Summit 2Jan2016 Trip Report - SJU & Southern Caribbean "Explorer" Itinerary

Summit post-New Years cruise (Jan. 2nd, 2016) out of San Juan

San Juan - Tortola - Sea - Dominica - Martinique - St. Kitts, St. Thomas, San Juan

Background:

DW and I are young professionals, both in our early 30s, from WNY and have started to become regular cruisers. We've cruised the Bahamas/Caribbean multiple times before, including out of San Juan w/Princess in 2008, Jewel OTS in Dec. 2013, and Summit in Dec. 2014. We're not highly sporty, but do enjoy light hiking, snorkeling, and a little adventure. We are not gourmet foodies, but have dined at a few famous restaurants and eat out regularly (but also are cool with hitting up a chain casual restaurant for dinner when we're feeling too lazy to cook). We also don't normally drink all that much, but booked during the 123Go promotion so we got to experience the Classic "booze it or lose it" drink package. We also were cruising with my parents who we met up with in SJU as we had different preferred airlines.

Pre-cruise travel & Embarkation (Day 0):

We flew out the day before (New Years Day) to provide some protection against travel delays. We did carry travel insurance, and thankfully didn't need to use it. We touched down in SJU around 11:50 PM that evening, and were in our room at the Sheraton Convention Center hotel and by about 12:30 AM (taxi from airport was $19+tip for 2 people and 2 bags).

San Juan - Embarkation (Day 1):

We got up early and poked around the hotel for a bit. We headed to the ship about 11 AM, and got checked in almost immediately - I think from arrival roadside to our welcome glass of bubbly took under a half hour. We did get to use the priority registration line (which probably saved us 15-20 minutes) due to my mother's "Select" status. We basically headed straight to the buffet for an early lunch. We then relaxed on deck 5 until they cleared us to get into our rooms, about 1-ish.

We were in a C2 concierge class room, 8080 and my parents were in 8086. These are basically a verandah room but you get the concierge perks. These perks seemed to amount to: a bottle of bubbly awaiting you in your room, the addition of fried eggs to your breakfast room service options, a pair of binoculars to use during the cruise, a free canvas duffel, a free leather wallet thing, and access to a concierge (plus *priority disembarkation). I did request extra metal hangers so I could hang most of my shirts, and there was plenty of storage space for our needs.

We were in B1 for the emergency drill, which had a meeting spot in the photo gallery. If you’re not in a proper lounge, be prepared to stand a while. It was probably a 20+ minute wait hanging around with the crowd. I didn’t see a single chair for this, thankfully I was against the wall to lean on.

Tortola (Day 2)

We arrived in Tortola where we did the Tour to Virgin Gorda Baths through Celebrity. It was a relatively early morning so we could grab breakfast at the buffet, followed by meeting out tour group in the Rendez Vous lounge around 8:45. We were escorted to the pier, where we grabbed a water taxi ferry over to Virgin Gorda. It was about a 25 minute ferry ride, and they handed out bottled water towards the end of the ride over. It was then a quick open air bus up to the top of the baths, a quick orientation talk and then we were taken down to the smaller beach. We hung out there for ~45 mins, and then were escorted through the caves over to the other (larger) beach. The hike through the caves isn’t too strenuous, but does require some bending and careful walking in some slippery spots. After another hour or so at the beach, we were rounded up, taken back to the ferry, and then delivered back to the ship.

We grabbed a very late lunch (I think we made the buffet between 2:30 and 3, where they were technically closed but still had some foods out), relaxed in the cabin, and then went to the show and then 2nd seating dinner.

Sea Day (Day 3)

Our sea day was a relaxed day, with the CC meetup in the explorer’s lounge at 9:30 AM. I got to meet a few people from our roll call, they had juices and coffees there, and the senior staff (including Capt. Kate!) and cruise director Ken were there to introduce themselves and answer questions. After being introduced to them all, I was impressed by how visible senior staff were on this cruise, I saw the head of guest relations and hotel services every single day!

If you’re a returning guest with Celebrity, keep an eye out for various speciality events. My parents as Select level guests were invited to a behind the scenes tour of the theater, and invited us to tag along. It was a very cool tour, hosted by two of the performers, and included seeing dressing rooms and being shown the costume areas, etc…

The sea day is the only days where a sit down lunch in the MDR is offered, so we took advantage of that, and then did a 2pm wine tasting at the Cellar Masters wine bar. The tasting is $20+gratuities/pp, lasts 1 hour, and features 12 wines (6 red, 6 white) to taste from different regions. This event was larger than last year, and the sommeliers weren’t as informative as I’d remembered. It’s a good opportunity though to taste a lot of different wines, and I ended up quitting around the 40 minute mark and asked for a larger pour of one of the reds I liked (’13 Caymus Cabernet) - I managed to get through the first glass and get a final glass before the tasting ended.

Dinner on the sea day was the first “evening chic” night. People were dressed across a range, maybe a tad less dressed up than formal night, but I think it changed the distribution of what people were wearing more than resulting in less formal attire… in other words we saw the range from tuxes to jeans, with fewer tuxes than during “formal” nights, a tad less jackets/ties, more slacks and button downs, and a few more jeans.

Dominica (Day 4)

We were docked at the secondary pier in Dominica, Woodbridge. There’s not much there, is very utilitarian looking, and requires a taxi to get to any of the shops. We’d been to Dominica before, so not a major loss to us, but not a great way to meet the island for the first time.

We opted to do the Champagne Reef Snorkel through Celebrity - we met at the pier (waited an extra 30 minutes while they sailed the boat from the other port where they’d accidentally went) and then boarded a catamaran for the snorkeling excursion. This snorkel tour was marked for strong swimmers, and the water is a bit rougher since it’s an open water snorkel rather than a protected cover or bay. The reef was interesting, and the “wall” was neat though pretty deep to really be able to see all that much. The tour group was something like 48 people, spread between 2 guides, so as snorkel trips go this felt a little big and unwieldy. My parents did the Hot Springs and Titou Gorge excursion (RO52) and really enjoyed it. Apparently, the hot springs facility at Wotten Waven has been changed this past fall (2015), so if you’ve been to Dominica a few years ago this might be a new experience.

Woodbridge had a small straw market in a warehouse at the pier, so we poked through there and then started to walk towards Roseau. I recommend NOT walking to Roseau from Woodbridge. The sidewalk ends, and you end up walking dangerously close to the street (and through a rundown area of town). We ended up quitting the walk and headed back without getting to the town center.

Evening was a show and dinner.

Martinique (Day 5)

We did the Discover Martinique tour through the shore excursion desk. This included a drive through town, a visit to the local cathedral, a visit to Balata Gardens, and Clement House. The tour guide was a bust, she didn’t really narrate along the drives, and she didn’t have any information to share for either the gardens or plantation. The church was on a hilltop and had a great view, though built like a European cathedral it was showing the wear and tear much more than we’d expected. Balata Gardens was fun, with beautiful scenery and a really cool aerial walkway (suspended rope bridges over parts of the garden). Clement house is a historic sugar plantation with information placards available at sites along the walk - however a decent number of the placards were in French only (~40%). The tour ended in the gift shop where they were pouring various rums and bottled rum cocktails to taste. They were willing to pour their XO, and “historic” blends that included some >30 year old rums as part of the tasting, so two thumbs up for that! Bus ride back from CH took about 35 minutes, and ended a ~8 minute walk from the ship (walking through a shopping plaza and along the pier).

Evening was, drum roll……… a show and dinner. :)

St. Kitts (Day 6)

We opted to make St. Kitts an independent beach day. We disembarked after a lazy morning around 10:30 AM, and went to the taxi stand to get a (shared) taxi to Cockleshell beach. We had picked this beach in advance because it was where a past beach excursion through RCI had taken us. Shared taxi is $7pp one-way, and they’ll pre arrange a return pickup time based on the majority decision for the group. If you think you want to go back at a different time, they’ll collect your money in the AM, and you’re free to just join a group going back around when you want to leave. We left the beach a little after 1, and it was no problem just tagging along with a van headed back to pier. The wait at the harbor was only 10 minutes for a van, and probably another 5-10 mins from beach back.

Cockleshell beach was fun, but a bit crowded. We ended up at the Reggae beach bar where chairs were something like $10/each and were under umbrellas. The beach felt safe, only 1 or 2 vendors strolled through during the couple hours we were there, bar was nearby (with servers wandering through periodically), and water sport equipment available to rent. Aside from being a bit crowded, this was a solid beach. The beach bar also had free wi-fi that had a pretty decent bandwidth as some of our friends used it to make some voip calls back home.

After a few hours at the beach, we opted to head back to the ship for a late lunch and to meet my parents to walk around St. Kitts. We made it in to their Independence Square (a few blocks walk from the cruise terminal), then headed back and shopped our way through the cruise terminal and back to the ship. Many of the shops and bars in the terminal advertised wi-fi and cheap ($2) beers.

Evening was… wait for it, a show and dinner. This however was the 2nd “chic” night, attire was about the same, and this is the night they served lobster and beef wellington. In a change on dining procedure though, they required you to basically finish one entree before they allowed a 2nd entree order (for those who like 2 lobster tails, or a DIY surf and turf). We were allowed to order 2 tails and 1 beef wellington between DW and I so that we could construct our surf and turf, though ymmv depending on your waiter.

St. Thomas (Day 7)

We hopped a cab from Havensight to Emerald Beach ($7pp one way). Chairs were $6-7 each from the dreadlocked guy closer to Beach Comber bar; or $7 under the palm trees, or $10 if they were under the umbrellas if you buy from the guy nearer to Emerald Beach Resort. The beach had two bars, and food was cheaper at the beach comber bar/restaurant (A burger was ~$12, and included a side) than at the bar/restaurant attached to the Emerald Beach Resort. Drinks are not cheap here though (bottled water was $2, local beers $5).

A beautiful beach, with some intermittent noise from a nearby airport. With only 1 ship in port, supposedly less crowded than Sapphire beach or Magen's bay, even when multiple ships are in town. It’s a small beach though, and I was told it was pretty crowded the day before when there were 4 ships in port.

Evening was the final show (Sirens) and dinner. Followed by the dreaded suitcases by the door in preparation for curtain call early the next morning.

Disembarkation (Day 8):

Disembarkation was pretty straight forward, we met in the Explorers lounge that was specified for Concierge and Aqua class rooms. There was nobody announcing boarding groups (though the PA was announcing in blocks of 5-10). We eventually wandered up and asked when we should go and were told that C/Aq rooms could disembark at their leisure, so we headed down about 9 AM (even though we were group 34 and scheduled for 9:30). To disembark you head to deck 4, scan your card, and head into the port terminal to find your bags and get in line for Customs and Border Patrol. The lines for the CBP were pretty long, but there was an option to request assistance from a porter, which landed you in a much shorter line. Following CBP, we walked out to a waiting taxi stand where we were immediately loaded in and sent off to our destination (in this case Doubletree Hilton). From the hotel the group split, with my parents heading to the airport for a 2:30p flight, while we hung out and flew home the next AM.

Airport:

Saturday 2:30 PM flight - from curb to gate was something like 1h 45m, with no priority status and potentially a little delay on getting bearing at the airport.

Sunday 8:00 AM flight - from curb to gate was probably running closer to 55-60m. We had TSA recheck, and priority status for Delta and were curb to gate in under a half hour.

Airport had duty free shops, with liquor being post TSA so you can carry on rather than needed to check it in your luggage.

SJU has now added both TSA precheck and priority/first class lines, a pleasant change from our last flight out of SJU in Dec ’14. A reminder also that the airport requires USDA agriculture checks, near the doors into the terminal are the checkpoints where you load your luggage on an x-ray machine and they slap an orange sticker on the bag. You can’t check your bag without this, so make sure you do that first thing!!!

Dining Experiences:

-Dining in the MDR was definitely up to expectations, and we were pleased with the food quality. Unfortunately, service has now been scaled back to 3 courses (Starter, entree, dessert). I routinely ordered 2 apps, and a few times ordered 3 and was never denied. Several of us at the table also ordered 2 entrees during the week, and this was also no problem. Escargot was available every night, and lobster was served the 2nd formal night.

-I recommend against ordering cocktails in the MDR. I had a martini one night, and it took a good 10 minutes to arrive and was getting warm by then. If you need to order anything, I suggest on the rocks, be prepared to wait, and it probably makes huge amounts of work for someone to run and get (relative to having wine)

-Buffet food was very well executed although pretty much the same menu all week long. One oddity was that the starboard vs port breakfast options were almost, but not quite, completely identical. Dinner (or pre-dinner snack?) included a sushi bar every day.

On board experience:

-Staff customer service and friendliness were top notch throughout the cruise!

-Live musicians and guest performers were all entertaining, with the dancers and singers all being above average. We noted that some of the dance routines were impressive and timing for dancers’ choreography was excellent! Summit featured a male-female duo that did acrobatics and pilobolus-style dancing that was very cool, and though they normally do some aerial work the equipment was currently out of order.

-Outside entertainers represented something like 4 of the 7 evening shows and were all solid. Summit is still running the iMagic show (which was debuted on the 12/14 sailing we were on before). Even having seen the show previously, it was great fun to see it again.

-We also caught some of the lounge singers, and were also impressed with their performances.

Concierge “Perks”

This was our first time in the concierge level rooms, and I’m a bit mixed on the value. Concierge rooms come with a few freebies, such as the welcome bubbly, daily canapes (4 small bite sized snacks that usually had too much onion), a decent blue canvas tote bag to take home, and a small celebrity branded black money and card holder. Concierge class rooms supposedly have priority embarkation (perhaps a major perk when it’s busier at check-in, but wasn’t something we’d have benefitted on this past trip), and the priority disembarkation and separate lounge was of marginal help. Our table mates clued us in that C level rooms feature fried eggs on the breakfast room service menu, whereas verandah rooms only include scramble or omelettes (something we didn’t even notice or order).

In addition, the concierge button on the phone now goes to guest services first… so I’m not even sure how that all works. Having said that though, I tried order chips and guacamole from room service and was told no-go, but was able to prearrange that through the concierge (having first routed through guest services who then patched me through to the concierge line) free of charge [we’d seen chips and guac in the buffet, so we knew they had it, but we wanted it late afternoon for consumption on the balcony].

When we booked, 2C (verandah) to C2 (concierge) was a negligible price difference, but it’d be tough for me to justify spending more than $30pp more to upgrade to this level.

In summary:

San Juan is a great port of departure and I encourage guests to consider an extra day pre (and maybe even post) cruise to relax and explore. Sailing out of SJU offers great itineraries with fewer sea days, and the Summit had great staff & service, very good food and entertainment. Summit in particular is probably a second choice for families w/kids (not as many kid friendly amenities, and on our sailing there were only 106 children), but was great for a couple traveling w/their parents. In addition, my parents haven’t sailed RCI in several years but are Platinum level there and they remarked several times that they found Celebrity to be more “nicer” and a step up from their RCI experiences.

Thanks for your time and interest! Also as a note, I saved copies of the Summit Today daily agenda and most of the paperwork handed out over the course of the cruise if anyone’s interested in more details on anything. I also snapped a photo of the Classic level coupons for reference as well. The most notable of the discounts was a 10% savings on internet packages (not the by the minute rate) and a coupon for free gelato - the Select discount on internet was 25%. I think they Select also included free pressing for 1 or 2 items of clean laundry.

Thanks for the fantastic, detailed review! We're doing this exact same itinerary on January 30. So excited!

We've booked that same ship's tour in Martinique - I should be able to read the French signs, but I hope our tour guide is better than what you experienced.

Thanks for this great review...we board in a month, on the 13th of Feb for a b2b starting with this itinerary!

We are Select and I'm wondering if you have a copy of those coupons from your parents?

Also, you mention the Explorer's lounge...we've been on Summit twice and I can't place this lounge...where is it located?

If it's not too much trouble I'd love to see the daily's

Thanks so much, glad you had a great time. We're very excited to go!

Cathy

Thanks for this great review...we board in a month, on the 13th of Feb for a b2b starting with this itinerary!

 

We are Select and I'm wondering if you have a copy of those coupons from your parents?

 

Also, you mention the Explorer's lounge...we've been on Summit twice and I can't place this lounge...where is it located?

 

If it's not too much trouble I'd love to see the daily's

 

Thanks so much, glad you had a great time. We're very excited to go!

Cathy

Have a great vacation, we're already wishing we could go back (or still be on board!). I'm glad to hear the writeup is helpful :)

Explorer's Lounge is deck 11 forward, overlook the heli pad and bow of the ship. I unfortunately don't have the select coupons (and they didn't take pictures), but it was a 25% discount on internet, a discount of photo packages, 5 dollar match bet at the casino, gelato, discount on a bag of laundry, pressing of 2 garments, free coffee at a speciality restaurant, a wine discount, and maybe another thing or two? I should also add that each person gets a sheet of coupons.

I'll see about scanning the dailies - I'll try to do it over the weekend. Still need to finish unpacking my suitcases :)

Have a great vacation, we're already wishing we could go back (or still be on board!). I'm glad to hear the writeup is helpful :)

 

Explorer's Lounge is deck 11 forward, overlook the heli pad and bow of the ship. I unfortunately don't have the select coupons (and they didn't take pictures), but it was a 25% discount on internet, a discount of photo packages, 5 dollar match bet at the casino, gelato, discount on a bag of laundry, pressing of 2 garments, free coffee at a speciality restaurant, a wine discount, and maybe another thing or two? I should also add that each person gets a sheet of coupons.

 

I'll see about scanning the dailies - I'll try to do it over the weekend. Still need to finish unpacking my suitcases :)

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I thought that lounge on 11 was the Sky Lounge but maybe I'm getting my S and M classes mixed up!

Coupons will come in handy..we don't usually use the casino ones but the laundry, pressing and gelato generally get used!

I will watch for the dailies...no rush, we still have a month to wait!

Cathy

I forgot to add that I did try internet (at $0.79/minute) and it was pretty OK. DW checked her email on Monday mid-day (sea day) and it was a little slow. I checked my email late Tuesday night (between 10 and 11 pm) and downloaded a 5.7 MB file in about 7-8 minutes (while also checking email and writing emails) all through a browser webmail client. I don't recommend downloading large files if you're paying by the minute, but it was tolerable. I could definitely imagine getting some real work done if you have the unlimited internet package and needed to check in with the office on a sea day. (Of course, that does sort of cut into the drinking... I mean vacation... time :rolleyes:)

Curious about your opinion regarding the value proposition of the various ship based excursions you took.

Also, did you book your ship based excursions ahead of time or after boarding? Specifically, was the Virgin Gorda excursion sold out? Am interested in as much as I would prefer to book this particular excursion on board in order to deplete a sizeable OBC, but would not want to find out it is filled up before then.

Thank you for the review.

Can you explain more about the dinner menu restrictions? I usually like to order an appetizer or two, and then a soup, and then an entree. We sometimes order a third entree to share.

Are you saying they only allow you to order one item from the starter menu?! If so I am going to be VERY upset.

Also, do you know is the Summit always docking at the Woodbridge area in Dominica now? That's a bummer it's not anywhere near the town of Rosseu. Last time we were in Dominica a couple years ago I was so unimpressed with that port area so I'm thinking we better find an excursion there this time.

Thank you for your great review. Not only am I cruising the same itinerary in April, I am booked in the same cabin, 8080!! Can you give me any feedback on the cabin itself? Is the bed near the bath or the balcony? What shape is the bathroom in? Is it a pretty standard size room? What furniture is on the balcony?

I have visited some of these ports before, but I am new to a few of them as well. I was having trouble deciding on excursions, so you have given me some ideas to look into.

Thanks again for the informative review.

Also, did you book your ship based excursions ahead of time or after boarding? Specifically, was the Virgin Gorda excursion sold out? Am interested in as much as I would prefer to book this particular excursion on board in order to deplete a sizeable OBC, but would not want to find out it is filled up before then.

We were on this cruise also. The Baths excursion was the one I was concerned about waiting to book also. When we got on the boat at 3pm I went directly to the room to try to order it on the tv but it said it was no longer available. On the way to dinner I stopped by the excursion desk just to check and it was available. My advice is to book that trip as soon as you get on board if possible and you might want to go to the desk instead of doing it on your tv.

The question about appetizers and things in the MDR - You can order multiple appetizers/first course options and they will be delivered one at a time as soon as you finish the last. As far as main courses, same thing, you can order them but they will only bring one out at a time.

If I had never been to Dominica before and never seen the island and they dropped me off at that S$!&hole dock I would never want to go back. What a joke. Tendering would be better than that.

Sorry for my delayed reply on this!

@fninsn Great location for the cabin and great cabin attendant! Room seemed pretty standard for a verandah (concierge) room. Bed was closer to the bathroom, followed by the couch w/desk opposite it, then the door out to the balcony.

@Skier - No, I don't know if it is always Woodbridge, I'd guess that it depends on how many ships are in port on a given day... if there's >2 ships, I don't know how they decide who gets the short straw. There are tools to see how many ships are in a given port on a given day, may be worth a look before you stress about it. Re dinner: My waiter never stopped me from ordering 3 starters during dinner. The challenge is that with a 3-course meal, all 3 starters wouldn't fit on the table at once, so my waiter brought two plates to start and then had to clear an empty plate and serve the 3rd appetizer before the entrees were served as the second course. It was both conspicuous and a lot more work for the server to do a third appetizer. In contrast, with the 4 course meal they can add a 3rd appetizer plate course w/out an issue. Partly because of this extra work I created, I did tip my waiter and asst. waiter with a little extra on top of the standard gratuities as a thank you.

@stratixman - All the excursions felt like they had a few two many people... although I only felt like I overpaid for the Martinique tour... however I didn't find great alternative options through 3-rd party tour websites (though I didn't shop too hard because I had a large OBC to use). You could probably string together the Martinique tour sites via taxis for less... (I'd probably skip the church and just do Balata Gardens and Clement House) but the CC boards seemed to indicate you'd probably want euros to pay taxis... so that might be a bit of a hurdle to you. For the incremental cost to use the ship excursions I don't feel like I was gouged that badly :)

I don't know for sure the Baths tour was sold out, but it probably if not sold out it was probably close, because there weren't many spots left on the water ferry. But we booked after lunch at the tour desk on embarkation day (probably 2pm ish) and there were spots for the 4 of us fwiw. With the large OBCs floating around from the 123Go promotion, I wouldn't be surprised if a larger fraction of people are holding out to book ShoreEx until they're on board.

I believe we're booked into that cabin for a Bermuda cruise this May!

We had three cabins a bit further up that hallway (8058-8062, I think) last May and thought we'd prefer to be a few doors closer to the stairs. Wish we'd known the bed was not by the balcony--we prefer that configuration. Ah, well, no matter.

I believe the other benefit to Concierge on the M-class ships is that they are a bit larger than the standard Veranda. At least that's what I've been told.

Also, under the 1-2-3 promo, Concierge class cabins got 3 perks vs 1 (or was it 2?) for Veranda, so between those 2 considerations, we thought the Concierge class was worth it (twice).

Also, do you know is the Summit always docking at the Woodbridge area in Dominica now? That's a bummer it's not anywhere near the town of Rosseu. Last time we were in Dominica a couple years ago I was so unimpressed with that port area so I'm thinking we better find an excursion there this time.

I didn't even know there was a different dock. Glad we didn't have to use it.

The last time there we rented a car and just spent whole day meandering around the island.

Thanks to OP for reviewing my personal favorite X ship, and that's not a widely held opinion.

Thanks to OP for reviewing my personal favorite X ship, and that's not a widely held opinion.

My pleasure! :)

I don't have much experience with X yet, but I much prefer the size of Summit (2.2k pax) vs. Grand class on Princess (>3k) as the ship feels less crowded without a noticeable sacrifice in amenities. We will see how I feel about a little bigger X ship as we're planning to sail on Equinox this summer, and are considering either Solstice or a Grand-class Princess ship next year (Alaska!).

We also cruised on the Summit on January 2nd . We have cruised Celebrity 20+ times and on the Summit 3 times. We found that the 3rd time is not a charm. San Juan check-in was extremely organized and pleasant. The ship was in fine condition despite her age and our CC cabin was fine. What we found was that the overall cruise experience was lacking. With the exception of a few outstanding crew members most appeared tired and overworked resulting in an inability to engage with the guests. At this point I must mention Eric (waffles in am/pizza pm) who was absolutely wonderful - he remembered our names from day one and made the trip special. With the exception of Andres ( upstairs cafe) most of the bar servers just went through the motions. It is not their fault by any means as they were clearly working hard. With so many guests now on beverage packages and therefore drinking more , the number of bar tenders needs to increase. In the evening it would be an average 20 minute wait to get a beverage and the drinks did not compare to those we enjoyed on the Equinox. The food quality has greatly diminished since our Celebrity cruise in June. The menu was "dumb downed" and we found ourselves actually goung to the buffet on 3 occasions. For example, the wonderful classic lamb shank is now a shredded lamb dish. Desserts in the mdr were uninspired but they were delicious at the coffee bar. The music that we previously enjoyed in the mdr has been replaced by "canned" music that does not enhance the dining eexperience . I do not want to sound as if I'm complaing but I want to share my observations ofthe product.

Thanks for a great review! I would love to see the dailies that you have, as we are sailing in February.

We usually book CC cabins if they aren't much more. We agree with you about the perks, especially since the "extended" breakfast menu isn't that special anymore. However, I do like the extra 20 sq feet in the M-class CC cabins- every little bit helps!

A November cruise on the Summit last year was no different than several others on the same ship as far as entertainment. We were vary disappointed in the MDR Thanksgiving meal - no gravy or stuffing with the turkey and small portions. Lately we have booked Aqua class for the dining in Blu - faster service etc but turkey wasn't on their posted menu for that day. MDR dining definitely down from past experiences based on your comments. The ship is going in for remodeling/updating late March this year so any comments about room decor is mote. Menu selections have been noted to be changed - maybe. oh the main reason to go to CC from veranda? If you want to advance to another perk class the points for veranda are 3 per day vs 5 for CC & AQ or * for Sky suite. Sky has Lumina dining room. Both Blu & Lumina have fast bar service etc. Check if price difference is worth the fast line point gain. Shoe shine - ask your room attendant to polish these shoes.

I enjoyed reading your very thorough trip report.

Keith

We have been on the Summit two times previously and are considering another cruise on her.

The last time we were on the Summit (about 2 years ago) we enjoyed the musicians around the ship. Do they still have jazz groups or any string groups?

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the report.