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

[Mark_T]

6 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

Silhouette 2022: No hot glass show, no Cellar Masters Bar. However, we loved the Porch Specialty restaurant and the World Class Bar.

Don't forget 'Craft Social' which replaced 'Cellar Masters', and the 'Lawn Club Grill' which replaced the hot glass show.

[jimbri]

I am looking forward to your review.  Enjoy!

[vickykay]

Jim,

 

Looking forward to another wonderful review.   Will get me thru the cold December weather in upstate NY until we go back to FL after Christmas.   So glad to hear your eye surgery went well.

 

An unrelated question.   We are doing the Canada/New England cruise next Sept.  I recall you went on the excursion that included a visit to the Anne of Green Gables house and a lobster lunch.   We’ve been looking at that one as well. It’s somewhat pricy and wondering if you felt it was worth the cost.   Thanks and .have a great cruise.

 

Vicky

[GREG781]

Hey Jim. Following along from the Beyond currently! We will be on the Solstice in February, so we are eager to see your thoughts and pictures. Have a great time.

[Susanb10567]

Following along….I usually do it live but I will be on the Apex from 12/3-12/10…so I will have a lot to catch up on when I get home…have a great cruise!!!

[lola2013]

21 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks for being the first post.   Really looking forward to the cruise.   I know you will think we are wimps as you are from Illinois  but is 43 this morning and only 60 for a high today and are looking forward to nice warm temperatures.

Winter in Illinois is exactly why we sail to the Caribbean in February!!!

[Jim_Iain]

17 hours ago, asnaleah said:

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

Have a great cruise.   Are you going to be live posting? 

[Jim_Iain]

17 hours ago, chemmo said:

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!

Thanks Chemo.   I think we picked the right weeks.   A cold front is hitting us from Alaska and dipped to 35 overnight.   Something about blue skis and warm weather are calling m;y name.

[Jim_Iain]

17 hours ago, Ontario Cruiser said:

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 

Sorry to hear that David has had to move to a Long Term Care facility life is so short and I can't even imagine the loneliness it is causing your.   I'm hoping he is close enough by that you can visit him often.   The house must be so quiet.

 

Please feel free to jump in and I'm sure we can all bring back some warm memories of your cruises.     We also really enjoyed getting to meet you.

[beachlovergirl]

I’ll be following along but will be on this Dec 3rd cruise along with Dec 11th cruise.  It’ll be our first time doing the Mexican Riviera.

Dee

[Jim_Iain]

17 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

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!

Dianne -   Really happy to hear from you.   Give Henrietta a hug and a dog biscuit for me.    She is such a wonderful dog.  

 

To be honest we have been looking at taking a cruise on another line.   Some friends of ours are big fan of Ponant  Cruise Line (small ships) and just got back from Antarctica.     They are about to convince us to give them a try. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

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

Thanks..   Always love hearing from you.   I feel like it's old home week here on Cruise Critics. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Winning!

I call it my 401K.    It has done much better and less volatile for sure.

 

Iain calls it my cash cow.

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, geneandjoe14 said:

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!

 

Thanks.    I think you will love it.   I have always resisted Mexico because Tijuana and Ensanada flash in my mind.  I'll make sure to take lots of pictures.   We are thinking of doing a land trip to Mexico City.   We have friends that visit often.

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, Arzeena said:

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

Make sure you jump in.   Lots of nice folks here.

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

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!

 

I'll be posting.     I'm the crazy one and have a couple planned for both of us after twisting Iain's arm.      First up will be a a 4X4 Rugged Off-Road Adventure

 

Hop in a powerful shared driving off-road UTV (Razor) to explore Baja's magnificent desert and ocean beauty — places only accessible via off-road vehicle. After a safety briefing and orientation, take the wheel of your powerful-yet-safe Polaris Ranger and begin your thrilling adventure, stopping along the way with your guide to commune with nature, learn about the flora and fauna of the region. Your drive continues from desert to beach, surrounded by some of the most incredible landscapes found in the Baja California area. Upon return to the ranch, you will have some free time to explore the souvenir shops, grab a bite or just relax, for those of legal age a tequila tasting will be offered. Take time to relax for a bit near a non-swimming beach before making your way back to the ship.

[Barwick Cruiser]

So wonderful to pour my coffee this morning, click over to CC and see that Jim and Iain are cruising again! And page five already and you don’t leave for another few days yet 🤩. It’s obvious how many others enjoy your live postings as much as me! Hope you enjoy a wonderful couple weeks. 
 

By the way, you mentioned Ponant cruise lines which I hadn’t heard of until recently when my sister told me that they are booked on Ponant in June to explore the Norwegian fjords and Scotland. I checked it out and it looks really nice! 
Cathy

[PSU]

I love Celebrity but we also love Regent Seven Seas for longer cruises. We are going to South America and Antarctica in January. It includes business class airfare, excursions, drinks, internet and gratuities.

 

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, Redking said:

I'm thinking about dipping my toe into the Live from waters 🤣. Bit short on Lives from this side of the world. We also just swapped our existing Edge bookings for Aus/NZ 2024 to a B2B Sydney to Vancouver on the Edge in 2024. Currently planning a bank heist to pay for it!

 

Agree the prices have really gone up.    Luckily Iain has more money than sense and just say it's only money we might as well spend it before the kids get it.   LOL. 

 

Will be interesting to compare the Edge and Solstice TP's in 2024.    I'll have to check out Edge's pricing and schedule.

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, If only said:

Hi Jim, we will be following along as we are doing your cruise, next Nov.  We leave soon for our Silhouette cruise on  Mon.   Enjoy!

I tell you.    I've been reading every Live Post about Solstice and the Mexican Rivera.   My preference would be Silhouette but Solstice may bring back some nostalgic memories of per-revolution.   

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Thanks Jim.  We will be getting off Millennium in May after the Panama Canal transit.  The last time we sailed out of LA was in 2008.  We flew into LAX but I do not remember anything about the trip from the airport to the ship or the ship to the airport.   

 

The cocktails must have been good.   LOL

 

From what I've learned is LA now has a Shared Ride Area called LAX-IT accessible by foot or shuttle.  You can also get Uber Black curbside.  

[Jim_Iain]

Yikes -  I'm really running behind and still haven't finished reading through all the replies from yesterday.    I will get back to that but need to get started.

 

C minus 3 days

  For my walk yesterday, I went to my Hair Salon and got my hair cut.   I was starting to get shaggy.   Since Covid I've been cutting Iain's  hair and I think I did the best job so far.  Let me tell you the first time I did it I was terrified but it came out ok -  basic marine cut.   I've since learned to be able to taper it.   No way would I let him loose on my hair. 

 

The suite cases came out yesterday but for some reason they are still empty. 

it was fun seeing the first  Xmas decorations coming out

 

 

 

Who says we don’t get fall colors

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

The task for today is to return a couple things to Amazon.   Priority One.  

 

I have a wire kitchen pantry shelving unit that I bought for my daughter but was missing parts.    It's in a fairly large box and was going to run it down to UPS by car but decided I will just tie it to my back pack and do it on foot.   I'll have to tell you whether that was a good idea or a big mistake.

 

I may have mentioned that I'm the President of our HOA Association and we recently had Optical Infrastructure installed by Sail Internet.   After a year of wrangling with the city on permits they are going live today.   I'm scheduled for an installation at 4PM this evening.   The speeds are suppose to be 1 Gig Up and Down with no data cap.    I'm keeping Comcast for the 60 day free trial period to check how it works out.  

 

I"m sure I'll let you know how it goes.

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, bunzini said:

Yippee!  Always love following along on your journeys!

Thanks much and welcome aboard.

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, Buckeye94 said:

Yay! Excited for another live review with you guys! I wish I had connected the dots to know you were you when we were on Edge in the Greek Isles in 2019 (?).

 

You and @GenerationX are inspiring me to attempt a live review of my Valparaiso to Buenes Aires cruise on Infinity in January.  I had such fun on Beyond with Charla and  @hcat and @julia and the rest of the Gatsby ladies (and a couple gents)! 

 

Happy sailing! 

 

Julie

Please do a Live.   I was a bit reluctant to for my first.    I'm sure no one would believe it but I can be a real introverted extrovert.    The fun part is that you get to meet so many of the CC folks we probably would never get to meet otherwise.