Thoughts on Celebrity Summit July 10th 7-day to Bermuda

[barbpretz]

I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on my first Celebrity cruise on the Celebrity Summit, July 10, 2022 from Cape Liberty, New Jersey to Bermuda.  I’ve found so many other reviews to be so helpful that I wanted to reciprocate in some small way.

 

Just a bit about myself:  My husband and I are in our 60’s and traveled with our 32 year-old daughter.  I’ve only been on 5 cruises before this one, the 2 most recent with Princess.  I have also cruised on RCCL and NCL, but feel most familiar with Princess since they were the most recent cruises and since I have been researching several cancelled Princess cruises throughout the pandemic.  Most of my comparison will be between Princess and Celebrity.  My daughter had never cruised before.

 

I’d been dying to cruise again ever since my May, 2020 Princess cruise was cancelled due to the pandemic.  We wanted to cruise in the most cautious manner possible, so we picked a 7-day Celebrity cruise from New Jersey to Bermuda so that we could drive from Cleveland and would not have to fly.  We wanted something short and simple so that we could see how it felt to cruise given the whole covid situation.

 

I’d done lots of research, so I knew what to expect in preparation.  The Bermuda Authorization and pre-cruise covid test through Rapidtestandtrace were straightforward.  Our daughter was driving in from DC and we were driving in from Cleveland the day before the cruise.  She was meeting us in New Jersey, so we decided to stay the night before the cruise at the Doubletree at Newark Penn Station so that it would be easy for her to go into NYC and visit friends and then meet us across the street from the station.  The overnight stay was unremarkable and fine.  The drive to Cape Liberty cruise port was straightforward.  We parked at the cruise port terminal to keep things simple and it was, in fact, simple. We had an 11:30 am boarding time and we were somewhat early.  We had all our forms printed on paper plus our original passports and vax cards, so check-in was easy.  We didn’t have to wait very long and seemed to be in the first group that boarded.  I didn’t actually note the time that we were on board.

 

Since this was my daughter’s first cruise, I so I was hoping for the “Wow” factor of embarking at a gorgeous atrium (as we had on Princess).  It was a bit disappointing that there was nothing particularly exciting or impressive as we boarded.  We dropped our carry-on bags at the cabin and headed to lunch.  My favorite way to begin a Princess cruise was to have a nice, quiet embarkation lunch at the main dining room.  It was also disappointing that there was no dining room lunch at embarkation on the Summit.  (BTW, this has me confused because, before our disembarkation, we were told that they needed to prepare the dining room for lunch for the next cruise.  I had checked the Celebrity app and it showed that the dining room was not open for lunch on embarkation day – perhaps I missed something?)  Anyway, we had lunch in the buffet which was adequate but not inspiring.

 

We were in cabin 7080 which is a Veranda cabin with a balcony that was a bit of a funny shape but larger than most of the other veranda cabins.  It was farther forward than we had sailed before, but we didn’t have any trouble with the motion of the ship and, since there were cabins above and below us, there was no issue with noise at all.  The pull-out bed for my daughter was a bit short but comfortable – luckily, she is also short, so the size was fine for her.  It might not be as comfortable for a taller adult.  

 

We got the Premium Beverage package so that we didn’t have to think about what we were ordering (and so that I could have an unlimited supply of Diet Coke).  We had the basic wifi which was pretty lousy – we could get online and check email, but we could not play any games or do podcasts or youtube or download anything.  We decided (and had heard) that the Premium wifi wasn’t that much better, so we decided to just have a bit of an Internet break.  We found the food in the main dining room to be consistently excellent (a notch better than the food on Princess, in my opinion), so we didn’t feel the need to eat at any of the specialty restaurants.

 

We hadn’t booked any excursions in advance since we had planned plenty to do on our own.  We planned to spend Wednesday at the Blue Hole and Nature Preserve and then go to Harbor Nights in Hamilton Wednesday evening.  We then planned to spend Thursday in St. Georges viewing the Sea Venture Memorial and the Deliverance replica (since I have an ancestor who was on the Sea Venture) and then go snorkeling off the beach at Tobacco Bay.  On the last day, since it wasn’t a full day before the ship left, we planned to stay in the Dockyard area and go to the Bermuda National Museum and wander around the shops.

 

We had some unexpected, non-covid-related medical issues.  The medical staff was excellent, but we ended up restricted such that we couldn’t snorkel, do anything in the water, do our usual ballroom dancing, or take long walks.  It was also very hot and muggy, which drained our energy some.  We still enjoyed Bermuda a lot.  On Wednesday, as planned, we got a one-day public transit pass and took the ferry to Hamilton and then the bus to the vicinity of the Blue Hole.  We ate lunch at the Swizzle Inn (with free wifi!) and enjoyed 2 of the 3 Bermudean dishes we had hoped to try:  the fish chowder and wahoo nugget.  We enoyed both.  We then walked to the Blue Hole and the Nature Preserve.  The Blue Hole itself was crowded and noisy, so we much preferred wandering around the Preserve exploring on our own.  We found all sorts of grottos, caves, other watering holes and lots of shade – I’d definitely go back there again and explore more.  On our way back to the bus stop, we stopped at Bailey’s Ice Cream which was wonderful on a hot day.  We took the bus and the ferry back to the ship.  We enjoyed another wonderful dinner in the Main Dining room and were tired enough that we decided not to brave the crowds to go to Harbor Nights – maybe on another trip.

 

On Thursday, we decided against going to St. Georges.  With the limited ferry schedule, and our inability to snorkel or go in the water, we realized that we could be stuck in the heat of St. Georges for hours waiting for the ferry.  It just didn’t seem worth it for the limited amount we could do.  So, we instead took the ferry back to Hamilton and did one of our favorite things to do on a trip:  We found some local grocery stores and browsed for local gifts to bring back as presents.  We ate lunch at Hog Penny (also with free wifi) which we also enjoyed.  I never did get to try the Bermuda fish sandwich on raisin bread (which my daughter was reluctant about anyway), but, again, that leaves me options for another visit.

 

On Friday, we went to the Bermuda National Museum at the dockyard.  It has lots of excellent information and actual artefacts from the Sea Venture (which satisfied some of my family history interests).  We also explored the arts and crafts centers for more gifts.  Then we were ready to head back to the ship for lunch and sailaway.

 

In terms of covid, we were fairly comfortable with the way that we handled things.  Almost all of the crew were masked (although a few were not wearing their masks properly).  Very few of the other passengers wore masks – I’d estimate around 1%.  We wore masks most of the time while indoors.  We always use the stairs and never take elevators on cruises anyway (because that’s my way of not gaining weight on a cruise).  I have some mild breathing issues, so it was harder for me to breathe while masked and walking up many flights of stairs than I had expected, but I managed.  We had anytime dining, and I was pleasantly surprised that, when we asked for a table far away from other people, we were given a nice large table far in the back with a lovely view.  The surprise was that we were given the same table (with the same excellent servers Nitin and Tulio – thanks guys!) no matter what time we came for dinner.  That made the dining experience much more comfortable.  We also found places in the theater and the Sky Lounge (for our frequent trivia sessions) that were quite far from other people so we didn’t feel that we had to mask constantly.  

 

All in all, I think that Celebrity did an excellent job.  The food and service were wonderful throughout the cruise.  I missed the International Café on Princess (open 24/7 with both sweet and savory options) but Café Al Bacio was a good substitute with delicious desserts, coffees and hot chocolate.  I just wish they had some savory options. With the Premium drink package, the Summit had Diet Cokes in cans which I could keep in the room.  I much preferred that to the Princess package where you can usually only get dispensed soda in cups.  We didn’t particularly like the comedian or magician shows (but our seats at the back and out of the way made it easy to leave).  We enjoyed the other shows.  I was pleased to see that there was more diversity among the performers than I’ve seen on other cruise lines.  There were 2 small but decent dance floors on the Summit and we were finally able to dance once on the last sea day which we loved.  

 

I am delighted to be back to cruising and will likely cruise Celebrity (and possibly this same itinerary) in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nachosdelux]

thanks for the excellent review

[Azulann]

Thank you for your detailed  review. I too would love to go back to Bermuda. Loved the island.  

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, barbpretz said:

We then planned to spend Thursday in St. Georges viewing the Sea Venture Memorial and the Deliverance replica (since I have an ancestor who was on the Sea Venture) T

Thank you for a very good trip report. Just an FYI the Deliverance replica was in bad shape so it was demolished this past weekend. 

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20220725/beyond-repair-deliverance-demolished/

 

 

[warb]

I always like reading Bermuda Trip Reports. We have done

 

most of our Cruises on Princess.  We did Bermuda with

 

Grandson on NCL & Holland. Great memories.  Thanks !!

 

Oh, never sailed Celebrity. I wish I did . I think I'm done Cruising.

[barbpretz]

5 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Thank you for a very good trip report. Just an FYI the Deliverance replica was in bad shape so it was demolished this past weekend. 

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20220725/beyond-repair-deliverance-demolished/

 

 

@Charles4515Thanks for letting me know about this.  I'm sad that I didn't get to see it even though it was apparently in such bad shape.  I selfishly wish they would rebuild it, but it looks like that's not going to happen.  I read that it was very cool in its day - you could actually go inside and explore the ship and see how people lived when they were sailing.  Oh well . . . 

[Cruisegoer]

9 hours ago, barbpretz said:

We ate lunch at the Swizzle Inn (with free wifi!) and enjoyed 2 of the 3 Bermudean dishes we had hoped to try:  the fish chowder and wahoo nugget. 

 

On Thursday, we decided against going to St. Georges. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you made it to the Swizzle Inn you pretty much made it to St George

[Charles4515]

19 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

If you made it to the Swizzle Inn you pretty much made it to St George

The Swizzle Inn is a popular pub in another parish. St. George is a World heritage Site. So no, OP did not pretty much make it to St. George. St. George is definitly worth a visit on a return visit. 

[miched]

The first time we sailed on Celebrity was on the Solstice after being on many Princess and Carnival cruises.    When we walked on board and given that glass of bubbly and then seeing the atrium we went WOW.   We had an AQ cabin and when we walked in and seen it we were really sold on Celebrity.   
 

We bragged about how nice the ship was and AQ along with Blu.   We convinced friends to try Celebrity and they sailed with us to Bermuda on the Summit.   What a let down.  We didn’t think about the Summit being different as it was a M class and not a S class.   The cabin was outdated, very small balcony, lousy Persian Garden.   Totally different ship. The CC and AQ cabins are a little larger.  
 

We have sailed on many more M class cruises and then knew what to expect.    The ships even though older do have a lot of nice features and their own charm

 

Try a S class in AQ and you will find a totally different experience, and ship.  Then there is the Edge Class that many love and some hate.   I love them but not a fan of the infinite balcony. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited July 29, 2022 by miched

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, miched said:

The first time we sailed on Celebrity was on the Solstice after being on many Princess and Carnival cruises.    When we walked on board and given that glass of bubbly and then seeing the atrium we went WOW.   We had an AQ cabin and when we walked in and seen it we were really sold on Celebrity.   
 

We bragged about how nice the ship was and AQ along with Blu.   We convinced friends to try Celebrity and they sailed with us to Bermuda on the Summit.   What a let down.  We didn’t think about the Summit being different as it was a M class and not a S class.   The cabin was outdated, very small balcony, lousy Persian Garden.   Totally different ship. The CC and AQ cabins are a little larger.  
 

We have sailed on many more M class cruises and then knew what to expect.    The ships even though older do have a lot of nice features and their own charm

 

Try a S class in AQ and you will find a totally different experience, and ship.  Then there is the Edge Class that many love and some hate.   I love them but not a fan of the infinite balcony. 
 

 

 

I sailed on Summit six or seven times starting when it was pretty new. A reposition from Manhattan to San Juan by way of Aruba to make it legal. The last time was in 2019 after it was Revolutionized. They did a really nice job. All the old cabins were removed, pulled out, and replaced. Most of the public areas redone. New carpeting with different colors etc. The lido redone. The only thing I recall that was not redone was Cafe Bacio. Same color, same chairs....

Edited July 29, 2022 by Charles4515

[Spikedr]

What a lovely review! I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise.

I am also a fan of shopping grocery stores in different places to look for unique things to bring home. 

[MJSailors]

@barbpretz We have taken two cruises to Bermuda n the Summit. I seem to recall that an embarkation lunch was served to Concierge level passengers in the MDR.

MJ 

[Cruisegoer]

11 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

The Swizzle Inn is a popular pub in another parish. St. George is a World heritage Site. So no, OP did not pretty much make it to St. George. St. George is definitly worth a visit on a return visit. 

It's a 22 mile island, look at a map, throw a rock and hit St George.....but thanks for your opinion.

 

[MJSailors]

@Cruisegoer I got what you meant in your post. Being at the Swizzle Inn,a person could get to St George fairly quickly as the distance between the two is short.😉

MJ🙋🏻, who loves Bermuda!

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Cruisegoer said:

It's a 22 mile island, look at a map, throw a rock and hit St George.....but thanks for your opinion.

 

It is 5 miles from the Swizzle Inn to St. George. Look at a map, Bermuda is a bunch of islands. There is another island between the island the town of St. George is on and the island the Swizzle Inn is on.  

[barbpretz]

Just one more quick thought about breakfast:  I love a relaxed, sit-down, served breakfast.  On the Summit, there was the exact same menu every morning.  The food was excellent, but it got boring.  On Princess, they have the same basics every day, but they have 3 unique items to choose from each morning.  That gives something different to look forward to each day (especially their corn-flake-encrusted french toast!)

[barbpretz]

11 hours ago, MJSailors said:

@barbpretz We have taken two cruises to Bermuda n the Summit. I seem to recall that an embarkation lunch was served to Concierge level passengers in the MDR.

MJ 

@MJSailorsThat explains it!  Thanks for clarifying.  My daughter suspected that the embarkation lunch was probably just for the "fancy people".  We definitely do not fit the category of "fancy people".

[jgmorgan]

3 minutes ago, barbpretz said:

just for the "fancy people"

The really fancy people don't go to the MDR.😂 

[Cruisegoer]

47 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It is 5 miles from the Swizzle Inn to St. George. Look at a map, Bermuda is a bunch of islands. There is another island between the island the town of St. George is on and the island the Swizzle Inn is on.  

Umm, So google said 4.6KM which is roughly 2.5 miles.....but sure, whatever you say.

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

Umm, So google said 4.6KM which is roughly 2.5 miles.....but sure, whatever you say.

It is over 4 miles drive by road. But you go ahead and believe whatever you want. 

[Cruisegoer]

6 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It is over 4 miles drive by road. But you go ahead and believe whatever you want. 

Great, I will thanks,  I also hope we're never stuck on a ship together!

[jgmorgan]

St. George's Island...pretty close to Swizzle Inn as the crow flies.  St. George's town...not so close- about 6.2 km drive from ferry terminal to Swizzle Inn.

 

Sorry for butting in but I just wanted to keep this going for a few more pages.

[MJSailors]

@barbpretz We don’t think of ourselves as “fancy people”😉. We had two Concierge cabins as the fare prices were not much more than a balcony category. On one of the cruises, we had an aft balcony that was very large. It accommodated two loungers,four chairs and a round table. We enjoyed a few room service meals on that balcony.

When we went with friends, we were considering an Aqua class cabin,but decided not to do that as we wanted to eat dinner in the MDR with them. Again a Conceierge cabin because we liked the price and location..

A tip if you plan any future cruises on Celebrity. Check fares for all the categories of cabins. You may be surprised to find some categories to be budget friendly.

MJ🙋🏻

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, MJSailors said:

Again a Conceierge cabin because we liked the price and location..

There are categories for fancy people but I don't consider Concierge to be a cat for fancy people or fancy. It is more of an upsell cat that gets the cruise line some additional revenue. I never booked one but considered it on a couple of sailings based on price and location. One time the price was less than my regular balcony but I did not like the location. Aqua class  not fancy either, some like the spa thing and Blu. Once I was offered an upgrade to Aqua for $400 but the friends we were cruising with were not so we didn't take it. So I don't know if Blu is worth it or not..

[miched]

23 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

I sailed on Summit six or seven times starting when it was pretty new. A reposition from Manhattan to San Juan by way of Aruba to make it legal. The last time was in 2019 after it was Revolutionized. They did a really nice job. All the old cabins were removed, pulled out, and replaced. Most of the public areas redone. New carpeting with different colors etc. The lido redone. The only thing I recall that was not redone was Cafe Bacio. Same color, same chairs....

We sailed on the Summit in Nov 2021.   We were in a SS.  It was refitted by Kelly.    No walk in closets,  no shelves in the bathroom,  very limited storage space and lousy furniture on the balcony.    The chair  wouldn’t fit under the in room vanity.  The lighting was bad.  The drawers were very shallow.   It looked like she got everything from Ikea.  Those little stools at the end of the bed took up space.  The night stands had very shallow drawers there were no outlets.  ‘
 

I liked the decor before she did her renovation 
 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by miched