Jim_Iain Apex Key West, TansAtlantic and British Isle with a Week in Amsterdam

[raudacruise]

14 hours ago, abbydancer said:

By the way, when are you going to adopt me and take me with you?  😁

Me! Me!

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, Susanb10567 said:

Looking forward to following along again…been wanting to to a transatlantic and British aisles cruise so I will be paying close attention…

 

We gave a Danube River Cruise booked for the summer to see if we like River cruising …my next Celebrity cruise should be on the Apex going to Israel, Egypt and Turkey in October ..

 

Safe travels!!!

 

Curious-  Did you like River Cruising.     Iain's been wanting to do one but I'm a bit reluctant.   Maybe just the fear of the unknown.

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Do not feel bad about that.  We are pretty much the same way -- Wake up, have breakfast, go to a lounge onboard and hang out or walk around giving the room steward time to attend to the room, go to lunch, go back and hang out in the room and or go to a lounge, go to the casino, walk around the ship, go to dinner, maybe take in a show or go to a music lounge, visit the martini bar -- head back to the room.   Rinse and repeat.  We were just discussing today how much we just want to kick back and relax on our next cruise. 

 

I agree -  that after a couple days we fall into a routine.   Surprisingly we we do many of the things we do at home.     After breakfast I usually listen to Mystery Audio Books while doing my daily walking.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Just found your new ’live’ B3B.

Cant believe how many page have appeared overnight.

I will be following.🎉

 

Always good seeing and hearing from you.     I hope Spring is coming to the UK.   Last year the weather was incredible. 

 

We have had a REALLY wet winter but no complaints as we are finally out of a 3 year drought. 

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

So happy to be following along for another adventure with you Jim! Henrietta is already excited to hear all about it. Apex will be our ride home on the fall TA. Safe travels on Thursday. 

Dianne

 

Dianne -  Good to see you and Henrietta are here.    Always nice to see you.    Give Henrietta a big belly rub for me.

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, chemmo said:

Another wonderful adventure to follow vicariously!
 

Sincere best wishes to you both for a fantastic vacation. It is wonderful that you have managed to fit things together so well. Enjoy!

I think one of the things I enjoy most of doing a live post is see all the people that I have followed for years.

[britestar]

Following along, thanks for posting!

[Jim_Iain]

Time to get this Live Post kicking into Gear

 

April 14, 2023 -

 

For any of you that haven't followed one of our earlier posts I will give you a little background about us.

 

We are a Male Couple with 3 Wonderful Adult Children and 5 Grandchildren.   I am mostly from the North East but went to College at University of Tennessee  before being recruited for a Silicon Valley Company many years ago.      I arrive in California on May 17, 1974.    I've been asked how I can remember the exact date -   Well--- it was the day they had the Patty Hearst Shootout and it was the only thing on the news.

 

Iain grew up in Ayrshire UK but came to American after University.  

 

We have been together for 34 years and started cruising in 2001 with our first cruise being on the Celebrity Millennium.

[Jim_Iain]

We live in Sunnyvale, California, which is a small Silicon Valley town with a population of about 155,000.    Most of towns in Silicon Valley were fruit orchards 50 years ago and were just train stops to haul the fruit.   All the orchards are now gone but Sunnyvale still maintains a Libby Water tower where a canning factory once stood.   Now those white building around the tower is the home of Walmart Web Services for all theirs subs.

 

[CruiseNYC]

Thank you, as always, so much, for taking us all along with you and Iain!  Very much looking forward to following this new adventure.  You have given so many terrific cruise hints and helpful Celebrity info, particularly for those of us who are Celebrity newbies.

We leave on Equinox B2B in June - so, meantime,  really love sailing the high seas virtually with you (and Charla, too).

Safe travels. 

Carole

[Jim_Iain]

When we booked these cruises they seems so far away but as mentioned earlier time just flies by.

 

I've been selling off some of my coin collect and I have to drop off some shipments at the post office on my final walk before Vacation.     Daily, I walk from our home to the Mountain View which is 5 miles away and grab my daily Starbucks so except for the additional weight in my backpack will just be a regular day.

 

My last task will be chairing our monthly HOA board meeting.  Ever since Covid we have been holding our Board Meeting via Zoom so it does make it a bit more relaxed.   The meeting will run between 6:30 - 9:00 so can't wait for it will be completed.

 

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Just wondering if the reason is that Apex is bigger, so maybe a problem getting through the locks?
 

Apex is home porting in Southampton next year and Silhouette is going to Amsterdam.

Interesting.

 

My understanding is that it doesn't have to do with the size of Apex just that they are cutting the number of ships  allowed through the locks (something like 50%).   Which will limit the salt intrusion.

 

It is really weird that that TA goes into Rotterdam, the Norwegian Fjord cruise embarks in Rotterdam and returns to Amsterdam then the British Isle will embark Amsterdam and disembark in Rotterdam.

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I hope you have Liverpool on your itinerary.

Our grand daughter has just spent 6 years there training to be Doctor and loved the city, so of course we visited frequently.

Just had a thought, the European song contest will be there from the beginning of May, could be hectic.

Outside Liverpool Catholic Cathedral.

 

We will be in Liverpool on May 19.    I've never been before so excited to visit.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, soccermommy said:

So looking forward to following your adventures. I always learn something new and interesting from your travels. I haven’t made it to Amsterdam yet, Covid messed up 2 cruises, but I did want you to know, your wonderful blog about the Cape Liberty/Iceland/Boston Summit b2b inspired us to book the Summit this August, though we will be doing the Iceland/Boston portion only. Thanks so much for all time you put into doing this!

Glad to hear.   I can sure tell you that you will not be disappointed.    It was a rel once in a lifetime experience.  

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, hcat said:

Never Boring!

 I will be following along for great photos, insights and gen entertainment!

Always good to see you here.   

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Binbrooklady said:

Hi Jim,

So excited to follow your adventures but even more so as we will be joining you on the TA portion. As well, we will be joining you on your Hawaii cruise next spring. Hope to see you onboard. Janet

Janet -

Definitely stop me if you see us out.     I'm usually pretty easy to spot out walking -   I usually walk between 10:30 - 1:30.    I love the track on E-Class ships and hope the weather cooperates,  otherwise I'll be inside walking the hallways. 

[Barwick Cruiser]

18 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

My understanding is that it doesn't have to do with the size of Apex just that they are cutting the number of ships  allowed through the locks (something like 50%).   Which will limit the salt intrusion.

 

It is really weird that that TA goes into Rotterdam, the Norwegian Fjord cruise embarks in Rotterdam and returns to Amsterdam then the British Isle will embark Amsterdam and disembark in Rotterdam.

We’ve booked Silhouette next May for a Baltics and we depart from Amsterdam but return to Rotterdam. Will be nice to gain an extra port lol. Fortunately the train and transit system in the Netherlands is good so it’s an easy ride to Schipol. There’s a British Isles cruise prior to ours…I’m tempted to add it to ours as we’ve never been so I’ll be paying close attention to your experiences. Cathy

[AbbyCruiser45]

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Curious-  Did you like River Cruising.     Iain's been wanting to do one but I'm a bit reluctant.   Maybe just the fear of the unknown.

My parents, who are avid Celebrity cruisers, just got off a river cruise with Viking. It was hit or miss with them. They thought the food and wine options were incredible, but service was lacking compared to Celebrity. Like you (from what I've gathered), they are also pretty independent travelers, so they were sometimes frustrated by the pace of the group tours. Sometimes fellow guests would be late delaying teh whole tour, othertimes it was just too slow. It doesn't make sense to turn down the group tours, given that they are included in the decently steep price of the trip. To quote a member of their tour, "I am not sure if I can handle another 10 AM port wine tasting." I'm not sure my parents will book again, unless the destination is really tempting. 

[raudacruise]

2 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

We are looking forward to our cruise on Summit in May in PH. A little bump before hand. I have to have my gallbladder removed next week but my surgeon says I will be fine by the cruise. And what a place to recover. That large balcony!

 

Laura

Laura, best wishes for a quick recovery on that fabulous balcony.

 

A Summit PH in 2002 was our very first Celebrity cruise, a one-time special treat. DH has passed but I would love to savor that balcony just one more time. Probably strange as a solo, but I think I can handle it…

[Jim_Iain]

As others have probably observed prices of Airlines and Hotels have really increased since last year.   I guess it doesn't help that we are traveling right on the fringe of Spring break.

 

For the past 10+ years we have always stayed at Embassy Suites.    The costs for 2 nights had spiraled up to $940 so decided to try out Hyatt on 18th.    I was able to book for $600 which is a little better.     Since it is so close to Embassy we are comfortable with the area and the close by shops.    I'll be sure to compare the two.

 

[Jim_Iain]

We will be flying American Airlines this time due to availability and pricing.   Even booking about 11 months ago the prices were about 30% higher in 1st class than earlier this year.

 

I logged to AA.COM today to reserve our meals -  All I can say is if you think Celebrity cut back the offerings were a bit limited -  Flying from the West Coast we will have both a Lunch and a dinner service.

 

First up are choices SJC to DFW

 

Then for Dinner DFW to FLL not much better

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, CruiseNYC said:

Thank you, as always, so much, for taking us all along with you and Iain!  Very much looking forward to following this new adventure.  You have given so many terrific cruise hints and helpful Celebrity info, particularly for those of us who are Celebrity newbies.

We leave on Equinox B2B in June - so, meantime,  really love sailing the high seas virtually with you (and Charla, too).

Safe travels. 

Carole

Carole -

Feel free to pop in and ask anything.    If I don't know the answer I'm sure someone her will.

 

[Jim_Iain]

55 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

We’ve booked Silhouette next May for a Baltics and we depart from Amsterdam but return to Rotterdam. Will be nice to gain an extra port lol. Fortunately the train and transit system in the Netherlands is good so it’s an easy ride to Schipol. There’s a British Isles cruise prior to ours…I’m tempted to add it to ours as we’ve never been so I’ll be paying close attention to your experiences. Cathy

 

That's what happened to us.   I started with the TA and then added Key West and then added the British Isle Cruise.

[Beachlover1989]

So excited to follow along on another of your wonder vacations!  You always have such useful information.  I'm excited to hear how you like the CS as we will be in one on Apex in August.  Similar to you, we embark in Amsterdam and disembark in Rotterdam.  We will also be with you next April on the Sydney to Hawaii cruise!

[Jim_Iain]

51 minutes ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

My parents, who are avid Celebrity cruisers, just got off a river cruise with Viking. It was hit or miss with them. They thought the food and wine options were incredible, but service was lacking compared to Celebrity. Like you (from what I've gathered), they are also pretty independent travelers, so they were sometimes frustrated by the pace of the group tours. Sometimes fellow guests would be late delaying teh whole tour, othertimes it was just too slow. It doesn't make sense to turn down the group tours, given that they are included in the decently steep price of the trip. To quote a member of their tour, "I am not sure if I can handle another 10 AM port wine tasting." I'm not sure my parents will book again, unless the destination is really tempting. 

 

Always a pleasure to see a fellow Vol.     My relatives from about 1790 on were from Knox, Blount and Sevier Counties.    I use to go back quite frequently but my last Uncle died recently and I no longer have any close relatives there.    Always loved spring time in Knoxville with all the Dogwoods in bloom.