LIVE! Review from Celebrity Summit - January 6, 2018

[jj6961]

MIT - great trip report. Really love the details and picks - feels like i’m Along for the ride.

 

Can anyone tell me if there are cabana’s on the Summit and if so is there a trick to securing one (ie: booking in advance?)

 

Stephanie,

No Cabanas are offered on Summit

[cruisin0504]

Thank you! This is great!

 

Are the sun beds etc available to all - or only for a certain category and above? I haven't learned all the names of the areas yet, but I spotted them on a youtube video last night.

[jcpc]

cruisin0504 - sunbeds are available for all to use.

 

 

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[mit429]

Apologies for the slow going, it’s harder than I thought to keep up with this while also trying to enjoy my vacation - haha. Those of you who have written a review before, I give you a lot of credit!

 

Here are some pictures from the first night ...

 

I was dressed a tad casually in my giraffe short sleeve and they have this sign outside Michael’s Club, so it seemed like an appropriate time for a picture.

 

Some people were up watching a football game in the evening!

 

I mentioned that we partied a tad hard, well ... when we got back to our room we decided it was time to order some room service to help soak up the drinks. While I waiting on hold I managed to roll my foot and gave myself a light sprain. So... that was a fun start to the week!

 

The next day was our first, and only, sea day. We skipped breakfast (930am is just too early to be dressed and sitting at a table), slept in, and just went right to lunch in Luminae. Denis escorted us to a lovely table along the banquet and we settled in for a great meal. I didn’t get a copy of the menu, but I recall we ate a short rib dish, which was quite good, and a chicken and avocado flatbread, which was also delicious.

 

I’ve noticed that arugula seems to make a constant appearance on dishes in Luminae, I’m not a fan, so I just pick it off.

 

We also got a delicious chocolate cake-like dish for dessert - I could’ve eaten like 10 of them, it was so good. Additionally, I thought I’d show you what I like to do for iced tea. In my experience, if you ask for Iced Tea on Celebrity, you’re going to get the tea from a Nestle Vitali-tea machine, which isn’t very good. So I like to order 3 bags of tea in a kettle, with two glasses of ice to make my own iced tea. I also prefer the Fields & Select tea, which is the MDR tea, rather than the more premium Tea Forte.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[mit429]

After lunch we headed over to Michael’s Club to hang out and play some card games. We had thought about going up to the pool, but with my sprained foot I kind of wanted to just be inside. My friend Mike recently learned how to read Taro Cards, so as fun he gave me a Taro reading, which was interesting.

 

At 4pm, I went down to the Medical Bay as they were opening. I had gone down earlier, around 1115am, only to discover they were closed from 11-4. I went to guest relations and while waiting in line ran into Maya, who offered to check to see if they had anything up there - they didn’t. She told me if it was an emergency, they could page the nurse, but I assured her I would wait.

 

Anyway, went down at 4pm and told the nurse what happened and asked if they had an ace bandage wrap. She instead offered me a cloth ankle brace - it was 20$ - telling me that would be a lot better.

 

 

 

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[cltnccruisers]

Your pics are well worth the wait, Mit. Much better quality than usual on threads like this. What are you using?

[jenniferandwhatnot]

Loving the pics!

[kenevenpar]

Ice, ice and more ice. 20 minutes max at a time

[mit429]

I just lost another really long post and just about through my phone into the ocean, so I may start typing these in Google Docs or something and then transferring them over here. Or ... if I wasn't three days behind on my posts, I could be doing them live - lol.

 

After getting my ankle brace, I headed back up to Michael's Club where I joined Mike, Cole, and Chad for the remainder of tea. I had only made it to tea once before on previous sailings and honestly didn't think much of it - it just seemed like an inconvenience to my day. However, I really enjoyed tea today and made a promise to myself that I would try to come every day - and everyone else seemed to agree. The staff in Michael's Club was so warm and welcoming to us that we really didn't want to be anywhere else throughout the day.

 

Anastasia is the MC Concierge, who we met on the first day, and is always extremely warm and friendly. The MC Bartender, Ilya, is also extremely warm and friendly, and omnipresent. He is always ready to anticipate your next need and make sure he has what you want. Additionally, all of the butlers are extremely helpful and kind during tea - it's really just a special treat!

 

After tea we lounged around a bit more and then went off to go get changed for dinner and the show, as it was a formal Evening Chic night it would take us a bit longer to get ready. I had a little laugh with our Shoreside Concierge, Jamie, before the cruise about EC night, as we all still refer to them as formal, but she is required to refer to them as EC. We still get dressed to the nines in our formalwear and think its disappointing when people can't even be bothered to put on a tie. Not everyone needs to be in a tux and gown, but at least a tie! LOL. Anyway ... enough for that rant - we got changed and looked quite dapper, if I do say so myself. And as I say that, I realized that I didn't have a picture of us, but we will probably purchase one.

 

Let me just sidebar to quickly mention our Shoreside Concierge, Jamie. I had talked to her a few times before we got aboard about various things and we had a very long conversation about how awesome Captain Kate is and how she was one of the reasons we were sailing on the Summit this time around. We had booked ourselves into different rooms than we were actually going to sail in and Jamie was extremely helpful in making sure Anastasia knew this and was ready for our request to move around when we got aboard. Definitely 100% awesome!

 

I decided that I didn't want to go to the show, which was 'Life,' and I just went to relax in Michael's Club. Everyone else went to the show and I told them I would meet them afterwards and hold a place in line for pictures with Captain Kate! I got to pictures with Captain Kate super early and was able to take one of just myself and her, and then got back in line to save a spot for the rest of the group. If you haven't sailed with Captain Kate, get on it - she's amazing.

 

I chatted with her a bit and got confirmation that she is going to the Equinox this spring/summer. I asked if that was considered an upgrade for her and she didn't really say yes or no, but made a point to tell me how much she loves the Summit and the staff on the Summit. I have to say, having cruised on this ship before, I am inclined to agree. I love the Solstice Class ships and definitely prefer them to the Millenium Class, but the staff on the Summit really has a good thing going. She also made mention of the fact that because the Summit was a slightly older ship it was a little less sophisticated in terms of navigation systems and she liked the fact that it was a tad more work. I thought that was really awesome, she never ceases to amaze me.

 

After photos we went back to Michael's Club to lounge before dinner, we had decided to dine in Tuscan for the first formal night. Tuscan is always such a great time, but we usually do Murano (on the S-Class ships) for formal night, as its a more formal occasion. We had asked the matire'd, whose name I didn't get, for a specific table, a large round one in the back of the restuarant when we made the reservation. He was thankfully able to honor our request, which was awesome as I think it was one of the best tables in the house. I had never dined in Tuscan on a M-Class ship and was surprised as to how large it was. It also made me lament the loss of the Ocean Liners restaurants, the Summit's was the Normandie, though I'm glad they still saved some of the historic pieces and have them in the lobbies around the ship.

 

I took one picture at dinner and it was of the Ceasar salad, which was exceptionally bad, but I thought the plate was cute. I'll have to check with Cole to see if he took any other pics and, if so, I'll post them. Our server's name was Agus, but told us we could call him June, July, or September - haha. And our sommolier was Tatiana, whom Maggie told us to be on the look out for as she was exceptional. We didn't really have many questions for Tatiana, as we knew exactly what we wanted - the montepulciano! (If you haven't had it, you need to get to Tuscan and order a glass, it's excellent).

 

We ordered pretty much the entire menu, and ate it all - everything is so good, and I love their fresh pastas. The standout dishes were definitely the meatballs, carbonera, and gnocci; I usually really like the chicken parmesean, but thought it fell flat this evening. Back to the Ceasar salad - normally I wouldn't be one to complain, but the lettuce was limp and it was terribly over dressed. I wouldn't have bothered to mention it in the review except for the fact that about halfway through our meal the gentleman at the table next to us was complaining to Agus and the matire'd about it. He then asked us what we thought, and we admitted that we felt it definitely fell short of our previous expereinces. He felt he needed to say something as he had planned to dine in Tuscan every night of the cruise, and was also doing a B2B, not sure if he's also dining in Tuscan next week though!

 

Overall the meal in Tuscan was delicious and we left completely stuffed. After dinner we went to the casino, so I could continue my seemingly endless losing streak of Roulette (and also lost some money at Blackjack)! We had originally planned on stopping by the silent disco at the Martini bar, but it looked extremely crowded when we passed by, so we decided it would be better to lose some money! We then went up to Revelations to check out the party there, which was a live band until about 1215am, at which point it became a standard DJ. With my sprained foot I wasn't able to join in on much dancing, but we had a very fun night none the less.

 

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[cltnccruisers]

Looking forward to pics of the gang in EC garb. Cpt Kate didn't mention anything about a refurb for Summit, did she? We're likely to be on Equinox in 9/19 so hopefully she'll still be there.

[mit429]

I'm slowly catching up, I also realize I should be including headers to sort of give people an idea of where we are, so here we go.

 

Day 3: Barbados

 

This is officially the furthest south I have been in the Caribbean, but I've been to Brazil, so I have been more south that this in general, not that that really matters to any of you, but it's just cool to note! We arrived around 8am, not that I'd know it, I was fast asleep, and all aboard was at 5pm.

 

Cole had made lunch reservations for us at a restaurant called Champers, which was about a 20 minutes drive from the ship. It is the #1 rated restaurant on TripAdvisor in Barbados (and a 9.2 on Foursquare, which is my preferred rating system) and well worth it, IMO. Definitely a little pricey, but the experience was unmatched. I didn't take any pictures at the table, but we had a table right at the edge of the deck, which extends over the ocean ... just WOW. I had a Ceasar salad, which was delicious, and an amazing chicken curry, and we all shared a bottle of Whispering Angel rose after some cocktails.

 

On our ride through town our taxi driver mentioned that the Governor-General was to be installed that afternoon, so traffic might be quite bad coming back to the pier. He pointed out several government buildings and interesting sights. I was impressed at the infrastructure in Bridgetown, it was definitely more of a large city than a lot of the other island towns I have been to. The roads were definitely in worse shape, but overall there was a lot more going on, it seemed. Just a casual observation of someone interested in urban planning/policies.

 

After lunch we walked (I hobbled) over to the beach next door, where there was a tiki bar, aptly named The Tiki Bar! They had a large drink selection, but their power was out, so no WiFi and no credit cards, sadly. We had one cocktail and relaxed on the beach for a bit before deciding we should head back to the ship early. We were unsure of how long it would take with the threat of road closures and I really hope to never be that group of people RUNNING onto the ship. The Tiki Bar staff was able to order us a taxi which promptly showed up and we started our journey back to the ship. Our driver took the back roads and it took about 30-35 minutes to get back, so not at all as bad as we had originally feared, but there was definitely a significant amount of traffic.

 

We got back on the ship in time for some tea - yay - so we promptly ran off to change into more proper clothing and popped off to Michael's Club. After tea I went with Mike and Jeff to the Solarium, which was once again packed. (I had typed this whole long passage about the Solarium being packed at odd times on this sailing and I'm now realizing it was one of the many paragraphs that didn't survive one of my phone's failures.) In the past we have found the solarium to be one of the most tranquil places on the ship, especially any time after 5pm. It usually seems that by 5pm most people have cleared out of the upper deck areas to go shower and get ready for dinner, however that is not the case on this sailing of the Summit. The Solarium is quite crowded well until 630-7pm, which is generally when I leave to get changed. I also feel like the crowd on this sailing is a little bit louder than I'm used to - whatever - we found a hot tub and enjoyed ourself plenty.

 

The show tonight was "Hard Days Night," a Beatles tribute band. I think Mike and Jeff may have gone, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

I was especailly excited for tonight as there was a Senior Officer's Party at 730pm in Michael's Club. Cole got dressed early and went down to secure us some good seats in Michael's around 645pm! The officer's party was a real treat, we met most of the senior staff officers of the ship, who were all extremely friendly, and we made sure to pass our compliments on about the staff we had interacted with so far. I really think it is a special treat that Celebrity does this, it really gives us as guests one additional touch-point with people you otherwise don't have to interact with. And, of course, the belle of the ball herself, Captain Kate, stopped in. I know people have their differing opinions on the somewhat cult-like following of Captain Kate, but I'm definitely a part of the cult and fully support it - :).

 

I have to get ready for dinner now ... but I'll be back in a bit. (Look at me, trying to be live, lol)

[JoePDX]

Very much enjoying your live review. Hope the ankle is healing. Excellent tip on making iced tea!

 

Have fun!

 

Joe

[mit429]

Well, just as I finished typing that, Pavel stopped by with a copy of pictures from the Officer’s Social party from Michael’s Club.

 

 

And here’s a picture we took on our phone with Captain Kate while in Michael’s Club.

 

 

We chatted with her a bit, and wished her a happy birthday again, as it was her birthday on embarkation day! I also had noticed on her Instagram that she had been to the Park Hyatt in St. Kitts a few days before. We had discussed the Park Hyatt as an option while in St. Kitts; it just opened in November after several years of construction. I had emailed with them a few weeks ago about a day pass and they told me it was $250pp, which included lunch and transportation. We had decided that was way too much for a day at the beach.

 

I asked Captain Kate what she thought of it and the price, and she informed me that she had paid less, and felt like it was definitely a special treat, but probably not worth that price. Her husband was on the cruise and it was just after the holidays, so they decided to have a YOLO moment. But, she did say it was truly a great hotel and would be a great vacation spot, if you were going for a few days.

 

 

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[mit429]

I made the mistake and forgot to post the pics of the Ceasar in Tuscan and you can’t edit posts once you post again - whoops sorry

 

 

I also have some pics from Barbados...

 

Champers is the awning off in the distance on the left side of the photo.

 

My Ceasar from Champers

 

The aft of the Summit from the pier

 

Ship of the Quarter! Congrats Summit!

 

 

 

 

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[George C]

Great review, but now really annoyed the celebrity suites were sold out for our cruise but I am sure sky suite will be ok

[mit429]

So Cole does not have any pictures of the food at Tuscan, so the limp lettuce Ceasar will have to do. On that note, we ran into the guy who complained about the salad last night and he said it’s gotten a lot better.

 

After being mesmerized by Captain Kate, we relaxed in Michael’s for a little bit longer. I never listed off who we met, and I don’t have my list with me as I’m writing this, so I’ll have to give you their names later. The hotel director, the F&B manager, and the staff captain all came by to chat.

 

After Michael’s we were heading to dinner, as I was finally getting around to reading through my thread on here and came across a gem. JJ6961 mentioned the infusion bar that is a pop-up at the Gelateria during the evening hours; I think it’s 5-11p, but I’ll double check. The bartender is Filipe and he makes a great cocktail, and is extremely friendly.

 

It is a concept very similar to the World Class Bar on the S-Class ships that Celebrity is currently testing on the Summit and the Infinity. There is no paper menu, just a TV scrolling through about 20 different menu items - all delicious craft cocktails. Everything is about 15$, so you’ll have to pay a little up-charge over the premium package, but it’s well worth it. Filipe reminded me of the bartenders who used to work at the Molecular Bar, who I always loved.

 

If you’re on the Summit or Infinity, pop by the Gelateria after-hours and prepare to be wowed!

 

For dinner this evening we headed back to Luminae. I didn’t get a picture of the menu, sorry! But I did get a picture of my favorite dish, the veal cannelloni, which I could eat all day, every day!

 

 

I also have one other picture, some chicken dish which was also tasty.

 

 

After dinner we did our usual circuit of casino and Revelations. The one thing I always notice on Celebrity is that the casino tends to close fairly early in comparison with other lines, but maybe that’s a good thing - haha. I stayed out a little later than Chad and Cole and when I got back they had already ordered some room service, which was a great idea! They also had thought to order a grilled cheese, which I’ve never seen on the room service menu, but what a great idea! And they made a delicious one!

 

 

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[mit429]

Day 4: St. Lucia

 

If it sounds like I may have had a bit of a crazy night, you’d be right; and you have no idea how I’d get up to get off the ship, you’d also clearly know me quite well.

 

St. Lucia looked beautiful, absolutely beautiful and I really wish I had had the energy to get off the ship, alas... it was going to be a “sea day” for me.

 

There is a pic of St. Lucia as we sailed away, the entire island looked like this!

 

 

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[WB57]

Hey Tim/Mit :)

 

Not sure if you saw my earlier post...which exact Celebrity Suite are you in? Wondering if you hear any noises from above/side - or - as you are on the hump, do you hear the wind noise while sailing? Any short videos of the room/balcony would also be appreciated. Thanks and hope your ankle is feeling better. Cheers

 

 

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[mit429]

Since we weren’t going to be getting off the ship in St. Lucia we decided it would be a good day to check out Sushi on 5. I sorely miss Bistro on 5, and I know I’m not alone in that, but Sushi on 5 is delicious and I’m glad we have that option.

 

This was the Kobe beef ramen slider, it was absolutely delicious, though it was over cooked. I didn’t eat the ramen, but it looked tasty.

 

I ordered a spicy tuna roll and a ... something lol (I’m thinking it was tuna or salmon), both were delicious.

 

I also had an edamame and Cole had a miso soup, both of which were delicious. I also had the Japanese red ale which was quite nice.

 

After Sushi we took a stroll around the ship and headed to Michael’s Club. We relaxed there for a while went on another walk and then came back for tea. Mike and Jeff joined us for tea and we did another Taro card reading - this time for my casino luck ... odds weren’t looking good!

 

Another pic of us departing St. Lucia, what a beautiful view.

 

After tea and Taro (or maybe it should be Taro and tea) we went to change and then headed up to the Solarium. As per usual it was absolutely packed, which was driving me crazy, but we were able to secure a corner of the pool and then eventually a hot tub. After lounging there for a bit, we headed up to change for dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Meadet]

Great trip review, thanks for taking time out to share it, hope the ankle and casino luck are improving?

[Keith1010]

I have been enjoying this thread.

 

Keith

[hcat]

Great review...love the photos!

[mit429]

The fact that I forgot a period at the end of the last sentence is driving me insane ... and of course I can't edit it - so annoying!

 

Anyway, we went to get changed for dinner and headed to Michael's Club beforehand for a quick glass of sparkling wine. We did dinner in Luminae tonight, though I was feeling a little off. I'm not sure if I had eaten too much at lunch, drank too much, or was getting a little seasick, but I was definitely not feeling 100%.

 

[i just tried uploading a picture via the web interface and boy is that quite painful, so I'm switching to my phone to continue this]

 

I didn’t get any pictures of the entrees, sorry! I did get a copy of the menu, and I recall I ordered a butternut squash soup off the MDR menu which was quite nice.

 

 

I know the sugar snap peas, the tuna tartare, and the crab cake were also ordered. All of which received rave reviews. I had the chestnut tortellini for dinner, along with a few others - it was delicious, quite rich, probably thanks to the black truffle butter sauce - ha! One note is that the chestnuts were extremely moist and kind of had a weird texture, which I wasn’t expecting.

 

We ended the night with our usual - casino and Revelations, nothing crazy. But here is Mike sad that quarters were dropping after he had already stopped playing.

 

 

I also managed to get a picture of the room service order tonight, we had some people over for a late night snack!

 

And I now realize it looks doubled with the table in the background lol.

 

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Edited January 12, 2018 by mit429

[mit429]

I see the several requests for a video of the balcony - I will take a video tomorrow, I promise!

 

Day 5: Antigua

 

We were docked this morning next to the MS Konigsdam, which was a beautiful ship. I’d love to try HAL at some point, but I’ve always heard that perhaps it’s a slightly older crowd than I might like (which was confirmed by some friends we made at the beach). Maybe one day, as I keep getting older, haha.

 

 

 

 

We had asked around for some advice as to where to go in Antigua, both on TripAdvisor and friends on the ship. We had also asked Anastasia and she recommended Jolly Beach and told us there were a few places around there to eat and drink.

 

Mike and Jeff got an early start and headed off to Castaways at Jolly to secure us some chaises and umbrellas. Cole, Chad, and I got off a little later and had no problem getting a taxi, without much hassle. Our driver’s name was Joel and he drove a fairly large bus, but it was only us aboard, so it was a nice treat!

 

 

 

 

 

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[sun_lovin!1]

Following!!

 

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