Live From The Decks Of The Summit B2B 4/19 & 4/26/14

[carlyshenk]

I love reading all your "From the deck of..." reviews and this one didn't disappoint! I always learn something new each time. Thanks for taking the time to do this!

 

Carol

[CruisingChick]

Had couple of emails this morning about not doing a wrap up so here goes.

 

First of all, I was on a ship for 15 nights so it was wonderful! Any time spent on a ship in the Caribbean is wonderful in my book!:D

 

Sure, there were some things that weren't exactly as I liked but all in all my cruise on Summit was great. There are obvious cut-backs in staff and crew. The only number anyone in my group got was a cut of less than 40 people ship wide. If that's all they were missing then those must have been very important people who gave lots of services to guests because we all felt the loss.

 

It's still Celebrity and I still feel the service is above and beyond other lines in this price range. But is it the Celebrity of a few years ago? No. The most it affected me personally was in food service and food quality. Still good but the food has lost a step, the service, two steps.

 

The (now Canyon Ranch) Spa from what I heard, has experienced a significant jump in prices. I remember you used to get, on a port day, a special of a facial and a massage for around $159 (doing that from memory so bear with me). On this cruise it was advertised as $99 EACH. Not sure how many used the spa but several people I knew who would normally partake as a treat passed it up.

 

More drinks consumed. I assume because of the drink packages but that thing with bar glasses was weird. A Martini in a wine glass must taste the same but it sure looked weird! Ditto for a Manhattan in a water glass!

 

Not so many bar servers by pool and bar servers are gone from MDR. Asst Waiter now has to fill that role. Leads to some glitches in service if drinks are ordered with and throughout the meal.

 

Activity staff seemed smaller to me. I sat in on progressive trivia and the questions were, to me, not very hard. It was one toward the end of the cruise and I knew 9 of the last 10 questions and I hardly ever play!

 

Service was quite good in the Elite Cocktail Lounge. It was busy but drinks and (very good canapes) were readily available.

 

Elite Breakfast some days had plenty of servers and some days two or three guys struggled to keep up.

 

Captain Leo and his officers were out and about on the ship interacting with passengers. He is one of my very favorite Captains. He's off now on vacation but will return in August.

 

CCH was very timid and unsure of herself on my first cruise but I did think she was better on the second. Maybe more time on the job will help. She is very sweet but young and in her previous job in Guest Relations had people coming to her for problem solving. She's still learning about approaching guests on her own and having a conversation.

I did think she did a GREAT job running the Normandie on disembarkation day. Made our day easier.

 

I think that's about all I remember but I'm washing clothes and rushing to get to my Mah Jong game. If I think of more, I'll post later. Just be sure you take from this that I really enjoyed my cruise. It was different but still the vacation for me! Celebrity has taken a step back in service but still fits me and my friends better than the others including Royal.

 

 

Bye For Now!

 

 

 

Thank you so much for posting this.

 

I am still not happy about the cut backs. I always felt the assistant waiters were over worked before they had to take drink orders. I can't even imagine how the are handling all this.

 

I also am not happy about the Elite Breakfast change. Hopefully they will change it back before I get on board in 20 days.

 

Glad you had a good time.

[bjinouno]

Great review and seems like you had a wonderful, sometimes relaxing time,,,,,,,Enjoyed following your daily activites. Can't wait for our First Celebrity (Summit) cruise in 20 days....

Sorry your last night and day lost that beautiful blue water and warm air! Welcome back to NJ... (NOT)

[Cancruz]

Welcome back, Gail!

 

As always, I enjoyed your adventures and entertainment. Thanks for the "heads-up," so that we can be prepared or pleasantly surprised on our next "X" cruise.

 

Looking forward to more jokes/stories when you catch up with your email. :D

[LuAnn]

I was just thinking about you and Cil and Roger and then found this "thread" this AM!!! Sounds like you had fun!! Hoping Cil is ok from her bump!! What do you all have planned next?? Would love to cruise with you all again...we had such fun!!!! We are home until September when we are taking Century to OZ...and then a Princess cruise to NZ....did the AZ T/A in late March...great cruise but I picked up the "cold from hell"!!! Email me, OK? LuAnn

[tuggers]

LuAnn, we were talking about you guys on this cruise and wondering where in the world you were! I thought I sent you a link to this thread. Sorry if you didn't get it! :eek:

[bilgeboyPa]

HI Gail,

You Mark, Randi, MIke and Ally made the cruise for us. I'm just sorry I missed the flying lobster tail :rolleyes:. Hope the stain came out.

Till next time. Keep in touch

 

Jeff And Kevin

[tuggers]

 

Summit 10/18 to 10/24/15 Day 4

St Maarten.

Today was really nice, weather wise. Very warm but with a slight breeze. I know this because I stepped outside before going to breakfast.

God help me, I’m going to gain 50 pounds on this trip. Not from lunch or dinner as you would expect, but from the breakfast!

I LOVE lox and bagels but the cold mini bagels are a turn off so I’ve taken to ordering other things. Like the pastry

platter (I think I’ve mentioned this) hot almond croissants.

regular croissants, chocolate croissants (which I give to

Cil) a muffin, a Danish, etc. Basically wonderful but oh how terrible if you eat it almost every morning. Along with a couple of Cappuccinos and a few Mimosas. How will I ever go back to coffee and cold cereal?

Terri and I went out and though we only went to the shops right outside the pier we walked quite a lot. Also stopped at the Guavaberry bar and had a Guavaberry Colada. They’re still great!

We were out about 2 hours but it wore us out. The heat and the walking just got to us. So we took the golf cart back, dropped our purchases and headed up to the buffet. I think I drank about half of one of those big bottles of water with my lunch.

After that I took a nap until time for the Senior Officers’ Cocktail Party. I had yet to meet Capt Kate and I was surprised at how tiny she is. Long dark hair and 6”, $1,000 heels. They were black pumps with red soles. If you don’t know what that means ask any woman. Hope she switches to loafers if we hit turbulence. J

Then it was time for dinner. We had such lovely tablemates that the food was kind of an afterthought. It was good but the laughs and conversation will stay with us long after this cruise. Wish I could have the same group every cruise!

I went back to the casino but wasn’t having any luck so came back to my cabin.

Bye For Now!