Celebrity Summit to Bermuda review, July 12-19, 2015

[PatrickZJD]

I apologize for letting nearly a week go before posting this review, but sometimes life and work gets in the way, LOL! Anyway, this is my review of my family's and my trip on the Summit to Bermuda from July 12th through 19th. This was our first Celebrity cruise after many cruises on Carnival and two on Royal Caribbean, and while there were some bumps in the road, mostly it was a very refreshing change of pace, and I think I speak for everyone in our party of seven that, price aside, we would not hesitate to book a Celebrity trip again. I won't really speak to our experience in Bermuda except to say that our weather was gorgeous; Horseshoe Bay was, as always, a fantastic beach getaway, and even with the Breakaway in port, we never really felt crowded; and my wife and I would definitely recommend the Gosling's Sunset Rum Tasting catamaran excursion, which we purchased on our own. Here we go!

 

This was our third departure from Bayonne, which is only about fifteen miles from our home, but it was the first with the new terminal. The change is absolutely splendid, with a much nicer embarkation waiting area and no need for those awful shuttle busses to take you to your ship. Being Aqua Class, my wife and I literally had only about a five minute wait from when we checked in to being onboard, so things could not have run smoother. The reverse was mostly true with disembarkation upon our return: although the lines were longer, and it seemed to be a little hectic trying to find a porter for our entire family's bags, the twenty minutes or so it actually took seemed to speed by very quickly and without undue complaint. Kudos to the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal!

 

As stated previously, my wife and I were in Aqua Class, namely the aft balcony stateroom 1133. Both Concierge Class, Nicci's parents were in 7212, as my FIL needs a mobility scooter and 24/7 oxygen, and her sister, niece, and a family friend stayed in nearby 7197. I will not comment much on their rooms except to say that my in-laws' balcony was truly huge and struck a nice compromise between shade and sun, and this was really their first cruise where they felt comfortable being in a modified handicapped cabin. (The fact that it was their first aft was a complete plus for them!) We picked 1133 because we wanted our usual aft balcony but also wanted to try Aqua Class, especially after 1) hearing about how great Blu was, for most posters on here, and 2) being told by our Celebrity agent Ian that the upgrade to Aqua from Concierge for us would only be $50 each total for us. That, and being lucky enough to have secured all three perks from the old 123Go! package sealed the deal for us.

 

Well, it didn't work out as well for us as we would have liked with the room. My wife was very happy when we found out that the left side of the bed facing out, her side, was next to the bathroom, but that was about it. Let's face it, the Summit is an older ship, and the decor and linens in the room need a little freshening up. While our balcony was a little extended compared to my SIL's, there was very little privacy from both the gangway door next to us and the bar on the tenth deck, and yes, while not choking, there was indeed cigar and cigarette smoke every night from the smokers below, and when you add that in with the mostly-stultifying humid air during the trip, you wound up with two cruisers who, for the first time in nearly twenty cruises, did not use their balcony virtually at all. (I must say, however, to anyone concerned, that the "movies under the stars" during nights in Bermuda were barely audible either on the balcony or in the room, so please don't let that be a concern for you.) One other thing is that the "blackout" curtains really weren't all that blackout for us; the room got quite light upon sunrise, making sleep difficult, although I found the pillows and mattress most comfortable. Thankfully, our room was indeed well air-conditioned, but I do have to admit that, in line with some posters' concerns here, public areas of the ship (excluding the restaurants, thankfully) were quite hot. Indeed, the hallway outside our cabin almost felt like a sauna sometimes! I think I appreciated the body-jets shower in our bathroom more than my wife, but given the cost of the Aqua Class room, it was a nice amenity.

 

As for our cabin steward, well, I will not name his name, but we were not pleased very much with his service at all. Examples of problems we had, which may seem picayune to some but we still never had with any other cruise, included: not having our onboard ship services book until nearly a day and a half after sailing; not having the proper amount of previously-requested towels daily provided to us, including both bath and beach towels, and for that matter, only having two towel animals on our bed; having the fruit delivered to us stay on our table for nearly the entire trip; having to find our own complimentary water in the cupboard cabinet next to the minibar; and not having our carpet vacuumed even once during the trip, which we knew since beads came off my wife's first formal night dress that we found on the carpet Saturday night when getting our luggage out! Like I said, some things like towel animals and water are a little much to ask for, but when you know your family is getting impeccable room service versus you, and this is something you are used to getting on other cruise lines, you do expect service to be a little better. Ah, well, we did not let it ruin our vacation in the slightest, which is the most important thing.

 

I found the food on Celebrity to be top-notch, not necessarily levels above Carnival, but certainly tasty and of high quality. Since we had family with us, we did not dine in Blu every morning or night, but I will say that the dinners we had there were quite delicious. Breakfasts were a different matter, but, truthfully, I was mostly underwhelmed with the breakfasts I had onboard anyway -- certainly, the brunch on the last sea day was absolutely nothing special, despite lobster bisque and chicken and waffles being on the menu. (More on the timing of breakfast in a bit.) I will speak for my entire family in saying that both Cafe al Bacio and Qsine were among the highlights of our trip, both for their quality, selection, and staff. Anyone who thinks Qsine is not worth the extra cost did not experience anything near our three-hour, absolutely overstuffing food extravaganza, where they just kept bringing out plate after delicious plate! My only problem with the restaurant was we went on the final sea day, when 1) we should have been packing, and 2) when the main dining room offered veal cordon bleu, something I was looking forward to the whole trip, sigh. Live and learn, right? A final thing I will say is that both the pizza and hamburgers on the Summit were top-notch, and, perhaps not surprisingly versus Carnival, the lines to get them were not at all long or unpleasant, with resupply of empty trays running very quickly and smoothly. Yes, we don't have a basis of comparison versus other posters who say the quality of Celebrity's food has gone down, but if that is indeed the case, you must have had amazing dining onboard.

 

Not everything about the food onboard was fantastic, though: I will particularly point out that the Aqua Spa Cafe, which my sister and blood niece raved about from their two Celebrity cruises, was most disappointing. One day I ordered what they called their "Orange" juice, a cocktail of orange, apple, carrot, ginger, and some form of tea, but the chef behind the counter did not even know what I was talking about, and I had to literally walk him to the menu to show him what I wanted. A second attendant then asked me if I wanted fresh-squeezed orange juice or that mixture, and I told him the mixture. What I received was so warm, and so loaded with ginger, that I literally almost gagged from the acid burn on my first swallow! Ugh. Then, the next day, when I asked the same attendant there for the fresh-squeezed orange juice that he offered me yesterday, he walked out and filled up a glass from the orange juice dispenser across from the cafe! No raves here, let me tell you.

 

The pools onboard were similarly excellent. One of my wife's and in-laws things of note about the ship was that the pools actually have stairs leading into the pool, something which Carnival persists in not designing or fitting into even their newest ships. As people with both mobility and weight concerns (including me literally only being four months out of hip arthroscopy surgery), this is indeed a pleasant thing. We especially enjoyed the Solarium pool, thanks to it really being kept free from children and because of the jet showers and thalassotherapy section, which is a feature you must pay for on Carnival. As to the "chair hog" problem, we did see those towels on chairs, but honestly, we did not ever notice whether people never came back or not -- we certainly never fought with anyone for them. Actually, we were always able to find a vacant chair around the pools quite easily to put our own bags and towels on and subsequently vacate for a little bit while swimming! I guess there is just a level of frustration for some, but being lifelong metropolitan Tri-state area people, we are used to the annoyance and deal with it. My wife did not use the Persian Gardens, but I did, and I thought it was not at all bad, though I will say that on our second day in Bermuda, two of the steam rooms were broken and not hot at all. Sure, I would have preferred a view of the ocean like on the Solstice-class ships or Carnival, but that was only a minor quibble. I found the dark actually quite relaxing sometimes.

 

Entertainment was excellent onboard. Part of the reason why I wanted a change from Carnival was because I was sick of seeing the same shows, and almost the same comedians, time and time again, so this was a breath of fresh air. The production shows were quite good, but I must say that I think both comedians we saw onboard were an absolute hoot! What I really liked too was the various cooking demonstrations onboard, not enough to suit me, but still a lot of fun. Shopping wasn't bad, either: I bought a new Tag Heuer to replace a recently-defunct watch and found the deal to be most equitable, and my wife added two new purses to her burgeoning collection, so no complaints from either of us. I was vexed, though, at the casino (smoke-free, thankfully, as it was) apparently requiring cash for slots play, else a fee for cash advances from your onboard account. Who brings that much cash on cruises nowadays? Certainly not me, and (sounding like a broken record) I never had to before! This may dovetail with what I perceive to be a little bit of a technological lack onboard with computer services and so on, but maybe this will be rectified, as so many other things should be, with the next refitting.

 

Staff, hmmmm. Maybe I was a little colored by my Aqua Spa and steward experience, but I did not find the staff to be as pleasant as Carnival. Guest Services, Qsine, Cafe al Bacio, and Blu aside, it seemed particularly as if a lot of the Lido and beverage staff had a "customer second" attitude, something my entire family said, but again, that could have been just us. I did not interact at all really with Ken the cruise director or any of his people, but nor did I find them overly obtrusive or unpleasant. I will say that Captain Leo was an absolute pleasure to interact with, as I did during his navigation seminar, and he really is as publicly available as posters say. He even put a plastic lid on my MIL's coffee in the Cafe! A most charming man, and his officers, whom we spoke with a couple of times on elevators and elsewhere, follow his example quite well. We loved the spin around Liberty Island when we left, and at the seminar, it sounds like the captain planned to continue that maneuver as long as he could. Good for him!

 

The Summit is indeed an older ship, but it is an oceangoing vessel, so I will not mind at all seeing little flecks of rust or what have you time to time. Aside, though, from obvious stains in carpets in hallways, we found the ship impeccably clean in public areas. We were quite gratified to hear about the ship's 100 score on the USPH visit, but given what we saw, we weren't surprised at all. And the funny thing is, aside from late at night, we never really saw anyone vacuuming, wiping (aside from washrooms), or anything like that, so I think it is a credit to the crew that they made their cleaning as unobtrusive as possible. I also think that, much like the Carnival Miracle, I truly like the relatively small size of the Summit. I never once felt lost or bewildered where things were onboard.

 

I can't lie, compared to virtually every other cruise Nicci and I have done before, this was an expensive cruise, and it felt like we spent a lot for less days of vacation. Certainly, if we didn't have all the 123Go! perks, it would have cost even more. However, and this is the final thing I note, I think we paid for a big intangible: this was also by far the most overall relaxed and nicest set of fellow passengers we have ever sailed with, lifelong friends we have made elsewhere aside. I don't mean to come across as elitist or anything, but there is a definite difference in class and demeanor we noticed with Celebrity cruisers. We encountered no pushiness, no impatience, no rudeness, no undignified behavior, and it was well and truly a breath of fresh air. There was certainly no stuffiness from anyone either. For example, the main dining room had its fair share of rather informally-dressed men during both formal nights, though thankfully no shorts (which we did see plenty of in the theater for shows, and why not? This is Celebrity, not Cunard!). We can't say that it was the age of the passengers either, even though the average age skewed a little older. We know there were a lot of children onboard, but the camps kept the ones who attended so occupied you virtually never saw them aside from at the buffet. The ones you did see were both well-behaved (even the teens at night, a super step up from Carnival!) and well-monitored by their parents. I absolutely know that my in-laws appreciated what they called the "calmness" of our fellow travellers, which, for my FIL, meant that he could get onboard elevators with his scooters without scowling, LOL! For me, I just appreciated the intelligent, pleasant conversations I had with people I would casually meet, in the Gardens or elsewhere, so it was a very nice state of affairs all around.

 

BTW, we found it funny that there was again a call for O-neg blood on this cruise, near midnight on one of our first sea days, since my FIL's cousin was on the Summit a few weeks ago for that call for blood too! (Guess it's a Smith family thing, LOL!) Still, while we never learned what happened (still haven't caught up with posts here), Nicci and I did see a family with all of their luggage departing from the ship at King's Wharf the first day. We just hope that there was no tragedy onboard.

 

Does all of the positives I wrote about mean that I will leap to Celebrity from Bayonne without hesitation for my next cruise? Not necessarily, given that cost of cruising, and, truthfully, even Bermuda and Horseshoe Bay can get a little trite after a while. I certainly don't need to do Aqua Class again, since they provided added perks but nothing I couldn't live without. Given everything my wife and I found onboard, though, I'll close by reiterating that we pretty much enjoyed everything about the Summit and are very happy to say that we have now done a Celebrity cruise with maybe more to come!

 

I hope everyone enjoyed this review, long-winded as it may appear. I think I have tried to answer questions I didn't easily find on here as well as being as complete as I could be, being a first-time Celebrity passenger. Please feel free to (nicely) comment and critique, and similarly feel free to ask anything!

[Tall Jersey Girl]

Thanks, looking forward to cruising the Summit August 23.

[Lois R]

Hi, thanks for the review:)......if I may ask a few things? If you wanted

more towels? Did you ask your attendant more than once for them? If

I need something, (that I felt was important)...if he/she did not provide

the items, I would have gone to housekeeping about it.

 

2nd....you said you only got towel animals twice? You wanted more?

Ask for them.....but they are not normally part of the cabin at all.

 

3rd....it sounds like you had issues with the cabin....this is just

my feeling.....if you wanted it cleaner and you feel like your attendant

is not doing a good job, speak with your attendant about it....if after

that conversation, nothing changes? Go see the Asst Chief Housekeeper

about it.

 

Glad you enjoyed other areas of the cruise.

[philpcruiser]

Patrick: excellent review. Seems that although you had a few issues, you got by them and did not let it spoil your trip.

 

Lois: I agree with you on points 1 and 3. If you did not get satisfaction with the requests, the issue should have been elevated to the next level. Disagree about the animal towels not being part of the cabin. We've always had towel animals on our bed at night, and sort of can't wait to return to the room at night to see what new creature is inhabiting our cabin.

[meatloafsfan]

thank you for your review. I sail multiple lines and there are things I like on each of them. Celebrity does some things very well (love Café Al Bacio and Qsine) but I wouldn't want to sail Celebrity every cruise. It's nice but not head and shoulders above the others to regularly justify the additional cost (IMHO).

[Lois R]

Patrick: excellent review. Seems that although you had a few issues, you got by them and did not let it spoil your trip.

 

Lois: I agree with you on points 1 and 3. If you did not get satisfaction with the requests, the issue should have been elevated to the next level. Disagree about the animal towels not being part of the cabin. We've always had towel animals on our bed at night, and sort of can't wait to return to the room at night to see what new creature is inhabiting our cabin.

 

I guess the towel animal "issue" is personal preference then......

I have had them maybe 6 times in 40+ cruises.....Actually, I don't

care for them......If I see them, I undo them and politely tell my

attendant they don't need to do them for me.

[long time lurker]

Thanks for such a well balanced review. We sail the Summit in February and love hearing about her.

[Iamcruzin]

Thank's for the review. I'm surprised to read about the room decor in your deck 11 Aqua. I was under the impression that those rooms were fairly new since they were added not too long ago. Also you confirmed that I don't want to book Aqua as the rooms tend to be located in the worst part of the ship. I had been contemplating it for my 2016 Bermuda sailing. Now I'm happy that I booked a C2.

[DancerOT]

Thank you for the very even review. I have often found that my stateroom attendants are inconsistent no matter which line I travel on. I have had amazing stateroom attendants on Celebrity, Carnival, and Princess (he actually was one of the major highlights of that cruise), but I have also had some not so great on Carnival and Celebrity so in my mind, it can be very hit or miss.

 

I appreciate your interpretation of Aqua class as it is something I was interested in, but can't stomach the extra cost at this point in my life.

 

While I love the Celebrity product and you can tell from my signature, I do believe that variety is the spice of life and often price plays a role in my choices.

[Tall Jersey Girl]

We only had a towel animal once on Celebrity. I assumed it wasn't a celebrity thing.

[PatrickZJD]

Thanks so much, everyone, for the kind words and warm appreciation! My wife actually corrected me last night after I posted, in that for this cruise, Aqua Class was the exact same price as Concierge was...which I guess makes the cost of the cruise even more of a factor if that's what a Concierge package costs. Guess they really wanted to fill 1133! I certainly don't want to put anyone off of Aqua, especially if the upcoming drydock will take care of any (mostly aesthetic) appearance issues. Still, where price is a consideration for anyone, just think long and hard before you book an A1, especially if it's 1133.

 

I also realize I didn't address something I alluded to in my original text: I am very much a late riser on a cruise, generally thanks to Bonine, and I was pretty surprised to learn that breakfast ended so quickly on the Lido deck. I literally never made one breakfast up there, and I got up at most around 10 some days. Yeah, there was the "late breakfast" area, but it always looked relatively very crowded with little choices. Hence, I am not the only late riser, either, and the ship definitely wasn't dead after midnight. I just wish Celebrity offered a little later omelette services in their buffet, maybe?

 

As to the decor, IAC, you are correct, it was the newer AQ1 we were in, but I guess they just added the exact same cabin styles as previously to make the ship more consistent-looking. Maybe all the cabins need freshening up, LOL.

 

Lois, it's funny, you said almost exactly what my sister said! I think we generally don't like to be very pushy to room stewards, as it can be a thankless job in the real world, let alone on a cruise. For us, towel animals is 1) just a nice extra thing to see at the end of a day, as well as 2) a source for more towels. ;) Perhaps it's just an Aqua thing? Yeah, we should've said something about the fruit and the wood lacquer called wine we got, too, but so it goes. I think what got me with the animals was our family quite truly sometimes getting two per day in their cabins! Consistency in service should be a hallmark of a hospitality provider. Most likely, next time we will just ask politely but firmly for better service. And as far as the cleanliness went, again, we only found out on Saturday night that the carpet wasn't well vacuumed (Nicci only had a few beads on that dress, and the rest were intact).

 

Finally, Phil, all I can say is that the worst cruise is still better than schlepping to work every day, LOL! So, at least as far as vacations go, I've learned that life is too short to consider the glass half-empty, and you should just be glad you've got a glass to begin with. Could've been so much worse: my family or I could've needed that O-neg blood ourselves, right? :D

[TeaBag]

I guess the towel animal "issue" is personal preference then......

I have had them maybe 6 times in 40+ cruises.....Actually, I don't

care for them......If I see them, I undo them and politely tell my

attendant they don't need to do them for me.

Thanks for the tip Lois. We haven't cruised as much as you but in over 20 cruises we have seen the towel animals maybe 4 times. In each case, we have wished they had not made them because they already have enough to do. We have felt we could not undo it after all the effort, so we have carefully lifted it to the sofa and there it stayed for the rest of the cruise. I am amazed that someone would see it as an issue, however small, that they were mostly missing.

[BunnyLebowski]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review. It's always interesting to me to hear how others experience their trips.

 

Different cruisers have different needs. I agree that it would be great to have a brunch option most days for those of us who prefer a leisurely morning but are hungry by 11am.

[jcpc]

Thanks for posting your review. I very much enjoyed reading it.

[midwestchick]

I enjoyed reading your review. It's interesting how experiences can vary with the same sailing itinerary and cabin class.

We went to Bermuda in June and were in 1140. I originally had 1130 booked but changed when I found 1140 was open. Our experience was much different than yours. After seeing 1130 from the bar area, I was so happy we weren't in that cabin. Certainly not much privacy for the two end aft balconies.

We never smelled any smoke when we were on our balcony and used it quite a lot. What did irritate me was the fact the smokers moved some of the tables, blocking the stairs to go up to deck 11 on the port side. I think they took some tables from the non smoking side. And, I don't know why we ended up using that set of steps more. :confused:

Our room was kept spotless and we didn't want for anything. Not sure if we had the same steward as you had but I did notice he was not as personable as other stewards we've had on past cruises.

The only time we ate in the MDR was the day of the brunch and we both thought the food was horrible. The lobster bisque had a nasty taste to it and I could hardly cut my steak, let alone chew it. The only thing decent was the quiche.

We're sailing in A1 again in October....that booking ended up costing less than my original booking which was a sweet 16 cabin.

The Summit is going into dry dock in January, if I remember correctly.

Edited July 25, 2015 by midwestchick

[PatrickZJD]

Thanks, MW! I enjoy reading your posts and replies as well, very informative. My FIL's cousin and his wife sailed with friends on your recent cruise too. In fact, they brought home all of the dailies for us so we'd know what to expect! I'm very happy you enjoyed 1140 and wish you (and for that matter everyone!) happy sailings in the future.

[midwestchick]

Thanks, MW! I enjoy reading your posts and replies as well, very informative. My FIL's cousin and his wife sailed with friends on your recent cruise too. In fact, they brought home all of the dailies for us so we'd know what to expect! I'm very happy you enjoyed 1140 and wish you (and for that matter everyone!) happy sailings in the future.

 

Thank you. I wonder if somehow our paths crossed with your FIL's cousin and friends. :)

 

 

OP...I did not mean to hijack your nice review.

[travlDR]

Hi Patrick-

Sorry we never got to meet you. We were just 2 doors down from your parent-in-laws. We love those big balconies, and a couple decks down form the Oceanview Bar means very little noise or smoke. I agree with most of your review. Sorry about your cabin steward. We were in the exact same cabin as last year- and we ended up with the same cabin steward. This has never happened to us before, but he was exceptional and recognized us the minute he saw us. We also had a wine steward that we remembered from last year who treated us like kings. The hostess in the Select dining treated us very very well, too- letting us get the same staff almost every night- knew us after the first night, like we had known her for years. Also a new favorite bartender that we vistited with every night. I thought most of the staff was awesome, and I sure have no food complaints. Celebrity is definitely for me- fits the best. I agree with you about the passengers--not ALL perfect, but in general much nicer. Don't think I will probably ever do Carnival again. Glad you all had a great time.

[PatrickZJD]

Yes, DR, I thought you were very nice and always interesting on the roll call. I think we saw your partner and you once in the Deck 7 hallway when visiting the in-laws! It was also very nice when you suggested my SIL take the empty cabin next to my FIL your friends couldn't make it to, but again, she'd've lost all their 123Go! perks had they moved. I feel bad that we didn't hit the roll call party, but like I said there, it's difficult with family. All the in-laws absolutely loved your room steward too. My SIL dealt with the Select maître d' too to help with her gluten-free diet, and overall we really never had much of a wait at all. Indeed, Blu seemed to have far longer waits! We're all very happy to hear that you enjoyed this trip and wish you great cruising in the future.

[edhopper]

Thanks for the review. We were on that cruise as well, though in an Ocean view cabin.

You experience was good overall with one or to exceptions.

The food was good and food staf excellent. I very much enjoyed the Pizza and Pasta bars and the Buffet was better than expected.

Our Stateroom Stewart Emylou, was great, our room was always clean and stocked.

Our problems were;

The pool seemed a bit overwhelmed at times. This just might be because of the sea days in great weather. I could never find a lounge in the shade.

The main problem I had at the pool was the insistent "dance music". This isn't Carnival and I don't need to Party like a Fun commercial. When I look around the pool I saw people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and up trying to relax, read and sleep. Why play music appropriate for the last night party in the middle of the day, music geared at teens and 20 somethings? And why play so loud that you hear it everywhere.? The live musicians were nice, but DJ-JT was in the wrong place. But loved the pool itself and especially the Solarium..

We also would have liked the entertainment after dinner (8:30 sitting) than the 7 and 9 they had. But maybe the rest of the passengers liked it this way?

These didn't stop us from having a great time.

[PatrickZJD]

Thanks for the kind words, Ed! As I wasn't really in the main pool much, I didn't really pay much attention to the DJs, but you're right, that can get kind of old really fast. You also happen to be absolutely right, in my family's and my opinion, about the timing of the shows. It seemed as if we were always just a little off kilter trying to make those seatings.

[edhopper]

I want to add that outside the pool music, we enjoyed what Ken, Balto and Estafano gave us for entertainment. They tried very hard to keep things fun.

[Don't spammy]

Thank you PatrickZJD for sharing your experiences. This helps a lot and I enjoyed reading it.

[MisterMet]

Thanks for your review. We'll be on the Summit to Bermuda in late August of 2016 and found yours and all the other Summit to Bermuda reviews most helpful. We're very excited to try Celebrity.