Summit 10/25/04 (WAY early) Roll Call

[dj4eyes]

Hi [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]
I'm Mark... My partner David & I just booked this cruise... It looks very cool, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of family members on board. Let's gab! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
--M.

[Scott1089]

Hi Again,
Thought I would post over here too! It's great to know there will be other family on this sailing. Have either of you ever sailed Celebrity before? We have and it is our favorite. Have never been on the Summit but hear it is excellent. Well, look forward to getting to know you both better as we get closer to sailing. Do you know your room number yet or if you have late or early seating? We are late seating and are in 9162 on Sky Deck Aft. Hope to hear from you soon.

Scott

[dj4eyes]

Hi Scott!
Our first cruise together was last summer on the Century. We did the "Eastern Caribbean" itinerary, and had an incredible time...we're now hooked!
I scoured the web for any info I could find on the various ships, and the Summit always seemed to get rave reviews, plus whatever pics I ran across looked great, so when I saw this 11-night itinerary which actually fits into my rigid schedule, we jumped on it!
I booked a "deluxe ocean-view with veranda" on the Sky Deck. (Hi neighbor!) Two days later I decided to splurge and upgrade to "Concierge Class," and they were all sold out! That's ok, though-- this is still quite an improvement from the inside cabin we had on the Century!
Your cabin looks awesome-- aft with an oversized balcony, AND those Concierge Class pamperings! Maybe we can borrow your flowers when they start to wilt??...
Anyway... what other cruises (esp. Celebrity) have you guys been on? I'd be interested to hear about your experiences and your opinions of the different ships.
Take care,
Mark

Sunward II
Nordic Empress
Crown Del Mar
Century
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;10;25;16;30;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Until we reach the Summit!

[Scott1089]

Hi Mark (and David),
Have you had a balcony before? If not, you will find it hard to go back to anything less. Honestly though, I would rather take the occasional inside and cruise more often but since we only go once a year we try to treat ourselves. You say you have a balcony on Sky? Unless I am mistaken, and tjis is certainly possible, I thought all balcony cabins are Concierge Class. The CC are the old 1A category.

Anywho...David and I were on Galaxy in 2002. It was 11 nite from Baltimore. Celebrity overbooked our original sailing so they asked us if we would go 22 days later for free. Needless to say we took them up on the offer. In all, four of us were traveling together so they freed up two cabins and put us in the Penthouse Suite (for free)! They more than made up for any inconvenience. It was the trip of a lifetime, one we would never experienced if we had to shell out the price for the suite.

Other than that, I have also been on the Meridian three times (Celebrity's first ship and my favorite) and Horizon once. We did Carnival Destiny once too and it was cool but nothing like Celebrity. I am now looking forward to trying an M class ship!

The Concierge Class perks will be nice but mostly we are looking forward to the big deck and the aft view! The balcony is certainly big enough for all of us to enjoy a toast as we set sail.

As for the differences, all the ships of Celebrity have been fantastic and special in different ways. Meridian had the classic lines of an older but beautiful ship. The Horizon, now their oldest is smaller than the rest but truly a favorite. The Galaxy was unbelievable all the way around. The thalassotherapy pool on Galaxy is incredible. THe service on all and the food have certainly exceeded my/our expectations. I am going to try and post a link to the Galaxy Pics. Have a great weekend!


[url="http://www.cruise-addicts.com/picturepost/indexalpha.php"]Galaxy Penthouse Suite[/url]
O.K., you will need to find Galaxy Penthouse Suite once linked!

Scott

[Scott1089]

Hi again guys,
I noticed a mistake in my earlier post, I meant to say I thought all balcony cabins on [I]Sky[/I]deck were CC (not all balcony cabins in general). Also, I am going to try and give you a direct link to our Galaxy photos. Hope it works (David is the computer geek, not me)![url="http://www.cruise-addicts.com/picturepost/view.php?uid=1404"]Galaxy Penthouse[/url]

Scott

[dj4eyes]

Hi Scott,
Yes, the pic link worked...
What a great turn of events! That suite for free! What luck!

I did some checking, and sadly, all balcony staterooms on the Summit's Sky Deck are not CC class...
I was harboring doubtful hopes after your message and the weirdness @ the Celebrity website about new Summit 2004 deck plans, but alas after calling Celebrity, they reaffirmed that our stateroom was class 2A, "Deluxe Oceanview."
This would be fine with us [I]except[/I]...
I've learned that there's a considerable "overhang" over the balcony of a Summit Sky Deck stateroom.
To me it seems like it might be somewhat cave-like, but David says to just go with it-- it'll be better than the inside cabin we had on Century, and he wants some room for upgrade on subsequent cruises.
I checked today @ Celebrity, and they still offer staterooms on the Panorama deck for $75 more pp than our current room, and without the danger of the potentially oppressive overhang.
Not sure what to do, but since I'm the family travel agent, I'm feeling all responsible, etc, etc, etc.
And then there are the shore excursions!...

Have a nice beach weekend!
--Mark

[Scott1089]

Hi Mark,
How is the weather in Florida? It was nice up here this weekend, so far anyway. Sorry about getting your hopes up about the Concierge Class. I looked at the deck plans a few days after I posted and realized my mistake. I've read many posts that say the perks are nice but really no big deal. If you are still interested, however, I would keep checking the Celebrity website because I am sure some more CC cabins will open. Always check around sixty days prior to sail because that is when full payment is due and many people backout before being imposed a cancellation penalty. As for the Sky Deck balconies, the opinions are varied with most actually saying they liked the shade of the overhang as it kept them cooler in the heat of the Caribbean. We can always go up one deck and get all the sun we want around the pool! Well, gotta go fold laundry. BTW, the day at the beach was nice and thanks for the well wishes.

Take Care,

Scott

[dj4eyes]

Hi Scott!

The weather here is getting pretty hot-- more and more humid, and our typical summer afternoon thunderstorms are beginning to pop up. No complaints certainly, since we had such a lovely cool winter this year!

Thanks for your thoughts/info about the Sky deck balconies. After reading your message, we decided to stick with what we'd reserved.
Until... I found a great deal on a category 1A on the Panorama deck ($50 less per person than the 2A I'd booked @ Celebrity). 1A is 20 sq. ft. larger than 2A, the balcony is slightly larger, and I can release my overhang anxiety! LOL
Another cool thing is that if the price drops on this category, this agency will refund the difference. Ahhhhh... peace of mind!
The particular agent I worked with, Enid, is a real scream! I told her it'd be even more fun if she came with us-- the room has a sofa-bed! She respectfully declined...

Guess that's all the cruise news for now...
Hope you had a good week!
--Mark

[Scott1089]

Hi Mark,
I am glad your cabin anxiety has been remedied. Don't have much to say this time around but I responded more to your excursion questions on the other board. Had a great week and this one is going well too, hope yours is as well. so, do you guys have late or early seating for dinner? It would be nice to meet sometime before or after dinner to meet acquaintence. Talk to you soon.

Scott

[dj4eyes]

Hi Scott,

I read somewhere on these boards (it was a while ago, so I'm not positive on all the details...) where the moderator accused Almonds & Corals of using the boards as advertising-- creating faux identities and writing in about how great their zip-line tour is, etc.
It was quite the heated dialogue.
I've searched exhaustively and can no longer find that thread.
Maybe Cruise Critic decided they were wrong and removed the posts??

Anyway, to me it still looks like one of the best excursion options, and so many people have written favorably about it... I say go for it!
It looks [I]very[/I] "Amazing Race!"

One other thing... A change in my concert calendar has forced us to cancel this cruise and re-book on Summit's 10/15 sailing. I regret that we won't meet. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]

It's been fun chatting, and we'll try to keep the Summit shipshape for you!

Bon voyage!
--Mark

[This message was edited by dj4eyes on 05-13-04 at 08:35 PM.]

[Scott1089]

Hey Mark,
Bummer. It would have been nice to meet you guys. Please keep the ship neat for us. Now you are sailing with the group who has so many posts on the Connections board. I am sure we will all miss meeting you but we wish you a great cruise. It's been nice chatting with you!

Scott

[dj4eyes]

Scott,
If you & David zip-line, post some photos!
--Mark

[dj4eyes]

Hi Scott,
It's Mark again!
How are you guys doing?
Thought I'd say a quick hello, ([I]and[/I] "bump" this thread back to the front page)!
I've been welcomed by my new cruise's thread, but... well...[I]yawn[/I]... let's just say I'm not exactly feeling an instant simpatico...
Maybe as we all get better acquianted it'll improve. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]
Have you seen my new 10/15 thread on this board? So busy I need a revolving door...[img]http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/schlafen/5.gif[/img]
ANYWAY... I hope this moves you to the front page, and that you get a few 'bites!"
Take it easy!

[img]http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/pc/78.gif[/img] Mark

[Scott1089]

Thank you kind sir!

No gays yet? I laughed when you sent yourself a post. A good sense of humor goes a long way!Maybe we ccan stash you in our luggage so you can do both trips. Talk to you soon [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Scott