Not so spectacular on Summit to Bermuda May 24 - 31, 2015

[CruisingChick]

I was on the Summit for the May 31st cruise. It was the first week for CD Ken Mills. I liked him. He was very visible and entertaining. As were the activity manager and the Hotel Director to name a few.

 

We lucked out with the weather. It was a gorgeous 2 1/2 days in Bermuda. The crew said it was a 180 from the week before.

 

I was in my first suite on this cruise, so I was able to try Luminae. It was wonderful. However the menu is limited, and at times too gourmet for my tastes. My friend that I was travelling with did not like the fact that Luminae was so small. And her idea of dining on a cruise was a grand dining room with a large table of about 12 people. That said, we switched our dining assignment to the Main Dining Room, early seating. We went to dinner that first night, and found our tablemates pleasant, but nothing in common with the two of us. We then switched to late dining. Two of the people did not show up to dinner that night and the other 3 were young girls travelling together. We never went back to the dining room. Instead we ate in Normandie, Qsine and Bistro on Five, and had our last formal night in Luminae (they had lobster, which is all my friend cared about).

 

I can see your point about the traditional dining, and why you would be upset when tablemates did not show up. My friend was very disappointed as this type of dining is an important part of her cruise. We enjoyed dining together, but we also both like to meet new people. We were fortunate to meet several nice couples while dining in Luminae. The tables are close enough together to strike up a conversation.

 

I am not a regular suite traveler by any means, and who knows when I may have this experience again. My last few cruises have been with family, so dining was not an issue.

 

I found the food in the buffet to be quite good. We missed the magic show, Sirens and I think iHollywood. We saw the comedian, the acapella group (VoicePlay) and the Welcome Aboard Show, and the 2 other production shows. We enjoyed them all. We were told that this was the first week that the singers and dancers performed in all of the shows. So, I believe there was some turnover on the May 24th cruise.

 

My last comment is that I agree, there have been so many cutbacks over the years. In 2013, I participated in a Flash Mob (now gone), and the activities staff has been trimmed to practically none. I truly believe that impacts the scheduling of activities, because there is not enough staff to man them. Food quality has dropped, and I have noticed the increased upselling. However, I still enjoy my cruises, eventhough they may not be perfect. I love Celebrity, but I also like Princess and would be open to trying other lines that offer interesting itineraries.

 

I hope that the lack of participation in traditional dining is not a trend. I love having the same waiter every night....and having my iced tea sitting there waiting for me. :D

 

Thanks for taking the time to post. At least I know I am not totally alone with feeling Celebrity is cutting back. We most likely will never be in a suite.

[Gracie115]

I've been following this thread with interest as we sail on the Eclipse in just over one month. This will be our first time on Celebrity, having sailed with Princess and Disney.

 

We will be doing traditional dining, with perhaps one specialty restaurant (Qsine sounds fun and different). We are a party of 8, three generations of family, so there isn't the problem of missing diners at our table -- we'll all be there.

 

On the Island Princess we had the best waiters ever. We had anytime dining, and had gone to a show, then come back to dessert. The waiter overheard us at the table next to his station. He struck up a conversation with our daughters who were preteens and asked us to request him the following night. We then made a reservation to always be in his section and he was terrific. Dining was a pleasure and the girls really became attached to him.

 

Disney, as you may know, has a rotating dining room schedule with three dining rooms. Your waiters move along with you. We loved them so much we didn't eat at Palo's for dinner, instead we had brunch. A year later, my inlaws were on the Disney Magic and our assistant waiter saw them on deck and asked about the girls.

 

All this to say, I'm saddened by what I'm reading about the overworked waiters and empty tables in MDR, but crowded in Select. Getting together for dinner, ordering something I would never make at home, comparing our food with others at the table, chatting with the waiters and maitre'd -- I'll just have to see how it goes.

 

Our cruise on Eclipse last month was wonderful! The Eclipse was recently voted as the best of Celebrities fleet and I can see why. With 8 people Qsine will be a blast....if you time it right you can probably go on a night when they will discount it some.....I don't think you need to worry about Eclipse, you should have a great cruise!

[Charles4515]

Thanks for taking the time to post. At least I know I am not totally alone with feeling Celebrity is cutting back. We most likely will never be in a suite.

 

I was on four Celebrity cruises last year. No doubt in my mind they are cutting back. Just back two weeks ago from Royal Caribbean and could see the same beancutters are at work there. I will be on Summit in a couple of weeks but that is about going to Bermuda. I have been doing Bermuda cruises for many years, almost every year since 2000 on different cruise lines. My expectations are low.

[wallie5446]

Our last 4 cruises have been on 3 diff lines, but the last 2 have been back with Celebrity, which for all it's faults is still leaps an bounds over the other 2.

We have always chosen late traditional seating in the MDR. The last cruise we sat at a full MDR table the entire week was on the RCCL Rhapsody OTS in 2003.

 

2011 on the RCCL Freedom OTS, 4 out of 7 nights the table was full, Chops used to be our favorite restaurant at sea.

 

2012 on the Ruby Princess, an 8 top, we had friends that went, and the other 4were 2 couple of neighbors. All of us were only there together 2 times over the 7 days. The 'private' white table cloth Ultimate Balcony dinner for the 4 of us, was the best start to finish meal and service in 25 years! The new Royal has even more options.

 

2013 on the Reflection, a 4 top with the same friends from home. We all went to Murano together, and we did the Lawn Club on our own. 6 out of 7 nights but it was only us!:D

 

Last yr on the Equinox was a crazie 11 days! We started at an 8 top but never went. Murano the 1st night with 4 other different friends from the Roll Call that we sailed with on Reflection. Then we switched to a 4 top in the MDR with another couple from the Roll Call the 2nd night. 3rd night a group of 12 from the RC all went to Silk Harvest together! What a blast! 4th night the 4 of us switched to a 6 top with 2 more from the RC. Which turned out to be right next to our original 8 top. There were only 2-4 there each night. 4 of us went to Tuscan 2 times and another trip to Murano, which meant our other friends were by them selves those 3 nights. The 6 of us are back together on the Equinox this yr, with 4 others from last yr.

 

We really like the new and innovative things Celebrity has done to keep our time on ship interesting and varied, instead of having to settle for more of the same trip after trip. We are in our early 60'ties, and may just totally go crazy this year and have dinner in the Oceanview one night!

 

So it is not the cruise line, it is us, the other passengers that have changed. That cant be a bad thing, can it?

 

Hope you find the right feel that brings the joy to a cruise back. IMHO, RCCL would be a better fit than Princess, we have cruised with them since 1992 and after the Ruby, my wife will not let me book us with them again.

EW

 

ps: this yr will be all 3 couples first time in Aqua, so we get to try BLU!

Edited June 8, 2015 by wallie5446

[catspaw1]

Hi Sarah, yes, the weather didn't help things either, although we cannot blame Celebrity for that. The Thursday we were there we got off the ship and got right back on. We couldn't even stand up the wind was so bad.

 

People that tried to go to the beach got sand in their eyes, ears, etc. and told us that there were tons of jelly fish all over the beaches you couldn't even walk on the sand.

 

We sailed same time last year and it was a totally difference cruise experience.

 

We were on the same cruise as you & had an entirely different experience. We have cruised 8 times before this but the last one was almost 20 years ago.

 

We had select dining & had a very positive experience- we would definitely do that again. We chose 6:30pm but next time would chose 7pm. We ate there every night except one & always sat with others except on the last night when we chose to eat by ourselves.

 

We did go to Horsebeach Beach on Thursday & only stayed for one hour due to the wind. There was Portuguese man of war on the beach but not tons of them. I would not have gone in the water if it had been calm knowing they were there.

 

When we started cruising almost 30 years ago people told us cruising was not as good than as it had been. So I think cruising is what you make of it.

 

We liked our cruise & would definitely go with Celebrity again.

[catspaw1]

Anita,

 

Out of the 3 productions shows iHollywood is going to be the best - at least in our opinion. Sirens is too weird and we have walked out of it at least twice.

 

iHollywood does start out a little slow - kind of boring - put pick up at the end and if you have the same singers and dancers as we do - they were pretty good this time around.

 

We did not make it to Stars in Their Eyes so I can't comment, because I really can't remember it from past cruises. Although my DH seems to think we liked it.

 

We had 2 comedians. They were funny. Second one funnier than first and then the Acapella Group - ReVoiced who were entertaining. iMagic was okay. I've seen better.

 

Hope this helps.

 

we liked the 2 comedians & liked the first better. We did not like the Sirens show also. I didn't care of Imagic much. We loved the Acapella group. The Celebrity song & dance teams were OK- about what I expected. We did make it to all 7 shows & did enjoy them though.

[catspaw1]

We are in our 50's & early 60's. We did notice some kids & millennials on the cruise but it didn't bother us at all. I liked that there was a varied bunch. It's nice to get a different perspective on things. We too cruised when we were in our 20's also & always enjoyed talking with the old people- not we are one of them! My generation said we would never trust anyone over 30 too! So life changes & so do we. I just accepted it. I was glad there was not a lot more kids on board though as I wouldn't have liked that.

[LabGuy64]

I don't know.....I can't see basing your dining choice for the trip based on having to prepay tips

 

 

 

 

Everyone (not in Blu or Luminae) must choose a dining option and I imagine these people book Traditional, as opposed to Select, so that they don't have to prepay the gratuities.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

I don't know.....I can't see basing your dining choice for the trip based on having to prepay tips

 

Missing the point. People doing this aren't booking traditional dining because that's where they intend to eat. They're doing it to avoid prepaying gratuities with final payment.

 

After they board the ship they'll either change to Select, or eat in the buffet and/or specialty restaurants.

[goldesq]

I'm confused. What's the big deal about prepaying tips?

[lovemylab]

I'm confused. What's the big deal about prepaying tips?

 

 

Many people prefer to use their OBC to pay for their tips.

[greydog]

I wonder if the problem is Celebrity, or if it is that passengers are no longer as enthusiastic about the concept of dining at the same time with the same group of friends-they-have-not-met-before each night? With all the ships adding specialty dining options, maybe it just isn't realistic to plan on eating with the same companions each night unless you brought them with you?

 

I'm sorry you didn't have a nice experience.

 

AGREE We will eat at Specialties or Buffet the nights we care to and feel no obligation to fill out the assigned large MDR table every evening.

[helen haywood]

If sitting with others is important to you (and you don't object to the prepaying of the tips) then perhaps the answer would be to book Select Dining. We always do and the Hostess always asks us if we want to share a table. Granted it will not mean you are with the same people every night, but it does give you a chance to be at a table with others if you enjoy meeting new people.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I wonder if they could work it how Windstar does (I know it's a much smaller ship).

 

But each night when we arrived, they asked if we wanted a table to two or it we wanted to share a table. This really worked out well as some nights we wanted to be alone, and other nights we were happy to socialize.

 

Again, this might not work on a large ship, but it worked perfectly for us.

 

That's how Princess has been doing Anytime Dining for years. Works great for us because we can choose what size of a table we want to be at each night depending on our moods and the availability. Some nights during the busy time (6:30-7:45), if you want a table for two, you can expect to wait for it.

[karena1]

 

The singers and dancers were pretty good, we had 2 comedians that were okay and then an Acapella group - ReVoiced who were average.

 

.

 

Sorry it was not as good as you were hoping. We always do Flex dining and love it.

 

But really surprised you did not like ReVoiced! We had them on Ruby Princess in Dec and the entire theater was on its feet giving them a standing ovation as they were absolutely outstanding!!

[Sandtrap328]

Everyone (not in Blu or Luminae) must choose a dining option and I imagine these people book Traditional, as opposed to Select, so that they don't have to prepay the gratuities.

 

We willbe traveling soon in a RS. Was surprised to be asked whether we wanted early or late seating, and size of table preferred. When I questioned this--as we get Luminae access as well as unlimited specialty dining--I was told that everyone received an assigned MDR table (except Select). If this is teue, it would go a long way to explaining the empty seats at traditional seatings. We too have experienced almost empty 8-10 seat tables. When this has happened, we have requested that we be reassigned to table where others were dining. This has worked well.

[Kteacher]

We willbe traveling soon in a RS. Was surprised to be asked whether we wanted early or late seating, and size of table preferred. When I questioned this--as we get Luminae access as well as unlimited specialty dining--I was told that everyone received an assigned MDR table (except Select). If this is teue, it would go a long way to explaining the empty seats at traditional seatings. We too have experienced almost empty 8-10 seat tables. When this has happened, we have requested that we be reassigned to table where others were dining. This has worked well.

 

 

Interesting. We're sailing soon as well, also in a suite, but haven't been contacted yet ( sailing 7/19). I haven't done anything as far as dining yet, and just assumed we would tell either the butler or the Michael's Club concierge what time we wanted to dine in Luminae.

[mr_bad_example]

We use our OBC to pay the difference between the included Classic beverage package and the additional ($10.00 plus tip) Premium package, which allows us the wines we prefer at Cellar Masters.

 

We choose Select dining because we want to select the time and with whom we dine, nothing more or less, and gladly pay in advance for the opportunity.

 

As to the comments about the flash mob, they were doing it last year on the Summit - the decision is that of the CD or AD.

[Redtravel]

I was on the following cruise May 31-June 6. We had a better time this year than last year. I agree that last year the entertainment was better. However, this year, the staff was very nice. Nothing was a problem. Looking forward to being on the Summit again in January on a pair of b2b cruises.