Our thoughts on Summit 3 June cruise

[uktog]

Summit. 3-10 June

Many have already started to post about their 7 day voyage to Bermuda and back on the Summit. Here are the high. mid and lowlights from 2 frequent cruisers with over 20 cruises between Celebrity and Azamara.

The main comment about our pre cruise stay of 3 nights in Newark Hilton Penn Station was this was an excellent base from which to explore Manhattan -$2 on the PATH to 33rd Street and a much cheaper hotel, its a standard Hilton but very adequate.

Second piece to put in context, this was our first ever Aquaclass experience having always been in suites, we were in Aft deck 11, more on that later.

Highlights (in order of experiencing them)

· Transfer arranged by Celebrity to Bayonne and boarding was first class, left hotel at 1145, sitting in the Sunset Bar by 1220 . Disembarkation was also a breeze though it went a bit astray when we got to the day room (see below)

· The service at the Sunset Bar is first class, Patrick and Kenyon really get to know and welcome their guests each time they arrive at the bar. They are like the great Caribbean bartenders of the past and you never waited long for a drink

· Blu is exceptional, the food was top notch everything we ordered arrived perfectly cooked and at the right temperature. We particularly loved the hot soups, lots of different tastes and flavours, all delicious. My husband’s food allergies were really well looked after with a member of staff designated to go over the next nights menus with him. Service in Blu is absolutely excellent, Nicolus is a really hands on maitre d who talks to everyone every night and all the waiters and assistants work as one team so as soon as someone spots you need something they do it.

· The Cruise Director Sue Denning is the most visible friendly cruise director we have sailed with on Celebrity. She is a real people person who gets to know her guests and is an amazing talent in her own right as her one woman show demonstrates – even though its at 1030 at night make sure you stay up to enjoy it. Sue attended the CC event and popped into every evening in the Elite Lounge, as did several Officers. A nice touch on this cruise for the 40 UK guests on board, Sue hosted a Diamond Jubilee get together and quiz, complete with good old British scones and tea in Michaels on the afternoon of the Jubilee Pageant so we could see replays on the big TV. The Captain also popped in claiming he did this on the basis that Prince Philip is Greek – Captain Theo always identifies the Greeks, married to a Greek or wannabe Greeks in his team it is one of his running gags.

· Bermuda is a beautiful friendly safe island – stand at a street corner trying to work out a map and immediately someone comes up and says “can I help you, are you lost”. The bus and ferry network is a great way to get around and was very good value. You have to pay in dollars cash, no cards and there are several booths on the pier you can buy them, no lines of any note the first morning when we were all after our passes

Midlights

· The aft cabins in Deck 11 are lovely in terms of their showers and balconies. However there is certainly a lot of smoke smell drifting up from the Sunset Bar – did not concern us but might worry others. What did bother us more was noise, there were some quite lively groups on board and they would congregate mid afternoon pull lots of tables together and were perhaps oblivious to the noise that was travelling upwards. We also had to call down one night at 1230 to ask that they ask people sitting out there playing cards to quieten down. So be aware, if you chose one of these cabins, you might have issues if you are an early to bed person and/or sensitive to smoke smell.

· The weather in Bermuda was a bit iffy, a lot of grey skies, short showers but it was warm – and of course this is the one thing that is right out of Celebrity’s control. We all just got onto the Helipad for the sail out of Bermuda when it started to rain and we had to leave for safety reasons (understandable)

Lowlights

· The major lowlight was the Aquaclass cabin experience. On boarding, the only amenities we had in the room was shower gel, body lotion, shampoo and conditioner. Later that evening, I managed to get some cotton wool balls from the steward. I kept asking him about the remaining amenities in general, by Day three I was specifically naming them such that then I got the lip balm, facial mist and the diffuser late that day. Night 5 the leather handled tote bag arrived, Night 6 the white bags and slippers appeared, I failed on the pillow menu which he did not understand what I was talking about and he never apologised for the fact that things were missing on Day One. The joke was the oversized towels – I was worrying I had grown rapidly since boarding as towels were not wrapping round me – one night one towel did! We compared it with its partner and it was a lot bigger, sadly that was the only oversized towel we saw. We did make the Hotel Director aware of the issues, so that he can ensure future guests get what they are supposed to without asking. This issue (and the fact the room was not well serviced, the team just never could work out when we went to breakfast aka the same time each day and even when we were struggling with items in our hands and trying to dig keys out, the stewards just stood and watched) really let the side down but for us we wrote it off to bad luck with the steward as we were not going to stress out on our much wanted short break. Lesson 1 – print out the Aquaclass amenities and if things are missing, go over the whole list with the steward Night One

· I did not find the bed too comfortable, my husband was OK, I kept hitting a ridge, it was only the last night we discovered that this ridge was the edge of an under mattress on my husband’s side of the bed, but there was not one on my side. Lesson 2 – check the bed more thoroughly at the start of the year

· Our dayroom transfer went well, however on arrival at the Doubletree they told us check in was at 12 noon at the earliest. I actually found our paperwork from Celebrity which said 11, however that is a little late for a dayroom as we were asked to be off the ship at 9 at it was a 10 minute drive to the hotel. We persisted with the hotel and they did manage to give a room at around 11 but we were left feeling this was done as a big favour (probably because we were cluttering up reception) and they might make others wait until 12 if they were not carrying their confirmation invoice with the full timings on it (the other couple checking in with us did not have their detailed invoice with them ) Lesson 3 – as well as carrying your guest ticket brochure, print off the confirmation invoice that has all the timings on it just in case – and perhaps Celebrity should book dayrooms from 1000 or 1030 at the latest.

And our overall conclusion, it was a great cruise, silly niggles but some good positives. Summit has the potential to be really brilliant if it can sort out its housekeeping issues with some simple training

Any questions or clarification - just ask

[Andy]

Hi Sue,

 

Thanks for your excellent review. I enjoyed reading your insights. Very interesting comments on the Aqua Class amenities... sounds like you had a disappointing cabin attendent. We've sailed with Sue Denning many times, and agree she's the best CD at Celebrity.

 

I'm happy to hear you had a great Cruise.

[mahdnc]

uktog, thanks for posting this review. Our last cruise was to Bermuda back in 2010. Maybe we need to go again now that Summit has had her makeover....

[nicebbern]

uktog,

You mentioned the amenities including lip balm, facial mist & diffuser... where did you find those items listed as part of the AquaClass Amenities? Please direct me in finding them?

Thank you!

[librarylady19]

Very nice, detailed review!

I am very glad I booked Aqua on deck 9 now as I am reading more and more reports about noise and smoke from the Sunset bar which would really annoy me. Still don't understand why they now allow smoking at the entire Sunset Bar - bad move IMO.

 

So glad Blu was a wonderful dining experience for you. I hope it's as good as Blu on the Sclass ships.

Did you eat at any of the specialties?

 

I appreciate your tips on touring Bermuda. Im getting very excited to visit for the first time. As a Brit (born and raised in Ipswich) I am really looking forward to a taste of home (beer, fish and chips, Marks & Spencer) ...any additional advice would be most appreciated. Cheers.

[uktog]

If you like beer, go to The Frog and Onion pub in Kings Wharf where they brew their own. Even better, go between 1330 and 1500 on the way back from a trip out and it's happy hour $5 a pint.

 

We saw a hotel in Somerset on the no 7 bus route The Somerset Inn or something like that which was making a big play of its Britishness, I think it's fish and chips were $12 it looked a nice place but as we did not go in, cannot guarantee the quality.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[bhughey]

Thank you for your review and the information about your experience with the AQ cabin. At what point in the cruise did you alert the hotel director? Did they make any attempts to rectify things? I have to say, I really liked the oversized towels on our last cruise as well as the full size body pillows - so I hope they are available come October!

[Keith1010]

Excellent review. Very balanced.

 

Keith

[uktog]

uktog,

You mentioned the amenities including lip balm, facial mist & diffuser... where did you find those items listed as part of the AquaClass Amenities? Please direct me in finding them?

Thank you!

 

Hi

 

Here is the link

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/explore/ships/detail.do?shipCode=EC&tab=staterooms%2Fexplore%2Fships%2FstateroomDetails.do%3FcabinType%3DAQ%26cabincls%3DB%26shipCode%3DEC