SUMMIT March 5th & March 12th B2B REVIEW

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This is our second B2B on The Summit, we can't speak highly enough about the crew.

This even goes down to the night maintainance staff.. One night I went up to the pool deck to try to sleep in a lounger (hubby was keeping me awake with a cough) I was laying there wishing I had bought a pillow to snuggle into, next moment I open my eyes and a member of crew is placing a couple of towels on the next lounger, he said he thought I might like them, then asked if I would like the window closed which I actually did but couldn't be bothered to get up.. I felt pampered, non of this 'it's not in job description' that we are so used to in North America..

It was my 50th birthday :o during the second week of our B2B.

A concern I had was one evening a man with a tool box came to the cabin just after my husband left and said he was there to fix the safe, as there was nothing wrong with the safe I informed the reception, just to make them aware in case it wasn't legitmate.. They followed up, did a security review of my deck at that time and got back to me saying that he had got the wrong stateroom.

The next day there was a bottle of champagne in my room for causing me alarm.I told them I wasn't alarmed but felt I should just draw it to their attention just in case..... The following week on my birthday there was champagne, along with roses and a plate of chocolates.. (Bummer that I had the premium drinks package) :D

Damian is still Cruise Director, (although he had a meeting during the 2nd week and had to leave in St Maartin)we found him to be very approachable, have a great sense of humour, he is perfect for the job. Damian made us feel that our opinions mattered, he listened and took action on my one (I hate to use the word 'negative') comment... Perhaps observation would be more appropriate.. which was that last year, during sail away from various POC's some of the staff would be on the pool deck to 'encourage' dancing to the live music.. I think it helped that last year one of the band members was also a fantastic dancer and got us up and involved.. I think more could be done here, last year was perfect, this year it was good. Quite a few danced but to the sidelines, if encouraged I think it would have been a greater atmosphere..

We didn't see the production shows so can't comment here, in past years they have been just 'OK' not great so we chose to enjoy the martini bar instead. One exception we did see the comedian who put on a great ~or~ should I say 'Brilliant' show! :D

I'm not sure if it was that we were on the premium drinks package that we didn't seek out the demo's and freebies or that they just weren't offering them this year.. Last year there was a mixology demo on the pool deck with free drinks going to the 'movers/shakers' this was a fun event which I may be wrong but I don't think it took place..

Dining: We opted for the select dining experience, we were a little worried as we had never done this before, it was such a great experience we wouldn't dine any other way. Telma was in charge of seating and we found out that her husband Renato was the Maitre d' I can't speak highly enough they were a wonderful team. We were lucky to have Serken from Turkey most nights as our waiter and was very impressed with Leeford his assistant, we had them on our first night and found ourselves again at their table 2 nights later. Leeford remembered our preferences and without asking 2 bottles of San Peligrino and a basket filled with only our bread preference was place on our table!

Serken ~always service with a smile was keen that every need be met, when we ordered after dinner speciality coffee's he overheard the girl (with a little attitude and air that we were putting her out... we just shrugged off) as she told us it would be a while as they have to get them from somewhere else.. The next thing he is over at our table, apologizing, telling her to get our coffee order. He then must have informed the Maitre d' who came over said it was unacceptable and also appologized.. We are very easy going guests, but I can see where someone would have kicked up a fuss, so it was nice to know the crew are bringing up the standards of other crew where they see it is lacking..

Dining room carpets: I hate the design of these carpets they look dirty and dingy as if crumbs are all over them.. On closer inspection it's the design, I guess it's patterned this way to disguise any spills.. Could do with being changed.

Food: Was very nice, some dishes great, some could be improved. The great thing is with celebrity if you don't like something it's changed no arguments. On the first week I like one particular appetizer and requested it the second night, unfortunately they didn't have any left... On week 2 they remembered this and reserved one with my cabin # for the next night, how awesome is that!!

Waterfall Cafe: Good selection of food, wish they would start the sushi earlier.. most people tend to congregate around the top half yet they have other selections towards the aft..

Martini & Champagne Bar: We tended to sit at the bar as we loved the showmanship and personalities of Leo and I Gusti as well as Charles.. These guys work hard and did a great job.

They had a Bond Martini Trivia evening which was good fun, my hubby being a Bond fan won this hands down, to give others a chance we made sure that they changed questions for the following week!!

Michaels Club: Although we didn't use as much as we would have like it is a lovely place to spend some quiet time, listening to the music, it's a calm relaxed place to 'hang' Tammy was the musician and we enjoyed listening to her. Vijay, what a nice bar tender, quiet, calm, attentive, respectful. We had the pleasure of being served by him on a previous cruise so we asked other crew members if he was still on the ship and where we could find him.. After having a conversation with other staff working out which one of 3 Vijays on board was the one we were looking for we discovered that not only is he liked and respected by other passengers but other members of the crew had high praise for him as well..

Mast Bar: Once you've had one of Paul's (Doctor feel Good) or Bobby's drinks you won't want to go anywhere else... Bobby was like the energizer bunny, showing up all over the ship an incredibly had worker with a great attitude and infectious smile.

Cova Cafe: We would often start our mornings off with a coffee here, at busy times they would benefit from a # system as there would be lots of people all holding their cards out wanting their morning caffine fix! We opted to sit and have a pastry and as we were on the drinks package take a bottle of San Peligrino with us to the dining room rather than have the waiters having to run back and get one for us.. Cova cafe was also a nice place to relax and have a drink in the evening.. Lisa was a wonderful server and knew straightaway my preference for the French Kiss speciality coffee...

The entertainment here was great, I wish I could remember the name of the band, they were korean or asian looking and FANTASTIC.. It was a nice place to sit and sip and sometimes sway to the music.. I didn't think that the young couple playing violin worked here at all as their playing was lost with the sounds of the coffee bar and people walking through.

Aft Bar: Not shown on midships elevator and didn't discover it untill tail end of cruise last year.. It's a nice place to sit and have a drink and was glad to see they made a more definite smoking / non smoking zone.. Last year this wasn't the case so used a lot more this year.

Stateroom Attendant: Was such a nice guy but did just an 'ok' job. I didn't have the heart to do a negative review. I opted to speak to him personally on ways that he could improve and give greater attention to detail, such as getting rid of our empty shampoo bottles in shower, and having replacements for us. After a few days he had me trained to throw out the empty ones myself!! LOL... I still always had to ask for new bottles of conditioner... I thought he was perhaps new to the job but discovered he had been an SA for many years..

Cleaning Staff: I have to mention a wee little girl called Joanna from either indonesia or Phillipines she was always working away in Cova cafe area keeping things Ship shape and Bristol fashion... We never saw her without a smile on her face and a greeting for us. She remembered us and said 'welcome back on board' to my hubby and friend after they returned from a day in SJU on turnaround day..

Ports of Call: I won't go into detail on all our POC' and excursions.We enjoyed most POC and have done many a few times, I wish Celebrity would ditch Tobago and choose somewhere better.

St Croix, we did a ships tour to Buck Island last year, this year opted for Bigbeards which was awesome, also this was on a very nice Cat and not a couple of beaten up old boats that we had the year before..

St Kitts: We can't speak highly enough of the ship excursion on the Fan-ta-Sea, we would have no hesitation in doing this one again.

Barbados: Tiami 5* Catmaran snorkel and swim with turtles... This was our 3rd time, we were very dissappointed, there was nothing 'wrong' with it, but having done it twice in the past there was everything wrong with it... if that makes sense!! In the past there was crew interaction, they would call out the famous people that lived in various houses as we sailed by them. This time the only thing they mentioned was the hotel that Tiger Woods got married in. The crew seemed for the most part disinterested.. except one who babysat one of the kids on board. The music was geared up to the young crowd on board.. Hip pop and some Saturday night fever... Not caribbean.. We sat there thinking if we want The Hip Pop experience we would have visited NY Bronx.. Not one crew member was available to help anyone get back up onto the Cat and the ladder was roped up almost at water level.. A fellow passenger gave me a hand..

The food on board was as excellent as in the past.

Noro Virus: We went to the surgery week 1 as friend needed something for an eye infection. It was disembarkation day, a man came in looking for his wife who had spent the night at the infirmary due to vomiting & diarrhea, she was on IV of fluids and gravol they were travelling home that day..

As we had spent a week in SJU prior to the cruise we stayed on board but our Husbands went into town for the day.. The first thing us girls did after hearing about the woman in the infirmary is head for our rooms and sanitize, unfortunately despite hubbies own medical based backgrounds in the eagerness to get off the ship they 'forgot' 2 days later my friends hubby comes down with noro.. The other 3 of us were fine. Pretty sure he caught it at the clinic! Was interesting to note as soon as he reported it he did a voluntary quarantine. The ship immediately implemented extra infection control procedures including disinfecting all the doors and handles along our corridor..

I think ships get a bad wrap for noro, and an excellent job at trying to keep it at bay.. it could happen anywhere.

B2B Experience: Excellent quick disembarkation/embarkation process. Every passenger has to clear the ship go through customs and embark with a new sea pass for the following cruise. The process was flawless. Last year they had a crew member who in my opinion was overwhelmed and flustered and out of her depth which made the experience frustrating.. It was great to see how Celebrity improved this.

I'm sure there is a lot more I could say, I would have no hesitation in recommending Celebrity Summit.. I love this ship and it's crew... Honestly there really wasn't much to fault..

Hi Goldeneye. I am sailing on the Summit on 4/30 and am interested in the premium drink package. My concern is that they won't have the premium wines that I wish (they are listed on the Cruise Critic post). Did you find that you had any problem with the beverage package? Thanks for your help in assisting me in my decision.

Golden Eye - we are traveling on Summit on 4/2. Read some reviews about her condition. Is she really that bad? Some reviews say she's still beautiful some say not.

charlie

Obviously she's a little old and tired compared to the new ships and the en-suite etc not as stylish but I still love her !!

I think she still has some good years left. I'll actually be sad when it goes for it's refit and gets 'solticized' I love the layout of the Martini bar in it's present form and that you can hear the live music from the rendevous lounge below without actually being part of it..

What makes it special is awesome the crew:) I don't think it's particularly shabby although the chairs in the waterfall cafe certainly need repainting..

I wasn't looking for faults so didn't really see many.. She was kept clean except the elevator buttons were oftern grubby, but I think they would need a full time crew member standing guard for it to be otherwise..

I use my knuckle rather than finger anyway..

You'll have a wonderful time..

Hi Goldeneye. I am sailing on the Summit on 4/30 and am interested in the premium drink package. My concern is that they won't have the premium wines that I wish (they are listed on the Cruise Critic post). Did you find that you had any problem with the beverage package? Thanks for your help in assisting me in my decision.

I found that there were still a selection of wines and found a few to my liking, I usually had a glass of white and a Red depending on my food selection....

I posted this on another thread....

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Why I liked the Premium package..

I liked the premium package as there was 'no guilt' if I wanted a 2nd martini.. It was already bought and paid for..

I liked not having to sign for a beverage, I always felt obliged to add an extra tip.. This way I just went around tipping extra to my fav bar staff at the end of the cruise...

I liked that if I wasn't enjoying a drink I could leave it and not feel 'guilty' that I'd just dropped $7:50 on it.. I found that some bar staff to could make my favourite Rum Runner drink and it taste totally different..

I liked that I felt 'liberated' to experiment in the Martini bar and instead of sticking with the safe, tried and tested I felt free to order others that I may not have 'risked' if I was dropping $10

I liked having bottles of San Peligrino, we would go for a speciality coffee before breakfast and then take a bottle of San Pel to breakfast..

I liked ordering a 'French Kiss' after dinner... an indulgence I would not otherwise have done..

I liked ordering wine with dinner, and not feeling I had to finish every last drop..

(warning, if you order a wine over the $12 limit they charge for the whole glass)

The freedom to mix it up a little and leave something I didn't particularly care for is great.

Thank you for the review.

Thanks for the review. You mentioned that people were holding their cards for their morning coffee at the Cova Cafe. Does X have a coffee card like Princess, or is this part of the Drinks package?