Celebrity Summit

Bermuda Cruise Aboard the

Celebrity Summit

My husband has wanted to see Bermuda for more years than I can remember.  We just never found the time nor could I garner the energy for the challenging flight schedules. They don’t make it easy to get from South Florida to Bermuda. I discovered that my relatives were booked on Celebrity Summit that departed on July 26 out of Cape Liberty, New Jersey, and decided “why not? Just do it!”  

I booked our departure flight through Celebrity since we were arriving the day of Embarkation. This way they guarantee we will be on the ship! The price was the same as if I would have booked it. For our return flight, I booked directly with United Airlines because Celebrity won’t book a flight before 1:30 p.m. We all know how early you are up on the last day and I knew I could make the 25 minute cab ride to Newark Airport before 9:00 a.m.

I booked Concierge Class and chose a room on Deck 8 at the back of the ship. We have always wanted to try the back and the opportunity was there.  Concierge gets you on the boat faster and in a different disembark lounge than the bulk of the passengers. There are perks like daily hors d’oeuvres, show seating, and specialty dining reservations. We spent our time visiting with family so didn’t utilize the perks. I really just wanted the room!

So let’s talk about the ship and our room. The ship was built in 2001 but remodeled since then. If you want more Ship details, please visit http://www.celebritycruises.com/ships/celebrity-summit and yes, the exterior of the ship shows age. However, the interior was very clean and I didn’t notice the age around the décor. The crew does a great job with the interior maintenance.

With our room at the back of the ship, it was very quiet. You don’t hear the typical hallway traffic since there are limited rooms in that area.  Having a floor above you that is rooms and not a public area also makes for a quiet room. The balcony/deck was almost as large as our room! If we had been alone, I probably would have spent my days at sea sitting there.  A table with 4 chairs and two lounge chairs were awesome! The downside of that room that I will mention is during rough seas (anything over 5 feet for me) you will feel the motion. Everyone feels it different, but keep in mind the boat goes up and down in waves and being at the back, you will feel that.

The crew was very professional and very friendly. I think http://www.celebritycruises.com/home is my favorite cruise line. I feel you get the personalized attention without breaking the bank and the crew always have smiles. They love working with http://www.celebritycruises.com/home is my way of thinking. And keep in mind Summit has a female captain!!! The food was very good. We usually ate breakfast in the dining room. I prefer not to start my day walking with a plate of food. Lunch was the buffet, even though we tried for the dining room but could never get there before they closed the doors. Our group had the 8:30 seating and that’s my favorite time.  We usually have cocktails before dinner and it gives everyone time to get ready. My only complaint was the limited selection of food between the hours of 3-5 p.m. Since dinner was so late, I need food and my choice pretty much was pizza. It was delicious pizza but they need to double the oven and staff because they could not keep up with demand. We also purchased the Premium Drink Package. Not necessarily because we drink so much but because I can’t stand signing my name every time I order something. I feel like I’m spending a fortune when required to do that! I love to have a great wine with dinner and this way, I can usually get the good stuff.

Upon arrival in Bermuda, the skies were overcast which helped keep the temperature down. We did book an excursion the first day to get the lay of the land and it included a walking tour. I did enjoy the commentary but I felt the price was high for what we got; especially when we bought Ferry tokens later that day for $18.00 round trip to return to Hamilton. We walked around, shopped, people watched, and had a snack at http://www.flanagans.bm/ while waiting for the street party to begin for the http://bermudacupmatch.com/ which was canceled due to rain.  The following day we took the 45 minute $18.00 ferry to St. George’s to check out the cup match. Keep in mind, the whole country pretty much closes down for 3 days during the match; however, it’s quite enjoyable to experience a Country that does this. We walked the streets which were deserted and tried to walk to the match but the heat wore us down. A few stores and restaurants were open, but since St. George’s was hosting the game this year, the people were at the match. Talk about a deserted town! On our third and final day at Bermuda, we walked off the ship and booked a taxi for 4 hours and $280.00. We had a great driver, Steven, who we found to be a past student of a coach at my relatives school. Talk about a small world! He gave us a great tour of all of Bermuda and showed us some very interesting points. We made a stop at http://www.caves.bm/ which was pretty interesting, the lighthouse, the oldest house, just to name a few. I would suggest this option on your first day in Bermuda. It’s the best way to decide how your remaining visit should go. The majority of our group took the bus to Horseshoe Bay on 2 days. They love the beach and wanted to get their time in but us Florida folk can do the beach all year. The dockyard is designed to cater to passengers off the ship, easy transportation and water sport bookings. Several in our group took a half day fishing excursion that was booked independently.  They caught several fish and had a great day!  

Bermuda residents took our U.S. dollars with no problem. I also noticed on my Visa that all charges were U.S. dollar. We were told they use the Bermudian dollar and U.S. dollar the same since the value is equal.

http://www.bermuda.com/ is a beautiful country to visit. The residents are friendly and the beaches and streets are clean. I think 3 days there was plenty but I’m not one to hang at the beach. If I want to return, I most likely will book a cruise on http://www.celebritycruises.com/ again.  Make a week out of it!

I did learn a very important lesson on our return flight. I will share, even though it makes me look really dumb. We took a cab for $75 to http://www.airport-ewr.com/ before 8:00 a.m. day of disembarkation. We asked for an earlier flight and the counter Agent at http://www.united.com/web/en-US/default.aspx    told us the flight details and we paid the extra fee to change our flight. I did not verify the boarding pass, foolish me. Departure was to be at 9:59 a.m. and after sitting at the gate for 30 minutes, I looked down and noticed she booked us on a 9:24 p.m. flight!!!!! Panic ensued! Long story short, my 30 minute phone call while standing in line got me nowhere. They could not help since I was “checked in”, even though it was their error. My husband found a shorter line in another concourse. That counter Agent was able to get us back on our original noon flight but didn’t hesitate to inform him that he should have checked his boarding pass earlier because they are only human. Luckily, he looked at the new boarding passes and requested that agent give me a seat assignment. This has never been a problem before since their programs make it so easy to book flights. I call it pure incompetence and feel that there is no accountability so buyers beware. Nor does http://www.united.com/web/en-US/default.aspx put the passenger first when it’s their mistake and don’t have a system in place to expeditiously remedy mistakes. Don’t trust the person, verify the writing. I can guarantee this will never happen to me again. The flights were both great, maybe if you can avoid the Counters it will be an enjoyable flight.