Just back from Summit

[Hibiscus13]

We just disembarked this morning from the Summit in San Juan. I'll post a review in a few days but had a few comments and observations to post:

 

Ship and crew - great, fantastic, amazing crew. We could not believe that there were so many hard working and fabulous people looking after us. We had a Sky Suite and our butler was great, but props to Clarence our stateroom attendant - a genuine and pleasant guy. And the suite balcony, worth every penny.

 

Food - We ate twice in the Normandy, our first two nights on board. Everything else after that paled in comparison. The service in the MDR was rushed and somewhat awkward. We were Select dining, friends had fixed seating - they said the same things. As an aside, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a table for two, and usually didn't wait at all to be seated.

Hubs and I both had the premium drink packages - would do it again, the water, coffee, sodas and booze were all looked after, no signing, no paperwork - easy and we saw the value.

 

Dress - my husband thinks that someone owes us for the extra luggage weight for taking all the dress clothes. He's right. For all of the talk on these boards about dress code and dressing appropriately - it sure was not evident on the ship. I had too many dress clothes, and felt over dressed most evenings. People in sparkly tshirts and stretch pants were the norm - that is not a good look. People wearing jeans (guys and girls) looked sharp and put together, and not at all out of place. I was really put off by the number of people walking around in their bathrobes, at all hours - yuck. And no dinner jacket on formal night? Don't worry, they will hand one to you when you walk through the restaurant to hang on the back of your chair. Don't bother packing one.

 

Ports - we booked private tours at every port - great tours, great guides, we didn't miss the ship once.

 

Weather - hit and miss, apparently that's the norm in the southern Caribbean in December, who can you blame :) Although it's supposed to be nice in San Juan for the next couple of days.

 

People - we did meet some great people on board - and there was a wide age range, although not many kids (perfect for us). There were a few times though that we experienced rude or obnoxious behaviour by our fellow shipmates - a woman who brought her guitar felt it necessary to practice in public areas, others who had no idea how much their voices carried in bars or restaurants. It was hard to find a peaceful place to talk without disruption.

 

If anyone has any questions - I'll try and answer them...

[Booyakasha]

Thanks for the great mini review.

 

Can you elaborate on the weather? Were the seas rough?

 

Thanks,

b.

 

PS - That bathrobe thing is truly disgusting. If you can't put on clothes when you leave your cabin you have issues......:eek::D

[Hibiscus13]

At the worst, the seas were moderate as described by the captain - swells 8-10 feet. It wasn't bad on board though, and I am a seasick kind of girl. But, our at sea day was pretty calm and sunny.

 

We had rain showers on most islands throughout the days, and on Tobago it poured rain for most of the day, and I mean deluged. But we still enjoyed ourselves - not much you can do to change it!

[librarylady19]

Thanks for the review. We are also in a sky suite; which one where you in and what did your butler do? I already have a dress packed to wear for dinner each night so I'm not changing my outfits now; I'd rather be overdressed than underdressed (and I don't mean in a robe)!

Thanks.

[Hibiscus13]

We were in Sky Suite 6120 - nice, low, mid ship position. Savio was our butler, he brought us our breakfast every morning (he was always early) - booked our bridge tour, made our reservations for dinner, brought the afternoon snacks and canapes....that's about all we asked for. We didn't have much else for him to do.

[TeaBag]

Great review, thank you. The more I read about the most recent cruises on Summit, the more I think we lucked it out with the weather on the Oct 30 cruise. We did see rain but we always seemed to be back on the ship by the time it came down.

[Woobstr112G]

Great review, thanks for posting. Sounds like you had one heck of a cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[mbcruisers]

Im really surprised to hear you can wear jeans in mdr. Everything i read you cant wear jeans. I dont mind dressing up actually its nice to but on casual nights jeans would be great especially with early dining. How were the women dressed on formal nights Bling Bling???? Or is it more toned down now?

[srpilo]

Thanks for your insights

 

 

 

 

 

Srpilo

[Lady Lexus]

We sailed on a late September/early October 2 week Canada/New England cruise on the Summit this fall. We were also on deck 6, in a concierge cabin with Clarence as our room steward. What a dear, kind man. We are very undemanding, but he would have been happy to do most anything for us.

 

We had early fixed-seating dining. Our waiter, Marcos was quite an enjoyable character, and his assistant Ana was so sweet and efficient. The waiters are certainly sure-footed. We had a few rough nights when they stumbled and could easily have fallen while carrying heavy trays. The head waiter, Ahmed, talked to the guests at most tables each night while keeping a close eye on his servers.

 

This was my first Celebrity cruise which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also enjoy sailing Princess.

[librarylady19]

We were in Sky Suite 6120 - nice, low, mid ship position. Savio was our butler, he brought us our breakfast every morning (he was always early) - booked our bridge tour, made our reservations for dinner, brought the afternoon snacks and canapes....that's about all we asked for. We didn't have much else for him to do.

Great, thanks for letting me know; that's about all we would be asking for too

What could you order for breakfast (recent reports suggest that the breakfast menu is more limited than concierge class)?.

[Hibiscus13]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

 

Jeans - yes, allowed and no rules against them. And as I mentioned, the people wearing them looked great. I didn't see any jeans at all on formal nights in the MDR, but the range of formal dress was also great. A few gowns but far more cocktail dresses and dressy pantsuits for women. There were a few men in tuxes but far more in sport coats without ties. Also on formal nights, there were plenty of people around the ship in casual clothing.

 

Clarence - like you mentioned, a sweet guy, and a very hard worker.

 

Room service - we thought the menu was limited also. I had fruit and yogurt every morning but the fruit salad was very small an was mostly melon. It would have been nice to see some berries, or some variety. We always ate the fruit from the bowl that the butler replaced every day as well. Hubs had omelettes, bacon, sausage, pastries, etc. But the pastries were far better at the Cova Cafe.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[cruiser man]

We will be sailing on the Summit in April (can't wait). You mentioned that you went on several private tours. Are there any that you would really recommend? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

We just disembarked this morning from the Summit in San Juan. I'll post a review in a few days but had a few comments and observations to post:

 

Ship and crew - great, fantastic, amazing crew. We could not believe that there were so many hard working and fabulous people looking after us. We had a Sky Suite and our butler was great, but props to Clarence our stateroom attendant - a genuine and pleasant guy. And the suite balcony, worth every penny.

 

Food - We ate twice in the Normandy, our first two nights on board. Everything else after that paled in comparison. The service in the MDR was rushed and somewhat awkward. We were Select dining, friends had fixed seating - they said the same things. As an aside, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a table for two, and usually didn't wait at all to be seated.

Hubs and I both had the premium drink packages - would do it again, the water, coffee, sodas and booze were all looked after, no signing, no paperwork - easy and we saw the value.

 

Dress - my husband thinks that someone owes us for the extra luggage weight for taking all the dress clothes. He's right. For all of the talk on these boards about dress code and dressing appropriately - it sure was not evident on the ship. I had too many dress clothes, and felt over dressed most evenings. People in sparkly tshirts and stretch pants were the norm - that is not a good look. People wearing jeans (guys and girls) looked sharp and put together, and not at all out of place. I was really put off by the number of people walking around in their bathrobes, at all hours - yuck. And no dinner jacket on formal night? Don't worry, they will hand one to you when you walk through the restaurant to hang on the back of your chair. Don't bother packing one.

 

Ports - we booked private tours at every port - great tours, great guides, we didn't miss the ship once.

 

Weather - hit and miss, apparently that's the norm in the southern Caribbean in December, who can you blame :) Although it's supposed to be nice in San Juan for the next couple of days.

 

People - we did meet some great people on board - and there was a wide age range, although not many kids (perfect for us). There were a few times though that we experienced rude or obnoxious behaviour by our fellow shipmates - a woman who brought her guitar felt it necessary to practice in public areas, others who had no idea how much their voices carried in bars or restaurants. It was hard to find a peaceful place to talk without disruption.

 

If anyone has any questions - I'll try and answer them...

 

It's ok. That stuff doesn't bother your dining experience.

 

Kudos to NCL for starting a trend, and kudos to X for wanting to emulate it.

[Hibiscus13]

We will be sailing on the Summit in April (can't wait). You mentioned that you went on several private tours. Are there any that you would really recommend? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

We did the southern Caribbean, and the highlight was Off the Beaten Trail with Woody on Dominica. Great guide, private tour, secluded beach - it was perfect. Second choice would be Rose & Jim's Taxi tour on St. Kitt's. Rose was a lovely person and great guide.

[OneNewTexan]

We were on the same cruise on the Summit and dined at the Normandie on three nights. On the first night, one man attempted to enter the Normandie for dinner wearing shorts and a simple shirt. I was pleased to see that the restaruant staff informed the man that shorts were not appropriate attire for the Normandie and he was denied entry. I don't know if he returned later wearing appropriate dress. I overheard him inquire if a jacket was required. My wife and I dressed up on both formal nights (Tuxedo and long gown) and semi-formal for the other nights in Normandie. We too were disappointed to see how people dress in the MDR. One fellow sitting at a table next to us in the MDR wore a different hat each evening at the table and never removed it. Most evenings he wore a basic colored T-shirt and plain jeans (and the variety of hats).

 

We wish Celebrity would go back to the Formal, Semi-Formal, and Casual dress codes. There doesn't seem to be much if any dress code enforcement in the MDR.

[librarylady19]

OMG! Well kudos to the Normandie maitre d' for upholding some standards. To me, that is actually insulting to the staff that work very hard to uphold fine dining standards and ambience in the specialty restuarants.

I know hats are specifically mentioned as prohibited in MDR...that is just going too far in relaxing standards. I would hope even the pro-jeans contingent could see that.

I plan to wear cocktail dresses to our 2 dinners at Normandie; will DH need a jacket or will shirt/tie (& dress slacks) suffice?

[Hibiscus13]

I plan to wear cocktail dresses to our 2 dinners at Normandie; will DH need a jacket or will shirt/tie (& dress slacks) suffice?

 

Hubs doesn't own a jacket, so he didn't have one (but did wear a shirt and tie), they handed him a jacket on formal nights in both the MDR and Normandie to carry and hang on the back of his chair. We did see others in Normandie without ties.

 

To clarify - we were not bothered by the dress of anyone else. I just wanted to point out that the talk on these boards does not reflect what is actually happening on the ship. We did not see anyone turned away for their dress (although we did see the guy with the hats). Next time, I will take less clothing overall, and not nearly as many dress clothes.

[Feelin' Nauti']

 

Food - We ate twice in the Normandy, our first two nights on board. Everything else after that paled in comparison. The service in the MDR was rushed and somewhat awkward. We were Select dining, friends had fixed seating - they said the same things. As an aside, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a table for two, and usually didn't wait at all to be seated.

Hubs and I both had the premium drink packages - would do it again, the water, coffee, sodas and booze were all looked after, no signing, no paperwork - easy and we saw the value..

How was it ordering drinks at dinner?

Did the waiter keep coming around asking if you would like another?

Or did you have to flag him down?

[Hibiscus13]

How was it ordering drinks at dinner?

Did the waiter keep coming around asking if you would like another?

Or did you have to flag him down?

 

Ordering drinks at dinner was easy, and we never had to flag down a waiter. In the MDR the sommelier would ask if we wanted wine, and the bar service waiter would ask if we wanted mixed drinks. We only had to give them our cards once, and after that our wine glasses were refilled everytime the server would walk by.

 

In the other bars, same thing, if we were seated, the server would take our cards the first time and then generally refill our wine glasses without us having to ask.

[Feelin' Nauti']

Ordering drinks at dinner was easy, and we never had to flag down a waiter. In the MDR the sommelier would ask if we wanted wine, and the bar service waiter would ask if we wanted mixed drinks. We only had to give them our cards once, and after that our wine glasses were refilled everytime the server would walk by.

 

In the other bars, same thing, if we were seated, the server would take our cards the first time and then generally refill our wine glasses without us having to ask.

Wow! Thanks! This is really good to know.

[independenttraveler]

We just disembarked this morning from the Summit in San Juan. I'll post a review in a few days but had a few comments and observations to post:

 

Ship and crew - great, fantastic, amazing crew. We could not believe that there were so many hard working and fabulous people looking after us. We had a Sky Suite and our butler was great, but props to Clarence our stateroom attendant - a genuine and pleasant guy. And the suite balcony, worth every penny.

 

Food - We ate twice in the Normandy, our first two nights on board. Everything else after that paled in comparison. The service in the MDR was rushed and somewhat awkward. We were Select dining, friends had fixed seating - they said the same things. As an aside, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a table for two, and usually didn't wait at all to be seated.

Hubs and I both had the premium drink packages - would do it again, the water, coffee, sodas and booze were all looked after, no signing, no paperwork - easy and we saw the value.

 

Dress - my husband thinks that someone owes us for the extra luggage weight for taking all the dress clothes. He's right. For all of the talk on these boards about dress code and dressing appropriately - it sure was not evident on the ship. I had too many dress clothes, and felt over dressed most evenings. People in sparkly tshirts and stretch pants were the norm - that is not a good look. People wearing jeans (guys and girls) looked sharp and put together, and not at all out of place. I was really put off by the number of people walking around in their bathrobes, at all hours - yuck. And no dinner jacket on formal night? Don't worry, they will hand one to you when you walk through the restaurant to hang on the back of your chair. Don't bother packing one.

 

Ports - we booked private tours at every port - great tours, great guides, we didn't miss the ship once.

 

Weather - hit and miss, apparently that's the norm in the southern Caribbean in December, who can you blame :) Although it's supposed to be nice in San Juan for the next couple of days.

 

People - we did meet some great people on board - and there was a wide age range, although not many kids (perfect for us). There were a few times though that we experienced rude or obnoxious behaviour by our fellow shipmates - a woman who brought her guitar felt it necessary to practice in public areas, others who had no idea how much their voices carried in bars or restaurants. It was hard to find a peaceful place to talk without disruption.

 

If anyone has any questions - I'll try and answer them...

 

Tell me more about what you did on shore.

[SoBe2010]

Hello,

 

du you remember your cruise director+party band?

[scf1270]

Glad to find this thread. We cruise on Saturday and I think "dress" jeans with nice tops will be great for our girls (21 & 26) on non-formal nights.