Kim in CA

Judy, I was very interested in your assessment of Fajardo. Alan and I are also spending two extra nights in Puerto Rico post cruise, and we originally planned to rent a car an stay somewhere other than San Juan. We spent a lovely day in El Yunque on our previous visit.

I had a huge interest in doing the Bio Bay kayak tour, and perhaps a sailing/fishing charter. My research pointed me to Vieques, but the timing of the ferries would have made it impossible for us to get to the airport in time for our departing flight on Monday. Therefore the Fajardo area seemed like a good second choice. We had even made a reservation at a seemingly nice little B & B called the Ceiba Country Inn.

But then, I heard from the highest rated Bio Bay tour company that they were closed the weekend we were there because of the Easter crowds, and I kept reading that something has affected the luminescence lately and it is not as bright and that the kayaking experience can be challenging.

Therefore, we completely changed our plan and rented a small "apartment" right in Old San Juan at Caleta 64, and we are going to just stay right there the whole time exploring the historical city and eating and drinking local food and cocktails.

Your review of Fajardo makes me think that we made the right decision.

Kim

Hi Roothy! I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. We embark on the same itinerary in 4 weeks. What did you do in St. Croix? Did you do any excursions at any of the ports of call that you would recommend highly? ...or not?

Thanks,

Kim

Judy, I LOVED your review. Thank you so very much for sharing your adventures with us. Your descriptive writing is a pleasure to read. :)

We have very similar interests to you and your husband, so I am optimistic we will enjoy our April Summit sailing as much as you did. No back-to-back for us, but we are going to spend two extra days exploring Old San Juan post cruise.

We also love the Big Island of Hawaii! It is a magical place, and it is sometimes hard to convince ourselves to go elsewhere for our tropical infusions since it is such a short plane ride away from northern California. (Not true of our upcoming heinous flight from Sacramento to San Juan!)

I hope you make it back to St. John in the near future.

Kim

Heather, thank you very much for the informative review. We are sailing on the Summit on April 12th... same itinerary and also our first Celebrity cruise. We are looking forward to it with great anticipationl, and your pictures and review were fun to read.

Kim

Thank you very much for taking the time to post these menus. Can you confirm that the formal nights in the MDR were Sunday (St. Croix) and Thursday (At Sea)?

We plan to splurge on two specialty dining nights, one in each restaurant, but we hope to choose nights with our least favorite choices on the MDR menu. Is it better to make reservations ahead of time to ensure we get the days and times we prefer? If so, is it a good bet to assume that the menus for our week in April will be the same or very similar to those posted from February?

Finally, if we do make the specialty dining reservations online pre-cruise, will we have to pre-pay? I have tried to figure it out by looking at the website, but it doesn’t appear to be working quite right, so I can’t tell. I have some OBC I would prefer to use, but that won’t be available until we board. I am wondering if I can pre-pay on my credit card and then have that charge refunded and switched to the OBC upon embarkation. Anyone know if this is possible?

Thanks in advance.

Kim

Thank you for your wonderful review! We will be embarking on our first Celebrity cruise in about 6 weeks, and it will be the St. Croix route on the Summit. I have been excited, but now even more so! :)

I look forward to reading your review of the ports of call on our itinerary.

Kim

Thank you for all of the responses to my question. I would never take fresh, unsealed food off the ship if directed not to do so, but I sometimes need to eat a little something to avoid feeling ill. Unfortunately, this does not always occur at the appropriate time when I am on a group tour. I will be sure to pack some small sealed packages of nuts or granola bars.

…and yes, I love to sample local foods when we travel! :)

I have read numerous posts that have stated passengers are not allowed to take food from the ship with them on excursions. I don't remember this rule from previous cruises. Is it a Celebrity rule? Does anyone know the reason? Do they actually check?

Thanks.

Kim

I am surprised to read that things are back to normal, because I just read several posts on tripadvisor by people who very recently kayaked in the bio bay, and they said it was not at all good. Practically no glow at all.

We are staying in Puerto Rico for two extra nights after our cruise in April and this is something I really want to do, but I am having second thoughts. I hope that it is indeed back to normal, because I was really looking forward to seeing it.

Ron, thank you for taking the time to post such an informative review! We are taking the same cruise in April (our first with Celebrity), and being a compulsive planner, I am loving your review and photos.

Do you happen to remember which nights were formal nights? I think we may want to make a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants but we don't want to miss formal night in the MDR.

Thanks again. Looking forward to more...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I tried posting this question on the Snorkeling/Diving forum, but I didn’t get too much feedback, so I am trying this.

We will be sailing on the Summit on April 14th. Our ports of call will be: St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada and St. Thomas. I love to snorkel, but most of my snorkeling experience has been in Hawaii. Of the islands we will be visiting, if we were to plan on making snorkeling the priority on two islands, which should we choose? We are not opposed to renting a car for private exploration when do-able, nor do we mind paying for a tour guide or private taxi driver if it is not a large “cattle call” group.

Maybe a better way to ask my question would be: Has anyone had an exceptional snorkeling experience on any of the islands on our itinerary?

I should say that my husband has his heart set on chartering a boat through Swashbucklin’ Tours in St. Thomas to do some in shore fishing, so I guess that island is off the snorkeling list.

Thanks in advance.

Kim

I am intrigued by your strategy. I have often THOUGHT about booking airfare first and then looking for a last minute deal on a vacation rental or a cruise, but I have never actually done it. I cannot think of any other way to really benefit from a great last minute deal that involves airfare during peak travel times.

Being a compulsive planner, it is hard for me to wait until the last minute to finalize plans, but it also makes it easy for me to monitor prices and cancel and re-book as needed.

I am going to do a little research on itineraries of interest in July and then start monitoring airfare to those embarkation cities.

Thanks for sharing your idea!

Kim

These last few posts are interesting to me. Since my husband is a teacher, we are limited to school breaks for travel, which doesn’t usually equate to super low fares.

We would very much enjoy a European cruise next July, but the prices are out of our reach, especially when we add in the $1,500 pp airfare from CA! I wonder if we should take a gamble and wait until late spring to book a cruise? Is there a chance that we could get a decent airfare through their “Choice Air” that late in the game? I have never before booked our airfare through the cruise line, so I don’t know how their rates compare to booking directly with the airlines. My experience with booking summer flights directly through the airlines is that booking further ahead usually means lower fares.

Sorry I can't provide you with copies, but I read in a "cruise tips" article on here on cruisecritic that the menus are planned in advance and that the pursor usually has copies of the menus. I assume the article meant to check once on board, but I wonder if there is anyway to receive emailed copies before your cruise. I was planning to investigate this closer to our departure date, as we would like to make reservations at each of the specialty restaurants, and it would be nice to see the week's menus before we choose our specialty restaurant nights.

Does anyone know if this is possible?

Also, is is safe to assume that one of our formal nights will be our "day at sea?" Any way to know ahead of time when the other formal night will be?

Thanks,

Kim

Thank you to all of you for taking the time to respond to my question. If I am reading my paperwork correctly, the OBC (reimbursement for prepaid gratuties) is from the TA, but the drink package is provided by Celebrity, so hopefully my reservation on the website will show it eventually. If it does appear, would it be in the "My Cruise Extras" section when I am viewing my reservation?

I don't have a receipt exactly. They call it an "authorization" that spells out our deal. It shows the cabin number and price. It also lists "amenity provided by the TA: prepaid gratuities" and "Amenity provided by cruise line: A complimentary classic drink package for the 1st and 2nd passengers in the cabin from Celebrity Cruises."

I will surely bring a copy of this with me. I guess I will not worry about it, but it sure would be nice to see something in writing from Celebrity acknowledging that our reservation includes these things. Hopefully it will appear on our official Celebrity Confirmation paperwork as the TA suggests it might.

Kim

We had booked a cabin on the Celebrity Summit a couple months ago at a reduced fare through an online travel agency. Once we got word of the 123Go promo, I called to inquire about it, and we were told by that travel agent that the promotion would not apply to the group discounted rates. The difference in fare to cancel and rebook with that agent was more than the drink package was worth to us.

Out of curiosity, I called one of the other large online travel agencies advertised here on Cruise Critic. (From the hints I had read it is one that is frequently used by CC regulars.) I was quite thrilled to hear from them that I could not only book a sweet 16 balcony cabin for the exact same discounted fare, but they offered to pay our gratuities (via on board credit) and said the drink package would apply. So, I cancelled and re-booked. All seems fine, except that our reservation on the Celebrity website doesn’t show the drink package. When I asked the TA about that she said, “The drink package won’t show up as it is not an item you purchased. Your confirmation of receiving the package is in the authorization form.” So, I asked her if I called Celebrity would they be able to confirm that we have the package, and she said, “When you book through an Agency the cruise line cannot help you regarding your reservation; however, I believe the beverage package will also show on your official cruise line confirmations which you should be receiving in about 7-10 business days.”

Can anyone who has booked through a Travel Agent and received promotional goodies such as OBC or the drink packages confirm that what I am being told is correct? I guess I am getting too cynical in my old age. I can imagine standing at the check-in counter on embarkation day with a copy of my authorization arguing with the Celebrity folks about it. :)

Wow.... I had no idea that organizations charter entire cruise ships! Do you have any idea what group it is? I am just curious...

I have been reading these posts with great interest since we will be sailing with Celebrity for the first time on the Summit on April 12th. I looked on the Celebrity website, and I don't see any March 8th sailing. I might be missing one, as I am far from an expert at navigating their website, but assuming there truly is not a cruise departing that day, could it mean the ship will be receiving some maintenance that week?

By the way, thank to those who posted links to their photos and videos. Very enjoyable and informative! :)

Kim

Hi Everyone. I have spent a good deal of time this past weekend researching shore activities for our upcoming April cruisel. I love planning vacations, so this is actually fun for me (something my husband will never understand ) We are in our mid-50's, and we love to travel. Being from the west coast most of our tropical vacations have been spent in Hawaii or the Pacific coast of Mexico. We did go on one other Caribbean cruise (also out of San Juan in 2007), but only repeat ports of call on this cruise are Dominica and St. Thomas. We will also be visiting Grenada and St. Kitts this time.

We are really torn about what to do while in St. Croix. At first it seemed like an easy decision to go to Buck Island on a snorkel tour, as snorkeling is one of our favorite activities. There are numerous tour companies who receive stellar reviews. But we prefer smaller tour groups to ensure more compatibility of interests and abilities.

I have been reading about some other wonderful easily accessed snorkel beaches on the island, and I imagine there are some good local restaurants and beach bars. It appears that some car rental agencies on the island will deliver a car to you at the cruise terminal (including Avis), and I have read several places that it is easy to drive around the island.

I suspect we could also hire a private guide or taxi for the day, especially if we could find someone with similar interest to share. (I read about a company called Tan Tan tours, but after looking at their website pictures, I don't think we are their typical demographic :))

For those who have visited St. Croix before, what would you recommend? Any experience with independently exploring via rental car?

Thanks in advance.

Kim

We will be sailing aboard the Celebrity Summit April 12 - 19, and we will be spending 2 extra days post cruise in Puerto Rico. Since we most likely will not be staying in San Juan, we plan to rent a car to get around the island and to the airport for our flight home.

Does anyone have any experience renting a car in San Juan after a cruise? I am wondering if we should take a taxi from the ship to the airport car rental counters or if we should try to find an office close to the ship.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Kim

Thank you for taking the time to post a reply to my question. I think St. Croix is going to be a definite (I keep reading about Buck Island).

I am not sure that St. Thomas will work out, since I think my husband has some kind of inshore fishing trip in mind there. What would be your third choice? Grenada, St. Kitts or Dominica? We did a fabulous SCUBA dive excursion in 2007 in Dominica, but it has been quite some time since we dived, so I think it will be snorkeling only this cruise, and I don't know how suitable the reef there is for snorkeling.

We will be sailing on the Celebrity Summit out of San Juan on April 12th. Our ports of call will be: St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada and St. Thomas. If we wanted to make snorkeling the main event on 2 islands, which would be best? We are experienced snorkelers and don't mind arranging a private tour or taking a taxi to a spot on our own.

Thanks in advance.

Kim

Is it possible to send people private messages like you can on tripadvisor?

Is it against Cruise Critic rules to name here specific online Travel Agents that people are happy with? I would be very interested in some recommendations. We just booked directly with Celebrity, and although we got a sale price, we didn't get an OBC or other perks, so I should probably check around a bit.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Kim