Celebrity Summit 12/13/2014 Trip Report - Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua...

Summit pre-Holiday cruise (Dec. 13-20th, 2014) out of San Juan

Background:

DW and I are young professionals, both about 30, from NY and were grateful to get away from the winter weather on our recent vacation. We've cruised the Bahamas/Caribbean multiple times before, including out of San Juan w/Princess in 2008, and Jewel OTS in Dec. 2013. We're not highly sporty, but do enjoy light hiking, snorkeling, and a little adventure. We also are not gourmet foodies, but have dined at a few famous restaurants and eat out regularly (but also are fine with hitting up a Chipotle for dinner when we're feeling too lazy to cook).

Pre-cruise travel & Embarkation (Day 1):

We chose to go in a day early (flew in on the 12th) to provide some safety against travel delays. We did carry travel insurance, and luckily didn't need to use it again. We overnighted in ATL on a "multi-city itinerary" with ATL as one of our "stops" to enable us to fly into ATL late in the day, then leave first thing from ATL to SJU.

Our travel plans got hit with a mechanical delay and we arrived in ATL about 2:30 AM with a departing ATL-SJU flight at ~8:45 AM. We got a few hours sleep at a hotel (travel hint: call to confirm a reservation when you're arriving that late!) and were back to the airport to fly to SJU arriving a little before 1 PM. We hopped a cab straight to the pier from the airport and embarkation was very smooth an uneventful (about 45 mins from taxi to on ship). We dropped our bags in the room and headed to the lunch buffet.

Our balcony stateroom (cat 2C - 7066) was as expected, with no major complaints at arrival. There's a small shelf above the fridge where the room steward stashed the snack tray that was taking up desk space. I did request extra hangers and got ~10 wire hangers to allow us to hang most of our shirts. The only comment I can add is that the room was a little loud the last night as it's opposite a service entrance where they were removing luggage via in prep for disembarkation.

Day 2 - Sea Day

We slept in, stopped by the CC event, did a public (crowded) galley tour, enjoyed a lunch in the MDR, and I signed up for a wine tasting that afternoon in the wine bar. It was $23 w/gratuity and frankly I was less than impressed by the wines. Nothing there struck my fancy, and I didn't order any for the remainder of the cruise. I got a few hours of book reading in, then we did the show that evening (comments below), then had dinner in the MDR.

Day 3- Barbados:

We did the Agapey Chocolate Factor Tour (booked direct through them) and the Mount Gay Rum Tour (paid for on site). The chocolate tour was amazing, and is a hidden gem! It's housed in an industrial area that is an easy walk from the pier (although a short stretch required walking on the side of the road). It involved a very informative tour and a chocolate tasting. They had some of the best chocolate I've tasted, and the owner-operator is also the tour guide. From there we shared a taxi to the Mount Gay rum factory for a tour and tasting. Another tour that's well worth the cab ride and modest ($10) admission fee.

Day 3- St. Lucia:

We did a Land and Sea tour with Spencer Ambrose tours. This involved a boat ride to Soufriere where we boarded a bus for a land portion of the tour and an island lunch, followed by a boat ride to Jalouise beach where we had drinks (included) and lounged on the beach for a while. The tour then boats back to port, with various boat tour stops along the way. The tour was easily worth the money, but Jalouise beach was pretty crowded and unimpressive.

Day 4- Antigua:

We did a tour with Lawrence of Antigua and it was great. Lawrence was informative, friendly, and we recommend him and his tour as a great option for anyone looking for a tour there. It was a combination Land tour with some time at Valley Church Beach. Chairs and an umbrella there were something like $20 and worth it. Bathrooms are available on the beach, and several beach bars were also right there.

Day 5- St. Maarten:

Having been in St. Maarten a few times, we opted for an island tour (no beach break) with Bernard's tours. This included a drive around the island, some time in Marigot, a 45 beer stop at Maho beach, and the option for a drop-off in Phillipsburg or back at the pier. The tour was easily worth the cost, but now that we've done it once I think we'll be good for a long while. Next time back, we'll probably just head for a beach along the Phillipsburg shoreline via water taxi. Maho beach was interesting, but very crowded and the water seemed a little too rough for easy wading.

Day 6- St. Thomas:

We hopped a cab from Havensight to Emerald Beach ($6pp one way). Chairs were $7 each under the palm trees, or $10 if they were under the umbrellas. The beach had two bars, and food was cheaper at the beach comber bar/restaurant (A burger was $12, and included a side) than at the bar/restaurant attached to the Emerald Beach Resort. A beautiful beach, with some intermittent noise from a nearby airport. With only 1 ship in port, I think the beach had no more than 30 people tops on it. Supposedly less crowded than Sapphire beach or Magen's bay, even when multiple ships are in town.

Disembarkation Day:

We ended our trip with the Bacardi Tour (~$35/pp). Disembarkation was pretty straight forward, we met in the lounge and then someone came and told us our group was to disembark. The lines for the CBP took about 40 minutes, and there was an option to request assistance from a porter, which landed you in a much shorter line.

They collected luggage after CBP and packed them into box trucks and then loaded us on tour buses for the respective tours. The bacardi rum tour was pretty basic, and included 2 drink tickets for the base level drinks (rum punch, cuba libre, daiquiri on the rocks). Rumor is that the tour will be discontinued sometime soon due to the tour entrance fee that was recently implemented. From there they bused us back to the airport, and we were there by 11:30 AM. All together, the tour was not a good way to kill time in San Juan as the ship tours were the 2nd group disembarked, right after self assist.

Agriculture check took about 5 minutes, and then we checked in with our airline, dropped off the bags and headed to security. One oddity to note, SJU airport didn't have a priority TSA line running and we waited for about 15 minutes to clear TSA. There was TSA PreCheck, but the frequent flier/Premium cabin line was advertised but not available. Not a major problem for us, but if you're trying to catch an early flight be warned you might not be able to count on priority TSA lines even if you're a frequent flier or on a first/business class ticket.

We closed out our time in SJU by grabbing a snack from dominos and reading for a while before making our way to the gate for our flight.

Dining Experiences:

-We were much more impressed with the MDR menus than what was offered last year on Jewel OTS. Service is designed for 1 appetizer, 1 soup/salad, an entree, and then dessert (versus the 3 courses on RCI). I routinely ordered 2 apps, and was never denied. Our waiter was pretty spotty on the service, but the asst. waiter was great. Escargot was routinely available and lobster (or more accurately half a lobster tail) was served the 2nd formal night.

-Buffet food was very well executed although pretty much the same menu all week long. One oddity was that the starboard vs port breakfast options were almost, but not quite, completely identical. Dinner (or pre-dinner snack?) included a sushi bar every day.

On board experience:

-Staff customer service and friendliness were top notch throughout the cruise!

-Live musicians and guest performers were all entertaining, with the dancers at expectation, and the singers being below average. We only saw the opening night show as a technical problem cancelled the final show the last night of the cruise. Summit featured a male-female duo that did acrobatics and pilobolus-style dancing and some aerial work that was jaw dropping.

Outside entertainers represented 4 of the 7 evening shows. And iMagic was debuted on this sailing. I'll make a separate post on iMagic.

To sum up the live performances, I would describe as perfectly adequate, but I would not choose (or avoid) Celebrity Summit based on the live performances.

In summary:

San Juan is a great port of departure and I encourage guests to consider an extra day pre (and maybe even post) cruise to relax and explore. Sailing out of SJU offers great itineraries with fewer sea days, and the Summit had great staff & service, very good food, entertainment was a little inconsistent but overall good. In comparing between Celebrity Summit and Jewel OTS, we preferred Summit and will likely select Celebrity of RCI if price and itinerary is somewhat comparable.

Added in edit:

I saved copies of the Summit Today daily agenda, and the disembarkation schedule provided on ship for future reference.

Rant I'd like to add after this trip.

I was amazed how many men I witnessed use the bathroom and then leave without washing their hands, both on and off the ship. During the travel home, I witnessed 1/6 men wash their hands after using the lavatory across 3 different airports. They need to start doing PSA to encourage people to wash their hands after using the bathrooms. Talk about DISGUSTING!!!

Rant I'd like to add after this trip.

 

I was amazed how many men I witnessed use the bathroom and then leave without washing their hands, both on and off the ship. During the travel home, I witnessed 1/6 men wash their hands after using the lavatory across 3 different airports. They need to start doing PSA to encourage people to wash their hands after using the bathrooms. Talk about DISGUSTING!!!

Ugh.

I have witnessed women doing the same thing in my office building.

It really is disgusting.

I always (and I do mean ALWAYS) use a paper towel to open doors upon leaving the restroom and returning to my office.

Ewwww!!! I work with kids and they come back after going to the bathroom. First question: did you wash your hands? 9 times out of 10, the response is "whoops". I then go clean the doorknob with a clorox wipe.

How much was it for a ride from the SJU airport to the celebrity dock?

I'm guessing cash only right?

here is the chart for taxi rates

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/getting-around-by-taxi/

Thanks for your nice trip report.

JB, great review! Would you be able to scan the daily Summit News to share? We depart early Feb and our group would be interested in reading these.

Thanks again,

Maria

Thanks for the great review! You've definitely got me interested in the chocolate factory.

Would you mind scanning the dailies?

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Thanks for review. Summit is my favorite ship.

You must have rush hour traffic, we have never taken more than 15 minutes to get from airport to pier.

45 beer tour. Wow. I thought I drank a lot!!

Airport thoughts. Spend the 100 and get GOES, includes tsa pre check and is good for 5 years. We used it is sju last month. Really nice to get through security faster.

Glad u had nice cruise.

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Just one comment. The whole idea of flying a day early is to arrive at the port a day early. If your ATL-SJU flight had been cancelled, odds are you would have spent the next week in NYC. Biggest chance of a problem is your bags. We had that problem many years ago sailing out of San Juan. My wife cruised for 4 days with no luggage. We always fly two days early now both to avoid travel problems and spend time in Florida with my cousin.

Thanks for the review JB008. We're on the Equinox in April and one of the stops is Barbados. We haven't got any plans for here yet and the Chocolate Factory sounds great. (seeing as chocolate is a food group in our home) You mentioned that you paid at the venue and I was wondering what the cost of the tour was and also how long it took. I wouldn't mind doing a little beach time while we are there if going on the chocolate tour didn't take up most of the day. Any information would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

How much was it for a ride from the SJU airport to the celebrity dock?

I'm guessing cash only right?

It was $26 for 2 of us with 3 large bags (scuba gear!) and a couple carry-ons.

Rant I'd like to add after this trip.

 

I was amazed how many men I witnessed use the bathroom and then leave without washing their hands, both on and off the ship. During the travel home, I witnessed 1/6 men wash their hands after using the lavatory across 3 different airports. They need to start doing PSA to encourage people to wash their hands after using the bathrooms. Talk about DISGUSTING!!!

I was on this sailing in CC as well. I will be posting the dailies in a separate posting a little later. Anyway, I noticed this as well. Totally unbelievable. More disturbing was the one or two people that I witness not wash their hands on Deck 10 and then make a bee line for the Oceanview Cafe. Let that simmer...

How much was it for a ride from the SJU airport to the celebrity dock?

I'm guessing cash only right?

Base taxi rate to/from SJU and the pier is $19, plus a $2 fuel surcharge and then it's $1 per bag. Not bad really and it appeared to be cash only.

Thanks for review. Summit is my favorite ship.

 

You must have rush hour traffic, we have never taken more than 15 minutes to get from airport to pier.

 

45 beer tour. Wow. I thought I drank a lot!!

 

Airport thoughts. Spend the 100 and get GOES, includes tsa pre check and is good for 5 years. We used it is sju last month. Really nice to get through security faster.

 

Glad u had nice cruise.

 

 

 

 

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The TSA PRECHECK is $85.00 and good for 5 years. We just got ours 2 weeks ago.

Last year when we cruised we just happened to get PRECHECK and it was so great that we took the time (and money) to make sure we would always have it.

The TSA PRECHECK is $85.00 and good for 5 years. We just got ours 2 weeks ago.

 

 

 

Last year when we cruised we just happened to get PRECHECK and it was so great that we took the time (and money) to make sure we would always have it.

Goes is only 15 more and you get global entry if u fly at all internationally.

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We are on the Summit in Feb. as well. How did the muster drill work vis a vis dinner service since sail away is so late?

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I enjoyed the review. Thanks for posting. Were the seas rough? Any special tips you can pass along? I'm on the summit in April.

They need to start doing PSA to encourage people to wash their hands after using the bathrooms.

We also did the Agapey Chocolate tour in Barbados from the Eclipse a few weeks ago. It was one of the best tours we have ever taken, interactive, fun, and delicious. It is also highly rated on Trip Advisor. Go to the Agapey website for details. You prepay at $18 pp, but worth it. Tour ran about 1 hour 45 minutes, and is limited to 10 people. Everyone who attended with us bought chocolate to take home..or at least out the factory door before eaten!

You will stand during the tour, but as I have some knee issues, the owner did find a stool for me to perch on. No one else seemed to mind standings/walking around a small area.

You should have time for the beach too...starts at 9:30.

Thank you for taking the time to write this out. We are on the same itinerary in two weeks. Can't wait!

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Thanks for review. Summit is my favorite ship.

 

You must have rush hour traffic, we have never taken more than 15 minutes to get from airport to pier.

 

45 beer tour. Wow. I thought I drank a lot!!

 

Airport thoughts. Spend the 100 and get GOES, includes tsa pre check and is good for 5 years. We used it is sju last month. Really nice to get through security faster.

 

Apologies on my delayed reply, I was away from the keyboard the last few days :)

HAHA Sorry for the typo - 45 minute beer stop at Maho beach.

The 45 minutes in SJU was from getting out of the taxi to being in our room on the ship. I think the taxi ride was only ~15 minutes from airport to pier.

Agapey Tour, as was mentioned by others, was purchased online in advance. They do a 9:30 and 11 AM tour as demand warrants. Chocolate was available for purchase at the factory in cash or using a card.

Muster drill was done at 8 pm and only took about 15 minutes. Plenty of time to make the 8:30 dinner, and I think they hurried along the first seating so everyone could make it.

Regarding the airport, I was a little annoyed as we were on first/biz class tickets and they don't have a priority line (even though they have the signage). A friendly TSA agent said they're in the process of expanding out the TSA facilities and hope to implement a priority line (aside from the PreCheck already there) in the future. I fly enough for work that I have Delta SkyPriority and SJU is about the only airport I've dealt w/without a priority line. The Pre/Global Entry hasn't been compelling enough to spend the $85-100 on. We do later flights out of SJU and the lines have never been problematical for us (or rather, nothing that our >3hr wait at the airport hasn't left plenty of time for).

I'll try to scan the Summit Today papers early next week.

Goes is only 15 more and you get global entry if u fly at all internationally.

 

 

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Goes is great! We usually fly to Europe in Aug/Sep each year, staying closer to home in the spring. It is wonderful to get through customs/immigration in a flash!

While I frequently read post-cruise reviews I rarely comment on them. But I just want to thank the OP for such a concise and helpful review. Very well done.

While I frequently read post-cruise reviews I rarely comment on them. But I just want to thank the OP for such a concise and helpful review. Very well done.

Thanks! I started using this format a few trips ago so that it provides some orientation for everyone on my perspective before providing my review. I'm happy to hear you find it helpful!