Short Summit Cruise April 18-22nd

We made the decision to stay in San Juan pre-cruise and take the 4 night shortened cruise. We rented a condo on Isla Verde right on the beach. 2 couples - we had previously sailed Summit and they had not.

We had a great time showing our friends PR as they had also never been there and we have been to PR numerous times. Hubby watched on the mobile tracker where Summit was. When we realized she was going to be in port by 4:30 am Tuesday, we made the decision to head to the port early.

Left the condo at 10:30 and we were at the port before 11. dropped off our luggage, walked right in and were all checked in by around 11:15. I asked one of the staff and she said we would probably board before 12 and we did. At 11:30 they started boarding and we were in our cabins by 11:45 so super easy and quick

Cons - the minute we checked in we were immediately approached about Specialty dining - like really??? I cannot even sit down before you start? This was pretty much the norm every day, they were all over the place trying to get you to do Specialty. We never do, MDR is fine with us so finally they left us alone.

Room guy Erwin was fantastic and so was our pool server Germaine! Both took super care of us for the days we were on the ship

overall thought the ship looked great, some wear and tear but not much. Thought everything looked neat and clean

I went down to GS right away after we boarded - the $200pp and the extra day fare OBC were both already on our account. So again, super easy! Was so please to find that out so did not have to worry about it again.

We missed Antigua due to having to help with a rescue at sea. Someone had gone overboard on NCL. So Captain Kate got the okay to take us it St Croix instead, so at least we did have a port day out it

Overall, totally enjoyed the week, but b/c I had to pack/unpack 2 times, it seemed to go super fast and was not as relaxing as staying on the ship for 7 days. But we made the most of it and just had a great time with our friends.

Only other con was my husband was super disappointed they did not do lobster on Thursday night. Even offered to pay for it and the Head Guy so "no" we would have to go to a specialty restaurant for it. Thought since it was their fault we ended up with a 4 night cruise, they could have accommodated us and let us have lobster if we wanted it.

But other than that, all was good and service was great.

Sounds like you made the best of an unfortunate situation. It's amazing that you could get to your cabin so quickly, but I guess it was empty, wasn't it!

I'm glad you had a good time. I was seeing so many negative posts about that particular cruise. But you made lemonade, sorry about the lobster!

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Thanks for the report! I agree about the lobster, they should have wanted to make you happy since your vacation was shortened.

You chose a wonderful spot for the condo, Isla Verde is really nice, and close enough to both the port and El Viejo, now I really want to go back to Puerto Rico!

Glad you were able to make the most out of a shortened cruise, it's a shame about not getting lobster. Kudos to Capt Kate for salvaging your port day, and was the rescue of the NCL overboard successful?

You chose a wonderful spot for the condo, Isla Verde is really nice, and close enough to both the port and El Viejo, now I really want to go back to Puerto Rico!

 

Glad you were able to make the most out of a shortened cruise, it's a shame about not getting lobster. Kudos to Capt Kate for salvaging your port day, and was the rescue of the NCL overboard successful?

No it wasn't. I was supposed to be on the Summit on April 8 and 15, but moved to the NCL Escape when the 8th was cancelled and the 15th shortened. It was our ship (the NCL Escape) that the man went overboard on and the other ships came to help. They recovered his body at 7:20 am.

No it wasn't. I was supposed to be on the Summit on April 8 and 15, but moved to the NCL Escape when the 8th was cancelled and the 15th shortened. It was our ship (the NCL Escape) that the man went overboard on and the other ships came to help. They recovered his body at 7:20 am.

How terrible and sad. I'm glad they were able to recover him though, and so sorry for his family's loss.

Sorry to hear about the man overboard, very sad.

Yeah she told us around 8 he had been recovered, but did not give details. Hubby went on the boards as soon as we got home and saw the guy did not make it.

We too sailed on the 4/18 short Summit cruise. We were in a Celebrity Suite and our friends were 2 doors down in a Sky Suite. We had a great time on the cruise. Maja, the Michael's Club concierge is exceptional, and she took care of every question, and there were many, with the various refunds and OBC's related to the changes with the cruise. We also went around 11 am to check in, and Maja greeted us and escorted us onto the ship at 11:30 am. Luminae service was excellent and a private helipad sailaway was held the last day for suite guests when we were leaving St Thomas. This cruise had no evening chic night and the days passed very quickly. I thought we might see Celebrity do something extra special for all guests while on this cruise due to all the issues the guests had to endure with the shortening of the cruise but I never saw any evidence of this. I guess they thought the extra one day OBC refund was enough. Even a small gesture would have been well received. Overall, a very fun, albeit short, cruise was enjoyed by us.