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

[Redking]

9 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Not a good sign.     Possible rough seas.   They are moving Deck furniture into our room tonight. 
 

Yikes!I'm curious as to how guests in the Iconic Suites handle rough seas in case by some miracle I ever get to cruise in one 🤣 Sounds like you're CS is in a similar location? Hoping of course that you don't have rough seas!

[Ipeeinthepools]

40 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Not a good sign.     Possible rough seas.   They are moving Deck furniture into our room tonight. 
 

 

Good Luck

[Ipeeinthepools]

43 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Not a good sign.     Possible rough seas.   They are moving Deck furniture into our room tonight. 
 

 

From Wndy dot com.

 

It looks like you have some rough seas ahead.

 

[boxkite]

Jim & Iain, good luck with the heavy weather you are sailing into!

 

Love the pictures, are you still taking them with HDR turned on sometimes?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Ally!  We can wait to see him again in 8 short weeks!!

[Covepointcruiser]

As a comparison, for lunch today on Seabourn Odyssey.   Too many lines of food to capture.  Celebrity fans may remember Mario as he began on Celebrity.

[realnice46]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just before we left Bermuda shot a couple pictures on the way back to ship   Just had to share. 
 

 

 

So cute!

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I totally agree with you on beets.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree on Okra.  Who in their right mind would ever think of gumbo without okra? How about any stew worth having is only made better by okra.

 

My wife makes a delicious okra dish that is simply okra, that has been lightly boiled, chopped with sprinkled dashi, and then a couple of dashes of soy sauce. 

I am with you on beets, and I also love Okra, either fried or stewed.

[CTSandy]

Ally was our sommelier last year in Cyprus - he was just outstanding!  Our waiter was Amit, we were so lucky to have such a great team.  Loving your report and pictures!

[Jim_Iain]

On 4/25/2023 at 4:42 PM, long time lurker said:

Jim-

 

the medical evacuations that Lastdance is referring to us off the Beyond. We diverted to Bermuda and are currently anchored off St Georges. 

 

Thanks  - was wondering why Beyond was in Bermuda

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I totally agree with you on beets.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree on Okra.  Who in their right mind would ever think of gumbo without okra? How about any stew worth having is only made better by okra.

 

My wife makes a delicious okra dish that is simply okra, that has been lightly boiled, chopped with sprinkled dashi, and then a couple of dashes of soy sauce. 

 

John -  Okra is one of those things I may actually like if it ever made it's way to my mouth.   I'm sure it's a psychological thing.   My Grandmother use to make me eat it and I would spit it in my hand and give it to the dog --- or better yet I would spit it in my milk and thought she didn't know.   I was Granny's favorite so I guess I got away with it.

 

Last night we were joking with Marcus when he asked if there was anything else I don't like.   He is so attentive of a server that the night they had the beetroot Amuse Bouche he brought me a really nice substation he had the Chef make just for me.   While he speaks perfect English the name Okra was foreign to him so I Googled a picture --  He lit up and said ahhhh....Quiabo.

 

In his region they have a famous dish -  Frango Com Quiabo (Chicken with Okra).    Actually when I looked at the picture I am salivating... what's with that?

 

 

 

[Bernd_ffm]

@Jim_Iain Thanks for sharing your blog and the beautiful pictures. One question if not to much of an ask if you come across any beverage/ drink menus from the bars (Martini, Sunset, Craft Social, Eden) could you share a picture of those. Really appreciate your effort. 

 

and a warm good morning as you seem awake already 🙂

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Redking said:

Yikes!I'm curious as to how guests in the Iconic Suites handle rough seas in case by some miracle I ever get to cruise in one 🤣 Sounds like you're CS is in a similar location? Hoping of course that you don't have rough seas!

 

I can almost tell you as we are 1 floor below them and about 20 feet aft.    You definitely feel the Pitch.

 

I may have to reference the definitions below  to accurately describe the movement we may feel. 

 

1. Pitch describes the up and down motion of a vessel. This is characterized by the rising and falling of the bow and stern in much the same way as a teeter-totter moves up and down.  
2. Roll is how we describe the tilting motion of the ship from side to side. Wind and waves push against the ship and cause it to rock back and forth.
3. Yaw spins the ship on an invisible middle line similar to swiveling on a chair. This can be caused by waves moving in perpendicular to the motion of the ship and can change its heading, or direction.
4. Heave defines the up and down motion of a ship as large swells heave Nautilus vertically on the crests and troughs of waves.
5. Sway this sliding motion occurs when the hull of a ship is pushed by the wind or current.
6. Surge occurs when Nautilus is being followed by larger swells, which can push the vessel forward and impact the front to back motion of the ship.

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

From Wndy dot com.

 

It looks like you have some rough seas ahead.

 

 

 

Been looking at that.   So far 0803 hour (we had our first of the next 4 days of time changes).   Winds have picked up and we are pitching.   Since it is mostly a up and down motion was very comfortable for sleeping.     I have to check in on all my weather conditions and report on my separate Weather at Sea thread.   

 

I love Windy App.   Only problem is I have to manually find our location.   If I choose find my location it shows we are in Atlanta.  

Edited April 27, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, boxkite said:

Jim & Iain, good luck with the heavy weather you are sailing into!

 

Love the pictures, are you still taking them with HDR turned on sometimes?

 

The 15 Pro Max is interesting -   They don't really have HDR at least I can't find it.  They do have LIVE which can be turned off.     For some reason it seems to turn back on -- I don't worry about it. 

 

From what I understand it creates a small 5 second capture and then automatically adjusts the light and blends all them in to an algorithm.   That is really nice and the reason I go in an adjust most pictures.    It is nice that you can select the Key Frame if someone sticks out their tongue or blinks -  you simply look at the 30 or so images and can either select or pull that one frame out. 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Been looking at that.   So far 0803 hour (we had our first of the next 4 days of time changes).   Winds have picked up and we are pitching.   Since it is mostly a up and down motion was very comfortable for sleeping.     I have to check in on all my weather conditions and report on my separate Weather at Sea thread.   

 

I love Windy App.   Only problem is I have to manually find our location.   If I choose find my location it shows we are in Atlanta.  

Thanks @Ipeeinthepools and Jim for posting this about windy.com - very cool, especially when you’re out on the high seas as we will be in the Pacific for another few weeks!! 😁

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, CTSandy said:

Ally was our sommelier last year in Cyprus - he was just outstanding!  Our waiter was Amit, we were so lucky to have such a great team.  Loving your report and pictures!

 

Ally (Alison) is fantastic and instantly remembers your tastes and  is beyond attentive without ever being intrusive.    

 

The staff in Lumina under the leadership of Yuksel is one of the best teams we have ever experienced.  They work with each other seamlessly and show such love and respect for their fellow team members.

 

I think these pictures capture what I mean -

 

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

As a comparison, for lunch today on Seabourn Odyssey.   Too many lines of food to capture.  Celebrity fans may remember Mario as he began on Celebrity.

 

 

Love the comparison -    That is exactly why Seabourn is on our short list.   We have been talking to others while aboard.   Marty and Margie (who have never been on Cruise Critics) have sailed Azamara and highly recommend them.    In the end we may just have to try more than one now that we decided to be cruise adulterers.

[Jim_Iain]

11 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks @Ipeeinthepools and Jim for posting this about windy.com - very cool, especially when you’re out on the high seas as we will be in the Pacific for another few weeks!! 😁

 

Ken -- how's the weather on the other side of the world.    I'm sorry I haven't been on your live for a couple days and need to catch up. 

 

I always read questions about .... ohhhhh.   what do they do to keep you entertained.    While I haven't attended any so far I am so far behind on things I need to do.   Especially loose 4 hours in the next couple day... the days are just not long enough.

 

My project over the past couple days was to pull off my OBC on the slots.    They have been kind to me who really dosesn't gamble but I drop by 6-7 Times a day.  I've been able to pull almost $2,000 off and am up -    I've finally accumulated 87 points...

 

Today we are having the CC Group Slot Pull -   I think we have over 20 signed up and even Iain said he may join us ---

[Jim_Iain]

Ok all you Windy folks -    Techno Geek tip -  courtesy of my best friend Mr Google

 

How do you manually set location - hmmm.. that's pretty straight forward.  My problem was I didn't use their supported format and was putting in an extra period

 

Just insert the DD coordinates shown by your GPS in the search box of Windy.
...
Windy supports only:

1. DMS format (e.g 36°59'21.2"N 84°13'53.3"W )
2. DMM format (e.g 36 59.35333, -84 13.888333 )
3. DD format (e.g 36.989213,-84.231474 )

[Jim_Iain]

I’m doing something wrong and Windy show my coordinates I manually put in as turkey 

 

Back to manual mode

Winds

 

Waves

 

 

Our wonderful Captain Nikaloas Christodoulakis is minimizing the discomfort. 
 

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

That actually looks encouraging, I think you are going to miss the worst of the weather

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

John -  Okra is one of those things I may actually like if it ever made it's way to my mouth.   I'm sure it's a psychological thing.   My Grandmother use to make me eat it and I would spit it in my hand and give it to the dog --- or better yet I would spit it in my milk and thought she didn't know.   I was Granny's favorite so I guess I got away with it.

 

Last night we were joking with Marcus when he asked if there was anything else I don't like.   He is so attentive of a server that the night they had the beetroot Amuse Bouche he brought me a really nice substation he had the Chef make just for me.   While he speaks perfect English the name Okra was foreign to him so I Googled a picture --  He lit up and said ahhhh....Quiabo.

 

In his region they have a famous dish -  Frango Com Quiabo (Chicken with Okra).    Actually when I looked at the picture I am salivating... what's with that?

 

 

 

That is because okra is good eats.  
 

I have tasted dishes made with and without it and the fish with always taste better to me.

 

Start with a dish that has okra as an ingredient, like beef stew or gumbo that will get you past the appearance.

 

That dish made me hungry.  Guess I should get dressed and head to Luminae for breakfast. 

[WeeDram]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks @Ipeeinthepools and Jim for posting this about windy.com - very cool, especially when you’re out on the high seas as we will be in the Pacific for another few weeks!! 😁

@Ken the cruiserwindy.com and windy.app are different.  I’m seeing better reviews for windy.app. Not sure which ones @Jim_Iain and @Ipeeinthepools are using.

[hcat]

hope weather and seas are calmer

 

we decided years ago that when  we cross the Atlantic, it will be on QM2  an ocean liner. Built for the high seas. (very interesting history)

 

Caught the  tail end up to Canada on her and she sailed truly smooth..