bermuda review summit 8/25

[turkeysmoker]

We returned today from a 7 night cruise on the Celebrity Summit. We had stateroom #9127. Very nice and minor issue with shower (rust on bottom). Staying Aqua class is a true treat! Blu Restaurant staff (Mazy, Luigi, Rambo, Ganna, Krystiana, Jomkwan, Giovanna) will not let you down. Fabulous food and staff is top notch and made it a wonderful experience. Normandy Restaurant another wonderful experience. Both Blu and Normandy offer superb food! Ship was well kept and housekeeping staff and crew did a wonderful job catering to your every need. Steve the cruise director did a fantastic job with the entertainment. Will definitely go back!

[CaribbeanBound]

Thanks for the quick review.

[bphman]

I, too, was on the same cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a suite and had breakfast in Blu every morning. Wa had dinner in Blu one night at the request of Mazy, the Maitre d', who was our waiter n the Galaxy 13 years ago. He is fantastic.

 

We had a Sky Suite that was nice but nothing great. We did enjoy some of the little perks. We only had the suite because there was a fire sale and the price of the suite was quite a bit less than our original AQ.

 

We had a free dinner in Normandie and I would have to say that it was not worth $45. We barely got our menu and the waiter wanted our order. I stated that I wanted to order our wine first and he said that the sommelier was very busy and she had an attitude. The waiter screwed up our order and tried to blame me but, since I am deathly allergic to shellfish, I told him that I never would have offered lobster. Duck was OK at best but way too salty. The rest of the food has improved quite a bit since our last cruise although the Lido was not good. We enjoyed the MDR, Bistro on Five for lunch, and the pizza.

 

I must say that the entertainment was very good. There seemed to be more daytime activities than other lines and we did enjoy the shows. This was the first time they had a matinee show on any ship. James Stephens III was the headliner and was great. The illusionist fell ill so they brought on a juggler who was entertaining.

 

I found the ship in good shape. No real signs of aging and the crew kept everything shining. My main criticism is the design of the shops. There was always a log jam because the passageway was very narrow.

 

We are only Select but I found the perks to be a nice touch. I did use a lot of the coupons. The wine tasting was OK and it gave us an opportunity to meet people.

 

I booked our next cruise on board, something I have never done, because I got extra OBC. I will have to see what our TA will do for us. If nothing, I may transfer it back to Celebrity. I usually don't use a TA but I got a good deal this time. Looking forward to Iceland and back to AQ. I wish it were an S class but we really enjoyed the classiness of the Summit so I am sure we will like Infinity.

[skahead]

I was on the ship too.

 

Ship

 

The ship was one of the nicer ships that I’ve been on with true wood in a lot of areas that other lines would use plastic or simulated wood. While the cabin has some signs of age in the bathroom, the ship looked in good health.

 

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Shows

 

The shows was very good and although I was a bit upset that the illusionist fell ill, but enjoyed the backup that they flew in midway through the cruise. The production shows are nice but I felt they needed more of a story to them. The 54 on broadway singer they brought in was a great singer but needed some more variety.... he was better suited for one of the bars on the ship.

 

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Educational speaker

This was a bit of a joke and a true blemish to the celebrity line. The speaker did not provide any educational value and lacked content in his lectures. The 3rd speech in his series was down to ~25 people, I stopped by to count.

 

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Food

The food was great as expected on a celebrity cruise. The one upsetting part is that according to my waiter the MDR will not allow for 2nds anymore. There were several times where I tried and was ignored. For example, I love baked Alaska.. I asked for it every night hoping I’d get lucky. On baked Alaska night I begged for a 2nd piece from the start of it. No luck from the waiter... however, one of my table mates hated baked Alaska and since there were no other options they gifted me theirs. Not sure if it was my waiter, but this would keep me from doing another celebrity cruise again.

 

1 night we did eat at Normande and although the service was a bit overwhelmingly in your face (not bad, but pushy,) the food was fantastic. I'm not sure if I’d recommend as its hard to say the food was worth the extra cash; however, it is worth trying if you've never been.

 

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Daytime activities

 

Of all the cruises I’ve been on this one seemed to lack many of the daytime activities I’d come to love. There was a vast reduction in the amount of bingo games.

Game show activities were limited to late late night only.

Trivia was good; however, I kept missing the good ones.

 

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Drink packages

 

This was well worth the $400. Here was a daily day for me.

4-5 bottles of water

1 cup of fresh juice

3 cups of lattes (2 in the morning, 1 after dinner)

2-3 glasses of wine (all at dinner)

2 predinner drinks (mainly throughout the day prior to dinner)

2 after dinner drinks

 

The only issue I had was in Normande were they would not sell me any wine under $12 and would charge me the difference. Good wine though.

 

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Overall

 

The ship was a lot of fun... clean.. and amazingly friendly staff.

[CruisingChick]

What? No more seconds in the MDR! When did that happen? We just sailed Summit in May and will be back on her Saturday. WOW.

[carolslc]

>>The one upsetting part is that according to my waiter the MDR will not allow for 2nds anymore. There were several times where I tried and was ignored.

 

Wow! I haven't been on the Summit yet - we're booked for January, but this is surprising to hear. Can you order more than one of something to start? It sounds like you tried with the Baked Alaska, and it was not allowed. Maybe because they were afraid of running out? I was already planning to order two appetizers, one entree, and two desserts every evening. :) I smile, but not really joking. I've heard in the past it was even encouraged by waiters for two people to share three items. We will be working up an appetite at the ports every day and I've heard portions are on the small side.

[Karen@Steve]

I think it was an issue with the waiter. I have always been able to order multiple appetizers, entrees, desserts, etc. DH and I ordered lobster on formal night and an additional beef entree for surf and turf. I've never heard of anyone being refused additional orders unless it was so late in the seating that they needed to prepare for the next seating. Even then, they'll box it up and send it with you. The best thing would have been to talk to the maitre 'd or his assistant.

[skahead]

>>The one upsetting part is that according to my waiter the MDR will not allow for 2nds anymore. There were several times where I tried and was ignored.

 

Wow! I haven't been on the Summit yet - we're booked for January, but this is surprising to hear. Can you order more than one of something to start? It sounds like you tried with the Baked Alaska, and it was not allowed. Maybe because they were afraid of running out? I was already planning to order two appetizers, one entree, and two desserts every evening. :) I smile, but not really joking. I've heard in the past it was even encouraged by waiters for two people to share three items. We will be working up an appetite at the ports every day and I've heard portions are on the small side.

 

On lobster night I ordered the Lobster and Beef Wellington. Only the Wellington made it to my table. I was told the chefs would only allow for one.

 

On 2 other nights I had requested a 2nd appetizer when ordering and did not get it.

 

It might be that the cruise I was on was filled. I was told by 3 different people they were servicing close to 10,000 meals a day. On a typical cruise they do 9,000 or less.

[Jersey42]

The one upsetting part is that according to my waiter the MDR will not allow for 2nds anymore. There were several times where I tried and was ignored.

 

We were on the Summit the previous week. The only time we tried to order two entres, there was no problem. We both had the lobster and asked for the mushroom risoto to share. We were in Select dining.

[karl_nj]

On lobster night I ordered the Lobster and Beef Wellington. Only the Wellington made it to my table. I was told the chefs would only allow for one.

 

On 2 other nights I had requested a 2nd appetizer when ordering and did not get it.

 

It might be that the cruise I was on was filled. I was told by 3 different people they were servicing close to 10,000 meals a day. On a typical cruise they do 9,000 or less.

 

Very strange, I was on the same cruise as you and didn't have any of these issues. My father-in-law ordered the wellington and a lobster, and he got both. I ordered the wellington and then my waiter got us an extra lobster even without asking, which my wife and I split and enjoyed.

 

Our table didn't have any issues ordering 2nd appetizers, or deserts, or 2nd anything. We were the first seating though, maybe they were running out of things by the 2nd seating. I do know that they ran out of Frosted Flakes by the end of the cruise.

 

My 4 year old wanted pasta with meatballs or meat sauce almost every night. On nights when that type of sauce wasn't available in the MDR, our waiter sent someone up to the Oceanview Cafe to get the sauce for her.

 

I was really happy with our waiter, and I did realize we were lucky to get him. Sorry to hear that you had such a difficult waiter. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise despite it.

[bphman]

There was no problems getting seconds. Nor getting something other than Baked Alaska. We often had the pasta or vegetarian selection as an appetizer. Never a question.

[skahead]

We were the first seating though, maybe they were running out of things by the 2nd seating. I do know that they ran out of Frosted Flakes by the end of the cruise.

 

 

I was really happy with our waiter, and I did realize we were lucky to get him. Sorry to hear that you had such a difficult waiter. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise despite it.

 

I was the first seating as well. We would normally show up around ~5:55 and on most nights were in the first group in the MDR. I'm somewhat happy that it was isolated though. I guess not all waiters are top tier...

 

Thanks for confirming it was waiter related. My assistant waiter was great though.

[stellarose]

I sometimes asked for two entrees if I did not get an appetizer or salad. never an issue.

 

we were on the summit in july.

 

so worth the upgraded bev package. loved the shows.

 

did not see many kids. we decided to lay out on deck 12 by the bball court. quiet, great chairs and still had bar service.

 

miss Bermuda and summit.

 

we had an ocean view on floor 2 by the gangway.loved the room and the cruise was fabu!!!

[FIRELT5]

I was on the ship too.

 

Ship

 

The ship was one of the nicer ships that I’ve been on with true wood in a lot of areas that other lines would use plastic or simulated wood. While the cabin has some signs of age in the bathroom, the ship looked in good health.

 

-----

 

Shows

 

The shows was very good and although I was a bit upset that the illusionist fell ill, but enjoyed the backup that they flew in midway through the cruise. The production shows are nice but I

 

felt they needed more of a story to them. The 54 on broadway singer they brought in was a great singer but needed some more variety.... he was better suited for one of the bars on the ship.

 

-----

 

Educational speaker

This was a bit of a joke and a true blemish to the celebrity line. The speaker did not provide any educational value and lacked content in his lectures. The 3rd speech in his series was down to ~25 people, I stopped by to count.

 

-----

 

Food

The food was great as expected on a celebrity cruise. The one upsetting part is that according to my waiter the MDR will not allow for 2nds anymore. There were several times where I tried and was ignored. For example, I love baked Alaska.. I asked for it every night hoping I’d get lucky. On baked Alaska night I begged for a 2nd piece from the start of it. No luck from the waiter... however, one of my table mates hated baked Alaska and since there were no other options they gifted me theirs. Not sure if it was my waiter, but this would keep me from doing another celebrity cruise again.

 

1 night we did eat at Normande and although the service was a bit overwhelmingly in your face (not bad, but pushy,) the food was fantastic. I'm not sure if I’d recommend as its hard to say the food was worth the extra cash; however, it is worth trying if you've never been.

 

-----

 

Daytime activities

 

Of all the cruises I’ve been on this one seemed to lack many of the daytime activities I’d come to love. There was a vast reduction in the amount of bingo games.

Game show activities were limited to late late night only.

Trivia was good; however, I kept missing the good ones.

 

-----

 

Drink packages

 

This was well worth the $400. Here was a daily day for me.

4-5 bottles of water

1 cup of fresh juice

3 cups of lattes (2 in the morning, 1 after dinner)

2-3 glasses of wine (all at dinner)

2 predinner drinks (mainly throughout the day prior to dinner)

2 after dinner drinks

 

The only issue I had was in Normande were they would not sell me any wine under $12 and would charge me the difference. Good wine though.

 

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Overall

 

The ship was a lot of fun... clean.. and amazingly friendly staff.

 

We Were on the same voyage and had no problems obtaining 2nds.