Jim_Iain Live!!! - B2B Summit New England and Bermuda Jun 5 & 16th

[Luv2Crus40]

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

And the rains hit at 10:45. 

 

 

Luckily it blew through in 15 minutes as we await our ferry to St George. 

 

Weather radar.   Looks like storm heavier to the north 

 

Ferries don't run if there's high wind and swells.

[critterchick]

On 6/17/2019 at 3:03 PM, hcat said:

Cellar masters looked nice..is that newer furniture? 

What goes on around there at night or is it just a pass through to the dining areas and  a lounge?

Can't recall M Class layout that well...

 

CellarMasters had the same furniture as last year. There were a few public areas - Cafe al Bacio, Sushi on 5 and perhaps the Martini Bar (I don’t have any pictures from last year) that were shorted in the Revolution.

 

On 6/18/2019 at 3:13 PM, bermadu22 said:

Thanks for the confirmation of prices Jim. DH and I were discussing the Chef's table we attended on the Summit two years ago, pre Daniel Boulud. We thought we paid less than the current asking price but were fuzzy on the details. So we're pretty sure it was $279 for both of us, we thought the wine pairings were included for this price, but we may have added wine pairings at the going price at the last minute. Don't remember, I do remember having the wine pairing and it was lovely, and very generous pours. They kept offering to refill glasses for us, there was no stinginess with any of the wines. I remember enjoying the dinner, the company and the lovely Tuscan wine cellar room that is no longer there. I wonder if it's still held in the Tuscan Grill.  I hope you both enjoy yourselves wherever it's held. 

 

Perhaps to distinguish the dinners, the one without Chef Boulud was called the Cellar Master’s dinner on the June 5 cruise (we were onboard). It was $279 per couple and included wine and gratuities. It was well worth the price of admission and they are still generous with the pourings. It’s in Tuscan Grill at a large table along the wall where the wine cellar used to be. I don’t think it’s a great location - I’m sure we were annoying other diners by the third course. Maybe even sooner, lol.

 

I’ve just finished reading the entire thread - thanks for taking me back to a wonderful cruise!

 

One thing I didn’t see much mention of was the entertainment. I have to say that it was outstanding in almost every way. I had stopped going to the evening shows on any line a few years back but made it to all but the second night on this cruise (that was our Cellar Master’s dinner). Every guest act but one was very good to amazing, and the two productions shows were also very good. The one that I walked out on was on the overnight in Bermuda. I suspect that CD Dan knew what he was doing when he scheduled her for that night.

 

Around the ship, there was a guitar/singer duo that played almost every night in the Sunset Bar. We had AQ 1141 so only had to go out on our balcony to listen to them. And the house bands were also great. Ron, the singer in Cellar Masters, had an amazing book - I don’t believe I ever heard the same song twice in 11 nights. The orchestra is fabulous, more so considering that Celebrity have hacked their numbers to have only a trumpet and a sax on the wind side. The synthesizer made up for it, but to me there’s nothing like a live musician.

 

I loved Summit and most of her revolution in the public areas. I thought that they made a mess of the AQ cabins - I liked the colors and the modern feel, but losing the multi-jet shower and the de-fogging mirror, having a single chair (we pulled in a balcony chair so we’d have two comfortable seats), installing a closet that can’t hold a long dress (even my long skirt hit the floor), having bedside lights that illuminate the entire room and having drapes that don’t close fully (about an inch short on either side) were all blunders as far as I’m concerned. Our oversized balcony was the saving grace - with two chairs and two loungers, it was a nice outdoor space with some shelter from the elements. Now if they could just reposition the movie speakers (or replace them with headsets)...

 

I think that, along with tweaking the menus, they are changing the wine list. Cellar Masters was out of several on the current list, and in other bars they were showing wines that were never on the ship. But we managed to find plenty to keep us happy.

[maggieq]

Aww I hope the sun finally came out and your day wasn’t ruined. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, critterchick said:

 

CellarMasters had the same furniture as last year. There were a few public areas - Cafe al Bacio, Sushi on 5 and perhaps the Martini Bar (I don’t have any pictures from last year) that were shorted in the Revolution.

 

 

Perhaps to distinguish the dinners, the one without Chef Boulud was called the Cellar Master’s dinner on the June 5 cruise (we were onboard). It was $279 per couple and included wine and gratuities. It was well worth the price of admission and they are still generous with the pourings. It’s in Tuscan Grill at a large table along the wall where the wine cellar used to be. I don’t think it’s a great location - I’m sure we were annoying other diners by the third course. Maybe even sooner, lol.

 

I’ve just finished reading the entire thread - thanks for taking me back to a wonderful cruise!

 

One thing I didn’t see much mention of was the entertainment. I have to say that it was outstanding in almost every way. I had stopped going to the evening shows on any line a few years back but made it to all but the second night on this cruise (that was our Cellar Master’s dinner). Every guest act but one was very good to amazing, and the two productions shows were also very good. The one that I walked out on was on the overnight in Bermuda. I suspect that CD Dan knew what he was doing when he scheduled her for that night.

 

Around the ship, there was a guitar/singer duo that played almost every night in the Sunset Bar. We had AQ 1141 so only had to go out on our balcony to listen to them. And the house bands were also great. Ron, the singer in Cellar Masters, had an amazing book - I don’t believe I ever heard the same song twice in 11 nights. The orchestra is fabulous, more so considering that Celebrity have hacked their numbers to have only a trumpet and a sax on the wind side. The synthesizer made up for it, but to me there’s nothing like a live musician.

 

I loved Summit and most of her revolution in the public areas. I thought that they made a mess of the AQ cabins - I liked the colors and the modern feel, but losing the multi-jet shower and the de-fogging mirror, having a single chair (we pulled in a balcony chair so we’d have two comfortable seats), installing a closet that can’t hold a long dress (even my long skirt hit the floor), having bedside lights that illuminate the entire room and having drapes that don’t close fully (about an inch short on either side) were all blunders as far as I’m concerned. Our oversized balcony was the saving grace - with two chairs and two loungers, it was a nice outdoor space with some shelter from the elements. Now if they could just reposition the movie speakers (or replace them with headsets)...

 

I think that, along with tweaking the menus, they are changing the wine list. Cellar Masters was out of several on the current list, and in other bars they were showing wines that were never on the ship. But we managed to find plenty to keep us happy.

Thanks for the inputs, especially the entertainment.   We rarely go to the theater anymore.  The debuted a new show the other night full of Broadway songs.  Reports have been good for it.  

 

Good to to hear about your oversized balcony.   I’m sure you used it a lot.  Interesting to hear about your drapes.  I find ours cover well but at times in port I miss the sheers.  

 

We really enjoyed Ron in Cellar Masters a number of times. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

21 minutes ago, maggieq said:

Aww I hope the sun finally came out and your day wasn’t ruined. 

 

No sun today but been mostly dry with occasional showers.  We remained dry all day and enjoyed more moderate 78 f and low humidity.   

[Jim_Iain]

We had a light breakfast in the Retreat again and grabbed the 11:30 to St George. St. George is a beautiful little town with so much character and charm.  Could definitely see spending more time there. 

 

We were joking about our excellent planning.  5 cruises back I bought 2 rain ponchos.   We have religiously brought them with us on every cruise and never used.   This time I said, I’m not bringing these since.   They would have come in handy but luckily we dodged the rain all day. Didn’t even pull out the umbrellas.  

 

We had a deluge just after boarding the ferry but cleared by the time we arrived in St George. 

 

 

 

There was a pretty long line for the ferry back to Hamilton. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

really loved the bright colored buildings.   Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

After exploring the little village we climbed the hill to the old abandoned church and went to Tobacco Bay which had been recommended to us.   Absolutely beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

We took the 2:45 ferry back.  Everyone was under a covered area just in case.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

After returning to the ship we dropped by Ocean View for a bite.  We bumped into Osama who we have known for about 15 years as the Restaurant Manager of Olympic and Murano.    He is currently manager of Qsine.    Iain thought he saw him yesterday but when we looked for him we couldn’t find him.   He is such a gentleman and his girlfriend is onboard and managed excursions.  

 

We are invited to Qsine tonight, so will be back to report on it.    Will be interesting as we have only been once and thought if it as one and done.  

[LuAnn]

Jim...how difficult was the walk to Tobacco Bay? Was it up and down a hill?...any other way to get there besides walking from St George? Thanks!!! LuAnn

[reallyhooked]

Pictures are great. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing in September 

[hcat]

Glad the rainy day turned out  great...love the pics..  we have many happy memories of  that side of the island.

Thanks!

[Loucat]

Your photos of the island are incredible. You bring in the sense of diverse colors, island rock formations and the architecture of the island buildings.

Love Bermuda and plan to return. Thank you for sharing your sailing. I have been following since your last TA!

 

[klscaz]

On 6/8/2019 at 5:13 PM, Jim_Iain said:

A couple request.  There are hooks on bathroom door and full length mirror on inside of closet door. 

 

We had the mirror but not the hooks on the bathroom door. I mentioned to my husband that it was odd that there were none. Probably one of those things overlooked in the refresh!

[Aralim]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

After exploring the little village we climbed the hill to the old abandoned church and went to Tobacco Bay which had been recommended to us.   Absolutely beautiful. 

 

So glad you were able to go there, and more so that you enjoyed it! I'm curious -- did they have techno music playing there at a good volume? That was blasting out when I was there last, but I happen to really like techno so I was enjoying it!

 

2 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Jim...how difficult was the walk to Tobacco Bay? Was it up and down a hill?...any other way to get there besides walking from St George? Thanks!!! LuAnn

 

LuAnn, I did this walk last October. It's about 1/2 mile each way from the center of town. There is a modest (to me, at least) hill to climb in the beginning as you make your way out of town and past the church. It's maybe the first 1/3 of the walk, but except for one or two very short stretches I didn't find it very steep and none of it was impossible for me to climb. I say this as someone with lifelong mobility issues that, as I've gotten older, make it hard / painful for me to walk more than 2 or 3 miles in a day, even with daily walking exercise at home, and never all at once. But I was able to do the walk to Tobacco Bay and back with no real problems; even after a day wandering around St. George's and the Crystal Caves, I only needed 2 Advil when I got back on the ship and 2 more when I went to bed.

 

Jim, did you feel differently? I gather from your other posts here and other blogs I've read that you're a pretty avid walker, so curious to hear your perspective on the walk.

[mesamarie]

Hi,

Thank you for taking us along with you on your trips, great reading.

We will be on Summit Sept 22nd cruise. Has luggage valet been offered on your 2 Summit cruises? We have a late 8:30pm filght out of EWR and would like to drop our luggage and go int NYC for the day.

Thanks for answering, enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Mary 

[Charles4515]

10 hours ago, mesamarie said:

Hi,

Thank you for taking us along with you on your trips, great reading.

We will be on Summit Sept 22nd cruise. Has luggage valet been offered on your 2 Summit cruises? We have a late 8:30pm filght out of EWR and would like to drop our luggage and go int NYC for the day.

Thanks for answering, enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Mary 

 

Luggage Valet is not offered out of Bayonne.

[Jim_Iain]

Last night we had a wonderful dinner at QSine. 

 Spoiler alert - I was very good at remembering to photo courses. 

 

It has been about 5 years since we last visited Qsine.   I have to say that we really enjoyed ourselves and had a delicious dinner.  Summit is the last ship to have Qsine exclusively.   At this time there are no plans to convert to LPC

 

Osman (sorry if I misspelled it previously) is the warmest Restaurant Manager you will ever meet.   He greeted us with his hallmark smile  and seated us at a nice seat adjacent to the windows.   The waiter quickly arrived and presented our IPad menu and explained ho use it.   The Sommelier took Iain's wine order.   The wine menu is rather limited for wines by the glass but they did have Mer de Soleil which worked fine for him. 

 

We quickly made our selection.   Remember you can have as many courses as you wish but as light eaters we limited ourselves to 4 items but Osman insisted we also add the lamb chops. 

 

 

 

 

 

First up was  the Popcorn Shrimp which was delicious and very refreshing. 

 

 

Next the Lobster Escargot was brought to our table.  It was piping hot and almost burnt my tongue.  Very tasty, the texture was that of ground lobster and escargot so was a little bit of a surprise. 

 

 

 

next came the Hamburger Sliders. I love hamburgers so was definitely on my list.   They brought 2 sliders with caramelized onions, tomatoes, pickles  and 3 sauces and French fries. 

 

We had popcorn fish and chips as what we thought was our final treat but Osman had 2 small lamb chops delivered.  Really a tasty bite.  

 

Some one one at the next table recommended we order the 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Oops. Got dumped before finishing. 

 

The lady at the other table recommended the Beignets.  She said she was from New Orleans at rated them the best she had ever had.  

 

We of of course took her recommendation and were not disappointing.  Of course Osman also had a couple more deserts sent to the table.  

 

After dinner we invited Osman to sit with us and we caught up on things until well after 11:00. 

 

Bottom line - we really loved Qsine and HIGHLY recommend it.   I am sure we will do it again.  

[Jim_Iain]

Friday - Daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

We got up at 9:00 after a late night and had our usual breakfast at the Retreat.  I went walking for an hour afterwards.   

 

The skies its cleared quickly but looks like some wind damage from last night.   They were also tying down chairs in deck 11 so we may have some strong winds this afternoon after we set sail at 3:00. 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

We decided to walk to Glass Beach today this morning.   It is an easy 1 mile walk but you have to be careful as some of the way there is no sidewalk.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sdnich]

 I saw your review late I had to catch up on the first 24 pages LOL and now I’m caught up ! I enjoy your writing style  and great pictures ! We are booked next September on the summit and will be our first cruise on this ship . I was able to get 1140 with the extra balcony space ! Our last few cruises have been in sky suites so this will be our first aqua classroom !For the 12 day cruise it was $7000 less than the SS just couldn’t do it !!  We will miss luminae but will eat in specialty restaurants and enjoy Blu ! Glad to hear that you are enjoying Blu !also happy to hear that Qsine is still open on the summit we ate there once on the infinity and really enjoyed it but just a lot of food for two people !!

[Jim_Iain]

Weather turned beautiful and the winds died down.   We departed Kings Wharf on time and sailed past St George as we head for Boston.  Norwegian Escape followed us on our departure.   

 

The decks are loaded with sunbathers.  Many of the chairs are still tied down so may be a preview of the winds returning. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

 

Pilot departed just after we passed St George.