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Summit vs Infinity & booking onboard


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We've got our first Celebrity cruise coming up this Fall on the Celebrity Summit. It looks like they're pretty much the same ships? If we like it Cindy wants to invite her cousin's family on the Infinity in Dec 2019. Is it better to book on board or with a travel agent, or wait until last minute? The prices are already pretty reasonable. We're in AquaClass this time but that's not a bad price for a more upscale suite and see what folks are talking about with the Luminae Restaurant.

 

Inside $399 USD

 

Ocean View $419 USD

 

Veranda $589 USD

 

Concierge Class $659 USD

 

AquaClass $709 USD

 

Suites $959 USD SAVE $200

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IMHO the best deal is to book early, Book on board as you get a reduced deposit, additional OBC and last month we got an additional perk. Then after booking you have 60 days to move your booking to a TA which should get you some refundable OBC or another perk.

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IMHO the best deal is to book early, Book on board as you get a reduced deposit, additional OBC and last month we got an additional perk. Then after booking you have 60 days to move your booking to a TA which should get you some refundable OBC or another perk.

 

Thanks Jelayne. You are probably right about the best deals early out - plus there will be more cabins to choose from. More perks I'm all in if we like Celebrity. Even if Cindy's family can't make it we can always meet them for dinner. They live in Bonita Springs so it is not that far of a drive.

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We've got our first Celebrity cruise coming up this Fall on the Celebrity Summit. It looks like they're pretty much the same ships? If we like it Cindy wants to invite her cousin's family on the Infinity in Dec 2019. Is it better to book on board or with a travel agent, or wait until last minute? The prices are already pretty reasonable. We're in AquaClass this time but that's not a bad price for a more upscale suite and see what folks are talking about with the Luminae Restaurant.

 

Inside $399 USD

 

Ocean View $419 USD

 

Veranda $589 USD

 

Concierge Class $659 USD

 

AquaClass $709 USD

 

Suites $959 USD SAVE $200

 

Both are M class ships. They're old, well past their best hence being scheduled for major overhauls in the future. Do not expect a luxurious experience unless booking a suite where food and service in Luminae will beat Blu and the MDR hands down. We did back to backs on Summit last december in concierge class and aqua class. On that sailing the service in the MDR actually beat Blu. There was no noticeable increase in food quality in Blu over the MDR which was very disappointing as this has not been the case on previous Celebrity sailings.

 

To be brutally honest, Summit had the worst service of any cruise ship I've ever sailed on including those from other lines. Blu was simply diabolical due to being understaffed by one sommelier and four waiters. The staff working in their last december made several mistakes with our orders and those of other guests seated nearby.

 

To book a trip on Summit again it would have to be sailing an itinerary I really want to do and be priced accordingly as we book on value rather than price.

 

Bar service was also very poor due to a lack of bartenders.

 

With the low price increase for suites, it would be a no brainer for me.

 

There are pros and cons to booking on board and with a TA but as has already been mentioned, booking onboard and having your booking transferred to your TA can result in perks from an onboard booking being combined with additional perks from your TA so you score the best of both worlds. Do your research beforehand so you understand the process.

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The suite prices on this Summit cruise still seem like a good value. We actually booked this same December 2019 sailing while we were on board the Summit December 2018 sailing. Why, because we had the choice of S1 suites, extra OBC from booking while-on board, extra OBC because on-line TA was having a sale, all combined with a very attractive base price. Got all 4 perks* at an unbelievable price w$100pp deposit.!

 

*Drink package, free gratuities,free internet, $300obc (not to mention Butler service ,Luminae dining, Michaels Club, Priority embarkation, disembarkation, tendering).

 

 

 

 

 

It's a great ship for Caribbean sailing.

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I‘ll disagree with the statement that the cruises on these M-Class ships will not be ‘luxurious’ unless going with a Suite. Sailed on Summit twice last year (Canada and Bermuda) and it was in great shape. It is older, but still an excellent atmosphere. Yes, it and all M-Class are going through overhaul as they’ve had before a number of times, as all cruise ships do. This overhaul is a major overhaul with changes beyond upkeep to update the ships.

 

Our experience was Summit had fine service. No idea what service in Blu was, but in MDR and in all the common areas and our SR the service was the same excellent level we’ve had before.

 

Was on Infinity 2 years ago and enjoyed her.

 

Love M-Class. Smaller and yes older, but both ships have what I think is the best at-sea inside pool. Food quality and choice was fine and varied.

 

As to booking, we’ve booked on board and got additional OBC and then moved it to our TA. But I’m looking at a cruise in Jan 2020 and may not wait until I’m aboard the Edge in Mar 2019 to book and will do it now to get the SR’s I want and get set up. This is a S America cruise to the Antarctic waters (not actuallly ‘landing’ there). If your Infinity Cruise is a more standard one to the Carribean, might go ahead and wait since the ship won’t fill up very quickly. But if it’s a bit of a special itinerary, I’d book now. Very subjective opinon as most are talking on such subjects.

 

Den

Edited by Denny01
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The suite prices on this Summit cruise still seem like a good value. We actually booked this same December 2019 sailing while we were on board the Summit December 2018 sailing

 

did you come back from the future?

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Love M-Class. Smaller and yes older, but both ships have what I think is the best at-sea inside pool. Food quality and choice was fine and varied.

 

Good to know. It sounds more consistent than Carnival. Many of us know what to expect by choosing the Sunshine or Triumph. Thanks for all your suggestions and tips folks. Since it is just a few months out I think we'll wait until we're onboard and book next year's cruise for the perks.

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Enjoy your burgers and diet drinks.

 

If they're delicious I plan to.

 

The suite prices on this Summit cruise still seem like a good value. We actually booked this same December 2019 sailing while we were on board the Summit December 2018 sailing. Why, because we had the choice of S1 suites, extra OBC from booking while-on board, extra OBC because on-line TA was having a sale, all combined with a very attractive base price. Got all 4 perks* at an unbelievable price w$100pp deposit.!

 

*Drink package, free gratuities,free internet, $300obc (not to mention Butler service ,Luminae dining, Michaels Club, Priority embarkation, disembarkation, tendering).

 

 

That's what I'm seeing it is an even better deal for a suite than our Summit cruise. Maybe we'll see you onboard.

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I‘ll disagree with the statement that the cruises on these M-Class ships will not be ‘luxurious’ unless going with a Suite.

 

I'm sure others will also disagree as the word 'luxurious' is of course subjective. That's the great thing about this forum, the disagreements can be very educational to others. :)

 

I'd be very interested to see if you could provide an explanation as to what is 'luxurious' about a non suite experience on Summit though. I'll happily reply with things we found not to be IMHO if you do.

 

Incidentally, I just looked at the reviews on this very website for Celebity Summit. Looking at the last ten most recent this ship has scored (rating out of 5)

 

5 - 4 reviews

4 - 1 review

3 - 3 reviews

2 - 2 reviews

1 - 0 reviews

 

So an average score of 3.7 out of 5 clearly demonstrating this ship could be improved.

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I'm sure others will also disagree as the word 'luxurious' is of course subjective. That's the great thing about this forum, the disagreements can be very educational to others. :)

 

I'd be very interested to see if you could provide an explanation as to what is 'luxurious' about a non suite experience on Summit though. I'll happily reply with things we found not to be IMHO if you do.

I don’t rate Celebrity as ‘luxurious’, I just didn’t agree with the general description of the M-Class and Summit in particular.

 

The only luxurious experience I’ve had on vacation is staying at the Cavalari (sp?) hotel outside the Vatican. Unbelievable. Used our Hilton points to stay before a cruise. It had originals of the great painters all over the walls, a 500 Euro a person 5-star restaraunt.

 

So, agree, not luxury on Celebrity.

 

Den

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I don’t rate Celebrity as ‘luxurious’, I just didn’t agree with the general description of the M-Class and Summit in particular.

 

The only luxurious experience I’ve had on vacation is staying at the Cavalari (sp?) hotel outside the Vatican. Unbelievable. Used our Hilton points to stay before a cruise. It had originals of the great painters all over the walls, a 500 Euro a person 5-star restaraunt.

 

So, agree, not luxury on Celebrity.

 

Den

 

The cruise lines are on the back foot when competing with land based establishments for many reasons.

But are you saying the Celebrity suite experience is also not 'luxurious'?

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But are you saying the Celebrity suite experience is also not 'luxurious'?

 

"Luxurious" is like "Modern Luxury"....it's whatever you want to think it is...or perhaps whatever Celebrity's marketing department convinces you it is. It's very likely that your definition of those phrases would be very different than mine..just because we have different backgrounds and experiences.

 

Everyone's definition of luxury is different and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that a very high percentage of the adult world population would think that an inside cabin on a cruise ship...any cruise ship....was luxurious.

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"Luxurious" is like "Modern Luxury"....it's whatever you want to think it is...or perhaps whatever Celebrity's marketing department convinces you it is. It's very likely that your definition of those phrases would be very different than mine..just because we have different backgrounds and experiences.

 

Everyone's definition of luxury is different and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that a very high percentage of the adult world population would think that an inside cabin on a cruise ship...any cruise ship....was luxurious.

 

Pretty sure that's what I said in Post 15. First sentence. ;)

 

Not sure the Celebrity marketing department would convince me of very much though. :)Personally I find their marketing disingenuous at best.

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Pretty sure that's what I said in Post 15. First sentence. ;)

 

Not sure the Celebrity marketing department would convince me of very much though. :)Personally I find their marketing disingenuous at best.

That can be said about ALL marketing, not just Celebrity’s. It’s all about the BS, not reality.

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The cruise lines are on the back foot when competing with land based establishments for many reasons.

But are you saying the Celebrity suite experience is also not 'luxurious'?

I don’t have any options on Suites. Except being invited to lunch by friends in Suites, never stayed in one.

 

Den

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Two points for the OP, first, it is better to book on board and get the reduced deposit and some extra OBC. Once you have booked it is easy to transfer the booking to a TA and get their incentives too. We just got off the Summit this morning after a great cruise to Bermuda. We are planning a family cruise to Alaska in 2020 for our milestone anniversary so we went to Future Cruises and asked them what to do since Alaska 2020 is not open yet. They booked a place holder cruise for us so we can get the onboard benefits and then move them all to the cruise we really want for 2020 when those open for booking in Nov/Dec. They also automaticly transferred our booking to the TA we had booked the Bermuda trip with.

 

Second point, yes, the Summit is older and smaller then the S class ships and yes it is scheduled for a major overhaul in Feb 2019 BUT, we had a great time. The ship was nice, the crew is amazing, the food was good. We even found the captain standing on the gangway with several other senior officers as we left this morning say goodbye and thank you to all of us. It may not sound like a big deal but to us it showed just how much he and his crew care about their passengers and their product. Everyone was always working hard to make sure we were all happy. Minor problems were always addressed and quickly solved. Oh, I can't eat burgers so I can't comment on them but the diet coke was really good :}. So go and enjoy and book onboard. We are already thinking about going back next summer.

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Both are M class ships. They're old, well past their best hence being scheduled for major overhauls in the future. Do not expect a luxurious experience unless booking a suite where food and service in Luminae will beat Blu and the MDR hands down. We did back to backs on Summit last december in concierge class and aqua class. On that sailing the service in the MDR actually beat Blu. There was no noticeable increase in food quality in Blu over the MDR which was very disappointing as this has not been the case on previous Celebrity sailings.

 

To be brutally honest, Summit had the worst service of any cruise ship I've ever sailed on including those from other lines. Blu was simply diabolical due to being understaffed by one sommelier and four waiters. The staff working in their last december made several mistakes with our orders and those of other guests seated nearby.

 

To book a trip on Summit again it would have to be sailing an itinerary I really want to do and be priced accordingly as we book on value rather than price.

 

Bar service was also very poor due to a lack of bartenders.

 

With the low price increase for suites, it would be a no brainer for me.

 

There are pros and cons to booking on board and with a TA but as has already been mentioned, booking onboard and having your booking transferred to your TA can result in perks from an onboard booking being combined with additional perks from your TA so you score the best of both worlds. Do your research beforehand so you understand the process.

We have sailed 10 times, a total of 113 nights on Celebrity, in the last 3 years. Twice on Summit; last December and again a few weeks ago. Every experience has been different, but our experience on the Summit, both times, was absolutely top notch. We've logged enough cruise nights to have accumulated enough points to be Elite. Which gives us at the option of breakfast with other Elites in a specialty restaurant rather than the MDR. We tried it on the Summit this last time because the Elite breakfast is a lighter more Continental menu and my wife wanted that. We waited 20-25 minutes to get coffee, we were about to leave when we finally got service. That is the single instance of poor or slow service I can think of in our 113 days on Celebrity, and when we went back a few days later there was no wait. So, a one-time glitch. This will certainly not sour us on the Celebrity experience.

People complain all of the time about old ships, but I think it is only because they are old themselves and are just starting to realize that they are mortal and are hypersensitive to any indications of aging. In fact, the "old" ships are well maintained and quite comfortable.

 

Stan

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This thread has given me a little chuckle. I had some foodie concerns and suggestions and folks got on poor Uncle Doug's butt because I haven't sailed on Celebrity yet - so had no right to suggest anything. Oh and Cindy has just corrected me that I am a "fast foodie" because I like high quality junk food. Haha maybe so but I know a good steak and tritip when I taste it too.

 

When we start getting excited about trying Celebrity and thinking about a 2nd cruise - the fans are here to convince each other that it's not very upscale or the ships are too old. I guess it is better to plan for the best and get the skinny from the folks in the know. All the forums are like this - got to love our cruising community.

Edited by Doug & Cindy Scrap Hunter
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I don’t have any options on Suites. Except being invited to lunch by friends in Suites, never stayed in one.

 

Den

 

So, you disagree with my comment that you'll need to be in a suite to have a luxurious experience. But you then state that Celebrity per se is not a luxury brand and then state that you've not had the Celebrity Suite experience.....

 

That leaves me questioning the validity of your views. There's much more to suite life than a lunch in Luminae.

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