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

[scrapcreator]

Bon voyage! Looking forward to your live report.

[abbydancer2003]

Bon Voyage.  I'll follow this one as well.  On a point earlier - when we visit my sister in New York, we sometimes stay at the Newark Marriott when we arrive at night, and then take the shuttle bus to NY in the morning.  Once or twice, we've walked to the airport from the hotel.

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For those interested here is the results of the speed test taken just before 9 pm. I am using the Premium Internet package, which has always been about 2-3 times faster than the Basic package results on some of the other X ships we sailed on this past year.
 

I would ask someone following this thread who is currently on the Summit and only using the Basic package if they could do a similar test, but chances are they’re not even able to log onto CC to see my request.

  

 

I wouldn't complain.   I have the premium and not sure if it's my room location but the internet sucks.

 

Just ran the same test and I'm getting 1.83 Download and .83 Upload.   

 

Will investigate today to see if anything can be done.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Bon Voyage.  I'll follow this one as well.  On a point earlier - when we visit my sister in New York, we sometimes stay at the Newark Marriott when we arrive at night, and then take the shuttle bus to NY in the morning.  Once or twice, we've walked to the airport from the hotel.

We thought about walking from Terminal B through the parking lot to the hotel as it was right there. But when we asked the lady at the taxi stand if it was possible, she said it was, but we would have to climb over the road construction barrier on the roadside near the hotel. With two 40 lb suitcases, we decided to wait for the hotel shuttle which comes every 15 minutes. 😂

[Corgidawgga]

Lovely balcony and sail away.    I will be following along.  
 

quick question, if you have a min:   Can I order lattes in AQ room service menu?   I haven’t been able to see the “enhanced” room service menu.   
 

I am sailing Sept 17th and trying to determine which non alcoholic package to pre purchase.    
 

Thanks!   Enjoy your cruise.   

[BunnyLebowski]

Ken, thank you so much for posting your thoughts and photos. I’m boarding the Summit in Iceland on August 19, and your posts are getting me through the next week! A few questions: how many children are on board? Is the solarium very busy? Do you know how many passengers are on board altogether?

 

thanks,

 

Georgina

[Ken the cruiser]

After a tasty breakfast in Blu, we headed directly to the theater to watch 2 lectures given by different speakers. This is the first cruise we’ve been on since the restart where there has been more than one speaker with a few 7 day cruises not offering any lectures. But then again this is our first cruise 12 days long.

 

The first lecture was given by Mike West.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Then some interesting information about Vikings was provided by Dr Thom Duryea.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I wouldn't complain.   I have the premium and not sure if it's my room location but the internet sucks.

 

Just ran the same test and I'm getting 1.83 Download and .83 Upload.   

 

Will investigate today to see if anything can be done.

I’m not complaining as we’re able to do everything relatively quickly on the Internet that we usually do, such as check email, surf the web, upload multiple pictures to CC as well as send text messages with photos to family back home. But I will say we don’t post videos, do Wi-Fi calling back home, or stream Netflix videos.

 

But regarding the speeds you just listed, the upload speed is definitely a little weak. I just did another test on our balcony and we’re still getting pretty good reception at 11:44 am.

 

Here’s the test link I use just so we’re comparing apples to apples, so to speak.

 

https://www.speedtest.net/run
 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, Corgidawgga said:

Lovely balcony and sail away.    I will be following along.  
 

quick question, if you have a min:   Can I order lattes in AQ room service menu?   I haven’t been able to see the “enhanced” room service menu.   
 

I am sailing Sept 17th and trying to determine which non alcoholic package to pre purchase.    
 

Thanks!   Enjoy your cruise.   

I just went to the App and looked under the Aqua Class room service selections and this was what was listed. Unfortunately, I did see lattes referenced anywhere in either the Breakfast or All Day sections.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

52 minutes ago, law chick said:

Ken, thank you so much for posting your thoughts and photos. I’m boarding the Summit in Iceland on August 19, and your posts are getting me through the next week! A few questions: how many children are on board? Is the solarium very busy? Do you know how many passengers are on board altogether?

 

thanks,

 

Georgina

I just checked and there are 2,093 passengers with only a few children. So far we have seen one 3 year old. As far as the Solarium goes, I’ll let you know after we get back from lunch. 😁

 

[goofysmom99]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I just checked and there are 2,093 passengers with only a few children. So far we have seen one 3 year old. As far as the Solarium goes, I’ll let you know after we get back from lunch. 😁

 

Almost a full house (2218), 94+%.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, law chick said:

Ken, thank you so much for posting your thoughts and photos. I’m boarding the Summit in Iceland on August 19, and your posts are getting me through the next week! A few questions: how many children are on board? Is the solarium very busy? Do you know how many passengers are on board altogether?

 

thanks,

 

Georgina

Just following up. We ate a wonderful lunch at the Spa Cafe which as you probably know is in the Solarium. Yes, it’s definitely crowded on sea days, especially in the shady areas. However, there were a few “unsaved” lounge chairs in the sun.

[Ken the cruiser]

36 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Almost a full house (2218), 94+%.

I haven’t searched yet, but I would imagine there is at least a partial deck that has been blocked off as a quarantine area, which should help to account for the difference.

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m not complaining as we’re able to do everything relatively quickly on the Internet that we usually do, such as check email, surf the web, upload multiple pictures to CC as well as send text messages with photos to family back home. But I will say we don’t post videos, do Wi-Fi calling back home, or stream Netflix videos.

 

But regarding the speeds you just listed, the upload speed is definitely a little weak. I just did another test on our balcony and we’re still getting pretty good reception at 11:44 am.

 

Here’s the test link I use just so we’re comparing apples to apples, so to speak.

 

https://www.speedtest.net/run
 

I will trade my internet speed for your cruise.  Enjoy your adventure.

[Ken the cruiser]

We love sea days on the balcony! I know it’s a little hazy, but … 😂😂

  

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

It was time to do my wine search this afternoon since they only have a limited supply of moscato which you can only buy by the bottle, even if you have the Premium Beverage package. And I think I have found a suitable substitute that I can get by the glass and it’s only 8% alcohol. I know, many of you like a more dryer wine. But for me the less acidic and more sweeter the taste is the better. 😁

 

Normally, I’m happy with a good German Riesling on the ship if I can’t find a tasty moscato. But when I tried this Riesling Spatlese, I found my new goto wine for the cruise! 🕺🕺

 

 

[peanut head]

What a wonderful thread and the great part is that it will last for so many days!  Lucky poster and lucky reader.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m not complaining as we’re able to do everything relatively quickly on the Internet that we usually do, such as check email, surf the web, upload multiple pictures to CC as well as send text messages with photos to family back home. But I will say we don’t post videos, do Wi-Fi calling back home, or stream Netflix videos.

 

But regarding the speeds you just listed, the upload speed is definitely a little weak. I just did another test on our balcony and we’re still getting pretty good reception at 11:44 am.   Maybe I should downgrade.  LOL

 

Here’s the test link I use just so we’re comparing apples to apples, so to speak.

 

https://www.speedtest.net/run
 

 

I'll have to check near the aft of the ship.   We are probably mid ship and a router just 1 door down

Probably the worst I've had on any ship -    Spoke to a couple others also and they are experiencing the same

 

[goofysmom99]

When I was on Summit last Fall, had a CS on Deck 6 where wifi was good and Roku worked.  Then a CS on Deck 9 where the wifi was almost nonexistent and I had to step close to the door or out onto the balcony for a reliable signal.  Three tech guys tried hard find a workaround but it was no-go.

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by goofysmom99

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s an pre-booked excursion lesson learned. I was glancing at the Port Excursions on my app and noticed the prices for two of our Iceland excursions had gone down in price since we booked them well before the cruise. We immediately headed to the Excursions Desk and got approximately $60 put back on our account! Yes!! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I'll have to check near the aft of the ship.   We are probably mid ship and a router just 1 door down

Probably the worst I've had on any ship -    Spoke to a couple others also and they are experiencing the same

 

OK, being an old internet/message switching tech support guy from back in the day, I did a few different tests around 4 pm in our aft-facing cabin, and here are the results.

 

This is from inside the bathroom with the door open

 

 

This is from the couch in our cabin by the desk

 

 

This is from the balcony with the glass door open

 

 

This one is from the balcony with the glass doors closed.

  
 

There are trade-offs though for having a cabin in the back of the ship. The internet may be faster, but it usually takes at least 3-5 minutes for the water to get to our cabin where it’s hot enough to take a shower. 😂

 

[eyelovcrusin]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It was time to do my wine search this afternoon since they only have a limited supply of moscato which you can only buy by the bottle, even if you have the Premium Beverage package. And I think I have found a suitable substitute that I can get by the glass and it’s only 8% alcohol. I know, many of you like a more dryer wine. But for me the less acidic and more sweeter the taste is the better. 😁

 

Normally, I’m happy with a good German Riesling on the ship if I can’t find a tasty moscato. But when I tried this Riesling Spatlese, I found my new goto wine for the cruise! 🕺🕺

 

 

I’m following along as we will be on the Summit in September Canada/New England. Glad you found a wine you like. Wondering if you know anything about availability of dry reds, bourbons/scotch? We have PALL and will be in Blu as well. Hope you have a great cruise!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight was a little more peaceful in Blu at 6 pm and once again the dinner was outstanding!

 
 

Afterwards we went to the early production show, Life

 
 
 

Then it was onto the Rendezvous Lounge to watch The Race Game Show.

 
 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 3 - Aug 9 - Halifax, Nova Scotia (66% chance heavy thunderstorms in the area)

 
 
 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, eyelovcrusin said:

I’m following along as we will be on the Summit in September Canada/New England. Glad you found a wine you like. Wondering if you know anything about availability of dry reds, bourbons/scotch? We have PALL and will be in Blu as well. Hope you have a great cruise!

 

Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, I know nothing about dry reds or bourbons/scotch. However, if you go to Dining on your X app (after selecting your cruise date) and then slide over to Bars and Lounges as well as Main Dining, then scan the various Menus of each Lounge, you may have a better chance of finding what you’re looking for. Also, there is a Wine List included under the Blu restaurant as well. Hope this helps.