June 15th Summit Bermuda Cruise

[Beachdude]

WE HAD A GREAT TRIP. Weather was perfect, calm seas mild sunny temperatures all the way to Bermuda. Lovely calm sunny days while in Bermuda, and even calmer seas on the last sea day back.

 

This was our first Bermuda trip and it won’t be our last. The island is beautiful with beaches 2nd only to Hawaii. And there are no friendlier people I've ever met, they are always the first to greet you and will have the last word of “have a great day”. Just wonderful people. The example I like to give to show their natural friendliness is the flag man controlling traffic on some road repair who yelled “Good Morning” to all the traffic as they passed him. Really makes you feel welcome if not at home.

 

Sally and I have cruised four different cruise lines in the last 17 years on about 20 cruises. So my comments of the Summit are in comparison of other cruises and cruise lines, not Celebrity itself. While most opinions are subjective and I understand that draws some folks’ ire, I don’t see how to be credible without having different perspectives. So here goes on the Summit.

 

The Summit is a beautiful ship inside and just the right size for us. I am a man who enjoys the elegant lines of our creativity in art, building, cars, planes, and ships. The outside of the Summit is not elegant, but it makes up for it on the inside. I love the beautiful dinning room window that makes you feel close to the outside. I can certainly see why the Summit is a favorite among many cruisers, it probably is mine now.

 

We had the Sky Suite 6145 and it was beautiful. It had ample dark cherry wood trim, which I understand is a benefit of being connected (by a door) to the suite next door, but not typical of Sky Suites. The bathroom is huge with a tub, again I’m told another benefit of the connecting suite and not typical of a Sky Suite. The balcony is large enough to comfortably hold two chairs with a small table (where we ate breakfast about every morning) and two lounge chairs. The whole balcony is covered with canvas type of cover, which I liked better than the typical steel ceilings of most ships. However, if you like total privacy, this suite also has the emergency ladder from Deck 6 to deck 10 with a emergency exit hole in the canvas cover that allows visual access from many rooms above the suite. Sally and I have cruised in several different suites on Princess, Carnival, and Solstice and we like this one the best. The only minor comment of this suite is the door to the connecting suite. The rooms on the ship have good sound insulation, but the connecting door doesn't provide the same inslation to the other suite (which has a lovely baby grand piano near the door).

 

As for the cabin servicing, well you would expect great service with a suite and are our butler, Jose, was outstanding. Our butler on Solstice in comparision was not very good, but Jose made up and much more with his very attentive service to our room. He seem to read Sally's mind before she knew what she wanted. I wish I could do that.

 

OK, the food. Sally and I had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room and we don’t think the food taste or service is anything special over other ships or cruise lines. We were in no hurry, but lunch took us an hour and a half. So if you have plans to be somewhere and only have an hour for lunch, we don’t advise the dining room. We ate breakfast and lunch in the buffet and would rather not choose that option again if given a choice. We both thought the food taste was better than average as ship buffets go (and actually better than the dining room if you get it fresh from preparation), but the best word to describe the buffet experience is “Work”. We were pretty open minded of the new style the Summit buffet service, but the food stations are more complicated than the average buffet and require a lot of time to get the food that appeals to you personally.

 

We found the Bistro on 5 to be pretty good for the price and a lot quieter is you want a relaxed meal. Service there was pretty good too. Our favorite place to dine for all the meals is the Blu restaurant. The service is by far the best on the ship as well as quality and taste of the food. But since we were in a suite, we were a low priority and didn’t always get a table. We had room service for most of our breakfasts, which we thought was always good. I found if you want something that isn’t on the room service menu, to just right it in and you will likely get your request. Of course suite guest might get better consideration, I don’t know. We regret that we didn’t order room service for dinner. We just didn’t think about it.

 

We thought entertainment was OK, they have plenty of good musicians and groups on board. But not much is offered after 11:00 pm. We liked the entertainers and they seemed appropriate for most all ages. I give the Summit staff credit for finding lounges for special sport events like the NBA finals and the Soccer tournament that are still going on. Is Celebrity the only cruise line that doesn’t have a sports lounge on their ships?

 

Except for our exceptional butler Jose, we thought the Summit staff overall was friendly, but nothing over other cruise lines and ships.

 

We stayed in Manhattan for three days before the cruise. I can’t say enough about the friendliness from the folks in New York City. Every time Sally and I paused to figure out where we were or which subway to take, someone stepped up to give us help. My thanks to all who give us advice of keeping ourselves busy in New York City. Wow, too much to do and not enough time to do it. Anyone considering the Bermuda cruise should budget in a few days in New York City. It is a wonderful experience that will only enhance the Summit experience in Bermuda.

 

A comment on renting scooters on Bermuda: I want to first thank all those folks who gave advice of renting and riding a scooter. Bermuda doesn’t have rental cars, so transportation for tourist is either, scooters, buses or taxis. Since Bermudians are only allowed one car per family, scooters are the most popular method of transportation. However, the cars AND BUSES will pass slower traffic on the very narrow. I’m an avid motorcycle rider, but I found riding on the left side of the road to be challenging. Sally kept whispering “left” “left” just to keep reminding me of which side of the road to ride. That being said, we found the scooter very enjoyable because it gave us a lot of freedom to travel all parts of the island.

 

Well there it is, my subjective reflection of our Bermuda Summit Cruise. I think we will book it again next year.

 

Burt

[wwcruisers]

Burt -- thank you for the lovely review. I'm so looking forward to our Labor Day cruise to Bermuda! :D

 

Oh -- if I might be allowed one tiny correction: All SkySuites in the X fleet have bathtubs. The only exception I could think of might be the disabled-access suites. The tubs on Century even have jacuzzi jets! :cool:

[Susie51]

Thank you for sharing your experience on Summit. Is Summit similar to Infinity?

[Beachdude]

Oh -- if I might be allowed one tiny correction: All SkySuites in the X fleet have bathtubs. The only exception I could think of might be the disabled-access suites. The tubs on Century even have jacuzzi jets! :cool:

 

Thank you. There are just some days that Sally love to have her bath.

 

We intended to look at another Sky Suite to compair but forgot. We wanted to see the aft suite next to us because the family that week had the whole deck 6 aft end. If our room was any indication, I am sure it is fantastic.

 

Burt

[snyderc635]

We were on the same cruise, June 15 to Bermuda. I have never been on a smoother cruise! The weather was beautiful as well! We had low expectations for the Summit, and were pleasantly surprised. The ship is beautiful and the art work displayed throughout the ship was very interesting. We were in Aqua class and also very much enjoyed Blu. My husband and I both said it will be hard to go back to dining in the buffet and the main dining room. I also agree with you about the people in New York. Though we did not travel into New York for this particular cruise, in the past we have visited and have found New Yorkers to be very courteous and helpful.

[kenevenpar]

Thank you for the fair and balanced review!

 

We also are huge fans of the Summit. In fact, my Avatar is a picture from the Summit:D

 

Ken

[Viva_la_Vida]

Thanks for a great review! I'm glad you guys had very calm waters. I can't say the same for our trip over on June 1. It didn't scare us away though, we're booked for next June! Thanks again :)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report, glad to hear is was slick!

[cherylroslyn]

We were on the same cruise, June 15 to Bermuda. I have never been on a smoother cruise! The weather was beautiful as well! We had low expectations for the Summit, and were pleasantly surprised. The ship is beautiful and the art work displayed throughout the ship was very interesting. We were in Aqua class and also very much enjoyed Blu. My husband and I both said it will be hard to go back to dining in the buffet and the main dining room. I also agree with you about the people in New York. Though we did not travel into New York for this particular cruise, in the past we have visited and have found New Yorkers to be very courteous and helpful.

That's right!!!!! Excellent points about NY'ers......

 

 

We get a bad trap sometimes when people make fun of our accents....but we are helpful and nice:)

[Cruising Cheryl]

Thank you for your review, we will be on that same trip in 3 weeks, in room 6125. I prefer a sit down meal to buffet food so we are looking forward to being able to eat in a MDR for breakfast and lunch again...something that we enjoyed on the Magic but wasn't available on the Splendor (aside from their Punchliner brunch). From what I have read there doesn't seem to be much in the way of comedians for evening entertainment; is this accurate?

[CruisingChick]

slick!

 

Now that's word I have not heard or used since I was in 8th grade (42 years ago).

[JandKMom]

Thank you so much for your review! We will be leaving on Sunday and are so excited! Glad you enjoyed your time in the city - I am a born and bred New Yorker (now a suburbanite) so I appreciate the compliments - New Yorkers are often misunderstood :). What did you end up doing in the city (I had contributed to and been following that thread you posted before you left asking for advice on what to do).

[NLH Arizona]

Thank you for coming back and posting your experiences on the Summit.

[Beachdude]

Thank you so much for your review! We will be leaving on Sunday and are so excited! Glad you enjoyed your time in the city - I am a born and bred New Yorker (now a suburbanite) so I appreciate the compliments - New Yorkers are often misunderstood :). What did you end up doing in the city (I had contributed to and been following that thread you posted before you left asking for advice on what to do).

 

It's difficult to be specific, but that thread helped a lot in understanding NYC and designing how to go about certain activities. We were changing our schedule even as we boarded the plane to NYC because heavy rain was forecasted that evening and the rest of the next day. We cancelled the Cubs game for Carmines Italian Restaurant instead. Not that we a big baseball fans, but we thought it a fun New York thing to do.

 

Turns out the rain didn’t come until much later, so we walked up Broadway and ended up having a desert in the Starlight Diner listening to great singing. The next morning was breakfast at Carnage’s Diner, then the experience of riding the subway to the Metropolitan Museum Art. That sounds easy, but it took a couple hours to figure out how all that works. Of course we spent a delightful day in the museum with a wonderful walk through Central Park back to our Hotel on 57th with a break watching kids have a great time at the Boathouse. We finished the evening off with a great steak dinner at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse.

 

Saturdays was shopping around 5th avenue and several blocks around because we walked and walked. There is a lot of site seeing in the area as well. We had lunch in Little China followed with a cannoli dessert in Little Italy. That was followed by seeing the sights around Battery Park up into the Stock Exchange area. Of course these destinations are all filled with adventurous subway rides. Always something for us Oklahomans to see. We went back to the hotel, rested and then went to Greenwich Village for a Keste pizza and back up to Carnage’s Diner for a huge Coconut Cream pie.

 

Usually Sally has every detail planned out months ahead of time, but this trip was left up to me because she was planning our daughters May 30th Wedding. AND I DID GREAT, except for transportation from the hotel on 57th to the ship. So after some advice from the hotel manager, they hired us a private car for $90.00. That was a bargain because the car turned out to be a stretched limo and the ride was about 45 minutes long. Great Fathers Day present. Sally was enjoying the ride so much she wanted the driver to show us around New Jersey.

 

I think those are the highlights. We didn’t get in a show because we didn’t have tickets and didn’t really know how to get them. But we stayed so busy that we weren’t disappointed. We will do it next time. As I said, everyone treated us great and we had a ball. Our feet were worn out. We are considering this trip with our family for next year.

 

Burt

[JandKMom]

It's difficult to be specific, but that thread helped a lot in understanding NYC and designing how to go about certain activities. We were changing our schedule even as we boarded the plane to NYC because heavy rain was forecasted that evening and the rest of the next day. We cancelled the Cubs game for Carmines Italian Restaurant instead. Not that we a big baseball fans, but we thought it a fun New York thing to do.

 

Turns out the rain didn’t come until much later, so we walked up Broadway and ended up having a desert in the Starlight Diner listening to great singing. The next morning was breakfast at Carnage’s Diner, then the experience of riding the subway to the Metropolitan Museum Art. That sounds easy, but it took a couple hours to figure out how all that works. Of course we spent a delightful day in the museum with a wonderful walk through Central Park back to our Hotel on 57th with a break watching kids have a great time at the Boathouse. We finished the evening off with a great steak dinner at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse.

 

Saturdays was shopping around 5th avenue and several blocks around because we walked and walked. There is a lot of site seeing in the area as well. We had lunch in Little China followed with a cannoli dessert in Little Italy. That was followed by seeing the sights around Battery Park up into the Stock Exchange area. Of course these destinations are all filled with adventurous subway rides. Always something for us Oklahomans to see. We went back to the hotel, rested and then went to Greenwich Village for a Keste pizza and back up to Carnage’s Diner for a huge Coconut Cream pie.

 

Usually Sally has every detail planned out months ahead of time, but this trip was left up to me because she was planning our daughters May 30th Wedding. AND I DID GREAT, except for transportation from the hotel on 57th to the ship. So after some advice from the hotel manager, they hired us a private car for $90.00. That was a bargain because the car turned out to be a stretched limo and the ride was about 45 minutes long. Great Fathers Day present. Sally was enjoying the ride so much she wanted the driver to show us around New Jersey.

 

I think those are the highlights. We didn’t get in a show because we didn’t have tickets and didn’t really know how to get them. But we stayed so busy that we weren’t disappointed. We will do it next time. As I said, everyone treated us great and we had a ball. Our feet were worn out. We are considering this trip with our family for next year.

 

Burt

 

Nice! Sounds like you had a great visit! I recommended the Metropolitan Museum and Central Park, so happy you got to see those. I could have told you that the subway is a LONG way from the museum - bus is a better way to go. LOVE Carmine's - glad you got to go there. I am more familiar with the one on the Upper West Side but have been to the midtown one a couple of times - in fact we hosted my late father's surprise 75th birthday there many years ago.

[Beachdude]

Thank you for your review, we will be on that same trip in 3 weeks, in room 6125. I prefer a sit down meal to buffet food so we are looking forward to being able to eat in a MDR for breakfast and lunch again...something that we enjoyed on the Magic but wasn't available on the Splendor (aside from their Punchliner brunch). From what I have read there doesn't seem to be much in the way of comedians for evening entertainment; is this accurate?

 

Funny thing that we noticed was the the Breakfast and Lunch dining room had three times the crowd at the end of the cruise than at the begining. The staff was very busy.

 

There were two comedians on our cruise, I can't remember their names. We saw one but missed the other because we couldn't make his show in time. I would like Celebrity to add a couple more shows to give more times to see them.

 

Burt

[Beachdude]

I could have told you that the subway is a LONG way from the museum - bus is a better way to go.

 

NO no, we wanted to walk parts of the city and the walk from the subway to the museum was very enjoyable. The subway is a lot of fun, but sometimes we wonder how much we missed. Lucky for us subway enterance was right by the door of Wolfgangs, so we had to walk all of five feet in the rain that night. It all just seem to work.

 

There were several birthday parties at Carmines that night.

 

Burt

[Big_G]

Funny thing that we noticed was the the Breakfast and Lunch dining room had three times the crowd at the end of the cruise than at the begining. The staff was very busy.

 

There were two comedians on our cruise, I can't remember their names. We saw one but missed the other because we couldn't make his show in time. I would like Celebrity to add a couple more shows to give more times to see them.

 

Burt

 

Count us in as moving from the buffet to the dining room although we never ate lunch there. Not only did the buffet seem like work but we couldn't get the timing down. It seemed like it was busy when ever we went. We weren't sure if it was the lack of other options or the number of consecutive days in port or maybe both. Anyway, toward the end of the cruise we started heading to the dining room for breakfast. As for the service, we were on the same cruise and thought the service and personal attention was the best we've seen in a long while. The featured comedian was Ed Regine and there were two others for the Sin-City shows. I can't remember their names.

[chuckroast1]

We were on this sailing as well and just down the hall from the OP (6137) so Jose was our butler too. I'll echo Beachdude's comments that Jose was great and our dinner experience on the balcony was memorable.

 

The ship was beautiful, the staff was warm and friendly and we found the service and food (and our table mates) in the MDR were terrific. We only had dinner there though, never used it for Breakfast or Lunch.

 

We only used the buffet for breakfast, and it was fine for that.

 

But the main attraction was Bermuda. We'd never been there before but we're definitely going back.

[Crusing Cheryl]

Thanks everyone for the information on the entertainment.