Live From the Summit from SJ 11/16

[jcpc]

1 hour ago, ladyonboard said:

Thank you for the fun read!  Any chance you might be able to post a copy of the "Spotlight" listing officers names & pictures.  Apparently, this is available at Guest Services. Also, if you have access to Retreat Concierge & Luminae Maitre D?  Thank you in advance!!!

On October 20th sailing the following personnel were on the ship:

Retreat Manager:  Anastasiia

Retreat Concierges:  Toni and Georgina

Luminae Maitre'd:  Reggie

[NCHPcruiser]

• Report post
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•  #90

Posted 12 hours ago

St Kitts Day 3

 

It was another sleep in kind of morning but.......

 

After breakfast we sat on the balcony and read for a bit before heading to the gym. I have to rant for a brief minute here. I love to cycle, I like riding my road bike and I also enjoy spin classes.  Now I can understand on a port intensive cruise not offering classes on port days, I don’t like it but I can understand it.  What I can’t understand is locking up and not allowing anyone to use the bikes unless its in a class.  That’s a pure money grab for me and i think its total BS.  If you were having daily classes fine. But 1 class in 8 days is just stupid. Unlock the bikes and let those of us that want to use them use them.  Ok, sorry end of rant

 

Steelers0854,  we understand your rant completely!  It is my husband’s one pet peeve (well, other than the discontinued table side prepared Caesar salad in Tuscan that he’s still disappointed about).   He signs up for every spin class but just doesn’t understand why he can’t use one when he wants like other cardio equipment.  Occasionally he has had access to a spin bike so it may be certain ships or the person over the fitness center.  We are looking at a cruise on another cruise line and his one question has been “Do they have spin bikes I can use when I want?”.  

[Steelers0854]

Antigua Day 4

 

Another lazy morning and another beautiful day not at work.  We made our daily trek down to Blu for breakfast and afterwards we headed into town for a bit.  We wandered around and poked in and out of shops for about an hour before coming back to the ship. 
 

 

 

 

After we got back we headed to Persian Gardens and read and enjoyed the salt room for about an hour and again never saw anyone else.  We went to the solarium and relaxed by the pool (which oddly enough was closed).  Lunch was from the hamburger stand, which does make a good burger.  DW didn’t see anything in the buffet that interested her so she grabbed another bunless hamburger.

 

I have to say I have been disappointed in the food in the buffet.  With the exception of a handful of items everything stays the same every day.  That has been disappointing, especially given that the dining room food has been so good.

 

After lunch we got ourselves ready for the day, or afternoon i guess at this point!  We read some more an enjoyed the quiet ship.  We watched sail away from our balcony before heading to dinner.

 

Here were the dinner menus from tonight.

 

 

 

 

I have to have a special break here for these beautiful people onboard this ship, lead by Joe the Maitre’D of Blu, and his amazing team.  He spoke with the baker on board and they baked DW a loaf of her very own vegan gluten free bread.  This is no easy task, and even when on land and with access to multiple grocery stores can be a challenge to find the right ingredients.  But these people pulled it off in the middle of the ocean and DW said the bread was delicious and better than the stuff she buys at home.  God bless you all for making us feel so welcome and cared for.

 

 

The view from our table at dinner

 

DW had for dinner the prosciutto appetizer, the Moroccan spiced soup and a salad, followed by the NY Strip and a wonderfully moist, dry baked potato.  I have no idea how you make a dry baked potato taste like its got butter on it, but these people are magicians!

 

 

 

 

 

I went with the seafood ceviche, snow crab timbale, New England chowder, and the Turkey dinner from the MDR menu.  Both of our dinners again were outstanding.

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert they again outdid themselves by making coconut milk tapioca pudding for DW and I got the chocolate cake.    

 

 

 

After dinner we headed to the show which was a Broadway compilation.  The onboard performers put on another great performance and this one was very well attended.  As the week has moved on we have seen more and more people showing up for the performance.

 

After the show there really wasnt much else to do so we called it a night.

[Steelers0854]

Here is the daily news planner for today

 

 

 

[Steelers0854]

Welcome to beautiful St Lucia!

 

[bhughey]

Enjoying the report! We were on the Summit for the Oct. 20 repositioning and I thought the oveanview offerings were some of the best we're experienced out of the 6 times we've sailed the Summit! There was always a rotating seafood feature, mussels, clams, lobster rolls, shrimp - various types of seafood cooked to order, Indian offerings, Mexican options, "meat & three", sandwich stations, cheeses, stir fry bar, the salad bar toppings change almost daily, pastas cooked to order, fruit galore! Buuut... I guess if none of those items appeal... then one may find it limited. Not sure what else could be added? Oh... almost forgot - an entire vegan station!

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by bhughey

[Steelers0854]

52 minutes ago, bhughey said:

Enjoying the report! We were on the Summit for the Oct. 20 repositioning and I thought the oveanview offerings were some of the best we're experienced out of the 6 times we've sailed the Summit! There was always a rotating seafood feature, mussels, clams, lobster rolls, shrimp - various types of seafood cooked to order, Indian offerings, Mexican options, "meat & three", sandwich stations, cheeses, stir fry bar, the salad bar toppings change almost daily, pastas cooked to order, fruit galore! Buuut... I guess if none of those items appeal... then one may find it limited. Not sure what else could be added? Oh... almost forgot - an entire vegan station!

 

 

Maybe it’s because we have had all port days but we haven’t seen much what You described. Haven’t seen any Mexican food, no cooked to order seafood, and the salad bar is always there but has never had any different offerings. Yes, they have a pasta station, sandwich station, and that variety is nice. 
 

I guess I should have clarified my earlier post. The hot dishes along the buffet almost never change. The carved meat option does. But I’ve seen the same hot dishes just about every day. Would be nice to have some rotation. On Princess they will have theme days, Mexican, Chinese, German, etc. that brings some variety into the meal. 

Edited November 20, 2019 by Steelers0854

[bhughey]

23 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

Maybe it’s because we have had all port days but we haven’t seen much what You described. Haven’t seen any Mexican food, no cooked to order seafood, and the salad bar is always there but has never had any different offerings. Yes, they have a pasta station, sandwich station, and that variety is nice. 
 

I guess I should have clarified my earlier post. The hot dishes along the buffet almost never change. The carved meat option does. But I’ve seen the same hot dishes just about every day. Would be nice to have some rotation. On Princess they will have theme days, Mexican, Chinese, German, etc. that brings some variety into the meal. 

If you are hitting the buffet later in the day... after the posted "lunch" hours - the options are more limited. The cooked to order fish station - or "grill" station I think it is called - is all the way in the back as you head out to the sunset bar. That's where we found the mussels, clams, shrimp & lobster rolls. There is a stir fry station on the aft starboard side and some additional salad offerings on the port aft side. The taco station is almost as you come into the buffet - one of the first stations on the port side. Not that it is there everyday, but I definitely saw it more than once.

[Steelers0854]

37 minutes ago, bhughey said:

If you are hitting the buffet later in the day... after the posted "lunch" hours - the options are more limited. The cooked to order fish station - or "grill" station I think it is called - is all the way in the back as you head out to the sunset bar. That's where we found the mussels, clams, shrimp & lobster rolls. There is a stir fry station on the aft starboard side and some additional salad offerings on the port aft side. The taco station is almost as you come into the buffet - one of the first stations on the port side. Not that it is there everyday, but I definitely saw it more than once.

we are there right at noon every day. It must change based on itinerary. We walk the whole buffet to scope it out before we eat and I’ve never seen a Mexican food station (there is an Indian one) and no cooked to order seafood. 
 

Today they did have a gyro station. It was excellent!

[CruisinRoxy]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:02 PM, Steelers0854 said:

Just leaving port and about to lose cell signal til tomorrow. With us a HAL ship and another much smaller one. Good night CC!

 

 

 

Oh, Love the Port of San Juan at night! We are on the Summit Feb 1. Can’t wait! Second Celebrity Cruise. First time on Summit! She’ll be going to some smaller islands we’ve never been to.  Which is why sometimes a smaller ship is an advantage. Thanks for taking the time to do all this posting! Really enjoying!

[othermike]

 

Hi Steelers0854, great report so far!

I had posted this question in it's own thread (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2711531-cameras-for-sale-onboard/) but wondering if you notice, if you can share what cameras you see for sale onboard? I'm on the Summit in February and have a fair bit of OBC so I'm thinking about using it to upgrade my camera. Thanks!

[CruisinRoxy]

You’ve been posting some great photos! Would you happen to have any of the dining venues?  Such as the MDR and Blue? Or maybe the Oceanview Cafe? I’m interested to see the new renovations.  Thank you!

[Steelers0854]

1 hour ago, CruisinRoxy said:

You’ve been posting some great photos! Would you happen to have any of the dining venues?  Such as the MDR and Blue? Or maybe the Oceanview Cafe? I’m interested to see the new renovations.  Thank you!

 

I didn’t grab one of the MDR but here is Blu, Qsine, and a not great picture of part of the buffet. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Steelers0854]

St Lucia Day 5

 

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.  Today started much like any other day.  No alarms, no work, just plain wonderful.  St Lucia is such a lush beautiful island.  We got up and enjoyed another breakfast in Blu.  Afterwards we lounged around as DW had won a free 25 minute neck and shoulder massage on embarkation day and was having that done at 10am.  Afterwards we got ready for the day and people watched and read from Cafe Bacio and the solarium.
 

 

Lunch today at the buffet was good, they had a gyro station and it was excellent.  DW picked up some steak and French fries.

 

After lunch we relaxed some more in the atrium area on deck 4 and 5 and enjoyed a lazy afternoon before heading back to the room to get ready for dinner and catch sailaway.

 

Here are tonight’s dinner menus.

 

 

 

 

DW had the Veggie Spring rolls and the Apple and Pear Salad.  She also had the Rosemary Chicken.

 

 

 

 

Tonight I had the Veggie Spring Rolls, the Boston Bibb lettuce salad (MDR menu), and the seafood coquettes.  For the Main Dish I had the pan seared halibut. This was the first menu item that I haven’t cared for all cruise.  It was wrapped in some kind of philo wrapping, was oily, and the fish was dry.  The sauce it was in was also not appealing.

 

 

 

 

For dessert, DW got an apple crumble, which she said was wonderful, and I grabbed the Apple Tar Tatin.

 

 

 

We headed from the dining room to the theater to catch the show tonight.  The gentleman performing was on American Idol at some point and put on another good show.  The entertainment in the theater has been very good this cruise.  I just wish there were other equally good things to enjoy afterwards.  With the exception of 1 game show in the sky lounge and a random DJ in the atrium there isn’t much to do.

 

After dinner we sat on the balcony and enjoyed the peaceful, very slow, ride to Barbados before calling it a night.

[CruisinRoxy]

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

I didn’t grab one of the MDR but here is Blu, Qsine, and a not great picture of part of the buffet. 
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for these! Can’t wait to be there.  I see they really changed the oceanview with the reno. But that Qsine kind of looks like a children’s playroom! Yikes.  

[Steelers0854]

38 minutes ago, CruisinRoxy said:

Thanks for these! Can’t wait to be there.  I see they really changed the oceanview with the reno. But that Qsine kind of looks like a children’s playroom! Yikes.  

Here is one of the MDR

 

 

[Steelers0854]

On 11/20/2019 at 7:23 PM, othermike said:

 

Hi Steelers0854, great report so far!

I had posted this question in it's own thread (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2711531-cameras-for-sale-onboard/) but wondering if you notice, if you can share what cameras you see for sale onboard? I'm on the Summit in February and have a fair bit of OBC so I'm thinking about using it to upgrade my camera. Thanks!

here is a picture of everything they had available. Sorry they didn’t post the prices. 
 

 

[Steelers0854]

Barbados Day 6

 

Well, its day 6 and i bet you cant guess what we did today?  Yup, got up whenever we wanted and rolled down to Blu for breakfast.  Afterwards we got off the sip and wandered around the port shops for a while to stretch our legs.

 

We had a leisurely walk back to the ship.  There were 3 other ships with us in port today.  We have the AIDAPearle (catering to mainly German customers, apparently all on board literature, signs and announcements are in German), the Silver Wind and the Marella Celebration.  I couldn’t tell but one of the ships, either the Silver Wind or the Celebration were embarking their passengers at Barbados.
 

 

After we got back to the ship we got ready for the day and headed to the seating area by Bacio.  We read here and watched the passing showers.  Even with the rain it was still blisteringly hot.  88 with a feels like of 102 outside.

 

We headed back to the room and relaxed before our evening Chic night.  Second formal night so you all know what that means, lobster!

 

Here are tonight’s menus.

 

 

 

 

DW had the sugar snap peas, and tomato soup, along with the pepper steak for dinner.

 

 

 

 

I had the crab cake, goat cheese napoleon, and the endive and pear salad.  And of course 2 lobster tails, through be told I should have asked for 3 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert tonight was a poached pear for DW and Baked Alaska for me.  It was one of the better baked Alaska’s i have had, so kudos to them.  Yea. Missed the photos on these. 

 

After dinner we headed to the theater and tonight’s show was a comedian.  Comedy is so hit and miss, but she put on a great show, my favorite were her 10 things you wont hear onboard the Summit.  Some of the best ones, Anyone asking to learn more about Tanzanite, There is so much wasted space in my cabin, and that anyone bought art while on board.

 

After the show we wandered our way back to the room to call it a night.

 

[Steelers0854]

Day at Sea Day 7

 

Well it finally came.  The most dreaded day of any cruise.  The day you have to pack, put luggage tags on and remember what drawer you shoved all you stuff in on day 1.  This happens to be our first and only sea day of the cruise.  While the shop has felt empty all week, you can certainly tell its full today.

 

I had booked a spin class at 9am today and didn’t want a. Big breakfast right before it so DW and I ordered off of the expansive room service menu for breakfast.  A fruit smoothie, danishes, hard boiled eggs and cereal awaited us at 7:30 this morning.  We enjoyed it out on the balcony on a beautiful sea day morning.

 

I headed to the gym and DW went to wander the ship.  My spin class was $17, which is a little less than wasn’t it goes for on land so that wasnt bad.  As spin classes go this one was one of the better ones I have done on a ship.  Nothing beats Royal Caribbean, but then again they have a monster of a ship on the Oasis Class and can afford to do spin classes right.  One thing I was mad about, before leaving I had emailed the fitness question inbox asking about the pedals on the spin bikes.  They told be they were just regular pedals so I left my shoes at home.  I should have brought them anyway because in addition to the pedals with cages they also had SPD clips I could have used my shoes for.  It was only one class so it wasnt a big deal, but it would have been nice for them to know what they actually had onboard their ships.

 

After the workout we got ready for the day and headed to Bacio before lunch.  I went to the Captain’s Club Desk and inquired about the number of passengers onboard.  Here is what they provided:

 

2212 total passengers

2 Zenith

916 in all other levels of the Captains Club

 

That’s a lot of first timers onboard.  She even made a comment that it was unusual to have so many.  The ship certainly didn’t feel like it had 2200+ people on board........except the pool deck.  It was a hot mess up there, literally and figuratively.  We walked through that’s lord of the flies nightmare and headed right to the buffet for lunch.  While busy it never felt crowded and they had an impressive selection today.  I feel like the buffet has slowly gotten better each day we were onboard.

 

After lunch we again put out heads down and plowed through the cowards around the pool and headed to the balcony.  We were sailing though a light storm  and the temperature had dropped.  It was a beautiful afternoon with the passing showers and the fantastic protection from the deck above.

 

We enjoyed the afternoon out here until it was time too get ready for dinner.

 

Here are tonight’s dinner menus

 

 

 

 

DW had the spinach salad, and the chicken.

 

 

 

I had the Scallop, the Thai coconut soup (wasnt that great so I swapped it out for the French Onion soup, which was delicious), and the arugula salad, with the prime rib.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I missed the desserts, but DW got a baked apple and I had the guava sorbet.

 

After dinner we needed to pack so we headed back to the room and packed away.  I read some more and ended up reading 3 and a half books this cruise which was awesome!  I don’t make enough time at home to read so it was so much fun to get through that many books in a week.

[Gilgorm]

2 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Day at Sea Day 7

 

Well it finally came.  The most dreaded day of any cruise.  The day you have to pack, put luggage tags on and remember what drawer you shoved all you stuff in on day 1.  This happens to be our first and only sea day of the cruise.  While the shop has felt empty all week, you can certainly tell its full today.

 

I had booked a spin class at 9am today and didn’t want a. Big breakfast right before it so DW and I ordered off of the expansive room service menu for breakfast.  A fruit smoothie, danishes, hard boiled eggs and cereal awaited us at 7:30 this morning.  We enjoyed it out on the balcony on a beautiful sea day morning.

 

I headed to the gym and DW went to wander the ship.  My spin class was $17, which is a little less than wasn’t it goes for on land so that wasnt bad.  As spin classes go this one was one of the better ones I have done on a ship.  Nothing beats Royal Caribbean, but then again they have a monster of a ship on the Oasis Class and can afford to do spin classes right.  One thing I was mad about, before leaving I had emailed the fitness question inbox asking about the pedals on the spin bikes.  They told be they were just regular pedals so I left my shoes at home.  I should have brought them anyway because in addition to the pedals with cages they also had SPD clips I could have used my shoes for.  It was only one class so it wasnt a big deal, but it would have been nice for them to know what they actually had onboard their ships.

 

After the workout we got ready for the day and headed to Bacio before lunch.  I went to the Captain’s Club Desk and inquired about the number of passengers onboard.  Here is what they provided:

 

2212 total passengers

2 Zenith

916 in all other levels of the Captains Club

 

That’s a lot of first timers onboard.  She even made a comment that it was unusual to have so many.  The ship certainly didn’t feel like it had 2200+ people on board........except the pool deck.  It was a hot mess up there, literally and figuratively.  We walked through that’s lord of the flies nightmare and headed right to the buffet for lunch.  While busy it never felt crowded and they had an impressive selection today.  I feel like the buffet has slowly gotten better each day we were onboard.

 

After lunch we again put out heads down and plowed through the cowards around the pool and headed to the balcony.  We were sailing though a light storm  and the temperature had dropped.  It was a beautiful afternoon with the passing showers and the fantastic protection from the deck above.

 

We enjoyed the afternoon out here until it was time too get ready for dinner.

 

Here are tonight’s dinner menus

 

 

 

 

DW had the spinach salad, and the chicken.

 

 

 

I had the Scallop, the Thai coconut soup (wasnt that great so I swapped it out for the French Onion soup, which was delicious), and the arugula salad, with the prime rib.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I missed the desserts, but DW got a baked apple and I had the guava sorbet.

 

After dinner we needed to pack so we headed back to the room and packed away.  I read some more and ended up reading 3 and a half books this cruise which was awesome!  I don’t make enough time at home to read so it was so much fun to get through that many books in a week.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a terrific review of your cruise. Most appreciated. 

 

We will be on Summit in February, only 77 days to go. lol. Lots of cold, snowy days to endure before we are on the ship. We can't wait.

 

Did you happen to notice if there was a Love and Marriage game? Similar to the Newlywed game of the past. 

 

Have a safe trip home. 

D. 

[Steelers0854]

8 minutes ago, Gilgorm said:

Thank you for taking the time to write such a terrific review of your cruise. Most appreciated. 

 

We will be on Summit in February, only 77 days to go. lol. Lots of cold, snowy days to endure before we are on the ship. We can't wait.

 

Did you happen to notice if there was a Love and Marriage game? Similar to the Newlywed game of the past. 

 

Have a safe trip home. 

D. 

 

I believe so, I posted most of the daily planners, ill post the rest here in a bit and you can check.

[nunuc2000]

Thank you for the beautifully photographed review - I've loved every single post!!  Safe travels home, and thanks again... can't wait for your next review - when do you cruise again, and what ship?

 

[calicakes]

On 11/19/2019 at 4:02 AM, Steelers0854 said:

had, brace yourselves, the lump crab, escargot, wedge salad and the Branzino from the MDR menu.

I gotta say it again.  The " lump crab" is NOT lump crab.  That salad looks exactly like the "lump crab" martini I had in Blu in September.  It was so full of mayo and just not good. 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Thanks for your review!

We boarded the Summit today.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[MEcruzr]

3 minutes ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Thanks for your review!

We boarded the Summit today.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

I think you should continue this review then! 😉