Summit - Souther Caribbean Cruise (Nov. 2010)

[SSLaly]

Hello everyone! DH and I decided to go on a Southern Caribbean Cruise in Nov. for our 2 year anniversary. We liked Summit's itinerary, but we have been ready mixed reviews about the ship. Does anyone have any recent experience or comments on the Summit.

 

Would greatly appreciate your assistance. We are in our Early/Mid 30s - we have done the Eastern (Caribbean Princess in 07) and Western (RCCL Mariner in 2008 - honeymoon).

 

Anything that you can help us with will be greatly appreciated! :)

[STXCruisers]

Hello everyone! DH and I decided to go on a Southern Caribbean Cruise in Nov. for our 2 year anniversary. We liked Summit's itinerary, but we have been ready mixed reviews about the ship. Does anyone have any recent experience or comments on the Summit.

 

Would greatly appreciate your assistance. We are in our Early/Mid 30s - we have done the Eastern (Caribbean Princess in 07) and Western (RCCL Mariner in 2008 - honeymoon).

 

Anything that you can help us with will be greatly appreciated! :)

 

Assuming you are talking about 2010, that cruise is on Constellation, which has recently been "Solsticized", an extensive refurbishing to incorporate some of the features of the newer Solstice class ships. Go and enjoy!

Doris

[SSLaly]

Doris, we are sailing on the Celebrity Summit - leaving San Juan on Nov. 13, 2010

[STXCruisers]

Doris, we are sailing on the Celebrity Summit - leaving San Juan on Nov. 13, 2010

 

So sorry! I looked up Caribbean cruises for that time and missed that one.

We have not sailed on Summit, so I am of no help to you I am afraid. Good luck!

Doris

[CaribbeanAmphibian]

Hello everyone! DH and I decided to go on a Southern Caribbean Cruise in Nov. for our 2 year anniversary. We liked Summit's itinerary, but we have been ready mixed reviews about the ship. Does anyone have any recent experience or comments on the Summit.

 

Would greatly appreciate your assistance. We are in our Early/Mid 30s - we have done the Eastern (Caribbean Princess in 07) and Western (RCCL Mariner in 2008 - honeymoon).

 

Anything that you can help us with will be greatly appreciated! :)

 

 

My wife and I are doing the same cruise for our 5th anniversary. If you do a search on the Celebrity Boards for Summit you will find some decent threads about the ship. Also make sure to check on the member reviews section. I have found that the reviews I have read have gone from one end of the enjoyment scale to the other. There have been some people that have said it was a wonderful time and they throughly enjoyed it and others that said it was the worst cruise of their life.

On our last cruise, NCL Spirit, I found the same thing with the reviews. I finally decided to forget about them and judge the cruise on my own terms. It was a wonderful time and I have a feeling that this one will be too.

The biggest reason we decided on this cruise had nothing to do with the ship or company. It was going to 5 islands that we have never been to and that is what we wanted.

 

I say read the boards and reviews but only take them with a grain of salt.

[kitkat9438]

Don't worry about the mixed reviews on the Summit. I've seen those around for a long time. You will find many more positive reviews than negative. Yes, Summit is a little older, but we loved it when we sailed in December last year. The crew and food were outstanding. We are booked on the Eclipse this December only because we want to try out a new ship, but would sail the Summit again in a heartbeat. I have friends that have sailed on her several times and that should tell you something.

 

We love sailing out of San Juan also. It's a wonderful port. I see your going to Dominica. We stopped at Dominica last year and did a tour with Levi of bumping tours. It was great. He will take you to see the highlights of the island for $40. You'll get to see Trafalgar Falls and Titou Gorge (where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean II).

 

 

 

 

[Hibiscus13]

And to be honest - the condition of the ship is not a concern to us. The biggest motivation for taking this first cruise is to see as much of the islands as possible. For us - the ship is a place to eat and sleep.

[librarylady19]

And to be honest - the condition of the ship is not a concern to us. The biggest motivation for taking this first cruise is to see as much of the islands as possible. For us - the ship is a place to eat and sleep.

I'm with you! We are going to 5 ports - plus San Juan - that I have never visited. We only have one sea day, which is how I like it! As long as my baloncy railing is not rusted I'll be fine;)

[spav01]

We are doing the Southern Caribbean cruise on November 20th. We were on the Summit last year, the San Juan to Barcelona Transatlantic. If you spend too much time on these boards you will drive yourself crazy with worry. As other have said, take things with a grain of salt. Or as my mother always says, "Don't believe half you see or anything you hear".

We loved the Summit. Beautiful spaces, great staff, very good food, great bars, decent entertainment. So following my advice ...

"Beautiful ......, great ....., very go......., great ...., decent ............."

Hope you'll be joining us on our cruise!

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I am doing this same itinerary on the Summit two weeks later (November 27). I particularly like the itinerary. I have done many Caribbean cruises, but this itinerary gives me four new ports (other than St. Croix, the ports are all new for me). I am looking forward to visiting some new islands. Also, I decided to pay a little extra and upgraded to a Concierge Class cabin (my first time in one of these cabins).

 

It is true that this ship receives mixed reviews, but I predict that I will like the ship. In the past, I have sailed on ships that have received bad reports on these boards. However, I ended up really liking the ships. I have done many cruises and honestly have enjoyed every single one.

 

Chuck

[Snerd]

Hi SSLady,

We are on your cruise 11/13/10 and were also unsure of the ship at first. It's our first Celebrity cruise and these are some things that we liked about the cruise line / ship, but of course most are the cruise line in general.

 

-Itinerary- 4 new ports for us

-Price / Room selection- we feel we got a very nice room at a great price

-Beverage packages- We are intrigued by this one. Hopefully will save on drinks (alcoholic & non)

-No smoking in many areas of the ship, even the casino- Cleaner air!!!!

-From what I've read the Casinos are highly rated and top notch with the best staff at sea.

-I believe you can get all MDR food via room service. On RCCL, this is only for suite guests

-We don't cruise for food, but understand it is generally better on Celebrity

-More sophisticated clientele. I hope not stuffy though! We cruised Carnival once and I didn't like the ship design (gaudy), and the guests on that ship looked like they just walked out of the mall- ripped jeans, too tight tops, every night. I realized on that cruise that Carnival was just a bit too casual for me! My husband says that even I wear "jeans" to dinner. I call them denim trousers and pair with a nice blouse. There is a difference! ;)

 

I thought there were more reasons but can't think of any.

 

As far as reviews, every ship has bad reviews. We have read reviews of cruises we have been on (same sail date and everything) and the reviewer's perspective and ours were completely different....read my signature line :D

[travelteach326]

Does the Summit have any bars with TV's showing football games. We will be sailing on November 20, too and some of the guys don't want to miss the football games.

[seacruise9]

Hi Snerd,

 

I think you will like Celebrity. I have done five cruises with them (including the Celebrity Solstice two months ago) and really like this line. The ships are elegant (but not stuffy) and the service is excellent. Also, the food is great.

 

Chuck

[Lois R]

Does the Summit have any bars with TV's showing football games. We will be sailing on November 20, too and some of the guys don't want to miss the football games.

 

None of Celebrity's ships have "Sports Bars". The Casino has tv's in it.

Depending on if the game is ABC/ESPN some games "might" be shown.

Playoffs and Superbowl are shown...as for college and "regular NFL",

some games are shown, most are not. MNF might be shown because its

part of ESPN..that is the feed the ship picks up. One year I saw

FSU/Miami while on board...just depends really.

 

As for a regular NFL Sunday game? IF the guys have certain games that

are "Must see"? Cruising might have to override them:D

[Snerd]

Hi Snerd,

 

I think you will like Celebrity. I have done five cruises with them (including the Celebrity Solstice two months ago) and really like this line. The ships are elegant (but not stuffy) and the service is excellent. Also, the food is great.

 

Chuck

I sure hope so, Chuck. As of yet, we have never found great food on a cruise! Still haven't gone, so we still have a few reservations about it but very optimistic given the reviews. I remember one port we were on a RCCL ship and looked down at an X ship and felt bad for the people on the pool deck. It looked boring :( But....on the flip side, have heard you don't necessarily need the normal day off before returning to work! And many other good things of course :)

 

I saw some Summit, or maybe they were normal Celebrity menus a few weeks ago and was glad to see escargot on the 'every night' menu. We are very much looking forward to this cruise and for once I hope to take detailed enough notes to be able to write a review. X has got to be something else with the loyal following it has, and the fact that it isn't so 'mainstream' is appealing to us. I am really looking forward to November!!

 

- Sarah

[Lois R]

quote by Snerd:

"I remember one port we were on a RCCL ship and looked down at an X ship and felt bad for the people on the pool deck. It looked boring :(

 

Hi Sarah, I guess that is what makes us all different:) I don't care

about doing things around the pool...give me a drink, a seat

at the bar, a book and a nice bartender and I am happy.:) No need

to feel bad for me:D

 

But if you want all sorts of pool games? Just making you aware,

they don't do them. Now, I think your sailing is quite port intensive

so you will probably be off the ship most days?

 

Hope you have a wonderful time:)

[Snerd]

quote by Snerd:

"I remember one port we were on a RCCL ship and looked down at an X ship and felt bad for the people on the pool deck. It looked boring

 

Hi Sarah, I guess that is what makes us all different I don't care

about doing things around the pool...give me a drink, a seat

at the bar, a book and a nice bartender and I am happy. No need

to feel bad for me

 

But if you want all sorts of pool games? Just making you aware,

they don't do them. Now, I think your sailing is quite port intensive

so you will probably be off the ship most days?

 

Hope you have a wonderful time

 

Okay so I'll try not to feel bad for you (or for ME since I'll be on that cruise soon, lol!). Going back to that day, we were on a bigger "better" ship, and had live music (even though they only play half hour increments or so). Please note the quotations around "better". :rolleyes: The X ship looked boring from our ship...but hopefully will look perfect when we are on it!

 

Hehe, I hope I don't feel bad for myself either, lol!! I'm almost crushed X doesn't do the hairy leg or belly flop contest. ;) Just kidding. Well I'm actually looking forward to a cruise that doesn't interrupt every hour with a loud mouth sales guy! Got fingers crossed! :)

[SeaboundQT]

hi Kathy-what class of room did you have (the one showing in your attached photos) thanks!

[yayvacation!]

We were on the Summit last January in a Sky Suite, gorgeous in my opinion! We loved the Summit, we didn't notice any of the "wear" other passengers have written about in reviews. The carpets were perfect, the cabins clean and bright and amazing. The MDR was beautiful, we had a great table right next to a window, amazing staff, waiters, bartenders, ect. You will love this ship, nothing to worry about!!

 

Don't ever feel bad for the X cruisers! We tend to look at other ships in port and think "poor things having to listen to pool games and loudness on their deck...." :)

[kitkat9438]

hi Kathy-what class of room did you have (the one showing in your attached photos) thanks!

 

Hi Seabound. We had a concierge class cabin. It was wonderful. It was cabin 7192. It wasn't one of the extra large balconies, but all CC cabins are larger and have larger balconies than the regular balcony cabins.

[SSLaly]

Hello james! Thank you so much for posting that link. It seems that their prices are very reasonable in comparisson to other prices I have seen. Do you have any other recommendations for the other islands. It seems that all the excursions with the Summit are so expensive....not sure why, as the ones with the Solstice were not that expensive (we previously booked that one but cancelled).