We just returned from a seven day cruise on the beautiful Summit December 12-19th, for it's first voyage in the Caribbean this season. This was our first Celebrity cruise, having sailed with Princess and Royal Caribbean this past year. We met up with 9 friends we met last year on a cruise.

We wanted to stay one night prior and post cruise in San Juan so I bid on Priceline and got the Marriott Stellaris Resort in Condado Beach for $95/night plus taxes. This price gets you a city view room and we had to pay $25 to upgrade to ocean view, but it was still worth the price and much cheaper than booking directly with the hotel. There were no resort fees added on at the end, maybe because I am a reward member. The Marriott is a beautiful property in an excellent location, with a great beach and pool area. Within walking distance is many great restaurants. We ate at Tiajuanas for dinner (Mexican), Hacienda for breakfast (great views on the beach and $7 breakfast), and Cafe Del Angel for Dinner on our return, all very good.

Embarkation: Since this was our first time on this ship, we decided to go straight to the ship after checking out of the hotel (we arrived around 11:20). There was a very short line and this moved very quickly. We were inside the waiting room and in the chairs within 10 minutes, but we had to wait until around 1:00 p.m. to actually board. Apparently they had to clear the ship through customs since they just got back in San Juan for the new itinerary. We booked a concierge class cabin on deck 7 and there was a different check-in line for concierge and suite passengers, that helped us get on the ship quicker. We had a bottle of wine in our carry on and were stopped twice while trying to get on the ship to have it inspected to make sure it was actually wine. Once onboard, we were given mimosas. Read more