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

[HeatherC430]

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]

 

That night was our third formal night onboard. I don’t have any pictures on my camera from that day.

Edited May 9, 2014 by HeatherC430

[HeatherC430]

The next day was our last sea day. It pretty much rained and was crappy outside the entire morning & afternoon. Like I had mentioned earlier, Qsine invited us back for lunch that last day (at the discounted rate of $30 per person) but when mom and I showed up at our given time of noon, they told us that they moved us to dinner that day for the same price due to the fact that there weren’t enough reservations for lunch to have them open. We basically spent the last sea day roaming around the ship and in the casino (mom loves the slots). There was also bingo on that last day as well (at 3:00). One of the guys we were with won one of those games – I forget the exact jackpot much it was much more than mom’s winnings earlier in the week ($500-600 range?). It wasn’t such a big deal that the weather was bad on this sea day because we had such great weather all week.

 

 

 

A glimpse of the weather outside…

 

 

[HeatherC430]

We really enjoyed our last dinner at Qsine – as you can see below, we went with the other two couples again. This was just as enjoyable as the first time. All the items we knew we liked from the first visit earlier in the week, we got again. Anything we weren’t wild about, we substituted for something new on this visit. I’ll start with the new items.

 

 

Slider Party

 

Grilled Angus Beef Patties, Aged Wisconsin Cheddar, "Qsine Slider Sauce", Brioche Buns & Garnishes...

 

 

 

 

Sushi Lollipops

 

Nigiri Sushi, Soy Center, Wasabi Mayo & Pickled Ginger-Radish Salad

 

 

 

 

M's Favorites

[share for 2 or more]

 

Patlican Salata

Mixed Olives

Tzatziki

Eggplant Imam Biyaldi

Goat Cheese Cigars

Tabbouleh

Hummus

Chicken Kofta

Zathaar Lamb Chops

Kibbeh

Mediterranean Chili

Falafel

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2014 by HeatherC430
spacing

[HeatherC430]

And some of our favorites (I didn’t get photos of everything we ordered this time); spring rolls, lava crab, and Persian kebobs. For dessert, we pretty much got of everything again. Tonight the surprise was a warm carrot cake with vanilla ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HeatherC430]

 

[HeatherC430]

Below is a photo taken from our window in our cabin the morning of debarkation.

If you look closely you can see the statue of Liberty.

 

 

On the morning embarkation, we were told to meet in the conference room between 7:15 and 8:00am for the self-debark option (on deck 3). Everyone is supposed to be out of their staterooms by 8:00am. There was already a line by the time we got there shortly after 7am. Once the ship was cleared through customs they started moving the line out of the conference room to debark. The line moved quicker than you would have expected, especially since they were taking groups down the elevators (from deck 3 to deck 1) to debark. When we got off the ship, there were buses taking you to the port area where you went through customs. We were probably among the first fifty people off the boat. Debarkation was one of the smoothest we’ve done. I could see where if you got off the ship later it would get backed up though (since you had to ride that bus/shuttle to customs). This is the first time I’ve ever gotten off the ship and you not been right at the port check in/out area.

 

We planned on taking one of the shared shuttles/vans to Newark Airport. It was very easy. They had lines where they would ask where you were headed and put you into the right line and/or directly into the van. We didn’t have to wait at all. Within 15 minutes we were at the Newark airport. Our flight home departed from Newark (EWR) at 11:35am via USAirways. We had one connecting flight in Philadelphia before landing in Pittsburgh at 3:06pm.

 

That's all the pictures I have on my camera. I'll be sure to post all my conclusions and observations on specific areas of the trip next week - as well as respond to any comments or questions. I hope you enjoyed reading. HAPPY CRUISING! :D

Edited May 9, 2014 by HeatherC430

[cruzbynite]

Heather - I know its been stated before here on the board, but nice job on the photo review. I will be on the Summit later this year and thanks to you I am really looking forward to it. Again, great work.

[Snorkel Dawg]

Fantastic photos and review! My DW & myself were on that same cruise. Although we visited and did different things than you & your mom, it was great seeing your completely different perspective. Nice work :)

[Viva_la_Vida]

Great review! I especially loved all of the pictures of the transportation signs in Bermuda - very helpful to this type A girl!

 

By the way, you will love Bernard's Tours! We booked Maho/Orient Beach/Marigot tour and had a fantastic time. You mentioned a weak rum swizzle on your bermuda triangle tour. Be warned that the Bernard tour rum punch will be strong ;) Enjoy!

[matondo]

I enjoy reading your reviews. Looking forward to your next one!

 

I wish my Mom would want to take a cruise. I have three sisters and we tried to get her to go on one with us. She refused.:( I guess when you are 85 you are not always too anxious to try new things.

[family cruisers]

Thanks so much for taking all the time you did with your review, I enjoyed reading so much. Your pictures also fantastic, you are so photogenic :0)

We're heading on the Summit in June. First time on celebrity and excited to try something new. We've been to Bermuda many times, but never with any of the recent warnings that have been posted about the raw sewage dumping etc... Did you get any notifications onboard, or see any posted at the beaches?

This will be the first time going that we won't be taking that dip in the ocean.

If you did comment on this and I missed it somewhere I apologize in advance.

GREAT REVIEW!!!

Carrie

[SunnyAJ]

Thanks Heather for the great review! I've been reading along as soon as you started posting this one. It's very nice to hear a positive reviewer, since it seems a lot of negative posts on CC lately. I will be on the Summit next month for the first time and Bermuda for the first time, so I found a lot of your information very helpful. We are already booked for Qsine and I can't wait!

 

I do have question...we were on the Celebrity Reflection last Christmas and as much as I tried, I rarely got any ship pictures without random people filling up the background. It felt like a crowded ship (probably the time of year didn't help) but your ship pictures made the ship so much more roomy. Was it just the time of day you took them or are there really pool chairs available??

 

Thanks again for the review and your beautiful pictures!

[forceten]

Thanks so much heather. Our very first cruise on the summit to bermuda is coming up so we drank in all of your pictures! :D

 

 

Do you think the glass bottom boat would be any better during the day, or your groups opinion to skip this excursion all together (day or night)?

[Loyal2Royal1995]

Heather, we are on that cruise for 2015, how far in advance did u book through Hotwire, today that hotel is $300, thanks for info, great review

 

 

Cruising is wicked awesome

[Island Wave06]

Heather, great review. So nice of you to share your beautiful photo album. Hoping to go to Bermuda with family in July! This was very helpful.

 

Thank you.

 

Donna

[celebrityprincess]

Fantastic photos and review! My DW & myself were on that same cruise. Although we visited and did different things than you & your mom, it was great seeing your completely different perspective. Nice work :)

 

 

I was also on this cruise. It was so much fun seeing the trip through someone else's eyes. Great review!

[HeatherC430]

Heather, we are on that cruise for 2015, how far in advance did u book through Hotwire, today that hotel is $300, thanks for info, great review

 

 

When I booked on Hotwire, I used the hidden deal (where you don't see what hotel you're getting until you confirm your purchase) using the 4 STAR Condado area. I just checked my paperwork and it appears I booked the room for this trip on January 16th (for April 25th stay), so it was purchased alittle over 3 months in advance. When I check the same option for next year's trip, it looks like the same option is currently $175/night plus taxes and fees. I'll probably book using the same way for next year's cruise. I'm trying to hold off until closer to the time in hopes of the prices coming down a bit (or if I get some sort of email deal or promo code). Generally, the closer you book, the lower the price. I just hate waiting until last minute though. If you're set on a particular hotel, it's going to cost much more than if you do the hidden rate deal. If I would have booked the Sheraton directly, you're right, it would have been $300/night.

[HeatherC430]

 

PHOTO Package:

Prior to the cruise, I booked the All Prints Package through Celebrity’s partner MyCruisePhotos.com. The price for our sailing was $199.94. This package did not include the CD. I personally didn’t think the CD was worth another $100 when I can scan the photos and have them added to a disc at Target for about $3. I figured this would be the cruise to try out the package. Personally, I LOVE taking and buying photos onboard. In the early days of cruising, my DH (at the time boyfriend) was more agreeable when it comes to posing for photos, now that we’re married, I’m lucky if he agrees to pose for one of two throughout the week of the cruise! For that reason, I figured my mom would be a much more agreeable photo taker and didn’t leave her a choice in the matter. I had been joking in the weeks leading up to her cruise that she needed some new profile pictures for the 50 & over dating site I signed her up for! Lol.

 

There were plenty of photo ops during the course of the week. Of course there were two backdrops on embarkation day. Each day in port, there were normally three or four photos available when you got off the boat. Each evening, there were three backdrops setup on cruise casual days, or five-six backdrops on formal nights. On each backdrop, the photographers would take anywhere from three to five poses (more if you asked). Every formal night, the photographers would take at least one picture during dinner (we only attended MDR once on formal night). The first time we ate in Qsine, the photographer was there and took a group shot of our table (during which I asked him to take several photos so I had extras to give our table mates at the end of the week). The photographers roamed the ship during the day when we returned from port as well as during the sea days. Also, there were a few times at the Martini Bar where the photographers came through as well.

 

I can’t say enough good things about the ship’s photographers. They were especially good at picking my mom and I out of the crowd, so when they saw us they’d come over immediately (knowing that we had purchased the photo package). It became a daily joke with each of them “here we are AGAIN”. They were all over friendly and we had a great time posing with each of them throughout the course of the week (although I think they were running out of poses for us).

 

All of the photos taken with the backdrop came in a sheet with an 8x10 as well as three wallet size photos. By the end of the week, we had about 130 or so of these sheets, as well as another 50 of the port, day, or evening photos (these ranged from a single 5x7 to a 5x7 with two wallets depending on the shot)! I had a total of 180 sheets of photos by the end of the week. This is WAY more than I had anticipated. There were even a few photo ops that we missed during the course of the week. That averaged to only $1.10 per sheet/photo I came home with.

 

When I first arrived onboard I inquired at the photo gallery if they had record of me purchasing the photo package in advance. They asked if I had the confirmation (I said yes, but it was in my stateroom). They told me to bring it to the photo gallery the next day (which I did). From that point, I would visit the photo gallery daily and give each of the photos taken to the attendant where they filed them in my cabin’s folder. By about mid-week, they had to start a second folder for my photos. I had both folders full by the end of the week.

 

I was told onboard that I saved $50 from booking this package in advance rather than onboard. As long as one of the two people in the cabin that book the package, are included in a photo, it’s included in your package. My mom and I ended up with a lot of great photos throughout the course of the week. At the end of the week, I was able to give out copies of photos we had taken with friends we made throughout the course of the week (photos from Qsine, the pool deck, and the Martini bar). If you were traveling with extended family or a group, I would think that this package would be extremely beneficial.

Edited May 12, 2014 by HeatherC430

[HeatherC430]

Fellow Cruisers:

 

I experienced my first Celebrity snob this week (luckily only ONE that I came in contact with). So, one day my mom and I were sitting on a bench on the pier waiting for our shore excursion group to gather (we were early), and a middle-aged woman asked if she could sit next to me. I said of course and within minutes she started making small talk. Of course the conversation began with her asking if this was my first Celebrity cruise, followed by the inquisition of what other lines I’ve been on before (after I said this was my 13th cruise). When I said I had been on ten Carnival cruises, she actually had the gull to say “Oh…well, those don’t count”. At that point, I turned and ceased to engage in further conversation with her.

 

When speaking with one of the friends we made onboard, she said she had a similar experience with someone at her assigned dining table. Same thing, when she was questioned as to what other cruise lines she’d sailed before, she said Carnival, and another woman at her table responded to her “We don’t speak of that line on Celebrity” or something along those lines.

 

Luckily, with only a few exceptions, everyone else we came in contact with during the course of the week was exceptionally friendly. I can say that we made a few genuine friends throughout the course of the week and actually exchanged contact info with them (which is a rarity for me). My mom’s already planning a trip to New York to visit one of the ladies we hung out with during the course of the week.

 

The demographics on my last Summit cruise (in February) were pretty much the same as this cruise. I saw slightly less younger couples on this itinerary and a few more children. Although, I will say that the few kids you saw were REALLY well behaved and you barely noticed them (and I always notice them). I’m guessing I saw maybe twenty children all week? For me, the demographics of my fellow cruisers on Celebrity is what makes it hands down the better choice for me.

[Loyal2Royal1995]

Thanks again for the review and info. It was very helpful, I took notes for my trip.

 

 

Cruising is wicked awesome