My Summit review (sailed out of Bayonne to Bermuda June 3-10)

We live about 20 minutes from the Bayonne cruise port and this was our 1st time out of that port and on Celebrity.

Bayonne cruise port was about what we expected. There is nothing to do there other than board the ship, but it is clean and easy to get to. We arrived around 12:00pm and parked in the outside lot. I had no concerns about leaving our car there for the week (it was $140) for parking when we got back which we were aware of.

Embarkation was smooth and quick, there wasn't much of a line at that time. Our original intention was to get on board by 10:30am but on the plus side, we were told our cabin was already ready when we checked in! And, since we carried on all our luggage there was no waiting for anything.

Based upon previous reviews I had concerns about the condition of the ship, but we were very pleasantly surprised. Yes there was chipping paint here and there but everything was impeccably clean and I would not hesitate to book another cruise on her tomorrow!

We were in Aqua class cabin 9062 (Aqua guarantee and that's what we got). Cabin steward was excellent. I did year noise from above almost every evening --- one night I would have SWORN they were bowling --- but my DH the sound sleeper heard nothing. Would I pick a different cabin location if I booked again - yes, did it ruin my vacation - no!

We are lounge lizards and didn't pursue much of the activities on board other then shopping and casino. Saw a comedian one night - Daryl, and he was really funny. The cellist and violinist duo at Cellar Masters were outstanding. The band at the pool was okay. Not great, but not horrible either.

We had beautiful weather every day --- couldn't have been happier considering it's been raining in NJ for about 6 months.

We had dinner in Blu every night. The staff was wonderful. A few meals were outstanding, others were not. My suggestion it to listen to your waiters recommendations --- I did not one evening and was sorely disappointed in my meal.

Don't fret about the dress code. To the chic night I wore a white denim mini skirt and a nice top with strappy sandals and was fine. Likewise my husband wore dockers with casual (closed toe) shoes and a short sleeved collard shirt and we were fine --- even overdressed compared to some other folks if you ask me.

We took the bus in Bermuda 2 days. Once to Hamilton for shopping and once to the beach. Of the entire trip the worst part I thought was waiting for the bus. There needs to be some sort of system of ropes or whatever for folks to line up in an orderly fashion. On both days people really exhibited poor manners pushing and shoving in front of others. I should mention there was another ship in port when we were but Bermuda mass transit may want to think about doing more to accommodate the tourists out of the port via bus.

Due to a significant price drop just days after we booked (and paid in full) we were able to upgrade to the Go Best package which included the $300 OBC, Premium Bev pkg w/ gratuities, Prepaid gratuities, and Unlimited Internet. Internet service was sort of sporadic --- I'd have been REALLY annoyed if we had selected and paid for it but we didn't so it was what it was --- just beware. Upgrading to the Premium Bev package was great --- we didn't have to think at all about what we were ordering, and no signing receipts either. Very convenient and it made our vaca feel like more of an 'all-inclusive', especially where specialty coffees and martinis were considered.

That's all I can think of for now --- I welcome any questions!

Thanks for your review!

We had dinner in Blu every night. The staff was wonderful. A few meals were outstanding, others were not. My suggestion it to listen to your waiters recommendations --- I did not one evening and was sorely disappointed in my meal.

My suggestion is take your waiters advice. But, if you want to really try the swamp frog, order it as a second entre. Just go for both.

My suggestion is take your waiters advice. But, if you want to really try the swamp frog, order it as a second entre. Just go for both.

Loved your review....we're doing this cruise on Anthem as a family reunion in July, 2019. Funny thing though, on one of our previous cruises the only bad meal we had was the night we did NOT take our waiter's advice. We were on Eclipse and at the time one of the "special" nights was a menu of "Top Chef" selections. Our waiter suggested we go with the "order any time chicken or beef", but nooo we went for the Top Chef menu and it was dreadful!!! Our waiter felt so bad when we sent back dessert (pecan pie that you needed a steak knife to cut into) that he brought my daughter and I big slabs of the fabulous chocolate mousse cake with 2 scoops of ice-cream....served with a smile and an "I told you so". :D

Loved your review....we're doing this cruise on Anthem as a family reunion in July, 2019. Funny thing though, on one of our previous cruises the only bad meal we had was the night we did NOT take our waiter's advice. We were on Eclipse and at the time one of the "special" nights was a menu of "Top Chef" selections. Our waiter suggested we go with the "order any time chicken or beef", but nooo we went for the Top Chef menu and it was dreadful!!! Our waiter felt so bad when we sent back dessert (pecan pie that you needed a steak knife to cut into) that he brought my daughter and I big slabs of the fabulous chocolate mousse cake with 2 scoops of ice-cream....served with a smile and an "I told you so". :D

Sounds like we both learned our lesson! ;)

We are going in a month from now, same deal on the upgrade to Aqua when the price dropped so I am glad to hear you enjoyed it.

One question, currency. Did you change US$ for Bermuda$ or did you just use US$?

We live about 20 minutes from the Bayonne cruise port and this was our 1st time out of that port and on Celebrity.

 

Bayonne cruise port was about what we expected. There is nothing to do there other than board the ship, but it is clean and easy to get to. We arrived around 12:00pm and parked in the outside lot. I had no concerns about leaving our car there for the week (it was $140) for parking when we got back which we were aware of.

 

Embarkation was smooth and quick, there wasn't much of a line at that time. Our original intention was to get on board by 10:30am but on the plus side, we were told our cabin was already ready when we checked in! And, since we carried on all our luggage there was no waiting for anything.

 

Based upon previous reviews I had concerns about the condition of the ship, but we were very pleasantly surprised. Yes there was chipping paint here and there but everything was impeccably clean and I would not hesitate to book another cruise on her tomorrow!

 

We were in Aqua class cabin 9062 (Aqua guarantee and that's what we got). Cabin steward was excellent. I did year noise from above almost every evening --- one night I would have SWORN they were bowling --- but my DH the sound sleeper heard nothing. Would I pick a different cabin location if I booked again - yes, did it ruin my vacation - no!

 

We are lounge lizards and didn't pursue much of the activities on board other then shopping and casino. Saw a comedian one night - Daryl, and he was really funny. The cellist and violinist duo at Cellar Masters were outstanding. The band at the pool was okay. Not great, but not horrible either.

 

We had beautiful weather every day --- couldn't have been happier considering it's been raining in NJ for about 6 months.

 

We had dinner in Blu every night. The staff was wonderful. A few meals were outstanding, others were not. My suggestion it to listen to your waiters recommendations --- I did not one evening and was sorely disappointed in my meal.

 

Don't fret about the dress code. To the chic night I wore a white denim mini skirt and a nice top with strappy sandals and was fine. Likewise my husband wore dockers with casual (closed toe) shoes and a short sleeved collard shirt and we were fine --- even overdressed compared to some other folks if you ask me.

 

We took the bus in Bermuda 2 days. Once to Hamilton for shopping and once to the beach. Of the entire trip the worst part I thought was waiting for the bus. There needs to be some sort of system of ropes or whatever for folks to line up in an orderly fashion. On both days people really exhibited poor manners pushing and shoving in front of others. I should mention there was another ship in port when we were but Bermuda mass transit may want to think about doing more to accommodate the tourists out of the port via bus.

 

Due to a significant price drop just days after we booked (and paid in full) we were able to upgrade to the Go Best package which included the $300 OBC, Premium Bev pkg w/ gratuities, Prepaid gratuities, and Unlimited Internet. Internet service was sort of sporadic --- I'd have been REALLY annoyed if we had selected and paid for it but we didn't so it was what it was --- just beware. Upgrading to the Premium Bev package was great --- we didn't have to think at all about what we were ordering, and no signing receipts either. Very convenient and it made our vaca feel like more of an 'all-inclusive', especially where specialty coffees and martinis were considered.

 

That's all I can think of for now --- I welcome any questions!

Thanks for the review.

Two questions:

You had a “Aqua guarantee” cabin but also said inext time you would pick a different location. Do you mean with a “guarantee” category you can actually choose the cabin and location?

Did you do any shore excursions in Burmuda? Any you can recommend?

Happy cruising!

king

We are going in a month from now, same deal on the upgrade to Aqua when the price dropped so I am glad to hear you enjoyed it.

 

One question, currency. Did you change US$ for Bermuda$ or did you just use US$?

Anything we bought we did so with US$. We were told on the ship the exchange rate was dollar for dollar.

Anything we bought we did so with US$. We were told on the ship the exchange rate was dollar for dollar.

Thanks. Did that cover buses and taxis too?

Thanks for the review.

Two questions:

You had a “Aqua guarantee” cabin but also said inext time you would pick a different location. Do you mean with a “guarantee” category you can actually choose the cabin and location?

Did you do any shore excursions in Burmuda? Any you can recommend?

Happy cruising!

king

Once we confirmed the Aqua "guarantee" our cabin was assigned within 24 hours. This may not always happen. My understanding is that once your cabin is assigned, you could contact your travel agent or the cruise line if booked directly to request to be moved to another available cabin in your same category.

We booked rather last minute so didn't have time to pre plan excursions and most were sold out by the time we got to Bermuda. And besides, we were just going to 'wing it' and wander around. But... if we go back, we already decided we'd do a catamaran ride (sunset cruise, etc). Maybe the seadoos as they looked like fun. We're not history buffs and were coming out of a hectic time at home so we really didn't want to do much of anything except relax. :cool:

Thanks. Did that cover buses and taxis too?

We did not use taxi's. We bought bus tokens with US$. You can buy them in the cruise port area. A lot of people bought the more expensive multi-day multi-ride passes. We weren't sure what we wanted to do so we just bought tokens as we went along. I don't remember exactly b/c my husband paid, but I think a bus trip (1-way) was $4.50 per person or 9 bucks round trip.

Anything we bought we did so with US$. We were told on the ship the exchange rate was dollar for dollar.

Just be aware that many will try to give you change in Bermuda currency. You may have to ask for US change and hope they have it.

Thanks again for the info. We are looking forward to the kind of trip you had, kicked back and relaxed. Most of our cruises in recent years have been in Europe where we go day after day after day, this one is just about getting away and celebrating DW's mile stone birthday.