Review: Summit, Southern Carribean, 4/6/2013

[TruRed76]

So I learned something on this cruise. Most people who have cruised before most likely already know this information but I thought I would share it in case someone else out there is as clueless as I am! So every night when we left the port, there was a pilot boat that followed the ship.

 

 

I thought the boat was just guiding us out to sea. Well, as we pulled away from one of the ports, the pilot boat kept getting closer and closer to the cruise ship. Hubby even made a joke about being able to jump off the cruise ship and into the boat. And still the pilot boat got closer. Until it was right next to the cruise ship and then this guy jumps from the cruise ship onto the boat. I was a little surprised and confused but thankfully some nice Aussie standing next to me explained what was going on!

 

I guess the harbor masters/port masters do not trust the cruise ship captains to drive the cruise ships into port. With the ever changing tides and currents, they would much rather drive the cruise ship in and out of port themselves. So each time a cruise ship enters a port, the pilot boat goes out and meets the cruise ship, the pilot jumps from the boat to the ship, and then takes over the controls of the cruise ship to dock the boat. The reverse then happens when the cruise ship leaves. I can only imagine how the cruise ship captains feel about this...but, to be honest, it does make sense to me!

 

Oh - and I did learn that the cruise ship captain, first officer, and second officer on Celebrity are always Greek. Celebrity was initially founded by the Chandris Group in Greece and our letter "X" corresponds to the Greek letter "C-H" which begins the Chandris name.

[Lois R]

So I learned something on this cruise. Most people who have cruised before most likely already know this information but I thought I would share it in case someone else out there is as clueless as I am! So every night when we left the port, there was a pilot boat that followed the ship.

 

 

I thought the boat was just guiding us out to sea. Well, as we pulled away from one of the ports, the pilot boat kept getting closer and closer to the cruise ship. Hubby even made a joke about being able to jump off the cruise ship and into the boat. And still the pilot boat got closer. Until it was right next to the cruise ship and then this guy jumps from the cruise ship onto the boat. I was a little surprised and confused but thankfully some nice Aussie standing next to me explained what was going on!

 

I guess the harbor masters/port masters do not trust the cruise ship captains to drive the cruise ships into port. With the ever changing tides and currents, they would much rather drive the cruise ship in and out of port themselves. So each time a cruise ship enters a port, the pilot boat goes out and meets the cruise ship, the pilot jumps from the boat to the ship, and then takes over the controls of the cruise ship to dock the boat. The reverse then happens when the cruise ship leaves. I can only imagine how the cruise ship captains feel about this...but, to be honest, it does make sense to me!

 

Oh - and I did learn that the cruise ship captain, first officer, and second officer on Celebrity are always Greek. Celebrity was initially founded by the Chandris Group in Greece and our letter "X" corresponds to the Greek letter "C-H" which begins the Chandris name.

 

I have been cruising for quite a few years now but I guess I am not

very nautically knowlegable:eek:....glad I am never too old to learn:o

I had no idea the guy from the Pilot boat gets on the ship:confused:......

It can't be at every port though.....I sailed away from the bridge

in Dominica in 2011 and nobody from the Pilot Boat came onto the bridge

with our Captain.

 

Oh, I am enjoying your review too:)

[TruRed76]

We woke up to a beautiful day - no overcast skies for us today! We had another private tour booked with Cosol tours. There were six of us from our roll call going on this tour, including the couple we had dinner with last night. We had to meet nice and early at 8:20am as this was a long tour! I had some reservations about spending so many hours in a van but there were so many great reviews about this tour that I was willing to give it a try!

 

Our view from the ship of the port town Castries, St. Lucia:

 

 

We had a quick breakfast from the buffet and sat at our favorite spot - outside at the Sunset Bar:

 

 

 

We made it off the ship and only had a short walk to get to our meeting spot for Cosol tours. The guy with the sign was very easy to spot and directed us to the meeting place. As we waited for the rest of the people to arrive, one of the couples that we met at dinner the very first night showed up along with the other members of our roll call. We were split into groups of 10 - out of our group we already had met three of the four other couples! We were shown to our van for the day and met our tour guide, Bernard. We loved Bernard!!!

 

Bernard gave us a brief history of the island and began pointing out sites in Castries as we drove through the town. After a bit, we began to climb up and up and up. We would soon get used to it because St. Lucia is very hilly and the roads are pretty much all hair pin turns. No one complained of car sickness, though, and the roads were in good shape.

 

We made it to our first stop, a scenic overlook viewing the port and the town of Castries. A word of warning - as soon as we got out of the van, we were surrounded by locals selling things. They were pushy but very nice and a "no, thank you" was all that was needed if you did not want anything. Funny story, my husband bought a turtle necklace and two bracelets for $15 from a vendor. Another guy on our van, bought the same necklace and one bracelet for $20. It became a little bit of joke for the rest of the trip!

 

Overlooking Castries:

 

 

A view of our ship in port (the only one in port that day):

 

 

The airport on St. Lucia. We saw many small planes arriving that day, perhaps five or six that I personally saw. We learned from the locals that Matt Damon had rented out Sugar Beach (where we would be swimming later) for that weekend for his wedding vow renewal and he and other guests were expected to arrive any day.

 

[Theologator]

You guys are funny! I am burning my fingertips off here with the hot glue gun as I make a First Communion banner in preparation for my daughter's big day next weekend. Darn kids and their school stuff just keep getting in the way...should get more posted tonight, though. That is if I still have fingertips :)

 

Awesome review. Aside from the information you're sharing, you are clearly communicating your fun. Thanks & congratulations on tomorrow!

 

One of my goals for our anniversary cruise is for my wife to see sea turtles in the wild. She LOVES them - and your pics are exactly what I hope she sees.

 

Thanks & share more when you can.

[TruRed76]

Moving on from our first overlook, we kept driving with Bernard stopping often to show us various plants and trees common to St. Lucia. He even got out of the van to pick items of interest so that we could get a closer look. For example, we learned that cashews grow from a fruit on a tree. Each fruit produces only one cashew, hence the higher price of these cashews.

 

The cashew fruit:

 

 

 

We kept driving to the banana plantation. The banana is St. Lucia's only export. We learned that each tree produces exactly one bunch of bananas. It tooks 7-8 months for the trees to mature and produce the fruit. Once the bananas are picked (by hand), the tree is cut down and a new one grows from the roots. The cut trees are left to lie where they fall as they help put nutrients back into the soil. We also learned that banana trees are full of water. All you have to do is press on the trunk and water comes out of the tree. Kind of cool, if you ask me! We all got to taste a banana picked fresh from the tree - delicious!

 

In this picture, you will see a blue bag over the bananas. The bag is put on there to help protect the fruit from bugs and dust.

 

 

 

Back in the van we went and off we drove to the next spot. The next location was another scenic overlook - there are an abundance of these on St. Lucia. It is one beautiful island! At this next stop, along with the your usual vendors, there was a guy with a snake. A boa constrictor to be exact. He told us that boa constrictors are actually an endangered and protected species in St. Lucia. If you are caught killing one, then you face some tough penalties. He offered to let us hold the snake. Normally I would be running and screaming like Harry Potter's cousin, Dudley, who gets caught in the snake exhibit. But that banana must have had something in it because I actually agreed to hold the thing! Surprisingly, he wasn't slimy! After I held it, my husband had to prove that he still had a man-card so he wanted a turn, too. The guy draped the snake over my husband's shoulders. Well, being a boa constrictor - it constricted. Right around his neck! It was kind of comical to watch my husband tapping frantically on the guy's shoulder while I just snapped pictures!

 

My turn with the snake:

 

 

Some of the gorgeous views seen from this spot:

 

 

[TruRed76]

I have been cruising for quite a few years now but I guess I am not

very nautically knowlegable:eek:....glad I am never too old to learn:o

I had no idea the guy from the Pilot boat gets on the ship:confused:......

It can't be at every port though.....I sailed away from the bridge

in Dominica in 2011 and nobody from the Pilot Boat came onto the bridge

with our Captain.

 

Oh, I am enjoying your review too:)

 

I am glad I wasn't the only one who did not know that information then! I started watching for the pilot boat more closely after I learned this little tidbit. Unfortunately, I was never awake and on the deck in time to watch it as we docked.

 

Awesome review. Aside from the information you're sharing, you are clearly communicating your fun. Thanks & congratulations on tomorrow!

 

One of my goals for our anniversary cruise is for my wife to see sea turtles in the wild. She LOVES them - and your pics are exactly what I hope she sees.

 

Thanks & share more when you can.

 

The turtles were awesome! I hope you see them, too, but I think in Barbados they pretty much guarantee you will see at least one.

 

And I don't know how anyone could not have fun on one of these trips! Unless you are physically ill, there is always fun to be had, even if it is pouring rain outside. I can usually find some fun in most anything :)

[TruRed76]

After our close encounters with the snake, we continued on our journey. Our next stop was our first bathroom stop and our first drink stop. It is about 1.5-2 hours into the trip thus far so make sure you do take that one final bathroom break before boarding the vans in the port terminal! At this first bathroom stop, you had to pay $1 to use the bathroom. It was relatively clean and had a sink and hand sanitizer to use, too. The drinks were in coolers in a pick-up truck and included water, Coke, the local beer, and a different kind of fruit-flavored drink in a soda bottle that I cannot recall the name of. They were ice cold and plentiful!

 

The local beer, aptly named:

 

 

It was finally "breakfast" time! However, I think breakfast may actually mean lunch as it was close to 11:00am when we ate! We stopped at Cosol's actual house for our meal. The food was all local and all freshly made. We met Cosol himself - very fun guy! The food was also plentiful. Some of the food that I can recall include coconut fudge, banana bread, coconut bread, bread fruit, fried bananas, mangoes, and watermelon. There was so much more but I cannot remember it all!

 

"Breakfast" at Cosol's house:

 

 

A look up at the vans parked alongside the road:

 

 

After filling up and getting some more drinks for the road, we piled back into our van and kept going. Bernard actually kept the van running the whole time to keep the air conditioning on so it was always cool when we got back inside. We continued our tour of St. Lucia learning about the fishing villages and the way of life on the island. Unfortunately, I did not keep good enough notes and many of the stops are running together for me now. Here are some pics as we made our way around the island.

 

 

Our first view of the majestic Pitons:

 

 

An interesting old church:

 

[Karen@Steve]

And I don't know how anyone could not have fun on one of these trips! Unless you are physically ill, there is always fun to be had, even if it is pouring rain outside. I can usually find some fun in most anything :)

 

TruRed I love your attitude! We have a saying in my family..."The difference between an Adventure and an Ordeal is your attitude". There have been a few times I've had to repeat that mantra over and over but it really is true.

 

BTW...On a trip back from Bermuda in a hurricane, the pilot boat kept getting sucked under the ship has they tried to pick up the pilot. They finally gave up and the pilot stayed on the boat alway back to Baltimore. He was getting a free round trip cruise as a guest of the captain! It was scarey to watch in bad seas.

[TruRed76]

We finally made our way to the town of Soufriere and the volcano. Interesting tidbit - there is a theory that the Gulf of Mexico was actually one giant volcano that imploded. All the little islands left are part of the rim of the crater.

 

But back to St. Lucia's volcano - one side of the rim of the volcano collapsed and flowed down into the sea where the town of Soufriere is now located. The rest of the volcano imploded on itself and formed the caldera where the mud baths and sulfur springs are located. The last eruption occurred in 1766 and was only a steam eruption.

 

Part of the volcano - you can see where vegetation has yet to grow back:

 

 

We made our way "into" the volcano, which is actually a road between two giant hills. On our way in, we past the mud baths. Bernard asked if anyone wanted to take a mud bath. The consensus was no, so we continued on to the sulfur springs. At the sulfur springs, we all got out and met our tour guide. There was a short walk up several flights of steps to get to the top. If needed, you were able to view and appreciate the springs from the road level.

 

Once out of the van, the smell of sulfur really hits you. It smells like boiling rotten eggs. The locals believe that the smell is actually therapeutic. It honestly was not that bad and, after a few minutes, you grew accustomed to it.

 

A hot water spring. I believe our guide told us that the water that you see flowing reaches temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

 

The sulfur springs. Apparently, you used to actually be able to walk onto this region and get up close to the springs. During one of the guided tours, the guide actually began jumping up and down on one of the springs to indicate how strong it was when the rock below him collapsed and he fell into the hot spring. Thankfully he survived but he did suffer some significant burns on his legs. The area has now been closed off to the public and only scientists are allowed past the barriers.

 

 

After our short, guided tour we made our way back to the main road. There were bathrooms there - free to use this time. We boarded our van and made our way to the town of Soufriere - which means "sulfur in the air". We had a brief tour of the town and then were dropped off at the waterfront. We boarded a water taxi which would take us to Sugar Beach, which is located between the Pitons. We would be able to swim and snorkel here for about an hour here. Another warning: getting in and out of these water taxis may be a little tough for those with limited mobility. The docks were much higher than the boat (at least two feet higher) so you had to take some big steps. There were two people there to help you.

 

The water taxi ride to Sugar Beach:

 

[TruRed76]

Sugar Beach was very nice! The water was cool but clear and the snorkeling was amazing! Remember, this is the beach that Matt Damon had rented out. We were in St. Lucia on a Tuesday; the vow renewal took place the following Saturday. We were warned that there would be extra security in place. And I can tell you that when I took a wrong turn looking for the bathroom, there were no less than four security guards to make sure I found my way back to where I was going!

 

Some things to know about this stop. Part of the beach is located on the grounds of the Sugar Beach resort. The beach is public but the chairs on that part of the beach are owned by the resort and we were told that we were not allowed to use them. There is another, smaller section of the beach that had loungers that we could use for free. When we got there, they were all taken. But no biggie. Who wanted to sit in a lounger anyway when the sea was calling our name! Our little group of 8 stayed together and put all our stuff in the shade of a tree. Once of us would stay behind- or at least close by - to watch our stuff while the rest of us would venture out. The entrance to the sea is very, very rocky. And not little tiny rocks. Bigger rocks that do hurt your feet. Just get over them quickly and you will be on the sandy bottom in no time! The rocks are worse by the snorkeling area and much better in front of the resort. Oh - there was snorkeling gear available for rent. I, and others in our group, had brought our own so I can't tell you how much it was or what kind of quality they had.

 

Sugar Beach:

 

 

After one hour, the water taxi was ready to take us back. There was a hose at the dock where the water taxi was waiting so it was nice to be able to wash off your feet and gear.

 

Once back at the town of Soufriere, Bernard was waiting with more drinks and a challenge to try the local spiced rum. The spiced rum was precisely that - rum with spices in it. It was a handle of rum and we could see cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and various other spices in the rum. Bernard shook it up to mix the spices and poured shots for those brave enough to try it. My husband actually took two shots and said it was pretty good - although it burned a little on the way down!

 

Our next stop was Diamond Falls and the Botanical gardens. At the falls, you were able to get in and stand under the falls. Well, when in St. Lucia...we immediately headed for the falls. The water was FREEZING!!! But what an amazing feeling to stand under those falls. It was seriously one of the highlights of my trip.

 

One of the couples from our group standing under the falls:

 

 

 

We then took a self-guided tour of the botanical gardens. They were beautiful - and consisted only of a few short trails. It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk through them. When we got home, I was saddened to read about the tourist group that was robbed at these gardens just a few days after we had visited. When we were there, the only people we saw were the tourists and the vendors sitting alongside the main road. No one bothered us.

 

A flower commonly known as the lobster claw:

 

 

Another view of the falls:

 

[cruisemuse13]

I am loving your review, especially the photos of the sea turtles. The color of the water is mesmerizing. What underwater camera are you using? Did you use the same camera for your other photos?

[TruRed76]

Some more pictures from the botanical gardens:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was a bad botanical garden visitor and did not read the names of these plants :( If anyone knows the names, I would appreciate it if you would share!

 

FYI, there was a public restroom available here.

[TruRed76]

After our visit to the falls and the gardens, we began our trek back to the port. We had covered a lot of ground over the course of the day so we had a pretty long journey ahead of us. We stopped early on in our trip back for hot bread and cheese. And when they say hot, they mean hot! We were each handed what could only be described as a huge turkey-leg shaped bread. The bread was baked in one of the local bakeries and it must have just come straight from the oven! It was hot, fresh, and good. Bernard also past around a box of cheese (cheddar cheese imported from Canada). I took a couple of slices and placed it between my slices of bread. There was so much bread that I was not able to eat all of it - I think I was the only one on the van with this problem, though! We also grabbed some more drinks before continuing with the arduous journey back. I would guess that it took between 60-90 minutes to make it from the botanical gardens back to the cruise ship.

 

We did have a few quick stops, though, for pictures. Marigot Bay, where several films including Dr. Doolittle and Superman II were filmed:

 

 

A local bar:

 

 

A cove where the Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed:

 

 

 

The group in our tour van really helped to make that trip that much more memorable! It really was a very fun group of people and Bernard was fantastic. There was a point in the trip during which Bernard was laughing so hard that he was crying and I thought someone was going to have to take over the driving!!! My fears about the spending the day in a van were unfounded. Our tour guide, our group, and all the fabulous stops made this a day to remember. I don't think any of us will ever forget the name of the blackbird ;) We made plans to meet up with some of our group for dinner that night as we all had Select Dining.

 

It was 3:30 when we were dropped off at the terminal; all aboard time was 4:45. We paid and tipped Bernard then did a little bit of shopping. The St. Lucia port terminal area was so much better than the Barbados area. It was very cute, clean, and had a variety of shops. Plus, it was much closer to the actual ship.

 

Once on board, we made our way up to the pool deck, grabbed our daily ice cream cone, and sat down to await sail away.

 

My final thoughts on Cosol tours - I highly recommend it if you are a first-time visitor to the island or if you have been there before but have not seen the island. The group of people in your van can really make the day go from good to great. If possible, I would recommend trying to arrange to meet up with some people that you know (and like!). If not, you are still going to have a good time. I did observe someone using a wheelchair/walker in one of the tour vans. Most of the trip is accessible but there will be some areas where you would have to sit out if you had limited mobility. The places that I can think of include the sulfur springs, the diamond falls, and the botanical gardens. You could still see all these things but would not easily be able to go swim in the falls or walk the trails of the gardens, for instance. Getting in and out of the water taxi may also be challenging; although, there may be another option available there.

 

Sail away from St. Lucia:

 

 

 

After sail away, I was exhausted from our long day so we headed back to our stateroom to shower and nap prior to dinner. I also took some time to update our blog. For those wondering about upload speeds, you see how much I write here and it took about three minutes to upload each day's blog. I did not upload any pictures, though, as that would take much longer and use more of our minutes!

 

We met up with our Cruise Critic friends in Cellar Masters and headed into dinner around 8:00pm. We left dinner around 10:30 - not because dinner took so long but because we were having so much fun with our new friends! We wondered around the Emporium briefly and then headed up to the pool deck for the White Night Deck Party.

 

For the deck party, everyone was encouraged to wear something white. The most clever thing I saw was someone who arrived wearing their white Celebrity bathrobe (yes, he was wearing clothes underneath!). The deck was packed with people and there was a great energy to the place. The officers lined up on the 11th deck and then were cheered down to the pool deck. They began the dance party and grabbed others sitting near-by to join in as well. Pretty soon, there was a good crowd out there dancing and having a great time. We left around midnight and the party was still going strong!

[TruRed76]

The officers lined up on the 11th deck:

 

 

The dance party:

 

 

The pool at night:

 

 

 

A few thoughts on the nightlife and the "drunks":

 

We went to bed around midnight every night, not because we could not find something to do but because we were so tired from that day's activities! Walking around the ship after dinner, the theater, the martini bar, and the casino always looked pretty full. Micheal's Pub was hit or miss. I don't think I ever found Rendezvous Lounge and we only went to Revelations once. The one time we were in Revelations, there was maybe 15 people there. The music was good but no one was there. I think the location of Revelations is horrible. You can only find it if you are actually seeking it out and I had a hard time navigating the way to it sometimes. One thing I noticed about the location of Micheal's Club - when the theater let out, people would walk by this area and stop in for a drink, especially if they saw something going on. I think Revelations would be much more utilized if people would just "happen" upon it as they were walking around instead of having to make plans to go there. There were several themed parties and events scheduled there, but we were just too tired to make it to them so I don't know how well attended they were.

 

I did not notice anyone drinking too much, falling down drunk, acting rude or boorish, or acting anything less than respectful during the whole cruise. We never had a problem with getting on and off the elevators, waiting for food or drinks, or on the pool decks. In fact, the thing that we liked best about this cruise was the people. We thought the people were soooo friendly and outgoing. We would meet someone new everywhere we would go - sitting in Micheal's Club, taking the elevator, waiting in line for a hamburger, standing next to them at the railing for sail away, on the tour buses, and the list just goes on. I can't say enough about how amazing the people were that we met. Not one grump among them!

 

Now, my poor burned finger-tips are tired so I will finish with St. Lucia and will pick up with Antigua tomorrow. Just a teaser - we went to probably the most beautiful beach that I have seen :)

[TruRed76]

I am loving your review, especially the photos of the sea turtles. The color of the water is mesmerizing. What underwater camera are you using? Did you use the same camera for your other photos?

 

I used the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX20 for my underwater and beach pictures. It was also the one I carried with me around the ship as it fit easily into the wristlet that I carried. I also have a Sony SLR, the alpha-a33, I believe. It is almost three years old and was a replacement for my Canon Rebel that went overboard during a canoe trip. I love the Sony cameras because they are so much more user friendly. I used the auto-settings for the underwater pics.

 

TruRed I love your attitude! We have a saying in my family..."The difference between an Adventure and an Ordeal is your attitude". There have been a few times I've had to repeat that mantra over and over but it really is true.

 

BTW...On a trip back from Bermuda in a hurricane, the pilot boat kept getting sucked under the ship has they tried to pick up the pilot. They finally gave up and the pilot stayed on the boat alway back to Baltimore. He was getting a free round trip cruise as a guest of the captain! It was scarey to watch in bad seas.

 

LOVE that saying - I may have to adopt it! And too funny about the pilot captain getting a free cruise - and how scary for the pilot boat! I was just amazed to see this guy jump from our cruise ship into the boat.

[Svenster]

We are on this itinerary Nov 16, and really enjoy your perspective! Gonna be legendary.

[Keith1010]

i am enjoying this review and photos.

 

Keith

[TruRed76]

After two very intensive excursions and long days in port, we planned a relaxing day at the beach in Antigua. The most difficult part of this decision - picking a beach!!! One of our roll call members had found an all-inclusive beach resort for $40 per person. The resort was Hawksbill. This price included beach chairs, umbrellas, lunch, and unlimited drinks plus use of their facilities. There were eight of us total who decided to go and also planned to share a cab to/from the resort. During our meet and greet on the sea day, we met the people we would be going to the beach with and planned a place and time to meet the morning of our beach day. Everything went smoothly, we met everyone on time, and left the ship.

 

We found a cab that would fit all 8 of us at $8 per person round trip. So much cheaper than we were all planning! It was a quick 10-15 minute ride to the resort. We made arrangements with our driver about when to pick us back up and paid him half the money. The pass that we were going to purchase was from 10:00 - 3:00. We asked the cab driver to come back at 2:00 thinking that four hours on the beach would be plenty - little did we know at this time how wrong we were!

 

We made our way to the front desk, paid for our half-day pass, received a map of the resort as well as a wrist band, and then made our way to the beach. Ummmm...to say this place was beautiful does not even come close to describing it.

 

Our first glimpse of the beach:

 

 

 

We made our way to the beach basking in the beauty of the water and the resort itself. There were two other people on the beach that day so we basically had our own private beach. We found some beach chairs under shade and quickly made our way to the water. The entrance to the ocean was very smooth, all-sand bottom, no rocks or shells, and the water was very shallow with no big drop-offs. That day it was pretty calm. The water was just this brilliant shade of blue but it has this milky color to it so it was not good for snorkeling. Lunch was not served until 12:30 so we spent a couple of hours swimming, soaking of the sun, and taking walks on the beach and around the property. Another bonus - there was free WiFi here, too!

 

Some views of the beach:

 

 

 

 

The resort is named after this rock formation which resembles a hawk's bill:

 

[TruRed76]

The weather was perfect that day - except for a 5-minute torrential downpour just before lunch! This downpour occurred during our walk around the resort so these next few pictures are not quite as sunny :)

 

Just some views of the resort itself:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch was served at 12:30. It was buffet style with someone serving the grilled selections of fish and/or hamburger/cheeseburger. There was also pizza, french fries, vegetables, rice, and toppings for the burgers. There was a variety of desserts and breads available as well. While we sat and ate, the waitresses would offer to serve drinks and cleared plates as we finished with them. One of the waitresses commented how she was so glad to see a happy group of people who were having fun. She says she too often encounters people with sour attitudes. We told her that we didn't know how anyone could not be in a good mood in paradise!

 

After lunch, it was 1:30 and our cab driver was due to pick us up in 30 minutes. What?!?! Where did our time go?! One of our group went to speak with can driver and got us an extra 20 minutes - the cab driver had another group to pick-up at 3:00 so he could not wait too much longer. We were grateful for the extra time and it was nice to know that these drivers know their schedules and stick to them!

 

We reluctantly packed up around 2:15 and met our driver. We were back in the port terminal by 2:30 and had plenty of time to do some shopping.

[cruisemuse13]

I used the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX20 for my underwater and beach pictures. It was also the one I carried with me around the ship as it fit easily into the wristlet that I carried. I also have a Sony SLR, the alpha-a33, I believe. It is almost three years old and was a replacement for my Canon Rebel that went overboard during a canoe trip. I love the Sony cameras because they are so much more user friendly. I used the auto-settings for the underwater pics.

 

 

 

:)Thank you for answering, I do have a Sony but it is not for use underwater. And it is getting a bit old so I''m looking for a replacement. I will check out the Sony Cyber-shot.

 

your review makes me want to book a Caribbean cruise immediately!!

[TruRed76]

Writing about our trip makes me want to book another! The Sony p&s worked pretty well. It was fairly responsive, too, although nothing like my SLR. It was around $200 which is the top I was looking to invest in an underwater camera. It is really small, which I like, but my husband's fingers did make it into the pics a few times that he used it!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[gelo7]

Wonderful review.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures. Thank you for sharing with us!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[ILgirl]

Thanks so much for taking the time to review. We were on the Summit on the same itinerary on the 11/17/12 sailing. We also sailed with Calabaza and it was the best excursion we've ever been on. We sailed with Princess for 6 straight years in the Caribbean before trying Celebrity on the Summit. I totally agree with you about the friendliness of the passengers. We were in Aqua class so we dined at a table for two in Blue each evening. We usually ended up chatting with the diners next to us. Everywhere on the ship, from the trivia games to the Sunset Bar (also our favorite!) we met new people who were fun and outgoing. We actually enjoyed the cruise so much that we have booked the same itinerary and same cabin for the 11/30/13 cruise. The very next day after booking the cruise, I booked Calabaza once again as well. Anyhow, thanks again for helping me relive the last cruise and look forward to the next one!

[sabookkeeper]

Thanks so much for your review and pictures. DH and I were just talking about booking this itinerary so I am very interested in what you are saying.