squidward

Can anyone speak directly about CS 7138, or, better yet, does anyone have photos? This will be our first time in a CS and on the Summit - really looking forward to it! :)

I've stayed in a number of CS on Summit, including 7138, and they are all pretty much identical in terms of decor. The main difference is that the 38s have a balcony that opens towards the back of the ship, while the 40s open to the front. The advantage of opening to the back is less wind while sailing since the barrier between that balcony and the 40 balcony acts as a wind barrier. But it's nice to see where you are going, which is the advantage of the 40 rooms. Either one is great and the mid ship location is perfect.

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LOL. DH did come home from the 3/26 sailing with an eye patch. He developed an infected tear duct while on the cruise. He had to wear sunglasses at night and everyone thought he was some kind of poser but his eye was so hideous it was the only option until we got the patch. He asked the butler for a sewing kit and used the needle to drain the infection. It was gross beyond belief but we still loved the cruise!

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I sailed in a CS on the 3/26 Summit cruise, and the suite had not been redecorated. I did notice that the bathroom was newly caulked, and the wooden furniture seemed to be refinished. But the couch was the same piece of junk (sorry, I love, love, love the CS but the couch has got to go!).

The wood on our balcony was refinished, but the railing on the CS below us was in pretty bad shape, so I imagine it's one of those things they just do from time to time.

I would rebook it again in a heartbeat, though, since I adore the layout, abundant light, and location. Since most time is spent in the living room, it doesn't seem smaller than a RS, which is bigger mainly in the bedroom and dressing areas. I prefer the bathroom on the CS, which although smaller has a window that lets in sunlight from the floor to ceiling windows in the living room.

My sentiments exactly. I can find a half dozen or more excellent Italian restaurants within a 30 minute drive that serve meals far exceeding those served on any ship. The original specialty restaurants like the Olympic and Normandy offered something more in my opinion. I liked the classic menu, service and ambiance that just for an evening took us someplace special. But to me the new management seems to be increasing the number of different extra charge venues almost if not actually looking at the Royal Caribbean trend that started out as the best thing since sliced bread, DYNAMIC DINING, and has since had to undergo many changes as it was a nightmare for many passengers.

 

OMO

 

bosco

The new Tuscany Grille on Summit is more of a hybrid between a high-end steak house and an upscale Italian restaurant than a typical Italian restaurant. It's a completely different menu than the original TG's on the other X ships I've been on. For an additional uncharge, you could order prime cuts of steak that were some of the best steaks I've had anywhere, land or sea. I don't eat pasta, but it looked freshly made, which you don't always find. It was by far our favorite meal on the 3/26 sailing. If you like good steak, I would highly recommend it.

I was on Summit March 26 (with 2 little kids!) and I had a great cruise. I believe the only real *legitimate* complaint I've seen on these boards is related to the condition of the staterooms. They really are dated and bordering on becoming shabby. But the public areas are in excellent condition, with a few exceptions, and the crew is wonderful.

People can be hard to please, no matter what, and everyone has different priorities. But I've been on over 20 cruises with different lines and ships, and Summit is my all time favorite.

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In fairness, what just happened was a brief dry dock, not retrofit. The retrofit occurred when Summit was Solstice-ized a few years back.

I have sailed on Summit many times, including last week's sailing, and the public areas of the ship have never looked better IMHO.

The staterooms, with the exception of the RS and PS, haven't been refreshed in a long time and definitely are showing their age. I wonder if the OP's comments about the ship being worn refer to the staterooms? That I would agree with.

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Everything in life is subjective-food, marriage, the weather. You could be snowed in with no electricity and I could say well at least you have the change of seasons. I do hesitate to bring real opinions to these boards when people are so fast to defend their favorite line. We are builders/designers/architects who may happen to notice different things than someone else. These are of course opinions of my party of two with a good amount of experience in yachting. Ultimately only you can decide which things matter and make a difference; what you choose to spend your money on and where you want to save it. Celebrity is not a cheaply priced product and therefore you should get what you pay for. In retrospect, I should have saved thousands and procured a balcony cabin and picked through the food to find things I liked. For $2500 that may be a good option. For $6000 yes, I have higher expectations. Call me crazy.

Ouch. $6000 is a lot for a sky suite, even with the extras. We paid $1000 less and had a Celebrity Suite on the same saiking as you, plus we got $1000 OBC. The CS is a real suite with a separate bedroom and a living room with a dining table. It comes with extra attention and service from the butlers and concierge. My advice to you would be to shop around for a better deal next time and maybe you'll find X to be a better value.

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The price range you were quoted is laughable. Didn't Celebrity just roll out a press release about this concept with a $10 or $20 price point?

 

 

Can I ask which movie you watched and what was served during the filming? Was there lots of talking as servers explained what was being served each time a new dish was presented?

The movie was "The 100 Foot Journey," about an Indian immigrant family that opened an Indian restaurant across the street from a fancy French restaurant in France. The servers were very discrete. The dishes were tasty, but too small. We had to head to the pizza station in the Oceanview Cafe since we were still hungry after 7 courses. But it was fun and the movie was cute. I give X credit for trying something different.

OP, when were you last on Summit? You say you didn't notice any improvements since the dry dock, which is hard for me to fathom, since I sailed last year on Summit and I was on the 3/26 cruise with you and the improvements were obvious and myriad. The exterior of the ship was spotless and I must have missed the worn carpets, but I am sure there are some because it was a very short dry dock.

I do agree with you about Luminae. It was a huge dissapointment for us.

Sky suites are what they are, and they are as described in the brochure, which is why i think they are a poor value, except for the corner S1s on S class ships. Only CS and above get escorted as far as I know. We had a letter in our suite describing what was available at Michael's.

You can see my other comments in my post entitled Live from Summit 3/26.

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The original Celebrity Suites did not have a verandah. Verandahs were added during a major dry dock a fee years ago. So some floor plans and images show the original configuration but they are outdated. It's a fantastic suite, my favorite, because of the curved floor to ceiling windows and full dining table, with a separate bed room and a windowed bathroom.

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Some other improvements I noticed: All new furniture in casino. No more stale smoky smell! New tile work on exterior pool and hot tub surfaces. Solarium looked top to bottom new with nice new furniture.

No more metal baskets in buffet. I did feel as though the buffet workers underwent new customer service training as they were the most friendly staff I've ever encountered in the Oceanview. As always the Indian food was my favorite but I also enjoyed omelets each morning with much shorter lines.

Luminae was a disappointment for us. We were not impressed with the food at all and actually missed the MDR at times. They are understaffed so service is spotty. The chairs have low backs meaning you can't recline at all. The presentation of the food and the place settings were the only highlights for us. The sommelier was excellent as well.

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Thank you for your live report. I am also interested in hearing about the movie screen area if you went/are going there. Do you have to use wireless headsets to hear the movie or is the sound loud enough to hear without headsets? Any complaints about noise from those in the aft A1 Aqua Class cabins below the movie screen area or in the aft Oceanview Bar area? Is there a lot of foot traffic there?

Suite guests were invited for a special dinner and movie one night. They served a tasting menu that went along with the movie. It was a lot of fun and the food was tasty. It was plenty loud, no headsets required. During the day there were people hanging out watching the matinee but I don't think any food was served.

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to the OP; thanks for reporting.

Is the ''roof top '' area and accessories all in full operation ? How about the

''Tuscan Grill 2.0'' ? Is that now in full swing?

If you have a ''regular'' ( non-suites ) stateroom, did you observe some refurbishment having taken placee while in drydock?

Thanks again

Tuscan Grill 2.0 was awesome. A vast improvement over the original IMHO. For an additional up charge, they serve Morton"s level prime steaks, the best I've ever had on Celebrity. The decor was more modern and the service more formal than the original as well.

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to the OP; thanks for reporting.

Is the ''roof top '' area and accessories all in full operation ? How about the

''Tuscan Grill 2.0'' ? Is that now in full swing?

If you have a ''regular'' ( non-suites ) stateroom, did you observe some refurbishment having taken placee while in drydock?

Thanks again

There were movies shown but no other amenities that I saw.

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Did they take care of all the rust on the ship exterior?

I did not see any rust on the exterior. It appeared to be freshly painted.

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We are sailing on the Summit again this August and look forward too seeing the new decor on her. Have the sky suites been redecorated? Thanks for the information

We were in a Celebrity Suite and it was not redecorated. I think only RS and PS were redecorated.

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Sipping a Chopin martini on the recently dry docked Summit. The ship appears to be in tip top shape. Tuscany is gorgeous as is the refreshed solarium. Lots of new carpeting, furniture, and paint jobs everywhere. Bistro on 5 is still Bistro on 5 but with the older menu, no more steak. I've sailed on Summit since 2003 and she's never looked better. Wish I aged as well. ;)

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You can upgrade at any bar and they put on a sticker. I don't like the sticker, so last time after upgrading I bring it to guest service, when they're not crowded, and asked for a new card with Premium printed on it. Much nicer, but it probably only matters to me.:)

Love the Summit itinerary but for first cruise I'd pick Reflection out of Miami with the extra sea days. Three sea days will give you a chance to see what cruising (& really relaxing) is all about. Enjoy whichever one you choose

I love sea days, but they aren't nearly as relaxing as staying on the ship when in port and you have the ship to yourself. No one says you have to get off at every port! I usually try to skip at least one port so I can enjoy the peace and quiet of any empty ship.

The other problem with sea days and sailing from FL is potential for rough seas and/or high winds when crossing over into the Caribbean. A first time cruiser might be better off sailing from San Juan, where you are more likely to encounter smooth sailing for the entire cruise.

I may be biased - I am sailing on Summit this coming Saturday!:)

Thanks!

 

How small is small? Can't be smaller than Breakaway balconies even in a Haven H7? 30 something square feet and soo narrow!

Are the Celebrity suites much bigger on the inside vs. a sky suite?

 

Thanks again!

The CS balconies are narrow and curved. As I recall, they can't fit a recliner. The balconies on the Sky Suites are deeper and as I recall can fit a recliner.

BUT the interior of the CS is so much better than a Sky Suite. The SS is just a slightly larger regular balcony cabin with some nicer decor, while the CS is a real suite with a dining table, separate bedroom, larger bathroom with a window, and amazing floor-to-ceiling windows in the living area. They are my favorite cabins, I even prefer them overthe Royal Suites because the CS are so bright and airy while the RS rooms strike me as narrow and dark.

Hi, mbox. My husband and I will be sailing on this cruise with out two boys who are 6 and 3. Is this your first cruise? We've been on a ton of them, mostly on Celebrity. Sailing out of San Juan is the best. We plan on taking the boys to a different beach each day.:)

Ed

It's possible that TA'S have blocks of cabins reserved that include dining time. They will get released eventually unless a large group books. This is what a Future Cruise Consultant told me on board Summit last week. I was booking a year in advance and they couldn't assign dining for that reason.

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Sailing on Summit on 3/21. Made reservations for Normandie 2 months ago. This week I received an e-mail from X that my reservations had been cancelled. No explanation.:confused:

So I called X, and after lots of time on hold (customer rep was very polite and professional, BTW, but was as surprised as I was and had a hard time getting an answer) I was told that it had something to do with Luminae, which is being installed during our cruise, and that according to the record I'd be compensated in some way for the inconvenience (the rep said it said something about "RSVP" which made no sense either.) That's not important to me, but I am curious: what's going on?

Are they going to assign passengers Normandie to make up for the lost space in the MDR, using it as overflow?:confused:

There is also what's known as the All Access tour. It isn't free, but it's a small group tour of many off-limits areas of the ship, including the galley. At the end, you get a special private lunch in Blu with wine, hosted by a crew member. I think it was $150 a person. It's not always advertised so you have to ask at guest relations. I really enjoyed it!

Ed

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It was on Summit that I had the tartare in the Bistro. That was over a year ago and I had figured they'd roll out the new menu fleet-wide by now.