Live From the Summit, 8/7 to 8/31, from an Aqua passenger viewpoint

[vickykay]

Wow!  That’s a lot of money for that tour.  

[Fuzzy55]

Following this thread as we are doing the same cruise August 6,2023 in AQ.  AQ is now completely sold out for our cruise.  Thank you for posting. Looking forward to getting some tips for next year.

[ecslady]

Nice to have two different live threads with two different perspectives!🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

I have to admit I do very much enjoy posting to a "Live From" CC thread, as it gives me something to do on the balcony during our downtimes on our long cruises while my DW is in the cabin keeping cool and enjoying her computer games. But the threads also allow us on occasion to go together to obscure places on the ship on what we call "scavenger hunts" triggered by folks making unique requests that we don't otherwise have the answer to.

 

BTW this will be my 7th "Live From" thread since cruising started back up. And, yes, we are addicting to cruising. 😂

 

If anyone is interested in our experiences on some of the ships we have recently cruised on, here are the links to my previous "Live From" threads. They include 4 on Celebrity on the Edge (SS port-side cabin), Apex (aft-facing SV), Constellation (port-side SS and aft-facing AQ cabins) and Reflection (corner aft-facing SS cabin), and our 2 most recent ones on the Caribbean Princess (aft-facing VS cabin) and Regal Princess (port-side CC Mini-suite).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruzingnut]

@Ken the cruiser  You might check this place out; it's a lot closer to the city and they offer transfers.  It's a new place that just opened in 2021.  https://www.skylagoon.com/getting-here-hours/

 

Linda R.

[Ken the cruiser]

35 minutes ago, cruzingnut said:

@Ken the cruiser  You might check this place out; it's a lot closer to the city and they offer transfers.  It's a new place that just opened in 2021.  https://www.skylagoon.com/getting-here-hours/

 

Linda R.

Thanks Linda! It looks very relaxing, but probably not something we would do. But there may be some other folks that might want to check it out, especially if it's going to be in the low to mid 50s while we're there.

[Ken the cruiser]

On 8/4/2022 at 3:46 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

We also finished filling out the ArriveCan itinerary information today, as we have a scheduled stop in Halifax (as well as St John's) on the way to Greenland and Iceland. It wasn't too difficult, but we definitely needed our cruise confirmation paperwork to accurately fill in some of the blanks. 

I have to admit the ArriveCan app, with regards to all of the discussion that has gone on about it on CC and the Roll Call, has got my curiosity up as to what’s going to happen when (1) we check in at the pier on embarkation day and if they ask us to show the QR code and/or (2) will we have to show it when we go ashore when we first stop at Halifax and then at St John’s before we head towards Greenland.

 

Of course, we will have our QR codes available on both occasions, so it’s just more of a curiosity to see if we’re going to even be asked to present them, or if the verification process is all done behind the scenes and only those who failed to initially complete the ArriveCan process prior to embarkation will get flagged in some way.

 

I’m so easily amused! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

OK, it’s 3:30 am, I’m in the car waiting for the DW to do the final house safety checks, and a Queen quote came to mind, “Is this real or is this just a fantasy?”

 

Whelp, it’s real and it’s time once again to start on another adventure. Yay!! 😁

[hcat]

Have a great  time!

Hope you get some great pics and share!

 

We usually cruise in AQ  class but loved the 4 mdr plan on EDGE.

For a short cruise on BEYOND we will be assigned to Luminae for our 1st time...a bit nervous b/ c the  photos that are  posted and menus seem a bit too fancy for our simple  tastes,   Hope we can have them leave off gravies and sauces and cut the salt.

[Ken the cruiser]

32 minutes ago, hcat said:

Have a great  time!

Hope you get some great pics and share!

 

We usually cruise in AQ  class but loved the 4 mdr plan on EDGE.

For a short cruise on BEYOND we will be assigned to Luminae for our 1st time...a bit nervous b/ c the  photos that are  posted and menus seem a bit too fancy for our simple  tastes,   Hope we can have them leave off gravies and sauces and cut the salt.

I will try my best! 😁

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review.  Enjoy!

[Silkroad]

Wishing you a wonderful journey! 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived at Atlanta and have about 90 minutes before boarding our flight to Newark. I have to admit we really enjoy tracking our bags using the airline app, which in this case is Delta. Keeps the stress level down. Well, that is until it shows up being loaded on a different flight than we’re scheduled to be on. 😂
 

Luckily that has only happened once to us back in 2017 when the “luggage tag” computer was down at our local airport and they had to hand scribe them. Unfortunately, when they got to Atlanta and the equipment couldn’t read the labels, they were delayed to the next flight to London which luckily was only 2 hours later and we were able to wait for them before catching the cruise transfer bus to Southampton.
 

But, we did hear recently that has not been the case for some folks flying internationally, especially with all the airline labor issues going on. Fingers crossed our bags make it on our next flight. 🤞
 

[Jim_Iain]

So far things are looking good here in Newark.   Chance of showers this afternoon but so far looking like a nice day.   

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

So far things are looking good here in Newark.   Chance of showers this afternoon but so far looking like a nice day.   

Thanks! The plane for our flight has landed here, so hopefully no unforeseen drama between here and there. 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

OK, since we’re sitting here killing time and getting excited about tomorrow, I had to find where exactly the Summit is right now. 
 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Celebrity-Summit-713

 

Then my DW searched for Cape Liberty to see what our path and associated views might be at sailaway round 4 pm tomorrow from the aft. 

 

Cape Liberty Cruise Port
(201) 436-2080

 

OK. We’re really getting excited now!! 😁

[Alanr204]

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have to admit the ArriveCan app, with regards to all of the discussion that has gone on about it on CC and the Roll Call, has got my curiosity up as to what’s going to happen when (1) we check in at the pier on embarkation day and if they ask us to show the QR code and/or (2) will we have to show it when we go ashore when we first stop at Halifax and then at St John’s before we head towards Greenland.

! 😂

 

We cross the US/Canada border frequently by land and have never once been asked for the QR code. They can see the data you entered into the app when they scan your passport. I imagine the same thing will occur when the cruise line submits the passenger list to the Canadian officials. 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived on time at the Newark airport and have checked into our hotel! Yay!!

 

This was the view as we were approaching the airport. Can’t wait to see it close up tomorrow once we board the ship! 😁

 

[h20cruzer]

Following along, love live reviews, so there can't be too many for me.

Going to read some of your prior reviews as I am doing a TA on the Sky Princess in October Southampton to Ft Lauderdale.

Norma

[capecodmercury]

Thanks for posting this! Have a great trip.  We are boarding the Summit in Boston for the repositioning cruise to Miami and are looking forward to reading your (and Jim and Iains)  reviews. 

 

One reason i am glad to see these is our trip will be 12 nights and most of the Summit trips are their shorter cruises.  It will be nice to see what changes they make to menus and entertainment for the longer cruise.  I have to admit, I'm already checking out the app to see the updated menus and daily activities, although they haven't fully updated it yet.

 

[amomx5]

Hi Ken,

I just found your live from thread after finding Jim’s.  I am looking forward to reading your thread as well. We are a group of 5 - dh, 97+ year old Dad, sister, brother-in-law and me. My Dad and dh and I are in Aqua rooms but my sister is not, so not sure how often we will get to dine in Blu!  Smooth seas ahead😁

[kathynorth]

Following along. We'll be joining you for the return trip from Reykjavik to Boston. Can't wait! Can you let us know if there are any enrichment speakers on board? I don't see anyone listed in the app yet.

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! The plane for our flight has landed here, so hopefully no unforeseen drama between here and there. 😂

 

Glad you made it safe and sound.  

[calicakes]

I hope you have a wonderful trip.  I'm a bit sad you won't be posting food pics.  Our next cruise( September 16th, Reflection) we'll be a suite for the first time.  Our previous 4 other Celebrity cruises were in AQ, so we've only ever eaten at Blu.  On our last cruise( September 2019) before the world shut down, I did a live blog.  I felt the quality of food in Blu had declined.  We had more than a few issues.  I'm curious to see if the menu has changed.  My wife is very picky, I can't imagine her enjoying the food in Luminae.  I have a feeling, she'll be eating a kids filet most nights. 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, capecodmercury said:

Thanks for posting this! Have a great trip.  We are boarding the Summit in Boston for the repositioning cruise to Miami and are looking forward to reading your (and Jim and Iains)  reviews. 

 

One reason i am glad to see these is our trip will be 12 nights and most of the Summit trips are their shorter cruises.  It will be nice to see what changes they make to menus and entertainment for the longer cruise.  I have to admit, I'm already checking out the app to see the updated menus and daily activities, although they haven't fully updated it yet.

 

I’ll definitely be posting pictures associated with the entertainment we go see. But I’m glad you’ll be monitoring the app for the menu selections and associated changes as I won’t be posting pictures of any of those.