Just off Summit - Caribbean r/t San Juan

[I_heart_vaca]

Just got back from the Celebrity Summit – Eastern Caribbean r/t from San Juan. It was a great vacation. I did a lot of research on this site before both my trips and you all were so very helpful, so I want to return the favor – as much as I can. It was only my second cruise and my first on Celebrity so I wanted to put my ‘newbie’ thoughts together for other newbies. Not really detailed, as I didn’t keep notes as I was going, but here are the things that stick out for me…

Embarkation – Great.

Quick, smooth process. We arrived at 1pm as suggested and breezed through security and check in. The escalator in the port was under repair so everyone had to line up and take the one elevator up to the gangway level. Even with that we were on the ship by 1:30pm. Room ready and luggage delivered by 2pm.

Room – Good.

I had an inside cabin. It was laid out nicely with enough space for me (I was on my own in the room) but would be ok for two as well. I can’t imagine more than two people in the room. The back wall was completely mirrored which allowed the illusion of more space . The TV had real TV channels, and online account where you could review charges, add excursions, pay-per-view movies, etc. The fridge didn’t keep anything cold, but I had purchased a beverage package so I wasn’t stock piling anything in the room anyway.

Food & Beverage – Good, not great.

· Dining Room – Good service at dinner, slow during breakfast. Food was good.

· Buffet – Variety was there – pizza, sandwiches, salads, hot foods. Nothing spectacular but options and plenty of it. As someone mentioned somewhere on here before – the trays are small but the plates normal size. So if you wanted a small bowl of salad and a plate with a sandwich on it, there was literally no room for a drink. The servers were slow to come around and ask if you wanted a drink (other than the water or lemonade in the machines) and a few times they ran out of coffee and water in the machines.

· Café & Gelatoria – My favorite place. Iced coffee is my afternoon treat and the servers were attentive. The pastries in the coffee bar are free, but the Gelato was $4.50 for two scoops. They had ½ price deals on port days.

· Beverage Packages – I ended up with the Premium non-Alcoholic package as I don’t really drink much. I was not going to do this originally, but it actually worked out great. I had several coffees each day, smoothie for breakfast a few days (not great), soda with dinner and always got a bottle of water before leaving on excursions, plus a bottle of cold water to take in the room at night – total worth it and I didn’t have to sign all those slips, all the time. I did get a drink at the Shows each night – cost $8.50 per drink.

Activities & Events – Disappointing

There were no real activities – at least not the hands-on ones I was hoping for, or the education ones I got on the Alaska cruise. There were five types of events/activities:

· Sales Events – no education style sessions. Almost everything was a preview or grand revealing event designed to sell something – watches, diamonds, etc. Even the ‘learn to’ sessions were a bait-and-switch designed to see you stuff. There was a Martini Mixology class that was really just passengers buying a flight of 6 martinis and watching the bartenders make it (there were a lot of these types of events).

· Games – Xbox has a deal with Celebrity so they had a few Kinnect games. There were also Trivia games, or ‘game show’ style games, but with limited passengers needed to ‘play’ most of us were just the audience. Not a lot of fun as not very interactive.

· Bingo – there was Bingo a few times. Not advertised well, or well attended. If you bought the $50 package it came with four raffle tickets which were to be used in the last day’s raffle for a free cruise.

· Raffles – Speaking of raffles. These were hit or miss. Not well advertised. You didn’t know about the free cruise one until you purchased the Bingo games (Maybe had they told people up front, more would have showed up). In fact they ran a few raffles and drawings, but never really promoted the where and when. It was hit or miss and mostly misses.

· Parties – Each evening there as a themed party (70s night, Sizzle, Frozen/White).

· Shows – 7pm and 9pm in the Celebrity Theater

Shows – Mostly good

· Celebrity Singers & Dancers – OK. Not Broadway quality, but I wasn’t expecting it. The shows were mostly good. Two of them were tributes to Hollywood and stars…almost like cover shows. These were good. The “original” show was not good and was almost painful to watch.

· Special Performers – the two comedians were fabulous (laughed so much I cried!). The aerialist are amazing; they were part of the ‘atmospheric performers’ that showed up in the special event “Indulgence” and the late night theme parties. Highlight – VoicePlay – these guys were awesome. If you haven’t seen them – look it up on YouTube!

Ports – GOOD!

I have never been to the Caribbean and loved all the stops. We had good weather on all days until the last port (St. Thomas) where it poured. But overall the islands were beautiful, clean and welcoming. I split my ports between ship excursions and private tours/events. The ship tours were good – a little more expensive but I don’t mind that extra expense for someone else to do the planning. There were snorkeling, shopping, tours – a little something for everyone. At St. Thomas where almost all excursions were cancelled due to weather the ship automatically refunded the excursion prices to the accounts. Very efficient.

Disembarkation – What a mess!

Getting off was organized as usual – with them corralling people into common areas then letting you off in numbered groups. The issues started once you collected your luggage and headed to Customs/Immigration. The lines moved pretty fast, but once you were outside there as a long wait for pre-arranged transfers. If I went back to San Juan I would definitely not arrange traspo with the ship, the taxi line was faster.

San Juan Airport – AWFUL!

The United line was over 90 minutes to check your bags. It was the worst I have ever seen at any airport – no signs, little help and a line that just didn’t move for large spans of time. I travel extensively for my job and it was the absolute worst experience I have had at an airport. It was not a great way to end a great vacation, but not the cruise lines fault.

All in all it was a great, relaxing vacation. I was not overwhelmed by the awesomeness of Celebrity, and will most likely go back to Princess -- as I really like more activity on the ship; but it was a great trip all around and I would recommend it to anyone looking to cruise the islands.

[antsnanny]

Thats too bad that you weren't wowed by Celebrity. We sailed on the Summit in Sept for 14 days and found the buffet to be much improved, actually it was excellent. On all 14 days the entertainment was pretty awesome, I didn't care for one of the shows but I think it was just not my thing. Regarding the disembarking, ours took a little longer than usual which had me wondering if it has something to do with security because of ISIS?

I do hope that you had a good vacation despite the disappointments you dealt with.

[youwash]

Thank you for your thoughts. So glad that Celebrity ships are finally back to the Caribbean so I can read reviews. Especially of the Summit since we will be sailing in February.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Hi I HEART VACA,

 

Great Cruise Review / Trip Report

 

Sounds like you had a good time for the most part (and that is what is really important)

 

Too bad about the weather / rain in St Thomas... It is a great island, you will have to go back (fortunately there are lots of option on that front as St-T is a popular cruise stop)

 

As for Debarkation in San Juan..

 

I take it you have gotten past it. That is important. Live & learn. San Juan is a gorgeous city... But it MOST DEFINITELY functions on "island time"... Waay more laid back maan vs the US Mainland (same country... Whole other perspective)... If it happens it happens.

 

We knew this going in... So we prepared accordingly. We purposely set up our visit in low stress mode, flying in a couple of days early... And flying out late in the day. Did not join the mad stampede to get off the ship early. And we knew about the shuttle issues (we don't do shuttles in ports if we can avoid it)... We opted for a cab. That was quick & easy.

 

And we knew about the crazy airport situation... Line up, line up, line up again ( Agro Check - Check In / Luggage Drop - Security etc)... Another reason we went with a later flight.

 

Cheers!

[chrismakris]

Glad to hear you had a mostly good time. I would agree with you on the Entertainment part. If you do ever sail from San Juan again try to be on the first group off the ship.

 

We had booked an 11:55 flight out of San Juan and instead of just waiting til it was our turn we decided to be in the first group. We were off the ship and at the airport in 30-40 minutes. There was still hardly anyone at the airport so checkin and security were a breeze.

 

I hope you give Celebrity another chance.

 

 

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[jetboy]

Thanks for a great review, as we will be on board November 29.

One concern I have is my return flight leaves St Juan at 1155 back to Jfk, can anyone advise should I consider doing self disembarkation with my luggage or will I still have enough time if I am off the ship in one of the first groups. What's the latest I want to be at the airport, I know I have to do agricultural checks before I can check in. Many thanks.

 

 

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[riandei]

Thanks for a great review, as we will be on board November 29.

One concern I have is my return flight leaves St Juan at 1155 back to Jfk, can anyone advise should I consider doing self disembarkation with my luggage or will I still have enough time if I am off the ship in one of the first groups. What's the latest I want to be at the airport, I know I have to do agricultural checks before I can check in. Many thanks.

 

 

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depends what day of the week....if its a day where there are multiple ships disembarking....you may want to walk off.

[Wayneair]

Thanks for the review and insights. boarding on 11/22 for the Thanksgiving sailing and found your review both informative and responsive to questions I had. After 18 cruises, I still find the need to read reviews and I still learn new things. celebrity continues to evolve.

[phoenix_dream]

Thank you for the review. We are boarding the 29th also. May I ask what time your flight was? We are also on United and we have cruised out of SJU many times with no issues. Our flights to Chicago are always late afternoon. Just wondering if time of day is a factor or if something has changed. Our last trip there was two years ago.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[drarill]

Thanks for your review!:)

[I_heart_vaca]

Thank you for the review. We are boarding the 29th also. May I ask what time your flight was? We are also on United and we have cruised out of SJU many times with no issues. Our flights to Chicago are always late afternoon. Just wondering if time of day is a factor or if something has changed. Our last trip there was two years ago.

 

Having never sailed or even travelled in San Juan we took a late flight. Our flight was not till 2:30pm. The wait in line was long, but we still had plenty of time and the TSA check was quick and efficient. I do understand why people use carry on only as those that did didn't have to stand in line to check thier bags, but overall we had plenty of time.

[AtlAlyson]

When you got on the boat in San Juan I noticed the ship leaves latter in the day. Can you get on/off the boat and do they not let you leave?

[monicajay]

When you got on the boat in San Juan I noticed the ship leaves latter in the day. Can you get on/off the boat and do they not let you leave?

 

You can get off once boarded but with Celebrity it is at the Pan-Am pier and there is really nothing at all near by. If one wanted to visit OSJ, I would estimate the taxi fare at about $15.00 each way. There would be plenty of time if you wanted to do it.

 

Carnival docks downtown so it is easy to just get off and wander around.

 

Hope this helps.

[chrismakris]

Thanks for a great review, as we will be on board November 29.

One concern I have is my return flight leaves St Juan at 1155 back to Jfk, can anyone advise should I consider doing self disembarkation with my luggage or will I still have enough time if I am off the ship in one of the first groups. What's the latest I want to be at the airport, I know I have to do agricultural checks before I can check in. Many thanks.

 

 

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It's plenty of time. We had the same flight last year and we didn't have to carry our bags of. Just make sure you're in the first group off the ship.

[maggie.1008]

I am doing this trip on the Summit in April Hope a 12:pm flight departure is o.k.