journeycollector

45 minutes ago, ecourtney said:

Great review so far! I'm leaving Friday afternoon for San Juan, sailing on the Jewel on Saturday. I'm enjoying your photos so far and I'm eager to see more photos of Summit (I will be sailing on her post-dry dock 🙂) 

 

Thanks for your post!

The Summit was port buddies w/ the Jewel in San Juan when we were there. Hope they had as good a cruise as we did!

Saturday, December 8 - Embarkation

After walking the streets of OSJ, we made it back to the hotel. The strike was over. I guess at one point the authorities had to route transport onto the air strip next to the pier because no one could get in or out. At around 1:30pm, we got a taxi from the hotel to the Pan American Pier for $19. 

The travel gods must have been working in our favor: From the moment we stepped out of the taxi until we were in our stateroom (not just on board, but IN THE ROOM!) only 15 minutes had elapsed! And we don't have any fancy schmancy status. 

Check-in was super simple: drop luggage, get in line to check in, wait to be called to the desk, get your seapass, and make your way to the ship. 

Our stateroom: Deck 7, Room 7020 - balcony cabin

We noticed some wear and tear, especially on the balcony. There was also a slight odor coming from the shower drain. The room was kept nice and clean by our steward Ryan. The bed was comfortable, and me, being always underwhelmed by pillows actually wanted to take one of Celebrity's home with me!

Pool area

After getting settled into our room we stopped by Oceanview Cafe for lunch (plenty of open seats!) and walked around the ship. Our muster station was in the Celebrity Theater and the safety drill was painless. 

The Jewel of the Seas was our neighbor while at the Pan American pier

We were treated to a Christmas boat parade!

We had Celebrity Select Dining for the MDR. Our "recommended" dining time was 8:30pm. That's when we showed up and were seated immediately. We didn't mind it the first night.

We had a table for 2 (of course, you can reach over and touch the next table's food!). Our waiter Tammy was excellent. I forgot to take pics of the menus, but I had the crispy Thai beef spring rolls, the oven roasted jerk chicken, and creme brulee. The chicken was great--not the rubbery banquet-style chicken I was expecting. 

Following dinner, we attended the 10pm comedian show - Ace Guillen. I'll just be upfront, most cruise ship comedy isn't my cup of tea. This was just another "meh" performance. 

Saturday, December 8 - More of Old San Juan (cont'd)

Oh I forgot to mention: The famous Old San Juan guy that has been reported about on the CC boards approached us with a story saying his father had been robbed while down in the La Perla barrio and he needed money. He first asked us, "Are you American?" And when we said yes, he jokingly apologized for his Wisconsin accent. Umm, we live in Wisconsin...the dude did NOT have a Wisconsin accent. But we didn't tell him that. We just waved him off and moved along. 

More from OSJ in the daytime...

Here's B and me

Love the colorful buildings

It's "Caturday"

Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista

La Fortaleza

We saw Santa!

24 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

We are on the other side of the lake from you (Saugatuck) and are interested in your upcoming review. We are on the same itinerary after the Summit comes out of dry dock next year.

It will be interesting to see what she looks like when she comes out of dry dock. I overheard some people on the ship complained about wear and tear, but overall not too, too bad. 

25 minutes ago, bhughey said:

Looking forward to following along!

Thank you! 🙂

Saturday, December 8 - More of Old San Juan

We got up on Saturday morning with news that the port workers were on strike. The hotel staff didn't think it would last long, so we had a leisurely breakfast. We got a text from Celebrity telling us not to show up before 1:00pm to board the ship. No big deal...we had more we wanted to see in OSJ.

During last year's cruise, we toured the beautiful El Morro fort. Now it was time to see its counterpart: Castillo San Cristobal. One price gets you into both forts, so if you have plenty of time, make sure and see both. 

Here are some pics from the fort area:

If you look close enough, you can spot the Celebrity "X"!

View from San Cristobal looking down towards La Perla and El Morro

Friday, December 7 - Old San Juan

We left Milwaukee early on Friday morning on Southwest Airlines, connected at Baltimore, and got into San Juan around 3pm. We took a taxi from the airport ($23 with luggage) and checked into the Sheraton Old San Juan. 

Last year when we visited Old San Juan, there were lots of people and places still hurting from the hurricane, so it was good to see it in better shape. We walked the streets and enjoyed seeing the Christmas decorations. 

Here's Plaza Colon

Hungry, we went in search of food and found Cafe Berlin in Plaza Colon. Of course we ordered mofongo!

Then we walked around some more...and enjoyed wearing shorts on a December evening!

Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico

La Fortaleza

Calle Fortaleza

Here's me on Paseo de la Princesa

I liked this link that explained some of the sights if you do a self-guided walking tour of Old San Juan: http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~msscott/walking tour of old san juan.pdf 

Well last week was spent island hopping in the Caribbean on the Celebrity Summit. Not a bad way to spend a week! As always, the CC boards have been tremendously helpful, so I'm paying it back. 

This was our third cruise. We started in 2016 with an Alaskan cruise on Princess. We did that to get our feet wet. We weren't sure if we would like it. But of course, we got hooked! Just about a year ago, we did our first let's-get-out-of-wintery-Wisconsin cruise and sailed on the Celebrity Equinox. That was a great trip too.

Choosing this Cruise
We enjoyed the Celebrity experience last year. We don't need water slides or belly flop contests to keep us entertained. We just want to RELAX. So, Celebrity is a good fit. We also wanted an almost absolute guarantee of warm temps and sunshine, so that's why we opted for this Southern Caribbean itinerary. Plus we fell in love with Old San Juan last year and wanted to see it again. In the depths of winter this past January, we booked this cruise when a good deal came along. All of the islands, except Puerto Rico, were new to us.  

About Us

I'm Joe. My husband is "B." I used to be able to say we're both in our 30s, but I hit the big 4-0 last month, so this cruise was a bit of a birthday treat too. We live outside of Milwaukee, WI where I work as a college library director and B is a news reporter. I think he now secretly wants to be a cruise director, hah!

Itinerary

• Friday, Dec. 7: Fly to San Juan, PR. Spend night at Sheraton Old San Juan.
• Saturday, Dec. 8: Leave San Juan on Celebrity Summit
• Sunday, Dec. 9: St. Croix, USVI - island tour
• Monday, Dec. 10: St. Maarten - beach day
• Tuesday, Dec. 11: Dominica - waterfall/rainforest tour
• Wednesday, Dec. 12: Grenada - river tubing
• Thursday, Dec. 13: Barbados - beach day
• Friday, Dec. 14: Day at sea
• Saturday, Dec. 15: Return to San Juan, Fly home

I'll blog a little bit about each day, excursions, and ship activities. Fair warning: I LIKE PHOTOS!

More to come! All pics by yours truly. 

I think the common sense advice of being aware of your surroundings and personal space is the best to follow. I just got back from supervising a college class in Italy for 3 weeks (did the same trip last year too). We were based in Florence, but also visited Rome, Venice, Siena, Lucca, and Cinque Terre.

- Use a money belt.

- Generally NOT a good idea to be carrying around hundred of euros (or dollars) on you on your daily excursions. If you have to, split the money among your travel partners so not just one person is shouldering the responsibility.

- Consider *not* bringing all of your credit cards with you on daily excursions (better to have just 1 card stolen than all of them!).

- On narrow streets, make sure your purse or backpack is kept on your shoulder that is to the inside of the street. We were warned that someone on a scooter could come by and snatch it if it's on the outside of the street.

- ATMs: If you need to withdraw money, use an ATM from a well-known Italian bank (usually "Banca di..." / "Bank of...") like Banca di Roma) not ATMs attached to currency exchange places or small storefronts).

In Rome, we had no problems. Street sellers pestered us to buy water and hats, but a firm "no" and they went away. Near the Vatican Museums, people marked as "Tourist Info Staff" tried to steer us toward their expensive "skip-the-line" tickets when we already had tickets arranged.

In Florence, one of our students had her wallet stolen from the H&M store changing room. She had 50 euro taken and her credit card stolen which she canceled right away.

In Venice, a co-worker had some lace she bought in Burano taken from her purse.

I, personally, didn't encounter any issues (this year or last year). I must blend in because I had Italians asking ME for directions! :cool:

Hi Guys,

 

A great read with fabulous photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Thanks, Kevin!

Hey there-

 

GREAT trip review! Hubby and I are sailing Celebrity for the first time after several Carnival (eek!) and Royal Caribbean cruises. Almost the same itin except sub St. Martin (which we love) for St. Thomas (which we also love).

 

Don't give up on the thought of doing Transatlantics! Have done 2 on the "big girls" - Oasis class - with our third on Symphony planned this fall. I think you'd enjoy more than you think!

 

Happy cruising!

Thanks for the kind words! I'm at the point where I wouldn't rule out any cruise :) - we are booked again on Celebrity in December - a 7-day out of San Juan.

Was the cornhole out or did you have to ask for it? Did you see it more than one day? Thanks.

Cornhole was out on the lawn the day we used it. Another day, we spotted it off to the side. Most days we saw people playing cornhole or ladder toss or lawn darts.

Thank you for the wonderful review and photos. I also read your Alaska review just now; somehow I missed it when I was preparing for our June 2017 Princess Alaska cruise. We also used Frontier tours in Skagway and had a great day with them.

 

I will look forward to reading about your future cruise adventures.

Ahh...Alaska. Definitely want to do another cruise there in the next few years, but also add a landtour w/ Denali the next time!

Thank you so much for such an easy to read review. Loved the pics and your thoughts on the ship.

Happy planning for the next cruise.

Thanks! :)

Journeycollector,

Just like everyone else who has replied, I loved your review and pictures! My daughter and I just booked our first Celebrity cruise on the Equinox in August and I am even more excited now! Congratulations to you two, and many happy sailings ahead!

Thank you! We loved the Equinox and would definitely welcome another cruise on her again!

JourneyCollector - thanks so much for sharing your vacation with us! I am taking the same itinerary in 9 days and I was really anxious about how the cruise would be (given the storm damage) and whether we will have a good time. I now feel more prepared to make decisions about how to keep my daughter and myself occupied (I'm a widow, so it's just me and the 10 year old). We travel (and take cruises) quite a bit but it's only our second with Celebrity (and our first 7-day... the last time we just did a quick Key West/Bahamas deal).

 

Also, congratulations on your nuptials! If you do decide you want to take another cruise, try a Mediterranean one specifically with a stop in Malaga if you can find it. You won't regret spending time in Southern Spain!

 

Cheers!

Thanks! We're booked for another cruise in December so it will be interesting to see the progress. Hope you have a great time!!!

Is it an app you use to saturate the colors on your pics. They are really nice. Great review.

I just use the photo app on my iPhone...I feel I need a little saturation to get me through the winter in Wisconsin! ;)

Just an update: We enjoyed our Celebrity cruise so much that we booked another one! This December, from San Juan. We both decided we liked Old San Juan so much that we would take a cruise based from there. Happy sailing!

Thank you so much for sharing your vacation and amazing photos with us! We will be on the Equinox in February with our son and his husband and now I'm even more excited! FYI - you may want to put the Panama Canal on your list of cruises to take!

 

 

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Panama Canal is a long-term cruise goal for me! :D Best wishes for a great cruise on the Equinox!

thanks for your informative review and glorious photos! Wishing you many more happy years together :) cheers! 🥂

thank you! :)

Thank you so much for your wonderfully informative and entertaining review,! We are sailing on the equinox on January 20, same itinerary! I think you answered every question I had! We are Canadians and are leaving snow as well! Super excited having seen your beautiful pictures and Review!!! Thanks again!

Thank you...wow this Arctic blast we've been having makes me want to do another cruise...NOW! ;)

Thanks for the review and pictures. You would probably enjoy a western Caribbean itinerary. Most do 4 ports in 7 night. I found the southern Caribbean to be too many ports (5 in 7 nights) but I do have the urge to go back and do another. The scenery there is just so much more lush compared to the western Caribbean.

Thanks for the tip! Definitely next Caribbean cruise we will make sure it's 4 ports if leaving from FL. Maybe after we've seen many of the islands then sea days will appeal to us more. But for now...ports!

Fantastic photos and review. I am traveling on the equinox next weekend and your photos really were fantastic! Hope to sail together with you guys someday. Celebrity does offer fairly port intensive cruises out of San Juan. : )

 

Walter

As I woke up to -6F degrees this morning, I ***might*** have glanced at the Celebrity San Juan sailings for Dec 18/Jan 19. ;)

Can you explain what the silent disco is? Thanks! Sailing on her on 3/3/18 and I am loving your review and pictures!

Ahhh...silent disco. Everyone has headphones on and are dancing away to the music that only they hear. It gives the appearance of people dancing to no music! Fun to people-watch, even better to participate!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_disco

journeycollector thank you so much for the wonderful review of your cruise. We will be boarding on the 17th and she will be our home for 17 days:). We can not wait as it is snowing right now as we are from Wi. as well. This will be our 3rd time on the Equinox and we just Love this ship. Thanks again for such a great review so well done!!!!!!!!!

17 days...sounds like heaven! :halo:

We loved the Equinox. We don't have much to compare her to, but she's a classy lady!

Thanks for the amazing review. Loved the photos. We are on this same cruise on January 20th. We are also on our honeymoon. Got married in August but decided to wait until it got colder in Canada to cruise. Our first ever cruise so we don’t really know what to expect as we have only done all inclusive. After reading your review and seeing your pictures I am even more excited. We booked 2 days in Miami prior as we have also never been to Florida. Expecting 30cm of snow Christmas Day so I’m am counting down the days!!

 

 

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Congrats and good for you for escaping the Canadian cold for a honeymoon! :cool: Relax and have a good time! We are pretty much go-with-the-flow people...so as long as there was sun and warm temps, we were happy.

Nice informative review. We sail on the Equinox in February on a similar Itinerary. Hopefully we’ll visit St Maarten and not St Thomas. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

Cheers

Tom

Thanks! I had to hoped to get to St. Maarten too, but sometimes you can't just win against Mother Nature. Hope you have a great cruise!

journeycollector...thank you for taking us along on your cruise. Really enjoyed it. We are doing a B2B on the Equinox 24 March and 31 March 2018. I hope you don't mind but I pirated one of your pictures of the Equinox (just the ship) to save as my desk top. I always like a photo of the ship on my desk top that we will be cruising on.

Happy to oblige! :D Enjoy your cruise!