Review-Summit, Hawaii, March 26-April 9

[rjg41]

Review-Summit, Hawaii, March 26-April 9

 

Pre-Cruise: Booked through Priceline for one night, 2 ½ star. Bid $40 and got Courtyard by Marriott, Long Beach. Nice hotel within easy walking distance of downtown and a short trip to the Queen Mary. Nice place.

 

Embarkation: Get there around 11:30am and the line was long. Took till about 1:45pm to get on board.

 

Ship: Having been on Summit and other Millie ships before we knew what to expect. Ship was a little worn and is likely due for some refurbishment soon.

 

Fellow passengers: This was not what I would call a typical Celebrity crowd. We had many super senior citizens. Don’t get me wrong, we are both 65 but I am talking 70’s and 80’s and many handicapped. It was more like a HAL cruise. A number of other passengers seemed more like the Carnival type. We also had many non US passengers. While half the ship was previous Celebrity cruisers, half were not. With the much older crowd early seating was sold out. Heard some interesting comments. On lady we met at breakfast said, “I really don’t like all this waiting on me stuff. They should just leave the pot of coffee on the table and I will pour it myself.” We heard a man getting off the ship at one of the ports say, “Well now I can go get some good food.”

 

Food: First, there are bread sticks. Don’t know how that rumor got started. On the bread subject, the bread items are as good at they have always been.

 

They have rearranged the Waterfall buffet lines since our last Millie class cruise. At breakfast beside the omelet station toward the aft on the port side, there is now a whole buffet section for omelets on the starboard side. The setup for pasta for lunch is also in the same sections. The rear little area on the starboard side is now pizza for lunch, including custom pizza toppings. The ice cream section on both sides is now open throughout lunch and the one on the starboard side remains open well into late afternoon. There are the usual theme sections for lunch.

 

In the Cosmopolitan the food is as great as ever. There are some items on the new menu that we did not care for but any suggestion that Celebrity is downgrading its food, in our opinion, is not valid. We did not care for the lamb shank or the New York sirloin. The lamb shank, while very tender, was very gamey and the sirloin approached the infamous Royal Caribbean ranch steak. It was tasty but tough. Our tablemates had the same opinion about both. I don’t think either item will last long on the menu. The other lamb items were great and the prime rib was excellent. The desserts were as awesome as ever, with plenty for the chocolate lovers.

 

The Normandie was as great as ever.

 

Service: As ever, the service was outstanding with one exception which I will elaborate on later.

 

Our room steward, waiter, assistant waiter and maitre’d were outstanding. The friendliness and service throughout the ship was at the top of Celebrity’s commitment to excellance. We had “Sal” and “Happy, Happy on our ship.” For those that don’t know either of these folks, “Sal” (Salmundi) is a greeter for the Waterfall and “Happy, Happy” is a security guard. I need say nothing more for those who have had the pleasure of sailing with either of these folks. This was our second trip with “Sal” and he did really remember us from last year.

 

As for the service, the “one exception” was the bar waiters. Their aggressiveness was at the very least annoying and some were just rude. It was so bad we thought we were on Carnival cruise. What we are use to on previous Celebrity cruises was waiters circulating and making their presence known. What happened on this cruise is when you entered a bar area, for say Karaoke, they met you at the door and followed you to your seat even when we said we will seat ourselves, and then pestered us if we wanted a drink. What we were use to in the past was being asked maybe once and they would put a napkin on the table to show we had been asked. This cruise we would be asked over and over and over again by many waiters. At the Hawaiian pool party one night we were asked at least every 30 seconds if we wanted the coconut drink. Others complained of the same thing. Don’t know if this is a function of the beberage manager on this ship or a new policy. I suspect it is an aggressive beverage manager. I did determine that the roaming bar waiters do not share tips and get the tips for the drinks they sell thus explaining but not justifying their behavior. Celebrity needs to tone it down a bit. We did write it up on the survery form.

 

Casino: To my surprise craps is now double odds as some here had previously reported. This was the first time on Summit that they were trying Texas Hold’em. It was in the afternoons only from 1-5pm. It was $5/$10 with a 10% rake and no limit on the rake. A group of us played for 2 days and with the rip off rake decided to form our own game and played every sea day after that up in the Waterfall. One of the folks had brought chips with them. No one played hold’em in the casino until the last few days but none from the original group played in the casino again.

 

Noise Problem: We were port side, deck 7, mid-ship. Periodically we would hear a loud banging sound, at all hours. It was so strong that you could actually feel the metal floor shake. The ship was full and they did offer us a standard veranda cabin in the stern belonging to someone that missed the ship. Engineering did make substantial efforts to find the cause. We turned the move down because the noise was an annoyance but not worth giving up our mid-ship cabin to go aft. The problem affected many cabins on several floors. The cabin next door accepted to be moved. We never asked for or suggested compensation but we were given 10% off our cruise as a credit good on our next cruise with Celebrity. It is good for two years.

 

Illness: We did have some Norwalk virus onboard. We personally know of two cases and we understood from a crew member there we 25 cases or so and some crew. Prevention was in full operation from halfway through the cruise with everything getting wiped down several times a day. Considering the time of year that number was not too bad.

 

News on Captains: Our Captain, Dimitrios, is a scream. The man is very funny. We had a Meet the Captain session and while it was clear that he had a quick wit it was also clear that when he had to answer a serious question he changed quickly. A great attribute for a leader. He is young for a Captain. We learned from other staff that this is the trend at Celebrity to get Captains that interact better with the passengers and that the “old guard” who spend all their time on the bridge are not having their contracts renewed. Further, we also learned that the domination by Greeks as officers is ending.

 

New Ships: We learned from John Howell, CD, some things about the new ships. The ship will not carry many more passengers but the extra space will offer additional amenities. Current plans include three specialty restaurants, a ballroom and a conference center plus a movie theater. The Celebrity Theater will be spectacular. Last year I reported here about the possibility of free style dining. John did not dispute what I was told or the possibility that it is still the plan but he has not heard anything about it so maybe the concept has died as most of us would hope.

 

Disembarkation: Somewhat of a disaster. They did immigration clearance on the ship in the Celebrity Theater. We were scheduled in the theater at 8:40am. We got on line at 8:20am and we got out of the theater at 9:45am. The line stretched all the way from the theater through the photo gallery, through the casino, passed the internet cafe, and back into the Rendezvous Lounge. There were 5 immigration officers doing clearance. While some of the problem may have been the number of non US passengers we had, I certainly had a sense the officers were certainly not operating at anywhere near top speed especially when you consider we were never really in a non-US port.

 

Post Cruise: Bid for a 2 ½ star in Priceline in Manhattan Beach and got the Residence Inn. Nice with a moderate walk to the beach and pier.

[cruising with marti]

very nice review and on the whole I agree with most of your assesments since we were also on this cruise.

 

A couple of points where our expierence differs.

 

1- as I recall we were at the pier at 11:30 am also and was on board in about 20 min. Maybe you were standing in the wrong line:)

 

2- demographics were about the same as our previous 7 X cruises, did not notice your desription of fellow passengers as significantly different than any other cruise we have taken

 

and lastly , I felt the Lamb shanks to be one of the better meals and that includes The normandie (2) but hey, I love lamb shanks , gamey or not:D

 

 

Phil

[Andy]

Hi Dick & Carol !

 

Thanks for the excellent review !

[gregg4]

Thanks for the review. We will be on the 4/23/6 sailing and can't wait.

[jukeboxy]

All in all a very good review but I take umberage with the things I quote below.

 

Review-Summit, Hawaii, March 26-April 9

 

Ship: Having been on Summit and other Millie ships before we knew what to expect. Ship was a little worn and is likely due for some refurbishment soon.

 

Fellow passengers: This was not what I would call a typical Celebrity crowd. We had many super senior citizens. Don’t get me wrong, we are both 65 but I am talking 70’s and 80’s and many handicapped. It was more like a HAL cruise. A number of other passengers seemed more like the Carnival type.

Being male and not giving a white glove inspection I noticed no excessive wear and tear. I think those that did are nitpicking to the extream. In other words I saw nothing to detract from my enjoyment of the ship.

To show how diffenent eyes see the same thing differently I thought the age factor showed much more of the younger crowd. There were over 60 in the youth program and it takes younger people to have young kids. Also longer cruises during times school is in do attract older passengers because they are the ones with the time and money to do long cruises. IMHO

 

The term Handicap is off the PC list and should be replaced with "People with Disabilities." Yes there did appear to be many of us that fall into this area but that is something you can expect to see more of in the future. With the advent of scooter and power chair development and the bombbardment in advertizing more are getting out and about.

 

Overall your review was fair and between Phil and I we will keep you straight.:D I am only saying I saw things a little different and I did not have the right stuff to do the review myself.

[rjg41]

very nice review and on the whole I agree with most of your assesments since we were also on this cruise.

 

A couple of points where our expierence differs.

 

1- as I recall we were at the pier at 11:30 am also and was on board in about 20 min. Maybe you were standing in the wrong line:)

 

2- demographics were about the same as our previous 7 X cruises, did not notice your desription of fellow passengers as significantly different than any other cruise we have taken

 

and lastly , I felt the Lamb shanks to be one of the better meals and that includes The normandie (2) but hey, I love lamb shanks , gamey or not:D

 

 

Phil

 

 

1) If you got on at on the ship before noon you get in some other door and got some kind of priority boarding or hadn't changed your watch from a more eastern time zone. The proper line was on the side of the building and didn't start moving until at least 12:30. I am sure some others will post to support my comments.

 

2) Can we agree to disagree?

 

3) Just our opinion. If you liked it, great. Food taste is very personal. Interesting that one of our table mates was from Belfast where lamb is a staple. He thought the lamb shank was "pretty poor".

[rjg41]

All in all a very good review but I take umberage with the things I quote below.

 

 

Being male and not giving a white glove inspection I noticed no excessive wear and tear. I think those that did are nitpicking to the extream. In other words I saw nothing to detract from my enjoyment of the ship.

To show how diffenent eyes see the same thing differently I thought the age factor showed much more of the younger crowd. There were over 60 in the youth program and it takes younger people to have young kids. Also longer cruises during times school is in do attract older passengers because they are the ones with the time and money to do long cruises. IMHO

 

The term Handicap is off the PC list and should be replaced with "People with Disabilities." Yes there did appear to be many of us that fall into this area but that is something you can expect to see more of in the future. With the advent of scooter and power chair development and the bombbardment in advertizing more are getting out and about.

 

Overall your review was fair and between Phil and I we will keep you straight.:D I am only saying I saw things a little different and I did not have the right stuff to do the review myself.

 

Have no problem with offering different views but please quote me correctly.

 

1) No where did I use the term "excessive wear and tear". I don't like to wear white gloves because people look at you funny. I said "a little worn", like you could see the walking paths in the cabin carpet, the underside of our toilet seat was discolored, there were cracked and repaired tiles in our shower, etc. Nowhere did I suggested it "detracted from our cruise". It was merely an observation.

 

2) Can we agree to disagree.

 

3) Sorry aabout the wrong PC word.

[ocngypz]

Those at my table who ordered the lamb shank on Century, agreed that while tender, it was stringy and gamey.

 

How was the weather on the trip? That's the first question, prospective Hawaii clients always ask me.

 

Thanks.

[gkm]

How was the weather on the trip? That's the first question, prospective Hawaii clients always ask me.

 

Thanks.

 

The first sailing day was rough, but the seas calmed after that and warmed as we got closer to the islands. The weather was great while we were in Hawaii. We were lucky and the sunshine followed us around every day. It started raining as we left Maui (our last stop), but we had nice days sailing back to LA.

 

Garry

[rjg41]

Those at my table who ordered the lamb shank on Century, agreed that while tender, it was stringy and gamey.

 

How was the weather on the trip? That's the first question, prospective Hawaii clients always ask me.

 

Thanks.

 

The first day out of LA was a little rocky but nothing excessive. Captain had the stablizers out. Seas were about 10'--no big deal. The rest of the trip was "smooth". Seas were less than 7'. It was pretty sunny most of the way but temperature was cool until we got within a day or so of Hawaii.

 

What had some heavy showers/thunderstorms on Kaui. The tour operators claimed that Waimea Canyon road was washed out and canceled excursions there. We had a rented car and it was not washed out at all. On the other hand with all the water on the that road and the memory of Chile it was a good safety call but they should have told people a more accurate reason.

 

We also had some showers on the big island and it was a little cool. Maui and Oahu the weather was great.

[jukeboxy]

Have no problem with offering different views but please quote me correctly.

 

1) No where did I use the term "excessive wear and tear". I don't like to wear white gloves because people look at you funny. I said "a little worn", like you could see the walking paths in the cabin carpet, the underside of our toilet seat was discolored, there were cracked and repaired tiles in our shower, etc. Nowhere did I suggested it "detracted from our cruise". It was merely an observation.

Just for the record and to keep things going I quoted you in the quote box. I said I did not notice excessive wear and tear. The things you mention are things this old man would never notice. I might notice if the toliet seat fell off but not the color.

 

At San Pedro getting on the ship I found it very confusing and disorgnized. We arrived very early because of my scooter and the motel shuttle scheduling. There were two sides of the building and the local personal were telling people on one side to go to the other and then the other side said no go back.

I ended up on the side with the tent like covering and there were people from the ships security there giving special passes to a large group of TA's that were going aboard for a free lunch and tour. They claimed that the ship had not been cleared for boarding and didn't even let the freebies on until it was. That happened shortly after noon.

I am not a fan of the TA's of the world so this did not help their cause with me. I resented being delayed because these leaches were sucking more from our pockets.

The cruise line ups our cost because of TA's their commissions and perks and we who paid to get on the ship have to wait for them to go on first. GURRRRRRRRRRRR

Ok that is off my chest. I hope I have cleared up the boarding thingy.

[wvufan]

Good morning,

 

Hi RJG, Jukeboxy, Phil, et al:)

 

All in all, we thought it was a great cruise, and would like to add the following comments:

 

We also stayed at the Courtyard for $40. Great deal. We walked around the morning of the cruise-great view of the QM. Took cab for about $18.

 

The confusion boarding was due to poor signage and no staff in readily visible place. A lot of folks congregated at the front of the building rather than on the side where they were supposed to be. People went back and forth trying to find the right line. We asked a celebrity person and they put us in the right place. Boarding was slightly delayed reportedly because some TAs were touring, but no big deal. Once the line started moving, it was fine.

 

We visited friends in SD before the cruise, and highly recommend sailing from there instead if you have that option.

 

I have no idea what condition the ship is in-couldn't tell you the color of our room, if the rails were bare or wet with varnish, and so on. My house has worn carpet, some rooms need painting really bad, some shingles are loose, a fence post is broken off and needs replaced, etc, so the ship was a heckuva lot better than where I spend the rest of my life;)

 

Food was great. I like the idea of updated menus, and every meal was excellent. I often ordered the fish and a meat, sklpping some of the other courses. Loved the waffles and specialty sandwhiches, particularly the Philly cheese steak. They have a different one each day, including Reubens, steak, Po' Boy, and others. Ate at Normandy twice. I don't like goats, cheese, or souffle's, but put them together and it is magnificent.

 

This was our third cruise with John Howell, and we love the guy. He is genuine and dedicated to assuring folks have a great cruise. All other staff, with one exception, were super. That exception being the DJ. He was new, and continued to exceed his allowed limits for volume and base. We were in 9018 (more later) which is upper front inside cabin, and heard and felt each thump thump. One night it was so loud that when I went to customer relations to complain, you could hear the music in front of the elevator on deck 3 (the dj was on 11)! John personally addressed this several times, including calling the guy in for a dressing down, but the DJ has a real 'tude and was back on it again the next night. I suspect he has already been fired. Anyway, the point is that this room is simply in a bad location. The other problem we had with it is that it is adjacent to the area used by housekeeping. While they did all they could to keep conversation down, there was a heavy door that they used that shut very noisily. We didn't mind port days, but it woke us up at sea. I accept that as part of the noises on a ship, but the DJ was not acceptable. We would avoid this section of the ship in the future.

 

Demographics: I embrace and applaud anything that will enable people with disabilities to cruise with as much access as reasonably possible. I made the suggestion that CC be available on the TVs. The age mix was likely due to the duration and timing of the cruise. I felt there was a good number of very active folks, and was surprised by how many of the older ones were in the gym working out.

 

For the first time in all our cruises, we used the Tpool-loved it!

 

Also, used the gym for the first time. Treadmills and stations. Lots of it. We were away for 21 nights including 2 weeks on the cruise, and I only put on 4 pounds. I really enjoyed walking the treadmill and looking out at sea.

 

The casino is basically useless for non smokers. Usually I like table games, and some slots, but only spent about 30 minutes total due to the smoking. There is a small section of slots supposedly for non smokers, and the rest of the room does not adhere to the port starboard bit. Wouldn't matter anyway, as smoke would circulate.

 

Entertainment varied from usual stuff with Celebrity singers and dancers to a very great ventriloquist and interesting taste of Cirque performance. Overall fine. The white night party was simply a party with no interaction with cirque people. Lots of folks left because the DJ was too loud! However, the staff made a good attempt to have a fun setting and get an E for effort. They even face painted folks who did not have masks.

 

Loved the Captain-he seems to be part of the experience rather than just the guy who runs the boat.

 

We are Elite members, and debarkation was a breeze for us. Our report time was about 7, and there was a bit of a line, but moved quickly. We awaited our debarkation time in the Normandie. We got off the ship at 8:45. Large area with clearly marked baggage, and we were out of the terminal in minutes.

 

All crew worked their butts off to address the virus. This was in addition to their regular assignments, plus covering for those who may have been ill. Hats off to all of them.

 

We rented cars also, and thoroughly enjoyed the Canyon. I was told that the reason they didn't send buses out was fear that some of the areas were too weak, but we don't think there would have been a problem. I suppose it was better to err on the side of safety, but they should have let folks know that days ahead of time so they could make other arrangements. We had a related problemw with the only ship excursion we booked-the wild dophin and snorkel in Lahaina. When we got on , the crew said that due to extended rains, dolphin were not in the channel. We saw a couple whales and snorkeled at a lousy place. I eventually got a 25% kickback, but would have rather just done something different. Let me emphasize I am not talking about bad luck on the day we went, but an ongoing condition that was known well in advance. Last time we book ship.

 

A bunch of us chartered a bus and went to the Arizona, Big Mo, and other sights. Great day.

 

Also rented cars in the other stops, and enjoyed them all.

 

One highlight was when the ship sailed past the place where the lava flows into the sea. Take binoculars and don't miss it.

 

Well, starting to ramble, so will sign off, but will add one more comment:

 

This was one of the most enjoyable cruises we have had for one main reason: an active roll call. There were over 100 at the connections party, and we had over 5000 posts on our roll call. We arranged to share our rentacars with folks on our roll call we had not previously met, and it worked out wonderfully.

 

All for now,

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[cruising with marti]

1) If you got on at on the ship before noon you get in some other door and got some kind of priority boarding or hadn't changed your watch from a more eastern time zone. The proper line was on the side of the building and didn't start moving until at least 12:30. I am sure some others will post to support my comments.

 

2) Can we agree to disagree?

 

3) Just our opinion. If you liked it, great. Food taste is very personal. Interesting that one of our table mates was from Belfast where lamb is a staple. He thought the lamb shank was "pretty poor".

 

LOL, nope we are from Calif. so my time was correct. However we were still on board before noon PST. We were not in the line useing the side door, but rather a line in the front. I agreet that there could be confusion because of the lack of direction from Celebrity. so i guess we were just lucky cruisers:)

 

Phil

[Lsimon]

This cruise was our 4th on the Summit, and best one yet. We had a fantastic time. There was a very large & diverse CC group on this cruise, so you couldn't help but find someone you enjoyed talking to a bit - so many nice people! Heck, we even enjoyed talking with Phil, Jerry and Bob (just kidding guys it was a pleasure talking to all of you). We also sailed with "cruise friends" we met a year ago on the Summit through the CC roll call and on-board meetings, and had a blast with them on this "reunion" cruise.

 

We found the Summit to be in great shape, clearly it wasn't brand new - but in great shape overall. The staff was as nice as always and overall we had the best service that we've had on any Summit cruise to date.

 

IMHO, the food was as good as we've ever had in our three years of celebrity sailings, perhaps a tad better. But I recognize that everyone has their own opinions. To that end, Phil (our former next door neighbor in deck 8 aft): I didn't like the lamb shank! Sent it back and had something else that was good. Might have been done well for lamb shank, but ended up not being the cut or style of preparation I'd hoped for. And Phil: Say hi to Marty!

 

We had two extraordinary dinners in the Normandy, made so not only by their good foot but by the best service we've ever had there. First dinner was for Mike & Mary's 31st anniversary and our group of 8 sat in the wine room - very cool!

 

Yes, the overall age was a bit older than the past spring break cruises we've been on - but that is understandable on a 14 day cruise. There were plenty of us youngsters, and some quite a bit younger. There were only a few handfuls of school aged children - which is almost more than I expected.

 

This was our first time in an aft cabin, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a bit more motion and engine vibration than in our past mid-ship rooms - but these conditions were an acceptable trade off for the great big balcony and wonderful view. I'd do it again in a second.

 

For us, the cruise to Hawaii was ideal. Having 8 sea days was a dream, even if a couple at the beginning and end were mixed as far as sitting by the pool. They made for some quality relaxing times. And the five island stops were fantastic. We had fun at every stop. Highlights were the snorkeling in Kona. But also loved the other islands. We took ship excursions at every stop other than Kauai, where 8 of us caravaned in a couple of convertibles. I will agree with Bob that the Maui boat trip was just so-so due to the murkiness of the water from the heavy rain run off. A little disappointing, but we still enjoyed fantastic Maui scenery and had lots of fun that day too and we did see a couple of dolphins and whales, but only a couple.

 

Well I better cut this off since it's just some random comments and not really a review. I should have pictures on my new site in a couple days.

[cruising with marti]

Larry, so ok, I was just guessing about the lamb shank, as you know, I had a severe head cold for most of the cruise and could not taste a thing. I was just sticking up for one of my favorite meals.:D

 

 

Phil

[Lsimon]

Larry, so ok, I was just guessing about the lamb shank, as you know, I had a severe head cold for most of the cruise and could not taste a thing. I was just sticking up for one of my favorite meals.:D

 

 

Phil

 

I'd be willing to try it again if I could go back this week!

[JMS#3]

To RIG41, & anyone else that would like to reply:

Re. you room on deck 7, could you please tell me what your cabin

number was? We will also be staying on deck 7 leaving on 4/23/06.

I am concerned about the noise issue.

never been on a celebrity cruise ship. anything special we need to

know? we were going to arrive at the terminal by 12-12:30 is that to

early to board? what paperwork do we need prior to boarding? what kind of activities do they have to keep you busy during the day? the dreadful flu, how guests got sick? the slots? do they pay off? was you safe secure with you belongings? movies? did anyone go to the movies, how new are they? do they serve popcorn? are the special coffee's free? classes at the gym - are they free and do they happen daily? any excerise programs that you earn points at and win prizes?

 

JMS

[rjg41]

To RIG41, & anyone else that would like to reply:

Re. you room on deck 7, could you please tell me what your cabin

number was? We will also be staying on deck 7 leaving on 4/23/06.

I am concerned about the noise issue.

never been on a celebrity cruise ship. anything special we need to

know? we were going to arrive at the terminal by 12-12:30 is that to

early to board? what paperwork do we need prior to boarding? what kind of activities do they have to keep you busy during the day? the dreadful flu, how guests got sick? the slots? do they pay off? was you safe secure with you belongings? movies? did anyone go to the movies, how new are they? do they serve popcorn? are the special coffee's free? classes at the gym - are they free and do they happen daily? any excerise programs that you earn points at and win prizes?

 

JMS

 

1) Noise problem was on the port side mid-ship. I suspect that significant additonal efforts have been taken place since to deal with the problem. The ship engineer was personally involved. It is clearly something loose either interior to the ship or something to do with the attachment system on the lifeboat below that is sometimes causing the intermittent banging sound when the ship is moving.

 

2) There are four Celebrity ships of the exact same design as Summit. Anything you read about one covers the rest. The only real differance besides art and decor is the name of the speciality restaurant. The name is the only thing differant about all four of the speciality restaurants.

 

3) 12:30 is fine. They had some delay in clearing the ship. There was also confusion by the Celebrity people handling boarding allowing some people unintentionly to bypass the line.

 

4) Use the Celebrity web site to print your boarding passes. Make sure you fill out the necessary pages in your documents.

 

5) The buffet restaurant will be open and the pools and hot tubs will all be open. The is a spa tour available(mostly a sales pitch but interesting). Take the time to tour the ship and get to know where everything is. You will have a muster(lifeboat drill) before dinner.

 

6) The illness is common everywhere this time of year and more easily passed and noticed when you confine 2000 people to the same space a number of days. For no particular reason some ships worse than others. Consider that if you picked something like it up at a local restaurant you would not know that a bunch of people got the same thing because you would not see them again. On something like a cruise ship the word gets around. The basic cause is likely people coming on board with it. You touch were they touch, touch your mouth and bingo, 24 hours or so later... Basic rule wash you hands often and use the sanitizing liquid available in dispensers around the ship, frequently.

 

7) On the slots you'll get different opinions. The winners say there are loose and to the loosers their tight. Unlike many land based casinos I have never seen an advertised payout percentage for a cruise ship. I will tell you that video poker odds are very poor.

 

8) There is a safe in every room.

 

9) There is a movie theater with recent movies(Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Hitch, etc.) and TNT and pay per view on your room TV. Yes, people go to the movies. Not sure about the popcorn.

 

10) I don't drink coffee. My wife does and she didn't notice any special flavors but plenty of tea variety.

 

11) There are free aerobics in the morning and the use of the gym is free. Take the spa tour and you'll find out what is free. No excercise points/prizes that I knoiw of.

 

You'll have a wonderful time and be prepared for great food. Just remember that Celebrity offers a fun time but does not have an "in your face" activity staff like you would enocunter on, say Carnival(IMO). For example you will never hear "Bingo starts in 5 minutes" blasted on the ship's PA system on a Celebrity ship.

 

Enjoy!!! Would love to join you and go again. Celebrity is our cruise line of choice!

[Nancy & Don]

Like JMS#3, we're also cruising the Summit on 4/23. Will this be a good cruise? Seems so. Will we enjoy the time on the ship? Undoubtedly! We would prefer that the bumpiest part of the trip be the ship riding the waves, so I do have some questions and concerns.

 

In reference to problems with sides of buildings and lines at San Jose, could someone post additional details about the confusion about sides of building and lines with boarding, and how to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time when we arrive?

 

Also, did anyone hear any talk on board about problems with our itinerary- change and excursions? On March 22, Celebrity sent our travel agent a fax that the trip itinerary was being changed because of a berthing conflict. We were notified on March 23 of this situation. I'm wondering what could have occured that a berthing issue developed only 4 weeks out from our cruise date. You either have the berth space reserved (or you don't), don't you? Would Celebrity wait until a month before a cruise to secure berths?

 

Because of the change I went to the Celebrity site to check excursions; the excursions portion was closed for updating because of the change. The window never reopened.

 

Celebrity has responded to my emailed requests for excursion information with canned 'thank you for your patience' statements, but with no confirmations of being able to move previously booked excursions to the new itinerary, or with any indication of which excursions may continue to be available. They did, in their last email, state that because the 10 day window had been reached, any excursion bookings would now have to be made on board on a first-come, first-served basis.DUH!

 

I talked with travel agent 2 days ago. She hasn't called back, so that means she hasn't had any success in getting any answers either. All of this doesn't make me feel like I am, or will, be 'treated famously.' I would hate to think this is turning into a 15 day 'cruise to nowhere' where we will be 'offered' excursions that are left over from other ships that were booked into various ports before the last minute itinerary change. Any advice here?

 

Finally, any other points of 'confusion' that arose on your cruise that you could discuss and suggestions to avoid or improve the problem area would be greatly appreciated.

 

Again, we are looking forward to an exciting time on board the Summit, but are concerned that some major bumps are waiting for us upon our arrival at the ship.

 

Don

[rjg41]

It is generally not a question of Celebrity failing to secure berthing rights. Commercial traffic generally has priority at most ports epecially small ones and commercail traffic can get delayed or rescheduled thus the conflicts. In the case with Hawaii most of the islands have very limited docking space and remember virtually all their food and other goods comes in by ship.

 

I just looked at the posted itinerary for 4/23/2006 and it is probably the itinerary almost everyone would want from prior cruises and you are still going to Kauai. You will have plenty of time to do the volcanos and some other stuff from Hilo. The shorter time at Kona is not a big deal. Kona is more of a beach deal and you will have time to go to the beach. The real plus is that you will be spending more time in Maui. We left a 3PM. So if the itinerary that is posted on Celebrity's web site is correct, be happy!

 

Clarification on the noise- port side, mid ship, aft of the elevators. We were in 7145. Take note that the same room numbers on each deck are generally NOT above and below each other so, for example, if you are 6145 you are in a very different place.

[Skeezics]

At least a portion of the shore excursion site did reopen before the 10 day cut off. You were able to book Hilo and Kauai - I did not check on any of the others because I wasn't interested in booking on those islands. It is going to be a fantastic cruise! How could it not be. You are on a ship, people are waiting on you, and you're heading for five beautiful islands - life is good. Plus we get extra time on Maui! (We booked dinner at a nice restaurant)

[Lsimon]

Our Asst. matr'd told us the change in itinerary on the April 23 was in response to many requests for more time in Maui. I wish our trip had that itinerary - it looks fantastic! Late night in Maui allows more time there!

 

You'll have a great time.

 

There was a little confusion for those arriving very early at the terminal in San Pedro. We were among that group as we got there about 10:45. Ship started boarding around 11:30. In between there was some confusion as to which door to the building would be open first. There was a group of people we knew from the roll call by the front door. A guard kept saying boarding would be by the side door. People at the side door said front door. Some people kept running back and forth. I figured we'd stay put until they started boarding, as it's been my experience the lines run pretty fast - and I knew were were there very early.

 

The front door, where we were, ended up not being the correct door. However, someone in our group who arrived very early and had been patiently waiting complained to an officer that they should not have to move to end of the other line since they were initially told boarding would begin at the front, so the officer let our small group in. I think everyone in line when they started boarding around 11:30 was on board within about 1/2 hour or so. Remember that official boarding time is 1PM, and while they do start earlier, be prepared for waiting and a little confusion if you arrive early. The moral of the story is that whatever you do, remember that you're on vacation on a cruise to Hawaii so relax, go with the flow, don't worry, and ... Hang Loose!! http://www.theinsider.com/Aloha/Photos/HangLoose.htm

 

 

Aloha! Have a great cruise, we sure did!

[Nancy & Don]

I just returned from picking up the dry cleaning for the trip, so we're one step closer. I appreciate all of the clarification, and we are definitely looking forward to next Saturday when we leave for the airport to begin our journey. :D

 

The building problem won't affect us, since we're not arriving until later in the afternoon. Your information will be useful to those who are coming in a day early or driving to the port. Thank you for the clarification!

 

barbie43-The other portions of the excursions were still flagged for revising, even LA where there should be no changes needed. When I checked the Hilo postings, the volcano trips were still listed for 11:30 and 12:30;times that won't work with the new itinerary. I don't know if the other times were updated or original. The time I got in there, I attributed it to a glitch in the system that the revision statement didn't properly pop up. I don't know if Celebrity is simply going to back up the excursion times 3 hours or not; if they do, my 12:30 booking would then leave at 9:30. :)

 

Concerning the change of itinerary, we have no problem with the new itinerary. We're still stopping at all the ports, we have a much longer stop scheduled for Maui, and the 'cost' for the additional time in Maui is a little less time for Kona. I think that's a good trade-off. I'm sure we will enjoy everything there is to enjoy. And like so many posters, will not be happy for the cruise to end; to return home to the usual.

 

Just not impressed with Celebrity's planning, method of notification, and lack of excursion information requested through email.

 

Don

[Ma Bell]

This is really interesting. We were on the March 26 cruise and the Hotel Director requested a meeting with me while on board. She noticed that I was a frequent cruiser and wanted my opinion on some things. One of her questions was about the time in port. My suggestion was to spend much more time in Maui, be sure to keep Kauai and if they needed a short port time to make it in Kona since most of the sights on the big island could be seen from Hilo and anything missed could be done in the half-day in Kona. I'm amazed to see this is the exact itinerary suggested. By the way we had a great cruise with the most wonderful passengers.:) Hope you have as much fun as we did.

[gkm]

Wow Joan, I didn't know you had such pull!:D :D

 

Garry