Jim_Iain - Solstice LIVE Mexico Riveria B2B - December 3 and 11

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Yasss!  I’m so looking forward to going along on another Jim and Iain cruise!  
 

And this one will be especially helpful as I’m doing the Mexican Riviera cruise on Solstice in March (but with Catalina and Cabo as ports). I’ll have to make a stop for live review reading wine on my way home from work today!

 

That passenger count sounds heavenly to me, especially just after coming off the nearly full Beyond.

 

Safe, smooth, healthy travels and thank you   so much for taking us along!

Charla -  you really crack me up.  Iain said I drive him to drink but didn't realize I had that effect on others.

 

Living in California you wouldn't think we would be so excited about this cruise.  Iain's never been to Cabo and neither of us has been to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan.    Luckily with a B2B we can learn from the first cruise and do things we missed on the second.

 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, scrapcreator said:

Welcome to Southern California. We've never sailed out of California on Celebrity but we'd love to take a Pacific Coastal cruise someday. Maybe a Mexican Riviera if the price is right. The first Celebrity ship we sailed on was the Solstice to Alaska.

 

Looking forward to your live report.

It is a good opportunity for us Californian's to both enjoy our coast and take advantage of having some ships based here.  Last year we took the San Diego cruise on Millennium  to San Francisco, Catalina and Ensanada (they pulled Santa Barbara)   It was fun having an overnight in San Francisco and gave us  the opportunity to take the train home and swap out clothing  for the second cruise.  

 

I think I would like a coastal and an Alaska Combo.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Enjoy your cruises.  What cabin category did you book?

 

First Cruise we are in a Sky Suite and got a CS for the second. 

[asnaleah]

Bon Voyage! Looking forward to following along. We sail from Miami on Monday. The beautiful Silhouette! 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, 2jeffs2 said:

Jim I would love to say that I will be following your review but I am going to be far too busy having fun on this cruise also. 😝 This is going to be our first cruise since COVID and we are really looking forward to it. This is actually one we rebooked after we cancelled ours last year when Omicron came out a few weeks before we were supposed to leave. Feel free to say hi if you see us on board. Jeff and Jeff here.

So happy you are finally able to get your cruise.   We were a little reluctant when we began cruise after the shut down but really enjoying it a lot.   Things are a little different due to supply chain and sometimes staffing issues but Celebrity is still delivering a pretty good product.

 

Are you on the December 3 or 11th cruise.    I will be easy to find most days between about 10:30 and 1:30 doing my walking.   Iain is usually walking then also but spends more time sitting near the Mast Bar having a smoke. Yuck -   What can I say -  you know how ex smokers are.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

I'm aware of the climate differences as I spent a lot of time in California.  Had clients out there and my son was stationed there for many years.  I could not afford to live there, however.  What's interesting is that many Californians are moving to Florida now.  And of course, driving real estate prices up.

 

I guess Real Estate prices are subjective.  We have been in Silicon Valley for over 40 years.   It was expensive even back then but was able to buy a couple places at below $100,000 which are now rentals and pay for our cruising. 

 

When I see some of the rents here I shake my head and wonder how young couplers starting out are able to pay those rents.    I guess it's the Silicon Valley wages and stock options.

[chemmo]

Looking forward to following your adventures once again.

 

Sincere best wishes for calm seas, good weather, excellent service and great food and even better company!

[Ontario Cruiser]

You make my day. David is now 96 and he had to go in to a long term care home. Very lonely after 61 years of marriage. 

No more cruising for us. So I look forward to your posts. We both enjoyed meeting you on the Trans Pacific crossing a in September 2018 on the Millenium. I followed all of your adventures.  Keep cruising as long as you can .I have lost track but I think we have done over 60. Started with Regent Holidays in Toronto.  We are Elite Plus with Celebrity.  Also been on Holland America  and Princess. Our son met his wife on the Jupiter

Sherrill  Smith Peterborough Ontario 

[DUTRAVEL]

So happy to be following another one of your live reviews Jim! Henrietta and I will be reading along with interest as we are taking a Mexican Riveria cruise in January. Don't tell anybody, but we are going to try a Princess cruise so that we can go round trip out of San Francisco and avoid flying. Have a great cruise!

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Bon Voyage Jim and Iain.  i am looking forward to your comments about Mexico as it is a destination that has never interested me so maybe you can change my mind.

Wonderful that you can throw away your glasses after cataract surgery.  Same thing happened to me 5 years ago after wearing glasses for 40 years.

This last year i had to buy 4 new pairs of glasses and had lots of older frames.   I looked up on the internet and found a number of places that accept frames and glasses so have donated most of them. 

I also found that I could buy replacement non-prescription lenses for my Maui Jim's from China.   Just received them today and they work perfect.  

 

My biggest problem was the pressure in one of my eyes and I became allergic to all of the drops they use so they had to build a new drainage system.    Still have my fingers crossed as the laser procedure and the implanted drain didn't work.  

 

Lucky that my left eye has good pressures, 20/20 vision and the lens is still pretty clear. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, jelayne said:

Glad to hear the eye surgery went well and you got cataract taken care of at the same time.  Cataract surgery is the best. I’ll be looking for you in Luminae, now I look for the handsome guy with no glasses😳

LOL -   Will defiantly  be in Lumina.    Not sure if we will make lunch on departure day as our plane doesn't touch down until 11:30.   Hope all goes ok as we are suppose to have rain  in both Northern and Southern California on Saturday. 

 

All I can say is California's with the first rains bring up the oil on the roads, just don't know how to drive in it and Bam.    It's like back East and the first snow fall.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, mjmagee said:

Have a great cruise!  I will be boarding as you are disembarking.  Looking forward to your take on San Pedro and your experiences in Cabo and PV.  I have booked a winery tour for Ensenada but not sure if that will happen as it falls on Christmas day.  Still, Celebrity has a full list of excursions posted for that day so here's hoping.

 

Marilyn

Hope it will work out.    Will be interested to see how Christmas day is in Mexico.   Like you I would think it would be problematic but also many  may be interested the income and hope for festive tipping.

 

[PTC DAWG]

Enjoy your cruise..sounds like fun, I’ll definitely be checking in.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@Jim_Iain Really looking forward to following along in your upcoming adventure. 

If you remember, please comment on getting to/from the port from the airport, and which airport you choose. 

 

 

 

We are flying into LAX using Alaska Airways.    The only airline that flies non-stop to Long Beach from San Jose is Southwest and they only have a 6:45 am, 1:05 PM and 4:15 Flights. 

 

Alaska has a fairly reasonable 1st class at only $40 more than Coach so was a no brainer.   It's only a 1 hour flight so nothing fancy but nice little treat.

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

44 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I guess Real Estate prices are subjective.  We have been in Silicon Valley for over 40 years.   It was expensive even back then but was able to buy a couple places at below $100,000 which are now rentals and pay for our cruising. 

 

Winning!

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, bluwes said:

Hi Guys, looking forward to following along again. Mexican Riviera was our first cruise back in 2001 on the Carnival Elation. we paired it up with visiting some British friends who were living and working in LA.
 At the moment we have nothing booked until September 23 on the Silhouette out of Southampton.

Enjoy.

 

 

As you know we really love Silhouette.    It is so nice being retired and able to get away more than 4 weeks a year.      September is a really nice time of year to visit the UK and Europe.  Most of the crowds have died down and the temperatures are usually moderate.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, sbt518 said:

 

Glad to see this (no pun intended 🤣)

 

Enjoy your trips, I'm excited to follow along since I have to wait until March for my next cruise.

Welcome aboard for a fun Live Report.    Nothing is off topic so fee free to just enjoy your visit.

[geneandjoe14]

Have a great cruise Jim! Looking forward to your review of Puerto Vallarta. We’ve never been but we’re going in January (land trip). Safe travels!

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, 1st time aboard said:

Bon Voyage!

 

Thanks for posting about your cruises and your replies on others’ posts. Your comments are always helpful and positive.

 

Have a great trip (s)!!!

Thanks much.   I really get a kick out of the Live posts.   There are so many here that I've chatted with over the years.   It's always fun to find out what everyone is up to.  

 

Believe me I don't know everything but there is usually someone here that will know the right answer or will point us in the right direction.

 

[Arzeena]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It's that time again to enjoy life and relaxation at sea.   We set sail on Saturday out of San Pedro (LAX).   As usual all are welcome and feel free to chime in and add your comments.   If your on the cruise feel free to help out and post your observations and photos.

 

I was surprised to discover when I looked back at our cruise history that we have never sailed SOLSTICE before.   How did that happen?  

 

As many of you know Solstice was built in 2008 and is 14 years old.    She is a S-Class ship  and has not been revolutionized.  Her passenger load is 2,850-3,420 but by my count shows she  will be sailing at about 1,600.  She also has a maximum crew of 1,000.

 

Stock Photo with her Blue's on.

Thank you thank you! Following with much anticipation and excitement!

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, azcruiser89 said:

Hi, Jim.

We'll be joining you on Dec 3rd cruise as well. We will drive over Friday from the Phoenix area to LA.

I'm mostly a lurker on these boards, but I've always thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts.  

I look forward to seeing you and Iain aboard.  We've been on at least one other cruise with you both, but I've been too shy to approach.

Enjoy the B2B...we're still working but dreaming of someday soon when we'll be able to take more time.

See you on board the Solstice!

 

 

Good that you will be on the cruise also.  Feel free to let others know what you are doing and photos.  Maybe we will all help you get a little away from just lurking.    I have to admit I do a lot of lurking also as I love to read what others are doing.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

@Jim_IainGlad your surgery went well!

I'm looking forward to your live report.

I'll be reading about your B2B while I am on my B2B on the  Equinox 😀 It's cruise overload 😂

I hope you and Iain have a great time!

 

Thanks much.     I do love doing B2B's.     It is especially comforting when everyone else packs up and you know you are staying aboard.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

We're doing a 7 night out of LA (San Pedro/Long Beach) on 8 October on the Eclipse. Not a bad itinerary. Check it out. 

 

That's the same itinerary we had last year on Millennium.   Loved it but they dropped Santa Barbara  so we had a Sea Day instead on our way to San Francisco.   I'm sure you will love it.   The ship docks on the Embarcadaro and hopefully you will get the  new Pier 27 James Herman Cruise Terminal - 

 

We got it on our first cruise but on the second got the older wooden warehouse terminal. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thank you for this live review!  We are doing this cruise in March and I will be following along with great interest.  We have never done the Mexican Riviera before and as such, have no idea what excursions we should take.  In looking at the cruise planner today, I found many that sound similar in nature.  Am anxious to learn which, if any, excursions you will be exploring.  Cheers!

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, twincheryl said:

Just got off Solstice last Saturday.  Had a great cruise, although we would have preferred Mazatlan to Ensenada... but we live just north of San Diego, so it was great being able to drive to the port.  We had first check in at 11:30 and have never had such a fast experience... 10 min from terminal doorway to ship door.

 

All of the staff were extremely friendly.  We dine only in Oceanview and will say that it was the best variety and quality of food we have had in years.  Plenty of staff walking around clearing tables and we heard many were new.  They did a superb job!

 

Shows in the theatre were excellent.  Production shows were very good... and in 7 nights they did at least 3 shows (although Amadea is not our favorite, it wasn't their fault).  Walk on performers were all very good as well.

 

Sounds like your passenger count may be a bit lower than ours... Thanksgiving week certainly had a different vibe than we are used to.  Had around 2000 passengers, of which 350 were children with parents who let them run amok in the SkyLounge, playing hide and seek and screaming... lol... we survived, but like a little quieter environment.  There were so many family games/events going on everywhere around the ship.  They really did change things up for the population onboard.

 

Have a wonderful cruise... will be following to see how it goes for you.

 

Thanks for the positive report.    We use to cruise on Thanksgiving but have given up on it due to the passenger load and the number of children.   We have some good friends that host both a Thanksgiving Dinner and Christmas Dinner in San Franciso.   It is the most eclectic group one could ever imagine 18-90 in age and representatives from every continent except Antarctica. 

 

Our Youngest daughter (ugh 40 now) has become part of our extended family and have been attending with us for the past 10 years.  

 

I hope our embarkation is as smooth as yours.   Arriving at about 12:30 - 1:00 it should be pretty  quick as a Suite Guest.