A review of the April 5th Summit 11 day cruise

[motherchic]

Hi everybody,just got back Friday evening from the Summit. Two years ago I sailed on her sister ship the infinity.Made getting around and learning allot easier.

We arrived in Ft.Lauderdale on the 5th and took our own taxi to the Summit. Very easy. Embarkation was very organized and before we knew it we were on the ship with a glass of champagne in hand. We were then escorted to our cabin# 7154-mid ship. Very nice with a lovely balcony.We dropped off our carry on and enjoyed lunch in the waterfall cafe,a spa tour and meeting some of our fellow CC cruisers .When we went back to our room to get freshened up for dinner the flowers and champagne that I ordered were on our table.the flowers were stunning and the champagne was a dry not too sweet Spanish champagne. I ordered it thru a suggestion on these boards thru, "Just Because of You"More then happy with my decesion. I highly recommend them.

our dining experence in the Cosmopolitan dining room was A-plus*.We dined with two other couples and enjoyed them so very much. Our waiters Adan and Emil were a delight.The food was always excellent for our evening meal.Steaks,fish,pasta...the soups were all fabulous as well as the homemade breads.our wine somallier was always very helpful.We ate at the second seating and closed the restaurant down every evening

The food on the Summit is very good. Some IMHO was excellent:

-evening meal in the dining room

-spa cuisine(poached salmon,pasta primervera..}

-breakfast at the Waterfal cafe,especially the -omlettes,belgium waffles and the fresh fruit

We found lunch in the dining room to be o.k. but not nearly the quality of dinner.We prefered the Spa food and once in awhile a hamburger at the pool grill. The pool grill offered burgers,hot dogs and pizza,I did not eat there much but allot was always consumed and there were smiles on the faces of the people eating there.

Tea in the afternoon is a fun treat especially for the 2nd seating group. Small finger sandwiches and wonderful pastries. still hungry? you can go to the Cova cafe for coffee and pastries Every morning we pre-ordered room service. What a wonderful way to wake up...coffee-orange juice on the balcony!

Every morning we did laps on deck eleven. It was always quiet and lovely. Then we would enjoy breakfast and sit in the far aft of the ship on deck 10. Great way to start the day.

The Summit has 2 outdoor pools and 4 outdoor hot tubs.In the aqua spa there is a thallo pool.( a warmed mineral and salt water pool)Absolute bliss. I spent many an hour in this wonderful pool. Children under the age of 18 are not allowed in this pool and at times that is a real luxury.The spa itself is expensive but they pamper you well and I enjoy treating myself to a few of there rituals.I had there aroma stone,hot oil message After an hour and fifteen minute massage you walk out of there without a bone in your body.

The cruise critic get together that Celebrity offers is very nice and we enjoyed meeting all the fellow CC. A group of 8-10 of us spent allot of time together. it always amazes me all the wonderful and nice people you can meet and befriend

Enjoyed the casino. Go in planning to have fun and planning to loose...if you win then you are THRILLED!!!!!!!

The entertainment was excellent. The singers and dancers very professional. All the entertainment throughout the ship was very good...the harpist-the bands-violinist-the singers on the pool deck......It was a difficult decesion where to go and who to listen too. The good news -you cannot make a bad decesion.

Simon the cruise director is excellent at his job and a very funny man. The Summit should do everything in their power, never to loose him.The rest of his staff does an excellent job of keeping us all busy with games and entertainment.

Our cabin was always kept very well by our room attendant Robert. Always looked forward to coming back to the room in the evening to a lovely room with the linens turned down and chocolates on the pillow.

The shops on board were fun to browse thru and the $10 store was a great idea. Fun watches, purses, shalls and jewlery. I wish we had a store like that back here at home.

All the waiters throughout the ship were very courtious and friendly. The bars made an excelent martini. I highly suggest to go on the first evening to the martini bar for a tasting. 5 sample martinis for $5. I was surprised to find that my favorite was the gin martini with the green olives. (I usually like the foo-foo drinks)

the Captains Club party was excellent and very well done. On the Summit they did not have the typical Captains wecome party with drinks,music and appetizers. After dinner and right before the evening entertainment they had a welcome drink-.Honestly I found allot of people turned it down because of being so full. Personally I liked the way they use to do it...but if that is my only complaint.....life is really good.

Celebrtiy offers those wonderful pampering touches:homemade sherbet served pool side,icy cold rolled hand towels offered to you as you enter the ship after a very hot day at a port,linen placemats on all the trays at the buffet and a waiter there ready to escort you to a table. You are treated wonderfully and very pampered.

As a busy mom of four I enjoyed every moment of it.

i hope you did not get too board by my review.as far as the ports of call we enjoyed them all:KeyWest,Cozumel,Costa Rica,Panama and Grand caymen. I will post on the individual boards in reguards to these but if you have a specific question I will be happy to answer if I can. All the tours we took were via the suggestions I received from the Cruise Critic boards and they were all great!

I look forward to sailing on this wonderful ship again in the near future

MC

[jeanarch]

Motherchic, what excursions did you do in Costa Rica & Panama? We're going on the same druise in Nov. & still wondering what to do in these two places?

 

Looking forward to Summit

Nov. 15, 2004

Conquest 3/23/2003

Conquest 11/2002

Holiday 5/2002

Destiny 4/2001

Independence (Hawaii) 11/2000

[jeanarch]

By the way Thanks for taking the time to do a review.

 

Looking forward to Summit

Nov. 15, 2004

Conquest 3/23/2003

Conquest 11/2002

Holiday 5/2002

Destiny 4/2001

Independence (Hawaii) 11/2000

[Tony UK]

Hi MC and Jean,

Thanks for your review. I am so glad to hear Simon is back on the summit. We cruised last November and he was just brilliant. I saw on the boards he was having a break and hoped he would be back. I am sure he is responsible for the wonderful range of entertainment on the ship. What entertainment was on in Michael's bar?

Like Jean, I would be interested in your view of the excursions. Did you go with the ship or on your own - particularly Panama and Costa rica.

 

can't wait for our Summit sailaway!

 

[JNLROSE]

Hi Motherchick,

 

So glad you had such a wonderful time! Lucky you, you didn't have Don Fluke as your cruise director---he really stunk!!!

 

Great review. We also thought all the entertainment was great.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Rosie

 

E-mail me <a href="mailto:JNLROSE@AOL.COM">here</a href>

 

CELEBRITY MERCURY HERE I COME!!!

 

[PatC]

Hi JNLROSE

 

We had Don Fluke and unless he was having a good cruise, he was not bad at all on Summit the week of 3/15. We'd had him before and I didn't like him but he was vastly improved and very accessible that trip. Never had Simon so looking forward to next trip when he's CD. Does anyone know whatever happened to Steve Clark who was the original cruise director on Zenith?

 

Dolphin - 1990

Horizon - 1994, 1995, 1995

Century - 1997, 2000, 2001

Galaxy - 1998

Zenith - 1992, 1999, 2002

Millennium - 2003

Summit 2004

Summit 2005

 

Countdown to Summit 2005

 

[fstcruise]

Thank you Motherchic!

 

We are planning this cruise in Feb 05. We sailed the 10 day in March and just loved the Summit!

 

I am also curious about Panama and Costa Rica, I hope to do something extrodinary in those places as they are not beach and snorkal stops.

 

Thanks again for sharing.

 

Nancy & Gerry

Boston, Ma

[juliepaule]

Hello Mother

 

So glad you enjoyed the Summit. We are just off the Century April 10 and have booked 10 night Summit on October 15th.

 

Your review was uplifting. I am so ready to cruise again.

 

I think I will try the martini party. Sounds like fun.

thanks

Julie

[motherchic]

I am glad you liked my review.It truly was a lovely vacation.

Simon was great so much so that once you see how funy he is as soon as he opens his mouth you start laughing. He did a skit prior to the comedian coming on to perform-the audience was laughing so hard that we were crying...dont miss it!

o.K....ports of call:

Costa Rica:we did a private with a man by the name of Oscar Brown,I read reviews about him on the Costa Rica thread.I asked on our April 5th group if anyone was interested in looking into him,"basketlady" contacted him. We decided to do his tour and then invited others from our cruise critic group. (great way to really get to know each other, by the way)

We gathered at the end of the pier at the designated time. Worried for awhile because he wasnt there and then realized that of course Oscar was on Costa Rica tima..DAH !!

When Oscar arrived he introduced us to Danny and said that he would be taking us on the tour.if this happens to you-dont be alarmed, Danny was great. Friendly,knowledgeable,very proud of his country. He took excellent care of us and aims to please.The mini van supposedly holds 14.We had 11 I highly recommend not to go beyond that. 11 was comfortable. The cost was $45/person and the money was collected at the end of the tour when he dropped us off at the pier. You can basically organize ahead of time what you want to see and where you want to go with Oscar.Danny drove us passed an area where there were sloths and monkeys. Also took us to various homes were the home owner had these animals. Great photo taking opportunity) We tipped the home owner a $1)Saw the banana plantations. Danny was very knowledgable.

We were there over the Easter holidays so many places were closed. Danny did everything possible to still give us a good tour.We saw beaches, took a one hour boat tour on the tourtugera canals ( that was included in the $45,however we did tip the boat driver. He was very good and and we saw tons of plant life and various animals)*take kleenex with you just in case there is no tissue in the bathroom

We did not but if you want to go to the zip lines Danny will take you there and wait for you.

Then we went for lunch . The restaurant that they chose was wonderful,open air, very clean, food was very good. The seafood was great. The view was awesome. here we are sitting there looking at the menu and we all smell something at the same time...the restaurant as I said is open air the smell of marajuanna drifted over all of us!it was a flashback to the 70's!!You could look over the side and see several people siitng under a tree having a smoke. NOW, thats what I call second hand smoke

The restaurant was great, you will really enjoy it( the food we paid for seperatly)

We wanted to buy coffee, Danny took us to a grocery store, helped us find the coffee ,$2/lb. It was nice seeing a Costa Rican grocery and Danny stood right next to us at the check out to make sure that the prices were all right.the day was great. I highly recommend it. They also have a cooler in the van filled with water,pop and beer. That was complimentary.

INFO: Oscar Brown e-mail:cbrown@costarricense.cr

cellular:350-6415 phone:758-1881

Be patient with him contacting you, but he will.

PANAMA: we did the dome train car tour thru the ship. This was the only one we did thru the ship.it was a lovely train but for me i was a bit dissappointed, I read the discription wrong and presumed that we would also see the locks at the canal zone. we did not. For me going to panama-i had hoped to see the locks.The view from the train was lovely and you wished that your head could turn at a 360 degree angle. Fellow cruisers that took the panama canal by Ferry tour loved it. I was concerned that the tour would be too long but truly I regret not taking it. Some people took a taxi to the locks-enjoyed the sites and came back to the ship. they liked it very much.We were warned so much on these boards too be careful in panama I would not feel comfortable doing a private tour there.

Well I hoped this help a little bit. I would be happy to answer any other questions.

Mc

[fstcruise]

thank you so much, this will be very helpful. Sorry you missed the locks and thanks for the warning, that would be something I would do! We are meeting 2 or 3 other couples for this cruise, so I will contact Oscar as we get closer.

 

Nancy & Gerry

Boston, Ma

[PianoGirl]

great review, motherchic

 

we were there as well, and for anyone who is interested, we did the rainforest excursions in both costa rica and panama. they're quite long - about 8 hrs, 3+ hrs of which are travel time.

 

riding 130 feet above ground through the canopies of these rainforests was amazing. i will say, tho, that i enjoyed the panama one a little more. although the rainforest there was not as dense as the one in costa rica, it included a stop at a v. nice hotel for refreshments which gave you a grand view of the rivers leading to the canal. this tour also had a small butterfly farm and reptile farm, and a chance to walk in a bit to visit the 2 huts of indian people who were selling handcrafted items. on our return (the panama one), our bus driver stopped several times and came back with mini-bananas for us all ; captured a poisonous frog in a plastic bag so we could all have a look at it. it helped that our friendly female guide on the bus was a biology student!

 

the rainforest excursion in costa rica was, as previously mentioned, a more densely populated one, and it's really amazing to see what grows at tree tops 130 feet above ground - varieties of orchids, moss, lizards, birds. do not expect to see much animal life beyond that, because the noise of the trams and the guides speaking frighten them away from close proximity.

 

all and all, a really unique experience. so much so, we did it at both ports.

 

 

____________

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. -Seneca-

[motherchic]

piano girl, that sounds wonderful. I went on this trip with my aunt-so some of the trip was spent doing things I would not have done if I were with my spouse. All said it still was a grand vacationa nd would love to go again with my DH.The zip line also sounded great!

[JNLROSE]

Mother,

 

Danny's family owns the zip line resort, Almonds & Corals in Costa Rica! We used him for that tour as well when we were there. He is fabulous!

 

You can get Danny directly through the Almonds & Corals resort.

 

http://www.almondsandcorals.com/english/mono.html

 

Rosie

 

E-mail me <a href="mailto:JNLROSE@AOL.COM">here</a href>

 

CELEBRITY MERCURY HERE I COME!!!

 

[PianoGirl]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by motherchic:

piano girl, that sounds wonderful. I went on this trip with my aunt-so some of the trip was spent doing things I would not have done if I were with my spouse. All said it still was a grand vacationa nd would love to go again with my DH.The zip line also sounded great!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

i know exactly what you mean, lol ~ only in reverse! ~ hubby insists on excursions, and yet when i cruise w/my mom, i research ahead of time, don't book thru the ship, and we wind up in some wonderful places, like Club Med in Guadeloupe! CC is really a great place for info and sharing .

 

and yes, those 2 excursions were wonderful, in that i'd probably never be able to do that again, so i'm glad we did them. i will see if i can manage to link a pic or 2 once i've my photos in order.

 

 

____________

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. -Seneca-

[AUNTDEBBA]

Hi all

 

I was on the Costa Rica trip with Motherchic and it was every bit as great as she said. For Panama I bit the bullet and did the Panama Canal locks by ferry. It was a great expierence and truly amazing what they built 100 years ago. This tour accomplished two things. It allowed me to actually expierence the locks and now I don't have to take a Panama Canal cruise for me it was a win win expierence.

 

Hope this helps

[fstcruise]

All booked for next February, keep the ideas coming. I have saved Almonds and Corals in my favorites!

 

Thanks all

 

Nancy & Gerry

Boston, Ma

[schreibs]

What was the general age group of the people on the ship? Everyone seems to love this particular ship? Is there any reason why this rates so much higher than comments about the constellation?

[charlielinda]

I was on the ship with motherchic and got to know her well. We had lots of fun together.

 

The age range on the ship was young to old. We are in our mid 40's and loved the ship. We meet wonderful people and wonderful experiences with them. At the end of the cruise we discovered that there had been 250 children on board! I wouldn't have believed it unless I had been told. The children were all well behaved and both parents and the folks at the Fun Factory deserve lots of credit, in addition to the kids themselves.

 

I loved the ship because the service was A+; the staff from the front desk, the stewards, the waiters, the cruise director and social director wanted to make you happy. They genuinely seemed happy to be there and made you feel welcome. I have been on a few other cruises and never had such a feeling from the crew -- basically they seemed to welcome you in their home and wanted you to feel welcome.

 

We loved the attitude and service so much we booked another Summit cruise in October. I think it will hard for me to get off the Summit!

 

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- APRIL 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[motherchic]

fSTCRUISE : Any questions you have please feel free to ask. I would be happy to answer.

i dont have any idea why the ship gets better ratings. Two years ago we sailed on the Infinity.I liked the staff better on the Summit this time better but I would imagine that changes from time to time with contract signing. The ship was beautiful. Simon the cruise director and his staff did a very good job. All this said I still really liked the infinity as well.

HI DEB,...i loved that statue by the thallo pool. I think if we all stayed on that boat anymore and none of us would be joking about looking like her.

I loved that cruise. They treated you like such royalty.are you having any problems getting your land legs back? i still am getting dizzy at times!!!!!

i would love to go on another cruise next year. have you been on other cruise lines?

How do you think they compare? I have loved the M class ships so much

[motherchic]

Hi basketlady,

Welcome home!Hope you enjoyed your 2 days in florida.

We had such a lovely time with you and your DH. Hope to see you again some day.

I'll tell you I will never sing a Christmas carol without smiling and thinking of you.

[AUNTDEBBA]

HEY MOTHERCHIC

 

I still don't have my land legs back although the the feeling of rocking is lessening. Since I usually recover withing a day or so I think the slow recovery is the rough seas we had the last few days.

 

I'm checking out a couple of cruises for the Feb through March timeframe one is the RCL Brilliance of the Seas 11 days

Day Port

Mon Depart Miami

Tue Relax at Sea

Wed Relax at Sea

Thu San Juan, Puerto Rico

Fri St. Thomas

Sat Antigua

Sun St. Lucia

Mon St. Maarten

Tue Relax at Sea

Wed Labadee, Hispaniola

Thu Relax at Sea

Fri Arrive Miami

 

The other is a 10 day Dawn Princess

Thu, Mar 10 Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

Fri, Mar 11 At Sea - -

 

Sat, Mar 12 Cozumel, Mexico

Sun, Mar 13 Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Mon, Mar 14 Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

Tue, Mar 15 At Sea - -

 

Wed, Mar 16 St. Thomas, USVI

 

Thu, Mar 17 St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles

 

Fri, Mar 18 At Sea - -

 

Sat, Mar 19 Princess Cays Bahamas

 

Sun, Mar 20 Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

Both have good it itineraries and I have been an equal opportunity cruiser. Two Celebrity, two RCL, two Princess and two Carnival. I think both Princess and RCL provide just as great a cruise as Celebrity. There are some small differences and I must say Celebrity is my favorite line but I would not just stay with Celebrity if I found an iteinery I liked better.

 

Now all I have to do is talk a friend into cruising. There are distinct disadvantage of not being part of a couple when your favorite vacation is cruising!

[clambake43]

Motherchic

 

Our group must have been on the dome car with you. My husband and I were traveling with another couple. I am curious....I have read the posts about the dome car and the 2 1/2 hour bus ride when you get to the Pacific side of the canal...these posts tell about the bus going to Panana City and then to the Mira Flora Locks. We were on the same bus as Marty (a.k.a. "Mindboggling Marty"--he sure did use that term alot!) and we went through the military housing, over across a cause-way to a shopping area (most of which was closed due to the holiday) and then to a place to view the Bridge of the America's. We didn't stop at any locks. In fact that is what made the entire trip a little disappointing...no locks. Whatsupwithat?? Were you on the same bus with Marty or did your bus take you to one of the locks? Sure hope I didn't miss out :-(

 

til the 4/5 Summit Sailing

 

[Guest]

I really enjoyed reading your review about this cruise. We have 2 cabins on hold and are going to deposit them this weekend.

Nancy

 

Untile Our Enchantment Cruise

 

Until My Cruise to Hawaii on Infinity

[alpal1993]

grannynanny!!!! I saw your post and just had to put in my two cents.I'll call you.Ann

[charlielinda]

Clambake43 -- we were on the dome car also. If you recall when you received your excursion tickets it had a slip of paper with a "new" description of the excursion. I had to read it word for word and compare it was missing the lock tour. I couldn't get an answer from anyone why the lock tour had been taken off the excursion.

 

I did find out later from friends that we could have taken the dome train and then when we returned just grabed a cab for a lock tour in the pier but we didn't know that at that time.

 

We were also disappointed not to see a lock work but did like the excursion -- it would have been much better though with the lock tour. I was so relaxed and loved the Summit so much I didn't let this bother me to much. Hopefully I be able to go back to Panama someday.

 

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- APRIL 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004