Summit review, 6/17-6/24, mixed

[Sisa]

Hello Cruise Critics,

My family of 4 is just back from our sail on the Summit. I don't want to write a very long review, so I will boil my thoughts down to pluses and minuses, but first, a little background:

My husband and I are in our late 40s, and our daughters are 15 and 13. We have previously sailed on Princess and Royal Caribbean. This was our first time on Celebrity.

 

Pluses:

1) The food was the best we have ever had on a cruise, hands down.

2) The updated ship was very beautiful, spotless, and elegantly done.

3) Embarkation and disembarkation were the fastest and smoothest we have ever encountered.

4) The entertainment was very good; better than we expected, and perhaps the best we have seen. There is an a Capella act that is a riot, a great singer/guitarist, great dancers, and a very funny comedian. All of these acts are fresh and young, not dated at all. Really entertaining!

5) Some individual staff were very accommodating and nice.

6) The officers were welcoming and friendly.

 

Negatives:

1) The staff in general seemed a bit down, and not as friendly as we are used to. As we got to know them, their attitude became more welcoming. But, somehow, the vibe of the whole ship seemed a little unhappy.

2) Table cleaning service was surprisingly poor. We sat with tables of dirty dishes and unswept crumbs a lot, in the Cafe and bar areas.

3) One time, when I asked (very nicely) for a napkin to wipe off our dirty table (we had sat at the dirty table for at least 10 minutes), the bartender actually handed me a dish rag to clean it myself. I was pretty shocked.

4) Bar service in general is really slow. I wonder if they are understaffed. You have to hunt down bartenders to order drinks.

5) The activities for teens are pretty minimal. My girls were bored.

6) The activities for adults were better, but still not as many as we are used to on R.C.

 

In general, our family concluded that we prefer R.C. I will miss the superior food of Celebrity, but we prefer the warmer environment and happy welcoming attitude of R.C.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[newcruisergal]

As late 30-somethings I am happy to hear your last two negatives as they will be positives for us. RCCL is a little TOO family oriented for us, we like quiet.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the food as well.

[trvlgrl422]

Sisa, I agree with your cons. I also feel that RC was better. With the exception of several crew members, I agree that many were not openly friendly. We almost did not return to the dining room. Select dining took forever. I didn't feel that the food was that spectacular. The buffet was not as good as RC or Carnival. I also agree with the lack of activities for young adults. While I would go on another Celebrity cruise with my husband, I won't be planning a family trip anytime soon.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

I don't think Celebrity is the best choice for teens. Even so, any teen who is bored on a cruise ship needs to go volunteer in the soup kitchen when they get home. That just makes my blood boil,:mad: and makes me sad at the same time.:( (climbing down off my soapbox now.)

[Sisa]

Hello,

 

In defense of my kids, I think I should say that I was also less-than-impressed with the number of activities on board for adults. Having said that, there were plenty of activities offered, but many of them did not appeal to me. I think that I am stuck in between appreciating the level of enthusiasm, energy and devoted service of Royal Caribbean, with also appreciating the elegance of the Celebrity dining. Although there were plenty of younger people on-board, it is still my impression that Celebrity is better for a slightly older cruiser (perhaps 50s instead of 40s). On the other hand I will be 50 soon enough; maybe I will change my mind!

[d4m]

And in defense of Sisa who obviously gave her fair observations, I can fully understand two teenagers being bored on most Celebrity ships. The other two lines the family has used have many more options for teenagers. I know that the teens in my extended family would be bored to tears, especially on sea days. Everyones' option to do what fits best for a family.

[trvlgrl422]

Sisa, I think you described your feelings accurately, and do not need to defend your kids. I'm in my early 40's and felt exactly as you did. RC is definitely more exciting. My daughter, who regularly volunteers and is eternally grateful to be so fortunate to travel, was also bored at times.

[SANDY823]

We were on the Summit the week before you, and have to agree about the staff... We are diam plus on rccl -and have always had a much better repour with our cabin stewards, dining room staff (we did eat in blu 4 out of the 7 nights), and interaction was definately missing.

 

However, officers, mgrs -concierge, lounge higher ups went out of their way for us - so no complaints there - Also, the staff in Normandie and Qsine (both fantastic) were superb and made the experience even better.

 

 

[luvmysoldier07]

I was also on the 6/17 sailing of the Summit and have to disagree about the service. Every crew and staff member we encountered were wonderful and so pleasant to talk to. I thought the dining room service was fantastic; the best I have experienced. The bar staff was also great and very friendly.

On the other hand I do agree about the activities offered on the Summit. I am in my mid twenties and did not attend one activity during my cruise. Everything was geared towards an older crowd (40's-50's), even the music in the lounges. ( I could not take one more rendition of SWEET CAROLINE!)

I wish Celebrity would offer more things to do for 20-30 year olds because the ships are beautiful and the food and service is above par to other cruise lines.

[vivavegas]

Thanks for your review!:)

[jjl64]

We were on the same sailing and would have to agree about most of the bar service. It was impossible to get a drink at the martini bar most nights. It seemed as if they were understaffed and more interested in pouring multiple flights of martinis at once to show off - a process that takes quite a while.

 

The service at the sunset bar was also very spotty. Once they found out we had the premium drink package, it was impossible to get service regardless of what time of day it was.

 

However, the service and entertainment in Michaels Club every night was top notch. We wound up spending most of our evenings in there.

[librarylady19]

I know where we will be hanging out then! DH plans to try as many beers as he can on the beer list (the "good" beers that is. Honestly, Im not a fan of the martini bar, although many people love it. I have found

the service to be aloof regardless of your package status. 2O year martini is awesome but I think you can get that elsewhere.

 

To OP, I would say the pros of your cruise certainly outweighed the cons. I don't think X is geared to the family/young adult market; there are other cruise lines for that, so I wouldn't consider the lack of activities a negative - thats what they offer. if X adds more activities for those markets they will surely lose their loyal customer base

[jdarch]

I was also on the 6/17 sailing of the Summit and have to disagree about the service. Every crew and staff member we encountered were wonderful and so pleasant to talk to. I thought the dining room service was fantastic; the best I have experienced. The bar staff was also great and very friendly.

On the other hand I do agree about the activities offered on the Summit. I am in my mid twenties and did not attend one activity during my cruise. Everything was geared towards an older crowd (40's-50's), even the music in the lounges. ( I could not take one more rendition of SWEET CAROLINE!)

I wish Celebrity would offer more things to do for 20-30 year olds because the ships are beautiful and the food and service is above par to other cruise lines.

 

i agree completely...and I'm 62...my dh and I went down the Celebrity Today list of activities and named the activity and said no...next..no...next..no...next..it became a joke..Our food and service was great and crew and staff always spoke to us..

[junder62]

We were also on this sailing, the entertainment was not to our liking. The comedian Steven Scott was great, but the other shows we attended (Dancers/singers were at best average) We are in our early 50's

 

We have sailed previously on Carnival and Princess and their entertainment is a lot better. Celebrity does an excellent job with customer service and they really aim to please, but feel they need to improve on entertainment.

[avid]

We were on the same sailing and would have to agree about most of the bar service. It was impossible to get a drink at the martini bar most nights. It seemed as if they were understaffed and more interested in pouring multiple flights of martinis at once to show off - a process that takes quite a while.

 

The service at the sunset bar was also very spotty. Once they found out we had the premium drink package, it was impossible to get service regardless of what time of day it was.

 

However, the service and entertainment in Michaels Club every night was top notch. We wound up spending most of our evenings in there.

 

We were on the Summit last week in May/first week in June and also had Premium Drink Package..never tried the Martini Bar..but couldn't disagree with you more regarding the service At the Sunset Aft Bar..We were in Aqua on deck 11 and just after a couple of days, as soon as Patrick, the BarMan at the Aft Sunset Bar, saw me on that exterior stair platform heading down to the Bar..he had my drink ready...not only that..but he prepared my preference based on the time of day..Bloody Mary in the am, a Grey Goose on the rocks with a piece of a lime (usually he poured me a DOUBLE) in the afternoon and Remy Martin after dinner..the man is priceless..though I must admit..he was very well tipped..:rolleyes:

[jjl64]

We were on the Summit last week in May/first week in June and also had Premium Drink Package..never tried the Martini Bar..but couldn't disagree with you more regarding the service At the Sunset Aft Bar..We were in Aqua on deck 11 and just after a couple of days, as soon as Patrick, the BarMan at the Aft Sunset Bar, saw me on that exterior stair platform heading down to the Bar..he had my drink ready...not only that..but he prepared my preference based on the time of day..Bloody Mary in the am, a Grey Goose on the rocks with a piece of a lime (usually he poured me a DOUBLE) in the afternoon and Remy Martin after dinner..the man is priceless..though I must admit..he was very well tipped..:rolleyes:

 

I wish the service at the sunset bar would have been better. On our Summit cruise last July it was fantastic and was our favorite place to hang out. It just wasn't the same this time

[jdarch]

another thing we didn't quite understand is they moved cellar masters to where the martini bar was and the martini bar to a different deck..cellar masters was never busy and it's huge..set up nicely though..the martini bar..which I love was a small area and was packed for hours...with people standing..don't get it...we used to love going to the martini bar and sitting right by the area near the main dining room..having a cosmo..and getting up at 6 and going to the dining room...why do they do things like this??? anyone....any ideas..........

[jjl64]

another thing we didn't quite understand is they moved cellar masters to where the martini bar was and the martini bar to a different deck..cellar masters was never busy and it's huge..set up nicely though..the martini bar..which I love was a small area and was packed for hours...with people standing..don't get it...we used to love going to the martini bar and sitting right by the area near the main dining room..having a cosmo..and getting up at 6 and going to the dining room...why do they do things like this??? anyone....any ideas..........

 

We also miss the old martini bar. There was never anybody in cellar masters.

[Wine-O]

I like the Cellar Master set up on the M-Class vs. the room off to the side on the S-Class.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the nice review of your cruise. Sounds like you had a good time.

[cocobakerchica]

I was also on the 6/17 sailing of the Summit and have to disagree about the service. Every crew and staff member we encountered were wonderful and so pleasant to talk to. I thought the dining room service was fantastic; the best I have experienced. The bar staff was also great and very friendly.

On the other hand I do agree about the activities offered on the Summit. I am in my mid twenties and did not attend one activity during my cruise. Everything was geared towards an older crowd (40's-50's), even the music in the lounges. ( I could not take one more rendition of SWEET CAROLINE!)

I wish Celebrity would offer more things to do for 20-30 year olds because the ships are beautiful and the food and service is above par to other cruise lines.

 

<lol>I'm gonna have to throw the red card on one of your comments; not everyone in their 40's wants to listen to "Sweet Caroline" all day either!(with much respect to Neil Diamond;)) I hope you're prepared for the payback when you get to your 40's and someone paints your age group with a biased brush:rolleyes::p.

[MaxTexada]

Yes, I'd rather be in my 40's and enjoying life than being a dour 20-something.

 

PS, I'm a pro-musician and a helluva lot of fun. We'll be on the Summit sailing 7/8/12, and hope to meet other folks who are capable of making their own fun outside of cookie cutter cruise activities.

[emcee207]

We were on the Summit last week in May/first week in June and also had Premium Drink Package..never tried the Martini Bar..but couldn't disagree with you more regarding the service At the Sunset Aft Bar..We were in Aqua on deck 11 and just after a couple of days, as soon as Patrick, the BarMan at the Aft Sunset Bar, saw me on that exterior stair platform heading down to the Bar..he had my drink ready...not only that..but he prepared my preference based on the time of day..Bloody Mary in the am, a Grey Goose on the rocks with a piece of a lime (usually he poured me a DOUBLE) in the afternoon and Remy Martin after dinner..the man is priceless..though I must admit..he was very well tipped..:rolleyes:

 

And that is the key to it all, is it not? The last two cruises we did the premium alcohol package but even on prior cruises I've found a decent tip or two at the outset will pay dividends in service and even a better pour and fun conversation. Works every time!

Although now and then you can arm wrestle for the tab also.

[uktog]

Even without additional tipping ( until our final drink when he got a bonus) Patrick was exceptional and we also commended him on our feedback forms where we indicated the Sunset Bar was the best one we had been to (3June sailing). I know others felt the same. I am wondering has there been a change of team?

Maybe with all the positive comments they moved Patrick somewhere else? I know they were also looking to move some of the top performers over to pre training to join the Reflections opening team - maybe that is where he is if he is no longer making everyone very happy at The Sunset Bar