Just off the Summit/Mini review

[happyboomer]

Got to PR on Friday via Jet Blue from Tampa and stayed at the El Concha Renaissance. Quick, nice flight. Arrived about 6:00 and traffic was awful to the hotel. Very busy area, walking distance to many restaurants and a Walgreens. Nice pools and ocean front rooms. Would stay again. Quick ride to the port on Saturday. Checked in about noon, no lines, got right on and went up to lunch and were in rooms by 1:00.

 

Room: We were in 6026, a sweet 16 room. Quiet room in okay shape. Balcony was large and nice to have. Had paint on the glass and splattered on the floor. One morning had about an inch of standing water on the balcony but was gone in a couple hours. Two chairs, one table, and the table from inside looked like it had been moved out there awhile ago, the metal was already rusty on the table. Worked okay for us though, could use the space in the smallish room. Bed was comfy, sofa should have been replaced as it was worn and stained and seat slid out of place. Everything else in there seemed fine. A little surprised at the small desk space provided but it did have two outlets. Room steward kept the room clean but refused to remove items from fridge so we could put in our champagne, even though we gave an extra tip at the start of the cruise. Said he would rearrange it but never did. I just moved it to the drawer above the fridge. Had to ask for ice bucket. We got one and it was refilled daily.

 

Meals: We were a group of 6 and in of 50-60s. Ate in Tuscan the first night at a 20% discount. Everyone seemed pleased with their dinner but I actually think we all agreed we had a nicer dining experience at the steakhouse on the Carnival Valor a couple years ago. We ate at Q'sine on our last night at a 20% discount again. It was a fun experience but our waiter did almost all of our choices, guess he didn't think we were smart enough to choose for ourself. Two of us don't eat seafood and he choose a lot of seafood, we complained and he added some meat for us. We didn't leave hungry but we were not really satisfied either. Filet for six came it it was 3 very small filets to divide between six of us. I think the guys were a little disappointed with that. It was maybe two or three bites of meat each. We didn't even get to choose our desserts, he just brought a few for us. It was an interesting experience but wouldn't do it again. We had choice dining and made a reservation each night for a table with Ruben and his staff. He was from Lima, Peru and a fun waiter. Enjoyed our dinners there. Lunch was in the lido. I loved the food (chicken salad) and smoothies by the Thalassotherapy Pool. Loved the scones in their version of tea at 3:30 everyday. Specialty coffee was nice and included in beverage package we upgraded to.

 

Beverage package: We upgraded, felt very pressured to do it the first time we ordered a drink. Couldn't get a straight answer about what we could order with the package we had. My sister was given the impression we could only get basic beer and wine, far from the truth. I finally found a beverage menu in one of the bars and felt that the upgrade to premium was a waste of money for us. Don't upgrade until you look at all of the choices of what is included in your package, they sell hard.

 

Entertainment: Production shows we saw were great. Other than that we only went to "Dancing with the Stripes" and enjoyed it thoroughly. Very funny take off of the TV show. Watched part of the final basketball game on the big screen outside, would be nice for movies but we never went.

 

Ports: Sea day was relaxing. Barbados was spent with a day on the fabulous Calabasa catamaran. Great boat, crew, snorkeling, and food and drink. Money well spent. St. Lucia, only did a little shopping in port since we have been there before and enjoyed the empty ship. Went to Dickenson Bay beach in Antigua, very nice. St. Maarten was spent at Mullet Bay and was also very nice. Snorkel trip again in St. John, just used ship tour for the transportation. Water was still a little chilly for this Florida girl and there were big waves but a lot of fun everywhere we went.

 

Debarkation: It was a mess. We stood in line for an hour waiting to get out of there. They had 3 people checking people out. I don't know why they made us get off the ship to stand there for so long. Glad we were not trying to catch a plane. A lot of complaining as everyone snaked their way through the line. Got very hot in there. We went back to La Concha and spend another nice day and night there. Flying home on a Sunday morning was a breeze. No traffic, no lines. Highly recommended to go a day early and leave a day late.

 

All in all the ship looked nice, never felt crowded, food was good, crew seemed happy but it didn't seem like the same experiences we have had on our other 3 Celebrity cruises. We have been on Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Costa, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. Most a number of times (except Costa and Norwegian-once was enough with them for us). Maybe I'm cruised out or last year we did a Uniworld River Cruise and nothing we have ever done can compare with that experience, might have set our expectations too high from doing that one!

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for your review and welcome home! :)

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[NBliving]

We leave Saturday for same itinerary. Did you have a problem with mosquitos? Just got a text today about Zika.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[happyboomer]

Did not have any problems at all with them. Not one bite in any of our outings. I asked our cab driver in PR when we were going to hotel and he said just stay out of the rain forest. We got the same message before our trip. Enjoy your cruise.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your report.

Keith

[SeasideMemories]

Thanks for your review! We did Calabasa in Barbados a couple years ago and had a blast!

 

Have never tried QSine but were planning on it for our cruise this fall. Strange that the waiter just brought you what he picked out. From what I've heard, ordering is part of the fun and I don't think I would have been happy with that especially if it was food I don't even like! I wonder if it had anything to do with it being on the last night? Hope not because that's when we were thinking of going.

[NBliving]

Did not have any problems at all with them. Not one bite in any of our outings. I asked our cab driver in PR when we were going to hotel and he said just stay out of the rain forest. We got the same message before our trip. Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Oh good! Mosquitos love me so I'm definitely taking precautions, but good to hear you didn't get bit [emoji3]

[happyboomer]

Thanks for your review! We did Calabasa in Barbados a couple years ago and had a blast!

 

Have never tried QSine but were planning on it for our cruise this fall. Strange that the waiter just brought you what he picked out. From what I've heard, ordering is part of the fun and I don't think I would have been happy with that especially if it was food I don't even like! I wonder if it had anything to do with it being on the last night? Hope not because that's when we were thinking of going.

 

We had an 8:30 reservation and I think he just wanted to be done with us. We picked the one person at the table to use the iPad to order (as we were instructed to do) and I think he thought we were taking too long. He actually didn't bring a couple of things we picked out and decided we needed disco shrimp and I think some kind of crab instead. All the seafood eaters thought the choices were good . We finally got some chicken skewers and meatballs that two of us non seafood lovers could finally enjoy something to eat. Others in the restaurant seemed to be ordering for themselves, I don't know what was with our guy. It was a fun dining experience, just wish we had had a different waiter. Nobody left hungry but nobody left feeling extremely full either. I would go again but make sure I would get the food we wanted next time. I think it was overpriced for what we ate though. You need to ask for the discount, they won't bring it up.

[SeasideMemories]

You need to ask for the discount, they won't bring it up.

 

happyboomer,

 

The right/wrong waiter can for sure make or break your experience!

 

In the past we have booked and paid in advance for any specialty restaurants but this time we have OBC that we want to use.

 

We are not particular this time around on day/time so hope to be able to get a discount. Were you able to schedule your reservation for any day or is it pretty much discounted for reservations that day? Who did you talk to? The maitre d or one of the people at the specialty dining tables?

 

Thanks for the suggestion to ask for the discount and any info you can provide!

[happyboomer]

happyboomer,

 

The right/wrong waiter can for sure make or break your experience!

 

In the past we have booked and paid in advance for any specialty restaurants but this time we have OBC that we want to use.

 

We are not particular this time around on day/time so hope to be able to get a discount. Were you able to schedule your reservation for any day or is it pretty much discounted for reservations that day? Who did you talk to? The maitre d or one of the people at the specialty dining tables?

 

Thanks for the suggestion to ask for the discount and any info you can provide!

 

The specialty restaurants didn't seem to require much notice. We didn't book in advance because I read about asking for discounts here on CC. We knew we wanted to eat in Tuscan Grill on the first night to avoid any chaos going on in the main dining room. We booked at a specialty table outside of the lido buffet when we went up for lunch both days. We booked reservations for the day we wanted to eat in the restaurants. They quoted the price and I just asked if there was a discount and they quickly said 20%. Did I mention the great choices in the Aqua Spa Cafe? I really enjoyed their healthy breakfasts and lunches there. It is just grab and go. Smoothies were really good too. I am not a big breakfast or lunch person so the choices there were just right for me.

[jbuch02]

Found your comment about the Tuscan experience on Summit to be not as good as the Steak House on Carnival Valor interesting.

 

Before its recent refurb, Summit sported one of the classic ocean liner themed restaurants, Normandy. As you may know, these are being phased out in the M class ships ...... probably one of the stupidest things Celebrity has done although I understand demand was low at the outrageous upcharge they thought cruisers would pay.

 

I've enjoyed Tuscan but I will dearly miss their really fine ocean liner themed restaurants on the M class ships. I think Celebrity has missed the point with their new approach to specialty dining for cruisers not in Suite or Aqua Class (Blue and Lumier private dining).

 

Other cruise lines are outdistancing them big time wrt dining choices.

[SeasideMemories]

Before its recent refurb, Summit sported one of the classic ocean liner themed restaurants, Normandy. As you may know, these are being phased out in the M class ships.

We were sad about this change too and had our 2nd and final dinner in Normandie on Summit last October. It was sooo good and even though we knew it was coming really sorry to see it go!

 

We are booked this fall on Silhouette for the first time and they still have Murano so can still get our Normandie favorites at least one last time!

[SeasideMemories]

happyboomer,

 

Thanks for the info on how to approach the specialty dining reservations onboard!

 

The cruises we have done with Celebrity before have been on Summit and really port intensive! Have heard great things about the food in Aqua Spa Cafe but have not yet tried it because we were always off the ship most days for lunch.

 

This time around we are on Silhouette on the Eastern itinerary and have more sea days so will definitely check it out!

[jean87510]

Thx for info re qsine. We are there tonight and that's a great heads up. We ate at tuscan for lunch (2 for 1 deal) and really liked it. I loved the hand made pasta. Just reminded me of home and dishes growing up. My husband had the chicken parm and loved it. Great service also.

[IsanTom]

Thanks for the review!

[akeka]

Thx for info re qsine. We are there tonight and that's a great heads up. We ate at tuscan for lunch (2 for 1 deal) and really liked it. I loved the hand made pasta. Just reminded me of home and dishes growing up. My husband had the chicken parm and loved it. Great service also.

 

Did you have to ask for the lunch deal or was it offered first?

[boscobeans]

Found your comment about the Tuscan experience on Summit to be not as good as the Steak House on Carnival Valor interesting.

 

Before its recent refurb, Summit sported one of the classic ocean liner themed restaurants, Normandy. As you may know, these are being phased out in the M class ships ...... probably one of the stupidest things Celebrity has done although I understand demand was low at the outrageous upcharge they thought cruisers would pay.

 

I've enjoyed Tuscan but I will dearly miss their really fine ocean liner themed restaurants on the M class ships. I think Celebrity has missed the point with their new approach to specialty dining for cruisers not in Suite or Aqua Class (Blue and Lumier private dining).

 

Other cruise lines are outdistancing them big time wrt dining choices.

 

My sentiments exactly. I can find a half dozen or more excellent Italian restaurants within a 30 minute drive that serve meals far exceeding those served on any ship. The original specialty restaurants like the Olympic and Normandy offered something more in my opinion. I liked the classic menu, service and ambiance that just for an evening took us someplace special. But to me the new management seems to be increasing the number of different extra charge venues almost if not actually looking at the Royal Caribbean trend that started out as the best thing since sliced bread, DYNAMIC DINING, and has since had to undergo many changes as it was a nightmare for many passengers.

 

OMO

 

bosco

[hixonac]

Hi,

We leave on Saturday for the Summit. Can you please tell me which pier the Summit is docked?

[ezemoney]

if memory serves me right it is the pan American pier. it is across from old town san juan

[boscobeans]

Hi,

We leave on Saturday for the Summit. Can you please tell me which pier the Summit is docked?

 

Most cruises with San Juan as a port of call dock right in Old San Juan.

 

And as Ezemoney stated:

 

For most cruises beginning or ending in Puerto Rico they use the Pan American Pier across the harbor from Old San Juan. This is a commercial / industrial / shipping port.

 

bosco

[happyboomer]

Hi,

We leave on Saturday for the Summit. Can you please tell me which pier the Summit is docked?

 

We left from the Pan Am industrial pier. We got there close to noon and walked right on, it was great.

[squidward]

My sentiments exactly. I can find a half dozen or more excellent Italian restaurants within a 30 minute drive that serve meals far exceeding those served on any ship. The original specialty restaurants like the Olympic and Normandy offered something more in my opinion. I liked the classic menu, service and ambiance that just for an evening took us someplace special. But to me the new management seems to be increasing the number of different extra charge venues almost if not actually looking at the Royal Caribbean trend that started out as the best thing since sliced bread, DYNAMIC DINING, and has since had to undergo many changes as it was a nightmare for many passengers.

 

OMO

 

bosco

 

The new Tuscany Grille on Summit is more of a hybrid between a high-end steak house and an upscale Italian restaurant than a typical Italian restaurant. It's a completely different menu than the original TG's on the other X ships I've been on. For an additional uncharge, you could order prime cuts of steak that were some of the best steaks I've had anywhere, land or sea. I don't eat pasta, but it looked freshly made, which you don't always find. It was by far our favorite meal on the 3/26 sailing. If you like good steak, I would highly recommend it.