Concerned about bad reports of Summitt

[jfhtn]

We consider Celebrity "our cruiseline of choice". But we have heard the Summitt is not up to the standard we have come to expect. Not only in reviews but also first hand from friends who sailed last year. I am thinking of changing our booking. I realize some will pick at everything and anything. But, numerous complaints on food, service and even air conditioning have me wondering. Should I be concerned?

[Christine Frances]

We consider Celebrity "our cruiseline of choice". But we have heard the Summitt is not up to the standard we have come to expect. Not only in reviews but also first hand from friends who sailed last year. I am thinking of changing our booking. I realize some will pick at everything and anything. But, numerous complaints on food, service and even air conditioning have me wondering. Should I be concerned?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1883660

[Lois R]

We consider Celebrity "our cruiseline of choice". But we have heard the Summitt is not up to the standard we have come to expect. Not only in reviews but also first hand from friends who sailed last year. I am thinking of changing our booking. I realize some will pick at everything and anything. But, numerous complaints on food, service and even air conditioning have me wondering. Should I be concerned?

 

I am sailing her on Sunday and have no concerns. I have a good friend

who just sailed her (he just got home yesterday) and I got a wonderful

email saying how good the food, service and overall cruise was:)

This will be my 6th time sailing her and I can't wait:D...my most

recent cruise on her was back in November and I had a great time

then and plan to on this one as well.

Yes, I have read all kinds of reviews about every ship.....they

just don't deter me at all.......actually my biggest issues are?

They make me get off the ship at the end of the week!:eek:

[jfhtn]

Thanks. I feel better

[stellarose]

We did summit in July and loved it. It was our first celebrity cruise and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

No worries.

[riandei]

Sailed summit first time to bermuda in may

 

Group of 6 ... We all loved it

[gizvic]

We just got back yesterday and loved it! Wish I was still onboard!

[Rhayne]

We just got back on sunday. Our first cruise ever. We had a verandah stateroom. We had an amazing time and consider it possibly the best vacation we've ever been on. We already plan to book another cruise to bermuda on the Summit. We had no problems with service or A/C and the food all over the ship was beyond what we expect.

[happicruzer]

We also sailed The Summit earlier this month. I'm already planning another cruise to Bermuda on her next year.

 

Does she show her age here and there? Yes, if you look for issues (soft spots in the (sixth) floor were the worst) - you might find a worn carpet here or there. Nothing to be really concerned about as she is well maintained even having been at sea for many years.

 

If you want the bells and whistles of newer ships, then you need to book elsewhere; if you want a ship that gives you a great cruise, the Summit does so. The pool chair hogs were out but noticed we could have found a lounge chair most anywhere; just not adjacent to the pool.

 

The staff is great and very friendly. Maybe short handed, but that is a Celebrity cut back throughout the line. Noticed it in the MDR as we had Select Dining and there were no waiters available to show us to a table (this was 6PM) - the Maître D' was escorting everyone to a table. We were third in line and had a ten minute wait; no wonder the line grew and grew. (Big difference from the Allure - with extra staff, no wait.)

 

I was really surprised to see trays in the buffet area.

 

You mentioned air conditioning. Bermuda was hot; we didn't think to close the room curtains and the afternoon sun baked our cabin. Did take a while to cool down but we learned to close those curtains when not in the room. (Do the same at home or put in the window shade in the car to reduce heat.) Even ate in the dining room in the reported 'hot area' and we were fine.

 

Had good food, a great trip and enjoyed ourselves onboard. What more can one ask for while on vacation?

[jfer8580]

I was going to send you the thread to my review but I noticed that it is right there in the second post. We loved it, you will too!!! No worries!!

[kendon]

I still maintain that things are "off" on that ship. Mind you, my cruise was a year ago...however I completely agree with all the negative comments that I have been reading. Unfortunately, not much has improved over the past year. I believe that the B team was put to work on the Summit, and as a result, the experience was a great disappointment. There was an overwhelming feeling of inexperienced, overworked, and poorly trained staff...from housekeeping on up to food and beverage. Poor food and server errors in the dining room were beyond belief. The maitre'd was in damage control all week and I felt so sorry for him. Many areas of the ship were dirty and clearly neglected. These things were the talk of the ship...no kidding. I completed the questionaire on the last day of the cruise, and received a call at home regarding my negative comments. The customer service rep was seriously concerned about the number of negative comments they have been receiving. SO...it wasn't just me. There were/are problems on the Summit.

 

However, in my opinion, the entertainment was fantastic and looked forward to the shows every night.

 

As much as I would like to try a newer Celebrity ship in the future, I am a little apprehensive at this point.

[tbyrd79]

I have sailed the Summit twice in the last two years (honeymoon and babymoon) but unfortunately not this year. I love the ship. The service is impeccable and the food is second to none. I am not sure how high your standards are, but I doubt you will be disappointed.

 

I am new the board and I enjoy it here, but I think there is a real danger associated with the reviews. If you read a negative comment, human nature is to look for that negative when on the cruise... If you go in without expectations, chances are you will be pleasantly surprised. Just my two cents and I could be wrong.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

[DancerOT]

I was on Summit the last week in June and it was an absolutely wonderful time! The food in the dining room was very good and the service there was excellent as well (we had late seating). The only issues we had over the course of the week was that our stateroom attendant was not good. However, the higher ups (ie. Fabian and others) truly attempted to remedy the situation. Additionally, I felt the food in the buffet at lunch could have used a bit more variety. That being said, the entertainment was fantastic. The aerialists they currently have on board were superb and blew my mind with some of their partner work. Jordan Peterson, their current piano player, is also very good and was a lot of fun every time we saw him. The most amazing aspect of the cruise was actually just how friendly the crew was and how often so many of them went out of their way for you. One of the security guards (Anna) even assisted with moving lounge chairs to a place where my mom could access them.

 

Have a wonderful time on your cruise! You will truly enjoy it :)

[jgnova]

We have now been on Summit for 4 sailings - two to Bermuda in 2011 & 2012 - and for a B2B this past January from San Juan. Yes, we noticed some rust spots - and also on the almost new Silhouette in Feb 2012. The hostess for Select was better at dealing with people than anyone I have ever met - and I spent two decades in careers in marketing and sales. We had a waiter who served us on Mercury in 2010 and remembered us. I was walking up to the buffet one afternoon in January and was recognized by our cabin attendant from a Bermuda trip. No way have they staffed that ship with the bottom of their staff.

 

On the other hand, our sailing on the almost new Silhouette was the complete opposite. We had a cabin attendant who never learned (on a 12-night sailing) that we did not leave our cabin in the evening until dinner time - kept coming to make up the room while we were getting dressed - and took so long to deliver our room service dinner we had to call and demand that someone else bring it. Service in the MDR and Cellarmasters was poor.

 

Yes, the ship is older and there were some rust spots in the indoor pool, even after the Solsticizing dry dock. But they are constantly maintaining it - I noticed on the January sailing that they were removing the wooden rails around the pool to refinish them.

 

A lot of the service problems exist across the line - and are the result of staffing decisions made by corporate. But we still like Celebrity over the other lines - and the older ships over the new, despite some of the enhancements, if cutting back on cabin storage is an enhancement.

 

j

[Lois R]

I still maintain that things are "off" on that ship. Mind you, my cruise was a year ago...however I completely agree with all the negative comments that I have been reading. Unfortunately, not much has improved over the past year. I believe that the B team was put to work on the Summit, and as a result, the experience was a great disappointment. There was an overwhelming feeling of inexperienced, overworked, and poorly trained staff...from housekeeping on up to food and beverage. Poor food and server errors in the dining room were beyond belief. The maitre'd was in damage control all week and I felt so sorry for him. Many areas of the ship were dirty and clearly neglected. These things were the talk of the ship...no kidding. I completed the questionaire on the last day of the cruise, and received a call at home regarding my negative comments. The customer service rep was seriously concerned about the number of negative comments they have been receiving. SO...it wasn't just me. There were/are problems on the Summit.

 

However, in my opinion, the entertainment was fantastic and looked forward to the shows every night.

 

As much as I would like to try a newer Celebrity ship in the future, I am a little apprehensive at this point.

 

Sorry you had such a poor experience:eek:......I have a friend who

just returned home on Sunday night.....he emailed me and said the

ship/crew/staff/service/food were all terrific. He has sailed M class

and S class several times and he did not feel like they had their

"B" team on board.....

 

Each one of us has differenent experiences......I will be going on

Sunday......looking forward to sailing her again:D

[cherylroslyn]

Sorry you had such a poor experience:eek:......I have a friend who

just returned home on Sunday night.....he emailed me and said the

ship/crew/staff/service/food were all terrific. He has sailed M class

and S class several times and he did not feel like they had their

"B" team on board.....

 

Each one of us has differenent experiences......I will be going on

Sunday......looking forward to sailing her again:D

Lois have a great time on your cruise!!!!!! I bet you will!!!!!!!

[vplsh]

We have been on the Summit twice this year and have a third and fourth cruise on her booked already.

 

The crew is one of the best we have sailed with and the ship is wonderful. I agree with the others that have said if you look for signs of age you'll find some, but this is definitely not the B team!

 

You'll love the Summit!!

 

And Lois, have a great time!!! Say hi to TiAnne for me!

[jenniebnyc]

We had a lot of problems on Summit in January. So much so, we were given a $500 voucher to book another cruise. Other than our cabin (6145 - sky suite next to penthouse) the ship was clean and well maintained, that is, with the exception of oily bubbles floating in the corners of the thalasso pool, gross. Our cabin was not clean, our deck did not have foot rests or loungers, and we unfortunately had many other problems.

 

Our butler and stateroom attendant were inexperienced. Lots of yes ma'ams but no delivery.

 

Food in MDR was laughable. Dinner in BLU was good and sometimes very good, but staff was off here too. Dinner in Murano was very good and service wonderful. Qsine, meh, greasy and served cold. The indian food, the M app and desserts were the standouts. The buffet on the ship was hot and the food imo was terrible. I mean really terrible. We opted for grilled salmon in the Aqua Spa most days and since port intensive we were off the ship for lunch most days.

 

We would not return to the Summit, although the size of the ship is perfect and if you don't mind very average food overall (I have very high standards, but most on this board are fin with the food), the price is definitely right. The itinerary in January is also a very good one.

 

We decided to book Reflection for January. Just a regualar Aqua Cabin as we feel that the butler is sometimes just an annoyance and another person to tip. And paying the lower cost for the aq room instead of a suite might make us feel a bit better about "getting what we paid for".

 

Looking forward to The Porch and the Lawn restaurant. Not looking forward to no made to order salmon in Aqua; no mini sandwiches in Bacio!

[petesfamily]

I was on Summit the last week in June and it was an absolutely wonderful time! The food in the dining room was very good and the service there was excellent as well (we had late seating). The only issues we had over the course of the week was that our stateroom attendant was not good. However, the higher ups (ie. Fabian and others) truly attempted to remedy the situation. Additionally, I felt the food in the buffet at lunch could have used a bit more variety. That being said, the entertainment was fantastic. The aerialists they currently have on board were superb and blew my mind with some of their partner work. Jordan Peterson, their current piano player, is also very good and was a lot of fun every time we saw him. The most amazing aspect of the cruise was actually just how friendly the crew was and how often so many of them went out of their way for you. One of the security guards (Anna) even assisted with moving lounge chairs to a place where my mom could access them.

 

Have a wonderful time on your cruise! You will truly enjoy it :)

 

Glad you enjoyed our son, Jordan! We were on the Summit and loved it. It was our first cruise, so we had nothing to compare it to, but we had an amazing time. Sure, if you look for things to be wrong, old, etc...you will find them. Here is my published review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=223080

[miched]

We sailed the Summit to Bermuda last year with some friends. We were a little disappointed as it was our first time on a M class and we were expecting to to be like the S class since it was just updated. The whole experience was not the greatest and a lot was because of the other couple.

 

We sailed again on it to Bermuda this year and it was great. We went by ourselves and that in itself was a big improvement.

 

There are many factors that affect a cruise. Sometimes you have to read between the lines on why people didn't like it.

 

I don't think there is a thing to be concerned about.

 

.

[CPT Trips]

Glad you enjoyed our son, Jordan! We were on the Summit and loved it. It was our first cruise, so we had nothing to compare it to, but we had an amazing time. Sure, if you look for things to be wrong, old, etc...you will find them. Here is my published review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=223080

 

We cruise the repo in October. Will he still be aboard? I keep reading good reviews from people other than Mom and Dad :)

[petesfamily]

We cruise the repo in October. Will he still be aboard? I keep reading good reviews from people other than Mom and Dad :)

 

Ya, we are are good at shamelessly plugging him!! He is headed to the Celebrity Century in October until March. Hopefully we can get on the cruise to the Panama Canal with him during December.

[Lois R]

Cheryl and Lisa, thanks for the good wishes:) I love her and always

have great cruises. I am really sorry some of the folks have had less than

stellar experiences and did not have a good cruise.

 

Luckly for me? I always have a good time:D

[barbaragrace]

We were on the Summit on July 7 to Bermuda and had a GREAT time!

Don't worry - be happy - and enjoy! :)

[richsea]

 

........ I always have a good time:D

 

Much has to do with attitude, Lois. I've never had a bad cruise, although some were better than others, but they have all been good. We were on Summit at the end of March & had a great time. We're also booked B2B on her in January; in fact the 2nd half the same sailing as the OP.