mackilbeggan

This maybe not be a problem for so many of you , but it is the principle that matters.

I was declined boarding the Caribbean Princess in Southampton, England because I didn't have a Visa for Ireland. I asked if I can stay on board during the stop in Ireland and I was declined that too. I am not an American citizen yet but all my family is. That was the worst day for all of us.

We were told by princess cruises staff that there was nothing to be done, so I kissed them goodbye , paid a hefty penalty for the Airline and a hotel in London to go home.

After the harsh and devastating situation, I sent an inquiry to the Irish Immigration Visa services in Dublin and the answer was(I didn't need a Visa if I would stayed on board) :o. I contacted Princess cruise post-cruise services, I was giving 3 reasons turned to be incorrect. I asked to talk to a different person or a supervisor I was told only one person will handle the complain and I can't talk to anybody else!

Please please tell me what to do? This is been very hard on all of us. :loudcry:

What citizenship do you hold?

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Do still bring your life jacket to the drill?

Depends on the Cruise line. Celebrity out of Bayonne do not.

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Totally agree with the previous two posters about the Breakaway experience.

DH and I sailed on the Breakaway this past September.

Our experience with the crowding in the public areas, the over use(IMHO) of the drink package by numerous passengers, lack of decent entertainment and a difficult disembarkation process has made us realize that the Breakaway is not our kind of ship.

This is unfortunate as leaving from NYC (our home port ) and sailing to Bermuda ( one of our favorite vacation destinations) would be ideal for us.

When we took a Princess cruise on the Regal several weeks after our Breakaway experience, we were relieved to return to a more " civilized " type of cruise.

For now, we will continue to book cruises on either Princess or Celebrity or enjoy resort stays in Bermuda and beautiful places in the US.

Why would you not do the celebrity summit from Bayonne. Close enough to call a home port

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We are finally home! Disembarkation took longer than expected due to what appeared to be from my perspective not enough customs officers. It was well organized however and breakfast in the Cosmopolitan was good.

 

Safe travels to everyone boarding today in the miserable, driving rain. Captain Kate stays on for the next cruise but will not be the Captain. She stays on to transition Captain Alex, so it's more of a vacation for her. Maybe you'll see her around the pool deck!

 

Overall, I don't think I will sail any M-Class ships again. It is funny to me how so many people post about not wanting to see them replaced. You see it in almost every industry, people get comfortable and don't want to see anything upgraded or replaced, despite how out of style or condition it might be. Things can't last forever and Celebrity needs to attract a younger demographic. Also, you cannot have a slogan "Modern Luxury" when nothing on the ship says "Modern." Just my two cents.

 

I found the food very inconsistent, especially towards the end of the cruise. Tuscan Grill stinks and needs to be replaced completely. Qsine is wonderful. The poor upkeep and maintenance of the ship and cabin were very surprising to us for a "premium" line. The service was excellent, however. Great cabin steward (George) and other than a few nights in the Cosmopolitan, the wait staff was superb (especially in Qsine and Tuscan (even though the food stunk)).

 

Happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for the great in depth review. Very, very helpful. Hope you had a great time and I'm definitely doing Qsine

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They are very forgiving the first night, especially if you are dining early. After the first night, shorts at dinner in the MDR are not permitted. Will you get away with it? Maybe. I don't recall seeing grown-ups wearing shorts to dinner.

Yes. You can wear shorts to the buffet only

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Thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't planning to bring a case of water onboard this cruise, since we have this package, but I did not want to regret it! Regular bottled water is fine :)

I'm sure you have this but in the slight chance you don't here are the lists

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I am really disappointed about the food reviews. We sailed on Silhouette 4 years ago, booked an aqua class room, ate most of our meals in Blu and were so pleased. We've booked an inside stateroom on this Cruise in October on Summit so will be eating in the main dining room. I'm a little nervous!!!! We ARE looking forward to lobster rolls in all the great ports!

When we sailed in 2003 on the Zenith is was so much simpler. We dressed for dinner, you sat with people who we met on the first night and are still friends with to this day. The food was fantastic from what I remember. There was none of these extra money places. I understand the times, clientele has changed and hate to see that quality has been abandoned for whatever this is.

Believe me my circumstances have also changed. Now we have a son but typically will bring along a friend and my dad comes, some cousins so a diverse group. I like to get dressed for dinner for a couple of nights. When we sailed in August we only ate once in the MDR and it was ok.

My one rule for my son, my nephew's and my dad (hey I paid for it so I set the rules, hahaha) was that I wanted to eat dinner together. Do what you want before and after but dinner was family time. We ate 6 nights in the buffet if you can believe that. Food was different every night. English one night, Indian, Spanish, Portuguese. The selection was quite impressive. I talked to the head chef over the ocean view cafe and told him how much we loved it. All the bread is made fresh on the ship daily as well as the ice cream and sorbets. We only found out that all the sorbets were dairy free on the last night as one of our group is allergic. It was more out of conveinience than anything else that we ate there but I think we may do the same this time apart from trying Quisine

At least we are all on vacation and can try anything once

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Does anyone know, if I have the classic bev package, is bottled water included (that I want to take off the ship)? Thanks!!

Yes but they have different grades of water i.e. evian would be on the premium. But yes bottled water is included and it was fine

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Well this may be a controversial post. Tonight we had dinner at the Tuscan Grille. The service was very good and the atmosphere very welcoming. But overall, Tuscan Grille stunk.

 

We realize we may be biased living in the New Jersey/New York area. We are privileged to enjoy some of the best Italian food around. But what we were served tonight ranged from inedible (the pork belly) to average at best. It is, as other posters have pointed out in reviews that we read, a gloried Olive Garden. We had planned to come here twice on our dining package but have reduced the number of meals in our plan.

 

As mentioned the pork belly was absolutely inedible. The flatbread, calamari, and chicken Parmesan were bland and slightly weird tasting. The side dishes of eggplant parm and spinach were mushy blobs. My ribeye and the lobster rigatoni alfredo were average. My strawberry shortcake was good.

 

 

 

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I've never tried Tuscan and was thinking about it when we go in August. It just does not look appealing to me. The presentation looks dreadful. I think I'll do Quisine instead. That looked fantastic and your review helped out, we can let the kids and my dad off on their own. Just DW and myself.

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Sorry about the weather guys. Ye are getting what we had back home for the last few days. Love the updates and the dailies!!

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Chris Sweets is the CD. Not sure about OZ and Luigi assisting, perhaps but I haven't caught them yet. Truthfully, tonight's show has been our only "Celebrity Life Activity." It's tough getting to many organized activities with a 3yo, but we did see the show tonight, which was very good. They started the show off with the video on the Eden from the EDGE and it received a lukewarm to tepid response when Chris asked "after seeing that, who is excited?!" I thought it was hilarious and telling (although the audience on this cruise is not the intended target audience for EDGE, I think we might be in that demographic, but who knows).

 

I'll find out about the Sunset Bar staff for you. We were back there when the pod of whales appeared and they were very into and made it seem special, as if that sort of thing didn't happen every time they go past Massachusetts.

Thanks so much. Tough with a 3 year old for sure. My son (13) really wants to go on the Edge when she launches. Have to see what deals they offer in August when we are on board

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Yes we will request the team we liked from now on. We have reservations every night. Thanks for the advice!

 

 

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Excellent. Who's your CD? Are OZ and Luigi assisting? Also if you get a chance to go to the sunset bar to see if Mario and Lionel are back

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Hello from New Jersey! Tomorrow morning we will embark on a much-needed family vacation on the Celebrity Summit! Currently, I'm writing from the warm confines of my bed at home in Branchburg, New Jersey as my wife struggles to remember if she packed all of the shoes she will need for the next 10 days (spoiler: she's never packed enough shoes). We will be joined by our nearly 3 year old daughter.

 

I plan on providing daily updates on our cruise along with pictures and videos of the ship, the dailies, the kid's programs, menus and food (oh, there will be so much food). We have the the internet package and are ready to use it!

 

We are getting picked up promptly at 8:30 a.m. by our chauffeur (my father-in-law) to brave the Tuesday morning traffic into Hudson County to get to the Cape Liberty Cruise Port by 10 a.m. or so (we like being the first one on the ship after the VIPs - I'm paying for it, get me on it!)

 

We will be staying in a luxurious Category 11 Inside Cabin (2055). We usually go balcony but were very concerned about having a balcony with a toddler so opted for the inside at a great price!

 

The itinerary is as follows (along with our planned activities):

 

Tuesday, June 27th: Bayonne, New Jersey

Wednesday, June 28th: AT SEA

Thursday, June 29th: Bar Harbor, Maine (Ollie's Trollies)

Friday, June 30th: Saint John, New Brunswick (Freedom Tours' "Fundy to Fundy" Tour)

Saturday, July 1st: Halifax, Nova Scotia (CANADA DAY)(We plan to go to the parade and walk around on our own, at night we hope to see the fireworks)

Sunday, July 2nd: Halifax, Nova Scotia (Peggy's Cove & Titanic)

Monday, July 3rd: Portland, Maine (Lobster rolls....just, lots of lobster rolls)

Tuesday, July 4th: Boston, Massachusetts (Meeting up with friends who live in Boston for the day, maybe the Children's Museum)

Wednesday, July 5th: Boston, Massachusetts (Staying on board)

Thursday, July 6th: Newport, Rhode Island (The Breakers & the Elms Mansions)

Friday, July 7th: Bayonne, New Jersey (Time to go home, already?)

 

If you have any questions, let me know and I will be happy to answer. Can't wait to get on board!

Hope you are having a great time. Was wondering if Mario and Lionel were working at the sunset bar?

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Anyone know if Mario and Lionel are back at the sunset bar for Bermuda

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Summit 7-night April 15, 2017 sailing has been changed to a 4-night sailing beginning April 18, 2017 due to the engine problems. Just received notification. Very disappointing. No option to cancel and receive full refund. Too bad.

They must be doing a dry dock to try and fix it I guess

Sorry about your cruise

Is that a normal speed?

Depends. On the way to Bermuda last year she was doing between 10 & 15 as we were just cruising. On the way back to Jersey she was doing 22 - 24 knots. It makes me think she has full power. Have to wait till Saturday to find out for sure

I was on summit last week, captain Alex was wonderful!

She's been in port in Cozumel since Monday. Something with propulsion. Left today. She was doing 18 knots on her way back to Port Everglades which makes me think it's fixed. They are bypassing the last 2 stops and heading straight back.

Doing 17.9 now.

Can i get an 18? 18? hahahha

I'm sure she's fine.

Safe seas to all aboard

Celebrity is probably waiting to see how the ship fares during it's current voyage and is hoping (or expecting) the repairs were sufficient to avoid necessitating any major changes during the next voyage. I am sure they will provide an update if it turns out the damage requires more extensive work prior to the next sailing as soon as the outcome is known.

Doing 17.4 knots heading to Port Everglades makes me think problem is sorted

We will be on the Summit 2nd week in August Will captain Kate be the captain?

No Alex Papadopoulos will be captain in August.

We are on the sailing on the 13th-20th