LIVE from Summit - 1/5/19 - 12nt Lesser Antilles Caribbean - Penthouse

[WonderMan3]

Oh, and this was the piece of paper they gave us at check-in regarding the itinerary change on our cruise. The check-in agent just passed the paper to us with no explanation. I was already aware about the change from Cruise Critic which was a good thing since we never received an email notification about the change save for the update to one of our shore excursions. Very poor communication on Celebrity’s part.

[jcpc]

Adam,

I'm glad to see that Celebrity has started the "Special Delivery" drop-off in San Juan.  I use it all the time when departing from Bayonne but it has never been an option in San Juan.  Too bad they weren't set up as soon as you arrived.  The procedure for dropping luggage in San Juan is awful - basically get in line and schlep your bag to a porter!

 

I also use The Limo People in San Juan.  (you said in your Edge review that maybe we're living "parallel lives...Now I think that might be true!!!)  Gabriel is the owner and he is such a nice, polite guy.  His SUV's are spotless too.  I've always had excellent service from him and his drivers.  

 

Someone mentioned the AC in the PH.  I've found in both 6147 and 6148 the AC in the bedroom doesn't work well and seems to "shut down" during the night (it's an old ship!)  The living room/dining room is nice and cool and the bedroom is a "hot box".  If Chip is your butler he'll be well aware of this AC problem 

 

I'm very excited to be sailing Edge next week, but just reading your posts from the Summit make me wish I was back on her.

 

Have fun!
Janice

Edited January 5, 2019 by jcpc

[goldsmip115]

I agree that the AC in the PH bedroom was not great, but the worst was trying to use the vanity area outside the master bath.  I wonder if this AC issue will be addressed or the same or worse after the “edgification.”  One can only hope.

[jcpc]

31 minutes ago, goldsmip115 said:

I agree that the AC in the PH bedroom was not great, but the worst was trying to use the vanity area outside the master bath.  I wonder if this AC issue will be addressed or the same or worse after the “edgification.”  One can only hope.

Yes, goldsmip115 -- I can remember sitting at the vanity trying to dry my hair with sweat dripping down my face!!  Modern luxury at its finest 

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by jcpc

[itzmered]

Looking forward to reading your review. If you book a future cruise can you let us know what the onboard booking offer is. 

[tazziehall]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. 

 

I followed your Live from Edge and really enjoyed it. I'm excited for this one as I have a cruise booked on Summit a little over a year from now in a Sky Suite. I'm currently researching hotels in San Juan and may just go with Sheraton. A lot of people seem to enjoy it, and the location is ideal. 

 

Enjoy your cruise, and I look forward to following along in your travels!

[CruisersTimesThree]

Excited to follow along as we will be sailing in the Silhoutte PH in March for 12 nights and visiting some of the same ports that you will be. Looking forward to your report on resort for a day in St Kitts.  Did you book the Marriot? 

The Summit PH is our favorite suite having stayed in it in 2016 and 2017.  I fear we will definitely miss that wonderful balcony and the butlers pantry.

if Chip is your butler, he does a wonderful job!

Enjoy your cruise! Can’t wait to read more!

[WonderMan3]

After being dropped off at Michael’s Club we met the concierge Pavel who was very pleasant. I asked him if it was possible to see all the Luminae menus for the whole cruise to help us decide what nights we wanted to book specialty restaurants for. He let us review them and we decided on the three nights we likely would dine elsewhere. He did caution us that the menus could change for any given night which is why they don’t like to give out the menus in advance. We figured we’d just have our target nights for specialties and then would review the night before to make sure the Luminae menu didn’t change. We ordered a round of Bahama Mamas while we reviewed the menus and then headed off to Luminae for lunch. The maitre’d for this cruise is Charles. For lunch I ordered the Chicken and Waffles which was okay, Tina had the salad and burger which she liked, while Mike ordered the sausage which he liked but thought was too big for the bun. For dessert Mike and I each had the Hazlenut Cake which was tasty. On our way out of lunch we checked with Charles to make sure it was okay for us to have Cindy and John dine with us for dinner which he said was fine.

 

 

[WonderMan3]

3 hours ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

Excited to follow along as we will be sailing in the Silhoutte PH in March for 12 nights and visiting some of the same ports that you will be. Looking forward to your report on resort for a day in St Kitts.  Did you book the Marriot? 

 

We booked the Park Hyatt. I think it’s a new offering for Resort for a Day.

[WonderMan3]

5 hours ago, itzmered said:

Looking forward to reading your review. If you book a future cruise can you let us know what the onboard booking offer is. 

 

My sister and her husband will be booking a cruise onboard so I can find out then.

[cmhdoogalsatsea]

4 hours ago, tazziehall said:

...I'm currently researching hotels in San Juan and may just go with Sheraton. A lot of people seem to enjoy it, and the location is ideal...

 

Another hotel you might consider is the Condado Vanderbilt.  It's a lovely property, both historic and newer parts, and is very close to where the Summit docks. Although I've just "come back" to Celebrity in the past several months, the CV is a long time favorite of mine and it makes for a terrific pre/post cruise night or two when transiting thru San Juan.

happy planning...and sailing!

 

[cmhdoogalsatsea]

28 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

We booked the Park Hyatt. I think it’s a new offering for Resort for a Day.

 

Looking forward to your newest trip report over the next several days!

The PH St. Kitts is an awesome place to spend the day!  Included in the package is use of the spa--don't miss the very private and delightful outside showers in the spa.  (I also found that the lockers in there made a good spot for dropping some of my beachbag contents for the day.)

 

[WonderMan3]

After finishing lunch we headed to our Penthouse. All our bags except Mike’s large bag were waiting for us when we arrived. The three of us had watched videos of the cabin prior to boarding so we knew what to expect but it was still impressive in size. Here are our thoughts so far from our first day in the cabin...

 

-The cabin is definitely due for a renovation. Lots of wear and tear on the doors, cabinetry and the marble floors. I believe those are all the original cabin components that did not get updated with the last renovation a few years back. One cabinet door in the living room fell off when we tried to open it. There was a missing piece of a decorative pane on the bathroom door, with glue residue left behind. It’s honestly the dirtiest and most worn out cabin I’ve ever stayed in on any cruise. By dirty I mean there were several areas in the cabin accummulating dust which we pointed out to the butler.

-Master bathroom shower is nice save for the leak from the bottom corner that sends a stream of water across the floor towards the sink. Luckily there is a drain right there.

-There are a million switches all over the cabin which we are still trying to figure out. The butler had to show us how to use the dimming switches which are really archaic.

-Pantry is awesome and such a plus over S and Edge class. Having the full-size refrigerator is great in that we can have all the various items we requested. It’s great that there is a separate entry door for that room so the butler can enter there without disturbing us in the rest of the room. A negative though is the large service area just outside that door between the two Penthouses. It is wide open to the hallway and is not only unattractive but noisy from crew even as late as 11pm when we returned to our cabin. There should be a door to this area from the hallway.

-Furniture in the living room is looking a bit tired also. The sofa bed is not as good as the one we had in the S-class Penthouse. Tina is going to try it tonight and see how it goes; they already added a topper to it.

-The storage space in the cabin is unbelievable. We have so much we don’t know what to do with it all. There are some awkward spots though like the closet with drawers in the master bedroom which is right behind another door. It would also help to add drawers to one of the closets in the hallway between the master bedroom and the guest bathroom so that the 3rd person in cabin could have some drawer space besides the cabinet in the living room.

-The balcony is awesome in its massiveness but is surprisingly less private than I thought it would be. You have to stay under the awning close to the doors into the cabin or in the hot tub alcove in order to not be seen. The family veranda cabins that stick out on either side aft and above can totally look down onto this deck and see pretty much everything. The aft balcony cabins on the higher decks can also see down onto the outer areas of the balcony near the rails. And even the partition between the penthouses is not fully solid so there are several spots you can see through to the other deck. That’s a little disappointing as we expected a bit more privacy.

-The cabin was very hot throughout when we arrived. We turned the thermostat to the lowest possible and it did not help. The butler later explained that they have an outside control setting that can increase or decrease the temperature. He said the previous guest complained and wanted it warmer so he said he would adjust it down. By the time we returned from dinner it was definitely cooler all throughout the cabin and by sleeping time is very comfortable.

-The lack of outlets in the room is beyond aggravating. The only spots that have them

in the entire suite are at the master bedroom vanity and under the living room desk. Having none next to the bed is frustrating. Hopefully they add more in the redesign including in the bathroom near the sink for electric toothbrush or razor.

 

Will share more thoughts about the cabin as the days progress but here is an array of photos. Keen eyes will spy a total of three cushioned loungers on the deck. It normally only comes with two but since we had three in the cabin I didn’t want us to have to fight over them so I requested from the shoreside concierge to see if they could add another cushioned lounger which they were able to do. I would never request something like that in a cabin that doesn’t normally have a lounger as a standard amenity such as a Sky Suite but since this cabin already came with some I didn’t feel it was an outrageous request. I do miss the cushioned loungers from S-class though. The ones provided here are very firm.

 

[danalea1980]

Wow, what a beautiful room. Can you tell me around how much you paid for the week? I am curious with the new refurb what the price difference will be.

Love the review, we will be on the summit in April after the refurb!

[WonderMan3]

Here is the Daily from our boarding day plus our Captain’s Club letters and welcome letter from the Casino Host that were in the cabin. This was the first time in several cruises that we received any sort of welcome note from the host which was nice as it used to be standard. Note that the Persian Garden benefit for Elite Plus is still shown so it has not been removed as of yet from this ship. 

[WonderMan3]

The bulk of our boarding day afternoon was spent in our cabin unpacking. Mike’s bag still hadn’t shown up even after Tina and I had finished unpacking so he was getting frustrated.  Our butler Chip stopped by to introduce himself and he said he was on top off finding Mike’s bag already but he suspected it was pulled by security (aka Naughty Room). Chip was very friendly and showed us how to use the light switches. I reviewed with him some of the beverage requests for the pantry that were missing and Tina requested to have some more cushioning for her sofa bed. We also needed to request that our bed in the main bedroom have the beds put back together as they had been separated. Chip said that they standardly do not but that a request had come in from the shoreside concierge to do that. We never made that request as we are married, so it was odd. He said they’d take care of that with no problem. It was the second odd incident though regarding our relationship as our spa confirmations arrived to the room addressed to Mr. Rose and Ms. Coffin even though Mike’s name was clearly displayed on the reservation. We are not the types to get all offended over stuff like that (I actually found it hilarious) but it did stand out after the separated bed bit. Chip also said he would bring a daily snack to the room around 5pm (the first day snack was a tray of paté). We asked if he could bring some cheese, scones and cookies at the same time that we could enjoy for sail away each day.

 

We headed down to the muster drill at 4:30. Our station was in the Rendezvous Lounge which was already standing room only by the time we arrived. Unlike our last few cruises which were in Edge and S-class ships, they did not have the new spy film for the drill so it was the traditional instruction from staff and reading off of missing cabin numbers. We were standing around for nearly 30 minutes so that was uncomfortable.

 

After muster we headed back to the cabin to shower and dress for 6pm dinner as it was around 5:15. Chip was there and said that Mike’s bag was found and that it was indeed in the Naughty Room. Chip accompanied Mike down to retrieve the bag which had been pulled because of his multi outlet connector which they thought was an extension cord. They let him have it back and Chip carried the bag back to the cabin for Mike which was very helpful. We were now running a little behind for our 6pm Luminae dinner so we told John and Cindy to just meet us there. Got to enjoy a nice sunset over San Juan from our balcony before leaving for dinner.

[WonderMan3]

Our first dinner at Luminae was great. We arrived around 6:15 and it wasn’t crowded and actually never got packed the whole time we were there. Our server was Fauzi who was very friendly. Food was excellent in quality and presentation. Our only complaint was that pacing was a bit off as courses were coming out to quickly; they were serving items before we had finished the prior course. Photos show the croquette chef’s treat, smoked salmon, pork belly, tomato soup, the duck, buffalo mozzarella, turbot, spaghetti, filet mignon, brown butter pear, chocolate ganache tart, almond cake and some desserts from the main dining room menu.

[mocruzer]

Thanks for your review and look forward to hear of  news on the refurbishment.  

[silkismom]

We plan to sail on the Summit next Nov, so waiting for news of redo. Thanks

[ElwoodPDowd]

Great review and pictures!

 

Have a terrific cruise.

[wrk2cruise]

Interesting to see the differences in the  Captains Club cocktail hour.  On another thread this week the letter stated unlimited drinks in the sky lounge.  This letter specifically states only the 3 drinks on your card and NOT in the MDR, lounges only.

 

Corporate really needs to get a handle on this and get all the ships consistent.

[Schmoe38]

Hi Adam

 

Thank you for taking the time out of your vacation to include us in your travels.

 

We were on Summit in April 2018 and had the pleasure of dining in Luminae with Charles as our maître’d,  Fauzi as our waiter and Shiraz as our sommelier. We could not have been in better hands. Fauzi took about a day and a half to get to know us and it was indeed a pleasure to see the smile on his face each evening when we arrived. We have to give him credit as he took on a table of 10 Woo Hoo members and did such a great job, that we made him an “honourary Canadian.” We inducted him by giving him a Canadian flag pin. The entire Summit Luminae staff worked together to make our experience one to remember.

 

Pavel was our butler at the time and we are so pleased to see that he has moved on to the Michael’s Club Concierge role. It just so happens that we had the pleasure of having Chip as our butler on the previous year sailing when we were in 6147. We would be more than happy to see any of our Summit partners with us on any future Celebrity sailings.

 

Here’s to hoping you get some personal time to enjoy yourself on this cruise.

 

Thanks again for including us.

 

Randy and Connie

 

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Enjoying your review, we are on the Summit for our first Celebrity cruise in November.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Following your review. Last time we were on summit was in a CS and had some of the same maintenance issues but they didn't impact our enjoyment of the cruise. The Royal suite on millennium was in better shape but glad both ships are going to be upgraded. 

 

[parrothead33]

I enjoyed your Edge review and look forward to following along on this one.  Have a great cruise!