Photo Review: Celebrity Summit 2/1/14 Southern Caribbean

[Aplmac]

..shot at Bridgetown Barbados

 

 

 

I'm fairly sure that's EQUINOX

 

.

[HeatherC430]

Your post is fantastic! Very thorough! I am looking to do something fun and exciting in St. Kitts- never been and debating between catamaran and the hike. I've hiked a lot and do a ton of mud runs but I am questioning whether or not I want to do something so strenuous on a vacation and during a week of buffet eating! :)

 

 

Thanks for your review- totally helped with my decision!!

 

Thank you! One of the only downfalls of doing the volcano hike (other than the strenuous aspect) is that it's the majority of the time you're in port for the day. So, it doesn't allow much time to do or see much else on the island. This was our second time in St. Kitts - on the first trip, we did the general island tour, so we didn't miss not being able to do anything else. Either way, enjoy your day in St. Kitts!

[SAC69]

I loved your review! We sail in two days and I've already booked some of the same tours. Funny though regarding the optional stop at Mero beach on Dominica. You paid $57 and when I asked if we were going to stop there he raised the price to $67! You got a bonus.

Edited March 27, 2014 by SAC69

[HeatherC430]

I loved your review! We sail in two days and I've already booked some of the same tours. Funny though regarding the optional stop at Mero beach on Dominica. You paid $57 and when I asked if we were going to stop there he raised the price to $67! You got a bonus.

 

Thank you! That's great to hear! Come back and let me know if you enjoyed your excursions! That's funny that they raised the price when you asked about the beach stop! Have a great cruise!

[tbmrt]

Thanks so much for a great review. My DH and I are older than you, but he's a Personal Trainer and I work out quite a bit. We also enjoy no kids and aren't crazy about RC because of that. Like active privately arranged, adventuresome excursions.

 

If you ever get to Samana, be sure to take the ATV tour!

 

Any suggestions for us for St. Kitts (did a beach trip), St. Thomas (thinking about the tidal pools), Barbados (did the turtle snorkel already) and Dominica for us (did Champagne Beach snorkel, iguana farm and Titu Gorge).

 

Barbara

[HeatherC430]

Thanks so much for a great review. My DH and I are older than you, but he's a Personal Trainer and I work out quite a bit. We also enjoy no kids and aren't crazy about RC because of that. Like active privately arranged, adventuresome excursions.

 

If you ever get to Samana, be sure to take the ATV tour!

 

Any suggestions for us for St. Kitts (did a beach trip), St. Thomas (thinking about the tidal pools), Barbados (did the turtle snorkel already) and Dominica for us (did Champagne Beach snorkel, iguana farm and Titu Gorge).

 

Barbara

 

We’ve done an ATV tour on our last trip to Antigua and really enjoyed it! I was a little bit nervous at first since my last ATV experience was as a tween when I took my 3-wheeler over a hillside. My DH said I’d be fine, and indeed it was a lot of fun!

 

For St. Kitts, I’m leery of recommending the volcano hike to anyone. Yes, I’m glad I did it, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t do it again! If you want something really physically challenging then you may be interested. On our last trip to St. Kitts, we did the general island tour, so we wanted to do something more specific, which led us to the volcano hike. There were a few other hikes I remember seeing in St. Kitts when I did my research, maybe there’s something that isn’t quite as strenuous as the one we did.

 

The tidal pools that I visited in my review were in St. Croix (and not St. Thomas as you mention above). If you ever to go St. Croix, they’re a must see in my opinion. Another one of my all-time favorite excursions has been the Baths at Virgin Gorda. Sometimes I’ll see tours offered to go there through St. Thomas (although we went through Tortola port on a prior cruise). All the rocks along the beach is so picturesque.

 

If you haven’t been to the Emerald Pool we really enjoy that stop. Typically you can combine that with another attraction or two while in Dominica for various excursions.

 

I’m currently researching adventurous Barbados excursions myself for next year’s cruise. On our last trip we did the “booze cruise” which we’ll probably never do again! Lol I’m looking for a great combo tour that gets us to see an overall of the island as well as something “adventurous” worked into the mix.

 

Thanks for reading! I’m glad you enjoyed!

[tlria510]

Kristi, by chance did you save the daily "news" letters from the ship? If so anyway you could scan them in? It would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Maria

[izzy19]

Fellow cruisers: This was perhaps what I was most worried about upon trying our first Celebrity cruise and ended up being the nicest surprise. Until most people our age (32 and 40) my DH and I do not have kids, so while most of our peers would be looking for something family friendly, we are not. We’d prefer there be as little children as possible onboard. Even with Carnival, we’ve always stayed away cruising during the summer months, school breaks or holidays and an attempt to minimize our exposure to children. It was SO nice hardly having any kids onboard. I can literally say that I saw LESS THAN TEN kids onboard the entire week (I was counting!). What was even more surprise was the few that we saw were really well behaved – you barely even noticed them.

 

The part of Celebrity that had me concerned was that I was worried prior to cruising that the age range of most onboard would have been much older. It was an older crowd (than us) for the most part. I would put the bulk of those onboard in the 40-60 range. With that being said, all of the older (than us) couples we talked to, we really enjoyed conversing with – and we probably had more in common with them, than we would with some people in our age range. With that being said, there were a decent amount of couples in our age range as well onboard.

 

I’m going to try to remain as “pc” as possible and you can take my comments for what they’re worth…the demographics onboard Celebrity seemed to be as close to ourselves as any cruise line would embody. In comparison to all of our Carnival cruises, everyone at least appeared to be of middle to upper class (ie, we didn’t notice any low class or “trashy” people that you often times will experience on Carnival – disclaimer – I’m clearly not talking about all those on Carnival since I’ve said with them many times). I’m not even speaking economically, more so in the way that people carried themselves. Everyone was very courteous to each other and the staff. Everyone we encountered was overly friendly. Celebrity seemed to embody a classier sort of cruiser. It was most definitely a nice change of place from what we’ve experienced on Carnival. This was probably what stuck out to us the most as being “different” than what we’ve experience on Carnival (not the food, service, etc that other people on other reviews mention).

 

With that being said, it also surprised me that most people onboard were dressed what I would consider “normal” and not as overly conservative or dressy – at least all the time during the day or onboard during the nonformal nights. Some evenings, while walking through the Lido deck, I felt overdressed in my sundresses while others were still wearing shorts & tshirts. After reading all these heated dress code debates on Celebrity’s boards, I would have expected to have felt underdressed at points – I did not. We knew going in that we weren’t going to participate in the formal nights – and were fine with dining elsewhere on those nights.

 

This is "bang on" as although we have kids...we prefer to vacation without them when possible...we are a bit older than you but never felt that we were on a ship with a bunch of upper class snobs...

[ERLEC]

Thanks Heather for this nice and complete review. But also thanks for your nice smile... I think you are smilling on every pictures, we can feel how happy you were in this trip! Even in the "Broken Jeep" scene you are smiling!

 

I booked the Summit for January 2015 this week... It's so far away, but I can't wait! I am also a Carnival cruiser for the most part, since we did 3 Carnival and 1 NCL in the past. But with the actual Celebrity "Pick-Your-Perk" promotion, it was hard for us not to book a cruise again... Even if our original plan was to go into an All-Inclusive resort! Now we have the best of both worlds - an all-inclusive cruise with a port intensive itinerary! We'll have a blast for sure...

 

Thanks again....

[hardingk]

Thank you for your awesome review! We sail in 6 days on the Summit, the same route you did!

 

When you went to Magen's Bay, did they have beach chairs and umbrellas to rent?

[HeatherC430]

Thank you for your awesome review! We sail in 6 days on the Summit, the same route you did!

 

When you went to Magen's Bay, did they have beach chairs and umbrellas to rent?

 

You're quite welcome! Yes, Magen's Bay has beach chairs to rent. I don't recall seeing any umbrellas, but you can keep your chair pushed back under the canopy of palms if you need some shade. I looked back at my photos and don't see any umbrella's in the pictures, but you can vaguely see the chairs in the distance. I'm not sure how much they were since we didn't rent any. They also have pavilions tucked back behind the beach too if you need to get out of the sun.

 

Have a great cruise! I'm anxious to get back on the Summit in a few weeks myself! :D

 

[HeatherC430]

by chance did you save the daily "news" letters from the ship? If so anyway you could scan them in? It would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Maria

 

Unfortunately, I've already cut up my dailys for my scrapbook. Sorry.

[HeatherC430]

This is "bang on" as although we have kids...we prefer to vacation without them when possible...we are a bit older than you but never felt that we were on a ship with a bunch of upper class snobs...

 

Absolutely. The passenger mix we encountered was very pleasant! Everyone we spoke to was really friendly. I hope my upcoming Celebrity cruises are on par with our last experience.

[HeatherC430]

Thanks Heather for this nice and complete review. But also thanks for your nice smile... I think you are smilling on every pictures, we can feel how happy you were in this trip! Even in the "Broken Jeep" scene you are smiling!

 

I booked the Summit for January 2015 this week... It's so far away, but I can't wait! I am also a Carnival cruiser for the most part, since we did 3 Carnival and 1 NCL in the past. But with the actual Celebrity "Pick-Your-Perk" promotion, it was hard for us not to book a cruise again... Even if our original plan was to go into an All-Inclusive resort! Now we have the best of both worlds - an all-inclusive cruise with a port intensive itinerary! We'll have a blast for sure...

 

Thanks again....

 

What's not to smile about when cruising on vacation? Especially when getting out of the frigid winter temperatures! In that broken down jeep pictures...I joked to the other couple, that might be the last picture on my camera if we're never heard from again!

 

I'm sure you'll be as pleased with Celebrity as we were. My DH has said several times since this cruise that he'd have a hard time going back on Carnival (unless it was for a specific ship or itinerary). I think we're spoiled now! The "free" beverage promo is what initially inticed us as well. As long as the cruise is reasonably priced (with the promo), it's hard to beat! Normally, paying for drinks a la carte for the week, my DH & I would tend to spent at least $500-600 in drinks! It's nice to have it taken care of in advance and have a LOW balance when you get off the ship! :)

[MrsKruse]

Thanks for a great review! We're on this same itinerary over Thanksgiving week and so looking forward to it :)

 

We've done RCI once (a 10 night Med cruise in early summer) and Celebrity once over Spring Break. I'll say that on neither cruise was overwhelmed with kids - we obviously saw more kids on our Celebrity cruise out of Miami during Spring Break season, but it was definitely not a distraction. I hope that if/when we have kids, they are half as good as the kids we saw on those cruises :)

[atlasali]

Thanks Heather for your interesting reviews. We will do back-to-back on the Summit beginning Jan 3rd. I enjoyed your photos. Your tips have been most informative. Leaded vs. unleaded drinks, check! I wasn't going to do the volcano hike; but I now think that I might skip the tubing, too.

 

We have been on many different cruise lines. I think you would like Princess. I think you would like Royal Caribbean, too...just NOT at school vacation times. We are retired teachers, who HAD to travel during school breaks. We found that Christmas was fine...families stayed together, and kids were well behaved--was it do to the Santa Effect? But Spring Breaks were a different story! Some kids just ran wild, with no parental intervention. Let's just say I had to use my "teacher voice" and "you-better-stop-that glare" a time or two.

I recommend that you avoid ANY cruise line during Spring Break. We took our own child cruising from the time she was 5 years old. We now cruise when the kids are in school and the rates are cheap!

[HeatherC430]

Thanks for a great review! We're on this same itinerary over Thanksgiving week and so looking forward to it :)

 

We've done RCI once (a 10 night Med cruise in early summer) and Celebrity once over Spring Break. I'll say that on neither cruise was overwhelmed with kids - we obviously saw more kids on our Celebrity cruise out of Miami during Spring Break season, but it was definitely not a distraction. I hope that if/when we have kids, they are half as good as the kids we saw on those cruises :)

 

You're quite welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed reading. This was a great itinerary! You'll love it! I'm not opposed to trying RCL (especially knowing how much we enjoy Celebrity) for the right price/itinerary. I avoid holidays, spring break, and summer cruises like the plague! It's good to hear that RCL wasn't overwhelmed with kids. Thanks!

[HeatherC430]

Thanks Heather for your interesting reviews. We will do back-to-back on the Summit beginning Jan 3rd. I enjoyed your photos. Your tips have been most informative. Leaded vs. unleaded drinks, check! I wasn't going to do the volcano hike; but I now think that I might skip the tubing, too.

 

We have been on many different cruise lines. I think you would like Princess. I think you would like Royal Caribbean, too...just NOT at school vacation times. We are retired teachers, who HAD to travel during school breaks. We found that Christmas was fine...families stayed together, and kids were well behaved--was it do to the Santa Effect? But Spring Breaks were a different story! Some kids just ran wild, with no parental intervention. Let's just say I had to use my "teacher voice" and "you-better-stop-that glare" a time or two.

I recommend that you avoid ANY cruise line during Spring Break. We took our own child cruising from the time she was 5 years old. We now cruise when the kids are in school and the rates are cheap!

 

You’re quite welcome. Enjoy your back to back on the Summit. Yes, the river tubing was much more strenuous than I would have suspected. I would have enjoyed a lazy river float much more! It was that hopping in and out of the tube on a flowing river that posed to be a challenge (for me). That’s great – “teacher voice” and “you-better-stop-that glare” lol! Yes, I do avoid cruises during those kid-heavy times. Fall and winter are the two times per year where my husband doesn’t mind cruising. We have a boat and in-ground pool at home so he hates to be away from our “toys” in the spring/summer months-(which is understandable). He doesn’t want to go on vacation during the handful of months out of the year where the weather is actually decent in Pittsburgh. The lower rates in the winter months are just another benefit of cruising during that time.

[kenevenpar]

Weird...I posted a few things yesterday & now they're no longer on the thread. Oh well...I'll repost.

 

Our next stop we were told was to visit - I can't remember if the driver called this guy "Mr. Nice Guy" or "Mr. Good Guy" or something else similar to these? The gist was that this guy was going to have some of the local fruit and other things for us to taste. We were told that we could sample anything that we wanted at no cost to us, but that tips were appreciated. He had fresh pineapple, cocoa beans, and a few other things. Specifically, he had this coconut that was marinated and what tasted like cinnamon and other spices. He gave you a fork full of that in your hand with a cocoa bean and told you to eat it all at once. It was surprisingly really good. We eat had a few samples of that. The guy did a full presentation on each thing that he showed and explained to you. There was also a press that he showed how you extracted from the sugarcane and had those who were there incorporated into the presentation. In addition to our group, there were people from other tours there as well. There was also a snack bar of sorts where you could buy more of the local Kubuli beer – which we did. Here are a few pictures from this stop.

 

 

 

It is Mr. Nice. It's nice to be nice.

 

Ken

Edited June 23, 2014 by kenevenpar

[kenevenpar]

Bump for OP info.

[HeatherC430]

Bump for OP info.

 

 

Thanks Ken! Mr. Nice Guy! Got it!

[alainamarie]

Heather,

I love your reviews! THANK YOU so much for posting your oversized cabin pics. I'm booked in 8002, the same type as yours, and find it so hard to find info/photos of the cabin.

 

Also, I'm heading to Pittsburgh in a month- any suggestions on what to do?!

Thanks again!!

-Alaina from New Orleans

 

 

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[HeatherC430]

Heather,

I love your reviews! THANK YOU so much for posting your oversized cabin pics. I'm booked in 8002, the same type as yours, and find it so hard to find info/photos of the cabin.

 

Also, I'm heading to Pittsburgh in a month- any suggestions on what to do?!

Thanks again!!

-Alaina from New Orleans

 

 

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Thanks for reading! You'll LOVE the oversized cabins! They really are a hidden gem!

 

I guess it depends on what you like doing in general (on your trip to Pittsburgh). Pirate games are always on the top of people's to-do list when visiting "the burgh" (and locals alike). On select games, they'll have fireworks or concerts after the game (if you're lucky enough to be in town for those). Almost every weekend they have festivals and such going on downtown. They're having a regatta this weekend. You'll probably want to take a ride on the incline - there are great views of the city from Mt. Washington (at the top of the incline). There are lots of museums. The Gateway Clipper is always fun too. You have to have a sandwich from Primanti Brothers when you're in town!

 

http://www.visitpittsburgh.com

http://www.primantibros.com

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions. :)

[alainamarie]

Thanks for reading! You'll LOVE the oversized cabins! They really are a hidden gem!

 

 

 

I guess it depends on what you like doing in general (on your trip to Pittsburgh). Pirate games are always on the top of people's to-do list when visiting "the burgh" (and locals alike). On select games, they'll have fireworks or concerts after the game (if you're lucky enough to be in town for those). Almost every weekend they have festivals and such going on downtown. They're having a regatta this weekend. You'll probably want to take a ride on the incline - there are great views of the city from Mt. Washington (at the top of the incline). There are lots of museums. The Gateway Clipper is always fun too. You have to have a sandwich from Primanti Brothers when you're in town!

 

 

 

http://www.visitpittsburgh.com

 

http://www.primantibros.com

 

 

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions. :)

 

 

Thank you for your reply! What is your email address? I will look up your suggestions!

 

I'm very excited about my hidden gem... I discovered it on CC but there weren't recent photos until I saw your post!!

-Alaina

 

 

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[NOSaints1]

We're doing the Southern Caribbean in November, on the Valor. We're going to St Thomas, Barbados , st kitts, st Lucia, and St Maarten, my question if we like this intenerary would you do it two years in a row but like the islands you went to and do you have any tips going from Carnival to Celebrity?

 

 

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