Just Off Summit - A Few Things

[wwcruisers]

8 minutes ago, Arno. said:

How I hate the way liver is treated, not fit for man or beast.  It leaves a bitter taste when one follows all the rules and someone moved the cheese...  " Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a Maze and look for Cheese to nourish them and make them happy. "

LOL Arno -- I remember that book from the 90's! At the time, it was pretty much 'required reading' in the corporate world. And, for what it's worth, THIS mouse is getting ready to move her own cheese. My DH and I just booked our first HAL cruise -- a Pacific coastal in 2020. While I hate the idea of starting from scratch with another loyalty program -- the lure of better itineraries, and better prices -- was just too tempting to pass up!

(OP -- sorry about dragging your very good review thread OT! 😳)

Edited July 31, 2019 by wwcruisers

[hcat]

5 minutes ago, Arno. said:

How I hate the way liver is treated, not fit for man or beast.  It leaves a bitter taste when one follows all the rules and someone moved the cheese...  " Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a Maze and look for Cheese to nourish them and make them happy. "

Yes,  X loyalists' cheese is about to be moved once again!

Unfortunately, sometimes in the rat race, the rats win!

 

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, lorimay said:

Food is so subjective. You might love what I just hate. I'm not saying it was bad but it definitely could have been better. I'm saying I have had better on other ships, including Infinity just a couple of months ago. It is definitely not gourmet but you can always find something good to eat (and sometimes very good). I thought the Ocean View was very poorly run and the "steamtable" food was mediocre. But you can always get a fresh omelet in the morning, the pastries are good and there is lots of choice. For lunch the Indian food looked pretty good but the Asian food was very poor. But they have carved meats, pasta made to order, fresh pizza and always a salad bar, although I thought the choices in the salad bar were limited and the lettuce bowls and many of the toppings were always empty. They have pretty much the same thing at dinner. The desserts are good (after a while the cakes all tend to taste the same) but the breads are freshly baked and there is always fresh fruit - although limited to pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe. 

 

I talked in my review about the room service breakfast. They were below average and cold. 

 

The dining room was good enough. The quality was like that of big chain restaurant. Once again good breads, the soups are good, and follow the recommendations of the waiter. For example, on lobster night (which is ok, plain frozen lobster cooked well and not rubbery) they also had beef wellington and roast leg of lamb. I asked the waiter about the lamb and he said it was not the best but he brought me some along with the beef wellington. The beef wellington was fantastic - the beef tenderloin was tender and perfectly cooked. The lamb was way overdone and chewy but flavorful.The desserts are usually good with some misses.

 

We found the best place for lunch was the Spa Cafe in the Solarium. They had limited choice, but the tuna and chicken salad there was very good and they had a nice green salad. The hamburgers from the pool grill were much better than the ones in the Ocean View. 

 

We only ate in Tuscan Grille. I found the food a step above the MDR but the beef was not top quality but the pastas were very good and the desserts were excellent (try the spumoni donuts).

 

I always feel like any time I get food I don't have to cook it's a treat! But seriously I felt like overall the food could have been better. You probably won't get to try something new and exciting. It certainly didn't ruin our trip, but off all the good things I tell people about our cruise, I can't say that the food was fantastic. 

 

Do you remember or know if they still have oatmeal in the Aqua Spa cafe. They made it with some fruit and it was very good.

[lorimay]

4 hours ago, dkjretired said:

 

Do you remember or know if they still have oatmeal in the Aqua Spa cafe. They made it with some fruit and it was very good.

 

Sorry - we never got there for breakfast. I saw someone in the MDR with a large bowl of oatmeal so I know they still serve it there.  I have to say the smoothies at the Aqua Spa looked really good and you could pick your own ingredients.

[Arzeena]

On 7/31/2019 at 12:28 PM, ladyonboard said:

Would love to keep this thread going...

Perhaps folks would post upon their return who the key officers and staff are on the Summit.  Many postions will change between now and January, when we sail, but if we could keep the thread active it will remain as updated as possilble.

That Celebrity no longer includes the page with the bios of these people with the  boarding day "Daily", it is much more difficult to know who we will be sailing with.

Always interested in knowing these positions, but include anyone else you come in contact with:

July 28 sailing

Captain: Captain Ioannis

Cruise Director: Rich, Activities manager: Nacho
Hotel Director: Danuta

Captians Club Host: Invisible.

 

[Arzeena]

On 7/31/2019 at 1:24 PM, lorimay said:

Food is so subjective. You might love what I just hate. I'm not saying it was bad but it definitely could have been better. I'm saying I have had better on other ships, including Infinity just a couple of months ago. It is definitely not gourmet but you can always find something good to eat (and sometimes very good). I thought the Ocean View was very poorly run and the "steamtable" food was mediocre. But you can always get a fresh omelet in the morning, the pastries are good and there is lots of choice. For lunch the Indian food looked pretty good but the Asian food was very poor. But they have carved meats, pasta made to order, fresh pizza and always a salad bar, although I thought the choices in the salad bar were limited and the lettuce bowls and many of the toppings were always empty. They have pretty much the same thing at dinner. The desserts are good (after a while the cakes all tend to taste the same) but the breads are freshly baked and there is always fresh fruit - although limited to pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe. 

 

Lorimay,

You are absolutely right about food being very subjective. We just got off the Summit. Had a totally different food experience. We thought it was great and very well managed. Lots of choices, variety, great taste. Lobster rolls on the last sea day for lunch. Nothing was lacking. It was managed very well, staff was very attentive and on the spot. Seating was available. Dishes were cleared out fast. We had absolutely no complaints.

[Hatteras51]

17 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Lorimay,

You are absolutely right about food being very subjective. We just got off the Summit. Had a totally different food experience. We thought it was great and very well managed. Lots of choices, variety, great taste. Lobster rolls on the last sea day for lunch. Nothing was lacking. It was managed very well, staff was very attentive and on the spot. Seating was available. Dishes were cleared out fast. We had absolutely no complaints.

This is good to hear. We'll be boarding Summit in a few weeks, I've read so much negativity on these boards that I haven't gotten excited about it. Thanks for your reply.

[Cruise a holic]

Any information about the suite deck?  Do they have a hot tub or pool?  Restaurant/bar?  Shaded areas.

 

Thanks

[Turtles06]

20 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Lobster rolls on the last sea day for lunch.

 

Glad to hear about your positive experience with the food on the Summit. We’ll be aboard next month for a Canada/NE cruise that I’ve been calling our “lobster roll cruise” because of our lunch plans in some of the ports. (I never thought they’d be serving them on the ship!) 😄  

[reallyhooked]

Was luggage valet offered? 

[C 2 C]

3 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

Any information about the suite deck?  Do they have a hot tub or pool?  Restaurant/bar?  Shaded areas.

 

Thanks

Drinks are not free on the sun deck unless you have the  drinks package.  Amount of shade is determined by the size of your hat.

[Lace]

We just got off.

 

somehow we knew about priority embarkation and lunch, but we chose not to go due to lack of selections.

 

But we also found the OC inferior in quality that first day.  It was actually over the top on the last.

[Lace]

Found the portions in the MDR quite small, and was ordering multiple starters and entrees immediately.  The waiters were happy to oblige.

[Lace]

I was disappointed in our comedian.  He was quite racist, and apparently didn’t know about the shooting in El Paso.  I almost walked out, and wish I did.

[Lace]

Our other problem was night one, as my daughter was getting into her pull out bed, there was a bug on her sheets.  Then we saw another.  I captured the one but crushed the second, and then proceeded to the concierge desk.  She then called someone and reported we had bed bugs.

 

about an hour passed when someone showed up.  He proceeded to tell me how bugs could have gotten into the room as the stewards open the door when cleaning.  He then proceeded to “educate” me about bed bugs.  I promptly told him I wasn’t interested in any of this knowledge, and that I never called them he’s bugs.   He eventually sent someone up to change the sheets, and I asked that the main bed be checked for bugs as well.

 

Not a good start to our first sleep on Celebrity.  The good news was we never saw another bug again, except for the one I collected and sat in a glass all week.  I was surprised the steward never took or replaced them.

[hcat]

8 minutes ago, Lace said:

Our other problem was night one, as my daughter was getting into her pull out bed, there was a bug on her sheets.  Then we saw another.  I captured the one but crushed the second, and then proceeded to the concierge desk.  She then called someone and reported we had bed bugs.

 

about an hour passed when someone showed up.  He proceeded to tell me how bugs could have gotten into the room as the stewards open the door when cleaning.  He then proceeded to “educate” me about bed bugs.  I promptly told him I wasn’t interested in any of this knowledge, and that I never called them he’s bugs.   He eventually sent someone up to change the sheets, and I asked that the main bed be checked for bugs as well.

 

Not a good start to our first sleep on Celebrity.  The good news was we never saw another bug again, except for the one I collected and sat in a glass all week.  I was surprised the steward never took or replaced them.

What stateroom were you in?

Were they confirmed as bedbugs? 

[Lace]

8171.  And no.  I’m not even sure that term would qualify anyway being it’s a pull out couch.

Edited August 5, 2019 by Lace

[hcat]

Thanks...we'll being our bb spray..just in case!

Hope things run smoothly from this point on.

[jean87510]

Just out of curiosity is the coffee man still on the summit in the oceanview? He was on in 2016 and 2018 in april. He always made my morning as I was waiting for the ship to dock.

[FlorenceItaly]

19 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Just out of curiosity is the coffee man still on the summit in the oceanview? He was on in 2016 and 2018 in april. He always made my morning as I was waiting for the ship to dock.

Donovan!!!!  He was on board in June, this time he was the "Muffin Man".   He is a JOY!

[Lace]

The Muffin Man is still there.

[jdm]

Just returned from the Summit cruise and in our group of twelve we all thought the food in the MDR late seating was excellent.  We are seasoned cruisers (+45 cruises) and have also been on a few upscale ships.  We thought the food competed with those ships.  The only area where we thought the food lacked was the breakfast room service.  After two days, we simply went to the main dining room.  Some in our group went to Qsine and they really thought the food was better in the MDR and they are very much foodie people.  We did go to the Concierge lunch on the day of embarkation and I personally found the salmon to be very good.  Since there have been so many negative reviews, I was expecting simply ok food, but was more than pleasantly surprised. The Summit exceeded our expectations.

 

[Cruise a holic]

4 hours ago, Arno. said:

Drinks are not free on the sun deck unless you have the  drinks package.  Amount of shade is determined by the size of your hat.

Hi Arno

We have Royal suite-  Guess for me and my DH sundeck on this ship a waste.  Really enjoyed it on the edge.

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Donovan!!!!  He was on board in June, this time he was the "Muffin Man".   He is a JOY!

He was also waiting tables during the late seating in the MDR.  Some mornings he called himself the Pastry Man.

He is an all rounder!😁

[jean87510]

I just love him. I always would sit in the back and he brought a smile every day to everyone. I'm back for my 5th time on summit in January and I hope hes still there.