LIVE from the Celebrity Summit: 6/27/17 Independence Day Canada & New England Cruise

[Laurab23]

I had my first lobster roll last Oct in Halifax. Just a little seafood shop after you get off the ship. We were there right when they opened and they were just putting out the lobster for the rolls. I loved it. Had another in Saint John that was not as good but still enjoyed it. I am hooked on them now.

 

Laura

[Snappykins]

The food the last few nights has been very disappointing, but earlier in the cruise was very good to excellent, so I'm hopeful the last two nights were a fluke.

 

That's a very interesting observation because we just got off the Bermuda cruise(right before yours)Jun 17th to the 26th and encountered the same phenomenon. The food was better than what we experienced on our last NCL cruise for the first 3 days, but dive bombed for the rest of the trip. I'm not sure what caused the quality drop, but we found ourselves ordering multiple meals just to ensure we would find one that was average. This is a rather large issue for a "Premium" cruise line since consistency is king in my mind.

 

Curious - are you doing select dining as well?

[Kitkat1056]

Our first drinks (funny enough you can see from the receipt the name of the poor chap who (temporarily) paid for our drinks. I know to look now!

 

 

I didn't take pictures of the dinner menu because it is the same menu that is so easily found online (prime rib night). Here is what we got. We loved the spring roll, the mushroom soup, the prime rib and the tres leches crime brûlée. The shrimp Louis appetizer, the bolognese, ravioli and creme brûlée were average to good. DD's pizza with French fries were heartily enjoyed as well!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you for your posts! I am sailing on the summit 7/16 for the third time, but wasn't aware that you can get the menus online. May I ask where? I like to see the choices in the main dining room so I know if I'd rather book a specialty restaurant for that evening. Thanks in advance!

[doggfan7]

That's a very interesting observation because we just got off the Bermuda cruise(right before yours)Jun 17th to the 26th and encountered the same phenomenon. The food was better than what we experienced on our last NCL cruise for the first 3 days, but dive bombed for the rest of the trip. I'm not sure what caused the quality drop, but we found ourselves ordering multiple meals just to ensure we would find one that was average. This is a rather large issue for a "Premium" cruise line since consistency is king in my mind.

 

 

 

Curious - are you doing select dining as well?

 

 

Yes we did select dining but have made reservations each night.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[doggfan7]

Thank you for your posts! I am sailing on the summit 7/16 for the third time, but wasn't aware that you can get the menus online. May I ask where? I like to see the choices in the main dining room so I know if I'd rather book a specialty restaurant for that evening. Thanks in advance!

 

 

I'm sure somebody can link them to you here as it is tough for me to search on my phone with the slow internet. If you don't find it by the time we return, I'll find them and link them for you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Kitkat1056]

Good morning, I have eaten in Tuscan multiple times over the years (on S class ships) and I would say 90% of the time

it was quite good but what the OP experienced? Not good. My food didn't look like the pictures either. He had every

right to be upset, that is for sure.

 

I agree ... I've eaten at the Tuscan Grille at least four times (twice on each cruise) and was very pleased with the food. This was also on the Summit. Sorry some people had such a bad experience.

[Kitkat1056]

I'm sure somebody can link them to you here as it is tough for me to search on my phone with the slow internet. If you don't find it by the time we return, I'll find them and link them for you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you, no worries ... just enjoy the rest of your trip. I'm sorry the food seemed to have gone downhill. I have always had a good experience with the food on the Summit; I think a lot has to do with the food choices. If I ordered something I was not happy with, I always ask for something else and it is never an issue. I hope the weather is better too..

[doggfan7]

We finally got a BEAUTIFUL day in Portland! After proceeding through immigration which was took all of three minutes (after the twenty minute line), we walked the 25 minutes or so uphill to the Children's Museum. What a workout. I'm sitting in a Dad chair in the museum now as DD runs around playing with tons of things to hearts content. For families on this itinerary, this is a nice break from the tours for the little ones.

 

We will be heading to the Portland Lobster Company after this and will report back.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CruisingChick]

We finally got a BEAUTIFUL day in Portland!

 

We will be heading to the Portland Lobster Company after this and will report back.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

So happy the weather has turned nice. Boston should also be nice.

 

Have a lobster roll for me too! Enjoy.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Forums mobile app

[doggfan7]

WINNER WINNER LOBSTER DINNER!

 

The Portland Lobster Company was awesome. It was packed, but well worth the wait. You first order your food and pay for it to receive a lobster buzzer. You then bring that to the hostess to get a table outside on the dock. The wait for a table was about 25-30 minutes and the food came about 20 minutes after we sat. There is a bar and a great band was playing making it a really enjoyable summer afternoon on the water.

 

As for the food...this was the lobster roll we have been waiting for. No mayo salad, just chunks of cold, tasty Maine lobster on a toasted buttered roll with melted butter drizzled on top. I could have had ten, but I would have had to take out a second mortgage to do so (kidding...maybe).

 

We also ordered a crab cake which was awesome as well, and the little monster had chicken fingers.

 

We are back on the ship enjoying the hot weather at the pool now.

 

 

We also loved walking around Portland. What a charming little city!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mapleleaf2012]

Considering 78% of Maritime lobster is exported to the US and 50% of Maine lobster is exported to Canada, it's really hard to say where the lobster comes from unless you buy it straight from the fishermen.

 

Maine lobster season runs from late June to late December, while the lobster season in the Maritimes comes to a close in late June and reopens in November. Then throw George's Bank into the mix which is open for both countries all year round.

 

Futhermore, the lobster is the exact same species (Homarus americanus).

 

So unless your lobster comes with a passport...

 

Happy July 4th! 😊

 

Sent from my SM-T713 using Forums mobile app

[CruisingChick]

WINNER WINNER LOBSTER DINNER!

 

The Portland Lobster Company was awesome. It was packed, but well worth the wait.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I hate say I told you so, but....

 

Isn't that place the best. Love, love, love it. So happy you also enjoyed it.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Forums mobile app

[doggfan7]

I forgot to post today's dailies.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[doggfan7]

Dinner tonight was very good. As we had hoped, Celebrity purchased three pallets of local Maine lobster for our dinner tonight (caught off the coast of Cape Elizabeth, Maine this past weekend). We started with the tomato bisque soup (I liked it, wife didn't), the scallop Rockefeller (awesome) and the bleu cheese soufflé (good but heavy). For our entrees, we had the lobster of course (delicious) and we also shared the beef Wellington (ehh). For dessert, we had the apple pie a la mode (warm and delicious) and the baked Alaska (good).

 

 

On a funny note, when searching the sugar packets on the table, I came across a sugar packet that seemed a bit off. Our waiter filled us in that two or three cruises back, they received a box of sugars with Wendy's logo on them (same factory that makes Celebrity's sugar apparently also makes Wendy's). The waiters thought it was funny and they put one Wendy's packet on each table to see which guests find it.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[doggfan7]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Fish Lover]

I'm curious. I'll be on the Sep 10 New England/Canada cruise. Did you each receive a whole lobster? How was it prepared? It looks as though it was baked but may have paprika all over it? Looks like an odd color.

[doggfan7]

I'm curious. I'll be on the Sep 10 New England/Canada cruise. Did you each receive a whole lobster? How was it prepared? It looks as though it was baked but may have paprika all over it? Looks like an odd color.

 

It was a whole lobster, but it was small, no bigger than 1 lb. Not sure about the seasoning, the color did confuse me, but it tasted like lobster and butter. The menu said it was broiled. The lobster was served warm to us, but after dinner in the casino a lot of people were complaining that they received it iced cold. I think it's tough to cook 2,000 whole lobsters, declaw them and serve them at a proper temperature in one dinner service if you ask me.

[CruisingChick]

Doggfan7, do you stop in Newport on they way back? If you like clam chowder go to the Black Pearl on Bannister's Wharf.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Forums mobile app

[rayness]

Enjoying your review! I'm going on a TA with another cruise line and we're stopping in some of the same ports. Plus I want to try Celebrity because the Edge has solo cabins and I'm a mostly a solo cruiser.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[capsplace]

On the morning of July 3, 2017, the Celebrity Summit arrived to Portland, Maine, with four injured passengers on-board. Each incident was reportedly unrelated. The emergencies included a broken leg, two cardiac cases, and one case of pneumonia.

The Celebrity Summit originally reported a “mass casualty” at 9:30 AM on Monday. Multiple rescue crews were dispatched to transport the four injured to the nearest hospital.

It is reported that pneumonia case is an 86 year-old woman, and the broken leg is a 70 year old woman. The details about the two heart cases are still currently not available.

The Summit was carrying 2,038 passengers, and 997 crew at the time of this incident. The ship continued on with it’s ten night Independence Day New England Cruise from Bayonne, New Jersey, with the ship leaving Portland at the scheduled time of 6:00 PM

[doggfan7]

Today's dailies. We opted to take the Celebrity shuttle round trip to Quincy Market for $15. Uber would be cheaper but it is an extra $10 for a car seat each way so this worked out best for us. We will be meeting up with friends today. Captain Kate announced that we docked aft-first today for the purpose of allowing the rooftop terrace and aft of the ship the best chance of seeing the fireworks. It is a beautiful clear day.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[doggfan7]

On the morning of July 3, 2017, the Celebrity Summit arrived to Portland, Maine, with four injured passengers on-board. Each incident was reportedly unrelated. The emergencies included a broken leg, two cardiac cases, and one case of pneumonia.

The Celebrity Summit originally reported a “mass casualty” at 9:30 AM on Monday. Multiple rescue crews were dispatched to transport the four injured to the nearest hospital.

It is reported that pneumonia case is an 86 year-old woman, and the broken leg is a 70 year old woman. The details about the two heart cases are still currently not available.

The Summit was carrying 2,038 passengers, and 997 crew at the time of this incident. The ship continued on with it’s ten night Independence Day New England Cruise from Bayonne, New Jersey, with the ship leaving Portland at the scheduled time of 6:00 PM

 

 

Interesting. We heard nothing about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[capsplace]

Interesting. We heard nothing about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I was wondering if you did since you made no mention of it.

[insley]

Thanks for this great live review. We will be on the Summit in Oct for a similar itinerary. Your review is getting us excited for our trip. Do you know if the ship is offering transportation to Newark airport at the end of the cruise?

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks for this great live review. We will be on the Summit in Oct for a similar itinerary. Your review is getting us excited for our trip. Do you know if the ship is offering transportation to Newark airport at the end of the cruise?

 

Transport to Newark airport from the cruise terminal is best handled by the shared van service. There are organized lines and they fill the vans quickly and take off for the airport. Can't remember if it was $20 or $25/pp this spring. No need to make a reservation. Quite an efficient system.