tlaffin

Great to hear you enjoyed your cruise, thanks for the review:)

Thank you for the great review!!

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Definitely prefer mid sized ships! Haven't been on an Oasis or similar class because the thought of a ship that big doesn't appeal to me personally. However, we prefer port-intensive itineraries, so maybe that is why!

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We've always wanted to do a Freedom class ship but the biggest we've been on is Adventure. I'd be great with Freedom coming down!! Can't wait to find out for sure!

We were on the Freedom once and LOVED it! That ship or one from that same class would be a great choice for the Southern Caribbean route!

Thank you for this review! It was so well-organized, easy to follow, and helpful. Appreciate you sharing the info and pics!

We have been on both the Jewel (in 2014) and the Adventure (in 2008, going again next month), and while you really can't go wrong with either ship, I would say the Adventure. When we were on the Jewel, we missed the Promenade (which the Adventure has) and we are a little weird and personally prefer the "cave" like balconies on the Adventure because we feel it is more private! We also felt that Jewel was a more laid-back environment while the Adventure seemed to have more activity and things going on, so it all depends on what you are looking for. Good luck in your decision and have a great time whatever you decide!

Great review! Thank you for the straightforward info and pics! Sounds like you had a great time overall!

Following! Great review so far. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for the info! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip!

To finish up....

 

We had a wonderful cruise and were very happy with both the ship itself and the service. I thought the Windjammer staff was especially attentive this time where I didn't remember that in the past.

 

I do agree that some things need updating and replaced on the ship. The couch in our room was pretty dirty and the carpet could use a cleaning or replaced. We're crossing our fingers that it will all be done for our Jan 2018 cruise! If not, we always have our Jan 2019 cruise :D

 

One last picture which is the saddest pic of the cruise! The waiters singing goodbye to us!

 

 

Let me know if there are any other questions I can answer for you about the ship or the islands!

Thank you for the excellent review! I really enjoyed it and appreciate all the info and pics you shared! Enjoy your January 2018 cruise on AOS!

Teresa

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Subscribed! Enjoy your cruise!

Vacation video time!

 

Great video! Thanks for sharing!!

Your pictures are beautiful! Glad you enjoyed Pinel Island. We were there in 2014 and it was our favorite thing we did on that itinerary! We kayaked over to the island as well, which was more challenging that we expected, but still fun! We're going back again this year, but with Soualiga Destinations Boat Tours.

I am also on the April 29th cruise. Have you subscribed to the roll call?

OP , thanks for the great review. Very helpful.

 

 

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Yes, I have, thanks! Only 70 something days to go!

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I'm so sad that the COSOL tour didn't go well for you!! We have done the tour twice and loved it, but we were also back by 4:00pm or so, so a much less stressful experience!

Thank you for doing this! Enjoying your review so far and looking forward to the rest - much appreciated! :) My husband and I were on the Adventure for our honeymoon/first cruise 8 years ago and we can't wait to sail her again on April 29th!

Oh no, I love the days of the week in the elevators! That is definitely a disappointment, but like you said, not a showstopper. Thank you for the info., and sorry to hear you weren't feeling well!

Subscribed! Thanks for doing this review! We're on the 4/29 sailing and I've been chomping at the bit to hear more post-dry dock info! :)

Thank you for this wonderful review! I enjoyed following your travels and appreciated all your helpful tips! I look forward to a great experience on the AoS when we sail away April 29th!

We are hoping to also charter a catamaran or small boat while in Bermuda. Could you share the name of the company that you used, and also possibly the cost? Thank you!

We actually chartered a catamaran out of St. George. We were initially thinking of going out of Hamilton but this offered us a chance to see another part of Bermuda. We took the 9:30 ferry to St. George and the catamaran was waiting for us at the dock, which was SO convenient.

We used Ana Luna Adventures and we had a blast. For 18 people for 5 hours, it worked out to $89 per person as a base price. That does NOT include food and alcohol. They are able to arrange for lunch to be provided if you ask, but it's an additional cost. There is also 15% gratuity added on at the end to everything. For 18 of us it was about $2,500 total - catamaran, food, alcohol, gratuity, everything. Not a cheap day, but well worth it.

Let me know if I can provide any further info!

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Is Sushi available at all times in the buffet? My husband is a big fan of good sushi.

 

We are just down the hall from where you stayed. I'm glad to hear you didn't have an issues. This is the lowest in the ship we have ever stayed so I was wondering what it would be like. This is our first Celebrity cruise and its nice to hear your positive review!

Sushi was available at lunch and dinner in the Ocean View cafe. I was really impressed by both the quality and selection of the sushi. I hope your husband enjoys it!

This was the lowest on a ship for us as well, but it actually worked out really well! It was especially nice only having to go up one floor from the gangway on port days. We were able to completely avoid the elevator jam and just take the stairs. Also, our last day at sea was very rocky due to a storm and being so low on the ship, we didn't feel the motion too badly in the room. If we were on an upper deck and were feeling the motion too much, we would just stop down at the room for a bit to get a break from it.

We really enjoyed our first experience with Celebrity and I think you will too - have a great vacation!

Ken was okay as far as CDs go. I think he just came back on the Summit so if you are sailing in the next 6 months or so you will have him. I thought he was a good sport getting into the pool in his suit for the crew vs. guest water volleyball game.

 

I agree with other comments about Captain Leo. Thought he was awesome. Saw him everywhere. Even in the Oceanview eating. Had a nice talk with him one night walking to the show. He's 37 and been a captain for the last 3 years. I think it's smart on Celebrity's part getting in some younger blood on their ships. He was great!

I agree as well. Ken is OK, but he got on my nerves easily and was too chatty at the beginning and end of shows in the theater. Captain Leo is definitely awesome and I loved his down to earth personality. I didn't realize he was only 37! I agree that it is nice to see some young blood at the helm of some of the ships.

Ok thanks for the heads up on the umbrellas! Did they provide towels? If so how many per person?

 

Were you only able to order drinks from the bar area or were you able to be served drinks pool/beach side?

 

Did you notice if there were any younger children there? We'll be taking our children with us when we go in August.

 

I'm really excited to go there. All of the reviews I've read have been very positive especially about the food. Everyone has said its been delicious.

Yes, they provide towels and it's one per person. However, I'm sure if you needed an extra, they would provide it.

There wasn't anyone serving drinks on the beach when we were there. You did need to go to the bar area which is by the pool/restaurant.

I did see a few children there. They were building sandcastles and had some small beach toys with them as well like buckets, shovels, etc.

The one thing I would recommend is trying to consolidate trips from the restaurant/bar/pool area to the beach. It's a little bit of a hike up the stairs and pathway. The bathrooms are also only located up at the resort and are not on the beach area (unless I completely missed them!). So maybe when you go up for lunch, hit the restrooms and grab drinks while you're there so you don't have to constantly go up and down the hill.

We had a wonderful time and I think you'll really enjoy it. The food was definitely top notch, and the view and scenery is one of the most beautiful I've seen.

I too was on that same cruise and had a vastly different experience than the poster :(

 

We were in the aft cabin 8172 which if we didn't have that cabin we would have left the ship in Bermuda!

 

We are experience 10+ cruisers and are in our late 50s, so we have seen most of the Caribbean and overseas. I have to say Summit needs a lot of work!

 

The warm temperature was because the air conditioning wasn't working and they were re-cycling it throughout the ship, first on one side then the other.

 

It was soooo warm in the MDR that on formal night most of the men had to

take their jackets off and none of the waiters had jackets on, they were serving in shirt sleeves as it was too warm.

 

Food was a 3 out of 5 (being top) in the MDR, some nights it was good, most

nights only barely edible. As for the Buffet....good grief that was just passible

at best. By the end of the week I was down to eating only French toast and poached eggs....

 

Whatever food was served in the MDR you got the same re-vamped food in the Buffet the next day. Desserts were terrible!

 

I am a Baker and never tasted such dried out, no taste food in my life.

We experienced a power outage (complete ship went dark, with no electricity at all) for about 20 mins in Bermuda. No air (temp in Bermuda was 86+ with humidity on top) so very uncomfortable. When the electricity came back on

the water in the tap was brown!!! It smelled nasty, and when I called guest services they said....oh yes you need to run it for about an hour....and don't drink the tap water!

 

Well we had been drinking this same tap water all week, and no they tell us that it isn't drinkable....no wonder I had stomache issues since arriving on board.

 

Summit....sorry gal but your days are numbered! Celebrity you need to

start giving people what they pay for, and not nickel and diming everything!

 

Sorry for the ramble, but I am NOT happy with Celebrity right now and will be

contacting them about this cruise very shortly :mad:

 

I'm sure the poster had a great time, but once you've cruised a few times you will get to know what the difference is between good and terrible....this one

was not a good cruise.

So sorry to hear that we had such different experiences on the same sailing! I do hope you'll reach out to Celebrity to report the issues you encountered. I know they were very adamant about guests reporting problems while on board so they could be resolved right away, so I'm sure they will want to know about these things so they can be rectified.

Thanks for the info about the ship temp - we weren't sure if it was just us or if there really was an issue with the A/C. Makes perfect sense now.

We were out in Bermuda during the power outage that you mentioned, so I can't speak to that, but how awful that must have been! I would have definitely hightailed it out of the ship until the power was restored if I were onboard when that happened. I would much prefer the breeze outside standing in the shade of the ship or walking around in the air-conditioned Dockyard shops to that! Yikes!

This was our 7th cruise and I do agree that the MDR food was our least favorite of the cruises that we've been on (RCL and Carnival). Of the meals I ordered, I didn't encounter anything that wasn't edible, but certainly agree that several entrees could have used more flavor. I will say that the chocolate cake in the MDR was one of the moistest cakes I've ever had! Not sure if you had the opportunity to try that. However, the cupcakes and cookies in the Ocean View Buffet were definitely dry and not very good.

We also did not experience the brown water issue. Did you have to deal with that for the whole rest of the cruise, or did the issue resolve after running the water? Either way, I agree - not the most pleasant experience, I'm sure.

I am sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your trip and hope you have a much better time on your next sailing!

Thanks for your review. I'm glad you had a great time. We love the Summit too.

 

I was hoping you could elaborate more on your time at Coco Reef. We also have the resort booked for our upcoming sailing. Was it very packed? Hard to get chairs/umbrellas? Do you remember what the menu options were? What time did you arrive and depart?

 

Thanks again!

The resort was not packed, but there were a good amount of people from the Breakaway and Summit there. We may have outnumbered the resort guests! I never felt crowded or that there were too many people, but don't expect it to be totally quiet. We did not have any trouble getting umbrellas and chairs, but we did get there early to ensure we could get umbrellas. We would NOT have lasted long in the sun without them. It should be noted that the $69 price does not guarantee an umbrella, only a lounger (a detail we missed when booking this). Our group got the last of the umbrellas that were already out on the beach but I believe I saw the resort staff getting extra umbrellas for people that arrived after us.

We got on the 9:00 ferry from the Dockyard to Hamilton and I believe we were on the beach by 10:00 (took us a little bit to hail enough cabs for our big group). We left there at 6:00 to go to Harbour Night.

Food was great. I remember a vegetarian option on a baguette, hamburger/cheeseburger, Cuban, and there were a few other options I can't remember. I got the cheeseburger which was fantastic. You get the choice of an appetizer and entree, or entree and dessert.

They also have a bar, which of course was pretty pricey. We absolutely loved it at Coco Reef and would definitely do it again when we go back to Bermuda in the future. Have a great time! Let me know if there is anything else I can try to answer.