re: Summit July 24 - July 31...just off

[inforem]

Before this week we have been on Carnival 7 straight times...here's our review

 

WOW...need I say more, okay I will. We will NEVER cruise on Carnival again.

Rating system is based on 1-10 with 1 being I wish the ship would sink to 10 being the best of our 17 cruises. Some ratings will get explanations.

 

Room---sky suite 6119 - 10...size does matter...and so does being in a suite

Butler---Bart - excellent - 10. My mom (84 years young) was concerned about getting into the bathtub. We mentioned it to Bart when he introduced himself and within 2 minutes he brought her in a little step to help her.

Stewards/Asst - Miriam/ray - 10

Normandie---7/8...we ate there 2X. Guest in suites were giving a complementary dinner(excluding tip) for Sunday night. Then we ate there on tuesday again. IMHO Nick and Nora have better choices and better food then the Normandie. The presentation was a 10. Gaspar is a great and friendly waiter.

MDR ---table 479 late seating - 6... Try to avoid this table, the service was terrible always the last table to leave the MDR. Never got the orders correct, his assistant was never around and the food was just okay. Stay away from the meatballs, it was extremely dry.

The lobster tails on the second formal were great, but he offered to bring more for the table but then never brought them. Very dissapointed

Embarkment---10+...never had such an easy,stress free embarkment. Mom needed wheelchair assistance and they were just GREAT. We were the only passengers waiting on the "Suite" line so I would say from start to buffet 15 minutes.

Disembarkment---10+...We were scheduled to leave the ship at 8:30. By 8:20 we were on our way. Within 15 minutes we had our luggage and in the car.

Entertainment---10+...iBroadway was excellent, Bruce Smirnoff (comedian)was excellent, Antonio Salci (pianist) was excellent, The Neptunes (singers) were excellent and everyone else was too.

Bridge Tour ---10

Galley Tour--- 10

Staff ---10

T-Pool --- 10+...quiet and relaxing

Buffet ---10...never busy easy to find a table. Wife loved the ice cream

Passengers---10...very friendly

Kids---9+...for the most part they were very well behaved, with no running around paying with the elevators etc...except for to rude monsters who almost knock my mom down while the were running. When the were asked to stop running they called my mom an old lady and grandma and my wife a b#$tch. Unfortunately I was there otherwise they would have needed to swim back to there trailer park from which they came.

Captain---Kosta...10

Head Chef---Mesha...10 always around being part of the activities...who's cooking?

Cruise Director---10...apreciated not having to hear the same CD jokes

iCelebrity...10

 

There is probably alot that I left out so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

As an ending note, Celebrity has won over a future cruiser on their line. It was a great cruise and Celebrity knows how to do it...bye bye Carnival

Edited July 31, 2011 by inforem

[portofrome]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. Thanks for your review.

[LAH718]

Before this week we have been on Carnival 7 straight times...here's our review

 

WOW...need I say more, okay I will. We will NEVER cruise on Carnival again.

Rating system is based on 1-10 with 1 being I wish the ship would sink to 10 being the best of our 17 cruises. Some ratings will get explanations.

 

Room---sky suite 6119 - 10...size does matter...and so does being in a suite

Butler---Bart - excellent - 10. My mom (84 years young) was concerned about getting into the bathtub. We mentioned it to Bart when he introduced himself and within 2 minutes he brought her in a little step to help her.

Stewards/Asst - Miriam/ray - 10

Normandie---7/8...we ate there 2X. Guest in suites were giving a complementary dinner(excluding tip) for Sunday night. Then we ate there on tuesday again. IMHO Nick and Nora have better choices and better food then the Normandie. The presentation was a 10. Gaspar is a great and friendly waiter.

MDR ---table 479 late seating - 6... Try to avoid this table, the service was terrible always the last table to leave the MDR. Never got the orders correct, his assistant was never around and the food was just okay. Stay away from the meatballs, it was extremely dry.

The lobster tails on the second formal were great, but he offered to bring more for the table but then never brought them. Very dissapointed

Embarkment---10+...never had such an easy,stress free embarkment. Mom needed wheelchair assistance and they were just GREAT. We were the only passengers waiting on the "Suite" line so I would say from start to buffet 15 minutes.

Disembarkment---10+...We were scheduled to leave the ship at 8:30. By 8:20 we were on our way. Within 15 minutes we had our luggage and in the car.

Entertainment---10+...iBroadway was excellent, Bruce Smirnoff (comedian)was excellent, Antonio Salci (pianist) was excellent, The Neptunes (singers) were excellent and everyone else was too.

Bridge Tour ---10

Galley Tour--- 10

Staff ---10

T-Pool --- 10+...quiet and relaxing

Buffet ---10...never busy easy to find a table. Wife loved the ice cream

Passengers---10...very friendly

Kids---9+...for the most part they were very well behaved, with no running around paying with the elevators etc...except for to rude monsters who almost knock my mom down while the were running. When the were asked to stop running they called my mom an old lady and grandma and my wife a b#$tch. Unfortunately I was there otherwise they would have needed to swim back to there trailer park from which they came.

Captain---Kosta...10

Head Chef---Mesha...10 always around being part of the activities...who's cooking?

Cruise Director---10...apreciated not having to hear the same CD jokes

iCelebrity...10

 

There is probably alot that I left out so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

As an ending note, Celebrity has won over a future cruiser on their line. It was a great cruise and Celebrity knows how to do it...bye bye Carnival

 

Thanks for the great review. Can you tell us who the CD was?

 

Linda

[Lois R]

Glad you had such a good time:)

 

I am going on her again in 5 weeks:D Hi Linda...we will have a great

time:)

[LV2COOK]

So happy to hear you had a great cruise!!

 

If you know, what movies were they showing in room?

 

What sort of temps did you have on the sail to and from Bermuda? Did you do any tours that were exceptional?

 

 

Was there one stand out dish that you would recommend?

 

Thanks, I know many of us on upcoming sailings want to know things like this....:o

[inforem]

I honestly do not remember his name. He had an english accent.

One thing I left out was the interactive TV did not work the entire cruise. There was no way to check your account, pay for a movie, book excursions while in your underwear. Very dissapponting.

 

One outstanding dish...none, but the lobster on second formal was the best meal. Onion soup was very good. Nothing standout for dessert. That dissapointed me

Temps were comfortable except in Bermuda it was very hot.

Temp in room ...priceless... at times cold

Edited July 31, 2011 by inforem
added

[vpoopsy]

From those who have been on Celebrity before, what is the average age?

[Lois R]

I honestly do not remember his name. He had an english accent.

One thing I left out was the interactive TV did not work the entire cruise. There was no way to check your account, pay for a movie, book excursions while in your underwear. Very dissapponting.

 

You could not check your account from your TV? Now that is odd.:eek:

[inforem]

You could not check your account from your TV? Now that is odd.:eek:

 

I found it hard to beleive also. You could check at the desk on level 3, and during the week everyone got a prelim bill and last night it was left at your door.

 

As for the average age...I would say towards the older set as not to insult anyone. You had babies in carriages to adults in wheelchairs. Need I say more. I would say they are an older group then Carnival and a classier group too

[megr1125]

Nice review...I loved Summit..

 

Funny you gave Capt Costas a 10.....LOL....no argument there ;);) (well, maybe 11!)

[megr1125]

From those who have been on Celebrity before, what is the average age?

 

i think it depends on the length of the cruise and time you sail, plus the ship...Lois will chime in here since she was on summit for 1 of the weeks i was...i would say 40-50ish???

 

but, IMO there was a really good mix of ages and i didn't get the sense of the "sidewalks being rolled up..." at 6 PM!

[Cindy2]

Mike Gibbons was the CD on our cruise July 3rd. Was he still there?

 

So glad to hear you enjoyed your trip and I have to agree that after my first Celebrity cruise I think I'm done with the others also!:)

[cruiseacecat]

Thanks for the review. Just a quick question. Are you certain that the executive chef was not Andy? He was still planning to be there at this time. Wonder what happened?

 

Anne

[miched]

WOW...need I say more, okay I will. We will NEVER cruise on Carnival again.

Rating system is based on 1-10 with 1 being I wish the ship would sink to 10 being the best of our 17 cruises. Some ratings will get explanations.

 

I think something got messed up when you were writing. Why do you want the ship to sink?

 

We sailed Carnival over 15 times and enjoyed every cruise. We have only sailed X once but after that it is our cruise of choice but it all depends on our perceived value at the time. Carnival is still a great value but value is the key word. Sometimes you have to put up with the all the annoying things that come with it.

 

One of the best features on X is the smoking policy and I am sure that more and more cruise lines will be adapting the same policy.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Lois R]

Different strokes for different folks.:)

 

The Original Poster loved their cruise on Celebrity and you loved your

cruises on Carnival. Good for both of you.

 

It is so good to have choices:D

[PeggySand]

I appreciate the review of the Summit since we will be doing a B2B in November.

 

I'm sorry, but I was a little offended by the sentence, "swim back to their trailer park from which they came." It just reeks of a snobbish attitude. I'm not much for kids running, being rude, out of control, etc. However, the trailer park reference is beyond that. I know plenty of kids that live in mansions that exhibit the same unruliness.

 

By the way, no, we do not live in a trailer park, but I know some very nice people that do, and living there does not define them.

 

Sorry for the soap box,

Peggy

[cynbar]

We are also just off the 7/24 Summit cruise, were also in a Sky Suite, and we agree with most everything you said! We loved the Sky Suite and bathroom, thought it was well worth the extra cost, the increase in square footage doesn't soound like a lot but to us it made a big difference in comfort and ease of moving around, and the bigger bathroom with a tub was also a lot more user friendly than the regular shower stall. We were across the hall, in 6124 --- our butler was Elvis and our steward was Clarence, both were fantastic. In the MDR, we had the Select Dining option. We ran into some issues on our first night there (the 2nd night because we were in Normandie the first night, a very nice suite perk). But I must say that Joseph, the maitre d', did a wonderful job addressing our concerns. The rest of the nights, we were given a table with Ben as our waiter and either Kadek or Patricia as our assistant waiters --- this team was right up there with the best wait staffs we have had in our 20+ cruises, friendly and knowledgeable and professional and efficient. Ask for them if you have Select, you won't be disappointed. Our main difference with your rating was disembarkation -- we thought it was terrible. Our assigned time was a little later, 8:40, and apparently this goes to show that timing is everything. We were about 15 minutes late with our call to depart, the bus was overcrowded with people pushing and shoving, and we had to wait for 2 other buses to empty out at the terminal before we were unloaded. It just wasn't a pleasant experience. Other than that, it was a lovely cruise. I'll probably post my own review later on, but I just wanted to chime in here while my thoughts are fresh in my mind.

 

PS -- It's true, the interactive TV wasn't working so we couldn't check our bill from the cabin, which is a shame because that's a feature we really like.

Edited July 31, 2011 by cynbar

[Lois R]

We are also just off the 7/24 Summit cruise, were also in a Sky Suite, and we agree with most everything you said! We loved the Sky Suite and bathroom, thought it was well worth the extra cost, the increase in square footage doesn't soound like a lot but to us it made a big difference in comfort and ease of moving around, and the bigger bathroom with a tub was also a lot more user friendly than the regular shower stall. We were across the hall, in 6124 --- our butler was Elvis and our steward was Clarence, both were fantastic. In the MDR, we had the Select Dining option. We ran into some issues on our first night there (the 2nd night because we were in Normandie the first night, a very nice suite perk). But I must say that Joseph, the maitre d', did a wonderful job addressing our concerns. The rest of the nights, we were given a table with Ben as our waiter and either Kadek or Patricia as our assistant waiters --- this team was right up there with the best wait staffs we have had in our 20+ cruises, friendly and knowledgeable and professional and efficient. Ask for them if you have Select, you won't be disappointed. Our main difference with your rating was disembarkation -- we thought it was terrible. Our assigned time was a little later, 8:40, and apparently this goes to show that timing is everything. We were about 15 minutes late with our call to depart, the bus was overcrowded with people pushing and shoving, and we had to wait for 2 other buses to empty out at the terminal before we were unloaded. It just wasn't a pleasant experience. Other than that, it was a lovely cruise. I'll probably post my own review later on, but I just wanted to chime in here while my thoughts are fresh in my mind.

 

PS -- It's true, the interactive TV wasn't working so we couldn't check our bill from the cabin, which is a shame because that's a feature we really like.

 

Hi,:) thanks for your reply. I am trying Select for the very first

time in September. Normally I do Traditional but decided to step

outside of the box (for me anyway;)). One of the gals on the roll

call and I will try it and hopefully it will work out fine. Would you

know if Ben is supposed to be on board then too? Sounds like a

really good waiter:D

[inforem]

Mike Gibbons was the CD on our cruise July 3rd. Was he still there?

 

So glad to hear you enjoyed your trip and I have to agree that after my first Celebrity cruise I think I'm done with the others also!:)

 

I think that was him...he was not annoying like other CD...and I loved that there was no bingo. Everything started on time.

[inforem]

Thanks for the review. Just a quick question. Are you certain that the executive chef was not Andy? He was still planning to be there at this time. Wonder what happened?

 

Anne

 

I think they said Mesha came from the Equinox this week...very funny guy

[cruiseacecat]

I think they said Mesha came from the Equinox this week...very funny guy

Thanks. I hope this is Mischa who is excellent also. Have to wait and see.

 

Anne

[SingingMom1]

--- our butler was Elvis and our steward was Clarence, both were fantastic. In the MDR, we had the Select Dining option. We ran into some issues on our first night there (the 2nd night because we were in Normandie the first night, a very nice suite perk)..

 

We were in a Royal Suite June 12 and had Clarence as our room steward. I absolutely ADORED him!!! He was an angel!! :)

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

I appreciate the review of the Summit since we will be doing a B2B in November.

 

I'm sorry, but I was a little offended by the sentence, "swim back to their trailer park from which they came." It just reeks of a snobbish attitude. I'm not much for kids running, being rude, out of control, etc. However, the trailer park reference is beyond that. I know plenty of kids that live in mansions that exhibit the same unruliness.

 

By the way, no, we do not live in a trailer park, but I know some very nice people that do, and living there does not define them.

 

Sorry for the soap box,

Peggy

I agree. Where children are brought up doesn't matter nearly as much as how they are brought up and by whom. I say this with 30 years of experience as a teacher.:rolleyes:

[cynbar]

Hi,:) thanks for your reply. I am trying Select for the very first

time in September. Normally I do Traditional but decided to step

outside of the box (for me anyway;)). One of the gals on the roll

call and I will try it and hopefully it will work out fine. Would you

know if Ben is supposed to be on board then too? Sounds like a

really good waiter:D

 

Hi Lois! Sorry , I didn't ask Ben how long he has to go on this contract. But one of the things I like best about Select Dining is that you aren't stuck with a poor waiter all week, as the OP was. We also would have been quite unhappy if we had our 1st night's waiter all week! Once you find one you like, the maitre d' is glad to seat you in his section, every request I saw was met with a smile. Celebrity does a really nice job with Select, we didn't see anyone wait all week and we arrived at different times based on our schedule for the day or evening. It must be a challenge for the waiters because all their tables are at different places in their meals, but Ben managed to make it look effortless.

[TRadle]

Everyone has a different cruise experience! I have been sailing on Celebrity for over 10 years now. This was my first time on the Summit. Considering all of my cruises on Celebrity this cruise ranks on the bottom of my list. Now, it was a fantastic cruise, don’t get me wrong. It just didn’t stand up to my previous experience or my expectations of Celebrity.

 

I’ll post a full review later, but I just wanted to address a couple of things here that were asked in this thread.

 

We had Sky Suite 6145. The chair at the desk only had three legs. The fourth was bent all the way in. The love seat was a sleeper that was in horrible condition. When you sat on it you could feel the metal frame of the sleeper. The only other chair in the room was worn down, but usable. The bed in this cabin was the worst bed we had ever slept on. It kept separating and was hard as a rock. I spent the week with back spasms, and I don’t have a bad back. :mad:

 

The demographic on this cruise was very different from out previous cruises on Celebrity. We weren’t the young ones! There were lots of kids, lots of teenagers, and many young adults. From my perspective the families were wonderful. The young children and teenagers I encountered were very polite and well behaved.

 

My observations showed many of the twenty somethings being rude, disrespectful, and drunk. What I really didn’t like was having glass bottles in the T-Pool and whirlpools. That is just downright dangerous.

 

One thing that we experienced that we never experienced before were crank voicemails. We would get back to the cabin and have burping voicemails. We also had lots of cigarette butts wash up in the gutter on our veranda. We saw smoking above us on verandas and the smoking section was above us in the Waterfall Café. From now on we will be starboard side!

 

The food on this cruise was not as good as previous sailings. The room service menu is very limited. I’d recommend calling guest services and just asking for whatever you want and forget the menu. Most times they will get it for you.

 

The CD was okay. He did make announcements after the Captain spoke. I don’t recall other CDs doing that on my other sailings. Maybe it was because we were not port intensive. His jokes were okay. Like was previously mentioned, he did not tell the same old CD jokes…no extension cords here!

 

Bingo lovers have no fear! There was Bingo; it just wasn’t announced constantly.