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

[LAH718]

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

 

Yes, he has a great sense of humor. He was head chef on the Mercury for a Thanksgiving sailing and visited our MDR table when there was a menu mix-up. The menu showed cornbread stuffing for the ham entre and a white roll was served to others at the table. There were only laughs, but the CPA at our table insisted on seeing the recipe for the roll because it was white, not yellow (yes, there is white cornmeal). Mesha came back the second formal night with the recipe and scattered back on the table some of the confetti turkeys he had picked up from the table Thanksgiving night (and then stuck them in his chef's hat).

 

It will be be great to sail again on a ship when he is the head chef (Summit - Sept 2011).

 

Linda

Edited August 1, 2011 by las928

[inforem]

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.

 

Wow...were we on the same cruise???????

[Robertac1004]

Thank you for your review. I will be leaving on the Summit on Sunday 8-1 and was glad to hear how wonderful the Summit was. I will be in a Royal Suite I hope it works out as well as the Sky Suites. I'm easy to please so I am sure it will be great.

 

I have been on several other cruise lines and find good and bad about each but as a general rule you get what you pay for.

 

I like driving to the cruise terminal so Bayonne or Baltimore work best for us, and have been on most ships that leave out of these ports and have enjoyed each and every one. There is no bad cruise - I Love them all!

[CathyCruises]

Whoops!! I think you are missing your cruise!

Edited August 1, 2011 by CathyCruises

[TRadle]

Wow...were we on the same cruise???????

 

It really is strange isn't it? I was reading the post about the misbehaved kids and I didn't see that. Everything my DH ordered for dinner was great. I had food brought out that they forgot to cook; stone cold escargot and raw meatballs!:eek: It was just one of those things.

 

The furniture in the suite really was an issue because we couldn't get comfortable at all in the room. I hope they are planning on getting new furniture during dry dock. We sailed on the Solstice and those beds and chairs were fabulous.

 

The public rooms were fantastic on Summit and the staff was great.

[inforem]

It really is strange isn't it? I was reading the post about the misbehaved kids and I didn't see that. Everything my DH ordered for dinner was great. I had food brought out that they forgot to cook; stone cold escargot and raw meatballs!:eek: It was just one of those things.

 

The furniture in the suite really was an issue because we couldn't get comfortable at all in the room. I hope they are planning on getting new furniture during dry dock. We sailed on the Solstice and those beds and chairs were fabulous.

 

The public rooms were fantastic on Summit and the staff was great.

 

I do agree about the meatbals...they were downright nasty looking and tasting. I guess it all depends on the waiter you get. Ours wasn't good at all.

 

The incident I mentioned with the two brats was the only problem I had with kids, Even the infants were well behaved. As for the T-Pool, we spent all our time at that pool and honestly never saw a glass bottle.

 

One last thing I forgot about...the only chairhogs we encountered in the T-Pool area was from the spa. At about 11:00 am they separated about 6 chairs and put reserved signs on them for a 2:00 pm activity. Talk about chairhogs. I did notice that when people left their chairs for the day they didn't remove their towels, so other guest thought someone was sitting their. How rude of them. I and my wife always removed the towels and let the people around us know we were leaving...

[Mermen]

We were not on your sailing but was on the Summit last year as part of a B2B to Bermuda and then Canada / NE.

 

We were hoping that the Summit would be Solsticized by then, but she was not. Nevertheless, the staff and service was amazing. Never had a crappy meal. There were more children though, compared to other =X= sailings, but it was right before school started, early September. There will be more kids on most any sailing between the end of May and early September...

 

We were in bump out CC cabin 9038 with a huge veranda and although the cabin wasn't new, had a great stay.

 

The neighbor next to us was a smoker. We put up with it for a couple of days and then reported to our attendant who made sure we didn't have to smell it anymore. Normally it wouldn't affect me that much, but every time I stepped out onto my balcony and to smell gusts of second-hand smoke...and it was rank!!!

 

Wow, bottles in Thallossotherapy pool? Never ever have seen that.

 

Everyone has a different and (often) subjective experience.

 

To the OP, so glad you posted and had a great time on X. We love it too, having sailed once on Carnival and once on Princess, X is our choice too!!

 

Thanks for posting your review, enjoyed all of it! :)

[cynbar]

I really have to laugh at how some of us had different experiences on the very same cruise! I had the meatballs and thought they were great --- moist, flavorful, and certainly hot and fully cooked. Everything in our Sky Suite was in great shape, except the grout in the tub could use a little work. Also, the kids and teens we saw were all polite and respectful -- we actually commented that we were amazed at how little commotion there was. On another front, I do have to say that the pool butlers were out in force, removing towels and possessions from chairs that were vacant a long time --- very nice to see, since chair hogs have been a problem as long as I have been cruising .

[Cindy2]

Did anyone else find the MDR & theater extremely cold? Bring a jacket.;)

[Lois R]

Did anyone else find the MDR & theater extremely cold? Bring a jacket.;)

 

I prefer a cardigan style sweater if it is chilly in the evenings. But these

days? I am in a constant heat wave:rolleyes:

[Lois R]

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.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am sure we will be fine:) but I have the opposite

the experiences and usually have terrific waiters with the traditional

dining:). But I am sure we will have fun and things will go well:D

[24butterfly]

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

 

Just got off of the Equinox. As in July 29th. We went Concierge Class. We have had 15+ on Carnival--a floating Las Vegas. Just wanted to shake things up a bit this year (we've also gone Princess--itinerary based--Royal Carib, Renaissance when it was in business.) All I can say to what you posted is---DITTO. (I wish I had your line about the little dears going back to the trailer park handy as a little sh*thd was banging on the back of the booth that I was sitting in. Asked him to stop NICELY---he did--as he banged once more b4 he went to his mommy dearest 2 ft. away who asked what the problem was. Then when they left, he banged YET AGAIN on the back of the booth I was sitting in, and, I guess they don't let these people out very much--and she states something stupid like--enjoy your bad sense of humor!

[roe2ship]

I was also on this cruise and after reading the Celebrity boards for a year, my expectations was that Celebrity is a first rate cruise line…..well my experience on the Summit did not reflect that. My sister and family were also with us and she cruised the Solstice to Europe, she raved about that cruise and also said it was quite different than the Summit……absolutely everything was better on the Solstice cruise.

Anyway, we had the opposite from the OP in the MDR., we had an outstanding waiter and we all enjoyed the MDR food….buffet not so much. Service overall, not what I expected…..while the staff was friendly it was very, very slow.

I did not see any misbehaving kids, or adults for that matter. For the most part, it was one of the better cruises with the least amount of rude pax.

I disagree with the evening entertainment……I would rate it a 5 at best. Princess and Royal way better with variety and quality.

Disembarkation- went fairly smooth, our assigned time was at 8:50 and yes the bus was crowded, naturally they want to fill up the bus as much as they can. Did not experience any pushing or shoving and what a pleasure to get into my car and drive home.

As for lounge chairs being available, of course not right next to the pool or the deck right above it….a ten second walk towards the aft of the ship, plenty of empty chairs and with no towels too!;)

[Cruiser Susie]

The furniture in the suite really was an issue because we couldn't get comfortable at all in the room. I hope they are planning on getting new furniture during dry dock. We sailed on the Solstice and those beds and chairs were fabulous.

 

The public rooms were fantastic on Summit and the staff was great.

 

Just wondering if you by any chance talked to anyone about the furniture in your room? I know that egg crate toppers will sometimes help those worn mattresses; I think that there have been instances where people have been able to have really bad mattresses replaced, but I am not completely sure about that. The Hotel Director might have been able to address some of the issues with the furniture in your room. Being that uncomfortable is unacceptable in my mind.

[librarylady19]

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.

 

Wow - I am shocked to hear that 6145 was in such poor condition. We enjoyed a wonderful week in this suite in December and it was in great condition, other than worn chairs and rust on the balcony which certainly didn't seriously impact our cruise. Bart was our butler too - great guy! We are planning to return to Summit next September to

try new AQ cabin.

Edited August 2, 2011 by librarylady19

[We-R-Off]

This is reassuring to know. We have cruised only once which was Celebrity Century and were considering a Carnaval cruise to the Mexican Riviera but were not quiet about going with Carnaval. We decided to book an 8 day with Summit in April. Thanks for your report it confirms our decision to stay with what we enjoyed.

[SingingMom1]

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:

 

 

Absolutely. A major problem we encounter on trips is the parent that checks their responsibilities at the airport. :rolleyes: The mindset of "I'm on vacation" trumps everything else in their heads, and they forget they brought their children along for the trip!

 

I love children, I have one, (I WAS one once!) and I have worked with them. It can be hard work, but parents need to teach children how to behave and then LEAD BY EXAMPLE! ;)

[librarylady19]

This is reassuring to know. We have cruised only once which was Celebrity Century and were considering a Carnaval cruise to the Mexican Riviera but were not quiet about going with Carnaval. We decided to book an 8 day with Summit in April. Thanks for your report it confirms our decision to stay with what we enjoyed.

 

Our first cruise was on Century too. We liked it enough to book again, on the Equinox in Aquaclass and were very impressed. I wasn't sure if Summit would be a letdown, especially after reading some of the negative comments here, but it was an even better experience. Not only is the ship well kept up and nicely laid out, the staff is wonderful!!! I have loads of pics and a photo review linked below.

[TRadle]

Our first cruise was on Century too. We liked it enough to book again, on the Equinox in Aquaclass and were very impressed. I wasn't sure if Summit would be a letdown, especially after reading some of the negative comments here, but it was an even better experience. Not only is the ship well kept up and nicely laid out, the staff is wonderful!!! I have loads of pics and a photo review linked below.

 

I jumped on 6145 on the Summit because of your pictures! Did you break the chair?:D

 

There was no rust on the balcony this time. I think it was freshly painted. It looked like they were in the process of sanding down the ceilings in the shower stall. It was ugly.

 

Jonathan was our butler and he was just okay. The Penthouse guest kept him pretty busy.

 

Someone asked if we complained about the bed and furniture....we didn't want to complain because it just takes too much vacation time away. It wasn't as hot as Chicago, so we stayed outside most of the time.

[24butterfly]

This is reassuring to know. We have cruised only once which was Celebrity Century and were considering a Carnaval cruise to the Mexican Riviera but were not quiet about going with Carnaval. We decided to book an 8 day with Summit in April. Thanks for your report it confirms our decision to stay with what we enjoyed.

 

We did Carnival Splendor to the Mex Riviera, and I hate to say it--we hated the ship and the cruise. We'd done this on RC and Carnival (Exctasy and Spirit)---we have 15+ for Carnival....will go RC next time if we ever decide to do this cruise again.

[emjayel56]

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 so much for the information I am booked in room 6119 on summit in february ... cannot wait after reading your review. Have a great day. Maryjo

[FlorenceItaly]

Maryjoe - this review is from 2011. I am sure you will have a wonderful time. We were on the Summit in August, and had a lovely time. Like the OP, once we found Celebrity, we did not return to Carnival(Platinum). We have friends who still cruise Carnival a lot so most likely we will cruise Carnival again, but, will try not to. They put out a good product, but, Celebrity is currently our cruise line of choice. We have also cruised Royal, HAL, and Princess. We will cruise on Regal Princess next month, and looking forward to the cruise. We will leave the Regal and embark on the Eclipse a few days later. Happy cruising!