Has Summit really become that bad?

[20pluscruises]

sometimes yes, others no. it was quite variable. I never felt "uncomfortable" or broke out into a sweat though.

 

Thanks!

[luv2sail7]

Just off the Summit today. Had a great time and thought the food was great in the MDR. Another item of surprise was an expanded menu in Bistro on Five. Along with the crepes and paninis, they also offered some new appetizers such as Steak Tartare (loved it) as well as some hot entrees such as salmon and a steak with frites. DH and I didn't try any of those new items other than the appetizer but thought about returning again later in the week but never did as we so enjoyed the MDR. I asked the waitress about this new menu and she said it had been out for 2 weeks now. Didn't see any postings mentioning the new items on the Bistro on Five menu other than the $2 price increase but maybe I missed it. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the new menu.

[wwcruisers]

Just off the Summit today. Had a great time and thought the food was great in the MDR. Another item of surprise was an expanded menu in Bistro on Five. Along with the crepes and paninis, they also offered some new appetizers such as Steak Tartare (loved it) as well as some hot entrees such as salmon and a steak with frites. DH and I didn't try any of those new items other than the appetizer but thought about returning again later in the week but never did as we so enjoyed the MDR. I asked the waitress about this new menu and she said it had been out for 2 weeks now. Didn't see any postings mentioning the new items on the Bistro on Five menu other than the $2 price increase but maybe I missed it. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the new menu.

 

Thanks for the info -- so glad to hear that you had a good cruise! :)

The updated info on Bistro on Five is much appreciated. We have found the Bistro to be a blessing, when we've had a long day in port -- and don't want to stay up for second seating in the MDR. Nice to hear that they've expanded their menu, with the new increased prices. :cool:

[espo56]

Just got off the Summit today. I have to agree that the buffet was a complete disaster. The new concept of putting food in little pans is terrible. Everything was cold. Also nothing is where it should be at this buffet. You can get an omelette but have to go to a different station for toast. Then you have to go looking around for butter. Eating there was very frustrating. We had a nice trip. It the ship is showing its age. There were also cuts in activities which were very obvious. It's sad because Bermuda is our favorite place but after 2 trips on the Summit we won't be returning.

[asmith635]

I am sorry to disagree with everyone about the buffet on the Summit. We were on the May 25th sailing and we absolutely LOVED the buffet! This was our first cruise on Celebrity but have been on Disney, Carnival, and RCL. I consider myself a food person and love to eat and try new things but understand everyone has there own tastes/standards. I normally HATE buffets and chain restaurants. We like to eat where the locals eat when we are on vacation and hate generic touristy things. We were a little nervous before we cruised and just decided to keep things in perspective after reading the reviews. Everyone has there own opinion and I respect that. I know a lot of people read CC and do not post, as I usually do. I enjoyed the small dishes. I liked the idea to try different things without the commitment of an entire meal. I feel that there were plenty of stations that you could get accompaniments to your main meal. I do not enjoy the large buffet servers of food normally. I loved the cheese and meat stations in the afternoon and the bagels and lox in the morning. I never had any issue finding a server to help receive a drink. We try and see the best in everything when we go and vacation. We are lucky to have such small things to complain about! We already booked with a group of 8 again for next year.

[schlimazel_traveler]

Just got off the Summit today. There were also cuts in activities which were very obvious. It's sad because Bermuda is our favorite place but after 2 trips on the Summit we won't be returning.

 

Which activities did you notice were lacking?

We're currently holding reservations on both the Summit and the Grandeur of the Seas to go back to Bermuda next spring. I'd love to try Celebrity, but, at the same time, we really enjoy having things to do/watch on the ship. I'm carefully watching what folks say about the activities staff cuts before deciding which cruise line to go with.

[espo56]

Which activities did you notice were lacking?

We're currently holding reservations on both the Summit and the Grandeur of the Seas to go back to Bermuda next spring. I'd love to try Celebrity, but, at the same time, we really enjoy having things to do/watch on the ship. I'm carefully watching what folks say about the activities staff cuts before deciding which cruise line to go with.

 

I can't pinpoint it but we were on the ship last June and there was more going on in the evenings. Also the Sunset bar was closed for 2 days for maintenance and the musical performances scheduled there on those evenings were cancelled instead of being relocated to another venue. Some of the late night events were silly. There was a late night pool party which was poorly attended and a party in the Solarium which was a waste of time.

[Wine-O]

Just got off the Summit today. I have to agree that the buffet was a complete disaster. The new concept of putting food in little pans is terrible. Everything was cold. Also nothing is where it should be at this buffet. You can get an omelette but have to go to a different station for toast. Then you have to go looking around for butter. Eating there was very frustrating. We had a nice trip. It the ship is showing its age. There were also cuts in activities which were very obvious. It's sad because Bermuda is our favorite place but after 2 trips on the Summit we won't be returning.

 

Just off Summit today also. I want to caveat this post by saying I'm not a buffet person, but did eat a made-to-order Panini/sandwich at the aft sandwich bar.

 

With all the controversy about the new buffet concept instituted on Summit, I made it a point to check it out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sure, there are some kinks that need to be worked out, but I thought the controversy was "much ado about nothing." In fact, I was impressed with all the carving stations they had at both lunch and dinner along with the sausage and kielbasa rings. First time I've seen whole roasted chickens being carved up along with hams, pork loins, roast beef. They even had carved to order lunch meats and large hunks of cheese.

 

Was everything 100% perfect? No, but I booked Summit for same time next year. Love the ship.

[espo56]

Just off Summit today also. I want to caveat this post by saying I'm not a buffet person, but did eat a made-to-order Panini/sandwich at the aft sandwich bar.

 

With all the controversy about the new buffet concept instituted on Summit, I made it a point to check it out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sure, there are some kinks that need to be worked out, but I thought the controversy was "much ado about nothing." In fact, I was impressed with all the carving stations they had at both lunch and dinner along with the sausage and kielbasa rings. First time I've seen whole roasted chickens being carved up along with hams, pork loins, roast beef. They even had carved to order lunch meats and large hunks of cheese.

 

Was everything 100% perfect? No, but I booked Summit for same time next year. Love the ship.

 

I don't hate the ship. I fact I am sailing the Summit to Canada in September. I just think there are some things that can be improved and the buffet is one of them. I am not complaining about what is being offered. It's just hard to find. It took me until Friday to realize that the carving stations were available at lunch. The buffet is made worse by people running around trying to find stuff. The salad bar is also skimpy and the items are very difficult to reach.

[mmp13]

We returned from the summit today as well. Maybe because we had read so many negative things about Summit we were vry pleasantly surprised. Actually liked the Buffet service system. We were able to get our food quickly and never really stood in live. Certainly not true on previous cruises. Seemed like most passengers were pleased. Agree that the deck party and the Solarium party were a complete waste of time! Also think having the captain's toast on the main stairway in foyer was stupid as well (Just too crowded) The Captain himself was quite entertaining and food in main dining room was quite good and always served hot! I guess when you go woth low expectations you can be very pleasantly surprised. Would definitely do this cruise again!

[antsnanny]

I don't hate the ship. I fact I am sailing the Summit to Canada in September. I just think there are some things that can be improved and the buffet is one of them. I am not complaining about what is being offered. It's just hard to find. It took me until Friday to realize that the carving stations were available at lunch. The buffet is made worse by people running around trying to find stuff. The salad bar is also skimpy and the items are very difficult to reach.

 

 

I feel exactly like you do…. Although I did not like the buffet , I love the ship and we are also sailing on her in Sept 7th sailing to Canada.

[DJ Cruisers]

Just off the Summit yesterday. Overall had a nice cruise.

 

We did not like the new buffet setup. For instance, four pieces of French toast were put in a basket with holes so you had to find a plate to put it on to be able to pour the maple syrup on. Of course the French toast was stone cold sitting around in a basket. I had the burger and fries from the grill that were also put in trays with holes and each time they were stone cold. The food items put in the stainless steel pans held the warmth better. I don't eat large portions of food and I also suffer from TMJ so what they felt was the portion and type of food someone was looking for in those little pans and baskets was rarely what I wanted. As far as desserts, I would prefer a variety of choices instead of all crème brulee one day, all cake another, all puddings the next, etc. I did feel most of the food I had in the buffet was tasty just not always warm.

 

I so wish passengers returning to their cabin after say 10:00 would be considerate and be quiet. I used ear plugs and was awoken by noisy people as late as 2:15am. It was a problem most every night. We also had passengers in 4 or more cabins across from us travelling together who tended to return to their cabin and talk in the hallway. So annoying.

 

Had great waiters and room attendants and the staff were friendly. Enjoyed the dining room food. Disembarkation was very organized.

[meatloafsfan]

I was on the June 1st cruise as well.

 

I have mixed feelings about the buffet. On one hand, there were some dishes that really benefited from the "small plate" concept. It helped with matching the flavours and ensured that you got everything you were supposed to in the one dish (i.e. no one had picked out all of the pieces of meat, leaving only the vegetables, if it was supposed to have cheese ontop, you didn't end up with a portion that didn't have any, etc).

 

On the other hand, there were a number of dishes where the portion size was way too big for the small plate concent - the cold salads were certainly one of them. I had a Russian potato salad and a rice/sausage salad but both of them were meal sized, not a side-salad size. And there was an issue with temperature for somethings. Fries preserved in baskets don't really work - they are generally cold unless you catch them putting out new ones and then reach to the back for a basked (which is what I did one time).

 

I also didn't like the dessert theme days. One day was all cupcakes, another all mousses. If you didn't like whatever the theme was, you were SOL. There was no variety.

 

For us, we found that eating family style between 2 or 3 of us worked better (i.e. we would get basically 1 of each of the entree choices and share them). That was we got to try a variety and if something was cold, oh well, move onto the next.

 

I think the concept has merit but there's still a lot of kinks to work out.

 

I do highly recommend going to the burger grill for the chicken and waffles (served in a metal bucket). The waffles were amazing and the chicken was the best blend of spicy and sweet I've had (be warned though that the pieces of chicken in each buffet were unevenly distributed - my mom got a breast and a thigh, I got 2 legs, and later in the cruise my dad ended up with a big breast and rib).

 

I have pictures of many of the small plates from our couple of times at the buffet and a few from the burger grill. I'll post when I have them loaded into photobucket.

[Cruise a holic]

I was on the June 1st cruise as well.

 

I have mixed feelings about the buffet. On one hand, there were some dishes that really benefited from the "small plate" concept. It helped with matching the flavours and ensured that you got everything you were supposed to in the one dish (i.e. no one had picked out all of the pieces of meat, leaving only the vegetables, if it was supposed to have cheese ontop, you didn't end up with a portion that didn't have any, etc).

 

On the other hand, there were a number of dishes where the portion size was way too big for the small plate concent - the cold salads were certainly one of them. I had a Russian potato salad and a rice/sausage salad but both of them were meal sized, not a side-salad size. And there was an issue with temperature for somethings. Fries preserved in baskets don't really work - they are generally cold unless you catch them putting out new ones and then reach to the back for a basked (which is what I did one time).

 

I also didn't like the dessert theme days. One day was all cupcakes, another all mousses. If you didn't like whatever the theme was, you were SOL. There was no variety.

 

For us, we found that eating family style between 2 or 3 of us worked better (i.e. we would get basically 1 of each of the entree choices and share them). That was we got to try a variety and if something was cold, oh well, move onto the next.

 

I think the concept has merit but there's still a lot of kinks to work out.

 

I do highly recommend going to the burger grill for the chicken and waffles (served in a metal bucket). The waffles were amazing and the chicken was the best blend of spicy and sweet I've had (be warned though that the pieces of chicken in each buffet were unevenly distributed - my mom got a breast and a thigh, I got 2 legs, and later in the cruise my dad ended up with a big breast and rib).

 

I have pictures of many of the small plates from our couple of times at the buffet and a few from the burger grill. I'll post when I have them loaded into photobucket.

 

How is the MDR for lunch? Sounds like if the Buffet isn't great, perhaps we should have lunch at the grill and the MDR. Also nice to have paninis , albeit for a charge at Bistro on Five.

 

 

I do hope that Celebrity is reading these posts and rethinks the "new" buffet service. The buffet on the Solstice class ships is great and if anything, the Summit and all M class ships, should be changed to be like those ships.

[meatloafsfan]

How is the MDR for lunch? Sounds like if the Buffet isn't great, perhaps we should have lunch at the grill and the MDR. Also nice to have paninis , albeit for a charge at Bistro on Five.

 

 

I do hope that Celebrity is reading these posts and rethinks the "new" buffet service. The buffet on the Solstice class ships is great and if anything, the Summit and all M class ships, should be changed to be like those ships.

 

This is the first cruise I've taken where the MDR for lunch was not very good.

 

The burgers and hot dogs on the MDR lunch menu are exactly the same as at the burger grill (we were seated with another couple who ordered those). Mine and my mother's panini's (in the MDR) were hard, small, and the bread to tuna/cheese ratio was just sad. The fries that were on the side were cold.

 

My dad however had fried chicken which he enjoyed (but I thought the stuff at the burger grill was better because it had more spices and I was getting a little tired of bland by the end of the cruise).

 

The key lime pie for dessert was flavourless. Usually it's tart and sweet but this was more like a bland, thick pudding with no discernable flavour. We're usually big fans of the MDR for lunch but I can't recommend it on this ship.

 

We had lunch in the MDR early in the cruise as well (second sea day) and it was such an unforgetable experience that I can't even tell you what I ordered (which is extremely unusual for me because my memory is generally exceptional with details). Once I'm home, I'll review my pictures and post our buffet, Room service and MDR pictures.

 

Breakfast in the MDR was a mixed bag - my mom's eggs benedict weren't very good either time (overdone eggs, burned ham), my omlet was okay (guyere cheese and chives was the omlet of the day) and my dad enjoyed his breakfast the first day (good eggs, lots of breakfast meats, hashbrowns, etc) but the second time it was a bit of a sad offering (the eggs were very good but the bacon was bad and they forgot his "British bacon").

 

The bacon was crispy and delicious. The best I've had onboard a cruise ship. The coffee was drinkable and they were around with juice, water and coffee very quickly which was appreciated early in the morning.

 

Room service was consistently good. Club sandwich was hearty, the pizza was cheesy, saucy, garlicy goodness on a plate - the crust was kind of a cross between pizza dough and a flatbread, was crisp around the edges and solid in the middle. Burgers were served hot. The chicken breast sandwich was tender, and well flavoured. The chicken noodle soup was tasty (and good for rough seas). The salad nicoise was the only disappointment - they forgot to send any salad dressing - but the tuna itself was very tasty (cooked to medium / medium well - served warm ontop of the salad) but it wasn't a salad niciose, it was a regular salad (lettuce, tomatoes, onions, with cooked tuna ontop). Fries consistently arrived warm (which was better than I expected). Interestingly enough, it was never our room steward who delivered - it was always someone else.

 

One thing i have to mention - if you like beef - in the MDR one night they serve beef cheeks. Most of the people at our table kind of blanched at the idea of ordering them but I did. I had seen an episode of hell's kitchen where they prepared them and mentioned that they were actually a fantastic cut of beef. THEY WERE OUTSTANDING! I don't eat a lot of beef normall because it gives me tummy trouble but these were so tender and flavourful. One of our table mates mentioned that they hadn't brought me a steak knife. I told him I didn't need it - they were like butter.

Edited June 9, 2014 by meatloafsfan

[Cruise a holic]

This is the first cruise I've taken where the MDR for lunch was not very good.

 

The burgers and hot dogs on the MDR lunch menu are exactly the same as at the burger grill (we were seated with another couple who ordered those). Mine and my mother's panini's (in the MDR) were hard, small, and the bread to tuna/cheese ratio was just sad. The fries that were on the side were cold.

 

My dad however had fried chicken which he enjoyed (but I thought the stuff at the burger grill was better because it had more spices and I was getting a little tired of bland by the end of the cruise).

 

The key lime pie for dessert was flavourless. Usually it's tart and sweet but this was more like a bland, thick pudding with no discernable flavour. We're usually big fans of the MDR for lunch but I can't recommend it on this ship.

 

Breakfast in the MDR was a mixed bag - my mom's eggs benedict weren't very good either time (overdone eggs, burned ham), my omlet was okay (guyere cheese and chives was the omlet of the day) and my dad enjoyed his breakfast the first day (good eggs, lots of breakfast meats, hashbrowns, etc) but the second time it was a bit of a sad offering (the eggs were very good but the bacon was bad and they forgot his "British bacon").

 

Room service was consistently good. Club sandwich was hearty, the pizza was cheesy, saucy, garlicy goodness on a plate - the crust was kind of a cross between pizza dough and a flatbread, was crisp around the edges and solid in the middle. Burgers were served hot. The chicken breast sandwich was tender, and well flavoured. The chicken noodle soup was tasty (and good for rough seas). The salad nicoise was the only disappointment - they forgot to send any salad dressing - but the tuna itself was very tasty (cooked to medium / medium well - served warm ontop of the salad) but it wasn't a salad niciose, it was a regular salad (lettuce, tomatoes, onions, with cooked tuna ontop). Fries consistently arrived warm (which was better than I expected). Interestingly enough, it was never our room steward who delivered - it was always someone else.

 

Sounds like we might have lunch a few days on our balcony! Thanks