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| Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
As experienced cruisers would expect, however, it is basically a tourist trap with 100's of "trinket" shops and a few bars
THE SHIP was the Celebrity Summit. There were 2 stops and 2 1/2 "at sea" days. The stops were Nassau and Bimini, Bahamas. For those who may not have been to either of these stops, there are basically 2 things to do in Nassau: gamble or go to the beach. Bimini narrows it down even more. One thing: the beach (I put snorkeling in that category). Otherwise you can "explore," or bar - hop in Nassau. Clearly enough, this cruise was not about the itinerary. Nassau is under 200 miles from Ft. Lauderdale. Bimini is only 50 miles. So even our sea days involved mostly sailing around the Atlantic off the coast of Southern Florida.
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| As experienced cruisers would expect, however, it is basically a tourist trap with 100's of "trinket" shops and a few bars |
WE HAD a stop on the Celebrity Reflection in Nassau back in 2021. Since then, they have expanded the cruise port both in terms of ship berths and onshore facilities. As experienced cruisers would expect, however, it is basically a tourist trap with 100's of "trinket" shops and a few bars. Bimini had an almost 3rd World feel. The port area is very small, with just a few obligatory tourist shops. The draw here is the crystal clear waters and beaches.
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| Cruise Ships - Nassau, Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
SINCE THAT is the extent of the shore activity, I will focus this blog a bit more on the ship. Celebrity currently has 3 ship groups or classes. In 2000, Celebrity launched the Celebrity Millenium. At that time, they began the process of retiring their much older, smaller fleet of ships. In 2001, the Celebrity Infinity and then the Summit were launched. In 2002, that last in the Millenium Class, the Constellation was launched. They have since all been upgraded and refurbished at some point, but 25 years is a long time and a pretty old ship in the cruise ship industry. In 2008, they would step things up with some (at the time) state of the art designs with the Celebrity Solstice. There are 5 ships in the Solstice Class, beginning with the Solstice and from 2008 to 2012 the Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette and Reflection. Then in January of 2018, an "edgy" new ship class, beginning with the Celebrity Edge was launched. There are 5 ships in the Edge Class, including Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent and ExCel. We have cruised on the Edge Class the most often (8 cruises on Edge, Apex, Beyond and Ascent), and the Solstice Class next (7 cruises - 5 on Reflection and one each on Equinox and Eclipse). We have been on only two Millennium ships (Summit both times).
Bimini had an almost 3rd World feel
OUR FIRST cruise on the Summit was back in 2014, only our second Celebrity cruise experience and 4th cruise overall. Our expectations were different, as was our cruise acumen. We joined 4 other couples on that one, cruising out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with stops in St. Croix, USVI, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Thomas, USVI. There were excursions on a few of the stops, and in general, even when we didn't, we would explore the island ports on our own. I don't remember a lot about the Summit back then. It did have the signature Martini Bar with the ice topped surface, that we had experienced on our first Celebrity (Reflection) cruise. The ships were quite similar except that the sunset bar on the two newer classes is separated from the buffet's rear eating area and on its own (a huge improvement, in my opinion). In the years immediately following, that would be more of an issue for me, as sometime between the 2014 and 2015 cruise I began smoking cigars. I have noted here in the past my feeling that Celebrity treats cigar smokers better than its competition. The recent Summit Cruise in 2025, completely validated that sentiment. There were 3 smoking areas. Two of them were really nice, and the third, still adequate. All were conveniently located near one of the ships several bars.
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| Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
THE COMBINATION of being "off season," only 5 days, and a smaller, older ship, our cruise was less than full (I would estimate only about 60% of capacity). Some things about that are in favor of the cruisers. Less crowds. Generally a higher ratio of service to passenger. No long waits at the bars. No issues being seated or accomodated in any of the restaurants. No overcrowding in the buffet. Generally, room on the chairs in the pool area. That was our experience. Relaxing and enjoyable. We found the rooms to be clean and relatively modern for the most part. The Millenium ships also have the old-style outdoor balconies.
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| Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
ACCOMODATIONS WERE good for the most part. There are some nice bars and lounges aboard, including Cellar Masters (which has morphed from a wine bar to a full bar with a very robust liquor selection), The Martini Bar, The Rendezvous Lounge, each with upscale decor, comfortable seating, and well-stocked bars; and The Sunset and Mast Bars on deck 11 (as well as two other bars at each end of the pool area - deck 10). I was quite impressed with the liquor selection aboard; perhaps the best of any of my recent Celebrity cruises, including a good selection of mid and higher end bourbons, gins, and other whiskeys.
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| Atlantic off North Bimini - Shipwreck remains of The Gallant Lady in the foreground Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
I HAVE not been on a Solstice ship for some time, and probably won't again until February of 2027, when we are booked on the Eclipse, so I don't know what their complete smoking accomodations are these days. I know that my experiences on the Reflection and Equinox were very good. I really like the Sunset Bar setup on the Solstice ships, and that is where the primary cigar smoking is there. For the most part we have been on these ships in fair and warm weather, so things like wind, rain and cold haven't been an issue. On the Edge ships there are 3 very good cigar-friendly areas in different spots on the ship including one large area that is under cover. I had no real idea what to expect on the Summit. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Though unexpected by me, there are 3 smoking areas on the ship. All are at least partly under cover, though only one (the smallest and least comfortable on deck 10 near the pool) is completely under cover. The others are really just fine for warm weather cruising. One is on deck 11 on the port side immediately adjacent to the Mast Bar above the pool deck. It is a circular area with seating both in and out of the elements and is - interestingly - toward the front of the ship. The Mast Bar was well stocked and it was probably our most popular cigar smoking area. The third area is out on the deck just between the Martini Bar and Rendezvous Lounge on the Starboard side of deck 4. It is a small, L-shaped seating area, but when the sun was beating on the port side of the ship, a nice spot to get in some shade and have a smoke. Both the Martini Bar and Rendezvous are conveniently close by.
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| Bimini, Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
HAVING READ frequently on social media reports on some of the ships and cruises, I had rather low expectations for the food quality on board. We have (and continue to) had mixed experiences on all cruise ships we have been aboard, particularly since the Pandemic of 2019-2020 which we all know has drastically changed the industry. We did on board the Summit, too. But surprisingly little. I have to say that the food was better and more consistent than on my last couple Edge Class ships. We ate in the MDR 2 of the 5 nights and for breakfast 2 times and lunch on the final sea day. The food was very good. My wife and I ate in the buffet for dinner 2 times. That is way more than we would usually do - especially on such a short cruise, but it was just the way things fell. I was pretty satisfied with the quality - especially for a buffet. I would say that the times we ate lunch in there was equally good. Breakfast is - well - breakfast. In terms of quality. They are still serving powered scrambled eggs. That needs to stop industry-wide, in my opinion! Years back I looked forward to scrambled eggs, bacon and shredded hash browns in the buffet on all my cruises. Occasionally, I might break that up with eggs benedict. These days I go to the custom stations and get fried eggs, benedict, or omelets. It seems kind of silly for me to ask them to scramble them for me, but I suspect they would. On that point, I was again very pleasantly surprised that they had 4 different prepare to order egg stations on the Summit. Great plan!
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| Bimini, Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
BOARDING AND disembarking (both on boarding days and on shore stops) were handled with Celebrities usual efficiency. We had a later boarding time and wanted to leave early. We walked both on and off the ship with no wait or lines.
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| Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
I HAD a couple items to point out in the after-cruise survey, but there is one major issue we all had (and for some reason I cannot explain, I completely forgot to raise it in the survey - I need to figure out a way to go back in and point this issue out). Thinking about the demographics of most Celebrity Cruises, I would say the average passenger is between 50 - 70 years old. We still like to party but we are probably a bit more on the sedate side. With that, the live music in the atrium area and the poolside area is very nice - and very loud! Too loud. When we have to yell to have conversation sitting right next to someone one deck up from the pool deck and at the opposite end from the band, there is something wrong with that. When you have to yell to have conversation with staff in the guest relations desk, it is too loud. Way too loud. Programming people need to re-think their logistics. And production folks and bands: making it louder doesn't make it better. Just sayin.' 😏
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| Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
OVERALL, A good and fun cruise and - given the right itinerary and cost, we wouldn't hesitate to sail again on the Solstice.
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| Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
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