Summit Live, June 27-July 8, 2018

[gerelmx]

@Educators2 tank you for your review, enjoy your last night and have a safe trip back home.

[Educators2]

Our last port stop was a beautiful Newport, Rhode Island. We have visited there on our own so I researched and found that the Newport Art Museum was a half-mile from port. Since my mobility isn’t great, it took about 20 minutes but was well worth visiting if you don’t want to just shop. The museum is housed in the Griswold mansion—he was a shipping magnate —and had diverse art exhibits including contemporary art. The city area near the port was very lovely and upscale.

 

Tendering is a big concern here. If you left around 9am, there was no wait at all. When we returned at 1pm, there was a long wait for a tender. The ride back to the ship is about 25 minutes. When it came time to disembark the tender, I knew I could not make it up the step in a bobbing boat. I did ask for the two portable steps to be brought over and even then, I needed a lot of assistance to get onto the ship.

 

Getting ready to drive home tomorrow...only 45 minutes.

 

It was a great itinerary and a very enjoyable 11 days.

Susan

Edited July 7, 2018 by Educators2
typo

[Northern Aurora]

We are starting to pack as we leave our floating home of 21 nights tomorrow. But here are my general observations:

 

1) We have done Alaska itineraries and thought that there were a number of kids on those cruises, but I don't ever remember seeing so many kids on both this cruise and the preceding one (which embarked on June 17th). And I have never observed so many little ones in Luminae.

 

2) The folding card table style chairs in the Ocean View are strange to see, but at least they are clean and much more comfortable than a number of the older ones. But I don't think folding chairs are consistent with the "modern luxury" marketing idea.

 

3) Luminae has been excellent.

 

4) The US Immigration inspection in Bar Harbor went quickly. We had our immigration inspection in Bar Harbor also on the June 17th cruise, and that time the process also ran ahead of schedule.

 

5) Tendering in Newport started about 8 AM. When the Michael's Club concierge took a group of suite and Zenith guests down to the tender platform at about 9:42 AM they were calling guests with tender tickets number 12. All four of the Summits tenders were used in addition to one private tender.

[jcpc]

Educators2,

 

Thank you, Susan, for your very informative postings. It sounds like you had a very enjoyable cruise. Wishing you a safe drive home tomorrow. Sunday’s weather in Bayonne is predicted to be quite nice.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Educators2]

We are waiting to disembark. Enjoyed a quiet breakfast at Cafe al Bacio. Self-disembark was called at 7:30 am.

 

Thanks to Sherwin, our waiter at Select Dining, who arranged a birthday cake for my husband. He was surprised and the cake was delicious. Last year, they just said, Happy Birthday.

Thanks to all fellow guests who contributed to my live update.

[Educators2]

Just a quick heads up...

If you are driving and use the Bayonne Bridge, check for closures on weekends. It was closed today and I did not check. Cost us about 15 minutes drive time.

 

Still arrived home by 10am with great memories.

[dkjretired]

Just a quick heads up...

If you are driving and use the Bayonne Bridge, check for closures on weekends. It was closed today and I did not check. Cost us about 15 minutes drive time.

 

Still arrived home by 10am with great memories.

 

Yes, anyone following this thread check the Cape Liberty 411 thread on the East Coast departures board. Lots of construction in area.

[philpcruiser]

My husband & i are looking at this cruise for next summer. We have a 10 yr old daughter. Are there many kids on board?

There were relatively few kids on board. However, my DD 10 had a wonderful time, both cruise wise and at the fun factory. The FF staff did a great job.

[philpcruiser]

Did you or are you going to Newport, RI. We are curious about the tendering operation, read something a couple weeks ago that it did not go well.

Early, announcements were made that the tendering was proceeding ahead of schedule. Four Summit tenders were running, and an additional 200+ passenger boat was supposed to be running. While we returning around 12:45, tenders were still fully loaded heading to Newport. I overheard radio chatter that the suppemental boat apparently did not show up on time, thus tendering was running slowly.

[ZapRowsdower]

Here are the dailies from this cruise. Apologies that they were not scanned nicely, just photographed with my iPad. https://photos.app.goo.gl/9nQp2MVQrYncTsN76

[ZapRowsdower]

A funny thing happened on the last day of this cruise while we were in Newport. At the appointed time, the anchor was raised and engines started, and the ship prepared to set sail back to Bayonne. Then the engines were stopped, the anchor was dropped and one of the ship's tender boats was dispatched back to Newport. There was also a Coast Guard boat, with a very large gun in front, hanging around the ship while this was going on. About 30-40 minutes later, the tender boat returned and we were on our way. Does anyone know what happened there? I assumed that someone missed the last tender, and was very fortunate that a boat went back to pick them up. But someone else suggested that maybe someone had come aboard who was not supposed to be on board, and was escorted back to shore, and that's why the Coast Guard was involved. Who knows?

[gerelmx]

Maybe it was a passenger expelled for his bad behavior

[Northern Aurora]

A funny thing happened on the last day of this cruise while we were in Newport. ..... Does anyone know what happened there? ... Who knows?

 

 

From our balcony we watched the ship tender racing back to the Summit. There was no discussion or speculation in Michael's Club that evening. But we were also curious.

[dkjretired]

A funny thing happened on the last day of this cruise while we were in Newport. At the appointed time, the anchor was raised and engines started, and the ship prepared to set sail back to Bayonne. Then the engines were stopped, the anchor was dropped and one of the ship's tender boats was dispatched back to Newport. There was also a Coast Guard boat, with a very large gun in front, hanging around the ship while this was going on. About 30-40 minutes later, the tender boat returned and we were on our way. Does anyone know what happened there? I assumed that someone missed the last tender, and was very fortunate that a boat went back to pick them up. But someone else suggested that maybe someone had come aboard who was not supposed to be on board, and was escorted back to shore, and that's why the Coast Guard was involved. Who knows?

 

Could be many things but it is not unusual at any US port to see a Coast Guard vessel or a heavily armed local department in the water as you arrive and leave.