Summit LIVE Bermuda (7/24-7/31) AQ Class Review

[Jim_Iain]

28 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Jim, I was impressed at how good Tuscan was on the Summit.  My previous experiences there on other ships had been meh.  It came with my suite, so I thought I'd give it one more try.  Will definitely go back in the fall.  Also, if you can catch lobster & steak night at Le Petit Chef, that was also good.  Since there are so few specialty restaurants on Summit, it's good they've upped their game.

Thanks Linda.    Last couple times when had free dining we didn't use it due to the disappointing service and food.   While on Silhouette one evening we gave it a try again and it was amazing.   Service was over the top and after our 3rd dinner we finally got our waiter to cut down the portion size. 

We've been to Le Petit Chef a couple times and while it's interesting we pretty much now just give it a miss.   I'm pretty happy with the food in Luminae and Blu.

 

I've finally compiled a data base of their deserts -   Description vs with what it really looks like.  I'm sure you know what I mean ---  Cheese cake that comes out as 3 balls on a plate....hmmm..

 

 

[CruiseNYC]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Been quietly reading the next  installment of Charla and Jeromy's Next Adventure.   Enjoying it immensely.   

 

We board Summit in 11 days and just got a call from Shore-side Concierge.    It has suddenly clicked in how quickly it is coming up.    I was happy to read of your dinner at Tuscan they have been hit or miss on different ships-  without a Murano doesn't leave a lot of choices.

 

 

Hi Jim - we also had a terrific experience in Tuscan. Based on some of Charla’s recommendations, I also had the rib-eye, small portion of lobster rigatoni, small garlic mashed and broccoli. We thoroughly enjoyed, so much so that we’re going again tonight.  (Just a note: we asked for - and received - tasting portions of the sides. I hate calling for the wheelbarrow to help me out of the dining room!)

Looking forward to following you again on your next adventure!

[GenerationX]

Good morning from Bermuda Day 2!

 

After another great breakfast in Blu we are spending the morning relaxing by the pool, which is much more chill than on the sea days, before this afternoon’s excursions.  I had to do a bit of work this morning and the wifi was much improved compared to Equinox last month. My vpn connection never dropped and I was able to remote into my desktop at the office.  I was also able to take a short (no video, because I was in a bikini drinking a vodka tonic) zoom call without any freezing issues.

 

I woke up this morning still dreaming about that Veuve Clicquot dinner last night.  

 

I’ve done this dinner twice before: once last year on Summit and then on Edge in February.  I think last night’s was the best of the 3 by a mile and I dare say it was near perfection!

 

The event was held in the La Petit Chef space, which they closed for the evening to other guests so the kitchen and sommeliers were completely focused on our dinner. This also made it much easier to hear the awesome presentation made by the sommeliers.

 

Gone was the yucky raw oyster first course from Edge and it was replaced with a much more crowd pleasing shrimp with a sweet and spicy chili sauce.  The poached pear salad course that underwhelmed me the previous two times was fantastic this time. I think they changed up the recipe for the vinaigrette and it made a world of difference giving the pears and salad more flavor.  

 

The sea bass crudo and filet mignon were just as good as they were the two times before. And this time the sea bass was further blinged out with a nice little helping of caviar dolloped on top!

 

Then came dessert. Oh the dessert. In my opinion the crudo and the dessert alone are worth the steep price of the dinner.  Readers of my Edge review will recall how close I came to starting my own French Revolution upon finding that on Edge, the dessert course had been switched from the apricot soufflé to a pedestrian tiramisu.  Last night the heavenly apricot soufflé was BAAACK! And with a scoop of rich vanilla gelato on the side for extra richness.  

 

As I was devouring the soufflé with extreme pleasure and delight, my husband, tongue well loosened by several glasses of Veuve, made an R-rated comment about the last time he’d seen a similar look on my face.  Fortunately our table mates were in a fit of laughter about something else at the time and I think I was the only one who heard him…I swear I can’t take this man anywhere. 🤦🏾‍♀️

 

The wine and champagne pairings with the meal were perfect. Including what was probably the best Malbec I’ve ever tasted which was paired with the filet.

 

The only hiccups were that while everyone in the group ordered the filet medium rare, Jeremy and I’s came out much more like medium. Fortunately the meat was so tender and the seasoning so good, the extra cook didn’t even come close to ruining it for us. Also, it seemed like they were having some A/V issues in the restaurant as the French background music for the Le Petit Chef show, and also some random crackling and scratching sounds, would occasionally blare out of the speakers in the restaurant during the meal.  

 

They didn’t give us a copy of the menu at the event, but Michael told us that an autographed copy will be delivered to our staterooms. Once I get it I’ll post a photo of that as well.

 

Today we’ll be going on an ocean kayaking tour then come back to the ship for a quick dinner and shower then head out for a sunset champagne catamaran sail.

 

Have a great Thirsty Thursday, friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DisneyJen]

Sounds like a wonderful evening @GenerationX!

 

Do you know who I need to talk to about food allergies for the Veuve dinner? The sea bass crudo and caviar would be a problem for me. TIA!

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, DisneyJen said:

Sounds like a wonderful evening @GenerationX!

 

Do you know who I need to talk to about food allergies for the Veuve dinner? The sea bass crudo and caviar would be a problem for me. TIA!

You can talk to the Restaurant Manager in advance and the wait staff will also ask at the beginning before taking orders.

[DisneyJen]

Thanks @Jim_Iain!

 

We will be in a RS next week so I guess I can let the Retreat Staff and maitre d know as well.

[Jim_Iain]

13 minutes ago, DisneyJen said:

Thanks @Jim_Iain!

 

We will be in a RS next week so I guess I can let the Retreat Staff and maitre d know as well.

Definitely.  

 

I got a call from the Shore side Concierge yesterday and one of the questions she asked was whether we had any allergies.   They will usually call  10-11 days prior to the cruise.

[Redtravel]

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

Good morning from Bermuda Day 2!

 

After another great breakfast in Blu we are spending the morning relaxing by the pool, which is much more chill than on the sea days, before this afternoon’s excursions.  I had to do a bit of work this morning and the wifi was much improved compared to Equinox last month. My vpn connection never dropped and I was able to remote into my desktop at the office.  I was also able to take a short (no video, because I was in a bikini drinking a vodka tonic) zoom call without any freezing issues.

 

I woke up this morning still dreaming about that Veuve Clicquot dinner last night.  

 

I’ve done this dinner twice before: once last year on Summit and then on Edge in February.  I think last night’s was the best of the 3 by a mile and I dare say it was near perfection!

 

The event was held in the La Petit Chef space, which they closed for the evening to other guests so the kitchen and sommeliers were completely focused on our dinner. This also made it much easier to hear the awesome presentation made by the sommeliers.

 

Gone was the yucky raw oyster first course from Edge and it was replaced with a much more crowd pleasing shrimp with a sweet and spicy chili sauce.  The poached pear salad course that underwhelmed me the previous two times was fantastic this time. I think they changed up the recipe for the vinaigrette and it made a world of difference giving the pears and salad more flavor.  

 

The sea bass crudo and filet mignon were just as good as they were the two times before. And this time the sea bass was further blinged out with a nice little helping of caviar dolloped on top!

 

Then came dessert. Oh the dessert. In my opinion the crudo and the dessert alone are worth the steep price of the dinner.  Readers of my Edge review will recall how close I came to starting my own French Revolution upon finding that on Edge, the dessert course had been switched from the apricot soufflé to a pedestrian tiramisu.  Last night the heavenly apricot soufflé was BAAACK! And with a scoop of rich vanilla gelato on the side for extra richness.  

 

As I was devouring the soufflé with extreme pleasure and delight, my husband, tongue well loosened by several glasses of Veuve, made an R-rated comment about the last time he’d seen a similar look on my face.  Fortunately our table mates were in a fit of laughter about something else at the time and I think I was the only one who heard him…I swear I can’t take this man anywhere. 🤦🏾‍♀️

 

The wine and champagne pairings with the meal were perfect. Including what was probably the best Malbec I’ve ever tasted which was paired with the filet.

 

The only hiccups were that while everyone in the group ordered the filet medium rare, Jeremy and I’s came out much more like medium. Fortunately the meat was so tender and the seasoning so good, the extra cook didn’t even come close to ruining it for us. Also, it seemed like they were having some A/V issues in the restaurant as the French background music for the Le Petit Chef show, and also some random crackling and scratching sounds, would occasionally blare out of the speakers in the restaurant during the meal.  

 

They didn’t give us a copy of the menu at the event, but Michael told us that an autographed copy will be delivered to our staterooms. Once I get it I’ll post a photo of that as well.

 

Today we’ll be going on an ocean kayaking tour then come back to the ship for a quick dinner and shower then head out for a sunset champagne catamaran sail.

 

Have a great Thirsty Thursday, friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Malbec in photo was the best wine available in MDR. Most of the others were terrible.

[GenerationX]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

You can talk to the Restaurant Manager in advance and the wait staff will also ask at the beginning before taking orders.

Thank you Jim!

Yes I can confirm the chef did come out and ask about allergies at the beginning.  I agree it is probably a good idea to let the restaurant manager know in advance as well.  That would give the chef more time to come up with good/creative options to accommodate.

[abbydancer2003]

I found this last night, and just got caught up.  First, a belated very happy birthday Charla.  What a great way to celebrate.

 

If you see Genesis, say hello from Abby & Beth.  She might remember us from our two cruises last year when she was in Luminae.  

 

 

[DisneyJen]

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Definitely.  

 

I got a call from the Shore side Concierge yesterday and one of the questions she asked was whether we had any allergies.   They will usually call  10-11 days prior to the cruise.

 When the Shoreside Concierge called last week I did let her know.

 

I'll gentle remind folks when we are on board.

[bnurick]

@GenerationX We agree the Summit Veuve dinner was the best we’ve had thus far of our two.  We also felt this way about Chefs Table, which was our third.  Staff was so engaging and worked like a flawless team.  The Malbec was also what we had with the beef.  Glad they had enough signed up for it!

[Kteacher]

We attended as well and agree that it was one of the best Veuve dinner we’ve done. Service has been excellent this week 👍

[GenerationX]

Good morning from the Summit pool deck which, as our visit in Bermuda is coming to a close in a few hours, is starting to creep its way back up to sea day level of crowds.

 

Our weather today has turned cloudy with spotty showers (to match my mood about the cruise entering its final days).  I know I have an entire day yesterday to report on, so stay tuned for a string of catch up posts. 

 

Today we don’t have any plans other than running into port for maybe an hour or 2 to do some quick souvenir and rum shopping that we couldn’t do yesterday because the shops were closed for the Emancipation Day holiday.  

 

Then tonight will be our second evening chic night as we leave Bermuda.

 

[Jim_Iain]

I always hate it when all of a sudden you realize the cruise is coming to an end far too quickly.    The only thing worse is when you come back to your cabin and find those nasty luggage tags on your bed.  

[Kteacher]

13 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I always hate it when all of a sudden you realize the cruise is coming to an end far too quickly.    The only thing worse is when you come back to your cabin and find those nasty luggage tags on your bed.  

Like they say, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened 😀. 

[GenerationX]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I always hate it when all of a sudden you realize the cruise is coming to an end far too quickly.    The only thing worse is when you come back to your cabin and find those nasty luggage tags on your bed.  

Oh yes!  Nothing kills a buzz like being greeted by those tags on the bed.  
 

They should put a little box of those fancy chic night chocolates on top of the tags for every stateroom to help soften the blow!

[Jim_Iain]

8 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Oh yes!  Nothing kills a buzz like being greeted by those tags on the bed.  
 

They should put a little box of those fancy chic night chocolates on top of the tags for every stateroom to help soften the blow!

 

Or at least a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to take away the pain.   Medicinal use only of course.

 

I would really like to do the Veuve Clicquot but I don't drink -   I usually just slide mine over to Iain.    Maybe I'll book it anyway.    My favorite Iain response when I suggest an expensive upgrade -   "It's only money"    -   I'm more of the penurious type.    So I listen to him and book it.

 

We did the Chef's table (pre-Chef B) once  and the Sommelier was gracious enough to pair a different non-alcoholic wine for me with each course.   Really made me feel included.

[GenerationX]

Yesterday during the day, we were supposed to go on a half day ocean kayaking eco tour, but the weather for the afternoon was looking like a decent amount of wind and drizzle out on the sea and Jeremy wasn’t feeling it. So we decided to stay onboard and relax and take advantage of a quieter ship.  

 

For lunch, we took Jim’s fabulous recommendation and got some small plates from the Aqua Spa Cafe that were delicious but also light and refreshing. The salmon salad and chicken salad were our favorites but the chilled soba noodles and spinach salad were also good.  Portions are small but we knew we were having an early dinner before our evening excursion so didn’t want to fill up too much.

 

For dinner we went to Blu right at 5:30 opening so that we could finish in time for our 7:15 pier excursion meet up.  I think last night’s Blu menu was the weakest of the cruise but we had a wonderful waiter who helped us navigate and gave great recommendations on what was good and what to avoid.  He also reminded us that we could also order Everyday items from the MDR menu.

 

For starters, I had my favorite escargot from the MDR menu and Jeremy had the smoked trout mousse from the Aqua menu. My escargot was as delicious as always.

 

Our server warned Jeremy about that smoked trout, but Poseidon forbid my husband ever listen to anybody once he’s made is mind up.  Turned out, of course, that our server was right.  That trout was big time disappointing.  You couldn’t actually taste any trout or any smoke for that matter in the mousse.  And the sweet potato cakes it was served on top of were over salted and extremely greasy.  All such a shame because if done right it has the potential to be something really tasty.

 

For mains Jeremy had the Blu roast chicken entree and I had the Blu bronzino clean eating special that our server recommended.  Then we also took his recommendation to split the duck confit ravioli Blu entree.  All of the mains were really good. I think that bronzino was even better than the one in Tuscan Grille. Perhaps in part due to the feta and pesto it was served with that really complimented the fish.

 

We didn’t want to be over full for our excursion so we decided to skip dessert and just have a couple of espressos instead.

 

I’ve got to wrap up writing and finish my poolside Gosling’s rum and Diet Coke cocktail (btw a very good rum from Bermuda, included in the premium beverage package) by the pool then I’m going to take a quick shower and meet Jeremy, who decided to stay in port a little longer looking for gifts, for a late last sushi lunch.

 

Soon to come: a report on our sunset catamaran sail and last night’s late night fun!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FLCruiser97]

Maybe Jeremy's shopping for an extra birthday gift. 

[MarKay525]

No pier runners. Bye Bermuda. Hope you and Jeremy enjoyed my favorite island! I'm certainly enjoying your Live.

Edited July 29, 2022 by MarKay525

[GenerationX]

Good morning from a rocking (literally) sea day on the Summit.  I have pretty good sea legs so I’ve only had to tap into the Dramamine in my travel medical kit a handful of times in all my cruises. The way my chair is rocking in Blu this morning, I’m thinking today may be one of those days.

 

First post of the day: A Back in Time Report on Night 2 in Bermuda…

 

After our dinner in Blu we headed down to the pier for the the evening White Night Catamaran Sail excursion that we booked through Celebrity.

 

Once again the catamaran picked us up right by the ship so no transfer buses, etc.

 

If you’re planning to do the excursion, fyi it looks like people take the white night theme pretty seriously.  I only saw 1 or 2 people who weren’t dressed in white.  Because I knew I’d be on a boat in evening ocean breezes, I went for a white dress that had built in white boy shorts underneath to avoid a stiff wind accidentally showing my full GenX to all of Bermuda.

 

On the sail out the crew gave us a little house tour of the mansions on the shores of the island and told us stories of some of the people who own them. Then we turned back towards the dockyards to watch the sun set next to the ship.  

 

After dark, they put on party music and turned on club lighting on the boat so that we could dance.  

 

Throughout the sail the onboard bar was open.  Unlimited soft drinks, water, Rum swizzles and Prosecco were included in the excursion price. They did also have a full bar with other mixed drinks available for purchase in cash.

 

We sailed for about 3 hours total and got back to the ship just as the 10pm Motown show was starting in the sky lounge.  

 

Unfortunately, most people had gotten to the lounge early to stake their claim to seats so by the time we got there there was nowhere left to sit. We decided to head back down and take advantage of their actually being seats open at the martini bar, then rejoin the party in the sky lounge after the show ended.  I had one of my go to’s the French 75 martini and Jeremy tried the Lycheetini which he said was very good.

 

Once the Motown show wrapped up, our house band Hey Mama played an awesome set. If you’re sailing with them on Summit, this band is not to be missed!  They’re an all-women band from Brazil and the sets they’ve done onboard this week have had a diverse range of really good songs. Everything from James Brown to Shakira.  I had the pleasure of chatting briefly with a couple of the ladies and addition to being very talented musicians, it seems like they’re very gracious and just gorgeous young women both inside and out.

 

After the band finished in the sky lounge, we grabbed some late night pizza from the buffet to eat on our veranda before bedtime.

 

 

 

 

 

[mchell810]

As always, I am enjoying reading about your trip; glad you and Jeremy are having a great time.  The sunset catamaran cruise sounds lovely!

[Jim_Iain]

That picture of you with hot pink lights is incredible.   It captures so much of you and just pulls us into the picture.

 

Have you tried the afternoon tea in Ocean View -  usually about 4:00 ?    Small finger sandwiches, scones and cream and lots of tasty little sweets.    They really don't advertise it much but sometimes it is just fun and generally not very well attended.

[GenerationX]

Scenes from my marriage this morning on Summit.  After breakfast my husband and I took a walk around the shops to get some gifts for Gen Z then I was planning to have some tea and read solo in al Bacio while he spent some time in the casino.

 

After I discovered the new luxury handbag shop though, Jeremy decided that he’d better join me and have a caramel macchiato and talk some sense into me.