Live From the Summit Flower Power Cruise 2/24-3/3/18

We are enjoying our second Flower Power Cruise. The music, Woodstock lecture series and performer Q&A's have been amazing so far. I will go back and catch up on what we've done so far and then try to report daily. It has been pretty crazy busy so far, but now have some port days with less must see performances.

Let me know if you have any Summit questions and I will try to find out the answers.

Have a great time!!! I have friends on this sailing

A few pictures - the door decorations are pretty cool. Last night was 60’s tv character night - lots of cool costumes. The band is the Cowsills - they still sound great!!

Have a great time!!! I have friends on this sailing

Thanks! We may have met them - very nice group of people and all here for the music of our era ( a few younger people too who appreciate the music).

we board Saturday for 70's cruise, most likely will book 60's cruise for next year, hopefully while we are on the ship

To start at the beginning:

We flew from 39 degrees in VT to 79 in Ft Lauderdale and spent 2 lovely days there before the cruise. We stayed at the Bahia Mar, which is across from the ocean. The beach was lovely and it wasn’t crowded when we went. They have great pool, the water taxi is nearby as well as some great restaurants.

We haven’t been to the Bahia for a few years and found some changes due to Irma (I believe). Our favorite little restaurant across the waterway from the hotel was destroyed in the hurricane. Such a loss - we did enjoy 25th St Fisheries for lunch (short ride on the water taxi) and liked Coconuts though it was certainly a lively place.[emoji2]

The water taxi price has gone up over the last few years - now $28 for the day - I think it was $5 or $10 ten years back. Still worth doing.

The walkway at the hotel that led to the beach over the highway was damaged by the hurricane so no longer usable. They had a stop light with crosswalk so it was still easy to get to the beach.

They have a nice market onsite where you can get made to order breakfast (burritos, croissants, etc) or pancakes or eggs. It is a fraction of the hotel breakfast cost and there are tables inside and out. They also have great premade salads, sandwiches, etc for lunch or light dinner. It is well-stocked with good beers, wines, etc.

We plan to book there again in the fall.

It is a 10 minute ride to the port from there. We arrived at 10:45 and checked in and waited until the ship was ready. We were in AQ so asked if the Elite or AQ line would be quicker going onboard. They said AQ so we waited with the AQ people. I think we boarded right after the suite people but hard to tell. It went pretty smoothly.

Once onboard the music was 60’s style - it has been wonderful to have that as background music this week!

The muster was not the spy video we had last fall, but was a very serious affair. The leader asked for our attention and made sure we took it seriously. It was a long muster, but I will not complain about them taking the time to keep us safe.

We have 1141, which is one of the 5 aft AQ cabins. The balcony is amazing - had the twin 1138 on another cruise and loved it. It is on the smoking side of the Sunset Bar below, but hasn’t been an issue. The issue has been the Rooftop Terrace - likely because it is a charter they are playing movies all day and into the night. We can’t hear it in the cabin but it is loud on our veranda. Since there is rarely anyone up there - we’ve checked - we have asked if they could turn it down. They said they would call the AV people but so far no change. My husband wanted to take s nap out here this morning but couldn’t. I’m starting to acclimate and not be as annoyed. So far I’ve heard Easy Rider (at least the music was great) and now I’ve got The Birds playing -almost scarier without the picture. We won’t book this cabin again. Anyone have an issue on regular cruises since the refurb?

We have Ian as cabin attendant - excellent so far. The cabin is in good shape, the towels all new looking and not frayed.[emoji2]

Blu has been very good so far. For some reason the majority of Flower Power AQ people are eating elsewhere. We get a window table every night and the restaurant seems about a third full. I asked the maitre ‘d where everyone was and she said “if you find them , let me know.” Anyway, we get great service and attentive wine service as well.

They haven’t found al Bachio either. It is so nice to go there any time and have a window seat and attentive service. This ship is so quiet during the day. I think all the old hippies are up partying at night and sleeping in. [emoji6]

More later.....

we board Saturday for 70's cruise, most likely will book 60's cruise for next year, hopefully while we are on the ship

George, are you the one who asked about the Captain Club hostess onboard? If so, I asked for you today and Olga left on Sat and there won’t be a hostess onboard for 3 weeks or so (due to charters) and then Dave arrives (she didn’t know Dave’s last name).

Wish we could stay onboard for your cruise too!!

We are enjoying our second Flower Power Cruise. The music, Woodstock lecture series and performer Q&A's have been amazing so far. I will go back and catch up on what we've done so far and then try to report daily. It has been pretty crazy busy so far, but now have some port days with less must see performances.

 

Let me know if you have any Summit questions and I will try to find out the answers.

We're in the Summit 'charter queue" right behind you -- the second 'Smooth Jazz Cruise" coming up, in early March.One thing that I haven't been able to figure out, about music charters -- how do they handle the MDR times? I know that you're in BLU, but have you heard anything about how things work in the MDR? Everything that we've received has been focused on our assigned show-times, but nothing about dining. Our booking info just shows dining as "Open" -- which leads me to believe that there are no set 'seating' times, in the MDR. On your cruise, is everything "Select", or do you have set times? Oh, and I love Summit -- the M-Class ships are just ideal, when it comes to music venues! Really looking forward to this one! Thanks for posting, and have a WONDERFUL music cruise! :cool:

We're in the Summit 'charter queue" right behind you -- the second 'Smooth Jazz Cruise" coming up, in early March.One thing that I haven't been able to figure out, about music charters -- how do they handle the MDR times? I know that you're in BLU, but have you heard anything about how things work in the MDR? Everything that we've received has been focused on our assigned show-times, but nothing about dining. Our booking info just shows dining as "Open" -- which leads me to believe that there are no set 'seating' times, in the MDR. On your cruise, is everything "Select", or do you have set times? Oh, and I love Summit -- the M-Class ships are just ideal, when it comes to music venues! Really looking forward to this one! Thanks for posting, and have a WONDERFUL music cruise! :cool:

Thanks! Sounds like you will have a wonderful time!

Star Vista runs our cruise and the way it is set up is as follows:

You are either gold (early show, late dining) or silver (late show, early dining). We are gold by choice as we like late dining. Our show is at 6:30 and dining is listed as 8:30-9:15 for MDR, Luminae and Blu though we were told 8:15 at Blu is fine and it will stay open until all have finished.

The silver group’s show is 9:00 and allotted dining time in all three places is 5:45-6:30 (start time, could go until 8:00-8:15 I’m sure).

I’m not sure how yours will work, but this system works quite well.

Is theater totally full for the shows?

Is theater totally full for the shows?

Yes, I would say so. The people who want the first few rows must line up a couple of hrs ahead - they don’t let people in until 30 minutes before the show. We have been lining up at 5:45 and have gotten decent seats , but not front and center. Very few bad seats in that theatre, IMO.

thanks, I was not asking about captain club do not know what that is, but do have a sky suite with suite perks, good to know about the seats, we have the early show also

Back from a nap. Late night last night - stayed out late for pool party and Cowsills concert and then my DH went out even later to watch a pianist who did Elton John songs. When that performer finished, a band member from one of the bands onboard ( he didn’t know which band) said “I can try to play - hopefully I’m not too wasted “ and did an impromptu concert with everyone joining in singing. He said it was great - it’s why we love this cruise - just a great vibe here. Anyway, he dragged himself in at 2 am and woke me up. He had lost his sea pass card, his Flower Power hat and his book. Must have been one heck of a night. [emoji6]

The first night concert was Herman’s Hermits with Peter Noone. He is an amazing performer and can still move around and sing (some of the old guys are less agile and have lost a bit of voice power). What a wonderful way to start the cruise - everyone was singing, clapping, dancing in their seats. He’s funny and charismatic and still has blonde hair and a million dollar smile.

The Blu menu had filet mignon, which was small but delicious. We had asparagus soup and Blu cheese soufflé for starters. We ordered glasses of wine off menu - they didn’t list Villa Maria sauv blanc nor a shiraz but he was happy to give us glasses of both - included in premium package.

Iron Butterfly had an amazing concert by the pool at 11:00. Good way to end a long day!

vtcruising, thanks so much for your report so far--it sounds like a cool cruise! We will be sailing Summit in June, so I'm interested in anything else you have to share about the ship.

Here is the officer sheet and our daily for the first day:

vtcruising, thanks so much for your report so far--it sounds like a cool cruise! We will be sailing Summit in June, so I'm interested in anything else you have to share about the ship.

I will try to add things of interest. If you have a specific question I will try to find the answer.

I will try to add things of interest. If you have a specific question I will try to find the answer.

Thanks! I don't have any specific questions right now, but if you come up with any "must knows" or "insider secrets," I'd love to hear! :cool::cool:

Why do it mention to bring your gold card and ID to get in to the show? Do they issue tickets for the shows?

Do they offer drink packages and have the Captain Club benefits on a charter. If there aren’t any drink packs it can explain why the Cafe al Bacio isn’t crowded

Thanks

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We got a nice price for drink package, will try to do the flower power and 70’s cruise back to back on 2019, I like how payments are spread out thru year

Why do it mention to bring your gold card and ID to get in to the show? Do they issue tickets for the shows?

 

 

 

Do they offer drink packages and have the Captain Club benefits on a charter. If there aren’t any drink packs it can explain why the Cafe al Bacio isn’t crowded

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Happy cruising [emoji305][emoji568][emoji631][emoji560]

Great questions! We only need our sea pass card to get into shows. The gold group has gold cards and silver have silver. There is just enough room for half the people at each show so they are very strict about checking your cards. No tickets needed.

Yes you can get the usual drink packages - the cost of the cruise includes grats, but no other perks.

We bought our premium drink packages when they had a sale a few months ago. We’ve heard the usual push to buy the drink packages onboard. Maybe you are right about al Bachio - didn’t think of that.

There are no captains club benefits on this charter. We asked 2 years ago when we did a B2B, one a regular cruise, one s charter. There are no captains club events. The CC hostess left the ship before the cruise and returns in 3 was after the charters.

We are enjoying our second Flower Power Cruise. The music, Woodstock lecture series and performer Q&A's have been amazing so far. I will go back and catch up on what we've done so far and then try to report daily. It has been pretty crazy busy so far, but now have some port days with less must see performances.

 

Let me know if you have any Summit questions and I will try to find out the answers.

Groovy. :cool:

Enjoying the review.

Only suite perk we do not get is the reserved seat for the show, still get lounge and private restaurant, I read that many of the musician hang out in suite lounge micheals which should be fun.

Only suite perk we do not get is the reserved seat for the show, still get lounge and private restaurant, I read that many of the musician hang out in suite lounge micheals which should be fun.

Yes, Luminae is a great perk. We were in a celebrity suite in 2016 (right next to Peter Noone! Loved listening to his accent through the wall.). They did have limited Michaels Club hrs - I think 9-12 and 6-9 maybe. They have events in there in the afternoon I guess. We did see some of the performers in there 😃. It was handy for lining up for the shows. The line went right by Michaels. We would go there for a pre- show drink and when the line was getting close to Michaels we went out and joined the line with our drinks. Enjoy the suite life!

Following along.

Keith