SUMMIT Oct 10-17, 2005

[Lois R]

We had a wonderful group of CCrs on this sailing. It seemed like it

was one of those huggy groups as well:D whenever we saw each

other we stopped, chatted, hugged too. We ended up being sort of

a small family within the bigger Celebrity Family.

It made my week even nicer.

 

Mari and I shared cabin 9160 which for those of you who enjoy, is an

AFT balcony.

I am happy wherever I am. This was very nice but I am used to sailing

on my own and am very happy just being on the ship.

Don't misunderstand, the balcony is large and very nice but I rarely

used it. I have 2 cruises booked for next year and one is a window and

the other an inside so a balcony is not the norm for me. It was very nice though.

Our Cabin Attendant was Edwin and Asst was Zukflu (sp). Both were

excellent.

 

We had table 407 in the dining room which is located in the back, portside

and we had wonderful tablemates. We had an 8 top from our Roll Call

and we all became friends.

Our waiter was Jackviston and Asst was Xavier, both from India. They

were as good as I have ever had. Very funny, efficient and made our

dining experience fantastic. We called our waiter Jack and he wrote down

our names too. Our Asst Maitr'd was Zafer and our wonderful Sommilier

was Dakon (it was his last name) but he told us everyone (including his

co-workers)call him that too. It is shorter and easier than his first name.

We seemed to close down the dining room every night, laughing alot,

drinking wine and just having wonderful dinners together. The food

was excellent and service outstanding.

 

I went to a Cabernet Blending in Normandie and learned much about

red wines. It was very interesting and fun as well. Ivo led it along with

his sidekick Strahin. Both are from Bulgaria and we all had an excellent time.

 

We went to the Martini Bar every evening before dinner. The bartender

was Marlon and he was great. We had a group of anywhere between

6 and 10 people every night.

 

I never went to the shows but on 2 evenings we had a group who went

to the Bar at the Edge for dancing. By the time we finished dinner it was

always after 10:30 and dancing was already going strong.

Lots of people were in the disco and it was really fun.

 

During the late afternoons we hung out at the AFT Bar. Paul was the

guitar player and he was quite good. We chatted about our day, drank,

laughed, listened to the music and always had a good time.

 

Our ports:

 

Puerta Vallarta was my least favorite. We had booked a culinary excursion

which fell way short of expectations. I took a culinary excursion while

on Century in March and thought it was so fantastic I booked this one

on SUMMIT. It was misleading and not good. The restaurant didn't even

know we were coming. There was a group of about 27 and no place to put

us. It was about 95 degrees that day and no place to sit inside.

To make a long story short, Celebrity gave me 25% credit back which

was fine with me. I spoke with Graham (head of Excursions). He wrote

down my notes and sent us (Mari and I went on this together) an

apology for our disappointment.

There was no cooking on this excursion and the sign on the bus said

"Mexican Cooking School". It was not even close. And we didn't cook.

We finally ate though and the food was good but the overall excursion

was misleading. Only 2 people cooked out of the group so it was more

of a demonstration. If we knew that ahead of time I think we would have

picked something else.

 

But, the other 2 excursions in Mazatlan and Cabo definitely made up

for that one!

 

Mazatlan~we used Mazatlan Frank and had a fantastic day. I recommend

him to any of you. He is a professional with a wonderful sense of humor

and knows his business. He made our day just awesome. We went sightseeing, shopping and had lunch at Tony's on the Beach. He dropped

some of us off at Senor Frogs, took some of us back to the ship and actually came back to Froggies to pick us up and brought us back to

the ship as well. A 5star operation. Definitely my best day and Mazatlan

is excellent too.

 

Cabo~we took a land and sea tour which was also excellent. Had a 45

minute ride on a cabin cruiser. They said it is a catamaran but I always

think of sailboat. This had no sails and you could go inside the cabin.

Anyway, it was a beautiful boat. The area is magnificant. We then

went in vans sightseeing and up on hill was restaurant called

"De Georgios". It looked like something out of a magazine. Just fantastic.

Sits on a hill overlooking the water and you could see the SUMMIT!

 

We had 6 eat at Normandie together and it was a lot of fun.

Though I think a couple of our tablemates enjoyed the spirit of the

regular dining room better. I always enjoy the specialty restaurant

and did so this time too. That goat cheese souffle was as good as

I remembered from sailing on Constellation. It was really a nice evening.

 

I saw a few crew members from past cruises and that is always fun.

Larry from the Phillipines was on a couple of my Century Cruises and he

was on this one as well. He is an Asst Maitr'd and as handsome as ever!

Also Marinos who is one of the Asst Houskeepers was on a previous

sailing and I saw him too. Seeing past crew always makes me feel like

I have come home again and they love seeing past pax too.

 

John Howell came to our Cruise Critic gathering and we had about 40

people show up. It was great to meet everyone. John is a wonderful

person and I can see why everyone says he is a great CD. He is an even

better person.

 

This cruise was wonderful and the people from these boards made

it extra special.

 

I would recommend SUMMIT in a heartbeat. She is beautiful, well kept,

and for anyone sitting on the fence, hop off and onto the ship.

[bob278]

Hi Lois,

 

Ain't cruising grand?

 

We were in 9162 in September and agree that Edwin was a great cabin steward. Don't remember ever seeing his assistant, though. We also thought John was a good CD and very friendly person.

 

This was the first cruise we weren't among the very last folks out of the dining room. The odd thing is we felt like we had more fun this time. Our waiter (Clickson) and his assistant Augus met the challenge of getting everything out at just the right moment without rushing us at all. They were both great at remembering names and had the challenge of dealing with 14 of us across 2 tables. Clickson also did some pretty neat magic/sleight-of-hand tricks each evening. I don't remember our table numbers, but we were about the middle on the starboard side with the 8 top against the window.

 

We thought Summit looked great and we had a fantastic time in Alaska. Good to know they kept up the good work.

[themirsk]

Hi Lois.............So glad you enjoyed your Summit cruise. It's always great to hear wonderful reports about our favorite ship. We're really looking forward to 'coming home' again next April and May when we are fortunate enough to be doing a 27 day b2b Hawaii/Alaska.

M&M's

[Lois R]

Hi Bob and M&M's:)

 

I see you are doing an Alaskan Cruise next year. IF...IF I can find

something down the road on a HAPPY HOUR Price I want to do Alaska

too.

[Andy]

Hi Lois !

 

Thanks for the excellent review.

[cruising with marti]

Welcome back kid, glad you had a great cruise

 

 

Phil

[catmand]

Hi Lois, glad you had a great time, thanks for posting.

[Lois R]

Hi Phil:D and Chuck:D

[JNLROSE]

Hi Lois! :) Welcome back. So glad you enjoyed Summit, she is by far my fave Celebrity ship! :D I enjoyed your review, very well organized, informative & well written! :D

[hommebronze]

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...80372292uLNirD

 

We had a wonderful group of CCrs on this sailing. It seemed like it

was one of those huggy groups as well:D whenever we saw each

other we stopped, chatted, hugged too. We ended up being sort of

a small family within the bigger Celebrity Family.

It made my week even nicer.

 

Mari and I shared cabin 9160 which for those of you who enjoy, is an

AFT balcony.

I am happy wherever I am. This was very nice but I am used to sailing

on my own and am very happy just being on the ship.

Don't misunderstand, the balcony is large and very nice but I rarely

used it. I have 2 cruises booked for next year and one is a window and

the other an inside so a balcony is not the norm for me. It was very nice though.

Our Cabin Attendant was Edwin and Asst was Zukflu (sp). Both were

excellent.

 

We had table 407 in the dining room which is located in the back, portside

and we had wonderful tablemates. We had an 8 top from our Roll Call

and we all became friends.

Our waiter was Jackviston and Asst was Xavier, both from India. They

were as good as I have ever had. Very funny, efficient and made our

dining experience fantastic. We called our waiter Jack and he wrote down

our names too. Our Asst Maitr'd was Zafer and our wonderful Sommilier

was Dakon (it was his last name) but he told us everyone (including his

co-workers)call him that too. It is shorter and easier than his first name.

We seemed to close down the dining room every night, laughing alot,

drinking wine and just having wonderful dinners together. The food

was excellent and service outstanding.

 

I went to a Cabernet Blending in Normandie and learned much about

red wines. It was very interesting and fun as well. Ivo led it along with

his sidekick Strahin. Both are from Bulgaria and we all had an excellent time.

 

We went to the Martini Bar every evening before dinner. The bartender

was Marlon and he was great. We had a group of anywhere between

6 and 10 people every night.

 

I never went to the shows but on 2 evenings we had a group who went

to the Bar at the Edge for dancing. By the time we finished dinner it was

always after 10:30 and dancing was already going strong.

Lots of people were in the disco and it was really fun.

 

During the late afternoons we hung out at the AFT Bar. Paul was the

guitar player and he was quite good. We chatted about our day, drank,

laughed, listened to the music and always had a good time.

 

Our ports:

 

Puerta Vallarta was my least favorite. We had booked a culinary excursion

which fell way short of expectations. I took a culinary excursion while

on Century in March and thought it was so fantastic I booked this one

on SUMMIT. It was misleading and not good. The restaurant didn't even

know we were coming. There was a group of about 27 and no place to put

us. It was about 95 degrees that day and no place to sit inside.

To make a long story short, Celebrity gave me 25% credit back which

was fine with me. I spoke with Graham (head of Excursions). He wrote

down my notes and sent us (Mari and I went on this together) an

apology for our disappointment.

There was no cooking on this excursion and the sign on the bus said

"Mexican Cooking School". It was not even close. And we didn't cook.

We finally ate though and the food was good but the overall excursion

was misleading. Only 2 people cooked out of the group so it was more

of a demonstration. If we knew that ahead of time I think we would have

picked something else.

 

But, the other 2 excursions in Mazatlan and Cabo definitely made up

for that one!

 

Mazatlan~we used Mazatlan Frank and had a fantastic day. I recommend

him to any of you. He is a professional with a wonderful sense of humor

and knows his business. He made our day just awesome. We went sightseeing, shopping and had lunch at Tony's on the Beach. He dropped

some of us off at Senor Frogs, took some of us back to the ship and actually came back to Froggies to pick us up and brought us back to

the ship as well. A 5star operation. Definitely my best day and Mazatlan

is excellent too.

 

Cabo~we took a land and sea tour which was also excellent. Had a 45

minute ride on a cabin cruiser. They said it is a catamaran but I always

think of sailboat. This had no sails and you could go inside the cabin.

Anyway, it was a beautiful boat. The area is magnificant. We then

went in vans sightseeing and up on hill was restaurant called

"De Georgios". It looked like something out of a magazine. Just fantastic.

Sits on a hill overlooking the water and you could see the SUMMIT!

 

We had 6 eat at Normandie together and it was a lot of fun.

Though I think a couple of our tablemates enjoyed the spirit of the

regular dining room better. I always enjoy the specialty restaurant

and did so this time too. That goat cheese souffle was as good as

I remembered from sailing on Constellation. It was really a nice evening.

 

I saw a few crew members from past cruises and that is always fun.

Larry from the Phillipines was on a couple of my Century Cruises and he

was on this one as well. He is an Asst Maitr'd and as handsome as ever!

Also Marinos who is one of the Asst Houskeepers was on a previous

sailing and I saw him too. Seeing past crew always makes me feel like

I have come home again and they love seeing past pax too.

 

John Howell came to our Cruise Critic gathering and we had about 40

people show up. It was great to meet everyone. John is a wonderful

person and I can see why everyone says he is a great CD. He is an even

better person.

 

This cruise was wonderful and the people from these boards made

it extra special.

 

I would recommend SUMMIT in a heartbeat. She is beautiful, well kept,

and for anyone sitting on the fence, hop off and onto the ship.

[themirsk]

Hey Lois...........Check it out.....#7206 is still available:rolleyes: We're in #7208. Would love to be your neighbors!

M&M's

[Lois R]

Home, I saw them.....thanks for posting:) I have to get my cameras

over to Target and then on a disc. Then I will post them to my webshots.

 

M&M, I can't do it yet. Too much $$$ for my budget right now. I am

going to wait awhile and maybe something will show up on a Happy Hour.

(that won't be till the spring for a May cruise).

 

Hi Rosie, Thanks:)

[Karynanne]

Hi Lois,

 

What a wonderful review...It's always great to read an uplifting critique. We know our time on the Summit (1/2/06) will be as fantastic an experience, as you have had. Again, thanks for your review...

 

Karyn

[suziescruzin]

Welcome back kid, glad you had a great cruise

 

 

Phil

 

We just spent a wonderful 4 days in September at that BEAUTIFUL lake!! My husband golfed in a charity tournament and I spent time relaxing with bloody Mary's on the lodge patio. We are going back next year for sure!

[Host Anne]

Hi Lois ~ welcome home. I knew you'd have a great cruise! You always have great cruises!!!! ;) Thanks for the wonderful review. We have booked with Frank in Mazatlan and your review has reinforced my decision. I have to go tell the others we are sailing with!

 

Catch you soon!

[OCruisers]

Hi Lois! Enjoyed your review! So glad you had a great time!

 

Did you ever see the "Bon Voyage" message to you? (Can't remember who started it ... but, lots of your board friends did wish you a wonderful cruise.)

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[judyfssw]

Hi Lois,

It was so nice meeting you and Mari after talking for such a long time on these boards.

I'm just getting up for a long and late trip home on the plane and then to the west side of the state to get Rod and Sweetie. We are now back to normal.

I think that the best part of the trip was meeting our new friends from this board. Yes, it was a great cruise.

[Lois R]

Hi Karyn, Anne and O'Cruisers:)

 

Hi Judy, it was wonderful meeting you as well:)

 

I just uploaded my first set of pictures if you want to see them.

Just click on my webshots below.

I have another disc but it doesn't seem to be working right:( I loaded

it into the hard drive but nothing came up.

Still have about 13 more photos to upload.

[Lois R]

Got the rest of my photos uploaded:D Anyone want to see them,

just click onto my webshots!

[Conanc]

Hi Lois,

 

How are you? Great review and pictures! It was a great cruise, wasn't it? We enjoyed meeting you and Mari and all of our other CC friends! That was one of the best parts of the cruise. Mazatlan......and Frank.....what a wonderful day that was! We truly enjoyed it and you are right -- the people from the boards made this cruise extra special! :)

 

Nancy

[Cathy Laz]

Hey Lois,

 

Welcome back. It looks like you had a great group to travel with.

 

Good for you. I really enjoyed your photos and your review. I wondered if the picture with Frank was, indeed, Mazatlan Frank and your review ansered that question. I cannot wait until next week. I will surely enjoy our trip with Mazatlan Frank. Especially after your review.

 

Our CC Group sounds great and we are all very anxious to meet and get the party started. Did you all save us any martini's????:D

 

Glad you had fun.

Cathy

[Lois R]

Hi Nancy:) I hope you and George had a wonderful 25th

Wedding Anniversary! You are both wonderful people and it was a pleasure

to get to know ya'll.

 

Hi Cathy:) You would have to ask a prior set of Mercury Cruisers

if there are drinks left in that Martini Bar......I just came off SUMMIT;)

There were still martinis left on her though.

 

From one big ship to one small one. I am going on Zenith in February....

that will be a definite change but a fun one I am sure:D

[theduffys]

Welcome back Lois. Your pics were so much fun to look at!! One question--did you specifically ask for table # 407 or was it the luck of the draw? The back tables are always my favorites.

[Lois R]

Hi:) table 407 was just the luck of the draw. To be honest, we

weren't sure we were going to like it. It is near a service station and

we thought it might be on the noisey side.

But we were wrong. Everything went really smooth and I think

the only extra noise was our laughter:D. Not sure if it bothered

the 2 tables near us but our waiter, asst, and Maitr'd seemed to love

us!

They even commented that it was obvious we were 8 friends who

were having a wonderful time:) (and we had all just met through

our Roll Call)!!! We got along fantastically well.

[theduffys]

Lois,

One more question, if you don't mind. Is table 407 in the upper or lower dining area? Thanks.