Jim_Iain - 9/5 and 9/17 Equinox B2B - Come along for a Live Blog

[FLCruiser97]

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Looking forward to it.    Curious about your picture are you a Pilot?    The background kinda answers my question and the uniform.   LOL

Not a pilot but have been in aviation/travel for over 40 years. That pic was when I was a flight attendant.

[Silkroad]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I walk down N. Mary daily down to Bernardo and eventually to Castro Street in Mt. View for my daily coffee.    Nice 5 miles each way.     Retirement is so much fun.

You’re making me homesick! I can picture your daily walk quite well. I grew up in the Bay Area, and I used to work near Maude and Macara😂 I’ve spent many enjoyable hours in restaurants and shops on Castro Street. Retirement sounds fabulous! We intend to fully retire early next year, and hope to celebrate on our first b2b in the spring. Enjoy your RS. What a wonderful way to return to cruising😊

[graphicguy]

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow... Many people not in Tech have never hear of our little towns.    If asked while sailing we normally say San Francisco or San Jose as most people know the names.

 

BTW if you haven't been back for awhile things are booming an they are building everywhere.   Everything is now starting to go UP instead of OUT like the past.   

Interesting.  I know for a while there, the whole Silicon Valley area would flip flop between no office space available to not being able to walk down the street without tripping over a “For Lease” sign.  Last time I was out that way was about 3 years ago to our corporate HQ in Fremont (which at the time was brand spanking new).  Haven’t been back since.

 

Fond memories of the area, though.   I was commuting from OH to CA for a few years before retiring.

 

BTW……congrats on the upgrade.  That will be fun for both of you!!!!!!

[txtechmk]

Following along......have a great cruise!  We have to wait until January, but a lot of the ports will be the same as yours.  

 

And that's great that you were upgraded!

[Eastern flygirl]

it is so good to see your active posts again.  I will be following along and enjoying every word.

we sailed the Equinox, Aug 8, 2021 and it was wonderful. Everything was perfect, all 10’s in my book.  You must lookup, Marko, in the Sky Lounge, he is the best.  
enjoy your upgrade, stay safe.  Life is too short to stay home.

 

[peanut head]

Have a wonderful vacation and enjoy every moment.  It's great news about the RS, but regardless of where you would find yourself, the joy of the trip will still be the same.

 

I do have a question.  I joined the roll call (connections) for my Edge 2022 sailing and was wondering how you find out  about the time and location of the CC meet-up when you board the ship?  

[Fouremco]

15 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

We are having a somewhat heated discussion about renting golf carts or doing a snorkel trip in Bonaire in January, so will be waiting for your review of the day. 
Safe travels and stay well. 

Why not do a DIY snorkel trip using a golf cart? With the exception of those on Klein Bonaire and in the Washington Slagbaii National Park, you can access the vast majority of Bonaire's dive/snorkel sites via your golf cart. DW and I did this on our last cruise visit and had a great time. We have taken paid snorkel excursions when visiting on past cruises, but the DIY approach allowed us to visit more sites over the entire day and spend as much time at a given site as we wished.

 

We drove to 1000 Steps first, then made our way back south. Most of the sites we had visited previously on dive holidays, so we knew which ones we wanted to visit, but there are plenty of websites that will tell you the best ones to try. And there are lots of maps online too showing where all of the sites are located.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, the road becomes one way if you continue beyond 1000 Steps and head for Karpata. While this is a great site for both diving and snorkeling, you would have to drive through Rincon on a longish loop back to Kralendijk, one that has no snorkel sites. That will cut into your subsequent time for other sites. 

[Pickels]

Enjoy your cruise, can't wait for your review, which are simply great!

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, abbydancer said:

When my DH got laid off earlier this year, he decided that he could retire (confirmed by a couple of financial advisors).  First thing I did was to join some friends on the first leg of their B2B.  We were already on the second leg.

 

I had always been a workaholic and thought i would have trouble transitioning into retirement.   My previous company had a problem after my replacement quit suddenly and no one knew how to run a software program I had written.    I ended up working as a consultant mostly from home for 2 1/2 years.   By the time i  was ending the assignment I was really ready to fully retie.

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, upwarduk said:

We were told by the C.C host that SOME Premium drinks are on the Happy Hour menu, which is behind the bar, or accessed via the QR code.

Not sure if this is since AI or has always been the case.

My husband likes a Budweiser and it was always available on Silhouette, but it is not listed on either the Classic or Premium package!😱

I think Bud is available on all ships all of the time.    That is what  Iain drinks and never had trouble finding it.  I'm not a drinker as it triggers migraines but do occasionally get an non-alcoholic  beer. 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Not a pilot but have been in aviation/travel for over 40 years. That pic was when I was a flight attendant.

It's a great picture.    

 

I was on a flight a couple years back and the pilot (a woman) announced that today is a first for her and probably most passengers.    They had a 100% female crew including gate agents. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Silkroad said:

You’re making me homesick! I can picture your daily walk quite well. I grew up in the Bay Area, and I used to work near Maude and Macara😂 I’ve spent many enjoyable hours in restaurants and shops on Castro Street. Retirement sounds fabulous! We intend to fully retire early next year, and hope to celebrate on our first b2b in the spring. Enjoy your RS. What a wonderful way to return to cruising😊

Sunnyvale and Mt. View have some great walking / biking trails.   Google recently voluntarily paved a section of Steven's Creek Trail from about 101 out to the Bay Lands.   I spend a lot of time on the trails as it is easy to social distance and love all the wild life.

 

I'm not sure if you ever noticed but Mt. View has  become artsy and I find new things almost daily.   Every thing from painted rocks to beautiful bronze garden sculptures.

 

this is one I saw yesterday. 
 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[gfkcruiser]

Looking forward to your posts.   We sail on silhouette in December.  Will be 2 years since out last cruise as we had to cancel our March 2, 2020, cruise due to health issue of DH.  He has recovered and hope we get to sail.  We will be in Bonaire and have reserved a cart.   Been to Bonaire a few time but first with cart.  
 

Have a great vacation. 
Gail

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Interesting.  I know for a while there, the whole Silicon Valley area would flip flop between no office space available to not being able to walk down the street without tripping over a “For Lease” sign.  Last time I was out that way was about 3 years ago to our corporate HQ in Fremont (which at the time was brand spanking new).  Haven’t been back since.

 

Fond memories of the area, though.   I was commuting from OH to CA for a few years before retiring.

 

BTW……congrats on the upgrade.  That will be fun for both of you!!!!!!

Your right.   In past it was tear down housing to build offices and then  the reverse.   It is just amazing seeing them build 10-12 story mixed use housing and office buildings.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, txtechmk said:

Following along......have a great cruise!  We have to wait until January, but a lot of the ports will be the same as yours.  

 

And that's great that you were upgraded!

I really had given up on getting an upgrade but Iain was holding out hope.    

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Eastern flygirl said:

it is so good to see your active posts again.  I will be following along and enjoying every word.

we sailed the Equinox, Aug 8, 2021 and it was wonderful. Everything was perfect, all 10’s in my book.  You must lookup, Marko, in the Sky Lounge, he is the best.  
enjoy your upgrade, stay safe.  Life is too short to stay home.

 

That is really great to hear.   It's been a couple years since we have been on Equinox.   I was going to look back in my sailing history to see when.

[Jim_Iain]

49 minutes ago, peanut head said:

Have a wonderful vacation and enjoy every moment.  It's great news about the RS, but regardless of where you would find yourself, the joy of the trip will still be the same.

 

I do have a question.  I joined the roll call (connections) for my Edge 2022 sailing and was wondering how you find out  about the time and location of the CC meet-up when you board the ship?  

They have suspend the Connection Parties through 2021.   Hopefully they will fire it back up in time for your cruise.  

[Jim_Iain]

28 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Why not do a DIY snorkel trip using a golf cart? With the exception of those on Klein Bonaire and in the Washington Slagbaii National Park, you can access the vast majority of Bonaire's dive/snorkel sites via your golf cart. DW and I did this on our last cruise visit and had a great time. We have taken paid snorkel excursions when visiting on past cruises, but the DIY approach allowed us to visit more sites over the entire day and spend as much time at a given site as we wished.

 

We drove to 1000 Steps first, then made our way back south. Most of the sites we had visited previously on dive holidays, so we knew which ones we wanted to visit, but there are plenty of websites that will tell you the best ones to try. And there are lots of maps online too showing where all of the sites are located.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, the road becomes one way if you continue beyond 1000 Steps and head for Karpata. While this is a great site for both diving and snorkeling, you would have to drive through Rincon on a longish loop back to Kralendijk, one that has no snorkel sites. That will cut into your subsequent time for other sites. 

That may be a good idea.     Do they rent snorkel equipment at the beach or do you need to have your own.   We tossed our a couple years ago because it was easier to just rent.   Saying that in these Covid times I'm not sure how safe I would feel using rented equipment.   I'm sure they sanitize it well.

[Jim_Iain]

The Planning

 

I’m the travel planner in the family and I think I enjoy the planning as much as the cruise itself.   Being a technology geek I am constantly finding new gadgets and websites to enhance our cruise. 

 

This cruise was a bit more difficult to get booked as I had to figure out what FCC’s were still out there unused as well as working with my agent and Celebrity to get the free cruise and the open FCC’s  applied.  

 

Next up was planning the flights.    As many of you have seen the cost of flights have really increased and Flights by Celebrity don’t seem to have any deals, at least for our travel dates.    I finally found the flights that work with our schedule but had to settle for a return flights to SF to reduce the flight time and find a flight after noon.    I try not to book flights before noon on disembarkation day.  I ended up booking direct with the airlines as it was past final payment date when we booked and Flights by Celebrity charge a $200 fee for cancellations after final payment and the airline on a full fare ticket do not.

 

After booking the flight United made a change in flights with a connection time that concerned me so I rebooked out of SFO.    The good thing was the price had dropped and was able to get about a 25% refund.    The outbound flight ended up being an International Dreamliner with lay  flat seats in 1^st class so should have plenty of social distancing. 

 

Hotel –

 

I was initially shocked by hotel prices when I first looked.    Embassy Suites, which is our go to hotel, was quoting $350 a night so I booked a refundable reservation Hilton Marina for 185.00.    I checked back a couple days later and found Embassy Suites dropped their rate to $158   so I cancelled the Marina and booked Embassy Suites.     In reality the hotel really isn’t that important to us as we usually don’t arrive from the West Coast until Midnight and then just get up and go to the ship in the morning. 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

We are of to have our Covid test shortly.    The first test is the PCR test which could take 72 hours or more to get results.   We also have a rapid test scheduled for later today.

 

The first test is being done at Kaiser's Drive Through testing site.

[robinsra]

Good luck with the tests. We are on the second leg of your trip. So looking forward to your review.  Can not wait to have first drink in hand on the ship.

Rob & Elise

[Fouremco]

8 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

That may be a good idea.     Do they rent snorkel equipment at the beach or do you need to have your own.   We tossed our a couple years ago because it was easier to just rent.   Saying that in these Covid times I'm not sure how safe I would feel using rented equipment.   I'm sure they sanitize it well.

There's a number of dive shops very close to the cruise dock, and the couple I just checked for prices are currently charging $13 a day for snorkel, mask and fins.

 

Even pre-Covid, I found that most dive shops paid a good amount of attention to sanitizing masks, snorkels, regulators, etc., and I would expect no less today. It wouldn't hurt to send an email to a couple of the shops near the port. Dive Friends Bonaire is the closest and can be reached at info@divefriendsbonaire.com.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, robinsra said:

Good luck with the tests. We are on the second leg of your trip. So looking forward to your review.  Can not wait to have first drink in hand on the ship.

Rob & Elise

Thanks.  Was really busy and wait was about 30 minutes. 

We have our rapid test booked for later as a backup

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

There's a number of dive shops very close to the cruise dock, and the couple I just checked for prices are currently charging $13 a day for snorkel, mask and fins.

 

Even pre-Covid, I found that most dive shops paid a good amount of attention to sanitizing masks, snorkels, regulators, etc., and I would expect no less today. It wouldn't hurt to send an email to a couple of the shops near the port. Dive Friends Bonaire is the closest and can be reached at info@divefriendsbonaire.com.

Thanks for the recommendation.   I'm sure scuba is spectacular in Bonaire.

[Jim_Iain]

Ports and Excursions –

I have really not done much planning for this.    Depending on Covid restrictions and/or limitations we may end up spending most of our vacation on the ship.

The one exception is USVI.    Much to my chagrin Iain is a smoker and always looks forward to USVI due to a special Customs rule that allow you to bring back 5X the normal allocation of cigarettes Duty Free.  Part of planning this trip was a requirement the cruise had to stop in the USVI.

 

Covid and Covid Testing    

As all are probably aware recent outbreaks of Covid on the first cruises after restarting, Celebrity is requiring passengers to be Covid tested done at our own expense 72 hours prior to “Embarkation”.    The tests must be either PCR or Antigen.   This was later change anytime 3 days prior to the cruise.

 

This raised all kinds of questions as to what tests qualify and what “Embarkation” means.   Out of an abundance of caution I booked a rapid Antigen test for 72 hours prior to the ship sailing time even though Embarkation would probably mean my assigned check-in time.   Many question why they didn’t just say 3 days from the start as they did in their instructions to International travelers.    I contacted Kaiser and they advised I could have the Rapid test done at any place and they would reimburse me for the cost. 

 

Celebrity is constantly evolving and have done a lot of clarification over the past couple weeks.   The latest is you have to have the test within 3 Day of sailing and have posted a list of all of the tests that are acceptable.  

 

As with other cruisers we are also being requested to present our Original Covid Vaccination Cards but on their FAQ say if you lost your card you could present a verification from your State’s Health Department or Injection Site  original confirmation..    In California we have a Digital QR Code confirmation that we carry with us just in case.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Jim_Iain