Disappointed by Service on Celebrity Summit

[hardingk]

We are sailing a week from today on the Summit. Doesn't sound to positive. We haven't sailed celebrity since 2007...hoping for a great experience!

[monicajay]

We are sailing a week from today on the Summit. Doesn't sound to positive. We haven't sailed celebrity since 2007...hoping for a great experience!

 

I'm sure you'll still have a wonderful cruise. It seems the wait for drinks might be longer because of the number of people who have an included drink package. Since there are many bars, you'll learn that there are some that have faster service than others.

 

I'd be VERY happy to be getting back on the Summit a week from today.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[Lady Arwen]

We are sailing a week from today on the Summit. Doesn't sound to positive. We haven't sailed celebrity since 2007...hoping for a great experience!

 

Please do not worry! You will have a wonderful time on Summit. The entire staff and crew are amazing and try so hard to take care of everyone. Don't let a few negative comments make a bad impression. We have never experience poor service on Summit.

 

Have a fabulous cruise and say "Hi" to Jorge for us!

[hardingk]

I'm sure you'll still have a wonderful cruise. It seems the wait for drinks might be longer because of the number of people who have an included drink package. Since there are many bars, you'll learn that there are some that have faster service than others.

 

I'd be VERY happy to be getting back on the Summit a week from today.

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

Please do not worry! You will have a wonderful time on Summit. The entire staff and crew are amazing and try so hard to take care of everyone. Don't let a few negative comments make a bad impression. We have never experience poor service on Summit.

 

Have a fabulous cruise and say "Hi" to Jorge for us!

 

Thanks! I'm sure we will have a great time. We are looking forward to it!

[Barbee524]

We're just back from the March 29th sailing on the Summit. We also took the Summit this past September (2013). I did notice a marked difference in the number of bar staff this time around. This just meant I had to get up and go to the bar for a drink. Did this "ruin" my cruise? Absolutely not!

[Hlitner]

We are Elite Plus with X and would have to say that drink service, on all our cruises, has been "uneven" at best. On our 14 day Eclipse cruise last December (where a majority of the ship seemed too have a drink package) we thought service was actually quite good. We do think that they are somewhat understaffed when it comes to outdoor service during the day, but we have no problem just walking over to a nearby bar and getting a drink when there are no waiters in the neighborhood.

 

Hank

[ghstudio]

We are Elite Plus with X and would have to say that drink service, on all our cruises, has been "uneven" at best. On our 14 day Eclipse cruise last December (where a majority of the ship seemed too have a drink package) we thought service was actually quite good. We do think that they are somewhat understaffed when it comes to outdoor service during the day, but we have no problem just walking over to a nearby bar and getting a drink when there are no waiters in the neighborhood.

 

Hank

 

Given the choice of bartenders walking around the pool deck areas asking me every 10 minutes if I want the "sweet pumpkin" or whatever the drink of the day is, in a souvenir glass....or walking to a bar to get a drink, I'll pick walk to the bar every time. This is one case where less is more....

[Christine Frances]

Given the choice of bartenders walking around the pool deck areas asking me every 10 minutes if I want the "sweet pumpkin" or whatever the drink of the day is, in a souvenir glass....or walking to a bar to get a drink, I'll pick walk to the bar every time. This is one case where less is more....

 

Totally agree:)

[New Hampshire]

Given the choice of bartenders walking around the pool deck areas asking me every 10 minutes if I want the "sweet pumpkin" or whatever the drink of the day is, in a souvenir glass....or walking to a bar to get a drink, I'll pick walk to the bar every time. This is one case where less is more....

 

I had no trouble at all ordering the drink of my choice from the waiters circulating around the pool. Even those who had the drink of the day on their tray took my order and returned go me in less time than ordering it myself at the bar.

[cruiserone]

Thank you for the roll of $1 tip! We tip room service and also if someone goes out of their way for us. But you all are right about gratuities. With them being shared everyone gets the same whether they give good service or not. We do reward good service. Always tip our room service guys cash and our cabin steward extra.

 

I feel the $1 here and there will go towards good will and a $5 tip to the bartender or bar waiter up front is excellent. We used to do that for our cabin steward by tipping $20 when we first came on board but found it did not make a difference at all. Have had good stewards and not so good stewards.

 

As far as captains are concerned I understand that Capt. Demetrios is now on the Summit!!!! Since we are on this ship in a few weeks I am thrilled:D One of the best captains we have ever had the pleasure of sailing with.

 

Happy Spring Everyone and Safe Sailing.

[Caribbean Beach Bum]

Given the choice of bartenders walking around the pool deck areas asking me every 10 minutes if I want the "sweet pumpkin" or whatever the drink of the day is, in a souvenir glass....or walking to a bar to get a drink, I'll pick walk to the bar every time. This is one case where less is more....

I'm not interested in being harassed like that either, however, waiting 10 or 15 minutes to order a drink then waiting another 10-15 for it to arrive doesn't go down as good service in my book. As I'm basking in the sun on my lounger reading a book or listening to music, the last thing I want to do is to get up and walk over to the bar. I notice several others, including those who sailed on the Summit both in 2014 and 2013 commenting that service has slipped. It sounds like service has been excellent in the past. Hopefully, Celebrity will endeavor to maintain their reputation.

[bunzini]

I'm not interested in being harassed like that either, however, waiting 10 or 15 minutes to order a drink then waiting another 10-15 for it to arrive doesn't go down as good service in my book. As I'm basking in the sun on my lounger reading a book or listening to music, the last thing I want to do is to get up and walk over to the bar. I notice several others, including those who sailed on the Summit both in 2014 and 2013 commenting that service has slipped. It sounds like service has been excellent in the past. Hopefully, Celebrity will endeavor to maintain their reputation.

 

I too noticed that the service was not as good as we have had on previous Celebrity cruises. I am actually NOT referring to bar service, but to service in general. I had my 80 year old mom on the Silhouette this summer and the service in the Ocean Cafe was outstanding. Since she has some trouble walking, there was always someone there to help her bring her plate to the table, get her coffee, etc. I honestly do not think that happened once this week on the Summit (and she was with us again). I was a bit disappointed in the food as well. Little things I guess. I can say that the overall experience was good, so those of you that are booked, don't fret, you will still have a nice experience. It's just those little things......

[Feelin' Nauti']

Disappointed by Service on Celebrity Summit

More concerning was the unfriendly and "I don't give a crap" attitude

.

Unfortunately, despite all the positives about the ship, I doubt I will sail on the Summit again but would certainly give one of the S-class ship a try some day especially with the right itinerary.

Wow!

Surprising.... On our Summit cruise we had the BEST service. Outstanding! That sold me! Made Celebrity cruise line my Favorite.

[milesfromu]

We just got off the Summit on Saturday too and could not agree more with your insight about service, particularly bar service. We are easy people to please and Celebrity sold us on day one with its personalized service. We sailed Millie just 9 months prior and had unsurpassed service. However, with everyone having drink packages now, things have changed. The moment a bartender or wait staff saw "Call" on our seapass, the mannerisms spoke volume. Tipping did not change things much either. On our previous Celebrity cruises, most bartenders and wait staff welcomed you with a genuine smile, took note of your name, and referred to you by name the remainder of the cruise. Not only was there never any name recognition, we never once heard the words "thanks or thank you". Very impersonal, and frankly, not pleasant. On the plus side, it was not hard to get a drink :-)

 

We dined select, and we were amazed at how inconsistent wine and bar service was in the dining room. In fact, we had three dinners without ever receiving wine, bar, or coffee service! This was completely unlike our previous experiences.

 

A real disappointment for us was Michael's Club being a private lounge for "exclusive guests". Not only did that limit venues, it limited where Justin Wade and Will Foracker played to venues that only served coffee and/or wine, no soda, cocktail, or beer service. Justin played at the Sunset Bar a couple times, but that is an outdoor smoking venue, which is not favorable for folks like us.

 

On the good side, the ship is in good shape, officers are noticeable and friendly, and the food has remained relatively consistent. One additional side note though is that salmon and tuna are not readily served at Aquaspa Cafe. We checked nearly everyday, to no evail.

[elena7seas]

Previously, when I would order a drink, the waiter would bring a slip and I could add another $1 to the 15% tip that was already on there. With the drink package, there was no slip of paper, so no extra tip, and now no incentive to provide top service.

 

Try carrying some ones around with you and distributing them appropriately. I think you'll find that the service improves.

 

Hi Linda

 

I think you are right about carrying some ones around with you, if you have the beverages packages. We always used to add an extra $1 or more to the drinks chit, and, with the proliferation of the beverage packages, it has to be a loss to the waiters to only get the 15%. I understand that there is a some pooling involved with the 15% tips, so the bar waiters are each getting less than the 15% from each beverage.

 

Great beverage service adds so much to our enjoyment on the ships, that having the dollar bills handy is the least we can do.

[ghstudio]

I too noticed that the service was not as good as we have had on previous Celebrity cruises. I am actually NOT referring to bar service, but to service in general. I had my 80 year old mom on the Silhouette this summer and the service in the Ocean Cafe was outstanding. Since she has some trouble walking, there was always someone there to help her bring her plate to the table, get her coffee, etc. I honestly do not think that happened once this week on the Summit (and she was with us again). I was a bit disappointed in the food as well. Little things I guess. I can say that the overall experience was good, so those of you that are booked, don't fret, you will still have a nice experience. It's just those little things......

 

This suggests to me that the hotel director and captain aren't doing their job....and if they aren't focused on customer sat/crew friendliness and so on, it filters down to the officers and staff that report to them. My bet is that a change in Hotel Directors would make a major change in the atmosphere of the summit.

 

My sense is that there is a difference in crew attitude on ships that do longer cruises. The summit sister ships, infinity, millenium, constellation are travelling the world including many longer cruises. The summit has been doing short cruises....with many more first time cruisers and "party" trips and that's harder on the crew and perhaps a less prestigious assignment for the officers as well.

However, even if I'm right, that shouldn't be visible to the passengers....so I'm back to the hotel director statement.

[vplsh]

We sailed on Summit three times in 2013 and each cruise had fantastic service and the friendliest crew. We will be on her again next week. I find it hard to believe that the service and friendliness has declined so since we disembarked on December 28. I do know that Captain Leonardos is on vacation, but have read great things about his replacement.

[NotACruiserYet]

We used to always do the 2$ bill, until we found out, the staff couldn't use them in their soda/snack machines on the ship, and could not always get it exchanged, So now with the good ole dollar bills...

 

THANK YOU! Good to know as I thought the $2 bills were a fantastic idea!

[HeatherC430]

I was on the Summit the first week of February this year. I can see why some people would say that they were disappointed in the bar service (if you were expecting top notch service). Below is an excerpt from my Summit review regarding my thoughts on the matter. With that being said, it did not effect the wonderful time we had on the cruise, nor our thoughts on the Summit overall. I'll be on the Summit again in 2 weeks and we having another booked on the Summit for 2015 as well.

 

“The only service area that could use improving was the bar staff. And this isn’t to say that the bar staff in some areas of the ship was good. Specifically the bar in the lido that had the juice and water in the morning – and beer, soda, and water the rest of the day – always great service there! In this area, the guys were especially friendly – probably my favor of all the staff onboard that I came in contact with! They would recognize me and make conversation on a daily basis. Many of the other bartenders (specifically on the lido pool bar and aft bar) seemed to be understaffed based on the number of people waiting on drinks. It wasn’t uncommon to have to wait 10-15 minutes if they were busy for a drink. Other times, they would wait on you within minutes. It was a mixed bag of service in that regard. I would hope that Celebrity would increase the number of bar staff – especially if so many people have the beverage package as a part of 123go promo. This was one of the few areas that I could see room for improvement in the area of service.”

 

[milesfromu]

Fair feedback Heather, consistent with our recent experience on Summit too. Dan was always responsive and friendly tending drinks in the buffet area on Deck 10 (Lido), but everything else was hit or miss (more miss than hit) in terms of wait time and friendliness. We think the main issue with the quality of service from the bars on Deck 10 is that they are the only place you can go during much of the day. This results in them being inundated with passenger traffic. Extra bartenders and wait staff may help, but it also would be nice to balance traffic by having the other venues open, particularly during at sea days. Limiting access to Michaels for what equates to a handful of passengers per sailing and scaling hours back for the other venues does not help mitigate traffic on 10 and increases the distance most passengers have to go to get beverage service. We noticed that the bartenders working the pool bars during the day were the same folks staffing Rendezvous in the evening. Therefore, it is likely a combination of reduced staff and venues that is hampering overall beverage service. Not at all what we experienced with X in the past, whereas all venues were open and well staffed, and passengers received high-level service wherever they chose to partake. X has traditionally placed an emphasis on customer retention, as they move forward with the ongoing “brand changing” to draw new customers, let’s hope they get back to the roots that drew so many return customers. This change in focus is not going to help in retaining the current loyalists, or the newcomers. Let’s hope X pays attention to this type of feedback.

[Wrangler777]

Glad to see others are finding what we recently discovered in terms of a downgrade in overall on-board service. Just got off Summit, was the worst cruise experience we had in 15 sailings among 5 different lines. We will never book with Celebrity again, ever! Poor service all the way around. Our teens were pestering us to bail ship by day 3 they were so bored. I think the business philosophy is that if they give all passengers free beverage packages then they can decrease services all the way around. We would have paid for every drink we had if we could have received good service. Sad to see how fast things can change, we sailed M-class just five months prior. 180 degree change in activities, services, and on-board venue options throughout the day. Two thumbs down on recent changes.