A tale of two cruises (a little long and late)

[josie724]

Hi everyone just got back from the 8/31 sailing of the Celebrity Summit from Bayonne to Bermuda. In one short word the entire trip was FANTASTIC. All in all I found Celebrity to be a good line to cruise with. This was our first cruise on Celebrity. We have sailed Norwegian, Carnival and HAL in the past. There were a lot of circumstances that made this trip amazing and I will try to get into that by comparing items I felt are important to me. I have compared my experiences on HAL's NA January 2012 and the Celebrity Summit August 2014.

 

 

EMBARKATION:

Summit: We departed out of Bayonne NJ easy and quick. We were Aqua Class and had priority embarkation.There was a brunch available to us in our main dining room (Blu).

 

HAL NA: We departed out of FLL and this too was easy and fast we had a Neptune Suite (only because we got an UNBELIEVABLE deal) on this sailing so we had priority status here as well. I really did like having access to the Neptune Lounge. We always enjoyed the coffee there. Not to mention the morning pastries and items that were available throughout the day.

 

OVERALL SHIP DECOR AND SIZE:

 

Summit: Nothing out of the ordinary the ship is 13 years old and was refurbished in 2012, it was simple but still pretty. There were areas that you could tell just got a “paint job” such as the buffet. The artwork around the ship was beautiful.

 

HAL NA: I liked the decor here better and the size of the ship as well. I felt that the NA had more room around the pool area. Both ships are about the same size.

 

Overall I liked HAL’s décor better.

 

CABIN:

Summit: Aqua class verandah cabin on deck 9 the beginning of mid ship and the end of forward. Nice cabin in a good location for us. I would have preferred a more mid ship location. We booked this last minute and it was all that was available. I was not going to chance a guarantee cabin again. Balcony size was pretty standard. We had a queen size bed which was harder than I would have liked, but we did have a pillow menu to choose from. Bathroom was small with a shower and one sink, but still very manageable. Our cabin was always very clean. We had a bottle of champagne in the cabin upon arrival which we didn't open, a carafe of flavored iced tea which varied daily and a tray of fruit which was usually apples. Every day we were given 2 bottles of water. We also had afternoon canapés delivered to the room (n/c). We would fill out a form and select the time of delivery. They would not deliver the canapés unless a guest was in the cabin. We did this once and it was underwhelming and we didn't ask for any future deliveries. I have read that some people would request other items, such as cheese and crackers instead of the canapés.

 

HAL NA: We had a SQ (now called Neptune Suite I believe) guarantee cabin which was the first forward cabin on deck 10. It was a magnificent cabin with a king size bed that was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on. The bathroom was huge with double sinks a tub and a separate shower enclosure. I really loved the dressing area with a vanity off of the bathroom. The view was spectacular from this cabin, but the balcony was a joke. We had some very windy conditions on this cruise and being so far forward we both got sick.

 

HAL wins on this one but it really isn’t a fair comparison.

 

Cabin Attendants:

Summit: I found them very attentive. When we first arrived they introduced themselves and explained everything in the cabin. We received all that we were entitled to. When we first arrived I noticed that we did not have robes. I asked about the robes and our attendant informed us that they were still in the laundry. He made it a point to check to see if they were back and he quickly brought them to us. We had turn down service every night, and our room was always cleaned by the time we returned from breakfast. Our attendants always provided us with ice twice daily without asking. We received a towel animal on each formal night. The room was impeccably clean

 

HAL NA: Although they were pleasant I really did not see them much and I found I did have to ask for a lot of items. I always had to request ice. When we first entered our cabin it had a smell of smoke. The smoking policy had just changed when we boarded smoking in cabins was no longer allowed. I asked the attendant if he could spray some freshener, and he did, but it did require a few more treatments which I had to request. I thought our cabin could have been cleaned better. Some days we would return to our cabin at 3:00pm and it had not been made up yet.

 

On this point I feel Celebrity did a much better job.

 

 

Dinner Dining

Summit: Because we had an Aqua Class cabin we were assigned a separate dining room called Blu. I really enjoyed the dinners here. Although I thought the Maître De was not very friendly. On our last evening he was actually pretty abrupt. He did seem to be overwhelmed. I found the food good and the selection more to our liking than the MDR. I also liked that it was a smaller more intimate dinning atmosphere. Most of the tables were 2 tops with a few 4 and 6 tops. The tables were close enough to speak with your neighbors if you chose to. One night we decided to go to the MDR and we actually walked out because if felt too noisy and hectic.

 

We ate in Q’sine one night it is an extra charge specialty restaurant. We really enjoyed it, it’s a dining experience, some people hate it, and some people love it. There were items we chose that we really liked and some that I wish we hadn’t ordered. It’s a clever concept you make your selections on an I-pad, and the presentation is really unique and whimsical.

 

HAL NA: We mostly ate in the MDR and we found the food to be very good. We usually requested a 2 top and they always accommodated us. We found the selections very good and interesting.

We ate in Pinnacle once and had a very good experience. The Tamarind was a wonderful experience as well.

 

I would say on evening dining HAL and Celebrity are comparable.

 

Buffet:

Summit: I found the buffet to be very inconsistent and the flow was very broken. They are testing out at new system where some items are served in individual pans, steel bowls, or wire baskets. I think the concept is very good, but they failed on execution. Most items were never served at an adequate temperature. Some items fared better than others. Rice was usually dried out and any of the Mexican items having tortilla chips would be soggy. And the concept is only as good as the people it served. One day I saw a station that was serving beet salads in the individual portions, there were two left. A woman ahead of me proceeded to pick up one, and stick her nose in it and smell it and place it back down. OK, I thought, I’ll just take the other one, but she then proceeded to pick up the other salad and select that one as hers.

 

The breakfasts here were just OK. I usually ordered an omelet, but if you didn’t walk around the entire area first you would have missed these stations. I did always notice that they would run out of items at the omelet station. Sometimes I had to wait a while for them to replenish the spinach and mushrooms. This however is an over site on the person operating the station. They would wait until the bowl was empty before requesting more.

 

Lunch at the buffet did not really intrigue me. We like to have a salad or something lite, and I really didn’t like much here. I would usually go over the Spa Café, even though there wasn’t a huge selection of items I did like what was served. They always had individual servings of grain salads, couscous, bean or quinoa salads as well as chicken or tuna salad. Sometimes they even had grilled salmon. I also liked that this was the only area to find citrus infused water dispensers. The Pool grill had very good burgers and fries, we indulged on the last day. And it was a good thing we did it then, if we had on the first day, we would have had them more often. I assume this is why the line was always long, but it did move fast.

 

HAL NA: I always found the buffet here to be very good. I really thought the salad station was set up wonderfully, with a lot of items to choose from. I also liked that it was easy to find everything and I felt the flow was easy. What was on the port side buffet was on the starboard side. I really enjoyed breakfast here, the eggs benedict were always great. The food was always served at the right temperature and always replenished quickly. The lines in the buffet though were long at times. I always did like the different international selections they had. I also thought the servers on HAL were much friendlier.

 

On the buffet I would say HAL wins out overall.

 

 

Spa:

 

Summit: Canyon Ranch which I was excited about. I pre booked two massages, unfortunately they did not have accommodations to do a couples massage, so we had the same times set up but separate rooms. I was a bit annoyed that they could not find the key for the men’s locker room. My husband wanted to shower before his massage. He was able to shower in the treatment room, but he would have preferred using the locker room. It wasn’t that big of a deal, and we didn’t complain. We both enjoyed our massages very much. We had access to the thermal beds, but they were in an inside space so I really didn’t use them. On the newer Celebrity ship they are in an area with floor to ceiling windows which make them much more appealing.

 

HAL NA: We had couples stone massage which we both enjoyed very much. We were offered beverages after our massages we also enjoyed the spa area and the thermal beds.

 

On the spa HAL did a much better job.

 

Pool Deck:

 

Summit: I found the pool to be a bit small and of course the chair hogs were out at 6:30 am. There were a few wicker mattress top beds around the pool, but FORGET about scoring one of those. I did notice that someone left towels and items on one for a long time and a woman asked the pool butlers to remove them. They did. What happened afterwards, I have no clue. The Solarium/adult only pool had a Thalassotherapy pool and was always crowded, this area was free unlike HAL which you had to buy a pass to use the Thalassotherapy pool. We usually stayed around the main pool because we are sun seekers. There was always some form of music and entertainment around the pool. There were very few children on this cruise, so it made it tolerable. In the afternoon if we wanted to nap we would work our way up to the top aft deck.

 

HAL NA: I found the main pool area to be noisy and crowded as well, the adult area was much better. On our cruise there were approximately 350 kids. I did like that there was a retractable roof. The weather on our cruise was not that great. I do like the Cabanas that HAL offers.

 

On this point I would say it’s a toss-up, both lines have adequate pool amenities.

 

Gym:

Summit: I used the gym about 3 times and I found the machines to be in good condition and newer. I felt the gym was very good for my needs. There was a walking track, if you want to call it that, it was small and was on the upper pool deck, it got crowded and sometimes you had to dodge a lounger that made it’s way into the path or the joggers who thought they were running in the NYC Marathon.

 

HAL NA: I never did find the gym, LOL, but this was before I got my act together and started to lose weight. We liked to walk the Promenade deck every night. I really liked the fact that it went all the way around the ship.

 

It wouldn’t be fair to give a preference here.

 

Formal Nights:

 

Summit: there were two formal nights, we did not participate, and because we were assigned to Blu it was one of the dining areas that you did not have follow the formal dress code on those nights. One night we did Blu and one formal night we ate at Q’sine. I did see a vast array of what was considered formal. I usually wore a dress to dinner and I would have been considered to have followed the formal dress code. My husband usually wore a dress shirt without a tie and cotton or linen slacks. Because Blu was our assigned dining room formal night really wasn’t an issue for us. But if we had been assigned to the MDR and did not want to wear formal attire we would dine in another venue on those nights.

 

HAL NA: our cruise was a 6 night cruise and there was no “formal” formal night, but they did have an evening where they were offering formal portraits. I did see a lot of people decked out.

 

Final thoughts:

 

I really enjoyed both cruises. There were some points that I liked better on Summit and some better on HAL. On our cruise with HAL we did not have great weather and could not tender at the private island. My husband and I both got sick on board and it continued until several days after we disembarked. I don’t know if it was a combination of the weather and using the patch. On this cruise we had amazing weather and really were able to enjoying everything much more. Because we were sick on our HAL cruise, we were not sure if cruising would be in our future. I am happy to report that after this cruise and being sea sick free, we will definitely cruise again in the future. I have to say that I owe it to all the wonderful information provided here on CC. We did not use the patch this time. I did however take Dramamine at night after reading posts here on CC. My husband did not take anything and we were both sea sick free. I will not know for sure if it was the combination of the good weather we had on this cruise, and the advice given here, but either way it worked. So I thank you all!

 

I am happy to say that more cruising will be in our future and we will add Celebrity to our list when planning our next cruise.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review and the comparision to Hal. Very interesting. Glad you had a good cruise.

[josie724]

Thanks for your review and the comparision to Hal. Very interesting. Glad you had a good cruise.

 

Your welcome.....I believe it was you who told me about the patch, so I should be thanking you.

[josie724]

There was one point that I forgot....

 

Smoking Policy:

 

Summit: They only allow smoking in a few outside areas. No smoking allowed on your balcony and in the Casino.

 

HAL NA: When we cruised you could smoke on your balcony and in smoking areas outside as well as the Casino. I don't know if this has changed since our sailing.

 

I have to say I did like Celebrity's policy better, but we are reformed smokers....the worst kind ;)

 

Of course I did encounter a few people not following the policy, like the gentleman ( I use the term loosely) who thought he had the right to smoke his cigar in an outside area (not designated as smoking) where he was alone at 7:00 am. Not pleasant while we were walking the deck.

[POA1]

Thanks for the comparison.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the comparison review.

I enjoyed reading it.

[Xport]

For your thouhtful comparison... As a Celebrity--and specifically AquaClass--enthusiast, I'm always interested in what others think and in what I might be missing!

 

If you sail Celebrity again, consider trying one of their beautiful new Solstice-Class ships [i like both--they offer similar experiences/comparable service--but do prefer the newer ones in terms of design, decor, expanded amenities, and even buffet design (food stations) for an overall more contemporary look and feel] to change it up a bit... And if you sail AquaClass, do try breakfast in Blu as a really nice way to start the day [small/quiet venue, efficient table-based service, expanded menu, cooked to order]; it's a real treat!

 

Will be back aboard Summit in less than three weeks and am really looking forward to it. I suspect--though it might be difficult to give up my loyalty benefits on X--that HAL may be in my future too...

[josie724]

Enjoy your upcoming cruise. I think I would really enjoy the S - class ships. I really did enjoy the Summit. I hope my post didn't make it seem otherwise. We did have breakfast once in Blu. It was good, I was really looking forward to the blueberry pancakes because of all the hype here on CC. Unfortunately they didn't live up to their reputation. We a lso had breakfast in the MDR. I will gladly cruise on both Celebrity and HAL in the future.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your interesting review.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your comparison.

[donaldsc]

Could I suggest a larger font. Yours was very hard to read.

 

DON

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry -- print was way too small for me to read your report.

[Mr. Boston]

Maybe it's because I'm viewing this in Tapatalk but the font sizes are the same in everyone's posts, all are legible.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write your review, it was very informative.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your comparison.

[josie724]

Could I suggest a larger font. Yours was very hard to read.

 

DON

 

Sorry -- print was way too small for me to read your report.

 

I did use a larger font in my original post as well as bold highlights where I felt was needed. I know I was having some issues with CC last night, on tapatalk. Could that have been the problem?

[VioletHorse]

Thanks for your report. We did the same itinerary on the Summit last year and also stayed in in an AQ room. We enjoyed it as well.

 

I did have one question about breakfast. Did you not go to Blu for breakfast at all? Breakfast in Blu was so good, relaxing and made to order. It was a great way to start the day.

 

We avoided the buffet - it's just not good, and that was before they instituted the pre-portioned servings. The Mast Grill was our go-to place for lunch. Their burgers were excellent.

 

The Summit MDR is noisy, and I did not find that the food was particularly good as we'd gone there one day for lunch. I'd sailed on the Summit previously and ate in the MDR every evening and found the food to be pretty bland and not to my taste.

 

HAL is definitely the winner in the food department. I'd also give the edge to HAL in the personnel area. On both Summit cruises we'd found our room stewards to be in the bad to so-so range, unlike HAL whose stewards have been exemplary on all of our cruises.

 

That said, Bermuda is the attraction for this itinerary, and we'd cruise on the Summit for that itinerary again.

[josie724]

Thanks for your report. We did the same itinerary on the Summit last year and also stayed in in an AQ room. We enjoyed it as well.

 

I did have one question about breakfast. Did you not go to Blu for breakfast at all? Breakfast in Blu was so good, relaxing and made to order. It was a great way to start the day.

 

We avoided the buffet - it's just not good, and that was before they instituted the pre-portioned servings. The Mast Grill was our go-to place for lunch. Their burgers were excellent.

 

The Summit MDR is noisy, and I did not find that the food was particularly good as we'd gone there one day for lunch. I'd sailed on the Summit previously and ate in the MDR every evening and found the food to be pretty bland and not to my taste.

 

HAL is definitely the winner in the food department. I'd also give the edge to HAL in the personnel area. On both Summit cruises we'd found our room stewards to be in the bad to so-so range, unlike HAL whose stewards have been exemplary on all of our cruises.

 

 

That said, Bermuda is the attraction for this itinerary, and we'd cruise on the Summit for that itinerary again.

 

 

Yes we did have breakfast in Blu. See post #8 in this thread. We also had breakfast in the MDR on the last morning, unfortunately the Eggs Benedict were very over cooked. I lost 35 lbs last year and dont usually eat big breakfasts so when I do it needs to be worth the extra calories. We usually like to have a quick breakfast and lunch. We don't mind sitting for dinners.I really need to learn how to sit and savor my meals ;-) after all it's a vacation. ;). I would sail on the Summit again just for Bermuda as well. I would also do Aqua class.