SUMMIT Repositioning Cruise Journal with PICTURES!

[Newbcruiser1]

Day 5: May 2, 2012 - At Sea

 

I didn’t set a wake-up call for today since I wanted to sleep in a bit and wasn’t in a rush to be anywhere. I woke up to the “Ding Dong” followed by the Captain’s announcement. For a few seconds I thought I had somehow slept in until noon since that’s usually what time the announcement takes place on sea days, however once I stumbled and checked the clock, I realized it was only 9:45am. Phew! I didn’t miss half the day.

I got dressed quickly thinking I could still make it to the tour of the galley at 10am. I got there around 10:10 and could see the tail end of the group walking to the back of the dining room - I missed it! Since I couldn’t see where/how the food was prepared, I decided instead to eat the finished products. I went up to the buffet where I had a toasted bagel with lox and cream cheese, a bit of fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal (I’ve always wanted to see how good it was on cruises). Everything was great but the oatmeal was very bland even after adding brown sugar, and I found it kind of watery.

After breakfast I went on a mission to find a pool chair in the shade. I found one after a few laps around the pool deck, and realized after about 10 minutes of sitting there that I should have got one in the semi-existent sun - the weather had noticeably cooled down since yesterday and with the wind, it was chilly. I rode it out though and read for a while, watched the line dancing by the pool with t-shirt sales to raise money for breast cancer (they raised $500 today), talked to some fellow CC members who ended up beside me, then got some salad for lunch from the buffet.

 

 

An aside regarding the buffet... I agree with the previous poster that it was not as well laid out as the Windjammer on RCI's ships. While it was nice not having people touching all of the food and making a mess of it, the fact you had to wait for a crew member to serve your food significantly slowed down the process. I also prefer to plate my food on my own, taking as much or as little as I want, and placing it where I want on my plate. RCI wins in the buffet category in my books, although the MDR food on Celebrity wins over that on RCI hands down!

[Newbcruiser1]

This afternoon was the Captain’s Club Celebration at 1:30 for early seating guests and 3:30 for late seating. I debated going since the sun finally came out and warmed things up a little, but decided to go check it out. It was a bit of a hassle being in the middle of my pool day since the dress code was smart casual, but I’m glad I went - they had all kinds of food stations including sushi, fruit with a chocolate fountain, roast beef, and crepes with all of the fix-ins.

I opted for the crepes with vanilla ice cream, berries, and chocolate chips. Yum! I also ran into my dinner tablemates so I sat with them and we ate together. There were a few short speeches by the cruise director, captain, etc, followed by live music with the orchestra. I left after eating my crepe and free diet coke, and went back to soak up the sun by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

I once again enjoyed listening to Fusion while swimming in the pool and then sitting on the ledge around it. They were great today, as always.

I also went to check out the Steel Pan music and on my way through the buffet to get to the aft bar where he was playing, I got a bit of kiwi and lemon sherbet - both were fantastic. The steel pan music was decent but I enjoyed Fusion more.

The Sunset Bar was a great place to get some fresh air and enjoy the view.

[Newbcruiser1]

The show tonight was Karen Grainger, a female impressionist, and it was the best show yet. She sang songs by everyone from Celine Dion and Cher to Carry Underwood.

 

I had dinner in the MDR again tonight. I had Caesar salad, French onion soup, I tried the crab cake (it was okay, but had more of a tuna consistency and taste), and the filet mignon (delicious, although the bacon was fatty and soggy), followed by the chocolate souffle for dessert which was great.

 

After dinner my whole table headed over to watch the Dancing with the Stripes competition. Unfortunately it was so busy that we couldn’t get seats, but we stood and watched and it was pretty funny! After that it was off to get my stuff ready for Bermuda and off to bed!

[Newbcruiser1]

Day 6: May 3, 2012 - Kings Wharf, Bermuda

I woke up around 9:30 today and went to the buffet for breakfast - I had a waffle, French toast, sausage, and hash browns - I ate outside in the aft part and it was very nice outside.

Just as I finished, it started raining so I went and got a comfy couch under the overhang by the pool and read as we approached Bermuda.

We sailed around the entire island pretty slowly waiting for the NCL Gem to leave port so we could get in.

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

Even in the gloomy, rainy weather, the water was a beautiful shade of turquoise:

While I was waiting for our arrival, I had lunch at the buffet - a made to order tuna wrap. The made-to-order sandwich station was a welcome difference from RCI's Windjammer.

There was an announcement around 1:00 that there was a union meeting going on at that time in Bermuda and as such, buses were not running at that time due to a strike. I was trying to come up with alternative ways to get to the caves upon our arrival, when there was another announcement around 1:20 that the buses were up and running.

We finally arrived late, around 1:45. Myself and another solo CC member were waiting on deck 2 along with many others in hopes of catching the 1:45 ferry to Hamilton followed by the bus to the Crystal and Fantasy Caves. As that time approached and the ship had not yet been cleared by customs, we hoped to catch the 2:00 ferry. Well, 2:00 came and went and we were still standing there. We came up with multiple back up plans - take the 3pm ferry and then a taxi to the caves, take the 3pm ferry and walk around Hamilton, don’t bother with the ferry today and skip Hamilton and the caves, etc. The ship wasn’t cleared until 2:40, almost 2 hours late, and we made a last minute decision to RUN to the bus/ferry ticket booth, buy a 2-day pass, and then RUN to the ferry to catch it at 3pm. Luckily our plan worked, but the ferry left late, at 3:20 and we wouldn’t have had time to make it to the caves before closing time at 4:30, so we skipped that idea. As I found out on returning home, there were some passengers and a crew member arrested for possession of Cocaine - this might have explained our delayed clearance by Customs. There were also a couple passengers taken off the ship to waiting ambulances on our arrival. The article on the cocaine can be found here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4826

One of the Bermuda ferries:

A view of the Summit in Bermuda:

 

[Newbcruiser1]

We only had about an hour and a half to walk around Hamilton so we did some speed shopping/exploring before the stores closed between 5 and 6:00.

Downtown Hamilton:

HAL's Veendam was docked right in Hamilton - we were quite jealous!

We took the 5:30pm ferry back to the ship. We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery of the beautiful houses along the way:

By the time we got back, it again got cold and rainy. There was also a big line-up to get back onboard so everyone was stuck in the rain for quite a while. I’m glad we made it to Hamilton though as it’s a beautiful city with a lot of nice stores.

[Newbcruiser1]

A few more shots of the summit and NCL Star docked in Bermuda:

Interesting Bermudian business attire...LOL!

I went to get a quick snack at the buffet, consisting of a piece of BBQ chicken pizza and a scoop of low-fat cherry frozen yogurt, and then went back to my room to get ready for tonight’s show and dinner.

 

The show tonight was a comedian - unfortunately I didn’t find him very funny and admittedly, I left a little early. I had dinner tonight in the MDR but I found the menu to be weak tonight. I had the minestrone soup, tomato and red onion salad (which was more like a wedge salad) with creamy garlic dressing, and the mushroom risotto which was actually an appetizer but they gave it to me as an entrée. For dessert I had the crème brulee and tried the peanut butter ice cream.

Risotto:

After dinner, Sue, the cruise director did a “One Woman Show” - she did some singing and comedy - she was actually much funnier than the comedian, although I wasn’t a fan of her broadway-style singing. Unfortunately I was exhausted from a long day so I once again left a little early to get ready for an early morning.

[JeweliM3]

We are Captains Club Members- do we have to register for the CC Celebration beforehand?

 

Also, I didn't notice any Trivia or Name that Tune type of contests in the Daily list of Activities. Are there any?

 

You are a great photographer! Thanks for your unbiased review.

 

Julia Ann

[Newbcruiser1]

We are Captains Club Members- do we have to register for the CC Celebration beforehand?

 

Also, I didn't notice any Trivia or Name that Tune type of contests in the Daily list of Activities. Are there any?

 

You are a great photographer! Thanks for your unbiased review.

 

Julia Ann

 

Hi There,

No, you don't need to register for the CC celebration. As long as your captains club number is tied to your booking, you should receive a letter in your room on the first day with a list of whatever events you're invited to during the week (i.e. backstage tour, officer's party, etc). You will also receive your coupons in your room with the letter (laundry, internet, etc).

 

There were daily trivia activities, usually in the mid-mornings if I'm remembering correctly. There were also "game show" type games on most mornings, such as Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. I was hoping to make it to some of those, but it never worked out for me in terms of timing.

[texkan]

Great review and love the pictures :)

[happy_travellers]

Hi

Great review and pics. It was nice meeting you on the cruise.

Karen

[librarylady19]

Great pics of Hamilton. Can't wait to check out the stores while we are there in September. Did you have time to go to any pubs?

[ariawoman]

Great reading this and love all the photos. Had Nestor on our cruise in October, but unfortunately, I didn't find him as appealing as you guys LOL. I couldn't wait to get away! I think he's a love him or hate him no in between sort of act :-)

 

Love the picture of the airplane so close to the beach, that must have been INSANE to see!

 

Looking forward to someday cruising in the caribbean!

[LouisV]

Love, love, love your review and photos!!! I felt like I was on the cruise too! What make is your camera? The closeups are great!

 

Mo

[gelo7]

Great job.

[jacksback]

Great pics of Hamilton. Can't wait to check out the stores while we are there in September. Did you have time to go to any pubs?

 

Be warned that it is expensive... we went to the Frog & Onion after dinner the first night. 5 drinks cost us $75.00:eek:- I can actually say it is cheaper to drink on the ship in Bermuda!!

[DivasDare]

I had to come back and compliment you again, this has been one of the best reviews with pictures that I've seen. Thanks so much for taking the time to share everything, including comparisons.

 

May I ask what type of camera you are using? Thanks!

[Tiki_Man]

Excellent Review, Glad you had a fun cruise.

 

Tiki

[merdon]

Be warned that it is expensive... we went to the Frog & Onion after dinner the first night. 5 drinks cost us $75.00:eek:- I can actually say it is cheaper to drink on the ship in Bermuda!!

 

I agree. When we went to the Frog & Onion I had onion soup and my DH had an appetizer and a glass of wine. It was well over $70 and that was 5 years ago. :eek:

[Wine-O]

I agree. When we went to the Frog & Onion I had onion soup and my DH had an appetizer and a glass of wine. It was well over $70 and that was 5 years ago. :eek:

 

Wow, I knew it was expensive, but I didn't realize it was that expensive. :eek:

[sarahc78]

Wow, I knew it was expensive, but I didn't realize it was that expensive. :eek:

Our first cruise to Bermuda we swung by there and were going to get an appetizer and couple beers...once we saw the prices we quickly changed our minds :eek:http://www.frogandonion.bm/lunch_menu

[Newbcruiser1]

We did not make it to any of the pubs. We walked through the Frog and Onion and the food looked great but WOAH - I didn't even realize how expensive it was!

My camera is a Fuji Finepix 10MP waterproof. I actually purchased it 3 years ago in the Caribbean while on a cruise for beach pictures, etc. Lately I find that it does a better job on close-ups than anything else though. LOL! It comes in handy for food porn! :)

[Newbcruiser1]

Day 7: May 4, 2012 - King's Wharf, Bermuda

Today was another bright and early day to make up for yesterday’s change of plans. I woke up at 6:15am and had a quick room service breakfast. I had to laugh when it was delivered, as I had written “chocolate milk” on the menu. I learned the hard but funny way that they probably don’t have chocolate milk onboard. Instead, they sent me a carafe of hot water, a mug, a packet of hot chocolate, a carton of white milk, a dish of sugar and sweetener, and some non-dairy creamers. It’s like they couldn’t quite figure out what I wanted.

 

 

[Newbcruiser1]

Due to some technical issues with posting pictures right now, I'll have to continue later. Stay tuned for more (possibly not until the end of the weekend). I promise to finish by the beginning of next week! :)

[Choozin Croozin]

Great review so far! Really enjoying it. Thank you for taking all the time to post!