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

[dlh015]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

I just looked her up -   Yacht Viva

 

 

It is the 85th largest superyacht in the world, and is believed to be owned by billionaire Frank Fertitta III, the CEO of Station Casinos in Las Vegas and founder of Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

 

Valued at $175 Million.

Wa, Wa, Wa, WOW!! That helicopter pilot earns their keep!!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

10 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

I'm stunned. That might have sent me to GS to see about removing it...I might even have made mention of it in the survey. That's just unprofessional.

 

Not to mention ungrateful.  Would he rather you had not tipped him any extra?

[Cruising89143]

53 minutes ago, amcco said:

Our room steward was so upset with us one time when we left money using the form. He said it gets taxed and he stomped away like a small child. 

That is sad to read. I wonder if this is an issue with the crew as we have a good amount of unused OBC that we’re planning to use with some of the crew as extra gratuities? I guess if they don’t like it then they can have it removed. I’m not sure how I would have reacted if a crew member had reacted in the way that your room steward did. 

[Cruising89143]

14 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I just looked her up -   Yacht Viva

 

 

It is the 85th largest superyacht in the world, and is believed to be owned by billionaire Frank Fertitta III, the CEO of Station Casinos in Las Vegas and founder of Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

 

Valued at $175 Million.

I came back to the ship and looked it up also. There is another yacht (La Datcha) that is currently anchored on our Starboard side. Belongs to a Russian Entrepreneur. Not as big but still impressive. Our server in Luminae stated that it’s been there on their last few visits. 

[MamaFej]

I think there's a sort of golden brownish yacht with a matching helicopter, that's there sometimes, too.

 

As for value, I might be able to afford the flagpole on the back. 

[Lena11033]

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Definitely not making fun.  Many of our Toronto friends do use the aboot.   With my mother being from Tennessee and a UT Knoxville Grad I sometimes let a Y'all slip out.

My husband is from Toronto and would pronounce it more like Tarana unlike I pointed out him dropping the letters was worse than my cockney accent that everyone made fun of when I moved here, he now pronounces it like Toronto 🤣

[boxkite]

18 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

I came back to the ship and looked it up also. There is another yacht (La Datcha) that is currently anchored on our Starboard side. Belongs to a Russian Entrepreneur. Not as big but still impressive. Our server in Luminae stated that it’s been there on their last few visits. 

This yacht may be hanging out there to avoid confiscation as other Russian owned yachts have been recently. 

 

 

 

[LaCal]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Night 3 dinner. 

 

Amuse Bouche

Was really interesting and very good.  Cauliflower Puree with a hint of White Chocolate and Salmon Tartar

 

 

 

For starter I had Lamb Balls

 

 

Iain had Egg Drop Soup

 

 

For main Iain had the Fluke

 

I had what was advertised as a New York Steak.   Strange shape but tender and flavorful but WAY too much.   I could only eat half of it

 

Jim are you mainly dining in the Luminae? 

 

And do you have the choice of ordering off of the MDR, Luminae and Blu menus? 

 

Thx….All the foods looking great 

[Jim_Iain]

35 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

That is sad to read. I wonder if this is an issue with the crew as we have a good amount of unused OBC that we’re planning to use with some of the crew as extra gratuities? I guess if they don’t like it then they can have it removed. I’m not sure how I would have reacted if a crew member had reacted in the way that your room steward did. 

I've only gotten warm thanks from all those I've left a gift for.   Sometimes for the Retreat Host's we have given them a nice handmade necklace pendant and chain.   They have always been really pleased.   Mar said last night... did you see my beautiful necklace as she had it with her.

[Jim_Iain]

31 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

I think there's a sort of golden brownish yacht with a matching helicopter, that's there sometimes, too.

 

As for value, I might be able to afford the flagpole on the back. 

 

And I could afford the flag to run up the pole.

[Jim_Iain]

7 minutes ago, LaCal said:

Jim are you mainly dining in the Luminae? 

 

And do you have the choice of ordering off of the MDR, Luminae and Blu menus? 

 

Thx….All the foods looking great 

 

It has only been 3 nights but so far eaten all dinners there.    We tried to book the Murano first night with the discount but was booked months out.   Joan said she went at there were only 4 tables with guests.    Incredible.

 

We will probably eat at Murano and possibly Tuscan -  not sure if this cruise or next.   I have to say we are more than please with both service and food in Luminae.

 

Yes you can order from MDR if you choose.    One night The app said they had a Lamb Chop  and the actually menu had a Lamb Loin.     Iain asked and the waiter said I can get you a nice Rack of Lamb from Main dining room.     I'm sure the Luminae Chef cooked  or at least had it plated on Luminae Dining ware.

[MamaFej]

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

And I could afford the flag to run up the pole.

We make a good team!

 

 

Wait, the flagpole is aluminum, right? I wouldn't be able to swing a steel one. 

[Jim_Iain]

I was checking out the On Board Booking vs future booking form.  
 

Surprised to find current offering is better to book a phantom cruise. 
 

 

Future booking - Can book up to one year but not the adders as above

 

 

Fine print

 

[lakegirl16]

@jim_Iain Thank you so much for all of your posts!  I am so looking forward to boarding on Sunday.  A few questions ...

 

Was your 4 x 4 excursion through Celebrity or an independent tour?  If through Celebrity, how was it?

 

Confirming you said there is only one retreat host?  Adding up how many gifts to bring.

 

Laundry...how has it been?  🙂. I've read so many posts saying how bad it can be.  

Thank you again!!!!!!

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

8 minutes ago, lakegirl16 said:

@jim_Iain Thank you so much for all of your posts!  I am so looking forward to boarding on Sunday.  A few questions ...

 

Was your 4 x 4 excursion through Celebrity or an independent tour?  If through Celebrity, how was it?

 

Confirming you said there is only one retreat host?  Adding up how many gifts to bring.

 

Laundry...how has it been?  🙂. I've read so many posts saying how bad it can be.  

Thank you again!!!!!!

 

 

 

The 4X4 was a Celebrity Tour and loved it.     Would definitely recommend.

 

Mar just came on after vacation she was on Summit with us an expected to go to a different ship.   She said she will be on her own Next week.    She's an absolute gem.

 

[Jim_Iain]

58 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

We make a good team!

 

 

Wait, the flagpole is aluminum, right? I wouldn't be able to swing a steel one. 

Let alone Stainless.    On that ship it looks like everything is Polished Chrome. 

[amcco]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

If that was the case I sure would never tip him again and might ask for it to be credited back to my account.    Personally I would rather be taxed on a full amount of a tip rather then get 1/20th of it as a pooled tip.

 

 

3 hours ago, dlh015 said:

I'm stunned. That might have sent me to GS to see about removing it...I might even have made mention of it in the survey. That's just unprofessional.

 

3 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Not to mention ungrateful.  Would he rather you had not tipped him any extra?

 

2 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

That is sad to read. I wonder if this is an issue with the crew as we have a good amount of unused OBC that we’re planning to use with some of the crew as extra gratuities? I guess if they don’t like it then they can have it removed. I’m not sure how I would have reacted if a crew member had reacted in the way that your room steward did. 

Thanks everyone. We were doing self disembarkation and he came storming up to us in the hall. We were stunned, just looked at each other and left the ship. We did do quite a comprehensive review as it wasn’t the greatest run ship. Managers berating staff in the MDR, sales manager dressing down his sales associate for not trying hard enough in the hallway outside the store. It was the most bizarre cruise we had ever been on. This was about 5 years ago. But some great cruises since so really said a lot about how that ship was run!

Margaret

[Janthere]

11 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Yikes!!  This is my biggest fear!  Could you tell me how long you had them before they stopped working?  And these were Bose sleepbuds?  I was thinking about buying a backup pair.

@helen haywoodThe Bose sleepbuds for sale now are Version 2. I believe the problem with Version 1s was with recharging them and Bose actually took them off the market and refunded those who had purchased. So far everything I've read says V2 has addressed that issue.

[Janthere]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I just looked her up -   Yacht Viva

 

 

It is the 85th largest superyacht in the world, and is believed to be owned by billionaire Frank Fertitta III, the CEO of Station Casinos in Las Vegas and founder of Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

 

Valued at $175 Million.

Pretty sure after all the money Ive spent gambling at Stations Casinos over the years I own a portion of that yacht LOL! That thing is huge!!

 

[Cruising89143]

I guess all good things must come to an end. We have been very happy with Luminae “until” tonight. I started off with the beef short rib as an appetizer. It was at least 50% gelatinous fat. Very bad. For our main course we ordered the Veal Canneloni. It was overcooked. Very overcooked. It was difficult to cut even with a knife. Anyone who has had canneloni (pasta) cooked properly knows that it should cut with a fork. The dessert was very good. Our Sommelier could not keep up. We ordered what was to be a pre dinner martini. It arrived shortly before our main course. Our server had to get it. Rushed! Bread service was non existent. Tonight was a total failure in Luminae. It was obvious that they were very short handed. Not sure what happened as of this morning at breakfast the staff was tripping over one an other. While we will not ding the staff of Luminae on our survey, we hope that this was just an off night. Very disappointing. The table next to us complained about the same issues. It was not just us. We received apology after apology. I felt sorry for the staff as it wasn’t their fault. They’re all amazing. It was a failure behind the scene in the kitchen.
 

Actually tonight throughout the ship was off “for us”. We decided to have a cocktail at the Sky bar. They were playing AC/DC. “Back in Black” at the 6:00 cocktail hour….. Really? At least three AC/DC songs before they switched to Aerosmith. It wasn’t subtle either. Loud!!!! We’re not old and know our music but this did not fit cocktail hour. Tonight overall we gave X a three out of ten. Failure on X’s part. 

[lilghallinsf]

7 hours ago, dlh015 said:

I'm stunned. That might have sent me to GS to see about removing it...I might even have made mention of it in the survey. That's just unprofessional.

Everybody had bad days. Maybe that was his. Give people a break 

[abbydancer2003]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

T

 

Mar just came on after vacation she was on Summit with us an expected to go to a different ship.   She said she will be on her own Next week.    She's an absolute gem.

 

Interesting, including your comment about non-revolutionized ships on have one Michael's concierge.  We were on the Eclipse this past summer and there were 2.  I know on the Summit in 2021, they said there were two because of the sundeck.  On our second cruise that year there was one, but she said it was because the retreat manager went on vacation and the other person was doing that job.  

On the Silhouette last month, we had 3, but one was leaving soon.

 

[GenerationX]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I just looked her up -   Yacht Viva

 

 

It is the 85th largest superyacht in the world, and is believed to be owned by billionaire Frank Fertitta III, the CEO of Station Casinos in Las Vegas and founder of Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

 

Valued at $175 Million.

Wow, to think of all the time and money I invested in law school when clearly the REAL dough is in gambling and mixed martial arts…

 

Setting a google alert for “Is Frank Fertitta III single?” so that I’m prepared in case Jeremy should ever leave me. 🤣

[wrk2cruise]

6 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Interesting, including your comment about non-revolutionized ships on have one Michael's concierge.  We were on the Eclipse this past summer and there were 2.  I know on the Summit in 2021, they said there were two because of the sundeck.  On our second cruise that year there was one, but she said it was because the retreat manager went on vacation and the other person was doing that job.  

On the Silhouette last month, we had 3, but one was leaving soon.

 

 

I think they may be reducing the number on other ships as well.   We were on Summit in October and there was only 1 concierge and it has a sun deck.

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

I guess all good things must come to an end. We have been very happy with Luminae “until” tonight. I started off with the beef short rib as an appetizer. It was at least 50% gelatinous fat. Very bad. For our main course we ordered the Veal Canneloni. It was overcooked. Very overcooked. It was difficult to cut even with a knife. Anyone who has had canneloni (pasta) cooked properly knows that it should cut with a fork. The dessert was very good. Our Sommelier could not keep up. We ordered what was to be a pre dinner martini. It arrived shortly before our main course. Our server had to get it. Rushed! Bread service was non existent. Tonight was a total failure in Luminae. It was obvious that they were very short handed. Not sure what happened as of this morning at breakfast the staff was tripping over one an other. While we will not ding the staff of Luminae on our survey, we hope that this was just an off night. Very disappointing. The table next to us complained about the same issues. It was not just us. We received apology after apology. I felt sorry for the staff as it wasn’t their fault. They’re all amazing. It was a failure behind the scene in the kitchen.
 

Actually tonight throughout the ship was off “for us”. We decided to have a cocktail at the Sky bar. They were playing AC/DC. “Back in Black” at the 6:00 cocktail hour….. Really? At least three AC/DC songs before they switched to Aerosmith. It wasn’t subtle either. Loud!!!! We’re not old and know our music but this did not fit cocktail hour. Tonight overall we gave X a three out of ten. Failure on X’s part. 

 

Sorry to hear of your experience.

 

We had dinner in Luminae also and told Iain that next week we will book Murano next cruise on night 4.   Definetly not my favorite menu in either Luminae or MDR.  

 

I also had the beef shortribs and mine were perfect with no fat whatsoever.   When I mentioned to our waiter Abdule,  he said the only thing he didn't like about it was the fat and he would eat around it.  

 

Iain had the soup and loved it.