Trip Report - Celebrity Summit - 2/20/16 to 2/27/16

[frawls]

This is going to be more port intensive than about the Summit. It was a great week and the staff and service was great. We enjoyed it so much we re-booked the Summit and very similar itinerary in February 2018.

 

Embarkation

We flew into San Juan the day before the cruise and stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Isla Verde. We left for the Pan American Cruise Terminal around noon –20 min taxi ride and about $12. We stayed in the Sky Suite so we were able to avoid the lines that were starting to build up and we were on the ship in no time at all.

 

The rooms were ready around 1:30 pm so after a nice lunch at Luminae, we headed to our room. Shortly after arriving to the room, our butler, Rolando, stopped by to introduce himself. While we were talking to him, our luggage was delivered. I don’t know if our luggage arrived so quickly because we were staying in a suite or if they are always that quick in San Juan--either way, we were happy. We unpacked and headed to the pool deck for a drink and to wander around the ship. This was the last cruise for the Summit before dry dock so some things are going to be changed and updated but after being on some bigger ships, we really liked the size and layout of the Summit.

 

We meet up with fellow Cruise Critics at a sail away party. It was nice to meet everyone and it was great to see some friendly faces throughout the week.

 

Restaurants

 

Luminae: very happy with our dining experience at Luminae throughout the week. The selection of food was good and the service was even better. This is the best included restaurant we have experienced at sea and we have dined in Blu last year on the Solstice and also have experienced NCL's Haven.

 

Qsine: an interesting experience. If you like a lot of varieties of food or interested in trying new flavors, this is the place for you. The food is heavy but presented in a creative way.

 

 

Bars

We found the service at most of the bars to be very inconsistent – sometimes there was no problem getting a drink but other times it seemed like it took forever. Rendezvous Lounge and Mast Bar were the most consistent in service. We did not visit the Martini Bar or Cellar Masters.

 

 

Entertainment:

We only went to two of the shows in the theater, a song and dance show which was pretty good and the iMagic show which we were not really impressed with.

 

Live Music: There were a couple of great musicians throughout the ship Peter Rossetti, piano and vocals who was usually in Café el Bacio, Pete Henry, acoustic guitar and vocals who played all over the ship and the Jim Beam band who also played all over the ship. The entertainment staff did a good job and the different activities around the ship.

 

 

I will post more about each of the ports over the next couple of days. First stop Barbados.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your report and I look forward to your next report about the ports.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[CHARLESV32]

Thanks for reporting in!!

[frawls]

We decided that on this trip that we would use all local tour operators and going forward we will continue to use local small businesses.

 

In Barbados, we used Calabaza to go snorkeling to a couple of spots, one location was with sea turtles and the other location was over a couple of ship wrecks. This is one of the best excursions we have ever done. From the moment I emailed Gina to the time we got off the catamaran we were treated with first class service.

 

Calabaza now has two catamarans but neither one has more that 12 passangers. We were met at the dock by a driver and within minutes we were boarding Calabaza II. After a brief discussion about our day and safety we were on our way. From that moment on, the food and drink didn't stop. Coffee with some kind of bread, mini breakfast sandwiches on croissants, delicious rum punch and beer and this was just on our way to the first stop. Snorkeling with the turtles was a great experience and really cool to see. Pictures to follow. Back on the catamaran and off to next spot where we went snorkeling over a couple of shipwrecks. More food included bruchetta, hummus and then these incredible cod fritters and more rum punch. We sailed off to another quiet spot where we ate lunch that included chicken, fish and a bunch of sides. Rum punch. After lunch we were able to just chill in the water and drink rum punch.

 

More rum punch and we were back on board Calabaza II and heading back. This was such a great day, I believe the cost was $110 per person. Well worth it! The attention to service and the small group made for a perfect day.

 

Did I mention the rum punch?

Edited March 10, 2016 by frawls

[frawls]

These pictures were taken by one of the Calabaza crew members.

 

 

 

 

[frawls]

Our next stop was St. Lucia. We have been to St. Lucia before for a land vacation and DW insisted whatever we do it must include a stop at the mud baths, so we booked Spencer Ambrose Tours.

 

Spencer has a couple of options for the day we choose the land, sea and beach adventure for $105 per person. Spencer met us right at the cruise terminal and once we were all together we boarded a speed boat and we were off to Soufriere. The roads in St. Lucia are very windy and it normal takes over an hour to get to Soufriere from Castries but by boat we were there in about 25 minutes. When we got off the speed boat there were two vans - one for people going to the mud baths and one for people going to the volcano. The great thing about using Spencer is you get to the sites before the crowds that are taking the buses.

 

After the mud baths we visited a waterfall and got to go into the pool of water and get up close to the waterfall for some pictures.

 

After the waterfall we drove near a banana plantation and learned about banana's, which is St. Lucia's #1 export. Then it was lunch time, we stopped at a quaint little restaurant and had a buffet lunch that included chicken, fish, rice and peas and numerous other sides and of course come hot sauce. The food was very good.

 

After lunch we got back on the van for a very short ride back to the village where we boarded the speed boat for another quick ride over to Sugar Beach. Sugar beach is set between the two Pitons and it is very nice. We spent about 90 - 120 minutes at the beach.

 

After the beach it was back on the speed boat for a tour by sea. The ride back to the cruise terminal was slower than the ride going. All in all it was a great day. If you have never experience the island of St. Lucia and want to take as many things as possible in one day, then I highly recommend Spencer Ambrose tours. Being we have been to the island before we felt it was a bit rushed to get everything crammed into one day but it really does showcase everything the island has to offer.

[frawls]

The picture really doesn't do the waterfall justice.

 

 

 

 

Castries

 

Celebrity Summit

[DrivesLikeMario]

Looking forward to more on your port stops.

[frawls]

This was one of the highlights of our trips DW and I reserved a private catamaran with Tropical Catamaran Sailing Day Tours. Although pricey for just two, it is not that bad if you have a group of people. For a group of 10, prices start at $137 per person.

 

When looking on Trip Advisor, you kind of start thinking that all these great reviews are too good to be true. Well you would be wrong. Everything that has been said about James, Sherrill and Cat Tales II on Trip Advisor is absolutely true. There is an old expression that says there are no strangers but just friends you haven't met yet. James and Sherrill make you feel like friends the moment you step on board.

 

James and Sherrill had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the cruise terminal in St. John and takes us to Jolly Harbor as well as arranged for a return trip to the cruise terminal. It was nice not to have to worry about getting our own transportation and both drivers were very prompt.

 

Cat Tales is a beautiful catamaran and you can tell James and Sherrill love sailing. It was quite interesting having James explain everything to us. We left Jolly Harbor and sailed out to Cades Reef for some snorkeling, lunch and then just some relaxing time in the water. They have these cool new snorkel masks, where is covers the whole face and the breathing apparatus is built into it so you can breathe through your nose or mouth. I upgraded to the lobster lunch - it was cooked perfectly and served with some great mashed potatoes and a salad. Rum Punch, Buck Fizzes (mimosas) and beer were flowing all day.

 

James and Sherrill are great hosts and they love what they do and it really shows. We will be doing the same cruise in 2018 and we will be booking some time on Cat Tales II when we are in Antigua.

 

Be warned - this gets booked up weeks if not months in advanced.

Edited March 11, 2016 by frawls

[frawls]

 

 

Learning about Sailing

 

[frawls]

All in one snorkel mask

 

 

 

 

[frawls]

After going going going all week, we just decided that St. Maarten would be a beach day but with 3 other ships in town that day where can we go to avoid the crowds? Thankfully for Cruise Critic, we decided to go to Divi Little Bay.

 

Divi Little Bay is just past downtown Phillipsburg, it was about a 10 minute taxi ride and cost $12 each way for 2 of us. Once at the resort, we rented two chairs and an umbrella for $15. There are restrooms and a restaurant.

 

Lunch at the resort was a little pricey but it was good, we really enjoyed the jerk chicken pizza. It was also very convenient having everything we needed right there.

 

The water was very nice and it was a very relaxing day.

 

Here is a shot of the other ships leaving St. Maarten.

 

[frawls]

Our last stop was St. Thomas and what a sight to wake up to - a double rainbow.

 

[frawls]

Sticking with our theme of using smaller local tour operators, we discovered Island Buddy. Duncan at Island Buddy offers private tours for up to 9 guests soon he should be able to accommodate up to 12. You travel around the island in Jeep Wranglers and can customize the itinerary to do anything you want. Cost was $99 per person and it was a full day.

 

His regular itinerary is usually a hike, a snorkel stop and some beach time but since DW has ankle problems we skipped the hike and told Duncan we wanted to avoid the crowds and just have a relaxing day. He delivered. We got off the ship at 9:00 am and he was there waiting for us and he suggested we go to Coki beach for snorkeling before the crowds start to fill up.

 

Snorkeling at Coki was great! As soon as you put your head in the water there are fish everywhere. Duncan uses dog treats to feed the fish - this works great because unlike bread it takes a really long time for the dog biscuit to get soggy and fall apart. The fish actually will eat the biscuit from your hand - it was a really cool experience. After Cokie we headed to another beach for some more snorkeling but I can't remember the name of it. After that we went off-roading to a place that is only accessible by a dirt trail or by boat - Abi Beach Bar. Abi is built out of old shipping containers and sits right on a secluded beach. Fish tacos and blackened fish sandwich were both very good. The beach itself was very quiet and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. After Abi we stopped at some scenic lookouts and it was time to get back on the ship. I would highly recommend Duncan and Island Buddy if you are looking to experience something new in St. Thomas.

[frawls]

Coki Beach

 

 

Secluded Beach at Abi Beach Bar

 

 

Drake's Seat

 

The Summit and NCL's GEM

 

The harbor

[frawls]

Debarkation was painless but our flight wasn't leaving until 3:00pm and we were off the ship by 9:00am. Once again, thanks to Cruise Critic we knew we could drop our bags off at Barrachina in Old San Juan and spend the day wandering around. This was a much better way of spending the day than going to the airport and sitting there for hours and hours.

 

[PinkMEB]

Are the hairdryers built into the wall or separate? I like the separate ones because you can direct the heat and the others blow your hair wild. I prefer not having to take mine. Thanks.

[OhioDogLover]

We were on your cruise. We did different things in port, but agree with you that it was a terrific cruise. I would do it again, too.

 

Looks as if you had a fabulous time, just like we did.

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Ohiodoglover

[Clarea]

Very nice photos, thank-you!

[Flamencacha]

Beautiful fotos, thank you

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[carolslc]

Are the hairdryers built into the wall or separate? I like the separate ones because you can direct the heat and the others blow your hair wild. I prefer not having to take mine. Thanks.

 

 

The last time I was on the Summit in 2014 they were separate, found in the vanity drawer.

[frawls]

Are the hairdryers built into the wall or separate? I like the separate ones because you can direct the heat and the others blow your hair wild. I prefer not having to take mine. Thanks.

 

I asked DW and she said she really didn't use the hair dryer and she did not remember. Sorry.