Summit Buffet for Dinner

[lizzy911]

I've cruised eight times in the past twelve years, including twice on the Celebrity Reflection. I am sailing on the Summit out of San Juan in November. Historically I have found main dining room food to be very average across all cruise lines, generally not much better than buffet food. With a very port intensive itinerary (5 in 7 days), we think we'll probably use the buffet a lot at dinner because we'll be tired from daily activities. 

 

Any recent feedback on the quality of Summit buffet food at dinner? Do they have theme dinners (i.e. Asian food, Mexican night), or is the food generally the same nightly? 

 

Thanks!

[jelayne]

We were on the Eclipse and Equinox recently and both ships had theme nights at the buffet.  In addition they have a cook to order section where you can get steak, chicken and fish cooked to your liking.  

[Chicago Boy]

We have sailed on the Eclipse and Equinox several times and are doing a transatlantic on the Reflection November 5th from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale.  We have always been happy with dinner in the MDR.  There may be some dishes we like better than others but I think that is true where ever you dine.  All in all we think Celebrity does a great job and are happy with their service etc.  Celebrity is our cruise line of choice. 

[keesar]

The food at the buffet is just fine.  It is a relaxed atmosphere and the bar service is excellent.  Plenty of seating available.  No problem with a table for 2.  We loved eating there when getting back after a busy day.

[Wine-O]

Summit sets up a grill buffet back aft where you can get fresh chicken, strip steaks, fish, pork chops, etc.  They do a nice job, and it's a great break from the MDR.  They add specials all the time.

[meanmom08]

     I would like the same information.  I was on the Summit 2 years ago and it was, by far, the low point of the cruise.  It was pretty much the same thing every night.   The food in the dining room was much better and of much higher quality.  There was a cook to order section but the steaks were of much “lesser cuts” than in the main dining room.  I can’t remember what it was.  There was a charcuterie station, and a nice selection of hand-dipped ice cream.  I mostly just remember being underwhelmed with the offerings.  I would have been very happy with grilled fish, but the only fish that was available -all week- was tilapia which was not what I had in mind.  I do not believe there were theme nights.  The only reason it was an issue was because we got the late seating, which I could deal with, as I’ve always had the late seating on previous cruises, but no one else assigned to the table showed up the entire week.  At 8:30, with just my daughter and me, dinner in the dining room just seemed interminable, although the food was very good.  Had the options in the buffet been more palatable (to me), we would have eaten in the buffet, gotten out much more quickly, then enjoyed the evening activities.   (There was probably pizza or chicken tenders that would have satisfied her, but I don’t recall what there was.  She was OK with it, but I was not).  The evening meal was one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about RCCL.  RCCL has theme nights at the buffet and on the formal nights, if I remember correctly, you can pretty much get the same food when they are serving lobster or something special.  When eating at the RCCL buffet, I never felt like I was getting choices of lesser quality like I did on the Summit.

     I hate to sound so negative and finicky, but that was my experience.  As many people eat in the buffet, most diners must enjoy it.  Different strokes, as they say.

     I was just in the process of booking a last minute cruise on the Summit again when I saw that, once more, the only dinner seating available is at 8:30 and the “eat any time” option is completely booked.  I came here hoping to find out if the buffet has changed in the past 2 years.  Otherwise, I think I’ll pass on the Summit.

 

[Alsmez]

Just off Summit but I didn't eat dinner in the buffet, so I can't comment on that. The one night we went up there to see what was available, it looked as though they had a decent variety, but I didn't really look closely. The layout of the buffet is absolutely AWFUL, though (I never saw it pre-Revolution so I'm not comparing to a previous version). The kitchen is in the center and you have to walk all the way around it to see everything on offer, no visibility of one side from the other. The aft elevators let you out right in the center of it, too, so you have a weird traffic pattern of people trying to merge into the roundabout from edges and center. 

 

Anyway, that said, we did eat a couple of breakfasts and lunches up there and the food was fine. The pizza was limp and terrible for the first couple of days and then somehow miraculously improved after we reached Bermuda - maybe a supply problem. Lunch had plenty of options and there was decent variety (salad bar and such stayed the same but the hot dishes, carved meats, etc. changed daily). The daily Indian selections were the best option, IMO, and I pretty much stuck to that or pizza. Breakfast had some issues with food not being hot enough, but it was no worse than any other buffet.

[FLbeachbaby]

I liked the buffet on Summit and we had Luminae as our main restaurant. I did not notice "theme nights" but rather stations that had food with different ethnic flair. Indian was very good, pizza and pasta station, the grill as mentioned, salad bar, Mexican, Asian, a whole bread station and the usual American buffet type things.  I felt it had a nice layout and could always find something yummy. I thought the desserts were lacking and was never quite satisfied in that dept. but could usually find something good at Cafe Al Bacio. We also like the healthy offering at the Spa Cafe if we could get there at the right time.