OhioDogLover

This thread is making me very very sad. We had 1141 on Summit in February. I miss it terribly. I wish we were back right this second. It was a fabulous cruise.

Ohiodoglover

We are on a Viking Cities of Light cruise, Paris to Prague, this summer. It is our second river cruise and first on Viking. Does anyone have any tips for this cruise?

Our previous cruise was down the Danube on Peter Deilmann and it was terrific. We have air through Viking which was a nightmare to arrange, but (crossing my fingers) looks to be set now.

We have added a couple of days to the front of the trip in Paris and are planning what we want to see, etc.. With the museum pass, and the metro, that looks like something we can set up with a minimum of fuss.

Any tips on this trip would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ohiodoglover

I would like Princess to offer a ship for the Caribbean in the summer. Just one or, if that proves to be too crowded, two. I understand the economics, but with the European situation and the cost to fly, it would be nice to have an option.

I know people who would book if the option were available.

Ohiodoglover

We were on your cruise. We did different things in port, but agree with you that it was a terrific cruise. I would do it again, too.

Looks as if you had a fabulous time, just like we did.

Thanks for your review.

Ohiodoglover

Thanks for the review. Interesting comparison.

Ohiodoglover

If you are on a Celebrity tour, you will be included in a Celebrity group visa.

 

If you take a private tour, that company will arrange for the visa.

 

It is not recommended to just "explore" St. Petersburg on your own, but if you choose to, you will need to arrange your own visa, which is quite expensive. St. Petersburg is a difficult city for independent exploration unless you speak Russian, so I have been told.

We have also gone with an organized independent tour guide who arranged the visas for us. And DS, who speaks Russian and has studied in Russia, cautioned us to get a guide when we go in 2017.He says it is just a better idea.

Ohiodoglover

I vote to upgrade. We love Blu and DH is a big fan of the shower and the Persian Gardens.

Ohiodoglover

Nice review. We are on Silhouette July, 2017. Can't wait.

Ohiodoglover

CRUISE DAY 7 - St. Thomas

By this point in the cruise, we were dreading the end. St. Thomas is another great place to go to the beach, but as I have mentioned, we can't do that. While we enjoy Sunny Liston Tours (another great thing to do), we decided for some reason to skip it this time. We did some more walking around, shopped, hit Señor Frogs because, well, it was there. Unfortunately, Señor Frogs was dead while were there, so we didn't stay long. And, their wifi was down.

The Norwegian Gem was docked near us and we got a good look at her.

Back on ship, we played TV Themes trivia, another good time. By this time, we had a few teammates we had adopted - or they adopted us. Mark did this one, I think. Most of the the themes were from the 50s and 60s, so if you weren't older than dirt, or watch a lot of Nick at Nite, you were toast. We did find out from some very nice people from Denmark, that for many years, Denmark had only 1 television channel. I guess you have to read a book in Denmark!

At this point, a realization hit me - we had been on a Celebrity cruise for 7 days and I had not been to the martini bar. Now, we were on a Med cruise on the Equinox a year ago and experienced what must be the ULTIMATE MARTINI BAR EXPERIENCE. So, with great expectations, two of us headed to the Martini Bar. (Neither of our husbands drinks.) We ordered the smallest flight of martinis. The martinis were great. But, it just wasn't the show on Equinox. That's OK, although I confess I was a bit disappointed. Someone down the bar told me they had been there just about every day and were working on a 16(?) martini flight. Like I said, the martinis were good. Too good.

Dinner that night in Blu was sad, as it always is the last day of the cruise. The staff was getting ready for their vacations and dry dock, so they were as excited to be off as we were disappointed. Service was great as usual. We really appreciated the service throughout the cruise. Was it even better because they were going on vacation? I don't know, but thank you.

After dinner, I packed and DH and the other husband of our group did the Silver Screen Love Stories game. By this time, they said they had to break into two teams, and they had a marvelous time. Sending the husbands to do a love story movie trivia is not a recipe for success, but I did get the packing done and checked into our flights for the following day. Besides, the point is to have fun, isn't it? That they did.

Sadly, we missed the late night comedy. I think we just forgot about it, really. We did want to go, but that's ok, we had enough entertainment.

CRUISE DAY 8 - We have to go home

There is nothing so sad as getting off a cruise ship. Really. At least in the vacation context.

Having a 4:50 flight out of San Juan, not visited the rain forest, and having a lot of OBC resulted in our booking the post cruise excursion to the rainforest and airport. We went to the dining room, were called promptly, dropped off the luggage and got onto a bus. There were several busses for the excursion.

I will think four times before I book another post cruise ship excursion. This is the third one we have booked, and I can't say any of them were good. The first one, the bus caught on fire on the freeway in Florida. Yep. At least we weren't charged for that one. The second one was a tour of Houston which should have been interesting, but frankly, I don't need to see a tour of the hospitals of Houston. This one should have been good, but between the political rantings and lectures of our guide, incorrect facts (e.g. Koalas eat bamboo), laziness (other guides took their groups along the path in the rainforest; he gave us a tour of the parking lot, really), and fact that the air-conditioning only worked part of the time on the bus, I did not enjoy this one. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing the rainforest, but the guide and the bus really ruined this one for me. Give me Bombi any day of the week!

The good part of the tour, we got to the airport very early. I had heard horror stories about San Juan Airport and they are true. Even though we had checked in already, it took forever to check our bags. DH and I were TSA prechecked, but our friends weren't, and they had to go through regular security. It took them at least 45 minutes to get through.

We were on Southwest, and looked for a restaurant in the terminal. There is a Margaritaville under construction and a Spanish restaurant in the terminal. I have low expectations of airport food. But, tapas, they can do tapas, can't they? The hostess was great and seated us promptly. From there, the experience degenerated into a Faulty Towers episode. I kept expecting John Cleese to step out and say, "just kidding", but no such luck. Our third waiter, I have no idea wha happened to the first two, darted (yes he was running) to our table, took the order of one of the four of us and darted off. After watching him take orders from other tables and enter everything into the computer, we waved him over and he said he didn't think the rest of us wanted to order anything.

I hope the Margaritaville is open when you go through San Juan airport or that they have found new service (and cooking staff). If not, I'm eating trail mix next time.

There are good and bad things about Southwest Airlines. One of the good things, in my opinion, is that they get you on and off quickly, they are generally about on time, and their flight attendants are fun. Also free luggage. True again. We got home on time.

OVERALL

This may have been the best cruise ever. (Yep, I tend to say that after almost every cruise, but this time it may be true.) The entertainment staff was very good. The house bands were very good and there was a variety of music. I have had issues with Celebrity entertainment in the past, but not this time. (I thought it could get boring.) If Celebrity's goal is to liven up the experience, they have succeeded. I didn't think it was too noisy, and my only complaint is that were too many fun options available. What a good problem to have. The passengers were there to have fun, too and that helped.

The cruise staff was terrific, there was never a problem getting a drink with the drinks package, drinks service was great in Blu, too.

We tried the buffet a couple of times for lunch and the last day for breakfast. It was fine, but I like Blu better, who wouldn't? The coffee up there was really quite good. Thank you for changing to good coffee.

Elite for the first time, we used the free laundry service. This is the first cruise I did not take laundry soap with me. (Generally, our bags are searched by TSA as they determine the makeup of the strange white powder in my suitcase.) Service was good and fast. No complaints there. The more we travel, the less we take with us. We may get bored wearing the same clothes, but they are clean.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you have questions that I can answer. I strongly recommend this cruise. I strongly recommend the Summit and its crew.

Ohiodoglover

Thank you all for the kind words

CRUISE DAY 6- St. Maarten

Another beautiful Caribbean day greeted us in St. Maarten. This is one of my favorite Caribbean ports. There are a lot of things available to do, and we have tried a many of them. Snorkeling is a favored activity at St. Maarten, but I have been forbidden to ever try to do it again. Having tried three times, on three different kinds of boats with the same result - sea sickness, my family says, no more snorkeling in St. Maarten for you. DH has a picture of one attempt, which shows me getting sick over the side of the boat and one of my sisters in law standing nearby with a drink laughing. Why is she laughing? Because the snorkeling was my idea and I guaranteed that I would not get sick. I think it's funny, too. Now, anyway.

Another favored activity is Bernard's Tours. If you haven't done Bernard's Tour in St. Maarten, we strongly recommend it. It takes you all over, stops at the famed Orient Beach, the beach by the airport, etc. An entertaining day, all in all. We skipped that this time because there were about 5 ships in port and we were warned about the terrible traffic jam getting back to the port because of all the cruise ship passengers.

One of the things we had never done in St. Maarten was walk through the main shopping area. So we did that this time. This was a lot of fun. There are shops, restaurants, a casino or two, and beautiful beaches, all in the same place. It was walkable from the port, so we walked over and had a ball. Stops at a couple of local restaurants for more local beer sampling ensued, and a brief stop to check out one of the casinos were on the agenda. A walk along the beach front was very pleasant as well.

We did find one activity that DH and I have been wanting to try for some time, the America's Cup yacht racing. I think next time I will don sea bands and give it a try. They go fast and its a game. Should be fun, right? The lady at the facility told us that you must book through the cruise ship do the activity.

Evening on the ship was the usual wonderful Blu dinner and games. There was the yes/no show hosted by the hilarious Justin and won by one of our traveling companions. If you haven't seen this, it can be very funny. the contestant must go three minutes without asking a question or saying yes or no. Justin even pulled someone out of the audience who had not submitted an entry. Good time was had by all.

At 10:30 was one of the funniest activities yet - the Liar's Club. It is a three person panel of ship personnel who give fun definitions of obscure words. Really, it is 30 minute standup comedy performance. The audience votes on who is telling the truth. If it hadn't been at 10:30, I think attendance would have been better, but there was so much entertainment, I don't think they could squeeze it in any other time. Those that were there had a ball. The highlight of the activity was when Mark, the English activity coordinator, and, I think, Justin's boss, put on a pair of panty hose over his suit to illustrate a definition. Don't ask me what word he was defining, who cares, after all? It was more wonderful comedy.

A word about Mark here. He and Justin played off each other the entire cruise. If you like British humor, you love Mark. Although some people thought him a bit mean spirited, I like to think he was just being funny. The two of them worked very well together, and make a great team.

Next: St. Thomas and the end of a fabulous trip

Hello fellow Columbusian! (Columbusite?) We're on the Summit May 29th (trying to avoid the Memorial Day rain lol) and love trivia, so I'm all about thus review!!

 

Hello fellow Columbusian!! If they have the same entertainment people, you will have a wonderful time. The Justin and Mark show is worth it all by itself. I love Justin's attitude toward the whole thing, This is cruise ship trivia, if you take it seriously, too bad for you. I'm here to have a good time. I wish we were going with you, we had that much fun!

 

Ohiodoglover

CRUISE DAY 5- Antigua

By the time we had reached Day 5, everyone in our group had reached the, "if you book one more activity for me, you are going off the side of the ship point." Although we had found what appeared to be a good tour, we decided to head off on our own. Antigua is billed as a good place to go to the beach, and I believe it. The maitre d' in Blu had suggested a nice place called Anna's with a good restaurant and a nice beach. We aren't beach people due to some medical conditions, and so just walked around the port. The area around the port needs some work. Taking the opportunity for some "free" wifi, we did stop in a bar for a drink. Other than that, it was a walk around the shops, crumbling church, and back to the ship.

Back on the ship, we decided to go Bistro on 5 for lunch. DH and I had gone to Bistro on 5 on the Solstice and it was a great experience. Unfortunately, this trip was not. There was one other table in the restaurant when we got there. (Everyone else was at the beach.) Service was slow and spotty as dishes came out one at a time, the ice cream in the milkshakes was melted (but the milkshakes were great anyway), etc. The server just didn't seem to care about his job. Unfortunate, but that is the way it was.

That evening was yet another great set of entertainment. Jim Colliton, a comic, performed. he was extremely funny. Then there was Motown trivia hosted by Lenny, the DJ, another great member of the comedy troupe on board. Also, really good with music. Trivia was held in the Revelations Lounge, a smallish venue at the bow on deck 11. Nice place to sit and look out the window, and various activities were hosted there throughout the cruise. After trivia, the ship singers and dancers came out and did a 45 minute Motown mashup of high energy songs and dances. Dancers moved throughout the audience. Afterward, members of the audience danced with the performers. If you like Motown, you would love this. More silly fun activities that appeared out of nowhere.

A word here about Cafe al Bacio. As an admitted coffee addict, I tend to frequent that venue. The brewed coffee on the ship was pretty good, they used real coffee, and it was strong, but Cafe al Bacio coffee was really good. We had the drink package and took advantage of it. Service was quick, even though there were frequently lines. Five stars for them. You could get "coffee with flavor" there and as a research tool, I tried a coffee with Kahlua. It was covered under our package and passed muster.

Next St. Maarten: how many ships can you have in port at once?

CRUISE DAY 4- St. Lucia

Generally, we avoid ship tours and book independent ones. I did some research on this board and Trip Advisor and we booked Cosol Tours in St. Lucia.

After another ho hum wonderful Blu breakfast, we headed off the ship to meet our tour. We found the group that was waiting for Cosol Tours - there must have been 30 people there. As the person who had done the research, I had the thought one generally does when one sees something like that: "Oh expletive deleted, I have totally goofed up our day!" But they broke us off into a group of 10 and sent us to a mini bus driven by our guide, Benedict, "like the the pope, but call me Bombi. Everyone on St. Lucia has a nickname." There was plenty of room on the bus and it was a good group. One of the people on the bus was one of the judges from the Top Chef competition. Nice person to have along for the ride.

We drove around the island and were treated to humor and history. Also, we learned about how bananas grow and are harvested. I learned more about bananas than I thought there was to learn and got to taste banana ketchup. It does taste like tomato ketchup and we bought a bottle for our DS and DDIL. One of the highlights of the tour, at least for me, was that when we tasted the bananas, Bombi saved the banana peels. We stopped at various spots along the route and he fed the peels to goats who lived there.

Cosol arranged things very well, IMHO. They had three buses which did the tours for the island but met for breakfast, lunch, drinks, etc. There was a truck which followed the buses containing the "bar", local beer, rum, rum drinks, water and sodas (or pop for those of us from Ohio). There were plenty of drinks and they were good. In the interests of research, I sampled the beer and spiced rum and must say in the words of the movie "Sideways", tasted good to me. Other researchers on our bus agreed.

This was an incredibly thorough tour. We were treated to "breakfast" which was a smorgasbord of St. Lucian treats, including fruits, cakes, fish, sugar cane, etc. There was more than we could eat, and it was fun to sample some of the local cuisine. Th watermelon was terrific. (I am a big watermelon fan.) The guides seemed to agree about the watermelon.

We stopped at a beach by the Twin Petons, and were able to swim or snorkel. Taken to the beach via motor boat, it was like having an amusement park ride built into the tour. DH and I walked up to the Sugar Beach Resort and wow - it was like something out of a James Bond movie. I expected to see Daniel Craig in a Saville Rowe white suit with Panama hat, Bond Girl on his arm ordering a vodka martini - shaken, not stirred, of course. The guide said Craig had been married there, and I believe it. I confess, we got a price list for rooms. Romantic location.

Other highlights of the tour included a drive in volcano, very cool, optional mud bath and visit to a waterfall to wash off the mud you got all over yourself at the mud bath.

As we went along, Bombi treated us to information about the local flora and fauna, showing us lemon grass, cashew plants, etc. We stopped along the side of the road for lunch which consisted of warm freshly baked bread and cheese. It was perfect for the tour. There were chickens on one of the properties bordering the road there, which resulted in what we thought was a funny exchange between husband and wife. Picture: Wife is running around trying to get a picture of chickens. Husband says,"Emily (name changed to protect the innocent), why are you taking pictures of chickens? We have those at home." Wife, "Not these chickens, these are St. Lucian chickens." At least photography is digital now.

Taken back to the port, we paid for the tour at the end, $75 per person. A bargain for a wonderful day in St. Lucia. A word of caution though, the roads are windy, if you are prone to motion sickness, take Bonine, wear a patch or your sea bands.

That evening featured the usual wonderful Blu dinner, and fun game of extreme name that tune. Another fabulous day on vacation.

Next: Antigua or I hope you like the beach.

CRUISE DAY 3 - Barbados

After a wonderfully relaxing breakfast in Blu with lots and lots of coffee, we headed off the ship for our 10:00 am tee time a Rockley Golf Club. Getting off the ship was easy and we found the line of taxis ready to take people around Barbados. Herded into a taxi that eventually seated 13 people, really, we went for our 5 minute ride to the course. So, it was actually 30 minutes, and we made 3 stops along the way, it's the Caribbean. We got there.

For those who are interested, Rockley Golf Club will never be confused with Pebble Beach. It cost us about $100 US each for 18 holes (you play 9 holes twice each), carts, and rental clubs. The clubs were vintage 1980, the grip on my pitching wedge was repaired with tape and a paper towel, and sand wedge, you don't need no stinking' sand wedge. Dh had forgotten to bring sneakers, so he played in sandals.

I admit to having a few misgivings as we teed off on one. But we had a good time, and got some four wheeling in driving the golf carts down the fairways which weren't exactly smooth. It was golf, it was February and we live in Ohio, so it was good. From time to time, we dodged sprinklers running on some of the tees. That's ok.

On the first nine, DH suddenly pointed and said, "Look there is a monkey". (No, he doesn't drink.) There was an animal running across the fairway. Maybe a monkey. Maybe not.

By the time we had reached the 16th hole, a par 3, we had glimpsed a couple more animals who we had now determined to be monkeys. Just off the 16th tee, there was a tree with somewhere between 10 and 20 monkeys playing around. In the tree, around the tree, chattering, having a ball. They let us get to about 15 feet of them. Very cute. Generally, we are fast players, but not on this hole. Keep playing or look at wild monkeys? Wild monkeys win every single time.

Best shore excursion ever. Four wheeling, golf and nature tour of wild monkey habitat. Do it again, you bet! And DH birdied the last hole, too.

I think this was the night with the name the tv or movie theme song game, hosted by... Justin. Get the name, run to a chair in the middle of the room and sit down before anyone else does. Craziness ensues. Fun. Someone sent up a four year old for "The Exorcist". Yep, she won, you bet.

By this time, we realized that we were on ship with a whole bunch of people, both crew and passengers,who were determined to have a great time and be silly. Even the Captain got into the act as "The Voice From Above." Was it because the ship was headed into drydock and the crew was getting ready for vacation, maybe. Who knows? But fun.

Next- We go St. Lucia and eat banana ketchup

First to answer the questions:

As to the Qsine deal, there were people offering it where they were selling specialty restaurant reservations. We just asked about it because we had done it before. I do not know if it was for everyone or just for Aqua passengers. It was only for the first night. We did make the muster drill, but dessert was a bit rushed. Not too bad, just a bit. I think it was OK though.

CRUISE DAY 2 - Goofing Off at Sea

Day 2 was the only sea day on the cruise. We decided to goof off as much as possible.

We attended the Cruise Critic meet and greet. The ship sent the Captain, cruise director, HR director and others who answered questions including: what are you doing in dry dock and why is your website so awful.

Answers: They are changing the entertainment venues, adding a big screen (a la Princess, I guess) and re-doing the bathrooms. They are working on the website and professed ignorance of the "we can't get our luggage tags through the website"issue. Very nice and approachable.

The guys did the golf chipping and were introduced to Justin, one of the entertainment staff. They had a great time and came back raving about the silly things Justin did. They were determined to do other activities with Justin throughout the cruise.

Justin is from Kansas City and was part of the cruise director comedy troupe. We came to enjoy his trivia sessions because he took them, in our opinion, the right way. It just isn't that important and we're all there to have a good time. So, let's do it that way. Besides, when we did the sing along Broadway song trivia (OK, it wasn't really supposed to be a singalong, but we all made it that way), we had one of the best trivia events we have ever had on a cruise. Just plain silly. DH and I have a motto to do something silly every day, so Justin fit right in.

DH and I attended the TopChef at Sea competition. That was fun to watch. If you don't know, it involves passengers in some basic culinary challenges (grate cheese, make meringue, squeeze oranges), and then the two who emerge from the prelims make a meal with the assistance of a "real"cook from the ship. Passengers were the judges of the final results.

Ken did the emcee duties, and quite well. The judges were one guy who reminded us of the character in "Sideways" - "Tastes Good to Me..."and two Midwestern women who tried to be funny in a dry midwestern way which was unfortunately lost on Ken, but not the audience. A bit of additional comedy was added by the on board juggler Adam Kario, who would walk across the stage periodically juggling cleavers.

If you haven't seen this, I suggest you try it; it's fun.

The rest of the day was uneventful but fun. The guys tried out the Persian Garden which is included with Aqua class and enjoyed it a lot.

Dinner that night was our first in Blu. DH and I had sailed Summit in Aqua before and also done Aqua on two of the bigger ships. We really enjoy Blu and feel it is the main reason to cruise Aqua. This was the best service yet.

The maitre d and his assistant were great. They seated us with a smile every time we went into the restaurant. They assisted with drink service when it wasn't quite a fast as they thought it should be. It was fast though; we weren't complaining. We had a fabulous waitstaff lead by Bill from Jamaica. One of our group has dietary restrictions and is a bit picky besides and Bill took good care of him. Food was tailored to us, beverage service was outstanding - wine was served promptly upon our arrival as was a big glass of cold milk. Nonalcoholic beverage service was tremendous. Bill was engaging and did a wonderful job.

The food in Blu was good. I thought that it was a bit under seasoned from time to time, but I like everything spicy. For people with normal taste, it was just right.

Try the short ribs and the chicken and beet salad. Excellent.

A fun silly day all in all.

Next Golf with monkeys, really.

I like to read others' reviews, and so am trying to give a bit back by doing one.

A bit about us, I am in my mid50s and DH is a bit older. We love to cruise, and although we have not cruised as much as many people here, have done so about 25 times on various lines. Our preferred lines are Celebrity and Princess. We have not cruised the premium lines except Peter Deilmann (a now defunct German river cruise line.) We travelled with some experienced cruisers friends, although they had not sailed Celebrity before.

Precruise - Off we go.

Hoping to avoid stress, it is our goal to fly in the day before the cruise, preferably early in the day, just in case.

The day started at the lovely hour of 3:00am when we dragged ourselves out of bed to get to the Columbus airport for our 6:00 am flight. At the airport, we encountered the longest line we would see all day -- caffeine deprived travelers waiting for Starbucks to open.

Our Southwest Airlines flight was without incident, although very full, and we arrived for our connection in Baltimore right on time. Ohioans love to travel, yes I know, we all want to get out of Ohio. Not so much really, but we do love to go places.

The first really good thing of the vacation occurred when we found out that our connecting gate was only 2 away from where we landed. Yeah!

The flight from Baltimore to San Juan was EARLY into San Juan, yes, this day was going just fine. There was also no snow in San Juan. Our luggage appeared, I did the I have my luggage dance, and vacation officially started for me. DH always says, don't worry, we can buy clothes and figure it out, but then again, he's a guy and has a different perspective.

We stayed at the Sheraton Convention Center Casino hotel. It was ok. Not 4* by any means, but it met the criteria. Near the cruise port, very clean, wifi, close enough to Old San Juan to grab a cab and get there. We would stay there again, but there is a Hyatt Place right nearby, and I think next time we will try that one. The best part of the hotel was the Mexican restaurant right across the street. Good food, good service, good drinks, live music, good view, outside tables, reasonably priced, all in all a good time was had by all.

If you haven't been to Old San Juan, we suggest that you go over and look at the forts. You can walk from one to the other, and they are interesting to tour.

DAY 2 - All Aboard

Waking up, we could see the Summit outside the hotel window. I still think it is very walkable (I think everything is walkable), but my traveling companions talked some sense into me and we would take a cab to the pier.

First day of the cruise, always a good thing. We all had breakfast at the hotel; it was ok, but not great. They had good coffee, which frankly is my main interest anyway.

At 11:30, we caught a cab over to the cruise terminal. Turn in luggage, enter terminal, get into Aqua line, fill out health form, get cruise card, board ship. All in all, maybe 15 minutes. Definitely one of the fastest boarding processes ever. Kudos to Celebrity.

We toured the ship and at about 1:30 our cabins were ready to go. For the first time, we had aft facing balcony aqua cabins. Deck 11, cabins 1130 and 1141. Very nice, one floor above coffee, one floor above the bar. Who could ask for anything more. The balcony in our cabin was a bit larger, too, which is always a nice amenity.

For those who don't know yet, Celebrity still brings the sparkling wine, fruit, tea, afternoon snack, and two bottles of water to the aqua cabins. We dispensed with the snack, the fruit and the wine. We had the beverage package and saw no need to trade in the wine for something else.

They offered a 2 for 1 deal in Qsine, so that's where we went for dinner. It was fun, as usual. Our friends hadn't been there before, and they enjoyed it, too. Our favorites are the Indian food and the spring rolls. Our friends liked the filet mignon. The donuts for dessert are always a hit.

Three of us attended the welcome aboard show, and were treated to what we found to be the theme of the cruise -- Ken (the cruise director)'s entertainment staff/comedy troupe. Ken did a very nice job. This would continue all week.

As a rule, we found there were more things to do than we could get into the evenings. That was new for us on Celebrity. And, it is a tribute to the job Ken and his staff did.

Next... sea day and golf with monkeys.

Ohiodoglover

We were on Summit last week and the issue about the website came up at the Cruise Critic meet and greet. The ship officers professed surprise that there were that many issues with the website, but did say that the company was working on it. IMHO, it is a bit better in the last few months than it was, but not much.

Ohiodoglover

On all of the Celebrity ships we have been on, you can get internet in your cabin. (DH drives me nuts by reading his emails at night when I'm trying to sleep. He is "secretly"working, but I know all about it.)

Ohiodoglover

Like your review. Thank you for posting. I am glad you had a good time. DH and I ALWAYS have a good time, too.

After we retire, we will try being "trapped" on a cruise ship for a transatlantic. Until then, ... we have to make due with shorter cruises that we can squeeze in around our inconvenient work schedules.

Ohiodoglover

Norris,

Thank you for another great review. I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

DH and I are mostly X and Princess cruisers. I have read almost all of your reviews and have enjoyed them. (I will get to the rest.) We haven't been on Silhouette yet, but will be in 2017. We loved Equinox and Solstice. Our favorite Princess ship is Ruby, but we have enjoyed all of our Princess cruises. We are trying Regal for our winter escape in 2017.

Ohiodoglover

Interesting review. I thought your perspective was very interesting. It shows to me that different cruise lines are geared for different people.

DH,DS and I have been on both Celebrity and Carnival and are a bit older than you are. While I disagree on food, I think Celebrity is much much better, that is a very subjective thing and everyone likes different things.

On entertainment, I think Carnival has some really great things and I absolutely love their games. Celebrity's entertainment, IMHO, while geared for a different demographic, is not as good. I think it is something that Celebrity should rethink, especially if they are trying for a younger demographic. Louder music is not the way to fix this issue.

I agree about the drinks. While I like Celebrity a lot, it seems that every bartender makes drinks differently. We try to find someone who makes what we like and go there. We have found this to be true even with nonalcoholic mixed drinks. Last cruise, one bartender said she did not even know what we were asking for - even though the drink was on the printed menu. The other bartender at the same bar knew what it was. Strange, but something we just work around.

I enjoy Carnival and would cruise it again. DH and DS, would rather not.

Ohiodoglover

While on Summit, we enjoyed Blu a lot. DH and I enjoyed the food, the service, the atmosphere, and the fact that we could go whenever we wanted when it was open. I like the fact that the staff remembers what you tend to drink and that they bring me lots of coffee. They do fish well, which makes me happy. DH eats a variety of proteins and liked everything he ordered. Breakfasts are nice, too. There is variety and you can get what you want.

Qsine was a lot fun, and the food we had was good, besides. We are sailing on Summit again in about a month, and we will go to Blu and Qsine.

Just my opinion.

Ohiodoglover

We did a private tour in St. Petersburg with a large family group, including grandparents and kids. They worked with us to tailor the tour to what we wanted. I agree with teaming up on the board for your trip to see if you can find a group. Things the kids liked a lot were the fountains at Peterhof and the Yusapov Palace. Kid reviews of the Hermitage were mixed.:rolleyes:

Due to the visa issue, I think you need to have your guide with you all time.

Ohiodoglover

We sail both Princess and Celebrity, mostly depending upon itinerary. Ruby Princess is our favorite ship, although we prefer Celebrity as a cruise line. DH and I are big fans of X aqua class.

We did the CA coastal on Grand Princess March, 2016. Same itinerary as the Ruby offers. It was a wonderful cruise. We have family in LA and SF and lived in both places, so it was bit like going home.

If it were me, it would come down to whether I wanted to go to Monterrey and Catalina Island or San Diego. IMHO, the Monterrey Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Catalina is fun. San Diego offers the Midway and the Del Coronado Hotel.

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge was so much fun for us. But then, we lived in SF and have a soft spot for the area. The entire cruise was worth it just for that.

I don't think you can make a bad choice. Have a wonderful time.

Ohiodoglover

On our previous cruises, mocktails were included in the premium NA package. (As recently as last summer.) We will find out if that is still true NEXT WEEK! Can't wait.

Ohiodoglover