Did B2B Summit as Elite

[OceanCruise]

Did B2B on Summit Jan 4 and Jan 11 and first time as Elite on Celebrity. We actually got invited to the Captain's table (hosted by Senior and Assistant Engineers) and that was a really special experience---great conversation and food, red and white wine, a rose for the ladies and commemorative photo and menus. Both cruises were great and exceeded expectations. We were happy to see a largely expanded Next Cruise area manned with several staff members and lots of available times to meet with the agents. hardly any kids on board, mostly middle-aged to older passengers so kind of sedate.

 

Elite program: There were about 110 Elites (no higher levels were on board either cruise). The happy hour was held in Michael's Club and free drinks flowed. Hot and cold hor'deouves were excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. Breakfast was held in the Normandie. While there was a nice spread of pastries/croissoints, various cheese/cold meats/lox, and fresh fruit/berries, we do wish Celebrity would provide a hot dish or two there. We did appreciate the fresh squeezed OJ and cappucchino. The Captain's Club hostess, Ashley was very visible at happy hour, breakfast and events. She was very personable, warm, and welcoming. Everyone loved her. We attended the elegant tea on the first leg of the cruise but, other than being served, it was really no different than the food in the Oceanview so I did not do it again. We did not attend the backstage tour or wine tasting as we have been there, done that. I wish there was more variety for Elite events. Senior officer party was nice and officers made it a point to talk to guests. Love the free laundry and internet perks! Laundry and dry cleaning came back the following afternoon/evening and everything was folded nicely.

 

Officers: The most personable and friendly of any cruise we have been on. They were very visible throughout the ship and Captain Leo has a great sense of humor.

 

Food: Over the two weeks we mostly ate in the dining room. We asked in person if there were any specials for specialty restaurants certain nights so we ate one night in Normandie ($30 pp) and ate 2 nights in Qsine (got 2 for 1 both times) and service was excellent. Normandie was very good but not overly outstanding IMO. The cheese course is always great but the chocolate souffles missed the mark and were not as good than we have had previously on other Celebrity ships (the texture and taste were different). We really enjoyed Qsine. There you can get a fabulous pitcher of white Sangria for $26 which is about 4 large glasses--yummy. Love the popcorn fish, salad with goat cheese, painter's mignon, and beignets. We were disappointed that we could not get the same wait staff in the dining room for the second week despite talking to the maitre 'd. We were pretty happy with the dining room food--everything arrived hot and was presented well. The fish tended to be a little dry but the rib eye and pork chop were excellent and the salads were creative. The wait staff seems more rushed than on prior cruises--they did not seem to have time to make small talk.

 

Stateroom: Overall fine except tiles were coming up on shower stall floor and multiple bathroom tiles were cracked. The stewards seem to have more rooms to clean than in the past and they seemed to be working all day and evening with a whole long corridor of rooms to do. Ours was at the end so was always not serviced until early afternoon. Room was kept clean although we did have to ask for extra laundry bags, room service menus, etc. Steward and assistant were friendly and accommodating. Got 2 towel animals each week.

 

Activities: The CD Kyle was not one of our favorites although he was enthusiastic. We have had much funnier ones in the past. As usual, many activities were sales pitches for the spa or extra charges for exercise classes. However, there were a number of trivias and special lectures, cooking contests, galley tour, Karaoke, etc. The special entertainers were very good---a fantastic juggler, good comedians and a singer. The production shows were high energy--a bit frenetic--but the leads were very talented and costumes were beautiful. There were 2 acrobats who were amazing. Public areas were very clean and in great condition.

 

Excursions: We have been to all the ports before so only did a few excursions. In St Thomas we did the Celebrity self-explore tour with the ferry at the cruise dock. The ferry and loudspeaker were extremely loud and the incessant narrative was really annoying but it did get us there, albeit quite a bit rocky. We did a wonderful private tour in St Lucia with Serenity tours that took us to some artisans, the Cassava bread factory, and Cathedral. In Antigua we enjoyed a day pass at the Coconut Beach Club---gorgeous clean beach there. In Barbados we booked the Calabazza catamaran (on our own) and it was one of our best excursions ever and a first class experience. In St Kitts we did the Clay Villa plantation tour (booked on our own) followed by an afternoon at the beach. The tour was enjoyable but the St Kitt's beach was not very nice IMO.

 

I would be happy to answer any questions.

[hulamoon]

What a lovely time. Thanks for sharing your review. Was it the itinerary that was the deciding factor in your booking? We are new to Caribbean ports and sailings.

[C 2 C]

Did B2B on Summit Jan 4 and Jan 11 and first time as Elite on Celebrity.

Officers: The most personable and friendly of any cruise we have been on. They were very visible throughout the ship and Captain Leo has a great sense of humor.

The CD Kyle

I would be happy to answer any questions.

 

Thank you for the review.

Would you be able to post the name of the HD:

Guest relations manager:

Captain's Club Host(ess):

Party band or Rendezvous band?

[OceanCruise]

Thank you for the review.

Would you be able to post the name of the HD:

Guest relations manager:

Captain's Club Host(ess):

Party band or Rendezvous band?

 

Guest relations manager--Jeff Potts

HD--Jan Willem Kuipers

Captain's Club Hostes--Ashley Whitaker --what a sweetheart!

Party Band--Xtasea-- They were fabulous!!

[chrismakris]

You got towel animals!!!!!

 

We didn't get any when we were on her for the Jan 4 sailing. :(

 

That's it. I'm never sailing Celebrity again!!!! :rolleyes:

[OceanCruise]

What a lovely time. Thanks for sharing your review. Was it the itinerary that was the deciding factor in your booking? We are new to Caribbean ports and sailings.

 

We can only cruise certain times of the year and price is a big factor for us along with cheap airfare. For the B2B we went to 9 different Caribbean ports. We prefer the Southern Caribbean. Our favorites are Antigua and Barbados. We also like St Lucia and the St Thomas beaches. Our least favorites are St Croix St Kitts and St. Martin. We are not as fond of the Western Caribbean itineraries. It all depends what kinds of things you like to do---if you want a clean beach, versus shopping or sightseeing.

Edited January 21, 2014 by OceanCruise
wrong number

[C 2 C]

Guest relations manager--Jeff Potts

HD--Jan Willem Kuipers

Captain's Club Hostes--Ashley Whitaker --what a sweetheart!

Party Band--Xtasea-- They were fabulous!!

 

Thank you for the quick response.:D

[hulamoon]

We have been looking at the b2b summit or the eclipse 14 day. Thanks for your thoughts on the choices.

[C 2 C]

We have been looking at the b2b summit or the eclipse 14 day. Thanks for your thoughts on the choices.

 

The advantage of Eclipse is that ports are not repeated.

Summit starts from warmer waters right away.

Some like M-class ships better than the larger ships but others like the newness and greater offerings on board Eclipse.

The flight to FLL is shorter than to San Juan.

 

We are sailing on Eclipse this weekend and will report back on our experience.

 

It's a tough choice.