Summit 9/2/18 Sailing – Live Blog, Cat Blog, Vlogs!

[David Kane]

Day 2 - Here's your schedule, enjoy your vacation!

 

The blackout curtains in our SS are so good I accidentally slept in until 7:30, which makes my plan to go to the gym and run for a mile in the morning failed from the start. We hit up the Oceanview for breakfast (we could have gone to Luminae, but the variety at the OV is more enjoyable; also, we could have gone to the Elite breakfast but...we forgot) and, shortly thereafter, XZ presents me with our schedule for *the rest of the day*. Seriously. Day 2 and I'm boooked from 9am on! Not that it isn't enjoyable but...that happened quickly!

 

First Up - Cruise Critic Connections Roll Call @9:30

 

XZ had taken it upon herself to maintain 'the List' of passengers over on the Roll Call so we were excited to meet everyone. On the Equinox it seemed the CC host was a little enured to Meet and Greets, giving people a magic marker and sheet of labels to write their own name tags, for instance. Not Here!! The crew were all in for the Roll Call, with printed name tags, almost the entire Senior Staff present, the Cruise Director hosting and the Captain dropping by! We knew the Summit had a good crew 'community' under the leadership of Captain Alex and were a bit concerned that, with the new captains, that culture would not translate. Well, there is no reason for worry - Captain Harris is pleasent, gregarious, welcoming and charming and his staff exhibits all of those traits as well. He even used Captain Alex's 'Voice From Above' line which was great to hear again!

 

About that Roll Call - after the officer's introductions someone (I'll blame SGTLiz here, but it could have been anyone) asked if we could pass the microphone and let each CC member introduce themselves, where they are from, and their CC user name. So, firstly, this is a GREAT idea and we should do this at every gathering. It allows you to figure out who everyone else is, as we all usually only see screen names, so you don't know that DogCruiser183 is really the dude you've just been talking to for the last hour. But secondly, we should do this only after the officers have been dismissed. Out of unfailing politeness, we accidentally took the Senior Staff hostage for like 12 minutes while all the attendees introduced themselves. This was our first roll call where we didn't do a cabin crawl afterwards. We usually organize them, but giving ourselves more logistical work on our vacation wasn't really in the cards this year.

 

Next Up - An early, surprise invite!

 

Picture Captions:

 

A) XZ has found it infinitely amusing to grab my Tablet and take random, goofy pictures of herself when I am not paying attention; so I now find it infinitely amusing to post them to, you know, the world.

 

B) Cruise Critic Invite: On the Equinox they posted a small sheet of crumpled paper on the Guest Board along with invitations to bridge games from 4 cruises ago. Here; hand delivered to your room!

 

C) Breakfast; I feel ok taking this picture since it's out on the Sunset Bar at OV. That rolled up thing is actually a wicked good cheese blintz.

 

D) NERF DOG! Also, a shot from the front-facing baclony. Notice the absolutely lack of privacy? All I know is, at some point this week, 402 are going to see my bare butt through no fault of their own.

 

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[Welland]

Thanks for the update of the Senior Officers on board. Are most going to be on up until the repo in October? Wondering if they will be on board for the Caribbean season out of SJU. Also, Maitre'd in Luminae.....when will he leave and do you know who is replacing him? Any other info, greatly appreciated.

 

Continue to enjoy.

[jcpc]

I’m also on this sailing and I saw you two walking through the casino last night and you looked great.

 

 

 

 

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[jcpc]

I’ll jump in re Maitre’d in Luminae. It is currently Yasin and on September 9th the fabulous Charles will board and replace Yasin.

 

 

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[marycruz]

I’ll jump in re Maitre’d in Luminae. It is currently Yasin and on September 9th the fabulous Charles will board and replace Yasin.

 

 

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Thanks! That's great news. We've never sailed with Yasin but we love Charles!

[trucker den]

thanks for the balcony pic

[Bo1953]

Also, when we returned to ship Thursday, our waiter from Tuscan grille was at deck 1 elevator trying to get people to book dinner that night and Friday night for $30 pp

 

 

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LOL, my experience as well...

 

We saw him at check in and offered $35pp first night and I did ask, 'is this the best you can do' the response was yes...

 

Took it. Night three (3) it was down to $30 pp, I said no, as it was apparent it was not the best you could do first night... he could only laugh as he remembered me from check in.

 

We turned him down... yet still polite about it.

 

 

He will remember me next time I ask 'is this the best you can do?'

 

Besides, my meal there was very memorable, as they served me pork belly as an appetizer for a vegan... we all got a laugh out of that one...

 

bon voyage

[njaloha]

Was the maître d Charles? He was great back in May. Do you know who was taking over?

 

 

 

It wasn't Charles. Kumar said Charles may be coming back to take over

 

 

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[njaloha]

Was the maître d Charles? He was great back in May. Do you know who was taking over?

 

 

 

It wasn't Charles. Kumar said Charles may be coming back to take over next week.

 

 

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[njaloha]

Sorry for the double post

 

 

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[Welland]

I’ll jump in re Maitre’d in Luminae. It is currently Yasin and on September 9th the fabulous Charles will board and replace Yasin.

 

 

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Thanks. Charles is wonderful.

[Mr. Boston]

Day 2 - Some thoughts about Day 1:

 

--Tapatalk is a way better tool for posting on the forums than the actual site. Before, I had to take pictures with my digital camera (yes, a camera that is only a camera! How revolutionary), go to the iLounge, connect it via cable, post the pictures to Flickr and then copy/paste the link in to the CC forum. It took...forever. Now I can just post from my room! And include pictures. SO much easier.

 

--Speaking of things that shouldn't be combined with other things...Park West has gotten into the Finance Market. Seriously. They are advertizing a Park Freaking West Freaking Credit Card! What to know how the next market collapse begins? Allowing people to buy even more worthless junk on credit. Dali would be pleased, at least.

 

--They have a buffet map! Whomever thought this one up deserves a promotion. People often are bothered by a somewhat unintuitive layout of the buffet on the M Class - no more! They now have the layout available for all to see and enjoy.

 

--The Sunset Bar on the M Class is easily the best of all the ships - the S classes have weird layouts, including the 'Harry Potter' bar under the stairs. The Summit, however, has the full two story layout. It's gorgeous. Hilariously, it also contains a row of 'Mr. Boston.' For those not in the know, Mr. Boston can be used to run most diesel engines, take the paint off most services and, in a pinch, embalm someone. Why the HECK does this bar have so much Mr. Boston???

 

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Just think of it as the duct tape of alcohol. [emoji6]

 

 

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[miched]

Here is a cribbage board. It is made from a walrus jaw that we purchased in Alaska

 

 

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[miched]

Another view

 

 

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[miched]

You will be confusing people by referring to the Ocean View Bar as the Sunset Bar. Officially there is no Sunset Bar on the M class. I bring this up becasue there was another thread on this.

 

How was your thoughts on being on the Heli Pad for the sail away? Going under the bridge we always found that being on the top deck was more of a thrill. It doesn’t look as of the ship will clear and it amazing as how fast the ship is moving even though it is only about 15 knots.

 

Did the captain do a sail by the Statue Of Liberty?

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[David Kane]

Day 2 - Still on schedule

 

The night before XZ had surreptiously responded to an invite, something something in Blu whatever. Yeah. Turns out that was an invite from the Captain and the senior staff for lunch! We have dined with the Senior Officers before and always enjoy it, but this was lunch. What the heck am I supposed to wear - all I have are either professional wrestling t-shirts or tuxedos! Also, I realize I don't have any non-dress pants or non-patent leather shoes. Luckily, XZ is able to work a minor miracle and I look presentable at least when seated.

 

The lunch itself was very enjoyable, it seemed to be a suite-class invite and we got to sit next to the Staff Captain, Maria, whom XZ immediately took a liking to, and Miguel, who has been present on almost every single cruise we have been on. The Captain was charming, as I think I mentioned before, and very approachable. The lunch itself seemed to be the best of the best Blu had to offer - even the other guests who dine with us in Luminae remarked that it was a quality meal. I had an enjoyable time chatting with a wonderful pair of lawyers from NYC (or 'downstate', as we say from the deep wilds of Albany) and, here's a first, we've actually spent some time with other guests we meet on the first day at lunch! Usually, we see people on embarkation and then they vanish in to the wilds, never to be seen again (not true - we see them again on disembarkation). This time we've managed to consistently see the same set of 8 or so people (including one group we met last year!) which has made the trip all that more enjoyable.

 

In fact, we were talking to some folks on the way to dinner the other night and remarking how we used to be huge Disney Park fans, but the level of personal attention on Celebrity and the ability to see the same couples every night really enriches our vacation experience, as opposed to being, say, 1 of 12,349 people (and 28 Brazillian Tour Groups) that randomly showed up on a Tuesday.

 

Photo Notes:

 

A) Comment Cards: We enjoy filling out comments cards for the staff - we request a stack of them from Guest Services upon boarding, which they hand over with some trepedation, as they are usually flash points for complainers, and then we enjoy writing 'Thank You' notes throughout the week. This year, XZ got a 'Snap', which is a new Polariod-type camera that prints out little 3" x 2"photos which are also stickers! So now we're including goofy pictures on the cards to the staff as well. Sometimes they're of us, sometimes they are of random objects or areas on the ship.

 

B) Salvaging some type of outfit for the Captain's Lunch.

 

C) I just love this ironically placed Celebrity Art Placard next to a sign that actually meets the description of what the art card is trying to inform you about.

 

Next Up - A Taste of what we already signed up for and the Schedule continues!

 

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[gerelmx]

You will be confusing people by referring to the Ocean View Bar as the Sunset Bar. Officially there is no Sunset Bar on the M class. I bring this up becasue there was another thread on this.

 

It's confusing because Celebrity in certain parts the Ocean View Bar names it as Sunset Bar.

[Bo1953]

It's confusing because Celebrity in certain parts the Ocean View Bar names it as Sunset Bar.

 

g - The Sunset Bar is only the yellow section at the back of OVC and the ship.

 

bon voyage

[David Kane]

Day 2 - Back on Schedule -

 

Juuuust before lunch in Blu XZ and I decided to drop by the 'Taste of the Summit' to see what they were offering. It was set up in Tuscan, and featured a table highlighting each of the Specialty Restuarants and some of the lounges (like Cellar Masters) which offered tastings and other schedule-able events. I think a first time cruiser or someone who was new to the ship would find each of the stations informative - if you have been on board before you can safely skip the mini-presentations unless you want to be able to sign up for just about anything food related all in one place, at one time. The funny part about it was when we discovered that we had already signed up for darn near everything already! Going to be a busy week, it seems.

 

And speaking of busy, we hustled from lunch at Blu to a wine tasting in the Cosmopolitan restaurant. We had signed up for one of these last year with Maggie and greatly enjoyed ourselves. Essentially, they present you with 5 different wines and a variety of pallete-teasing tastes (sea salt, tomatoes, etc.) and they discuss why each wine (dependant a bit on the taster, of course) is thought to pair better with that type of food. This round was hosted by Fabien, the Luminae Somm, and he did an excellent job of explaining much of the history of wine and what to look for in each pairing. Last year, they had as many refills as you wanted on hand - presumably this changed after the gentleman who sat across from us and was 'dragged there' by his wife proceeded to drink all 5 wines down before the presentation had even begun! Today, you just get the one go, although it is a generous serving.

 

After our 3rd activity in a row we took a break from the day, wandered around between Sexy Sax and Michael's Club, and then got ready to dinner.

 

Photos are as follows:

 

A) A Tuscan Brunch event.

 

B) The new Taste of India they are rolling out.

 

C) The Wine Tasting, uh, tastes.

 

D) The Wines themselves.

 

E) XZ 'nosing' around.

 

Next Up - Dinner and a Show!

 

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[hcat]

Following your blog...

Do you recall the fees for the Tuscan Brunch , sounds nice with music...and Taste of India??

[David Kane]

Day 2 - Dinner and a Show

 

We dressed for dinner but first we attended our first Elite Cocktail hour!! We were interested to see what this event was all about because we're accidentally walked in to it about 9 times over the past 6 cruises and immediately ducked back out even though we really didn't see anyone checking cards. This time we got there right about when it opened and saw numerous, numerous staff in attendance. I think it is an interesting note that, on the Summit, we have run in to the Officers all over the place, at every event, in the hallways...heck, in the buffet. We have not found this the case on the other ships. I think it must be reflective of how each ship has a feel to it and the Summit is the friendliest of any we have been on!

 

We hoofed it down to dinner in Luminae, and then drinks after in Michael's Club. After a little Sexy Sax we headed to Soundtrack, the free-form cast show. Now, we try to follow the cast as much as we can on FB and YouTube as we noted before, so our enjoyment of the shows will not be reflective of anyone else's experiences but...we loved it! The airielist (spelled wrong) in particular (spelled right) was very good as were the leads. There is also one male dancer who really shines - hopefully we'll get to meet him during the backstage tour and see if he has a promotional page.

 

After the show we side-eyed the Casino again but roulette seemed...a little off. Weird for a game where you just guess random numbers, right? So we had a final drink and called it a night...except....woah woah woah!! It was time to call...the PIZZA PHONE!

 

(We first encountered the Pizza Phone at the bar at Port Orleans in Disney world. We had come back from a long day of having fun in the sun and were hanging out with our favorite bartender [see a trend?] who kept the bar open until 2am to keep talking to us when I suddenly got rather hungry and, low and behold, there was a phone in a grey, metal box next to the bar. I thought it allowed you to call for Room Service, which I figured I could, instead, just get delivered to the bar instead of the room. Hint: It wasn't, it didn't, and you couldn't, but since then any late night trip to acquire pizza or other foods you should absolutely not be eating is 'Calling the Pizza Phone).

 

Photos:

 

A) Luminae Dinner Menu.

 

B) MDR Dinner Menu.

 

C) It's Evening Chic night.

 

D) Every night is Evening Chic Night!

 

E) The Fox Fur Face makes it's first appearance!

 

Next Up: Some more photos, some paperwork, and some guest questions!

 

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[David Kane]

Happenings:

 

A) Yevren - Michael's Club main Bartender and he of the unpronounceable name.

 

B) Another Fox Drink at Michael's.

 

C) Pizza Phone!

 

D) Monday Daily Page 1.

 

E) Monday Daily Page 2.

 

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[David Kane]

Paperwork:

 

Monday Dailies, Page 3 and 4.

 

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[FlorenceItaly]

You guys ROCK! What is the DRINK special today, lol? Remember, we are the ones with no drink package that you feel sorry for, LOL. I am really loving your review. Thanks so much.

ETA: My apologies, we cross posted. I see the drink specials :).

[bunnyette]

Great review...hope you had a good day in Bermuda

 

 

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