Atwell

Well, maybe we will hear from Ms. Lutoff-Perlo about this topic on August 12 or before.  I believe there have been over 60 questions posted in the forum.  I'm not sure if any have been answered thus far.  Anyway, about 10.5 days since the forum was opened for questions and about 8.5 more days to go. 

I would really like to know what really happened with the Summit C1 Aft cabin balcony furniture during the "revolution".  Hopefully, it was left alone but that would be too good to be true.  

It would be appreciated if anyone can provide information on the changes to the Summit C1 (Aft) cabins after the "revolution".  These cabins have the huge balconies and previously had two (or three) lounge chairs, a full size table, and four regular chairs with arms.  

Below is a photo of 8176 taken in Jan 2019, showing the furniture.  This is an accessible room so it is a little wider than a regular Aft C1.  I also found a photo of a regular Aft cabin 7203 taken in Nov 2018 which shows a chair with footstool, a recliner, a regular table, and three armchairs; there may be more furniture but just not visible in the photo.  Therefore, it appears there were different sets of balcony furniture being used in the C1 Aft cabins.

I would appreciate it if anyone can share info on current balcony furniture after the "revolution" for cabin 8176 specifically, but also for any of the other C1 Aft cabins on decks 7, 8, and 9. There has been a lot of discussion about the removal of footstools, the regular tables, and the armchairs but some of the info is conflicting, so it is not clear exactly what was done on the C1 Aft cabins balconies.

Any other info on significant changes to the C1 Aft cabins during the "revolution", in addition to the balcony area, would also be appreciated.

We have booked the same aft cabin in 2020 and 2021 for B2B cruises on the Summit.  This would be the 5th and 6th time we have booked the same cabin and the oversize balcony in the aft cabins is a primary reason we keep coming back to Celebrity.

These aft cabins have huge balconies and we have always enjoyed the loungers and the full sized table plus armchairs for the table.  I do not know if they removed the loungers from these aft cabins during the renovations but it would be a shame as I cannot think of a reason that would make sense.  If the regular table has been replaced with a small low table as has been reported, that would also make no sense.  

If removed during renovation, please bring back the regular loungers and the full size table and chairs.  Removal of these items practically eliminates the enjoyment of these aft balconies.

Yep, on a B2B you are absolutely required to attend the 2nd muster drill.  They will come looking for you.

San Juan does not observe daylight savings time.  They are on Atlantic Standard Time all year, the same as St. Kitts.

The process as described by fleckle was exactly how it was done in January 2019.  One comment is that as soon as the border officials left the lounge, there was a mad rush to secure the new SeaPasses.  It would have been much better if Celebrity had organized this final process step in some way but they didn't.  My suggestion is to get there early to get a seat near the entry/exit door where they will have tables set up to dispense the new cards and the two podiums with scanners to take new photos and scan you aboard.  Otherwise, it could be quite a hassle and take some time to get through the line, unless they have greatly improved the procedure.

You can make a 10:22 a.m. flight, unless they delay disembarkation for some reason.  Suggest you use a porter when you get off the ship, but if you can carry off in the first wave, then not necessary  Porter can get you through customs and passport control faster.  Check the lines when you get down to the main hall and decide.  Take a taxi, not the Celebrity transfer.  If you take the transfer, the baggage goes separately in a box truck with several other buses worth of luggage, and then they dump it all in a pile at the curb at the airport.  You can wait quite a while for the baggage truck to show up.  That is unless they have changed the procedure.  Don't forget to take your bags through the Agriculture Inspection station at the airport just inside the entrance. 

Thank you!

We are Elite Plus.  My wife is going on a cruise with our daughter and granddaughter on Royal Caribbean.  Which Royal Caribbean loyalty status will she be given?  And how does she go about getting it?  (We guess that Diamond or Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean would apply).

17 hours ago, mom23guys said:

We are trying to decide if we should go out of San Juan. I am in charge of finding a cruise for our friends for next year. I like the choices of islands out of San Juan. We are getting tired of the St. Maarten, St. Thomas itinerary and have done Western to death. We want to see some new areas. I was reading some reviews of both Celebrity and Royal cruises. The Royal reviews frequently mentions long line at embarkation and also rude passenger( cutting in lines- not following the rules or just not making nice) I haven't seen any mention of this in The Summit reviews. I've been to San Juan on other cruises and love it but we've never embarked here.

How would you describe your cruise experiences out of San Juan? Heck Im from the NY Metro area so Im not shrinking violet myself.

 

We have sailed from San Juan many times and have never experienced the behavior you mention.  We highly recommend sailing from San Juan.  One of the big benefits is that you have beautiful weather from the very beginning of your cruise (if during December-March) versus sailing from Florida where you lose at least 1 day each direction due to cooler weather until you get further south.

Thank you for your review.  We board the Summit this weekend for a 12x2 B2B.  We also have an aft cabin which we have had several times before and love so much.  We can't wait and are glad to hear the ship is apparently still as enjoyable as the last time we sailed.  We are glass half-full people.

You might want to check that.  The Summit is scheduled to sail from San Juan, PR on Jan 5, not Ft. Lauderdale.  If you have different info, please advise your source.  Boarding will begin around 11 am.

Thank you for your review.  We will be on the Summit for the Jan 5 and Jan 17 sailings.  I am glad to hear that the staff is trying hard, as always, to please their guests.  That will be enough to make us happy.  We will ignore the other distractions such as the hard sell of the Speciality dining.  We have sailed the Summit numerous times during the past 5+ years she has been sailing from San Juan and have always enjoyed the staff and the ship.  Only a little over a week to wait!

Love your photos!  We are on the Summit on Jan 5 and Jan 17.  Thanks for the review!

2 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

We are taking our third cruise in April 2019 aboard the Summit.(1st time on Celebrity) Does anyone have info about laundry services?  We just sailed on HAL(Oosterdam) and enjoyed the unlimited laundry service ($49 for 7 days).  Also, I can't find info on Celebrity's web site about how long we should allow between docking at San Juan and our flight home.  I need to book flights and don't know how early I can book my return flight to MSY.  Any info on San Juan hotels and transfers to the port would also be appreciated.

Personally, I would not book a flight earlier than 11:00 am from SJU.  However, others have said in the past they have booked earlier flights.  Let Celebrity know you have an earlier flight and they will put you in an earlier group for disembarkation.  A form will be left in your room requesting your flight info a few days before the final arrival in San Juan.

Here are some tips on getting to the airport faster.  1) If you can walk off with your luggage it will be faster than sending your luggage out the night before and having to find it in the main hall and then standing in line to clear Customs and Passport Control.  2) If you cannot walk off with your luggage, then use a porter in the main hall.  They have ways of getting you through and bypassing the lines - tip them generously. 3) The taxi line moves pretty fast.  I would not use a Celebrity transfer.  The problem is they put you on a bus, however, your luggage is put onto a truck with the luggage from other busses so you may have to wait at the airport to arrive, then it is a free-for-all.

Use a porter at the airport.  They also have ways to bypass the lines.  And if you don't use a porter at the airport, don't forget to go through the Agricultural Inspection x-ray station and get an "inspected" sticker for all checked bags.  The x-ray is just inside the door when you enter from the sidewalk.  If you don't get an "inspected" sticker, the airline will send you back when you try to check in. 

As far as transfers from the airport to your hotel, the best (and maybe only) option is taxi.  There are taxi sedans but also lot of taxi vans which charge the same rates as taxi sedans but can carry more passengers and luggage.  The agent at the taxi stand outside baggage claim will match you with a taxi to fit your need.  Use of a porter will get you quicker service if the line is long - tip generously.

There is fixed zone rate system around the tourist areas in San Juan so the pricing is transparent.  You can Google for San Juan taxi rates to understand the fare structure.  The fare from SJU to Old San Juan is $19 or to the Condado area is $15 then there are some extra charges for baggage ($1 per bag), $2 for each passenger over 5 persons, etc.  From the Pan American Pier (where the Summit docks) the fare is $19 to SJU airport plus the extras as noted above.  Here is one link explaining taxi fares: https://sanjuanpuertorico.com/taxis/

Uber is available in the San Juan area but not Lyft as far as I know.  However, the taxi "union" is very strong in San Juan so you might want to avoid any hassle that the taxis will give to Uber drivers especially around hotels.  Others may have more recent information on using Uber and Lyft in San Juan.

So far as I know you cannot purchase unlimited laundry service on Celebrity ships.  They charge per piece.

Other experienced cruisers out of San Juan on Celebrity may have other advice.

As far as Celebrity giving differing amounts of drink package discounts for the same length of cruise, or no discount at all - as it has been many times - you can definitely count on Celebrity to be "consistently inconsistent".  

It would be much better if they would have a simple, straightforward discount of a single percentage (say 25%), applying equally to all cruises, for a specific window of sailing dates, beginning and ending on specific dates/times.  Then there would be no confusion and less customer frustration.  But I suppose that would reduce their flexibility to fine tune revenue for specific sailings.

From formal to dressy casual and everything in-between.  Whatever makes you happy and no one really cares except for the sleeveless t-shirts and torn jeans/shorts which are turned away at the door.  (And there always seem to be some who try to get in the dining room dressed like that).  More and more are opting for dressy casual, without a jacket (or tie).

Definitely, take it.  Call Celebrity, or even better, call the Celebrity Captain's Club number.  They will help you get it done quickly.  Don't waste time trying to do it on-line.  Most/some of the time they have to add your current package onto your cruise planner before the upgrade can be applied.  There is rarely any consistency on how to get things done on-line so better to get help.  The Captain's Club reps are so very helpful.  The number is listed (somewhere) on the Celebrity web site.

I think you will like the Summit, especially after the significant refurbishment in Spring 2019.  We have sailed on Summit many times with our next Summit cruises in Jan 2019.  Can't wait!

6 minutes ago, mnocket said:

My 14 Night April'19 Reflection TA has a 50% discount so there's something other than cruise length involved in determining the discount - at least with regard to that cruise.

Perhaps the 50% discount was applied to all TA's without regard to the number of days? The agent did not mention that but I did not specifically ask about TA's.  I only asked about the structure of discounts per length of cruise since my discount was different than the discount I got yesterday for a slightly longer cruise and I was surprised.  she gave me the matrix of days cruise length and the discount for each category per my earlier post.

I have further info on the beverage package sale.  The discount depends on the number of nights.  7 nights=10%, 8-11 nights=20%,12-15 nights=30%, and over 15 nights=50%.  Sailings up to and including May 11, 2020 are eligible according the the Captains's Club rep I spoke with a few minutes ago.   So I booked an upgrade from Classic to the Premium beverage package for a 10-night and a 11-night in January 2020 for $8.00 per day plus 18% = $9.44 per day (USD).   Yesterday I did the same upgrade for two 12 night cruises in Jan 2019 and the upgrade cost was $7.00 plus 18% = $8.26 per day.  The difference In discounts was because of the different length of cruise. 

I called the Captain's Club number and upgraded from the Classic beverage package to the Premium beverage package for $7.00 per day plus 18% gratuity = $8.26 USD per day.  This is for cruises sailing on Jan 5 and Jan 17, 2019.

On 11/15/2018 at 11:20 AM, waterat said:

We're leaving on the Summit March 30. The ship leaves San Juan at 8pm. What time can we actually get on board. In the past we've boarded at 11 am for a 5pm sail time. 

We have always been able to board in San Juan before noon for an 8 pm sailing.  We never tried as early as 11 am but there were already people boarding when we arrived a little before noon.  We have sailed from San Juan maybe 8 or 10 times but not in the past year, so maybe someone has more recent info.  But I doubt that anything has changed.  Some passengers board early, drop off their luggage, get their Seapass, maybe have lunch and then leave the ship to sightsee around San Juan and still get back in plenty of time.

On 10/17/2018 at 12:20 PM, leftyrn said:

We haven't cruised since 2012. Getting ready to book on the Summit over Thanksgiving... Here is my question:
What would be better C1 aft 9201 or Aqua Class 1136 or 1139 but I think there is no overhang balcony here. Aqua is only $200 more person for entire cruise. I need opinions...Go!

We have stayed in several aft cabins on Summit decks 7 and 8 and they are absolutely wonderful.  We have never been in Aqua class or stayed on Deck 11 so difficult to make comparisons.  All I can say is the aft cabins are great!

Our daughter and granddaughter stayed in 8174 while we stayed across the hall (one door to the right) in 8176. That was three years ago. They never mentioned any noise and we never heard any crew noise from our cabin. I would say from our experience that cabins on that hallway at the aft of the ship are very quiet.