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

[WeBcruisingMN]

Bon voyage (soon) 🚢⚓️ Hope you have a wondrous B3B, many spectacular ports await you….let me just say that I am looking forward to your P I C T U R E S!

 

You have an eye for photography, and I haven’t found anyone else on CC who better tells the story of their cruise through BOTH words and pictures….happy sailing to you and Iain 😊

[SkystheLimit]

Can't wait for your play by play!  We love Iceland! See it's rumbling again.  The locals told us last year they were finally happy to see the volcano erupt.  It stopped the multiple daily earthquakes for awhile and they could get some sleep.  We have this cruise booked next year so for now we will live vicariously thru you and Iain. Bon voyage and safe travels.

[LMaxwell]

should prove interesting to follow along.  safe travels 

[ridgecrest]

Jim,

 

My DW and I will be joining you on your first two legs.  We are very excited as this is our first Celebrity cruise.  Hopefully, our paths will cross.  Have a great cruise!

[h20cruzer]

Very excited for another. So glad you recovered from Covid.I did a BKB on Radiance of the seas in May, don’t have another cruised booked till October on Princess Sky TA out of Southampton. I have to say Princess air is much cheaper than Celebrity air on the cruises I have looked at. On my trip to LHR paging $1119.00 for business class, I thought that was a steal. I use the flight google air all the  time to track prices so easy to use.
looking forward to your pictures and adventures.

Norma

[PANIN36]

Will definitely be following !!!

 

Thank you for starting this live report Jim. Wishing you and Iain a fantastic and healthy trip.

 

As a relatively cruising newbie, I valued all your tips and advise whether you are off or onboard a ship.

And, as WeBcruisingMN mentioned, I will also look forward to your wonderful photography of the trip.

 

Happy sailing.

Vien

[FeebeeH]

Like many others, wishing you and Iain a stress-free and (fairly) uneventful cruises compared to your previously cancelled cruise.

[abbydancer2003]

Glad you started this and greetings from the Eclipse, where I didn't have to use my COR to get on the ship.  I have close personal friends on all 3 legs, one set on the first two (considered booking with them but instead did the 1 transatlantic on the Silhouette in October) and another on the Canada New England.

 

We were on the Summit last year when she first started service, and loved it so much we went back three months later.  The wonderful retreat crew we had have scattered to the winds.

 

I hope you have as good a time as we did.  In fact, I booked another cruise with DH next year so he can enjoy the ship.

[kasijab]

Hi Jim

Just popping in to say hello, and that I will be following closely 🙂 
You were kind enough to give me some of the suite 'goodies' whilst on Silhouette in April which I very much appreciated. Sadly, my husband passed away 3 weeks after we returned from that trip, so I will be getting my cruise fix vicariously through your good self for a while yet. 

Have a great trip. 

[jimbri]

So looking forward to your newest adventure.

[vickykay]

Can’t wait to read along!  Always enjoy your live reviews.  Enjoy.

[lexmiller]

We will be joining you for your final leg, August 31 - Sept. 11.  We won't be in Retreat Class but I do hope to see you somewhere on the ship!  I feel like the two of you are Cruise Critic celebrities!  Will be interesting to hear how the back to back testing is handled, just because l am curious if the passengers must do the testing the ship provides en masse on the final full day of each cruise or if it is ok, if someone would prefer to test privately using the Binax Emed tests and present the proof for each cruise.  Safe passage and thank you for your posts! 

[Surfguyxxx]

Wow, so much to catch up on in the last 24 hours.  Looking forward to hearing about your adventures boys.  My Norway/Iceland/Greenland cruise was just cancelled for next year and am only doing Iceland/Greenland now.  Guess I'll just have to book another cruise 😉🤣😎

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Hi Jim

We are also doing an Arctic cruise this year but on the Voyager of the Seas in September, getting Covid on a cruise only makes your strong right 😉

We have a overnight in Reykjavík, doing Blue Lagoon first night and a Golden Circle tour day2 

We also have a day tour in Akureyri book from a member on the roll call

we figure we will just around in Qaqortoq and  Nuuk 

Will be very interested to your pixs 😁

Getting the 2nd booster is great move , we got it before the Apex TA. My wife test positive, and she only had a runny noise . Still waiting for refund for her time in quarantine 🙄

Mark

Edited August 4, 2022 by Ex-Airbalancer

[5:00_Somewhere]

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Glad you are aboard and can be a great resources for the folks joining the 3rd segments in Boston.  

 

We were last on Summit in 2019 on a B2B and had the opportunity to visit your lovely city.  There is so much history to see but also so much not historical that was a joy to visit.

 

Our first cruise we walked the complete Freedom Trail which included everything from the U.S.S. Constitution and Beacon Hill to Paul Revere's house.   Especially loved Boston Common such a beautiful park.

 

I grew up in my teens in Longmeadow, Mass.  so still have a bit of Massachusetts in me

 

Thanks. I'm also looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip, as I'm looking forward to doing our first TA in the not too distant future, and also want to visit Iceland.

Our first cruise on the Summit was also in 2019, and then our first cruise post-Covid was on her again last August, just after the restart. There were only 320 passengers on that cruise, which was a little eerie, but also pretty amazing, especially after going nowhere and going nothing for nearly 2 years. She's a lovely ship, with a fantastic crew both times. Although, like you, I do miss some of the other features and venues of the larger X ships. 

Glad you enjoyed Boston. I'm originally from the Pacific Northwest, but moved here for Grad School, fell in love with it and never left. That was 30-some years ago, and I still enjoy it to this day. One of my favorite things is just walking through the Public Garden and the Common, and down along the Esplanade. It never gets old to me.

 

Thanks again, and happy sailing. 

 

p.s. - you're probably already up on this, but the one thing we found a slight "challenge" about the ArriveCAN app last spring when we cruised Alaska was figuring out which pier to use when it asks for an address. When you enter the city, it offers several suggested options - at least for Victoria - and we only knew to research the topic in advance (so we could fill it out prior to boarding) from people here on CC, so thought I'd pass that along in case you didn't already know. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by 5:00_Somewhere

[asnaleah]

13 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

I just managed to upgrade my SS to a RS on both my fall Summit cruises in order to avoid that damn tub.  Sorry for those who had to cancel, but I was grateful for the alert from my roll call buddy about availability.  Those tubs are an accident waiting to happen!

I’m hoping to upgrade from our CS on Silhouette for exactly that reason. At 4’11”, I have to sit on the edge of the tub and swing around to stand up. If it’s rocking and rolling at sea, a sponge bath or a trip to the spa is my work-around.

[venicecruiser]

So happy to see you are cruising again!  Hopefully you will both stay healthy for your entire trip!  Looking forward to your amazing "live from".

 

Claudia

[ohiojohn]

Well this was a surprise.

 

https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/nature_and_travel/2022/08/03/the_volcanic_eruption_not_deemed_a_threat_to_aviati/

[GeorgiaPeach51]

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Welcome and thank you for taking the time to post.   Please come back and post often.   We usually have a lot of fun and all are more than welcome.    I'm hoping that Joni @GeorgiaPeach51 will pop in.   She keeps a really good list of books that people recommend.    I have about 50 of them loaded on my phone as Audio Books right time.  

@Jim_Iain  Morning!  I do indeed have the list and it has been updated recently.  I have not had a chance to read this whole thread yet so will go ahead and post the list as it is, and as always, will add to it any responses or suggestions.  😄  
 

If anyone had additions to the list if you will put @GeorgiaPeach51 in your post, I will receive a message from CC and that will help me keep track of any posts I need to read for updates.

 

Joanie

 

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

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by GeorgiaPeach51

[GeorgiaPeach51]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes I did renew my Library Card at two local libraries.  Thanks for the great recommendations.   I've been using Hoopla quite a bit and much more convenient than i ever imaged.   I haven't yet looked at Libby or Cloud Library. 

 

There are so many resources at the library it's incredible to re-introduce myself.

FWIW, I use Libby and it is just fantastic, IMO.  Have saved a boatload of $ not having to purchase kindle books.  I highly recommend it.

 

Joanie

[bjahil47]

44 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@Jim_Iain  Morning!  I do indeed have the list and it has been updated recently.  I have not had a chance to read this whole thread yet so will go ahead and post the list as it is, and as always, will add to it any responses or suggestions.  😄  
 

If anyone had additions to the list if you will put @GeorgiaPeach51 in your post, I will receive a message from CC and that will help me keep track of any posts I need to read for updates.

 

Joanie

 

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

 

@GeorgiaPeach51, have you read Karen Rose books?  I have read them all!  They are excellent!  
Bonnie

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, ridgecrest said:

Jim,

 

My DW and I will be joining you on your first two legs.  We are very excited as this is our first Celebrity cruise.  Hopefully, our paths will cross.  Have a great cruise!

 

Look forward to it.    It will be interesting to see how many B2B's are on this cruise.   It is a perfect cruise for a B2B and I have seen a good number.  

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Very excited for another. So glad you recovered from Covid.I did a BKB on Radiance of the seas in May, don’t have another cruised booked till October on Princess Sky TA out of Southampton. I have to say Princess air is much cheaper than Celebrity air on the cruises I have looked at. On my trip to LHR paging $1119.00 for business class, I thought that was a steal. I use the flight google air all the  time to track prices so easy to use.
looking forward to your pictures and adventures.

Norma

 

Norma -  great seeing you.      I agree with you that a $1,119 Business class is a deal with the way rates look right now.       Google flights is a great way to find those one off sales.  

 

I've been searching for flights to Singapore and Sydney even though we are way out from opening for our dates but they are obscene -  $3,500 one way is currently looking like a steal.   Saving up miles for these cruises.

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, PANIN36 said:

Will definitely be following !!!

 

Thank you for starting this live report Jim. Wishing you and Iain a fantastic and healthy trip.

 

As a relatively cruising newbie, I valued all your tips and advise whether you are off or onboard a ship.

And, as WeBcruisingMN mentioned, I will also look forward to your wonderful photography of the trip.

 

Happy sailing.

Vien

 

Welcome Vien -   Always enjoy hearing from new cruise addicts.   I still remember my first cruise and how I didn't know anything about cruising.   CC came to my rescue and answered all my questions both stupid ones as well as the age old tipping questions (we use to use envelopes delivered to  your room).

 

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Glad you started this and greetings from the Eclipse, where I didn't have to use my COR to get on the ship.  I have close personal friends on all 3 legs, one set on the first two (considered booking with them but instead did the 1 transatlantic on the Silhouette in October) and another on the Canada New England.

 

We were on the Summit last year when she first started service, and loved it so much we went back three months later.  The wonderful retreat crew we had have scattered to the winds.

 

I hope you have as good a time as we did.  In fact, I booked another cruise with DH next year so he can enjoy the ship.

Abby --  I  had a flashback yesterday  of when we met for a coffee with at Starbucks in Mountain View.  I got my COR's just in case and have an appointment with OnPoint Testing tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM