coastal. We were in Blu and I had the Sea Food Risotto. I was sick as a dog and spent 1/2 the night laying on the floor in the bathroom - at one point I almost pulled the emergency cable (we were in an accessible suite) The only other time I have been sick at sea was 20 years ago when I came down with Noro. That is an experience I hope i never have to experience again.

We are not big fans of Curry. I eat it but would not be my first choice. Iain's Mother use to make some really good Curry meals and I enjoyed them. Luckily they were not on the hot side.

The good news is that the Piano is still in place on some of the ships that have not gone through Revolution.

You are 100% correct and have to say that from what I can see on the videos I've watched about Oceania they have much better utilization of space and of course didn't hire Kelly Hoppen to design rooms and furniture that is totally unusable. That is one real major downside to Celebrity.

Earlier I was asked about the comparison of prices - I did the best I can in inclusion of everything. In my case my Travel Agency either applies an OBC up front or as a refundable deposit. I usually get in the range of a 9% discount from my agent. This of course is comparison of A Vista Suite on Oceania to a Royal Suite on Celebrity.

Couple more comparison's - This time Booking Terms Oceania has higher deposit rates and Final Payment is earlier than Celebrity. Since April 2 Celebrity has revised final payment dates to the following

I'm infidelity not a night owl --- I am an early raiser which may also be helpful. One good thing about this cruise is that for most of the cruise we will be in the United States and I can use my T-Mobile - Unlimited Data at 5G speeds. While in Canada I do get 5G Speed but limited 5 GB per month while international roaming.

The incredible part of the Penthouse is the size of the Bathroom and Walk in Closet. I swear you could put a bed in the closet.

I could be wrong but i believe you can still book a Refundable Suite but the deposit is 10% plus the Refundable Fare is also about 20% higher. Just did a mock booking --- for a CS on Hawaii cruise in 2026 - on a 11,000 price the none refundable fee was I think what many do is pay the Change Fee prior to final payment instead of paying the obscene Non-Refundable add on price

It is really a treat to see the Northern Lights. There is a site that shows the projection of seeing them. I looked yesterday and there is only a slight possibility We were on an Alaska cruise a number of years ago and the Captain came on the PA in the rooms at 11:00 at night to advise they were visible. I have to say they were incredible. The only problem is they are hard to photograph as most of the colors turn to green when photographed. One of my most memorable experience with the Northern Lights was from an airplane. I use to Commute from San Francisco to Dublin monthly. On one flight in the middle of the night over Greenland they were visible and I watched memorized for about 2 hours before they faded. In all my flights I've only seen them 2X from a plane.

Wow... that's not good. Most of the butlers know how to be seen but not intrusive. I will have to share a story--- We were on a warm weather cruise and had been out touring all day. I guess the butler had been in the room refreshing the ice. When I got back I stripped down to take a shower and was sitting in the living room stark ass naked. The door opened and I thought it was Iain. Come on in Big Boy.... The butler had not knocked thinking we were still out. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed as he instantly closed the door and fled. He later apologized and we all laughed about it. We still joke about that and laugh our heads off.

I will show a comparison of prices. As you know there are so many things to compare trying to do a proper head to head comparison. More on this later.....

Ugh... that is not nice. I guess he has a stronger stomach than you. Hope it doesn't put you off on curry.

I was away much of the day yesterday and was in the same situation as you. Had lots of catching up to do.