Summit or Reflection - Itinerary vs. Ship?

[DDEMOM]

I am deciding between the Summit and the Reflection, having been on both. The Summit has a better itinerary but the Reflection is a much more beautiful ship. Which do you choose? 7 day Southern on the Summit or the 7 day Eastern on the Reflection?

[cruisinelsewhere]

I have done them both and it is a question I wrestle with (but not too much). I will take the Summit itinerary(twice on Galaxy and again on Summit) over Reflection Eastern(Reflection once, Solstice & Millennium on more than one occasion) anyday. The reason I lean this way...Itinerary (with Antigua) is an AWESOME itinerary..so much to do! Love S class, but M class has a special "something"....I just booked Constellation for next week because I have not seen it Solticized yet (really hope it is not a detractor). I found Reflection to be top-heavy and less stable than the M class or Solstice for that matter. That being said, I live in Florida so I do have Reflection booked this year because parking is generally less expensive than flying. If $ were not an option...Summit for me...or like my M&D are doing soon...14 day southern on Eclipse(FANTASY CRUISE...but who has the time?)

[Cruise a holic]

I am deciding between the Summit and the Reflection, having been on both. The Summit has a better itinerary but the Reflection is a much more beautiful ship. Which do you choose? 7 day Southern on the Summit or the 7 day Eastern on the Reflection?

 

Having been on both, it depends on what is more important to you. Honestly, we like both for different reasons. The Summit is like "old shoes", very comfortable and easy and most venues very accessible. On the negative side, the cabins are dated and the bathrooms in the cabins aren't nearly as nice as those on the Reflection. The summit, while they maintain in nicely is dated in most areas, especially the adult pool area.

 

If dining is important to you, the Reflection wins hands down, you have more options. The reflection also has the Molecular bar as well as the Martini Bar. Most of the other venues are also new and improved, especially the buffet area.

 

Having said all of the above, we typically sail twice a year- once to Bermuda on the Summit and one time a year (or two if we can swing it) on a Solstice class ship.

 

It is truly a personal decision. You cannot go wrong with either ship.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[riclop]

Thats an easy choice REFLECTION.

[stipmom]

Was on last weeks sailing of the Reflection and booked the Summit for next year but that was mostly because that was what my friends wanted. The Summit has a much nicer itinerary, the Reflection is a much nicer ship. Depends on what is important to you. If you decide on the Reflection be aware

That the first sea day is not as nice as the sea days on a Southern route. On our Reflection sailing it was so windy it was unpleasant sitting on deck. We were in Aqua so I wound up going to the Persian Gardens to get out of the wind. The staff told me that is not unusual for those sailings

[ariawoman]

It really depends on what's more important to you. Is the port experience more important, or the on board experience.

 

If it's on board experience - I'd take the Reflection.

 

If it's ports - I'd take the Summit.

 

Having sailed on both, I definitely have more of a love for the S class - however I do put itinerary first for myself, as I'm typically travelling for the ports, not the ship. Once in a while I'll book a ship just to experience the ship - for example my Quantum of the Seas booking is just that, an on board trip. Could care less where she's goin'.

 

It sounds to me like itinerary is more your driving force though. Either way, you can't go wrong, you'll be on a ship!

[travellerin1984]

We enjoyd our cruise on Summit out of San Juan this January very much. The ports were great! We didnt like the ship as much we like S-class ships but the ports really made up for the ship. I would go for the ports!

[MaggieAtSea]

I disagree with an earlier poster in that I think you have to drill down a bit deeper to get at the "on board" experience being better on one or the other.

 

I agree that if specialty dining is important to you, Reflection has more options and thus may be a better choice. For us, we do one dinner in a specialty restaurant on a 7-night cruise… for all the vaulted praise, the reality for us is that we live in the NYC area so nothing on a cruise ship has ever come close to the restaurants we can enjoy on land. SO the dining isn't that important to us.

 

WHat does matter is veranda and room size, and here I think Summit beats the S-class ships. The difference between a Royal Suite, for example, on the two classes is profound… Summit has a much larger balcony and the interior space is laid out in a much more functional, larger-feeling way. And as we have had the aft corner balconies on the Summit, it goes without saying there's not a better outdoor space in any of the staterooms S-class ships. We like the fewer passengers, the lounge spaces, and pool areas on Summit over the S-class. And while the lawn is novel, it did not drive us back to the space over the 7-days. We have a lawn at home!!

 

Does new equal better? Not always. Do I think the Summit and its sisters are showing their age? You bet. On a 7-day port-intensive itinerary does it matter? Nope. Not to us.

 

So my advice would be think about how you want to spend your time on the cruise. What matters to you? Room size? Pool area? Dining? Itinerary? For us, itinerary always wins out and we like smaller over larger.

 

Ultimately, can you really go wrong?? Enjoy your sailing whatever you decide!

[susiej4]

I would agree with that. Back on the Summit in November.

 

I disagree with an earlier poster in that I think you have to drill down a bit deeper to get at the "on board" experience being better on one or the other.

 

I agree that if specialty dining is important to you, Reflection has more options and thus may be a better choice. For us, we do one dinner in a specialty restaurant on a 7-night cruise… for all the vaulted praise, the reality for us is that we live in the NYC area so nothing on a cruise ship has ever come close to the restaurants we can enjoy on land. SO the dining isn't that important to us.

 

WHat does matter is veranda and room size, and here I think Summit beats the S-class ships. The difference between a Royal Suite, for example, on the two classes is profound… Summit has a much larger balcony and the interior space is laid out in a much more functional, larger-feeling way. And as we have had the aft corner balconies on the Summit, it goes without saying there's not a better outdoor space in any of the staterooms S-class ships. We like the fewer passengers, the lounge spaces, and pool areas on Summit over the S-class. And while the lawn is novel, it did not drive us back to the space over the 7-days. We have a lawn at home!!

 

Does new equal better? Not always. Do I think the Summit and its sisters are showing their age? You bet. On a 7-day port-intensive itinerary does it matter? Nope. Not to us.

 

So my advice would be think about how you want to spend your time on the cruise. What matters to you? Room size? Pool area? Dining? Itinerary? For us, itinerary always wins out and we like smaller over larger.

 

Ultimately, can you really go wrong?? Enjoy your sailing whatever you decide!

[Cruising89143]

It really depends on what's more important to you. Is the port experience more important, or the on board experience.

 

If it's on board experience - I'd take the Reflection.

 

If it's ports - I'd take the Summit.

 

I agree with is advice. :)