Celebrity Summit - Canada & New England - July 18

[Atomica]

I really debated about whether to write a review of our recent cruise aboard Celebrity Summit to Canada & New England, but I decided to - mainly because I'd love to have some input from the very helpful members of this board: is this what the Celebrity experience is?

 

This was our first cruise aboard Celebrity, after numerous excellent cruises on Holland America, NCL, Princess, Cunard, and Celebrity's own parent company, Royal Caribbean. We have friends who've sailed Celebrity and told us what an excellent time we were in for. I spent months gathering useful information from the very friendly people on this board, and even complete strangers we met in NYC pre-cruise said Celebrity was 'the best of the best.' All of which re-affirmed to us that we'd made a good decision.

 

There had been a lot of debate on these boards over the condition of the Celebrity Summit, and the amounts of rust present. At the time, I dismissed those concerns as people being overly nitpicky; it's a ship, and there's going to be rust! Every ship I've been on has had a bit of the stuff.

 

From the outside, the ship looks amazing. The hull gleams white and navy blue, and all looks well. The upper decks are also in great shape overall, as is the promenade deck - when it's not closed for maintenance, which it was at various times during both sea days.

 

We had two balcony cabins on Deck 7, and while the cabins themselves were great, our balconies were appalling. The floors and railings were rusting heavily and looked as though they hadn't been cleaned in several years, a point re-enforced by the amount of hair and dead flies that littered the water gutter near the railing. The varnish on our railings were almost non-existent, and what little was left flaked off on my hands when I placed them on the rail. A quick glance down the side of the ship showed a similar level of neglect on balconies beside and below us.

 

 

I don't consider myself to be overly nitpicky, but for us, this really did detract from our balcony experience - simply because we'd never experienced it on any other ship or line. I've seen pictures of the Summit's balconies taken in 2008 and 2009, and they look tremendous. My question then, is: what happened?!

 

Maintenance continued to be an issue inside the ship (though the inside was much better kept than the outside.) Where's all the elevator buttons? Every second or third elevator seems to have some button pried off of it, or up/down lights that are burned out. A few even had buttons that simply didn't work.

 

The whole thing surprised me, considering I've heard so many people rave about Celebrity. Indeed, there's nothing truly wrong or unsafe about the ship, but it does look like a ship where the hotel staff are doing a bang-up job, and the deck maintenance staff are on strike.

 

Maintenance issues aside:

 

Stateroom:

 

Both staterooms were spotless inside, and I thought the chilled jug of water and ice in each room was a nice touch. Both rooms had ample storage space and a bathroom that was surprisingly well laid-out. It was also one of the quietest staterooms I've ever had: nothing creaked or groaned at all, which also applies to the entire ship: hardly any vibration or rattling can be felt or heard anywhere. Our cabin steward Derrick was excellent.

 

Entertainment:

 

Easily my favorite was the fantastic string quartet that played in the Cova Cafe. This became our favorite spot to have a cup of coffee or one of the excellent snacks, desserts and tapas and enjoy a game of cards while listening to the amazing music these four individuals performed.

 

I think it's also worth mentioning the fantastic cruise director, Rob Wheatley. He was out and about consistently, wishing everyone a good day or asking how they enjoyed their time ashore. He even came down and helped with tender operations in Bar Harbor, which I thought was great. You could tell he really cared about the job and his guests.

 

We saw one production show, as well as the comedian, Kevin Meaney. The production show was OK, and I didn't find Meaney to be all that funny, though many in the room seemed to enjoy him. Comedy, as with food, is a very personal thing I suppose!

 

Speaking of food, we ate at the late seating in the Cosmopolitan Dining Room and had fantastic service from Allan and Nikola. We had an excellent table for four right next to one of the starboard-side windows, which made for an elegant dining experience. Overall, we found most of the dishes to be good to very good, but were surprised that in some cases we enjoyed the appetizers and soups more than the main courses. The only meal we were truly disappointed in was the last night - it definitely was not up to par with the quality of food we'd enjoyed during the week.

 

One thing that I found odd was every night around five pm in the Waterfall Cafe, they carted off most of the chairs in the forward section and put them in a storage room behind the food stations. I have no idea why they would do that, of how long it has gone on for, but it happened routinely on the few nights I walked through looking for a pre-dinner piece of pizza.

 

We also purchased the Persian Garden package, and it was well worth the cost of admission. The large hydrotherapy pool on this ship is actually free of charge, but the Persian Garden includes the heated loungers and aromatherapy steam rooms, Turkish baths, and rain-forest style showers that are so relaxing. Of special note is the shower nearest the entrance, which features a refreshing mint scent.

 

We had excellent weather all cruise long (only one cloudy/rainy day in Saint John), and we found we enjoyed every port.

 

I'm not so sold on the Cape Liberty cruise terminal though. It seemed far less well laid-out than the Brooklyn terminal we've used in the past, and the taxi situation at disembarkation was a nightmare. They had one loudmouth guy in sweatpants barking orders at drivers and passengers with seemingly no regard as to what they had asked for - people who wanted taxis were taken to private shuttles, people who wanted shuttles were told to get in taxis. Incredibly stressful, poorly set up. Bit of advice: book a car service in advance and save yourself from becoming one of a crowd in the taxi/shuttle mob.

 

Other nice things: the cold towels upon returning to the ship in port were fantastic (it was HOT most of the time!), and a nice touch other lines could learn from. The glass of champagne upon embarkation was also a nice touch.

 

Don't get me wrong: we had a good cruise and a nice time, largely because we made it that way. But we felt the overall experience was barely above what you might find on NCL, and was a long, long way off from Royal Caribbean,Princess and HAL, which actually felt far more upscale and friendly. In fact, this is the first cruise in years that I haven't purchased a future cruise credit while onboard. Everything just seemed so...thrown together, almost as if this was a brand new line taking out a ship that had been laid-up for years on its first voyage.

 

It's also the first cruise I've ever taken where I felt as though I made a mistake in booking the Celebrity Summit.

 

I'm hoping some of the long-time Celebrity cruisers who are so helpful on this board can give their input. What was going on here? Is this typical of the Celebrity experience, or are these issues localized to the Summit?

[madelinerose]

Hi Aaron. I would have found your maintenance issues unacceptable.

 

[elena7seas]

Thank you for posting your thoughtful review. I am so sorry you didn't have a first class experience on the Summit. I am sad to think that Celebrity is letting maintenance issues slide on any of the M-class ships. We have always enjoyed sailing on them SO much.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to post. I know that Celebrity monitors the CC boards, and I hope they take note of your concerns.

 

Don't give up on Celebrity....give the Solstice Class ships a try! They offer a really wonderful cruising experience.

[flclsax]

I really debated about whether to write a review of our recent cruise aboard Celebrity Summit to Canada & New England, but I decided to - mainly because I'd love to have some input from the very helpful members of this board: is this what the Celebrity experience is?

 

This was our first cruise aboard Celebrity, after numerous excellent cruises on Holland America, NCL, Princess, Cunard, and Celebrity's own parent company, Royal Caribbean. We have friends who've sailed Celebrity and told us what an excellent time we were in for. I spent months gathering useful information from the very friendly people on this board, and even complete strangers we met in NYC pre-cruise said Celebrity was 'the best of the best.' All of which re-affirmed to us that we'd made a good decision.

 

There had been a lot of debate on these boards over the condition of the Celebrity Summit, and the amounts of rust present. At the time, I dismissed those concerns as people being overly nitpicky; it's a ship, and there's going to be rust! Every ship I've been on has had a bit of the stuff.

 

From the outside, the ship looks amazing. The hull gleams white and navy blue, and all looks well. The upper decks are also in great shape overall, as is the promenade deck - when it's not closed for maintenance, which it was at various times during both sea days.

 

We had two balcony cabins on Deck 7, and while the cabins themselves were great, our balconies were appalling. The floors and railings were rusting heavily and looked as though they hadn't been cleaned in several years, a point re-enforced by the amount of hair and dead flies that littered the water gutter near the railing. The varnish on our railings were almost non-existent, and what little was left flaked off on my hands when I placed them on the rail. A quick glance down the side of the ship showed a similar level of neglect on balconies beside and below us.

 

 

I don't consider myself to be overly nitpicky, but for us, this really did detract from our balcony experience - simply because we'd never experienced it on any other ship or line. I've seen pictures of the Summit's balconies taken in 2008 and 2009, and they look tremendous. My question then, is: what happened?!

 

Maintenance continued to be an issue inside the ship (though the inside was much better kept than the outside.) Where's all the elevator buttons? Every second or third elevator seems to have some button pried off of it, or up/down lights that are burned out. A few even had buttons that simply didn't work.

 

The whole thing surprised me, considering I've heard so many people rave about Celebrity. Indeed, there's nothing truly wrong or unsafe about the ship, but it does look like a ship where the hotel staff are doing a bang-up job, and the deck maintenance staff are on strike.

 

Maintenance issues aside:

 

Stateroom:

 

Both staterooms were spotless inside, and I thought the chilled jug of water and ice in each room was a nice touch. Both rooms had ample storage space and a bathroom that was surprisingly well laid-out. It was also one of the quietest staterooms I've ever had: nothing creaked or groaned at all, which also applies to the entire ship: hardly any vibration or rattling can be felt or heard anywhere. Our cabin steward Derrick was excellent.

 

Entertainment:

 

Easily my favorite was the fantastic string quartet that played in the Cova Cafe. This became our favorite spot to have a cup of coffee or one of the excellent snacks, desserts and tapas and enjoy a game of cards while listening to the amazing music these four individuals performed.

 

I think it's also worth mentioning the fantastic cruise director, Rob Wheatley. He was out and about consistently, wishing everyone a good day or asking how they enjoyed their time ashore. He even came down and helped with tender operations in Bar Harbor, which I thought was great. You could tell he really cared about the job and his guests.

 

We saw one production show, as well as the comedian, Kevin Meaney. The production show was OK, and I didn't find Meaney to be all that funny, though many in the room seemed to enjoy him. Comedy, as with food, is a very personal thing I suppose!

 

Speaking of food, we ate at the late seating in the Cosmopolitan Dining Room and had fantastic service from Allan and Nikola. We had an excellent table for four right next to one of the starboard-side windows, which made for an elegant dining experience. Overall, we found most of the dishes to be good to very good, but were surprised that in some cases we enjoyed the appetizers and soups more than the main courses. The only meal we were truly disappointed in was the last night - it definitely was not up to par with the quality of food we'd enjoyed during the week.

 

One thing that I found odd was every night around five pm in the Waterfall Cafe, they carted off most of the chairs in the forward section and put them in a storage room behind the food stations. I have no idea why they would do that, of how long it has gone on for, but it happened routinely on the few nights I walked through looking for a pre-dinner piece of pizza.

 

We also purchased the Persian Garden package, and it was well worth the cost of admission. The large hydrotherapy pool on this ship is actually free of charge, but the Persian Garden includes the heated loungers and aromatherapy steam rooms, Turkish baths, and rain-forest style showers that are so relaxing. Of special note is the shower nearest the entrance, which features a refreshing mint scent.

 

We had excellent weather all cruise long (only one cloudy/rainy day in Saint John), and we found we enjoyed every port.

 

I'm not so sold on the Cape Liberty cruise terminal though. It seemed far less well laid-out than the Brooklyn terminal we've used in the past, and the taxi situation at disembarkation was a nightmare. They had one loudmouth guy in sweatpants barking orders at drivers and passengers with seemingly no regard as to what they had asked for - people who wanted taxis were taken to private shuttles, people who wanted shuttles were told to get in taxis. Incredibly stressful, poorly set up. Bit of advice: book a car service in advance and save yourself from becoming one of a crowd in the taxi/shuttle mob.

 

Other nice things: the cold towels upon returning to the ship in port were fantastic (it was HOT most of the time!), and a nice touch other lines could learn from. The glass of champagne upon embarkation was also a nice touch.

 

Don't get me wrong: we had a good cruise and a nice time, largely because we made it that way. But we felt the overall experience was barely above what you might find on NCL, and was a long, long way off from Royal Caribbean,Princess and HAL, which actually felt far more upscale and friendly. In fact, this is the first cruise in years that I haven't purchased a future cruise credit while onboard. Everything just seemed so...thrown together, almost as if this was a brand new line taking out a ship that had been laid-up for years on its first voyage.

 

It's also the first cruise I've ever taken where I felt as though I made a mistake in booking the Celebrity Summit.

 

I'm hoping some of the long-time Celebrity cruisers who are so helpful on this board can give their input. What was going on here? Is this typical of the Celebrity experience, or are these issues localized to the Summit?

 

I was on this trip with you and being that it was my 8th trip with Celebrity I too felt it wasn't up to their normal, high quality standards. The ship was definitly in worse shape than when we were on it in June 09. I think with it going in for total referb they are just doing band aid work at this point. May not be the wisest move on their part if they are turning off first timers like yourself.

 

As far as the chairs go. They were taking them back and forth to the MDR to use at night. Apparently they are short on them up there probably due to breakage and with a referb coming they don't want to spend the money. My question though is with the Connie just getting an overhaul, there were no chairs left over that could have been used???

 

The crew was really good on this ship and did their best to make sure my vacation was first rate. I wish some of the guests have been more cordial to them and less demanding and demeaning but that seems to be the way some people are acting these days.

 

I hope you will give Celebrity another shot as I think this trip was not the norm for them. Email Celebrity and let them know your concerns as I did yesterday. They need this input.

[Terrier Girl]

As I mentioned in the earlier thread for this particular cruise...it was a good cruise, but certainly not up to all the Celebrity hoopla I've always heard and read. Food was average (to below, in several cases) and everything else was fine, but certainly not better than any NCL or Royal Caribbean cruise.

[Grumpy7]

We were on the July 4th cruise on the Summit. There is a thread about it somewhere further down. The entertainment, food, service,condition of ship, on our cruise was also lacking in several respects. After much discussion, we decided to let someone who is on the ship this week, to please give us a straightforward report.

 

Hopefully we will have that report by Monday.

[gracecarmo]

Aaron: what cabin did you have on deck 7? We are on deck 7 for our next cruise on the Summit, in Sept. I am just curious.

I guess there is no more Alternative restaurant on deck 10?

[hcat]

I would have asked to have the railing taken care of--they could do that easily in a day or two...and also have the other items cleaned up--very unsanitary..

 

overall sounds like the cruise was fine but the ship is showing signs of age-- we'll see in Sept. on our Bermuda crusise. It has to be improved in some ways now that the remnants of the cirque decor & rags are taken out of the nightclub area!!! (to those not familiar, when they were assoc with CDS they redid the lounge & made it into a nightmare with all sorts of white loungers & hanging rags & blocked out most of the sea view..!)

 

as to Cape Liberty, we will also have our first experience with that...for folks who just want the bus to their cars, how was that working out? What type of bus is that--someone has hinted it is a school bus?

[cruiserking]

It has to be improved in some ways now that the remnants of the cirque decor & rags are taken out of the nightclub area!!! (to those not familiar, when they were assoc with CDS they redid the lounge & made it into a nightmare with all sorts of white loungers & hanging rags & blocked out most of the sea view..!)

 

as to Cape Liberty, we will also have our first experience with that...for folks who just want the bus to their cars, how was that working out? What type of bus is that--someone has hinted it is a school bus?

 

Hcat,

 

Is that what that is in the Reflections Lounge. I keep looking at those pictures of the bar area with those strange sort of Christmas Lights and those odd bits of material hanging from the ceiling and wonder what they were thinking of. Still very excited to board the Summit in four weeks and change.

 

Gee, I assumed they were decent shuttle buses, school buses really? Oh well, it's only a five minute ride with a big ship on the other end. :D

 

Thanks for the review Aaron, look forward to seein your pictures.

 

Jonathan

[cruiseacecat]

Aaron: what cabin did you have on deck 7? We are on deck 7 for our next cruise on the Summit, in Sept. I am just curious.

I guess there is no more Alternative restaurant on deck 10?

I so missed the alternative restaurant. :( According to the hotel director, it was under utilized and the decisions regarding the others ships will be made on a ship by ship basis. He did seem to indicate that it may not be a final decision. Very sad to see this go.

 

Anne

[Atomica]

I would have asked to have the railing taken care of--they could do that easily in a day or two...and also have the other items cleaned up--very unsanitary..

 

overall sounds like the cruise was fine but the ship is showing signs of age-- we'll see in Sept. on our Bermuda crusise. It has to be improved in some ways now that the remnants of the cirque decor & rags are taken out of the nightclub area!!! (to those not familiar, when they were assoc with CDS they redid the lounge & made it into a nightmare with all sorts of white loungers & hanging rags & blocked out most of the sea view..!)

 

as to Cape Liberty, we will also have our first experience with that...for folks who just want the bus to their cars, how was that working out? What type of bus is that--someone has hinted it is a school bus?

 

I have heard that the lounge will be converted back to a normal public room when the ship is drydocked in 2012. The strange 'honecomb'-style ceiling is still there presently, but it actually didn't look too bad. Strange, but bad. Interestingly, the signage outside still refers to it as "The Bar at the Edge of the Earth"

[Atomica]

Aaron: what cabin did you have on deck 7? We are on deck 7 for our next cruise on the Summit, in Sept. I am just curious.

I guess there is no more Alternative restaurant on deck 10?

 

We were in 7080 and 7082. The size of the balcony in 7080 was fantastic, and gives you an excellent view down the length of the ship.

 

No alternative dining that I saw on Deck 10. I have heard that it's no longer offered as an option aboard Summit.

[Atomica]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I didn't think this was indicative of the Celebrity experience, and after reading some of the other posts on this board, a lot of the things I saw (like the removal of the chairs in the Waterfall cafe) make a bit more sense now.

 

I dislike writing negative reviews, but I do hope that the situation on the Summit is rectified soon.

 

Cruiserking, I should have a photo-album up with more ship pictures (most of which look much nicer than the one rust photo I've posted) later this week.

[hcat]

Hcat,

 

Is that what that is in the Reflections Lounge. I keep looking at those pictures of the bar area with those strange sort of Christmas Lights and those odd bits of material hanging from the ceiling and wonder what they were thinking of. Still very excited to board the Summit in four weeks and change.

 

Gee, I assumed they were decent shuttle buses, school buses really? Oh well, it's only a five minute ride with a big ship on the other end. :D

 

Thanks for the review Aaron, look forward to seein your pictures.

 

Jonathan

 

I am only asking about the busses b/c someone made a reference to it somewhere-- I don't want to start rumors-- I think I'll check over on the E Coast dep. Board if no one answers here!

[TBS]

Reading these post makes me uncomfortable as we have 2 cruises on Summit coming up. We really like the M class ships and never gave much thought to possibility the ship would be in poor repair. We are cruising end of August with 1)family members who have never cruised and 2) one who cruised "back in the day" when cruising was really special. I hope it is not as disappointing for them as I 'm starting to fear. I don't understand the need to move chairs.... that really doesn't fit the Celebrity image. Hopefully, my worrying is for naught.

Atomic, waiting for your pictures and hoping they can relieve my anxiety about the ship and our cruise.

[Gracie115]

I so missed the alternative restaurant. :( According to the hotel director, it was under utilized and the decisions regarding the others ships will be made on a ship by ship basis. He did seem to indicate that it may not be a final decision. Very sad to see this go.

 

Anne

 

 

What are you talking about? Have they closed the Normandie? When did this happen?:(:eek::(

[LustforLife]

Don't worry Normandie is still there. People are referring to the casual dining upstairs in the evenings. They still had it on my sailing, so it must be very recent.

 

Atomica, sorry your experience was not up to par. I hope you'll give them a second chance at some point (perhaps on a newer or refurbished ship). I've always had really good experiences. Our balcony was in fine condition July 4th on Summit. Did you let guest relations know? If you did and they did nothing, that's unacceptable. From my experiences, if you let them know they would have crew painting the metal and varnishing your handrails in no time. You probably would loose a day out there to let everything dry but that would be better than not enjoying it the entire cruise.

 

Hope next time is a better experience for you.

 

Cheers

Tammy

[Lois R]

What are you talking about? Have they closed the Normandie? When did this happen?:(:eek::(

 

Hi Gracie, they have NOT closed Normandie..they are talking about the

"alternative dining area" up on deck 10....(casual dining used to be

there for those who did not want to eat in the main dining room).

 

Normandie is still there:)

[mrstravel]

The buses are not really school buses. They are from Rutgers University, and they are fairly new, comfortable and clean, and by the way, it is a 1 minute ride tops!

[cruiseacecat]

What are you talking about? Have they closed the Normandie? When did this happen?:(:eek::(

Sorry if I gave you a panic attack. :eek: The Normandie is still very much there. The reference was to the casual dining on deck 10, which was such a great alternative.

 

Anne

[Atomica]

Atomica, sorry your experience was not up to par. I hope you'll give them a second chance at some point (perhaps on a newer or refurbished ship). I've always had really good experiences. Our balcony was in fine condition July 4th on Summit. Did you let guest relations know? If you did and they did nothing, that's unacceptable. From my experiences, if you let them know they would have crew painting the metal and varnishing your handrails in no time. You probably would loose a day out there to let everything dry but that would be better than not enjoying it the entire cruise.

 

Thanks Tammy - much appreciated. I'm very torn about giving Celebrity another shot - I'd really like to try the Solstice or Equinox, and part of me is sure it'd be great - but then part of me was sure Summit would be great too.

 

We did bring the condition of the balcony to their attention onboard, but we never really got a good answer. More of an embarrased shrug and a 'well see what we can do'. (hmmm....maybe that explains the mysterious "Happy Anniversary" cake that appeared in our room on the second-to-last night...despite the fact no one in our party was celebrating anything...)

 

I did notice halfway through the voyage that they painted over some of the rust on the underside of the Lido overhang, and there certainly seemed to be a huge amount of painting and washing going on as far as the tenders and lifeboats were concerned, but nothing balcony-wise.

 

TBS, I think you'll have a fine cruise. The ship, overall, is in good shape -and we certainly had a good time - but the hit-and-miss maintenance, the strange chair moving, lack of casual dining, and somewhat aloof staff felt odd. Perhaps if you know ahead of time, you can be pleasantly surprised when it (hopefully) doesn't happen.

[Atomica]

The buses are not really school buses. They are from Rutgers University, and they are fairly new, comfortable and clean, and by the way, it is a 1 minute ride tops!

 

Exactly - they're essentially newer-model city busses, not the yellow-style 'school bus'!

[roe2ship]

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts about the Summit. I don't think the elevator buttons will bother me BUT your balcony railing is awful. One pays good money for a balcony cabin and this can certainly affect the enjoyment. And what is worse is that you reported it and they did not do anything about it. I thought Celebrity leans close to being a premium line. Guess not if they let those type of maintenance issues sink. I don't understand why they have the Summit one of the last ships for a makeover.

 

Will you be posting a link to your album here?

[robertmartha]

Atomica

Thank you for your honest and fair assessment of the ship. We'll be boarding in a few weeks for the same cruise and have been reading all the reviews - both good and bad. Looking forward to your photos (thank you in advance). What was your impression of the spa package you purchased. With the pool being free - was it crowded and what about the rooms in the package. Have saied on many HAL ships and have purchased the similiar spa package and most times was the only one in the t-pool or on the heated loungers. Glad to hear the food was good - some reviews have really noted that the food was a huge disappointment. Looking forward to a relaxing cruise with my family so we can reconnect - with two teens we relish family time which is very rare with two working parents and very active teens - seems all we do all year long is pass each other coming and going! Hoping this sailing fits the bill.

[LustforLife]

Thanks Tammy - much appreciated. I'm very torn about giving Celebrity another shot - I'd really like to try the Solstice or Equinox, and part of me is sure it'd be great - but then part of me was sure Summit would be great too.

 

We did bring the condition of the balcony to their attention onboard, but we never really got a good answer. More of an embarrased shrug and a 'well see what we can do'. (hmmm....maybe that explains the mysterious "Happy Anniversary" cake that appeared in our room on the second-to-last night...despite the fact no one in our party was celebrating anything...)

 

I did notice halfway through the voyage that they painted over some of the rust on the underside of the Lido overhang, and there certainly seemed to be a huge amount of painting and washing going on as far as the tenders and lifeboats were concerned, but nothing balcony-wise.

 

TBS, I think you'll have a fine cruise. The ship, overall, is in good shape -and we certainly had a good time - but the hit-and-miss maintenance, the strange chair moving, lack of casual dining, and somewhat aloof staff felt odd. Perhaps if you know ahead of time, you can be pleasantly surprised when it (hopefully) doesn't happen.

 

Bummer. Hopefully you wrote it on the guest survey form at the end. They do read those.

Just curious...how did the food compare to the other lines? If you had to rate each line from best to least good food, how would they compare? I'm a foodie and it's a big part of my cruise experience.

 

Thanks!

Tammy