My Review of the Summit 4/21-4/28

[railed]

Background:

I want to start by saying we had a wonderful time would rate this vacation as one of our favorites. This was our first real cruise (2 prior short Disney cruises 9 and 20 years ago) and we chose Celebrity because of what we read here on Cruise Critic. We are both in our late 40’s and seasoned world travelers. I travel quite a bit outside the US and we both lived in Europe for 3 years. We both have traveled enough to know regardless of the reputation/class/cost problems arise and often it is OUR response to an issue that helps in resolution just as much as the person who is helping us. In just the last 5 years we have started traveling every other year without children.

 

Pre/Post Cruise:

Normally, I would leave the pre/post activities out, but I will include it since I think it is relevant in this case. When we arrived at the airport, I realized I had more upgrades available than I had originally thought and asked for an upgrade. The gate agent insisted my spouse would have to pay for her upgrade and after some calm discussions and asking her to check again, we got our upgrade. Sadly, the computer system did not acknowledge our upgrade properly and did not recognize that I had used my upgrades and upgraded our return flight (I did not have enough upgrades) and we lost our great seats and were told the flight was full and if we wanted to fly home we’d have to pay for the 1st class seats or miss the flight. Again after some calm negotiations and requesting he make a couple calls we got seats although not together. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan for one night and enjoyed our stay and a little pool time. We met another couple in the lobby and were able to share a ride to the ship.

 

Embarkation/ Debarkation:

The embarkation process went fast enough. We grabbed a couple of bottles of wine for my spouse and headed to the line. I’d say we spent no more than 20-30 minutes from start to finish. We were greeted on board by a smiling crew, Champaign for my wife and something non alcoholic for me (can’t remember what it was). We had time to grab some lunch at the buffet and by the time we were done our cabin was ready! We dropped of our stuff and left the ship to spend a few hours touring San Juan. Sadly, we missed the first nights show since the ship left much later than planned due to a large group being delayed. We chose to watch the sail away vs. going to the show. Debarkation was a bit slower and a group that had been cutting lines all week was in front of us. When we got in line there were 2 of them, when we got to customs there were over 40 of them! I chose to stand by my “I’m on vacation and nothing will bother me philosophy” and let it pass with some minor grumbling. As a side note to those that were on our cruise, the lady behind me was also part of the group and apologized for their behavior on the ship.

 

Stateroom:

We had room 2006 (all the way on the bow on the starboard side). The room was fine for our needs. Yes, the regular staterooms are small, but we didn’t book the cruise to hang out in our room. Our Stateroom Attendant was excellent and met all our requests and never had to be asked twice for anything. I’m no small guy (6’2” 220lbs) and had no problems moving around the room or the shower, not sure why people complain about this. We were slightly worried about my wife getting sick being so close to the bow, but she had no issues even when the seas got slightly rough. We did have one major issue and it is something that anyone booking rooms on the 2nd floor bow area need to be aware of. My wife is very sensitive to cigarette smoke. The crew smoking area is one floor below and when the doors are open in port it blew smoke into our hallway and our room. I called Guest Services and they sent someone down who confirmed our complaint. They assured us they would secure the doors and try to remove the smoke. On day two it still smelled slightly of smoke and I made a second call and they did a better job of deodorizing and reinforced with the crew closing the doors to our floor while in port. The smell still lingered enough to be noticeable by my wife, but she said it was not going to ruin her cruise. Guest Services followed up the morning of our 3rd day. I stated it had not gone away, but was at an acceptable level. They again apologized for not being able to move us (cruise was full) and booked us at Normandie as a mia culpa. To our surprise they called every day to check and additionally to find out if we enjoyed our dinner in Normandie.

 

Ship & Crew:

We found the ship to be lovely and the service by the crew to be outstanding. Being on deck 2 we often saw people who would not normally interact with passengers and each and everyone offered a genuine greeting and often asked how we were and waited for an answer. Since we are not big drinkers we loved Café al Bacio. The pool deck was never over crowded even on the sea day there were spaces to be found on deck 11 (I liked deck 11 better since it wasn’t so crowded). The solarium and the thalassotherapy pool were both awesome. I used the gym on days we had a light day in port and never found it too crowded. Overall, neither of us really ever felt like the ship seemed crowded. One thing I was very impressed with was the cleanliness of the ship. People were always cleaning.

 

Food:

When you tell someone you went on a cruise the first thing they ask is about the food. We both found the food to be quite good and often excellent. We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches in the Waterfall Cafe. Yes the Waterfall Cafe can get crowded, but we always decided in advance where we would meet after getting our food. I hear people complain about the choices in the Cafe, but we found the choices to be very good. I especially loved the cold soups at lunch! Since I’m watching my girlish figure, I didn’t want to mess that up; the staff was more than willing to give me just a taste of anything I asked for. I do have to admit the ice cream guy looked at me funny a few times when I asked for a quarter scoop of ice cream! We found the food in the MDR to be very good. We both had one meal that was less than impressive, but I’ve experienced that in on shore fine dining establishments. My wife felt dinner in the MDR took too long, but I enjoyed the slow dining. We had Celebrity Select and never once waited for a table regardless of our choice to dine alone or with others. Our meal in Normandie was spectacular! The service was fantastic and the food was excellent to incredible. I really couldn’t understand why anyone would pay extra to dine in a special restaurant until I ate there. I would highly recommend eating in Normandie at least once. We also enjoyed the food & drink in Café al Bacio. The little sandwiches were nice when we got back to port. My wife enjoyed the coffee drinks and I loved both the hot and iced tea (They serve Tea Forte for you tea drinkers) at Café al Bacio. We also enjoyed the food in the Aqua Spa. Since I am a non drinker and my wife is a very light drinker (she had trouble finishing the two bottles of wine we brought on board), we got the premium non-alcoholic package. We both love our coffee/tea and water with gas (San Pellegrino/Perrier) and after doing the math we broke even. I still think it was worth it because we didn’t worry about what something cost. In the end, I had a bunch of really great meals and as an added bonus only gained a half pound! A word on the sea day brunch… Check it out it’s worth it!

 

Entertainment:

We are not huge partiers so we fit right in on the Summit. The shows were all excellent and the acrobats were fun to watch. The comedian was quite funny, but neither of us particularly cared for the piano player (personal taste, I know many of the guests loved him). We both attended a couple of the demonstrations/workshops and enjoyed those. The casino staff was friendly and we both enjoyed spending an hour or two in the casino most nights. I played in a few of the poker tournaments, they are on an electronic table and set up in more of an online sit and go style with a rather quick blind structure. We wound up ahead in the casino, so how can that be a bad thing! The entertainment on the pool deck was great; it was just lively enough to entertain without being a distraction.

 

Ports of Call:

I’m not going to spend a lot of time here because the ship will not be back in the Caribbean again until November. I will say that our favorite island was Grenada and our least favorite was St. Croix. I’d love to spend a week in Grenada and couldn’t care a less if I ever go back to St. Croix again. St. Kitts was beautiful and we enjoyed the rainforest tour. Dominica was a bit poorer than we expected, but we absolutely loved the Champaign Reef snorkeling. St. Thomas is a place I’d like to visit again since Carnival was going on much of the island was shut down.

 

Final Words:

Normally it takes me a good 4 days to relax on vacation. I can honestly say I was relaxed within hours of boarding the Summit. My wife has pictures of me from all over the world in every situation imaginable on my phone/computer; she didn’t get a single shot on the Summit :D. I think this is the perfect ship for people in their late 30’s to mid 60’s that want a nice mix of luxury, relaxation with ports of call/excursions that allowed for some decent physical activity. I definitely have the cruising bug now and will be back to Celebrity and someday the Summit. I’m not sure if I’d choose Celebrity for a full family cruise (kids are 19 and almost 14) even though our kids are very mature, I think they’d get bored. I think if we did a family cruise, I’d lean towards Royal Caribbean since there would be more activities for them.

 

I apologize for the few grammatical errors. If I start editing this, I will never get it finished.

[Lew's cruise]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review. I found your observations to the point and quite fair. Glad you had a good time and yes, Royal would be a great choice for your family cruise.

[sarahc78]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to share you vacation experience with us :)

[Mermen]

Railed, really enjoyed your review. Thanks for posting it. We love Celebrity as well, took the Summit a couple of years ago to Bermuda and then to NE / Canada. The staff was excellent.

 

Hope you will try another ship in the M-Class or Solstice-Class fleet. Will you be planning another cruise soon?

 

Happy Sailing...

[Azulann]

Your review was very clear and helpful.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write.

 

I too think the NA Preminum beverage package is great.

[Whippets]

Thanks for a well balanced review. We are sailing on Summit over Thanksgiving and hope that we experience all the nice things that you and your wife did......minus the cigarette smoke.

[Willman]

"Embarkation/ Debarkation:

The embarkation process went fast enough. We grabbed a couple of bottles of wine for my spouse and headed to the line."

 

Is there is some kind of store/shop in the port to purchase wine? We will probably fly in the same day as embarkation but would like to bring aboard our allotted two bottles.

[railed]

"Embarkation/ Debarkation:

The embarkation process went fast enough. We grabbed a couple of bottles of wine for my spouse and headed to the line."

 

Is there is some kind of store/shop in the port to purchase wine? We will probably fly in the same day as embarkation but would like to bring aboard our allotted two bottles.

 

Yes! It is right there literally feet from the line.

[Newsbuff16]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. We love the Summit...we are cruising on her for the third time this July and are eager to see the changes on the ship.

We, too love the Normandie and usually eat there twice....this time we are also going to try Qsine.

[Old Coastie]

Railed......Thanks for the great, and very possitive review of your Summit cruise. Summit was the first contact that the wife and I had with Celebrity back in '09. Since then we have saild on Equinox, Mercury, and Solstice, with every cruise being a memorable experience. Prior to that we limited our cruise experiences to RCL with a quick diveration to Princess and HAL. We are now both in our 60s and enjoy a more "adult" centered cruise, although we would not hesitate on returing to RCL for a family (grandchildren included) gathering. As you stated, no vacation is "perfect", and events/problems happen. How you handel the problem and/or response will define the impact. I always view any disruptions with a prospective that here I am, on vacation, on a great ship with really great people doing their best to ensure that I have a great time and return sometime in the future. Nothing can happen to spoile this. By the way, I noted that you were in and inside cabin. Consider trying a balcony on your next cruise. Center ship, deck 7, isn't too bad if you have problems with motion sickness and the views at breakfast, sunset, and throughout the day are out of this world. (I spent 22 years in a sea service, some of that time on much smaller ships, and I know what motion sickness is all about.) My wife and I will be returning to the Summit in Jan'13 for a B2B. We are really looking forward to it and reviews, such as yours, confirm that we have made the right choice. Besides, we will hit the "magic" #10 cruise on our first 7 night. Can't wait for those upgraded perks the second week.

[railed]

Surprisingly I can't see a way to edit my original message. We had an ocean view (or a sea view in this case).

 

I always tell my employees that a problem is an opportunity to shine. How you solve the problem as the supplier or the customer will define your future relationships. It is a two way street, the sooner people figure that out the happier they will be!

 

Enjoy your 10th cruise Coastie!

[librarylady19]

Thank you so much for an excellent summation of your Summit experience. I think truly encapsulated what makes this ship so special. I totally agree with your statement, " I think this is the perfect ship for people in their late 30’s to mid 60’s that want a nice mix of luxury, relaxation with ports of call/excursions that allowed for some decent physical activity."

Love your positive attitude.

We were enchanted with Summit and the wonderful staff and can't wait to revisit her in September.

[TeaBag]

Thank you for your positive review. We enjoyed one our best cruises aboard Summit. Kudos to you for settling for 1/4 scoop of ice cream.

[Lois R]

Surprisingly I can't see a way to edit my original message. We had an ocean view (or a sea view in this case).

 

I always tell my employees that a problem is an opportunity to shine. How you solve the problem as the supplier or the customer will define your future relationships. It is a two way street, the sooner people figure that out the happier they will be!

 

Enjoy your 10th cruise Coastie!

 

Hi, glad you enjoyed yourselves:)

 

Just a bit of information for you about editing posts~ CC gives

you about 10 mintues to edit a post. If you want something

changed after that? You can email one of the moderators and

ask for help that way.

[Phalst]

"I’m not going to spend a lot of time here because the ship will not be back in the Caribbean again until November. I will say that our favorite island was Grenada and our least favorite was St. Croix. I’d love to spend a week in Grenada and couldn’t care a less if I ever go back to St. Croix again. St. Kitts was beautiful and we enjoyed the rainforest tour. Dominica was a bit poorer than we expected, but we absolutely loved the Champaign Reef snorkeling. St. Thomas is a place I’d like to visit again since Carnival was going on much of the island was shut down."

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough yet concise description of your cruise. For the last two Aprils, we have cruised on the Ruby Princess. As much as we have enjoyed each cruise, we would like to try a different itinerary. I feel more confident about going with the Summit after reading your review. Still I would love to hear more about your experiences at the ports of call.

[NanFi]

Very informative report. I am sure the staff on the ship wishes everyone had your philosphy. It is a good reminder for everyone not to let a little thing ruin your vacation.

[railed]

After reading some other Summit reviews from our cruise and the next I wanted to add something about your Room Steward and his Assistant. Keep in mind we were on Deck 2 in the very front so we were in an area with some of the least expensive cabins...

 

I figured Jose and Smitty were just doing their jobs by fulfilling all our requests and thinking ahead on what we might need. Now I feel he went way out of his way.

 

Every morning I saw one or both of them on my way to the gym or to get coffee (I didn't want room service), they would warmly greet me and ask what our plans were for the day. When we'd leave the room for breakfast they'd ask how long we would be gone. By the time we returned from breakfast the room was clean with 4 towels (as we requested on day one). We would return from our day out to find the room cleaned again and the towels refilled. When we would return for the night we would find chocolates on the pillows and the daily on the bed. Our PJ's would be laid out (one day he made them into an anchor shape) and beach towels would be sitting there for the next day. Also every single time we came back to the room we had ice.

 

There were a few more little things they did... I guess we got super lucky.

 

I now feel bad for not extra tipping them. If any Celebrity staff read this we were in room 2006, those guys rock!

[Algebralovr]

After reading some other Summit reviews from our cruise and the next I wanted to add something about your Room Steward and his Assistant. Keep in mind we were on Deck 2 in the very front so we were in an area with some of the least expensive cabins...

 

I figured Jose and Smitty were just doing their jobs by fulfilling all our requests and thinking ahead on what we might need. Now I feel he went way out of his way.

 

Every morning I saw one or both of them on my way to the gym or to get coffee (I didn't want room service), they would warmly greet me and ask what our plans were for the day. When we'd leave the room for breakfast they'd ask how long we would be gone. By the time we returned from breakfast the room was clean with 4 towels (as we requested on day one). We would return from our day out to find the room cleaned again and the towels refilled. When we would return for the night we would find chocolates on the pillows and the daily on the bed. Our PJ's would be laid out (one day he made them into an anchor shape) and beach towels would be sitting there for the next day. Also every single time we came back to the room we had ice.

 

There were a few more little things they did... I guess we got super lucky.

 

I now feel bad for not extra tipping them. If any Celebrity staff read this we were in room 2006, those guys rock!

 

While tipping them in cash now will be difficult, if you call or email X and tell them what great service you received, they might get a perk from it.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.