Trying again - with pictures - Summit SoCa - Will definitely be back!

[Jborosara]

After a quick tour of town, we motored out of the harbor

 

 

Got this nice outside shot of the Summit from the water - it sounds weird, but i think it is fairly tough to find a good angle to take an outside picture with good sunlight, etc...

 

 

We motored around the island to a very small beach where we enjoyed a freshly cooked grilled lobster lunch - wine and champagne flowed freely - everything was delicious. If it weren't for the Canadian woman who decided to tell me how much she hates doctors (after hearing that I am a physician), the day would have been perfect:-) I have to say, I don't understand that phenomenon at all - I don't get understand how anyone with any manners at all thinks they have the right to insult me, especially when I wasn't even talking to her. The woman from Tennessee that I was talking to, snuck away quietly. Don't think I didn't know why. The ONLY way I got free from the obnoxious woman was to just flatly say that I am damned good at what I do and walk away. UGH! Just grateful she stayed away from me the rest of the day.

 

We SAILED back to the harbor with our feet hanging over the side of the boat sipping on Kimo's special recipe of rum punch... he used bitters and, of course, nutmeg.

 

 

Our tour guides told us that the best place to buy spices was just outside the cruise terminal building, but we were still too wiped out from the two previous days to make much of an effort, even to save a few bucks. We did buy our spice necklaces and fresh spices to bring home, then enjoyed an afternoon around the pool in the shade listening to the party band.

 

I did forget to mention the snorkeling at Molinere point - maybe that is because it was so incredibly forgettable. Not much to see there unless conditions are perfect.

[Jborosara]

We also got to watch a thunderstorm move in that afternoon - very relaxing. The ship didn't get tossed around (though there was more movement) - nothing got cancelled - and this was really our only significant rain all week - so it was nice to just sit back and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

[Jborosara]

Sea Day

 

We enjoyed NOT setting a wake-up call today. BTW - it should be noted that the phone doesn't ring very loudly, so won't wake you up if you aren't a light sleeper (I am). Also just fwiw, the phone is mounted on the wall - not on the bedside table. From what I gather a step up from the refurb of the Infinity.

 

Breakfast in Blu again, then the Reidel workshop (fun - plus you get good wine and a set of glasses) - then Bistro on 5 for lunch (loved the cowboy crepe and the dulce de leche crepe) - this is the best kept food secret on the ship.

 

After lunch, I just walked around and took some more pics of the beautiful ship.

 

 

 

 

[Jborosara]

Cellar Masters was OUR favorite spot

 

 

 

 

There's been a lot written about those machines - Even though we had the drink package, we also bought wine cards. Very glad we did - we got some "extra" added to our cards and enjoyed trying different wines and smaller pours.

 

This was our favorite - by far. Joaquin knew this and saved the last half of two bottles for us.

 

[Jborosara]

Cabin 1100:

 

We loved this cabin.

 

Here is a pic of the AQ Deck 11 hallway

 

 

And the outer door that was at the pool end of the hallway. I like the way Celebrity added creativity to the redo.

 

[Jborosara]

Inside of 1100:

 

Inside views - please forgive our messiness:-)

 

 

 

The room was plenty big for two people with two big suitcases and two rolling carry ons. Sure, I've stayed in bigger rooms, but they didn't have THIS view. I also do not think this room was as big as our CC room last year, but again, it wasn't an issue.

 

I did not take any pictures of the bathroom- it was pretty standard. I heard negative reviews about the shower doors on the Infinity refurb - apparently they fixed that problem by reverting to the curtains. At least they were the cloth curtains that were changed out every time (saw them changing them out on the last day).

 

Also, if you have long hair, take your own hairdryer. The one in the room has plenty of power, but one of those stupid hotel "energy saving" buttons that you have to hold down the entire time. Worked ok, but was a PITB!

[Jborosara]

We loved our balcony. I think I was out there pretty much most of the time we were in the room that I wasn't asleep. The view really is prettier from up high. Our only disappointment was no foot rests. This bothered hubby more than me - i just propped my feet up on the railing.

 

We did have a nice big table and could easily have had breakfast on our balcony - didn't figure out where the hang tags were until too late - that was our fault - we also never asked where they were. For me, I couldn't pass up breakfast in Blu and you can't order that from room service.

 

 

 

I am one of those that would LOVE to sleep with the door open - but I don't.

 

Also to be noted, the AC worked fine - some nights more than fine. Several mornings I got up freezing cold and one night I slept in the very think robe that was in the room. I was glad it worked well - hubby does not do well in warm rooms.

[Jborosara]

Qsine:

 

We ate that night in Qsine - in retrospect, we probably consumed more calories on this day than we did the other six combined! It's a good thing we only had one sea day:-)

 

The menus are on iPads, which I think was probably cooler a couple of years ago than now. Mine didn't work just right, and as an iPad owner, this was frustrating a bit. Hubby's worked fine, so it wasn't an issue.

 

 

Again, we had the drink package and our wine glasses were never empty. The sommelier in Qsine was the same dude who taught our wine seminar earlier in the day. He knew I liked a particular desert wine and had it waiting for me. (Tojkay - yum!)

 

It was a cool concept - very hiply decorated and the food excellent, if not a bit overabundant. I am glad we went. Don't know that we'll go back next year, but glad we went. This is certainly a better use for very beautiful space than the conservatory - flower shop - future cruise sales office - whatever it was before.

 

 

loved the lamps hanging from the ceiling

 

[Jborosara]

St. Thomas:

 

Our last day was St. Thomas. We have been here before and had planned to rent scooters to just explore. The dude at the rental place talked us into a jeep instead, and boy were we glad! Traffic here is not for the faint of heart. Allegedly, the speed limit is 25 mph all over the island, unless it is marked slower. Let me promise you that locals will tailgate and honk if you drive the speed limit. We drove around the east side of the island to Red Hook and then on around to Magen's bay.

 

 

Hubby couldn't understand why I was so insistent to get there until we got there. I think it helped that we were the only ship in port. The beach was beautiful and uncrowded. We had lunch there - a couple of painkillers - then hubby took a nap while I swam. It was a lovely, quiet, relaxing day.

 

 

 

 

[Jborosara]

We LOVED Magen's Bay and will definitely return if there aren't too many ships in port. The beach is easily a mile long and there is plenty of room - I just wouldn't want to have to lug my chair that far:-)

 

Bathrooms were plentiful and well maintained. Chair rental was five bucks - lockers are available for 5 bucks, which was nice is hubby and I wanted to swim at the same time.

 

 

 

[Jborosara]

We left Magen's Bay around 230 because we didn't want to be late getting back, not knowing that the direct route back in to town only took five minutes or so, and that was with us following the traffic rules. Rental car/jeep return was a breeze and we were back on board by 315. Plenty of time for a couple of mojitos by the pool listening to the party band one last time.

 

Time to get ready for our last dinner in Blu :-( but first, another specialty beer for hubby and another Savignon Blanc for me (in a Reidel glass, of course) - sitting on the balcony one last time -

 

It was cool to watch the pilot boat - we actually saw the last dude hop off the ship into the pilot boat - very cool!

 

 

 

Apparently, according the ship's GPS, we mostly just sat off the coast of St. Thomas for most of the night waiting to go back to San Juan. It was a lovely night - perfect in every way!

 

Since it was our last night, hubby and I decided to splurge on a couple of glasses of vintage port (Warre's 1980). I thought it was odd that the only place this could be found was Cafe al Bacio, but it was. This was also the only place that gave us a hard time about drinks over the price of the premium package - we were charged full price here, but frankly weren't gonna argue over 24 bucks after all the kindness that had been shown to us that week.

[Jborosara]

Disembarkation:

 

We woke up the next morning for our last breakfast at Blu. It was delicious as always - none of this trying to get us to eat the leftover crap. I wandered around the ship for a bit, but we were asked to vacate our rooms by 8am. I understand why they do this, but i still don't like it.

 

Our disembarkation time was 945, but we didn't get off the boat until 1030 or so because of delays in customs. There are always delays in customs in San Juan, so be prepared. Our flight didn't leave until 320pm so we were in no hurry.

 

We toyed briefly with the idea of dropping our bags off at the airport then heading back to OSJ for some more mofungo, but ultimately didn't want to take the chance. We got to the airport JUST before a huge group (probably a cruise ship excursion) arrived with 30 people and all of their bags. We were glad we were in the Ag line before them.

 

We hung at the airport until time for our flight - a bumpier ride home than there... but isn't it always so?

 

[Jborosara]

Final thoughts:

 

We'll be back - we weren't going to be - we were either doing a land-based vacation or doing the itinerary on the Brilliance (it goes to Tortola) - but Blu has convinced us that we can have it all. We will most definitely be back!

 

But.... I will bring my own hairdryer. I will also bring even fewer clothes. We brought home more clean clothes than we did dirty clothes. We flew business class there, so baggage fees weren't an issue, but I just didn't need half of what i though I needed.

 

I will continue to research thoroughly the various excursions offered. I tend to like the private excursions better, but both of the ship sponsored trips we took this time were awesome. Smaller groups on the private excursion are a mixed bag - someone who annoys me is worse in a group of 8 than a group of 28....

 

We have an aft cabin for next year - hoping to hear the music from the Sunset bar. Looking forward to our foot rests - and the bigger balcony!

[deserttraveler]

I have booked one of the AQ Deck 11 cabins for later this spring. I have been deeply curious about whether the M class Solsticization has included a feature of the S class ships: On S class, the cabins alternate bed-by-bath and bed-by-balcony. Since these Deck 11 cabins are brand new, I'm wondering if X did the alternating bed location or if they all have bed by bath? If you remember, I'd love to know. Thanks!

[librarylady19]

A fantastic review! This is exactly what many of us future Summit cruisers had been wishing for! The changes in the Revelations Lounge look fantastic- no more rags on the ceiling!!

I am seriously considering switching to AQ Deck 11 (currently booked in 9038) after reading your review. Will wait and see what others report back.

 

What itinerary are you taking next year?

[Jborosara]

A fantastic review! This is exactly what many of us future Summit cruisers had been wishing for! The changes in the Revelations Lounge look fantastic- no more rags on the ceiling!!

I am seriously considering switching to AQ Deck 11 (currently booked in 9038) after reading your review. Will wait and see what others report back.

 

What itinerary are you taking next year?

 

We are doing the reverse itinerary - Barbados - St. Lucia - Antigua - St. Maarten - St. Thomas.... we did this same trip last year on the Summit, but I''ve already started planning... we are considering a hike up Gros Piton!

[Jborosara]

I have booked one of the AQ Deck 11 cabins for later this spring. I have been deeply curious about whether the M class Solsticization has included a feature of the S class ships: On S class, the cabins alternate bed-by-bath and bed-by-balcony. Since these Deck 11 cabins are brand new, I'm wondering if X did the alternating bed location or if they all have bed by bath? If you remember, I'd love to know. Thanks!

 

no idea - ours was by the bath.... I don't really care about that, but I would have preferred that our feet faced forward... a minor detail, but hospitals don't roll you feet first for no reason...

[Jborosara]

Great review so far, thank you for posting! We're trying to decide between this Summit itinerary and RCCL's Adventure for next January. Can't wait to read more!

 

Depends on what you're looking for - this is a like-new ship with numerous features that adults appreciate, but not much for kiddos.... RCCL is doing some interesting itineraries, though...

[Jborosara]

Photos A+ What kind of camera are you using for underwater and above water?

Review A+ Keep it coming!!

How did you finally figure out how to upload the photos (I want to learn to do this too)?

Summit-A+ over the top beautiful. So excited to hear about the deck 11 cabins as we just switched to one. Can't wait to see pictures of the cabin and the balcony too.

Thanks so much for doing this!!!!!

 

It's a Canon for the overwater pics...

 

Underwater is our new SeaLife camera - have tried other underwater digital cameras and none has worked as good as this one...

[July4]

Thanks for the pictures and review Looking forward to staying in 1123

:)

[litehouz70]

incredible pics & review!! thanks so much!

[obxgirl]

Beautiful pictures and a great review. You would make a wonderul travel writer. We will be on the Summit April 27 in AQ 1123. We loved Blu on the Silhouette. Can't wait.

[van-lop]

Here is the mofongo recipe:

 

3 green plantains

2 ounces of pork cracklings

2 garlic cloves

salt to taste

 

Cut the plantains in one inch thick slices and fry in very hot oil. In the food processor mash together the fried plantains, the garlic and the pork cracklings. Season to taste and enjoy!

 

You can stuffed it with whatever you like, shrimp creole, stew chicken etc.

Any question, feel free to contact me, vane5stars@yahoo.com

[Jborosara]

Here is the mofongo recipe:

 

3 green plantains

2 ounces of pork cracklings

2 garlic cloves

salt to taste

 

Cut the plantains in one inch thick slices and fry in very hot oil. In the food processor mash together the fried plantains, the garlic and the pork cracklings. Season to taste and enjoy!

 

You can stuffed it with whatever you like, shrimp creole, stew chicken etc.

Any question, feel free to contact me, vane5stars@yahoo.com

 

thank you so much - if only it were healthy:-)

[TeaBag]

This has been a wonderfully entertaining review. Thank you so much. We did mainly the same cruise before Summit was refitted, did a B2B starting in NJ and going to Bermuda, then on to SJ and the same 7 day itinerary you did. I am sorry about the obnoxious Cdn. We are not all that way! If you are half as good a Dr as you are a photographer and writer, then I wish you were in my area. Glad you enjoyed the cruise so much you are repeating it. That's always proof in my mind, that it was a great holiday.