Summit Caribbean Review

Recently back from a wonderful week cruise on the beautiful Summit out of San Juan. Had initially booked a Sky Suite, but after final payment a Royal Suite guarantee opened up not outrageously more expensive than what we had paid for the Sky Suite; I noticed that all the Royals were booked but a Penthouse was open and jumped at the opportunity to upgrade. Within approximately an hour we were assigned the Penthouse and were ecstatic.

The Penthouse Suite on M-Class ships is truly remarkable. A massive balcony (extremely deep and half as wide as the ship) and huge living space, large bedroom, large master bath, kitchen, dressing room and even a second full bathroom. We took this vacation mainly to relax (only was off the ship for more than an hour in one port) and this was the perfect space for unwinding. Our butler Judas was amazing; definitely the best we've had. He seemed to anticipate our every need and was so pleasant to speak with and the perfect balance of being attentive but not at all intrusive. We had requested some specific beverages to be stocked in our refrigerator; they were there waiting for us when we arrived and it seemed like within hours of consuming anything Judas had replaced it. He also did an incredible job providing all sorts of food when we hosted a small sail-a-way party in our suite - going far above what we had requested.

We also took advantage of the Michael's Club perk and spent a lot of time there. Manuela was a wonderful concierge and Nadia was one of the best servers we have encountered on a ship. With a little notice they would stock wines or spirits not already there, so we had just about whatever we wanted beverage wise (and the venue was staffed from early in the day until around midnight). Met some amazing people in Michael's; started bonding with a group of people within minutes of boarding and we all hung out quite a bit throughout the cruise.

Was also impressed with Luminae. Gustavo was a top notch server, Ingrid (the sommelier) did wonderful wine pairings for us nightly and the Maitre D' (I unfortunately forgot his name - may have been something like Kassimir) was likewise outstanding. Only had to wait for a table once and it was because it was prime time (about 7:30) and we wanted a specific section. The food was noticeably better than the MDR and the ambiance much quieter and relaxed and service more attentive. Not quite up there with an upscale land based venue quality wise, but definitely very nice experience.

The rest of the dining venues were hit and miss. Service was atrocious the one night each we dined at Qsine and Tuscan Grille. For example at Tuscan our water glasses were empty for nearly half an hour at one point, after finishing my first glass of wine it took forever to flag someone down for a second - the bottle they poured the second glass from only had about two ounces remaining and they never returned with a fresh bottle to complete the poor, my steak (I opted for the up-charge USDA Prime dry aged porterhouse) was cooked far beyond my requested medium rare etc. Sushi on 5 had an abbreviated menu from what some have posted; the rolls were mostly good (whereas the buffet sushi of yesterday was super market quality this was run-of-the-mill land based sushi restaurant quality). The fish however was not of high enough quality to eat sashimi style IMHO. I am a fan of sake and was looking forward to trying a variety, but unfortunately they had very limited offerings; also whereas wine often improves with age sake loses its quality after several months and much of the sake was well past its peak. I did enjoy the fare at Aqua Spa cafe and ate there when I wanted something light. The Taste of Film at the outdoor rooftop theater was a lot of fun (really comfortable seating) and the movie (Chef) was outstanding, but the food mostly inedible (dry, overcooked, tough - I think they used the scraps that were of insufficient quality to serve in the dining room). Also had odd experience with room service; one morning ordered the up-charge smoked salmon omelette with Osetra caviar; the "caviar" was orange (likely tabiko which costs a tiny fraction of Osetra) and the salmon so salty it was inedible.

Had the privilege of sailing with both Captain Kate and Captain Alex (it was Captain Kate's turn, but she was presenting at a conference mid-cruise and Captain Alex replaces her for three nights). Captain Kate led the bridge tour herself (first time I've been on a Captain led bridge tour); I had been reading a lot on Cruise Critic about how personable she is and that is spot on; loved having the opportunity to meet her. The friendliness of her, the senior officers and the vast majority of the staff and crew really elevated the overall cruise experience.

The only port where we did an excursion was Barbados; did a sea turtle snorkel off a catamaran with El Tigre (http://www.eltigrecruises.com) and had a blast. Rest of the ports I slept in some and then just took a short walk in town. In St. Thomas Celebrity now docks at Crown Bay which is a bit further from town, so mainly stayed on the ship there other than stretching my legs.

Other than eating, drinking, resting and socializing at Michael's we partook in trivia at least once a day (managed to win most thanks to some really smart teammates), took in a straight edge shave at the spa (very nice), swam in the T-pool while the ship was in port and I virtually had it to myself and spent a little bit of time at the casino.

The second to last day I tried to use my remaining OBC to add some extra gratuities to my butler and room steward, but was told that was not permissible. I had known from Cruise Critic that this is commonly done, so figured I just had an unhelpful guest relations person, but later that day in Michael's Club two or three other people reported the same experience (one was Zenith and even after escalating to a supervisor still was told no). Not sure if this is a new fleet wide policy, or just something on Summit for now. Worked out well for my wife as she bought a diamond ring instead - which of course far exceeded the remaining OBC (so I am not a fan of the new policy)!

Another new thing was the butlers now serve tea and snacks in Michael's Club rather than bring it to the individual suites; apparently they will still do tea service to the suite upon request, but I was fine with having it in Michael's. Also the Captain's Club coupons are now loaded onto your seapass card. The only area where this is more cumbersome is with the match play coupons for the casino - they are a bit of a hassle to use under the new system.

All said this was a wonderful cruise; we were definitely spoiled all week long by the amazing staff and the luxurious suite. Our first full day back in Chicago we were hit with a couple inches of snow and very much wish we were still on board the Summit!

I am sure you did enjoy your cruise on a Penthouse Suite. Thanks for the review.

Glad to hear you had a nice time. Returning to the Summit in May to Bermuda! Can't wait!

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Thanks for the report. Unfortunate about not being able to use OBC for extra tips, wondering if that will start on RC too.

I don't believe one can ever use the OBC to tip a specific person. You can use the OBC to increase the daily gratuity amount which will be shared by everyone involved.

Fabulous review! In October, while on the Infinity in a Sky Suite I was able to allocate some of our OBC to our butler and wait staff in Luminae. This was done at Guest Services with a form they ask you fill out.

Marie