Honeymoon Test Drive – Celebrity Summit – CK Tours & Cruises
Sunday, August 12, 2012 Travis and I spent the day with 50 other interested patrons aboard the Celebrity Summit, a beautiful cruise ship docked in Port Liberty, New Jersey. Â CK Tours & Cruises and LEO brought together venders and brides for this exciting experience to tour the Celebrity Summit.
If you get the chance to enjoy a Honeymoon Test Drive, take it! It’s an exciting and enlightening day giving you the chance to experience all the benefits available (in this case) aboard a luxury cruise ship. Travis and I have been on Royal Caribbean ships. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have the same parent company, and Celebrity (for lack of a better term) is a higher tier of cruising. After visiting the ship, I can see how it’s a perfect option for couples! Leave the kids at home (or send them to hang with Grandma and Grandpa) while the grown-ups enjoy the benefits on this luxury liner.
We boarded the bus at 8:00 am in Reading, PA to be bused to the Port Terminal in New Jersey. On the bus ride, the captive audience enjoyed presentations by the various venders, some yummy muffins and cupcakes, and not to mention some very special blend glasses of orange juice to start the day.
Travis and I were planning on debuting LEO’s promotional video which we just completed as well as our own updated video, but the bus technology did not want to cooperate. If you’d like to see what you missed, check out those links below:
A handful of presentations by LEO, CK Tours & Cruises, and the Well Dressed Cake
Once off the bus, we were treated to the welcoming sights (or eye-sores) of Port Liberty, New Jersey (AKA Bayonne). The Port Authority there is a little abrasive, but once past the security process, the staff of Celebrity is a welcoming crew. Travis and I have a huge respect for the security guards and security area, so we stored our cameras away as we were processed through the metal detectors. We got our guest badges, boarded the Summit, and then we popped the camera back out for a picture taking festival!
Main lobby area near the information desks. This beautiful ship was just refurbished in January 2012.
Everyone was interested to hear what our informative guides had to share about the Summit. Did you know there are 11 (passenger) decks on the Celebrity Summit?
The Elevator area. Some benches for waiting, and the elevators were glass and very large.
I totally dig the interior design of the Summit. Very new designs. I also love how the lobby area is open to the rest of the ship.
Purposefully over exposed the windows so you can’t see the ugly port outside! But once at sea, these large windows give a great view of the ocean.
Mmmm, exclusive treats when you board the ship. I’m pretty sure you had to be a frequent cruiser to be in this club to receive these yummy looking treats.
CK Tour patrons enjoying the view from the beautiful dinning room. This happens to be in the specialty restaurant The Normandie.
Betrothed couples cozy up to each other as they are treated to the history lesson in The Normandie. The beautiful artwork above is original pieces from the ship, the SS Normandie. They also have an exclusive wine/party room in this specialty restaurant.
One of the many bars located on the ship. This one is in the Rendez-Vous Lounge area. Also LEO’s Greg finds his place among some of the unique artwork hanging on the walls.
Everyone listens intently as Ken explains why this Martini Bar is absolutely fantastic. It’s also a great idea to purchase the beverage package aboard the ship so all your drinks are included on your cruise!
What a cool way to display what the Martini Bar has to offer!
More ways to show off the premier alcohol selection at the Martini Bar!
A walking trip straight through the Fortune’s Casino. The first ship where I’ve seen “No Smoking” signs posted in the Casino area. Super like!
More views of Fortune’s Casino and of Michael’s Club, a cigar and cocktail lounge. The Olympics were on when we were walking though.
I just adore the theater! Where we were standing for our tour the seats were long bench seats with little glass tables for beverages.
I love the lighting and the balcony seating in the Celebrity Theater.
It was a cool visual to see the “fireplaces” in the wall behind the balcony seating. I would love to see a show here.
The place to buy booze is the Duty-Free shops aboard the ship. You can get amazing deals on many items, including alcohol! It’s amazing how affordable the ship can sell it! The one catch? Once purchased you can’t have it until the last night of the cruise. Fun fact: two bottles per person can be brought back through customs.
My personal favorite spot on the ship; Cova Cafe. The coffee shop!
Cellar Masters has wines from around the World for cruisers to try. This machine does it’s own pours. How cool!
Everyone was admiring the machine. I’m pretty sure I need one of these in my kitchen next to my espresso maker. Can I update my wedding registry with one of these Enomatic portion-control wine systems?
Did you know you can get married onboard? I mean, it’s not new news that you can get married on a cruise; BUT did you know you can invite guest to your wedding who are not cruising with you? While we were on our tour of the ship there was a wedding going on. If you hold your wedding on the first day of the cruise, your guests may board the ship to enjoy the ceremony and reception while the ship is in port. After the festivities, the guests depart the ship before the ship departs for the cruising festivities. Not a bad idea, huh? Using this plan, you can hire any photographer to capture your big day. Your photographer just exits the ship before the cruise begins (unless, you know, you hire a professional to hang with you all week and capture photos from your honeymoon vacation!).
You can also do the traditionally non-traditional exotic island get-a-way vows and such, but your wedding guests have to be fellow crusiers to enjoy your festivities. Check out the cool packages Celebrity has to offer here.
The view of the upper level of the Cosmopolitan (the main dinning restaurant). This dinning area is all-inclusive (meaning it’s included in the price to pay to stay on the ship!).
Ken from CK Tours & Cruises did an amazing job with his tour of the ship; very informative!
The Cosmopolitan Dinning Room sits exactly on the back of the ship. The huge window gives you a breath-taking view of your vacation destinations while you dine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
A Panoramic view of what you’re missing out on if you don’t vacation on this ship! Did you know you dine at the same table during your whole vacation? Your waitstaff doesn’t change either so you have an intimate first-class experience your entire trip.
This is the beautiful Blu Restaurant for the AquaClass. Just like the Cosmopolitan is included in the normal cruise fare, special passengers have this place as their all-inclusive dinning experience.
Some way cool stats for the Celebrity Summit:
Occupancy:Â 2158Length:Â 965 ftDraught:Â 26 ftCruise Speed:Â 24 ktsCabins: Over 1,000Cabin Sizes: Ranges from 170 sf to 1432 sf
We saw a variety of staterooms on the Celebrity Summit. Here is an assortment of photos from some of the rooms we visited. Trust me on this one, the double sinks are NOT included in your “normal” staterooms. I’m pretty sure these double sinks were in one of the upgraded Suites!
The private deck space located off one of the Penthouse. If you look through the glass window you can see that the bathroom tub/spa has it’s own private view off the ship. Â The entire Penthouse Stateroom is square-footage-wise LARGER than our first (two-bedroom) apartment!
If you stay in the Penthouse you get not one, but two hot tub/spas, one located in the one (of two) bathrooms and one located outside on your very own private deck.
The living room area in the Pent House suite. Yes, if you book this suite (for around $7500 for the week) it comes with your very own baby grand piano. You can even request for someone to play it in your suite for you!
When you board in Port Liberty you have a unique view of NYC from the decks of the cruise ship. I snapped a photo of Travis snapping a photo of Catherine and Alex; an Uncorked couple getting married in September 2013! We are stoked for your wedding you guys!
Top deck of the Celebrity Summit. Pools, hot tubs, fresh food, drinks, and live musicians.
A view of Qsine, an artistic, trendy specialty restaurant that presents it’s wine menu and food menu on an iPad for ordering. They also decorated with mirrors on the ceiling; beware of low-cut tops, ladies!
Of course Qsine comes with a spectacular view. According to our tour guides, the food is just as unique and tasty as the decor.
I love the contrast between the specialty restaurants and the Waterfall Cafe; the all-you-can-eat buffet with almost a zillion different dishes of food. (Technically, the whole ship is all-you-can-eat, but who am I to split hairs?).
Ken is fearlessly leading us on our journey around the Celebrity Summit. He’s recently cruised on the ship which was great to hear his vacation experience first hand.
What a cool visual sight to see all the towels perfectly angled and aligned on all the deck chairs.
To sum it up, Travis and I had a splendid day hanging out with each other, the LEO Venders, and many intriguing bridal couples. We learned so much about so many people yesterday! We enjoyed talking to everyone about their upcoming weddings; some as close as this friday, and some as far out as September 2013. Both Travis and I really enjoy hearing the ideas and learning about your wedding planning processes. Thanks for the really cool experience!
So jealous you were on “our” ship yesterday!! Lol we would like to go back on the Summit again now that it has been refurbished… maybe another Bermuda trip 🙂 The only con I would say about it is that the age group was much older than us so we might try Royal next time however everything was great on the Summit!
[…] Studios was thrilled to be involved as well. Trisha and Bryan, we are so happy we met you on the Mock Honeymoon last summer and we are ecstatic we were involved so closely with your wedding […]
August 13th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
So jealous you were on “our” ship yesterday!! Lol we would like to go back on the Summit again now that it has been refurbished… maybe another Bermuda trip 🙂 The only con I would say about it is that the age group was much older than us so we might try Royal next time however everything was great on the Summit!
July 29th, 2013 at 5:52 pm
[…] Studios was thrilled to be involved as well. Trisha and Bryan, we are so happy we met you on the Mock Honeymoon last summer and we are ecstatic we were involved so closely with your wedding […]