Just off the Summit

[techgirl502]

We stayed in a 7th floor Veranda and did not do any specialty restaurants so I can't help you there but if anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them.

[JMC715]

Hi there !

 

What cabin were you in on deck 7 ? We have three booked for next summer to Bermuda (7159,7161,7163) and wonder how you found the condition to be ? Some posts on CC have mentioned some not so great bathroom conditions so I your recent info would help. Thanks !

 

Janet

[techgirl502]

7164.... I looked for problems because of the posts and found a few spots on the shower curtain and a little rust where you step in but nothing that caused me any issues or irritated me. I found the cabin to be in great condition and the bed and standard pillows were super comfortable.

[JMC715]

Hope you had a great trip. Welcome home !

[techgirl502]

Thanks, it was great

[KirkNC]

Welcome home, hope you had a good time.

[phoenix_dream]

Hi, just off the Summit as well, and as a long time Celebrity cruiser (this was our 23rd) wondered if you found some of the same issues we did. Not that I didn't have a good time, but several things I thought were way below our usual Celebrity experience. The first several days we thought everywhere you went on the ship the temperature was very, very warm. The buffet area was particularly uncomfortable we thought. We also thought the buffet was one of the worst we ever experienced - poorly maintained, beverage centers regularly running out of items, and so on. This resulted in people using the MDR for breakfast way more than usual, and initially caused issues with service and space in that section.

 

We felt the ship was extremely crowded compared to any of our other X cruises, and was likely due in part to the very large population of cruisers from Puerto Rico. Have nothing against Puerto Ricans at all- not my point - but there were many large families in rooms with 3-4 passengers which I think upped the overall total person count quite a bit. Was also a bit annoying to have every single announcement or introduction in both Spanish and English - they seemed to drag on forever. It also changed the ambiance of the ship from its usual quiet elegance to more 'boisterous' is one word I would use.

 

We thought the MDR food was good overall - not the best we have had but similar to other cruises. The entertainers were good.

 

I thought overall the ship was well-maintained. Our room was in decent shape except for the beds - the fold-out sofa in particular was not fit for a dog let alone a human. We got a thin egg crate mattress to cover it which helped a bit but overall it was really, really bad - worse than any other ship we have been on. We unfortunately had a poorly performing room steward (we called him "Mr. No" as that was his first response to every request). Eventually he asked his manager to speak with us and she was lovely and took care of our issues promptly and with very good customer service.

 

As I continue my rant, let me touch on the Captains Club host. We went to quite a few of the Elite events and I did not see him once, let alone have him meet and mingle with anyone. We missed a couple so he may have showed up there, but I was very surprised at his complete lack of attention to his passengers. Maybe I have been spoiled by some of the wonderful ones we have found on other cruises.

 

As one reads this one may come to a conclusion that I am one of the picky cruisers who are never satisfied with anything. Not true at all!! I love Celebrity and would not keep coming back so often if that was the case. I just found this cruise so unlike the usual Celebrity experience, as did other regular Celebrity cruisers I spoke with. Did we have a good time? Absolutely!! And there was alot to like. But people who were taking this cruise for the first time on Celebrity would definitely not be impressed IMHO. I hope this was an anomoly, as we have taken this route before and it is one of our favorites (in fact we took this same trip last year on Summit and loved it!).

[jsf]

We were on the Summit twice last year(Southern and Bermuda) and found many of the things you did. I thought the buffet was very lacking and the drink stations were very often empty. I found the ports were great and overall the cruise was wonderful but a lot of the small pleasures were missing.

J.

[Nole0202]

Hi, just off the Summit as well, and as a long time Celebrity cruiser (this was our 23rd) wondered if you found some of the same issues we did. Not that I didn't have a good time, but several things I thought were way below our usual Celebrity experience. The first several days we thought everywhere you went on the ship the temperature was very, very warm. The buffet area was particularly uncomfortable we thought. We also thought the buffet was one of the worst we ever experienced - poorly maintained, beverage centers regularly running out of items, and so on. This resulted in people using the MDR for breakfast way more than usual, and initially caused issues with service and space in that section.

 

We felt the ship was extremely crowded compared to any of our other X cruises, and was likely due in part to the very large population of cruisers from Puerto Rico. Have nothing against Puerto Ricans at all- not my point - but there were many large families in rooms with 3-4 passengers which I think upped the overall total person count quite a bit. Was also a bit annoying to have every single announcement or introduction in both Spanish and English - they seemed to drag on forever. It also changed the ambiance of the ship from its usual quiet elegance to more 'boisterous' is one word I would use.

 

We thought the MDR food was good overall - not the best we have had but similar to other cruises. The entertainers were good.

 

I thought overall the ship was well-maintained. Our room was in decent shape except for the beds - the fold-out sofa in particular was not fit for a dog let alone a human. We got a thin egg crate mattress to cover it which helped a bit but overall it was really, really bad - worse than any other ship we have been on. We unfortunately had a poorly performing room steward (we called him "Mr. No" as that was his first response to every request). Eventually he asked his manager to speak with us and she was lovely and took care of our issues promptly and with very good customer service.

 

As I continue my rant, let me touch on the Captains Club host. We went to quite a few of the Elite events and I did not see him once, let alone have him meet and mingle with anyone. We missed a couple so he may have showed up there, but I was very surprised at his complete lack of attention to his passengers. Maybe I have been spoiled by some of the wonderful ones we have found on other cruises.

 

As one reads this one may come to a conclusion that I am one of the picky cruisers who are never satisfied with anything. Not true at all!! I love Celebrity and would not keep coming back so often if that was the case. I just found this cruise so unlike the usual Celebrity experience, as did other regular Celebrity cruisers I spoke with. Did we have a good time? Absolutely!! And there was alot to like. But people who were taking this cruise for the first time on Celebrity would definitely not be impressed IMHO. I hope this was an anomoly, as we have taken this route before and it is one of our favorites (in fact we took this same trip last year on Summit and loved it!).

 

Let's all hope you enjoy your next vacation....

[terrigonz]

I have to agree i too just returned from summit wk of 24th. The buffet was the worst! This was my 4th celebrity cruise i had taken, besides the buffet lacking service and quality of food the lines to get food was long and people where cutting in front of another. The beverage station was not up and running like it should of been especially in the morning coffee rush hour. Sorry Celebrity! there is some improvement needed. Also try and work on the entertainment it was good but not as good as the other Celeb ships

[tserface]

I'm pretty sure he said he "absolutely" had a good time. That sounds like they enjoyed toe vacation to me :rolleyes:

 

Tom

 

Let's all hope you enjoy your next vacation....

[debsea]

A large group of us will be boarding on December 8th. Any reports on the party band in Reflections lounge? We are three generations who are not wild, but like to dance to good live music. A couple of years ago, the band on the Millennium was fabulous - kept the dance floor full with pax of all ages.

 

Thx

[debsea]

Sorry, I meant the Revelations Lounge, not Reflections. The photos after the Refurb look really lovely, and we are hoping it will be a lively spot to spend our late evenings.

[techgirl502]

Hi, just off the Summit as well, and as a long time Celebrity cruiser (this was our 23rd) wondered if you found some of the same issues we did. Not that I didn't have a good time, but several things I thought were way below our usual Celebrity experience. The first several days we thought everywhere you went on the ship the temperature was very, very warm. The buffet area was particularly uncomfortable we thought. We also thought the buffet was one of the worst we ever experienced - poorly maintained, beverage centers regularly running out of items, and so on. This resulted in people using the MDR for breakfast way more than usual, and initially caused issues with service and space in that section.

 

We felt the ship was extremely crowded compared to any of our other X cruises, and was likely due in part to the very large population of cruisers from Puerto Rico. Have nothing against Puerto Ricans at all- not my point - but there were many large families in rooms with 3-4 passengers which I think upped the overall total person count quite a bit. Was also a bit annoying to have every single announcement or introduction in both Spanish and English - they seemed to drag on forever. It also changed the ambiance of the ship from its usual quiet elegance to more 'boisterous' is one word I would use.

 

We thought the MDR food was good overall - not the best we have had but similar to other cruises. The entertainers were good.

 

I thought overall the ship was well-maintained. Our room was in decent shape except for the beds - the fold-out sofa in particular was not fit for a dog let alone a human. We got a thin egg crate mattress to cover it which helped a bit but overall it was really, really bad - worse than any other ship we have been on. We unfortunately had a poorly performing room steward (we called him "Mr. No" as that was his first response to every request). Eventually he asked his manager to speak with us and she was lovely and took care of our issues promptly and with very good customer service.

 

As I continue my rant, let me touch on the Captains Club host. We went to quite a few of the Elite events and I did not see him once, let alone have him meet and mingle with anyone. We missed a couple so he may have showed up there, but I was very surprised at his complete lack of attention to his passengers. Maybe I have been spoiled by some of the wonderful ones we have found on other cruises.

 

As one reads this one may come to a conclusion that I am one of the picky cruisers who are never satisfied with anything. Not true at all!! I love Celebrity and would not keep coming back so often if that was the case. I just found this cruise so unlike the usual Celebrity experience, as did other regular Celebrity cruisers I spoke with. Did we have a good time? Absolutely!! And there was alot to like. But people who were taking this cruise for the first time on Celebrity would definitely not be impressed IMHO. I hope this was an anomoly, as we have taken this route before and it is one of our favorites (in fact we took this same trip last year on Summit and loved it!).

 

I didn't notice the ship being warm at all, but I just read your write up to my husband and he did agree the buffet was warm at times - not uncomfortable enough for him to mention it but he did say the buffet area was warm.

 

Issues we found frustrating in the buffet were the constant lack of ice at the beverage stations. That was consistent all week. We also witnessed several incidents where the people behind the buffet lines seemed to be a tad untrained in their duties and also did not seem to care when things were empty. We also saw several chefs and management correcting them so that was good to see but needs to be corrected asap.

 

I have no complaints about our room. It was super clean, our room steward was great, never had to ask for anything. The only thing that was a tad strange was that a lot of things that could have been tucked outside our door behind our cabin number or left at night when he came in for turn down, he would instead do a quick knock, enter our room, and hand deliver them to us. That made for several awkward moments when one time we were napping and two other times I was changing.

 

I did not find the ship crowded but this was only my 2nd sailing and Alaska was definitely more crowded then this.

 

We only got invited to one Captain's Club event saw the host when we entered and when he spoke. I don't have other experiences to compare it to so I was ok with his presence.

 

The English and Spanish for every announcement was a bit annoying but I think it goes hand in hand with leaving out of PR. It is what it is.

[Bailey & Sophie]

"The English and Spanish for every announcement was a bit annoying but I think it goes hand in hand with leaving out of PR. It is what it is. "

 

I remember hearing announcements in English, Spanish, French and German. Am I wrong?

[techgirl502]

Ummmm on this past cruise or a different one?

[phoenix_dream]

Let's all hope you enjoy your next vacation....

I definitely enjoyed this one. But at the same time, it was absolutely not on a par with our other Celebrity experiences. That is the point I was trying to get across. I would never let a few inconveniences ruin an overall good time. Apparently quite a number of other regular Celebrity cruisers have had similar issues/concerns (including many I spoke with on our cruise) so I hope Celebrity pays attention to the feedback. When I first read the bad reviews I was skeptical as often one or two small issues can color an entire experience for some and cause them to be more negative than is warranted. Having just experienced the cruise myself, I owe them an apology. I'll take a less than stellar Celebrity cruise any day over a day at work, but while enjoyable this one was just not up to par.

[huskerc]

Absolutely agree about the temperature on the most recent sailing. Very warm all around the ship, but by far worst in the buffet. What I noticed was that every area seemed to be warmer in port. Does the ship maybe go into a different power usage model in port? Once we were back at sea the temperature always seemed fine. Of course this often corresponded with the sun going down, so that could be the case as well.

 

I thought the MDR food was lacking, to the point that we have booked our next cruise (2/17/2013) in Aqua to give Blu a try. Blu got rave reviews from everyone on this cruise that I talked to. By contrast, one night in the MDR we had two servings of chicken saltimbocca that were just dry and awful. The everyday menu seems to have been pared down quite a bit from what we saw on the Millennium earlier this year as well.

 

It wasn't a bad cruise by any means but there were certainly some disappointments.

[Sandy1975]

Please let me know what you did at each port. I am sailing soon and would like to know some ideas.

[stellarose]

Getting excited for summitt Bermuda summer 2013

[techgirl502]

Please let me know what you did at each port. I am sailing soon and would like to know some ideas.

 

San Juan - took a tour of San Juan and Old San Juan as well as a visitor to Bacardi with Countryside Tours

 

St Croix - took a $25 tour right from the Pier. Saw a lot of the island and had shopping time in Christansted. I wanted to go to Cruzan Rum but they are closed on Sundays

 

St. Kitts - did the scenic Railroad tour thru Celebrity

 

Dominica - tour with Exodus Tours, saw te Emerald Pool, Jacko falls, Mr. nice Fruit Stand, island tour, tc. Super awesome day.

 

Greneda - Around the Isle of Spice tour thru Celebrity

 

St. Thomas - tour w/ Godfrey tours which included an island tour, shopping in Charlotte Amalie, and beach time at Coki Beach (Magens Bay and Coral Ocean World are also options)

 

San Juan - El Yunque rainforest hike w/ airport dropoff

[calliebear99]

I was on the Summit over Thanksgiving (just posted my review, so please check it out). I 100% agree the buffet was so hot!!! I found that one side of the ship was better than the other, but it was still warm. I don't know if the A/C was broken or what...but it was super uncomfortable.

 

Yes, I agree mucho Spanish. And also the entertainment was geared toward Latin dance music including singing in all Spanish as well. And yes, huge families who would just let their kids wander/run around and it was my job to watch out for them because if I walked or backed into them it was my fault. But I went out of San Juan before and it was the same thing that time. I think they offer good deals to locals and they bring extended families. And for some reason when big groups travel together they seem to forget that other people are there as well. They push you out of the way, scream loudly over you, take over a space you were already in, treat the MDR like it is their kitchen table at home, etc.

 

Overall I enjoyed the cruise. I just wanted to agree with you!

[SSFrance69]

We were on the Summit in August 12 and the temperature of the ship was fine until we docked in Bermuda. Once there it was so hot all over the ship that it made it uncomfortable to just sit around. I wonder if there is something wrong with the AC system on this ship. We are supposed to go again this Summer but I'm having second thoughts after reading about other people's experience with the seemingly faulty AC. I don't want to experience that again...

[phoenix_dream]

I was on the Summit over Thanksgiving (just posted my review, so please check it out). I 100% agree the buffet was so hot!!! I found that one side of the ship was better than the other, but it was still warm. I don't know if the A/C was broken or what...but it was super uncomfortable.

 

Yes, I agree mucho Spanish. And also the entertainment was geared toward Latin dance music including singing in all Spanish as well. And yes, huge families who would just let their kids wander/run around and it was my job to watch out for them because if I walked or backed into them it was my fault. But I went out of San Juan before and it was the same thing that time. I think they offer good deals to locals and they bring extended families. And for some reason when big groups travel together they seem to forget that other people are there as well. They push you out of the way, scream loudly over you, take over a space you were already in, treat the MDR like it is their kitchen table at home, etc.

 

Overall I enjoyed the cruise. I just wanted to agree with you!

Thanks for your input. So often regular posters read feedback like I provided and incorrectly assume the author is exaggerating, difficult to please, etc., etc.. Not the case. Enjoyed the cruise overall but it was definitely closer to a Carnival experience (not there, but closer) than the usual Celebrity experience.

[BounceWalker]

I'm getting excited for Summit next November. Thanks for the comments, everyone. It will be our first time on Celebrity, but I've cruised enough to know that nothing is ever perfect. Regardless, because we're taking this trip as an 18-month-overdue honeymoon, I predict we'll have lots of room service so that we can enjoy our CC aft cabin/huge deck and skip the buffet with its crowds. :D

 

Rebeccah