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Two weeks in Canada & New England on the revolutionized Summit: my review with photos


Turtles06
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3 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Any opinions?  Thanks.

Just for clarification, the cruise left from Cape Liberty NJ, not NY.  You won't get to see NY and the Statue Of Liberty from the ship or the 9/11 Tear Drop memorial at Cape Liberty when leaving from Boston. 

Edited by davekathy
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On 11/16/2019 at 8:09 AM, happy cruzer said:

Love the pictures of New York.  Next year it is round trip from Boston.  Any opinions of Boston vs. New York for the home port?

 

Thank you re the photos. 

 

The Summit of course sailed out of Cape Liberty, NJ, not New York (as @davekathy has noted above).  In terms of comparisons between NJ v. Boston for the same cruise, next year's itinerary RT out of Boston (also with an overnight in Quebec City) will be 12 nights instead of our 14, which right there is a plus as far as I'm concerned for the cruise out of NJ.  Also, besides having the beautiful sailaway from NJ (and the sail-in), that cruise started with a sea day before the first port (Boston), which to me was also a plus.   The cruise out of Boston has a port call the next day in Portland, and in Bar Harbor the day after that.   

 

Some folks might find it easier to get to Boston, some Cape Liberty.   There's nothing of great interest around Cape Liberty (you could spend pre-cruise time in Manhattan, but then you have transportation issues getting to the port), so some folks might prefer Boston so they could spend some time pre- or post-cruise there.   How you rate all of that would depend on where you are coming from and what interests you.

 

All of which is moot, since the Summit will be sailing out of Boston, whatever we may think of the pros and cons.  😉  

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you for this wonderful review. We have just booked a 10 day cruise out of NYC on the Caribbean Princess for September 2020 and I had just started doing some research. Your comprehensive review is an excellent start - have a few months to consider what flavour(s) of Beavertail I will partake of - they look amazing. Travelling from Scotland I sincerely hope to experience a welcome from a piper - nothing like a taste of home when your travelling to far flung destinations.

 

Thank you again.

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LOL!

 

They had the handwashing stations on the Edge.  And almost no one was using them.

 

 I thought that it was a great idea until I realized most were going to the buffet without washing their hands.

 

I wonder how this will turn out in the long run.

Edited by NMTraveller
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Just now, davekathy said:

We were able to us $USD in all the ports we visited. We were on the same cruise as the OP (Turtles06) . 

 

Ah, you type faster! 🙂  I was about to say that plenty of folks in Canada will take U.S. dollars, but the exchange rate won't be very good.  Since @DundeeCake is not American and is going to have to change money anyway, depending on where they do that and the fees, it might make sense to get some Canadian currency as well.   (For Americans, it may make less sense.) 

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4 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Ah, you type faster! 🙂  I was about to say that plenty of folks in Canada will take U.S. dollars, but the exchange rate won't be very good.  Since @DundeeCake is not American and is going to have to change money anyway, depending on where they do that and the fees, it might make sense to get some Canadian currency as well.   (For Americans, it may make less sense.) 

Good catch. I didn't pay attention to that.  Agree. Have a Peaceful New Year. 🙂

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What a fantastic thread and now I want to do the same cruise perhaps in 2022. We have a cruise booked next year on Viking Ocean and a X Infinity cruise in 2021. Turtles you should be writing travel logs, you have done a fantastic job here. Thank you for taking the time.

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1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

What a fantastic thread and now I want to do the same cruise perhaps in 2022. We have a cruise booked next year on Viking Ocean and a X Infinity cruise in 2021. Turtles you should be writing travel logs, you have done a fantastic job here. Thank you for taking the time.

 

You are so kind, thank you!

 

Funny -- we haven't yet sailed Viking Ocean and are looking at some options at the moment.  

 

Have a very happy New Year, and enjoy your travels!

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Turtles06 Thank you so much for this wonderful review. I have read the whole review and have listed many items to check into 

Our cruise is in Sept. 2020 so I have some time to be planning and will make use of your information. It has taken you a long time gather all the information and then type it up for us, Thanks again and Happy Sailings.

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20 hours ago, pattyj 1204 said:

Turtles06 Thank you so much for this wonderful review. I have read the whole review and have listed many items to check into 

Our cruise is in Sept. 2020 so I have some time to be planning and will make use of your information. It has taken you a long time gather all the information and then type it up for us, Thanks again and Happy Sailings.

 

17 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

This was a wonderful review.  What was your favorite port and your favorite excursion?

 

I loved the reviews and thoughts on your excursions.  

 

We are doing a similiar cruise in May on HAL.

 

Thank you both for taking the time to read this, and for your very kind words!

 

As for a favorite port -- Quebec City was certainly the standout (as we expected).   But we were surprised by how much we enjoyed our day in Portland, including the City and Lighthouse Tour with Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours (and the Holy Donuts 😋).   Frankly, except for a couple of shore excursions (the Celebrity shorex we took on P.E.I. and the private tour in Bar Harbor), we really had a good time ashore in all of the ports.  

 

Happy New Year, and safe travels!

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On 10/4/2019 at 4:07 PM, Turtles06 said:

We returned to Sydney just around lunch time, and got a walking tour map from the Information desk in the cruise terminal.  There really isn’t that much of interest in Sydney -- a few 18th Century houses and old churches.  We soon saw them all.

 

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For lunch, we chose the Governor's Pub and Eatery, near the water and doing a lively business.  I had -- surprise -- a lobster roll, the second best of the trip.  And a side of poutine.  😂

 

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After lunch, we walked down along the water.   I was enthralled by this monument to the WWII Merchant Mariners, men in their 40s and 50s, teenage boys, and some women as well, who sailed the convoys from Sydney across the Atlantic, bringing coal, steel, and other critical materials for the Allied war effort, at great danger to themselves from German U-boats.  Thousands lost their lives to torpedoes.

 

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As we walked back to the cruise terminal, the Caribbean Princess served as good perspective on the size of the fiddle.

 

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And, of course, we had to buy BeaverTails before we returned to the ship.  This time, I tried the chocolate/peanut butter/Reese's Pieces.  Each of those elements is delicious on its own, but together they were a bit too much, and really changed the texture.   The chocolate/hazelnut that I had in Quebec was much better.

 

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Finally, it was time to board a tender.  Since it was such a gorgeous afternoon, we decided to sit up top on the outside.  It was a beautiful ride back to the Summit.  I know that tendering can be a PITA, but I really do enjoy seeing whatever ship I’m on from the water. 

 

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(photos by turtles06)

 

On 10/6/2019 at 5:03 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

😄🤣😋

I highly recommend the Killaloe Sunrise BeaverTail - cinnamon, sugar and slices of lemon.

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Turtle06, what a fantastic review, I feel as though I have been on this sailing with you.

My first ever cruise with Celebrity was on the Summit and since then we have loved Celebrity.

After many sailings on S class ships we are going back to the M class, sailing from Tampa on the refurbished Constellation. It will also be nice to return to the Connie and see what they have done to her. Those FV that you had are now Sunset Suites and are now even more expensive than Sky and Celebrity suites 😱😠

I am now thinking of switching another booked cruise to this itinerary would have preferred to have sailed out of New York/Jersey but have never been to Boston.

once again many thanks for you review and have a great 2020.

Edited by swigso
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I see both sides of the Suite-only debate. I remember when some cruise lines roped off special lounge chairs by the pool for use by suite guests only. And the best seats in the theatre were reserved for suite guests. As Turtle06 said, that doesn't drastically impact other guests, who can STILL enjoy the pool and theatre. I think his objection had to do with an outdoor deck area that has been - and instinctively feels as though it is - a public place. And the fact that there is no real alternative for non-suite guests - except to look off the back of the ship. I knew the situation when booking the Summit and I'm fine with it, but I agree with the "class system" comments. We all have to make choices, but some people have the means to consider more options than others. I have never even booked a balcony cabin. I pay for the WINDOW in an OV cabin and I cruise only every other year. If I booked balcony cabins, I'd have to cruise far less frequently. And a suite...I'd need to save for YEARS! So yes, it's a choice. I guess everyone can technically book a suite. But it's not as easy a choice for those of us on a limited budget. There are benefits we NEED to sacrifice in order to cruise at all. 

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Turtles06, enjoyed reading your review and reliving our cruise on the Summit in 2013 on the same itinerary!  That was before the "revolutionization", but we had Capt. Kate (I think her first cruise as capt or at least her first on that itin.).  The buffet certainly needed redoing!  That was the only disappointment of the cruise as we always eat nearly all our meals in a ship's buffet.  We had first sailed on the Summit when she was only 2 yrs old (Jan. 2003-western Carib) and really enjoyed being on her.  By 2013 she was certainly in need of some updating.

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