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

[Benthayer Gonbak]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Quick 35 minute ride and traffic was heavy but the driver was able to use the HOV-3 lanes.  
 

looks like noonish is quiet at SFO. They have a Priority luggage drop off so maybe 2 minutes. TSA was low staffed and took about 5 minutes to go through. 

 

Learned that United gives free Lounge use to Business class on the SFO to New York airports. Was planning on using some of my free passes so was surprised. 
 

 

 

Several have had free lounges coast to coast, just after United denied us because the tickets weren’t together although we were checkin clear through at their agents offer.  Glad to hear it’s working. 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

4 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

Jim, I guess I missed it earlier but what type of test kits did you use and where did you get them?

Thanks

 

on point was reported to accept the free test from the government  They charge for the monitoring abandon documentation.   It will be interesting to read what have actually succeeded.  

[Benthayer Gonbak]

27 minutes ago, misha1 said:

Jim_lain, you have reassured me alot as we re-enter the cruising world from our Covid cocoon.  Safe travels to you both!

Weve travelled for 2 different cruises, 1 open jaw trip overseas.  September will be my first flight where the whole airplane doesn’t have to be vaccinated.  That’s a bit more scary, however we’ve done the 8 hr flights with N95s so I’m guessing 2+ hours each way is doable. Both cruises were lower passenger loads.  
 

supposedly the terminal is the most dangerous because ventilation is poorer than an aircraft and the crowding is moving around.  

[effinaround]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We are going way north to avoid the thunderstorms but shouldn’t affect arrival times much.

I watched you fly right over Toronto at FL370 but you were on the wrong side of the aircraft to see me raise my beer stein and wave while on my front porch 😉 

 

Have a great trip guys and I am looking forward to seeing your adventure in words and pictures. 

[effinaround]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We are going way north to avoid the thunderstorms but shouldn’t affect arrival times much.

I watched you fly right over Toronto at FL370 but you were on the wrong side of the aircraft to see me raise my beer stein and wave while on my front porch 😉 

 

Have a great trip guys and I am looking forward to seeing your adventure in words and pictures. 

[effinaround]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We are going way north to avoid the thunderstorms but shouldn’t affect arrival times much.

I watched you fly right over Toronto at FL370 but you were on the wrong side of the aircraft to see me raise my beer stein and wave while on my front porch 😉 

 

Have a great trip guys and I am looking forward to seeing your adventure in words and pictures. 

[nz1]

@Jim_Iain have a wonderful trip! Will be following along post by post!

 

Also, as an avgeek I appreciate all of the flight-related pics! 😁✈️💺

 

Cheers,

Brendan

[Jim_Iain]

The pilot and ATC is doing a great job, giving us a smooth ride and flying around the front line. 
 

lucky we had a snack before arrival

 

Warning that all inbound flight on Gate Hold until 10 Pm.   I’m glad we worked our way in. 

[mhoffrob]

15 hours ago, jimbri said:

I've been using Overdrive through my library but they are changing to Libby. I've enjoyed using Overdrive so it's good to know you like Libby.  Thanks.

Libby and OVerdrive are the same product - they've simply change the name and the look of the app.  You'll still love it!

 

[Jim_Iain]

The skies were spectacular near the storm. 
 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Newark is a mess lots of flights cancelled and the dumped the cancelled flight luggage on our carousel even though about 10 were open.  
 

Took an hour to get luggage.  Finally caught a airport shuttle after waiting 45 minutes.  Ugh. 
 

now settled in and relaxation begins. 

[juanrod]

8 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Newark is a mess lots of flights cancelled and the dumped the cancelled flight luggage on our carousel even though about 10 were open.  
 

Took an hour to get luggage.  Finally caught a airport shuttle after waiting 45 minutes.  Ugh. 
 

now settled in and relaxation begins. 

Glad u made it DH and I at dinner where discussing if your luggage would be found and he said we should for our upcoming edge trip put travel stickers all over our luggage for all the places the two of of you have traveled.  😆

[Redking]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Newark is a mess lots of flights cancelled and the dumped the cancelled flight luggage on our carousel even though about 10 were open.  
 

Took an hour to get luggage.  Finally caught a airport shuttle after waiting 45 minutes.  Ugh. 
 

now settled in and relaxation begins. 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Redking

[Oville]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Newark is a mess lots of flights cancelled and the dumped the cancelled flight luggage on our carousel even though about 10 were open.  
 

Took an hour to get luggage.  Finally caught a airport shuttle after waiting 45 minutes.  Ugh. 
 

now settled in and relaxation begins. 

Welcome to the Northeast Jim, can’t wait to follow your travels.

[Purplsmurf]

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Finished test and both Negative. I think I like OnPoint better than eMed.   It is nice seeing the tester and perfect English. 
 

Total test was quick.  I had results before we hung up

I agree! I told you it was so easy and no long wait. Definitely the way to go! Have great cruises!

[hcat]

7 hours ago, mhoffrob said:

Libby and OVerdrive are the same product - they've simply change the name and the look of the app.  You'll still love it!

 

Thanks.. have to figure out how to install on my tablet. They did Overdrive at tge Library yrs ago.  

[hcat]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

The skies were spectacular near the storm. 
 

 

 

Amazing.  Glad you are on your way.

[lexmiller]

11 hours ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

 

Several have had free lounges coast to coast, just after United denied us because the tickets weren’t together although we were checkin clear through at their agents offer.  Glad to hear it’s working. 

We flew First Class on United this June, Newark to Anchorage - no access to the lounge!  We were disappointed.  Only a very few of the coast to coast routes are given access to the lounge, and even though Anchorage is quite the flight from Newark, that route does not qualify.  😲

[lexmiller]

14 hours ago, Redking said:

@lexmillerwhat a fabulous cruise. I truly hope NZ sticks to its move away from an elimination policy. It served us well in the early days of the pandemic. I shouldn't speak for all, but many of us in NZ feel that its time to move forwards. I'm not quite sure what the reaction would be if we moved in to another lock down situation 🤔 There's an election next year so that adds another dimension.

Looks like your well across the situation but here's a link to the latest info for cruise ship passengers:

https://covid19.govt.nz/international-travel/travel-to-new-zealand-by-sea/advice-for-cruise-ship-passengers/

 

Seems there's a few gaps in there regarding what the cruise lines will require and only they can fill that gap. I think first ships are due in October. Eclipse is scheduled end of October and we sail on her in January.

 

I have everything crossed for you that all will be well.

 

Anyway, hijack of the thread over and back to Jim.

Thank you so much for the info!  I have seen you also on the NZ board, so hello again!  If all goes well, we will be boarding the Eclipse on March 26.  Sounds like Jim will also be heading to NZ, I see you asked if he will be on the Edge.  We have been thinking of changing from the Eclipse to the Edge as the itineraries are very similar, however we are keen on the trans-Pacific aspect, sailing back to North America, and it doesn't seem that the Edge will be doing that.  

And yes, I am following the roll calls for the first Celebrity ship to hit NZ, in October.  Let's hope all goes well!  Thank you again!

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, Redking said:

So true Jim. I'm biased, but you'll love NZ. Are you booked on the Edge?

Yes.   We will be on Edge as the last two segments of the much touted
"World Cruise"     We are only doing the Singapore to Sydney and Sydney to New Zealand and back to Sydney (just before Christmas) 

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, misha1 said:

Jim_lain, you have reassured me alot as we re-enter the cruising world from our Covid cocoon.  Safe travels to you both!

Thanks much.    I'm hoping the next Vax that is designed for the Omicron Variant may well be a game changer.  This strain whether vaxed or not, masked or not doesn't seem to care.  If Biden can catch it as frequently as he' s tested. shows how virulent it is.

 

I was really concerned with out first cruise back almost a year ago.  Once I was aboard I was back in love.    Don't know the passenger count yet but the Cruises are sold out.  I expect it to be so different than the cruise with 50-60 percent passenger load.

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Weve travelled for 2 different cruises, 1 open jaw trip overseas.  September will be my first flight where the whole airplane doesn’t have to be vaccinated.  That’s a bit more scary, however we’ve done the 8 hr flights with N95s so I’m guessing 2+ hours each way is doable. Both cruises were lower passenger loads.  
 

supposedly the terminal is the most dangerous because ventilation is poorer than an aircraft and the crowding is moving around.  

 

Agree with the risk both in the Terminal ans well as plan.    We we about the only ones masked for both.   None of the crew and few of the passengers chose to mask up.   Another risk might be the shuttle to the AirPort.   Totally packed but 80% crew.

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, nz1 said:

@Jim_Iain have a wonderful trip! Will be following along post by post!

 

Also, as an avgeek I appreciate all of the flight-related pics! 😁✈️💺

 

Cheers,

Brendan

I voluntarily hung up my wings but at times I'm tempted to run down and get my FAA Physical and do some flying.    It is incredible how relaxing it is to be up there all alone and just watching the world go by .

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

I agree! I told you it was so easy and no long wait. Definitely the way to go! Have great cruises!

The guy who tested us was really great.   The hardest part with the test kits we had was to get the little vile out of the tightly plastic wrapped outer cover. 

 

He even made sure we had the test results before he hung up.   The e-mail had a pdf for each of us and later we received the web link. 

[Jim_Iain]

47 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

We flew First Class on United this June, Newark to Anchorage - no access to the lounge!  We were disappointed.  Only a very few of the coast to coast routes are given access to the lounge, and even though Anchorage is quite the flight from Newark, that route does not qualify.  😲

I had already scanned my passes when the agent realized we were in Business Class.   She was able to credit them back to my account.    She said the only United legs that qualify are SFO to JFK an EWR and LA to JFK and EWR.