Heather

Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: celebrity
Name of Ship: Summit
Sailing Date: January 31st, 2003
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

My partner and I sailed the Summit on Jan 31/03 from Ft. Lauderdale to St Maarten, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, and St Thomas on a 10 day cruise. The Summit is a beautiful ship with a very friendly staff. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and for the most part everything was very well organized and went smoothly. The cruise was extremely smooth and could hardly feel the ship move. Disembarkation was very smooth we were off by 9:00 am.

Embarkation in Ft Lauderdale was done within one hour, very quickly despite some people who thought they should get on board because they had suites. Captain’s Club members were allowed on board first then other members. Once onboard a beautiful buffet lunch was waiting everyone.

The food on board was very good with the exception of a couple of occasions where they could improve on salads. They had a fish, chicken, pasta, beef (steak) offering on every nights menu.  There were 3 formal nights, 5 casual nights, and 2 informal nights. Formal nights were Sat, Wed and the last Sat. Lobster was served on the last formal night and the serving size was very nice.  You can eat pretty much anytime up to midnight. Pizza, and afternoon sandwiches were available late afternoon. Midnight buffets were themes. The grand buffet was beautiful, with the opportunity to photograph it ahead of time.

The specialty restaurant, the Normandie is excellent. Well worth the money. Best to book your reservations ahead of time on line through Celebrity as they book up fast.

On board there is a bank where you can cash traveler’s cheques for cash. We found that the taxies in most ports will not give you change, so it is best to get lots of small bills before going to port. The Cosmopolitan Restaurant is beautiful and service very good. The different lounges on board are beautiful. Everything about this ship is wonderful. There are even cloth hand towels in the washrooms.

St Maarten, was very nice. We took a taxi from the ship to Marigot on the French side, then to Orient Beach (nude beach) and back to the ship. We stayed in Marigot for about 1 hours to take photos and then about 3 hours on the beach. Our cab driver charged us $40. For both of us for the entire trip. Not a bad price. Orient beach was wonderful but busy.

St Lucia, disappointed at the beaches. We thought that the beaches were not one of the high points but heard that the Land and Sea excursion was pretty good. We took a taxi to Pigeon Island reserve, it was quiet but the beach disapointing.

Barbados, was beautiful. We walked through town where there is lots of shopping. Again stores want to give their money as change not American dollars, so have small bills with you. We went to The Shipyard, a place on the beach where you pay $10 and get $5.00 credit for drinks or food and includes a chair on a beautiful beach. We would go back to Barbados.

St Kitts, getting off the ship we met two Kittians who were very friendly. We took The Fan-Te- Sea catarmaran excursion and loved it. The Boat staff were excellent and we got quite a party going with plenty of rum punch. Snorkeling was so so but Pinney’s beach on Nevis was beautiful.

St Thomas, excellent shopping here, in town and at the ship area. We went to Magen’s Bay for the morning and had a great time, beach is clean and no sand fleas.

I would sail the Summit again and truly enjoyed the ship and all it had to offer.

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