saatuk

I am looking at the 4th of July 2017 cruise on the Celebrity Summit.

 

With it being a little on the expensive side, I was just wondering if anyone has cruised on this ship and any thoughts on it. I am still trying to decide if it might be worth the cost.

I haven't been on Summit, but have been on sister ships Infinity and Constellation. It's a size I like (approx 2000 pax). It's large enough to have pretty much anything I want but small enough I don't feel lost at any stage. Celebrity has a bit more cosmopolitan crews than some lines, which I also enjoy.

Hope this is of some help.

Bryan

LOL... Quite possibly! That was the sailing where we ran out of the house red wines before we even began the return TA.

I suspect that you and Ann had something to do with that, Lonny. :)

I'll again be on the Atlantic Adventure and try to maintain the tradition.

Bryan

Question - The daily retail value states “$50 per guest per day, including service charges”. If the cost of the 15 beverages in one day is over $50, do I have to pay the difference?

 

No.

on other ships I have heard them announce solo meetings over the tannoy so will listen up for those as well.

You will find there are very few announcements by the cruise director on Celebrity - it's one of their best points. I have seen a solo get-together for lunch on both Constellation and Infinity, but they were very laid-back and really not organized and only once per cruise.

Yeah I just don't want to meet them at dinner where you're stuck with awkward conversation for a whole meal. If I meet someone around the ship and hit it off, great, but not somewhere I can't just leave when I want. I hate dinner small talk.

Interesting. One of the things I like about cruising solo is having others to eat with. I detest eating alone in a restaurant. I've had some very good times with traditional dining tablemates.

 

Or is this smoking gun evidence of the perception that the HAL clientele is older being true and maybe less online oriented? Heck, even my almost 90 yo dad is on his computer most of the day.

 

The difference so so striking there must be a reason. :confused: I'm speculating there is a critical mass needed to make a Roll Call useful otherwise people don't use them and HAL cruises don't hit that level.

In my experience it varies a lot. I'm on one roll call right now that's over 100 pages and the cruise doesn't begin for 3 months. I've also been on ones that only a handful of people frequent. (shrugs). I don't think it's cruise line dependant.

The problem with roll calls is they all tell you to join a facebook group. I don't necessarily want everyone on facebook to know my vacation plans.

That's never happened on one of my roll calls. Trying to send people to facebook is also specifically against Cruise Critic rules.

Further to POA1's comment, just because you get a wine today doesn't mean they'll have it tomorrow. My last cruise they ran out of two of the navigator reds very early on . The substitutes weren't always similar either. I asked the cellar master why they substituted a typical Southern France Syrah/Garnacha for the Bordeaux instead of a Bordeaux blend and the reason was price.

T

 

I also suspect that all Cruise Lines have a Plan B for muster if the primary muster site is untenable, be it a major storm affecting the promenade deck or a fire near one of the lounges where an inside muster is held. I wouldn't be surprised if HAL's plan B is very similar to Cunard's plan A and in that case making the switch would be pretty easy.

 

Roy

My last cruise on Rotterdam at drill time the wind was very strong with heavy rain (basically rain coming sideways) and the port side wasn't usable. Port side drill was in the theater. Starboard side was under the lifeboats as usual.

In the theater they allotted a seating area for each lifeboat.

The new pizza on ships with the Marketplace is reportedly vastly superior. It's made-to-order.

I agree. The New York pizza on my last Rotterdam cruise was the best I've had on a ship.

My ideal cruise would be... port day, sea day - port day, sea day. Haven't found it yet, though.:D

That's my favourite as well. I did a cruise down the Pacific side of South America and that was pretty much how it was. Just lovely.

On Rotterdam they play in the Crow's Nest and in December when I was on the ship they were playing to very small audiences. There weren't a lot of drinks being sold.

Just FWIW if you want exercise - I walked briskly from the ship to the castle entry in 35 minutes. Going up to the castle there was a good display of Lantana flowers (late November).

I used Spain Day Tours. Some people on my cruise used them in all Spain and Portuguese ports. I was tempted to do the train, but since friends were doing the excursion with SDT, I went along.

FYI, Santiago de la Compostela, is inland and the temperatures can be different. We left the ship at about 10C and SdlC was 0C at arrival. Many didn't have enough clothes on (this was late Nov)

I was just aboard the ms Rotterdam, disembarking this past Sunday. It was a fantastic cruise! I must say, the Lido Marketplace aboard this ship was the BEST Lido ever. Every meal we had there was excellent, both in taste and in the service we received. I found the crew to be the happiest I've ever seen.

 

Sections are now: Bread Board, Distant Lands, Wild Harvest, Homestead, a Carving section, and Sweet Spot.

 

In the past, we have experienced very long lines continually in the Lido, but not this time.

 

I was also on this cruise and agree pretty much with everything said; the Lido worked very well. The New York Pizza custom made pizzas were excellent.

Just to add to the different variations, last year on the Maasdam Atlantic Adventure those of us who boarded in Civitavecchia were the only ones who had to go to the drill there, and since there were only 80 of us, all the port side people went to one lifeboat, no matter which one assigned, and the same for those with starboard lifeboats.

Yes, there are different ways of doing it . . .

Also, don't shun the HAL excursions. By the time you take the third excursion, you will find the same people on your bus, since you obviously have similar interests. From that point it is easy to plan to get together on your own at other ports.

Good idea, Lonny. I hadn't thought of that

On the off chance someone might be interested in the original Cartagena, I was there late Nov-early Dec and was really impressed. The center of the city is pedestrianized and many of the streets are done in marble. All of the buildings are in good condition as are the Roman theater and Forum. It is nice and compact and even outside the large pedestrianized section very well-kept. I'm pleased I just walked around and didn't do an excursion.

so you can go off on your own?

Certainly. There are 1 person and 2 person kayaks for rent. There's a watersports place on the beach where you can rent various things - sailboats, water bikes, paddle boats, kayaks etc. I'm unsure why others answered your question with excursion information.

As I said, though, there are limits. Looking at the ship from the beach you can't go left more than a few hundred feet because of the tendering. Going right you can go to the point but that's it.

When you rent a kayak on Half Moon Cay can you take it anywhere around the island that you like? Do you rent for the day, or by the hour? Just thinking of the places we could go if we rented a kayak for the day. Thanks for thoughts.

I've only used a kayak on the sea. Rental is about 25 per hour. You're not allowed to go near the tender operation, and you can only go the other way to the point on that side. If you go to the point and back it'll probably take about an hour.

Perhaps a slight hijack of the thread here, but how do they conduct the emergency drill on a 'partial cruise' when only a small percentage of the passengers are embarking? This is going to happen on my next cruise - part of the current Maasdam Atlantic Adventure. Some of us, my guess is about 20% will embark at Civitavecchia while most of the pax are in Rome, Herculaneum, etc. with a 9 pm departure. I can't imagine that they'll make the continuing pax take part, and I also have trouble understanding how they'd do the 3 stage procedure with the noobies. Any insight?

Hi, I'm also from the UK.

 

When I was on Journey recently, I mentioned to Cindy in Future Sales that the UK website was only showing the solo deals for 2014. She printed out an updated list for me.

 

I booked on board for the Journey TA in November 2015 and got what I consider to be a good deal. 125% solo supplement, Double Cabin Upgrade, OBC and other perks. :)

I'm booked on that one too. That means there are at least a couple of solos. I wish they'd do 125% on all cruises.

Bryan

Sounds like a good range of entertainment. I hope they're all still there when I board at Civitavecchia.

Azamara is running 125% on 'selected cruises'. I just booked the Nov 2015 TA on Azamara Journey at the 125% rate.

On one of the lines we sail -- (I don't remember who) - the cabin waste cans are rectangular and inside this this a separate divided slot for paper, it holds

the junk mail perfectly. I'm sure it's a real time saver.

HAL does this and maybe others do too. But ghstudio certainly has the right idea - a bin outside the door for spam.