njsweetie

Have always done excursions through Celebrity with great success and like having peace of mind. You are still giving business to locals because locals run these tours. It’s annoying the reviews are not on Celebrity’s website but I’ve been able to find them on the internet if you Google the title of the excursion.

17 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

Hoping some of you who have done this excursion have the time to read through this.

 

We are looking at this excursion and desperately want to take a leisurely sail down to the pitons. We have been in St. Lucia  before, but have not been there for probably about 15 first time on a dive boat to all of the places this mentions except Pigeon  Island, and we did pass the Pitons. Our beach was Anse Chastenet where we did the diving and snorkeling. (The way back was so gorgeous! Rainbows everywhere!) Last time in St. Lucia we went on a huge catamaran with seats lined up across the deck. Had newbies with us who loved it. I don’t remember who the tour company was but I believe we booked through Princess.  We want to do something this time very similar. 
 

The big issue for us is though is my husband can walk & can go up and down stairs, he must be careful. Very steep, uneven, rocky, terrain, or more than about  20 steps with no handrail or anything to grasp poses problems. As long as he doesn’t have to do the rough, steep trails like that he’s fine. Neither of us will be hiking up to the fort or even hiking any of the trails. He is also able to walk through the sand at a beach.
 

Important main question, do people get off the cat at a dock at Anse Chastenet? I remember accessing the boat from a dock when we were there before. I do know sometimes people have to wade or swim from a boat to access a beach. Don’t want that. My husband wouldn’t be swimming or snorkeling at the stop on the way back to the ship. He doesn’t mind just staying on the boat for a while while people, swim or snorkel. He’s done it before. I’m sure he won’t be up moving around a lot while we are sailing.
 

.My concern is also any stops at Pigeon Island. Does  one has to swim to shore? Sounds like the boat is stopped there for pretty long.

 

There is another excursion on Celebrity that heads down to the pitons. Would have to check on the same issues ,  but of course it’s been fully booked many weeks out from the cruise. Not certain what type of boat. Just don’t want to end up on something where we would have to sit or lay on the trampoline. My husband would need something with a real bench or seat.
 

Some of you mention some other companies doing a similar tour. I believe they were Mystic man and Papa boat tours. Can anyone tell me what type of vessels they had on those tours? I’m telling you, we are desperate to do another trip by water down to the pitons just to see them!  
 

Sorry for the length of this but hope some of you can supply some answers. Thanks for any more information.

We were on a catamaran with a company called Carnival Sailing. There is a dock at Pigeon Island. Never had to swim to boat. I’m sure excursion description would mention this if that was the case. People could opt to just go to the beach there. He could probably just stay on the catamaran as well. The excursion is all on the catamaran unless you opt to go on the beach at pigeon island or hike to fort. Near the pitons there was a stop for snorkeling only if one chose to. Many stayed on boat. I know nothing about Anse Chastanet. This was not a stop.

We were on a large catamaran. There is a dock at Pigeon Island. Never had to swim to boat. I’m sure excursion description would mention this if that was the case. People could opt to just go to the beach there. He could probably just stay on the catamaran as well. The excursion is all on the catamaran unless you opt to go on the beach at pigeon island or hike to fort. Near the pitons there was a stop for snorkeling only if one chose to. Many stayed on boat.

3 hours ago, Fivelinks said:

Yes! We found that great spot and a someone to snap our pic. You will love it! 

Will be going there on an excursion next month!!

19 hours ago, Fivelinks said:

I'm booked on this one next week but am anxious about motion sickness after being told the sea is rough there. Did you experience this? Also, what did they serve for lunch and was alcohol included? Thanks! 

I went 3 years ago and don’t think it was too choppy. Catamarans in general are smooth. But then again I don’t get seasick too easily. I suggest take a Dramamine beforehand if you are worried. When I went there was a full delicious Caribbean lunch on board prepared by crew and unlimited alcohol punch and maybe an open bar too (excursion description should have this info). Islander500 just went so could advise on her more recent trip.

On another note, is your profile picture at the Baths in Virgin Gorda?

On 1/8/2023 at 3:30 PM, Islander500 said:

We did this Celebrity tour today and absolutely loved it. The first boat seemed to be bigger and definitely had more people (and seemed more crowded) so we were lucky to get there at the stated meeting time (instead of early) and ended up assigned to the 2nd, smaller boat.  
 

Our catamaran was from Carnival Charters. There were around 48 of us on it but it was quite spacious and wasn’t crowded at all. You had an opportunity to change locations to sit in different spots after the stops, whether on the front deck, on the trampolines, in seats under roof or in the back facing the rear. The crew was friendly and Noella, our guide, was terrific. 

Although snorkeling equipment is available for rent (note that it’s not included) the few people who snorkeled seemed to bring their own masks. I would not say this was a snorkeling-oriented trip.  It was more of a costal cruise with stops to hike or swim. 
We booked in advance so got a great discount.  It’s actually one of the best, if not the best, ship excursion we’ve ever done.  We usually book mostly private excursions but this one is a great way to use your OBC.  
Thanks for your review, @njsweetie

I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I recall that the excursion description did not mention snorkeling which was my initial inquiry on this thread. We had brought our own gear so wouldn’t have known about any additional charge or maybe that is new. I agree, best excursion to date for us!

1 hour ago, Islander500 said:

Hi @njsweetieCan you tell us approximately how many people were on this excursion?  Also, if you have any pics of/on the boat, would love to see them. I contacted the company and they said they do charters between 85 and 165 passengers so wanted to get some idea.  That sounds like a lot of people!

I do not know how many. Large catamaran. I would say it was full. Sorry no pics of boat but here are some pictures of trip. It was great!

2 minutes ago, njsweetie said:

I use it a lot for venues, activities, deck plan, menus, wine list, hours of eateries, etc. Everything!!

And it does have a chat function but I’ve never used it.

16 hours ago, tulok said:

We are sailing on Summit this Sunday and wondering what all can we do with the app that is not noticeable. I realize it can open the door, deck plans, calendar, but can we use it to text other passengers on the ship. Or is there something you use it for that I need to know.

Thank you in advance.

I use it a lot for venues, activities, deck plan, menus, wine list, hours of eateries, etc. Everything!!

I use cruisemapper.com and ***** for free.

This is how @Peter118 spent his sea day after five  port days in a row.

12 hours ago, Texed said:

 

Beverage Package.

Thank you for clarifying. I’m a bit of a newbie. Sea day I also enjoyed my BP 4x by lunchtime starting with a mimosa 🙂

42 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Facepalm! For a split second, I was thinking you meant Blood Pressure, as in you enjoy your chilled-out, mellow Blood Pressure that comes with relaxing at sea. 

 

In far less time than it took to type this, I realized what you actually meant.

Inquiring minds want to know what BP means in this context.

After 5 port days in a row we were exhausted and just laid on the upper pool deck, drinking, eating, napping, dipping in pool and repeating, not necessarily in that order, knowing that soon we would be back at work. More sea days I may have had the energy to see what else was going on. The solarium is great too.

They must have some good sales at the end of the cruise because the shops were very crowded on our last full day, a sea day. There were some nice Kate Spade and other very attractive bags on sale. The only thing we bought was a model replica of the Summit 🙂

1 hour ago, HappySailer88 said:

I am a foodie. Love trying new food and beverages. I average 8lbs. Try to loss some weight before I go and after. Always thought that's what cruising was all about?? lol

 

Dennis 

I totally agree! And 8 pounds seems reasonable to me!

Just came back from a Summit Cruise. Select was on deck 4 and timed dining on 5. As a side note, personally I love the timed dining (late seating). As the week progressed, we built quite the rapport with our servers, sommolier and the diners nearby.

I was curious about this excursion before my 2/8/20 cruise on the Summit and now I have done it so I am posting about it for others.  This was an excellent excursion!!  Really packed in SO much!  The best excursion of our cruise! The outfit that the Celebrity used was Carnival Sailing (not related to Carnival cruise line).  We boarded the catamaran a short walk from the ship.  The crew was fantastic.  I would suggest not doing what we did by sitting in the back by the motor as I could not hear the narrative while sailing along the rugged coast to Pigeon Island.  I wish these catamarans would put a few more speakers in because this is not the first time I've had trouble hearing.  It maybe took about 30 minutes (I did not time it) to get to Pigeon Island and the bay which was was lovely and picturesque.  The boat had snorkeling gear for those that wanted to snorkel off the shore.  You could opt for just hanging out at the beach and/or snorkeling or you could hike on your own on a marked trails.  I would highly recommend the hike up to Fort Rodney!  Be warned it is pretty steep and not that easy.  Would not recommend in flip flops.  I did not have hiking shoes but I had some soled water shoes that surprisingly did the trick.  Once we got to the top the views were spectacular!  One of the crew, Elijah (Eli for short), approached us and took pictures of us together then asked if we wanted to hike even higher up, which we did.  This was rigorous over many rocks and very steep.  Even more unbelievable views from the top!  Since we would not have done this without Eli's help, we gave him a good tip.  The catamaran ended up being there longer than an hour so we even had a chance to take a dip in the beautiful ocean when we got down to the beach.  Then we did a long sail down the coast to the Pitons and had an excellent lunch prepared by the crew. Can't remember what we had but it was great and plentiful.  By now the rum punch was out, very strong and good!  We viewed the Pitons, took pictures, then went to a spot for a swim and snorkel off the boat if you chose.  We snorkeled.  While I was snorkeling, someone named Sunshine approached me in a kayak.  I was confused because I though he was with the boat, but he was not.  He said he would take me to see the fishes.  I held on back of the kayak looking down in the water with my mask and saw amazing fish, schools and schools of them.  Then we picked up my fiance and he got to see too.  I found out later that this guy comes from the village and tries to make some money by giving these little tours.  We gave him some money.  We then sailed into beautiful Marigot Bay on our way back to the cruise ship.  Rum punch flowing and music.  This was such a great tour although I felt like we in particular took advantage of the extra's by taking the long hike with Eli and 'seeing the fishes' with Sunshine.  These guys work hard so I was happy to give them some money for being our personal tour guides.

18 hours ago, smogfarmgirl said:

Taking our first cruise in about a month...yay!!! Question...I’ve seen a few people talking about the photo packages, and I’ve seen the digital package in my cruise planner. The question is...what kind of photos do they take? Is it posed pics at dinner? Or is this something we’ll want?

I definitely recommend the unlimited digital package! Especially if it is your first cruise. We got it on sale prior to our cruise for $100. Only one of us needed to sign up. This was our first Celebrity cruise and my fiancé’s very first cruise. We ended up with 52 digital photos we can download and get printed anywhere we want for I’m sure a lot less expensive than the ship’s prints. We have quite a variety of pictures... most ports, a few at dinner and many from the ‘stages’ they have set up. The background was a surprise on some of them, meaning they use a green screen at the time of photographing. I liked all but one of the backgrounds. It was the Summit Valentine’s week cruise so got some really great Valentine themed pics. I’m happy we did it!

Our cruise out of Venice is 20 months out and excursions, dining, etc. are available!

Don’t really weigh myself but we both lost at least 10 pounds prior to the cruise (my clothes were getting baggy!) so whatever we gained didn’t seem that bad. We ate and drank pretty much whatever we wanted,  without gorging, did not workout on the cruise but were very active snorkeling, swimming, etc. on port intensive cruise. Just got right back to regimen after cruise and feel good. I would recommend losing a few pounds prior if worried about gaining. There was no way I was going to diet or watch too much on the cruise. The food is great plus we had the premium drink package. Our cruise was a week long, so a longer cruise we would need to be more careful.

We upgraded from 2 to 4 perks which included upgrade from classic to premium on 11/12/19 which I assume was some Veterans Day sale. I had read about the surcharge issue. Was never notified and not sure how I would see on my invoice if I was charged. When I called Celebrity to inquire they said I would receive an OBC of $14 pp per day, so $196 and I wouldn’t see it until I boarded. They also said I could get that $196 refunded if I didn’t use it on board. Fast forward to 2/8/20 on the Summit, there was no OBC on our account at all. Guest Services knew nothing about it but contacted ‘home office’ and said I was told the wrong information but as a ‘good will’ gesture would give us a $200 OBC but we cannot get it refunded. So now we have $200 basically will need to just spend in a shop because all our shore excursions were paid for and done by the time this was figured out. I’ll admit it took us a few days to even make our way to guest services otherwise I would’ve cancelled and rebooked shore excursions with the OBC. Maybe I can convince my SO to book another cruise while on board and use it towards the deposit. I guess life could be worse but I wonder what went wrong in this process and were we really due the surcharge refund to begin with. I would rather just get a simple refund.

On 2/12/2020 at 4:37 PM, Sandra1616 said:

Hi cruisers,

 

I am thinking about going on a Celebrity cruise to the Caribbean.  I have read about dining, but I a still have questions.   All meals are included with cruise package.  Drinks can be bought in package deals.  What happens, if a person wants a second dessert or desires a snack after a shore excursion?

 

Sandra

I happen to be on my first Celebrity Cruise right now on the Summit in the Caribbean! On the app there is a button  under dining called ‘Hungry Now?’ so you can see what is open at any particular time. There is always something. While the Oceanview Cafe is open 6:30 AM - 12:30 AM, there are a few 1-2 hour gaps it is closed. There were times we were hungry after excursions (even if the excursion included lunch). One time we got burgers at the Pool Grill, which were excellent I might add. The OVC is open for snacks from 4-5 so we popped in there and had empanadas, pizza and mini smoked salmon baguettes. We did not try the OVC for late night since we have 8:30 dining. For main dining, there were nights we could not decide what to get, so ordered multiple appetizers and entrees. The portions are not massive so you have the opportunity to try a variety. Last night I had one lobster tail and duck a l’orange and my fiancé had 2 lobster tails and beef Wellington. We have been very happy with the MDR. We ate at Tuscan twice and while good, I found some things to be overly salty. Agree with others about dieting beforehand. We started after the holidays and lost quite a bit so hopefully it won’t be that difficult to shed a week of cruise eating!

I requested mine online about the 45 day mark and they were mailed to me quickly. On the subject of luggage tags, how important is It to buy the plastic tag holders I see sold on Amazon? Or are the tags themselves sturdy enough?

We will be on the Summit in 2 weeks! I’ve read that the ships hairdryers are not the greatest so I plan on bringing my own. My hairdryer is 2000 watts, more than the standard 1875. Can someone tell me if there is any problem with the electric in the cabins being able to accommodate a hair dryer this strong?