Celebrity Summit Review

Good itinerary, good service, but some issues

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Summit
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Pepperwood
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2019

We have done Southern Caribbean cruises several times, but chose this 12-day cruise because of the stops in the Dutch Antilles (the "ABCs" -- Aruba, Bonaire, Cuacao), which we have never visited before. There was also a stop in the Puerto Rican city of Ponce, which again, was new for us. We are familiar with the Summit, having sailed a back-to-back some years ago on a very memorable and enjoyable cruise.

First issue happened before the ship even left -- the original itinerary called for us to visit some of the Leeward Islands (St. Thomas, St Croix, Antigua, St Kitts), then visit the ABCs. Two weeks before sailaway, this got flipped around so that we would visit the ABCs first, then the Leewards. We found out because we received an email from a private tour operator we had booked on St Kitts confirming that he had rescheduled our tour for the new date of arrival. Then we read about the change on our CC roll call board. Eventually with some prodding, our TA finally passed on the official news to us. However, several people we met on the cruise who had booked directly with Celebrity had never received word of the change, and only found out once they boarded.

We arrived at the cruise port at 11:15 am, were ushered into the entry hall right away, and were on-board by 11:45 am. As we remembered from our last cruise with Celebrity, we were greeted with a glass of champagne. Our cabins were ready by 1 pm, and our suitcases arrived not too long after that.

Cabin Review

Cabin Oceanview 2

It was clear that a major stateroom overhaul was needed. (The ship will be refitted in drydock in February/March 2019). Some closet drawers and doors were difficult to close. In the bathroom, the sink had small cracks, the tap dripped, and the mirrors were tarnished. And in an age where we carry more and more rechargeable devices, there were only two AC outlets in the entire room. TV service on the small flatscreen was primitive, with only a few basic channels. However, our steward, who always seemed to be available, ensured the stateroom was always spotless.

Port Reviews

San Juan

Old San Juan is a beautiful cobble-stoned town with great shops, nice restaurants, small bars and some historic and interesting sights (El Morro, Fortaleza mansion, Paseo la Princesa, etc.)

Curacao

We downloaded an architectural walking tour of Willemstad, and that took us all day (and 20,000 steps), often outside of usual tourist areas. Very interesting, and we got a good sense of Willemsted's history.

St. Croix

We took a taxi to Christiansted ($16 pp return), shopped (shops were not very busy), and ate lunch at a brewpub right on the harbour.

Antigua

Shared a taxi to Fryers's Bay, where we rented chairs and umbrella and spent the day on the beach. There's a restaurant/bar at the end of the beach with washrooms, and other washrooms behind the beach. Fabulous soft sand, calm waters, very little surf.

St. Thomas

Taxi to Magen's Bay, rented chairs and umbrella, spent the day watching pelicans dive into the water. Very calm and warm, nice sandy bottom. Admission was $5, chairs + umbrella was $26. Beach/restaurant on beach, no charge for washrooms/changerooms. Only two ships in port, so beach was not very crowded.

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