Summit SoCa 2013 - not quite the trifecta, but pretty fabulous!

[Jborosara]

Thought I'd start a new thread for the actual cruise review. I didn't take that many ship pictures this year, but there are many pics of the ship on my review from last year which can be found here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1580616

 

Embarkation Day: We went to the ship around 3pm or so. Muster last year was at 5pm - recent reviews from the Summit were reporting 730pm - either way, we did not want to miss it and have to "make it up" the next day. It was at 730pm. I thought I would like the later time better, but I did not. It was clumsy to rush dinner or interrupt or eat very early or very late. I very much prefer the earlier time, though understand why the time was pushed back to accomodate later arriving passengers.

 

This was, by far, our easiest and quickest embarkation. By the time we got to the port, there was almost no one waiting to embark. No way it was more than five minutes from start to finish. Dropped our bags - tipped the porters - showed our passports and credit card - up the escalator and we were on! They told us to expect our bags in a couple of hours - they were there within thirty minutes.

 

I have to say, when I first stepped on board, I felt an immediate wave of relaxation and nostalgia - like seeing an old friend I hadn't seen in a while. Sure, there were a few missteps this cruise - no, it was not the "perfect trifecta" - but few things in life were and we had a pretty darned great time and will be back again next year.

 

Last year, we booked onboard and were able to snag the aft 1138 AQ. I had seen pictures online and could not wait for our aft view - there is just something about the wake that I find enormously relaxing. The room did not disappoint. Inside, it was identical to our room last year. But the balcony - oh my! What a balcony! Easily double the size of last year's - half in the shade - half in the sun. The balcony was facing into the hot sun that particular afternoon, so we didn't get to enjoy it right away, but we spent a lot of time on that HUGE aft balcony. Our favorite times were in the late afternoons when there was live music in the Sunset bar... just fabulous. More on that later...

 

We love wine, so our first stop is always Cellar Masters. Jom, the sommelier, was very good - came to know us quickly and helped us make good selections.

We had a couple of glasses of wine (highly recommend the Elk Cove Pinot Grigio) and headed back to our stateroom where our bags were already waiting. Our stateroom attendant, Diogo, introduced himself to us as we dragged our bags into the room.

 

A quick change and we decided it was time for dinner - we looked forward to Blu from almost the moment we stepped off of last year's cruise. There was no wait this first night, and the food and service were both very good, if not a bit rushed due to the muster drill at 730, but we did finish before the horn (barely).

 

Having already said that I did not care for the later muster drill for my own personal reasons, I will also say that there was a higher level of intoxication in the room at 730 than there has been in previous years when the drill was held earlier - I count myself and my husband among those, to be perfectly honest. I just cannot help but wonder how effective a drill can be during such a time. The requirement is for within the first 24 hours, so with the next day being a sea day, maybe the next morning would be a better choice. I don't know, but I will say that a crowded lounge full of loud and somewhat intoxicated people was not conducive to actually taking anything away from the drill. I don't have a good answer - just an observation.

 

Sailaway was at 830 - usually we do sail away from the pool deck but we were tired and had this fabulous balcony, so we passed for this trip, opting instead to sail away on our balcony - on our fabulous reclining chairs with footstools and enough room to lay flat on them under the stars.

[stavy]

My first "read" f the day...Sounds fabulous!

[Jborosara]

Sea Day:

 

We slept until we woke up the next morning.... which wasn't as late as I thought it would be, but it was nice to enjoy not setting an alarm. I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of sea days. I have a touch of ADHD and get bored very easily - I like to have new experiences and be active and I struggle to just relax. Sea days are probably "good" for me, but I don't relish them the way many of you do. It also doesn't help that my husband is a night owl and I'm an early riser:-)

 

Early lunch at Bistro on 5 (love the cowboy crepe) - we skipped the wine since we were headed to the gym for a workout after lunch. Surprisingly, there were very few folks in the gym that afternoon. I am, in general, a rule-follower; however, for the life of me, I do not understand the absolute signs about 20 minute workouts. I have no problem with the limits while people are waiting, but when my husband and I are the only two people using the equipment, the limit just seems silly. Not to mention that 20 minutes of cardio doesn't do much for you anyway. Needless to say, we did our full workout of 45 minutes - and before the bashing begins about our rule breaking, I would have gladly ceded my machine to any waiting person if they had ever arrived, which they didn't.

[Jborosara]

Here is where the first hiccup happened. Earlier in the day, Jom had signed us up for the around the world winetasting to be held at 230pm. We saw this event take place each of the last two years, but never could figure out how to get in on it, and were very much looking forward to it. Unfortunately, upon returning to our room, we found our bathroom not working - no water from the shower and no flushing toilet.

 

Not one to be deterred from a good wine tasting, I gathered up my stuff and my husband and headed for the gym to shower and clean up. After all, we were AQ and that was supposed to be something about spa something or other, wasn't it? Unfortunately, this was probably the low point of the cruise - which seeing as how it all ended well and wasn't a huge deal isn't such a bad thing.

 

The staff in the spa could not have been more rude to me. I got there to find the women's locker room closed for "cleaning" - we had over an hour, so this didn't seem to be too huge a deal. I went to the spa front desk to ask if they knew how long it would be closed. I had my blue AQ sea pass card in hand. It took me several attempts to even get their attention - to even get them to acknowledge me. I know I looked a mess and smelled worse, but rude is just rude (AQ or not!).

 

When I finally got their attention, I asked how long the women's locker room would be closed. They didn't know. I asked if they could check or ask someone else. They tried to direct me to a different bathroom. I again explained that what I needed was the shower and that we had a wine tasting to attend in just over an hour and that our bathroom was not working, so I just needed a shower. Finally, after several explanations, they agreed to call to see what was going on and how long it would take. They directed me to sit in the chairs by the desk and went on about their business. No call. No informations. Heck, we were AQ and no invitation to wait in the Persian gardens.

 

Meanwhile my husband finished his shower and came out to the desk, surprised to find me there - or at least surprised to find me there still smelly and stinky. He asked me what was wrong as it was obvious I was nearly in tears - at about that point, the staff at the spa got suddenly helpful. My husband and I have been married almost 24 years - he knows that I am not one to go all teary in situations like this, so he was very definitely not a happy camper. He got on the phone to guest services - who got in touch with Diogo and with maintainence and they fixed our actual shower in less than five minutes. We called when we first found the problem, but told them we were going to the gym/spa to shower and clean up, so no hurry. Literally, five minutes later, the problem was fixed. Diogo is a rock star! The maintenence folks are rock stars! The spa staff are rude, aloof and insensitive.

 

I know that they are subcontracted with Celebrity, so I don't really blame Celebrity for the incident. But it did make me MUCH less likely to book an actual spa treatment.

 

I'm actually a low maintenence kind of girl. Fifteen minutes later I was cleaned up, dressed appropriately and we headed to the around the world wine tour.

[Jborosara]

This was the highlight of our sea day - so glad that we didn't cancel after the whole spa ordeal.

 

We gathered in the martini bar at 230 - they handed out wine glasses and cards with the different wines on them, gave a brief presentation about what we would be doing and set us loose.

 

There were six different stations, each with two different wines. On one side of the ship were "old world" wines - from Germany, Italy and France. On the other side were "new world" wines - from the US, South America and Oceania. Each region was represented by one red and one white, and each station was staffed by a professional sommelier who talked us through each of the wine and helped us describe for ourselves what we were tasting.

 

It was a lot of fun! We could have tasted as much as we wanted for the whole hour, but not wanting to overdo it too early, we called it quits after tasting all of the wines (except for the Rhone - don't like Rhones - they taste like chewy dirt).

 

My one comment would be that they need to use better glasses for the wine tasting. They do this whole Riedel workshop (we've done it twice) and spend a lot of time convincing you that the glass makes a huge difference (I'm convinced - sounds hokey, but it does), then give you a crappy glass with a rolled rim that splashes the wine all over your mouth, so that it is tough to really taste it. They didn't have to be Riedel glasses - just something with a cut rim so that the wines tasted like they were supposed to taste.

 

Even so, this was totally worth the 20 bucks per person fee. I would do it again in a heartbeat, even with the crappy glasses:-)

[stellarose]

How do you sign up and where? This might be cool.

[Jborosara]

The past two years, one of our favorite things to do was to sit by the pool in the shade late in the afternoon to listen to the party band for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, this year, Zumba has replaced the party band. Now I will say, that if I were in to Zumba, I think I would enjoy the instructor onboard. He is very high energy and fun - ALMOST made me want to do some Zumba.... just not quite. Still, it was fun to watch people try to do Zumba in swimsuits while drinking beer. I think maybe Zumba is one of those things that should never be done in a swimsuit... except maybe by swimsuit models... but never while drinking beer:-)

 

Tonight was the first formal night, but I am one of those that HATE dressing up (a big part of why I choose AQ). We went to Qsine last year and liked it, but didn't feel like we ordered well, so wanted to try again. Also, we didn't want to dress up...

 

We ordered better this time - better but not perfect:-) The waiter said four to six items for two people... Four would be plenty - trust me! But.... we very much enjoyed the Tres Ceviche and the Sliders... We also ordered the disco shrimp, which we liked but did not like the presentation - ordered the painter's mignon, which was good but unnecessary with the sliders and kebabs of some sort that we could only take a bite or two of...

 

I had the silver bullet for dessert and it was delicious (though the "spoons" look a little too dental for me)

 

A little bit of blackjack and we called it a night. We're pretty boring folks - we don't do cocktail parties or shows. We gamble a little (but I can't bear to lose more than 100 bucks in a week) - we enjoy wine and nice food - quiet and time with each other. If you want to know where to find the good wine on the ship, I'm you're girl. If you want to know what the nightlife after 9pm is like on the ship - I have no idea - usually in bed by that time.

[Jborosara]

How do you sign up and where? This might be cool.

 

the sommelier in Cellar Master's - I'm guessing it is generally on a sea day... it was a ton of fun!

[vplsh]

Thanks for your review! Do you have any pics of your cabin and balcony? We are in 1138 on Summit in just 6 weeks!

 

Looking forward to that wine experience. We have done the Riedel and others as well but never that one. Sounds like fun!

[Jborosara]

Barbados:

 

We've done this itinerary before - been to all of these islands two years ago on our first annual SoCa cruise:-) When we were in Barbados we took a ship excursion to swim with the sea turtles, and while it was very fun, we were with 50 of our closest friends. I'm a good swimmer - former swim team - very comfortable in the water so this wasn't such a big deal for me. But my husband is not as comfortable in the water. He swims fine, but the combination of claustrophobia from the snorkel and mask, too many people and a touch of discomfort was just too much for him. I think that year he saw a turtle or two but certainly did not have the experience of really being with them.

 

So this year, we opted out of ship's excursions and booked a private excursion through Calabaza. I admit to scouring the internet to pick just the right trip and boy did Gina and her crew deliver! What a day.

 

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Here is the sight we awakened to:

 

 

The Oceania Riveria was also in port that day - she is a beautiful ship, and we've considered trying Oceania, but just can't justify the additional cost.

 

 

[Jborosara]

I love the colors of the Caribbean! They make me happy. Gina sent very detailed instructions on where to meet and when, still this was our first "private" excursion, so we were a bit leery. We waited here for no more than ten minutes before we were on our way!

 

[newcruisergal]

The spa staff are rude, aloof and insensitive.

 

I know that they are subcontracted with Celebrity, so I don't really blame Celebrity for the incident. But it did make me MUCH less likely to book an actual spa treatment.

 

This was the impression I had as well, just from using the fitness center. It was an incredibly inefficient system to have to stand in line at the spa desk to get a key for a locker in the spa/fitness center locker room. Then when I was finished it took 20 MINUTES to get someones' attention to get back my Sea Pass card (which they hold when they give you the key for the locker). I was just literally ignored by the two women at the front desk as they went about helping the spa customers. I was holding the key in my hand so I think it was fairly obvious what I wanted, and it took 30 seconds to accomplish once they finally LOOKED at me. Based on that interaction alone I would never consider booking a spa treatment.

[Jborosara]

We got a mini-tour of Bridgetown on our way to Gina's boat - maybe next time we work up the courage to have the cabbie drop us off downtown and walk around a bit.

 

 

the clouds did not seem to bode well, but the day turned out to be beautiful and perfect.

 

 

I did warn you that I love the colors of the Caribbean:-)

 

Gina has a big boat that is clean and well kept - it clearly could handle many more passengers than she takes, but she limits her trips to 12 passengers, which really makes the experience more special. She has three crew, including herself, and spends the entire day just trying to make your day special.

[Jborosara]

Without a doubt, Gina's excursion is the finest excursion we've ever taken. Within just a few minutes, she easily learned each of our names. We started the day with fresh banana bread and an open bar. After Qsine and wine tasting yesterday, we weren't quite ready for the open bar, but the banana bread was delicious.

 

 

Our first snorkeling stop was a shipwreck site. We have a SeaLife underwater camera that I am finally learning how to use -

 

 

 

 

the swell was a bit up that day so the snorkeling was not as good as two years ago - but it was still amazing to be here in January while there was ice back home!

[Jborosara]

We also invested in a light for our underwater camera this year. It is very easy to use, if not a bit clunky, but I did think some of the pictures were brighter with the light. To be honest, we saw some folks scuba diving at the wreck site and it made me want to learn how.... next year:-)

 

 

 

The fish were everywhere - they were beautiful and colorful. The snorkeling was perfect. We left early enough not to be there with hoards of other people and Gina always had at least one person in the water with our group. And after snorkeling, another treat and a continuous open bar (for which we were still not quite ready)

[Jborosara]

Next up... turtles. The swells were pretty high on this day, but the water was beautiful nonetheless.

 

We've seen the sea turtles twice and I continue to be just amazed by them - not certain I could make a trip to Barbados without seeing them. However, I would not go again with a big trip. It was so nice to have one guide with the 12 of us and the turtles. We had as much time as we wanted with them - no rushing - no deadlines - no crowds. Pure paradise!

[Jborosara]

 

 

We spent much of the day "under sail," which was very cool - no engine noise! In fact, the only time the crew used the engines was when we were anchoring or docking. A true sail!

 

I kept looking for a spot to take a picture of my toenails that were the same color as the water.... The blues were simply spectacular

 

 

 

I love this island and really loved Gina's excursion.... I've already sent her an email for a booking for next year!

[Lois R]

Enjoying your review and your pictures are wonderful:)

 

Sorry the spa staff was so rude to you:mad:

[Jborosara]

There was not a single detail that Gina overlooked - lunch was fabulous - the run punch (we did finally imbibe after lunch) was both strong and delicious and the crew are fabulous hosts. One of the things I appreciated most was comfortable places to sit in the shade - as a skin cancer (melanoma) survivor as well as a warm weather lover, shade is my best friend - second only to my husband, that is.

 

 

 

 

[cruisingcanadian]

Your pictures,especially those of the turtles,are wonderful.I was wondering-how many of them came to swim around you? And did Gina or the boat crew feed them to attract them?

I and my friend on our last cruise on the Summit took a taxi to Carlisle Beach,and there were locals offernig to take us to places where turtles usually are. We had not been completely sure if it was a good idea but eventually we accepted their offer and did not regret it. The guy drove the boat not too far,all tree of us got in the water and 2 HUGE turtles made their appearence.They were 3 feet long and so beautiful! He gave them a bit of small pieces of fish,and they stayed with us pretty long time. After that he took us over 2 shipwrecks for a very good snorkeling.

We paid $30.- each. May I ask how much was the Gina's excursion? I assume much more as there was food and drinks included. I am just making plans (already;)) for my next time in Barbados,because I want to go to swim with the turtles again.

[cruzccl]

Thanks for your review. I am sitting in San Juan tonight about to board the Summit tomorrow for a B2B cruise.

 

Your review so far had given me some ideas. I did the wine tour last time on my Constellation trip and loved it. Glad to know it will be on the sea day.

 

 

Sorry the spa staff was rude to you. No excuse for that.

 

Bill

[Jborosara]

After a long day in port, we were looking forward to some chilling time with live music, a bit of wine and a nice quiet dinner in Blu.

 

As I've already mentioned, most of the late afternoon live music by the pool has been replace by Zumba - I know this was passenger request, so can't gripe too much. But I do miss the party band by the pool.

 

We went to Blu the first night, but felt really rushed due to the first night madness and muster. Didn't think anything of how loud it was that night or how crowded, but it was both. In the past, we have seriously considered doing a land vacation because we foodies, but Blu won us over last year, and we opted to keep cruising on Celebrity because of the value and the ease.

 

Imagine my consternation when we rounded the corner and saw a line of at least 10 or 15 people waiting to be seated. We dutifully got in line and were shocked that the line hardly moved for five minutes. After what seemed like ages, but was actually about 15 minutes, we finally got to the front of the line and were seated. The place was packed. It was loud. The staff was nothing short of frenetic.

 

The service and food were good - nothing exceptional - but good. The wine service was superb, despite the fact that we had the premium package - wine glasses never empty. I recognized the sommelier and his assistant from last year - they were as good as ever.

 

The place was way more crowded than it ever was last year. We watched the door to see if there was a better time to come. Throughout our entire dinner (about 7-9pm counting the waiting time), there was never fewer than 4 or 6 people waiting. I don't know why the change - don't know if there really are more people - if the maitre'd didn't accurately determine space available or if the service was slower - it was just not as good an experience as it was last year this time. In fact, I really feel bad now for not believing librarylady when she said the same thing... she was right on point.

 

Still, not enough to ruin a fabulous day - certainly not enough to ruin an entire vacation... a disappointment to be sure - but not ruinous.

[Jborosara]

Next up - the day we trained almost a year for - a climb to the top of Gros Piton. I don't know why I wanted to do this, but I did. We climbed Mt. Liamigua in St Kitts last year and it really was fun - hard but fun. Spencer Ambrose is the only one doing this through cruise ships right now - and he is terrific and very concerned about getting you back on time. I don't know if I'd attempt this again, but I would definitely highly recommend any of Spencer's trips.

 

We could see the Pitons as we sailed into port -

 

 

The seemed bigger than I remember - already starting to get a bit wobbly about the prospect of climbing....

 

Spencer picked us up at the pier just as scheduled - we had to pick up some folks from the Riviera, so got this nice shot of the Summit

 

 

Now make no mistake of it... Spencer can get you to Jalousie beach or to the Pitons in just under 45 minutes... but it is not a calm ride. His folks know very well how to handle their boat in the water... but it is still a pretty thrilling ride.

 

We stopped first to drop off the folks spending the day at Jalousie. I will admit that I "almost" asked if we could just stay there instead of climbing... but just willed myself to try despite my trepidation.

 

A view of Gros Piton from the boat docked at Jalousie...

 

[librarylady19]

After a long day in port, we were looking forward to some chilling time with live music, a bit of wine and a nice quiet dinner in Blu.

 

As I've already mentioned, most of the late afternoon live music by the pool has been replace by Zumba - I know this was passenger request, so can't gripe too much. But I do miss the party band by the pool.

 

We went to Blu the first night, but felt really rushed due to the first night madness and muster. Didn't think anything of how loud it was that night or how crowded, but it was both. In the past, we have seriously considered doing a land vacation because we foodies, but Blu won us over last year, and we opted to keep cruising on Celebrity because of the value and the ease.

 

Imagine my consternation when we rounded the corner and saw a line of at least 10 or 15 people waiting to be seated. We dutifully got in line and were shocked that the line hardly moved for five minutes. After what seemed like ages, but was actually about 15 minutes, we finally got to the front of the line and were seated. The place was packed. It was loud. The staff was nothing short of frenetic.

 

The service and food were good - nothing exceptional - but good. The wine service was superb, despite the fact that we had the premium package - wine glasses never empty. I recognized the sommelier and his assistant from last year - they were as good as ever.

 

The place was way more crowded than it ever was last year. We watched the door to see if there was a better time to come. Throughout our entire dinner (about 7-9pm counting the waiting time), there was never fewer than 4 or 6 people waiting. I don't know why the change - don't know if there really are more people - if the maitre'd didn't accurately determine space available or if the service was slower - it was just not as good an experience as it was last year this time. In fact, I really feel bad now for not believing librarylady when she said the same thing... she was right on point.

 

Still, not enough to ruin a fabulous day - certainly not enough to ruin an entire vacation... a disappointment to be sure - but not ruinous.

 

Sorry to hear that Blu on Summit hasn't improved....that's a real lost opportunity.

I too think Zumba at the pool is really annoying...would much rather have the band play. That kind of frenetic dancing ( reminds me of aerobics I did In The 80s) is just exhausting to watch!!!

 

Enjoying your review and photos. Would love to do this itinerary but in no rush to return to Summit:(

[Jborosara]

When you read on the internet about climbing Gros Piton, it is likened to Mt. Liamiguia - which we did last year. What they fail to mention is that this climb starts on the BEACH - at sea level. If you come from town, you start 600 feet higher - and let me just say, that first 600 feet is a doozy!

 

 

We had two guides for eight people... They were kind and patient. I will just admit right now that we did not make the summit - we didn't even try. We got about two thirds of the way up and chose not to try for the summit. We sat on a bench for about an hour - with a view of Petit Piton - talked to climbers going both directions - ate some pistachios and fruit rolls and waited on Terry to come to get us.

 

We could have made the summit - Terry was patient and would've gotten us there in time. But we made the strategic decision that we'd like to enjoy the rest of our trip - not be too sore or nauseous that night and opted out. It was a good call. Where else in the world can you spend an hour in the rainforest with your spouse and no one else - looking at Petit Piton... good call

 

 

Our guide, Terry, told us that the first six hundred feet (from the beach) and the last six hundred were the hardest. I suspect that is true. It got significantly easier after we joined the trail from the road. Maybe someday when time is not an issue, I'll try again. Probably not next year.

 

Down was a breeze for me - I'm very flexible - squat - sit on butt - slide down... My husband did better on the trip up. We got down to the beach before two of the other couples and enjoyed a swim at the base of Gros Piton. Cool water never felt so good.

 

I have absolutely no shame in opting out of the summit. We trained on the step mill faithfully for six or eight months - what we did not and could not train for was the heat and humidity... it was brutal. The sun seemed hotter than it did at any point in the trip and because the forest was so dense, there was precious little wind to break it up - and I live in the South - and we have hot and humid summers. Just didn't compare.

 

One final funny story.... sitting on the bench, we got to talk to climbers and to guides - one of the guides asked us if the mosquitos were bothering us - we looked puzzled because we hadn't felt any mosquitos or seen any... the guide was like "they are all over - don't you see them" - we finally figured out what she was talking like - very, very small mosquitos - NOTHING like we get here in Arkansas... more like gnats to us... it's all in your perspective.

 

We were supposed to have lunch on Jalousie beach, but one of the dudes in the other group had real trouble getting down and took longer than intended - he literally was lifted into the boat - I felt really bad for him and yet somehow even more confident we'd made the right decision.

 

We did get "lunch to go" on the boat - but it was tough to eat while the boat was moving...:-)