14 night -B2B SJU RT Sky suite cabin 6131. This was 2, seven night cruises, one eastern, one western carib, starting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Captain Theodoros Zakkas, Hotel Dir.: Ugo Vaccalluzzo, GRM.: Bosco Pires, Cruise Dir. Caissie Stafford, Capt Club: Lionel, Butler: Santoso, Room Steward: Fousand, Asst Waiter: Hugh, F&B Mgr. Wolfgang Juranek, from Florida.
We got to Puerto Rico on time and hopped in a taxi. He was kind enough to stop at Pueblo, the local PR supermarket where I picked up some coffee creamers and 2 bottles of wine. Then we were on our way to the pier. Since I forgot to get some soda, at Pueblo, I grabbed a 12 pack on the pier. We got our sea pass cards, and reserved the Normandie restaurant for dinner that night. We boarded Summit sometime around one.
This was our first Back to back cruise, which although we enjoyed the cruise; it was very different for us. There were many first time cruisers from Puerto Rico on board who were uninformed about cruise behavior and dress. Since there was a large group aboard, a decision was made to conform to that audience especially in the areas of on board music, food, and announcements. We missed our Caribbean music.
Week 1: SJU, Sea, BAR, StL, ANT, StM, StT & SJU.
Week 2: SJU, StC, StK, DOM, GRN, Sea, StT & SJU.
Our first week was Just Randi and I in our sky suite;
the same one we have had often in the past.
We caught up on all of the rest that we needed.
It also had a large over sized deck to enjoy sunsets.
The second week Rob and Michelle joined us. As always, we did a lot of fun things with them.
Meet Fousand, our room steward, and his assistant. They were hidden gems on our cruise. Here, they were preparing for muster drill.
We Met Bosco, through our friend, Touch, Bosco was the guest relations manager. He couldn’t do enough for us. He comp-ed us on laundry, dinner and wine and always answered all of our questions anytime during the cruise. Even on the pier while disembarking, we lost our bag due to a label coming off and he was there showing us where to look.
We were able to get this great shot in one of our favorite places- the martini bar.
We had dinner in the cosmopolitan restaurant, the Normandie, Qsine and even at the alternative dining on deck 10. We went to these restaurants because we opted this time not to bring formals.
It was a very different way of enjoying food from around the world. We had to cancel some of our order when we found ourselves stuffed at this point but still had room for strawberries served on real grass. Sean was the Matre'D.
On the second formal night, Lionel, the Captains Club host, invited the four of us to the Captain's table. The Hotel Director,
Ugo Vaccalluzzo, hosted the table for the evening. He was very open and outgoing and we enjoyed a fabulous meal with a very gracious host.
We had a couple of celebrity sightings this cruise. One night we saw Kenny Rodgers at the Martini Bar.
Another night we think we saw Nightowl, although a much older version and she wasn't with Al or Murphy.
On the second week in St. Thomas, our only double visited port, we opted for the St. Johns excursion which left from the Summit's dock. It was a 45 minute boat ride followed by a 15 minute bus ride; all very convenient, and providing some beautiful views. It was our first time in St. John's, which is less populated and more pristine then most other islands. We stopped at Trunk Bay which is beautiful. The sand was white and powdery and was balanced by blue water. The girls relaxed on the beach while Rob and I snorkeled the underwater park with plenty of fish and coral. It was a real nice experience.
Ooops. We stopped at Senior Frogs on the way back to the ship.
Ooops. We stopped at Senior Frogs on the way back to the ship.
On St. Kitts we walked to St. Patrick's church, just in time for mass ending. So we walked down to the beach and got some free chairs, bought some drinks and played a little volleyball with our ship in the background.
We took the falls direct tour in Domenica to see Trafalgar falls and the sulphur springs. After a short climb on the trail we stood on a viewing platform to see both the Mama and the Papa falls.
In Granada we boarded the hop on, hop off trolley which took us to the fort, the museum and into town. The fort had beautiful vistas and a view of the ship.
Upon sail away, we were invited to the bow's heliport, to experience the ships departure from the island.
The only show that we saw was "Sirens;" a mythical musical production show about mermaids in the deep. It was very nicely done.
We celebrated Michelle's birthday in Qsine one night and once again enjoyed it very much. Michelle and Rob also liked the quirkiness of it also.
I would say that we were off the ship around 9:30 on the last day, took a cab to the airport and relaxed before our 1:30 flight in the American Airlines Admiral's club. It is a nice perk for Amex Platinum card holders. Randi went through here emails on the laptop, while I scrolled mine on the hard computer in the facility. Got to start to ease out of vacation, you know. The flight was nice although there were no sleeper seats this time. I think we were back in the house by 6:15 and Randi and I had the bags unpacked and most of the laundry done that night.
Bye for now.
To see the rest of the pictures go here:
cruise pix Summit111712
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