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Summit Review - 1/12/2013 Sailing

The Flying Pirate

By The Flying Pirate,
in Celebrity Cruises

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jake0810

jake0810

Posted
Posted

Thank you for this absolutely great review. Because of your comments, we booked just booked the post-cruise rainforest excursion. Couldn't look at the pictures here at work though because of the filters - but that will be incentive to check again tonight. Again, thanks - great job.

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roothy123

roothy123

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the great review, and excellent photos. We're going March 9 with a bunch of the other recent posters. We're first time X cruisers, having been really spoiled by another cruise line, so we've been extra curious about the Summit. I'm glad to hear that the dinner buffet (Waterfall Cafe, I guess it is) is pretty good, as we love eating casually, and especially outside.

 

If you get a chance and don't mind too terribly much, I'd love to see the daily newspapers, or at least the part of them. I am curious as to just where the ship docks in each port, and that kind of thing, plus the activities - although with the port-intensive itinerary, I don't suppose I'll make it to many of those, except on at-sea days! If you get a chance to scan some stuff, my email is howardruthalliejoey@gmail.com. If it's too much work, no problem; I'll understand!

 

It sounds like you did mostly excursions, and not much on your own other than the taxi to the straw market in one port, but if you can answer this question, it would be great: Do you know if Celebrity or any of the places you visited provided a shuttle to a more convenient spot for tourists? Or would you say that in all ports, where the ship docks is "right there" and there's no need to be shuttled out of the port? I've been to St. John's Antigua, and I know the situation there (one port location only; convenient to a lot of things) but don't know anything about the other places.

 

Thanks again for the great review.

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Ron_L

Ron_L

Posted
Posted

 

If you get a chance and don't mind too terribly much, I'd love to see the daily newspapers, or at least the part of them.

 

I don't know if you saw this thread...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1788861

 

Another member just posted a link to the dailies for both of the Summit southern Caribbean itineraries.

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QShip

QShip

Posted
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Great review, thanks.

 

The only thing wrong is that we are on the Summit April 13 to the Southern Caribbean and you did not go to any of our islands!

 

Super information on the ship and dining. Good Job!

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jgnova

jgnova

Posted
Posted
It sounds like you did mostly excursions, and not much on your own other than the taxi to the straw market in one port, but if you can answer this question, it would be great: Do you know if Celebrity or any of the places you visited provided a shuttle to a more convenient spot for tourists? Or would you say that in all ports, where the ship docks is "right there" and there's no need to be shuttled out of the port? I've been to St. John's Antigua, and I know the situation there (one port location only; convenient to a lot of things) but don't know anything about the other places.

 

I'll try to answer that question for you:

 

Barbados: Ship docks pretty far from town (Georgetown) and possibly far from the port facility (depending on which dock they use).We were at the far dock and a shuttle was there to take us to and from the ship and the facility. Walk through that and it's easy to get a cab into town (Georgetown). We walked back (which let us walk through the Pelican Craft Village) but I'm sure you could find a cab.

 

St. Lucia: Ship is across the harbor from town (Castries) and it looks like a decent walk. We took a little water taxi for a few bucks.

 

Antigua: Sounds like you know this one - walk right off the dock into town and the Circus.

 

St. Maarten: Dock is across the bay from downtown Philipsburg. You can get a water taxi (couple $$) to town - or just walk around the dockside shopping area, which has branches of most of the main shopping attractions in town. Or grab a taxi at the dock to any place on the island.

 

St. Thomas: Ship docks at Havensight, which is another dockside shopping center with satellite operations from town. You can walk into Charlotte Amalie (maybe a mile) or grab a cab from the line up to go to town or a beach.

 

Let me know if you're doing the B2B and I'll post similar comments about those islands.

 

j

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Jujube21

Jujube21

Posted
Posted

Thank you for taking the time to write and post this review. My BFF and I are doing the same itinerary on the Summit on March 9th and your posting was extremely helpful. It also reminded me to look for some underwater housing for my Canon!

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roothy123

roothy123

Posted
Posted
I'll try to answer that question for you:

 

Barbados: Ship docks pretty far from town (Georgetown) and possibly far from the port facility (depending on which dock they use).We were at the far dock and a shuttle was there to take us to and from the ship and the facility. Walk through that and it's easy to get a cab into town (Georgetown). We walked back (which let us walk through the Pelican Craft Village) but I'm sure you could find a cab.

 

St. Lucia: Ship is across the harbor from town (Castries) and it looks like a decent walk. We took a little water taxi for a few bucks.

 

Antigua: Sounds like you know this one - walk right off the dock into town and the Circus.

 

St. Maarten: Dock is across the bay from downtown Philipsburg. You can get a water taxi (couple $$) to town - or just walk around the dockside shopping area, which has branches of most of the main shopping attractions in town. Or grab a taxi at the dock to any place on the island.

 

St. Thomas: Ship docks at Havensight, which is another dockside shopping center with satellite operations from town. You can walk into Charlotte Amalie (maybe a mile) or grab a cab from the line up to go to town or a beach.

 

Let me know if you're doing the B2B and I'll post similar comments about those islands.

 

j

 

Thanks, jgnova, for that help. (By the way, I live in Silver Spring!) I'm not doing the B2B, but I'd love to hear which week you preferred, and which ports you preferred. I agonized over which cruise to choose. The other one had no ports I had been to, had Dominica, which sounded like my kind of place (not too commercial, beautiful, etc.) and was cheaper. However, the other one had St. Lucia, which has been on my bucket list for a while, plus Barbados (Bridgetown), which many people seem to like. Therefore, I went with that one.

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jgnova

jgnova

Posted
Posted
Thanks, jgnova, for that help. (By the way, I live in Silver Spring!) I'm not doing the B2B, but I'd love to hear which week you preferred, and which ports you preferred. I agonized over which cruise to choose. The other one had no ports I had been to, had Dominica, which sounded like my kind of place (not too commercial, beautiful, etc.) and was cheaper. However, the other one had St. Lucia, which has been on my bucket list for a while, plus Barbados (Bridgetown), which many people seem to like. Therefore, I went with that one.

 

Oops - can't believe I said Georgetown. :mad: Typing too fast while distracted.

 

I don't know which I would choose if I had to do that. We didn't do much touring anywhere on this trip, so I'll ga based on what I'd like to have done. We prefer volcanic islands to coral. On that basis, I'd probably go for the other itinerary with more (to me, anyway) interesting scenery. St. Lucia on this one could tip the balance with a beach trip on Barbados. But flying all the way to San Juan for one week is just not worth the hassle so I think we'd try for a B2B again.

 

j

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Lady Jane

Lady Jane

Posted
Posted
Great review, thanks.

 

The only thing wrong is that we are on the Summit April 13 to the Southern Caribbean and you did not go to any of our islands!

 

Super information on the ship and dining. Good Job!

 

We're on the Summit that week too...plus the following week. Can't wait! We've been to all the islands before, but that's okay. We'll do some tours, and some hanging onboard...the second week there will be 8 of us, so we must do QSine! Four of us have been there, but not the other two couples.

 

Can't wait!

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cherylroslyn

cherylroslyn

Posted
Posted
Tuesday

 

Tuesday, we woke to a beautiful sight outside our window, the picturesque harbor of Castries, St Lucia. Set in a gorge between lush green mountains the harbor is one of the prettiest we have seen. We quickly got dressed and applied large quantities of sunscreen, and headed for the pier. We had to meet a tour at 8:15 on the dock.

 

We found a tour on the cruise critic “connections roll call” for this cruise, through Mystic Man Tours, that was a day trip on a large catamaran sailboat that started as a whale watching cruise and then went to a beach for snorkeling. My parents and Grandma were also signed up so we had to get the whole gang off the ship, with all the grace and speed of a charging herd of turtles.

 

We were met by someone from the boat tour and walked a short distance (100 yards or so) to the waiting sailboat. We got everyone aboard, Grandma gamely jumped aboard with the help of the boats crew, and once settled in we headed out onto the open sea. It is so much different being out in an open air sailboat, only a few feet from the waves than it is plowing through the waves in a ginormous steel floating resort. Shortly after clearing the harbor we began to see schools of flying fish leaping from the water at the sound of our hull moving over their school. The flying fish were fun to watch, they are only a few inches, maybe 4-5 inches long at the most, and they have large fins which they use as "wings" and "fly" in ground effect just above the water. Some were capable of gliding 150 feet or more.

 

Once we found the flying fish it didn't take long before we spotted Dolphins which were feeding on the flying fish. They came right up around end under the boat and put on a great show. Just to see if we were paying attention, several of them jumped out of the water in playful flips right behind the boat, although only a few people saw it with so much attention focused forward.

 

The whales never did show, their union must give them day off, or they were performing at one of the other islands, being endangered and all, they can't be expected to be seen all the time.

 

As we made our way south we approached two soaring mountain peaks, the Pitons on St Lucia, the highest soaring nearly 3000 feet above the sea. Nearing the base of the Pitons, we came around a bend and into a small cove with a beautiful black sand beach. The boat captain carefully guided the twin bows of the catamaran up onto the black volcanic sand and dropped the ladders allowing us access to the beach. High above us, looking down on the beach, the exclusive Jade Mountain Resort with each suite taking up an entire floor, the rooms feature walls on only three sides, the fourth side being open to face the ocean and feature an infinity pool allowing you to swim right out of the living room and enjoy the specular scenery. We did some checking and anyone can stay there for about $2000/night.

 

As soon as we were giving permission to go ashore, we were on the beach and in the water. I spent the first 5 minutes getting the fine black sand out of my fins, but after that, the snorkeling was amazing. It was like swimming in a very large, very clear aquarium. In fact I saw several fish that I had never seen before except in the guide books. All too soon we had to be back on the sailboat for the voyage back to Castries and the shop. One the way back they took us on a bit of a tour, including through one of the yacht harbors that hide in the various coves around the island.

 

After we returned to the port, we took a taxi into town and went to the straw market. Basically a large warehouse filled with vendors selling trinkets, t-shirts, hats and various other things tourists tend to buy. I bought another patch for my dive gear bag. We have been collecting patches. From various places we have snorkeled and/or scuba dove. We elected to enjoy the weather and walked back to the ship.

 

We once again had dinner at the buffet area instead of the main dining room, and after dinner came back to the room where we ordered an extra blanket from the housekeeping department because our air conditioning in the room seems to be an "all or nothing" type setup so rather than trying to average it out the extra blanket made it comfortable for sleeping.

My parents and Grandma were also signed up so we had to get the whole gang off the ship, with all the grace and speed of a charging herd of turtles.

 

 

 

This line had me on the floor........ Maybe we are related....because this is what it is like to gather up my group as well.......... I always say it is like hearding cats.......but cats are much faster than turtles...... The turtles line really gets the point accross!!!!

 

 

 

Loving your review. I especially loved your details about the Normandie and the sunken ships in Barbados..... i'm learning alot as I read......

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