Finnrox

Anxiously looking forward to this review, as we are also getting on next week in San Juan down to the ABC's.  First time on Celebrity as well, so I am interested to hear your thoughts.

We did a full ABC tour in July when we were vacationing in Aruba, and it was fantastic.  It's over pretty rough roads, so their 4 wheel drive vehicles may be the better choice.  What made it great were the employees, however.  It was clear they enjoyed their jobs, and enjoyed interacting with the tourists.

Does Celebrity do anything onboard to acknowledge "Black Friday", or is just like any other day as far as the shops are concerned?

We previously sailed on the Getaway in the Haven, and that was fantastic.  However, the non Haven portions of the ship, and especially the pool area, were a complete madhouse.  It may have been due to when we were traveling (in June), but the pool areas were completely packed, and it did not seem relaxing at all.  In fact, we are going to give Celebrity a try over Thanksgiving, to see if it more our families "speed".

16 hours ago, tarps said:

The baked goods at the market in aruba had me drooling.

Could you please advise where this market in Aruba is located.  

It is the Superfoods on 1B near Eagle Beach.  Great grocery store, and the bakery is fantastic.

Is there anyone out there who was recently on the Summit that would be willing to post photos of the current wine list?  Thanks so much.

On 8/11/2019 at 3:32 PM, calicakes said:

We're trying to figure out the same.  We love to snorkel and the Aruba port day on our upcoming cruise( Celebrity Sept 13th from Ft. Lauderdale) is long. 11am until midnight.    We don't know if we should rent a car/jeep or do the bus thing.  I'm pretty sure we can snorkel from a beach.   

I would strongly urge you to rent a car if you want to snorkel in Aruba.  We spent a week down there last month, and snorkeled every day.  Get a car and drive up to Boca Catalina (and Arashi if it is not too windy).  If the winds are calm, Mangol Halto to the south of Oranjasted is absolutely fantastic as well.  With a car, you can hit both in a day, and you definitely don't need a jeep to do it.

Sailed on NCL last year, and we are going on our first Celebrity cruise over Thanksgiving, after cancelling out a Thanksgiving trip on NCL.  While there are a lot of things to like on NCL, there are a number of significant drawbacks.  We stayed in the Haven, and loved that, but the rest of the ship was very crowded and somewhat out of control, especially on sea days.  Most of the NCL ships are much higher capacity, and at the time, they were really pushing the drink packages, and it showed.  One of the reasons we went on NCL was because of all of the activities on board (slides, ropes course, etc.), but they were closed a big chunk of the time.  The specialty restaurants were kind of hit and miss, although the Haven was quite good, if a little limiting.  I think if you are staying in the Haven it would be great, because they have really got the "ship within a ship" concept down, but on most of the public places in the ship, it feels very crowded.

Public parking at Eagle beach, and depending on the season, not very crowded.  No idea on the flyboarding, but you do have to hit up the main office at Arikook in order to get access.  Driving a jeep to the Natural Pool is hair-raising to say the least.

We did the Ultimate Island tour a couple of weeks ago and it is fantastic. Pretty much covers the entire island, including the National Park.  Warning, however, you will take a beating in the back of those land rovers as they drive over the dirt roads in the park.  We found it to be part of the fun, however.

8 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Yes, really.  Those of us who have paid a lot of money in the past to sail in the PH in the past and have current future reservations certainly have a right to our opinion as to the "upgrades."  I have no problem with upgrades if they are actually upgrades.  To tear out a dressing table area and provide no replacement is not an upgrade, in my view.  To replace a perfectly functional table on the deck with an Ikea wannabee and milk cartons for chairs is beyond belief.  If you had ever seen the elegant entry way with its gorgeous mosaic tile floor and beautiful wall, you would see that the Hoppenization is not an upgrade.  So, you are entitled to your opinion and so are the rest of us.  Since you have not yet sailed in the suite, I'm curious as to why you have such strong opinions and feel the rest of us have no right to valid opinions.

Unfortunately, you seem to be wholly unable to even consider the possibility that the changes are a net positive.  Every post that you have made on this thread is completely negative, and you are correct, both you and I have the right to an opinion on this matter.  I'm curious why you are even considering going on the Summit since you already hate it so much.  If your wailing and gnashing of teeth over the refurb is going to bother you so much, you really should look at canceling out those reservations that cost a lot of money (as you continually point out), and find another ship to enjoy.  Otherwise, I fear that you will be doomed to have a bad time, based solely on your preconceived notions based on grainy photos posted on a message board.

We are on the Celebrity Summit in November and want to do a discover scuba/resort course while in Curacao.  Does anyone have any recent recommendations for good dive shops, etc. to do such a trip?

9 minutes ago, Fincherson said:

I love all this info. Such a welcoming response and a lot to go on. Thank you guys!

We are in the same position as you, trying out X for the first time after our last cruise on NCL in the Haven.  While we loved the Haven on the Getaway, the rest of the ship was a nuthouse.  It seemed that everyone there was attempting to see how much damage they could do on their "free" drink package, and the pool area was total chaos.  Food outside of the Haven was just average in our opinion, and we ate at four specialty restaurants.  We actually booked a trip for Thanksgiving 2019 on the Encore, then found a great deal on a sky suite on the revolutionized Summit that was actually cheaper than balcony on NCL and decided to switch.  Our 13 year old son didn't think much of the NCL teen club, and was more interested in the excursions than the on-board slides, etc., so that made switching even easier.  We also like the fact that the capacity is 1/2 of the Getaway.

10 minutes ago, wpgcycler said:

Latest pics from the Summit Revolution are out!

 

 

Now that is funny!  It is amazing to me how so many people appear to be bound and determined to be upset about cosmetic changes and improvements, to the point where they want to cancel a cruise over it.  If the absence of a coffee table or updated colors is going to ruin all of the enjoyment that a cruise is supposed to bring, then maybe everyone would be better off if you make the choice to cancel your cruise.

27 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

You are entitled to your opinion.  The rest of us who have sailed the Summit many times are also entitled to our opinions.

But what sense does it make to lock down your opinion based upon a few low res pics of the refurbishment?  If you still have the same opinion after cruising on the Revolutionized Summit that's great, but to go in with pre-conceived notions of how things are and how things are supposed to be is simply asking to be disappointed, which doesn't make any sense to me.

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

 

 

The one theme that is highlighted in all the above is that you are new X cruisers, mainly from Carnival (and I’ve also noticed recently there are numerous posts from NCL crossovers too). Perhaps that’s where the difference lies? Many of the posts you refer to are from long-standing X cruisers and that’s why they see the differences more. It would probably be the same if they were to sail Carnival and read some of the comments on that board from regular Carnival cruisers.

 

It was perceived that X were after millennials going forward, but perhaps that was wrong and they are actually hitting their target market: crossovers from NCL and Carnival? Just a thought.

It is not so much the long standing cruisers seeing the difference more, it is the drawing a line in the sand over a missing coffee table or a chair that is not to their liking.  Honestly, at times it feels that these complainers are pissed that they weren't consulted on interior decorating choices, because clearly (in their minds) they could do it much better.  What's even more comical is the fact that some of these people have decreed that due to what they believe is poor decorating choices, they are going to cancel their trip.  If that is indeed the case, it is probably better for all involved, including all the poor X employees who would have to listen to their complaints about minor things.  I personally believe that people should give informed opinions once they cruise the new ship, not jump to negative conclusions based on photos.  As for me, we are going on Celebrity for the first time after previously cruising on DCL and NCL (in a Haven suite), and I for one think that based on the photos I've seen thus far of the Sky Suites, that they look much nicer and roomier than the Haven suites.

Thank you for posting this--the wailing and gnashing of teeth over perceived issues has turned absolutely ridiculous.  When people claim they are going to threaten to cancel a cruise because of ancillary furniture in the cabin, you know things have gone off the rails.  We are sailing Celebrity (on the Summit) for the first time in November, and I am incredibly excited to do so, in large part based on all of the pics of the Revolutionized Summit, which look fantastic.  To see that the thread about the  new Summit has been hijacked by people upset over a coffee table or minor decorations in a cabin is just sad.  You hit the nail right on the head about enjoying the cruise, and it sounds like you had a great time on a great new ship.

Pics are popping up all over Instagram today, check out #celebritysummit. Looks amazing so far.  We are doing our first cruise on Celebrity on the Summit over Thanksgiving, and I am incredibly excited to see the results of the dry dock.

5 hours ago, Alsmez said:

 

Yes, we will absolutely consider Virgin going forward. However, as others on this thread have mentioned, preferring a child-free vacation doesn't mean we are child haters. It simply means we prefer not to vacation with a lot of them (or their parents, who quite honestly are often a bigger problem than the kids). IMO it is rather short-sighted of Celebrity (and its parent company) to alienate its historical target demographic to try to attract families, given that that will undoubtedly mean stealing business from Royal. They are two separate products and I am happy to have a choice when cruising - I would hate to see Celebrity turn into "Royal lite" just as I'm sure Royal cruisers would hate the reverse.

You are making an assumption that Celebrity is focusing on its "historical target demographic", which I believe is a completely incorrect one.  As one can tell from a review of this board and X's recent actions and plans, it is clear that they are trying to expand that demographic, which realistically is necessary if they want to survive and thrive.  There is a big difference between Royal and X, even though they are owned by the same company, and suffice it to say, I don't think they are "stealing" business from Royal.  What I find most interesting about this thread is that there really hasn't been examples of problems with kids on Celebrity, just a general griping about children.

2 hours ago, FeelingCruisy said:

Can you find out if they replaced the mattress in the oceanview, balcony and suite cabins?  Last couple times the mattress were terrible. Thanks.

Pretty sure that they are replacing all of the mattresses, ship wide, as part of the Revolution.

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The escape is much newer with a lot more bells and whistles.

The Summit is currently in drydock, undergoing a complete renovation, including significant additions to folks in Suites.

1 hour ago, horatio123 said:

 

Yes, it is our first time and I have no idea how I will be.  so preventatively, plan to take a Bonine every night.  Trying to figure out how to purchase in Miami as we will not have a car.  Maybe the uber driver will stop for us.

As a personal service announcement though 🙂 the antiemetic band I bought..and returned...online really threw me for a loop so if anyone decides to go that way do your research.

You can order it off of Amazon for about $6.50/bottle of 100.  It is a chewable tablet like the old St. Joseph aspirin for kids.  It has been an absolute game changer for us, and our family takes one in the morning and one at night.  Minimal to no side effects, and I have had no problems with seasickness at all. I would recommend that you start taking it a couple of days before your cruise starts, just to get acclimated to it.  

On 2/2/2019 at 10:57 AM, micahd said:

Wife and I are on Navigator of the Seas ABC cruise and will be in Curacao on April 3rd.

 

We're interested in trying SCUBA diving but we have zero experience. Several dive companies offer into/try/beginner courses that look great, only takes a few hours and costs around $100. Does anyone have any recent experience with this sort of thing our would recommend a specific company for this?

We have done the "discover" SCUBA thing a couple of times and absolutely love it.  The last time we did it, we were in Cozumel, but the general gist is that you get geared up, they show you how to do the basics, and then you are taken down by a divemaster.  I think the deepest we went was 35 feet, which means you don't have to worry about the bends coming back up.  If you like to snorkel, this definitely takes it up a notch.

On 11/27/2018 at 7:54 PM, michelleandpaul said:

We will be booking a snorkel excursion with Roatan Ocean Adventures.  I am looking at both the 1-Mile Drift Snorkel or the Snorkel Hopping tour that visits 3 or 4 locations.  I am leaning more towards the Drift Snorkel, but I was curious to see if anyone else has experience with this & would have any advice or thoughts you could share.  

We did the 3 location tour in July and it was great.  Herbert and his cousins are very friendly, very focused on the environment, and make sure to tailor the snorkeling to the ability of their customers.  We were blown away by the canyons of coral that we saw, as well as the sealife.  As someone who has extensively snorkeled the Caribbean, they were the best tour we have done, plus they will send you pics after your tour.  Would highly recommend them.

On 11/28/2018 at 9:08 AM, Guest 2000 said:

I would not pay French Key or anybody associated with them a dime, they have a very bad reputation of destroying the ecosystem, not acquiring the correct permits and flat-out stealing money from people. Daniel Johnson's has a really good reputation so if you're going with him that's a different thing. They are both located on the windward side of the island which means depending on the weather you may be fighting waves that are pushing you into the reef. 

 

I don't know the names of the three places the other tour mentions. If it's on the opposite side of the Island from Daniels place then you're a whole lot less likely to be fighting waves. I truly believe that the best snorkeling is within the Roatan Marine Park which runs Sandy Bay to West Bay. There are many places along the reef where there's a drop-off. One in West Bay that you can get to from the beach no need for a snorkel excursion. 

Roatan Ocean Adventures is not associated with French Key, and they spend a considerable amount of time making sure that they do nothing that damages the eco system.  We went with them in July, and they were absolutely fantastic.