Summit 6/26/2022 Bermuda Sailing – Live Blog, Cat Blog, Vlog!

[David Kane]

Summit 6/26/2022 Bermuda Sailing - Live Blog, Cat Blog, Vlog!

 

Good Morning.

 

After 2 years away from Celebrity (I wonder what happe…oh, wait), we are once again ready to get back on Board and see what has changed post-cruising-apocalypse. Lingering suspicions remain that this ‘Live’ Blog will quickly become a ‘Recap’ after day 3 as is usually the case, but until then, we’ll try to keep things tight.

 

A note about the years in-between; one of us got worked-from-home for 2 years and one of us…did not. This isn’t quite the first vacation we have had in 30 months, having spent an enjoyable combination weekend in the Catskills and then on to Bar Harbor, but it is certainly the most people at least one of us has been around in quite some time.

 

I’d like to give a big thank you and shout out to Chemmo, ChicagoPaul, Jim_Lain, Patty Knapp, and all the other frequent Cruise Critic Board posters who provide far more accurate commentary than I ever will.

 

Note: This Blog is rated H for hu-mor. Curmudgeons are hereby advised.

 

Background

 

DW (who I will refer to by her initials XZ just to circumvent convention) and I are mid 40’s with no kids and one cat who hates it when we go cruising. We were big Disney Park fans until their pricing structure got WAY out of whack ($1,000 a night? Drinks and Food not included? My…God) and made the spontaneous experience entirely unenjoyable and, for my 40th, we decided to give cruising a try.

 

Our first trip was in an RS on the Infinity for Halloween in 2015. We came right back for more, booking a RS on the Summit for 2016, an SS guarantee on the Reflection and another SS on the Summit, both in 2017. Starting 2018 we did an SS Aft on the Equinox, and an SS on the Summit and, in 2019, an SS on the Equinox. We took a slight break and came back for an SS on the Summit out of San Juan in Jan. 2020 and then, about 2 weeks after we got off the ship, the lockdown began. During those years we tamed turkeys, fostered a rescue dog, and, on several memorable occasions, were literally the only people downtown in an entire east coast city. But enough about the past.

 

This time, we (originally) were back for an accessible SS on the Summit (booked in September 2021, I know, bold move), which is quickly becoming the Queen of the Fleet. Yes, yes, I know the Edge and Apex and Beyond are all fancy, what with their Eden shows and Male Strippers (I kid, I kid) but somehow, the Summit continues to be one of (if not the) best rated ship for staff in the entire fleet.

 

AND THEN. And Then. For the first time ever, we didn’t get a move up offer. We had planned on bidding high on the expected move up, as we felt badly about being in an accessible without the need (it was oddly the only SS available when we booked).  So last Sunday, on a whim, XZ calls the Celebrity Customer Service line to see what was up and, surprise, they had a new offer and availability and now we are in our first Celebrity Suite. I am as shocked as you are. Who knew you could just call Customer Service and magically re-book an upgraded room for not so much more than one originally paid? Goes to show, asking is sometimes worth the effort. And then, of course, I got the move-up e-mail on Monday…but we were as ‘moved up’ as we are going to be this time around. Or so we thought.

 

On Wednesday morning, apropos of nothing, I got an e-mail from our wholesale club advertising upcoming cruise deals and, oddly enough, ours was listed, despite embarking in 4 days. I clicked through and saw…wait, what’s this? There’s a suite available? How odd! I wonder which one? Click, click…is that the…is the Penthouse still open? At…not much more than our CS, considering the M-class Penthouse is regarded by some as the best room in the fleet? No way. SO. One call later that night to Celebrity Customer Service and, viola, we are in the Penthouse for this cruise. Now, I know, there is a significant price difference from our original SS, but, looking at it across these years, it was actually less than the 4 cruises we effectively didn’t go on in 2020 and 2021 – so, this Blog just got moved *all* the way up! (Also, for those that say that such upper tier rooms are only for the ‘well heeled,’ I present below my heels from years of warehouse work through a pandemic. Not so much different than everyone else’s).

 

         

This Trip

 

So, cards on the table, flying right now is a hilarious disaster. If the freaking Secretary of Transportation is getting bumped on flights, the dude who literally controls…everything flight related? The chances of “you” not getting bumped is pretty much zero. Because of that, we opted to shift our cruise to one leaving out of Bayonne, NJ, despite one of Bruce Springsteen’s best songs being about getting the HECK out of New Jersey, as it is a port we can drive to. The sailing is to Bermuda, which matters rather little to us, as we very, very rarely get off the ship. Last time in this port we made it as far as the museum, which was recently remodeled and unbeknownst to us featured historical documents and photographs that XZ had spent several years preparing for a heretofore unknown client so…that was as far as we got on that trip!

 

Goals this go around include:

 

--Post-shutdown and supply chain shortage questions! Do they have enough Lavazzazza? Will they run out of Diet Coke? Is it now called Sushi on 4 because there are only 4 menu items available? Is there really only 1 Personal Retreat Host per every 39.4 Suites? Are they only serving Lobster Heads on Lobster night? All of these questions and more are on the table!

 

  --Pronunciation Challenge! At one point we will be challenging XZ in real time to pronounce Celebrity’s unpronounceable names, including Café al…what’s it again? The full, proper name of that buttery snail dish! World-renown Chef Daniel…Bolud? Bouloud? BooLoudoos? last name, and a slew of other questionable tongue twisters.

 

--Chair Ratings: Chair Ratings are back! While we covered most of these on our last Blog, we never hit some of the prime lounging spaces, like Cellar Masters, and now we have a whole slew of new seating options in our very room!

 

--Do Everything Challenge: My personal challenge is to pick a day and participate in everything listed in the daily. Methinks this will be easier on a port day. I feel I’m going to spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with cruise jewelry (which I used to supply to the fleet, ironically enough) and slightly used Rolex watches.

 

The Cat

 

Yet again, as we prepare for our cruise, our angry little (little? perhaps not) Tortoiseshell cat has been busy perusing Cruise Critic, reading all of the Summit Reviews and thoroughly enjoying the bad ones. Each day we will review one “Cat Complaint” about Cruising and see, in person, if it’s valid. This little tradition of ours comes from our very first cruise, where, during a thoroughly enjoyable Q & A session with the Senior Officers on stage, a guest took a little bit of everyone’s time to complain to the Captain about how there wasn’t enough Diet Coke on board, which isn’t even possible. This section is a far more politic way of noting my displeasure with other rude and entitled passengers than inviting them to get off the ship for a self-guided tour on sea days.

 

Social

 

Our vlog site is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcTrwSLzNW8FzVVdyz3yC4w

 

We are also making an attempt to step into the vastness of Celebrity’s own social media sites, including Instaspam and Twiffer. We’ll see how that goes…I don’t know if we even have an account on these (XZ says we do, but we’re only following Captain Kate’s Cat and 104 professional wrestlers, apparently).

 

We draw inspiration for our begrudging social media efforts from:

 

Bill Raffel (Gooooood Morning!): https://www.youtube.com/user/billwi

 

Alex Codd Choreography (Celebrity Dancers Against COVID): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLeGQhXoSo&t=141s

 

Cruise Dorks (“Pick it up and party with it”): https://www.youtube.com/c/CruiseDorks/featured

 

Parodeejay: https://www.youtube.com/c/parodeejay

 

A Note on Questions

 

One of the most enjoyable features of CC is answering questions for future cruisers. However, to add a wrinkle of unhelpfulness, I will endeavor to ask the least appropriate people I can find. Want to know if Sky Vodka is on the Premium Package? I’ll find one of the Performers to pose that question to! Interested in Debarkation Times? Perhaps the Chief Engineer will have some insights. All kidding aside, I’ll do my best to respond for at least the first 3 days, after which the ‘LIVE’ part of this blog becomes increasingly inaccurate.

 

The Self-Indulgent Nature of this Blog

 

“But wait! Where are the pictures of food? Sunsets? That screaming-dude-in-the-chair statue? All I see are pictures of your wife in funny hats…what gives?”

 

This blog is largely for the enjoyment of our immediate family; by which I mean I generally try to use it to make XZ laugh when she reads the daily recaps at 3am. There are inside jokes, there are throwback references, and, occasionally, there is some information masquerading as trite humor. However, I will do my best to at least cover help pre-embarkation information, as this testing jazz is a bit of a stream to navigate without a charm shield (incredibly potent).

 

And Here We Go, the luggage has been spotted and the cat is…being a huge derp.

 

[FlorenceItaly]

It's great to see you back cruising!  We are on the Summit July 24 sailing.

[kpark895]

I can't believe I am finally cruising with a legendary CC live reviewer.  I absolutely love your reviews, especially seeing the pictures of you and XZ dressing up each night in really great finery!  Are you bringing your trunk with all your great wardrobe?  I probably won't be running into you though, as you, being in the Penthouse, l and myself, being in a lowly veranda, will, in all likelihood, never cross paths.  But no matter, I will still have this review to make me feel like I am really on the same cruise.  Perhaps I'll see you onboard!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Lucky you to have scored the PH!  Having been in there on the spring repo on the Summit (with only 350 other fellow pax), I'm very interested in your chair ratings.  Watching that silly round one in the living room go round and round all by itself when the ship was moving was certainly amusing.  And my personal award for the most uncomfortable chair in the entire universe goes to the one at the desk in the MBR.  It will be interesting to hear your take.  Will also be interested to hear who your butler is.  Alex, probably one of the world's greatest, got shifted to different floors on the second leg of the B2B.  Apparently they move the butlers around from time to time.  Enjoy!

[David Kane]

6 hours ago, kpark895 said:

kpark895

That was very kind of you to say; trust us, our whole 301 YouTube views (299 of which are likely family) don't make us legendary at all. We will absolutely see you around the ship, as we never get off it! We are big Casino and Show people, and can usually be seen huffing it up the stairs because we try not to take elevators to mitigate the average 1 lbs. per day guests gain on a cruise. 

 

And thank you very much for reminding me to include that EVERY night is formal night for us - no evening chic, no shorts in the theatre. We do this for our own amusement, not to suggest anything less of anyone else. If people want to be continually casual? That will not impact our enjoyment one bit. We just like wearing 'yesterday's fashions' in a modern setting.  Hope to see you on board!!

 

[David Kane]

Happy Cruiser 6143

 

Darn it! I *knew* I forgot someone! I was going through the list of helpful and continual posters on CC to thank and I was like...I feel there is someone I am missing...

 

We have greatly enjoyed your posts over the last 2 (!) years; we will let you know all the details in a little less than 19 hours. Also, and just as a little sneak peak, we are brining our own vase full of Hoppen things to display in the PH and see if anyone can notice the artistic difference between two people from Rhode Island a world-famous designer. Hint: the color palette was rather easy to copy!

[David Kane]

Testing Quandaries

               

So, for a brief moment, and perhaps for the last time, this post will attempt to be helpful to future cruisers**. As we are hopefully all aware, passengers (I’d say over a certain age as a disclaimer, but, let’s be honest, this is Celebrity, where the average guest likely saw Elvis live in concert) need to be vaccinated, tested 48 hours pre-cruise and, if you’re going to Bermuda, approved to transit there. Let’s break it down

 

Way Pre-Cruise

 

                Celebrity has gotten much, much better at communication. They will send you about 106 e-mails reminding you to update your vaccination status. To do this, you need an App capable device (phone or tablet) to download the Celebrity App (which has gotten much, much better). Once downloaded, you’ll need a reservation number to log in and, once logged in, you will be able to photograph and upload a picture of your vaccination card. This can be done 30 days pre-cruise and I would suggest doing it immediately, if only to stop the continual e-mails.

 

Also Way Pre-Cruise – Bermuda

 

                While it likely chafes a little, Bermuda has decided they’d like some of your money for COVID related expenses and requires a pre-travel authorization. They are not fooling around here. Even if you don’t intend to get off the ship, Celebrity won’t let you on the ship without this. Unfortunately and unlike Celebrity, their response time is…nerve-rackingly questionable.

 

                Again, 30 days in advance of your cruise (ish), you will be required to go to Bermuda’s website and submit your vaccination record. This time you can use an actual computer to do it, instead of an App (I know, I know, look at the 80’s kid who is still more comfortable with a desktop than a tablet; what can I say, I like a full keyboard – I didn’t take typing classes in middle school for nothing!). Along with this, you’ll pay $40/per. Following that, you will receive an initial e-mail and then…nothing. For weeks.

 

                Eventually, some random official in the Bermudian department of tourism will be roused from their stupor and approve exactly one person in your traveling party. It doesn’t matter that you both submitted applications at the same time. It doesn’t matter whose first name is alphabetically higher. They’ll presumably put your submission in one of those big plastic balls they use to draw Powerball and randomly pull one out. Got anxiety? You will, after your partner gets their authorization and you don’t for up to 6 more days! Did you submit it correctly? Did you mis-type your credit card number? Did you use an abbreviation for your first name instead of fully spelling out “Richard?” Nope. You’re good; the Bermudian Government is just between drinks and will get back to you, eventually, before your cruise. If they don’t, there is a number to call and presumably someone answers before margarita hour.

 

 Pre-Cruise Testing

 

                And THEN, the dreaded pre-cruise test. Now, I totally get it; no complaints. A negative test 48 hours before is solid. You have two choices here as your exam must be proctored, a word not many of us have seen since college. One can either spend an additional $40/per to buy the Celebrity-Branded tele-health-emed-kit thingy, or, apparently, you can just go to a random pharmacy and get a PCR test there. Always being skeptical of non-branded offerings when a pricey vacation is at stake (“Yeahhhh, that Rite-Aid test isn’t on the list of approved providers...”) we opted for the Celebrity-brand test. Also, you can do it from the comfort of your home.

 

                IF you opt for this test, order it EARLY. Like 30 days early. It doesn’t expire, and not waiting for the UPS driver to show up 2 days before your cruise at 7pm is a major stress reliever.

 

                Once your kit comes in put it someplace safe and then, 48 hours before, it is GO time. You’ll need an App and someone capable of holding a device in sometimes complicated positions (more on this later). Once you are ready, begin scanning QR codes, creating accounts and then, no kidding, it is GO time; there is no pause button, so once you start, you START..A proctor hops on to a video chat and asks you to do improbable things; at least if you’re alone. You have to scan your ID, the test kit, hold up the test kit, scan yourself and then, in the most hilarious set of instructions I have ever seen, get yourself and the test kit, on a flat surface, in the same continuous shot. Obviously, there are reasons for this, and they are very likely valid, but my GOD is that a difficult shot to take. We ended up standing on a bar stool and pointing the camera down at the counter and desperately trying to get our ugly mug in the shot. The cat was very amused.

 

                After these contortions, you take the test, which, by now, everyone is likely aware of how to do, and then you wait…for 15 minutes. The longest 15 minutes of your life. Am I positive? I have no symptoms. There is A-symptomatic COVID, right? Can I taste? Quick, give me a teaspoon of cumin! Yup, tastes like Cumin (Dr. Horrible reference); ok good there. How many minutes have elapsed? 41 seconds. DARNIT. So after the longest 15 minutes which determine if your vacation that you have been looking forward to for 2 years is still viable; NOW it’s your partner's turn!

 

                In all seriousness, aside from the weird camera angles (the final one requires you to make sure the camera is pointed at the test card for the aforementioned 15 minutes, so having kitchen props like salt shakers and pepper mills to prop up the device is a must) the Celebrity Tele-Health screen is very, very polite and forgiving. Also, we were both negative. So on with the…

 

Pre-Cruise – Not so fast

     

           Next, 24 hours before, you answer a survey. It’s a straight NO answer column, but I’ve seen a report where someone accidentally clicked YES to a question (do you experience soreness and fatigue? I work in a warehouse, my dude. Every. Day.) that is related to COVID and not, you know, your 9 to 5 and it took 4 hours to resolve. So, if you’re all good, just click the NO column.

 

Cruise Itself

                We have our documents printed out (Bermuda finally got back). We have our cards in with our passports. We have physical copies of everything. We are ready to go? We are ready to go. I hope!

 

**From above: I hope the following has been vaguely helpful. From here on out it will be nothing but Tuxedos and Cat pictures. Obviously, if you're flying from overseas YMMV. Also, I have no information about a Certificate of Recovery, who accepts that, or even what it is. Trying to remain light hearted discussing pandemic-related concerns can be tiresome. If all else fails, call Celebrity and understand there is going to be an hour long hold time. Put the phone down, enjoy a snack, watch Obi-Wan, and know that when the representative answers they will have far more knowledge than this blog. After all, it is in their interest to make it as easy as possible for you to safely board the ship and lose, er, spend, money on questionable artwork and $5 roulette.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

57 minutes ago, David Kane said:

Happy Cruiser 6143

 

Darn it! I *knew* I forgot someone! I was going through the list of helpful and continual posters on CC to thank and I was like...I feel there is someone I am missing...

 

We have greatly enjoyed your posts over the last 2 (!) years; we will let you know all the details in a little less than 19 hours. Also, and just as a little sneak peak, we are brining our own vase full of Hoppen things to display in the PH and see if anyone can notice the artistic difference between two people from Rhode Island a world-famous designer. Hint: the color palette was rather easy to copy!

 

I put all the silly HoppenCrap stuff in those useless floor cabinets.  I mean, really--vases that can't hold water?  Yup, I sure needed those.

Edited June 25, 2022 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I'm loving your sense of humor!

 

Next time, just make an appointment at Walgreen's and do the drive-through test.  Took less than a minute to make the ap on my old-fashioned desktop (complete with a keyboard on which I can type like a demon thanks to the requirement to take typing in my HS, which I thought was insane at the time--what did I know?), drove right up to the window at the appointed time, and had my results in less than an hour.  Unfortunately, no solution to the stress of wondering if one will test positive at the last minute despite absolutely no symptoms and thus the cruise one has been so eagerly anticipating is toast.  I decided not to put anything in the suitcase until I had a negative test result in hand.

[vickykay]

So looking forward to “ cruising” with you!

[goldsmip115]

What a fabulous upgrade. You will love the Penthouse Suite!  Some cruisers that represent being “happy” are continually so negative about the revolution of the suite.  It gets so old!  Enjoy every moment.  I have spent many nights in that suite before and after the revolution.  Both experiences have been wonderful.  The only problem is that you will never want to go back. Every suite pales by comparison.  I did a very extensive review of the Summit PS with many, many pictures that you can find on the boards.  I so look forward to your review.  I guarantee you that you will find many comfortable seats in the suite.  Especially out on that fantastic verandah.

[parrothead33]

Loving your sense of humour. Have a great cruise.

Cheers.

[Jim_Iain]

Looking forward to following along on you LIve Blog.    I needed another blog to start following as @GenerationX is just about to disembark.  

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and a smooth embarkation.  

 

We will be sailing Summit in August and will be reading with care as it's been  a couple years since we have been on Summit.   

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

What a fabulous upgrade. You will love the Penthouse Suite!  Some cruisers that represent being “happy” are continually so negative about the revolution of the suite.  It gets so old!  Enjoy every moment.  I have spent many nights in that suite before and after the revolution.  Both experiences have been wonderful.  The only problem is that you will never want to go back. Every suite pales by comparison.  I did a very extensive review of the Summit PS with many, many pictures that you can find on the boards.  I so look forward to your review.  I guarantee you that you will find many comfortable seats in the suite.  Especially out on that fantastic verandah.

 

It may surprise you to know that some people can be happy and enjoy a cruise and still not care for some of the features on a ship.  I too have spent time in that suite both pre and post change and, in my opinion, many of the changes were not an improvement.  I think I have a right to my opinion as you do to yours.  My opinion in no way invalidates your enjoyment of the suite.  It's just my opinion.  It didn't keep me from enjoying the suite.  There are many things to like about it.  You found the seats on the verandah comfortable.  To me, they were rather hard and uncomfortable.  Just two different impressions.  And I preferred the individual chairs in the previous version of the living room.  Just a personal preference--I believe we all have them.  Life would be pretty boring if we all liked the same stuff.

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your report. Enjoy!

[Laurab23]

I am sailing in a PH next May. Can you ask if the beds can be divided? I get both yes and no answers from posters here.

Thank you. Looking forward to your posts.

 

Laura

[MaggieAtSea]

Still on the fence about sailing out of Bayonne on last day of July… following closely to push me one way or the other!

[MaggieAtSea]

6 minutes ago, Laurab23 said:

I am sailing in a PH next May. Can you ask if the beds can be divided? I get both yes and no answers from posters here.

Thank you. Looking forward to your posts.

 

Laura

Yup.  Frequent PH Summit passenger- beds can be split.  Best cabin in whole fleet btw!

[David Kane]

Em-meow-cation Day

Part 1 - Ready, Steady, G...wait, I just need to pack one more...

 

These are the posts I always refer to as the "scroll throughs." They are essentially the equivalent of the first match you get on Tinder; you're always going to swipe left to get to the good stuff, and  here you're always going to scroll down on cruise blogs past the pictures of airplane wings, the jail cells at Newark, and random Hobos fighting seagulls for popcorn in the La Guardia Uber Lot to get to pictures of the actual onboarding process.

 

So, we won't belabor long! After almost sweeping up the cat in piles of luggage we are off to navigate the always enjoyable cross-bronx expressway, stopping briefly to break the hearts of the lot lizards at the Vince Lombardi rest area before finally making the port. See what they have done to airplane travel? I am looking forward to a drive that resembles the opening scenes of Mad Max and turning down early morning parking lot solicitations just to avoid ever having to fly to a cruise again! Also...those baggage fees, yo...

 

[Laurab23]

11 hours ago, MaggieAtSea said:

Yup.  Frequent PH Summit passenger- beds can be split.  Best cabin in whole fleet btw!

Thank you. Yes the PH will be our one time splurge. Then we will have to go back to booking Agua.

 

Laura

[Gypsy2]

Inquiring minds on the plastic tub for packing?

[WB57]

Hello - as you will be driving to Cape Liberty, please let us know what time you get there - and what the garage parking situation looks like (how full/empty) - and the Retreat check-in process. 
 

Thanks - be safe and have fun - and look forward to your ‘live’ comments!

 

cheers. 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Looking forward to following along this week and pictures galore!

[marycruz]

14 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

It may surprise you to know that some people can be happy and enjoy a cruise and still not care for some of the features on a ship.  I too have spent time in that suite both pre and post change and, in my opinion, many of the changes were not an improvement.  I think I have a right to my opinion as you do to yours.  My opinion in no way invalidates your enjoyment of the suite.  It's just my opinion.  It didn't keep me from enjoying the suite.  There are many things to like about it.  You found the seats on the verandah comfortable.  To me, they were rather hard and uncomfortable.  Just two different impressions.  And I preferred the individual chairs in the previous version of the living room.  Just a personal preference--I believe we all have them.  Life would be pretty boring if we all liked the same stuff.

Totally agree with you regarding the verandah chairs.  We never sat out there due to the fact that they were very uncomfortable.  Ditto any chairs  in the suite.  We will be going on the Constellation next time and are looking forward to the suite they way it used to be!

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Gypsy2 said:

Inquiring minds on the plastic tub for packing?

 

LOL -  that was also my first thought.    The second is I can sure tell they are driving to the port.

Edited June 26, 2022 by Jim_Iain