Summit Photo Review - June 29, 2014 to Bermuda in Aqua Class

[prim8keeper]

Hi everyone! I did a photo review a few years ago of our Equinox Caribbean cruise and thought I would do it once again for our recent Bermuda cruise.

 

We have sailed with X previously three times, all on the S-class (Solstice & Equinox) and all in the Caribbean over the winter out of Ft. Lauderdale. We choose Bermuda because we wanted a quick summer getaway. We booked this cruise aboard our last cruise on Equinox and were able to take advantage of the on board booking promotions (one category upgrade, OBC, low deposit) and the 123Go promo. For the 123Go promo we choose the drink package. :D

 

It was just me and my DH on this cruise. We are the "target" market right now for X (more on that later). I am 31 and my DH is 28.

 

As an FYI - yes I do have all the dailies, the Blu brunch menu and the new Bistro on Five menu. I'll also be happy to answer questions along the way however keep in mind I'm just one person and these are only my opinions/experiences.

[travelingirl70]

Can't wait!!! We leave in less than 3 weeks, also sailing in Aqua Class.

[annenj]

Also looking forward to your review!

We'll be in AQ in August.

 

[prim8keeper]

When we first decided to book Bermuda and I began to do all the research I have to admit it was a bit daunting. Obviously leaving out of Bayonne is very different from going out of Ft. Lauderdale and we are lucky enough to have made some amazing friends cruising. The down side to that though is that have spoiled us beyond belief when it comes to leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale since they live there.

 

We decided that we wanted to spend some time in NYC before the cruise. For this reason we decided to fly into LGA instead of Newark. It also helped that I found tickets from ATL into LGA for only $180 each on American. Very quickly I began to regret this decision since because of the merger of American and US Airways Americans direct flights from ATL to LGA disappeared. They were replaced with US Airways flights that connected in Charlotte. These flight times changed several times before our cruise and I was constantly having to call and change the flights so they worked with the cruise.

 

One concern we had when we booked this cruise was that it was over the week of July 4th. As such we assumed there would be more families with kids on the cruise than our past sailings. Since we had done Aqua in the past we decided to book it once again knowing it would most likely serve as a buffer between us and kids. While we don't mind kids, but both me and my DH work hard so we just want to relax on vacation. Before anyone asks why we choose to book a cruise over this week if we were concerned about kids it was because my DH automatically has this week off. So its a way for us to sneak in another cruise without him having to use his limited vacation days. You see I have this problem where I can't help but book more cruises once I get on the ship. :rolleyes:

 

When it came to selecting a cabin we booked one of the new Aqua class aft cabins on deck 11. We were in 1140. Thanks cruise critic!

 

Since this was our first time to Bermuda I used the Bermuda board along with trip advisor to plan out our three days. I'm a researcher so cruise planning with me is kind of like cruise planning on steroids. My DH now just stays out of it until we are on the ship and then ask me what we are doing. I even had a spreadsheet with everything we (ok, ok, that I) wanted to do.

 

This is the part where undoubtedly someone I have cruised with will insert a spreadsheet joke.

 

I took three cameras with me on this trip and took 750 photos so I'll apologize up front that some updates may be slow since I still haven't gone through most of my photos yet. That said, here is a taste of whats to come. As an FYI I did nothing to this photo. In the future some may be heavily edited but I will also try to include some that have nothing done to them to show the true beauty of Bermuda.

 

[cruise47]

This is a great start.

[kclvt]

Can't wait to read your review. We will be on Summit over Labor Day weekend to Bermuda!

[bighairtexan]

**PONDERING**

I wonder who you mean when you said "someone" is going to insert a spreadsheet joke??? :D :D :D

[annenj]

Now I'm even MORE excited to hear about your trip --we are in the same cabin in 5 weeks -- 1140!

I've never had an AFT cabin before. We always try to stay near the back of the ship, as we love the sunset bar, but now were are true AFT.

 

[prim8keeper]

Since our flight from Atlanta left at 5:45 am, yes, you read that right, on Saturday morning we decided to stay at a hotel right by the airport. This allowed us the luxury of sleeping in until 4 am! For the most part I'm a morning person and am up by 5:30 am, but 4 am is early even for me. The other plus to doing this was that we were able to leave our car at the hotel while we were gone. In the end this was a great decision since the hotel was only a short ride on the sky train instead of having to take a bus out to various lots.

 

As you can imagine checking in and going through security was very easy at 4 am on a Saturday. We were actually in line for security before security was even open. From there is was a quick ride on the plane train to the correct terminal. Our flight from Atlanta to Charlotte wasn't very full. I do have a tip for US Airways though. If you are going to schedule your flights for 5:45 am you need to offer coffee. I repeat, coffee. A small bottle of water or a cup of OJ is not an acceptable offer at that hour.

 

In Charlotte we had a very quick one hour lay over. Sadly the line at Starbucks or any other place that sold coffee was too long so we couldn't get anything and just had to go straight to our new gate. Our flight from Charlotte to LGA was packed which wasn't too surprising since US Airways uses Charlotte as a hub. Our flight was very uneventful and thankfully on this flight they had coffee so I could transform back into a real person. I will say, I have not taken a connecting flight since moving to Atlanta several years ago and was kind of nervous. I figured something would go wrong or they would loose our luggage but in the end it was all ok.

 

We arrived in NYC early and proceed to baggage claim to wait for our luggage. I don't need to tell anyone who has ever flown into LGA that this will be the part of your trip where your patience will be tested. We waited about 30 minutes for our luggage so getting in early was now "on time." I had arranged for a car to pick us up and take us to our hotel in the city.

 

We decided to stay at the new Marriott Residence Inn up near Central Park because our new Finnish friends from the roll call were staying there. We had already decided to share a car to the pier on Sunday morning. This was a great hotel choice (thanks Mari!). We arrived at 11 am and were originally going to just drop off our luggage but I decided to ask if they might have a room ready for us. To my shock and surprise they did!

 

The hotel is less than a year old and for anyone who is staying in the city for a few days I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. It had great views (the park on one side and times square on the other) and having the small kitchen could come in handy if you were there for a few days and wanted to keep cost down. It was also in a good location that was close to everything any first timer visiting the city would want to do. For me though that was also the one downside. Having been to NYC several times before we try to stay away from the crowds so staying up by Central Park during the summer was like doing the opposite of that. This was the view out onto the city from our room.

 

 

We also happened to be in the city for Pride weekend so I was obligated to take this photo.

 

 

This was actually the first picture I took in the city. The fact that it was pride though also factored into why it made the most sense to stay uptown. The parade was on Sunday at 11 am in the Village and made its way downtown so staying down there would have been a nightmare when it came to traffic. We heard from another couple that it took them almost two hours to get to the pier from Manhattan because of the traffic down there.

 

After dropping our bags we headed out into the city to explore a little. We didn't really have anything specific we wanted to do. I wanted to get a book since I had forgotten the book I bought specifically for the cruise at home. We ended up making our way down to Chelsea to visit Doughnut Plant and then we ate our way through lower Manhattan. I figured it was smart to practice for the cruise. We also ventured over and walked on the high line for a little bit. In the afternoon it became rather hot so we quickly became tired. It was at this point we decided to call it an afternoon and headed back to the hotel to take a nap.

 

We went down to the LES for dinner. Again, we needed to practice for the cruise. We went to Sauce which was fantastic. Its off the beaten path and you wont find many, if any, tourist there. Its a simple Italian menu with everything being made in house.

 

 

After dinner we walked over to Milk in the Village to get some cookies and pie because if there is anything you need before a cruise its food. After the cookies and pie we went back to the hotel. I wanted to get a good nights sleep so I wouldn't be tired for the first day of the cruise. This is the view from our room looking downtown towards Time Square. We just had a city view room since we were only there for one night but if you looked you could kind of see both Times Square and Central Park.

 

 

Tomorrow the Summit awaits!

Edited July 8, 2014 by prim8keeper

[Keith1010]

I am enjoying this. Look forward to the next part.

 

Keith

[prim8keeper]

Since I know many people are interested in the dailies I thought I would post them along with the other various flyers we received throughout the cruise now. Hopefully this will make them much easier to find rather than having to search through the whole review for each day. The only daily I am missing is the very first one they give you when you check in at the pier.

 

Celebrity Today's

 

Sunday, June 29th, 2014 - Bayonne, NJ

Monday, June 30th, 2014 - At Sea

Tuesday, July 1st, 2014 - At Sea

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014 - King's Wharf, Bermuda

Thursday, July 3rd, 2014 - King's Wharf, Bermuda

Friday, July 4th, 2014 - King's Wharf, Bermuda

Saturday, July 5th, 2014 - At Sea

Sunday, July 6th, 2014 - Bayonne, NJ

 

In the SPOTLIGHT

 

In the Spotlight

 

Captain's Club

 

Captain's Club Events for Select Members

 

Entertainment

 

Entertainment: Week at a Glance

 

Bermuda Shopping Guide

 

Bermuda Port Shopping Map

 

Room Service Breakfast

 

Aqua Class Room Service Menu

 

Future Cruise Vacations

 

Sail On Event

Future Cruise Vacations Flyer

"Bermuda All In" Offer

 

Miscellaneous

 

Reverie for Exhale Bedding by Celebrity Cruises

[Hollywood Traveler]

**PONDERING**

I wonder who you mean when you said "someone" is going to insert a spreadsheet joke??? :D :D :D

 

Q: What does the spreadsheet developer use when he goes fishing?

A: B8

[Celebrity Cruises]

Q: What does the spreadsheet developer use when he goes fishing?

A: B8

 

Be careful if you fall into the water to not B8. :)

 

BINGO!

[Laney219]

Loving your review so far!

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

Edited July 8, 2014 by Laney219

[Hollywood Traveler]

Be careful if you fall into the water to not B8. :)

 

BINGO!

 

:)

 

So a spreadsheet walks into a bar . . . chart. ;)

[prim8keeper]

We decided to get up rather early on Sunday so we would have time to pack and eat breakfast before the car came to pick us up at the hotel. Originally we had scheduled the car to arrive at 10:30 am, but as the cruise approached we all became impatient and moved it up to 10 am. The driver apparently was even more excited to drive us to the cruise than we were to get there because he was there around 9:40 am! Having put the luggage tags on our bags it finally felt like we were going on a cruise.

 

With everything in hand we made our way down to the lobby to meet our new friends that we made on the roll call and were sharing a car with. I think that is my favorite thing about cruise critic. We have made wonderful friends from all over the world and I hope one day I can visit all of them! Our car ride to the pier was rather uneventful. Since it was a Sunday morning there was little traffic leaving NYC. We arrived at Cape Liberty by 10:30 am. I think the whole ride took maybe 30 minutes?

 

There were not many crowds when we arrived at the pier to our amazement. We quickly dropped the bags off with a porter and within 5 minutes we had breezed through security and were moving towards check in. There was no one in the line for Aqua Class and we were given tickets that said 10 for the bus that would take us from the terminal to the pier. I could hear them already calling the numbers behind the curtain as we were walking towards check in. As you can imagine check in was also a breeze with no one there and before we could even make it around to the waiting area they were calling "all numbers." Along the way we passed tables set up for the specialty restaurants, beverage packages, etc. I thought it was really smart for them to put these in the waiting area instead of right where you get on the ship. From there we just walked out and got onto a virtually empty bus and with that we were off to the Summit! It was probably one of the smoothest check ins we have ever had.

 

It is a quick 5 minute bus ride from the terminal to the ship. As we got off the bus we could hear the most wonderful sound, "DING," "DING..." Once we were on the ship they were checking your sea pass and directing you to one side or the other. One bank of elevators was for suite and aqua class guests and the other bank was for everyone else (I'm technically not sure where concierge was being directed).

 

We entered the Summit on deck 1 and were quickly whisked up to deck 5 where we had been invited to brunch in Blu. For the most part I enjoyed this. I did find it kind of odd though that there is someone with you on the elevator however, once you get off you are on your own to find Blu. For those who are wondering there were also waiters as we boarding offering the usual glass of sparkling wine, OJ or a mimosa. Suite guests were being taken to deck 3 where they were invited to brunch in Normandie. Since we had eaten breakfast and this was our first time on an M class ship we decided to wait to eat and instead went to explore the Summit. The Blu brunch, and I assume the suite brunch as well, goes until 2 pm so there is no actual rush to go there once you get on the ship.

 

Wondering around the ship it seemed like a ghost town. Since this is a photo review this would probably be a good time to include some photos. Prior to getting on the ship I didn't take a ton of photos as you may have guessed by now.

[prim8keeper]

Since we got off on deck five that is where we began to explore. The first space we came upon was the Cafe al Bacio & Gelateria area.

 

 

 

As many before me have posted Cafe al Bacio seems to be moving away from the smaller pastries and desserts and moving towards having more cakes and pies in the afternoons/evenings. I have to say I like this change. All of the cakes we tried during the week were very good. They rotate throughout the week, but my favorite was the coconut chiffon. They also had a fabulous strawberry pie one day. There were also more cookie choices each day than I remember from Equinox. For those that are gluten free they have a gluten free cookie option each day, usually featuring coconut. They were pretty good. They also always had at least one or two sugar-free cookie options. Peanut butter seemed to be the standard sugar free option. In the morning they still have the assorted breakfast items which now includes doughnuts. The little sandwiches at lunch are gone.

 

 

Over at the Gelateria something new caught my eye. Gelato sandwiches! Unfortunately I never tried one. One problem I did notice with these is that if a lot of people are getting gelato, since they keep opening the doors, the sandwiches start to melt. I saw them toss a whole tray of them one day.

 

We did use our select coupons one day afternoon to get a free scoop of gelato.

 

 

Having only been on the S class ships previously I found the grand foyer on the M class a little underwhelming. The photo below was taken from above on deck five looking down to deck 3. I really didn't get the giant staircase that took up most of the space.

 

Edited July 8, 2014 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

By now I began to feel as though I was some place really weird. Since the M class ships were Solsticized they feel very much like the S class but at the same time are very different. It was an odd feeling and left me conflicted for the first day. My DH kept reminding me not to form an opinion too quickly. From the cafe area we began to make our way forward towards the theater. I really liked the theater. I liked the little tables, but I wouldn't want to be the person responsible for changing the light bulbs.

 

 

 

After checking out the theater we began to make our way up to deck 10. Our friends wanted to check out the gym. This would be the only time I visited the gym all week. In my defense I did bring my gym shoes and workout clothes. So I went with good intentions. That counts, right? Our friends said the gym was pretty good and actually used it every day. She even ran on the treadmill on morning when the seas were rough coming back. I think I was off somewhere eating breakfast cake. I'm pretty sure that's a thing...

 

 

After looking at the gym we went to check out the solarium. I wanted to see the infamous T pool that everyone is always talking about. The first photo was taken from inside the solarium and the second one was taken from above the solarium on deck 11 looking down through the windows.

 

 

 

Sadly we never actually made it to the T pool during this cruise. We thought we would be smart and wait until the last sea day afternoon when most people would be packing. However, because of hurricane Arthur the pools were drained once we left Bermuda due to some rough seas we encountered.

[ChrisJH]

This is an awesome review with equally awesome pics. We're looking forward to the next instalment!:D

[prim8keeper]

After checking out the solarium we went out to look at the pool deck. I can't really comment on the pool deck since we aren't pool people. We spent no time out there, or in the solarium, during the cruise. I did sit on one of the new loungers though since they were a topic of debate a while back on CC. Personally liked them. For those who prefer the older ones with the cushions they still had some up on deck 12 on the sun deck (aft).

 

 

 

 

The official X on the funnel. This photo was taken from deck 11.

 

 

With all this exploring it was finally starting to feel like we were going on a cruise and we were working up an appetite. So we decided to start making our way back down to Blu for brunch. On our way we passed by Bistro on Five to take a look at the new menu (more on that later).

 

This photo was taken coming out of the grand foyer and walking towards Bistro on Five. It was rather obvious that Bistro on Five was added later on. As you can see there were people there already enjoying lunch.

 

[sue58]

Really enjoying your pictures and comments and humour - just subscribed to this thread so I can follow along.

 

Too bad you missed out on trying the thallostherapy pool - guess you'll just have to book another cruise on an M-Class ship. :)

 

Thanks for posting.

[prim8keeper]

Really enjoying your pictures and comments and humour - just subscribed to this thread so I can follow along.

 

Too bad you missed out on trying the thallostherapy pool - guess you'll just have to book another cruise on an M-Class ship. :)

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Thank you so much (and too everyone else!). I may have booked another cruise on an M-class ship. ;) We actually booked two more cruises on this cruise. I'll talk about that more later as well as the second job I'll need to take to pay for the five cruises we currently have booked.

[jcpc]

I'm really enjoying your review. I'm on the August 31 sailing and seeing your photos makes me more excited about sailing Summit next month! Thanks for posting ... Looking forward to more!:)

[prim8keeper]

On our way to Blu I was hoping I could pop into the MDR to take a few photos but unfortunately they had the doors closed. As a result I never got any photos. We actually never even stepped into the MDR this trip.

 

When we arrived at Blu there was no wait and about half of the tables were empty. Below is the brunch menu. This is the part of the program where we are going to be experiencing some technically difficulties. I'm not sure why but I can not for the life of me get this photo to post correctly even though I rotated it. So, all together now, pick up your monitor and turn it counter clockwise very slowly.

 

 

My only real complaint about this menu is that it seemed like it was more lunch than brunch which I tend to think of as more breakfast than lunch. I had the vanilla pancakes which were pretty good. I really wish though that they would swap these outs for the Blu pancakes since to me that's their signature pancake dish. At least in my mind. They are also awesome. All that said I really appreciated that it was only two pancakes. On previous cruises I remember getting three of four which was always too many. Two was perfect. My DH had the cheese tart which he really enjoyed. He said it was rich but that the serving size was small enough that it wasn't a real issue. The staff did seem a little stretched and I have to imagine having the added lunch service is taxing for them on what is usually a very busy day. Two of our previous cruises were delayed due to noro so I'm not sure what they would do if this indeed does go fleet wide. I guess they just wouldn't have it?

 

After lunch we headed out again to continue exploring the ship since the cabins were still not ready. No biggie. We decided to check out deck 4 and the Rendezvous lounge which was also our muster station. I love the photo below which I took looking out of the windows in the lounge towards NYC. I don't know why but whenever I think of NYC I think of a great black and white photo. So classy!

 

 

Walking towards the front of the ship we also passed by the martini bar which was exactly the same as it is on the S-class.

 

 

From here we made our way up to Revelations lounge. Its very similar to the Sky lounge on the S class ships. This is where they held the senior officers party and the elite cocktail hour each night. The photo below was taken off to the right hand side as you enter.

 

 

The photo below was taken standing at the back against the glass wall looking towards the stage.

 

 

Since we were never on the M class prior to them being Solsticized I'm assuming that this was once all Revolutions (notice the wall on the left hand side). On the other side of that wall is the kids club which used to be located on deck 11 aft. That is the location of our cabin. Wait, did I book slide? Bad joke, I know and I'm sure most wont get it unless you have seen that old photo floating around of the aft cabins on the M class. I'm sure there is someone on here who can either confirm on deny all of this. I never really did much research on the M class prior to this cruise.

 

I took this photo because I take a lot of random photos. I'm sure you are starting to notice there are no people in any of my photos. I generally don't like to take photos of people. I'm not sure why. Probably because I don't like my own photo taken. I actually made it a point this cruise to take more photos of people. As you can see, I succeeded!

 

Edited July 9, 2014 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

I'm going to end tonight's updates with the following photo which was taken right outside Revelations. It is probably my favorite ship photo.