June 27 Summit to Bermuda

[Editor]

Just got back Sunday. I travelled with my 19 year old daughter and parents.

 

My husband drove us to the pier with no problems. He dropped us off at about 1:30. We were on board very quickly. There was a line, but it moved very fast. The shuttle to the ship was very quick as well.

 

We checked out our room (2166) and then went directly to the Waterfall Cafe for lunch. We grabbed a quick salad, went back down to our room to see if our bags arrived (which they hadn't), and then went directly to the lifeboat drill (painless). Afterward, checked out if bags arrived (they did!), and went to deck 11 for sailaway. I was hoping for a more exciting sailaway (free cocktails, live band, etc.), but that was not the case.

 

Here's a breakdown of the cruise:

 

Stateroom: we were pleased. Our steward was Benny. He couldn't have been nicer or more efficient. Our room was cleaned well and extremely quickly. BTW, many have posted that the window treatments have cowboys and indians on them. Actually, they're more like Mongol warriors.

 

Waterfall Cafe: we ate breakfast there everyday. It has waffles (per previous posts I was expecting spectacular waffles, but they were typical diner waffles to me and my daughter), omlet/fried egg stations, french toast (very good), cereals, bagels, toast, etc. At lunch they had hot foods (not appealing to us), cold salads, sandwich/pannini station, pasta station, pizza. You could also get delicious ice cream there. At 4:00 they served a casual tea that included cookies, cakes, scones. At 5:00 they served sushi that wasn't too bad and stir fry.

 

We found the crew that replenished the trays and cutlery a bit rude with pushing, banging into you, etc. Also, as the cruise went on, many tables remained uncleared for quite a while. Not nice to walk in and see dirty tables around.

 

Poolside grill: they served pretty good burgers, hotdogs, nachos, wings, fries, onion rings, all the fixings as well.

 

Cosmopolitan: we had the late seating. Gama was our server. The food was very good and the service excellent!

 

Entertainment: mediocre at best. Toward the end of the cruise we stopped going. The best show was the comic.

 

Activities: a bit on the dull side. I found this to be a very laid back cruise. Luckily for me, I wasn't looking to do activities (just wanted some good ol' R&R), but if I was, I would have been bored.

 

The ship: yes, there was rust, but nothing shocking. The lounges are all in pretty good shape (no threadbare chairs, etc.). My parent's balcony (7152) needed a paint job and new furniture. Actually, the pooldeck needs new furniture as well.

 

Bermuda: lovely! We took the catamaran/snorkle excursion. It was a lot of fun. The crew was fantastic (Steve and Captain Bees are adorable!) We also took a private tour of the entire island. Our driver was very nice and knowledgable. He even took my parents to the cottage colony they stayed at 50 years ago on their honeymoon and their favorite restaurant.

 

Would I sail and recommend Celebrity again: yes!

 

If you have any questions ask away!

[Queenzena]

Besides the private tour and catamaran/snorkel excursion, what else did you do on the island. Going next week with a teen - did your DD like the atmosphere?

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[mahdnc]

Thanks for writing the review! We are going in a month and cannot wait.

[Editor]

Queenzeena: yes, my daughter liked the atmosphere. She was looking for R & R herself so the laid back atmosphere was perfect. We were planning on going to Horseshoe beach on the last day, but the weather wasn't good (heavy rain). It stopped early afternoon, so we walked around King's Wharf. We also checked out the small beach there, but it wasn't that nice.

 

After the tour and sail, we sunned on deck 11 (no crowds!).

[mardon]

Editor: we did the May 30 cruise to Bermuda and loved everything about it. We found the crew to be as friendly as always. Never met up with a rude crew member. We felt the ship offered alot of activities. Computer courses, learn Spanish, lecture series, movies, bingo, dance lessons, floral arrangements, trivia, name that tune, crew talent show, music to listen to by the pool. enuf activities for me. what else would you have liked to have for activities that you claim they didn't offer enuf? I am sorry you didn't get to Horseshoe Beach because that was my favorite. We were lucky that we had PErFECT weather. The lady at my table kept complaining all week also that there was nothing to do and that Royal Carib offered more but when I asked her what else she would have liked them to offer, she didn't have any answer.

[Lois R]

Sounds like you had nice time:)

 

As for free cocktails at sailaway?? In 25 cruises I have never seen

free booze at sailaway.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with us:)

[librarylady19]

Thanks for your review. Glad you had good service in MDR. I plan to avoid the cafe at lunch as I'm not a fan of that whole buffet scene. We only have one sea day on our December cruise and will have breakfast in our room.

Did you notice any problems with smokers not following the rules as has been reported recently?

[Editor]

When I cruised on the Diamond Princess a few years back, they offered complimentary sailaway cocktails on deck. They were pretty substantial, too!

 

My parents ordered room service a few times. They said the food came earlier then requested. They also said it was not very good. Just their opinion.

 

We did not experience rude smokers at all.

 

I found the limited offerings of day time activities geared more for an older crowd. I work full time. I'm not interested in taking a computer class (I'm on the computer all day at work). I'm not interested in learning a language. I did that in high school many years ago. I did attend one lecture and nearly fell asleep. The speaker was not engaging at all. One or two that interested me were offered when most people are at the pool. Celebrity should offer more after sunning hours. The movies were old or I never heard of them. Bingo was offered only twice a day.

 

However, I did have a good time on the cruise. I was with good company and fellow cruisers were very nice!

[mickey]

We booked the June 27 Bermuda cruise at the last minute to celebrate our anniversary on the 28. I didn't post on the board for lack of time but did sign up for the cc party. Received an email confirmation from Celebrity. By the way, this was our first Celebrity Cruise. Boarding went smoothly and we went to the Waterfall Cafe for lunch. The table and chairs were sticky. Ugh! I guess they weren't cleaned after breakfast. Our luggage came about 3. We had checked in about 11:30. Cabin 7160 was fine. Towels a little thin, but otherwise no complaints. Our cabin steward was leaving at the end of our cruise and I think he let a few things go by. On Tuesday morning we called the front desk when we realized we had never received an invitation to the cc party. We were told it was on Monday and no other explanation was given. The only "invitations" were to numerous sales in the shops. We thought that was strange. Does Celebrity really think people are impressed if they receive a personal invitation to a sale. Friday it rained in Bermuda and most of the ship's passengers stayed on board since we were sailing at 4:30. No additional activities were planned...i.e. trivia, pool games, movies . To be continued...

[Editor]

Mickey, good point! Many of the "activities" were shopping based. I felt that Celebrity really wanted you to spend, spend, spend in their shops or get skin treatments, etc.

[warmwinds]

I was also on that cruise, and am a long time X fan (this cruise put us into Elite status).

 

We had our very same aft cabin, 7208.

 

We also had some minor problems (for the first time ever), so I hope it doesn't sound negative but in the interest of brevity I'm only going to mention the bad (that sounds terrible, but with so many wonderful X cruises under our belt we are well familiar with the good, it was surprising to have some bad.

 

Our cabin: badly needs a redo...last year I noticed part of the baseboard ripped off, still there. Our veranda floor was FILTHY. You could not walk out there barefoot or in socks because your feet would be black. First time that EVER happened - we used to be out on the deck barefoot all the time. The tile in our bathroom was grungy. These are all NEW issues so they were noticeable.

 

We also had plumbing issues...one day we suddenly had a wet entry way to our cabin - between the closets and the bathroom. Really soaking wet...put down towel after towel and they were wet. Maintenance came, undid that little grate that leads to the toilet, flushed it a few times, and said it was "the A/C". I hope it was the a/c and not the toilet water! Although it did not smell. But where in the world would the a/c be coming from to wet the floor and only the floor? (not dripping on the walls or ceiling)...anyway, they did fix it then set up a big dryer in our room when we weren't there to further dry the carpet.

 

Food - still tasty and good variety for the MOST part. We noticed a downgrade in the MDR food - no more duck, veal chops, other high end items. But what they did have was good - I didn't not like anything I had. But you could still see the change.

 

Same fruit got boring every day - just melons and pineapple - no fresh berries or strawberries like in the past.

 

The lunch buffet did have an Asian/Indian bent most days, but we like that and thought it was nice to have the healthy alternatives to all the bad things we eat on board (do we really need pizza after the show EVERY night? Yeah....)

 

Entertainment - we're easily amused. We liked everyone except that Sean O" shea or whatever his name was - we thought he sang well, couldn't stand his personality. Other shows were fine. Music around the ship was good, except we prefer when there is a vocalist with the Rendezvous Lounge group instead of just instrumentals. Didn't go to Michaels Club this time so not sure about the Piano player. Always love the acapella groups.

 

Our service - both MDR and cabin - was terrific, really liked all our waiters and stewards.

 

We did not book any shore excursions, just used public transportation to go to Horseshoe Bay beach the first day, Zoo and Aquarium and Hamilton the second, and like everyone was grounded by the rain on the third - we went to the maritime museum right there at the dockyard and it was just excellent.

 

We saw them replacing the chairs in the Martini and Champagne bars, so they are upgrading the soft furniture. We didn't see much stains, rust, etc. but we weren't really looking for them - we were on the Summit last year and there was some loose carpet, etc., but didn't notice that this time.

 

We're booked next year to Alaska on Infinity, then are really looking forward to the major redos of the M class - they are beautiful, we are just so comfortable on them, but they really need a good going over.