IrieMRP

We docked in St. Thomas this past Friday on the Summit, along with the smaller Viking Star so the port load was relatively low. While it wasn't jam packed, it was definitely still the most crowded beach we visited over 5 ports. The beach is not very deep so there is really only one "row" of loungers and people setting up towels and beach blankets ( there are however some picnic table scattered behind this row under shade trees.) When you enter the beach area near the taxi stand, if you head left facing the water away from the restaurant you should find it less crowded. While it is a very beautiful beach, it does lack peace and quiet by afternoon when shore excursion groups show up. For us, even with 2 ships in port it was a bit too crowded so I think next time we will try something else. We had plenty of personal space on the beach, but there were many loud party groups around us. Maybe we just had bad luck, but it was definitely busier than we anticipated with such a low port load.

As far as prices, it costs 10$ pp each way on an open air taxi bus from Crown Bay. The beach entry fee was 5$ pp. Loungers cost 7$ each, plus a $5 refundable deposit you can redeem when you return the chair ( you are free to take the chairs anywhere you like, but you must move them there and back on your own.) They also had floating mats available for $10 (plus an additional refundable deposit).

Food and beverage options are limited to a single establishment, which has a snack bar type set up plus a separate bar. Prices were average for beach food, but the selection is pretty basic ( burgers, pizza, fries, chicken tenders etc.) I think a whole pizza was around 25$, Burgers around 11$, Fries 4$. The food was not particularly great ( but is is just a snack bar not a restaurant so that was expected). The bar had a decent selection of frozen drinks, around 8-9$ each. The beers are can only and ranged from 4.50 to 5.50 for one can (no buckets).

One note- the ride to Magen's in the open air safari bus is pretty bumpy/ twisty! Fortunately, it only takes around 15-20 min without traffic. If you are prone to motion sickness take precautions, I was glad I did and I was still a little green on arrival! On the plus side, you ascend a descend a large hill to get there, so there are some really nice photo opportunities!

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We docked at Havensight on the Summit in 2014, and at Crown Bay last week. My understanding from others on our cruise is that all Celebrity and RCL ships now use Crown Bay. The shopping was much better at Havensight. But as far as going to beaches, it doesn't matter much. They both are on the south side of the island about 10-15 minutes apart. We are off the ship at 8 am and make the 9 am ferry to St. John - both from Havensignt and from Crown Bay. There are plenty of taxis to take you to beaches from either dock.

Thanks Carol! Either one will work for us, I was mostly curious as to how accurate the Captain's Club info is! If we go to Crown Bay I think we will head to either Water Island or Emerald, and if we dock in Havensight probably Sapphire.

Thank you for the tips lvz2cruz and D-Portman!

In regards to St. John, I think we are going to give that a skip this time due to the fact that we are the only ship docked in St. Thomas, which is rarely the case! If there were more ships in port we would definitely consider "escaping" to St. John! :) We have been to St. John on a land vacation and it is lovely however!

On the Equinox two weeks ago we docked at Crown Bay, which IMHO is a dump. More than half the shops there are closed/empty. Not much to see.

 

 

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That's disappointing to hear; I think our plan is to get out of the port and to a beach asap so we can make either dock work, but I hate not knowing with 100% certainty which dock it is! I have selected different beaches for each dock due to proximity to the ship, and it is driving me crazy not having a plan set in stone :D

Hi everyone, we will be on the Summit next week, and stopping in St. Thomas. I am wondering if any recent Celebrity cruisers can shed some light on which dock they stopped at, Crown Bay or West Indian (Havensight)? According to my roll call, many seem to think we will be going to Crown Bay; however when I called the Captain's Club yesterday they assured me it is definitely the West Indian dock in Havensight. I'd like to think the information they directly provided was accurate, but I have my doubts. I've made a backup plan if we indeed go to Crown Bay, but hopefully this will not be the case. Can any recent cruisers let me know where you actually docked? Thanks in advance! :)

Thank you for all the feedback! I wanted to provided a quick update on the traveler check situation! This morning I called the Captain's Club to verify that they will actually cash US Travelers checks to USD onboard. The rep I spoke with said that yes, they can be cashed up to $1000, but there is a surcharge of 3%. She was unsure if the $1000 limit was per day, or per cruise.

I know many have posted that travelers checks are difficult to use, but I just wanted to clarify we were only intending to use them directly on the ship to get extra cash in the event the ATM does not work (I saw a post awhile back where the ATM was broken onboard, so I just wanted to have a backup plan!)

Ms411- You bring up a good point! I originally eliminated it as an option assuming it would be busier than the other options considering it is so close to the port and we are the only ship docked that day! While I am very much drawn to the natural beauty and hotel-lessness of the east end beaches, I may need to consider Emerald as a trade off for skipping the difficult drive :)

Thanks for all the replies! Good to know for certain that there is an ATM available just in case.

Cruisestitch pretty much outlined a few of the reasons we are considering even using travelers checks ( for non cruise travel I probably wouldn't even consider it)! I just wanted to have a back up in the event the ATM is out of service or something. We DIY all of our port activities so cash is usually king.

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I actually did find a bank willing to issue them for 1$, I was shocked too [emoji16] I'm wondering if that might be the easiest way to go.

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Other than the onboard ATM ( there is one right? [emoji1]), are there any other ways to get extra cash onboard? We are headed out on the Summit soon, and I just want to make sure we have a means to get extra cash should we need to. Will they still cash US travelers checks onboard ?

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Hello! We will be in St.Thomas next week, and I just found out we will now be docking in Crown Bay. We are still trying to pick a beach for the day, and I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction! We are currently considering Water Island, Sapphire Beach, or Magan's Bay. We have ruled out St. John due to the fact that we will be the only ship on St. Thomas so crowds shouldn't be too much of an issue. Our biggest priority is a beautiful beach with calm water and chair rentals available. Good snorkeling is a plus as I will have my own gear with me, but not a deal breaker. I am really torn on where we should go! I have a few questions about each beach and would really appreciate any feedback anyone might be able to offer!

Magen's: what would the taxi time/ cost be from Crown Bay? Is the ride twisty/ turny? I have terrible car motion sickness so looking for an "easy" short trip somewhere.

Sapphire: what would the taxi time/ cost be from Crown Bay? Are there cabs readily available to return to ship? Any restaurant facilities?

Water Island: with one ship in port, should we expect big crowds?

What would you pick for a day and why! Thank you in advance for any help!! [emoji3]

Does anyone know where Monday Night Football would potentially be shown on an M class ship (specifically the Summit). Hoping to be able to watch the game next week with other fans and not be stuck in our cabin! :) I am wondering if they use the new outdoor screens for sporting events!

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Hi everyone! Quick question- we currently have a cruise booked for later this year (booked directly with Celebrity under the reduced deposit promotion). There is a possibility that we will be unable to go on the trip, so my question is: If I call them to change the date to a later sailing, will I be required to make the full deposit (since there is no reduced deposit promotion currently)? Or will I simply be able to change dates using the same booking number? If we end up not being able to make our original cruise, I want to be prepared when I call them to either cancel/rebook. Thank you in advance for any help!

Thanks for posting this! Lots of great pics and fun music as well :) I also enjoyed your Summit videos, we will be sailing on her the first time next year! :)

Thank you Host Jazzbeau, Alcpa1, and chemmo for your helpful comments! I am now feeling confident that our cabin will work out just fine :)

Host Jazzbeau- Thank you for the information regarding the fulcrum! I still have a lot to learn regarding ships, but this information was very helpful! I know I will probably never be able to book a forward room, but I am feeling confident about moving towards the aft a bit!

Alcpa1- Thank you for including the information regarding the ship speed. You are correct, we were cruising around 22 knots to get back to FLL in a hurry. We are on the Barbados-St. Lucia-Antigua-St Maarten-St Thomas route, so looks like we will max out around 15 knots on the way to Barbados just like you mentioned!

Chemmo- Glad to hear from someone who also isn't the best cruiser! I have high hopes for this trip, and hope it goes well enough to give me the confidence to one day book an aft facing room! I think the views alone might help me overcome any motion worries :D

Thank you tangerinebunny, glad to hear you didn't feel much movement, we will also be cruising in early December next year.

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Thank you az tchr! I am glad to hear you felt the ride was similar to the S class ships, for some reason I had it in my head that the smaller gross tonnage would play a big difference in the ride. We played it safe on our first cruise with a low midship cabin, so I am hoping moving a bit towards the aft will work out! One day I would love to try an aft facing room! Like you noted, the increased speed surely contributed to the rocky conditions, but it was certainly necessary in a medical emergency.

Hello fellow cruisers! I have a few questions regarding cabin selection on the Celebrity Summit, and was hoping a few of you seasoned cruisers would be able to chime in! :)

1) We have booked a Southern Caribbean cruise next year on the Summit in cabin 7166. I had a hard time finding many reviews, or pictures for this specific cabin when searching the forums. As far as I can tell, it has a slightly larger angled balcony. I know that none of the balconies rival the extended 1-A's on the Solstice class, but we were hoping for a wee bit of extra space. I did find a video of this same room (pre-solsticization) on the Infinity, so I am assuming it would be identical in layout/size? Has anyone stayed in this room recently or have any pictures/thoughts?

2) I know that no one can predict the ocean conditions, but I was wondering if this is potentially too far aft for someone who experiences a bit of motion sickness. A bit of backstory: We took our first cruise ever earlier this year on the Silhouette, and had a midship cabin on the hump angle on deck 7. Since it was our first cruise, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I did experience some symptoms on our last sea day (in the Florida Straits headed back to FLL). I will mention that we had a medical emergency onboard, so we were headed back at full speed. The captain also advised ladies to refrain from wearing heels on our final night. I am hoping that these circumstances were a bit out of the norm! I am also hoping that the calmer waters of the southern Caribbean will help alleviate fact that the summit is a much smaller ship. Does anyone who also experiences motion sickness have any experience with the Summit? How was the ride?

Thank you in advance for any advice!:):

My guess is that the younger generation is just as frustrated with this malfunctioning website as us old folks. One difference: their target market expects a functioning website and will not pick up the phone to call Celebrity. Thus, lost sales. The sooner Celebrity figures this out and makes the website functional, the more luck they'll have in attracting their target market. But don't hold your breath. Frankly, I think Celebrity hasn't a clue.

 

Linda

Agree 100%. We (first time cruisers, early 30's) had a difficult time booking our first cruise with Celebrity, and got so frustrated we almost gave up on the cruise entirely. Last August we attempted an online booking, made it 90% of the way through the booking process on their website, and could not get the reservation to complete. We ended up on the phone for about an hour to actually make the booking, which is really silly compared to several other trips we have easily booked online within minutes. We had a lot of doubt going into the trip after our initial booking experience, but fortunately our experience on the ship was MUCH better than the web experience:) The actual product Celebrity delivers is really undermined by their inadequate website.

Just wanted to say thank you for putting the time into this wonderfully detailed review. I started reading your review before our 4/12 cruise (our first cruise!) on the Silhouette, and it really got us excited for our trip. Now that we are back home, I am really enjoying re-living our trip through your review. :)

We were also on the 4/12-4/19 Silhouette cruise, which was our first cruise. We too had numerous issues with smokers on the balconies. We actually witnessed someone on the balcony directly below us smoking a cigar during the St. Kitts sail-away :O We did contact guest relations who assured us it was being looked into, but in addition to the cigar incident, we smelled smoke on many occasions on our balcony. We also spoke with a few smokers who said the topic of smoking on the balcony was often discussed among smokers in the public smoking areas, and most felt it was perfectly "safe" to do so while the ship was moving, as they were certain they would not get caught, and that the smell was undetectable in the wind. This was one of the few disappointing aspects of an otherwise wonderful cruise.