Jim_Iain - Summit Live Post B3B Greenland / Iceland / Canada Aug 7, 19 and 31, 2022

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I have to say our room attendant, Nelson is going to be a really good one.  
 

I chuckled last night.  We got 2 Dailies and 2 chocolates each. 
 

 

Also I had left a sweater on a chair and he folded it and placed it neatly on the chair. 
 

I always pull the sheets out at the bottom of the bed so my feet can hang out.   Instead of making  the bed tucked in like most he did it more like a duvet.  Love it. 

 

Long ago I had a lovely woman cabin attendant who caught onto that trick right away.  In a lowly CC cabin.  Haven't had that since then, so I just untuck everything every night.

 

And if my cabin attendants don't figure it out on their own, I let them know that since I'm paying for two people in the cabin, I expect at least two pillow chocolates at night.  My last wonderful cabin attendant who will soon be a butler I believe left me a ton after I left his tip on the bed the last night.

[Smmessineo]

2 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Long ago I had a lovely woman cabin attendant who caught onto that trick right away.  In a lowly CC cabin.  Haven't had that since then, so I just untuck everything every night.

 

And if my cabin attendants don't figure it out on their own, I let them know that since I'm paying for two people in the cabin, I expect at least two pillow chocolates at night.  My last wonderful cabin attendant who will soon be a butler I believe left me a ton after I left his tip on the bed the last night.

I love it!

Those little chocolates mean a lot !

[theopup]

Attention to detail, makes all the difference with service. He does look like he will be great 

[hcat]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

First night we ordered Prime Rib. I ordered Medium (at the recommendation of some). I would say it was closer to a medium rare. 

 

 

Iain ordered his Medium rare and it was as rare as mine last cruise.  

Sad looking piece of meat, as well as the plating itself..3 lonely  pieces of carrot...

I always ask for dbl veggies...knowing how skimpy the veggie servings are these days!

 

Nicer looking  prime rib at the Outback... but how did it taste?

[verizon]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Long ago I had a lovely woman cabin attendant who caught onto that trick right away.  In a lowly CC cabin.  Haven't had that since then, so I just untuck everything every night.

 

And if my cabin attendants don't figure it out on their own, I let them know that since I'm paying for two people in the cabin, I expect at least two pillow chocolates at night.  My last wonderful cabin attendant who will soon be a butler I believe left me a ton after I left his tip on the bed the last night.

Do you know the attendants only get Half if you cruise SOLO ?

[Redking]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I used it first on a TP to Japan and the Japan immersion.    The typhoon was bearing down on us on turn around time.   We got a phone call at 6:00 AM for all B2B to meet in Rendezvous lounge that we were being evacuated to a hotel because they didn't have time to board the new guests.     We dodged 2 more typhoons on the immersion.    I had 8 tours screwed up. 

I remember that. Following your adventures was quite the thriller! We missed our Japan and TP back in 2021 thanks to the lovely Rona 🤣 Need to lock it in again. Be nice to do it on an Edge class.

[Redking]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

He is a RETREAT MANAGER  -  UGh.     

 

In my Mind Mar would have been a good candidate.  She is busy trying to train Lyle.  Dragos is gone for just one month and then Daniel will be going on on Eclipse joining the ship in Honolulu.

 

You may have a combination of Lyle and Daniel and no word who will replace Mar when she leaves on 9/11

So we'll likely have the pleasure of Daniel on Eclipse in January? Relying on you to get him sorted 🤣

[cruisestitch]

2 hours ago, verizon said:

Do you know the attendants only get Half if you cruise SOLO ?

Not necessarily so.  For most cruises, single cruisers pay double and the gratuity is paid out accordingly.  (Lately a few cruises have been bookable as a single without paying double, but this is new and no one knows if it will continue)

[ecslady]

4 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

I love it!

Those little chocolates mean a lot !

Oh, those chocolates!  I love bringing them home, and having one in the afternoon, as it makes me think I'm on a ship.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

4 hours ago, verizon said:

Do you know the attendants only get Half if you cruise SOLO ?

 

Well, I get charged for two sets of basic gratuities, so they had better be giving all that to the cabin attendants.  Solos have to pay for two sets of gratuities, two internet packages, and two drink packages.  And I am a generous tipper on top of that.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I used it first on a TP to Japan and the Japan immersion.    The typhoon was bearing down on us on turn around time.   We got a phone call at 6:00 AM for all B2B to meet in Rendezvous lounge that we were being evacuated to a hotel because they didn't have time to board the new guests.     We dodged 2 more typhoons on the immersion.    I had 8 tours screwed up. 

 

yep Japan immersion was part of the problems.  I had ports missed, so cancelled tours, and a couple of port orders changed which took some scrambling.. we skipped Shanghai because the captain was afraid we’d get in and not back out.  That tour I’d spent a lot of time working on.  There was also a crew change there, well was supposed to be!   Yes, I’d do the trip again other than visas have changed, really enjoyed several countries I hadn’t been to before. 

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, hcat said:

Sad looking piece of meat, as well as the plating itself..3 lonely  pieces of carrot...

I always ask for dbl veggies...knowing how skimpy the veggie servings are these days!

 

Nicer looking  prime rib at the Outback... but how did it taste?

 

It is delicious.      It is one of the hits of the MDR.

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, Redking said:

I remember that. Following your adventures was quite the thriller! We missed our Japan and TP back in 2021 thanks to the lovely Rona 🤣 Need to lock it in again. Be nice to do it on an Edge class.

I really loved the Japan cruise.    There is so much to see and so little time to see it.   Would be a great trip to do and spend some time in Japan before and/or after.

 

Unfortunately we missed Hiroshima 3X but did get to go to Nagasaki

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Redking said:

So we'll likely have the pleasure of Daniel on Eclipse in January? Relying on you to get him sorted 🤣

LOL  --- maybe he has grown since we last met.    He had only been on the ship for a week and like I said had no cruise ship experience.    The Concierges and the Butlers are the ones you will have most contact with. 

[MamaFej]

6 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Well, I get charged for two sets of basic gratuities, so they had better be giving all that to the cabin attendants.  Solos have to pay for two sets of gratuities, two internet packages, and two drink packages.  And I am a generous tipper on top of that.

I totally agree with charging double for gratuities, as the workload certainly isn’t halved, and crew should not be affected by booking numbers. 
However charging double for beverages and internet strikes me as unfair. Solos are not going to consume double, and consumption varies widely, anyway. 
 

(steps off soapbox)

 

I’m glad you generously tip additionally, Linda. 

[Jim_Iain]

8/20/2022 -  1st Chic Night

 

We had our first Chic night.    DeJa Vu

 

The passenger demographics have changed from our first cruise.   Just by the accents I would say we have a much higher count of Europeans and especially German Guests.  

 

Passengers seemed to be dressed to a higher standard than the last cruise.   Saw a number of women in beautiful Coctail Dresses and many men with at least a jacket and a number tux's.  Makes for a more celebratory feeling.

 

The same Day 2 menu as last cruise

 

 

 

This time I had the Corn Soup and Iain had Steak Tartar with Quail Eggs

 

 

 

For our Mains we both chose the Halibut

 

 

 

We skipped Desert 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

8/22/2022.  Akureyri

 

Arrived on schedule and the ship has been cleared. 
 

 

Weather is the normal coastal morning layer and hoping for a nice day.    The storm has passed by this area of the country. 
 

Luckily we had a smooth sailing around the island. 
 

Our friend @ohiojohn who is on Viking Mars has also arrived. 
 

[Jim_Iain]

Peeking out the windows with my first coffee of the day.  We all know where Iain is at 8::30 am.  
 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

We are taking an excursion withe Wild Westfjords that was arranged by Melissa from our Roll Call.   A big shout out to her for doing all the coordination and planning.  Today we are off for the Godafoss Waterfalls, Laufas Turf House and the Christmas House

 

We visited the LaufasTurf House a couple days ago.    I'll post a couple pre-tour photos as I don't think I posted them last visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[MamaFej]

I came to post a picture of the Mars, but Jim beat me to it. 
 

I’ll do it anyway, ‘cause, why not?

[Jim_Iain]

@KenTheCruiser is reporting that there are 2040 guest aboard.     Retreat is full and many B2B in Retreat were not able to get a suite for this cruise.  

[Jim_Iain]

8 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

I came to post a picture of the Mars, but Jim beat me to it. 
 

I’ll do it anyway, ‘cause, why not?

it was the first thing I spotted when I pulled back the shades.   We must have been docked were they are last week because my view last week was of the waterfall.   
 

this time it’s the busy port.    I am in Starboard this cruise. 

[MamaFej]

30 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

it was the first thing I spotted when I pulled back the shades.   We must have been docked were they are last week because my view last week was of the waterfall.   
 

this time it’s the busy port.    I am in Starboard this cruise. 

Indeed. As we drove out of the tunnel a few days ago, we saw the Summit docked where the Mars is now, and the Island Princess docked where we are now. 
 

The photo I posted today is from our Starboard cabin. 

[paddy1112]

Did you know that the waterfall Jim could see out of their cabin is hot water?
We had a Saga tour out of Akureyri on our Mai cruise and the guide told us that the hot spring causes a lot of delays when they built the tunnel.

I find it extremly fascinating that Iceland has so much natural green energy that they can waste an entire hot waterfall into the sea

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

Indeed. As we drove out of the tunnel a few days ago, we saw the Summit docked where the Mars is now, and the Island Princess docked where we are now. 
 

The photo I posted today is from our Starboard cabin. 

We are on a nice tour today.  6 of us  in a 16 passenger van.  
 

info@wildwestfjords.com    
 

A very interesting combination of Iceland's history, culture and nature - a shore excursion to Godafoss waterfall, the Laufas turf house, the Christmas house and Akureyri town.

 

Cost is $180 per couple.