Live (?) from the Celebrity Summit 4-26-23 sailing Miami to Cape Liberty

[StartrainDD]

I will likely post once per day, and may get behind during our three port days in a row.  Hope you enjoy reading our experience!

 

Celebrity Summit A-B-C cruise Miami to Port Liberty NJ 4-26-23

 

We selected this sailing as the price was attractive AND we would visit family up north at the conclusion of the cruise.  This eliminates one airplane flight and as flying is nearly always the worst part of any travel these days for us, that is a good thing!

 

We had cruising friends from the west coast visit for a few days before the cruise and enjoyed a nice time showing them around.

 

Wednesday, April 26, Embarkation Day

 

We arranged a local car service, Air & Cruise LLC to pick us up and bring us to the Miami cruise port.  Andy was a terrific driver and due to some traffic around the Fort Lauderdale construction and a necessary stop, we arrived at the Miami port at 10:55.  We had the 10:30-11:00 check in time.

 

Check in was about the best we have experienced in the post-covid era.  Arriving at 10:55 we were check in on onboard dropping our bags in our cabin, with the ‘muster drill’ check in already completed at 11:15.  Our cabin is inside #7901, right near the mid-ship elevators and stairs, two decks above El Bacio.  We headed to Café El Bacio for our first special coffee and tea beverages of the cruise, as we have the classic beverage package.  We made a few necessary phone calls and our friends found us.  They are in a suite and were on their way to Luminae for lunch.

 

We visited the maître de at the dining room to go over DW’s special dietary needs.  We checked our table, and we have a nice two-top near a starboard window.  That should do fine.  DW obtained a nice red wine from Cellar Masters.  I received a note from our friends that they were able to obtain reservations for the Tuscan Grill at 7:30 with the first night discount, so we will join them tonight.

 

We went up to the Oceanview for lunch.  They had a very nice roast beef on the carving station.  DW has been wanting pizza for a long time and the pizza station makes gluten-free pizza upon request.  So, she requested and made a salad while she waited.  They have quite a dessert display, so I snapped a few photos and picked up her pizza.  It was a whole 12” pie, so she ate about half of it.  I asked our waitress about making an Orange Crush and she checked with the sunset bar and they said they couldn’t make it.

 

After lunch we visited the pool bar and they were very accommodating, making two frozen Orange Crush drinks.  We then returned to Cellar Masters to return the glass and sat there a short while.  We returned to our cabin to find our luggage had been delivered.  That was terrific and we were unpacked 30 minutes later.

After having just been on Constellation, we found there is less storage in the cabin on the redone Summit.  Certainly the furnishings are more attractive, and there are plenty of USB ports and added power outlets, but there is little space to hang longer garments.  The cabin has a modern thermostat that shows temperatures, but we find the stated temperature is not correct.  It took a day of experimenting before we found that 67 on the thermostat is comfortable for us (but it was not really 67 degrees!)

 

We found in our cabin an invitation to sail away on the helipad.  We visited the sunset bar as there was to be an informal 3:30 cruise critic meet and greet.  We did not find anyone wearing beads or otherwise identifying as cruise critic, so with no shady seats we moved on to the pool bar.

 

We had a couple of beverages and sat in the solarium for a while at a table, and when we noticed the thrusters were active we headed down to deck 5 to the helipad.  There was no line and we went right on out and up.  Several drinks were being served from flavored water to island punch and cold wet towels were available.  We found our friends out there as the ship moved into the turning basin by the Miami skyscrapers.  It takes a while to make the turn and we enjoyed the sailing down the channel, passing an old NCL ship and a more recent RCL ship.  Then we passed the construction zone for what appears to be a future massive MSC terminal “The future of cruising,” so they say.

 

It was now 5:00 so we headed to the casino open house as I had a question for the casino host.  We will miss the welcome aboard slot tournament tonight due to our later Tuscan Grille dinner.  Both roulette tables are $5.00 minimum, and both are “0 & 00.”  We returned to the cabin to rest up a while and get ready for dinner.

 

We went to the casino bar for a few beverages.  There was one gentleman playing roulette.  As we left I looked at the recent numbers and they were positive for our play.  We went to the show for comedian Corey Rodrigues.  We could only stay until 7:22 but enjoyed his humor.  He was introduced by the cruise director who informed us that the prior cruise had over 2400 guests, a very full ship.  This sailing has 1270 guests and 970 crew, “So you don’t need to get up early to get a pool chair.”

 

We arrived at Tuscan Grille at the exact same time as our friends.  We had a very nice meal, with appetizers of Calamari, Pork Belly, salads, and various entrees.  I enjoyed the rib eye, but likely should have ordered the filet.  DW really liked her Barramundi, which was “Perfect.”  Still, even with the 30% first night discount, this was $90 and change for the two of us.  Worth it?  Not to us and we won’t do this again.

 

After dinner we called it a night, stopping at Cellar Masters for a few water bottles for the room.  All in all, a very nice embarkation day.

[Bo1953]

Thank you....

 

If you have an opportunity or remember, will you post a menu of wines by the bottle "available" on your sailing

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[StartrainDD]

Here was the premium internet speed last evening:

[StartrainDD]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

Thank you....

 

If you have an opportunity or remember, will you post a menu of wines by the bottle "available" on your sailing

 

Cheers and bon voyage

Wines seem to vary greatly by venue. Several we asked for (by the glass) were unavailable, but to their credit better wine was offered. 

[StartrainDD]

Thursday, April 27, 2023 – At sea #1

 

I woke a little after 7:00 after a very good sleep.  We had decided we would start the day with a solarium visit so I put on bathing attire and went down to El Bacio for coffee and tea, bringing that back to the cabin.  At 7:30 on the first morning there was no line.  When I returned at about 9:15 there were a few folks in line but one of the servers was ‘working the line’ and really shortened any wait.

 

We went up to the solarium at about 8:00 and enjoyed a fruit plate from the spa café.  We sat on one of the couches and went for a swim.  The solarium pool was not as pleasant as the one last month on Constellation.  It was a bit cool for a solarium pool and the side jets were not really performing.  So shortly we went to try a hot tub.  I will say that the solarium hot tub is hot, but the jets don’t work.  We found this was the case for both of them.  Additionally, they didn’t look like they had been cleaned recently as there was sand built up in places along the floor.  “Not clean” is a huge turn off for DW.

 

We did stay in one for a while, and then went to check out the main pool hot tubs.  Well, they don’t even have ‘buttons’ to turn any jets on, they were cold.  This was quite a disappointment as we typically really enjoy the solarium and hot tubs.  We returned to the cabin to clean up for the day, and I went back to El Bacio for a second round of coffee & tea.  I suppose we were blessed to have our showers done as we heard from others that the ship’s water ‘went out’ a bit after 10:00 and was down for an hour or more.

 

We wandered through the shops and like all recent cruises, finding nothing that needed to be acquired.  After the shops we visited the pool bar where they made me the Orange Crush.  The first one was terrific but somehow the ingredients on the second seemed to separate and it became undrinkable.  We took the drinks back to the sunset bar area where we found a shady table while we waited for lunch to be available.

 

Lunch was okay.  I had one of the grilled pork chops and one small grilled chicken filet.  DW enjoyed her salad and a gluten-free pizza.  They had an “Apple tart cake” on the dessert display and it was actually moist and tasted pretty good.  At 1:15 we attended the Q&A with the senior staff and cruise director in the Sky Lounge.  It was an informal nice time although my question was for the chief engineer who did not participate.  We then went for the 2:00 slot tournament at the casino only to find that unlike the Constellation it was not complementary but had a $35 entry fee.  Like most of the other guests, we walked away.

 

We texted our friends and agreed to meet at 2:30 in the Oceanview to play Splendor and Flux.  Three of the four of us each won a game, so that was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.  After game time we visited Café El Bacio for a late afternoon coffee and tea before returning to our cabin to get ready for dinner.

 

We arrived at the dining room just after 5:30 and found our way to table 449.  Our waiter is Ronald, assistant is Mayra, and Sommelier JV.  Service was terrific.  DW really enjoyed her meal.  I ended up with the everyday steak and to be honest, it was more enjoyable (although not as large) as the steak I had the prior night in the Tuscan.  The folks at the table next to us are from Alberta and made for a bit of good conversation.

 

After dinner we returned to our cabin for a few minutes.  We tried to get seats in Cellar Masters for the guitarist’s tribute session to the Beatles but no seats were to be found, and this on a sailing only 60% full.  We ended up at the casino and began to play some roulette, but the numbers were not in our favor so we stopped after just a few rolls.  Better to be there when the chances are improved!

The showtime was Salvatore Hasard, who we had seen recently.  He puts on a nice show but we were tired and called it a night.

[scidee]

We'll be joining the Summit May 6 out of Cape Liberty.  So am reading your review with great interest.  Thank you for taking the time to share.  I sure hope some if the water and pool issues you encountered will be fixed.  Our sailing is listed as "Sold Out" thus a larger strain on the systems.

[hcat]

i'd let guest rel or hotel dir know about the temps  operations  and cleaning issues for hot tubs and solarium pool.

 

they are usually very well maintained altho' temps vary widely in solaroum pool!  

 

alot of the games u mention are not known to us..can u desribe?

[StartrainDD]

18 hours ago, hcat said:

i'd let guest rel or hotel dir know about the temps  operations  and cleaning issues for hot tubs and solarium pool.

 

they are usually very well maintained altho' temps vary widely in solaroum pool!  

 

alot of the games u mention are not known to us..can u desribe?

Thank you.  I filled out the comment card and dropped it off this morning.

 

We bring "Catan" which was originally "Settlers of Catan."  This was 'game of the year' some years back and is quite addicting.  There are many expansions available including 'Seafarers' which is very appropriate when cruising!  Splendor is mostly a card game but also has tokens (like casino chips) and is a quicker game.  Flux is a card game our friends enjoy, and typically lasts no more than 15-20 minutes.

[StartrainDD]

Friday, April 28, 2023; At sea #2

 

We woke about 7:30.  The late coffee on Thursday kept DW awake so late afternoon coffees are out.  I went down to El Bacio for the first coffee and tea of the day and there was no wait.  They are incredible as they already knew my preferred beverages.

 

We had an easy morning and I posted yesterday’s notes to cruise critic.  We went to the dining room for breakfast and had a very nice conversation with a Canadian couple seated next to us.  We ended up being the last four guests in the dining room as we were visiting.  We visited El Bacio once again for take away teas.  We had arrangements to play Catan with our friends and met in the Oceanview at 10:30.  We played a close game that I ended up winning by ‘stealing’ the longest road on my last turn.

 

After returning the game to our cabin we met Esther our new room keeper.  Esther told us she was reassigned to the cabins near us the prior day.  She is normally on deck 3 but few cabins are occupied on deck 3, and the ship wanted to give each room steward a similar number of rooms, as the ship is only 60% occupied.  She is doing a terrific job.

 

After talking with Esther, we ‘hid’ our cruising duck from the Constellation and then went to the Oceanview for lunch.  I had a burger and hot dog from the pool grille and DW enjoyed another salad and gluten free pizza.  We had the same outdoor table aft as we had the prior day, and the server recognized us.  We also met several other crew members who remembered us from last year.

 

We stopped in the casino with our remaining chips from the prior evening and had a good run, making up some ground from the prior evening.  We ended with $82 from the $100 in OBC we used.  That is much worse than our prior few cruises but remember the house has the advantage.  We were very tired so it was time for a short nap before getting ready for “Chic night.”

 

Once we were ready we returned to the casino but like the prior evening, the numbers were not in our favor so we stopped and returned the remaining chips to our safe.  We visited Cellar Masters for pre-dinner drinks and to listen to guitarist/singer Jay.  He does a nice job and his Johnny Cash request of “I walk the Line” was rather unique but enjoyable.  At about 5:40 we went to dinner and were warmly greeted again by Ronald and Mayra.

 

DW for some reason didn’t enjoy the wine from Cellar Masters and had a hard time working with JV to find a good wine for dinner.  I forgot to mention yesterday that JV makes sure our wine glasses never approach empty.  We were finished with dinner (I should mention the Apple crisp dessert was terrific) by 6:45 so we attended the production show “Life.”  We’ve seen it before, but I did enjoy it better this time.  I do want to complement Celebrity for their commitment to live music.  The production show has at least 11 singers and dancers plus the orchestra (and of course support staff).

 

After the show we attended the Captain’s Club welcome aboard party in the Sky Lounge.  The Ocean Beat Quartet provided very nice dance music and we and our friends were able to participate.  We very much enjoyed the event and stayed until the 9:00 music trivia was ready to start.  We brought a few water bottles back to our cabin and called it a night.

[StartrainDD]

Here is the internet speed on the basic package:

 

[hcat]

51 minutes ago, StartrainDD said:

Thank you.  I filled out the comment card and dropped it off this morning.

 

We bring "Catan" which was originally "Settlers of Catan."  This was 'game of the year' some years back and is quite addicting.  There are many expansions available including 'Seafarers' which is very appropriate when cruising!  Splendor is mostly a card game but also has tokens (like casino chips) and is a quicker game.  Flux is a card game our friends enjoy, and typically lasts no more than 15-20 minutes.

thanks.. we will look into these games.. sounds like fun.  dh plays an online game ( too many hrs!)

 

we are  teaching  our 7 yr old g son Chess..he is a  pretty good thinker and strategist!

[StartrainDD]

22 hours ago, hcat said:

thanks.. we will look into these games.. sounds like fun.  dh plays an online game ( too many hrs!)

 

we are  teaching  our 7 yr old g son Chess..he is a  pretty good thinker and strategist!

There is a family version of Catan available.  We have friends who play Catan with their 7 year old grandson by simplifying the game.  There is also an on-line version where the base game is available to be played for free.  That could be a good way to learn it.

[StartrainDD]

Saturday, April 29, 2023; Oranjestad, Aruba

 

We woke early and I went down to El Bacio at 7:00 for coffee & tea.  They remembered our drinks.  On the way I stopped by the front desk to drop off our comment card and obtain a pen for the room.

Oranjestad literally means “Orange Town” and is the capital of Aruba.  Orange of course is the royal color of the Netherlands and was one of our son’s favorite color.  Our friends had found a “Wine & tapas tour” and as we have been here many times we are joining them as this is something different.

 

We again visited the main dining room for breakfast.  We were given a very nice table at a window looking out over Orangestad.  Walking through the ship we passed thru the solarium and spoke to a man in the hot tub.  He said he was on the Summit in August and the hot tubs didn’t work then either, but his back does well with the heat.

 

We met our friends at 9:45 at El Bacio to head out for the 20-minute walk to “The Wine Room” for our wine and tapas tasting.  Once we were ashore I realized that I had forgotten to change my shoes, but I did okay with just the sandals on my feet.

 

This was a very nice (and unexpected) Aruban experience.  Monrick E Croes is the owner and sommelier, and he imports wine from small family wineries around the world.  We tasted five wines and had a selection of fruit, Dutch cheese, and meats to go along with them.  Highly recommended for something different if you’ve been to Aruba before!  We bought two bottles of wine to take back with us and returned back to the ship.  We had every intention of heading back out again later in the day, but that didn’t happen.

 

It did feel really warm walking back to the Summit.  Once there, we relished the cold water, soda, Orange Crush, and other beverages.  We visited our friend’s cabin, a “Spa Suite.”  We then enjoyed a bit of lunch from the Oceanview.  We ended up falling asleep in our wonderful cool cabin for about an hour’s nap.  Our friends went back to the cruise terminal to make a small purchase, and then we played a round of Splendor and he won (Congrats Glen!).

 

We felt all sweaty and got cleaned up before the evening.  The Ocean Beat Quartet that we enjoyed the prior evening had a 5:00 set at the Rendezvous and we enjoyed listening to them.  Dinner was terrific with the dining room rather empty as we are in port until 11:00 PM.  JV kept the wine flowing and the roast turkey dinner was terrific.  Making it a real “Thanksgiving” feast I enjoyed the Apple Pie for dessert.

 

Although we are in port and the shops are closed, Effy was offering a ‘free jewelry cleaning’ which we took full advantage of.  Effy ambassador Ari cleaned both DW and my rings and they sure do sparkle nicely now.  We then went up to the sunset bar (too late for sunset) but enjoyed listening to solo Guitarist Jay.  He did a terrific set of mostly well-known songs encouraging a sing along.  We stayed for the entire set.  We passed on the theater, a "Diva" show that was thought was a performer that we disliked on a prior cruise.  Turns out it was not the same performer, but we had a nice evening in any case!

 

Afterwards we began calling it an evening as tomorrow we are in Bonaire and have the earliest tour start of the cruise, with an 8:45 meeting time.

[StartrainDD]

Sunday, April 30, 2023 – Kralendijk, Bonaire

 

We set the alarm for 6:15 as this is our earliest tour of the cruise.  Likely the only time we need to set an alarm!  The Summit was due to dock at 8:00 but we were fully tied up well before 7:30.  I went to Café El Bacio for tea and coffee at 6:40 and they knew exactly what I wanted.  I told them that they are amazing.

 

Kralendijk is the capital of Bonaire, another island in the Dutch Antilles.  Bonaire is well known for its incredible clear waters and the best diving and snorkeling in the Caribbean.  All waters from the beach to 200 feet deep are a marine park which covers the entire coastline.  Last time here we did a South Island tour, followed by ‘drift snorkeling’ which was incredible.  This time we have booked a four-hour snorkel and barbeque catamaran sailing with Epic Tours Bonaire, the same company we used in 2021.

 

We went to the Oceanview for breakfast a little after 7:30.  This was our first time in the OV for breakfast.  We ordered omelets and they were made nicely.  We had just enough time to gather our things in the cabin and have one more round at El Bacio before our friends met us at 8:45 to disembark for our outing with Epic Tours.  We walked the ten minutes or so down the waterfront and met them as they were getting the catamaran ready for the outing.

 

We sailed with 17 total guests, many of whom were from the Summit but also met a few land tourists from the Netherlands.  We ended up sitting “Topside” with the captain for most of the sail.  And yes, we were sailing.  Engines were only used for final docking procedures, but other than that we were under wind power the entire day.  We sailed a few miles down the coast to an anchorage.  The snorkeling was very nice.  Likely not quite as nice as at Klein Bonaire, but the crystal-clear water is just delightful.  I saw several schools of fish and caught quite a few on my waterproof camera and found the best snorkeling to be in the shallows along the shore as the majority of the fish are there.  Then, quite suddenly, the camera stopped working.

 

When you are in the water and the camera has a problem there is nothing you can really do except enjoy the sights and take it all in.  Once we were back on the Summit after rinsing the camera in fresh water and letting it fully dry, I replaced the battery, and it works fine.  It seemed likely the original battery wouldn’t charge but after five hours of charging the camera says it is fully charged.

 

Back to our tour, after 45 minutes of so in the water I came back on board and lunch was being cooked on the two barbeques on board.  Lunch was unexpectedly nice, with skewers of chicken, beef, shrimp, and a small filet of local fish which was the highlight for me.  Beverages were freely available during the entire tour.  After lunch we had another opportunity to get into the water.  I didn’t snorkel again but did go in for a swim.  The water is so clear that even without a mask, I could see the coral some 20 feet down (near the boat).

 

Back on the boat we began sailing back towards the Summit with all sails unfurled.  We did a little sightseeing by going on past the Summit before turning around and heading back to the dock.  This was a very nice tour and Epic is certainly recommended.

 

Back on the Summit we went up to deck 10 but had no need for any food so we visited Zin at the pool bar for the Orange Crush and other beverages.  We found a couple of loungers in the Solarium and took a dip in the solarium pool (much warmer than a few days before) and then sat in the shaded hot tub for a while.  We returned to the loungers which were most comfortable, and promptly fell asleep for about an hour.

 

It was time to clean up for the evening, so we headed back to the cabin where I read a few chapters in my book and was ready to head out at about 5:00.  We listed to the party band the Seagulls in the Rendezvous before heading to dinner.  We both had the “Australian Sea Bass” for dinner, and it was very good.

 

We met our friends at the 7:00 show which was “December 13.”  Billed as a tribute concert to Frankie Valli & the four seasons, it was most enjoyable.  We then headed up to the Sunset Bar for the 8:00 set by Jay.  Again we very much enjoyed Jay’s set and we talked with him briefly after the set.  There is a “Full Moon Party” at 10:00 on the pool deck but we were not staying up for it.  At 9:00 we headed back to the cabin to call it a night as we meet at 9:00 for tomorrow’s tour in Curacao.

[AF-1]

Nice review.  Question: does Summit have a Cafe Bacio in the buffet like Apex?  Or is there anywhere else to get fresh brewed coffee other than Cafe Bacio?  Thank you.  Cheers

[jelayne]

42 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Nice review.  Question: does Summit have a Cafe Bacio in the buffet like Apex?  Or is there anywhere else to get fresh brewed coffee other than Cafe Bacio?  Thank you.  Cheers

No second Al Bacio on the Summit.  

[hcat]

glad it's going well..Bonaire is one of our favorite ports..unspoiled,  nice people and great spices!

 

we saw that same  "Dec 13 th " show fairly recently and enjoyed it.  Not our fav music but performers were energetic and did a great  job  bringing  it to life !

[Shaneinpgh]

On 4/29/2023 at 8:06 AM, StartrainDD said:

Here is the internet speed on the basic package:

 

guess that means this doesn't have starlink yet.   Thanks for sharing I'll be on the next sailing. 

[abbydancer2003]

5 hours ago, Shaneinpgh said:

guess that means this doesn't have starlink yet.   Thanks for sharing I'll be on the next sailing. 

I think it does.  We have premium and it's generally been good.

[jelayne]

I agree with abbydancer the premium internet has been excellent.

[Sailing12Away]

Just booked a Thanksgiving trip on the Summit for later this year, so I'll be reading along to learn any hints and tidbits about the ship as we are new to Celebrity.

What is the Orange Crush drink you keep talking about? Any photos of it to share?

[StartrainDD]

12 hours ago, Shaneinpgh said:

guess that means this doesn't have starlink yet.   Thanks for sharing I'll be on the next sailing. 

Yes, the Summit has Starlink.  Honestly while the speed (on the basic package) is slow, it is still far superior than we have experienced on non-Starlink equipped ships recently (Princess and Holland).

[StartrainDD]

Monday, May 1, Willemstad, Curacao.  “Labor Day” in the Netherlands Antilles

 

On several prior visits to Curacao we have always rented a car and visited the North Shore national park with the blowholes, gone to great Knip beach, and stopped to see the Flamingos.  We’ve never really spent time in the city of Willemstad beyond taking photos of the waterfront Dutch styled buildings.  So, this visit we booked the “Free historic walking tour” of Willemstad that meets at 9:30 outside the Rif Fort, near the cruise terminal.

 

We woke a little before 7:00 and I went to El Bacio for tea and coffee.  About 8:10 we went to the Oceanview for breakfast.  Shortly after receiving my omelet three customs officers from Curacao came into the Oceanview along with an escort.  They enjoyed their breakfast.  We went down to El Bacio a little before 9:00 and met our friends.

 

We left the Summit together to walk over to the Rif Fort where we met our tour guide.  We ended up with a group of about 18 folks, many from the Summit but also a few who were on land vacations.  It is Labor Day, so the only open establishments are those catering to tourists and restaurants.  The walking tour was enjoyable for the first part, walking many of the lanes of the Otrobanda (other side).  We saw many large murals painted on buildings, walked through several hotel courtyards, and saw many things we would never have found on our own.

 

We then walked back and crossed over the floating Queen Emma Bridge.  A couple of days of wind have caused the waves to grow and some of those are crashing into the rocks next to the bridge along the channel.  Once we were in the Punda district the tour changed and we began being led into various art galleries.  After 45 minutes of this we said to each other that this was enough for us.  It had become very warm (make that ‘Hot!’) and we were ready to head back.  This was the first time I have been disappointed with a “Free walking tour” and I would not recommend this one.

 

We stopped in several shops but made no purchases until we were back inside the port gates.  There we found a few items to purchase for folks back home so we did.  We then returned to the Summit and headed to our cabin to freshen up a little.  We then went to see Zin at the pool bar which he was holding down himself.  We enjoyed some frozen beverages to help us cool down.  It was “British day” in the Oceanview for lunch, and I tried the fish and chips.  The chips were nice, but the fish was very greasy and I ended up peeling off all the breading.  DW enjoyed a healthy salad.  For me, this was the worst lunch of the cruise.

 

I haven’t mentioned this before, but it became very evident on this day.  Beverage service everywhere in the ship is excellent, EXCEPT in the Oceanview Café.  There it is nearly non-existent.  If you don’t go and get it yourself, you are likely not getting a drink.  Even during our two breakfasts not once did a server come by and ask if we needed coffee or anything else.

 

We sat a long while chatting with our friends (and getting our own drinks) and then returned to our cabin for a complete clean up.  It sure felt hot walking the streets!  I brought this log up to date.  Once we were fully refreshed and recovered from our Curacao adventure, we stopped in El Bacio for a Darjeeling tea and then found nice seats in the Rendezvous for the acoustic duo “Strings Attached.”  This was the first time we heard them and we enjoyed their set.

 

We went to dinner as usual.  The positive was that brown “multi-grain” bread was in the breadbasket for the first time.  The negative is that the “Crab crusted flounder” was the worst meal of the cruise.  DW’s specially made lamb was quite nice, but I tasted no crab at all on the flounder breading, and the presentation was rather unattractive.  Ronald tried his best to make me happy but the second one he brought was no better than the first.

 

We went to the 7:00 show and met our friends there.  Magician/comedian Jason Bird was entertaining and I enjoyed his performance.  After the show we went up to the Sunset Bar to listen to Jay.  It is just so nice sitting outside after dark with the breeze blowing listening to Jay.  He takes requests and we had a few beverages.  We also had an enjoyable conversation with one of the staff during our time there.  They were grilling Snapper at the aft grille so we each had a piece grilled.  This was so much better than the flounder in the dining room, even if it may have been just a little overcooked.

 

At about 9:15 we stopped by the ice cream station and brought some back to our cabin and called it a night.  We now have four sea days ahead for the ~1800 nautical mile transit from Curacao up to Cape Liberty, New Jersey.  The current heading is for the channel between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

[StartrainDD]

Tuesday, May 2, 2023; At sea #3; Southern Caribbean Sea

 

We woke a little after 7:00 and I went to El Bacio.  Claude saw me coming and began my order.  We decided to visit the Captain’s Club coffee hour in the Tuscan Grille.  It was quiet with perhaps ten or so guests present.  While it was nice, we likely won’t do that again this cruise.  We then returned to El Bacio for a second round.  Our friends found us there with some sad family news.  They had considered trying to return home from Curacao, but the transit arrangements just wouldn’t work.  I hope we were some help to them during the day.

 

Abby had volunteered to co-coordinate a cruise critic slot pull at 11:00 and that was going forward.  We met back at the casino at 10:45.  With 23 players at $15.00 each, $345 was put into the selected machine.  Two players had a really terrific run during their six pulls, and we ended with $469 after everyone had played their six spins @$2.50/spin.  Everyone received back $20, with the top three winning the left-over balance or one of two $25.00 slot machine credits donated by the casino.  The casino tech seemed amazed that we actually came out ahead.  I suspect he has seen many of these over the years.

 

After the slot pull, we obtained our match play slips.  We played the rest of our chips from the other day and did much better.  With the match plays, we won the first two, but then lost the next four, so we broke even.  We did get another $100 in promo chips from the OBC.  At the end of the day and including the “Huge” $10 win on the slot pull, we are at $250 in winnings from $300 in OBC.  We still have more OBC to use, so we will see if we can make up any ground or…

 

We then went to the Oceanview to take a look at the offerings.  The carving station had roast beef, but it was so rare that my brother may have really liked it, but it was far too rare for me.  I ended up getting a burger at the pool grill and DW enjoyed a gluten free pizza.  We played a few rounds of Splendor and when our friends joined us after their Luminae lunch we played a round of Catan.  Several crew and guests stopped by to ask us about the Catan game.

 

After Catan our friends had brought “Splendor Dual,” a Splendor game for two with small pieces made for travel.  It is a different take on Splendor, so I played against Greg.  Being the first time playing it took us maybe 45 minutes, but it was enjoyable.  Suddenly it was 5:00 so a quick return to the cabin to get changed for the evening.

 

At 5:12 we arrived at the Rendezvous for the Ocean Beat Quartet.  We enjoyed the music but in 20 minutes we did not see a bar waiter so we headed to dinner.  Dinner tonight was very nice, and the Barramundi was super.  We were finished with dinner by 6:30, made a stop back in the cabin, and went to the 7:00 show.  The mobile bar at the theater entrance treats us right.  They don’t have DW’s preferred wine but give her a better wine, no questions asked.

 

The show tonight is Broadway actress Emily Koch.  She has been in three Broadway shows including the witch in ‘Wicked.’  She took a break from her current musical to join the Summit.  This is her first performance on a cruise, and she told us her very first cruise experience.  We really enjoyed her show, and this was the first ‘standing ovation’ theater show on this sailing.

 

After the show we stayed with our friends and went to the Rendezvous for the Ocean Beat Quartet’s 8:00 set.  This time multiple bar waiters came by very quickly.  We stayed with our friends until the set was over, when they went to their late Luminae dinner.  We walked just a little and called it a night.

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Going on Summit in June. Really enjoying your posts. Thank you.