Celebrity Summit – Review of 8/31 sailing to Bermuda – part 1

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Was on this cruise last week, and it was amazing. I’m going to break my review into parts, since I know it will be long! It was my third; first two being on RCCL. I went with my cousin, and both of us are single, late 40’s/early 50’s. She’s been on many cruises than I have, mostly on other lines. This was the first Celebrity cruise for both of us. Let’s see if I can remember everything now!

Embarkation: I live in NJ, so we drove to the pier and parked. Unloading the luggage was a breeze, and she then went and parked. And walked back. Very quick and easy. If I recall, we had to wait in line etc. for maybe 20-25 minutes, and it moved fairly quickly. Pretty efficient, and once we got our cards, we were on the ship! I want to say it was about 1 or a little before when we got on. Went up to deck 10 to await the stateroom being ready. Close to 1:30 it was, so off we went.

Stateroom: We were on deck 7, mid-ship, and while small, very well set up. Plenty of closet and other storage space. Considering we had 5 bags between the two of us, it all fit. The bathroom was the best setup of all. The only way to really describe it I from the vantage point of sitting on the toilet. Shower was directly across from that, good sized, with a curtain. Just to the right was the sink/vanity. To the right were two glass shelves, and on either side, 2 holders with glasses. We used those for our makeup brushes, toothbrush, etc. Vanity counter was pretty good sized, and below, on the far right, was the trash, which opened out. To the left of that was another cabinet, with two shelves for storage under the sink. So we had plenty of room for our stuff, and then some. We also brought some of those 3M plastic hooks you can put up, and take down with no damage, which I will definitely do again.

Thelma was our attendant, and she was a doll. We are not fussy or demanding but the couple of things we did ask for, we got promptly. Only other issue was the next to last night our toilet stopped working. Called, and they said they would take care of it. Later on, still not working, so we called again, and a few minutes later, all we well. But stopped working a third time, but again, it was promptly fixed, so no complaints there.

To the right of the closet, was another door, with 6 drawers on the lower half. Top was the safe, and just below, you could store things on top of the drawers. TV was in the corner, mini-fridge below, and above, more storage.

By the balcony door was a small desk/vanity, with more storage on either side, a small glass table, and mini sofa. So while it was tight, it was more than adequate for the time we actually spent there.

We then went exploring a bit, and ended up at the Martini Bar for a couple of drinks, and to watch the ship sail. If you like fancy martinis, this is the place to be. We had the classic bev. package we got as our “perk” when we booked, and we both upgraded to the premium. Best decision we made. I will say, if you like a cocktail or two before, during or after dinner, and wine with dinner, and you enjoy your fancy coffee, do the upgrade.

I am a coffee drinker, and had one every am from Café al Bacio, cappuccino most afternoons, and tea at night. So figure 3 a day for 7 days, at $5 each, that’s a littler over $100 for just coffee. We also had a martini or two a day, plus a couple of glasses of wine (sometimes more) with dinner. Mind you, had we not had the package, I don’t think I would have imbibed as much as I did, but it was nice, esp at dinner, to order wine, then have them just continue to fill up your glass as it got empty. It also includes bottled water, which we also took full advantage of. We figured we drank close to $300 of various beverages, so the $80+ upgrade fee was totally worth it. Not sure if I’d do it if we had to pay for the full package, but would probably just cut back on everything.

Food: We had gone out for breakfast before we left to avoid the crush in the buffet once we got on. But headed there for both breakfast and lunch every day. We liked that they put out the individual portions of things; so you just grabbed what you wanted. Although not everything was served that way. HUGE variety of food for both breakfast and lunch. Can’t speak for dinner as we never ate there. I will say that the later you go for lunch, 2pm onward, there have a pretty limited selection, but you can always find something.

Dinner we did the anytime dining, which worked out well for us. You can choose whether to sit alone, or share, and we did both. We met a lot of nice people at dinner, both at our table, and next to us when we sat alone. Food was amazing, a nice variety of appetizers, soups/salads, entrees and desserts each night, as well, as a number of things available every day.

Portion sizes were good, not too huge, but just enough. I will say we ate like pigs, and didn’t hold back at all. I also had a couple of vegetarian entrees a couple of nights as they were lighter. Portabello mushroom stuffed with goat cheese was one, and another was an Israeli cous cous cake, wrapped with a strip of grilled zucchini, and some red pepper coulis. We had Carla as our server 3 of the 6 nights and she was so much fun, and great at her job. We actually requested her the last night.

We ate in Qsine one night and that was fabulous. While I’ve seen it described as being best with a group, for just the two of us, they were very accommodating. I am the only one who likes sushi, so they brought me 4 rather than 8 sushi lollypops. We also had the disco shrimp, spring rolls, Persian kebob, lava crab, slider party, popcorn fish and chips, painters mingnon, and lobster escargot fritters, which are more like meatballs. All was amazing, and we were stuffed. We had also asked for a couple more dishes, but as they bring out a couple at a time, we were able to skip those. So we really only made it through about half of the menu, but it was enough!

Café al bachio was my favorite place, and Florentina, who was there every day, was a doll. She knew what we wanted and gave us amazing service. Their desserts and pastries are pretty good too! If you like coffee and tea, it’s the place to be. You are also guaranteed a Captain Leo sighting too, if you spend enough time there!

We didn’t eat at Bistro on 5 or Normandie or any of the other places on board. But overall, the food was great, and service was even better.