Celebrity Summit Oct 24-31

[Bchgrl33]

My first review! I'll make it short and sweet since I'm still learning. My husband and I recently got back from a cruise on Celebrity Summit out of San Juan. It was by far the best cruise we've taken so far!

 

We flew to San Juan early to enjoy a few days there pre-cruise. We stayed in the Tres Palmas hotel on the outskirts of the Carolina area. It was a GREAT hotel! Our room was as on the beach as you can get and we slept with the windows open to enjoy the surf. The tiny pool was adorable and refreshing. The bed was comfy and the staff were very accommodating. We would definitely stay there again. We flew in on a red eye from Idaho so we arrived about 3pm. Despite being exhausted we knew we needed to find someplace that sold beer etc. so we walked about 15 mins away to a Walgreens. We didn't take the best route we later discovered. Since we were also looking for a place for dinner we did a search on Yelp and discovered Porilo was about a block away. This was the BEST food we had on the entire trip (and that's high praise since we had no issues with the food on our cruise). The ambience was perfect (open air), the pizza was some of the best I've ever had (and I consider myself a pizza connoisseur) and our drinks were perfection. I ordered some sort of mojito that I later discovered was a Barbados Cherry (aka acerola cherry). My husband had a pina colada that was so fresh we could see the shaved coconut. With tummies full, we made our way back to our hotel via a more scenic route, picking out houses we liked along the way. The next day we woke up and got ready for our daily workout, in this case a run/walk. One thing I noticed right away about San Juan was that EVERYONE runs/bikes. All ages, sexes, shapes. It was phenomenal. Our 1 hour workout turned into a 6 hour walk to the Hilton Caribe and back 6 miles away. We had stayed at the Hilton on our honeymoon cruise and it was fun to see it again. We got sorely tempted to change our hotel reservations for the return trip but decided to stay true to our plan.

 

The next morning was cruise day! We always get beyond excited to get to the port and that first glimpse of the boat. We reorganized our stuff, made sure we had swimsuits in our bag/purse so we could lay out right away by the pool, and off we headed. The boat does not disappoint when you first see it! I was slightly concerned about the age of the ship and had read about some issues of wear and tear but I never saw any evidence of that. Embarkation was a breeze, maybe 15 mins? Once on the ship our first stop was the Martini Bar for a drink and then onto the exploration! We had the premium beverage package (I highly recommend!), as well as the gratuities paid and onboard credit. Next stop, Cafe Baglio so my hubby could have a tres leches cake and coffee, his first of many. The ship is, in my opinion, the perfect size and it didn't take us too long to see everything. The Luminae dining room looked gorgeous, too rich for us though, and the Blu restaurant I'm hoping we get to use on our next cruise in 2016 (currently reserved a veranda and hoping to upgrade to Aqua). We grabbed some food and settled into one of the beds by the pool for a few hours. The Ocean View cafe was lovely and had a wide variety of foods, including carved meats for all 3 meals, pizza, Asian offerings at breakfast, and croissants to my heart's content. No complaints. Once our cabin was ready I insisted we head down to unpack. Our cabin was gorgeous, comfy bed, and everything seemed bigger than previous cruises. We were able to stuff our luggage on the bed which was great and there was storage everywhere we looked! Back up to the deck for the party! There was a group of women dancing away by the band and one Jerry Garcia look alike. We had a great time watching them! Then it was muster time (which would have been more pleasant if people would just be quiet and do as told. It's 15 mins out of your one week vacation and one day you may be glad you listened. Lecture over). We had the late seating dinner which was great. Our table mates were fantastic for the most part. Again, never any complaints about the food at dinner. I'm super picky about my food but I don't need the fanciest stuff in the world. I worked up a reputation of getting my creme brulee to go each night and they always remembered.

 

Second day was Tortola. To start off, we are beach/pool people and almost always that's all we do so don't expect much excitement on port reviews. For Tortola we chose to go to Cane Garden Bay and took a taxi there. My husband did not care much for the windy road! I found it to be very USVI like. The beach was nice but nothing special. In fact, I found Tortola to be my least favorite island of the itinerary. In hindsight, we should have gone to Jost Van Dyke I think. We stayed for a few hours and then hiked back a few hundred feet to the Calloway Distillery that is 400 years old. It had 4 shots for $1 (not real sized shots) and we had a good time trying them. Back in a cab to the boat just in time to miss the storm that hit. Eat, pool, show, dinner followed. THat night I believe was one of two comedians. This guy was not terribly funny and I felt embarrassed for him the whole time.

 

Third day was a sea day which we love since they are so relaxing. We were poolside all day. End of story.

 

Martinique followed and while we had chosen this cruise based on this island over the months we started to get concerned about Martinique based on what we were reading. Fort de France is a MAJOR city and getting out of it is a hassle. We wanted to go to a beach south of the city but finally concluded it would take too long and we don't like to worry about missing the boat. We decided instead to take the ferry to Pointe de Bout. Martinique is stunning and was nice to take the ferry across and take our time seeing the city from afar. The first beach did not meet our high standards so we hiked to the next one passing quaint french stores along the way. Everything is in French which I loved. We personally prefer the french islands, or maybe its the topless beaches. The second beach was adequate although not the best we've been to. However, we had a blast watching aFrench woman sell her bikinis by trying them on and modeling them in front of us (no nudity), the Framboise Mojito was the second best drink of the trip, and I enjoyed doing my topless thing. Another afternoon storm approached so we did a little shopping and then back to the beach. Dinner, show, bed.

 

Dominica came next. I wasn't too thrilled with this island originally based on the fact that its not known for its beaches (read: there are basically none). We decided very last minute to sign up for the Champagne "Beach" snorkeling trip that left in the afternoon. We hit a few stores in the morning (cute old stone buildings) and then hung by the pool for a bit before heading off. We boated over on a catameran and I got to lounge on the netting portion. I've never snorkeled oddly enough and I was slightly nervous but more because I had forgotten to bring contacts on our trip and knew I wouldn't be able to see much without glasses on. The guides were hilarious (Sherman especially) and pointed out where Pirates of the Caribbean had filmed some scenes. The water was murky so combined with no glasses/contacts I didn't see much but there is indeed bubbles in the water from the fissures and there are some really hot spots from the volcanic activity! One girl lost her wedding ring and one of the guides donned scuba gear and valiantly tried to find it but couldn't. It was a nice gesture though. That evening we went to Qsine which was quite a fun experience of WAY too much food in a neat presentation. Definitely would do it again. The show for the night was the Unexpected Boys. I had seen them on the NCL a few years back and was excited to see them again. Little did I know they would choose me to get up on stage with them! I'm hopelessly shy about such things but secretly loved it! I would have put more effort into how I looked had I known though LOL. This is a highlight of our cruise as well! I hope to see them many more times on cruises.

 

St. Kitts was the next stop and once again, the beach is king! Off we went to Carabola Beach Club, a beautiful club that suited us perfectly! Highly recommend. The Carib beer buckets weren't overly expensive and tasted great! We got the beach beds and umbrella and frankly, I never wanted to leave.

 

Our last island on the cruise was St Thomas. This is a special island for me because I was born here. Why I don't still live there I have no idea although my husband has pinky sworn that I will be able to live there again one day. I'm holding him to it. We rented a jeep (Budget is right at the port and super easy) and off we went to visit a few places such as the church my parents worked at, Zoras sandals (really really want a pair but at $250 each they are expensive! Handmade so getting them done while in port is next to impossible too), Mafolie Hotel/Restaurant (closed though), attempted to find our old house (failed), then Magen's Bay! We love this beach and could easily stay there every day for weeks on end but we had other things on our agenda this time. We stuck around for a couple of hours and then headed to Coki Beach. I was hoping for some pasties for lunch (aka cornish pies) but apparently they no longer sell them there. After some tears on the beach (I get emotional about the Caribbean and having to leave and this was our last day), we drove along the coast back to the boat.

 

We docked in San Juan early and were one of the first off the boat since we were just heading to a hotel. We stayed one night at the Courtyard by Marriot in Carolina and loved it. Surprisingly beautiful and much better beach and walking area than Condada I think.

 

We took advantage of the benefits of booking your next cruise on board and are going to be on the Celebrity Silhouette Eastern Caribbean Dec. 4. We're already talking and planning!

 

Overall, we thought the food, people, workers and boat in general were perfect. I have no complaints. Husband thought Captain Kate was a hottie. Celebrity has now moved up to our favorite cruise line (we've been on NCL, RCCL, and Carnival).

[junetraveler2014]

Thank you for your review. Heading to Bermuda on the Summit June 2016.

Have yourselves a great cruise in December

Edited November 8, 2015 by junetraveler2014

[poffles]

Thanks for sharing!

[uglybutgoodbakery]

This is the BEST review I've read on here!

It's refreshing to read about someone who was just excited to be cruising, not nit-picking. Thank you soooo much! I'll be on the ship in 4 weeks and you really helped get the excitement going. :)

Edited November 8, 2015 by uglybutgoodbakery

[snow bunny]

Thanks for the review, we leave on her next weekend! So looking forward to a holiday with DH!!!

 

snow bunny

[Dizney]

Great review. We sail her for Christmas. Thanks!

[WinksCruises]

Great, well written review! So in the end, which did you think was the better stay in San Juan? Tres Palmas or the Marriott you stayed in post cruise?

[Texed]

Thanks for the review, we leave on her next weekend! So looking forward to a holiday with DH!!!snow bunny

 

Have a great cruise. :)

[TPCRUISER2]

BCHGRL33: Good to hear that Celebrity is your favorite now. Enjoyed the Summit myself last August. Can't wait until next August to enjoy another cruise to Bermuda on the Summit!

[snow bunny]

Have a great cruise. :)

 

Thanks Ed, hope to cruise with you again!

 

snow bunny

[jigger]

Fine Review !!

[uglybutgoodbakery]

Great, well written review! So in the end, which did you think was the better stay in San Juan? Tres Palmas or the Marriott you stayed in post cruise?

 

I'm also wondering if you noticed any other cute places down that Ocean Park Beach way? I tried to book Tres Palms for our two-night stay and they are booked:-(

[beettruck]

thanks for the review

 

We also will be on the summit in four weeks and am considering the ferry over to the beaches in Martinique. we have never been to this island