My Summit Review is on the Celebrity Board ~ Take a Peek!

[Oceanwench]

Good thing RevNeal is cruising on the Westerdam, Heather, or he would have made a few comments about those knees! ;)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Oceanwench, I KNOW!!!!!:p

[RuthC]

Took a peek and read every word. Even though I won't be trying Celebrity, I'm glad you had such a good time on your cruise. :)

 

Question: since it's now your cruiseline of choice, does that mean you won't be friends with us anymore? :(

[HeatherInFlorida]

Ruth, LOL! I was thinking the same thing myself about you guys! But the truth is, this very day I'm considering a switch from our current 10-day booking on Constellation to a 10-day on Volendam. It's a little less $$$-wise, but not enough to make it an issue. Have to talk to DH about it.

 

It's a matter of itinerary and how the ports are broken up. As I said, Celebrity may be first (and it was already really), but HAL is such a close second that it's still on top!

[steveweese]

Still waiting on your email!!!!!

 

Steve

[HeatherInFlorida]

Hi Steve! Thought you were going to email me!!!:D ... let me go see if you did.

[ahoymatey3]

Very nice review, heather. Thanks!

[mechcc]

Heather - even if X is your favorite, please don't abandon your friends on the HAL board. You just happen to be one of those rare individuals that everyone loves because of your honesty. Hopefully, the damage to your home from Wilma is easily repaired.

 

You could leave your home and be on vacation in 30 minutes, then spend 14 days getting home, add in a 24 hour tour of Los Angeles with a fast coast to coast air and you have a wonderful opposite view for a total non bias review of the best way to see the Panama Canal. Would love to have you and Ray join us in Apr 07 on the Summit.

[Tricia724]

Wow, Heather, it sounds like everything clicked for you on this cruise. I can't believe this is the same ship that I cruised the last two weeks in September this year. We also had a great cruise with many interesting passengers and a large contingency of Cruise Critic members onboard, but my shipboard experiences differed considerably from yours.

 

We did not have a CC cabin, but instead had a standard balcony cabin, so I can readily understand why you were more satisfied with your cabin, but we had the most miserable bed....lumpy, bumpy, and lopsided....with flat pillows. The cabin inself was also not too noiseproof. I found myself longing for our HAL cabins, almost any of them, including the ones with the missing drawer space.

 

I also have to say I'm at a loss when I hear raves over Celebrity's food. I'm really not too picky and can always find something to eat, but I have to admit I was disappointed because....for me....it did not live up to its press. We had previously cruised Summit last June to Alaska, and had the same reaction then. We loved the Aquaspa Cafe, didn't love the Waterfall Cafe, and had mixed emotions about the dining room food. I haven't always been thrilled with every meal on the HAL ships either, but I think I had myself geared up for some WOW food on Celebrity due to all the comments I've read on these boards, and it didn't happen for me. I do agree with you that the dining room service and the friendliness and helpfulness of the servers and staff in all areas of the ship were exceptional.

 

There were a number of other items that we experienced differently, but none of them were deal breakers for us. It's just surprising when someone else has a completely different take. I think I'm jealous of you! I'm also glad that you had such a great experience....gets me excited about our next cruise.

 

We would be pleased to cruise Celebrity again if the circumstances (price and itinerary) were right because I think they do provide a very nice cruise experience. I have to say as a whole, I think the passengers on our September cruise were the nicest group of people I have ever cruised with, and in the end, that's what really makes or breaks the cruise for me. And who knows, the next time I sail X, I might even get a better bed!

[Ziggy7]

Great review Heather!!!! Pictures! ......Pictures! ........ Pictures!

[HeatherInFlorida]

First, Ziggy, I absolutely LOVE your new avatar! Fantastic shot:) . I'm trying so hard to do a new one from our cruise, but no luck so far.

 

The pictures are coming as soon as I can upload and label them. I've been trying to work on them in PictureIt first, but I don't have enough RAM and it's taking forever.

 

Maggie, thank you so much for your nice comment ... not true (believe me) but really nice of you!

 

Tricia, I really enjoyed your post. I understand your confusion because the same happens for me when I read reviews of how much everyone loves the service or food on HAL and I say "was I on the same ship:confused: ??". I do realize that it's all subjective and I also think a cruise can vary so much from cruise to cruise. But yours was so close to ours that it's strange.

 

The bed situation is clearly a problem and obviously Celebrity should work on this. In the CC cabins they give you a card with a list of the pillows and suggest you request new ones if you're not happy with the ones you have. So I definitely would have had mine changed if they hadn't been so perfect. Since I am really a "princess and the pea" type person about beds I know ours was great, but they ALL should be great. Hope Celebrity fixes that.

 

I won't give up on HAL just as you won't give up on Celebrity. Both are quality experiences. In fact, looks like we may be switching our cruise next year over to Volendam.

 

As far as food, I just don't like HAL's. I wasn't happy with it on Maasdam or Oosterdam. It was "okay", but I'd rather eat at home. When I rate Celebrity's food I don't rate it compared to a fine restaurant. I rate it based on the fact that I've really paid very little for it, I'm getting a 5-course meal and they're preparing dinner for 2000 people every night in a relatively short period of time. So I guess I give a lot of leeway to any cruiseline. I just think Celebrity's food beats HAL's. But their salads bore no resemblance to the description on the menu. In fact we laughed about it. But most of the dishes were very good ... the beef and lamb were excellent, but I don't recommend the duck. The escargot was absolutely heavenly so it didn't matter what I had for dinner ... by the time I'd had the cheese and the escargot I was done until dessert!:D

 

In the Waterfall, I did not go to the "regular" food line ... I had the "make your own pasta" which was amazing, the pizza which I loved and the deli section where I skipped the bread and just had cold cuts, chicken salad (amazing) and potato salad (equally yummy). The hamburgers and french fries were just delicious.

 

And did I mention the Belgian Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream poured all over them? Be still my pallet:)