Jim_Iain Live!!! - B2B Summit New England and Bermuda Jun 5 & 16th

[Jim_Iain]

Last year we finally hit Zenith and it began us rethinking the way we book.  As a Zenith we get Premium Drink Packages, Unlimited WiFi, Unlimited Laundry and Dry Cleaning as well as access to Michael's Club and Priority.   We are now thinking of cruising more and possibly shifting to Aqua as opposed to Suite Class and booking with no perks using promotional fares.  

 

Now the age old question.    How much do you pack for the cruise?    We have really trimmed down on how much we bring for a cruise.   Our strategy is now to pack for 1/2 the number of days of a cruise and send out our laundry every other day.   I generally pack more t-shirts as I also use them for working out. 

 

For Chic nights we bring along dinner jackets and usually pair  with Tuxedo shirts an Bow Ties. 

 

 

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Last year we finally hit Zenith and it began us rethinking the way we book.  As a Zenith we get Premium Drink Packages, Unlimited WiFi, Unlimited Laundry and Dry Cleaning as well as access to Michael's Club and Priority.   We are now thinking of cruising more and possibly shifting to Aqua as opposed to Suite Class and booking with no perks using promotional fares.  

 

Now the age old question.    How much do you pack for the cruise?    We have really trimmed down on how much we bring for a cruise.   Our strategy is now to pack for 1/2 the number of days of a cruise and send out our laundry every other day.   I generally pack more t-shirts as I also use them for working out. 

 

For Chic nights we bring along dinner jackets and usually pair  with Tuxedo shirts an Bow Ties. 

 

 

 

With Elite Plus laundry I send out socks and undershirts, t shirts and polos in the two bags. But dress shirts or anything good I send out and pay. Cause they have destroyed my shirts. That is what I will do on this 11 day.

[GeorgesGal]

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

  ... I was browsing the Fishy Site in the "Deals" section  ...

 

Hi, Jim, I've noted the 'Fishy Site' mentioned here on CC many times.  Can''t figure out what it would be.  Would you please e-mail me at classy1donna at yahoo dot come if you care to share the name?  Please mention Cruise Critic in the subject line.

 

Thanks,

Donna

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Edited June 2, 2019 by GeorgesGal

[LorraineP]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I will post for sure once on board.    Normally there will be 3 Chic nights on cruises over 10 nights so expect this one to have 3. 

OK thanks. Wishing you sunny skies & calm seas. 

[parrothead33]

Looking forward to another Jim_Iain report.  Have a wonderful time and travel safe.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

With Elite Plus laundry I send out socks and undershirts, t shirts and polos in the two bags. But dress shirts or anything good I send out and pay. Cause they have destroyed my shirts. That is what I will do on this 11 day.

Good to hear.    We always have our shirts washed and starched heavy and have never had a problem.   I never tried sending them out in the Wash and Fold.  Since laundry is free for us we do specify dry cleaning for anything questionable.  

 

I buy lots of colored T's and Polos that I buy from a company called Cheap T's.    Usually I purchase Fruit of Loom Beefy T's and buy by the dozen.    I do notice that when sending them out for the wash and fold they do shrink (being 100% cotton).

[TPCRUISER2]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I'll be honest in saying that we never thought that retirement would be so much fun.   We both opted to retiring at 62 1/2 and have never regretted it.  

 

I'll check on all of the Wine Tastings for you and let you know what I find out.    We fly out early on Tuesday morning and will be overnighting at the Hilton Newark Airport.  I'm guessing we will grab an Uber to the port and plan on arriving around 12:30.

Thank you Jim! The two of you must have invested well to retire at 62. As you know 62 is still young. Can't wait for your review, boarding in September!

[Aralim]

@Jim_Iain, if you plan to see The Breakers while in Newport, you may be able to get a discounted admission to see that and Marble House, assuming you’re in port for long enough. My family and I did that on a weekend getaway to Newport a couple years ago.

 

The Breakers is definitely the most interesting of the mansions, but Marble House is a close second. Gorgeous architecture and really interesting building history. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 minutes ago, Aralim said:

@Jim_Iain, if you plan to see The Breakers while in Newport, you may be able to get a discounted admission to see that and Marble House, assuming you’re in port for long enough. My family and I did that on a weekend getaway to Newport a couple years ago.

 

The Breakers is definitely the most interesting of the mansions, but Marble House is a close second. Gorgeous architecture and really interesting building history. 

 

Breakers is definitely on our todo list.    Thanks for the heads up on the potential discount.   I will be on the look out for it.

[Jim_Iain]

Planning, Planning and More Planning

 

I discovered one of the downsides of last minute booking is the limited number of choices we had for air travel.  When possible I usually book with United as our airline of choice.   I had traveled extensively  for business and achieved Two Million Mile Status on United.  One of the best perk of this status is we get Platinum Status on Star Alliance for life without having to re-qualifying each year and Iain is also given that same status gratis.   With this status we can book Premier Plus seats for free regardless of the fare we are able to choose and get Group 2 boarding.  Whenever possible we like to fly out of San Jose Airport which is only 10 minutes from our home.  I was able to book a decent flight out of San Jose going to Newark but opted for a Non-Stop into SFO for our return.

 

Just as I was posting I got an e-mail from United and they gave us gratis upgrades to First Class due to our status.   Yea.....

 

Next up was finding a decent Hotel near EWR.   I opted for Hilton Newark Airport at $143 for the night including taxes and fees.   They sent me an upgrade offer on a space available basis last night, so I signed up for it and will see what happens.

 

We use Uber and/or Lyft for transport to the airport and since we have an early morning flight usually use the pre-booking feature to assure a car is at our door when required.  We will probably also be using them for transport from our hotel to the port.

 

We will probably wing it for excursions on these cruises as most of the ports are on the mainland.   I'm thinking of picking up a rental car in a number of the ports and exploring on our own.  

Edited June 3, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

We decided we needed a trim before the cruise.  

 

[DUTRAVEL]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think we may do a lot of the ports on our own for this trip.   Newport looks like a very walk-able city and I figure if we get too worn out we could always grab a Uber home.   Now all we have to do is hope for nice weather.

 

We have only been to Bermuda once (last fall) and found it a really nice island.    Since we will be there for so many days I suspect we will get out and explore it much more.    Iain is wanting to see the Pink Sand Beach. 

We visited Bermuda on our TA in November and we were disappointed that the sand at Horseshoe Beach didn’t look pink. I think it helps to go on a sunny day. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, DUTRAVEL said:

We visited Bermuda on our TA in November and we were disappointed that the sand at Horseshoe Beach didn’t look pink. I think it helps to go on a sunny day. 

 

Thanks for the pointer.   I would not have thought that they would be affected by weather.   We will make sure we plan on visiting on a nice sunny day.   

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, TPCRUISER2 said:

Thank you Jim! The two of you must have invested well to retire at 62. As you know 62 is still young. Can't wait for your review, boarding in September!

Well I have to admit that even though I retired early I ended up consulting for another 5 years for my previous company.  It was nice as i rarely had to go into the office and could work while we were away cruising.  We were lucky to have invested in real estate and own all our properties free and clear so mostly live off of our investment income.   Iain on the other hand planned his retirement to the exact day that he was fully vested for his pension.  He has no desire to work anymore.

 

As I tell many of our friends who ask us about our travels -  If you don't have any debt, own your house, don't buy a new car every year and have already put our 3 kids though college it's really not that difficult. 

 

To be honest the people that I have a great deal of respect for are those that have 2 or 3 kids in University at the cost of tuition now a day.

[Jim_Iain]

Now -  Trust me this is the most important part of planning.   Some of you who have read some of my blogs may remember that about 4 years ago i showed up at the airport and had forgotten my Passport.    I already have a sticky note on the front door reminding me to check for passports.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Guess what is on the Agenda for tomorrow?

 

[Von & John]

Jim & Iain  --  Have a safe flight East & Amazing B2B Cruises!  Looking forward to learning about new ports...

Cheers  --  Von & John

[bunnyette]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Planning, Planning and More Planning

 

I discovered one of the downsides of last minute booking is the limited number of choices we had for air travel.  When possible I usually book with United as our airline of choice.   I had traveled extensively  for business and achieved Two Million Mile Status on United.  One of the best perk of this status is we get Platinum Status on Star Alliance for life without having to re-qualifying each year and Iain is also given that same status gratis.   With this status we can book Premier Plus seats for free regardless of the fare we are able to choose and get Group 2 boarding.  Whenever possible we like to fly out of San Jose Airport which is only 10 minutes from our home.  I was able to book a decent flight out of San Jose going to Newark but opted for a Non-Stop into SFO for our return.

 

Just as I was posting I got an e-mail from United and they gave us gratis upgrades to First Class due to our status.   Yea.....

 

Next up was finding a decent Hotel near EWR.   I opted for Hilton Newark Airport at $143 for the night including taxes and fees.   They sent me an upgrade offer on a space available basis last night, so I signed up for it and will see what happens.

 

We use Uber and/or Lyft for transport to the airport and since we have an early morning flight usually use the pre-booking feature to assure a car is at our door when required.  We will probably also be using them for transport from our hotel to the port.

 

We will probably wing it for excursions on these cruises as most of the ports are on the mainland.   I'm thinking of picking up a rental car in a number of the ports and exploring on our own.  

I definitely recommend that in the Canadian ports, renting a car will allow you to see what you want & at your own pace and maybe discover some hidden treasures!  Plus the US$ is much stronger than the CDN$ so you may find a few deals just don’t fall for USD “at par”

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks for the pointer.   I would not have thought that they would be affected by weather.   We will make sure we plan on visiting on a nice sunny day.   

 

The pink sand is a tint. Sunlight and time of day affects how we see the pink tint but don’t expect it to be like in some photos. Many photos have been “enhanced”. In any case Horseshoe Bay is a gorgeous beach. I have been about 20 times and will go again weather permitting.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Charles4515

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, bunnyette said:

I definitely recommend that in the Canadian ports, renting a car will allow you to see what you want & at your own pace and maybe discover some hidden treasures!  Plus the US$ is much stronger than the CDN$ so you may find a few deals just don’t fall for USD “at par”

 There are not any Canadian ports.

[bunnyette]

My bad!  That’s a shame though.

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, bunnyette said:

My bad!  That’s a shame though.

 

The itinerary strikes me as somewhat odd. I usually do a 7 day Celebrity to Bermuda in  early June but passed on booking Celebrity this year when they came out with the 11 day Bermuda and New England itineraries in early and middle June. Then last  week I saw a price for the 11 day that was less than I ever paid for the Bermuda sailings so I booked it. 

[upwarduk]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

  This cruise has a really nice itinerary but the one that goes all they way to Montreal and the Fall Color is one I would also like to take.

Jim,

I cant believe I’ve found another of your cruises to follow. I’ve  always wanted to sail on the Summit to New England in the Fall.

Eventually, we managed to sail into Montreal on Azamara Quest, leaving Southampton 09.09.16. Unfortunately, we were just a little early for true Fall colours.

Edited June 3, 2019 by upwarduk

[Eastern flygirl]

Hi Jim -iain

We are sailing on the Summit with you on June 5.  Really excited to get on the ship and see what is new.  We sailed with Captain Kate two years ago, and love Bermuda.  I met my husband and got married over fifty years ago in Newport, so that that will be a fun day.  Would love to meet both of you, as I enjoy all your reviews.  Have a safe trip, and don’t forget the passport.

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your newest review and photos.  We are going to Bermuda at the end of June although on a different cruise line and are especially interested in that part of your review. Have a wonderful time!!