Jim_Iain – Silhouette Live Post April 8, 21, 30 - B3B - TransAtlantic, Portugal Spain, France and the Norwegian Fjords

[txtechmk]

Following along.  I'm especially interested in your Norwegian adventures, as we will be that way late May on the Apex.

 

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I will be following Jim.
Can’t wait for our Mediterranean cruise on Silhouette at the end of July.

I am apprehensive though, as we are visiting both Spain and Italy and going by the TA protocols published last week, there’s a lot of testing required. I really wonder if one of the countries will be dropped, or will Celebrity charge for the onboard testing before the ports.

Or will our 2nd booster which we will be having on 6th April be sufficient? We are eligible for that due to our age, but I’m sure many passengers won’t be and will have had their booster too long ago(270 days for Italy).

Thanks for following.   We decided early that we wouldn't get burnt out with all the "Sky is Falling" posts as people speculate on what will be the protocols months out.   I guess we will find out quickly about the yet unpublished European Protocols. 

 

We have not yet had a second booster as they were only approved in the U.S. last Wednesday.    I had a physical with my Doctor and he suggested we hold of and get it closer to the September - October time frame to have highest protection during the U.S. Flu season.   He pointed out that the current strains are rather mild and they now have drugs to help if infected.  

[lovetravel63-65]

8 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I will be following Jim.
Can’t wait for our Mediterranean cruise on Silhouette at the end of July.

I am apprehensive though, as we are visiting both Spain and Italy and going by the TA protocols published last week, there’s a lot of testing required. I really wonder if one of the countries will be dropped, or will Celebrity charge for the onboard testing before the ports.

Or will our 2nd booster which we will be having on 6th April be sufficient? We are eligible for that due to our age, but I’m sure many passengers won’t be and will have had their booster too long ago(270 days for Italy).

Please look at Gov UK if you have had full course plus booster it is valid indefinitely not 270 days 

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, kasijab said:

Been looking forward to this ...and even more so to joining you on legs 2 and 3 once you reach the UK. Hope all falls into place for you shortly re Bermuda. We are still waiting for the testing protocols this end, but suspect it will be a test one day before as that is what Spain requires

Look forward to meeting you.   It seems like yesterday that our Roll Call came live.   I'm all set for Bermuda except uploading my test results once done.   At least being on a B2B will have our test on the ship. 

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I will also be following, I have enjoyed your prior "Live From" threads. In fact you were my inspiration for the one I did on the Equinox last August in our first Sky Suite and Retreat.

Thanks Terry.     I was reading your Live report daily and love following along and see how we each enjoy life at sea in our own unique way. 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Looking forward to your blog.

We are on the 21st when you get to Southampton,,hopefully you may find about the testing protocols for the 21st cruise on board before we do on land.

I think Celebrity are keeping it a secret.🤐

They definitely have kept us guessing.    At least we will be tested a day before the 21st cruise as part of the B2B.    Especially if they switch from 2 day testing to 1 day testing pre-cruise many will be scrambling to re-book testing.

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I am finally retired and able to do B2B cruising. Retired in 2020, no traveling, and now we will be gone for 33 consecutive days in August, 34 days in 2023 and 39 days in 2024 on cruises and land tours.

Retirement is WONDERFUL.    We were never able to take off much more than 21 days once a year while working and to be able to stake extended vacations are worth all the years of work to get here.    I hate to say how many cruises we have booked at this time. 

[cachouonacruise]

I agree with fellow posters, Jim, really envious of the experience you're about to embark on!

 

I wish you to have a great time, make beautiful discoveries along the way and good weather!

Thank-you very much in advance for sharing with us your experience on these three cruises on Silhouette! I really look forward to this daily reading! 
 

Enjoy your trip! 

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks your all for all your kind words and wishes.   Truly overwhelming,    I'll try to respond to as many as I want and other CC members you are always welcome to jump in and help answer questions.    Even though we love Celebrity, I definitely will never claim to know many of the things asked but will try to find an answer. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

First up are the maps and itinerary.  

 

Transatlantic 

 

 

 

 

 

France, Spain and Portugal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norwegian Fjord 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

 

 

 

The first thing I do in planning our cruise is to check our passports to make sure they haven't expired and we have any Visa's required for travel.   Luckily for this trip no Visa's are required.

 

 

I also checked the expiration dates and we are good to go.

 

 

 

 

The only wrinkle we had are regulations that require us to get a Bermuda Travel Authorization.   This is obtained by filling out the application and paying a fee of $40 per person.  2 days prior to sailing we have to come back and upload our Vac Certificate and Test results.

 

https://www.gov.bm/applying-bermuda-travel-authorisation

[dani negreanu]

Thank you Jim for allowing us to tag along. Will follow as usual. Wishing you both a most enjoyable trip.

 

Bilbao -- The Guggenheim building is amazing.

 

Am I wrong or your cruise to the Fjords doesn't include Geiranger?

 

[terrydtx]

36 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Retirement is WONDERFUL.    We were never able to take off much more than 21 days once a year while working and to be able to stake extended vacations are worth all the years of work to get here.    I hate to say how many cruises we have booked at this time. 

My wife and I are sitting here today looking at land tours to add to our 2024 NZ Australia Edge cruise. Found one that included 2 days on the Great Barrier Reef. so that trip may now be 9 days longer.

[goldsmip115]

So looking forward to following along, Jim.  Karen and I will miss seeing you both in San Francisco.  We board the Millenium on May 3rd, San Diego to Vancouver.  We’ve made some new friends on the Boards, Randy and Connie.  They are on the Silhoutte right now in a PS. They will be our neighbors in 6148 for the May 3rd cruise.  First time sailing in a PS where we know our adjoining neighbors.  This is the first time in all my cruises where I don’t have everything planned.  Gratefully the hotels and first class air are booked on both ends.  I did book two massages and an interesting “open air” excursion to see the bison in Catalina island. I think the rest will be Private Journey.  Safe travels my friend.  We’ll be following you.

[TFree]

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I agree,   I started my live reviews as a payback.   I have learned so much from everyone here and still learn new stuff daily.  

 

We have never been to Norway before so are really looking forward to it.   This cruise is a little more difficult to pack for with everything to Tropical to Glacier weather.  

We had the same packing issue a few years ago when we took a land tour of Israel (with a Jordan extension), followed by a Norwegian Fjords cruise on Celebrity out of Dublin.  This was in May, and there was one day on our Fjords cruise where the excursion took us up into the mountains, where we found heavy snow.  I would attach a picture, but it was basically all white!

 

Tom & Judy

[Jim_Iain]

21 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Thank you Jim for allowing us to tag along. Will follow as usual. Wishing you both a most enjoyable trip.

 

Bilbao -- The Guggenheim building is amazing.

 

Am I wrong or your cruise to the Fjords doesn't include Geiranger?

 

You are correct it does not include Geiranger.      About 2 months ago the changed a couple ports and moved Bergen from our first to last port. 

[Jim_Iain]

20 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My wife and I are sitting here today looking at land tours to add to our 2024 NZ Australia Edge cruise. Found one that included 2 days on the Great Barrier Reef. so that trip may now be 9 days longer.

I really haven't started to look at our Singapore, Australia and New Zealand yet.  We will be traveling on the first cruise with friends from Australia.   We previous spent a week at a resort on the Great Barrier Reef  and must say it was incredible.  

[Jim_Iain]

23 minutes ago, goldsmip115 said:

So looking forward to following along, Jim.  Karen and I will miss seeing you both in San Francisco.  We board the Millenium on May 3rd, San Diego to Vancouver.  We’ve made some new friends on the Boards, Randy and Connie.  They are on the Silhoutte right now in a PS. They will be our neighbors in 6148 for the May 3rd cruise.  First time sailing in a PS where we know our adjoining neighbors.  This is the first time in all my cruises where I don’t have everything planned.  Gratefully the hotels and first class air are booked on both ends.  I did book two massages and an interesting “open air” excursion to see the bison in Catalina island. I think the rest will be Private Journey.  Safe travels my friend.  We’ll be following you.

Look forward to hearing about your cruise.   I wish we were back to give you my tour of San Francisco.  There is so much there that the regular tourist never have the opportunity to see. 

[Jim_Iain]

19 minutes ago, TFree said:

We had the same packing issue a few years ago when we took a land tour of Israel (with a Jordan extension), followed by a Norwegian Fjords cruise on Celebrity out of Dublin.  This was in May, and there was one day on our Fjords cruise where the excursion took us up into the mountains, where we found heavy snow.  I would attach a picture, but it was basically all white!

 

Tom & Judy

You have me chuckling.    I just pulled out some Gloves and my winter coat.   Now have to figure out whether I have to wear the coat or whether there will be room left to pack it.

 

While I have never been to Norway and their Fjords I suspect it may be like Alaska so planning accordingly. 

[Bill Miller]

What audio books or authors will make the cut for this trip?

Edited April 3, 2022 by Bill Miller

[helen haywood]

Following as well…and don’t want to derail but another very grateful thanks for introducing me to the Bose sleepbuds!!!  Life changer!!!  Now back to our regular scheduled program…

[MamaFej]

In 2019, we cruised Ireland/Iceland in early June, then five days in Austria, visiting our daughter who was studying abroad, then the Med and land in Italy in mid-late June, during a tremendous heat wave.

 

We had packed all the cool weather gear, boots, etc. we needed for the cooler cruise as compactly as we could into our backpacks and carryons (no checked bag). We had also brought an empty duffel. Leaving Dublin for Austria, the cool weather stuff flew in the duffel. Then, from Vienna, we mailed the cool weather stuff and some souvenirs and shipped them home. 

 

Perhaps Jim and Iain could do the opposite, and bring their warm weather stuff, and use one of the luggage shipping services to have their cool weather gear shipped to Southampton?

[cangelmd]

Jim, bon voyage, safe travels and have a wonderful trip to you and to Iain. We will be following closely. I’m hoping to hear they still put a chart up outside Oceanview with updated positions during the crossing. It’s a small thing, but really enjoyed checking on daily progress.

 

While you are packing and listing and picking up dry cleaning and watching for Bermuda info - all that pre-cruise stuff - would you comment on your positives and negatives of EB vs WB transatlantics and transpacifics if you have done more than one of those. The longer vs shorter days is an obvious one, but what else? Thanks in advance, your insight is always appreciated. Following with interest.

[cruising sister]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks for following.   We decided early that we wouldn't get burnt out with all the "Sky is Falling" posts as people speculate on what will be the protocols months out.   I guess we will find out quickly about the yet unpublished European Protocols. 

 

We have not yet had a second booster as they were only approved in the U.S. last Wednesday.    I had a physical with my Doctor and he suggested we hold of and get it closer to the September - October time frame to have highest protection during the U.S. Flu season.   He pointed out that the current strains are rather mild and they now have drugs to help if infected.  

Are you bringing your own prescription for the antiviral? I plan on traveling with one. I don’t trust I can find the medication if I get sick away from home.  I got second booster this week and fully plan I will need another one in the fall along with the flu shot. As a physician I don’t like to second guess others advice but at a minimum I would bring the antiviral drugs with you on the trip. 

[az4ship]

I will be joining you in the transatlantic portion of the trip.  I will be following as I love your reports.  Hope to meet you on board