Has Summit really become that bad?

[Beachdude]

Hi,

 

who the hell is just complaining again??? :mad::mad:

 

We have been on Summit in March 2013 and April 2014 and really liked the ship - it was in a very good shape, the food had a very good quality and the service was overally good as well - so IMHO there are NO reasons to complain!

 

Just look forward to that beautiful ship and have a nice cruise. :)

 

Yes, but with all do respect, there are enough comments on the buffet alone to warrant the discussion.

 

Your post supports kicking out the worst and best comments to find the balance of reality for the topic. There are enough post here to support a problem that will hopefully fmotivate Celebrity into improving the situation. We all benefit from a balance discussion.

 

Burt

[cruisingdelt]

We cruised the summit the summer of 2013 to Bermuda, in April of this year on a repo to Bayonne and will be boarding her afin in June to Bermuda. THe Summit is not in the same condition as she was a decade ago and is showing signs of age but so have all of us. DW and I had a great time on both cruises. Here is a short list of items I have read about on these boards recently

• The music was not loud (or is it me getting older and loosing my hearing? It was loadest at the Martini Bar but a conversation could be had without yelling
  
• The food was still good. One night in Normandie and the balance in the MDR. Is it the same as dining in a fancy NYC restuarant, no but condiering they are cooking for over 2000 people it was very nice.
  
• Our waiters (we had select dining) were attentive and informative (you really should try something else but if you want that I will bring it and come see you in 5 minutes should you want a substitute)
  
• Bartenters were always available to take your order and did not have an attitude.
  
• Room attendentsare now invisible but the room is always atended to as soon as you leave it.
  
• Lastly, and the primary reason we return to Celebrity, all of the crew were friendly, helpful and went out of their way to make you feel like a welcome guest. This even incuded the staff ceaning the starways from top to bottom every day. Nice work DINA!
  

That's all folks. 4 1/2 weeks until my next experience.

[antsnanny]

Hi,

 

who the hell is just complaining again??? :mad::mad:

 

We have been on Summit in March 2013 and April 2014 and really liked the ship - it was in a very good shape, the food had a very good quality and the service was overally good as well - so IMHO there are NO reasons to complain!

 

 

Just look forward to that beautiful ship and have a nice cruise. :)

 

Before you jump the gun and act "mad" you probably don't know about the changes to the Summit Buffett nor could you speak to them because they just started.. Perhaps you should read the threads before you get yourself in a tizzy.

[Cruise a holic]

DH and I sailed in a CS. We enjoyed some of the new suite perks but doubt that we will use all of them in the future. That said, one has a choice, and choices are good. Upon boarding, you will be directed to Michael's Club and then to Normandie for embarkation brunch. It is lovely and quiet in there. Some of the new suite perks only apply to CS and above, so I'm not entirely certain if that brunch extends to Sky Suites, but I believe it does. What does not include Sky Suites is Michael's Club along with it's Concierge. On the Summit, that is Cesar Saenz. He certainly was a big help while we were on board, and even prior to our boarding. We didn't avail ourselves of escorted boarding with Cesar, but he did go back and forth between Michael's Club and the cruise terminal to do this. We then went to Normandie for that leisurely, quiet, elegant brunch. We had the option to go to Normandie for our in-transit brunch but chose, instead, to go to Bistro on 5, which all in-transit passengers do. The services at Michael's Club are very nice. It serves as a 24-hour lounge for CS and higher suite guests and hosts continental breakfast, evening cocktail hour, and the services of Cesar during specified hours. You will be given a phone number for him where you can page him at any time. Also, drinks are available, from what I could tell, whenever you wanted them. Bottled water was also available, and I saw people taking it to their cabins. It is a very nice service. Cesar arranged for my friends, who were not in suites but were sailing with me, to dine at a particular table in Cosmopolitan Restaurant. Nobody had to stand in line to arrange this. Cesar's job is to keep you from having to stand in line to do anything, and he does this very well. He will also escort you from the ship during disembarkation, and your luggage will be offloaded in the first group. We got off later, and our luggage was waiting for us. We were invited to tour the bridge but declined due to a conflict. We didn't want to miss lunch with our friends. Also, we were invited to dine at the Staff Captain's table, which we did do. I believe Cesar might have had something to do with this, although I'm not certain. If you are in a CS or above, you will appreciate having Cesar. We certainly did. Next year, there will be a dining room exclusively for CS and above. I don't know how much we'll use this, but it is, once again, a choice. No friends or relatives not staying in a CS or above will be allowed in, and it will be small. The same is true of Michael's Club right now. We spent very little time in Michael's Club because of this, and we tended to go to Revelations for the Elite cocktail hour in order to be with our friends. Prepare to be pampered, and prepare to enjoy your cruise whether or not you are in a CS or above. You will enjoy it even in an inside stateroom.

 

Sounds great we are also on Deck 6 in a CS suite. I wonder if we will have Cesar. Was he your Butler or just the person in charge at Michaels?

 

Thanks,

[cruiseacecat]

I hope that all of you about to cruise on my favorite ship will have as good a time as I have always had on her. I love the additions to her when she was "Solsticised". The better features of the S class, but in a nice M class size ship. It makes her just about perfect in my opinion.

 

I admit to having some misgivings about what I am reading about the buffet and the pool grill. I do like my food hot when it supposed to be hot. Sadly, I will not be back on Summit until Oct., but I truly hope this problem is not ongoing.

 

Also very happy to hear that the ratty deck loungers on the upper deck have been replaced. They have been an embarrassment for some time now.

 

On my last cruise in April, I found the food to be good to very very good. Did not quite make excellent, except for Normandy.

 

Please stop worrying and just enjoy your cruise.

Edited May 21, 2014 by cruiseacecat

[Mikeandme]

Sounds great we are also on Deck 6 in a CS suite. I wonder if we will have Cesar. Was he your Butler or just the person in charge at Michaels?

 

Thanks,

Cesar is the Concierge at Michael's Club. Our butler in 8106 was Sebastian, and he was excellent. Enjoy your cruise!

[tomcruiser1234]

We just got off our 15 th cruise with Celebrity.

 

Things were great as always.

 

They make changes some better and some worse.

 

We are hearing the same complaints for the Milli that we are booking B2B in January 2015. I think people get on a few issues that they did not like and dish the whole company....

 

My opinion best cruise company... Summit was great last year... cant imagine things have gone down hill that fast.

[shipfriend_max]

IMHO there is absolutely no problem concerning the buffet... enough selection at breakfast and lunch, a good vaiety and very delicious cakes, warm meals etc... especially the stations where your food is made fresh (pasta, stir fry, grill) are really great!!

OK, in the evening Princess offers considerably more at the buffet than Celebrity - but the latter ones do not provide less, and the common Celebrity clients dine at the MDR in the evening. So the Oceanview is not crowded.

IMHO it is never too crowded - ok, you have a few lines at the rushhour, but you do not need to wait longer than 5 minutes, and there are no problems to find a table...

 

Just read the posts - the absolute majority is happy about Summit - so no need to be wooried. :)

[need2bespoiled]

DH and I sailed in a CS. We enjoyed some of the new suite perks but doubt that we will use all of them in the future. That said, one has a choice, and choices are good. Upon boarding, you will be directed to Michael's Club and then to Normandie for embarkation brunch. It is lovely and quiet in there. Some of the new suite perks only apply to CS and above, so I'm not entirely certain if that brunch extends to Sky Suites, but I believe it does. What does not include Sky Suites is Michael's Club along with it's Concierge. On the Summit, that is Cesar Saenz. He certainly was a big help while we were on board, and even prior to our boarding. We didn't avail ourselves of escorted boarding with Cesar, but he did go back and forth between Michael's Club and the cruise terminal to do this. We then went to Normandie for that leisurely, quiet, elegant brunch. We had the option to go to Normandie for our in-transit brunch but chose, instead, to go to Bistro on 5, which all in-transit passengers do. The services at Michael's Club are very nice. It serves as a 24-hour lounge for CS and higher suite guests and hosts continental breakfast, evening cocktail hour, and the services of Cesar during specified hours. You will be given a phone number for him where you can page him at any time. Also, drinks are available, from what I could tell, whenever you wanted them. Bottled water was also available, and I saw people taking it to their cabins. It is a very nice service. Cesar arranged for my friends, who were not in suites but were sailing with me, to dine at a particular table in Cosmopolitan Restaurant. Nobody had to stand in line to arrange this. Cesar's job is to keep you from having to stand in line to do anything, and he does this very well. He will also escort you from the ship during disembarkation, and your luggage will be offloaded in the first group. We got off later, and our luggage was waiting for us. We were invited to tour the bridge but declined due to a conflict. We didn't want to miss lunch with our friends. Also, we were invited to dine at the Staff Captain's table, which we did do. I believe Cesar might have had something to do with this, although I'm not certain. If you are in a CS or above, you will appreciate having Cesar. We certainly did. Next year, there will be a dining room exclusively for CS and above. I don't know how much we'll use this, but it is, once again, a choice. No friends or relatives not staying in a CS or above will be allowed in, and it will be small. The same is true of Michael's Club right now. We spent very little time in Michael's Club because of this, and we tended to go to Revelations for the Elite cocktail hour in order to be with our friends. Prepare to be pampered, and prepare to enjoy your cruise whether or not you are in a CS or above. You will enjoy it even in an inside stateroom.

 

It's great to hear about the new embarkation dining option for suite guests.

Some of the information above is not correct, for example, sky suites and above get the new dining room as of April, and it will be more of your assigned dining room, like Blu is for Aqua guests. You WILL be able to bring non suite guests in, on a space available basis, with a (significant by my estimation) upcharge.

 

See this document for more detail and information:

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/14037410_CEL_Suites_FAQs.pdf

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Mikeandme]

It's great to hear about the new embarkation dining option for suite guests.

Some of the information above is not correct, for example, sky suites and above get the new dining room as of April, and it will be more of your assigned dining room, like Blu is for Aqua guests. You WILL be able to bring non suite guests in, on a space available basis, with a (significant by my estimation) upcharge.

 

See this document for more detail and information:

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/14037410_CEL_Suites_FAQs.pdf

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Oops! Yet another senior moment.:o

[jd1966]

Where do you see chronic griping? We were on the ship and the new concept in the buffet is not good, would you rather we all pretend it was great and not say anything so that it could go fleet wide? I think not!!

 

If you think that Celebrity cares one iota about your opinion, then carry on. My point was that the OP was seriously concerned just five days before departure about issues that may not bother them at all. They didn't affect our Century cruise!

[need2bespoiled]

Oops! Yet another senior moment.:o

 

No worries, was great to get some of that info, for example, the info abou the assistance by the concierge to help with disembarkation. We're flying out of Newark on a 10:20a flight. I know it is too early, but we're prepared to walk off with our luggage if need be, or, better yet, use the concierge to help facilitate getting off early and not walk off with our luggage. We've arrange a private car and we don't expect problems on a Sunday morning, but if we miss our flight, so be it.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Mikeandme]

No worries, was great to get some of that info, for example, the info abou the assistance by the concierge to help with disembarkation. We're flying out of Newark on a 10:20a flight. I know it is too early, but we're prepared to walk off with our luggage if need be, or, better yet, use the concierge to help facilitate getting off early and not walk off with our luggage. We've arrange a private car and we don't expect problems on a Sunday morning, but if we miss our flight, so be it.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

I forgot to mention another perk. The drink menu in Michael's Club is expanded from that offered at the Elite cocktail hour. If what you want is not on the menu, it was indicated that arrangements could be made. I don't drink, so I don't really know what all of that means. As far as disembarkation, your luggage will be offloaded in group 1, and your group will be the first to disembark if you prefer to go that route. We weren't flying, so all of this was not important to us. Our luggage was very easy to find after most of it had been removed prior to our disembarkation.

 

Enjoy your cruise! We did and have booked b2b next year, too.:D

[Cruise a holic]

I forgot to mention another perk. The drink menu in Michael's Club is expanded from that offered at the Elite cocktail hour. If what you want is not on the menu, it was indicated that arrangements could be made. I don't drink, so I don't really know what all of that means. As far as disembarkation, your luggage will be offloaded in group 1, and your group will be the first to disembark if you prefer to go that route. We weren't flying, so all of this was not important to us. Our luggage was very easy to find after most of it had been removed prior to our disembarkation.

 

Enjoy your cruise! We did and have booked b2b next year, too.:D

 

The expanded drink menu might not be much of a perk for us, as we have the premium drink package- The Elite lounge drinks aren't good IMO- we like the high end Martini's and frozen drinks which aren't offered in the Elite lounge. Like the idea of early luggage off loading.

[antsnanny]

If you think that Celebrity cares one iota about your opinion, then carry on. My point was that the OP was seriously concerned just five days before departure about issues that may not bother them at all. They didn't affect our Century cruise!

 

Yes, I do think Celebrity gives a hoot about my opinion, when a cruise line or any other business stops caring it usually will go under! No pun intended…

[need2bespoiled]

The expanded drink menu might not be much of a perk for us, as we have the premium drink package- The Elite lounge drinks aren't good IMO- we like the high end Martini's and frozen drinks which aren't offered in the Elite lounge. Like the idea of early luggage off loading.

 

This is what is great about lots of benefits and choices whether it be at, across or between categories. We can all find something that works for us in the budget we'd like to spend.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Ya, pizza, burgers and hotdogs. We also cruise to eat well and I worry that good food is becoming a thing of the past for cruising. It's not just Celebrity, the other lines are cutting down as well.

 

We are doing more land vacations these days because cruising is loosing its appeal with the changes the last few years. We decided to try Celebrity last year because they seemed to be the cruise line that still had some of the old style elegance and food service that we like from the cruising experience. But even Celebrity is changing. We still like to cruise now and then, maybe we need to go way out of the norm and try river cruises or something.

 

Burt

 

Instead of cruising twice a year, we’ll now do one cruise, one land-based. Really wanted to do a New England cruise this fall, but am currently researching land based choices. Would’ve preferred cruising but oh well, still fortunate to travel.

[ladytaekwondo]

My DH just booked us a B2B in January 2015 on the Summit leaving from San Juan. We are both pretty excited--hoping any buffet issues are settled by then.

[cruiserone]

Recently off the Summit and we loved it. Since we mostly cruise on larger ships and have not done a small ship in awhile, we enjoyed it so much. I do have to agree that the buffet is not the best but we never came away disappointed in the food. Found the staff to be wonderful from our server too our cabin steward and bar staff. I would not worry at all. We are in our 60's like to eat in good restaurants and travel a lot. The ship has some details, it's old!! I know how she feels:) Oh, love Capt. Dimitrios Kafetzis!!!! and CD Lisa Richard.

 

Happy Sailing!

[riredsox]

I am boarding Summit in 5 days and all I am reading are complaints about the ship.

 

Is it really that bad? What's going on?

 

Hi Anne Maria! If you see Cesar Zarate (waiter) Tell him Hello from me and Joe and give him a hug! You won't mind trust me. Have an excellent cruise, Jill

 

ps... Don't believe most of the bad reviews here, you know you will have a fabulous time. Can you say bellini martini appletini?

[Lois R]

Hi Anne Maria! If you see Cesar Zarate (waiter) Tell him Hello from me and Joe and give him a hug! You won't mind trust me. Have an excellent cruise, Jill

 

ps... Don't believe most of the bad reviews here, you know you will have a fabulous time. Can you say bellini martini appletini?

 

Hi, they are now home:)...they sailed last week.

[beachfanatic]

We have sailed the Summit 10 times and have loved it every time. No complaints...The ship and crew is always fabulous. Never looks worn. Try to get the cabins on Deck 11, they are new and in a great location.

[go fish 44]

Just off the Summit and happy to report all new pool chairs .

 

Also new tables and chairs at the back outdoor buffet on deck 10.

[cle-guy]

Just off the Summit and happy to report all new pool chairs .

 

Also new tables and chairs at the back outdoor buffet on deck 10.

 

I also wondered if some of the ocean view cafe INDOOR chairs were new...seems part of it had more "club style" chars versus seat and wooden back - although there were plenty of seat and wooden back chairs still in use.

 

Also noticed no "sitting/rocking" chairs on the lifeboat deck, just a few of the pool loungers. I've seen the wooden chair/rockers on Connie for sure, and THOUGHT i remembered them on summit in March, but was not 100% sure.

[antsnanny]

Recently off the Summit and we loved it. Since we mostly cruise on larger ships and have not done a small ship in awhile, we enjoyed it so much. I do have to agree that the buffet is not the best but we never came away disappointed in the food. Found the staff to be wonderful from our server too our cabin steward and bar staff. I would not worry at all. We are in our 60's like to eat in good restaurants and travel a lot. The ship has some details, it's old!! I know how she feels:) Oh, love Capt. Dimitrios Kafetzis!!!! and CD Lisa Richard.

 

Happy Sailing!

 

I couldn't agree more! refreshing to be back on a smaller ship again. I have confidence that Celebrity will get the food right, hopefully there reading. We sailed in May and are back on for the New England Canada cruise n September. Was Captain Dimitrios fabulous?