Once Again Bermuda

By cruisetarp

• October 18, 2016

As we try to do every year we decided to take the Summit to Bermuda for our Anniversary celebration.    We were joined on this cruise by friends we met on the Celebrity Galaxy quite a few years ago and we have sailed with them several times since and see each other often.    Always lots of laughs and fun times.

Our friends came to our house and we drove together to Cape Liberty with no problems at all.    Last year the drive and check-in left a lot to be desired.    Check-in was fast and efficient and we were immediately told we could board.

Heading to the buffet we had no trouble finding a table and settling in til our cabins were ready.Food was much better than we remembered from last year and a little before 1PM they announced our cabins were ready.     We had a Concierge Class aft cabin on deck 8 (8170) and it was really lovely.     We had a huge balcony with not only 2 chairs and ottomans but also a full sized table with 4 arm chairs around it.    We spent a lot of time out there.

Originally our friends had the cabin right next to ours and our plan was to open the divider between the cabins but they were able to take advantage of a price drop and move up to Aqua class.    This meant we could no longer eat together but we did have breakfast, lunch, pre dinner drinks and post dinner time together.   We were not able to take advantage of this or would lose all the perks we got when we originally booked.   

We had a terrific window table for 2 for early seating in the dining room and again food was much better than we remembered from last year.      Service was excellent and our wine glasses were never empty thanks to the drink package we had.     

Since we had seen most of the shows last year we opted for the bar on the back of deck 10 where a very talented Pete Henry entertained us every night.     Most times we didn't even have a drink - just enjoyed the music and the beautiful night breezes.

Wednesday morning we arrived in beautiful Bermuda right on time so we grabbed a quick breakfast (because someone had forgotten to put out the room service card the night before)    We met our friends at breakfast and then left the ship and headed to Horseshoe Beach - always our first stop in Bermuda.    The beach was crowded but we found room and I even found a seat under an umbrella at a picnic table.     After several hours there we hopped in a taxi and headed for the Swizzle Inn - again always a first day tradition.    We sat on the balcony and ordered several different appetizers and had a lovely afternoon.     One word of caution the bus to Horseshoe was jam packed.   You could barely breath but someone immediately got up and gave me a seat.    The other three were not so lucky.

The highlight of our trip was most likely when we got back to the ship.    We were hot, we were tired and we did not feel like getting dressed up for dinner.   Our room Steward suggested we order dinner from the dining room and eat on our balcony.     What a lovely, relaxing evening.     Food was delivered hot and in a timely manner.    We were enjoying the evening when someone remarked that we had "good food - good company - good scenery but where was the music?  " Not 5 minutes later Pete Henry started playing and we had our music.    We laughed so hard when he started almost on cue and he later asked us what was so funny.

The next day we took the ferry over to Hamilton to walk away and do a little bit of shopping.   Very hot outside so we cut our trip short and retreated to the Solarium pool.      

The next day we had planned on going out to Elbow Beach where we spent our honeymoon and recreate some of our honeymoon photos.    However during dinner that night the Captain came on the speaker and said we would be leaving Bermuda at 7AM rather than 4:30 so our day at Elbow was just not meant to be.    I guess we will just have to go back.

The trip back to NJ was quite rough and lots of people were not happy about leaving early so a lot of grumbling was going on so we just retreated to our balcony where it was nice and quiet.

Rather than docking at 7AM on Sunday we arrived back at port at 10PM Saturday night.     I must say opening the curtains in the morning and looking at Bayonne is not nearly as exciting as opening them and seeing Bermuda.  But we were home safe and sound and our Captain did a great job keeping us as far away from Hermonie as possible

All in all a really great cruise and we look forward to repeating next year.

Any questions just ask