Just back from the Summit 9/5-12/2010

[everbell]

We were on the Millie in April and I thought it was in poor shape and also the same for the Infinity which we were on in March 2009.

Ontario Cruiser

 

We were on the Millennium in March/April this year and had no complaints about the shape she was in. We were in a balcony on the 9th deck and thought she looked fantastic. (In fact we have booked the same cruise itinerary and stateroom for this coming winter.)

[Minge]

When I "shop" for a cruise, I look for itinerary first, cruise line and ship in that order. I was really interested in the Summit this coming January because of its excellent itinerary but after reading this we may have to look at other lines.

[vickila]

When I "shop" for a cruise, I look for itinerary first, cruise line and ship in that order. I was really interested in the Summit this coming January because of its excellent itinerary but after reading this we may have to look at other lines.

 

Book the Summit -- a wonderful ship! Vicki:)

[emileg]

When I "shop" for a cruise, I look for itinerary first, cruise line and ship in that order. I was really interested in the Summit this coming January because of its excellent itinerary but after reading this we may have to look at other lines.

Many of us on this thread have different opinions about the Summit even though we were on the same cruise. Certainly expectations enter into an opinion. As I had read numerous previous threads where people discussed the condition of the ship, I wasn't expecting much. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the generally good condition of the public areas and our stateroom. I had heard that food was not up to past standards. So, I was expecting good institutional type food and that is what I got.

 

There were some notable exceptions, such as the outstanding waffles and the poached egg section of the buffet. We still had a wonderful cruise and we had no experiences sufficient enough to dissuade us from taking our next two cruises on Celebrity, which are on the Infinity and the Silhouette.

 

I might add that the composition of fellow passengers also can add or detract from the total overall cruise experience. On our cruise, it was a case of addition. Whoever did table assignments did an excellent job of putting us with very interesting people in the MDR.

[hcat]

Just want to let everyone know that Sal sent a note to Celebrity via e-mail about how much he disliked the port..

 

He received a very nice personal reply thanking him for his input & asking that we re-consider our thoughts about cancelling our Silhouette cruise from Cape Liberty in 2012. The Corporate Guest Relations rep. said she would be sending the comments on to a higher level of management...

 

We'll let you know what, if anything we hear back....

 

we have not cancelled Silho yet but will hope to hear that the port has been improved by 2012!

 

Have not done anything with our photos yet--probably this weekend.. we'll post a link as well as the last part of my somewhat loosely organized review..

Glad Bermuda did so well with the storm!

[roe2ship]

Just want to let everyone know that Sal sent a note to Celebrity via e-mail about how much he disliked the port..

 

He received a very nice personal reply thanking him for his input & asking that we re-consider our thoughts about cancelling our Silhouette cruise from Cape Liberty in 2012. The Corporate Guest Relations rep. said she would be sending the comments on to a higher level of management...

 

We'll let you know what, if anything we hear back....

 

we have not cancelled Silho yet but will hope to hear that the port has been improved by 2012!

 

I have to say I am surprised that one will cancel or thinking about cancelling a cruise because of a one bad experience at a port. I have read your previous comments but can't figure out what exactly was so bad about Cape Liberty?:confused:

[kclvt]

I don't think it is the nicest looking port (but I don't know why people cruise based on ports) but they get us on and off the ship. I have sailed from Bayonne twice and have never had a problem getting on (of course I had to wait a little this time) or off the ship. Got our luggage both times no problem and right through customs......I think it was more attractive than Tampa-IMHO!

[emileg]

I just got a phone call from a Celebrity representative who identified himself at Rico. He said he was following up on the comments I wrote on the guest survey card we filled out at the end of the cruise. I went into a little more detail than I did in the short space on the card. He listened attentively and cared about what I was saying.

 

I get the impression from both this call and the "Attention to Detail" form that was distributed to cabins on the ship that there is concern from Celebrity that somethings just weren't right on this cruise and they needed to put finger on them. My sense is they are genuinely trying to get a handle on these problems in order to correct them. Kudos to Celebrity for listening and making this outreach.

[Grandma Rambo]

I just got a phone call from a Celebrity representative who identified himself at Rico. He said he was following up on the comments I wrote on the guest survey card we filled out at the end of the cruise. I went into a little more detail than I did in the short space on the card. He listened attentively and cared about what I was saying.

 

I get the impression from both this call and the "Attention to Detail" form that was distributed to cabins on the ship that there is concern from Celebrity that somethings just weren't right on this cruise and they needed to put finger on them. My sense is they are genuinely trying to get a handle on these problems in order to correct them. Kudos to Celebrity for listening and making this outreach.

 

We got the same call yesterday and the same impression. Frankly, I'm shocked by some of the negative comments made about Summit. We were on the 9/5 cruise and it was, in our opinion, perfect in every way. We knew when we booked that it was an older ship. While there were some areas on the outside that needed attention, we felt the inside was in very good condition for its age. The staff went through hell the week before, yet there was no sign of that. They were all, and I mean every single one, exceptionally friendly and competent. The food was great, served hot and quickly. The shows were probably the best we've seen. We had an issue with a smoker on the adjoining balcony. It was taken care of. It happened again and this time it was taken care of for good. I did mention that in the Solarium and the Reflections lounge in all Celebrity ships there is a problem with smoke seeping into the Solarium and from the other side of the room in that wonderful Reflections, or whatever it's called on the other ships. We've experienced it and have read many blogs on it. This is a fine place to share information and Celebrity probably does read it. However, make these issues known to them, not each other. They do care and they will listen, especially if they see a trend in the complaint. As far as Bayonne goes, well it's a port ---a big terminal with a long counter with very efficient folks checking hoards of people. I'm not sure what else is expected of a terminal. They had TV sets all over the place. Yes, we waited more than five hours, but Celebrity did everything possible to keep us comfortable and well fed.

 

Maybe we are dense or something, but we did not experience any of the negatives I've read here and I would hate to see someone cancel just because of those comments. We have sailed RC, HAL, and Azamara, total of 15 cruises, so we are not exactly new cruisers.

 

Sorry to carry on, but we really loved the ship, the crew, the cruise, and Bermuda for sure.

 

Jennie

[librarylady19]

So expressed it very well. Thank you for providing another opinion on the state of the Summit. It is very important to give Celebrity feedback so they have the opportunity to address any unresolved issues. As a future Summit cruiser, I thank you for taking the trouble to do so and to report on your positive experiences on the ship.

[emileg]

We got the same call yesterday and the same impression. Frankly, I'm shocked by some of the negative comments made about Summit. We were on the 9/5 cruise and it was, in our opinion, perfect in every way. ...

 

Sorry to carry on, but we really loved the ship, the crew, the cruise, and Bermuda for sure.

 

Jennie

Jennie, I think it is terrific that your thoroughly enjoyed your cruise. I think we have to look at negative comments in context. We also thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the Summit, but we feel it is important to suggest to Celebrity areas where the ship or its service can benefit from improvement. Since this website is called Cruise Critic, I believe that, by definition, we are supposed to demonstrate critical thinking in our posts to these threads.

 

Dictionary.com defines a critic as "a person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes literary or artistic works, dramatic or musical performances, or the like, esp. for a newspaper or magazine." I truly believe Cruise Critic is the right forum to describe one's evaluation of the cruise experience. - Emile

[Grandma Rambo]

Jennie, I think it is terrific that your thoroughly enjoyed your cruise. I think we have to look at negative comments in context. We also thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the Summit, but we feel it is important to suggest to Celebrity areas where the ship or its service can benefit from improvement. Since this website is called Cruise Critic, I believe that, by definition, we are supposed to demonstrate critical thinking in our posts to these threads.

 

Dictionary.com defines a critic as "a person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes literary or artistic works, dramatic or musical performances, or the like, esp. for a newspaper or magazine." I truly believe Cruise Critic is the right forum to describe one's evaluation of the cruise experience. - Emile

 

Emile, yes CC is a great place for all of us to read and get information. I read them twice daily and have garnered a ton of useful information. My point is or tried to be that we also have to let Celebrity know directly, in addition to posting here. I've learned to throw out the worst and the best and try to use the middle-road "evaluations" as far as being affected by another's opinion. I do feel that carrying on about a terminal is odd and it puzzles me that someone would actually not book a cruise because of a place in which we normally spend very little time. We have sailed out of Bayonne three times. Also, is it such a shock to find and old ship looking a little tattered and in need of TLC, especially after the previous week when they actually had a great deal of breakage due to the high winds and waves? I'm sorry if I've offended anyone and try not to post too much for that reason. Lesson learned.

[roe2ship]

I find the calls from the representatives impressive. I wonder how they determine on who to call for a follow up since the two people who posted that they received a call had different experiences, one being a little more positive and the other being a little more negative. I would imagine that the cards with more complaints or suggestions to improve will be picked for follow-up phone calls, unless the smoke issue was written on the cards and Celebrity really takes that a bit more serious.

[roe2ship]

I do feel that carrying on about a terminal is odd and it puzzles me that someone would actually not book a cruise because of a place in which we normally spend very little time..

I totally agree with this.

[emileg]

... I'm sorry if I've offended anyone and try not to post too much for that reason. Lesson learned.

No offense taken whatsoever. It is never my intention to discourage anyone from posting. I am glad to have everyone's input and we are all entitled to our views. And these views may differ from each other. I think that is a good thing. If everyone agreed with each other, this would be a very boring place;).

[Loracpin2]

I posted this on the boards when we returned from our cruise, but for those who doubt the issues on the Summit, this was our experience. We sailed on the July 18, NewEngland/Canada cruise. This was our 29th cruise, 15th with Celebrity. My comment card included very good to excellent across the board on all staff and service. I had no problems with the condition of the ship, nor the port of Bayonne because I knew what to expect in both instances. As an aside, we've sailed out of 11 different ports between the US and Europe, and Bayonne is the worst.

 

My only negatives were on the downward spiral of the quality and presentation of the food, particualry in the MDR. On 2 different evenings, I sent back the Chef's recommendation. I would have sent it back a third time, but we were sitting at the Captain's table and, IMO, not the appropriate thing to do. I recieved a phone call fron guest relations 2 weeks after we returned and spoke to the rep for about 20 minutes. I gave specific comments on all food issues.

 

Fast forward, 2 months, and based on many reviews from then until now, it doesn't appear that great strides have been made as far as Summit cuisine is concerned. If you look at other Celebrity ship reviews, even the Mercury which is being sold, no other ship has taken the hits the Summit has. You have to ask the question why?

[cruise pup]

We arrived safe and sound back in Atlanta at 12:30AM and would like to thank everyone we met during the cruise from the Roll Call board. Seeing people we knew throughout the cruise was very enjoyable.

DW has asked for directions on how to create a user name so that she can post a more formal review as we both had issues with Summit that were only salvaged by outstanding entertainment from a show and cast that had only come aboard 1 week prior to our sailing and our cabin steward who did his job without ever getting in our way.

I quoted the food post because this was a definite issue as was the overall "tightness" of the operation of the ship. Food first. This is our 20th cruise spread mostly evenly across HAL, Princess, Carnival, RCCL, NCL and X (our 4th X cruise) Our last big cruise on X was on Millennium in Australia last winter.

X's food quality and service is slipping. Most of this is likely due to corporate decisions on menus, portion sizing, and quality spec's. But PORK CHOPS as the recommended entree for a FORMAL NIGHT! Come on!

The choice for dining was to overpay for the specialty restaurant in order to get something marginally edible or tolerate MDR food/service OR worse yet, get little to no choice at the Waterfall Cafe.

Yes, I am a foodie and am spoiled by freshness and quality ingredients. The change in food quality comes from the top, the on-board staff can only work with what they get. I had one memorable entree the entire week, a surprising piece of venison in the specialty restaurant. Did I starve? No. But other than breakfast which was the same thing I have every day at home, granola, yogurt and fresh fruit, I cannot think of a single dish, at any time, that caused me to clean my plate.

Oh, and one more thing for the benefit of anyone from X who might be lurking, if I'm paying $35 PP extra for dinner, I know what an "heirloom" tomato is and it's not a Roma tomato that appeared on my plate with 12 other ingredients trying to hide.

Overall the ship was generally clean and the staff friendly, but I had a sense that the Management (Captain, Hotel Mgr, F&B Mgr) had only a frail grasp of the big picture. Late arrival after going WAY OUT TO SEA to avoid a hurricane when other ships stayed close to shore on their way home and arrived on time. Did we tie-up in Bermuda or Bayonne on time? Nope. Was it necessary to leave Bermuda 13 minutes early? Sure it was raining and everyone was on board, but why? The much needed painting while in Bermuda was nice but I am used to seeing maintenance crews running around ships with paint buckets all the time. Not here. Emile's tote bag issue. The Pool Butler rolling his towel cart through the AquaSpa (nicest space on the ship) leaving the door open so that we could all freeze when there is a sign on the door asking to please keep this door closed. He copped an attitude when I asked him to come back and close the door. X needs to get it's collective head out and smooth out operations between its ships. We're back on Princess for our next cruise.

Sorry for being a debbie downer I'm just calling them like I see them.

 

I just notice your remarks and I share your sentiments. I sailed on Summit last January and thought the food in the mdr was just awful. I particularly remember a lamb shank that had no taste at all. Even a good shake of salt on it (which I usually don't need to do) didn't help. And my big laugh was when the chef's recommnendation was meatballs and spaghetti. Was this the 8th grade cafeteiria? Just out of curisoity I had to taste this and it was LOUSY. The one positive note was the Spa Cuisine. The staff were wonderful there. I could order a hot dish and it would be prepared and brought to my lounger out by the pool. But as for the mdr, the Michel Roux days are well over. I'm just hoping this is not a fleet-wide problem.

[$cruise$]

No offense taken whatsoever. It is never my intention to discourage anyone from posting. I am glad to have everyone's input and we are all entitled to our views. And these views may differ from each other. I think that is a good thing. If everyone agreed with each other, this would be a very boring place;).

 

 

We are going on the Summit for the first time in November... I love reviews...good and bad... the bad ones give me a lot of perspective. There were very few bad things said about the summit and the one that were expressed were minor and every still had a great time. I am glad to see that the summit has a good level of customer service.

[hcat]

I guess we are spoiled by our recent exceptional experiences on Solstice & past experiences on Summit in the prior yrs. The cruise experience of 9/5, for us was very fine & in keeping with X standards but not so the ship--just older & old chairs & mattresses to the point of being ready for the trash pile! The obviously broken seats in the theatre & broken tables & lighting in the theater tables could be dangerous at some point as well!

 

The staff is all aware of it all & does the best they can but new stuff is needed....

 

We had the same reaction to Century after its refurb and some of the same with Mercury to a degreee as well..

 

Reports back are meant to help others .....but ultimately the choice is theirs to make.. Probably no better choice right now to Bermuda

[hcat]

I have to say I am surprised that one will cancel or thinking about cancelling a cruise because of a one bad experience at a port. I have read your previous comments but can't figure out what exactly was so bad about Cape Liberty?:confused:

 

An unpaved road into a port, unpaved parking with "license to park" & not a bailment (as I explained previously), confused parking directions, little porter assistance getting off the ship and the bus system fiasco are all rather permanent features. They compare quite unfavorably to many ports we have experienced...

 

And they will certainly affect our decision about spending $5,000 for an AQ stateroom, excursions etc...on Silhouette & leaving our car at Bayonne for twelve days for a January cruise...

 

Spoke to someone today who sailed on Summit in May (mother's day cruise) She is a novice cruiser but had the same reaction to the port & a very long wait while standing in line & waiting to board the busses with her elderly in-laws-..

 

The quality of this port is the subject of much discussion on the ports Board (East Coast departures) of CC so I will reseerve any further comments for that forum--

 

We remain loyal to Celebrity but not Cape Liberty!!!

[Ships R Great]

Emile, yes CC is a great place for all of us to read and get information. I read them twice daily and have garnered a ton of useful information. My point is or tried to be that we also have to let Celebrity know directly, in addition to posting here. I've learned to throw out the worst and the best and try to use the middle-road "evaluations" as far as being affected by another's opinion. I do feel that carrying on about a terminal is odd and it puzzles me that someone would actually not book a cruise because of a place in which we normally spend very little time. We have sailed out of Bayonne three times. Also, is it such a shock to find and old ship looking a little tattered and in need of TLC, especially after the previous week when they actually had a great deal of breakage due to the high winds and waves? I'm sorry if I've offended anyone and try not to post too much for that reason. Lesson learned.

 

? from another Grandma---is it possible for you to give us blow-by-blow directions to get to the port from the airport (by car)? So many people say it is difficult with poor signage. We have sailed into but not out of Bayonne so we are really novices on that. Is there a specific address to use for Map directions or GPS? Thanks.

[JeffCoud]

But as for the mdr, the Michel Roux days are well over.

 

I agree 100%. We definitely had a good time on the Summit, but I think the food on X has been going downhill for a couple years now...it's no longer my favorite. After 5 cruises in 2 years, 3 of which on X (including one on Solstice) and 2 on HAL I'd say HAL has the better MDR food for sure. You can get quite good food on X...only if you pay more (aka Aqua class dining at Blu or other speciality restaurants). I have found the cuts of meat on X to really be very hit or miss...had some of the worst beef ever (ny strip and blackened rib eye) and then of course the famed beef cheeks and mama's pork chops. It's very mid-market at best now and not remotely upscale in my opinion. That being said....we enjoyed having the royal suite and having Rikki the butler bring me eggs benedict and cappuccino every morning! So life is good trust me! Although I can get awesome cappuccino every morning from room service on Costa, which I would recommend for having some very good food at some of the lowest prices in the Caribbean to be had!

 

Ok, random musings over!

 

Jeff

[madelinerose]

? from another Grandma---is it possible for you to give us blow-by-blow directions to get to the port from the airport (by car)? So many people say it is difficult with poor signage. We have sailed into but not out of Bayonne so we are really novices on that. Is there a specific address to use for Map directions or GPS? Thanks.

 

http://www.cruiseliberty.com/dirpark.htm

 

http://www.cruiseliberty.com/contactus.htm

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1160277

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1273182

[hcat]

Hope those links help--signage is poor & watch out for the potholes!