Summit for young adults?

[EeyoreRN]

Hi all!

 

My husband and I are thinking of returning to Celebrity after 25 years (mostly not cruising but have cruised several times the past few years on other lines).  We will be sailing in November with 4 young adults (our kids and their partners) in their mid-20s.  We are seriously considering placing a non-refundable deposit on a a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing on the Summit. We have it narrowed down to this or Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas.  We have done FoS before and we know we love that ship and Southern itinerary, but there are a few reasons the Summit might work better for us.  

 

How is the entertainment on the Summit?  How are the pool areas and the food?  All of your thoughts about the Summit for this demographic would be greatly appreciated.  We dont need rock walls and water slides, just some great live music, fun bars and tasty food and drinks, maybe trivia. I'm pretty sure hubby and I will love it, biggest concern is the young 'uns.  

 

Thanks for your thoughts!!

 

Eeyore

[hcat]

Fun bars might be a sticking point

[bizeemom4]

Following along. I booked Summit as a bridge from Oasis. We are trying to find something a little less “extra.” We just want good food & entertainment without slides, carousels and wave riders. Hoping that the Summit is good for the 30-50 crowd.

[jelayne]

Fun bars - Martini until about 8 pm, after that can be pretty quiet.  Entertainment overall is better on Royal. Food better on Celebrity

[jelayne]

Keep in mind that the Freedom of the Seas carries about 3,600 passengers while the Summit carries about 2,300.  Fewer bars, fewer people. The demographic on  celebrity overall is probably 55-70.  We love  celebrity but if I were in my 20’s that wouldn’t be my choice.

[Alsmez]

Every cruise is different, but I would recommend the S-class ships over Summit for a group like this. When we were on Summit last May to Bermuda, fun bars and good live music were severely lacking. We are in our early 40s and we were definitely among the younger passengers on Summit. It's an older ship with a more traditional vibe and even the recent revolution can't disguise that.

[PhoenixCruiser]

I have been on both ships and highly recommend the Freedom over Summit.

Freedom will have more activities for all ages and is getting some great updates soon.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[volk904]

I have been on both ships twice. I agree you will love the Summitt but has other have said your kids may like the Freedom better.  That said keep this in mind.  
on Cruises out of San Juan you usually have 4-5 port days and only 1 sea day so you are spending less time on the ship on a typical 3 port cruise.  The Summit has a nice pool but the Freedom has 2 outdoor pools and those giant whirlpool pool tubs.  
I would say with the renovation the Summit might have newer cabins but the big difference is at night the Freedom has more entertainment options especially for the 20-30 crowd.  A final thing to consider might be the Celebrity perks   Free drinks and cabin credit might be a good trade off for fewer night time options.  

[chemmo]

A lot depends on what your adult children want from their cruise...The fact there are four of them (plus you!) does mean they can to some degree make their own fun. There will be some other couples of a similar age on board although I agree with others they will find the general ship population to be more mature.

 

They are old enough to possibly enjoy the more relaxing atmosphere on Summit. If they have busy port days, nice meals, drinks at the Martini bar, some live music and some couples time on their balcony they may find it a refreshing change from the busier atmosphere of Freedom...

 

Agree with others there is far more going on entertainment and activities wise on RC ships. We tend to book a Royal cruise if we want ‘busy, busy action and adventure’ and a Celebrity cruise if our focus is better food and some Rest and Relaxation.

 

Our adult son is D+ on Royal and E+ on Celebrity so well experienced. His preference in recent years has been Celebrity.  His GF cruises with us for the first time this year. They work really hard, spend lots of time with friends at home  and want their holiday to be a mix of nice meals, a couple of good excursions, some relaxing pool time and a bit of time with us!  I would add that we are on an S class ship which we do prefer to M class mainly because we usually enjoy visiting the speciality restaurants (fewer on S class). 

 

Why not as a group do some YouTube searching of both ships? Be honest and upfront about what they want from their cruise...If their lifestyle is as hectic as most mid 20’s they may enjoy what Summit has to offer...If they want more events, better shows and busier and livelier bars then Freedom is a good choice. 

 

 

[PelicanLvr]

One good test may be:

How do the young folks in your group react to the general fact that X ships are pretty quiet after 11pm?

 

If they are looking for lots of late night fun....X may not be for them.

[sydbarrett]

I'm taking a 14 year old on the Summit because he wanted to do a cruise "like his grandparents did" lol! We are going during spring break so I suspect it will be a little more lively, but from what I gather the nightlife is minimal. Supposedly there is a dance party every night but I think Royal would be more fun, if you're looking for that kind of cruise. We were looking for something more laid back and elegant.

[hcat]

13 hours ago, bizeemom4 said:

Following along. I booked Summit as a bridge from Oasis. We are trying to find something a little less “extra.” We just want good food & entertainment without slides, carousels and wave riders. Hoping that the Summit is good for the 30-50 crowd.

Summit will be a big change from Oasis....for the better generally in our view,

I am sure you will enjoy Summit,  but the S Class ships  have more to offer for dining,  entertainment and nighlife  Same for the OP's  young 20's children,

[2theship]

Our kids work crazy busy jobs and have active social lives at home. For a seven day cruise, they enjoy some quiet time relaxing with the folks. They're all foodies and enjoy a well-crafted cocktail so Summit works very well for us.

[chemmo]

4 minutes ago, 2theship said:

Our kids work crazy busy jobs and have active social lives at home. For a seven day cruise, they enjoy some quiet time relaxing with the folks. They're all foodies and enjoy a well-crafted cocktail so Summit works very well for us.

 

I think that what I was trying to say in my post, although far less clearly!

[mackjack9139]

I’m 30 and since I was 25, I prefer Celebrity. Will probably go back to Royal when I have my own kids. Myself and the people I cruise with are not afraid to start/have our own dance party and I really appreciate no hairy leg contest by the pool. 

[hcat]

How would you compare M and S Class in terms of what OP is looking for?

[wynnne]

Wife (28) and I (33) were on Summit first week of December last year, and had a brilliant time!

We find the idea of climbing walls really manufactured, and would much rather be somewhere more chilled with good food and drinks.

We didn't really do much of the entertainment, we went to see a comedian, and we were about 30 years too young, but enjoyed some of the musicians around the ship, and otherwise just spoke to each other, staff or guests nearby (of all ages).

We tended to go to the pool late, once a lot of people had left to get ready for the early dinner sittings, and then just ate late, have a couple of drinks after dinner and go to bed relatively early to enjoy the next port day.

[HS2BS]

The scales point to AoS, we have done both multiple(Summit as recently as October and December 2019) times and there is no comparison! The Summit is a very nice ship for my generation(early 70s) and on seven day cruises there is a younger demographics and grandparents abound.
AoS is MUCH more active and twice the population, parade size atrium and multiple pools/water sports.

Do some research - it will pay off.

 

Hal

[luckyinpa]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:38 PM, bizeemom4 said:

Following along. I booked Summit as a bridge from Oasis. We are trying to find something a little less “extra.” We just want good food & entertainment without slides, carousels and wave riders. Hoping that the Summit is good for the 30-50 crowd.

 

oasis was in the running for this summer for me because i could have gotten a crown loft suite for the same price as a balcony on summit. but 3 more days including bermuda just won out.  curious how you found the food there because my research showed  tons more choices, as should be on a large ship. i worried wouldnt be enough choices on summit. on ncl i typically did the specialties and ive heard so many mixed reviews on tuscan here im a tad worried. 

 

im fully aware of the tight 2 tops on summit but hoping to get in the mdr and pick a more private on on sailaway

[zenworks911]

Summit will be more quiet and laid back than FOS.  Shows on FOS will most certainly be more professional IMO. 

 

I like the pool areas on the Summit better and the food is fairly similar.  I might give an edge to the Summit for wait times though.  Throughout the ship and restaurants it seems like there is less waiting.  The one exception I am aware of is the lounges can have slow drink service from maybe 6pm-9pm?

 

I have been on both.  I personally like the atmosphere on Summit better.  The bands can be hit or miss on either but right now on summit the Moon light band or whatever they are called were very good and played a wide variety.  The Rendezvous Lounge is very good for ballroom and latin dancing. They even have 5:30PM pre-dinner dancing at this point.  

 

From what i remember I believe the FOS would have more variety of entertainment, but some of it did take place past our bed time LOL.  We are in our 40s but both ready for bed by 11.  From what I recall both Summit and FOS have stuff later at night (after 10pm) but it is better attended by passengers on the FOS.

 

some random thoughts...

[sandc4e]

I've been on S-Class Silhouette and FOS - I think these both would be geared more towards the 20-somethings.  Dining options are limited on M-Class and don't have some of the "adventurous" items available.

 

Just my opinion.

[bizeemom4]

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

 

oasis was in the running for this summer for me because i could have gotten a crown loft suite for the same price as a balcony on summit. but 3 more days including bermuda just won out.  curious how you found the food there because my research showed  tons more choices, as should be on a large ship. i worried wouldnt be enough choices on summit. on ncl i typically did the specialties and ive heard so many mixed reviews on tuscan here im a tad worried. 

 

im fully aware of the tight 2 tops on summit but hoping to get in the mdr and pick a more private on on sailaway

I am not a good judge because I don’t care for the food on Royal ships. I love the ships, service and itinerary but I find the restaurants lacking. Oddly enough, husband and I enjoy windjammer over the MDR. 

[TFLG]

if you want a variety of entertainment options the Summit probably isn't going to provide it.  The main theater shows are typically not great.  In the evening there will be one thing happening at a time, maybe two, so not a lot of options. Early evening there might be a band or DJ in the Atrium, later 10ish, there will be a silent disco somewhere or a pool deck party, late night there might be a band or DJ in one of the 2 main lounges. If you like some energy in the evenings Celebrity can be a challenge. 

Now food and drink they do pretty well, and with the often included beverage packages it makes sailing Celebrity a lot more attractive. My girls (early 20's to early 30s) like Celebrity but not as much as they like RCCL, but they are not big partiers.

[luckyinpa]

ill be maximizing my time in the ports and probably just zzz during the other days lol. i dont do dancing or clubbing on any ship nor the bands . but the main theater shows ive always enjoyed despite the genres. maybe for once i can actually finish up a review before the end of the trip. still didnt do a trip report from christmas.sigh