Review of Summit Bermuda Cruise - June 29, 2014

[washdcguy]

I think there are at least four different trip reports from the June 29 Summit sailing, so I apologize if any of this is redundant. I know I read with great interest every trip report from the Summit posted in the last 9 months before our sailing. My review will be an overview, followed by a day by day, concluding with our hints and overall summary. Hopefully, I'll have this all posted & complete by the time the next ship returns.

 

Just as a background and perspective, this was our second time on Celebrity, last cruise was a TA on the Infinity. Both times, by luck, the fares for suites (guarantee) dropped to within bargain territory from our Aqua class fares (ie the cost increase was offset by the free specialty restaurants). So we did enjoy an entry level Sky Suite. We enjoy cruising, both for seeing multiple stops in one trip (and knowing where we'll go back to later) and now for the relaxation. We've cruised RCCL, SilverSea, Regent, and Seabourn in addition to our Celebrity adventures. If cost was not a concern, we'd always sail Seabourn (and are always shocked it's part of the Carnival family). That said, we have enjoyed our Celebrity experiences. We are foodies and would be uninsulted by being called food snobs. I say this because everyone's food tastes differ and thus it is hard to know where a reviewer is coming from in their review of the food offerings.

 

We are generally within what Celebrity is marketing to. Until 10 months ago, we were early middle age DINKs who appreciated a more refined experience: service, food, wine, and entertainment. Now with an infant (who did not cruise with us), we'll likely have to go back to RCCL or Disney.

 

Final note before we get into it... I have a very dry wit and am very sarcastic. Please keep that in mind as you read. Think David Sedaris as you read on... and if you don't get or are easily offended by dry humor... there are several other very, very good reviews of this week on the Summit. Prim8Keeper has a great review with pictures and all the dailies & other fliers. I think he may also have Blu menus.

 

Quick overview issues - knowing there has been much discussion on the following topics (bev package, buffet, SinCity entertainment, ) we'll discuss those first:

 

Bev package: We booked / upgraded during a diff promotion, so paid for one premium. (one of us enjoys quality adult bevies and the other is fine with a cocktail & glass of wine with dinner - thus no package). While we did find that they'd automatically pour you the lowest quality of drink if not instructed otherwise (think well gin or DeKuypers amaretto ::forum gasp, clutching pearls::), the selections for premium seemed expansive. No change from a year ago on Infinity. As others have said, getting a drink at the pool was impossible without going to the bar yourself.

 

Wine service, on the other hand, has taken a slight turn for the worse - prices have gone up and the quality of the wines has slightly diminished. We had wonderful sommeliers in both Qsine and Normandie, but the sommelier in Blu (where we ate most of our meals) was awful. We were frustrated that each night he would continue to try to convince us the Celebrity brands were just a wonderful option. We like to give a sommelier some latitude in suggesting interesting pairings or opening up our minds to a unique gem, but he really just suggested what the daily pour recommendation was.

 

Qsine: Unlike our visits in the past, we were told all drinks on the Ipad/unique to Qsine were excluded from the package. Despite sharing our past experience, "that's how it's always been and I cannot be responsible for someone else not following corporate requirements." ::roll eyes::

 

Buffet: We're going to have to resoundingly disagree with the drumbeat of criticism around the new concept. We are decidedly not buffet fans. Our buffet excursion on X have, in the past, been constrained to the Indian offerings (always a nice offering from the chefs) an sushi. We definitely felt the basket, individual pan service offered a more upscale, refined feel to the buffet. We confess that we were even suckered in to trying a dish or two (outside of the Indian offerings) over the cruise. While the food quality was still not memorable, it was at least approachable for us. The Sushi quality has deteriorated and we only tried that once (note: lots of Krab).

 

Overall entertainment:

We really enjoy the mix of entertainment offered on Celebrity. The evening acts and the musical offerings around the ship are diverse and all of good quality. We really appreciate the variety of entertainment options as well as their quality. We'll talk to those more through the review. That said, the chorus singers from the production show (with the exception of the gentleman with his own evening show), are bordering on awful - and this is consistent from our last X cruise. While the dancers are very good, the production quality is bad... think high school musical production. We've seen others rave... and about these sailings from Port Liberty on Summit. We ask: have you been to Broadway? :)

 

SinCity Entertainment

We confess that we have not seen SinCity in Vegas. Apparently, this isn't far from the experience there. This late night offering consists of warm up comic, burlesque dancer, warm up comic again, burlesque dancer again, and headliner. I'll confess that we are two gay men, but we just thought the Burlesque dancer was an awkward pause in the show... and the entire room seemed a little uncomfortable. That said, this was G-rate burlesque. She had much more on than the women at the pool... and we saw much more suggestive behavior at the pool than in her short performance. The warm up comic was bad (and repeated his set several nights). The headliner was terrific each night. We loved the comic option as a late night offering.

 

Michele Balan

Seeing many different perspectives on here, we found her to be best at the late night R-rated show. Her gigs in the early evening (opening show & her headlining evening) were flat and struggling to be funny. She had some edgy bits, but we had really braced ourselves for something much worse.

 

Michael's Club

Look, we love the idea of a special place for Suite guests (note that we were low class suite guests - aka Sky - and not invited), but this was such a great space, and it's now being severely underutilized. We saw people in there twice the whole cruise. One of those times they were getting a private 'performance' by the burlesque dancer.... in full view of everyone walking by. Awkward? Either open this up to all Suites so it's utilized or find a more appropriate size space.

[ISABELLA]

I really liked you review, and your sense of humor. As you said - everything is a matter of taste. Certain things wend down the hill at X, but still, I think they deliver a good product among similar cruise lines. I don't know what type of music you like, but if you ever sail on Celebrity again - check out Perry Grant. He is a lounge piano entertainer currently on Eclipse. You might like his sense of humor. As you can see I am a big Perry's fan:)

Glad that overall you enjoyed your cruise.

Edited July 10, 2014 by ISABELLA

[20pluscruises]

I enjoyed your review and wit. :)

 

A couple of questions if you don't mind...

 

Was there only one sommelier in Blu?

 

How was the food in Blu?

 

Thanks!

[20pluscruises]

I really liked you review, and your sense of humor. As you said - everything is a matter of taste. Certain things wend down the hill at X, but still, I think they deliver a good product among similar cruise lines. I don't know what type of music you like, but if you ever sail on Celebrity again - check out Perry Grant. He is a lounge piano entertainer currently on Eclipse. You might like his sense of humor. As you can see I am a big Perry's fan:)

Glad that overall you enjoyed your cruise.

 

We actually felt the food had improved in Blu on our cruise December 2014 compared to March 2014. A few items were a miss but overall very good. The soft shell crab was excellent!

Edited July 10, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[kenevenpar]

Buffet: The Sushi quality has deteriorated and we only tried that once (note: lots of Krab).

 

Was the Krab raw?:confused::eek:

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[loosygoosy]

Thanks for the review.

 

I think he meant the fake stuff.

[kenevenpar]

I think he meant the fake stuff.

 

I know he did. The fake stuff is whitefish, and is cooked.

 

I guess if I had to explain, it was not funny:D

[NLH Arizona]

Buffet: We're going to have to resoundingly disagree with the drumbeat of criticism around the new concept. We are decidedly not buffet fans. Our buffet excursion on X have, in the past, been constrained to the Indian offerings (always a nice offering from the chefs) an sushi. We definitely felt the basket, individual pan service offered a more upscale, refined feel to the buffet. We confess that we were even suckered in to trying a dish or two (outside of the Indian offerings) over the cruise. While the food quality was still not memorable, it was at least approachable for us. The Sushi quality has deteriorated and we only tried that once (note: lots of Krab).

 

Thanks for your review. I've been especially interested in the new buffet setup, which by the way, there seems to be more positives then negatives lately, thanks for your review on it.