Narrowed Our 1st Cruise Down To 2 Celebrity Options

[Xpresser]

Hello everyone! 1st time posting but have been lurking for some time. So wife and I are in our late 40's and although we love to travel, and do it often, we have never been on a cruise. After quite a bit of research we have narrowed our cruise line of choice down to Celebrity. Princess (Regal) came in 2nd. We don't party and are mainly looking for a relaxing, calm trip that is more adult oriented. If we end up loving cruising, we'll save the waterslide/zipline ships for when we have grand-kids. ;)

 

So the two Jan 2017 itineraries/ships that we have narrowed it down to is the 7 night Caribbean on the Summit that departs from San Juan and the 7 night Caribbean on the Reflection out of Miami.

 

Summit - San Juan

We know the Summit is smaller, and quite a bit older, but we love the idea of flying into San Juan 2 or 3 days early and checking out the sites there. We also like the idea of visiting all the ports this cruise has to offer but then we wonder if we really want to be that busy on our 1st cruise? Only 1 full day of sailing that doesn't involve leaving or arriving at a port:

 

 

 

Reflection - Miami

Have heard fantastic things about Celebrities newest ship and although we are not sure about giving up the pre-sail days in San Juan with the Summit cruise, we think the itinerary may be a bit more first-timer friendly with it's fewer ports of call and more sailing only days:

 

 

 

Would love to get opinions/feedback. We are thinking we would like one of the aft Sunset Verandah (code SV) staterooms but since we have never been on a cruise ship we are unsure. We for sure know we want a balcony with great starry night views...if there is such a thing :)

 

We think we will make our own plans when at a port of call instead of booking shore excursions through Celebrity...are we correct in that line of thinking?

 

Miami: good place to stay at the night before sailing?

 

Sorry for so many questions and I'll continue to search these forums for some of these answers such as the Miami hotel question above.

[bstrong3]

For my wife and I both in or 40s we have cruised 8 times and our next one is the summit Jan. 7th. We choose the summit because of the smaller size, we have been on larger ships and feel you get better service on the smaller ones, also easy to get around. As for the itinerary you don't have to get off the ship, actually nice to stay on in port you have the ship to yourself. We always go balcony we love sitting on our own private deck and watch the world go by. What ever one you choose have a great time, oh and if you stay in San Juan stay in old part near the pier lots to see and do within walking distance. Have fun!!!!:):):):)

[Wj420]

Newest ship in the fleet vs one of the oldest. Three sea says vs one. Important considerations. Enjoy!

[Cruise Raider]

I like the Summit itinerary more although have never sailed on this ship.

The Infinity, which is a sister ship to the Summit is our favorite and have sailed on her 3 times. We had an aft cabin the last time out and it was absolutely fabulous.

I have never sailed on the Reflection either but sailed on S Class ships a number of times. These ships really have the WOW factor -- without feeling overcrowded.

 

It's a tough choice but since we don't really like any extra flying, we'd probably do the Reflection but since it sounds like you want to spend some extra time in San Juan, I would definitely choose the Summit.

 

Just to throw a wrench into it, if the Aqua Class is not that much more, I would spring for one of these aft cabins. It is such a wonderful experience!

[Ordinary Chef]

Hi Xpresser, We have sailed on the same itinerary on the Reflection out of Miami twice. We love the ship and enjoyed the ports. Since we've been to the ports on the cruises several times, we have enjoyed the "quiet time" on the ship in port while others are on their excursions. Also we liked the 2 days at sea on the cruise back to Miami. We have not sailed on the Summit out of San Jaun, but have on the Constellation (similar ship) and liked that experience too. The Summit is smaller, 2,000 passengers vs 3,000 for the Reflection, but neither seem crowded. On the Reflection we have had cabins on the Hump, and enjoyed the close proximity to the elevators. However, we have booked a Western Caribbean cruise for 2017 on the Silhouette (same as the Reflection) in an AFT cabin and are looking forward to the views of the ships wake. From what you said about your preferences, I think you will like the atmosphere on Celebrity, no matter which ship or itinerary you choose.

[helen haywood]

Go for the Reflection! My favorite of the Solstice Class ships. Enjoy a relaxing cruise experience for your first time.

 

 

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[Xpresser]

Fantastic advice so far everyone...we are taking it all in and considering everything said. For some reason I can't edit my original post, maybe I need a higher post count before that option is available to me, but the itineraries I posted show the wrong date. Same schedule but both of the cruises we are considering leave on Jan 7th. Just FYI

[macaroni]

Summit itinerary is better to me...

[SPacificbound]

The Summit itinerary is better.

[Jayandar]

Been on Reflection before, and with a dozen cruises (all but one were Celebrity) it is our favorite ship. Will be on Reflection again in two weeks. Love the Solstice Class ships especially, and go for Aqua Class! We love Blu and the perks.

[bigbenboys]

Hi Xpresser, We have just got home from the cruise on Reflections you are looking at taking. We had a great cruise. Last Aug we cruised on Summit and loved the ship. Reflection is great with 3 sea day and a lot of things to do on the ship. Summit smaller and only 1 sea day. More ports of call and more to see on land. So the ship is not quite as important.

I myself would pick Summit. You can spend time in San Juan before hand. Your going to some great ports and you go further south with warmer weather.

[rbird]

If you want relaxing, calm time then you will like celebrity. Indeed our cruise was just that and adult oriented even during Spring Break. While I like the southern itineraries, having so many ports of call wouldn't give me the down time I crave on vacation. Being a first timer on the islands, I wouldn't have the courage to skip the ships excursions for fear of island delays and missing the ship. Now that I am a more experienced cruiser, I feel more comfortable hiring island drivers on my own. I love the newer ships and really enjoyed the "go best" deals with drink packages, wifi, gratuities and OBCs. It reminds me of the old cruising days and I didn't feel nickeled and dimed to death like some other cruise lines. Balcony cabins are great and I book them when I travel sans kids.

P.S. We like the Hampton Inn on Brickell in Miami. They get good reviews and are an inexpensive cab ride to POM.

Good Luck with your decision.

[TLCOhio]

Hello everyone! 1st time posting but have been lurking for some time.

Summit - San Juan

We know the Summit is smaller, and quite a bit older, but we love the idea of flying into San Juan 2 or 3 days early and checking out the sites there. We also like the idea of visiting all the ports this cruise has to offer but then we wonder if we really want to be that busy on our 1st cruise?

Would love to get opinions/feedback.

We think we will make our own plans when at a port of call instead of booking shore excursions through Celebrity...are we correct in that line of thinking?

 

Welcome to these Cruise Critic boards for this traveler from Oregon. Lots of smart and helpful people on these boards. Having been on the Celebrity Solstice twice, clearly the Reflection would be a newer and nicer ship!! But, there are various trade-offs and factors to consider, including about Miami and its massive airport that would raise serious doubts and questions in my mind.

 

YES, you are very smart to consider having the added time in San Juan. A year ago we finished an amazing 26-day cruise from Barbados that went 1000 miles up the Amazon River and did ten different Caribbean islands with another cruise line. This included, fortunately, finishing in San Juan and having three excellent days there. Super loved their "Old Town". So much great history, architecture, charm and character. See a few of my pictures below to provide evidence and prove my point!!

 

Barbados is wonderful, too!! Both cruises offer St. Maarten that tends to be over-crowded and highly commercial. Not my personal favorite in the Caribbean. Sorry to be so blunt.

 

On doing excursions on-your-own, DIY . . . VERSUS . . . through the ship, there are various pro/con factors, including which types of activities most touch your fancy and personal interests. It can vary from port to port as which is the better "value", etc.

 

Nice cruise ships can be enjoyable, BUT, for us it is more about the destination and seeing interesting local history, culture, sights, nature, etc. Personal choice!! Others just like to "float on the boat" and have the nicest, newest ship. Where do you lean on that spectrum of choice?

 

For "Barbados: Our Pix's, Experiences Feb./2015!", see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262999

 

For San Juan: our “Pix's, Fun, Experiences”, check out this posting:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2264847

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 137,890 views for this posting.

 

 

Here is the look near the main gate of this historic fortress built to protect San Juan important harbor. It was many levels, old cannons sitting around, dramatic angles and views for what seeing what is here and nearby. All along the walls are the dome-covered sentry stations known as garitas. These rounded structures have become one of the cultural symbol of Puerto Rico. The second visual looks down the beach area and includes part of the Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery. Its circular red-domed chapel, inspired by Bramante’s Rotonda in Rome, stands out amongst the numerous graves. :

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a view of the San Juan Gate of the famed walled fortress that guarded this town from its early 1500's period. This San Juan Gate is right near where the Governor's Palace or La Fortaleza (The Fortress) is located. It is the current official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico. It was built between 1533 and 1540 to defend the harbor of San Juan. It is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the New World.:

 

 

 

This is San Juan's City Hall in the historic Old Town area. Nice fountain and plaza in front of this colorful, classical building.:

 

 

 

Here is an example of the various interesting and historic buildings in and around the Old Town area. Notice the narrow streets? Does this bring back memories for those who have visited San Juan previously?:

 

[awhfy]

Love the Summit itinerary but for first cruise I'd pick Reflection out of Miami with the extra sea days. Three sea days will give you a chance to see what cruising (& really relaxing) is all about. Enjoy whichever one you choose

[Xpresser]

.... and go for Aqua Class! We love Blu and the perks.

 

With the Aqua Class complimentary breakfast at Blu, is it a limited menu or is the entire menu available for the perk? We are currently looking at Aqua Class rooms and looks like nothing for the aft SV. So now wife is trying to decide on Aqua mid to front ship or non-Aqua aft SV. She is very close to losing it I believe :eek:

[carolslc]

We've done both and our first cruise was on the Summit. We loved both but liked the Summit more. Reflection is much bigger. I thought service was better on Summit. I loved all the different ports. We did a couple of private excursions then the other days we'd just cab to a beach for a few hours. We loved San Juan and stayed there the day before. You could definitely spend a couple of days there. You can't really go wrong - they are just different.

[helen haywood]

OP, you can't edit your original post after others have replied. Nothing to do with your post count. [emoji4]

 

 

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[TLCOhio]

With the Aqua Class complimentary breakfast at Blu, is it a limited menu or is the entire menu available for the perk? We are currently looking at Aqua Class rooms and looks like nothing for the aft SV. So now wife is trying to decide on Aqua mid to front ship or non-Aqua aft SV. She is very close to losing it I believe :eek:

 

For us on the Solstice-class ship, our top breakfast location was the Oceanview Cafe or buffet type of location. And, then we would be dining on the open, back of the ship that allowed more fresh air, sun, sights, etc.

 

How much of this first cruise for you is about the "ship experiences" versus the ports/destinations? How do you balance out those two priorities in your minds?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 36,786 views for these postings.

[davekathy]

OP...Summit out of San Juan.

[cruzccl]

You can't go wrong with either. I just did the Summit and love the ports and this ship, while older, still delivers. My only warning for the Summit is that the cruise is port intensive. Meaning you only have one sea day to relax. For us, we were off the ship by 9 each day and back by the last call. After 5 days of this plus staying up late each night it was tiring but fun. Of course your port activities could be different than ours. Have fun with what you chose.

[cruzccl]

Sorry, also to add. Blu has a full breakfast and the nice thing I enjoyed in addition to the good food was the service. Blu is an amazing restaurant and is the real reason so many book Aqua. While the dinner is great, having a dedicated space in the morning to go for breakfast with a table is stress free vs, dealing with the crowds at the buffet.

[AZNative2000]

Fantastic advice so far everyone...we are taking it all in and considering everything said. For some reason I can't edit my original post, maybe I need a higher post count before that option is available to me, but the itineraries I posted show the wrong date. Same schedule but both of the cruises we are considering leave on Jan 7th. Just FYI

 

Xpresser ... Editing is limited to 15 minutes of posting.

 

We've done the San Juan itinerary but different ship. It is awesome. Most enjoyable was St. Maarten. See thumbnail of the airport beach. NOT photoshopped. You can Google it.

 

For a first-timer, I will caution against too much cruising. By that I mean, away from the islands in the open ocean. While January is calmer than summertime, if you are prone to seasickness, you will find it fast in the open water. So, I would suggest the Summit/San Juan cruise over the other one for that reason as well as all those ports are terrific. But, if you find that one does not interest you, a port day spent on the ship is a wonderful experience too. It's quiet and no crowds so you have all the amenities to yourself (sort of).

 

Plus, San Juan is a place that deserves more than the 7 hours that you'd get on your Reflection cruise. We really enjoyed spending time (2 days) there pre-cruise.

 

Cheers!

Edited March 21, 2016 by AZNative2000

[alcpa1]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and the Celebrity forum.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is your tolerance for undulating seas. You can have smooth sailings and/or a few whiteaps on any cruise. The smoothest waters in January will normally be the southern itinerary on the Summit. First time cruisers are often advised to book a midships cabin on a low deck but you want a balcony so it's going to be an upper deck for you. Any thing aft of the midships elevators would work better. The cabins on the stern are terrific with great views but are more prone to motion in higher seas.

The Aqua class cabins are our favorite. Some of the perks are lost on us but dining in Blu is a must. It is open seating so you dine at your leisure. The dining room is far quieter than the main dining room (MDR.) The cuisine is better, the food served hotter (or colder depending on selections of course), the wait staff is more attentive to special requests, the sommelier has a fine stock and knowledge of pairings etc. The room has many tables for two. They may be set close to another two top but you still can maintain your desire for privacy.

The Summit just returned to service after a dry dock to spiff up the ship. We were on her in December and had no complaints about her condition even then.

We have done a cruise from MIA/FLL. Can't remember which ship but if you look closely you won't have much time in San Juan. Since you want to experience PR you won't get much of a taste from a Florida departure.

The only port on your chosen itinerary that would be an overload is Barbados. The other islands can be done leisurely and you certainly don't need to use the ship's high priced and bus loaded tours. In as little as three hours you can see the majority of "not to be missed" sites on each of the islands. You don't have to wear yourselves out. Or you can choose to stay onboard if you wish. There are no rules that you must disembark and tour, tour, tour every island.

We're glad you have come to Cruise Critic where we, experienced cruisers, can help. Whatever you decide do join the Roll Call for your sailing. You will get invaluable information specifically geared to your cruise. The Ports of Call boards for the Caribbean will also have terrific information about the islands and tour options.

[PROCRUISE]

Another vote for The Summit and San Juan. This itinerary is indeed port intensive but perhaps in one of the less exciting port stops (St. Thomas) you can return to the ship after just a little walking around and further enjoy the ship and its amenities with few other passengers on board.

 

Old San Juan is lovely to spend hours walking around and exploring on your own. In addition, don't be afraid to use the CC Caribbean Port site to get great ideas on private tours. We normally always book private tours then let others on our roll call for that particular cruise know we'd like to add others, usually a total of 6-10 individuals on the tour, and it fills immediately. This makes a great tour, with just a small group, even less expensive when the price is evenly divided, and you're not stuck on a bus with 40 others like many of the ship sponsored tours.

 

Enjoy which ever cruise you decided upon and if you end up on The Summit, you can also enjoy one of my favorite ports of call, St Lucia!

[jagoffee]

Xpresser, congratulations on your first post and you first cruise.

 

I am sure you will be able to enjoy either cruise. Since this is your first cruise I would recommend the Reflection out of Miami. Nothing wrong with the Summt out of San Jaun, but I think that cruise will have pave a different "feel" because it departs from San Juan. Since this is your very first cruise then I would think a cruise focus would be good. Of course I am biased because my first cruise was a 7 day cruise out of Miami on the Song of Norway in 1980 which was the latest and newest of the RCL line. I have been on the Summit twice and she is a great ship, but I love the Solticse Class ships of which the Reflection is the newest. Bottom line is I recommend the Reflection because it is newer and she cruises from Miami.

 

If you cruise out of Miami I would suggest the IC with a bay view, so you can watch your ship come into port early in the morning.

 

Don't fret because either cruise will be great. Enjoy your first cruise. Nothing quite like you first one.