Trip Review: Celebrity Summit - 8 Dec 2018 to 15 Dec 2018

[journeycollector]

Well last week was spent island hopping in the Caribbean on the Celebrity Summit. Not a bad way to spend a week! As always, the CC boards have been tremendously helpful, so I'm paying it back. 

 

This was our third cruise. We started in 2016 with an Alaskan cruise on Princess. We did that to get our feet wet. We weren't sure if we would like it. But of course, we got hooked! Just about a year ago, we did our first let's-get-out-of-wintery-Wisconsin cruise and sailed on the Celebrity Equinox. That was a great trip too.

 

Choosing this Cruise
We enjoyed the Celebrity experience last year. We don't need water slides or belly flop contests to keep us entertained. We just want to RELAX. So, Celebrity is a good fit. We also wanted an almost absolute guarantee of warm temps and sunshine, so that's why we opted for this Southern Caribbean itinerary. Plus we fell in love with Old San Juan last year and wanted to see it again. In the depths of winter this past January, we booked this cruise when a good deal came along. All of the islands, except Puerto Rico, were new to us.  

 

About Us

I'm Joe. My husband is "B." I used to be able to say we're both in our 30s, but I hit the big 4-0 last month, so this cruise was a bit of a birthday treat too. We live outside of Milwaukee, WI where I work as a college library director and B is a news reporter. I think he now secretly wants to be a cruise director, hah!

 

Itinerary

 

• Friday, Dec. 7: Fly to San Juan, PR. Spend night at Sheraton Old San Juan.
• Saturday, Dec. 8: Leave San Juan on Celebrity Summit
• Sunday, Dec. 9: St. Croix, USVI - island tour
• Monday, Dec. 10: St. Maarten - beach day
• Tuesday, Dec. 11: Dominica - waterfall/rainforest tour
• Wednesday, Dec. 12: Grenada - river tubing
• Thursday, Dec. 13: Barbados - beach day
• Friday, Dec. 14: Day at sea
• Saturday, Dec. 15: Return to San Juan, Fly home

 

I'll blog a little bit about each day, excursions, and ship activities. Fair warning: I LIKE PHOTOS!

 

More to come! All pics by yours truly. 

 

 

[bhughey]

Looking forward to following along!

[MightyMike]

We are on the other side of the lake from you (Saugatuck) and are interested in your upcoming review. We are on the same itinerary after the Summit comes out of dry dock next year.

[journeycollector]

Friday, December 7 - Old San Juan

 

We left Milwaukee early on Friday morning on Southwest Airlines, connected at Baltimore, and got into San Juan around 3pm. We took a taxi from the airport ($23 with luggage) and checked into the Sheraton Old San Juan. 

 

Last year when we visited Old San Juan, there were lots of people and places still hurting from the hurricane, so it was good to see it in better shape. We walked the streets and enjoyed seeing the Christmas decorations. 

 

Here's Plaza Colon

 

Hungry, we went in search of food and found Cafe Berlin in Plaza Colon. Of course we ordered mofongo!

 

Then we walked around some more...and enjoyed wearing shorts on a December evening!

 

Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico

 

La Fortaleza

 

Calle Fortaleza

 

Here's me on Paseo de la Princesa

 

I liked this link that explained some of the sights if you do a self-guided walking tour of Old San Juan: http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~msscott/walking tour of old san juan.pdf 

[journeycollector]

Saturday, December 8 - More of Old San Juan

 

We got up on Saturday morning with news that the port workers were on strike. The hotel staff didn't think it would last long, so we had a leisurely breakfast. We got a text from Celebrity telling us not to show up before 1:00pm to board the ship. No big deal...we had more we wanted to see in OSJ.

 

During last year's cruise, we toured the beautiful El Morro fort. Now it was time to see its counterpart: Castillo San Cristobal. One price gets you into both forts, so if you have plenty of time, make sure and see both. 

 

Here are some pics from the fort area:

 

 

 

If you look close enough, you can spot the Celebrity "X"!

 

 

View from San Cristobal looking down towards La Perla and El Morro

 

[journeycollector]

25 minutes ago, bhughey said:

Looking forward to following along!

Thank you! 🙂

[journeycollector]

24 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

We are on the other side of the lake from you (Saugatuck) and are interested in your upcoming review. We are on the same itinerary after the Summit comes out of dry dock next year.

It will be interesting to see what she looks like when she comes out of dry dock. I overheard some people on the ship complained about wear and tear, but overall not too, too bad. 

[journeycollector]

Saturday, December 8 - More of Old San Juan (cont'd)

 

Oh I forgot to mention: The famous Old San Juan guy that has been reported about on the CC boards approached us with a story saying his father had been robbed while down in the La Perla barrio and he needed money. He first asked us, "Are you American?" And when we said yes, he jokingly apologized for his Wisconsin accent. Umm, we live in Wisconsin...the dude did NOT have a Wisconsin accent. But we didn't tell him that. We just waved him off and moved along. 

 

More from OSJ in the daytime...

 

Here's B and me

 

Love the colorful buildings

 

It's "Caturday"

 

Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista

 

La Fortaleza

 

We saw Santa!

 

[ecourtney]

Great review so far! I'm leaving Friday afternoon for San Juan, sailing on the Jewel on Saturday. I'm enjoying your photos so far and I'm eager to see more photos of Summit (I will be sailing on her post-dry dock 🙂) 

 

Thanks for your post!

[journeycollector]

Saturday, December 8 - Embarkation

 

After walking the streets of OSJ, we made it back to the hotel. The strike was over. I guess at one point the authorities had to route transport onto the air strip next to the pier because no one could get in or out. At around 1:30pm, we got a taxi from the hotel to the Pan American Pier for $19. 

 

The travel gods must have been working in our favor: From the moment we stepped out of the taxi until we were in our stateroom (not just on board, but IN THE ROOM!) only 15 minutes had elapsed! And we don't have any fancy schmancy status. 

 

Check-in was super simple: drop luggage, get in line to check in, wait to be called to the desk, get your seapass, and make your way to the ship. 

 

Our stateroom: Deck 7, Room 7020 - balcony cabin

 

We noticed some wear and tear, especially on the balcony. There was also a slight odor coming from the shower drain. The room was kept nice and clean by our steward Ryan. The bed was comfortable, and me, being always underwhelmed by pillows actually wanted to take one of Celebrity's home with me!

 

Pool area

 

After getting settled into our room we stopped by Oceanview Cafe for lunch (plenty of open seats!) and walked around the ship. Our muster station was in the Celebrity Theater and the safety drill was painless. 

 

 

The Jewel of the Seas was our neighbor while at the Pan American pier

 

We were treated to a Christmas boat parade!

 

We had Celebrity Select Dining for the MDR. Our "recommended" dining time was 8:30pm. That's when we showed up and were seated immediately. We didn't mind it the first night.

 

We had a table for 2 (of course, you can reach over and touch the next table's food!). Our waiter Tammy was excellent. I forgot to take pics of the menus, but I had the crispy Thai beef spring rolls, the oven roasted jerk chicken, and creme brulee. The chicken was great--not the rubbery banquet-style chicken I was expecting. 

 

Following dinner, we attended the 10pm comedian show - Ace Guillen. I'll just be upfront, most cruise ship comedy isn't my cup of tea. This was just another "meh" performance. 

[journeycollector]

45 minutes ago, ecourtney said:

Great review so far! I'm leaving Friday afternoon for San Juan, sailing on the Jewel on Saturday. I'm enjoying your photos so far and I'm eager to see more photos of Summit (I will be sailing on her post-dry dock 🙂) 

 

Thanks for your post!

The Summit was port buddies w/ the Jewel in San Juan when we were there. Hope they had as good a cruise as we did!

[journeycollector]

Saturday, December 8 - Dailies, etc...

 

Here are the dailies and some ship info:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for now. Will post more tomorrow!

Edited December 19, 2018 by journeycollector

[jimbri]

Great photos.  Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[MightyMike]

How was your room? We will be almost directly below your room on deck 6 when we go.

[puppycanducruise]

Great photos.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks for doing this.

[MichLeBlanc]

What a great review!!! We will be on the Summit in April and found your review very helpful....loved the pictures!!

[Atwell]

Love your photos!  We are on the Summit on Jan 5 and Jan 17.  Thanks for the review!

[kimberlydrzymala]

We will be on the Summit Jan 5th. More details please!!! Thanks for sharing.

[hcat]

Thank you for posting..

Very nice photos.  Good to see  Old San Juan looking good It is a port on our Jan cruise and based on  this we may decide to go to shore....weren't planning to

 

Summit may be dated but has a real outdoor  balcony with nice chairs, a curtain/ drapes..a nice inside table...Just comparing  to what we won't have on EDGE next month,,,Enjoy what you have,,.

[PelicanLvr]

Looking forward to your review.....We are on Summit in January! 

 

How were your dinner experiences?  Did you try the specialty restaurants?  Dinner in the buffet?  Any dining insight appreciated.

[journeycollector]

2 hours ago, PelicanLvr said:

Looking forward to your review.....We are on Summit in January! 

 

How were your dinner experiences?  Did you try the specialty restaurants?  Dinner in the buffet?  Any dining insight appreciated.

 

We ate in the MDR each night. Last year on Celebrity Equinox we had a 3-night specialty dining package and enjoyed it. This year, we were "cheapies" and just ate in the MDR, hah! 🙂 Actually, I would say we had good food most nights in the MDR...and with impeccable service. We ate in the Oceanview Cafe for breakfast and lunch. I liked it for a quick breakfast. Lunch could be hit or miss. Last year on Equinox I spotted yummy things right away in the buffet for lunch. This year on Summit I usually circled a couple times before "settling." Not awful by any means...but not stellar either. Food is ALWAYS subjective...so just my opinion. I tend not to be a picky eater. 

[journeycollector]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

Thank you for posting..

Very nice photos.  Good to see  Old San Juan looking good It is a port on our Jan cruise and based on  this we may decide to go to shore....weren't planning to

 

Summit may be dated but has a real outdoor  balcony with nice chairs, a curtain/ drapes..a nice inside table...Just comparing  to what we won't have on EDGE next month,,,Enjoy what you have,,.

Definitely give Old San Juan a chance...we LOVE it and wouldn't hesitate to go back any time! True about the balcony...we spent a lot of time taking advantage of it!

[journeycollector]

13 hours ago, puppycanducruise said:

Great photos.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks for doing this.

 

12 hours ago, MichLeBlanc said:

What a great review!!! We will be on the Summit in April and found your review very helpful....loved the pictures!!

 

12 hours ago, Atwell said:

Love your photos!  We are on the Summit on Jan 5 and Jan 17.  Thanks for the review!

 

3 hours ago, kimberlydrzymala said:

We will be on the Summit Jan 5th. More details please!!! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, everyone! 🙂

[journeycollector]

13 hours ago, MightyMike said:

How was your room? We will be almost directly below your room on deck 6 when we go.

The room was nice. Not too much wear and tear, except on the balcony. Bed was super comfortable. Ryan, the stateroom attendant, always kept the room fresh. There was a slight odor from the shower drain and couple of cracked tiles, but we also new it was going into drydock soon. We liked the location. Not too far away from stairs/elevator. The rooms below us on Deck 6 bumped "out" so we could see people if they were standing on their balcony. It didn't bother us...but not sure if it bothered them! 🙂 

[journeycollector]

13 hours ago, jimbri said:

Great photos.  Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Thank you!