Just back from Summit - not for us!

[silvercity]

Hi Silvercity:)...sounds like there were good parts and not so good.

You gave it a thumbs down....sorry the cruise was so disappointing.

 

 

Only thumbs down for the overall experience. The price difference between RCL and Celebrity is not justified. RCL is as good if not better. If we cruise again and we will. It wont be on Celebrity. RCL or maybe something else.

[Girly_Girl]

Hi Girly Girl, Thanks so much for your informative review. We are going next summer(begining of Sept), we were going to do Equinox until the ittin. changed, now we are booked on Brillance.

Would you please Email me your Rick Steves info (RVanlady@aol.com), I would really appreciate it.

Thanks so much,:)

Roberta

 

Roberta,

 

My Rick Steves info is a walking tour of Athens...is that what you are looking for?

 

Gina

[Girly_Girl]

I just got back from July 9th Summit. Spent another week in Paris & London.

Overall I think the Summit was good. The Service was top notch. Everybody was very helpful and always remembered what you ordered and what you liked. The food was mediocre. Breakfast was the worst and the room service was awful. I will say the service and food in the Normandy was awesome. We ate 3 nights there. I took 5 bottels of wine on board and they decanted each bottle for 4-5 hours for me. If we went back we would have eaten there every night. Its the best $30 you can spend on the ship! Our room was very nice . We had a CC cabin in Aft. Balcony was big but it has no sun. In the back the overhang blocks all the rooms except the outstretch part of the Penthouse suites. Overall it was good but not great. I would not pay anymore for Celebrity over Royal. If it costs more stay on RCL...On last thing that both my wife and I said. The nightly entertainment on the Summit was just plain awful. They had a comedian one night that was great. All the rest we didn't bother.

 

Best part was we meet some very nice people taht we will deffently keep in touch with.....

 

Jeffrey,

 

Funny meeting you here!! Give a big hug to Naomi for me and tell her I am looking forward to your NY/NJ visit.

 

FYI, Jeffrey and I were on the same sailing and did the boat tour in Naples together as well as got together in Barcelona for that God-awful dinner we had while there. His review is on point and pretty much embraces the overall comments of the cruisers I spoke to while on board the Summit.

 

If I were to give the ship a rating, I would give it 4 out of five stars. Service 5 stars, food 4 stars, entertainment 3 stars for an average of 4 stars. JMO

 

Gina

[Girly_Girl]

Did anyone else smell the stinky smell that was referred to previously?

 

I can never figure out why this occurs on ships & sometimes only in certain spots. Had this in the hallway to out cabin on Century every day ..it was very bad--all the staff did was deodorize the area but not get to the root of it..I think there must have been some type of sewage pipe nearby.. On another trip--same ship diff cabin & hallway--no smell at all!

 

Jeffrey,

 

That was me discussing the stinky smell around deck three at Michael's Club...did you smell that too?

 

G

[silvercity]

Jeffrey,

 

That was me discussing the stinky smell around deck three at Michael's Club...did you smell that too?

 

G

 

 

I can honestly say I spent 20min one evening in Michael's Club. So I don't recall any smell. I had access to the Club through my Captains Club and only used it one evening for a meet and greet. I was in and out..

 

Also Gina your rating in bang on (4/5).....Naomi and I were just speaking and saying that the price difference between RCL and Celebrity is not justified. In fact we were just looking at April 2010 cruises and the prices for Celebrity over RCL is shocking!:confused:

[sunlovermtl]

Don't worry we were on the Summit in April and loved every minute of it. I didn't even notice any real wear and tear. I am on vacation and don't give a hoot about any of that. I just sit back and enjoy the whole experience. You must visit the Normandie restaurant. It is beautiful and the staff are in a class above a 5 star restaruant back home.

 

enjoy

Claudette

[Girly_Girl]

I can honestly say I spent 20min one evening in Michael's Club. So I don't recall any smell. I had access to the Club through my Captains Club and only used it one evening for a meet and greet. I was in and out..

 

Also Gina your rating in bang on (4/5).....Naomi and I were just speaking and saying that the price difference between RCL and Celebrity is not justified. In fact we were just looking at April 2010 cruises and the prices for Celebrity over RCL is shocking!:confused:

 

Jeffrey,

 

I agree, if I were booking a cruise and the price consisted of a huge disparity between Celebrity and RCCl, I would book RCCL. There is no considerable benefit to going with Celebrity. Although this is my first Celebrity cruise, I believe they either cut back dramatically or were overrated to begin with. That said, knowing what i know, I would book an RCCL cruise over Celebrity any day. They did not lose a customer, rather they did not convince me that I should be a loyal Celebrity customer.

 

Enough said.

G

[catalyst2006]

We are going on the same date!

[catalyst2006]

We are going on the same date!

[alliecat7777]

Girly Girl:

thanks so much for your post. It was very informative. My husband and i are going on the August 25th Venice - Barcelona cruise and we aren't doing any excursions and i'm doing all of the research on the port cities. Posts like yours are invaluable.

 

I would really appreciate if you could email me the Rick Steves' Athen walking tour:

my email alliesong@gmail.com

 

thank you so much.

[Girly_Girl]

Girly Girl:

thanks so much for your post. It was very informative. My husband and i are going on the August 25th Venice - Barcelona cruise and we aren't doing any excursions and i'm doing all of the research on the port cities. Posts like yours are invaluable.

 

I would really appreciate if you could email me the Rick Steves' Athen walking tour:

my email alliesong@gmail.com

 

thank you so much.

 

Okay, will do.

 

Gina

[Coolcruise02]

I think my biggest disappointment, as I sit here and consider what it is I am trying to convey to you, is that the ship was nothing exciting, Celebrity was not a notch up as many contend, and nothing WOW'd me. The service was excellent, but the food, ship, and entertainment was not.

Gina

 

That is my feelings exactly! Yes, we had a nice cruise but it was not a cut above any other cruise line like you are led to believe.

[Bridge Maven]

That is my feelings exactly! Yes, we had a nice cruise but it was not a cut above any other cruise line like you are led to believe.

 

I agree with you and think that all of the mass market cruise lines are more alike than they are different. However, the things that make each cruise line a little different are more important to some people than others. So in other words, it is not that Celebrity is a step above other cruise lines as much as it has a few features that are important to some cruisers, such as providing a more formal ambiance that includes being laid back instead of keeping busy while at sea.

[cheryle]

Thanks, Rick, that was sweet of you to take the time to give me feedback on my feedback :)

 

Gina

 

Hi Gina

 

Your feedback was invaluable - my husband and I are sailing on the 14th and would be really grateful if you could email the Rick Steves info k44cma@hotmail.com

Many thanks

 

Cheryle

[Girly_Girl]

That is my feelings exactly! Yes, we had a nice cruise but it was not a cut above any other cruise line like you are led to believe.

 

You summed it up in a nut shell. I will stick with Princess and RCCL, unless I venture off to try CC's newer ships like the Solstice.

 

Gina

[junglejane]

I just got back yesterday from the July 19 Crown Princess British Isles cruise and found this thread very interesting. Last summer we did the Venice-Barcelona cruise on the Summit. We had a very nice cruise on the Crown Princess but many times last week I found myself wishing we could've been doing the same itinerary on the Summit. I love the size and layout of the M-class ships, and I definitely preferred the food and service on my two Celebrity cruises. I'm sure I'll keep going back to Princess for their great itineraries and prices, but I'd sail on the Summit again in a heartbeat.

[Girly_Girl]

I just got back yesterday from the July 19 Crown Princess British Isles cruise and found this thread very interesting. Last summer we did the Venice-Barcelona cruise on the Summit. We had a very nice cruise on the Crown Princess but many times last week I found myself wishing we could've been doing the same itinerary on the Summit. I love the size and layout of the M-class ships, and I definitely preferred the food and service on my two Celebrity cruises. I'm sure I'll keep going back to Princess for their great itineraries and prices, but I'd sail on the Summit again in a heartbeat.

 

I have been on Princess,Summit and a few others...I don't believe that Summit has Princess beat on any level. I loved my Princess cruise as well as the ship.

 

G

[Peteymil]

I guess there is something for everybody. My 2 Princess cruises were OK, but in my mind did not compare to my 2 Celebrity Summit cruises.

[SunFunCruiser]

I just got back from July 9th Summit. Spent another week in Paris & London.

Overall I think the Summit was good. The Service was top notch. Everybody was very helpful and always remembered what you ordered and what you liked. The food was mediocre. Breakfast was the worst and the room service was awful. I will say the service and food in the Normandy was awesome. We ate 3 nights there. I took 5 bottels of wine on board and they decanted each bottle for 4-5 hours for me. If we went back we would have eaten there every night. Its the best $30 you can spend on the ship! Our room was very nice . We had a CC cabin in Aft. Balcony was big but it has no sun. In the back the overhang blocks all the rooms except the outstretch part of the Penthouse suites. Overall it was good but not great. I would not pay anymore for Celebrity over Royal. If it costs more stay on RCL...On last thing that both my wife and I said. The nightly entertainment on the Summit was just plain awful. They had a comedian one night that was great. All the rest we didn't bother.

 

Best part was we meet some very nice people taht we will deffently keep in touch with.....

 

We were also on this cruise! Hello Jeffrey and Gin!! I totally agree with both of you. I had high hopes for Celebrity. I can't say any of this ruined our trip, it was still an amazing cruise! Our service was awesome!! I had the best cabin steward (Peter) that I have ever had on any of my cruises. But, the food was just ok. The entertainment wasn't really entertaining most nights. I think that may have been our biggest disappointment. The Normande was amazing! If I wasn't with a large group, I would have eaten here a couple more times. I really like RCI and woudl pick them over Celebrity if they had the same itinerary. We picked this cruise because of the ports, not the ship. Like Jeffrey, we also had an aft CC cabin, I did like this very much, I didn't care about the lack of sun because it was so hot. I think these cabins would be great for Alaska.

[SunFunCruiser]

I do want to comment on a few more things

 

, our cabin was in good shape. I do think they should replace the TV's with flat screens, most ships have these by now. I do think certain areas were very outdated. The Waterfall Cafe comes to mind.

The Therassotherapy pool area is in dire need of updating. I couldn't help but stare at the aweful, dead looking plants and rust spots all over the place in there! It was also pretty dirty every day, kind of grossed me out.

 

I also thought the drinks were a bit pricey. $9.00 for the least expensive glass of wine and $9.00 and up for martinis. I bought a wine package at dinner, that did seem reasoable.

 

That soft spot going into the lounge is rediculous! I cannot believe they have not fixed that. It's an accident waiting to happen.

 

I was worried about the kid's programs. There were 400 kids onboard this sailing. My kids were well entertained. They seemed to enjoy all the activities at the X Club.

 

The Cruise Critic party was too early!! LOL PLus, they rushed us out of there!

 

I also noticed the smells! Not so much in Micheal's Club because it was so boring in there that we maybe spent 15 minutes there with exception to the CC Party. But, one area of our deck 7 smelled like sewage and when I was on deck 3, it also smelled so bad that I gagged. I couldn't imagine having my cabin near that smell.

 

I would sail Celebrity again if it had the only itinerary I liked. I would hope it would be on a newer ship. But, I prefer RCI. Again, we had a great time and none of these things ruined our cruise by any means.

[macaroni]

We were also on this cruise! Hello Jeffrey and Gin!! I totally agree with both of you. I had high hopes for Celebrity. I can't say any of this ruined our trip, it was still an amazing cruise! Our service was awesome!! I had the best cabin steward (Peter) that I have ever had on any of my cruises. But, the food was just ok. The entertainment wasn't really entertaining most nights. I think that may have been our biggest disappointment. The Normande was amazing! If I wasn't with a large group, I would have eaten here a couple more times. I really like RCI and woudl pick them over Celebrity if they had the same itinerary. We picked this cruise because of the ports, not the ship. Like Jeffrey, we also had an aft CC cabin, I did like this very much, I didn't care about the lack of sun because it was so hot. I think these cabins would be great for Alaska.

 

What deck were you on? Are they all covered? I was under the impression that there was quite a bit of sun on some of the decks.

[silvercity]

I do want to comment on a few more things

 

, our cabin was in good shape. I do think they should replace the TV's with flat screens, most ships have these by now. I do think certain areas were very outdated. The Waterfall Cafe comes to mind.

The Therassotherapy pool area is in dire need of updating. I couldn't help but stare at the aweful, dead looking plants and rust spots all over the place in there! It was also pretty dirty every day, kind of grossed me out.

 

I also thought the drinks were a bit pricey. $9.00 for the least expensive glass of wine and $9.00 and up for martinis. I bought a wine package at dinner, that did seem reasoable.

 

That soft spot going into the lounge is ridiculous! I cannot believe they have not fixed that. It's an accident waiting to happen.

 

I was worried about the kid's programs. There were 400 kids onboard this sailing. My kids were well entertained. They seemed to enjoy all the activities at the X Club.

 

The Cruise Critic party was too early!! LOL PLus, they rushed us out of there!

 

I also noticed the smells! Not so much in Micheal's Club because it was so boring in there that we maybe spent 15 minutes there with exception to the CC Party. But, one area of our deck 7 smelled like sewage and when I was on deck 3, it also smelled so bad that I gagged. I couldn't imagine having my cabin near that smell.

 

I would sail Celebrity again if it had the only itinerary I liked. I would hope it would be on a newer ship. But, I prefer RCI. Again, we had a great time and none of these things ruined our cruise by any means.

 

Cheryl your post is "bang on"! We also booked this cruise for the Itinerary and not the ship. I also feel that RCI is a much better value $ for $. For $30 I would have eaten at Normandy every night. As it was we did 3 nights and that was our best food on the ship Overall we had a fantastic time. Naomi and I miss all our Summit friends!

[silvercity]

What deck were you on? Are they all covered? I was under the impression that there was quite a bit of sun on some of the decks.

 

 

We were both in AFT at the very back. I was on deck 9 and I think Cherly you were on 7. The all have and overhang and there is no sun. the rooms and the balcony were larger than normal and I would book back here again!

[Girly_Girl]

It is funny that those of us that sailed together on the Summit July 9 sailing, Cheryl, Jeffrey, and I, all have similar comments. None of us were disappointed with the service, but each of us felt the food and entertainment needed improvement. I am thinking that this may be an economic issue...perhaps Celebrity needs to stimulate sales by cutting their prices to the bare bones and had to cut back somewhere to make the cruises still profitable. I believe it is awfully short sighted of them, as we came away with this lasting impression that could harm future sales. I know I had always heard they are a notch above and sailed them for this reason. However, while I was not disappointed, Celebrity did not live up to this reputation in my book.

 

My Two Cents,

Gina

[woodofpine]

I've been on Summit twice. The first time was my first X cruise. I had very high expectations which were dashed, a let down (nice cruise, but...). The M-class has no 'Oh Wow!' atrium and neither time I cruised Summit was she emaculately maintained. That said, the second cruise was one of my most enjoyable and I was very impressed.

 

X hyper-loyalists cultivate a 'superiority' disposition amongst themselves which is sort of funny if you consider it over compensation for inferiority (a complex). X does some things really well and others not so well (even aggravatingly bad). When things are firing on all cylinders X offers an extremely polished very high service experience. When things unravel, they're clueless. They might be the last cruiseline I'd want to be with in a serious maritime crisis (fire, etc.)

 

I agree that the big lines are more similar than dissimilar as it must be when you are hosting 2,000-3,000 pax.