JamieLogical's November 13 B2B Summit Live Blog

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Jamie….looking forward to your cruise reports.  

 

BTW…can you have a conversation with my GF about bundle packing?  No way she would ever think she could/would/should pack as efficiently as you. 😉

 

I love a challenge, so it really appeals to me. I love seeing if I can get more into each and every bundle. Also, the sense of accomplishment and pride I feel at a successfully built bundle.... It's like I gave birth to a perfect baby. I want to take picture and show it off, because it's just so beautiful to me....

[Barwick Cruiser]

Great packing but how do you get away with just one pair of shoes? 
 

Have a wonderful cruise and I look forward to following along! I hope the wifi is strong enough on your second leg to continue the posting!

[JamieLogical]

3 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Great packing but how do you get away with just one pair of shoes? 
 

Have a wonderful cruise and I look forward to following along! I hope the wifi is strong enough on your second leg to continue the posting!

 

I actually have three pairs of shoes. My sandals go in my backpack and my walking shoes go on my feet.

Edited November 12, 2021 by JamieLogical

[BoundForSea]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I love a challenge, so it really appeals to me. I love seeing if I can get more into each and every bundle. Also, the sense of accomplishment and pride I feel at a successfully built bundle.... It's like I gave birth to a perfect baby. I want to take picture and show it off, because it's just so beautiful to me....

I’m a pilot and traveled my whole adult life, I still can’t manage to pack one crew roll aboard efficiently. I need to buy the Jamie Logical course on efficient packing!

[BoundForSea]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

After my COVID test yesterday morning, I went for my pedicure, then headed home to pack. I now have everything packed except for a few personal hygiene items and the 360 camera with charger. My husband is still working on pulling the videos of our Breakaway sailing off the camera to free up space.

 

Prior to my solo sailing back in July, I learned about the magic of bundle packing. It has changed my packing style forever! I used to just roll my clothes, thinking I was being clever. But, no more! With bundle packing, I have learned that I can fit a truly insane amount of clothing into a single carry-on sized roller bag.

 

 

Laid out on the bed there are the follow items:

• 9 pairs of underwear
• 11 pairs of socks
• 4 bras
• 9 camisoles
• 4 long sleeve linen shirts
• 2 cotton t-shirts
• 2 moisture wicking t-shirts
• 2 pairs of yoga pants
• 1 pair of trail pants
• 5 pairs of dress pants
• 2 maxi dresses
• 2 sweaters
• 1 pair of slip shorts
• 1 pair of shoes
• 2 tankini tops
• 2 pairs of swim shorts
• 1 swim suit cover-up

And here they are all bundled to go into my suitcase:

 

And here is my slightly preggers-looking carry-on:

 

If you want to learn more about how bundle packing works, here is my favorite video showing how to do it:

 

That’s just truly a work of art… I feel ya. 

Ive been rolling and ironing my shirts before every trip and show at the airport.  

 

Have a great b2b Jaimie!! 

[JamieLogical]

Just now, BoundForSea said:

That’s just truly a work of art…

 

Right? I almost hate to unpack it when I get onboard tomorrow!

[Northern Aurora]

During the pre-covid times we spent 60 to 90 nights annually on a Celebrity ship.  I am always interested to read the reviews from someone relatively new to Celebrity, and on their first M-class ship.  So will be following with great interest.

[kpark895]

Looking forward to your review, Jamie.  The Summit was my very first cruise, and I have two scheduled for next year.  Will be interesting to see how the things on the ship are going now.

[JamieLogical]

Made it to Miami last night. Plane landed on time just before midnight. Took me 20 minutes for a Lyft to arrive once I ordered one. Apparently Uber and Lyft were slammed right when I first got to the ride share pickup area. The price and wait time for both had dropped significantly by the time my Lyft arrived. Oh well. Got into my hotel room at the Townplace Suites at exactly 1:00am. Tried to force myself to sleep when I kept waking up this morning, but finally gave up and now I am drinking my terrible hotel room coffee.

 

Just a few hours to go now. It's cruise day!!!!

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Made it to Miami last night. Plane landed on time just before midnight. Took me 20 minutes for a Lyft to arrive once I ordered one. Apparently Uber and Lyft were slammed right when I first got to the ride share pickup area. The price and wait time for both had dropped significantly by the time my Lyft arrived. Oh well. Got into my hotel room at the Townplace Suites at exactly 1:00am. Tried to force myself to sleep when I kept waking up this morning, but finally gave up and now I am drinking my terrible hotel room coffee.

 

Just a few hours to go now. It's cruise day!!!!

Glad to hear you journey was so painless.     We always arrive late, coming in from the West Coast and it is always difficult to fall to sleep with the time change.    

 

How did you like  Townplace Suites?   

[LGW59]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Made it to Miami last night. Plane landed on time just before midnight. Took me 20 minutes for a Lyft to arrive once I ordered one. Apparently Uber and Lyft were slammed right when I first got to the ride share pickup area. The price and wait time for both had dropped significantly by the time my Lyft arrived. Oh well. Got into my hotel room at the Townplace Suites at exactly 1:00am. Tried to force myself to sleep when I kept waking up this morning, but finally gave up and now I am drinking my terrible hotel room coffee.

 

Just a few hours to go now. It's cruise day!!!!

Enjoy your cruise Jamie!!

[NCHPcruiser]

Following along with everyone else!  Enjoy your time aboard the Summit!

[DCPIV]

I hope the same music acts are on board. That was some of the best music I've ever heard on a ship. 

[BoundForSea]

@JamieLogical WYD today? Anything special?? 😂😂😂😂

 

 

 

I should have asked you where you were pre-cruise staying. I’ve been in that TownPlace more than I care to remember for work. It serves the purpose to crash for a few hours tho. I’ve spent about half the last three years of my life in Miami for work and have tried every Marriott property, anyone feel free to ask if you need a recommendation. Fun fact, when the POM was closed for Covid in 2020 and I was down there I would go there and walk it back and forth for 2.5-3mi a day. Seeing the ships there and getting some exercise was kind of therapeutic!! 

 

Aaaaaanyway, back to whatever you’re doing today…. 😎

[SeaHunt]

I'm excited to read your thoughts about Celebrity, and hope you have a wonderful cruise. 😁

[FLCruiser97]

33 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

I'm excited to read your thoughts about Celebrity, and hope you have a wonderful cruise. 😁

Off topic. Just one question for SeaHunt, is S.S. Silver Springs? We live in the forest. I know Sea Hunt was filmed at the Springs.

Edited November 13, 2021 by FLCruiser97

[colliercruiser]

 

 

Our 4 PM sailing was slightly delayed as a Carnival “super spreader” went by.  Our sailing has 500 passengers with a normal capacity of 2200+.  The Carnival ship looked packed. 😳

 

 

[BoundForSea]

2 hours ago, colliercruiser said:

 

 

Our 4 PM sailing was slightly delayed as a Carnival “super spreader” went by.  Our sailing has 500 passengers with a normal capacity of 2200+.  The Carnival ship looked packed. 😳

 

 

clearly they “Chose Fun”…. 😂

[FLCruiser97]

2 minutes ago, BoundForSea said:

clearly they “Chose Fun”…. 😂

Are they even wearing masks on those "FUN" ships???

[JamieLogical]

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Glad to hear you journey was so painless.     We always arrive late, coming in from the West Coast and it is always difficult to fall to sleep with the time change.    

 

How did you like  Townplace Suites?   

 

Townplace Suites was as I remembered it. We had stayed there the night before my very first cruise back in February 2018! Certainly nice enough for free, since I just used my travel credit card points to book the room.

[JamieLogical]

17 hours ago, DCPIV said:

I hope the same music acts are on board. That was some of the best music I've ever heard on a ship. 

 

I heard a little bit of two live acts last night. The House Band Indigo in the Grand Foyer and an acoustic singer/guitarist, Thiago, in the Rendezvous Lounge. Both were really fantastic.

[JamieLogical]

Okay, sorry for not posting more yesterday. It was a busy day all around. Here's a run down of my activities and I will try to post some photos after breakfast.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I stayed at the TownPlace Suites. Forced myself to stay in bed until 8:00 am and then was bored and antsy until I finally broke down and ordered my Lyft at 10:45. I was dropped off at the luggage porters at 11:15. There was a little stand for Retreat Guests with no line. They checked my vaccine card there, confirmed I had no new health symptoms since completing my questionnaire the day before, and then one of them walked me inside the terminal. He came through security with me. That bit was a little weird as they wouldn't let me put my wallet, passport, boarding pass, and sun glasses in a little doggie bowl. The security person made me put all that stuff back in my backpack to go through the scanner. A bit annoying since I already had it all out in my hand and knew I would need it again in two seconds at check-in. Once through security, it was straight to a separate little room in the back where they were doing Retreat check-in. No line there either, so it was a short process and I was on the ship and to my suite at 11:35.

 

I almost immediate met my room steward, Arnold. Like a typical ninja, he knew I had arrived and magically appeared to introduce himself. I took the photos above, watched the muster video on my TV, and then headed down to my muster station in the Rendezvous Lounge. While I was there, I asked what time Luminae would be open for lunch and found out I still had a little time to kill, so I headed to the Martini bar for my first drink of the cruise, a Cosmo. That was quickly followed by an apple martini and I was feeling great for lunch!

 

At Luminae I was seated next to another solo traveler (technically at a separate table about 8 inches away from mine) and we had a lovely time chatting. I had a lobster roll and the dulche de leche dessert.

 

After lunch, I decided it was time for my customary afternoon nap. One of my favorite things about cruising is getting to nap. I never nap in real life unless I am sick. Unfortunately, this turned out to be not super restful, as people kept waking me up. There was no "Deep Sleep" magnet in my room. First my Retreat Host, Rogelio, came to introduce himself. Then someone came to deliver my luggage. At that point I asked about a do not disturb sign and received one, which someone actually knocked on my door to deliver! Why would you not just stick it to my door after having already woken me up twice?!?!

 

The last time I was woken up, it was by the captain's announcement about sail away. They were going to let us out on the helipad, which I was pretty excited about. So I got up and pulled myself together to head down there. Once down there, I had to wait a bit, as they weren't quite ready for passengers yet. So I started chatting with some other folks who were waiting, including a Canadian woman who recognized me from CC and is also traveling solo. We had a really nice conversation and headed out onto the helipad together. Unfortunately, our sail away got delayed by a Carnival ship turning around in the basin ahead of us. It was very sunny and hot out there, since it was a completely exposed area. And whatever drink they gave me must have had too much sugar in it, because between the sun and heat and sugar, I suddenly started feeling very woozie and had to head back inside. So I missed the actual sail away out on the helipad.

 

Fortunately, I do have a nice, big balcony in my suite, so I watched sail away from there. Shade and air conditioning soon had me feeling much better, so once sail away was done, I was able to get unpacked. It was a little sad to unravel my bundle! But, I got everything in its proper place and then changed for dinner.

 

For dinner at Luminae I was seated next to a couple I had met at the martini bar earlier. They are from Myrtle Beach, but had actually lived in Miami for 30 years before retiring. I found them fascinating, because it's always been my goal to retire TO Miami. I had the tomato soup and the duck breast as well as a Zacappa Vanilla Mojiti, which was all delicious! I love duck so much and they had crisped the skin so perfectly. I couldn't get enough of it, so I ate too much and had no room for dessert.

 

After dinner I headed over to Cafe Al Baccio, because I realized I had never had my afternoon coffee and was starting to get a bit of a caffeine headache. I had an Americano with Bailey's. At this point is when I really started to realize how empty the ship is. I was literally the only passenger in the whole cafe. Not just when I got there, but the entire time I stayed there to drink my coffee.

 

After that I headed to the Rendezvous Lounge for the first game show of the cruise, Yes or No. I was worried when I first arrived, because there were only about five people there. But we got up to about 30 people by the time the game started. It was pretty fun and I got to meet the Activities Director who is leaving the ship on Thursday to go home to the Philippines at the end of her 5.5 month contract. She is so excited!

 

After the game show, I had a few minutes to kill before the comedy act in the main theater, so I scoped out the casino. None of my favorite slots are there, so I am going to have to try several machines to find a new favorite. Shouldn't be a problem with all the OBC I have!

 

I arrived about 15 minutes early for the comedian and I was so impressed by how beautiful and well laid out the theater is. I love the seating arrangement with the little loveseats and tables. Made me really wish my husband was there with me!

 

The Cruise Director, Rich came out to introduce the show, but first he introduced the captain and ship's senior officers.

 

The comedian himself, Al Ducharme, was terrible. I am not one to leave shows in the middle, but I just had to walk out of this one. His sexist humor was straight out of the stone age. He didn't even seem that old! But all of his jokes were about how men give away all their power the second they get engaged, wives forcing their husbands to shop at Yankee Candle Company, wives using the promise of sex to get their husbands to do anything they want, nagging mothers.... The Yankee Candle Company thing was especially ironic, since my ex husband used to always drag ME in there. I hated it, but he loved loved loved scented candles.

 

After I skipped out of there, I headed over to the Rendezvous Lounge, where a great acoustic guitarist was performing. His name is Thiago and he was really wonderful. I also met my future favorite bar tender, who was able to make me a Pimm's Sour and has promised to try to replicate NCL's Mr. Worldwide for me tonight.

 

I hit up the casino to make my requisite sacrifice to the casino gods, then headed to late night snack in the buffet. I had some pizza, but was still too full for any dessert. Then it was off to bed!

 

Day's Drinks: Cosmopolitan, Apple Martini, Zacappa Vanilla Mojito, Americano with Bailey's, Elderflower Blush, Vodka Sour, Blind Russian x2, Pimm's Sour

[Irene225]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

The comedian himself, Al Ducharme, was terrible. I am not one to leave shows in the middle, but I just had to walk out of this one. His sexist humor was straight out of the stone age.

I walked out of a comedy show on edge in august for the same reason. I think some of these acts are in desperate need of some updating.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!.

[DCPIV]

Rogelio was my Retreat Host on both my Summit cruises. He's terrific. You drew well! 

[JamieLogical]

Here are some photos to go along with my post from this morning.

 

The ship from my Lyft:

 

The Cruise Director and some other officers welcoming me onboard:

 

My suite:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first drink of the cruise at the Martini bar:

 

 

Lunch at Luminae:

 

 

 

 

Sail Away:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner in Luminae: Cheese Croquette Amuse Bouche, Tomato Soup, Duck Breast

 

 

 

 

Main Theatre:

 

 

 

 

 

Rendezvous Lounge:

 

 

 

Late Night Snack: