JandKMom

There is a great write up with all drinks and prices and food menus. It is from last December but very helpful and great pics. It is .... thepreismans.com

Hope this helps....just looking at the specialty martini menu makes the upgrade worth it in my opinion!

Hi- thanks for your reply, but this post was from June. Don't know how it got resurrected after all these months. We took our cruise over 4th of July week and had a wonderful time. The Classic package suited our needs fine and everything I wanted was on it.

I am the OP of this post. Funny that it has been revived after 3 months! I ended up bringing my 2 bottles of wine. Found they were not necessary. Drank one and brought the other home!

We also booked two months ahead. It was a wonderful day! One of the highlights of the whole trip.

Waited to book Coco Reef and there's nothing left for next Tues or Wed. Can you go to Elbow Beach by yourself? Is part of it a public beach?

Yes, Elbow Beach is a public beach (not to be confused with the resort of the same name which is right next to it). I understand they have facilities there and rent chairs and umbrellas. It is supposed to be lovely. The #7 bus stops there. It is not far from Horseshoe Bay.

I didn't care for Tobacco Bay too much either. I didn't find it dirty, just very, very small and very crowded with other folks from the cruise ships and there was loud music from the beach bar. The water was lovely and calm and perfect for snorkeling though, so my kids had fun. It does not compare to the South Shore beaches. If you are planning a trip to St. Georges it is worth checking out but not a special trip just for the beach.

I also did Coco Reef resort! It was fabulous! You can take a cab for $40 each way or the #7 bus. Just tell the bus driver you are going to Coco Reef resort. It is a stop or two after the Elbow Beach stop and is right by the college. It is a very long walk down (and back up) the hill from the main road to the resort. I recommend going to Horseshoe Bay on the THIRD day, not the second day, when many people are sticking close to the ship. Departure is not til 4:00 pm, so if you go early, you will have plenty of time. We left by 9:00 am and it was pretty empty when we got there, but packed by the time we left. A woman I met on the bus back told me she had been there the day before and there were 3 times as many people! Also, at Horseshoe Bay, walk down the beach a little bit past the crowds. I couldn't believe how many people just plopped down right by the entrance and were sitting 6 deep!

It is 100MB for $25 on Verizon. I did this on my recent cruise to Bermuda and checked email on my phone. Worked well for me. If you go over the 100MB they automatically add another 100MB for an additional $25 but you if you don't use it you can call them and get it credited back. My kids had a free internet package on the ship and I found it painfully slow. Also, after you log on you must physically log off on a site called logoff.com or something which is a pain and easy to forget to do and you end up racking up the minutes.

It is unlimited and also includes the coffees in Cafe El Bacio

What beautiful children and beach!

Thank you for taking the time to look for the pictures!

I am so happy I booked.

 

So, this is not in St. George, is that correct?

I just walk out to where the taxis are and ask them to take us there and I'll have the address. Correct?

 

THANKS!

No, not St. George. This is on the South Shore - right next to Elbow Beach and not far from Horseshoe Bay. The driver will most likely know the resort- just say you want to go to Coco Reef Resort. A much better choice than Tobacco Bay. In answer to your previous question, yes, you can go anytime you want, I would say the earlier the better in case there are a lot of other day passes, so you can get your choice of beach chairs. The beach is quite small, but there are two levels (it is a steep flight of stairs down, so be advised - if you are physically challenged, you can just sit by the pool which has a lovely ocean view). The day we went there weren't many day pass folks and some hotel guests we spoke to had no idea there was such a pass. The waitress at the restaurant however said that the year before it was often very crowded but she wasn't sure if they were limiting the passes overall or just that day in particular because there was a private party in the restaurant (in the inside room - we sat out on the patio). And thanks for the compliments on my kids :) I had another photo in the restaurant but it had my husband in it and he would kill me if I posted it. The restaurant was lovely as well and the patio overlooks the pool and ocean.

Here are a few more shots of the resort. I figured out how to attach a file, not a link. Hopefully this will work.

 

[ATTACH]320553[/ATTACH]

Sorry, couldn't get the other 2 to upload. Trying again

Perfect!

Thank you again! Ill report back when I hear from them. Any pictures? Id love to see them!

 

Thank you so much!

Here are a few more shots of the resort. I figured out how to attach a file, not a link. Hopefully this will work.

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Perfect!

Thank you again! Ill report back when I hear from them. Any pictures? Id love to see them!

 

Thank you so much!

Here are a couple:

Hope this works

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=640969889332936&l=35b1acb802

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=640981669331758&l=fade68fbab

And PS yes you can take a taxi. I was told it was $40 each way.

Thank you. There will be 6 of us and was thinking if Coco. Was it clean and pretty? Ill have 2-20 year old girls and my ds is 16 along with my mom so all adults and $350+ but this may be our best bet. So, from the Dockyard I do not need to take the ferry? I can take a taxi or minivan, etc?

 

Ill see tomorrow if I can still get in since Im leaving in 2 weeks. Id get up now but my back went out yesterday and I can hardly stand and walk and when I do its not pretty, hurts and Im hunched over. Hope this is gone by end of the week.

 

Anyway, sorry. Off track. I soooo appreciate your detailed response. I really do. If there is room, we will go and thanks to your response. Thanks! Ill report back tomorrow.

Yes it was gorgeous! A bit of seaweed and a dead jellyfish on the beach, but otherwise clean. I would say it is a 4 star resort, not 5 Star, but absolutely lovely.

Thank you so much. I also read now they rent water toys etc. Can I get chairs, umbrella and food/drink at Warwick? I didnt think so but will look there if I can. Also Elbow Beach doesnt rent either do they? Thank you!

I cannot comment on those beaches because I haven't been there. If you don't mind spending some money, I recommend the Day Pass at the Coco Reef Resort. It is $59 a person and includes lunch, a glass of wine or beer and use of the pool and beach for the day. Children under 11 are free and you can buy them lunch off a kids menu. We did this and it was truly the highlight of our trip! The beach, just down from Elbow beach, was spectacular, and though not as fabulous as. Horseshoe, you will get no crowds and can relax on a lounge chair on the beach or at the oceanfront pool. The lunch was also wonderful. They give you a limited Day Pass menu without prices, but I looked at the regular menu and figured that what I had would have been about $40 so the $59 for the day was a bargain! You can take a cab from the Dockyard for about $40 each way. We actually took the bus, which worked out fine, though it was a very long walk down ( and up again) from the main road. Go to Cocoreefbermuda.com, go to Special Offers and click on the link under the photo of the yellow beach umbrella! You reserve by email and pay when you get there, so if you change your mind you lose nothing!

You take a ferry to St. George (check the schedule, there are only a few a day). I don't recall the price - you buy tickets right at the ticket booth at the Dockyard. You would need a cab from St. George (you said your mother would not be up for the walk). I have to say, it was a pretty beach, but cannot compare at all to Horseshoe Bay and it is very, very small. It was crowded with other people from the cruises and there was loud music from the beach bar. It was good for snorkeling. That's about it. They have chairs and umbrellas for rent there. If I hadn't been going to St. George anyway I would have skipped it. If you want a great beach experience, why not try Elbow Beach? I hear Warwick Bay is nice too.

Do you think 2 kids (5 & 4 yrs old) can do this walk?

Might be a bit too long a walk for that age. I think they run a shuttle. Ask at the pier.

Quite a few have been removed. If I have breached any rules then fair enough, but they have not informed me of this so won't know what I said to avoid this happening again. I do not think I said anything out of line. :rolleyes:

I think they removed ones that seemed argumentative and attacking. From what I recall though, yours were neither (you just got your feathers ruffled a bit by someone else's comments), but might have gotten mixed up with the wrong ones by association.

J and k mom thank you for the info about not checking bags and all about verizon!!!

 

Itd is Cafe al Bacio free?

The pastries are free and if you have drink package, the coffees are included. We did not smuggle food off the ship, by the way, but we did pack granola bars and snacks from home and bring those for our shore days.

I will be on the Summit in a few weeks with a 14 and 10 year old (boys). Can they wear collared shirts (polo or button down) and nice (NOT cargo) shorts in the Dining Room with loafers? Will they need long pants for each night?

I took this cruise a couple of weeks ago with my two sons (same ages) and asked the same question. I was told that they had to wear long pants and went out and bought khakis. I did see some boys in shorts though. I am glad I had the pants (like to follow the rules) but looking back, I bought/brought too many pairs. I could have brought one pair for each of them because they ended up changing back into shorts right after dinner!

What are the hours that we can get breakfast and lunch in the buffet? is there anything else free for lunch or breakfast other than buffet or room service?

 

What about room service? like what if we want a sandwich at 10:30 AM?

 

Also, do they check your bags when you get off in Bermuda? like can I sneak a sandwich with us like we will take our bottles of water and towel etc?

 

 

Do we have to pay extra for gym classes like yoga?

 

what about cell phone service and wifi? I have an iphone and verizon anyone know about that? Thanks!!

Hi - I did this cruise a couple of weeks ago. The MDR is also free for lunch and breakfast, as is the pool grill (there is an omelette station at the pool grill for breakfast). I never did the Aqua Spa cafe, but they offer lunch and breakfast as well (can't recall if there is an extra charge - don't think so but not positive) Room service is free too, but I never used it. They don't check your bags when you get off in Bermuda. Gym classes are extra and a hidden fee which surprised me was that they added a gratuity to the one $12 Pilates class I took! I also have Verizon and I added a data package - it was $25 a day per person for 100MB of data:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html

Call Verizon first so they can enable your phone and make sure to turn data roaming on (it is probably defaulted to off) This worked great for me - I did not go over the data - my son and husband both did and Verizon added another $25 package for each of them but they opted not to use it anymore and I called Verizon when I got back and they took the charges off. The Internet on the ship is a rip off and lots of people had connectivity issues. Once you log on, you have to go to a website logoff.com or something or you keep getting charged. Glad I had the data plan. Phone calls and texts can get expensive. I think it is something like $2.49 a minute when on the ship and $1.99 in port for phone calls and texts are .50 to send and .05 to receive. What I did not realize was that you are charged for the received texts whether you open them or not (if you put your phone on airplane mode you can avoid this, though at $.05 it is not such a big deal).

On the Summit, they added an omelette station at the Pool Grill. Not sure if this is the same on other ships.

Can someone help me? I can't seem to get a correct answer on the availability of alcoves on the Summit. I would love to book one for the "at sea" days for my august trip but can't find them online and the customer service rep is unsure if they have them.

 

If they don't, what's the deck chair situation on board? I have never sailed with Celebrity and am dreading the thought of a deck chair scavenger hunt every day!

I don't know anything about alcoves - I am not sure what that is, actually. I can tell you that the deck chair situation by the pool was indeed a scavenger hunt - this was my biggest complaint about my recent trip on the Summit. There were plenty of chairs, however, available on the upper forward deck - go up one level from the pool and then up another level at the front of the ship. This was a nice, relaxing place to sun and read - lovely!

On our last Celebrity cruise which was a Christmas cruise on Equinox, there were almost 600 children since schools were off. One bartender groaned and said to me "There are 600 kids on this cruise. There's normally only a few. The reason I work on Celebrity is because I don't want to have to deal with kids."

 

Had to laugh at that one!

 

I think that was pretty nervy of that bartender to say that. I have worked in the service industry and I understand the frustration but I would never have crossed the line and expressed anything like that to a customer about other customers regardless of the situation. The anti-child sentiment is really irksome. That being said, I would like to offer my perspective on the situation as a mom who just traveled on the Summit with two kids (ages 10 and 13). First of all, my kids are very well-behaved and used to going on grown-up vacations. This was their first cruise. They probably would have preferred all the bells and whistles of RCCL and Norwegian, but I chose Celebrity because we were traveling with my elderly, wheelchair bound mom and I wanted a more elegant atmosphere for her. I figured since the kids had never been on a cruise before they wouldn't know the difference, that they would be happy just to be on a cruise and wouldn't be expecting rock climbing walls and waterslides. Well, wouldn't you know - when I sat down and told the kids I had booked the cruise, the very first thing my 13 year old said was "Are there rock climbing walls and waterslides?" I kid you not. They had seen the commercials. I explained that those kind of cruises were not our style and we needed something nice for Grandma, but even so, the very first day by the pool he asked me "Where's all the fun stuff?" - meaning the waterslides, etc! In the end, my kids did not participate in any of the kids club or teen club activities, although I tried to encourage them. Other kids I saw seemed to be having a blast. My older son made a friend, but my younger son had no interest in meeting new kids and just wanted to hang out with me. I am not sure about other ships, but one problem with the Summit is that there is only one pool and one hot tub that allows kids and it was always very crowded, so my kids did not spend much time at all in the pool. My older son enjoyed finding a quite spot to read, but my younger son complained that the cruise was too crowded. This was a 4th of July cruise with 600+ kids. I think they actually would have been happier on an off-season cruise with mostly adults, as this is how we usually travel.

Someone may correct me, but you cannot "upgrade" to the premium package online. It is super easy to do on the ship. Any bartender can upgrade you and I have done it several times. If you do it online, they charge you like you are purchasing the entire package, not just an upgrade. I am not sure if you can do it by calling Celebrity directly or using your travel agent. Someone who has tried this could possibly chime in.

You cannot upgrade online. You have to call. I upgraded my kids package over the phone. Be careful and explain you are just paying for the upgrade $11 a day or whatever it is. The first rep I spoke to when I called to inquire was confused and at first quoted me the entire price. I called again a day or so later and spoke to another rep and I was very clear. I had to pay with a credit card for the upgrade amount (for some reason could not just be billed to the cc on file).