Review of Summit 1/10 southern caribbean sailing

[ParrotHead4Life]

Celebrity Summit, Southern Caribbean itinerary, 1/10-1/17/09.

 

We flew in to San Juan on Friday, 1/9, arriving around 10:00 PM. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express – around a $20 cab fare and 5-10 min. ride from the airport. The hotel was actually in a good location, with a great pizza place just a few blocks away, and open late. We had a room for free on hotel points, but if we would have paid, it would have been around $150. Not bad.

 

 

Embarkation: Painless. We left for the ship around 10:30, and by 11:45 embarkation had begun. We were on the ship before noon. Grade: A.

 

Room: We had a concierge class room on the stern – we love the extra large balconies and watching the wake of the ship. Unfortunately we seemed to have excess trash blowing on to the balcony each night, and most mornings we had sweetener packets, straw wrappers, etc. out there. The room was in good shape, without any glaring wear-related issues. Our room attendant was great, and always ready to fulfill a request. Grade: A

 

Medical: My wife was feeling a little under the weather a day or two prior to departure. One of our kids was just getting over a sinus infection, and despite my warnings and pleas for a little preventative medicine, my DW didn’t make an appointment with our physician. By Sunday morning, she had a terrible sore throat and was quickly running out of Tylenol. She went to the ship’s doctor, who said she probably had tonsillitis and possibly strep. 20 minutes and $200 later, she had a prescription for zithromax and some extra Tylenol. It would have been nice to spend $20 at home rather than $200 at sea, but at least she would be feeling better in the next 24 hours and the cruise wasn’t ruined. Plus we should be able to submit to our cruise insurance program for reimbursement. Grade: A-

 

Entertainment: We really didn’t go to many shows this trip. We had booked the late seating for dinner, which was a mistake in hindsight. My schedule over the last year has evolved so that I’m much more of an early-to-bed, early-to-rise type, and I couldn’t last for the later shows. The nights where the shows were early, we just didn’t have an interest in attending. I will say though that the CD was a big dork, and I say that in the nicest way. He was quite corny – definitely not as stiff and dry as other CD’s we’ve had before. I won’t give the entertainment a grade since we didn’t see enough to justify one.

 

Food: Buffet was standard Celebrity style, and was fine. Aqua Spa café had a few nice selections. We ate at the Normandie one evening, and it was SPECTACULAR.

 

The Cosmopolitan was probably the biggest disappointment of the entire cruise. We had a nice table for 2, as requested – but the ambiance just wasn’t there this time, our waiter and attendant were sub-par, and we found the menu to be boring. And although it didn’t appear in any of the Celebrity Dailies, there was obviously a **** n’ Ho convention on board during our sailing. I know this because the Puerto Rican delegation to said convention was seated all around us. Their blatant disregard for evening dress was astounding. I’m not talking jeans – I’m talking about baseball caps worn sideways, t-shirts, tank tops and shorts – by both teens and adults – even on formal nights. What was even worse was the complete lack of enforcement of the dress code by restaurant staff. Luckily for us though, we decided to try the Waterfall Bistro (deck 10 aft) for dinner one night, and had a terrific time. It was everything the Cosmopolitan wasn’t as far as ambiance goes – calm and quiet - and the service was much better. We ended up going back there a second time.

 

Grade: Aqua Spa/buffet/pool grill: B

Normandie: A+

Cosmopolitan: D

Waterfall Bistro: A

 

Excursions: We booked through the ship and had no issues at all.

St. Maarten: Afternoon beach break

Dominica: High Ropes

Grenada: Snorkeling

Bonaire: Scuba

Aruba: Scuba

 

Grade: A

 

Disembarkation: We had signed up for the luggage valet program earlier in the week, and received our luggage tags/boarding passes Friday evening around 7:30. This put us in the white group, which met in the Theatre. Our group was called around 7:45 AM Saturday, and getting off the ship was a breeze. We carded out, picked up our luggage, turned in our customs form and dropped off our luggage on the other side of customs, and we were in a taxi to the airport by about 8:05 – plenty of time for an 11:15 departure out of San Juan. Grade: A

 

All in all we still had a great time. The issues we ran in to weren’t enough to derail our cruise. We had been looking forward to a southern itinerary for so long that it would have taken a lot for us to have a bad time!

 

Overall: A

[DonkeyB]

.

 

Room: We had a concierge class room on the stern – we love the extra large balconies and watching the wake of the ship.

 

Great review so quick after you got back.

 

We are doing this cruise departing on 4th April and have booked a stern cabin number 9160 was this anywhere near yours.

 

Nigel

[ParrotHead4Life]

We were actually in 8185. I'm sure you will love your room on deck 9!

[ParrotHead4Life]

I also forgot to add that we didn't find any of the public areas to be in bad shape - sure there was some wear and tear, but nothing you wouldn't expect with 2200 pax + crew every day. In fact the public restrooms were spotless.

 

Let me know if there are any other questions!

[MandyGirl]

Thank you for your review! :) Your description of the dining tables around you is very similar to what we experienced on Galaxy in 12/01 with the same embarkation port. It is good to know of the alternatives (instead of just buffet). The quiet ambiance is what we seek... and we are in our 30s now so not quite the "partiers".

 

We booked late dinner because we thought most shows were prior to dinner then..... should we try to switch dining times? :confused: We are on the same itinerary.

[ParrotHead4Life]

You know it was probably an even split for pre and post-dinner shows. The ones that were pre-dinner just seem to interest us. The other problem I had personally was just making it till 8:45 for dinner. I was famished by then, and if I ate around 6:00, then I wasn't hungry at 8:45. We're also in our 30's...

[MandyGirl]

That's where our schedules get us... I am normally in my classroom by 6:45 AM whereas DH gets the 2-10PM shift at work. He's the one usually up later! We're leaving our 2-year-old at home, hence our first cruise in three years! We may be compleeeeeetely different people that week! LOL! But hubby did want late dinner so we wouldn't be rushed from port (I think there are only 1-2 port days that would be rushed) and in the past we would have dinner and I would be ready to head to bed for sleep - skipping the show. I think he's trying the reverse - he knows I will eat - so get me to the show first then I have a reason to stay awake (dinner) before crashing!! :D

[grandmkmk]

Thank you for the riview. We are booked for the same cruise 1/24 and were hoping the problems regarding 'filling the ship with locals' was just a one-time thing (reviews from12/08 on review boards). This is a very disturbing trend. Also might want to add your review to the actual 'review' board for Celebrity Summit (where I usually check - just happened upon this today!).

[iata]

You had the same cabin as we had last march, great balcony. We are book for an atlantic crossing in april an could'nt get any aft balcony will miss it.

Nice review thank you

[iata]

Did you have Elizabeth as your room attendant

[lovetocruise99]

We're on Summit the first week in March and am planning to eat in the buffet or the Waterfall (?) alternative every night. Can you give me an idea of what type of entrees are served in the Waterfall area and is it a $2 service charge per person? Thanks!

[angelina46]

hi parrothead!

am booked on the summit for later in the year. someone posted that the ship is dead after 10. is that so? is there dancing, live bands? thanks

angelina46

[novicegirl]

I am on the Summit at the end of March and I have been really worried as I believed I was booking something amazing until I came on this site!! You have put a real balance into the situation and I am once again looking forward to the experience. Do you think this will be a fabulous holiday for two Scottish 40 something single women ?

 

X

[benbess]

I am on the Summit at the end of March and I have been really worried as I believed I was booking something amazing until I came on this site!! You have put a real balance into the situation and I am once again looking forward to the experience. Do you think this will be a fabulous holiday for two Scottish 40 something single women ?

 

X

 

Again, others can answer, but I think you'll have a very nice time.

 

Summit is a Millenium-class ship, and most of us here think they are pretty special ships. A few of the great things on these ships are (and I imagine others can chime in with more):

 

--a very nice collection of art from the last 50 years or so. Each ship has a playful and eclectic collection that is worth literally millions. If you like art, this is a nice feature of Celebrity ships not often found elsewhere to this degreee

 

--gas turbine engines that create *much* less smoke than on other ships. They are so expensive to run, it turns out, that it's not clear a cruise ship will ever be built with these kind of engines again. But this means when you're on deck or your balcony enjoying the fresh ocean breezes that's what you really smell--not diesel smoke.

 

--elegant decor throughout. Ship is said to be mostly well maintained, and after all is only 7 years old at this point.

 

--The Main Dining Room food seems to have slipped a bit in the past few years, but it's still decent eating most of the time.

 

--The specialty restaurant, Normandie, is said to be excellent, and well worth the extra charge

 

--the coffee shop on board has special things like chocolate filled croissant that are delicious

 

--good service most of the time. They will spoil you a little.

 

--entertainment is hit and miss, but sometimes nice. I heard a lecture from the marvelous actress Rita Moreno that was incredible

 

--very nice and very large flower shop on board, I think they call a "conservatory." Even if you don't buy anything, it smells very pleasant to wander around.

 

--T-pool---like a giant pool sized hot tub.

 

etc. etc.

 

It's expensive, but you'll probably have a very nice time with your friend.

[novicegirl]

Your a star ... thank you I am excited again .. I have only read these two threads ( you helped me on the other one too) I was getting despondent. I wonder if you could explain the roll call or celebrity connections thing, I followed the links but I couldn't find anyone .. I've read that you can make links with people before sailing? To be honest, that's not hugely important to us but if we can I would like to look at it. I love the way you describe the ship, not at all as I imagined and we do both appreciate art so I look forward to it... and the Normandie is a must for us .. it is consistently reviewed in positive light.

[benbess]

Your a star ... thank you I am excited again .. I have only read these two threads ( you helped me on the other one too) I was getting despondent. I wonder if you could explain the roll call or celebrity connections thing, I followed the links but I couldn't find anyone .. I've read that you can make links with people before sailing? To be honest, that's not hugely important to us but if we can I would like to look at it. I love the way you describe the ship, not at all as I imagined and we do both appreciate art so I look forward to it... and the Normandie is a must for us .. it is consistently reviewed in positive light.

 

You're very welcome, Novicegirl. I'm in my 40s too, and these are good ships for people in their late 20s to 80s who aren't into a "party atmosphere ship" like Carnival. There are still some parties and social things happening, but it's generally calmer and more relaxing.

 

The roll call is found in the other section of these discussion boards. Basically you look for your cruise line, and then your ship, and then your special date. Sometimes there are other people who are taking that cruise that you can meet in advance. That is fun if it works out, but as you say it isn't that important to having a fun time. For some reason some cruises have lots of people from these boards on them, and others almost none. It's hit and miss.

 

We met briefly a nice couple that we'd chatted with a little online, and it was fun.

 

Other people really get together and hit it off--eating meals together, going to the Martini bar together, etc.

 

One more thing--it appears that on the breakfast buffet or in the Main Dining Room you can usually get or order "British" breakfast items.

 

For breakfast we treated ourselves to things like smoked salmon, eggs benedict, etc.

 

PS Been to Scotland once. It's very beautiful! And such nice people...

 

 

PS The Aqua Spa cafe near the T-pool is a hidden treasure on these ships. It's a way to eat something from chefs from the special Normandie kitchen for "free" as part of your cruise fare. Most people don't know about it, and it's nice near-gourmet lighter eating fare.

[lovetocruise99]

I am on the Summit at the end of March and I have been really worried as I believed I was booking something amazing until I came on this site!! You have put a real balance into the situation and I am once again looking forward to the experience. Do you think this will be a fabulous holiday for two Scottish 40 something single women ?

 

X

 

The latest Conde Nast travel magazine ranked Celebrity Summit 3rd best in the large ship class. Number 1 was Disney, number 2 another Celebrity Ship. Summit ranked way above all of RCCL ships which I love, all of Princess and Norwegian so how bad can it be?

 

Don't worry, it will be great I'm sure.

[warmwinds]

Parrothead, thanks for your review. We're on this same cruise on 2/21, and also have an aft CC (our fourth, we love them). I recently posted a question about worrying that the itin is so port intensive, that we really would not have time to enjoy the veranda - did you miss not having more sea days?

 

I've very disappointed in everything I've been hearing about the MDR meals - this will be our 5th Celebrity Cruise and the food was one of the things we enjoyed the most.

[jchitt]

Great review. I get more excited with every review I read.

 

Can you tell me about the scuba excursions through Celebrity. We have booked through Celebrity for Aruba & Bonaire but we are getting a little nervous reading so stories of horrible times people are having on ship excursions. I would like to hear more about your expereince. Thanks!

 

What dive operation did they use? How was the dive op & dive master? Was it crowded? Did you feel like you had enough time in the water? Did you dive wrecks or reefs?

[island pat]

Great review thanks.

I am on the Summit in 5 days and looking forward to it.

Being our first Summit sail I am wondering if anyone had an internet package for their room? We had one with RCI last year and DH was o much more relaxed being able to stay in touch with his staff.:confused:

[turftoe]

I fear that with all the folks mentioning how great the Aqua Spa is as a "hidden gem" that people are going to discover it just in time for our upcoming trip. Thanks for the info - we're counting the days.

[erniesband]

I was on the same sailing. What follows is a comparison I'm posting on the Royal boards and thought I'd share it here. We were just down the hall from from the OP in 8172.

 

 

 

Let me start by saying this is one man’s opinion with a little input from my wife. All cruisers are different and I’ll be commenting on the activities and services that we use.

A little about us: We’re mid-fifties, and like to be active on our cruises. We are Diamond members of C&A, which made us Captain’s Club Elite. We tend to cruise in January to escape the weather in Ohio and have been on Southern Caribbean itineraries 10 times.

This will be a comparison of RCI’s Serenade and X’s Summit as they are very similar ships. Cruise dates of 1/5/08 on Serenade and 1/10/09 on Summit.

Staterooms and related services:

We booked an aft D1 on Serenade and had an aft CC on Summit. If you wanted an aft cabin on Summit you had to pay the up-charge and book a Concierge Class cabin. The CC amenities were upgraded toiletries, a Hasgroh showerhead, fresh fruit, flowers, upgraded linens, expanded room service breakfast menu, and a welcome bottle of (cheap) champagne. While the balcony on Summit was about 4 feet longer than on Serenade that space had to come from somewhere so the cabin was smaller than on Serenade (191 vs 204 ft). There is also more storage space in the Serenade cabin. The up-charge wasn’t worth it. As for our cabin stewards they both did their jobs as expected although I felt that our stewards on Serenade have been more personable and friendlier than on Summit. On Summit it seemed that our steward always had to “check with someone “ about our request while on Serenade things just happened. I got the feeling that our steward on Summit was afraid of losing his job if he didn’t follow the rules to the letter. All other things were about equal.

 

Dining:

We like the food served on Serenade in the main dining room and can always find one or two items on the menu to try. We’ve sent a few back but have been very satisfied with the presentation and taste. As for Summit, I can say gourmet descriptions did not equal gourmet taste. I found most of the dishes served to be rather bland and tasteless.

I did like the desserts on Summit better than Serenade. Coffee on both lines still needs improvement. Dinner service on Summit was more formal than Serenade; each course was served separately, if you didn’t order a course that others at your table did you weren’t served the next course till everyone else was. A nice touch and didn’t make you feel as rushed as I did sometimes on Serenade. Summit’s dining room was quieter than Serenade but that just may be because of table locations. I did like the large window at the stern where our table was located. Our waiters and assistants have been excellent on both ships, but once again I felt that the ones on Serenade were friendlier and had more personality than Summit.

The food quality in both the Windjammer on Serenade and Waterfall Café on Summit was about equal. Usually the same thing available everyday, not much variety on either ship. While the Windjammer uses stations and the Waterfall is a cafeteria line, both are mirror images port and starboard. We found the Waterfall much more difficult to navigate. Beginnings of lines, plates, trays, and silverware were hard to find. On Summit the ice cream station and the sushi were a very nice addition. The outdoor part of the Windjammer is much larger and nicer than the deck 10 Aft Bar, which is where you had to go to eat outside on Summit and you don’t have to put up with the cigar smokers (more on that later).

The Seaview Café wins by a mile over the Pool Grill. The Pool Grill, although the burgers and such were off the grill it was pick your burger out of a warming tray. The variety and quality of the Seaview is far superior.

We do not use the up-charge restaurants. We feel that if we’re going to spend the money for that type of food we’ll go to Michael Symon’s Lola here at home or a place like Agua Viva in San Juan.

We did not try the Aqua Spa Café, or the equivalent on Serenade.

 

Entertainment:

We prefer port intensive cruises and are off the ship all day so I cannot comment on the daily activities. By reading the dailies there seemed to be more activities on Serenade than Summit.

I’m a professional musician of 40 + years so I tend to be more critical of the live entertainment. I’m not crazy about the production shows on Serenade, however I must say that the performances and quality of show is much better than what I saw on Summit. As a comparison the Vibeology show on Serenade is a pretty high energy show featuring contemporary songs while the Night Of Stars show on Summit started with a female vocalist singing Wind Beneath My Wings followed by a duet of You Don’t Send Me Flowers followed by a guy butchering Piano Man, low energy and boring. On Serenade one of the headliners was the Temptations, on Summit we got Antonio Salci, “ an internationally acclaimed recording and performance artist.” Who? What we got was a guy playing the melody to songs in octaves with his right hard and chords with his left. I know high school musicians who play better than he did. If the Celebrity Orchestra that accompanied him played with any less energy someone would have had to check their pulses to see if they were still alive. As for the recording part, every garage band in America can self produce a CD.

The dance bands on the Summit were geared to the 65+ age group while on Serenade you get more contemporary and island music.

The string quartet on Summit was very nice, better than the Rosario Strings on Serenade. They played actual classical quartet music as opposed to elevator music.

I could rant for days as to the quality of musicians on cruise ships but …………

 

Casino:

I made my usual donation to the casino on both ships. Serenade has a larger casino than Summit. I feel that the dealers on the Summit were a little friendlier and more fun than Serenade. I don’t know why but I seemed to playing the roulette table with the same people every night on Summit, which made it more fun. There were a lot fewer people in the casino on Summit than Serenade.

 

Overall ship layout:

The sizes of the 2 ships are similar; they’re basically the same hull. There is an additional deck of cabins on Serenade, deck 10. However, Serenade isn’t as cut up and we find it easier to navigate. There are actually two decks (12 and 4) where you can walk around the entire ship. On deck 4 there is passenger access to the helideck during the day, excepting when helicopter operations are underway, and there are even benches up there. It provides an interesting vantage point. And on 12, the sport deck, one can walk all the way forward, as well. There is a multi-deck Centrum, which provides a more open feel, and a lot more glass. The central stairs on Summit are nicer – don’t really care for Serenade’s green staircase. There were some areas on the Summit, which seemed difficult to get to. There are more computer terminals on Serenade. (They have upped the bandwidth, and Internet speed was much improved. Because Celebrity and RCI use the same Internet facilities, this should impact both lines equally.)

The Safari Club on Serenade is my favorite. The décor and chairs are very comfortable. All I can say about Revelations on Summit (formally know as Bar At The End Of The World from their brief relationship with Cirque) is what the hell were they thinking? It needs a total refurb.

 

C&A and Captains Club

As many have discussed on these boards the Captains Club Elite benefits are nowhere close to C&A’s. ‘nough said.

 

Smoking Policy:

Non-smokers can stop reading here. While I realize we smokers are fast becoming outcasts in society in general, I feel reasonable accommodations should be made for us. Summit’s (and Celebrity’s in general) smoking policy was down right draconian. We were allowed to smoke in 4 areas outside and in one small area in Revelations. Portside on deck 4 was one, but they only had 3 ashtrays out there, so butts were in glasses, tossed overboard, on the deck, or in a mop bucket near the aft door. It didn’t make us look good, but I blame this on ship not providing proper receptacles. The other places were on deck 10 portside on both ends of the pool area and at the Aft Bar. Now, this is what really pissed me off. My cabin was on deck 8 aft with a balcony that I could not smoke on but had to endure the stench of cigars drifting down from the deck 10 smoking area. It was like everyone who smoked cigars, and there were many, used that area. So once again Serenade wins. At least you can still use your balcony and there are more comfortable and accessible indoor spaces.

 

In conclusion: I felt that while Celebrity advertises personalized service, gourmet dining and exciting entertainment they do not live up to their advertising. I’ve concluded that service on both ships to be equal. There are outstanding, average, and the occasional poor service personnel on both ships. The dining and entertainment on Serenade was better than on Summit. I’ll be staying with RCI.

 

That’s my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

Ernie

[C 2 C]

Hi Parrothead4Life and erniesband:

 

Thank you for the informative reviews of your sailing experience.

I try and maintain a list of staff and entertainers on board all Celebrity ships. Would either one of you be able to fill in some of the blank spaces or update the names of staff members on the Summit chart?

 

[mkad1109]

You know it was probably an even split for pre and post-dinner shows. The ones that were pre-dinner just seem to interest us. The other problem I had personally was just making it till 8:45 for dinner. I was famished by then, and if I ate around 6:00, then I wasn't hungry at 8:45. We're also in our 30's...

The seating is at 8:45? I thought it was at 8:00. I am in the late seating and have 4 preteens/teens. I know they will not last till 8:45 where I thought I had a shot for 8. Are you sure ad does anyone know if it is too late for me to change it for an April sailing?

[Texed]

The seating is at 8:45? I thought it was at 8:00. I am in the late seating and have 4 preteens/teens. I know they will not last till 8:45 where I thought I had a shot for 8. Are you sure ad does anyone know if it is too late for me to change it for an April sailing?

 

You can change.