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

[lola2013]

17 minutes ago, hcat said:

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..

 

 

 

Good thing you didn’t choose this past weekend to sail on QM2…reports are both that cruise and the following cruise were canceled due to engine problems.  Many passengers were on their way to the port when they were advised of the cancellation.

Really a bad situation.

 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

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

Captain said we are doing fine - at 10:00 Captain's voice from above -

 

Currently 11 C  52 F  -  I put on a long sleeve Cashmere sweatshirt today and turned up the temp in room by 2 degrees

 

28 Knot Winds  with 10 Foot seas.   Swells to 15

 

The waves we are experiencing are Wind Waves from the North West but we will have some ocean waves coming from the South east at times which will give us a roll. 

 

In the next 24 hours The winds will increase to 45 Knots with swells 17-18 feet.   Sometime today he will be closing the decks for safety reason.   Starting to see lots of whitecaps

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Bernd_ffm said:

@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 🙂

 

I'll go on the hunt....  BTW you should be able to see them on the app.... but... not everything is available even though on the menu.

 

[hcat]

14 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Good thing you didn’t choose this past weekend to sail on QM2…reports are both that cruise and the following cruise were canceled due to engine problems.  Many passengers were on their way to the port when they were advised of the cancellation.

Really a bad situation.

 

OMG..guess she is aging! very bad news for those cancelled and future travel  yikes!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Nice on the Reflection TA , this is the roughest so far 

probably about 70°f

[MikeMary4449]

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We were last to leave and all kind of people dropped by.  Food and Beverage Manager, Staff Chef, Luminae Chef. Etc. etc.  

 

Later we were chatting with Yuksel and Marcus. and suddenly I yelled don’t move.   
 

 

Both have us feeling like they are family.  No formality just smiles jokes warmth.   

Hi Jim and Iain, As always, we are enjoying your great review and wonderful photos!  It is so nice to see a picture of our good friend, Yuksel.  Please tell him "Hello" from Mike and Mary.  We hope to sail with all of you in the near future.

Mike and Mary

[peanut head]

You certainly never seem to disappoint with your posts--prose and pictures.  Will you be experiencing any of the 4 MDR's on your voyage?

[Barwick Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Captain said we are doing fine - at 10:00 Captain's voice from above -

 

Currently 11 C  52 F  -  I put on a long sleeve Cashmere sweatshirt today and turned up the temp in room by 2 degrees

 

28 Knot Winds  with 10 Foot seas.   Swells to 15

 

The waves we are experiencing are Wind Waves from the North West but we will have some ocean waves coming from the South east at times which will give us a roll. 

 

In the next 24 hours The winds will increase to 45 Knots with swells 17-18 feet.   Sometime today he will be closing the decks for safety reason.   Starting to see lots of whitecaps

If the winds and waves are projected to be getting worse someone needs to warn the surfer (under the battery level) in your waves pic!! 😱 🫣🤣

 

Keep up the great work Jim! 

[Ipeeinthepools]

3 hours ago, WeeDram said:

@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.

 

I use the free site at Windy dot com.  I'm not sure that I can give anything but a positive review for a free site.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, WeeDram said:

@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.

 

I'm using Windy app....   Didn't know there was a Windy.com    Will have to take a look.    I'm a weather freak and always checking.  

[Gracie115]

We couldn’t agree with you more about Sony and Marcus. Sony was our waiter back in 2019 on the Silhouette and Marcus our Asst waiter last fall on the Apex TA. They make a great team, and make you feel like family. They have taken great care of us on this cruise too.

 

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, lola2013 said:

Good thing you didn’t choose this past weekend to sail on QM2…reports are both that cruise and the following cruise were canceled due to engine problems.  Many passengers were on their way to the port when they were advised of the cancellation.

Really a bad situation.

 

I heard that.   Wow.. what a disappointment.    For all of us old timers -  remember all the cancellations due to Azipod problems when they first launched the M-Class.   Was a tough time.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Nice on the Reflection TA , this is the roughest so far 

probably about 70°f

 

You may totally miss the storm as you are taking the Southern Atlantic route.   If I recall you are dead heading to Cadez.  

 

We are Northern Crossing and about longitude of Boston currently.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

It has been relatively calm all day.    In the last hour the winds and seas of started building and will be as high 15 feet and 45 mph winds by tomorrow.  

 

Fasten your seat belt --  especially full forward and Deck 11.    

 

Reminds me of the First Cruise we brought Iain's Mother an Aunt on a Alaska cruise out of SF.   Right after we got out of the SF Gate the Captain came on and said in the next 30 minutes we will close all decks and will be hitting 35 foot waves.

 

To walk down the hallway you had to hold onto the railing and they had open Barf Bags lining the always and staircases.    This was when everyone ate in MDR on Mercury.     None of us were affected but the dining room that night was below 10%

[Jim_Iain]

I was sure glad they screwed up yesterday and forgot to send us immigration inspection time slot.   When called we immediately went down to an empty room.   Had a fun discussion with the inspector.   He is a Garda (police officer) in Cobh.  I said what a cushy assignment.   He said when they have a ship arrival with first port of call in EC the pick an officer to meet ship at last port and stay aboard for 6 day and only work 3. 
 

Here’s the line all the way back to Al Bacio

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

A big shout out to @Ronda ‘n’ Phil of our Roll Call.   They arranged the CC Slot Pull today.   I want to thank him for all the hard work for the rest of us to just enjoy ourselves. 
 

 

Ronda had to top pull and won the designated top pull prize. 
 

 

@Arizona Wildcat Joss and lovely wife Susan were the money 💰 guys. 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Last night in prep for the storm we were advised they would be redecorating our room

 

All the furniture had to be moved into our room 

 

 

 

They did a good job.  We should have a party.  Lots of sitting room. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Let’s talk Lobster.    I skipped it day one and it returned today. 
 

I ordered open-face and the ached was generous.  It was delicious and could barely finish it.   I didn’t eat the bread. 
 

 

In the background you can see Iain had the English pea soup, one of his favorites. 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

QM2 is ready to sail again on 5/2.   She is sailing on a special Coronation cruise to Liverpool with fantastic prices all the way up to Queens Grill suites.   Only went on sale today but it may be sold out.   

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

You may totally miss the storm as you are taking the Southern Atlantic route.   If I recall you are dead heading to Cadez.  

 

We are Northern Crossing and about longitude of Boston currently.

 

 

I figure we can out the run the bad weather , been at over 20 knots since we  left the Naval Yards 

[hcat]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It has been relatively calm all day.    In the last hour the winds and seas of started building and will be as high 15 feet and 45 mph winds by tomorrow.  

 

Fasten your seat belt --  especially full forward and Deck 11.    

 

Reminds me of the First Cruise we brought Iain's Mother an Aunt on a Alaska cruise out of SF.   Right after we got out of the SF Gate the Captain came on and said in the next 30 minutes we will close all decks and will be hitting 35 foot waves.

 

To walk down the hallway you had to hold onto the railing and they had open Barf Bags lining the always and staircases.    This was when everyone ate in MDR on Mercury.     None of us were affected but the dining room that night was below 10%

MERCURY..  she was.one of our first and fav Celebrity  ships.

On one  Merc cruise..we hit a bad storm going thru Straits of Fl  on the way back to port.   Ship listed ? ( tilted), very sharp....and we fell out of bed..kind of a scary event....we were told by Captain to stay in our cabins with our vests at the ready!

In the morning, the disembark deck was flooded..auto  doors were  stuck open.

Crew worked all night  picking up broken dishes!  We were happy to get off sloshing along wet carpets, and felt sorry for those joining a very soggy ship!

 

Hope you do okay!

[Ken the cruiser]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

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 ---

It’s been quite peaceful on the high seas so far as we head towards Papeete, Tahiti.

 

But I have to say Eddy Jenkins has been an awesome cruise director so far as there has always been a variety of options for things to do around the ship, especially in the evenings and on sea days! Funny thing is the only time we were on a Celebrity transoceanic cruise before was 8 years ago on the Eclipse, and Eddy was our cruise director! 

[upwarduk]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But I have to say Eddy Jenkins has been an awesome cruise director

I was impressed with Eddy, especially when he did a series of lectures on ‘10 things you didn’t know’  I was particularly interested in the Wales lectures.

We both have Welsh heritage and I certainly learned things about the country of my birth.

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by upwarduk

[Jim_Iain]

This question has been asked so many times I thought I would post some GOOD NEWS!

 

All Apple stock is Current Model

 

Looks like plenty of so should be no disappointment.    Price -  U.S. Standard List Price which you can look up but no Tax or VAT

 

MacBook Air Pro 9th Gen

iPad    9th Gen

iPad Mini 6th Gen

 

iWatch  8th Gen   41 mm and 45 mm

iWatch Ultra -  Latest

 

They put more stock after I shot this pix on last cruise.  Looks like got a large inventory just before crossing. 
 

Edited April 28, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[bnurick]

Good morning @Jim_Iain from the Silhouette. Looking at the waves it seems like a rough patch for the Apex. Hoping it doesn’t get too poor of conditions.