Summit Southern Caribbean San Juan

[BrusselsGirl07]

Hi Lois - I did not get your emails :(. I always check and clear my junk each day as well. I will send you one, and if you reply we will see if it comes through that way! Yvette

[Kathie44]

The first two cruises I did out of SJ (Adventure of the Seas '04 and Galaxy '09) sailed at 10 PM, so this seems early to me. We always fly in a day early in case of flight delays. We leave the hotel the day of sailing at 11 AM to board and have lunch, explore, lounge by the pool, etc.

I did Summit the last two years with Sailaway at 8:30. This will be my 4th time on Summit, 2/2/13.

 

1/02 Explorer OS E. Carib. 1/03 Explorer W/ Carib. 8/03 Summit Alaska cruisetour

2/04 Adventure OS S. Carib. 2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal (partial) W/4 other W. Carib ports

6/06 Jewel OS British Isles/Nor. Fjords 1/07 Mercury Mex. Riv. 1/08 Mercury Aust/NZ

1/09 Galaxy S. Carib. 6/09 Summit Classical Med. 1/11 Summit S. Carib.

6/11 Constellation Scand/Russia 2/12 Summit S. Carib. 8/12 Milleniuim Alaska cruisetour

2/13 Summit S. Carib.

[judatt]

We were on this cruise in December 2012 (about a month ago). It was great - thoroughly enjoyed it. We flew to San Juan on Wednesday prior to the Saturday embarkation and stayed at the Hilton Caribe. We checked out at 11 AM and took a taxi to the port - never really sat down. By the time we checked in ,were issued our sea passes, booked Normandie for a night, and walked over to the chairs, they were telling us to board. Must have been just before noon. We went straight to deck 5 for lunch and by the time we finished and walked around just a bit, it was time to go and unpack. Great cruise.

[Kathie44]

judatt, just the past cruiser I wanted to ask. Was the muster drill at 5 or so? What nights were the formal nights and when was the Connections Party?

As you may have read above, we hope the 1st formal night will be on Mon. to avoid the Super Bowl and the Connections party will be before main seating on a port day. Also what kind of shows did you have besides the production shows? I hope they have good comedian. Last year Fred Klett was on Summit in the same time frame as now. I just checked his website. He's not on Summit till Apr. :(

Thanks for any info you can give.

[judatt]

judatt, just the past cruiser I wanted to ask. Was the muster drill at 5 or so? What nights were the formal nights and when was the Connections Party?

As you may have read above, we hope the 1st formal night will be on Mon. to avoid the Super Bowl and the Connections party will be before main seating on a port day. Also what kind of shows did you have besides the production shows? I hope they have good comedian. Last year Fred Klett was on Summit in the same time frame as now. I just checked his website. He's not on Summit till Apr. :(

Thanks for any info you can give.

Hi Kathie. The muster drill was at 7:45. We ate in Normandie - arrived at 6 and had just finished dessert when the blast came. Formal nights were Sunday and Thursday for us - don't know if the superbowl will change that or not. The connections party was at 10 AM on a port day so we didn't go. We went to the production shows but not the comedian. Not sure why we didn't go that night - actually I think I remember that we got in a conversation with a couple from our dining table - saw them after dinner and enjoyed some conversation.

[Kathie44]

Hmmm, muster drill between dinner seatings. I don't remember ever having it that late. Bummer that the Connections party was in the morning on port day. Sometimes I think the organizers have rocks in their heads, lol. We have morning excursions every day.

Thanks for the input.

[judatt]

Thanks for replying. If you sailed on the the Summit Southern Caribbean itinerary, would you have any suggestions for port excursions? We sail over Easter and I am just starting to look into excursions.

We only did one tour from the ship - took the train ride in St. Kitts. We had done a train excursion in Alaska from the ship and really enjoyed it. We enjoyed this one as well - think it was $99 per person.

The other 4 ports we did something that we have done on several ocassions and it has worked well. We got off the ship and booked a taxi - usually with a few others - and did our own tour.

In St Croix we met couple on their honeymoon at the end of the pier. Since we will be celebrating our 40th in a few months, we had some great conversation on our 3 hour tour - I think it was $20 per person. The driver had lived there his entire life and really knew the place - even stopped at a hardware store for us to buy a power strip.

Dominica - were shopping in the place right across from the port and ran into a couple we had met on the ship. They were from Puerto Rico and had 10 others from Puerto Rico lined up with a Taxi Van - $15 per person and we had a great time. Went up in the rain forest. Sang songs in the van and saw all the sights - just a really good experience.

Grenada - ended up with a couple from France off of another ship. The guide didn't speak french so we were always trying to help them understand. Saw some cliff divers and had some good views. Enjoyable but probably our least favorite - $20 per person.

St Thomas - ended up with 2 couples from our ship who were from Quebec - spoke French but also understood some English and our taxi driver spoke some French as well as English. Saw several islands from a distance and pretty much saw the island. Think this one was $25 per person and we were dropped off in town, did some shopping and walked back to the ship.

[Lois R]

judatt, just the past cruiser I wanted to ask. Was the muster drill at 5 or so? What nights were the formal nights and when was the Connections Party?

As you may have read above, we hope the 1st formal night will be on Mon. to avoid the Super Bowl and the Connections party will be before main seating on a port day. Also what kind of shows did you have besides the production shows? I hope they have good comedian. Last year Fred Klett was on Summit in the same time frame as now. I just checked his website. He's not on Summit till Apr. :(

Thanks for any info you can give.

 

Hi Kathie, I sailed SUMMIT for the Superbowl in 2010 and they did

change the first formal night from Sunday to Monday.

[Lois R]

Hi Lois - I did not get your emails :(. I always check and clear my junk each day as well. I will send you one, and if you reply we will see if it comes through that way! Yvette

 

Hi.....got it and replied back:) thanks!

[Xcitdcruiser]

You know, I have always meant to review a cruise, and really meant to do this one - visiting the Caribbean from an Australian point of view. But we got home on Monday, and went back to work on Tuesday and life took over!

 

The flight coming home was San Juan to Dallas (even though my docs said that we stopped in Miami), Dallas to Brisbane and Brisbane to Canberra. Long flights never used to bother me at all, but I find the more I do - and perhaps the older I get! - the more they bother me. 16+ hours is a long time for one flight. And all flights home travel overnight, so not long after you get on, they give you dinner then turn the lights off and you are supposed to go to sleep. I just can not sleep on a plane, and am seriously thinking of getting some kind of sleeping tablets from my Dr before my next long fight (which is in May to Africa!).

 

On the second Summit itinerary, the second day is at sea, so you can attend the cruise critic party and meet people. We could not go to the party on the first leg, as it as was held the second day on a port day and we had an excursion.

 

In Barbados, we did a tour with Thriller Ocean Tours to do their Thriller Turtle Adventure. This was a fantastic day! From what I could tell, we where the only couple booked on this tour, so the owner joined up with another tour provider, Cliff Sharker. We were on the Thriller Ocean Tours speed boat, but Charles from Cliff Sharker Tours was in the water with us and took heaps of photos of everyone on the tour with the turtles. He sends them to you later for free. We arrived at the turtle site long before anyone else and had maybe 40 minutes snorkelling with about 10 turtles, that were very comfortable being in the water with us. They fed them to keep them around of course. The water was so clear and warm! We then snorkelled at a small coral reef and then over two sunken wrecks before having time to relax on a gorgeous beach with white sand and crystal clear water. This was a great tour and lucky to have both tour providers combined on our tour.

 

In Castries, St Lucia we did a tour with Cosol Tours. This was a fun day as well, lots of driving around the island followed by the 'Blue Bus' which was full of beer, rum punch, water and softdrinks, all included in the tour. We stopped at a family home for a brunch of local foods which were all delicious. We went to a banana plantation, various villages and look outs, a volcano, and then went on a water taxi to a beach where we had an hour of snorkelling. Again the water was so clear and we got some amazing photos of fish and cuttlefish. Back on the tour bus again we stopped for hot bread and cheese, which was delicious!

 

St John's Antigua, we toured with Adventure Antigua on their Xtreme Circumnavigation tour. We circumnavigated the entire island stopping at various locations for snorkelling. We went to Stingray city where we had a photo with a stingray and then snorkelled with quite a few of them. Again we got some great photos of the stingrays swimming around the area. They provided a delicious lunch on a pretty little beach.

 

St Maarten, we toured with Bernard's Tours. We drove around the island, went to both the dutch and french sides, went to a beach for 2 hours, and ended the day at Airplane beach. The only thing we did not like was spending the 2 hours at the beach. I did not realise this was part of the tour, but we made the most of it, hired chairs and an umbrella and watched the world go by.

 

St Thomas, we turned into a sea day, since the next day we would be flying home. In San Juan we did the ships tour of Old San Juan since our plane did not leave until 4.50pm. We arrived at the airport at 12 noon, but were not allowed to check in until 1pm.

 

Looks like I have written a mini review, so hope this helps with your planning.

 

Yvette

 

Yvette,

Thank you !! Has helped a lot! Have you been booking your X cruises via an Aus TA or US TA?

Also, with your flights, do you mind if I ask how much you paid to get to SJ? We are also looking at that route (looks to be the most direct) - prices or seats have not yet been released for when we are travelling so just wanted to get an idea.

Happy to hear that you enjoyed your travels!

[CaribbeanBound]

Here's what we did:

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Upon arrival we immediately headed for San Cristobal Fortress on foot. Then on to El Moro Castle via the city wall walkway by the sea. Both were really cool to visit. Very impressive, massive, structures. Cost is $3.00 per person for each site, or $5.00 per person for both sites. Don't make the mistake of hiring a taxi. It is pretty easy to walk around town as places are closer than they appear on maps. Highly recommend visits to both. (Check out the restrooms in El Moro. You won't find a restroom anywhere with better views). On the way back to the ship, just off The Street of San Francisco, we stopped at a street cafe for papaya and guava frappes, chips, and guacamole. It was a nice break. On another trip we lunched at Parrot Club (my wife’s new favorite eatery in San Juan), and then shopped for liquor at Bacardi Liquors, located in the cruise terminal, before reboarding the ship. Bacardi Liquors offered some of the best prices on liquor that we saw at any port.

 

Here's a great excursion if you are flying out of San Juan and have some time to kill before your flight. When exiting the terminal building for transportation you will see two orange booths. The one on the left is for "Taxis". The one on the right is for "Sightseeing Tours". For $25 per person, we gave our bags to the sightseeing tour guide. He loaded the bags into the back of his air conditioned van, and we jumped in, took a seat and waited for the large van to fill. Once full (about 16 or 18 passengers), our driver Hector left the port and headed for Old San Juan. He gave us information about the city, stopped for pictures, allowed us 15 minutes to tour the Capital, 40 minutes to explore Fort San Cristobal, a quick stop at Casa Don Q's (2 blocks from the OSJ docks and across the street from Tijuana's Bar and Grill) for a quick pitch on Don Q rum and free rum drinks. (My wife enjoyed a Pina Colada). Hector then dropped us off downtown to shop for 45 minutes. We grabbed a quick trinket and walked a block to the Parrot Club for lunch. Very interesting place. My wife just loves the decor. Our waiter was friendly, very courteous, and efficient. While not inexpensive, the food is outstanding and well worth the visit if you enjoy nice flavors. At 12:40pm we boarded the van and he dropped a few folks (who had evening flights) off at Lupis to enjoy lunch while the rest of us went to the airport. He then went back and picked up the Lupis group to continued their tour. Recommended! This was a great way to spend some free time in San Juan and get to the airport.

 

Basse-Terre, St. Kitts

We hired Thenford Grey himself for this "Island Tour". The cost was $40 per person and ran from 8:00am until about 2:00 pm with beach time available at Cockleshell Beach at the end of the tour. Thenford first took us through the historic city of Basseterre which was founded in 1625 by French settlers. After the city highlights we stopped at the ruins of an old sugar cane processing factory and Romney Manor-Caribelle Batik which was once owned by Captain Samuel Jefferson, the great, great, great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson. The Plantation House which sits amidst 25 acres of lush tropical gardens, is now a batik factory and store. The gardens feature a large collection of exotic plants, palms and trees from all over the world. We saw numerous green tailed monkeys in the short drive between the ruin and the Manor. We then spent an hour at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park which sets atop a volcanic cone that is 800 feet high and offers 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and neighboring islands. Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a World Heritage Site. (The $8.00 entrance fee was included). The Fortress is indeed impressive. I could have easily spent 4 hours exploring this impressive site. A lot of monkeys make their home in the vegetation surrounding the fort. Thenford shared a lot of local history with us as we explored the island. We also saw a live cockfight (two roosters going at each other) in the middle of the street. Our last stop was Cockleshell Beach where we had an opportunity to swim, collect shells, and grab a beer. On the way, we saw wandering goats, cows, and more monkeys. Recommended!

 

Roseau, Dominica

We prearranged the "Roseau Valley Treasures" tour with Bumpiing Tours (Levi Baron). $49 per person plus tip. We tendered into Roseau. Tendering was very efficient. Levi Baron met us just outside the pier and turned us over to Gary, our awesome driver and guide for the day. Gary kept us one step ahead of most of the tours. We started our day at Wotten Waven Sulphur Springs which entailed a short walk to view small boiling pools. Then it was off to Trafalgar Falls which features two large waterfalls in the same area. There was about a 10 minutes walk through a rainforest to a viewing platform where we took pictures and then proceeded past a "Proceed Only At Your Own Risk" sign and descended down to some hot springs where we relaxed and played in several hot pools. We also got some closer views of the falls. From here we drove to Titou Gorge where part of Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 was filmed. It was an easy 10 minutes walk to the Gorge, where we got into cold mountain water and swam a short distance through a cave to a waterfall. (If you go, don't wimp out. It's worth the chill). We instantly warmed in the sun upon exiting and got toasty in a nearby hot spring. We visited the Botanical Gardens where we learned about see different plants, trees and flowers grown on the Island. A short 5-minute drive to Morne Bruce presented us an overview of the entire city of Roseau, and port, from the top of a hill. We ended the tour snorkeling at Champagne Bay, where we hired an snorkel guide for $10 to show us the fish and underwater sites just offshore. There is no way we would have seen as much without our water guide, T.J. The entire tour lasted about 7 hours. Gary kept us well hydrated with Kubuli Beer (the best local island beer we tasted on this trip) and water. Gary was also quick to stop the van for any pictures we wanted to take and often stopped to pluck a leaf, nut, fruit, branch or root for us to smell and identify as one of the many local spices grown on the island. Recommended!

 

St. Georges, Grenada

We arranged for a 4-hour half-day half day "Spice Plantation Route" tour with Mandoo Tours at $45 per person, plus tips. It ran from 8am to noon plus beach time. The spice plantation route is going to give you a great feel of the island. We visited the Douglaston Spice Depot where we saw a presentation on many of Grenada's spices, and where fresh quality spices were available for purchase. We drove through the lush volcanic mountains to where multiple spice plants, cocoa and bananas plantations were pointed out to us. Great photo shots. We visited Grand Etang Crater Lake where we saw our first Mona monkey. We drove through the rain forest and made a stop at Annandale Waterfall. At the end of the tour we were given time at the beach and then returned to the ship. We had lunch on the ship and then walked to Fort George, very close to the ship. We exited the pier terminal and turned right. There is a stairwell to the right of a tunnel. Just keep climbing until you get to the top. It's about a 15 minute walk up stone stairs and ramps. This might have been an awesome fort at one time. It has fallen into disrepair and is being used for multiple other purposes. Really too bad. However Fort George will give you lots of photo opportunities from its elevated point. Recommended!

 

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

St. Thomas, Trip #1

St. Thomas is a major shopping destination. A large number of passengers bought digital cameras at this stop. We privately arranged for an island tour with Godfrey's Tour, now $25 per person (plus tip). He picked us up at the ship at 10:00 am and dropped us off downtown. At noon he picked us up for a 2-hour island tour and dropped us off at Coki beach (no beach charge) from 2pm to 4pm. We would have preferred Meagan's Bay ($3 per person), but the majority of our tour mates brought their snorkel gear and were set on Coki Beach with the clearer water and more abundant fish. The downside of Coki is that it is a small, crowded, relatively unattractive stretch of sand maybe 25% as long as the considerably less crowded, more picturesque, Meagan's Bay. $20 will get you 2 beach lounge chairs (unpadded) and a very large umbrella at Coki Beach.

 

St. Thomas, Trip #2: Sapphire Beach

This trip, we opted to enjoy Sapphire Beach on our own and shop Havensight at the pier. Despite what everyone at the pier will tell you (and they will lie to you), you can get local transportation for $2 per person in an open-air taxi to Sapphire Beach. Simply walk out of the Havensight pier main gate, cross the street, turn left and walk until you get to the Bus Stop (there is a pullover area) across from K-Mart and cross the street so that you are standing on the K-Mart side of the street. It is a leisurely 10 to 15-minute level walk. When you see an open-air taxi drive up, flag him down, tell him where you wish to go and enjoy the trip. The drive takes about 20 to 30 minutes each way to Sapphire Beach depending upon traffic. Pay upon exiting the taxi. If you are going to Sapphire Beach, you will be dropped off at the entrance to the Sapphire Beach hotels which is at the top of a hill. A short 5-minute walk will get you on the beach. Sapphire Beach is a gorgeous white sand beach with lots of shade trees and awesome views of several nearby islands including St. John. The snorkeling is good. We saw several schools of fish (previously unknown to us), an eel, and a small stingray. Unpadded beach lounge chairs are $5 each if you want to rent one, or free if you just occupy one of the many chairs abandoned by their previous inhabitants. A dive shop, bar and grill, and restrooms are available. Some water sports are also available. Pick up the taxi again where it dropped you off.

 

St. Thomas, Trip #3: St. John

7:00am - 5:00pm. Our destination this trip was Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay on the Island of St. John for snorkeling. Just like our second trip, we caught local transportation for $2 per person in an open-air taxi to Red Hook to catch a ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John. The drive takes about 20 to 30 minutes each way depending upon traffic. The taxi will drop you off at the Red Hook ferry terminal. Pay upon exiting the taxi, go through the gates and hop on the ferry to St. John. We caught the 8:00am ferry and paid our $5.00/pp fare. Normally, you would pay at the booth prior to boarding. The very pretty ride across the bay runs about 15 minutes. Upon arrival at Cruz Bay, St. John, we caught a 10-minute taxi ride ($6.00/pp) to Trunk Bay, stopping once along the way to take pictures of Trunk Bay from a picturesque spot along the road. We arrived at 8:30am which allowed us to get in free. Once the admission booth opens, it costs $4.00/pp to enter this beautiful white sand beach with clear waters, awesome views of islands and cays, nice facilities, and an underwater snorkeling trail. The snorkeling trail can be found on the right hand side of the beach. It begins on the far side of the little island and works its way around the island and ends on the closer side. The snorkeling is very good, with lots of fish and colorful coral. Including the four of us, there was a total of 7 people enjoying this beach from 8:30am to 10:15am when larger groups began arriving —– at which time we left and caught a $4/pp taxi for Cinnamon Bay. (Trunk Bay is now one of our top three Caribbean beaches).

 

Cinnamon Bay is part of a campground with good facilities, snorkeling equipment rentals, and kayak rentals. The beach is not as pretty as Trunk Bay but offers good snorkeling as well. Sea Turtles can be spotted here in the middle of the bay feeding on the sea grass, but we did not spot any this trip. We caught a taxi back to Cruz Bay ($7/pp) at 11:40am. We just missed the noon ferry so we ate lunch at High Tide Bar and Grill adjacent to the pier. We enjoyed the Virgin Island Pale Ale (a fruity beer made for distribution in St. John by a brewery in Maine), and especially liked the sweet mango salsa which accompanies the chips and salsa appetizer. We shopped until 1:45pm and bought tickets for the 2:00pm ferry, which was 30 minutes late arriving. A very large crowd anxiously waited in a long line in the hot sun on the pier. There was no problem getting everyone on the ferry. We arrived back in Red Hook at 2:40pm. Ignore the $7/pp taxis and wait for a $2.00 taxi again EXACTLY where it dropped you off. (Do not cross the street). We got dropped off a couple blocks closer to Havensight than the K-Mart where we picked up the taxi. We look forward to doing this excursion on our own again.

 

Here are more Secrets Of The Caribbean

[HappiTravels]

We just returned yesterday from the Jan 5th sailing on the Summit with the same itinerary. We have been to all of these islands before so we went with a little bit of a more casual attitude this time. In St Croix we got off the ship and did a 2 hour tour of the island by one of the operators at the port. We did the same thing in St Kitts (I believe that we paid about $20.00 pp for both of these tours. In Grenada we prebooked a Spice Tour with Mandoo that I would highly recommend. He is so knowledgable. We then took a taxi to Grand Anse beach which was very nice. My husband went to an Organic farm in Dominica, he said it was ok. He didnt rave about it and finally in St Thomas we did some expensive shopping and went to the beach at the Marriott Frenchman's Bay. $6.00 pp by taxi each way.

[kmontanero]

My wife is a teacher, we always do our cruise over Easter break.

 

I would call your TA to see if there is anything they can do, well worth the phone call if they can.

 

It's our 1st Celebrity cruise as well.

 

Really looking forward to the itenerary and the "new to us cruise line"

 

Scott.

 

My TA was able to get the 123Go promotion for us. I lost the teacher discount but we made out much better with the drink package. I was planning on buying the package when we got onboard anyway so you really saved me a lot. Thanks so much for telling me about it. I am so excited for the cruise. I had a rough last few months because of Superstorm Sandy. I really need this vacation to unwind.:D

[Kathie44]

kmontanero--have you joined your Roll Call? People on your cruise will probably have excursion suggestions and possibly spaces left on private excursions you could join.

Lois--2010 was the only year since '02 I didn't cruise and I was in major withdrawal. My SIL and I booked Summit in March for the following Jan. and the withdrawal eased somewhat, knowing the cruise was coming. This will be my 4th S. Carib. cruise--1 with my late DH and the third with other people. Four of us went on Summit last year at Super Bowl time and now I remember that formal night was Mon. Sun. was a sea day and the Connections party was at 10 AM. This time the sea day is Thurs. and they never wait that long for the party. OH WELL!

[Qwksilver]

My TA was able to get the 123Go promotion for us. I lost the teacher discount but we made out much better with the drink package. I was planning on buying the package when we got onboard anyway so you really saved me a lot. Thanks so much for telling me about it. I am so excited for the cruise. I had a rough last few months because of Superstorm Sandy. I really need this vacation to unwind.:D

 

 

Happy to help. Now there will not be the antcipation of a huge bill at the end of the cruise:).

 

We're probably going to up grade 1 of the packages to the premium drink package if we can. It's 11.50 per day. (I've heard you have to upgrade both, people in the cabin, I'm looking into that now).

 

Being in South Florida I understand the devastation mother nature can bring! I hope the road to recovery is as fast as you need it!

 

Scott

[Gluten-Free]

"We did both Summit itineraries as a B2B."

I am trying to decide which of the southern Caribbean Summit cruise itineraries to select, and I need to make up my mind in a hurry. Both begin and end in San Juan, and some ports overlap, but there are a few ports which are different. Can anyone help me decide? Will be sailing Mar. 30 or one of first 3 weeks in April 2013.

Dru

[Alberta Mum]

We just booked our southern Caribbean the summit for April 2014. We are excited as I heard so much about these ports all the best :)

 

"We did both Summit itineraries as a B2B."

I am trying to decide which of the southern Caribbean Summit cruise itineraries to select, and I need to make up my mind in a hurry. Both begin and end in San Juan, and some ports overlap, but there are a few ports which are different. Can anyone help me decide? Will be sailing Mar. 30 or one of first 3 weeks in April 2013.

Dru

[Gluten-Free]

Which venue is best?

[CaribbeanBound]

We prefer the eastern ports over the western ports but they all have a lot to offer. Here is a breakdown of most of the ports and what cool things we chose to do...

 

Secrets of the Caribbean:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

[Texed]

St John's Antigua, we toured with Adventure Antigua on their Xtreme Circumnavigation tour.

Yvette

 

One of my all time favorites. Did you get to meet Eli? :)