Photo Review: Celebrity Summit 4/26/14 REPO Cruise – Caribbean & Bermuda

[HeatherC430]

The next morning we arrived in St. Thomas. Below are some pictures from the top decks of the Summit.

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The Carnival Valor was already in port when we arrived.

[HeatherC430]

We had some time to waste before our excursion, so we walked around the shopping area. At around 9 o’clock only about half the stores were open.

 

 

 

 

 

After about 30 minutes of walking around a few shops, we headed back to the ship to wait for the excursion.

 

[wencam]

Thank you for your picture review, I am LOVING it and definitely appreciate all of your pics of the Summit! We're sailing on the Summit in November and just can't wait!!

I'm enjoying your review very much, thank you! :D

[New Hampshire]

Information on these boards about St. Martin claim that the water at Great Bay Beach is polluted. That might be why so few people were in the water in your photos. Based on those reports we didn't consider going there to the beach.

[lubiya]

Thank you for the wonderful review. I can't wait to read the rest of it.

[Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE]

I am really loving your review and all your photos! I am especially looking forward to the Bermuda portion of your review. I'll be celebrating my 30th birthday sailing the Summit to Bermuda this July! Oh and we'll be celebrating our wedding anniversary as well. I guess we have a lot to celebrate!!

A side note....If you ever stay at the Sheraton again, you can take the C53 bus from the convention center to OSJ. It is really cheap (75 cents) and easy.

[kdog3ss]

Great review Heather. My wife and I, along with my brother and sis-in-law will be on the Summit 12/6/14. Flying in to San Juan 2 days early on that Thursday. Looks like plenty to keep us busy for a couple of days. You mention staying in cabin 9001 on your previous cruise. My brother will be in that room and the wife and I on the other side of the ship in 9000. Any pros/cons on this room?

[wallie5446]

Information on these boards about St. Martin claim that the water at Great Bay Beach is polluted. That might be why so few people were in the water in your photos. Based on those reports we didn't consider going there to the beach.

Hey Heather!

Have been waiting to see how your second sailing went, and it looks like it was up to par. Next time to St Martin you have to go to Maho and Da Planes! Da Planes!

 

New Hampshire,

The reports about Great Bay were overstated. We were there in 2007, 2012 and again last Nov 2013, and spent the entire day there this last trip. I think the sparse crowds were due to only 2 ships being there that day. We were in with 7:eek: ships last Nov and the Boardwalk and Great Bay were jammed packed. We did our own beach buffet from the Get Wet Beach Bar.

 

Didn't mean to hijack ya Heather:D

[forceten]

More please.... must type faster :D:D

[HeatherC430]

Great review Heather. My wife and I, along with my brother and sis-in-law will be on the Summit 12/6/14. Flying in to San Juan 2 days early on that Thursday. Looks like plenty to keep us busy for a couple of days. You mention staying in cabin 9001 on your previous cruise. My brother will be in that room and the wife and I on the other side of the ship in 9000. Any pros/cons on this room?

 

We loved room 9001 on the Summit. On threads #8-10 I go into detail and have pictures of the room. We liked it so much we booked the exact same room for next February's cruise on the Summit. The pros for us were the space (huge plus!) and location of the room (being right under the lido deck). The only con is that if you're sensitive to motion you feel the motion more in this room since it's at the very front of the ship. If you're not prone to seasickness or have rough seas you should be fine. Also, when I researched this room prior to that cruise, others mentioned it being noisy because the door to the bridge is right next door - We never heard or saw anyone coming or going through that door though. It was a non issue for us. I almost even hate posting how much I liked that room, because I want to ensure it's available on all future sailings! ;) My DH & I both agreed that we'd take this room over a balcony room anyday - but that's just us. Enjoy! :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41632069#post41632069

[HeatherC430]

Hey Heather!

Have been waiting to see how your second sailing went, and it looks like it was up to par. Next time to St Martin you have to go to Maho and Da Planes! Da Planes!

 

New Hampshire,

The reports about Great Bay were overstated. We were there in 2007, 2012 and again last Nov 2013, and spent the entire day there this last trip. I think the sparse crowds were due to only 2 ships being there that day. We were in with 7:eek: ships last Nov and the Boardwalk and Great Bay were jammed packed. We did our own beach buffet from the Get Wet Beach Bar.

 

Didn't mean to hijack ya Heather:D

 

Hey Wallie! Yes, this sailing on the Summit was just as good as my first. It was probably better in the fact that I knew what to expect and was familiar with the ship. I just booked an independent, combo tour for St. Maarten (for Feb '15) that includes a stop at Maho to see the planes. Another couple we met told us about their experience with this specific tour and raved about their experience and the tour guide. They showed us a video of the planes coming in, it does look wild! ;) I knew my mom probably wouldn't be interested in doing that, so that's why it wasn't on my radar for this trip. I'm sure the next 9 months will come and go quickly.

 

I didn't notice any pollution when at Great Bay Beach. There were alot of people in the water. When taking beach photos, I tend to try and get as few people in the pictures as possible. The boards also speak of pollution in many of the Bermuda beaches as well. I didn't experience anything out of the normal there either. If you didn't read these message boards, you wouldn't know the difference. Personally, I'm not going to travel to St. Maarten or Bermuda and not get in the water! Then again, I swim in lake water when boating. :)

[wallie5446]

Bernard? By chance?

[HeatherC430]

Bernard? By chance?

 

Are you a mind-reader Wallie? lol

Yes...the low price ($45pp, rave reviews, and it includes drinks)

[wallie5446]

Are you a mind-reader Wallie? lol

Yes...the low price ($45pp, rave reviews, and it includes drinks)

 

We had John as our driver/guide in 2012, and I rode shot gun and 'guarded' the cooler:eek: If you want a bit more time at one stop and less at another, if the group is okie dokie with it, they will adjust. Since you visited the 'market' this trip, tell the driver more planes, less market. We have rode with the Mailman too! Next yr we are planning the day pass at one of the Sonesta Resorts.

 

Sorry again, back to your trip report:D

[Eiansmomma]

Personally, I'm not going to travel to St. Maarten or Bermuda and not get in the water! Then again, I swim in lake water when boating. :)

 

I will be getting in the water too. Then again, I also swim in lake water and pond water. I'm looking forward to snorkeling! :D

[HeatherC430]

I’ve been to St. Thomas many times since I’ve started cruising, to where I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been there. I’d just been to St. Thomas two months ago so figured this would be a good time to venture to St. John’s. I’d only been to St. John’s once prior to this trip. During that trip, we did the snorkel excursion to Trunk Bay and loved it (Trunk Bay, not so much the “snorkel trail” aspect). My mom had never been to St. John so I decided to book the excursion below (included is Celebrity’s description of the tour). This tour was only about $5 more than the option that just included the drop off/pickup at St. John. The only difference with this option is that once you dropped off those on the other St. John tours, you stayed on the boat for another 30 minutes or so for a coastal cruise of the St. John beaches. The tour was scheduled to be 6.5 hours long (from 10am to approximately 4:30pm).

 

Destination St. John: Coastal Cruise of National Park Beaches (STL2) $40.75 pp

OVERVIEW: Enjoy a guided coastal cruise of St. John before having time to explore the island at your own pace. A good combination tour if you'd like to see the beauty of St. John from the water before heading off on an adventure of your choice. HIGHLIGHTS: Scenic ferry ride to and from St. John. See thousands of acres of unspoiled National Park highlights. Approximately 3 to 3.5 hours of independent exploration / shopping.

 

 

The tour was exactly as indicated by their description and what I had expected. We sat on the top deck of the boat (personally like to sit up there to get some air and sun). The boat ride to St. John was about 40 minutes or so. We dropped off everyone except those on our specific tour. At St. Thomas, you received a colored wristband depending upon which tour you were taking. Once we dropped off the other tours, we cruised along the coast for approximately another 30 minutes. At that point, it was nice because there were only a handful of people with us on the top deck of the boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Once back at Cruz Bay dock, we were given the meeting time to catch the boat back to St. Thomas (3:00). We had initially planned on venturing to another one of St. John’s beaches, but spur of the moment decided to just go to Trunk Bay (primarily because there was an open air shuttle readily available rather than taking a taxi to another beach). The shuttle was $6 per person each way. After a short shuttle, we arrived at Trunk Bay to find that they had signs up that the snorkel trail was closed and that swimming was not advised. After discussing, we paid our $4 per person and decided to go inside anyways. Yes, the water was a little bit rougher than our last visit here, but there was no reason why an adult couldn’t swim in the water (I could understand the warning for children or non-swimmers). They did have the area around the rock and snorkel trail sectioned off. The lifeguard would blow his whistle if anyone ventured too close to that area.

 

Trunk Bay was just as I had remembered. We had a great day at the beach. While we were there, my mom and I each got one of their frozen rum drinks (guava and passion fruit) at the snack bar there ($9 each). She was grizzled because one of the birds landed on her drink while she was in the water and knocked it over (the couple next to us were busy taking pictures of it while it was happening). After about two hours of spending time on the beach, we caught one of the shuttles back to Cruz Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]