karmamule

As someone new to Celebrity (one cruise so far on Apex which we did love) and one coming up (NEXT WEEK...YAY!) we aren't comparing them to how they used to be (other than vicariously through reading long-timers posts here) but we ARE comparing them to other lines. We'll be looking at any service or food quality through that lens of how it compares to similar experiences on MSC Yacht Club, Virgin Voyages, or Princess. Yes there are plenty of others to compare to, but for us at least those are their main competitors. The bottom line for us will be how they stack up to our experiences on these other lines we see as offering something similar, and if they trim too much then they'll lose us to these other choices. Our experience on Apex was wonderful but we were in an Edge Villa, and we usually do entry-level suites, not upper. This next cruise on Summit will be in an Aqua Sky Suite and next February we have another MSC YC cruise coming up, with Icon of the Seas and Princess next fall. If Summit's food and/or service doesn't stack up well in comparison to those (or our recent VV cruise which we loved) then odds are we won't be back. If the ship, service and food compare well then they'll see more from us. And, with me retiring next year and my partner Rich retiring in a few years our cruising peak is yet to come! We'll see how they do.

Something like that could be it, but not that specifically. We're going from Miami to St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Coco Cay.

That's the worst sort of catch-22!

So far ::: knock on wood ::: we've been fine with Celebrity but parent company RCL added a mystery extra $33 charge after we'd paid in full for our next cruise with them. It was small enough I just paid it, but if any more show up I'll be calling.

We'll be joining JCMass on the same cruise and are getting very excited. Thanks so much for this post. It helps put some worries to rest and amps up our excitement. Come to think of it, amping up our excitement even further may not be a good idea. These last 5 workdays are going to be hard enough to get through as it is. 😆

Yes we have an overnight in Quebec and are excited for that. I'll go look up your post for that B2B and read up on your CA/NE experiences. Thanks again and happy cruising! 🙂

Thanks so much for this thread, it was an entertaining and interesting read. We've also hopped from line to line and enjoy all the differences. We've only been on 1 Celebrity cruise, with another in less than two weeks(!!) for the Summit Canada / New England. We've cruised on NCL, MSC, RCL, Princess (though a long time ago), Carnival and Virgin and they've all had something we liked about them along with a few less-than-optimal features. We've been on 3 MSC YC cruises with a fourth next February for 14 days on the Seascape and definitely recommend that as something worth trying. If you stay mostly in the YC areas you can pretend you're on a small luxury cruise, but still have the crowds and energy of the main parts of the ship if you want some variety.

Just discovered this trip report and it was such a delightful read, thank you so much! A few years ago my partner Rich and I were going to sail on NCL but it got canceled and we stumbled on MSC and our first sailing with them was in the YC on Seaside just like you, and, also just like you, we had a great time and fell in love with it. We've since sailed on the Meraviglia YC for 14 days (right before COVID) and then a 7 day on the Seashore YC last year. Both of those were wonderful as well, and our next MSC adventure will be next year for 14 days on the Seascape. Reading your trip report reminded me how wonderful cruising is, especially when you're on a really good cruise and I admit I got a little misty-eyed seeing some of those pictures, remembering how good our times on MSC have been, and looking forward to (hopefully) many more! Our next cruise is right out of our hometown Boston on Celebrity Summit for a Canada / New England trip. We're very excited for that but reading this definitely has me smiling thinking about next February on MSC too. 🙂 I hope you and your hubby have a great time on your next YC cruise and lots more for you, him, and your Mom!

We have a 14 day YC on the Seascape next February out of Miami and we'll be staying at the Intercontinental too. Great minds think alike! 😉 Hope you have a wonderful cruise and look forward to reading any experiences you share here.

Our friends are on the next CA/NE cruise immediately after yours, and we'll be on the Celebrity Summit for our 11 day CA/NE cruise at the same time as them. It turns out the Meraviglia and Summit will both be in Charlottetown the same day so we actually get to meet up. The first CA/NE cruise for all of us so we're very excited. We live in the Boston area and are VERY VERY excited to have our cruise ship be a mere 30 minute drive away from home. Good call to go ahead and fly in the day before even if it is a few $ more. IMO it's just not worth the anxiety, risk, and rushing around when flying in the same day. We'll be interested in seeing how our Aqua Sky Suite on the Summit compares to a YC cruise (which we've done 3 of before and have another 14 day on the Seascape early next year). This Summit cruise was crazy expensive (even for an 11-day) and the only reason we're in a retreat-class cabin is winning an upgrade bid. Our 14 day YC cruise on the Seascape next year was half the price(!!!) of what we would have paid for this 11 day if we'd paid "list price".

We'll be in an Aqua Sky Suite on Summit next month so this was great to hear. Thanks! Hope you have a wonderful cruise. (And good luck with the remnants of Hurricane Lee if they go by your area)

Thanks all for this very useful thread. We'll use this to temper/adjust our expectations for our upcoming cruise next month. I find it's much easier to "go with the flow" when you have a more realistic picture of what the flow will be like. 🙂 In switching this out for already existing bookings Celebrity has guaranteed an unpleasant surprise for many people who don't use CC or other places to stay up-to-date on the latest twists and turns to service levels.

Thanks so much for your review! We'll be on the Summit in just under 30 days and will have a couple of those stops in common so this was a very helpful read.

2024 is already booked for us. I hope they do it again in 2025 because odds are very good we'd be on it!

We'll have to check out HAL!

Since we live in the Boston area ANY cruises out of Boston other than Bermuda or Canada/New England (we're doing that in less than one month!) would catch our eye. Boston - Greenland - Iceland - Boston would be TAKE MY MONEY PLEASE 😆 They have a repositioning cruise of Boston -> ABCs -> Miami. I'd love a 14 day version of that which returned to Boston. (Yes I know that's very unlikely but I can dream....)

Our first Celebrity cruise was earlier this year. We've deliberately been sampling a variety of cruise lines and am not sure if we'll ever really focus on one. Each one has been enjoyable in its own way (and has its own unique foibles) and we enjoy having that variety in our cruises. We started with NCL then went on MSC (3 times), Royal, Carnival, NCL again and as of this year Celebrity and Virgin. Other than our initial trip with NCL we have been in suites. Later this year we have Celebrity again then next year MSC, Royal, and Princess. For us we were hoping Celebrity lived up to its reputation as a 'premium line' that's a step above the mainstream carriers. We went on the Apex and had an Edge Villa and it was fantastic. The ship and our cabin were gorgeous, and since EV had specialty restaurants included we indulged in lots of meals in Eden, Le Grand Bistro, and elsewhere. Our upcoming cruise will be very different: an 11 day on the Summit and staying in an Aqua Sky Suite. (Which is a far more typical cabin for us.) The Apex was beautiful and the specialty restaurant meals (especially Eden) were fantastic. We sampled the buffet and ate breakfast in the MDR once just to try them out and both were 'ok'. Overall we had a good enough time to come back for our next cruise but don't feel any desire to exclusively cruise on Celebrity.

Similar here: went from 'dining trio' (2 dinners plus 1 lunch) to 4 nights (either dinners or lunches) and paying less per visit.🙂

In pc/videogaming circles, whether American, UK, or European, 'fanboy' is a very common term.

I'd also encourage bringing along some travel size hand sanitizer bottles so you can comfortably carry one around in pants pockets or handbag. After we got COVID on our first (and probably only) Carnival cruise last year we've been diligent about carrying and using that and so far (knock on wood) no more post-cruise illnesses in our 3 cruises since then.

Our Aqua Sky Suite will be on deck 6, so under another deck of cabins. As long as the people above us don't tromp around like buffalos we should be ok.

Sometimes you can put in bids before receiving any e-mail invite. Head to this page https://www.celebritycruises.com/bid-on-cruise-room-upgrade and enter your last name and reservation number and you may already be able to bid. I kept an eye on that for our October cruise and I was able to put in bids a little under 90 days before the cruise and never received any e-mail. (And in a rare fluke the bid was accepted 15 days later)

For me one of the joys of cruising is front-loading all the cost so I can eat and drink and be entertained while on the ship and not be mentally tracking what some final bill will look like. I can truly relax and indulge. While I can understand people being upset at Princess' new plans, at least they still let me front-load costs and have that sort of experience. If I go on Celebrity and start seeing random extra charges popping up it will push me away from them because I'm not paying the kind of fares I am to constantly see the hand extended for more money on top of that. I'm happy to see reports earlier in the thread that the Summit has still not fallen to cookie-gate as that's what I'll be on next. I'll keep an eye out on any nickel and diming and report back if this thread or an equivalent is still going.

Thanks for the detail chengkp75, however I wouldn't say it's "the environmentalists" who don't want you to know about that, it's the corporations wrapping themselves in the mantle of being environmentally conscious that don't. Actual environmentalist groups like greenpeace are no fans of LNG either.

When coming up with the Aqua Sky Suite class idea Celebrity chose what were generally perceived as the Sky suites in more desirable locations so you're more likely to get a room in a prime location. For our upcoming Summit cruise we put in a bid on both Sky Suite and Aqua Sky Suite (same bid $ for each) and lucked out and won the Aqua Sky Suite bid. (The cruise is in October so can't share personal experience of the room yet). The Aqua Sky Suite we got had the same room as a normal Sky Suite but was one of those suites with a balcony at an angle so it is large enough on one side to have a small couch instead of chair. I don't think that would be much of a factor for me but just mentioning for whatever it's worth to you.