Celebrity’s Summit Veers Toward Hawaii, Canal

When ships reposition from Alaska to the Caribbean, some make a side trip to Hawaii for a couple of sailings before transiting the Panama Canal back to Florida. One of the prettiest of the big new ships offering Hawaii and canal cruises is the Summit from Celebrity Cruises, a line noted for outstanding cuisine and shipboard comfort.

The 1,950-passenger, 91,000-ton Summit, third in the line’s Millennium-class ships, made its debut in October and spent its maiden season cruising Alaska. On Sept. 16, the ship will sail from Vancouver, Canada, to Honolulu on an 11-night itinerary that includes five days at sea and visits to four popular island ports--Kailua-Kona, Hilo, Lahaina and Nawiliwili--before arriving in Honolulu Sept. 24.

The ship will depart from Honolulu the same day and will visit the same island ports as on the Sept. 16 itinerary before continuing across the Pacific to Ensenada, Mexico, arriving Oct. 4. (Ensenada is the disembarkation port for passengers, who will be taken by bus to San Diego.)

Passengers on the Panama Canal transit will sail from San Diego on Oct. 4 and visit Cabo San Lucas and Acapulco, Mexico; Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica; Cartagena, Colombia; and Oranjestad, Aruba, on the way to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where they arrive Oct. 18.

Some early-booking fares start as low as $1,199 per person, double occupancy, for an inside (windowless) double stateroom on the 10-night Vancouver-to-Hawaii sailing. Starting fares with early-booking discounts on the 11-night Hawaii-to-Ensenada cruise are $1,299 per person, double occupancy, and on the 14-night transcanal cruise from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale are $1,699 and higher per person, double occupancy.

The lowest-priced inside cabins measure 170 square feet, with two lower beds that can be combined into a queen-size bed, along with sitting area (some cabins offer a sofa bed as well), spacious closet and bathroom with shower. Some outside cabins also measure 170 square feet and open onto a 38-square-foot private veranda with lounge chairs and table. Prices for those begin at $2,399 with early-booking discounts.

Top-of-the-line suites range from 251 square feet with a 57-square-foot veranda to the penthouse suite, which measures 1,432 square feet with a 1,098-square-foot veranda. All suites come with computer, printer, Internet access and personalized stationery. Other perks include in-suite massages, a portrait sitting and free use of the spa’s thalassic therapy pool. A butler will deliver full breakfast, lunch and dinner at your request. Prices range from $2,899 to $15,599 per person, double. Optional air fare packages are available.

Nostalgia buffs will enjoy the classic Normandie Restaurant, decorated with period photographs of the 1935 ship that burned and sank in New York Harbor in 1942.

For a $25 surcharge, the elegant restaurant offers flawless service and a menu created by Michelin Guide three-star chef Michel Roux, who oversees the menus and food preparation for Celebrity. To dine in the Normandie, you’ll need reservations and dressy clothes. Men are expected to wear a jacket every night, or a suit and tie or tuxedo on formal nights. No children younger than 12 are permitted. A glass-walled demonstration kitchen enables diners to see some of the meal preparation.

The multilevel Cosmopolitan dining room, with its wall of windows facing the sea, is glamorous at breakfast, lunch or dinner. But breakfast and lunch, afternoon pizza and frozen yogurt, and late-night meals are available in the Waterfall Cafe for those who prefer a casual buffet. On deck, the Waterfall Grill serves hot dogs and hamburgers at lunchtime, and there’s 24-hour cabin service.

On the lower decks you’ll find a cinema and conference center, champagne bar, Michael’s Cigar Club, Fortunes Casino and Celebrity Online with 20 or so terminals for Internet connections. On the upper decks among the cabins is a two-deck reading library called Words and a separate two-deck music room called Notes.

The huge Elemis AquaSpa includes a spa pool with a retractable glass roof, a thalassic therapy center, a fitness center with floor-to-ceiling windows, treatment rooms that offer facials, four-hand massages (two therapists working in unison) and exotic beauty rituals. All-day spa and beauty packages can be ordered before sailing.

Entertainment aboard is splashy, thanks to the modern technical facilities in the three-deck theater and a company of 16 singers, dancers and entertainers who present two production shows a week as well as welcome-aboard and variety entertainment.

For a brochure, see a travel agent or contact Celebrity Cruises, (800) CELEBRITY (235-3274), www.celebritycruises.com.

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The authors have traveled as guests of the cruise lines.