Roll Call for Summit - Panama Canal - April 22 2005

[ronhow]

Hi Kiwi,

 

We too found it unusual that nobody has answered our thread as well. Some guy did answer about a month ago and we have never heard from him again. He said he was travelling alone and that it was his first post ever on these boards.

 

We have never done Celebrity before but have heard wonderful things about it.

Have been chatting with a bunch of people on these boards who are travelling on this particular cruise. They sound like a hoot and have now organized a cabin tour so everyone can see the different cabins. They are real excited as we have a Royal Suite and one of our friends has a Sky Suite.

 

I intentionally signed our names Ronald and Howard as they had asked me who was my significant other as they were making name tags for all of us since there are about 40 of us. I thought that was a hoot giving them our names but got no reaction....so I guess the laughs on me!!

 

We have taken many cruises before on Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Carribean and Costa but this is our first Celebrity. We've always had great cruises and have never once had a homophobic experience on a cruise.

 

What other cruises have you been on?

 

H&R:)

[Kiwifruit]

Hi H&R,

 

Thanks for the response. Like you we have taken a number of cruises before but this will be our first cruise on a "big" ship. Previously we have used some of the smaller cruise lines like Seabourn, Windstar and Star Clippers and we have enjoyed these tremendously but have decided its time to try a larger vessel and the price offered on this cruise was too good to refuse. We are a little apprehensive that the larger ships may seem a bit impersonal but we have heard good reports of Celebrity and, having not been to Alaska before, the itinerary appeals.

 

Wherebouts are you guys? As you have probably noted we are located downunder so not really looking forward to the 22hours of flights to get to Anchorage but I'm sure it will be worth it when we get there .... just one of the prices you have to pay for living at the bottom end of the globe but we would not have it any other way.

 

Hope you have a great trip and look forward to a full report upon your return.

[ronhow]

Hi Kiwi,

 

Don't know your names so have to keep calling you Kiwi, so sorry.

 

We live in Las Vegas. Our Summit cruise leaves from San Diego so we have a short flight which we will take Friday morning before boarding the ship.

 

You will certainly love the bigger ship....we keep going on bigger and bigger ones. I think the Summit is the biggest we've been on next to the Norwegian Star which was very big and lots of fun...we did that last December, just before Christmas.

 

Yes, I noticed you guys are from the land down under....a place I have always wanted to experience. However, that big air trip is something I do not want to do....hate to fly long periods of time. In fact, when we go to Europe, we go over by ship rather than fly. One of these days, I will come down under.

 

I am in the entertainment business and I booked Thunder from Down Under at the Stardust Hotel for several years. They are no longer with us but are now at the Excalibur Hotel, here in Las Vegas. Really nice guys, most of whom claim to be straight.....I know different!!!

 

Chat with you soon.

Howard.

[Kiwifruit]

Hi Howard,

 

Its David & Dougal here. You are no doubt busy packing now in preparation for your departure. We are so envious, it would be great to have just a short flight to join the cruise but living here you get used to long flights. We generally try make a couple of trips a year to Europe and for us thats a 24 hour flight but we usually manage to sleep a lot of the way. Downunder is a great place to visit, particularly during our summer, and there are a couple of cruise liners that do the trip from the west coast of USA each year.

 

Its been over 10 years since I last visited Las Vegas and I imagine a lot has changed since then, it must be quite a surreal place to live? My partner has never been to Vegas so we must try and fit it in some time when we are passing through US.

 

So far as the cruise is concerned we are greatly looking forward to it, its nearing winter here and although its not cold the days are getting shorter and we are looking forward to the long daylight hours in Alaska. Have you been to Alaska before?

 

Look forward to hearing your full report upon your return.

 

Bon Voyage

 

D & D

[ronhow]

Hi David and Dougal,

 

Thanks for the note.

 

You hit the nail right on the head.....we have been packing all day. Starting to be a problem though as since our cruise is 14 nights, we need clothes for 3 formal nights, 4 informal nights and 7 casual nights. Between all that and the layering of clothes that we have heard about, we are obviously taking way too much as usual. We have 6 bags between us.

 

Ronald and I have been together 26 years and we are in our 50's, just to give you a frame of reference. I can't believe you haven't been here for 10 years. A lot has changed in the past 10 years, you would be amazed. When you plan a visit, you must let us know so we can meet and show you around.

 

I was not aware that ships go from the west coast to Australia and will certainly look into that.

 

We are down to a little more than 48 hours as we leave early Friday morning. We will meet my sister and Ronald's sister in San Diego as they are flying in from New York with their husbands to meet us. Another couple here in Las Vegas is joining us on our flight, so there is a total of 8 of us. Should be a fun trip.

 

Talk to you soon.

Howard.

[Britboys]

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)

 

 

Hi Steve & Chris (and Ian & Gus)

 

We said that we would post on our return - unfortunately it has taken 3 weeks to crawl out of the post-holiday depression and so this post is a bit belated.

 

I am pleased to report that we both had a really super time, from beginning to end and would find it very difficult to raise any significant criticisms of Summit or Celebrity.

 

The flights were fine and our (included) overnight stay at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Sheraton was very comfortable. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere (apart from the Airport) but it was only one night. We ate at the nearby Islamorada Restaurant, which was great and just had breakfast at the Sheraton. The initial transfer between Miami & Fort Lauderdale was a bit chaotic :(, so we arranged a private transfer the next day (only $10) and got to the pier just before 11.30. Embarkation started within about 15 minutes and we were on-board fairly quickly, although the Senior Citizen check-in clerk we had was not the quickest! They do not guarantee that cabins will be ready but, with welcome aboard fizz in hand, we asked at the Reception (why did they have to change it from Purser's Desk?) if we could take our hand luggage to the cabin. They rang down to our deck and we were given the green light to drop it down there although the cabin was not quite ready.

 

That gave us plenty of time to explore the fantastic ship. I think it is the ideal balance between traditional and modern and although it is the biggest ship we have sailed on, it never really felt that huge and whilst most public areas were often busy, you could virtually always find a seat or table when you wanted one. One minor problem was that we had a long delay getting 1 of our suitcases on board - it eventually arrived about 8pm. Somehow, all the luggage lables had got lost between the dock-side & ship!

 

The evening meals in the main restaurant were of high quality every night and we had a really good team of waiters and somellier. We also had a great bunch of table-mates - 4 from California (2 of who were fellow CC'ers) and 2 from Australia. All were totally accepting of our sexuality - we almost got a round of applause when they found out we had been together 19 years! Like Ian & Gus, we were often the last table to leave. We took breakfast either in the Cosmopolitan (main) restaurant or the Waterfall Buffet. Service & quality was a bit patchy in the Cosmopolitan early in the day! The fresh omelettes & fresh waffles in the Waterfall were the stars at breakfast time! Lunch more often than not was in the Waterfall. The main selection was perfectly adequate without being exceptional but we both became very partial to the freshly prepared Pasta Dishes, followed by frozen yogurt or Ice Cream to finish. Tony very much enjoyed some light Sushi from the Waterfall early evening as a snack. We did eat in the Normandie one night and whilst the service and food was good, we left feeling a bit disappointed. Maybe it was just over-hyped by the Americans, who do not usually experience this style of restaurant.

 

We found the entertainment very enjoyable - the main Theatre is stunning! The production shows were very professionally staged and the cast very competent. We enjoyed several evenings in Michael's Club, listening to the Piano & Voice of Roger Carr. John, the Cruise Director scheduled in 3 or 4 'Friends of Dorothy' meetings but there seemed to be very few G&L cruisers on this sailing, so they fell a bit flat! At our request, John also arranged a second Cruise Critic Connections meeting, so that we could all exchange e-mail addresses and get together for another chat en-masse! We actually thought Prodigy the pool-band were okay. I wouldn't pay to go and see them but they were quite versatile and played appropriate music for the climate.

 

We enjoyed most of the Ports visited although they were a bit varied:

 

Aruba; we took a local island tour (much cheaper & longer than the ship's one) to see all the main sights. It was a pleasant couple of hours or so but we felt the island was a bit of a let down. Much is made of it being very pretty but we did not see very much evidence of that. Oranjestad, the capital and where the ship docks, only has a couple of small terraces of the Dutch Style buildings - they obviously appear on every post-card!

 

The day going through the Panamal Canal is absolutely fascinating. If you want good photographs, it is worth getting up early and getting to the front of the ship - they usually open up the helipad and this is the best vantage point. They have local guides come aboard to give a commentary as the transit progresses, which is very informative.

 

Puntarenas; we did an all day tour into the rainforest with a bunch of Cruise Critic friends. It was very good indeed. One of the CC people organised it with a local guide called Mauricio, who was realy excellent. There were about 20 of us, although he prefers to take groups of 10 - 12 people. Let us know if you want his details.

 

Huatulco; we spent a quiet day here, just going ashore a wandering around the immediate area. Nothing fantastic but a good little market for local crafts & souvenirs. It was extremely hot & humid.

 

Acapulco; again, we did our own thing. We had a walk around the city centre and then got a local (blue & white) VW Beetle Cab up to the La Perla Restaurant to see the Cliff Divers. This was really an amazing sight and because we went on our own, we got to see them twice. So much better than the ship's tour:D . The worst thing about Acapulco was the constant pestering by locals to sell you watches, jewellery or tours. We even got offered 'girls' 3 times:eek: . Obviously straight Mexican men cannot recognise 2 British Gay Boys when they see them!

 

Cabo San Lucas; we were initially disappointed here becuase it just looked like any newly-built Marina development anywhere in the world. We then found the older streets behind, which had much more character and we stopped off at Cabo Wabo Bar for a Tequila Cocktail.

 

Dis-embarkation was a breeze. We were very sad to have to leave the ship at San Diego but at least we had 6 days to enjoy in California before getting back to damp, dreary England.

 

Sorry if the review is a bit long but hope you find it helpful. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to post them here and we'll do our best to answer them.

 

When it comes, I am sure you will have a great time. We will not hesitate to book Celebrity again and would love to go back on Summit. Our next Cruise is July next year on the new P&O Arcadia to the Baltics!

 

Cheers for now,

 

Andrew & Tony

[cands]

Andrew and Tony,

Wow! Thank you so much for the review. I fully understand the "post holiday depression thing", but you've certainly taken the best cure - booking another cruise. Chris is very envious - a Baltic cruise is very high on our list of to dos.

Thanks for posting a port by port description. We've been debating what to do in Costa Rica. There is a post on our Roll Call this morning from Fred & Carey recomending Mauricio Vasquez. They were on the same cruise as you.

mauriciovp@hotmail.com

Tell me, did you do the zip-lining? If so how was it?

Mexico has never really appealed. Chris went to Acapulco once for a nursing conference with his previous partner - he has been bad mouthing it to me for the last 14 years!!

I've read that Huatulco is quite pleasant, so your idea of a quiet look around sounds good.

We disembark in LA. We're going to stay on the Queen Mary for our last night before flying home.

Sorry the FOD meetings didn't "fire". It's funny how that works sometimes and not others. Not that it matters in the slightest; there are always so many nice people to meet and have fun with.

 

Dining on board sounds good. Interesting comments on Normandie. We too really enjoy the the main dining room and wonder at the perceived benefits of 'fine dining'. (I can live without goats cheese souffle) Still, from the photos it looks like a wonderful space - I think we'll still have to try it!

 

Our Roll Calls for October/November are starting to fire up. As a bonus we already have 6 FOD on the Westerdam cruise and 4 on the Summit.

 

Oh, one more question. How was the Cirque du Soleil?

 

All the best to you both.

Steve (and Chris)

[xander]

Hi Andrew & Tony,

 

Thanks for the review - sounds like you had a great time, as we did. We also suffered from post holiday depression - so much so that we had only been back 3 days before we booked the next cruise! This time we are off on Silversea, again from Fort Lauderdale, in November. I was tempted both by the cracking deal (the dollar rate helped here) and by the all inclusive nature of the cruise...and Silversea's all inclusive means champagne and caviar.....

 

I've just received the 2006 P&O and Princess brochures so we may yet make it onto Arcadia....I am doing my bit to keep the UK economy going...

[Britboys]

Hi Steve & Chris,

 

Sorry for the long delay in posting this reply. Life - and particularly work (when you take nearly 4 weeks off!) just get in the way :( .

 

I think the Cirque du Soleil thing is very personal and subjective but for what it's worth, here are my thoughts. There are 2 very different elements to it on Celebrity. One is the regular 'Bar at the Edge of the Earth' presentation. It is where you go to the Bar and there are the Cirque Characters who are introduced one-by-one and then circulate around the Bar, interacting with the passengers. One is mischievous and steals handbags, another is mysterious and produces little white balls that light up & glow purple etc. Tony found this all a bit :confused: weird and didn't really enjoy it but I was intrigued and very much enjoyed sitting there watching it all unfold :) . The other 'event' is the White Night Party, where everyone is invited to dress in white. At this they had similar Cirque characters circulating, plus some others. Additionally, they had a 'performance', which on our Cruise was an Egg Shaped thing, which looked about 2 feet high and was backlit. It started to grow very gradually and as it did so, limbs and a head kept stretching out of it without bursting the 'egg'. Eventually, a young woman did burst it from inside and of course, she was a fully grown adult. It was absolutely spellbinding!

 

As I said - it is very subjective but if you have a sense of the surreal, I think you will enjoy both.

 

We didn't do the zip-lining but watched some of our Tour Group on their last leg (I.E. as they arrived back!). The only possible danger appeared to be if you put your hands in front of the device that runs down the line. If you did, it would be nasty. All our group that did it really enjoyed it though and no-one was remotely injured.

 

Have a fabulous time on your cruise when it comes. I am sure you will also enjoy the 'old' Queen Mary in LA. We have done the guided Tour on it and had Lunch aboard but not stayed overnight. Have you been to LA before? If not, you might want to know that Long Beach is a long way out of LA proper - although I am not sure where the Port of LA is!

 

Best Regards - and hope to correspond with you on CC again sometime.

 

Andrew (&Tony)

 

Andrew and Tony,

Wow! Thank you so much for the review. I fully understand the "post holiday depression thing", but you've certainly taken the best cure - booking another cruise. Chris is very envious - a Baltic cruise is very high on our list of to dos.

Thanks for posting a port by port description. We've been debating what to do in Costa Rica. There is a post on our Roll Call this morning from Fred & Carey recomending Mauricio Vasquez. They were on the same cruise as you.

mauriciovp@hotmail.com

Tell me, did you do the zip-lining? If so how was it?

Mexico has never really appealed. Chris went to Acapulco once for a nursing conference with his previous partner - he has been bad mouthing it to me for the last 14 years!!

I've read that Huatulco is quite pleasant, so your idea of a quiet look around sounds good.

We disembark in LA. We're going to stay on the Queen Mary for our last night before flying home.

Sorry the FOD meetings didn't "fire". It's funny how that works sometimes and not others. Not that it matters in the slightest; there are always so many nice people to meet and have fun with.

 

Dining on board sounds good. Interesting comments on Normandie. We too really enjoy the the main dining room and wonder at the perceived benefits of 'fine dining'. (I can live without goats cheese souffle) Still, from the photos it looks like a wonderful space - I think we'll still have to try it!

 

Our Roll Calls for October/November are starting to fire up. As a bonus we already have 6 FOD on the Westerdam cruise and 4 on the Summit.

 

Oh, one more question. How was the Cirque du Soleil?

 

All the best to you both.

Steve (and Chris)