carolslc

We love the Summit. I'd say my two pet peeves are 1) chair hogs in the Solarium that are not addressed along with not enough loungers, and 2) no heated loungers in the spa with a view to the ocean like they have on the S class ships.

I still sail Summit every chance I get. I could go on and on about the positives. 🙂

I've done it before. I didn't think it was that far. I snorkel a lot though.

You have free access to the spa facilities! The heated loungers, sauna, etc. - don’t miss that. That and Blu are the primary benefits. 

We stopped there last year on a RC cruise and we loved it. The beach and water were gorgeous, and the zip line was a blast. It was a very enjoyable, relaxing and safe beach day. Celebrity however is our cruise line of choice so I hope they go back some day.

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I had cabin 1390 on my recent Navigator trip and loved it.

 

I had the option to pick 1388, but went with 1390 b/c I wasn't sure about the pole in the middle of the room. How were you with it?

I worried about the pole a bit too. We actually brought a strand of tiny battery operated LED lights to wrap around the bottom of the pole so we wouldn't run into it going to the bathroom in the middle of the night! The pole really didn't bother us, and the extra width of the room was worth it. We got a kick trying out a little pole dancing too LOL. I didn't see in 1390 but I looked at their balcony - it is very nice - I'm sure you enjoyed that and others would too.

Was there a main production show in the theatre? If so, what type of show was it? Any other types of entertainment besides the skating show? Do we need to pre-book for any of the entertainment? Who was the CD on your cruise? Thanks for answering our questions. Happy to hear that you had a wonderful cruise.

There was a show of some sort every evening in the theatre. It was either a single performer or a group (like the Three Tenors), or it was a production show with the ship dancers, singers, and orchestra. I think there were two of the latter, but we didn't go to either. Cuddy was the CD. You don't have to pre-book any entertainment.

Thanks for your thoughts! We are in that same cabin on March 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cool: We also booked Woodwind in Bonaire, so glad to hear you enjoyed it! We bought the 3-night specialty dining package, as I just love the peppered bacon appetizer at Chops!!;p Ahhhh 9 nights of heaven!!!!:halo:

I am so excited for you! This cabin is a dream. I did not want to leave. And we too were very impressed with Chops. Enjoy!

Thanks for your review! We will be going to the ABC islands in a couple of months and looking forward to the cruise. Your review mentioned that you bought the unlimited internet package surf & stream. Can you tell me the price of the package on your cruise or did you pre-purchase it before your cruise? Thank you so much.

Hi. We purchased the internet package online prior to the cruise when they were having a special. The total we were charged was $143.91. That was for one device on at a time. We just shared that one account by taking turns.

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this but for those worries about mattresses, this one was fine. It was not as good as ours at home or top hotel chain, but it was okay. It didn’t keep us from sleeping and my husband has a bad back and is picky. Yay!

The other thing I wondered about prior to the cruise was if they had chai tea lattes. They do not. They can make hot tea with a chai tea bag and add steamed milk if you ask them too. But it’s not on the menu and if you just ask for one you’ll be told they don’t have them.

The gym was very nice. My husband went every day. I went less than I intended. At some point I told myself I had the rest of my life to work out, and only a few more days to enjoy my balcony.

And if my review came off as negative, I did not intend it to be that way. We would sail RC again and definitely this ship. We would however get a specialty dining package next time.

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I’m on my balcony, enjoying our last day. I wanted to hit a few highlights I wondered about prior to this cruise for those that might have the same questions.

Cabin

We had a corner aft 1388. I hesitate to tell anyone about this cabin because I want it all for myself on every cruise. Best cabin ever. No noise from above. Our quietest cabin ever. A long walk from the elevator but we didn’t mind that. Two full size loungers, two chairs, two tables.

MDR

We had my time dining. Service was so so. Our waiters were nice but they are overworked and had trouble getting back to you as often as they should. The food quality was worse than Celebrity or Carnival. We aren’t picky and we’ve never done specialty restaurants before but we ate at Chops and Giovanni’s at end of cruise. The food ranged in the MDR from okay to poor. The specialty restaurants were great.

Entertainment

We aren’t big on shows but we went to a few. They were ok - nothing special. We did not go to the ice show but everyone said it was great.

Ports

We loved Bonaire and did the Woodwind excursion. It was outstanding. We actually really liked Labadee as well and did the zip line there. We did that first thing then got chairs on Columbus Cove. Chairs in the shade of trees and a floating mat for a while on the water. Heaven. I am probably the exception here but I wasn’t impressed with Curacao or Aruba. We like things lower key. They were ok but neither would be on my list to go back to.

Service

I found all the employees to be the friendliest and most helpful of any cruise. The ship was in fantastic shape - no complaints there. We loved the size.

Food availability

Disappointing here. The buffet hours are not adequate. There would be tons of people coming back on board on port days at 3:30 but the buffet closed at 3:30. I’ve never met pizza I didn’t like but the cafe promenade pizza was awful. I don’t eat many carbs and there are no options for anything healthy in the afternoons to snack on. Just bad pizza and sandwiches. I would grab cheese slices from the buffet and kept them in a plastic bag in our fridge. We never did room service. Not because of the cost but the menu just didn’t tempt me. I usually did breakfast at cafe promenade - coffee, fruit, and oatmeal. I had the refreshment package. I took plastic bags and foil to bring food back to my cabin to eat and save food in the fridge. I’m glad I did.

Internet

We had the unlimited surf and stream. It worked great for email, FaceTime, WiFi texting. Didn’t try to stream a movie. We had great access everywhere around the ship including our balcony. Best ever on a cruise.

Our objective for this cruise was to disconnect and relax. It was just me and my husband. We did no trivia, games, gambling, so can’t comment on those.

Chair hogs

Having our own loungers meant I didn’t have to deal with this insanity. People had their stuff on Solarium chairs early in the morning then would come back later to actually sit. You couldn’t get a chair in the shade anywhere that we could see unless you went early in the morning, or late afternoon.

Overall

Pros - cabin, service

Cons - food - quality and availability

I’m happy to answer questions if I can.

Carol

Hi—just saw this post and would like to ask you, why, when you usually cruise Celebrity, did you choose RCCL for this cruise? And looking at the date of the post, you should be now close to cruising! Would love to hear your response Carolslc, as we too cruise Celebrity. Thanks and have a great cruise!

 

 

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Thank you! I'll definitely let you know. I think I'm already going to hate checking towels in and out, lack of food late in the evenings, and if I can't actually get a robe?...but we shall see. I booked RCCL because I wanted to see the ABCs and Celebrity didn't have this itinerary, or if they did, it was on a much longer cruise. On this one, I could see the ABC's in 9 nights. We still have kids at home and can't be gone for 14+ days. I was also able to get an aft balcony for the cost of a regular balcony, not a suite, on this ship. I'm fairly positive I will love the room and balcony. So I will have a good time regardless.

Thanks so much for the review. Regarding Indian food in the MDR, could you request it when you arrived that evening, or did you need to request it for a future night? In other words, how much notice do they need? I love Indian food and was planning to do this at least one evening. Thank you!

Best times to check in without lines are 10:30 - 11:30 and after 1:30....

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm curious whether this is true for Miami as well?

Our pregnant daughter was minutes away from booking to go on our Caribbean cruise in Feb with us when she thought about Zika. She decided not to go. I've never been bitten or even seen a mosquito on the cruise ship, but I recommend asking your doctor. Do you have trip insurance?

Do they do the nachos on Adventure? Grandeur did nachos with melted cheese and fixing late at night. My kids loved it.

There are nachos on the room service menu for the $7.95 charge.

I actually forgot to mention a major disappointment for us was the pizza. In my opinion it was terrible. If you have been on the Oasis of the Seas and liked Sorrentos pizza, prepare to be disappointed. This is honestly the 1st cruise I have ever taken where no matter how hard I tried I couldn't enjoy the pizza. It was that bad. No flavor and it actually made me sick to my stomach for some reason. I tried 3 times to like it (different types)!

 

To satisfy my late night cravings I started going with the sandwiches instead. While not great, they were pretty decent. I am not vegetarian but I do remember liking the vegetarian sandwich.

This makes me sad! I noticed the Windjammer is not open late. We like to eat an early dinner, go to a show, then have a second small meal later in the evening, then go dancing or listen to live music. I was counting on pizza! That was my favorite go-to late snack on both Celebrity and Carnival.

This is our first time on RC, but on Celebrity with an afternoon flight, we vacated the cabin by the time requested (8-8:30), went to the buffet and got our food and drinks and had a leisurely breakfast at a table by a window. We then walked off the ship around 9:30. In Puerto Rico, we went to a restaurant that had a luggage hold option and walked around Old Town and toured a fort before time for the airport. I've never waited in an appointed area on the ship. When we have an earlier flight, we do self assist when it opens.

We have a 1:30 pm flight out of Miami for the Navigator. I'm planning to be out of the cabin at 8, then head to Windjammer, and have a nice leisurely breakfast before leaving. I guess we'll see how crazy it is when we get there. I know the MDR is still serving breakfast then too so we could do that as well.

Thanks so much for the review and the departure flyers. This is our first time on RC. On Celebrity, we were out of the cabin by 8 but then went to the buffet, got our breakfast and drinks, then enjoyed a seat with a view and a leisurely meal until about 9:30-10 and time to leave. Will they require us to wait in the theater/dining room? Thanks!

I have not been to any of these places yet, but we're going in a few weeks and I love beach days, and we always have to have an umbrella. We are going to Eagle just because it won't be quite as crowded, but Palm is supposed to have easier access to services. With a one year old, that might be the best bet. Arashi sounds good, but I wasn't sure about access to umbrellas. Maybe someone else can comment. Good luck!

Thanks for the update, and for my new craving for bread pudding. What was the explanation of why you didn't stop in Labadee?

I'm loving your report - thank you. In 3 weeks, we'll be on the Navigator, same itinerary. I'm impressed with the speed you got on the ship.

Why would they not stop in Labadee due to weather? The weather there looks fine - partly cloudy in the morning with chance of showers later in the day. Did you run into weather on the way from Miami? I'll be sad if we don't stop. Of course, no port stops are guaranteed.

Things I bring that are different than other vacations: highlighter for daily list of activities, clothespins to hang up clothes to dry on the bathroom line and balcony chairs, battery powered clock for the room (may be no place to plug in your phone next to the bed), variety of OTC meds, lanyard with clear plastic holder for sea pass, travel laundry soap to wash out things in the sink. Beach bag or backpack for port days but also to carry a few things up to the pool. We bring our own snorkel gear too. Have fun!

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Last I heard she said if we took the 175 per cabin obc that the price of our cruise would go up. I asked her to send me comparison figures.

 

Yes, you do have to look at total cost. The cruise line may offer promotions after you've booked but I've found that typically they increase the base cost so total cost is the same or even more. However, once I calculated the total cost for a new promotion and it was a few hundred dollars less. I called the TA, and she re-booked us at the lower rate. She said she watches those and was about to contact me to get it done.

When I've priced it, I got extra OBC booking through a large agency that specializes in cruises. Even for my first cruise when I booked with a local agent, I got extra OBC. For my current cruise, I told the agent I wanted to go to the ABCs and wanted an aft balcony, and gave her a range of dates. Any cruiseline. She did all the legwork and found us our next cruise. I can still book all my dining reservations, excursions, etc myself online. I did book once directly with the cruise line but I'm the opposite - I didn't see the advantage in doing it that way when I've seen benefits using a TA. I say find another one if you're not getting any benefit.

Thanks for the review! Did the ship change to local time for the ABCs, or stay on Miami time? Thanks!