Summit Southern Caribbean San Juan

[kmontanero]

I have never been on a cruise that leaves the port so late(8:30pm). What time do they start boarding the Summit for Southern Caribbean cruise? Our plane gets in 11:30. I am hoping we can go straight to the ship.

[Lois R]

I have never been on a cruise that leaves the port so late(8:30pm). What time do they start boarding the Summit for Southern Caribbean cruise? Our plane gets in 11:30. I am hoping we can go straight to the ship.

 

Hi:) I have sailed from San Juan several times and yes, by the time

you claim your luggage and catch a cab to the pier, boarding the ship

will more than likely have already started:D...last time I sailed

from San Juan was in November and I was on board before noon.:)

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[kmontanero]

Hi:) I have sailed from San Juan several times and yes, by the time

you claim your luggage and catch a cab to the pier, boarding the ship

will more than likely have already started:D...last time I sailed

from San Juan was in November and I was on board before noon.:)

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

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.

[Lois R]

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.

 

Hi,:) Summit does 2 different itineraries. Which one are you on?

[kmontanero]

Hi,:) Summit does 2 different itineraries. Which one are you on?

 

St Croix, St Kitts, Dominica, Grenada and St. Thomas:)

[Host Jazzbeau]

We did this itinerary in Jan. 2012. Here are the shore excursions we tried:

 

• St. Croix - Big Beard's Half Day Buck Island Snorkleing Tour - this was exactly as advertised and we have a good time, but the currents were very strong at the barrier reef so DW had a hard time snorkeling. Thankfully one of the guides kept her tethered so she didn't float away!

 

• St. Kitts - didn't book anything, ended up buying a diamond ring and a watch. My advice: book an all-day excursion!

 

• Dominica - someone from our roll call arranged a private tour with Donaldson of Nature Isle Explorers that included Ti Tou Gorge, Papillote Wilderness Retreat rainforest garden w/lunch, and Trafalger Falls. None of the regular tours include Papillote, which is a really nice rainforest botanical garden cum resort (Johnny Depp and Mick Jagger have stayed there recently). Our small group got in and out of Ti Tou Gorge just before a bunch of buses from the ship came in.

 

• Grenada - we took a water taxi to Grand Anse beach.

 

• St. Thomas - St. John is our favorite Caribbean island - the Celebrity excursion is not much more expensive than DIY and so much simpler - when you get back there's still time for shopping at the Havensight pier shopping mall.

 

• San Juan - we arrived on the day of the cruise and went directly to the ship. On the way home we took a Celebrity excursion that included a walking tour of Old San Juan and then dropped us at the airport (where our luggage was waiting). This was very worthwhile. Traffic is light in San Juan on Saturdays, so we had plenty of time for sightseeing before our 2:25 pm flight.

[BrusselsGirl07]

We were on the same sailing as Lois R - Hello Lois!

 

This was our first trip to the Caribbean, and as we were travelling so far and do not know when we will get back, I did heaps of research on excursions. We did both Summit itineraries as a B2B.

 

In St Croix we did a half day catamaran sailing and snorkelling with Bilinda Charters, it was great - http://www.sailbilinda.com

 

In St Kitts, we booked with Thenford Gray for 'The Tour' and really enjoyed it - http://**********************/The_Tour.html

 

In Dominica we did a tour with Pepper, the tour we did with him was very strenuous, we had a fantastic day hiking and swimming in waterfalls - http://www.sweetdominica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=1&Itemid=3

 

In Grenada we did a tour with Stan of JnJ tours, it was very enjoyable - http://jnjtours.com/Tour_Sites.php

 

In St Thomas we joined up with some new friends on the ship who had done this before, and took a taxi to Red Hook, the ferry stop on St Thomas. Then we took the ferry to St Johns and another taxi to Trunk Bay. This is a gorgeous beach and we swam and snorkelled.

 

In San Juan we did a Segway Tour of the old town which was lots of fun. http://www.segwaytourspr.com

 

I made my choices based on Cruise Critic port of call reviews and Trip Adviser reviews. Hope it helps!

[BrusselsGirl07]

I see some of those addresses were stripped out, but you should have no trouble googling them or finding them on Trip Adviser.

[Xcitdcruiser]

Hi Yvette,

I was wondering whether you've had a chance to review your recent cruises? We will be doing the Barbados route & I'd love to hear about it from an aussie point of view- Including your long flight.. from memory it was Qantas via Dallas?

[BrusselsGirl07]

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

[Lois R]

Hi Yvette:) hope you and Bill are doing well.....I sent you 2 emails

but never heard back:(.....wishing you a Very Happy New Year:)

It was a pleasure to meet you both:D

[Lois R]

St Croix, St Kitts, Dominica, Grenada and St. Thomas:)

 

Hi:)...St Croix, I went to a small resort called

"SandCastle On The Beach". It was the 2nd time I had been there

and I love the place!

 

Dominica? I went on culinary excursion through the ship.....it was simply

outstanding:D....small group and the hosts were 3 gals who are native

to Dominica.....we cooked a fabulous lunch and If you rate a tour

from 1-5...5 being the best? This one gets a 6:D

 

Grenada I stayed on the ship.

 

St Thomas? I had lunch with a friend of mine who worked on the

ship at a restaurant on the street across from Havensight....I didn't

do anything else. Been to St Thomas more times than I can count.

[Lois R]

This is to the original poster...I see you are up in Ocean City, NJ.....

just want to send you my best wishes....I know that is a part of

Hurricane Sandy's devistation and I hope you and your family are

doing ok.

[kmontanero]

We did this itinerary in Jan. 2012. Here are the shore excursions we tried:

 

 

• St. Kitts - didn't book anything, ended up buying a diamond ring and a watch. My advice: book an all-day excursion!

 

 

Thanks for the information on the different ports. I love what you did in St Kitts. I have been dating my boyfriend for 3 years. I think a diamond ring in St. Kitts would be the perfect excursion for me!!! lol :D

[kmontanero]

This is to the original poster...I see you are up in Ocean City, NJ.....

just want to send you my best wishes....I know that is a part of

Hurricane Sandy's devistation and I hope you and your family are

doing ok.

 

Thanks for your good wishes. I got hit pretty hard by Sandy. Had 19 inches of water in my house. My daughters and I are well and have been lucky to have had the rebuilding go smoothly. The cruise at Easter time will be a well deserved respite after all of the craziness. Only my boyfriend and I are going on this trip so I will really be able to let my hair down and relax.:) Can't wait!

[Qwksilver]

I have never been on a cruise that leaves the port so late(8:30pm). What time do they start boarding the Summit for Southern Caribbean cruise? Our plane gets in 11:30. I am hoping we can go straight to the ship.

 

 

We are on the same cruise, we get to SJ on Friday afternoon. We will be at the ship by noonish as well.

 

we got a great deal on a 4 star resort on a "name your own price" website for $110.00. Otherwise we'd be flying in Saturday morning as well.

 

Did you call to get the FREE drink package with 123go promotion?

 

Are you or boyfriend a teacher?

 

Also there are some other island ideas in the "roll call" for our cruise.

 

Scott

[Superweezie]

We did the same cruise as well. We booked our excursions through the ship.

In St Croix we actually just went to the little beach by the dock then taxied to Christiansted to wave to family back home on the webcam.

In St Kitts we did the zip line. Best thing we did. Well worth it.

In Dominica we did the river tubing. It had rained the night before so the river was running fast and deep. It was beautiful when it slowed down enough so you could see it.

In Grenada my mother in law and I did the spice tour. It was girls day out.

In St Thomas we took a ferry to St. John. We walked around St John for a little then hiked to Solomon. Beach to hang out. They were maybe 20 people there max. It was stunning.

Enjoy. It was a beautiful ship and so fun.

[kmontanero]

We were on the same sailing as Lois R - Hello Lois!

 

This was our first trip to the Caribbean, and as we were travelling so far and do not know when we will get back, I did heaps of research on excursions. We did both Summit itineraries as a B2B.

 

In St Croix we did a half day catamaran sailing and snorkelling with Bilinda Charters, it was great - http://www.sailbilinda.com

 

In St Kitts, we booked with Thenford Gray for 'The Tour' and really enjoyed it - http://**********************/The_Tour.html

 

In Dominica we did a tour with Pepper, the tour we did with him was very strenuous, we had a fantastic day hiking and swimming in waterfalls - http://www.sweetdominica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=1&Itemid=3

 

In Grenada we did a tour with Stan of JnJ tours, it was very enjoyable - http://jnjtours.com/Tour_Sites.php

 

In St Thomas we joined up with some new friends on the ship who had done this before, and took a taxi to Red Hook, the ferry stop on St Thomas. Then we took the ferry to St Johns and another taxi to Trunk Bay. This is a gorgeous beach and we swam and snorkelled.

 

In San Juan we did a Segway Tour of the old town which was lots of fun. http://www.segwaytourspr.com

 

I made my choices based on Cruise Critic port of call reviews and Trip Adviser reviews. Hope it helps!

 

Very helpful. Thank you! I will check out Trip Advisor also.

[kmontanero]

We are on the same cruise, we get to SJ on Friday afternoon. We will be at the ship by noonish as well.

 

we got a great deal on a 4 star resort on a "name your own price" website for $110.00. Otherwise we'd be flying in Saturday morning as well.

 

Did you call to get the FREE drink package with 123go promotion?

 

Are you or boyfriend a teacher?

 

Also there are some other island ideas in the "roll call" for our cruise.

 

Scott

 

Yes I am a teacher. No I did not get the free drink package. My TA didnt say anything about one. I didnt even realize they had one until I was exploring the website last week. This is my first Celebrity cruise. Any chance of me still getting it? I definitely want the premium drink package. I have been checking Celebrity website to see if they have a drink promotion. I was able to get a $200 teacher discount when I booked though. :) I have to go find the roll call and join it.

[kmontanero]

We are on the same cruise, we get to SJ on Friday afternoon. We will be at the ship by noonish as well.

 

we got a great deal on a 4 star resort on a "name your own price" website for $110.00. Otherwise we'd be flying in Saturday morning as well.

 

Did you call to get the FREE drink package with 123go promotion?

 

Are you or boyfriend a teacher?

 

Also there are some other island ideas in the "roll call" for our cruise.

 

Scott

 

Wow I just looked up the 123go promotion. I made my reservation last summer. I got my room at the lowest rate its been sold at plus the $200 off teacher promotion , but the extra perks of the promotion mikght make it a better deal. I wonder if there is any way my TA could get it for me.

[Qwksilver]

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.

[chill6x6]

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

 

THANKS for that! I have this itinerary coming up in November! HUGE help!

[shell15]

Hi:)...St Croix, I went to a small resort called

"SandCastle On The Beach". It was the 2nd time I had been there

and I love the place!

 

Dominica? I went on culinary excursion through the ship.....it was simply

outstanding:D....small group and the hosts were 3 gals who are native

to Dominica.....we cooked a fabulous lunch and If you rate a tour

from 1-5...5 being the best? This one gets a 6:D

 

Grenada I stayed on the ship.

 

St Thomas? I had lunch with a friend of mine who worked on the

ship at a restaurant on the street across from Havensight....I didn't

do anything else. Been to St Thomas more times than I can count.

 

I just wanted to second the comments on the Dominica cooking excursion. It was by far the best excursion we have ever been on...it is at the home of a local and it is breathtaking, and the women there are simply lovely. And the food you cook is delicious! Definitely recommend this one!

 

We do the same in Grenada FWIW ;) LOL

[New Hampshire]

Wow I just looked up the 123go promotion. I made my reservation last summer. I got my room at the lowest rate its been sold at plus the $200 off teacher promotion , but the extra perks of the promotion mikght make it a better deal. I wonder if there is any way my TA could get it for me.

 

Yes, your TA can get you the 123 Go promo. However, you will have to rebook at the current price. you will lose whatever discount you had with your original booking. You can choose th Classic Drink Package for Two and then upgrade to the Premium Package for $11.50 per person per day.

 

I have a cruise booked since last April, but the price has since gone up and I got great OBC when I booked. Giving up what I received at the time of the original booking did not make it worth it to me to rebook for the new promo.

[Lois R]

I just wanted to second the comments on the Dominica cooking excursion. It was by far the best excursion we have ever been on...it is at the home of a local and it is breathtaking, and the women there are simply lovely. And the food you cook is delicious! Definitely recommend this one!

 

We do the same in Grenada FWIW ;) LOL

 

Hi Michelle:) glad you enjoyed it too:D...to be honest, I love

culinary excursions. I went on one in St Kitts (2 years ago) and

loved that one as well:)