Live From the Summit, 8/7 to 8/31, from an Aqua passenger viewpoint

Ken the cruiser · August 18, 2022

Our excursion to Vigur Island was both a fun and informative excursion, besides the fact we went over and came back in a boat where everyone fit inside a heated area with seats, if they wanted to. Since it was still chilly with a light drizzle, we definitely found seats inside.

However, on the bright side, the rain stopped right before we got to the island until right before we were ready to leave! 😁

On the island we learned that 80% of the eider down worldwide is collected in Iceland and runs nowadays around $1,000 per kilo! The island is also a nesting area for a wide variety of birds, to include eider ducks, puffins, arctic terns to name a few. Any you guessed it, I took some pictures of them, some better than others! 😂

As we took off from the port, we saw some sheep grazing on the side of the mountain.

My next picture shows that sometimes my iPhone camera has a mind of its own! 😂

It was about a 30 minutes ride to Vigur Island.

We were greeted by a bunch of arctic terns!

Then it was time to learn about Eider down and the Eider ducks it comes from

These were baby Eider chicks

And this was big daddy I presume! 😂

Here’s what a pile of Eiderdown looks like.

Then we walked around the area and just checked it all out, especially the different types of bird wildlife along with Bobby, the resident harbor seal!

The bird in the distance is the first Puffin we’ve seen! I know, it’s a little fuzzy. 😁

This was a raven feasting on a local catch, in this case it was an arctic tern.

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Here’s Bobby, the local harbor seal, or at least his head as he never came out of the water!

A faint rainbow off in the distance

A cool looking black bird with white wings that had the catch of the day in his mouth. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch what type of bird it was.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

trump · August 18, 2022

What time did you eat dinner most nights? Just curious, since you always seemed to make the 6:30 pm show. Thank you.

asnaleah · August 18, 2022

Great photos!

Ken the cruiser · August 18, 2022

This evening after another wonderful dinner in Blu, it was off to the production show, Soundtrack.

Then we decided to pass on the Yes-No Game Show in the Rendezvous Lounge as it was pretty crowded when we got there and we have seen it before.

Ken the cruiser · August 18, 2022

During dinner we also headed out towards Reykjavik, Iceland for a tomorrow morning “transition day” arrival. Here are a few pictures just before we left Isafjordur.

And this is what it looks like now that we’re back on the high seas. Something tells me we won’t be seeing any Northern Lights tonight. 😂

Edited August 18, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

Mark_T · August 18, 2022

38 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

A cool looking black bird with white wings that had the catch of the day in his mouth. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch what type of bird it was.

Looks like a black guillemot, lots of them around there, can't be 100% sure though...

Ken the cruiser · August 18, 2022

Learned something new today regarding the “Daily” otherwise known as the Celebrity Today. On the last evening before transition day (or debarkation day), they do not deliver one to your cabin. So the one I’m posting here tonight is the one for those boarding the ship tomorrow, so you won’t see and the morning breakfast times.

Ken the cruiser · August 18, 2022

42 minutes ago, trump said:

What time did you eat dinner most nights? Just curious, since you always seemed to make the 6:30 pm show. Thank you.

5 pm when the Blu doors open. However, on the next leg there will be 4 of us, so it will be interesting to see if we can still make the early show. However, tomorrow’s shows in the theater start at 6:45 pm and 8:45 pm, so it will be interesting to see it this is the “new” show times for this coming cruise.

Sox Fan Cruiser · August 18, 2022

5 hours ago, lexmiller said:

Haha, I am sure you saw my post on Jim and Iain's live thread! Alejandro is on the Apex now. He was on the Millennium in June with us in Alaska. He was going on vacation and was hoping to be assigned to the Infinity, because of her South American itineraries as he would have been able to bring his family on board. But at least for now, he is on the Apex. I don't know who will replace Rich. We board the Summit on Aug 31, and will leave with Rich on Sept 11. We have never cruised with Rich so we are looking forward to it.

Now I’m confused. Was that a typo? You say Rich is on the Apex but you say you board the Summit on the 31st and he leaves with you on the 11th. I’m on the Summit on the 11th so interested.

takemewithyou · August 18, 2022

1 hour ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Now I’m confused. Was that a typo? You say Rich is on the Apex but you say you board the Summit on the 31st and he leaves with you on the 11th. I’m on the Summit on the 11th so interested.

Alejandro, who I asked about, is on Apex.

Rich is on Summit and leaves 9/11.

Damian is possibly replacing him…….that is what person mentioned.

Tee & Chilli · August 18, 2022

I’ve been secretly following along. Excellent review and pictures.

Sox Fan Cruiser · August 18, 2022

23 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Alejandro, who I asked about, is on Apex.

Rich is on Summit and leaves 9/11.

Damian is possibly replacing him…….that is what person mentioned.

Thank you! I thought I was following and then I got confused.

I would love to find out who is officially joining on the 11th.

lexmiller · August 18, 2022

3 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Thank you! I thought I was following and then I got confused.

I would love to find out who is officially joining on the 11th.

Thank you, @takemewithyou, I was just going to reply, I thought I had been very clear - so I appreciate you backing me up.

gerelmx · August 19, 2022

Good morning, boarding day. Celebrity Summit is arriving to Reykjavik

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

Well, thank goodness we got that resolved. But I have to ask, we like Loren, Kelly, Rich and Eddy Jenkins, not to mention Dan France who just jumped ship over to the Princess Regal this summer! What makes Alejandro so special as we’ve heard his name before here on CC?

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

We have arrived!!

upwarduk · August 19, 2022

21 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But I have to ask, we like Loren, Kelly, Rich and Eddy Jenkins, not to mention Dan France

We have just had Eddy Jenkins as CD on Silhouette. I was very impressed, especially with his ‘10 things you don’t know about’ lectures.

He delivered from centre stage and didn’t hug a lectern to read notes.
Some were 45 minutes long, some an hour.

10 Celebrity Cruise calls ( we had been to 8 out of the 10, not Galapagos or S.America)

10 things you didn’t know about Pop stars

10 things you didn’t know about Art

10 things you didn’t know about Wales.

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

We first met him on a 21 B2B in 2017 which included a TA. He was the CD and Jayne Curry was one of the special guest entertainers, who was a total riot the whole cruise and got us hooked on cruising with Celebrity when the right itineraries came along! 😁

Norwaylady · August 19, 2022

44 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Well, thank goodness we got that resolved. But I have to ask, we like Loren, Kelly, Rich and Eddy Jenkins, not to mention Dan France who just jumped ship over to the Princess Regal this summer! What makes Alejandro so special as we’ve heard his name before here on CC?

Well, I can just say from our experience. Rick, Damian, Sue, Alejandro and Giuseppe (the crazy Italian) they all do a great job(there also others, but some have changed cruise line...). Im very happy when they are onboard.

It makes a huge difference for my cruise how the spirit and entertainment is onboard.

If the cruise director is "weak" it affect the entire entertainment team and the entire "entertainment" offer onboard.

On the 2x Voyager I did in May, the cruise director was non- existing. It was so visible and really not a good experience. Its the first time in history we really was unhappy for entertainment. So it makes a huge difference for your sailing if they are on the ball or long-gone.....

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

We BTW are not alone here in Reykjavik! This probably explains why there were not more excursions made available for the 204 B2B passengers onboard, as even the city highlights tour quickly sold out when it became available a few days ago.

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

18 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

Well, I can just say from our experience. Rick, Damian, Sue, Alejandro and Giuseppe (the crazy Italian) they all do a great job(there also others, but some have changed cruise line...). Im very happy when they are onboard.

It makes a huge difference for my cruise how the spirit and entertainment is onboard.

If the cruise director is "weak" it affect the entire entertainment team and the entire "entertainment" offer onboard.

On the 2x Voyager I did in May, the cruise director was non- existing. It was so visible and really not a good experience. Its the first time in history we really was unhappy for entertainment. So it makes a huge difference for your sailing if they are on the ball or long-gone.....

I agree. We recently had one CD, Steve, on a B2B cruise in February that just did the bare minimum whereas the Entertainment Director, Patrick, was the life of the party and made the cruise much more enjoyable when he was around. 😁

BTW we’re just waiting to go on the city highlights tour at 10 today, so we’re just sitting here in the cabin, as it’s too cold and wet to sit out on the balcony, after a wonderful breakfast in Blu. We’re going to try to get our new Sea Passes at 9 up in the Sky Lounge, so we’ll have that issue resolved before reboarding the ship after the tour.

IWillGoAnywhere26 · August 19, 2022

9 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Alejandro, who I asked about, is on Apex.

Rich is on Summit and leaves 9/11.

Damian is possibly replacing him…….that is what person mentioned.

Rich told me yesterday that Sarah is replacing him.

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

Blue sky is starting to appear and the winds remain light, so hopefully we’ll have nice weather, relatively speaking, for our city highlights tour and for those embarking on the cruise today! 🤞🤞

JeanieC,Aston · August 19, 2022

Hi Ken

Be prepared!!!

Edited August 19, 2022 by JeanieC,Aston

Ken the cruiser · August 19, 2022

After we left a little after 10 am, it turned out to be a beautiful day, especially since most of the 3.5 hours was in a bus, with only one stop! But for $69 per person, we felt it was a pretty good deal! 😁

But for those folks waiting for a taxi after getting their luggage, they weren’t having such a good time. From our estimate a taxi was coming every minute or two while we were sitting in the bus waiting to start our drive around Reykjavik.