Review of Summit 7/10/2017

Sorry for a bit of a late review, but I figure better late then never! Me and my husband are in our mid 30's and took this cruise by ourselves, our 2 year old son stayed at home with his grandparents. We have been on Carnival, Princess, and NCL, this was our first trip on Celebrity. Prior to this cruise Princess was our favorite, but we have agreed that Celebrity has won out!!

Embarkation was amazingly fast. From the time we got to the port, dropped off our luggage, and parked the car, we were on the boat in like 40 minutes. We had drink in hand by 11:15 :).

We got an amazing deal on an aqua class cabin, with the drink package, and lots of on board credit, and with my persistence of constantly checking cabin availability we managed to reserve cabin 1133. It was wonderful, the balcony was huge, and we were not bothered by any noise. You could hear the music a bit at night but it did not bother either of us, and the outdoor movies above us was a non issue, we could not hear them at all. I would reserve this cabin again in a heartbeat!

I found the Summit to be in very good condition for her age, and I loved the size, nothing ever felt like it was a long walk to get too. We also did not find it to be overcrowded. Yes, at peak times the buffet could get crowded, and it could be difficult to find a chair near the pools on sea days but nothing excessive and we felt it was less crowded then other ships we have been on.

The food in the buffet was good, and I liked having the option of the pool grill as well. My husband really enjoyed the pizza. We mainly did the buffet for lunches. I would just grab a pastry and coffee from Al Baccio for breakfast .I LOVED Al Baccio. There were comfy chairs to sit at, and it was such a nice atmosphere. We had the classic drink package so all coffees except for the fancy alcoholic ones were included. I considered upgrading to the premium one but I am glad I did not. Everything I wanted and more was on the classic package. The only reason I think it would be worth upgrading is if you like a large wine selection and/or you like the fancy martinis. I do not have very sophisticated taste and really liked some of the wines I had on the classic

package.

For the first night we ate at Tuscan Grille. I asked if they were having any deals for the first night and they gave me half off! We LOVED it. Our waiter was fabulous. Everything tasted great and it was a lovely way to start off our vacation. We also ate at Qsine one night and that was a ton of fun. It is so much food, you will leave unbelievably full but the food is amazing. There is a ton of choices on the menu, it is hard to choose. The rest of the nights we ate in Blu, which we enjoyed. The food was good, but not as good as the specialty restaurants which is to be expected. Service in Blu was great. We rarely had to wait for a table, and if we did it was only a few minutes.

One thing that both me and my husband noticed on this cruise was that everyone, staff and passengers, seemed so friendly. Everywhere we went people would strike up a conversation, it was lovely. We made some great friends on board through cruise critic and had a blast with them! They were eating in Blu as well so we were able to get a larger table and eat dinner with them, it was great fun!

The shows were fun. We enjoyed both comedians, the second one was better then the first in our opinion. We went to one of the musical shows which was pretty good, and the magic show which was ok. We had a ton of fun in the casino using our on board credit. I liked the slots, my husband really liked the roulette. It was lovely that smoking was not allowed in the casino, as I am very allergic. I only smelled smoke twice while on was on the cruise and that was when I was walking directly by the small smoking area on the pool deck.

The 11th deck with the rooftop terrace was very nice, with comfy seating. We did watch one movie up there but the movie choices overall really did not interest us.

I bought the internet package before I left, for 140.00 on celebrity's website, and it was $190.00 on the cruise, so if you are going to get it, it is worth getting ahead of time. I was able to use the internet to call home or text and check on my son so that was a great relief. Service could be a bit spotty but it worked for what I needed it for!

I have got to run, but will be back later to finish up my review with what we did in Bermuda, let me know if you have any questions!

I have got to run, but will be back later to finish up my review with what we did in Bermuda, let me know if you have any questions!

You have a time machine? :D

I love Cafe Al Bacio too. Looking forward to reading what you did in Bermuda.

Great review! I totally agree with you about how friendly the crew are on the ship (not boat) :D. It was so refreshing how nice they were - even on the very last day. Glad you enjoyed it and hope there are more to come for you!

We were on the Summit in Feb and had the classic package. We were able to get any of the drinks in Cafe Al Bacio, including the alchohol ones...enjoyed many aspen coffees. Did they tell you that you couldn't get them with your classic package or did you just assume you couldn't? I hope they haven't changed that aspect of the Classic package...:eek:

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise, I know how hard it is to leave your little one at home while you vacation!

We were on the Summit in Feb and had the classic package. We were able to get any of the drinks in Cafe Al Bacio, including the alchohol ones...enjoyed many aspen coffees. Did they tell you that you couldn't get them with your classic package or did you just assume you couldn't? I hope they haven't changed that aspect of the Classic package...:eek:

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise, I know how hard it is to leave your little one at home while you vacation!

I didn't try to get the alcoholic coffee drinks, so it is very possible they are included. I was just under the assumption they were not based on what I have read on CC :)

OK, review continued...and just to clarify we did sail July, 10 2016 not 2017 LOL!

Our first day in Bermuda we really did not have any set plans. We got off the boat and saw the super fun looking mini golf course at the dock yards and gave it a try. Both my husband and I love mini golf so we were thrilled. It was a great course, each hole was modeled after a real PGA hole. It was beautiful and looked over the ocean up on a hill. Highly recommend it if you are mini golf lovers.

We then bought tokens and took the ferry to Hamilton. We walked around and looked in the shops. We then headed back to the ship for dinner. We decided not to do Harbor Nights. and enjoyed the peace and quiet, as most were off doing things.

The second day we had purchased a day pass at Coco Reef beach hotel. the pass was $69.00 a person and included a delicious lunch with a glass of wine. We had full use of the pool and beach at the resort. It was not crowded at all and we really enjoyed ourselves, The beach there is just beautiful! On the way there we took the ferry to Hamilton and then got a cab for the 15 minute ride to the resort. This worked out well. The people at the hotel told us that on the way back we should just take one of the public buses back the dockyard. That was a bad idea. We waited awhile for the bus, it finally came and was packed. Standing room only. The bus ride is long and curvy and very hard to stay standing the entire time, especially when you are short and can't reach the handles. I really regretted not doing the ferry/cab again. Other then that we had a great day.

The third day we rented a boat with 4 of our new friends!! I forget the name of the rental company we went through, but we took a short taxi ride there. We rented a 6 person motor boat and it was a blast. We found a great little swimming spot where we anchored the boat and jumped into the water. One word of advice though, if you do this, make sure you wear some sort of water proof shoe and do not touch any of the rocks. They are extremely sharp and three of us managed to cut ourselves. The wavy looking seaweed is not dangerous however, and do not grab the razor sharp rock to avoid touching the sea weed. We all learned this hard way :)

On our last sea day, we just took it easy, played in the casino a little bit and packed. In the evening we went to one of the music trivia games and had a really good time.

We did self disembarkation and it was super easy, we were off the ship and back to our car in no time at all. We could not have been happier with our vacation. In fact, I already have the same trip planned in June 2017 and I have convinced my Mom, Dad, Cousin, and sister to come!! They have not been on a cruise before and I cannot wait for them to experience it :)

Thanks for your review.