My two cents on Summit.

Just returned Sept 9 from a Bermuda cruise aboard Summit. Overall, a nice experience, esp since we were blessed with mostly good weather and seas. This was our 3rd Summit to Bermuda cruise (last was 2016) and 30+ cruise overall, mostly with Celebrity. I like the M-class. No stupid lawn that has no functionality other than to take up space for no reason. Easy and manageable to get around, and not so big that you need to pack a lunch to get to the other end (although I frequently picked up something just in case).

First, the good news: after reading some of the reviews, I was really concerned about the ship's condition. While it is true that it is showing signs of its age (rusting) which I assume will be addressed shortly upon its scheduled refurbishment, overallI found the ship to be in fine shape. Our cabin was clean and we had none of the plumbing issues others complained of. We loved that it was ice cold (DW is part polar bear, I believe); others might not have found it acceptable. I thought all of the public areas were well kept, so long as you didn't go looking too hard to find something to complain about, a trait many on these boards are incapable of. Nice stable ride - no vibration, even when we went thru a storm one evening. Our cabin was very quiet and kept clean by an affable hard working steward.

What I did find troubling, was that the ship seemed woefully understaffed to me. I was asked ONCE during the entire week by a poolside beverage server if I wanted something to drink. Long gone, I guess, are the days when you were constantly declining the "drink of the day" in a souvenir glass. I suppose that once you already have everyone's money (most passengers are on a beverage package), why push the drinks. Just the opposite: make them get up and wait in line to get one. Less personnel costs, less drinks served, same/more money. Sounds like a plan. Even in the specialty restaurants, the wait staff were assigned too many tables to serve. Service, although friendly, was painstakingly slow. We would get menus, then forgotten about for a half hour. Every dinner was 2.5+ hours. Not that that is a big issue, since relaxing meals were a fine luxury for us. But pity the passenger (not us) who wanted to get to a show (the Motown trio is great, the rest meh), or casino (way too crowded and also understaffed... half a craps table... one 3-card poker table) or whatever.

And try to find either a seat/table or someone to clean it at the buffet on a sea day. We ended up ordering room service for veranda dining at lunch if the dining room was closed. Too bad, because the buffet has good selection and quality. Be sure to go to both far ends of the buffet (what seems like the end isn't) ... there are good surprises to be found including a grill that will make you a minute (read either way) steak or chicken or salmon on the grill or fresh panini sandwich. The breakfast buffet is esp impressive... not just the usual.

Would we sail her again? Absolutely. I just hope that the refurb cures what ails her, and the bean counters come to realize that eventually even their most loyal customers will start looking elsewhere if they keep diluting what is supposed to be a more upscale product.

Excellent review on issues we’d all be interested in and impacts us.

Thanks!

Den

Thanks for your candid report. We've also noticed the reduced waiter bar service by the pool since the advent of drink packages on our recent Celebrity sailings. We like both the S class & M class Celebrity ships; with each having their strong points. We haven't sailed Summit in about 3 years, so can't speak to her present condition, but we are not ones who walk around taking up close photos of corners or even bathrooms either. I'm sure she'll look spiffy when she comes out of refurbishment next spring. I do get nervous when I hear that she won't be recognizable after her "revolution". Sounds to me like there will be areas which will be off limits to those in standard rooms, which if so, may mean it's time to move on. We do have our eye on one more Summit sailing before her dry dock, a 12 nighter out of San Juan, if only the cost comes somewhat back down to earth.

Thanks again, glad you enjoyed your cruise.

So glad you found it helpful.

I agree completely about the poolside bar service. It's gotten so I don't even expect it any more. I've accepted that I have to lower my expectations to the product that Celebrity now offers. I don't let it bother me.

Thank you for your review. We are sailing on the repo cruise on October 21. What class cabin did you have.

Doug

We also enjoy the Summit. Have sailed on her 8 times, mostly to Bermuda. We love Michael's club and if you can do it highly recommend a sky suite or better. Lumanie is also so much more enjoyable then the MDR. We did find that since the Adult pool was revamped, their are a lack of lounge chairs. It would be great, if more sun free areas were available on the ship. Our suite was in serious need of refurbishing, but I assume that all of the staterooms and suites will be redone at the next dry dock.

We found the service to be excellent from all of the employees. Enjoy your cruises.

Your comments regarding bar service at the pool and other locations is likely not Celebrity-specific. We have yet to sail Celebrity, but have found on our last Royal Caribbean and HAL cruises that the days of a roving drink server are gone.

The assessment that the drink package is to blame appears to be correct. No need to 'push' the alcohol - if anything, DON'T push it and increase the margin on the package sales.

We don't get the packages, have always paid by the drink. We did have a 'free' package through HAL once and while the tip was included, we always included an extra dollar or two in cash when the server returned with our first round. That sent the message that, you take care of us and we'll take care of you. Never had an issue with service once we did that.

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to our September 2019 Summit cruise.

We had no issues finding a seat at buffet , might have been there a slightly off peak times. We also loved micheals and luminae had a very small sky suite

I really appreciate you taking the time to post your thoughts. We will be boarding the Summit for two weeks on October 7.

Thank you for the review. Did you noticed if they had bucket of beer specials ?

Cruised the week before you did and found the exact same issues. The staff is clearly overworked due to the cutbacks and I agree regarding the drinks. If you don't get up and go to the bar no one comes to serve you. The tables in the buffet and at the sunset bar sat dirty for a long time before being cleaned. There is now only one Sommelier in Blu and she worked like crazy to keep everyone happy. The final straw was at the martini bar where we were served our drinks in some tired looking champagne glasses. Entertainment was also quite lame. Booked another cruise after the refurbishment so time will tell if there will be improvements to the service. This new President only wants to cut costs and does not seem to care about the quality of service.

On one cruise we were served drinks in the Solarium fo the first 38 days and service was fine. The next day no one came around. I seen servers walk by and never stop even though I called out to them. I seen a officer and asked about getting a drink. He said he would send someone over. They never came. I ended up going to the bar. That night in the WCB I seen the beverage manager and asked him about it. He said that people were complaining about being bothered by the servers asking if they wanted drinks so he decided not to have any servers there. I said then you should have put up a sign or a note in the newsletter that there wouldn’t be any service in the Solarium so people aren’t wasting their time waiting. His response was that he didn’t feel it necessary to tell the passenger about everything they will and won’t do. I said fine, that is why passengers give bad reviews about the service. They expect to have some and then there isn’t any. He said to write whatever I want but don’t let one instance affect your cruise. Too bad but it did when I gave the bar service a bad rating because of that.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Thanks for the review. Having been on the Summit just before you, I've been looking for reviews of those that cruised after us.

Given the crew to passenger ratio, it should not be difficult to track someone down. We never experienced that but we did have other observations related to the bars. Our dining experiences in Blu! and Tuscan were different. Our Waiter and Sommelier made regular and sometimes very frequent table visits. Both were friendly and professional so they intuitively knew when to keep the visit brief.

Did you ever stop by al Bacio? That was a hot spot for us...so I'd be interested in your experience there.

We were also on the Sept 9 sailing of the Summit. Yes, we also noted that Bar service did not exist at the pool area. We also had trouble getting service at the Martini Bar. Typically a favorite spot but this year, we just bypassed that venue. We agree with the assessment that this is probably the result of the Beverage Packages. In prior years, the Mast Bar was open on the pool side only. This year, they added lots of tables and chairs and opened up the back side of the Bar. This is possibly how they decided to handle the thirsty passengers.

We did notice things that had been changed since we cruised 8/2017.

First - we were in a Sky Suite. Our first invitation was to join the Officers for sail away on the Helipad. This was the first time we ever got that invite! The Captain rang a bell and waved to all of us from the Bridge. They quickly served drinks...but, the wait staff could not carry around trays filled with liquid after the ship sailed. It was a great experience! Our Suite was well maintained.

Last year we saw the renovations in the Solarium. They added tables chairs and a few sofa type pieces of furniture, removing the lounges from the one side of the Solarium. The sofas were claimed early and held for the entire day. Several of the tables/chairs were used for card/board games so if you wanted to eat at the Spa Cafe, you could have trouble finding a table.

We also found that the ship was a little worn in areas but the crew kept things clean.

We love the Summit. Nothing caused us to have a bad vacation experience. We would definitely cruise the Summit again. Cruising out of Bayonne is so much easier for us rather than flying to Florida.

We were also on the Sept 9 sailing of the Summit. Yes, we also noted that Bar service did not exist at the pool area. We also had trouble getting service at the Martini Bar. Typically a favorite spot but this year, we just bypassed that venue. We agree with the assessment that this is probably the result of the Beverage Packages. In prior years, the Mast Bar was open on the pool side only. This year, they added lots of tables and chairs and opened up the back side of the Bar. This is possibly how they decided to handle the thirsty passengers.

I do think that the drink packages adversely affects service. However, regarding the Martini Bar on the September 2nd Summit sailing, I don't think the drink package had anything to do with the bad service. This was my 5th Summit sailing this year and the Martini Bar was WAY OFF on this sailing. It appeared that the normal "team" of bartenders from Indonesia were not assigned to this bar. The head bartender at the Martini Bar was a fellow from Turkey who, in my opinion, had no idea how to run a bar effectively using teamwork. On the first night, this fellow was telling people at midnight to go to the Casino Bar to get a drink as he had run out of Grey Goose and Kettel One and ice. How can that even happen at a Martini Bar an hour before normal closing time? One night I needed more ice in my drink (not a martini) and I asked a bartender I knew from previous sailings if I could have more ice. They were out of ice but he went to the Casino Bar area and came back with a bucket of ice. And.....he got reprimanded for bringing more ice to the bar (because I think the guy wanted to close the bar early again). At that point in time the bar had quite a few people still there wanting drinks.

I think in the past that when they had the normal "team" working when things got crazy and hectic other bartenders from a slower venue (i.e., Rendezvous, Revelations, etc.) would hop on over to the Martini Bar for 15-20 minutes to help the team out......a true example of teamwork! But it appeared that none of the other bartenders on the ship wanted to help out this fellow from Turkey who, from what I could see, was NOT a team-oriented type person. Evidence of this was the "tip jar". Every single time I've sailed on Summit there was a "tip jar" at the end of the bar and all the bartenders put their tips into the jar to be shared evenly (which made it easier for the passenger to tip -- at the end of the week I would make my "donation" to one of the bartenders knowing that everyone would get a share of this money). Early in the week I noticed the tip bucket was not there so I asked one of the bartenders working there, who I knew from previous sailings, where the tip bucket was and was told that the bartender heading up this bar did not want to pool tips so each bartender kept whatever tips he was given.

Hopefully management on Summit will see the error of their ways and assign the "normal" team back to the Martini Bar. I'm sailing again next month so I'll see if there's any change at that time.

Hi, in spite of some minor flaws, we had a great cruise and met some very nice people. Bermuda is still one of the most beautiful Islands. This was our 6th time there and 4th on a Celebrity ship.

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. I enjoyed reading it.

Another possible reason for the staff shortage: they are starting to prepare to staff a new ship, and according to a senior crew member, the staffing will begin 6 weeks before the first cruise. Before that, many of the crew takes vacation. So if they are going to staff Edge with approximately 200 invited staff from the Summit around November 1, now is the time for crew shortage and turnover.

We have only been on three cruises. Two years ago on Summit. Last year on Summit. Both with Captain Kate. They were both fantastic experiences. This year we were on Silhouette. Not so nice. The service in the MDR was a disaster. The buffet was not great. Just no comparison to Summit.

Thanks for your review. We will be on next September for the first time. Excited about trying Celebrity.

We have only been on three cruises. Two years ago on Summit. Last year on Summit. Both with Captain Kate. They were both fantastic experiences. This year we were on Silhouette. Not so nice. The service in the MDR was a disaster. The buffet was not great. Just no comparison to Summit.

Sadly we just got off the Summit and it too has fallen off with service. Since they started with prepaid tips the staff has no incentive to go above and beyond and I question whether or not the tips are distributed fairly as I believe tips may now be linked to reviews.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have only been on three cruises. Two years ago on Summit. Last year on Summit. Both with Captain Kate. They were both fantastic experiences. This year we were on Silhouette. Not so nice. The service in the MDR was a disaster. The buffet was not great. Just no comparison to Summit.

We have been on eight summit cruises. Enjoyed all. However, the Silhouette is a much nicer ship . Love the Lawn grill and the lawn. So much bigger an nicer then the summit physically. We found the buffet on the Silhouette so much better then the summit. Loved the small different stations vs. long school cafeteria lines. Food and service great on the Silhouuette. Have sailed on her three times. If you are in a suite, the summit doesn't compare with the newer s class ships. Especially the Silhouette or the Reflection. Hope that our Edge cruies do not disappoint.

Thanks for the 2 cents.

Just returned Sept 9 from a Bermuda cruise aboard Summit. Overall, a nice experience, esp since we were blessed with mostly good weather and seas. This was our 3rd Summit to Bermuda cruise (last was 2016) and 30+ cruise overall, mostly with Celebrity. I like the M-class. No stupid lawn that has no functionality other than to take up space for no reason. Easy and manageable to get around, and not so big that you need to pack a lunch to get to the other end (although I frequently picked up something just in case).

 

First, the good news: after reading some of the reviews, I was really concerned about the ship's condition. While it is true that it is showing signs of its age (rusting) which I assume will be addressed shortly upon its scheduled refurbishment, overallI found the ship to be in fine shape. Our cabin was clean and we had none of the plumbing issues others complained of. We loved that it was ice cold (DW is part polar bear, I believe); others might not have found it acceptable. I thought all of the public areas were well kept, so long as you didn't go looking too hard to find something to complain about, a trait many on these boards are incapable of. Nice stable ride - no vibration, even when we went thru a storm one evening. Our cabin was very quiet and kept clean by an affable hard working steward.

 

What I did find troubling, was that the ship seemed woefully understaffed to me. I was asked ONCE during the entire week by a poolside beverage server if I wanted something to drink. Long gone, I guess, are the days when you were constantly declining the "drink of the day" in a souvenir glass. I suppose that once you already have everyone's money (most passengers are on a beverage package), why push the drinks. Just the opposite: make them get up and wait in line to get one. Less personnel costs, less drinks served, same/more money. Sounds like a plan. Even in the specialty restaurants, the wait staff were assigned too many tables to serve. Service, although friendly, was painstakingly slow. We would get menus, then forgotten about for a half hour. Every dinner was 2.5+ hours. Not that that is a big issue, since relaxing meals were a fine luxury for us. But pity the passenger (not us) who wanted to get to a show (the Motown trio is great, the rest meh), or casino (way too crowded and also understaffed... half a craps table... one 3-card poker table) or whatever.

 

And try to find either a seat/table or someone to clean it at the buffet on a sea day. We ended up ordering room service for veranda dining at lunch if the dining room was closed. Too bad, because the buffet has good selection and quality. Be sure to go to both far ends of the buffet (what seems like the end isn't) ... there are good surprises to be found including a grill that will make you a minute (read either way) steak or chicken or salmon on the grill or fresh panini sandwich. The breakfast buffet is esp impressive... not just the usual.

 

Would we sail her again? Absolutely. I just hope that the refurb cures what ails her, and the bean counters come to realize that eventually even their most loyal customers will start looking elsewhere if they keep diluting what is supposed to be a more upscale product.

We love the Summit .We always have great Wait service on the ship.