Live From the Summit Flower Power Cruise 2/24-3/3/18

[vtcruising]

thanks for info on Tuscan grill, I think we will skip specialty and stay in suite restaurant , so not want to miss any of the entertainment

You will love Luminae - they will try to make you happy there.

 

I will eventually post the last 2 days - they have been extraordinary so no time to post. You are so lucky to be coming onboard today.

 

We hadn’t planned to do this next year because of the timing but after yesterday I started to get teary and my husband said let’s book it. We have met so many wonderful people and it feels like family. Everyone we have talked to has booked next year. It must be close to half sold out.

 

Very sad to leave today but do need to recover from this decadent lifestyle. 😃🎶🍷

[vtcruising]

This sounds like an awesome cruise. I’m jealous!

 

 

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It has been amazing. I feel so lucky to have been able to do this cruise!

[vtcruising]

Thank you for the great posts while on the Flower Power Cruise! Since we couldn’t be there it’s been nice to see how enjoyable it has been! [emoji259][emoji254][emoji272]

 

 

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Glad you have enjoyed the ride. I will finish up the last couple of days - maybe at the airport today. Due to some storm along the east coast we may not get back today . ✌️

[George C]

You will love Luminae - they will try to make you happy there.

 

I will eventually post the last 2 days - they have been extraordinary so no time to post. You are so lucky to be coming onboard today.

 

We hadn’t planned to do this next year because of the timing but after yesterday I started to get teary and my husband said let’s book it. We have met so many wonderful people and it feels like family. Everyone we have talked to has booked next year. It must be close to half sold out.

 

Very sad to leave today but do need to recover from this decadent lifestyle. 😃🎶🍷

 

We should be having lunch in luminal in a few hours, on our flight yesterday couple in front of us and behind us were on our cruise, thanks again for all the great info

[vtcruising]

We should be having lunch in luminal in a few hours, on our flight yesterday couple in front of us and behind us were on our cruise, thanks again for all the great info

George, hope you are having a wonderful time!! How has Luminae been?

[vtcruising]

I am back with the last 2 days of the cruise. Sorry for the delay, but I have been busy catching up at home.

 

Day 6 - 3/1

 

 

We went back to Blu for a relaxing breakfast and then headed for Café al Bacio for the Tea Forte. The business here has picked up during the week, but we still are getting window seats every day.

 

We then headed to the last Woodstock lecture by Wade Lawrence. Again, so interesting - this one was about entertainers on the ship who were at Woodstock or had some connection to Woodstock. He played a clip of Sly and the Family Stone (Family Stone was on the ship) - great musicians with amazing energy that they still have today. Canned Heat was also onboard and were at Woodstock. The clip of their performance was also excellent. We have started planning our trek to Bethel Woods Woodstock Museum this summer. We talked to Wade a few times on the cruise and he graciously answered our questions.

 

We missed the Scott Freiman Beatles lecture (can't remember why). but bought his DVD set of his lectures to play at home.

 

We had lunch at Sushi on 5 again - just love that place. We loved their hot tea and also their cocktail Asian Pear Smash. It was a good name for the drink as they were very strong!

 

 

 

Our show that night was Grand Funk Railroad. They were a late replacement for the Turtles since one of the Turtles needed surgery a couple of months prior to the cruise. I hadn't been a huge fan of GFR before, but I am now. They were absolutely amazing - great musicians and still rock it! This was my DH's favorite show.

 

Had another fun meal in Blu with our new friends and talked about the day's adventures.

 

After dinner we cruised through the lounges seeing the Beatles tribute band play, the talented Patrick Farinas and the Elton John tribute artist. Another great day, though sad knowing that the next day would be the last.

 

To be continued... the last day was one of the best!

[miched]

“Our show that night was Grand Funk Railroad. They were a late replacement for the Turtles since one of the Turtles needed surgery a couple of months prior to the cruise. I hadn't been a huge fan of GFR before, but I am now. They were absolutely amazing - great musicians and still rock it! This was my DH's favorite show.”

 

There have been a few groups that I never really was a fan of until I seen them live. Don’t know why it but i think it is because many are made for being a live touring, stage or party band instead of a studio type band. You can’t really appreciate them because the albums don’t give you that feeling of being there.

 

Question. Was the purple haze present during the concerts? 😱. I always felt really good during and after a concert and always had a need for something to munch on. It took me a few concerts before I realized that it wasn’t because of the entertertainment.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[vtcruising]

“Our show that night was Grand Funk Railroad. They were a late replacement for the Turtles since one of the Turtles needed surgery a couple of months prior to the cruise. I hadn't been a huge fan of GFR before, but I am now. They were absolutely amazing - great musicians and still rock it! This was my DH's favorite show.”

 

There have been a few groups that I never really was a fan of until I seen them live. Don’t know why it but i think it is because many are made for being a live touring, stage or party band instead of a studio type band. You can’t really appreciate them because the albums don’t give you that feeling of being there.

 

Question. Was the purple haze present during the concerts? 😱. I always felt really good during and after a concert and always had a need for something to munch on. It took me a few concerts before I realized that it wasn’t because of the entertertainment.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

Interesting about the difference in seeing entertainers live vs. on the album. It makes a lot of sense. One thing I learned this week after hearing so many of my old favorites is that even if they are your very favorite bands, they may fall short in concert. All of the concerts were enjoyable, but some of them really made me feel something. When the whole audience is singing, clapping, dancing, etc. you know that a band has got that special something. I also was amazed at the musical talent of many guitarists, keyboard players, drummers, etc. What a thrill to experience such talent!

 

I noticed no whacky tobacky onboard, but most must have read up on penalties for possession. There was a dog sniffing our luggage at the port. Even the performers looked clear-eyed from what I could see. Of course, the old footage from Woodstock that we saw showed a totally different story.... :D

[vtcruising]

Day 7 - 3/2 Sea Day

 

This was one of my favorite days, but was bittersweet since I knew it was the last day.

 

Predictably we went to breakfast at Blu and then to al Bacio for tea. This is the set up (and yummy almond croissant and sticky bun in case you didn't have enough breakfast).

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the empty window chairs at Café al Bacio that usually are filled at this time of day.

 

 

We were then off to Scott Freiman's lecture on "Deconstructing the White Album." It was so fascinating and we learned much about the Beatles in that era when they were starting to pull apart. He also had actual recording tracks that he played and showed how they were added track by track to produce the sound they wanted. I was especially fascinated by how "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" came about. A great story about an amazing song.

 

I bought the DVDs for his talks. I hope he will be there next year.

 

 

Next up were the spectacular Buckinghams! They were playing at the pool and blew us away. Song after wonderful song brought the house down. Such joy in the crowd! This was one of my favorite shows. My favorites were "Susan", "Kind of a Drag" and "Don't You Care". We stood up in back of the band and had a great view from up there. I was exhausted, but happy after this concert.

 

 

Notice the people watching the concert from the pool and hot tubs.

 

To be continued...

[vtcruising]

Day 7 continued...

 

After the concert we went to Sushi on 5 for our last lunch there. My DH had the wonderful lobster ramen for the 5th time in one week.

 

 

 

And more tea...

 

 

Micky Dolenz from the Monkees was at Sushi on 5 at the next table for the second day in a row. I have always respected the entertainers' right to eat without bothering them, so just ignored him (well, maybe snuck a quick picture), so I couldn't believe it when my DH walked up to him and started discussing this theory he has about drummers. Micky was very nice and actually sounded interested in the theory (he's an actor too, remember) and said he was going to look into it. ;)

 

 

I was a big Monkees fan in my early years so it was pretty cool that he was so sweet. I wish I had brought one of my Monkees albums to sign. :D

[jnfr2424]

I am extremely happy to read this entire thread! Pre cruise we are staying at the Bahia Mar ( great rate that I could not pass up) even though I love the Embassy Suites on 17th! We are on the last chartered cruise which is a Reggae one near the end of March and I was curious to see how the stage would be set up outside. My first time on Summit and we have a FV room on deck 7. I am excited to see the balcony and I hope the noise from the top deck won't be an issue. So thank you for the pictures and all the commentary you just made me that more excited for our upcoming trip!!

[vtcruising]

Day 7 continued:

 

We split up after lunch since my DH wanted to go to the Q&A with Micky Dolenz, Mark Lindsay and The Buckinghams, which he enjoyed thoroughly. I went to the first Flower Power talent show (the Going Going Gonged Guest Talent Show) with Peter Asher, The Unknown Comic and Joel Mason as judges. It was a lot of fun, with some actual talent and some very clever, funny acts. The judges were hysterical, adding to the fun. The winner was a woman in her bathrobe with a pillow singing "I Couldn't Get to Sleep Last Night", which she had reworked in a Flower Power Cruise theme. It was very funny. I hope this becomes a yearly tradition.

 

After this show, it was time to go back to the cabin and pack. On the way, I stopped into the poolside Family Stone concert that was rocking out - again very talented musicians!

 

When I started packing, I got very teary because we hadn't planned to come back next year due to other travel plans. It had been such a great cruise, we had made some friends and every single person we talked to had booked for next year. When my DH came back to the cabin, I was in tears and we decided that we would somehow make it work to come back next year. After packing, we headed to the sales office before the show and they had just closed and wouldn't be open again on the cruise. A nice woman in the office said to call Monday and tell them she had said we could still receive the discounted rate (so I booked from home on Monday and we are good to go!).

 

The main stage concert was "50 Summers of Love" with Micky Dolenz, Mark Lindsay and the Fab Four. The Fab Four, Mark Lindsay and the band were great, but poor Micky's voice is not what it used to be. The music was great though and the show enjoyable.

 

 

We then walked through various venues to get our last Flower Power fix. We love Britbeat and enjoyed stopping by there to hear them one last time and then headed up to the Revelations Lounge to hear the Cher tribute artist.

 

 

 

 

It was an amazing day and we hated to have it end, but it was time to go to bed and dream of next year!

 

[vtcruising]

I am extremely happy to read this entire thread! Pre cruise we are staying at the Bahia Mar ( great rate that I could not pass up) even though I love the Embassy Suites on 17th! We are on the last chartered cruise which is a Reggae one near the end of March and I was curious to see how the stage would be set up outside. My first time on Summit and we have a FV room on deck 7. I am excited to see the balcony and I hope the noise from the top deck won't be an issue. So thank you for the pictures and all the commentary you just made me that more excited for our upcoming trip!!

Wow, you got a FV? That should be fun! When I called yesterday for next year's FPC (13 months away), all the suites were gone, though there was one FV left. I almost took it, but we really wanted to eat in Blu again with the friends we made this year so went with AQ. It was tempting though.

 

I have to say that the poolside concerts were really spirited and fun and some of my favorites. Our secret spot was up one deck behind the band. We had a good view and they often turned and waved to us because we made a lot of noise :D).

 

Have a wonderful time!!

[vtcruising]

Overview of the Cruise:

 

The Ship:

We had cruised on the Connie and the Infinity, but not the Summit. We found her to be a nice little ship - we prefer sailing the S class ships and look forward to the Edge, but this cruise was not about the ship. We found that the Summit was well-maintained overall - our AQ cabin was one of the cabins that was added a few years ago so was newer. The rails on the balcony could have used some attention, otherwise everything was clean and in good shape.

 

The Cabin (1141 AQ): We had one of the 5 aft AQ cabins and loved the balcony size and shape (wider and longer than most). We had shade and sun and lots of privacy. Unfortunately, on this cruise they played movies at the Rooftop Terrace all day long (even as early as 7 AM when I went out for a little quiet time). I think this may have been Star Vista's request. The noise and music from the Sunset Bar was expected and not annoying, but the movie noise was very loud and repetitive. We did talk with Guest Services 3 times. The first time we stopped by to let them know how loud and annoying it was and could they please turn it down a little (and mentioned that we often checked and there was often no one up there). They said to call them when it was actually happening and they could do something about it then. We did call later that day when it was blasting again (and checked and no one was watching a movie) and they said they would call the AV people. An hour later there was no change so we called again and they said they had called AV and that they probably didn't think it necessary to change anything. We gave up after that. I wore ear plugs when I tried to read or nap out there and it helped a little.

 

The cabin had the bed near the bathroom and worked pretty well for us. Storage was not what I remembered from our last cruise in 1138 (this cabin's starboard twin), but we made do. At least it did have drawers which I prefer over the S Class cubbies, but each drawer held only 2-4 items (very shallow). The closet was good-sized. The bathroom felt a bit smaller than the S Class AQ we had in September, but loved the shower, as usual. The TV seemed smaller than usual and it was in an inconvenient spot, but we didn't watch TV much at all so wasn't an issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had an excellent cabin attendant, Ian. Everything was spotless and he fulfilled our minimal requests. We had him bring cheese and crackers instead of the usual snacks at 4, but probably could have done without. :D

 

Dining:

We had an excellent experience in Blu on the Reflection in September. This experience was very good, but not excellent. The service was very good, in part likely because it wasn't well-used during the time we were there and they tried to seat us with the same waiters each night, though we didn't have the same fun interactions with our waiters that we had on the Reflection. There was one singing waiter in there who had the whole restaurant singing one night, which was fun. We liked a lot of the dishes, though some of the items were not cooked quite as well as they were on the Reflection.

 

We met a couple in there the first night and they sat next to us after that and we had a wonderful time, despite subtle differences from the Reflection (we were spoiled on that cruise, I suspect). The sommelier was excellent - he kept us topped off with nice wines on our premium beverage package. He was asked to go to the Edge, but will be going home when his wife has a baby when we are on the Edge in November - we may see him after that.

 

Tuscan Grill was fairly good, but not worth the full price this time around, IMO. The waiter was very sweet and we had a nice table, but the food didn't have the wow factor. Such a shame that they got rid of Ocean Liners (or whatever the Summit restaurant was was).

 

Sushi on 5 was excellent as you can tell by us going there 5 times for lunch. As always the restaurant is very well-run and the service superb. I hope Raw on 5 on the Edge will be as good.

 

We didn't go to the Ocean View Café too much, but loved the Mexican Eggs Benedict and fresh fruit for breakfast.

 

We had room service once for breakfast. It was hot when it arrived and delicious.

 

to be continued...

[vtcruising]

Overview continued:

 

Wine Service:

We were pleased with the wine choices using our premium beverage package (there were no perks offered since this was a charter, though grats were included in the cost - I was able to get the beverage package when it was 25% off a few months ago).

 

Though the wine lists in Blu and other venues didn't list certain wines, they were good about getting us what we wanted. We enjoyed old favorites and explored a bit, tasting some new wines. Here is one we tried and liked inTuscan (my DH's favorite wine is Layer Cake Shiraz, which they didn't have, but had this nice wine):

 

 

Even though this was a charter, they still had some of the usual wine tasting events. We had done them all before, so didn't do any on this cruise since we were so busy with the music events.

 

 

Cellar Masters was a lovely venue:

 

 

 

The bar service was actually very good on this ship. As usual, we had our favorites - the Sunset Bar really made the best cocktails. The bar service in the theatre and other events was amazing - they had many servers and quick service. Interesting, since most people didn't have packages on this cruise (maybe related?).

The Sunset Bar:

 

Internet Service:

 

I got the unlimited internet service on sale for a decent rate. The service was excellent on this cruise. It was fast and always available, maybe because few people likely had unlimited internet (again, maybe because no free perks and fewer Captain's Club members with discounts).

Entertainment:

Obviously, the entertainment was phenomenal - it was why we were there. This cruise was very well-run by Star Vista - they have learned and improved since the 2016 1st Flower Power Cruise. Except for a few venues where there wasn't enough room (and they later tried to correct it), we were happy with this cruise. The staff was pleasant and helpful. We loved coming back to our cabins at night and seeing what new gifts were awaiting us: Flower Power t-shirts, hats, frames, cruise essential kits and wine bottle carriers.

 

All in all, this was wonderful and memorable cruise! We look forward to doing it all again next year on the Infinity.

 

If anyone has any questions about this cruise or the Summit, please ask.

Peace out!!

[WB57]

Overview continued:

 

Wine Service:

We were pleased with the wine choices using our premium beverage package (there were no perks offered since this was a charter, though grats were included in the cost - I was able to get the beverage package when it was 25% off a few months ago).

 

Though the wine lists in Blu and other venues didn't list certain wines, they were good about getting us what we wanted. We enjoyed old favorites and explored a bit, tasting some new wines. Here is one we tried and liked inTuscan (my DH's favorite wine is Layer Cake Shiraz, which they didn't have, but had this nice wine):

 

 

Even though this was a charter, they still had some of the usual wine tasting events. We had done them all before, so didn't do any on this cruise since we were so busy with the music events.

 

 

Cellar Masters was a lovely venue:

 

 

 

The bar service was actually very good on this ship. As usual, we had our favorites - the Sunset Bar really made the best cocktails. The bar service in the theatre and other events was amazing - they had many servers and quick service. Interesting, since most people didn't have packages on this cruise (maybe related?).

The Sunset Bar:

 

Internet Service:

 

I got the unlimited internet service on sale for a decent rate. The service was excellent on this cruise. It was fast and always available, maybe because few people likely had unlimited internet (again, maybe because no free perks and fewer Captain's Club members with discounts).

Entertainment:

Obviously, the entertainment was phenomenal - it was why we were there. This cruise was very well-run by Star Vista - they have learned and improved since the 2016 1st Flower Power Cruise. Except for a few venues where there wasn't enough room (and they later tried to correct it), we were happy with this cruise. The staff was pleasant and helpful. We loved coming back to our cabins at night and seeing what new gifts were awaiting us: Flower Power t-shirts, hats, frames, cruise essential kits and wine bottle carriers.

 

All in all, this was wonderful and memorable cruise! We look forward to doing it all again next year on the Infinity.

 

If anyone has any questions about this cruise or the Summit, please ask.

Peace out!!

 

Hello - thank you for your review. Apparently there is a new bar ('Infusion') near the gelato place. Did you get to try that out?

[vtcruising]

Hello - thank you for your review. Apparently there is a new bar ('Infusion') near the gelato place. Did you get to try that out?

 

I was looking forward to trying it, but as far as I know it didn't happen on this cruise. We walked by the Gelateria a couple of times every evening and never saw it. It wasn't listed in the dailies and the Gelateria was listed as open until midnight. Maybe it has something to do with hippies and the munchies? ;)

[Silkroad]

Enjoyed your review very much! I hadn’t considered one of the music cruises, but you’ve inspired me to take a look at them:).

[vtcruising]

Enjoyed your review very much! I hadn’t considered one of the music cruises, but you’ve inspired me to take a look at them:).

 

I had my doubts too, but now am sold! I especially like this one because of the peace and love vibe. :D

[Silkroad]

I had my doubts too, but now am sold! I especially like this one because of the peace and love vibe. :D

 

And we could certainly do with a lot more peace and love these days.:)

[DinaS]

We've never tried Sushi on 5 - is there a set price for lunch, or is it a la carte? We'll be on the Summit next month, and were only really planning on doing one night in Qsine.

[Silkroad]

We've never tried Sushi on 5 - is there a set price for lunch, or is it a la carte? We'll be on the Summit next month, and were only really planning on doing one night in Qsine.

It’s a la carte.

[vtcruising]

Here's a menu with prices:

 

[CruisingChick]

All I have to say is OMG. I am so jealous. What a great cruise.

[vtcruising]

All I have to say is OMG. I am so jealous. What a great cruise.

The 2019 bookings opened to the public today.... ;)