Summit Dining Review

[flowery]

Just back and had a fantastic time but overall disappointed in the dining experience.

 

MDR- surprised at how good the food was- especially the Indian entrees. Waiters were pleasant and affable but inadequate. Forget about getting anything to drink other than tap water! I don't know what the problem was. Is it because we had "select" dining and a different waiter each time so they didn't care about giving us good service? Or are they short staffed? Who is in charge of making sure tables get bottled water and drinks? The food came out quickly but before we had our drinks! Forget about getting lemon or lime slices with Pellegrino. The experience night after night became very irritating and we didn't look forward to dining in the MDR because of it.

 

Q Sine- ate here once and were very irritated- annoying experience. We were tired and just wanted to eat and relax and not make lots of decisions and have lots of explanations given to us. Our waiter was quite poor and the sommelier was awful- overly familiar and obnoxious. At first we thought that some of the dishes were tasty e.g. lava crab and dancing shrimp but in retrospect, they were too rich and kind of gross. The only really good item was the skewered chicken and at the end, the strawberries dipped in white chocolate. The M - Medit whatever it's called was OK but not as good as a normal Mediterranean restaurant appetizer selection.

Expensive, gimmicky, annoying- do not recommend.

 

Normandie- excellent service but food uninteresting. We would never go here in our hometown, even for a special occasion. We had prepaid for two evenings here.

Chateaubriand- tough, no flavor.

Branzino fish- OK- a bit strong.

Rack of Lamb good

Veal good

Lobster- tender but flambe not our favorite preparation- just OK

Appetizers:

tomato and fresh mozzarella- no flavor

scallop en croute- strong fishy flavor

pear en croute- more of a desert- OK

lobster bisque- sort of OK- would not recommend

risotto- OK but swimming in a bland froth

cheese plate- pretty good

 

Aqua Spa cafe- now diminished. Half of it is devoted to smoothies for an extra charge. Disliked the new salmon preparation. Raw salmon filets covered in a delicious green sauce. Is the salmon supposed to be ceviche? Tasted totally raw and they said to allow 15 min for preparation. Can you marinate raw fish filets in lemon juice for only 15 min and call it cooked? Are they trying to discourage people from ordering salmon? If so, they succeeded because I didn't see anyone else eating theirs either.

 

Coffee quality, in both the MDR and in espresso drinks has improved.

 

The executive chef is Indian and perhaps that accounted for the superb Indian food. We did not try the Indian breakfast or lunch at the buffet. Also, the evening Indian entrees in the MDR are vegetarian and little protein- mostly vegetables.

 

We are upgrading to Aqua Class for our next cruise and hope we have a better service experience in Blu. We still like Celebrity for family trips- especially when we are paying :) but if Blu is not an improvement, will think twice about booking Celebrity again.

[MicCanberra]

Just back and had a fantastic time but overall disappointed in the dining experience.

 

MDR- surprised at how good the food was- especially the Indian entrees. Waiters were pleasant and affable but inadequate. Forget about getting anything to drink other than tap water! I don't know what the problem was. Is it because we had "select" dining and a different waiter each time so they didn't care about giving us good service? Or are they short staffed? Who is in charge of making sure tables get bottled water and drinks? The food came out quickly but before we had our drinks! Forget about getting lemon or lime slices with Pellegrino. The experience night after night became very irritating and we didn't look forward to dining in the MDR because of it.

 

Q Sine- ate here once and were very irritated- annoying experience. We were tired and just wanted to eat and relax and not make lots of decisions and have lots of explanations given to us. Our waiter was quite poor and the sommelier was awful- overly familiar and obnoxious. At first we thought that some of the dishes were tasty e.g. lava crab and dancing shrimp but in retrospect, they were too rich and kind of gross. The only really good item was the skewered chicken and at the end, the strawberries dipped in white chocolate. The M - Medit whatever it's called was OK but not as good as a normal Mediterranean restaurant appetizer selection.

Expensive, gimmicky, annoying- do not recommend.

 

Normandie- excellent service but food uninteresting. We would never go here in our hometown, even for a special occasion. We had prepaid for two evenings here.

Chateaubriand- tough, no flavor.

Branzino fish- OK- a bit strong.

Rack of Lamb good

Veal good

Lobster- tender but flambe not our favorite preparation- just OK

Appetizers:

tomato and fresh mozzarella- no flavor

scallop en croute- strong fishy flavor

pear en croute- more of a desert- OK

lobster bisque- sort of OK- would not recommend

risotto- OK but swimming in a bland froth

cheese plate- pretty good

 

Aqua Spa cafe- now diminished. Half of it is devoted to smoothies for an extra charge. Disliked the new salmon preparation. Raw salmon filets covered in a delicious green sauce. Is the salmon supposed to be ceviche? Tasted totally raw and they said to allow 15 min for preparation. Can you marinate raw fish filets in lemon juice for only 15 min and call it cooked? Are they trying to discourage people from ordering salmon? If so, they succeeded because I didn't see anyone else eating theirs either.

 

Coffee quality, in both the MDR and in espresso drinks has improved.

 

The executive chef is Indian and perhaps that accounted for the superb Indian food. We did not try the Indian breakfast or lunch at the buffet. Also, the evening Indian entrees in the MDR are vegetarian and little protein- mostly vegetables.

 

We are upgrading to Aqua Class for our next cruise and hope we have a better service experience in Blu. We still like Celebrity for family trips- especially when we are paying :) but if Blu is not an improvement, will think twice about booking Celebrity again.

Thanks for the food review and am glad you enjoyed the cruise anyway.:D

[flowery]

Thanks McC. Ordering drinks in the MDR (even 2 or 3 times) does not insure you will get them! My recommendation to others is to wait until you RECEIVE your bottled water and drinks before placing your food order. Super irritating for this to be the case night after night. If you are hungry or wanting to be somewhere at a certain time, this is inconvenient as well as irritating.

[bbappel]

Thanks McC. Ordering drinks in the MDR (even 2 or 3 times) does not insure you will get them! My recommendation to others is to wait until you RECEIVE your bottled water and drinks before placing your food order. Super irritating for this to be the case night after night. If you are hungry or wanting to be somewhere at a certain time, this is inconvenient as well as irritating.

 

I suspect it is Select dining, rather than the MDR that is the issue. With Traditional Dining, the waiters get to know your pace and you - that you want lemon/lime with your Pellegrino - that you want Pellegrino. We had a similar issue with Select Dining on the Eclipse, until we found one of the assistants who would recognize us and bring us our bottle & 2 glasses no matter where we were sitting. The upside of Select Dining is you choose when you wish to dine. The downside is it is like going to a new restaurant every night.

 

Beth

[luvs2fly]

Just back and had a fantastic time but overall disappointed in the dining experience.

 

MDR- surprised at how good the food was- especially the Indian entrees. Waiters were pleasant and affable but inadequate. Forget about getting anything to drink other than tap water! I don't know what the problem was. Is it because we had "select" dining and a different waiter each time so they didn't care about giving us good service? Or are they short staffed? Who is in charge of making sure tables get bottled water and drinks? The food came out quickly but before we had our drinks! Forget about getting lemon or lime slices with Pellegrino. The experience night after night became very irritating and we didn't look forward to dining in the MDR because of it.

 

Q Sine- ate here once and were very irritated- annoying experience. We were tired and just wanted to eat and relax and not make lots of decisions and have lots of explanations given to us. Our waiter was quite poor and the sommelier was awful- overly familiar and obnoxious. At first we thought that some of the dishes were tasty e.g. lava crab and dancing shrimp but in retrospect, they were too rich and kind of gross. The only really good item was the skewered chicken and at the end, the strawberries dipped in white chocolate. The M - Medit whatever it's called was OK but not as good as a normal Mediterranean restaurant appetizer selection.

Expensive, gimmicky, annoying- do not recommend.

 

Normandie- excellent service but food uninteresting. We would never go here in our hometown, even for a special occasion. We had prepaid for two evenings here.

Chateaubriand- tough, no flavor.

Branzino fish- OK- a bit strong.

Rack of Lamb good

Veal good

Lobster- tender but flambe not our favorite preparation- just OK

Appetizers:

tomato and fresh mozzarella- no flavor

scallop en croute- strong fishy flavor

pear en croute- more of a desert- OK

lobster bisque- sort of OK- would not recommend

risotto- OK but swimming in a bland froth

cheese plate- pretty good

 

Aqua Spa cafe- now diminished. Half of it is devoted to smoothies for an extra charge. Disliked the new salmon preparation. Raw salmon filets covered in a delicious green sauce. Is the salmon supposed to be ceviche? Tasted totally raw and they said to allow 15 min for preparation. Can you marinate raw fish filets in lemon juice for only 15 min and call it cooked? Are they trying to discourage people from ordering salmon? If so, they succeeded because I didn't see anyone else eating theirs either.

 

Coffee quality, in both the MDR and in espresso drinks has improved.

 

The executive chef is Indian and perhaps that accounted for the superb Indian food. We did not try the Indian breakfast or lunch at the buffet. Also, the evening Indian entrees in the MDR are vegetarian and little protein- mostly vegetables.

 

We are upgrading to Aqua Class for our next cruise and hope we have a better service experience in Blu. We still like Celebrity for family trips- especially when we are paying :) but if Blu is not an improvement, will think twice about booking Celebrity again.

 

Sorry about your experience. It is frustrating when you get insufficient service. I was on summit last feb and did aqua. The service in Blu was similar to what you described. My husband and I would go to cellar master and get our own wine. He would even run and get cappuccinos for desert. Tried to order an egg sandwich for breakfast, they told me that it wasn't on the menu. So I ordered an egg, cheese and English muffin and assembled it myself.

However the service was great at Qsine and Normandy so much so that we only had dinner at Blu twice. Here's hoping that they correct any and all service related issues.

[Kartgv]

Agree with much of what you say, but our Select Dining experience on the Summit in October for 14 nights was much better than yours. Maybe the difference was that we were lucky enough to get a great waiter & assistant on the first night. As we left the dining room that night, we made a reservation for the following night and asked for the same waiter. Sitting in the same section each night meant that we also had the same bar/beverage staff, who quickly learned exactly what we wanted, even learned our Seapass number so we didn't even have to show our card after the first few nights. We basically had the service advantage that you'd get with traditional dining, but chose the time we wanted to eat (usually around 7:15) - to us, that's what Select Dining is all about. It does seem that the staff is stretched too thin, but we still had a good experience.

 

We also learned quickly to trust our waiter's recommendation on that night's selections. A couple of times one of us decided to 'live dangerously' and try something other than what he recommended and were sorry we did. In general, we thought the food was very good.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Kartgv

[MicCanberra]

Agree with much of what you say, but our Select Dining experience on the Summit in October for 14 nights was much better than yours. Maybe the difference was that we were lucky enough to get a great waiter & assistant on the first night. As we left the dining room that night, we made a reservation for the following night and asked for the same waiter. Sitting in the same section each night meant that we also had the same bar/beverage staff, who quickly learned exactly what we wanted, even learned our Seapass number so we didn't even have to show our card after the first few nights. We basically had the service advantage that you'd get with traditional dining, but chose the time we wanted to eat (usually around 7:15) - to us, that's what Select Dining is all about. It does seem that the staff is stretched too thin, but we still had a good experience.

 

We also learned quickly to trust our waiter's recommendation on that night's selections. A couple of times one of us decided to 'live dangerously' and try something other than what he recommended and were sorry we did. In general, we thought the food was very good.

I agree, we go select all the time and it has never been our experience to have sloppy service or to be neglected. Of course, I realise that we may have been lucky and it may happen as in any restaurant.:D

Edited December 3, 2013 by MicCanberra

[flowery]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We dine out frequently and have never had such poor service in any local restaurants (including ethnic hole-in the walls). It would be interesting to see how the MDR would handle a boycott- people refusing to order food before receiving their drinks! Is it because of the drink packages? Are they trying to stall to the point that people give up? It's hard to imagine that the management isn't aware of these problems.

 

I'm sorry to hear Blu is not an improvement because I just talked the couple we're traveling with on our next cruise into upgrading to Blu!

 

I'd rather pay more and get better service. I wonder how Azamara is doing- our experience a few yrs ago was very good.

 

Also, speaking of poor service, I don't think our veranda room sheets were ever changed in 7 days. Despite the shortcomings, we had a wonderful time with family and loved the itinerary.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for the review.

 

Keith

[misha1]

We returned to regular dining times after our last experience in Select. Service was substandard, also could not get a glass of wine from the Somm. We have always enjoyed above the standard service in the speciality restaurants, but our biggest surprise was the excellent selections in the buffet for evening dining. We had never eaten there before (for dinner) but decided to after a particularly inadequate dining experience in the main dining room the night before. We will definitely put this on our rotation of evening meals for the future.

[karena1]

I suspect it is Select dining, rather than the MDR that is the issue. With Traditional Dining, the waiters get to know your pace and you - that you want lemon/lime with your Pellegrino - that you want Pellegrino. We had a similar issue with Select Dining on the Eclipse, until we found one of the assistants who would recognize us and bring us our bottle & 2 glasses no matter where we were sitting. The upside of Select Dining is you choose when you wish to dine. The downside is it is like going to a new restaurant every night.

 

Beth

 

Celebrity might be different, but we have done MTD on Royal since it started and have Always had fantastic service. Same waitstaff every night - all you have to do is ask. So I really don't see where Select vs Traditional is the issue. We will be on Summit in April and if we like our waitstaff the first night, we will ask for them to be our waiters for the rest of the cruise.

Edited December 3, 2013 by karena1

[Adammara]

We had a disappointing experience of 'Select Dining' on Connie in the autumn of 2012.

 

In the afternoon, the maitre d' was refusing to book table sizes or time, we and others were told if you want a table for 2 come when we open. We went on the first night and requested a table for two, pointing some we could see from the desk. After we were assigned a table, the waiter consulted his map, and proceeded to take us to the far corners of the restaurant, passing many tables for 2 and put on a table for six, then 4 settings removed!

 

It appears most of the staff were new, even the table waiter did not know the table number, but he was OK. On the second night we asked the maitre d' to be on the same waiters tables, and we were taken to another table for 6 on the other side of the restaurant!

 

 

On the 3rd day we had a late lunch in Bistro on 5, and opted out of an evening meal. During the day we ran into a Maitre' d we knew from Eclipse, and told we were not happy with Select, and would there be any chance of changing to fixed, he promised to see what he could do.

 

We were late leaving the 'Happy Hour' on day 4, and wandered down to Select and asked for a table, we were very surprised to be taken downstairs to the fixed dining and placed on an empty large table, much to a waiters surprise. We had no notification of a change, and it caused a lot of consternation among the staff, we left after the entrée, as we were feeling very uncomfortable.

 

We opted to go to the buffet every night after that, where the service and food were superior to the MDR, the steak cooked in front of you at the grill was excellent. We had several other issues on this cruise, and was the worst MDR food and service we have had in 39 cruises.

 

We were so disappointed we cancelled 2 cruises for this year, and transferred one to 2014, although we are undecided if we will ever cruise again. The evening meal is the highlight of the day for us, but sadly the food is no better than many local restaurants, our local 'gastro' pub offers far better food and service than Celebrity!

 

Richard

[luvs2fly]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We dine out frequently and have never had such poor service in any local restaurants (including ethnic hole-in the walls). It would be interesting to see how the MDR would handle a boycott- people refusing to order food before receiving their drinks! Is it because of the drink packages? Are they trying to stall to the point that people give up? It's hard to imagine that the management isn't aware of these problems.

 

I'm sorry to hear Blu is not an improvement because I just talked the couple we're traveling with on our next cruise into upgrading to Blu!

 

I'd rather pay more and get better service. I wonder how Azamara is doing- our experience a few yrs ago was very good.

 

Also, speaking of poor service, I don't think our veranda room sheets were ever changed in 7 days. Despite the shortcomings, we had a wonderful time with family and loved the itinerary.

 

I'll be back on the summit this feb. in aqua again. I'll make sure to post a review this time. Also when we cruised last feb. Maître d of Blu was new. I'm not sure how much of an effect that had on service. However we have only been on x once and can only compare our experience to our other cruises on Disney and Oceania. Even with the dining problems we prefer x.

[Sfdtiller]

Not sure what sailing you were on Flowery, but sounds similar to our thanksgiving cruise on the Summit. The MDR was horrible service wise. Ate there twice and both times it was with others who had been using the same wait staff. They made comments how there orders always had an issue, so I don't think the changing staff is the problem. One night of the 2 when I dined we ordered desert, everyone got theres except two people. Waited for them to bring items out, since it was normal to wait up to 5 minutes for everyones food to be delivered. Finally asked where the last 2 deserts were, finally informed that they were out of that item......I have never been on a ship that runs out of an item that is only served one time per cruise. This was a butterscotch pecan pie and we weren't eating late, started dinner at 7 so late seating wasn't even started yet. Forgotten drinks? How about no drinks, reminded the server multiple times about drinks and they never appeared for one diner. Food was marginal at best, Chilis, applebees, Outback quality.

 

As for Qsine, food was above average and the experience was fun. Sommelier was very helpful and put together some nice wines and Non alcoholic drinks for everyone. They could do a little better job explaining how the service works, but once we figured it out things went great.

 

Blu, should have eaten here every night, food was superb, service was great. Sommelier was a little off and really didn't go beyond the "recommendations" for the night, luckily the winos in our group made great choices when he could not. The first night we ate in the MDR the MAitre D came into the MDR and asked how we were, asked if we needed anything and helped resolve an issue we had. Soe was our server and never steered us wrong, mentioned the best of the night and was almost never wrong, he would even say why he felt a particular dish wasn't his favorite, one night it was a crab appetizer and he told us they were low on crab so the portion was very small, someone ordered it and there was about a teaspoon of crab.

 

Buffet was typical buffet except for the indian food, it was GREAT. I made a point to eat breakfast and lunch here just for the indian dishes.

[Baybear]

We returned to regular dining times after our last experience in Select. Service was substandard, also could not get a glass of wine from the Somm.

 

We always go to the Wine Bar (Cellar Masters) where they have those "dispensers" of 1oz, 2oz, or 3oz pours and buy our glasses of wine there right before dinner, then just carry them into the dining room. You can look at the descriptions of the wines, select what you want and just charge it and "run." We've done this on the Eclipse and the Silhouette, but I believe they added one of these onto the Summit in the reburb didn't they?

 

No wait with that system!

[jenniebnyc]

I agree with most of your post. We were on Summit last January and the MDR (not select) was subpar. Qsine was as you said, too gimmicky and greasy and glopping. We do enjoy the M and the indian food though! Normandie was as you said, bland for the most part. They made us special dishes the 2nd time we dined there. We asked for fresh pasta with a truffle cream sauce and some other items which were very good, but the risotto was bland as was the fresh mozz/tomato which was a barely red and it was ice cold. This this dish would favor from being served room temp. The lobster bisque, yes, yuck! The cheese plate was great but only after we asked for some honey with truffle oil, which they thought was genius! (how about serving it to all of your guests then?) We found our best meals in BLU but the service was lacking and slow and meals came out at room temp, never hot, which I hate. Very hit or miss. Sounds like there have not been many improvements since last year, which is sad. It would be great if they would hire a french chef for the french restaurant! And drained the grease off of the fried food in Q bf serving it!

 

We will be on Reflection in January and hoping for a better experience. Fingers crossed!

[jsf]

We were on Summit twice last year (Southern / Bermuda) and I must say the buffet was not up to regular Celebrity standards. We were late getting on ship at embarkation and went to the buffet and found only pasta dishes and some pizza. The lunch menu always lacked imagination and the drink stations were always out of ice tea and lemonade and lemons. If we hadn't paid for our food we could of eaten on shore and got a better choice. Thumbs down for the buffet on Summit.

J.

[mcrcruiser]

Thanks for the interesting comments ;)

[flowery]

Yes, thanks everyone for interesting comments. We met some people on our cruise last wk. who raved about Aqua Class so we decided to try it on the Constellation next year.

 

Hoping for a good experience at Blu. Good idea about stopping off at the Wine Bar first but it does seem pretty ridiculous if you need to do this in order to get a glass of wine! And the food had better be hot most of the time or my picky husband will freak.

 

Part of the fun of dining out of course is getting Waited On. We still remember the name of the excellent waiter on our first ever cruise: Lambert :)

[SusieV]

We were on a B2B on Summit in October and had fantastic MDR staff both legs. The bar waiter had bottles of Evian for the table waiting for us as we sat down, and checked back for after dinner drinks. He got a nice tip at the end of the second leg. Our sommeliers never let our glasses get empty, and yes we did have packages.

 

However, we had traditional dining, so I can't comment on the service in Select.

[mompolo]

We were also on the Summit in October and had fantastic service in the MDR (traditional). In fact, the people at our table had to tell the sommelier to stop filling their wine glasses - lol.

 

Food and service was fantastic!!

[flowery]

I don't doubt that good service is still available in the MDR with set dining times and the same waiter counting on tips for good service at the end.

 

Someday in the future, if we're lucky enough to have grandchildren and can afford a trip for extended family I can see booking a set early dining time.

 

But for now, flexibility is more important to us. We will try the suggestion to find a good waiter in Blu and ask to always be seated in his section.

 

But I find it pretty silly that strategies must be employed in order to receive beverages. Who ever heard of this in a land based restaurant? I wouldn't return to a McDonalds or a 5 star restaurant that refused to serve me beverages or always brought them toward the end of the meal (after multiple requests).

 

In the future if cruising alone we may decide to upgrade to Azamara. It might be worth a thousand $ or more to not have nightly irritation.

 

Most of us love Celebrity and wish them well but it's not reasonable to deliver poor beverage service (and we aren't big drinkers- just want the basics) when offering the "select" dining option.

 

I would love to get the inside scoop on what the problem is. I've waited tables myself and know it's a hard job. I'm still not clear if they are short staffed or have an attitude problem. Apparently the staffing is adequate if those of you with set dining times are getting your beverages (?)

 

Why are we making excuses for Celebrity? The whole thing is ridiculous.

[luvs2fly]

Is it modern luxury when the wait staff at Blu refuses to make their customer an egg sandwich for breakfast. I'm aware that it is not on the menu, however all of the components of the sandwich are. I should have taken a photo of the plate they brought me! All of the items for the sandwich were laid out on one plate. I put my sandwich together and had a good laugh with my husband. Their customer service was pathetic. This is only one example of service related issues.

I took my little girl and a couple of her friends to Applebee's for lunch this weekend. One of the girls wanted a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. This item is not on their menu. The waiter was sweet, brought us all of our drinks in a timely manor and even a perfectly cooked sandwich, that was not on the menu!

[tfrcal]

Also, speaking of poor service, I don't think our veranda room sheets were ever changed in 7 days. Despite the shortcomings, we had a wonderful time with family and loved the itinerary.

 

Do you actually change the sheets at home more than once a week? Most people don't so I am surprised you expected that to be the case on the ship.

[MicCanberra]

Do you actually change the sheets at home more than once a week? Most people don't so I am surprised you expected that to be the case on the ship.

 

I don't expect it unless I have spilt my breakfast in bed, in which case I notify the room steward and ask for the sheets to be changed.:D