Royal Guys... Will we like Summit?

[newcruiser80]

Hi Celebrity fans!

 

We've been on three cruises now, all with Royal and are thinking we'd like to try Summit in Feb of 2011. We're two guys, 29 and 38, teachers, and love to cruise for Feb break. The itinerary looks amazing...

 

Our question for you all is how much will we like Summit, considering our first cruises have only been with Royal? I'm a total foodie, so I'm up for better cuisine. We both teach, so it wouldn't be bad to get away from all the kiddies on Royal's big ships. We like the rock wall, flowrider, etc., but find the ports and itinerary much more of a perk.

 

What can we expect on the Summit?

[j!m]

no rockwall

 

no flowrider

 

food is good especally in the specialty restaurants

 

enjoy the ports

 

hava great cruise

[RickT]

I prefer Celebrity to Royal. While there is typically more to do on Royal, I find the food and overall service better on Celebrity. If you really enjoy the wall, flowrider, ice rink, etc... maybe best if you still with Royal. But if you are looking for a cruise with better food, a bit more class and an overall more sophisticated feel, then Celebrity should work well.

 

Generally there are fewer kids on Celebrity but that often depends on time of year and such.

 

Another thing to consider is the Summit is 10+ years old. It's been refurbished and should be in good shape, but won't have some of the features found on the newer ships. That being said, their martini bar is fantastic : )

[Craig_K]

I have been on a few Royal Caribbean (most recently the Oasis last month) and three Celebrity (although it has been quite a few years since).

 

Overall I think I prefer Celebrity. My wife and I are in our 40's, with two school age kids. We did not do much of the sports activities on Royal Caribbean.

 

I think Celebrity is higher class, more refined, and a bit slower paced. No show reservations needed (as on the Oasis), easier to just relax and do what you feel like at the time. We had to do a lot more planning on the Oasis.

 

You certainly can't beat the wide range of choices available on Royal Caribbean (the daily Cruise Compass literally had two or three pages of activities each day), and I see Celebrity with about a single page, but most of the Royal Caribbean activities we did not do anyway.

 

We're currently booked on the Summit for 02/11.

[omarchs]

I split my time usually between Celebrity and RCCL so that's my frame of reference.

 

In general RCCL has a younger, more active crowd. I find the Celebrity food only slightly better these days. I think the staff on both lines are excellent. Not usually as much nightlife on Celebrity.

 

Celebrity provides some nice additional touches around the pool - extra towels, padded chaise lounges that RCCL doesn't usually provide.

 

Celebrity used to be a little too formal (dress and approach) for my taste in the dining room, but they have loosened up on that a bit.

 

I know that Celebrity does attract many families during school vacation weeks, but in general they would have less kids than a RCCL ship due to the fewer kid (or kid at heart) attractions - flow rider, rock wall, Ice Rink etc)

 

I don't think you would be disappointed in the Summit, if you are looking for a little more laid back vacation than you are used to on RCCL.

[jackdiamond]

There are few guarantees in life, but I can guarantee that you will prefer the Summit.

[Craig_K]

To be fair, you should post this same discusson on the Royal Caribbean forum. Obviously by the nature this is a Celebrity forum, it is going to be based toward Celebrity.

[Bellfree Bat]

I have sailed more on RCCL and only once on X Summit. It was one of the most relaxing cruise and we loved it! We are 48 and 52 and the passenger demographics in January were perfect and met wonderful people. We liked the food better bothe in the DR and Buffet area. The real scooped ice cream was great with a variety of flavors instead of the Frozen yogurt that RCCL had poolside.

[Schplinky]

We went on Constellation (Summit's twin) after our first cruise, which was Navigator of the Seas. To be honest, we were disappointed and found the ship dull and the "step up" that everyone speaks of to be missing. Maybe your experience will be different because you have a few cruises under your belt but we just found the ship to be lacking and kept comparing everything against Navigator. Then, we tried Solstice and our opinion of Celebrity was totally reversed! You had the more varied food of three specialty restaurants plus the great ship design. I'd recommend you try the Solstice class. You can see pictures of Constellation on our cruise web-site, which is linked in my signature.

 

Lee (and Mike)

[Denny01]

I bet you'll love it. And I'll describe one of our favorite areas on Summit (and all M-Class Celebrity ships), the Solarium- T-Spa Pool. It's a large inside saltwater pool, very warm, lots of water action. Good for swimming and relaxation. Almost a oversized jacuzzi. It has steel pipes on the side that form lounges on the side with bubbles coming up through it.

 

It's fantastic. There is the Aqua Cafe next to it with healthy meals.

 

 

We usually get mid-ship rooms but on this Class, we get forward SRs so we an zip up to the T-Spa in the AM and enjoy it.

 

Denny

[Papa T]

You have gotten some good advice by the posters above. No question the staffing is better on X - for example wine stewards and people posted to provide help in the internet cafe where on RCL the waiter serves the wine and you fend for yourself with the internet. But . . . they both provide an excellent product and if the itinerary is what you are looking for it sounds like X is a simple choice. I must say I part company with those who say that the food is so much better on X (including specialty restaurants) - both have food pluses and minuses. This was reinforced by my latest cruise of 14 days on Voyager in December and my 14 day cruise on Infinity last month. I'm headed for Mariner next week and Solstice in May so more opportunities to compare. 41 RCI and 8 X cruises later I am a happy camper on either line.

[unittech]

Husband and I just got back from a week on the Summit (2/20 - 2/27) and having 14 cruises under our belt and most being with RCCL (9), 2 w/ Carnival (never again), 1 with HAL (not so impressed) and 2 with Celebrity (this one and 2 yrs ago) I would say I like RCCL better. Now with that, I also like the bigger ships (ie Adventure of the Seas) vs the smaller ones. We are not "young" -- in early 60's but I still like the variety on the Royal line (I actually made it halfway up the climbing wall!!!), miniature golf, etc.

 

Our trip this time on Summit was fine -- ship has not been refurbished yet. Still some mold in the bathroom shower, soft spots in floor in MDR and some rust. Per head waiter in MDR (after I stepped in the soft spot on formal night with heels and went sideways) the ship is not due for a "good" refurbish until 2012.

 

Food was good, comparable to RCCL. Ship as stated much more quiet. All the bands in each bar seemed more slower in pace. To me the Aqua Spa seemed very hot and smelled very much of chlorine. We got coffee there one morning and had to toss it as it had that same taste.

 

Overall it will be a personal preferance. As someone stated, if you go on RCCL page you will probably get a whole different view. We took this because of itinerary. Did we have a good vacation? You bet. Would I do Celebrity again -- probably.

 

Have fun and enjoy no matter which line you choose. Your attitude can make or break your trip.

[newcruiser80]

Wives?:confused:

 

LOL! You pegged us - we're a couple and don't have wives (obviously).

 

With that being said, are the ships on Celebrity gay-friendly? We've not had any problems on Royal, so can anybody give some feedback on X?

[Schplinky]

LOL! You pegged us - we're a couple and don't have wives (obviously).

 

With that being said, are the ships on Celebrity gay-friendly? We've not had any problems on Royal, so can anybody give some feedback on X?

 

They are quite welcoming. Not much different than RCL except that Celebrity puts Friends of Dorothy (gay gathering) in the daily schedule when they hold them.

[Papa T]

LOL! You pegged us - we're a couple and don't have wives (obviously).

 

With that being said, are the ships on Celebrity gay-friendly? We've not had any problems on Royal, so can anybody give some feedback on X?

 

On Infinity (to Antarctica) last month we spent time each day with two gay couples - one from Boston and one from London. They seemed very pleased with the atmosphere and as frequent X cruisers were very positive about Celebrity.

[sarahc78]

They are quite welcoming. Not much different than RCL except that Celebrity puts Friends of Dorothy (gay gathering) in the daily schedule when they hold them.

Can people who are not gay attend this?

[Miss Vickie]

Hi Celebrity fans!

 

We've been on three cruises now, all with Royal and are thinking we'd like to try Summit in Feb of 2011. We're two guys, 29 and 38, teachers, and love to cruise for Feb break. The itinerary looks amazing...

 

Our question for you all is how much will we like Summit, considering our first cruises have only been with Royal? I'm a total foodie, so I'm up for better cuisine. We both teach, so it wouldn't be bad to get away from all the kiddies on Royal's big ships. We like the rock wall, flowrider, etc., but find the ports and itinerary much more of a perk.

 

What can we expect on the Summit?

 

Interesting question. I see you're scheduled to sail Serenade this month. We're RCI cruisers, and Serenade is our favorite ship. We sailed Summit January 2009. Selected Summit for 2 reasons: the awesome itinerary and the fact that it's the same size ship as Serenade - the comparable X class to the Radiance class. We went to Bonaire and Dominica, back when RCI was not going to Dominica. The itinerary was incredible, we loved it. That being said, we found that for many reasons, we do prefer the RCI product and were disappointed with Summit as a ship.

[ottawapuppy]

Can people who are not gay attend this?

 

Yes. We often have Friends of Friends of Dorothy attending.

 

Mike

[ottawapuppy]

We've been on three cruises now, all with Royal and are thinking we'd like to try Summit in Feb of 2011. We're two guys, 29 and 38, teachers, and love to cruise for Feb break. The itinerary looks amazing...

Our question for you all is how much will we like Summit, considering our first cruises have only been with Royal? I'm a total foodie, so I'm up for better cuisine.

 

Make sure you try the specialty restaurant. (Don't know the name of it on Summit). The AquaSpa Cafe is great too. Otherwise, the food is pretty well on par with RCCL.

 

The T-pool is a great benefit over RCCL.

 

Mike

[sarahc78]

Yes. We often have Friends of Friends of Dorothy attending.

 

Mike

 

Thanks ;)

[We're The Groupnors]

Make sure you try the specialty restaurant. (Don't know the name of it on Summit). The AquaSpa Cafe is great too. Otherwise, the food is pretty well on par with RCCL.

 

The T-pool is a great benefit over RCCL.

 

Mike

 

The specialty restaurant on the Summit is Normandie, and it has some trimmings from the original oceanliner of the same name, including a small display of the original china and crystal from that ship on display near the entrance.

 

It's interesting and appropriate that you mentioned the specialty restaurant and the Aqua Spa Cafe together. We were informed on board last week that the same people run both venues, which would explain why the Aqua Spa Cafe is only open for breakfast and lunch, and why the food is of such high quality.

[Schplinky]

The specialty restaurant on the Summit is Normandie' date=' and it has some trimmings from the original oceanliner of the same name, including a small display of the original china and crystal from that ship on display near the entrance.

 

It's interesting and appropriate that you mentioned the specialty restaurant and the Aqua Spa Cafe together. We were informed on board last week that the same people run both venues, which would explain why the Aqua Spa Cafe is only open for breakfast and lunch, and why the food is of such high quality.[/quote']

 

I can see that. it was true on Century as we recognised the wait-staff.

[hcat]

Keep in mind if it is School break for you, it will be for others too including children! They may graviatate to the ships with more activities but they will still be there... as teachers you may want a break from those you teach but may also know that's what the resorts are like at that time...

[02143]

If you want to discuss the gay friendliness issue separate from the Royal vs. Celebrity discussion, the Gay and Lesbian Cruisers board might be a good place to get a cross-section of views.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=162

 

I started on Celebrity, fell in love with it, and then switched to Royal, so I can't offer any helpful views. I prefer Celebrity but I haven't tried traveling just the two of us so I can't dispute what's been said about the nightlife.

[02143]

Make sure you try the specialty restaurant. (Don't know the name of it on Summit).

 

My experiences were on Millennium and Constellation and several years ago, but the specialty restaurants on both were a notch above Royal in their formality and presentation. Not to knock Portofino or Chops, but dining in Normandie or Ocean Liners felt like an experience rather than merely a very good restaurant meal.