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

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Mcgeneseo said:

Yay! I love following your travels but am particularly excited about the Apex Key West trip as we are taking that cruise in January. Safe travels!

I'm definitely going in quest of the perfect Key Lime pie.   Will be curious as to what day you are in Key West.   When researching I found that at The Southern White House on M-F they have a special behind the scenes tour that include a ride around Key West in one of the Presidential Limousines.  

 

Unfortunately we will be there on a Sunday.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, abbydancer said:

I'm in.  The Apex is now on my bucket list.  Have fun.

Welcome home.    Really enjoyed following your South American cruise.  

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, boxkite said:

Jim and Iain, will be following your wonderful trip by sea and land! Have a super time and of course take plenty of HDR pics!

Thanks --   can't wait.   Actually shortly I have to go upstairs and finish packing.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Lastdance said:

I loved my b2b on Apex last fall.  The two of you will really enjoy all the places you are going, as they are quite varied and interesting, at least the ones I have been to before. Maybe you have been to all, or most of them.  26 days last fall was the upper limit for us, but honestly, I thought I could do a couple of months.  Thanks for posting, as this does take a lot of your time with all the questions, but such a great learning experience for all of us too!  Safe travels and wonderful weather🌎

We are headed for 21 days on Beyond, beginning with her TA soon!

Many Thanks in advance😀

 

We lived in Dublin for 3 years so did get to see a lot of Ireland.   I'm really getting excited about some of our stops in Ireland and Scotland.    Even though Iain and his sister are from Scotland many of the ports they have never been to before and we have booked some good excursions.

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Gaynors said:

Thanks for doing another live review!  I do enjoy following along.. however... this time I won't get to follow quite as much since on Monday (17th)  I'll be boarding the Constellation for her eastbound TA!  First TA for me, something I've looked forward to for a long time.  

Hope you enjoy your TA.    Will be interesting to see how your sea conditions are either similar or different than what we will experience. 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Texter2 said:

Jim, I look forward to following you and Iain over the pond! We took the Apex TA last Spring and loved it. 

 

Have a great trip!

Thanks --- I'll be interested in seeing Apex for the first time.    I did really enjoy the walking track on Beyond.      The one thing I will miss is Murano which is by far my favorite restaurant.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, SEAGURRL said:

Also following along!  We'll be doing the British Isles cruise in summer 2024 with pre/posts cruise stays in Amsterdam/Rotterdam.

I'll try to post as much information as possible.   I've never done the British Isles cruise before.

[MarKay525]

4 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm definitely going in quest of the perfect Key Lime pie.   <snip>

Hi Jim - like others, really looking forward to following along.

We were in Key West in Feb. and while we didn't score any key lime pie, I found the frozen key lime pie on a stick dipped in white chocolate to be one of the best sweets I've ever eater. Only the fear of a sugar coma kept me from getting a second one. We found them at a little shop along the line of stores just when you come off the ship.

Enjoy

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Our disembarkation port has always been Rotterdam.  At the time I booked the cruise they were living in Munich so I am happy to have Amsterdam so close.  In May of last year we did a land vacation to Munich and loved it.  We were looking forward to returning, but it was not to be.  We are staying in a hotel ONLY because I have points for eight nights.  Celebrity is our cruise line of choice but HAL offered me a complimentary( casino )cruise in a balcony.  This is an offer I could not refuse.

Wishing you a wonderful trip!

Definitely would accept a free cruise on any line.  LOL

 

When I lived in Dublin we alternated our Staff Meetings between our London, Munich, Rome, Paris and Dublin offices.   The host office would always arrange a night out on the town.   Even though we worked hard it was always fun to get a little local flavor.     

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

Looking forward to this.

 

Laura

Thanks for following Laura.   Also fun to hear from you.

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, scrapcreator said:

Looking forward to your reports. Especially interested in Amsterdam since we'll be there pre-cruise in July as well as the train from Rotterdam to Schiphol as we'll be doing the same in August.

 

Safe travels!

 

I'll be happy to post what we learn.     We will be taking the train from Rotterdam into Amsterdam which also stops at Schiphol. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

46 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I will -- It will be our first TA since Starlink was installed.  

We will be about week behind heading to Barcelona 

[abbydancer2003]

50 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Welcome home.    Really enjoyed following your South American cruise.  

My goal now is to post through Valparaiso before you leave.  I will finish in the next 10 days.

And thanks!

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, TPCRUISER2 said:

Jim, Looking forward to living the dream thru the two of you once again! Enjoy!

Thank you.    I just got finished most of the packing.   Trying to sort our 8 weeks worth of prescriptions to make sure we have everything. 

[jrmende63]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It is incredible how Covid affected all of us.   At least the world is returning to the new normal.  

 

If you recall last year I came down with Covid on the turn around day of our 3rd cruise and they tossed us off the ship with the Ghost Buster Squad disinfecting behind us.

Yes, due to covid I did not get to meet you and Iain on the Silhouette. They kicked you guys off in Southampton.

And thanks the complement on the dolphin pic. We did our swim in Cozumel years ago. ( I am now salt and pepper hair.) That is the only pic that will upload for me to CC.

 

[Cap_D]

FYI. We found this video to be very helpful when scouting where to go for Key Lime Pie.

 

https://youtu.be/PNt9IEpHkK4

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

Look forward to your report on the 4/15 cruise and then will be enjoying your take on the TA that we are also on!!!  Bon Voyage!!!!

Feel free to jump in and share your experience.   We each do a cruise different.   I dare say we can be a bit boring at times as we don't usually do shows but will probably be doing some with Iain's Sister.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hope you and Iain have a wonderful time on your almost B3B as we will be following along cruising through the Pacific from Sydney to Vancouver! BTW didn't we do something similar to this last August, only that time we were on the same ship! 🤣

 

We did.   I'm definitely following your Pacific as we will be doing a similar cruise next year.  Ours goes to Vanuauto, Fiji, Samoa and Loyalty Island.     Hawaii to Vancouver will be the same as yours.

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

So jealous!  Safe travels and bon voyage!  Looking forward to your commentary!

Thanks for following.   You guys are getting me really excited.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Have a wonderful trip!  Looking forward to hearing all about it and seeing your pictures.

 

Thanks Linda.   Reality that we are flying in two days finally kicking into gear.  

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Josie201 said:

Just this morning I said to myself that I must keep an eye out as I believe Jim and Iain are sailing soon and whoop there it is!   
 

sounds like a wonderful trip and I look forward to following along.  

Thanks Josie ....   Cruises always seem so far in the future until the last week then trying not to forget anything.   Oh well they have stores.

 

[Mcgeneseo]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm definitely going in quest of the perfect Key Lime pie.   Will be curious as to what day you are in Key West.   When researching I found that at The Southern White House on M-F they have a special behind the scenes tour that include a ride around Key West in one of the Presidential Limousines.  

 

Unfortunately we will be there on a Sunday.

Looks like we'll be there on Sunday. Key Lime pie is fairly easy to make, as long as you can find key lime juice. I grew up in the Miami area and we had a key lime tree in the backyard.  There is a key lime store in Key West, so grab a bottle of juice while you're there.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, horseymike said:

Sounds like a great trip. I look forward to following your CC posts on a regular basis.

Bon Voyage 🚢

Thanks much ... always appreciate all you guys that make the live posts so much fun.

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, gerelmx said:

Following, Next year will cruise in the Apex B3B Scandinavia, Iceland & Ireland and Fjords with Arctic Circle

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise.    We really loved Iceland and Fjords.     One of our most memorable cruises.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, dock said:

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Will be following along. 
Bon Voyage.

 

Thanks for following.