Atwell

Oct 16

We left Fishkill a little after 6am in a Hertz rental car. Across the Hudson River and down the thruway to the Garden State Parkway. Now down to the Newark airport. We drove around the airport for a half an hour looking for the gas station to fill the rental car up. Then to Hertz to drop the car off. It cost $41.69 to rent a Nissan Sentra. The trip took almost two hours and that was almost no traffic, (it was a Sunday morning). Now we have to take the stupid train to a terminal to get a cab. It was so much easier the old way, to be able to just take the Hertz shuttle bus to a terminal. The cab to the terminal cost $43.20 + $4.00 toll + $7.80 tip = $55.00 total. A real nice big black guy, (x Marine, wife on the police force), took our bags for a $5.00 tip.

Once inside the terminal we had to show our papers and fill out a form answering a bunch of questions about our health, (if we had a cold, runny nose, stuff like that). Then we were guided to an area with a bunch of rows of chairs. We were about an hour and a half early, so we had time to kill. We passed the time talking to the couple sitting next to us. They were in Concierge class, so they were looking forward to the lunch in the MDR. We had gotten an upgrade from Concierge to Aqua class, so we would be heading to the buffet. We started boarding about ten minutes to 11am.

After walking around the ship for a few minutes we went to the buffet. They had a nice selection of food. We sat down to eat and here comes our concierge friends. He says the only thing of the menu in the MDR that looked eatable was the chocolate cake. So, here that are going to eat in the buffet.

About 1pm they announce that the rooms are ready. We are in room 9067. The room isn’t bad, but not crazy about the large overhang outside. There is a plate with three apples on it and a bottle of campaign. I read someware later that there was supposed to be flowers. No flowers, but they would have just taken up space anyway. The bathroom had stuff in it. Two bars of soap. Nice shower, with the jets and all. One problem though, wife loved it, but I couldn’t get the water temperature low enough. That and the heated mirror made the bathroom too hot.

I asked for ice twice a day which the steward did and the frig to be emptied, which the steward did. I put the two bottles of wine we brought with us, in the frig and it felt warm. I don’t know why the guy didn’t feel it when he removed all the stuff, but what the heck. They replaced the frig the next day.

The suit cases came sometime in the afternoon.

At 6pm we went to Blu for dinner. This starts a trend. We are the first for dinner every night. The filet mignon was great. Service was fantastic. After dinner we went to the theater and caught the last half of the show. This starts another trend. Seeing half the shows. Now back to the room for some TV and early to bed.

So ends the first night of our first cruise for this two old folks.

I don't see anywhere a mention of which ship you are reviewing but maybe I just missed it!!??

Asking this question for my husband. Where exactly can you smoke on the Summit??

 

 

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As I recall, in January 2016, smoking was allowed in a small section on the port side of the pool deck (Resort deck 10) close to the doors near the mid-ship elevators. Also, smoking was allowed at tables on the same deck on the port side of the Oceanview Bar (outside on the aft of the ship) just outside the Oceanview Cafe (buffet). I don't think smoking was allowed anywhere else and smoking areas have been gradually eliminated over recent years, so perhaps this is no longer accurate. Definitely no smoking allowed inside nor on balconies.

Although I have not been on this tour specifically I have visited the Grand Palace and Wat Po several times as an independent traveller. There is a museum which is air conditioned near the entrance to the Grand Palace. A tour book I once read suggested keeping this for the end of the walk, only because of the air conditioning. There was a covered but not air conditioned cafe where you could also stop for a drink at the far end of the complex. I highly recommend the chilled coconuts.

 

Wat Po reclining buddha is covered and the emerald buddha room is pleasant.

 

Why not take your own sunshade/umbrella? If you can find one of those silvered on the underneath, they can be very effective.

 

I do hope you can all take this tour as it is wonderful. If you can eat off the streets do that too! It is a very clean country and we have never had any problems.

 

PS Do not wear shorts or culottes to the Grand Palace as you will be considered disrespectful and handed a very heavy sarong to wear, as I found to my cost. Trousers are fine as is a skirt. And shorts applies to men too!

Eat street food? No, no, no! While you might get lucky and not have a problem it is not worth the risk. We lived in Bangkok for 5 years and I can tell you even the locals occasionally get sick eating street food (including from giardia, an intestinal parasite that you do not want to experience). The WHO (World Health Organization) did a study in Bangkok and found that many street food vendors were hepatitis carriers. Need I say more?

No ironing facilities, no irons or steamers allowed. Also, no laundry facilities on any Celebrity ship. The drycleaning & laundry service isn't terribly expensive (I pay more at home for dry cleaning). I always bring an empty spray bottle, fill with tap water & hang wrinkled items in the bathroom, give it a little spritz & let it hang while showers are taken.

If you try to bring an iron on board it will be confiscated and kept until you disembark. They seem to be very good at catching irons when they pass luggage through the x-ray machine. Last cruise we saw a table with at least 50 irons being held for their owners.

So let me get this straight. I don't mean to sound prudish (OK I don't care if I do) but they really have a cruise with clothing optional? Like all over the ship? Eeeuw. Or is it just at the pool? Still...... I don't want to sit on loungers or chairs previously occupied by all that!

We got cancelled out of our Jan 2017 Summit B2B in Nov 2105 so it was a topic of discussion on our Summit cruise in 2016. We heard from staff that the clothing optional cruises were really distressing for many crew members, some of whom asked to be reassigned to avoid interaction with passengers on these cruises. Yes, they are supposed to use towels on the chairs. Some of the cruises are sold as "swinger cruises" so hard to imagine what all is occurring on those cruises - I guess all you can say is a good time was had by all!

Yes, there will be the risk of cabin availability as this prolongs. Assuming the January 30th cruise is not a charter but instead a change to a re-positioning cruise, do you think Celebrity would cancel us on the January 30th sailing too or just inform us that it has become a repositioning cruise from San Juan to Ft. Lauderdale? Of course this all depends on potential other charters and the potential for repositioning the ship, affecting many or all of these January through February sailings.

Sorry, I have no idea but it seems like a lot of trouble for just one charter to do a repositioning. Therefore, I am thinking there is going to be more than one charter. If other charters, they could be something other than more Jazz cruises. In 2017, some of the Summit charters are "clothing optional" and "swinger" cruises.

Thank you, Atwell. This is very helpful. I wonder if the "protected/lowest available rate" means that we could re-book an Aqua Class cabin at the same rate that we booked our Aqua Class cabin on the Summit cruises providing we re-book on one of the designated sailings? That would be good as the prices have probably gone up on those sailings and will continue to go up as this jazz charter is finalized and we would be protected at the lower price we booked for the Summit.

TourDeCruise - Yes, I think what you said is correct. The most confusing thing is the reference on the Smooth Jazz web site to Ft. Lauderdale which means multiple sailings will be affected not just Feb 10-17, 2018. I hope they don't wait until November to clear that up. I think we should be watching for other Summit charters to start appearing on-line during the same time frame as I would doubt they would switch ports for one charter. For 2017, the charters are a mix of Jazz cruises and Clothing Optional cruises so they are not totally dependent on the Jazz clientele for charters.

Actually, I would be surprised if they can still change ports in 2018 but maybe they can. I thought the ports had to be booked quite a long time in advance.

Meanwhile, rooms are being booked on the potential "designated sailings" that they might offer if we are cancelled, so our choices of rooms on those sailings are gradually disappearing.

You will love your cruise to the Baltics; it was one of our favorites. The very best part(they were all great) was doing a private(two of us) tour with SPB for two days. We had a driver and a guide. We saw so much in those two days and did not have to wait in line. SPB treated us like royalty! Lunch on one of the days was in a restaurant where we had it all to ourselves. Yes, it was expensive, but so worth the money...the car was a new black Mercedes 300. Our female driver was one of the very few who were licensed to do this; she was excellent. Both our guide, who was over six feet four inches, and our driver were absolutely the best! The memories from our photos were priceless. Even though you most likely are not doing this type of tour, it will still be wonderful beyond your expectations!:):):) Enjoy...

We agree with your comments about SPB. We also did a 2-day private tour in St. Petersburg but I imagine the SPB group tours are also very well done. They are very accommodating and definitely have all the logistical details totally under control. The owner Vika (Viktoria) is very involved and on top of everything.

Thank you for your detailed information. $100 obc is certainly not much, especially considering the small list of included cruises and timeframe to choose a couple cruises. Or was that $100 obc per person as opposed to per cabin? I would like to see them match the per-diem price for an Aqua Class cabin that we got for the b2b Summit cruises, but I don't think that will happen. At this point, we are not inclined to go to SJ just to re-position to Ft. Lauderdale. It is a shame because the 11-night S. Caribbean itinerary was a good one; repositioning to Ft. Lauderdale would not be as desirable. We were on b2b2b Summit cruises in January to early February this year too. As you said, there were numerous b2bers.

 

Hopefully we will hear something from Celebrity soon, since prices will continue to climb on the winter 2018 cruises meanwhile, negating the measly $100 obc per cabin and tying up our deposits!

TourDeForce, I searched my old e-mails and found the info on the 2017 cancellations which, if reapplied to 2018, will give you an idea of what we will have to deal with this time. I see the official notification was not as early as I thought.

1. The official notice of cancellation was received by our TA on Nov 10, 2015 and the deadline to rebook was Nov 20, 2015.

2. The additional OBC for rebooking was $100 per cabin (or $200 for suites).

Here is the detail from the letter received by our TA on Nov 10,2015:

Guests booked with names and money in house on Celebrity Summit 7-Night Sailings 1/14/17 – 3/25/17 (SJU/SJU):

Re-book on select Celebrity sailings, in like accommodations, at the protected/lowest available rate or any other Celebrity sailing at prevailing rate.

Select Celebrity Sailings

Celebrity Silhouette: Any 7-Night Caribbean sailing from January 22, 2017 – March 26, 2017

Celebrity Reflection: Any 7-Night Caribbean sailing from January 21, 2017 – March 25, 2017

Receive $100 onboard credit per standard stateroom, $200 onboard credit for suites when you re-book any Celebrity sailing.

Brand promotions will be protected for named and deposited bookings only.

Air change fee reimbursement is not being offered.

A full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment if guests choose to cancel; however, they will not receive any of the above compensation.

Guests booked with names and money in house on Celebrity Summit 10/11-Night Sailings 1/21/17 and 1/31/17 (SJU/SJU):

Re-book on select Celebrity Equinox sailings, in like accommodations, at the protected/lowest available rate or any other Celebrity sailing at prevailing rate.

Select Celebrity Equinox Sailings

January 20, 2017

January 30, 2017

March 24, 2017

April 3, 2017

Receive $100 onboard credit per standard stateroom, $200 onboard credit for suites when you re-book any Celebrity sailing.

For named and deposited bookings only, travel agency’s commission will be protected when re-booking any Celebrity sailing. A $50 re-booking bonus commission per named and deposited stateroom will also be offered to Travel Partners when guests re-book one of the select sailings listed above.

Brand promotions will be protected for named and deposited bookings only.

Air change fee reimbursement is not being offered.

A full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment if guests choose to cancel; however, they will not receive any of the above compensation. Travel Agency’s commission will not be protected on cancelled bookings.

A special help desk has been established to assist you with moving your clients. The desk opened on Friday, November 6, 2015 and will remain open until Friday, November 20, 2015. All reservations that have not been updated by the specified closed date will be ineligible for the compensation offered.

Atwell, as excited as I am about the Smooth Jazz Cruise, I feel so badly for you, TourdeCruise, and others -- who put the time and effort into planning your cruises so far in advance. :(

 

Hopefully, X will let you know something soon (and offer you something for your troubles). We've always been "book in advance" folks, too. I don't think we've ever lost a cruise to a charter, but we did lose one RC cruise to an unscheduled dry-dock. It was a very frustrating experience, as we were traveling with a group of friends -- and all had to come up with a new date/ship/itinerary. Hoping that things work out for you! :)

wwcruisers - thank you for your condolences! I wish that Celebrity would adopt a policy that they will not accept charters after they begin to accept bookings from the public (and especially from loyal Captain's Club members).

There must be some kind of agreement with the charter company that they do not have to finalize the charter until the charter company goes through a pre-booking process to get some feel for being able to fill the ship. And I suppose the charter company does not want to do this more than 18-20 months in advance. Therefore, Celebrity accepts bookings knowing they will probably cancel the sailing (and screw up their most loyal cruisers' plans). I don't really understand this kind of business ethics.

We were booked for the February 10, 2018 cruise too. Atwell, what happened when Celebrity canceled you? Did your TA notify you or did Celebrity notify you? Did Celebrity give you an obc for the inconvenience and a set time to make another reservation? One of our cruises was canceled on us in 2010 for a 2011 cruise. We found out via Cruise Critic that time too. Celebrity gave us $200 or $300 obc for another cruise and we had around 7-10 days to book the new cruise. I expect some time in the next month or two, we should be hearing from Celebrity or our TAs. I called Captain's Club as I mentioned earlier and they knew nothing about a charter.

The Feb 10-17, 2018 Summit cruise has not yet been officially cancelled.

Concerning our experience with the 2017 cruise cancellation: as I recall, Celebrity finally acknowledged (after denying and denying) the 2017 Summit cruises would be cancelled about 1-2 months after we already knew from Cruise Critic postings that the ship would be running charters during the entire months of February and March 2017. I believe they offered about 3-5 optional cruises, and if the booking was transferred to one of these, they would honor any perks from your cancelled cruise (such as from an on-board booking) plus give additional $100 OBC. We had to book the new cruise within 7 or 10 (or 14) days to get the perks transferred and get the additional OBC. I could be slightly off but that is the essence of it.

I also want to mention that many Captain's Club members who regularly book the Summit during winter months book B2B cruises. During winter 2018, the Summit is scheduled to use San Juan as home port. However, the Smooth Jazz cruise web site pre-booking info mentions Ft. Lauderdale. Assuming Ft. Lauderdale will be the embarkation/disembarkation port for the Smooth Jazz cruise, that will affect the prior sailing Jan 30-Feb 10 (and we are also booked on that sailing). The ship can't be disembarking passengers in San Juan on Feb 10 and embarking passengers in Ft. Lauderdale on the same date. Therefore, at least two or three cruises will be affected, not just the Feb 10-17 cruise. Hopefully, the Smooth Jazz cruise home port will, in fact, be San Juan and it will only affect the Feb 10-17 cruise.

As of today, our TA says Celebrity is playing dumb - "nothing shows in our system about a charter in 2018". At some point, Celebrity will notify your TA and they may also notify you directly. I can't remember if they contacted passengers directly for the 2017 cruises if they used a TA and did not book directly - perhaps they only notified the TA. I believe for the 2017 cruise cancellation we were notified maybe in August or September 2015, so I would guess they will 'fess up in a month or two. Just to be clear, at this moment Celebrity is saying the Feb 10-17, 2018 cruise is still active and not cancelled.

It is annoying to learn through Cruise Critic and not directly from Celebrity that our 2018 Summit booking will be cancelled out again, as was the 2017 Summit booking, for another charter. Why they let us hang out to dry when we could already be reworking our plans I don't understand.

I do not know what you mean by c class. All cabins have them

I am asking this question for a friend and he told me they had a C class cabin booked on the Carnival Dream. I mentioned that just in case there is different refrigeration equipment provided in different categories of rooms on Carnival. I am not myself familiar with Carnival. On some/most cruise lines they only have the mini-bar with a cooler, not what I would call a real refrigerator. If you empty the mini-bar/cooler, then you can use it for drinks but they don't get real cold. He wants to know the situation with the Carnival Dream. I hope that clarifies the question.

Can anyone tell me if the C class cabins on the Carnival Dream have refrigerators? If so, will they chill canned drinks around 34-38F like a regular refrigerator or just keep them slightly cool?

I'm also curious about RSWBADGER's comments. We have a Deck 7 aft-facing cabin booked also. I really don't like noise and if we can hear it 4 decks below, I'm going to be upset.

 

Anyone have experience with the lower decks in aft-facing cabins?

We were in 7186, an aft cabin right in the middle, for two weeks in Jan 2015 and never heard any noise from the Sunset Bar. However, we didn't spend much time on the balcony late at night. We will have the same room for our Jan 2016 B2B. The "M" Class aft cabins are great!

I know my question is about San Juan - but it's specifically about Celebrity, which is why I posted it here.

 

I was doing research on our ports, and came across this -

 

FAQ

 

 

What pier will my cruise ship dock at or embark from in San Juan?

 

In general, arriving transit ships that are day-docking for one afternoon/ evening in San Juan usually dock at the Old San Juan Piers (Muelle 1, 3, 4, 6), so you can walk right out into Old San Juan and avoid taking a taxi. We believe an exception to this rule to be Celebrity Cruises which typically day-dock at the Pan American Pier.

 

Has anyone been to San Juan recently with Celebrity - and did you dock at Pan American?

 

We are the only ship in port that day (with the exception of those coming and going from their home port).

 

I'll be a little disappointed - was hoping to just get off and walk around instead of having to get and pay for a taxi there and back.

 

Anyone know why they do this?

 

Thx

Celebrity cruises that originate in San Juan (such as the Summit during this winter season) use the Pan American Pier across the bay from Old San Juan. Celebrity cruises that just stop for the day, dock in Old San Juan. Passengers can disembark and easily walk around old San Juan during the stop.

Yes, this was posted about 3 weeks ago. Previous threads are here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2277859

We were told we had to rebook by Nov 20 to qualify for any of the compensation or benefits offered.

The ship is being let for charters during that time period.

Who is doing all of this chartering? Anyone know? Maybe we should join there group!!! :D

There are available charters on the Summit during Jan 14-Apr 1, 2017 for "Jazz Cruise" and for "Clothing Optional Cruise", take your choice. Celebrity cancelled our B2B in Jan 2017 so they could cater to these groups.

You might notice that the sidewalls around the balcony on the aft corner cabins are solid. The other aft non-corner balconies have glass/transparent walls. in other words, on the balconies with the glass you can lay back and look out at the wake/ocean but not in the corner cabin balconies. That may not make any difference to you but it does to us.

This photo is the view from one of the Deck 8 aft cabins, I think Cabin 8170 or 8172.

In reading some reviews of the M class on the stickies, it seems as though the corner family verandah cabins are reserved for families of five and the larger aft cabins (9164, 8174, 7121) are only for handicapped cruisers. Has anyone had expereince with booking these cabins?

If they are not an option for us, which full aft cabins are recommended (other than deck 6, lol!)?

You might notice that the sidewalls around the balcony on the aft corner cabins are solid. The other aft non-corner balconies have glass/transparent walls. in other words, on the balconies with the glass you can lay back and look out at the wake/ocean but not in the corner cabin balconies. That may not make any difference to you but it does to us.

All of these cruises are cancelled. Celebrity decided it was more profitable to let these weeks be chartered. Therefore, charter companies are trying to meet the minimum requirements, advertising Jazz cruises and "clothing optional" cruises for the Summit during this period. If you booked as long ago as Jan 2015, too bad, your cruise is cancelled (which happened to us). If the charters can't fill the ship by some deadline, then some of these weeks may show up again in the future.

We haven't yet heard "from the horses mouth"... Still sitting tight :mad:

Talked with my travel agent today about our options for our cancelled B2B for Jan 14 and Jan 21, 2017 sailings. I believe she told me Celebrity says that all passengers have to rebook by Nov 20 (or lose whatever protection or benefits Celebrity is offering to those affected on the cancelled Summit cruises).

Celebrity has chartered the Summit to entertainment cruise productions on Jan 21 through Jan 28 for a Caribbean jazz cruise

We booked the Jan 14, 2017 and Jan 21, 2017 sailings (and two rooms on each cruise for family) last January - in other words, two years ahead, to get the exact rooms we wanted.

We are very unhappy if this is true. And no notification from Celebrity either, just read about the cancellation here.

Called Celebrity today and they say, yes, everything is blocked out (Code Red) after the Jan 7 cruise until the April 1 cruise in 2017 but the customer service rep couldn't explain why. Will get our travel agent on the case tomorrow to figure out our options.

Hello,

 

We are going to Eastern Caribbean with Celebrity for the holiday. This is the first time that we are on Celebrity. We have Concierge class room and are told the dinning time is open, and we can just go to MDR any time when it's open.

 

I have a picky stomach that if I don't eat when I am hungry. I will get sick. Without a reserved dinning time, is the wait time reasonable at MDR?

 

Thanks!!!

Let me add to what has been already said and try to clarify a few things.

1. Concierge class does not (nor does any other class) have a specific dining time. The dining time depends on the type of dining you chose before the cruise (or your travel agent chose for you).

2. When you booked, you should have been given the choice of Traditional Dining or Select Dining. If Traditional, you could request the early or the late seating and would have been assigned to a table where you would be seated with the same table-mates for the entire cruise and have the same wait staff. If you chose Select, you can go to the dining room at any time or you can also make a reservation (once you are on the ship). If you just show up for Select Dining, the wait time is usually only 5-10 minutes.

3. If you have requested and been accepted into Select Dining, you would have been charged your total gratuities for the entire cruise in advance. Don't ask me why, it's just Celebrity policy.

4. You sometimes can get the same table and wait staff in Select Dining if that is what you want, talk to the hostess who assigns the seating on the first night.

5. You cannot go back and forth between Traditional and Select Dining on a day to day basis. You are either in one or the other for the entire cruise.

Occasionally, passengers belatedly decide that they would have preferred Select instead of Traditional Dining but were told prior to the cruise that they could not be moved because the number of Select Dining passengers had reached the maximum. In this case, when you board the ship, go to the area outside the main dining room and see if the Maitre'd can switch you to Select Dining. I suppose the reverse can work also but switching either way is not automatic. However, sometimes they are able to make the switch.

If you have to eat when your stomach tells you, then maybe the buffet is for you. They are open during the entire dinner time and have a nice selection of items. You don't need a reservation, you just show up.

Hope you have a great cruise!

They still had the trays available when I was on the Summit last March so taking them away must be more of a recent thing rather than over a year ago.

The trays they had in early Feb 2015 were smaller than the trays from the past but still much better than nothing. Sorry to hear they have been eliminated.