Summit Review 12/11 - 12/18/10 with photos

[sarahc78]

Loving all the pictures and missing the Summit :(

[Lois R]

Loving all the pictures and missing the Summit :(

 

Hi Sarah,:) book in Feb with me. Prices are dropping:eek::)

[sarahc78]

Hi Sarah,:) book in Feb with me. Prices are dropping:eek::)

I wish I could but the air fare would kill us! We are planning on taking the kids with us so that would be 6 flights plus 6 cruise fares :eek:

[Lois R]

I wish I could but the air fare would kill us! We are planning on taking the kids with us so that would be 6 flights plus 6 cruise fares :eek:

 

Ahhhhh ok! Well, have fun on whatever cruise you choose:)

[librarylady19]

We were back from our ATV tour in plenty of time for afternoon tea service. Our butler served a variety of little treats - mini sandwiches, fruit tarts and cookies or cake along with choice of coffee or tea. If we weren't around when he stopped by, Bart would thoughtfully leave an assortment in our room for later.

After enjoying the tea snacks, I went to join the Galley Tour. No reservations were required, it was advertised in the Celebrity Today newsletter. The group met in Normandie where we heard about the restaurant (no need to sell me on that!) and a talk by the Food & Beverage Manager (who manages 450 people). We were then led on a tour behind the scenes to see where they prepare all the food for the MDR. It was quite interesting even though it was hard to hear what the chef was saying; cool to visit an area that most passengers don’t see. We started our tour with a glass of complimentary champagne and ended it with chocolate covered strawberries. All 14 of the daily MDR menus were taped on the wall with photos of all the dishes; wish I had taken photos of that!

I then visited one of my favorite places on the ship, the Veranda bar (10 aft) , to hear Charlie Butler.

We had heard him play on Saturday evening and he did not disappoint the second time around; if you are on Summit be sure to check him out - great guy with a lot of talent!

I stopped by the casino to check in with DH who was at casino bar with Ron (CanadaDJ) watching the Bears play.

It was surreal to see them in Chicago playing in near blizzard like conditions while we were enjoying 80 plus degree temperatures in the beautiful Caribbean! We did not spend an awful lot of time at the casino on this cruise. It was a nice looking area but the machines are all old style (coin not ticket), there was not a lot of variety of machines to play and most importantly they were really tight! Did not play any table games.

 

I made a quick stop at another of my favorite places on the ship - Cova Cafe for a few tapas to tide me over until our late seating for dinner.

[librarylady19]

We got dressed up in our finery and headed out to our first formal night in the MDR. The vast majority of our fellow cruisers were also in their formal wear. On both formal nights, most women were in cocktail dresses and men wore suits with or without ties. There was a smattering of tuxes and long gowns. There were not many children on this cruise (50 or less) and they were well dressed also. I only saw a handful of people in jeans and no one wearing any hats. I wore dresses to dinner every night and did not feel overdressed at all.

We very impressed with the decor of the dining room; very elegant and in great shape.

We very happy with our location; I had requested a table for 2 along the railing and we were assigned Table 549, midway on the upper level (deck 5) overlooking the lower level of the dining room. Service and food were very good. We started with a wonderful, warm basket of assorted breads. Our waiter Miltor was very responsive and friendly as was the sommelier and the assistant waiter. We decided to order the 3 wine package for $99 as we it wasn’t a bad deal pricewise and the selection was pretty varied. We had a nice prosecco. All our food selections were very tasty.I had the escargot, fish bisque (which tasted like the lobster bisque only with various seafood), the Chilean sea bass and my favorite dessert - crème brulee. Miltor was kind enough to bring me a bowl of berries which was the perfect accompaniment to the creme brulee. DH had the beef carpaccio, fish bisque and the sage gnocchi with beef cheeks (it sounded a bit weird but he said the beef was very tasty and tender). Each time we ate in MDR, our waiter made recommendations that we generally followed.

After dinner we spent a little time and money in the casino and then headed up to Reflections. I found the décor a bit odd with all the rags hanging off the ceiling but the music (party band Fusion) and watching the dancing was very entertaining.

[librarylady19]

Another day - another island! This morning we had a light breakfast of pastries from Cova Cafe along with cappucinos delivered by our butler. We loved the selection of pastries available each morning at Cova. They are fairly small so one can try one of each without too much guilt. In addition to plain, almond and chocolate croissants, there were also mini apple danish, sausage rolls and mini choc. chip pastries available. Yum! This was definitely one of our favorite daily rituals.

After our breakfast, we met up with Kruz Guys Stephen & Tom (our neighbors in PH 6148) and headed out to meet up with Royston for our island tour.

We were a little early but Royston showed up just after our meeting time of 9:30 a.m. There were quite a few stores at the port if you were so inclined.

Royston's van did not have AC but that was ok as we could take advantage of the island breeze and take pictures easily. (Note: several others from Cruise Critic toured with Ashton, Royston’s cousin, in a larger air conditioned van.

Royston drove us through Basseterre and out of town and around the island. He pointed out wildlife, flora and attractions along the way.

We visited Romney Manor and walked around the beautiful gardens. Also on the grounds is the Caribelle Batik factory and I had a chance to do a little shopping (wide selection of batik items were for sale including dresses, shirts, cushion covers and more).

[mathgeek1978]

Another day - another island! This morning we had a light breakfast of pastries from Cova Cafe along with cappucinos delivered by our butler. We loved the selection of pastries available each morning at Cova. They are fairly small so one can try one of each without too much guilt. In addition to plain, almond and chocolate croissants, there were also mini apple danish, sausage rolls and mini choc. chip pastries available. Yum! This was definitely one of our favorite daily rituals.

 

 

After our breakfast, we met up with Kruz Guys Stephen & Tom (our neighbors in PH 6148) and headed out to meet up with Royston for our island tour.

 

We completely missed the Cova Cafe breakfast experience... Just never got a chance to go there. How was it? I'm sure it's good. I'll make a note to myself to remember to go there next time.

[librarylady19]

Cova Cafe was great! In addition to breakfast treats (pictured) they served little sandwiches midday, afternon tea treats and tapas in the evening. They also had jars of cookies available on the coffee counter anytime!! You can tell I tried them all! Plus it was a beautiful place to sit and relax, especially when Tango for Two were playing.

[librarylady19]

I apologize for the lack of continuity in this review. Trying to find time to get this finished is proving a challenge but I want to get it "on paper" before I forget some of the details.

Our tour of St. Kitts continued with a visit to Brimstone Hill Fortress. We asked Royston about the robbery there a few weeks back, but he seemed reluctant to discuss it. We did pass by several police and security officers on the road to the Fortress.

We had plenty of time to walk around in the fortress and get some photos of the spectacular view from on top of the hill.

Here we are with Stephen & Tom (Kruz Guys)

And here is our friendly tour guide Royston, with Nevis visible in the background.

We met up with some of our CC friends who were touring with Ashton here also.

The Fortress was very impressive, not only for the marvelous views but also to admire the hard work and ingenuity that went in to building such an edifice.

[emcee207]

Sandy, very nice review and pics, thanks so much.

 

I should know how to do this but I don't. How do you embed the large sized pics into the post?

 

I think this question has been asked many times on these boards.

 

Also, how did you request the table for two on the railing? Prior to boarding or when you did board via the Maitre'd?

 

ciao,

Luigi

[mathgeek1978]

Sandy, very nice review and pics, thanks so much.

 

I should know how to do this but I don't. How do you embed the large sized pics into the post?

 

I think this question has been asked many times on these boards.

 

Also, how did you request the table for two on the railing? Prior to boarding or when you did board via the Maitre'd?

 

ciao,

Luigi

 

1. Open an online photo album account, such as photo bucket.

 

2. Load your pics to that account.

 

3. Copy from the website the URL link to the pic you want to post. In photo bucket, you'll mouse over your pic and choose "direct link".

 

4. From the post window here on Cruise Crictic, click on that icon that looks like a mountain. (You may have to click on a security bar on the top of your screen to allow it permission).

 

5. Paste the URL link you just copied into this box.

[CanadaDJ]

Hi Sandi & Scott

 

Review looks great so far - still some more days to catch-up on. It was great fun spending the week with all of the CC'ers

 

We are traveling back to San Juan now - will chat soon.

 

BTW - Merry Christmas and the best in the New Year.

 

Ron, Maria & Karen

[TeaBag]

Thank for posting a great review with pictures. I feel like I'm back in the first week of November on the Summit. We really enjoyed our trip.

[librarylady19]

Hi Sandi & Scott

 

Review looks great so far - still some more days to catch-up on. It was great fun spending the week with all of the CC'ers

 

We are traveling back to San Juan now - will chat soon.

 

BTW - Merry Christmas and the best in the New Year.

 

Ron, Maria & Karen

 

Hey guys,

Hope you had a great second week on the Summit. Was it overrun with kids? Merry Xmas & Happy New Year to you all also.

Yes, I know I need to finish my review!!

[librarylady19]

Also, how did you request the table for two on the railing? Prior to boarding or when you did board via the Maitre'd?

 

ciao,

Luigi

 

Hi Louis & Margo,

Email me and I will send you the email address of the person you should contact to make a specific dining request. Merry Xmas..

Sandi

[librarylady19]

We stopped at the Black Sand beaches (but did not get out of the van)

and also saw the Black Rocks.

We drove around to the more prosperous part of the island and went up a very steep road to overlook Friar’s Bay. (If you take the tour, skip this part if you don’t like a bumpy ride!). I’d definitely like to go back and spend time at one of these beautiful beaches.

Back in to town, Royston picked up roti for lunch. We we were all tired from being in the van for so long and were ready to get back to the ship. Kruz Guys wanted to look around a bit in the ships and we stopped and ate our lunch (pretty tasty, like Indian burritos with chicken and potato mixture in a wrap with curry flavor).

Back on board again, we dropped our things in the room and went to spend some time at the pool which was very refreshing and relaxing (until the band started playing country music) so we went back to our suite. We found our wonderful butler Bart had left an assortment of tea snacks in our room for us which was a nice treat.

Here's Bart - I wish I had a full-time butler!!

The Cruise Connections Party was at 5:30 p.m. in the Conservatory. (An invitation to this event had been included in the materials in our suite).

It was a decent turnout; about 40 people. The Cruise Director Keith Cox had everyone introduce themselves and share their Cruise Critic name (if they had one). Nice to put faces to names! The gathering was short as people were going to dinner and there was nowhere to sit down in the Conservatory anyway.

We had a little sushi from the Waterfall café to “tide us over” until dinner and listened to the end of Charlie Butler’s set at the Verandah bar.

We moved on to the Theater to see the comedian Fred Klett for the 7:00 p.m. show. It was a pretty light turnout (the theater was only about half full) but he made the best of it, making some audience members move up front!, and it was quite good fun.

Dinner in MDR was not quite as good as formal night both in terms of food and service. Guess they put on the best show on that night. We both had the cod fritters to start (not bad); I had endive & pear salad which was very tasty and DH had the corn chowder which he judged “just ok”. The bread basket was excellent though; I had to exercise some self control or I would have filled up on bread! For entrees, I had the seafood risotto; while the scallops were very good, the risotto was a bit gummy and underseasoned. That is a hard dish to make, especially for a large crowd. DH had the steak which was very tender but the accompanying shoestring potatoes were more like shoelaces!!

For dessert, DH had the crème brulee (not as good as the one I had on Sunday night) and I had a chocolate cake slice of some kind. Miltor our waitor was kind enough to bring me a bowl of raspberries as well (remembering how I liked them the night before).

After dinner, we stopped by the Sizzle pool party but it was not our thing (not into Latin type line dancing so we didn't stay. We decided to check out the library (can’t believe we hadn’t been there yet). Not a bad selection of books but the furniture did not look too comfy or inviting for curling up to read in and it was freezing in there.) We headed back to our suite to turn in relatively early as we had to get off the ship early the next morning for our tour with Levi. It’s always so nice to come back after an “evening out” to the beds turned down, yummy chocs on the pillows and everything cleaned up. What a life!

[ljk76]

We are so enjoying your photo review! We are on this itinerary Feb. 19th, and just can't wait. One question, what would your take be on the aft cabins right under the Waterfall Cafe? We were excited to snag a big family size suite on the corner, and the balcony is huge! Do you think I should worry about noise? I mainly only care at night for sleeping and get up pretty early anyway. Thanks for all your info about ports and dining as well.

Linda and Doug

[librarylady19]

Can I just move here…what a beautiful island…this was without a doubt the best day of the cruise.

Roseau:

We had booked with Levi Baron (Buumping Tours), based on the recommendations of others on CC. I can’t recommend Levi Baron enough! What a fantastic guy, so knowledgeable, helpful and pleasant. Book a tour with him and you will not regret it!

We met Levi as arranged right across from the dock just after 8:00 a.m.There were eight from the ship in the group going with Levi on the Roseau Valley Treasures Tour; as we were all there we left right away to beat the crowds. It was a lovely drive up to Titou Gorge. Dominica is so lush and mountainous.

Levi sure knew what he was doing having us leave right away as we were the first ones to get to Titou Gorge. That was quite an exhiliaring experience! He did warn us the water was going to be cold but nothing can prepare you for the first chill! Levi had everyone get completely immersed before we could swim as it really does make it hard to breathe at first. What an amazing swim it was through the gorge. Unfortunately, we forget to buy an underwater camera but our fellow passengers Charles & Judy were kind enough to send us copies of their photos. We swam through the gorge and up to a small waterfall (it was too powerful for us to climb up on the ledge there).

Levi was always very safety concious and made sure everyone knew what to do every step of the way. Two people in our group could not swim, but Levi helped pull them through the gorge and they enjoyed the experience.

Here's our intrepid group:

As we were leaving Titou Gorge, other groups started to arrive and I can certainly see the benefit of beating the crowds. It would not have been nearly as impressive if we had to share this experience with twenty other people in a small, enclosed space.

[susierailroad]

OK. I know you're celebrating with family and friends, but I'm really eager for "the rest of the story." You've done a great review--thus far. Awaiting more. Thank you so much for taking your time to do this.

[librarylady19]

As we were leaving Titou Gorge, other groups started to arrive and I can certainly see the benefit of beating the crowds. Not nearly as impressive when you are sharing the experience with twenty other people in a small, enclosed space. After that, we drove to Middleham Falls.

The scenery is amazing in Dominica, the lush rainforest foliage reminded me of being in the rainforest dome at the botanic gardens, but better of course.

Gorgeous, colorful blooms that you would see in a flower shop were growing like weeds at the side of the road. At the Falls, we walked up a fairly steep incline to reach a marvelous hot spring pool.

What a contrast to the temperature of the water at Titou Gorge! We relaxed in our own private pool for a good 30 minutes - heaven!

That was another nice thing about Levi, there was never any rush to get to the next stop. He really took his time to let you soak things in (pun intended!).

After a good long time at the pool, we had a chance to use the facilities and shop the souvenir stands before loading into the van.

Levi provided plenty of cold drinks (including Carib beer) to cool us off. Levi asked if anyone wanted to go snorkeling at Champagne beach and all but 2 of our group were interested. He provided the equipment at minimal cost for those who didn’t bring their own.

[librarylady19]

We are so enjoying your photo review! We are on this itinerary Feb. 19th, and just can't wait. One question, what would your take be on the aft cabins right under the Waterfall Cafe? We were excited to snag a big family size suite on the corner, and the balcony is huge! Do you think I should worry about noise? I mainly only care at night for sleeping and get up pretty early anyway. Thanks for all your info about ports and dining as well.

Linda and Doug

 

Thanls; I'm sure you will love the Summit. We could see the aft verandas from our location next to PH suite, port side, deck 6. They certainly had huge balconies. I can't say how much noise there would be, but it might be nice to hear the entertainment from the aft bar, esp. if Charllie Butler is still on board. If you like to turn in early, it might bother you though. Last show was not over until after midnight. Maybe someone who has been in one of these rooms can give you more info.

[librarylady19]

We stopped at the botanical gardens in Roseau briefly and saw many hummingbirds at a tree with red flowers and also saw some parrots (though they were in a cage so not too impressive). We then drove up to an overlook where we got some great pictures overlooking Roseau, and a great view of our ship.

We dropped a couple off at the ship and Levi then drove us to Champagne Beach. This was a beautiful area but definitely not a good spot for sunning on the beach; the shore was very rocky! We had to clamber over some pretty big boulders to get in to the ocean but it was worth the trouble. We saw all kinds of fish, lobsters, brain coral and more in this area. The current was quite strong when we were returning to shore.

Levi dropped us off at the ship after a wonderful day in Dominica.

Thanks Levi for the great introduction to your beautiful island.

Goodbye Dominica ....we will be back...

[librarylady19]

We had dinner in Normandie that evening (booked online prior to cruise); it was excellent once again. We had the same wait staff each time we were there (Carlos, his assistant Rosebud, and another very nice gentleman from E. Europe whose name we did not ever get – he kept the bread flowing and the water glasses filled at all times). I can't recall what I had for appetizer at this point (!) but I do recall the mushroom cappuccino soup and the dover sole. I did not care for the soup, it was a rather odd consistency and the foam did not add anything to the dish. I was not a fan of the mushroom icecream either. The dover sole, that was deboned tableside, was very good. For dessert, I had the strawberry rhubarb clafoutis which was ok, but not spectacular. We were going to have the cheese course, but were so full that we skipped it. It looked like they actually had the cheese cart in operation though. DH had the duck served two ways which he really enjoyed and tried the chocolate soufflé for dessert, mainly because he had never tried one before. His assessment: it was ok but not very flavorful. We were presented with a two tier tray of petit fours after our meal each time we went to Normandie; a nice touch but one I couldn’t really enjoy as I was so full at that point of the meal. Our waiter convinced us to book an additional night in Normandie with the promise of specially prepared items off-menu (more on that later) so we booked for Friday at 7:00 p.m.

Our waiter Carlos..

That evening, we skipped the main entertainment as we are not fans of “Broadway” shows and our minds were not changed by the preview we saw on the first evening. We were never bored as there were always other entertainment options.

We decided to check out the Chocolate Extravaganza in Reflections at 11:00 p.m. but did not stay (we weren't hungry at all). It was so crowded with everyone from 2 year olds to grandmas ready to pounce on the chocolate confections so artfully arranged on long tables adorned by ice sculptures. We took a few photos and left before the feeding frenzy began. There was also a “Dancing with the Stripes” crew vs. passengers dance competition that night but we passed on that as we didn't want to stay in Reflections when it was so crowded.

[librarylady19]

 

This morning, we were meeting Stephen & Tom (“KruzGuys”) for a tour of Grenada with Chris Buckmire which we had prebooked via email. We met up with Chris in the cruise terminal building (a new, vast complex filled with many souvenir stores) and were soon loaded into his air conditioned van for our tour.

 

I would rate this as my least favorite port day. Chris was very friendly and pointed out many attractions and flora along the way.

 

 

The roads in Grenada were very twisty and there was a lot of driving between stops on our tour.

 

Our first stop was at Concord Falls where we took some photos and shopped at the souvenir stands.

 

 

We visited at a nutmeg processing plant but not much was going on there; most of the nutmeg trees had been destroyed in a hurricane a few years back so no one was actually working the day we were there.

We did buy some spice baskets and necklace for a good price from a vendor (arranged by Chris). Large baskets were $5 and smaller 2 for $5 and spice necklaces were $5 which were all cheaper than in the cruise terminal (honestly not worth a visit to get the cheap spices though...)