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

[Jim_Iain]

9 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

I was going to comment on the t-shirt - it’s fab and I want one 😂!

 

His sister in Scotland got it for him.   She is really into arts and crafty items. 

[villauk]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

His sister in Scotland got it for him.   She is really into arts and crafty items. 

 

I need a trip further up north then 😉.
 

Enjoying your review and excited for this first segment as we want to book the same itinerary 👍.

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

Enjoying the cruise😀. Loved the pictures too. Nice to see pictures of green grass too. Our fields are becoming dust bowls with our drought ( and this is England). 
 

Now my mother is Irish and she takes my Scottish wife’s breath away with her frugality. 
 

You will enjoy Iceland. We were there during a rainy November and took refuge in the Whale Museum - a good few hours spent😄. The prices again took my Scottish wife’s breath away😳. 

 

The only port we have been to on this cruise was Halifax so really excited to visit them all.   

 

The good thing is we can now get a Senior's Rate so always ask for it and 99% of places have one.

[lexmiller]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Light lunch at Aqua Spa Cafe

 

Tuna Salad and Caprice Salad with beautiful heirloom tomato

 

ok I did go back for a second. 
 

 

 

I LOVE the Aqua Spa Cafe for lunch - their salmon salad is fantastic!  I usually get the salmon salad, the quinoa salad and the fruit, and pretty much put it all together on one plate - yummy!  OH, and their oatmeal apple cookies, so good!

[Jim_Iain]

Dinner at Luminae. They are routinely giving menus for both MDR and Luminae. 
 

 

 

 

 

Amuse Buchea - goat cheese pillow

 

 

we both had the smoked Tomato Soup.   So good I could have an entire meal of it. 
 

 

For Mains Iain had the Turbot and I had the Prime Rib from MDR.  
 

 

 

 

Wee both had the Almond Cake for desert.  
 

[TraderSam]

Wow! That Prime Rib... 😬A decent vet could have brought that cow back to life. 🐮 😉 

 

Loving sailing along with you as always.  We have visited Nova Scotia many times and would normally have been heading off soon but direct flights are stopping earlier this year and so we would miss out on seeing the fall colour.🍁😞

 

Anyway, I thought I would recommend visiting some of the wineries in Wolfville, if you get the chance. They have their own appellation, Tidal Bay. We certainly enjoyed our tastings.🍷 😜

 

 

 

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I prefer the ones without meringue but it didn't stop me from having two.    One waitress said she was the same and just scrapes it off.    

 

They are just the perfect one bite and so tart.  

I love those lemon tarts too! One bite and gone!😁
 

Thoroughly enjoying this!

 

Anyway after the comments on the yellow jacket,  now I am confused which one is Jim and which one is Ian? Jim is the mischievious looking one? And Ian is the taller one with glasses? Am I right? or is it too early in the morning🤣

[lola2013]

7 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I love those lemon tarts too! One bite and gone!😁
 

Thoroughly enjoying this!

 

Anyway after the comments on the yellow jacket,  now I am confused which one is Jim and which one is Ian? Jim is the mischievious looking one? And Ian is the taller one with glasses? Am I right? or is it too early in the morning🤣

Jim is the handsome one...and Iain is the other handsome one!

[Arzeena]

14 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Jim is the handsome one...and Iain is the other handsome one!

More confusion!!!! LOL!!!!😁🤣

[lola2013]

1 minute ago, Arzeena said:

More confusion!!!! LOL!!!!😁🤣

Jim is the taller of the two and the storyteller.😉

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@Anita Latte and Others,

 

Here is the most recent update, with your suggestion added.

 

 

Georges Simenon Series 

Gideon Oliver -Aaron  Elkins  series 

Louise Penny’s Gamache series.

Dorothy L. Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series

Any books by Josephine Tey

Barbara Hambly - Benjamin January series, if you like historical mysteries!

JD Robb books and Robert B Parker

The Scarapetta series by Patricia Cornwell 

MC Beaton books 

Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley Series.  

Donna Leon’s Brunetti series. 

Any books by Tana French

Any books by P. D. James.  

Greg Isles, a writer from Natchez, MS.

Snowblind” by Ragnar Jonasson.  (Book 1 of 6 - DarkIceland)

Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger.  Also non-series books.

Brad Thor

JK Rowling (author of Harry Potter series), writing under the name Robert Galbraith -- the    

     Cormoran Strike series.

Andrea Camilleri -- the Inspector Montalbano series.

Helen Fields -- the Perfect series.

Karin Slaughter -- the Will Trent series

Daniel Silva - Gabriel Allon series

James Crumley —should be read in order

Winston Graham—Poldark series

Janet Evanovich—Stephanie Plum series.  Fox and Hare series.

Anything by Tim Dorsey or Carl Hiassen 

Old Archie comic books and Mad Magazine. 🙂

Ian Rankin’s Rebus series

Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks series

Nevada Barr’s National Parks series

Anything by Anne Cleeves

Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes - current times

Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry - Victorian era

 (and if you are planning a trip to Egypt check out theAmelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters)

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.  4 books.

The Longmire books by Craig Johnson.  Also suggest the fantastic series on Netflix.

David McCullough 'Path Between the Seas' (Panama Canal)

Caroline Graham Inspector Barnaby series. 

John Sandford , the Prey series and the Virgil Flowers series

Any books by Harlan Coben

Khalid Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner

Cupcake Brown, A Piece of Cake

Andy Weir, “not science fiction but science plausibility”

Danelle Harmon Series

Caleb Carr -  The Alienist.

Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders/Susan Ryeland Series.  Also Horowitz & Hawthorne series

Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe books, later written by Robert Goldsborough

Ruth Ware

Stuart Woods, Stone Barrington series.  #61 just published.

Tess Gerritson

Lisa Scottoline.

Michael Connelly Bosch books

Lee Child Reacher series

James Lee Burke Robicheaux

Patricia Cornell Scarpetta books

Jonathan Kellerman Delaware books

Greg Iles

Jeffrey Deaver Lincoln Rhymes series

Nelson DeMille

John Grisham

Scott Turow

Pat Conroy...more family drama than mystery

The Outlander series

Brad Meltzer

Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six (same author)

I just finished American Dirt and loved it so much I bought two more of her books.  

Iris Johansen (EveDuncan series, and others).

Colin Dexter Inspector Morse series

David Baldacci—Amos Decker, Atlee Pine and John Puller series

JA Jance

Karen Rose

Carol Goodman, The Stranger Behind You,  plus other books.  Contemporary suspenseful fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

[Arzeena]

 

This lovely person who is aged to perfection. Jim or Ian?

[Sarah1974]

Found this review earlier today and finished catching up on all 20 pages!

 

have a fab time, looking forward to hearing more and seeing your pics

[lola2013]

6 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

 

This lovely person who is aged to perfection. Jim or Ian?

Iain.  Sorry...just having a little fun this morning.

Edited August 10, 2022 by lola2013

[GeorgiaPeach51]

 

Oops, went back to read posts I’ve missed and realized that I didn’t include Jim’s latest recommendations. I didn’t get a message to look at a new post.  If you have suggestions for books, please try to tag me @GeorgiaPeach51 and make sure it shows as a blue link.  That way, I won’t miss your suggestions.  😍😍

 

Georges Simenon Series 

Gideon Oliver -Aaron  Elkins  series 

Louise Penny’s Gamache series.

Dorothy L. Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series

Any books by Josephine Tey

Barbara Hambly - Benjamin January series, if you like historical mysteries!

JD Robb books and Robert B Parker

The Scarapetta series by Patricia Cornwell 

MC Beaton books 

Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley Series.  

Donna Leon’s Brunetti series. 

Any books by Tana French

Any books by P. D. James.  

Greg Isles, a writer from Natchez, MS.

Snowblind” by Ragnar Jonasson.  (Book 1 of 6 - DarkIceland)

Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger.  Also non-series books.

Brad Thor

JK Rowling (author of Harry Potter series), writing under the name Robert Galbraith -- the    

     Cormoran Strike series.

Andrea Camilleri -- the Inspector Montalbano series.

Helen Fields -- the Perfect series.

Karin Slaughter -- the Will Trent series, Grant Country Line series. 

Daniel Silva - Gabriel Allon series

James Crumley —should be read in order

Winston Graham—Poldark series

Janet Evanovich—Stephanie Plum series.  Fox and Hare series.

Anything by Tim Dorsey or Carl Hiassen 

Old Archie comic books and Mad Magazine. 🙂

Ian Rankin’s Rebus series

Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks series

Nevada Barr’s National Parks series

Anything by Anne Cleeves

Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes - current times

Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry - Victorian era

 (and if you are planning a trip to Egypt check out theAmelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters)

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.  4 books.

The Longmire books by Craig Johnson.  Also suggest the fantastic series on Netflix.

David McCullough 'Path Between the Seas' (Panama Canal)

Caroline Graham Inspector Barnaby series. 

John Sandford , the Prey series and the Virgil Flowers series

Any books by Harlan Coben

Khalid Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner

Cupcake Brown, A Piece of Cake

Andy Weir, “not science fiction but science plausibility”

Danelle Harmon Series

Caleb Carr -  The Alienist.

Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders/Susan Ryeland Series.  Also Horowitz & Hawthorne series

Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe books, later written by Robert Goldsborough

Ruth Ware

Stuart Woods, Stone Barrington series.  #61 just published.

Tess Gerritson

Lisa Scottoline.

Michael Connelly Bosch books

Lee Child Reacher series

James Lee Burke Robicheaux

Patricia Cornell Scarpetta books, Andy Brazil series

Jonathan Kellerman Delaware books

Greg Iles

Jeffrey Deaver Lincoln Rhymes series

Nelson DeMille

John Grisham

Scott Turow

Pat Conroy...more family drama than mystery

The Outlander series

Brad Meltzer

Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six (same author)

I just finished American Dirt and loved it so much I bought two more of her books.  

Iris Johansen (EveDuncan series, and others).

Colin Dexter Inspector Morse series

David Baldacci—Amos Decker, Atlee Pine and John Puller series

JA Jance

Karen Rose

Carol Goodman, The Stranger Behind You, plus multiple other books.  Contemporary suspenseful fiction.

Chris Carter -  Robert Hunter Series -   I just started #5 One by One

 Jefferson Bass -  Body Farm Series -       Based on the Body Farm at UT Knoxville.    

Joe R. Lansdale -  Hap and Leonard -  probably one of the most politically incorrect novel you will ever read - two Red Necks as they take justice into their own hands.   Keeps me in stitches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[venicecruiser]

As usual, great photos!  Very much enjoying your report.

 

Claudia

[kpark895]

Jim, have you tried/been able to get an affogato at cafe al bacio yet?  I forgot when I was last on the Summit, and am hoping to get one in September.

[FLCruiser97]

7 hours ago, Scottishclover said:

Really enjoying your posts so far. I love your photos of Halifax. You have a good eye and always photograph a nice variety of local life. 
 

Just off the Apex, my first Celebrity cruise, and when faced with the choice of cakes at Cafe al Bacio,  I went with the lemon tart on your recommendation😋Thanks for the tip! 

My favorite. Cafe al Bacio lemon tarts are so good.

[silkismom]

GeorgiaPeach--oh dear, I've copied/pasted your book list--don't think I'll live long enough to read all of them.

[Jim_Iain]

Passenger count.  
 

Passengers   2,060

Zenith’s.               16

 

B2B.                  226

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

58 minutes ago, kpark895 said:

Jim, have you tried/been able to get an affogato at cafe al bacio yet?  I forgot when I was last on the Summit, and am hoping to get one in September.

Not yet.   Noticed no longer on menu but will ask when next there

[dleighb]

We are on the same ship, but being non-elite in the "cheap seats", a nightmare experience getting to Newark (not the cruise's fault), and packing for a cold three weeks, I think we are having a slightly different experience. Not bad necessarily, but not quite as amazing. 🙂 Let me sum up (in hindsight, the summary got a bit long).

 

We were among those with messed up drink packages and stood in that line. Not a huge deal.

MDR

We've definitely seen this is a new crew. By last night, we could also see a lot of improvement in our MDR staff, so I think it is a matter of getting them all used to working with each other and getting into the swing of things. Back to the Prime Rib comment from above, we are ordering up. The first night, I ordered medium rare (as is proper for all red meat), and that sucker was definitely in the "stick a bandaid on it and send it back out to graze" category. We said something to our Maitre D, and he told us to order a step up in the dining room. It feels very wrong to be ordering Medium instead of Medium Rare, but it seems to be working. We are a little curious about the "How to Grill a Steak" seminar today. Are they going to teach it the Summit Way or the right way? Granted, we're from Texas. We're very serious about our meat!

 

BARS

The drinkers in the group have not been having great success. Out of stock on many of the things they want to try. We also are having a difficult time finding a bartender who can do actual mixology on cocktails. We have had that on past cruises. For example, if I say I want a sweet, fruity cocktail, they give me a blank stare. If I don't know the name of it, forget it. And even if I do, it is likely they won't have have the stock that they used to. But there are still drinks on board, and our group is still happily enjoying them, so it's not like anyone is going to go into detox or anything from lack of alcohol!

 

CABIN

We are in Concierge Class, and no real issues with the cabin. It is quite lovely. Storage space has been nice. Decent room to move around and the shower is adequate size for a ship. I have definitely squeezed myself into smaller! Our attendant is significantly better than our last attendant on our AUS/NZ cruise pre-covid, and he has been stellar so far. (Granted, that wouldn't take much as on that cruise, we put our DND on the door for most of the trip just to keep him out of our room.)

 

BUFFET

We're getting the lay of the land for the buffet. Everything seemed all over the place, and we couldn't really find anything. Today as we were leaving we saw the map of the stations at the entrance before the hand washing station (which I really dig). That would have been helpful for us to have noticed previously, but now we know where it is and have taken a photo to study, we will be better prepared for the rest of the trip. The garlic fish yesterday for lunch was one of the best things I've eaten on the ship. Not overcooked, flavorful. If that shows up again, I'm getting a larger plate. We found the "afternoon tea" in the Oceanview cafe too. But it's not all together. The sandwiches are at one station, the scones at another, the desserts at another, and naturally, the tea is the standard Bigelow options unless you go to Cafe Al Bacio first. Still. quite nice, and the scones are tasty.

 

Jim/Iain, on Monday, I was still so worn out from our Saturday travel debacle, that I didn't do my normal photo tour of the ship. I see from your photos and grey clouds today, that I chose poorly. Your photos are great. Also, you did the same tour that we did in Halifax (now I know to look out for that green jacket), but being from the flat plains of Texas, the humidity was killing me by the top of that Citadel climb! Looking at your photos, I see several that I should have gotten for my scrapbook, but we were so done by the time we hit the boardwalk, we just headed back to the ship. I think I need to hang with you so I can get true scrapbook worthy photos!

 

[Wink87]

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

 

This lovely person who is aged to perfection. Jim or Ian?

This is Lain.

[5:00_Somewhere]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Not yet.   Noticed no longer on menu but will ask when next there

 

FWIW, the affogato wasn't actually on the menu when a Cafe al Bacio barista first recommended it to us on the Summit a year ago, and again on the Reflection last March. They said, just ask. 😉 

Edited August 10, 2022 by 5:00_Somewhere

[az4ship]

3 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@Anita Latte and Others,

 

Here is the most recent update, with your suggestion added.

 

 

Georges Simenon Series 

Gideon Oliver -Aaron  Elkins  series 

Louise Penny’s Gamache series.

Dorothy L. Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series

Any books by Josephine Tey

Barbara Hambly - Benjamin January series, if you like historical mysteries!

JD Robb books and Robert B Parker

The Scarapetta series by Patricia Cornwell 

MC Beaton books 

Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley Series.  

Donna Leon’s Brunetti series. 

Any books by Tana French

Any books by P. D. James.  

Greg Isles, a writer from Natchez, MS.

Snowblind” by Ragnar Jonasson.  (Book 1 of 6 - DarkIceland)

Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger.  Also non-series books.

Brad Thor

JK Rowling (author of Harry Potter series), writing under the name Robert Galbraith -- the    

     Cormoran Strike series.

Andrea Camilleri -- the Inspector Montalbano series.

Helen Fields -- the Perfect series.

Karin Slaughter -- the Will Trent series

Daniel Silva - Gabriel Allon series

James Crumley —should be read in order

Winston Graham—Poldark series

Janet Evanovich—Stephanie Plum series.  Fox and Hare series.

Anything by Tim Dorsey or Carl Hiassen 

Old Archie comic books and Mad Magazine. 🙂

Ian Rankin’s Rebus series

Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks series

Nevada Barr’s National Parks series

Anything by Anne Cleeves

Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes - current times

Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry - Victorian era

 (and if you are planning a trip to Egypt check out theAmelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters)

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.  4 books.

The Longmire books by Craig Johnson.  Also suggest the fantastic series on Netflix.

David McCullough 'Path Between the Seas' (Panama Canal)

Caroline Graham Inspector Barnaby series. 

John Sandford , the Prey series and the Virgil Flowers series

Any books by Harlan Coben

Khalid Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner

Cupcake Brown, A Piece of Cake

Andy Weir, “not science fiction but science plausibility”

Danelle Harmon Series

Caleb Carr -  The Alienist.

Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders/Susan Ryeland Series.  Also Horowitz & Hawthorne series

Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe books, later written by Robert Goldsborough

Ruth Ware

Stuart Woods, Stone Barrington series.  #61 just published.

Tess Gerritson

Lisa Scottoline.

Michael Connelly Bosch books

Lee Child Reacher series

James Lee Burke Robicheaux

Patricia Cornell Scarpetta books

Jonathan Kellerman Delaware books

Greg Iles

Jeffrey Deaver Lincoln Rhymes series

Nelson DeMille

John Grisham

Scott Turow

Pat Conroy...more family drama than mystery

The Outlander series

Brad Meltzer

Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six (same author)

I just finished American Dirt and loved it so much I bought two more of her books.  

Iris Johansen (EveDuncan series, and others).

Colin Dexter Inspector Morse series

David Baldacci—Amos Decker, Atlee Pine and John Puller series

JA Jance

Karen Rose

Carol Goodman, The Stranger Behind You,  plus other books.  Contemporary suspenseful fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

I would add Robert Dugnoi, the Tracey Crosswhite series.