StartrainDD

Thursday, May 4, 2023, Sea Day #5; “Star Wars Day” (May the FOURTH by with you) Angela and Dave wished us a happy Star Wars Day during the morning show this morning. We woke around 7:00 and I made the normal visit to El Bacio. We are now nearly due east of Jacksonville, and the temperature is down to 72 degrees (very pleasant) with a beautiful sunny blue sky. We made it to the Cosmopolitan just before they were closing the doors. Breakfast was nice. We sat next to a talkative couple from Canada, who didn’t seem to appreciate their government and made no hiding of that fact. After breakfast we had some business to attend to. We stopped at the captain’s club desk as DW’s account is very confused. They think her middle name is “Mary” and she is getting mail for one of the friends we have traveled with in March. It turns out that the Captain’s Club has two accounts for her. Host Candy said she would get it fixed but it will all take a few hours. We will likely see her later at the Senior Officer’s party. Then we stopped at future cruises to drop off a future cruise deposit form for two future cruises. Another round was due at El Bacio and Claude saw us coming and took care of us right away. We agreed with our friends to meet to play Splendor at 11:30. We walked up to the pool deck as I wanted to see the pool now that we were really feeling the ‘motion of the ocean.’ The main pool was splashing a lot and at times sending spray out over the folks sunning in between the pools, and at the Mast bar end, the spray was reaching up over ten feet above the pool. I took a few photos and video. We walked around the Oceanview and returned to our cabin to obtain the game. Back in the Oceanview, we found the same round table we used the prior day and began setting up Splendor. Soon enough our friends arrived and we played two rounds. I had noticed that roast turkey was the carving feature of the day, and we both had a nice turkey lunch. We returned the game to the cabin and decided to see what was happening in the casino. As is the norm, one roulette table was open and not the norm, three guys were playing. The numbers looked promising however so I obtained the last $120 of non-refundable OBC in chips and we proceeded to play. Like yesterday, we lost on the first spin, but things improved from there. We ended our time with $126 from our starting $120. So now we are $8 down on the cruise, which is very acceptable. After the casino we stopped at Cellar Masters for a wine and beverage and returned to our cabin. Tonight is the second “Chic night” of the cruise so that means a little extra time is needed to get ready for the evening. I noticed on the navigation channel that the Summit is now (4:00 PM) just north of Jacksonville, FL with 650 nautical miles to go to Cape Liberty. The outdoor temperature is down to 68 degrees, so I suppose tomorrow will be a long pants day. We had an invite to the Senior Officers Party at 5:30. We discussed this with Robert our waiter and he told us as long as we get to the dining room by 6:30 we will be okay for dinner. We had some time, so we visited the Rendezvous where the party band was playing & quite a few folks were dancing. At 5:15 we headed up to the Sky Lounge and found a nice table for the Senior Officers Party. The quartet was playing and some were dancing. Waiters came around with hors d'oeuvres and a good selection of beverages. At about 5:45 Angela introduced the captain who said a few words and brought the senior officers onto the stage area. That was about it and the senior staff left. We stayed visiting with our friends until about 6:10 and headed to dinner. Ronald, Mayra, and JV were waiting for us, and we enjoyed the lobster tail dinner. I also had the Haddock which was very nice. DW had a lamb “T-bone” and found it wasn’t the best. Ronald told her the one side was much better and she seemed to enjoy that. We were in the dining room until about 7:30 and will be back the next night for the final dinner of the cruise. We listened to Jay for a while in Cellar Masters. He is very good at encouraging folks to sing along. We then went down to the Rendezvous hoping to meet our friends for the dance band. They were delayed on phone calls dealing with family matters, but we did see them for a few minutes before we headed to the 9:00 show. On the way into the show, champagne, mixed champagne drinks, or orange juice was offered to everyone. That was a nice, unexpected touch. The show was the Summit cast in “Soundtrack,” which was billed as all-time movie hits. We only recognized a few, despite believing we are fairly well versed in major movies. Additionally, we couldn’t understand most of the vocals, as the keyboards and bass guitar were simply too loud for the voices. It was a shame as the cast work so hard and seem to be talented. We did appreciate the aerialists and can only imagine how much time they spend in the gym to have the strength to do what they do. After the show the evening was not yet complete. Finally the casino had a slot free play offer, $5 for everyone from 10:00 PM to midnight. We met up with Abby and went to the same machine the group used for the slot pull. That was in use, but the one next to it was free. So we signed in DW’s card and put the $5 into the machine. Using just $.20 bets DW won a few nickels, and a few quarters, and when the account was down to less than $1 it hit a $12 and change win. She immediately cashed out with $12.95. We moved two machines down and I played my $5. Again, a few nickels and quarters with a minimum bet of $.35, but no hits of any consequence. My account was down to $.30 so I cashed it out. Stopping at the cashier we received $13.25 so we are now officially AHEAD for the cruise at the casino by $5.25. Seems like a good time to stop. Along with Abby we walked over to Cellar Masters for a nightcap. We talked until nearly 11:30 (very late for us) and agreed on a final Catan game the following afternoon. As Abby said, “Considering we don’t dine together, we spend a lot of time together.” It’s really nice making friends on cruises.

The "Whirlpool" on the starboard side of the solarium has a little more jet action than the port side. We find them warm enough. We talked with someone in the whirlpool who was on the Summit last August and they said it's been that way since then, so I imagine "It is what it is." They sure worked properly on the Constellation in March however...

Apologies to Glen, somehow his name became "Greg" in my prior update. SORRY! Wednesday, May 3, 2023 – At Sea #4, Atlantic Ocean north of the Dominican Republic. We woke at about 7:00 and I went down to El Bacio for the morning beverages, which they knew. There was no wait as few were out this early. We enjoyed the beverages in our cabin and decided on a very slow morning. I brought the log up to date. We had wanted to go to the dining room but were too late as they closed at 9:00. So up to the Oceanview for a later breakfast. I tried two of the ‘biscuits’ that I’ve been seeing but they were not the best (rather dry). After breakfast we stopped back at El Bacio. We found our room steward Esther to ask about some disinfectant wipes as our walking shoes get very dirty in Curacao. We never did receive any until we asked again the following day. We went up to the Sky Lounge for the archery competition and DW made it to the finals. In the end, the four who were tied after the finals all received a little prize. Abby found us in the Sky Lounge and we stopped by the pool bar to see Zin. Zin made our beverages and we sat and talked with him a short while. Glen found us and we all went to the Cosmopolitan for lunch. Lunch was nice with enjoyable food selections. Perhaps because we brought in some beverages, but we were never asked if we would like wine or anything other than water. By the time I realized it we were nearly done with our entrees so we just let the wine go. We agreed to meet up in the Oceanview to play Catan 30 minutes later. We set up the game and had a good game. The volcanoes were active however and likely made the difference in the outcome as both of the ladies lost their volcano settlements early in the game. The next time I will try a very different set up for the game. After Catan we changed for the evening. The casino bar doesn’t have any of the wines DW likes, so we visited Cellar Masters and took our beverages with us as we went to try our luck in the casino. We started with $120 in OBC chips and despite the first roll being a loss, ended the play with $156. Making up some ground we are now just $14 down for the cruise. We still have another $120 in OBC to use on the remaining days. We stopped back in the cabin and visited Cellar Masters before dinner. JV was there and saw DW’s empty glass and filled it right away. We were sitting and the folks at our neighboring table came by and we invited them to join us. We had a nice conversation until the dining room doors opened and we went to dinner. The Almond Crusted Hake was a winner at dinner. DW’s order was confused and needed to be sent back. When the correct duck order came she enjoyed it but it was small. We were still finished in time for the 7:00 show, “The Crooner” Les Lankhorst. We enjoyed his show. Les played Frank Sinatra in the Las Vegas production of “The Rat Pack is Back.” Les performed several Sinatra classics as well as Elvis, Willie Nelson, and a few others. After the show DW was hungry so we went up to the Oceanview to look around. We sat out back by the Sunset Bar and while it was humid (and perhaps just a bit foggy) it was so pleasant sitting there. We had a nice conversation with Lawrence, one of the crew that keeps the aft deck ship-shape. We couldn’t find Jay on the program this evening so perhaps he had the night off. At this time, we called it a night. The navigation channel shows we are directly east of Miami heading north-northwest towards Cape Liberty. We are beginning to feel some swells for the first time this cruise.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023; At sea #3; Southern Caribbean Sea We woke a little after 7:00 and I went to El Bacio. Claude saw me coming and began my order. We decided to visit the Captain’s Club coffee hour in the Tuscan Grille. It was quiet with perhaps ten or so guests present. While it was nice, we likely won’t do that again this cruise. We then returned to El Bacio for a second round. Our friends found us there with some sad family news. They had considered trying to return home from Curacao, but the transit arrangements just wouldn’t work. I hope we were some help to them during the day. Abby had volunteered to co-coordinate a cruise critic slot pull at 11:00 and that was going forward. We met back at the casino at 10:45. With 23 players at $15.00 each, $345 was put into the selected machine. Two players had a really terrific run during their six pulls, and we ended with $469 after everyone had played their six spins @$2.50/spin. Everyone received back $20, with the top three winning the left-over balance or one of two $25.00 slot machine credits donated by the casino. The casino tech seemed amazed that we actually came out ahead. I suspect he has seen many of these over the years. After the slot pull, we obtained our match play slips. We played the rest of our chips from the other day and did much better. With the match plays, we won the first two, but then lost the next four, so we broke even. We did get another $100 in promo chips from the OBC. At the end of the day and including the “Huge” $10 win on the slot pull, we are at $250 in winnings from $300 in OBC. We still have more OBC to use, so we will see if we can make up any ground or… We then went to the Oceanview to take a look at the offerings. The carving station had roast beef, but it was so rare that my brother may have really liked it, but it was far too rare for me. I ended up getting a burger at the pool grill and DW enjoyed a gluten free pizza. We played a few rounds of Splendor and when our friends joined us after their Luminae lunch we played a round of Catan. Several crew and guests stopped by to ask us about the Catan game. After Catan our friends had brought “Splendor Dual,” a Splendor game for two with small pieces made for travel. It is a different take on Splendor, so I played against Greg. Being the first time playing it took us maybe 45 minutes, but it was enjoyable. Suddenly it was 5:00 so a quick return to the cabin to get changed for the evening. At 5:12 we arrived at the Rendezvous for the Ocean Beat Quartet. We enjoyed the music but in 20 minutes we did not see a bar waiter so we headed to dinner. Dinner tonight was very nice, and the Barramundi was super. We were finished with dinner by 6:30, made a stop back in the cabin, and went to the 7:00 show. The mobile bar at the theater entrance treats us right. They don’t have DW’s preferred wine but give her a better wine, no questions asked. The show tonight is Broadway actress Emily Koch. She has been in three Broadway shows including the witch in ‘Wicked.’ She took a break from her current musical to join the Summit. This is her first performance on a cruise, and she told us her very first cruise experience. We really enjoyed her show, and this was the first ‘standing ovation’ theater show on this sailing. After the show we stayed with our friends and went to the Rendezvous for the Ocean Beat Quartet’s 8:00 set. This time multiple bar waiters came by very quickly. We stayed with our friends until the set was over, when they went to their late Luminae dinner. We walked just a little and called it a night.

Monday, May 1, Willemstad, Curacao. “Labor Day” in the Netherlands Antilles On several prior visits to Curacao we have always rented a car and visited the North Shore national park with the blowholes, gone to great Knip beach, and stopped to see the Flamingos. We’ve never really spent time in the city of Willemstad beyond taking photos of the waterfront Dutch styled buildings. So, this visit we booked the “Free historic walking tour” of Willemstad that meets at 9:30 outside the Rif Fort, near the cruise terminal. We woke a little before 7:00 and I went to El Bacio for tea and coffee. About 8:10 we went to the Oceanview for breakfast. Shortly after receiving my omelet three customs officers from Curacao came into the Oceanview along with an escort. They enjoyed their breakfast. We went down to El Bacio a little before 9:00 and met our friends. We left the Summit together to walk over to the Rif Fort where we met our tour guide. We ended up with a group of about 18 folks, many from the Summit but also a few who were on land vacations. It is Labor Day, so the only open establishments are those catering to tourists and restaurants. The walking tour was enjoyable for the first part, walking many of the lanes of the Otrobanda (other side). We saw many large murals painted on buildings, walked through several hotel courtyards, and saw many things we would never have found on our own. We then walked back and crossed over the floating Queen Emma Bridge. A couple of days of wind have caused the waves to grow and some of those are crashing into the rocks next to the bridge along the channel. Once we were in the Punda district the tour changed and we began being led into various art galleries. After 45 minutes of this we said to each other that this was enough for us. It had become very warm (make that ‘Hot!’) and we were ready to head back. This was the first time I have been disappointed with a “Free walking tour” and I would not recommend this one. We stopped in several shops but made no purchases until we were back inside the port gates. There we found a few items to purchase for folks back home so we did. We then returned to the Summit and headed to our cabin to freshen up a little. We then went to see Zin at the pool bar which he was holding down himself. We enjoyed some frozen beverages to help us cool down. It was “British day” in the Oceanview for lunch, and I tried the fish and chips. The chips were nice, but the fish was very greasy and I ended up peeling off all the breading. DW enjoyed a healthy salad. For me, this was the worst lunch of the cruise. I haven’t mentioned this before, but it became very evident on this day. Beverage service everywhere in the ship is excellent, EXCEPT in the Oceanview Café. There it is nearly non-existent. If you don’t go and get it yourself, you are likely not getting a drink. Even during our two breakfasts not once did a server come by and ask if we needed coffee or anything else. We sat a long while chatting with our friends (and getting our own drinks) and then returned to our cabin for a complete clean up. It sure felt hot walking the streets! I brought this log up to date. Once we were fully refreshed and recovered from our Curacao adventure, we stopped in El Bacio for a Darjeeling tea and then found nice seats in the Rendezvous for the acoustic duo “Strings Attached.” This was the first time we heard them and we enjoyed their set. We went to dinner as usual. The positive was that brown “multi-grain” bread was in the breadbasket for the first time. The negative is that the “Crab crusted flounder” was the worst meal of the cruise. DW’s specially made lamb was quite nice, but I tasted no crab at all on the flounder breading, and the presentation was rather unattractive. Ronald tried his best to make me happy but the second one he brought was no better than the first. We went to the 7:00 show and met our friends there. Magician/comedian Jason Bird was entertaining and I enjoyed his performance. After the show we went up to the Sunset Bar to listen to Jay. It is just so nice sitting outside after dark with the breeze blowing listening to Jay. He takes requests and we had a few beverages. We also had an enjoyable conversation with one of the staff during our time there. They were grilling Snapper at the aft grille so we each had a piece grilled. This was so much better than the flounder in the dining room, even if it may have been just a little overcooked. At about 9:15 we stopped by the ice cream station and brought some back to our cabin and called it a night. We now have four sea days ahead for the ~1800 nautical mile transit from Curacao up to Cape Liberty, New Jersey. The current heading is for the channel between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Yes, the Summit has Starlink. Honestly while the speed (on the basic package) is slow, it is still far superior than we have experienced on non-Starlink equipped ships recently (Princess and Holland).

Sunday, April 30, 2023 – Kralendijk, Bonaire We set the alarm for 6:15 as this is our earliest tour of the cruise. Likely the only time we need to set an alarm! The Summit was due to dock at 8:00 but we were fully tied up well before 7:30. I went to Café El Bacio for tea and coffee at 6:40 and they knew exactly what I wanted. I told them that they are amazing. Kralendijk is the capital of Bonaire, another island in the Dutch Antilles. Bonaire is well known for its incredible clear waters and the best diving and snorkeling in the Caribbean. All waters from the beach to 200 feet deep are a marine park which covers the entire coastline. Last time here we did a South Island tour, followed by ‘drift snorkeling’ which was incredible. This time we have booked a four-hour snorkel and barbeque catamaran sailing with Epic Tours Bonaire, the same company we used in 2021. We went to the Oceanview for breakfast a little after 7:30. This was our first time in the OV for breakfast. We ordered omelets and they were made nicely. We had just enough time to gather our things in the cabin and have one more round at El Bacio before our friends met us at 8:45 to disembark for our outing with Epic Tours. We walked the ten minutes or so down the waterfront and met them as they were getting the catamaran ready for the outing. We sailed with 17 total guests, many of whom were from the Summit but also met a few land tourists from the Netherlands. We ended up sitting “Topside” with the captain for most of the sail. And yes, we were sailing. Engines were only used for final docking procedures, but other than that we were under wind power the entire day. We sailed a few miles down the coast to an anchorage. The snorkeling was very nice. Likely not quite as nice as at Klein Bonaire, but the crystal-clear water is just delightful. I saw several schools of fish and caught quite a few on my waterproof camera and found the best snorkeling to be in the shallows along the shore as the majority of the fish are there. Then, quite suddenly, the camera stopped working. When you are in the water and the camera has a problem there is nothing you can really do except enjoy the sights and take it all in. Once we were back on the Summit after rinsing the camera in fresh water and letting it fully dry, I replaced the battery, and it works fine. It seemed likely the original battery wouldn’t charge but after five hours of charging the camera says it is fully charged. Back to our tour, after 45 minutes of so in the water I came back on board and lunch was being cooked on the two barbeques on board. Lunch was unexpectedly nice, with skewers of chicken, beef, shrimp, and a small filet of local fish which was the highlight for me. Beverages were freely available during the entire tour. After lunch we had another opportunity to get into the water. I didn’t snorkel again but did go in for a swim. The water is so clear that even without a mask, I could see the coral some 20 feet down (near the boat). Back on the boat we began sailing back towards the Summit with all sails unfurled. We did a little sightseeing by going on past the Summit before turning around and heading back to the dock. This was a very nice tour and Epic is certainly recommended. Back on the Summit we went up to deck 10 but had no need for any food so we visited Zin at the pool bar for the Orange Crush and other beverages. We found a couple of loungers in the Solarium and took a dip in the solarium pool (much warmer than a few days before) and then sat in the shaded hot tub for a while. We returned to the loungers which were most comfortable, and promptly fell asleep for about an hour. It was time to clean up for the evening, so we headed back to the cabin where I read a few chapters in my book and was ready to head out at about 5:00. We listed to the party band the Seagulls in the Rendezvous before heading to dinner. We both had the “Australian Sea Bass” for dinner, and it was very good. We met our friends at the 7:00 show which was “December 13.” Billed as a tribute concert to Frankie Valli & the four seasons, it was most enjoyable. We then headed up to the Sunset Bar for the 8:00 set by Jay. Again we very much enjoyed Jay’s set and we talked with him briefly after the set. There is a “Full Moon Party” at 10:00 on the pool deck but we were not staying up for it. At 9:00 we headed back to the cabin to call it a night as we meet at 9:00 for tomorrow’s tour in Curacao.

Saturday, April 29, 2023; Oranjestad, Aruba We woke early and I went down to El Bacio at 7:00 for coffee & tea. They remembered our drinks. On the way I stopped by the front desk to drop off our comment card and obtain a pen for the room. Oranjestad literally means “Orange Town” and is the capital of Aruba. Orange of course is the royal color of the Netherlands and was one of our son’s favorite color. Our friends had found a “Wine & tapas tour” and as we have been here many times we are joining them as this is something different. We again visited the main dining room for breakfast. We were given a very nice table at a window looking out over Orangestad. Walking through the ship we passed thru the solarium and spoke to a man in the hot tub. He said he was on the Summit in August and the hot tubs didn’t work then either, but his back does well with the heat. We met our friends at 9:45 at El Bacio to head out for the 20-minute walk to “The Wine Room” for our wine and tapas tasting. Once we were ashore I realized that I had forgotten to change my shoes, but I did okay with just the sandals on my feet. This was a very nice (and unexpected) Aruban experience. Monrick E Croes is the owner and sommelier, and he imports wine from small family wineries around the world. We tasted five wines and had a selection of fruit, Dutch cheese, and meats to go along with them. Highly recommended for something different if you’ve been to Aruba before! We bought two bottles of wine to take back with us and returned back to the ship. We had every intention of heading back out again later in the day, but that didn’t happen. It did feel really warm walking back to the Summit. Once there, we relished the cold water, soda, Orange Crush, and other beverages. We visited our friend’s cabin, a “Spa Suite.” We then enjoyed a bit of lunch from the Oceanview. We ended up falling asleep in our wonderful cool cabin for about an hour’s nap. Our friends went back to the cruise terminal to make a small purchase, and then we played a round of Splendor and he won (Congrats Glen!). We felt all sweaty and got cleaned up before the evening. The Ocean Beat Quartet that we enjoyed the prior evening had a 5:00 set at the Rendezvous and we enjoyed listening to them. Dinner was terrific with the dining room rather empty as we are in port until 11:00 PM. JV kept the wine flowing and the roast turkey dinner was terrific. Making it a real “Thanksgiving” feast I enjoyed the Apple Pie for dessert. Although we are in port and the shops are closed, Effy was offering a ‘free jewelry cleaning’ which we took full advantage of. Effy ambassador Ari cleaned both DW and my rings and they sure do sparkle nicely now. We then went up to the sunset bar (too late for sunset) but enjoyed listening to solo Guitarist Jay. He did a terrific set of mostly well-known songs encouraging a sing along. We stayed for the entire set. We passed on the theater, a "Diva" show that was thought was a performer that we disliked on a prior cruise. Turns out it was not the same performer, but we had a nice evening in any case! Afterwards we began calling it an evening as tomorrow we are in Bonaire and have the earliest tour start of the cruise, with an 8:45 meeting time.

There is a family version of Catan available. We have friends who play Catan with their 7 year old grandson by simplifying the game. There is also an on-line version where the base game is available to be played for free. That could be a good way to learn it.

Here is the internet speed on the basic package:

Friday, April 28, 2023; At sea #2 We woke about 7:30. The late coffee on Thursday kept DW awake so late afternoon coffees are out. I went down to El Bacio for the first coffee and tea of the day and there was no wait. They are incredible as they already knew my preferred beverages. We had an easy morning and I posted yesterday’s notes to cruise critic. We went to the dining room for breakfast and had a very nice conversation with a Canadian couple seated next to us. We ended up being the last four guests in the dining room as we were visiting. We visited El Bacio once again for take away teas. We had arrangements to play Catan with our friends and met in the Oceanview at 10:30. We played a close game that I ended up winning by ‘stealing’ the longest road on my last turn. After returning the game to our cabin we met Esther our new room keeper. Esther told us she was reassigned to the cabins near us the prior day. She is normally on deck 3 but few cabins are occupied on deck 3, and the ship wanted to give each room steward a similar number of rooms, as the ship is only 60% occupied. She is doing a terrific job. After talking with Esther, we ‘hid’ our cruising duck from the Constellation and then went to the Oceanview for lunch. I had a burger and hot dog from the pool grille and DW enjoyed another salad and gluten free pizza. We had the same outdoor table aft as we had the prior day, and the server recognized us. We also met several other crew members who remembered us from last year. We stopped in the casino with our remaining chips from the prior evening and had a good run, making up some ground from the prior evening. We ended with $82 from the $100 in OBC we used. That is much worse than our prior few cruises but remember the house has the advantage. We were very tired so it was time for a short nap before getting ready for “Chic night.” Once we were ready we returned to the casino but like the prior evening, the numbers were not in our favor so we stopped and returned the remaining chips to our safe. We visited Cellar Masters for pre-dinner drinks and to listen to guitarist/singer Jay. He does a nice job and his Johnny Cash request of “I walk the Line” was rather unique but enjoyable. At about 5:40 we went to dinner and were warmly greeted again by Ronald and Mayra. DW for some reason didn’t enjoy the wine from Cellar Masters and had a hard time working with JV to find a good wine for dinner. I forgot to mention yesterday that JV makes sure our wine glasses never approach empty. We were finished with dinner (I should mention the Apple crisp dessert was terrific) by 6:45 so we attended the production show “Life.” We’ve seen it before, but I did enjoy it better this time. I do want to complement Celebrity for their commitment to live music. The production show has at least 11 singers and dancers plus the orchestra (and of course support staff). After the show we attended the Captain’s Club welcome aboard party in the Sky Lounge. The Ocean Beat Quartet provided very nice dance music and we and our friends were able to participate. We very much enjoyed the event and stayed until the 9:00 music trivia was ready to start. We brought a few water bottles back to our cabin and called it a night.

Thank you. I filled out the comment card and dropped it off this morning. We bring "Catan" which was originally "Settlers of Catan." This was 'game of the year' some years back and is quite addicting. There are many expansions available including 'Seafarers' which is very appropriate when cruising! Splendor is mostly a card game but also has tokens (like casino chips) and is a quicker game. Flux is a card game our friends enjoy, and typically lasts no more than 15-20 minutes.

No Sargassum on the Stuart beach (at least not yet).

Thursday, April 27, 2023 – At sea #1 I woke a little after 7:00 after a very good sleep. We had decided we would start the day with a solarium visit so I put on bathing attire and went down to El Bacio for coffee and tea, bringing that back to the cabin. At 7:30 on the first morning there was no line. When I returned at about 9:15 there were a few folks in line but one of the servers was ‘working the line’ and really shortened any wait. We went up to the solarium at about 8:00 and enjoyed a fruit plate from the spa café. We sat on one of the couches and went for a swim. The solarium pool was not as pleasant as the one last month on Constellation. It was a bit cool for a solarium pool and the side jets were not really performing. So shortly we went to try a hot tub. I will say that the solarium hot tub is hot, but the jets don’t work. We found this was the case for both of them. Additionally, they didn’t look like they had been cleaned recently as there was sand built up in places along the floor. “Not clean” is a huge turn off for DW. We did stay in one for a while, and then went to check out the main pool hot tubs. Well, they don’t even have ‘buttons’ to turn any jets on, they were cold. This was quite a disappointment as we typically really enjoy the solarium and hot tubs. We returned to the cabin to clean up for the day, and I went back to El Bacio for a second round of coffee & tea. I suppose we were blessed to have our showers done as we heard from others that the ship’s water ‘went out’ a bit after 10:00 and was down for an hour or more. We wandered through the shops and like all recent cruises, finding nothing that needed to be acquired. After the shops we visited the pool bar where they made me the Orange Crush. The first one was terrific but somehow the ingredients on the second seemed to separate and it became undrinkable. We took the drinks back to the sunset bar area where we found a shady table while we waited for lunch to be available. Lunch was okay. I had one of the grilled pork chops and one small grilled chicken filet. DW enjoyed her salad and a gluten-free pizza. They had an “Apple tart cake” on the dessert display and it was actually moist and tasted pretty good. At 1:15 we attended the Q&A with the senior staff and cruise director in the Sky Lounge. It was an informal nice time although my question was for the chief engineer who did not participate. We then went for the 2:00 slot tournament at the casino only to find that unlike the Constellation it was not complementary but had a $35 entry fee. Like most of the other guests, we walked away. We texted our friends and agreed to meet at 2:30 in the Oceanview to play Splendor and Flux. Three of the four of us each won a game, so that was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. After game time we visited Café El Bacio for a late afternoon coffee and tea before returning to our cabin to get ready for dinner. We arrived at the dining room just after 5:30 and found our way to table 449. Our waiter is Ronald, assistant is Mayra, and Sommelier JV. Service was terrific. DW really enjoyed her meal. I ended up with the everyday steak and to be honest, it was more enjoyable (although not as large) as the steak I had the prior night in the Tuscan. The folks at the table next to us are from Alberta and made for a bit of good conversation. After dinner we returned to our cabin for a few minutes. We tried to get seats in Cellar Masters for the guitarist’s tribute session to the Beatles but no seats were to be found, and this on a sailing only 60% full. We ended up at the casino and began to play some roulette, but the numbers were not in our favor so we stopped after just a few rolls. Better to be there when the chances are improved! The showtime was Salvatore Hasard, who we had seen recently. He puts on a nice show but we were tired and called it a night.

Wines seem to vary greatly by venue. Several we asked for (by the glass) were unavailable, but to their credit better wine was offered.

Here was the premium internet speed last evening:

I will likely post once per day, and may get behind during our three port days in a row. Hope you enjoy reading our experience! Celebrity Summit A-B-C cruise Miami to Port Liberty NJ 4-26-23 We selected this sailing as the price was attractive AND we would visit family up north at the conclusion of the cruise. This eliminates one airplane flight and as flying is nearly always the worst part of any travel these days for us, that is a good thing! We had cruising friends from the west coast visit for a few days before the cruise and enjoyed a nice time showing them around. Wednesday, April 26, Embarkation Day We arranged a local car service, Air & Cruise LLC to pick us up and bring us to the Miami cruise port. Andy was a terrific driver and due to some traffic around the Fort Lauderdale construction and a necessary stop, we arrived at the Miami port at 10:55. We had the 10:30-11:00 check in time. Check in was about the best we have experienced in the post-covid era. Arriving at 10:55 we were check in on onboard dropping our bags in our cabin, with the ‘muster drill’ check in already completed at 11:15. Our cabin is inside #7901, right near the mid-ship elevators and stairs, two decks above El Bacio. We headed to Café El Bacio for our first special coffee and tea beverages of the cruise, as we have the classic beverage package. We made a few necessary phone calls and our friends found us. They are in a suite and were on their way to Luminae for lunch. We visited the maître de at the dining room to go over DW’s special dietary needs. We checked our table, and we have a nice two-top near a starboard window. That should do fine. DW obtained a nice red wine from Cellar Masters. I received a note from our friends that they were able to obtain reservations for the Tuscan Grill at 7:30 with the first night discount, so we will join them tonight. We went up to the Oceanview for lunch. They had a very nice roast beef on the carving station. DW has been wanting pizza for a long time and the pizza station makes gluten-free pizza upon request. So, she requested and made a salad while she waited. They have quite a dessert display, so I snapped a few photos and picked up her pizza. It was a whole 12” pie, so she ate about half of it. I asked our waitress about making an Orange Crush and she checked with the sunset bar and they said they couldn’t make it. After lunch we visited the pool bar and they were very accommodating, making two frozen Orange Crush drinks. We then returned to Cellar Masters to return the glass and sat there a short while. We returned to our cabin to find our luggage had been delivered. That was terrific and we were unpacked 30 minutes later. After having just been on Constellation, we found there is less storage in the cabin on the redone Summit. Certainly the furnishings are more attractive, and there are plenty of USB ports and added power outlets, but there is little space to hang longer garments. The cabin has a modern thermostat that shows temperatures, but we find the stated temperature is not correct. It took a day of experimenting before we found that 67 on the thermostat is comfortable for us (but it was not really 67 degrees!) We found in our cabin an invitation to sail away on the helipad. We visited the sunset bar as there was to be an informal 3:30 cruise critic meet and greet. We did not find anyone wearing beads or otherwise identifying as cruise critic, so with no shady seats we moved on to the pool bar. We had a couple of beverages and sat in the solarium for a while at a table, and when we noticed the thrusters were active we headed down to deck 5 to the helipad. There was no line and we went right on out and up. Several drinks were being served from flavored water to island punch and cold wet towels were available. We found our friends out there as the ship moved into the turning basin by the Miami skyscrapers. It takes a while to make the turn and we enjoyed the sailing down the channel, passing an old NCL ship and a more recent RCL ship. Then we passed the construction zone for what appears to be a future massive MSC terminal “The future of cruising,” so they say. It was now 5:00 so we headed to the casino open house as I had a question for the casino host. We will miss the welcome aboard slot tournament tonight due to our later Tuscan Grille dinner. Both roulette tables are $5.00 minimum, and both are “0 & 00.” We returned to the cabin to rest up a while and get ready for dinner. We went to the casino bar for a few beverages. There was one gentleman playing roulette. As we left I looked at the recent numbers and they were positive for our play. We went to the show for comedian Corey Rodrigues. We could only stay until 7:22 but enjoyed his humor. He was introduced by the cruise director who informed us that the prior cruise had over 2400 guests, a very full ship. This sailing has 1270 guests and 970 crew, “So you don’t need to get up early to get a pool chair.” We arrived at Tuscan Grille at the exact same time as our friends. We had a very nice meal, with appetizers of Calamari, Pork Belly, salads, and various entrees. I enjoyed the rib eye, but likely should have ordered the filet. DW really liked her Barramundi, which was “Perfect.” Still, even with the 30% first night discount, this was $90 and change for the two of us. Worth it? Not to us and we won’t do this again. After dinner we called it a night, stopping at Cellar Masters for a few water bottles for the room. All in all, a very nice embarkation day.

Turning left after a short distance is the "Fish market" which actually does sell fish (really!) but also has many waterfront restaurants and vendors selling all kinds of local merchandise. There are also several huge South American Sea Lions that hang out there waiting for the fish mongers to toss them the scraps after cleaning the day's catch. Everyone there seemed happy to accept USD or credit cards.

The inscription on the Albatross Monument at Cape Horn reads: "I, the albatross that awaits at the end of the world... I am the forgotten soul of the sailors lost, rounding Cape Horn from all the seas of the world. But die they did not in the fierce waves, for today towards eternity, in my wings they soar, in the last crevice of the Antarctic winds." Hope you enjoyed it despite the cold! We have found that Cape Horn 'feels' colder than our cruising days in Antarctica.

My bad. Sorry. We were in 6019.

We bring our own. I have a set in a travel case.

Thank you. I try to write my thoughts daily to keep them fresh. I've done "Live froms" but we did not have any internet (other than our Elite minutes) on this trip. I really try to remember the names of crew that are extra special, and did fill out comment cards on board and on the post-cruise survey!

We were in cabin 6014, which is an "Outside" cabin but is as large as a balcony cabin including the balcony. Believe it's the only one like that on the ship. Regretfully the extra space is just a lot of empty space, but at least we had plenty of room for dressing and moving around. We had fun in the casino. I set a 95% return as a goal and on the rare occasion we do better than that it's very enjoyable.

My 8000 word log/review of our recent Constellation cruise has been published. Here is the link: Celebrity Constellation Review by StartrainDD. We had a really nice experience on this cruise once past a challenging embarkation day.

Interesting as this discussion made me look at the AP for our two soon cruises. The Constellation (boarding Friday) specifically says "Find true serenity... and an adults-only policy." Nothing about family time. The Summit (on April 26) lists family time from 5-7 PM. We have always found the solarium to be adults-only except in cold weather areas where there would be limited family hours. I see no need for solarium family hours on any sailing from San Juan, so this is a disturbing change...