Summit Jan.17, 2019 last cruise B4 the major drydock for 2 mths should I be concerned

My friend and I will be on the Summit departing on Jan. 17, 2019 for 12 days. This is the last cruise before the major "EDGEification" or "Celebrity Revolution". This will be my 4th time on the Summit and I love this ship. We booked this because the service and the food that we have had in the past has been amazing and also the itinerary has a few other islands that we have never been to before.

My question is, since this is the last cruise before the dry dock will they be cutting back on anything including service, food or drinks that have been providing in the past. In other words, possibly not stocking as many supplies as they normally would if there was another cruise to follow this one. Or maybe even starting the work before our cruise ends.

I would appreciate any comments from cruisers that have taken trips just before a major drydock and what if any issues they noticed.

We were on one before a minor dry dock and I wouldn't do it again by choice. They ran out of limes and several carbonated beverages. Granted, that could happen on any cruise that they run out of things. The bigger thing is that before the cruise ended they were stacking construction supplies on the upper decks and then they started sanding the finish off the outside decks, closing one whole side of the outside deck above the pool. There is always some maintenance going on, but this felt like quite a bit more than normal.

It didn't ruin our cruise by any means, but given the choice I'd avoid doing it again. It was a distraction and kind of annoying, particularly on the outdoor decks. Hope you got a great deal.

Yes, we were on Constellation last year on its last sailing before drydock and you could notice certain things happening. The major part was that they closed down one restaurant (Ocean Liners) halfway through the cruise as it was being transformed into Qsine plus some new cabins. They started doing wiring work in certain parts of the ship (right outside our cabin one day). I saw at least one space on an upper outside deck being stacked with equipment. So while it shouldn’t drastically impact your cruise you may notice some things happening. Normally dry docks are much shorter than this though. This one is like a month and a half so that should give them plenty of time to do what they need to do.

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I'm on the March 30 sailing and concerned they won't be done.

I'm on the March 30 sailing and concerned they won't be done.

I think that is a very valid concern. It seems that this is more than a normal dry dock. Personally, I would serious consider finding another sailing. You have plenty of time.

Regarding the last sailing before a dry dock, I would expect at least some minor inconveniences as the sailing nears its end. We were on Zenith’s final Celebrity sailing, a 15 night repo cruise from Tampa to Bayonne, after which she was transferred out of the fleet. The fact that it was her final sailing was not announced when we booked, and after much deliberation, we decided to stick it out and take the cruise. Despite the fact that some of the art work was already missing from the ship, and there were lots of suits roaming the decks throughgout the cruise, it turned out to be one of our best cruises. I do not recall them running out of any provisions. Celebrity did the old girl proud, with farewell deck parties and ceremonies throughout the sailing. Our last port, Hamilton, Bermuda, gave her a harbor sendoff that was wonderful. The final morning, thr pool deck was empty, with all of the deck loungers piled under the overhangs so thestripping down could begin. It was quite a cruise, and we would bo it all again.

;p

We were on one before a minor dry dock and I wouldn't do it again by choice. They ran out of limes and several carbonated beverages. Granted, that could happen on any cruise that they run out of things. The bigger thing is that before the cruise ended they were stacking construction supplies on the upper decks and then they started sanding the finish off the outside decks, closing one whole side of the outside deck above the pool. There is always some maintenance going on, but this felt like quite a bit more than normal.

 

It didn't ruin our cruise by any means, but given the choice I'd avoid doing it again. It was a distraction and kind of annoying, particularly on the outdoor decks. Hope you got a great deal.

Thanks for the response. This is only sailing that the Summit does that is 12 days and has the ports that we are interested in so sadly there isn't another option. (We aren't fans of sea days and there are only 2 on this sailing.) I looked at the same sailing in 2020 but the 2 that are offered don't have the same ports. We got a decent deal but nothing to jump up and down over. As far as running out of things goes, we can deal with the limes but my friend will make the captain walk the plank if they run out of Miller Light...LOL..

Yes, we were on Constellation last year on its last sailing before drydock and you could notice certain things happening. The major part was that they closed down one restaurant (Ocean Liners) halfway through the cruise as it was being transformed into Qsine plus some new cabins. They started doing wiring work in certain parts of the ship (right outside our cabin one day). I saw at least one space on an upper outside deck being stacked with equipment. So while it shouldn’t drastically impact your cruise you may notice some things happening. Normally dry docks are much shorter than this though. This one is like a month and a half so that should give them plenty of time to do what they need to do.

 

 

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I am hopeful that since it is such a long dry dock that they won't close any of the specialty restaurants on us.

The good thing about this one is that it only has 2 sea days so most of the time we will be off the ship.

I think that is a very valid concern. It seems that this is more than a normal dry dock. Personally, I would serious consider finding another sailing. You have plenty of time.

 

Regarding the last sailing before a dry dock, I would expect at least some minor inconveniences as the sailing nears its end. We were on Zenith’s final Celebrity sailing, a 15 night repo cruise from Tampa to Bayonne, after which she was transferred out of the fleet. The fact that it was her final sailing was not announced when we booked, and after much deliberation, we decided to stick it out and take the cruise. Despite the fact that some of the art work was already missing from the ship, and there were lots of suits roaming the decks throughgout the cruise, it turned out to be one of our best cruises. I do not recall them running out of any provisions. Celebrity did the old girl proud, with farewell deck parties and ceremonies throughout the sailing. Our last port, Hamilton, Bermuda, gave her a harbor sendoff that was wonderful. The final morning, thr pool deck was empty, with all of the deck loungers piled under the overhangs so thestripping down could begin. It was quite a cruise, and we would bo it all again.

Thanks for the response. So glad that you didn't run out of any provisions, that was a concern for me. I just hope that the service will still be top notch like it has been in the past. Just hope that they don't close Café Al Bacio early as I love my before bed sweet treats..

I would worry more about first cruise after the dry dock than about limes.

We were supposed to do Med cruise from Barcelona on Constellation last May right after dry dock and but had to reschedule - luckily! There were problems and the cruise started 2 days late. Celebrity put people up in hotels at no cost but many of the hotels were > 50 miles outside Barcelona.

We were on the Millenium before it's 2016 dry dock. I didn't notice any difference in the food or beverage service but they did have a lot of "stuff" on board in some out of the way locations. It didn't affect us but there were some areas on deck that they were using to store things for the refit.

We were on the Millenium before it's 2016 dry dock. I didn't notice any difference in the food or beverage service but they did have a lot of "stuff" on board in some out of the way locations. It didn't affect us but there were some areas on deck that they were using to store things for the refit.

Thanks, that sure makes me feel better about this.

Celebrity just gave my TA a quote for the Summit for a b2b Jan 17 and Jan 29. How can they do that if the ship is going to dry dock after the Jan 17 sailing?

I thought I read somewhere that the Summit drydock was Feb 16-March 29?

Laura

I don't think the 17th is the last sailing before dry dock as we're booked on the January 29th sailing.

There is also a 4 night sailing after us from February 10th to 14th. I think the drydock starts after that.

I don't think you'll have any issues on your cruise, but we might on ours. :D

My friend and I will be on the Summit departing on Jan. 17, 2019 for 12 days. This is the last cruise before the major "EDGEification" or "Celebrity Revolution". This will be my 4th time on the Summit and I love this ship. We booked this because the service and the food that we have had in the past has been amazing and also the itinerary has a few other islands that we have never been to before.

My question is, since this is the last cruise before the dry dock will they be cutting back on anything including service, food or drinks that have been providing in the past. In other words, possibly not stocking as many supplies as they normally would if there was another cruise to follow this one. Or maybe even starting the work before our cruise ends.

I would appreciate any comments from cruisers that have taken trips just before a major drydock and what if any issues they noticed.

The 17th is not the last cruise. There are 2 more cruises after the 17th. The last cruise is February 10,2019.

We are booked on the February 10th cruise. It is just a quick 4 night cruise out of San Juan, 3 stops and no sea days. We originally booked an 11 night Southern Caribbean on the Reflection but I am going be changing jobs in fall so thought it might be a problem with my new employer to take that much time off. I am a little nervous but coincidentally I was also on the last cruise before Summit went into drydock a couple years ago. That was a great cruise so I am hoping to have the same kind of experience with this one.

Or maybe even starting the work before our cruise ends.

.

Yup, they do start before the end of the last cruise. Was on the Summit just before the last dry dock and they were tearing the kids club down, welding, hammering you name it.

I am booked on the same cruise as well, plus several before and after.... not any more... they're going to have to bump me to another ship

I hope this isn't hi-jacking the thread, but could someone explain the "EDGEification"? How will the ship be different when I cruise in 2020? I have not yet cruise Celebrity (coming over from Royal), but am feverishly learning everything I can about the ship and I wonder if the information I'm reading will all be completely changed post dry-dock. Anyone have a list of the anticipated changes??

I am curious as well as to when dry dock is scheduled to be completed. I am booked in April 2019 and am may be an issue if she is delayed coming out of dry dock. I got such a great rate I would hate to cancel.

I'm on the March 30 sailing and concerned they won't be done.

I'm in the same boat, literally.

I have already been on one cruise where the ship was fresh out of dry dock. It was the Windjammer Polynesia in October 2001. The ship was constantly leaning to one side because they installed a new engine that was much, much lighter. It also overheated the hot water to the point of making steam come out of the tap, so they had to turn off all hot water the entire cruise. Somehow, a plastic bag found its way into the fuel line--causing the ship to completely lose power an entire evening until they found out what was going on.

We made the most of it and actually had a great time. It was certainly easy to strike up conversations and meet fellow passengers. The bar that they opened up helped too.

I'm on the March 30 sailing and concerned they won't be done.

We were booked in February 2019 and they cancelled it, saying it was going in for dry dock in February, so we had to choose between December 2018 (before dry dock) or March/April 2019 (after) - I chose April because I did not want to be the first cruise after dry dock, and that would have put us 4-5 cruises after they were done.

I just went to to check my dates to book airfare and I saw that they totally changed the date of the dry dock! Now its the end of March? So, we COULD have gone in February on our original date, and now we might be the first cruise after dry dock, which was exactly what I did not want to do....

Anyone else in the same situation?

I would worry more about first cruise after the dry dock than about limes.

We were supposed to do Med cruise from Barcelona on Constellation last May right after dry dock and but had to reschedule - luckily! There were problems and the cruise started 2 days late. Celebrity put people up in hotels at no cost but many of the hotels were > 50 miles outside Barcelona.

I totally agree. We cruised right out of dry dock. Boarding was delayed until 4pm. The cruise line tried to discourage people from arriving at the pier but...for some of us, we had no where else to go. They did provide a rather nice boxed lunch for us.

The reason that boarding was delayed is that they were still laying carpet in some of the public areas. During this dry dock, some stateroom baths had been refurbished. Our Cabin Steward told us that the dust was everywhere and that he cleaned everyday but had trouble keeping up with the dust. Crews were still on board doing some of the repairs that had not been finished.

Okay...I have allergies and one of them is dust! Needless to say, I was so congested by the end of the cruise...even the Captain got sick during that cruise! In addition to the dust, there are also the fumes from the new materials.

We enjoyed our cruise but will never do a cruise right out of dry dock.

I'm on the March 30 sailing and concerned they won't be done.

We are on that sailing also but it looks like there is a 5 day sailing before ours departing March 25 so technically we would be the 2nd cruise since refurbishment hope all goes well.

We are booked for the February 29 to March 10 sailing, which we booked last April with a good rate for Aqua class. Knew it was before the redo and mostly booked it because of that. Just ask my husband-I hate change. Since we have sailed her before I was happy as is.

And now that someone mentioned it I’m really glad we are before in that I am really sensitive to chemical smells from new carpeting and paint. I get a headache just thinking about it.

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Our experience, being the last cruise prior to dry dock, was good and bad. They started blocking off areas for staging, you could see that a lot of areas needed painting, replacing of furniture. It, to us, was a little aggravating, but not a deal killer.