Summit to Bermuda, 9-2-12 ** LONG **with photos

[librarylady19]

Blu looks very nice. Where is it located? I thought it was the upper right side of the MDR. Is that right? Can you still see in to the MDR from the upper level?

 

Yes, the entrance to Blu is on the starboard (right) side of the ship. The room is completely enclosed and has no direct access to the MDR. The MDR is accessible from both starboard and port sides on Deck 4 and from the port side on Deck 5.

I was very impressed with how well Blu was integrated into the ship; if you didn't know it was original you would not have guessed it was a recent addition.

[librarylady19]

Hi Sandi- We are in an Aqua class room in Nov. on the Summit. I have seen the menu options for Blu and not really sure if I like the options. Then yesterday I read a post with the menus for the MDR and that had more choices that I liked. My question is- can you or did you order from the MDR in Blu? Did you ever eat in the MDR. Do you think the two top tables in Blu are too close to others? Also- on the bathroom situation- you sounded pleased with your bathroom. Do you think they cleaned deck 9 bathrooms up since all the complaints at the beginning of the summer? :confused: Julie

 

I have to say that the menu options (and their actual renditions) on Blu were not as good as on Eclipse and Equinox when we sailed on those ships. There were a couple of memorable dishes - the osso bucco was my favorite dish as was the cornish hen, others liked the prime rib - but I was dissapointed in the lack of lamb. I did have the roast lamb salad as a side dish one night but it was not good lamb (fatty) and the salad was served without dressing. I did look at the MDR menu on several occasions and would agree with you that menu of those dishes sound appealing.

We only ate in MDR for one lunch on the first sea day and really enjoyed it. We did not try to order from the MDR menu at dinner in Blu (other than one creme brulee). Honestly, given the lack of finesse on the part of the waiters I thought this might throw them for a loop or, at the very least, hurt their feelings :(

We were having a good time with our dinner companions, so I wasn't so focused on the food as I might have been on other occasions ;)

I didn't feel that the 2 tops were too close together, no more than in other Blu restaurants. We never felt intruded upon and more often than not were chatting with our neighbors anyway.

 

As for the bathrooms, I don't know if a general effort was made to improve the conditions on Deck 9; others on our sailing might be able to comment on that. We did have excellent stewards, as I mentioned, so that probably had a lot to do with the condition of our bathroom. I did not notice any chipping/stains/mold/dirty rings around the toilet that others have mentioned.....and I did look!

[Lois R]

Hi Sandi:) wonderful review, as usual:D;)

[Msbehaven919]

Wow .... great pics. Thanks so much for sharing.

Looking forward to our cruise 11/3!:)

[librarylady19]

Wow .... great pics. Thanks so much for sharing.

Looking forward to our cruise 11/3!:)

 

Thanks! most of the photos I have posted so far were taken by Scott with his digital camera; some I took with my iPhone.

Enjoy your cruise:)

[librarylady19]

I met up with Scott near the ferry entrance and we were right in time to catch the 5:45 p.m. ferry back to the ship. He had stopped in to Goslings and picked up the fixings for dark and stormies - ginger beer and rum as well as some prepared cans of dark & stormy to take home.

 

We enjoyed great views of Bermuda on our return trip also.

 

 

 

 

We just were amazed at the color of the water...and we hadn't even seen a beach yet!

 

Commissioner's House

 

Following tradition, we kissed under the Moongate (one of many to be spotted throughout Bermuda)

 

 

[dkjretired]

I met up with Scott near the ferry entrance and we were right in time to catch the 5:45 p.m. ferry back to the ship. He had stopped in to Goslings and picked up the fixings for dark and stormies - ginger beer and rum as well as some prepared cans of dark & stormy to take home.

 

We enjoyed great views of Bermuda on our return trip also.

 

 

 

 

We just were amazed at the color of the water...and we hadn't even seen a beach yet!

 

 

Following tradition, we kissed under the Moongate (one of many to be spotted throughout Bermuda)

 

 

f

 

Hi Sandi:

 

Your report is the best, great pictures. A little off topic, Jeanne, our daughter and I are heading to Springfield Sunday with our daughter. She has a geneology business and is doing some research. She tells me I have some relatives buried in the cemetary where Lincoln is buried. Should be interesting and fun.

[anandaindonesia]

Following tradition, we kissed under the Moongate (one of many to be spotted throughout Bermuda)

 

 

May you have a long and happy life together, and a joyful and prosperous future!

Amen!

[librarylady19]

 

After an enjoyable sojourn to Hamilton, we were ready to get back on the ship and enjoy an evening of dining and entertainment.

 

 

This was definitely our favorite evening for entertainment on the ship. We enjoyed a wonderful performance in Michaels by the Celebrity Orchestra (part of it) accompanied by guest violinist Doug Cameron. WOW .....great show, especially the performances of Cameron and Celebrity's trumpeter David Smith. The place was packed and the performance was enthusiastically received by the large crowd. (If only they could have had more shows like this in Michaels). Oh, and great beers too!

 

We did attend the show in the Theatre that night and really enjoyed it. I have tried to like the production shows but it’s just not my thing. Tonight the guest performer was comedian Michele Balan, who had been on Last Comic Standing. A really funny lady from NYC. A lot of her jokes were definitely aimed at the NY/NJ crowd but she was also relatable to women (and especially women over 45 let’s say). Scott thought the show was pretty funny too. I was pleased that a late night show featuring Michele was announced for later in the week as I really enjoyed those types of shows on Eclipse. Sorry to offend some, but most comedy is not G-rated.

This was the first time we had seen CD Jason Ward (we did not go to any of the earlier shows in the Theatre) and he seemed pleasant, not over the top like some CDs can be.

 

We joined Rob and Deirdre for dinner at Blu (don't recall what the menu was offhand - maybe Deirdre does?)

and then went to check out the Pool Party. It was a pretty muggy night but the place was hopping with party band Fusion revving up the crowd. It was a lot of fun, until the music suddenly stopped. Apparently, a guest had a seizure; medical personnel quickly surrounded him and he was transported away, but that was the end of the party....We heard later that he was fine.

[librarylady19]

f

 

Hi Sandi:

 

Your report is the best, great pictures. A little off topic, Jeanne, our daughter and I are heading to Springfield Sunday with our daughter. She has a geneology business and is doing some research. She tells me I have some relatives buried in the cemetary where Lincoln is buried. Should be interesting and fun.

 

Cool....I love Springfield...it's nirvana for Lincoln lovers that's for sure. Don't miss the Lincoln Museum and Library - amazingly well done and it's always interesting to see what's on exhibit. they have such a vast collection archived that only something like 10% of it can be displayed at any one time.

[librarylady19]

Wednesday, September 5 - Bermuda

 

We opted to skip breakfast in Blu and ordered room service instead so that we could get off the ship early enough to catch the first bus to Horseshoe Bay at 8:20 a.m.

Breakfast arrived on time and was ok, I think we were spoiled by Blu at that point though. No worries, we just needed to fortify ourselves for the morning ahead.

 

I had a bit of a surprise when I looked out the balcony....a Norwegian ship was (seemingly) headed right for us!! Actually, they were docking next to us, but still, it did give me a start. That just reinforced my desire to get moving as quickly as possible, in order to get to the beaches before the Norwegian hordes descended...I mean disembarked.

 

We had no trouble getting the bus (although you should allow at least 30 minutes to get from your cabin to the bus stop, unless you like to jog) as it is a fair walk.

 

I must say, the Bermudians are such friendly, warm people, as others have reported. We had no trouble striking up conversations on the bus; a local pointed out the world's smallest drawbridge as the bus drove over it - something i would surely have missed otherwise. this was the "regular" bus that made many stops along the way but it was fun to chat with the local people and observe them going about their daily routines (how lucky to live on such a beautiful island).

 

Within half an hour or so, we were alerted by a fellow rider that the next stop was Horseshoe Bay. We got off the bus along with about half a dozen others and took the path down to the beach. I was so excited to see Horseshoe Bay that I fairly ran down the hill (quicker to get there I say!). Here's my first sighting of the water:

 

 

Wow, is all I can say....the beaches were absolutely gorgeous...

 

 

We had been warned that there was no swimming allowed due to rip currents (Hurricane Irene was approaching). this made for some spectacular waves (would have been great if i was a surfer).

 

 

 

As we had read on the Bermuda board, we took the path from HSB all the way to Jobson's Cove, stopping and exclaiming at every new vista and inlet along the way.

 

 

In many places, we were the only people on the beach and the sand was not even disturbed. (We later learned that ships shore excursions had been cancelled due to the water conditions).

[librarylady19]

The beach was practically deserted!

 

 

There is a little cove to the right of Horseshoe Bay that was more sheltered and allowed us to paddle into the water.

 

 

This picture will definitely be in next year's calendar:

 

There were many interesting rock formations:

 

 

 

This was the last photo Scott took with his camera before a rogue wave splashed him and the camera quit working (luckily I had my iPhone with me and we were also able to retrieve the camera photos from the memory card once back home).

[librarylady19]

we continued to follow the path that ran parallel to the ocean, following it up and through the grassy areas above the beach. This was not a strenuous hike and most people could handle it i think. It was certainly worth it for the breathtaking views we enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, there were no other people around:

 

[jackdiamond]

Were you allowed to bring the booze to your room, or did you have to leave it with the folks at the entrance point?

[librarylady19]

When we came upon what we later learned was Jobson's Cove there were a couple of people swimming. It was much less rough here due to the protection from the rocks so we decided to take a dip too.

 

 

It was such fun! We got to chatting with some people from Connecticut who had arrived that morning on the Norwegian ship and learned that they had actually left Bayonne before we did. They had a very rough trip down to Bermuda (the women said they were throwing up all night!). They weren't sure at that point if the ship would stay in Bermuda until Friday or leave sooner.

 

It was hard to tear ourselves away from that lovely cove, but we did want to see some other things yet that day so we dried off a bit and headed up the hill to the bus stop to head to Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. We were pretty hungry by then so actually stopped and ate lunch at a restaurant across from the Horseshoe Bay entrance. It was pretty good but one order of calamari, one grilled chicken sandwich, a coke and a sangria were $60 (we knew Bermuda was expensive...)

 

We started walking up the road towards the lighthouse but changed our mind when we saw how far it was from the main road and it was quite hot by then and we were covered in sand....We decided to take the bus back to the ship before venturing out again.

 

Next up....our trip to St. George.

[librarylady19]

Were you allowed to bring the booze to your room, or did you have to leave it with the folks at the entrance point?

The alcohol was not detained. We would have gladly surrended it as we had the drinks package but were not asked to do so.

[dln929]

Agggggggggggg. I want to be back at Jobson's Cove. Right now. :(

[vickykay]

Really enjoying your review. Bringing back great memories of our cruise on the Summit this past June!

 

Vicky

[uglybutgoodbakery]

I don't know what I'm going to do with my morning coffee after this fantastic review has concluded! :)

 

Haven't had any burning desire to go to Bermuda -- until now! Did you prefer it to the Caribbean?

[librarylady19]

As I mentioned in my last post, we walked up the road toward Gibbs Hill Lighthouse....

 

 

 

Here's a view of Horseshoe Bay...if you look really closely you can see that there were a lot more people on the beach (and in the water!!) by midday.

 

 

 

This is as close as we got to the Lighthouse. This photo was taken from the bus stop across from the Fairmont Southampton:

 

[vplsh]

As always, enjoying your review and pictures Sandi!! We are on Summit in March from San Juan and I'm just loving all the ship pictures!!

 

 

Thanks!!!

[cindygad]

Wow! Thanks so much for taking all the time and I appreciate the detail. You make me want to go to Bermuda for our first time. I have been on Summit before and will be sailing again on her in Nov. Love all your pictures. The one of you and your husband you picked for your calender is great.

 

Thanks for sharing!!!!

 

Cindy

[librarylady19]

We took the express bus back to the ship and I enjoyed a chance to talk ship with a passenger from the Norwegian ship (our ship sounded much better:))

 

We enjoyed time at the pool relaxing and takig a dip in the outdoor pool while the ship was blessedly empty but couldn't spend too long as we wanted to catch the ferry to St. George at 3:00 p.m., the last one outbound that day.

 

The ferry is high-speed and gets you to St. George in about 35 minutes (its advertised as 45 minutes); a pleasant journey.

 

Here's the approach to the harbor:

 

 

 

 

We spent a pleasant few hours exploring this charming town. It was very hot and sunny that day, but it was still fun to explore the winding streets and admire the architecture. It is much slower-paced than Hamilton; there are quite a few small shops to browse in and some nice restaurants at Somers Wharf along the waterfront.

 

The ferry lets you out right in town and it's just a short walk to Kings Square and Town Hall:

 

 

 

I had to have my photo taken inside the Town Hall with the Queen!

 

[librarylady19]

Here are some pictures from our wanderings....we did not make it to Tobacco Bay as we didn't have a lot of time (the last ferry back to Royal Naval Dockyard left at 6:00 p.m.).

 

St. Peter's Church

 

 

 

[librarylady19]

More pictures of the lovely pastel architecture.....We did a little souvenir shopping (prices were pretty reasonable)...some of the shops were closed in anticipation of Hurricane Irene.

 

 

 

 

Salvation Army: