Roll Call for Summit - Panama Canal - April 22 2005

[Britboys]

Anyone out there on this Cruise with us? We are 2 British Guys, sailing on Celebrity for the first time. We have already posted on the 'mainstream' roll call but wondered whether any G&L cruisers may be joining us.

 

Hope to hear from someone out there ...

 

Andrew & Tony

[xander]

Hi Guys,

 

We will be getting off on the day you get on...we've got a couple of days in FLL before we fly back home to London.

[Britboys]

Hi Ian & Gus,

 

Thanks for the reply - what a shame that we will just miss each other. Have you sailed with Celebrity before? This is our first time but we have cruised on QE2, P&O several times and Princess once. We are hoping that Celebrity is closer to P&O or Cunard than it is to Princess!

 

Like you no doubt, we overnight in Miami or FLL before the cruise. When we disembark in San Diego, we have 3 nights in Palm Springs, 1 in Anaheim & 2 in LA.

 

Cheers for now,

 

Andrew & Tony

[xander]

Hi Andrew & Tony,

 

This will be our second trip on Celebrity - we sailed on Mercury last Sept out of San Fransisco. It was Gus' first cruise and he is now hooked. I've sailed before on several different lines including both P&O & Princess. Celebrity is more upscale and formal than Princess, though it is not as traditional as P&O or Cunard. Those lines are very British!

 

We had a great cruise and are really looking forward to this one - we have been chatting to fellow passengers on our roll call, and have already been invited to drinks and dinner. The Celebrity crowd does seem to be very G&L friendly. And they have a great martini and champagne bar........ideal for that pre-dinner drink. You will have a fun time...

 

where are you guys from?

[Britboys]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear that Celebrity is more upscale than Princess. We were on Sea Princess in 1990 in the Caribbean and whilst it was not awful, it did not make us want to rush back. The Ship was really nice, food okay but service very hit & miss! Good to hear that you think Celebrity cruisers are G&L friendly. There is a big group chatting on our roll call message thread and it looks like nearly 60 of us have signed up for the CC Connections Party. There seems to be a fair mix, with people from California, Florida, Toronto and a sprinkling from places like Texas, Colorado and Kentucky!

 

I see from the brochure that your Cruise calls at Key West, Grand Cayman & Cozumel. We have been to all of these - if you haven't and need any tips/info, let us know.

 

We are from Brighton by the way, which will hopefully now come up at the head of my posts!

 

Cheers for now,

 

Andrew (and Tony)

[cands]

Hi Andrew and Tony (and Ian and Gus)

 

Sorry, we're not on your cruise either, but I've been following the main Roll Call thread for the 22 April sailing of Summit and I noticed you pop up.

 

I'm Steve, my partner is Chris and we're on the November 6th sailing of Summit, which is almost identical to yours, hence the interest.

 

The people on your roll call sound great. Very friendly and embracing!

 

This will be our first time on Celebrity also. Our last three cruises have been on Princess. We enjoyed them but are definitely looking for a change. We have also been on P&O. We did Oriana Sydney - San Francisco in 2002 and loved it. (would go again, but just too expensive in pounds).

 

We'd love to hear how the cruise goes. Who you met and what you got up to, so maybe you could drop a line on this thread after the cruise?

 

Anyway, have a great time.

 

Steve (and Chris)

[Graham Hinch]

Hi boys.

Will just miss you!

We are sailing on Infinity on the Panama Canal cruise on 17th April.

It's our 1st cruise so hoping we'll enjoy it.

Graham & Chris from Leeds, West Yorkshire.

[Britboys]

Hi Steve & Chris,

 

Thanks for the message - good to hear from the other side of the World! You are right - there is lots happening on the main roll call thread for this cruise. Let's hope they are all as nice as they sound on the boards. It will cetainly be some cruise critic party!

 

I will certainly try and drop something on to this board after the cruise. If I can find the time, I may even post a review on the main review section. Have you seen the recent one by Apelila? Only awarded 2 rosettes but the review sounds high camp! Reading between the lines I think they expected far, far too much!

 

Cheers for now,

 

Andrew (and Tony)

[Britboys]

Hi Graham & Chris,

 

Yet more people we will just miss out on sailing with! It can't be the aftershave as contact has only been on-line!

 

As you will have seen from our earlier posts, we have cruised several times. If you enjoy it half as much as we do, you'll have a really fantastic time.

 

Enjoy it and if you feel like dropping a post to this thread again afterwards, it would be great to hear how it went for you both.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew (and Tony)

[xander]

Hi guys

 

Andrew & Tony - the review from Apelila is a hoot; talk about name dropping. I think they would have been happier on one of the ultra luxury lines like Seabourn or Crystal. There is a limit to how good the service and food can be on a ship that caters to 2500 passengers. I think that Celebrity do an excellent job. We plan on a beach day in Cozumel - any recommendations? In Grand cayman we are doing the stingrays, and in Key West i think we will just wander round - we are only there for the morning.....

 

Steve & Chris - I've sailed Oriana - she is a classy ship. And you are right. P&O does work out more expensive than other lines. I wonder whether their prices will come down now that they have got some competition in Southampton from Royal Caribbean. I book most of my cruises now through US based discount websites; it can be much cheaper though you do have to add airfare. And that way, we get to do more cruises - hooray!

 

Graham & Chris - welcome to the world of cruising.

 

Only 6 days to go till we board Summit in Fort Lauderdale; we'll post our thoughts about the ship when we get back.

[yipijoy]

Hi Guys,

 

If you are planning take a shore tour in Panama, I recommend you contact to Mario of myfriendmario dot com , we were an small group of 4 couple and he gave me my ticket free. If you have any question about the trip write me, I was in Cozumel, CR , Panama and Ocho Rios on Feb onboard of the BOS.

 

hope my tip can help you.

 

Joel

[Britboys]

Hi guys

 

Andrew & Tony - the review from Apelila is a hoot; talk about name dropping. I think they would have been happier on one of the ultra luxury lines like Seabourn or Crystal. There is a limit to how good the service and food can be on a ship that caters to 2500 passengers. I think that Celebrity do an excellent job. We plan on a beach day in Cozumel - any recommendations? In Grand cayman we are doing the stingrays, and in Key West i think we will just wander round - we are only there for the morning.....

 

Steve & Chris - I've sailed Oriana - she is a classy ship. And you are right. P&O does work out more expensive than other lines. I wonder whether their prices will come down now that they have got some competition in Southampton from Royal Caribbean. I book most of my cruises now through US based discount websites; it can be much cheaper though you do have to add airfare. And that way, we get to do more cruises - hooray!

 

Graham & Chris - welcome to the world of cruising.

 

Only 6 days to go till we board Summit in Fort Lauderdale; we'll post our thoughts about the ship when we get back.

Hi Ian & Gus,

 

Have not ben around much the last few days, so apologies for not replying. Hope this gets to you in time to say 'Bon Voyage' - you must be about to leave.

 

We did the trip to Tulum when we were in Cozumel, which was an all day affair. We both found it really fascinating though. Consequently, cannot recommend anything in Cozumel.

 

If you have time in Key West, there is a good Trolley Bus Tour that shows you all the Highlights. If not, Duvall Street is the main drag, with lots of interesting shops & cafes. The only other 'main' tourist site is the Hemingway House, which is quite interesting.

 

We also have sailed on Oriana - I think she is our current favourite ship. We have just booked for 2006 - we are going on the New Arcadia to the Baltics on 16th July. I can't believe we have booked a cruise when we still have one 'in the pipeline'.

 

Have a fabulous Cruise - drop us a line on this thread after to let us know if all went well,

 

Happy Cruising,

 

Andrew

[Britboys]

Hi Guys,

 

If you are planning take a shore tour in Panama, I recommend you contact to Mario of myfriendmario dot com , we were an small group of 4 couple and he gave me my ticket free. If you have any question about the trip write me, I was in Cozumel, CR , Panama and Ocho Rios on Feb onboard of the BOS.

 

hope my tip can help you.

 

Joel

Hi Joel,

 

Thanks for the tips. I think we are likely to stay on board for the Canal transit, but thanks for taking the time to post on this thread.

 

Andrew

[xander]

Hi Andrew & Tony,

 

We leave very early Sunday morning for our flight to Fort Lauderdale; one night at the Schubert resort before we board. Thanks for the tips about Key West; I think it will be very busy when we are there as there is some kind of sailing (or maybe its fishing!) event on....

 

We've also been looking at the new Arcadia - we are interested in the New year cruise which goes from Acapulco to Barbados. The only thing that's stopped us booking it so far is that P&O use charter flights to get you there and back. And that means small seats (Gus is 6'3") and a baggage limit of 25kg! The Summit cruise is only 11 nights and we've got three huge cases between us........

 

We'll post when we return.....glad we are escaping this cold snap

[Rotterdam]

Bon Voyage Ian -

 

Hope you & yours have a great time!

[cands]

Hi Ian and Gus,

 

Have a fantastic time! Only three suitcases?.......

 

Steve and Chris

[xander]

Yes , but one of them weighs a ton ( my one !! )

[xander]

Well we are back after a great cruise on Summit. Celebrity surpassed themselves with the food and the service. We were particularly impressed by the Aqua Spa cafe especially for breakfast.

 

We had joined the roll call on these boards before the cruise and were invited to join the dinner table that one of the posters was putting together. This was very sweet of her, and we had a great time with our tablemates.

 

we stayed at the Flamingo Inn for two nights after the cruise - what a stylish place. Very private and relaxing. Ate at Boulevard Cafe and Marks - both excellent.

 

The crew onboard Summit were very gay friendly - we had no problems getting our photos taken together.

[cands]

Hi Ian and Gus,

Great to hear you had such a good time! Did you wave to Andrew and Tony as you left the ship?

Did they do the FOD thing on the ship, or did you manage to meet any other couples?

Would love to read a full review: Could you be bothered?

 

Best wishes,

Steve (and Chris)

[xander]

Hi Steve and Chris,

 

Here's a slightly fuller review.....(i was clearly lacking in inspiration y'day)

 

The journey:

 

We flew out of Heathrow the day before the cruise; we had an incredibly early start as our flight was at 8.30am. So we were up at 4am, out of the door at 4.45 and at Terminal 3 by 5.30. I had given in to temptation and had arranged valet parking so all we had to do was drive to the terminal and hand the car over. We were in the check-in for Air Canada at 5.30 - behind an already large queue. We had hoped to get exit row seats but they had all gone. Annoyingly the flight was delayed by 1 1/2 hours, so we had to amuse ourselves in the shops for longer then normal.

 

The flight to Toronto was good. The Air Canada crew are v. friendly. The inflight entertainment was lacking though - no seat back tv screens. Good job i had brought my own portable DVD player - so we whiled away the time watching Frasier. The connection at Toronto was a nightmare - never ever connect through this airport until they have finished the rebuild. We cleared canadian immigration and collected our bags. Then canadian customs. Then we had to recheck our bags for them to be transferred to our next flight's terminal. We took a bus - 20 mins - and the bags took over an hour. We had to recollect them, then pass through US immigration, security and customs and then recheck the bags onto our flight to Fort Lauderdale. AAAAAAAAAAAArrrghhhhhhhhh.

 

3 hours, one dvd (The Birdcage) and several large vodkas later we arrived in Fort Lauderdale. Taxi to the Schubert Resort. We made quite an impression as we dragged three huge cases through a clothing optional pool area!!! A swim in the aforementioned pool was very refreshing, and we headed out to dinner. Next day we were up early (time difference) and so walked about a mile or so to the beach. Found a place for coffee and then headed to the Galleria mall on Sunrise boulevard. For some reason we found ourselves in Abercrombie & Fitch.....and spent money there....not that the pictures of half naked boys had any influence over us.....we are not that shallow!!!!

 

The embarkation:

 

Took a cab to the ship, very quick and easy check in. We were onboard by 1pm. And we were recognised as we boarded....not by the crew but by fellow cruise critic posters, who had clearly seen our profile.

 

Our cabin was on deck two - any lower and we would have been crew. No balcony, just a very big round window. The bed was already made up as a double - how did they guess!!! - and amazingly there was just enough room for all the clothes. Not much storage space in the bathroom though.

 

After the lifeboat drill, we headed to the Penthouse suite. One of our fellow cruise critic posters had invited us for sailaway drinks. This cabin was huge, with a massive aft balcony with its own wet bar and hottub. We already knew our dining companions as 10 of us from the boards had linked our table reservations, but this was the first time that we all met face to face. It was these dining companions that really made our cruise.

 

The food:

 

Given that this is a big ship serving over 2000 passengers, i thought the food was good. As already stated we had breakfast (fresh fruit & toasted bagels)in the AquaSpa cafe, and this worked well as it was quiet. Lunch was either taken ashore or in the Waterfall buffet area.

 

As for dinner - i would say the soups, the entrees and the desserts were excellent. The salads and starters were a let down. We enjoyed top notch service from Jovel & Pariman, and were often the last table to leave the restaurant.

 

The Normandie:

 

This is the speciality restauarant, that requires a reservation and a $30 cover charge. Both the food and the service were excellent - it is very French so the food is heavy. The outstanding dishes here were the goats cheese souffle, the veal, the cheeseboard, and the chocolate souffle.

 

The entertainment:

 

The martini bar is certainly the place to meet before dinner - afterwards it's a bit quiet. We never saw any of the shows as we were late finishing dinner, but we did enjoy the casino. I was not impressed with what entertainment we did see - the poolside band "Prodigy" were dire, but then i doubt that my musical taste matches Celebrity's demographic.

 

The passenger mix

 

We met some great people, all of whom we had chatted to on the boards. The passenger mix was older then is normal on a celebrity cruise, and it was

a quiet cruise as a result. Indeed the cruise director told us that the first nights show played to an empty theatre - something he had never experienced. There were very few kids on our cruise - two weeks earlier there had been hundreds.......including the now infamous gang from Mexico city.

 

The ports of call

 

Key west - conch train; great fun followed by key lime pie and shopping

Cozumel - Paradise Beach club, lunch at Panchos Backyard then shopping

Costa Rica - took a private tour with Oscar Brown to see banana plantation and the canals

Panama - Gatun Locks - worth seeing but it is very humid here

Aruba - did not impress us; wouldn't go back in a hurry

Grand Cayman - the stingray city tour, whihc Gus loved and which freaked me out completely

 

The journey home

 

After two great days in Fort Lauderdle staying at the Flamingo Inn amongst the Flowers (highly recommended) we reversed our steps and flew back to London via Toronto. Again the nightmare connection, but the flights were good. We arrived back in Heathrow to torrential rain - grey and miserable. Can't wait for the next cruise.......

[cands]

Ian (and Gus),

 

Thanks for the review. Just what I needed to cheer me up on a gloomy autumn Saturday on the other side of the world. It sounds like you really made the best of the contacts you made on cruisecritic pre-cruise. (Its funny how some roll calls really jump and others are a bit lame.)

 

The accommodation in Florida sounds like a hoot!

 

Everything you say about the ship just makes us want to pack our bags right now. The demographic you describe suits us just fine. We enjoy being "the boys", and at 44 and 47 this is about the only place we can still do it!

 

You mentioned in an earlier post that you have been on Oriana. How did this compare? We really enjoyed the subdued elegance on Oriana.(the environs, not the people) Even enjoyed the food. The people were lovely - very British of a certain age, so we colonials really had to watch our ps and qs.

 

Regards,

Steve (and Chris)

[Kiwifruit]

Hey Guys,

 

Its good to have found a thread about the Summit on this forum as I wanted to hear a bit more about the ship and its our first time cruising with Celebrity.

Thanks for your review Xander it was most useful, I hope you don't mind if I ask a couple of questions. So far as the Normandie restaurant is concerned would you recommend it, and did you have any problems securing a reservation? Were there any other gay guys on your cruise and if so was there an FOD meeting? My partner and I are sailing out of Anchorage on May 27 but there has been no response to the roll call thread I opened in this

forum and I thought perhaps Celebrity may not be as popular as other cruise lines with gay folk (or maybe Alaska as a destination does not appeal).

 

Cands, its good to see some fellow Antipodeans from Melbourne on this site just a pity the weather has started to cool down ;-)

[xander]

Kiwifruit - I would certainly recommend the Normandie restaurant. We booked as soon as we got onboard, and went again on the last night. I didn't hear of anyone having problems getting a table - i think the charge does put some people off. We didn't meet any other openly out couples; but then we missed the FOD meeting - it clashed with martini hour with our tablemates! On our last celebrity cruise there was quite a crowd at the FOD meeting, including the ship's chaplain!!!!!!

 

Steve and Chris - whilst the service on Celebrity is as good as that on Oriana, i would say that P&O is much more stiff upper lip formal. P&O cruises often feel like the last remaining bits of the British Empire - especially in the restaurants and Anderson's bar. And P&O rigidly enforce the dress codes - often on Celebrity people would change out of their formal wear as soon as dinner was over. I also think that Oriana and Aurora are much more elegant ships, and i have always liked the aft terraced deck areas. These are differences in feel though - both Celebrity and P&O provide an excellent cruise product.

[ronhow]

Hi Kiwi...

 

We are sailing on Summit this Friday, May 6th for its 14 night repositioning to Alaska.

 

We only found one other individual travelling alone who is family.

 

We get back on the 20th and since you leave on the 27th, hopefully we will have lots of info for you. It is our first cruise on Celebrity as well. We booked the Royal Suite, so we are excited. 3 other couples travelling with us, not family though.

 

Chat with you when we get back.

:)

[Kiwifruit]

Hi Ronhow,

 

The Royal Suite certainly sounds decadent, the pics on the website look great and I look forward to hearing about it upon your return. I'm surprised that we haven't located any other family on board as on a previous cruises there have always been plenty and this is on smaller cruises ships. Its not that we like to live in the gay ghetto but would be nice to find some other gay guys aboard amongst the sea of straight faces. Have you cruised celebrity before, and if so, how did you find it?