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Huge, VERY detailed, review of Summit and 5 Eastern Caribbean Ports

CaribbeanBound

By CaribbeanBound,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Cruise a holic

Cruise a holic

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Part IX - Tipping

The service personnel on Celebrity receive meager wages and rely on your tips for income. While Celebrity says it is customary to offer gratuities to the ship's personnel who service you on the voyage, it really is expected, and it's something you should figure into your cruise budget. I say it's expected, but the ship's personnel work long hours to service you and the other passengers. They genuinely do everything they can to service your needs. Celebrity suggests $161 for a party of 2 on a 7 day cruise which breaks out as follows: Waiter $51.10, Assistant Waiter $29.40, Stateroom Attendant $49, Dining Room Management $14, Other Service Personnel $17.50, and additional tips for room service, bartenders (even though a 15% gratuity is already included in all bar drinks) the Sommelier, and any other personnel who you wish to tip. And feel free to tip above these guidelines. Here's a really handy Cruise Tip Calculator covering all major cruise lines. If you have purchased a drink package, a 15% gratuity is already included.

 

Part X - Captain's Club

If you have taken a previous voyage and are not a member of the Captain's Club, sign up. It's free. Benefits include a Captain's Club express line at Embarkation, priority Disembarkation, some small cabin welcome gifts (my wife likes the Celebrity travel tote), casino and spa discounts, free entrance into the wine-tasting seminar, and a one cabin upgrade. Some exclusions apply. Elite members also receive coupons for 90 free minutes of internet, one item drycleaned for free, and an opportunity to have a bag full of laundry (about 30 items) cleaned free, as part of their sheet of coupons. Elite members also have been getting a sheet of coupons, good for three drinks each day between the hours of 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm at almost any bar, instead of the prior practice of offering a get-together in a lounge with free drinks.

 

Part XI - Disembarkation and Customs

A. Disembarkation

Breakfast was served on the buffet, and in the restaurants. Disembarkation went smoothly. Earlier in the week everyone completed surveys which were used to prioritize passengers. Clearly those folks needing to catch early plane connections or who were on escorted tours in San Juan had highest priority. Captain's Club members had priority within their color group. Color-coded disembarkation luggage tags were issued to all cabins, and passengers were instructed to place the tags on their luggage, and tear off the stubs for bag retrieval.

 

Disembarkation began around 8:00 am. All passengers were instructed to sit in public areas, or lounges, until their group color was called. Our flight wasn't due to depart until 2:30 pm so we had a late debarkation. Our color was called around 9:45 am. We retrieved our luggage in the passenger terminal and waited in a 20-minute line to clear Customs. Hint: if you're in a hurry, you can pay a porter $5 to help you with your luggage and they'll walk you straight through customs (via their own special line) in under 5 minutes. That's a pretty good value and you let them handle your bags all the way to the taxi.

 

If you have time to kill, there's a sightseeing tour that will also drop you off at the airport. When exiting the terminal building for transportation you find taxis on your left and tour busses on your right. For $25 per person, we gave our bags to the sightseeing tour guide. Her son loaded bags into the back of the 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 left the port and headed for Old San Juan. She gave us information about the city, stopped for pictures, allowed us 20 minutes to tour the area near the entrance to El Moro, then dropped us off downtown near Fort San Cristobal for about 90 minutes. At that point she picked us up and took us to the airport, returning an hour later to take the rest of the group to the airport as they all had later departures than us. This was a great way to spend some free time in San Juan and get to the airport.

 

B. Customs Allowance

According to Celebrity, US citizens traveling to the Caribbean are permitted $800 worth of Duty Free goods including 1 liter of alcohol per person. In the Virgin Islands (i.e. St. Thomas), travelers are allowed an additional $400 Duty Free exemption including 4 liters of alcohol and 4 cartons of cigarettes per person. Since we traveled to both sets of islands on this cruise, we were permitted to take advantage of both allowances. All you needed to do was to declare the total value. Anything greater had to be itemized (declared) and a duty paid.

 

Part XII - Praises, Gripes and Your Questions

A. Praises

Summit's personnel are very attentive, friendly and helpful. Officers made themselves very accessible. Food was very good to outstanding. The ship is clean and in reasonably good shape. Alexander Yepremian was the most outgoing and personable cruise directors we have had the pleasure to sail with. The Summit Production Singers and Dancers, along with the aerial duo, with were the most talented group of performers we've watched on any ship. It's nice to se Celebrity still believes in live music for the production shows as the Celebrity Orchestra was outstanding. And we really appreciated Celebrity's smoking policy.

 

B. Gripes

We certainly didn't have much to gripe about, although if you got any group of folks together, a similar theme emerged: The price of the photos was outrageous. We didn't buy any. However, had they been priced at $5.00 (still high) she said she would have bought several. I really don't understand the mentality of taking tons of pictures of passengers and then tossing most of them due to folks unwillingness to overpay for the pictures. We won't. (By the way, the photographers were very good, usually available, and not intrusive).

 

We've been cruising for over a decade. We've posted tips to excursions in over 20 Caribbean ports on our "Secrets of the Caribbean" page at: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

 

Pau.

 

Thanks for the great review. Have done the summit three times and will again in August to Bermuda. If you take the photo package, and get either the hard copies or CD (which we prefer) you actually pay much less then $5 per picture if you take 100 pictures- really easy to do if you take pictures at each port, boarding, candid shots around the ship and every night. The price is about $249 for the entire cruise- Like the drink package- you do not have to choose one picture over another-

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CaribbeanBound

CaribbeanBound

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foxjim1...

We've posted tips and images to excursions that we have personally taken in over 20 Caribbean ports on our "Secrets of the Caribbean" page at: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

 

 

themwl...

Did not book through Celebrity. Simply walked out the door, paused, and a driver asked me if I wanted to do the sightseeing tour with the airport run. Having done this once before, I quickly agreed.

 

flowery...

Don't let the weather disrupt your plans. Lots of things can still be done in the rain, and rain doesn't usually last the whole day. (The ATV tour on St. Croix runs rain or shine and would be fun in the rain).

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Ron_L

Ron_L

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A. Cruise Critic Connections Party

We signed up for the Cruise Critic party on the Celebrity web site. We received an email confirmation that a party would take place. On day 1 we received an envelope containing an invitation to the party, set for that evening in Michael's Club (now a non-smoking lounge). At the appointed time we arrived at Michael's Club on the Deck 4. In total, over 3 dozen folks attended. We had a great time meeting and greeting other addicted cruise critics. The Cruise Director Alexander Yepremian and Captain Club Hostess Melissa Snow were in attendance. Alex made a short presentation and answered questions. He was among the most approachable, visible, and entertaining Cruise Director's we have met.

 

It sounds like the party was on embarkation day. Is that correct? Do you remember what time?

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flowery

flowery

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Glad to hear the upbeat take on the weather :)

We're really excited about our upcoming trip.

Re: ATV- we have it booked- looks like a blast. I've never ridden one before- is there somewhere to stash a bottle of water and misc?

 

Our son wants to rent a scooter in St Kitts- sounds risky doesn't it? The St Croix ATV seems safer... I'm hoping he forgets about the scooter.

 

OP- I'm curious about Aqua Class- will you do it from here on out? We just booked an 11 night Constellation trip Fall 2014 with another couple- they preferred to stick with the MDR and some specialty restaurant nights.

I'm not a fan of the MDR- too much noise and commotion-OK in smaller doses but not sure about 11 nights even if we break it up with specialty restaurants. In reading through older posts it sounds as if some Aqua Class cabins are in unfavorable locations without as much privacy and some noise overhead? Do you have to be careful and research your exact cabin when booking Aqua? I'm still confused about this. We like verandah deck 7- are the Aqua Class cabins really superior (or just as good)? We love the breakfast and lunch at Aqua Spa so I can imagine also liking the dinner options. Are suite cruisers the only ones who can invite guests to Blu?

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CaribbeanBound

CaribbeanBound

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Ron_L...

Yes, ours was on embarkation day. I think it was around 5:30 pm.

 

flowery...

ATV: Yes, you can stash items. There are small storage areas in the "trunk" and bungee cords in the front. There might even have been a cup holder. My wife, who rode on the back says she held the water bottle since it was in a insulated holder with a strap. It was my wife's first time on an ATV. My second. Doesn't take long to get used to driving it. Lots of fun.

 

AquaClass: we enjoyed the smaller dining room and attentive service. We didn't particularly like the choice of mood music (which was often repetitive), and the tables for two as we much prefer socializing with a larger group and get to meet folks. We are glad we did it once, but would not do it again unless the price was too good to pass up. We heard very little noise in the cabin. I would say it was not a problem. I do not know how much of an upgrade over regular verandas an AquaClass cabin actually is as we have not recently sailed in a regular veranda. When you book AquaClass you're really booking for the BLU restaurant and free access to Persian Gardens (steam rooms). I don't know if anyone can invite guests to Blu. That's an interesting question. I do know suites can only dine in Blu on a space-available basis and they have to pay a small $5 surcharge.

 

foxjim1...

As best as I can recall...

St. Croix = parked head in, viewed right side of island

St. Kitts = parked head in, viewed ship that docked next to us

Dominica = parked port side towards island. Had ocean view.

Grenada = parked head in, viewed right side of island

St. Thomas = parked port side towards island. Had ocean view.

It really isn't a big deal, we didn't spend more than 30 minutes in our room while in any port.

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Cruise a holic

Cruise a holic

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Ron_L...

Yes, ours was on embarkation day. I think it was around 5:30 pm.

 

flowery...

ATV: Yes, you can stash items. There are small storage areas in the "trunk" and bungee cords in the front. There might even have been a cup holder. My wife, who rode on the back says she held the water bottle since it was in a insulated holder with a strap. It was my wife's first time on an ATV. My second. Doesn't take long to get used to driving it. Lots of fun.

 

AquaClass: we enjoyed the smaller dining room and attentive service. We didn't particularly like the choice of mood music (which was often repetitive), and the tables for two as we much prefer socializing with a larger group and get to meet folks. We are glad we did it once, but would not do it again unless the price was too good to pass up. We heard very little noise in the cabin. I would say it was not a problem. I do not know how much of an upgrade over regular verandas an AquaClass cabin actually is as we have not recently sailed in a regular veranda. When you book AquaClass you're really booking for the BLU restaurant and free access to Persian Gardens (steam rooms). I don't know if anyone can invite guests to Blu. That's an interesting question. I do know suites can only dine in Blu on a space-available basis and they have to pay a small $5 surcharge.

 

foxjim1...

As best as I can recall...

St. Croix = parked head in, viewed right side of island

St. Kitts = parked head in, viewed ship that docked next to us

Dominica = parked port side towards island. Had ocean view.

Grenada = parked head in, viewed right side of island

St. Thomas = parked port side towards island. Had ocean view.

It really isn't a big deal, we didn't spend more than 30 minutes in our room while in any port.

 

You cannot bring guests in Blu. The only exception is suite guests who might want to dine in Blu. They have access also. As a suite guest, while "they" say you pay an additional $5pp, we were never charged a fee.

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flowery

flowery

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OP-glad to get your take on Aqua. It would be interesting to see a survey on how many would repeat. Maybe we'll try it on a short cruise in the future.

 

Also, glad you mentioned "mood music"- what type was it? Not New Age-y I hope :) My husband has very specific tastes- I can tune it out but he can't!

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flowery

flowery

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Maybe we'll try to go into Blu when they first open and check out the ambiance for future reference!

 

I understand what you mean about wanting to dine with others. We like the select option now- sometimes eat alone and sometimes request a large table.

 

Ten years ago, the last time we tried set dining, we were at a table with 2 other couples. One of the women must have been depressed, because every topic of conversation made her weepy. It was pretty uncomfortable. We switched tables and dining time to avoid them. And some friends have entertained us with strange tales of table mates on cruises.

 

On our most recent cruises we've had fantastic luck when seated at large tables- lots of fun and picked up some great travel tips. I love the flexibility of "select" dining.

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CoralReef

CoralReef

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For the local bus in Grenada, did you use US$ or EC$? I'm not worried about the difference in cost :), just want to make sure we have local currency if needed.

Thanks for the informative review!

 

Since you asked yesterday, I'll jump in and say that we have taken the bus several times in Grenada and US$ were always readily accepted.

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CaribbeanBound

CaribbeanBound

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MSMusic...

Used EC$ that we picked up in a bank in St. Kitts (right at the port). The banks are slow, you'll need your passport, and they'll treat the transaction like they think you're exchanging drug money or something. Took 20 minutes in line and another 15 minutes to exchange $20. US money is indeed readily accepted. We ended up with a lot of leftover EC$.

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Jacru

Jacru

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MSMusic...

Used EC$ that we picked up in a bank in St. Kitts (right at the port). The banks are slow, you'll need your passport, and they'll treat the transaction like they think you're exchanging drug money or something. Took 20 minutes in line and another 15 minutes to exchange $20. US money is indeed readily accepted. We ended up with a lot of leftover EC$.

 

Fantastic review. Beautifully laid out and good tips for travellers.

 

Re banks and money. I agree that the US dollar is readily accepted on all of the islands that we have visited (except Guadeloupe). To get a few EC$, one can often use an ATM; only problem is that you may be hit with a service charge.

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