August 7th Summit Bermuda Cruise Review

[Nashna]

Nashna

 

Crowded conditions don't result in an elegant chic experience...

 

Sail Date: August 2016

Destination: Bermuda

Embarkation: Bayonne (Cape Liberty)

 

August 7 to August 14th Summit Cruise to Bermuda

 

Thank you to all who have posted their cruise reviews. The information that I have received from fellow cruisers over the years has been invaluable. The Summit was our 38th cruise. In the past, we have sailed on Carnival with our teenagers, Royal Caribbean many times with our large family group, Princess and Celebrity with our friends, Holland America and NCL on business trips, Avalon & ARosa on river cruises, plus Asmara, Regent and Windstar for a "just the two of us" cruise experience. In addition, several cruise lines who are no longer in existence (Home Lines, Sitmar, Renaissance, Premier). My husband and I are retired in our sixties. I have enjoyed every cruise except one awful experience on Costa.

 

We took the Celebrity Summit cruise to Bermuda as it was an easy drive from our home in Virginia as well as the three day itinerary to Bermuda.

 

Embarkation was the absolute best experience ever of any of our cruises. We arrived to drop off our luggage at 10:30, parked the car, went directly to check in, were comfortably seated according to boarding and were sipping champagne onboard the ship by 11:00am.

 

We walked around the ship until 11:30 when we went to the buffet for lunch. As it was still early, we chose a lovely table for two by the window and were immediately offered drinks by DeDe. When she discovered that we were in Agua class said “Oh Good, you’re one of mine!” This was just the start of Aqua Class in Blu for us. My DH ordered a GF pizza which takes 15 minutes, so we made salads and enjoyed the table view. I also had regular pizza which was very good. Unfortunately, my DH’s pizza was just awful. The crust crumbled and it had no taste. He went off to get something else to eat. The ice cream bar became his favorite stop. About 12:30, the buffet became very crowded, so we decided to go to the pool deck to wait for the ok to go to our rooms. We got the announcement at 1:15 and were off to find our stateroom.

 

Lifeboat Drill

 

The cruise industry needs to come up with a better way to do this. Our muster station was five floors below and since I have a bad knee we took the elevator down about 10 minutes early. There was not a chair for anyone to sit down. We had people leaning on walkers and canes, holding crying screaming babies, and staff that kept pushing us 7 deep up against the wall. We had to wait for the latecomers who sauntered in 10 minutes late. The announcement were so garbled that we could not understand Captain Alex.

 

Room 9066, Aqua Class…

 

Most of the staterooms in Aqua Class on the 9th deck have a 15 foot overhang. This was great for late afternoon reading or in the morning as it never did get the sunshine. This was fine during our cruise as it was always 80 to 90 degrees. However, we did miss looking up at the stars. The balcony was in need of TLC with lots of rust around the railing. The chairs were comfortable for reading. But, with a large table, walking around the small balcony was a bit tight. Our room steward covered all the bases and did all that we asked of him.

 

Cruise Experience

 

The ship was totally full with lots of children which meant lots of 3rd and 4th passengers. The ship was terribly crowded. By 730am the solarium chairs were taken. By 800am every pool chair was taken. The chairs were tightly spaced with no room for a table. In fact, there was no place to put a drink or a plate. Large groups were onboard. Chairs were saved with one flip flop or a celebrity magazine from the room. Celebrity did absolutely nothing to stop the chair hogs. We did find spots in the sun on the upper deck. However, my husband has had skin cancer and needs to be out of the sun.

 

Children took over the hot tubs and the regular pool. At one point, I counted 9 children in one hot tub and 10 in the other. I don’t blame the children, as Celebrity doesn’t offer much in the way of children’s activities. Celebrity should not allow this overcrowding situation to occur. The pool area looked like Calcutta, it was wall to wall people on sea days. The first sea day, we actually could not find seating for two people in the buffet area as all the tables were either occupied or had stacks of dirty dishes on the top. We eventually, just cleared our own table. As we were finishing, the wait staff cleared the tables around us. I did notice that the buffet table clearing did improve at the end of the week as we noticed more managers helping to clear the tables. I do not blame the wait staff for the crowded conditions. They simply were overwhelmed with the numbers of people onboard. I was told that the first two weeks of August were the most heavily booked of all their Bermuda cruises.

 

Blu

 

We would give the Blu staff five stars! Donovan, Rima, Weimer, the sweet pastry server, DeDe and the always smiling Olga made our cruise. They all went out of their way to be helpful and provided us with fantastic service. The sommelier was just fine. He had 90 people to serve and did not really have the time to provide us with great service.

 

Special Dining Needs

 

The quality of the Gluten Free food was hit and miss. The pizza was not edible. The regular bread was fine, the macaroons in the cafe were wonderful and the blueberry pancakes were just ok. We dined in Blu for all our breakfasts and dinners. The service and detail to keeping my husband's diet gluten free was excellent. We met several other passengers in Blu who also needed to dine GF and we compared notes on the offerings. Our servers were so kind and went out of their way to give us GF options. Unfortunately, the chefs did not deliver tasty GF options. The muffins were like hockey pucks, tasteless and with a nasty consistency. The main courses were fine. However, after many years of having Celiac Disease, and eating GF, we know that Celebrity could do better. We have had excellent pizza, muffins, bread and pastries on other cruise lines. As one of the other GF diners in Blu said "can't these chefs just buy a mix"? My husband would pre-order his meals a day in advance. However, at the buffet he was on his own with few options. I would give the great service by our waiters, the lovely hostess and muffin server A plus and the chef a D for effort.

 

Shipboard Credits

 

We had been told that we could use the shipboard credit in the casino. Unfortunately, the non-refundable shipboard credits can’t be used for much. We were given promo $5.00 chips which could be used for gambling….but, only redeemed for real chips if you win. We did find a way around this by playing roulette and winning…it helps if you play odd and even at once as you will win on one of them. I suggest that Celebrity provides passengers with a detailed list of what can be done with the SC and plainly list the restrictions.

 

Entertainment

 

We really enjoyed the two comedians. We saw the first show at 7:00pm and there were lots of family groups attending. The comedian structured his show around good family humor and he did a great job. The second comedian was also excellent and also accommodated the different age groups well.

 

The show productions were just ok. We made sure that we sat in the back so we could make a quick exit if the show was boring. This was a wise thing to do.

 

Saw the Karoke finals on the last night and was amazed at how good the husband and wife finalists sang. Celebrity should give them more than a bottle of champagne.

 

Live music around the ship was very good. We enjoyed the piano man and the Celebrity band.

 

Bermuda

 

*Spent a wonderful day at the Elbow Beach Resort. Taxi - $50.00 to EB, returning we caught a shuttle for $9.00 per person. Cost for an umbrella and two chairs $100.00.

 

*We took the ship's excursion to the Wednesday Night Party in Hamilton. We had a great guide who told us interesting tidbits about Bermuda....average home price is $1.3 million, large homes $15 million on up.

 

*Took the shuttle to Horseshoe Bay for $7.00 per person. Lovely beach, crowded by noon.

 

Drink Package

 

It was difficult at times to get a drink at the pool bar. They were slammed! I have never seen bartenders work so hard. Everything I ordered was on the Classic package…including some really great coffee drinks in the Café.

 

Disembarkation

 

We opted to leave early as we were driving to the Outer Banks. We went up to breakfast when it opened at 6:00am. Had some great omelets, went back to our room and were in the lounge waiting to be called about 7:15am. Promptly at 7:35, we were able to leave the ship. We had to stop by security to pick up my husband’s Leatherman which had been confiscated by security when we checked in. We were in the car on our way at 7:50am. Remarkable!

 

Will we take another Celebrity cruise? My husband does enjoy dining and the poor GF choices available on Celebrity are a real negative. We also did not enjoy the crowding conditions onboard the Summit. We enjoy feeling pampered. We felt pampered while dining in Blu, and wish that the rest of our onboard experiences were as good.

 

If you are planning a future Celebrity cruise, please understand that the over crowding conditions were the result of school summer breaks. Had the ship not been so full, our experience would have been totally different. Less 

 

Published 08/23/16

 

Helpful?  Thank Nashna

[pmctrish]

Thank you for taking the time to write this detailed review. We will be cruising on the Summit on Sunday.

[Clarea]

Very well written review, thanks.

[NordicPrince]

Lifeboat Drill

 

The cruise industry needs to come up with a better way to do this. Our muster station was five floors below and since I have a bad knee we took the elevator down about 10 minutes early. There was not a chair for anyone to sit down. We had people leaning on walkers and canes, holding crying screaming babies, and staff that kept pushing us 7 deep up against the wall. We had to wait for the latecomers who sauntered in 10 minutes late. The announcement were so garbled that we could not understand Captain Alex.

 

You'll be happy to know that on the S Class ships some of the passengers have their Muster Drill in the Dining Room which gives people a chance to sit down.

 

However for some reason I feel more comfortable standing next to the boat that they would want me to get in.

 

There are always latecomers. Learn some manners people. They really think the rules don't apply to them Talk to the Coast Guard about the whole muster thing if you have a problem.

 

There are also people who don't listen and talk However, if God forbid something was going to happen these would be the first people running around like chickens without a head.

 

You are not the first poster to mention how crowded Summit has been these last two cruises. Hope you had a good time anyway.

[Nashna]

Lifeboat Drill

 

The cruise industry needs to come up with a better way to do this. Our muster station was five floors below and since I have a bad knee we took the elevator down about 10 minutes early. There was not a chair for anyone to sit down. We had people leaning on walkers and canes, holding crying screaming babies, and staff that kept pushing us 7 deep up against the wall. We had to wait for the latecomers who sauntered in 10 minutes late. The announcement were so garbled that we could not understand Captain Alex.

 

You'll be happy to know that on the S Class ships some of the passengers have their Muster Drill in the Dining Room which gives people a chance to sit down.

 

However for some reason I feel more comfortable standing next to the boat that they would want me to get in.

 

There are always latecomers. Learn some manners people. They really think the rules don't apply to them Talk to the Coast Guard about the whole muster thing if you have a problem.

 

There are also people who don't listen and talk However, if God forbid something was going to happen these would be the first people running around like chickens without a head.

 

You are not the first poster to mention how crowded Summit has been these last two cruises. Hope you had a good time anyway.

 

I agree with your comment about being next to the life boat. We have been on many cruises that did have us muster at the life boat. Unfortunately, on the Summit we were in a walkway across from Michael's Club. We were told to report to the lifeboat station where we would be escorted to the life boat in the event of an emergency. In this age of technology, the cruise lines and coast guard should come up with a more realistic life boat drill. Perhaps, a video starting in the passenger's stateroom showing the placement of the life vest, putting the vest on, leaving the room, following the actual path to the muster station, leaving the muster station and the actual boarding of the life boat. Let's face it, getting into the boat in an orderly manner is hugely important. Cruising years ago, we had a much more comprehensive drill. Abled bodied men, were to go first to help the women, children and infirm onboard. We actually lined up the way we were to board the boat. On our recent cruises it seems like more and more drill details have been eliminated causing the drills to be meaningless.

[CruisingChick]

Thanks for taking the time to write your very detailed review.

 

When our son was school aged we didn't have much choice but to travel during summer vacation, but after one sailing in August in the Meditterean on Milennium, I swore I would never book another cruise in August.

 

Not only was it over crowded but the kids onboard were out of control. Security had to be called on numerous ocassions.

 

In any event, I am sorry that Celebrity's GF options were not that good.

 

On one of our Summit cruises we sat with a couple, in the MDR, who had to eat GF and the assistant maitre'd would come over every night and go over the next night's menu with them and take their order. I also saw the assistant maitre'd up in the Buffet with them during lunchtime helping them out.

 

This was a while back, probably 4 or 5 years ago now. But they seemd to be happy with their food choices.

Edited August 25, 2016 by CruisingChick

[Nashna]

Thanks for taking the time to write your very detailed review.

 

When our son was school aged we didn't have much choice but to travel during summer vacation, but after one sailing in August in the Meditterean on Milennium, I swore I would never book another cruise in August.

 

Not only was it over crowded but the kids onboard were out of control. Security had to be called on numerous ocassions.

 

In any event, I am sorry that Celebrity's GF options were not that good.

 

On one of our Summit cruises we sat with a couple, in the MDR, who had to eat GF and the assistant maitre'd would come over every night and go over the next night's menu with them and take their order. I also saw the assistant maitre'd up in the Buffet with them during lunchtime helping them out.

 

This was a while back, probably 4 or 5 years ago now. But they seemd to be happy with their food choices.

 

We were fine with the dining room choices for our main courses. The problem was with baked goods such as pancakes, waffles, muffins and deserts that were just awful. Today, GF folks have such great options on shore that it seems surprising to us that Celebrity can't do better.

[dazey]

The MDR serves breakfast and lunch if you wever cruise on Celebrity again. Also I read yesterday that in December there is a new food program for people requiring special dietary needs and it sounds like they will be giving the issue more attention - hopefully in food choices for you.

[drychi]

Thanks for the nice review. My wife and I were on this same cruise in June, 2016. We were fortunate to have Donovan as our waiter in Blu as well. What a great job he and his crew did!

 

Our cruise was less crowded than yours apparently. We hardly noticed any children on board at all. Guess that just shows another fact for people to consider in choosing when to cruise.

 

Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

[2theship]

Years ago, when our girls were young, it was a Celebrity family cruise to Bermuda that made us die-hard Celebrity fans. The problem is, not all kids want to go to the program.

 

I learned long ago that if I want to have a seat at the muster drill, I have to arrive 30 minutes early. My knees are okay for the walk back up after the drill but I really need the elevator going down.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing.

[AnnetteSC]

Accurate review since my family and I were on that same cruise (August 7). We were on deck 7 and our drill was in the theater.

It was our first Celebrity cruise and I agree that it was overcrowded! I also had a few problems with Guest Services and the Buffet manager. I'll write a more detailed review of my own soon.

Thanks for sharing yours!

[rieann]

This is the third review I've read about the celebrity Summit that has been less than stellar and it has me bummed out, lol. I'm going at the end of May 2017, so hopefully the kids will still be in school. I like to swim and I like to hang out in hot tubs. Seeing some images from the ship, with people crowded all around gives me heart palpitations lol. I'm hoping maybe I can time my pool visit right to avoid all that. I'm also not scared to move a magazine if a chair has been empty for more than a half hour. :P

[ChucktownSteve]

Thank you for your review. I found it close to what we experienced the following week on Summit. Staff had told me our cruise and the one before (yours) were the two most booked of the Bermuda season!

 

Blu was a haven from the noise and crowding. We didn't experience the GF although my DW is thinking of going that route due to gastro upsets.

 

I found the buffet to be a zoo. People would walk three abreast and not care about anyone else. Others would walk not looking where they were going. I got in the habit of just stopping so either they noticed me or almost walked into me when I said HEY. :p

 

We had a great cabin crew and wonderful aft view. So there were areas of respite.

 

I enjoyed the Constellation much more than this Summit cruise but will have to sail her again for a particular itinerary.

 

Happy future sails to you!

Edited August 31, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[clr315]

Did you experience any noise from deck 10 being on 9? Did you use room service and how was it t?

[Fishkillbill]

I don't understand the gluten free pizza problem. Doesn't everyone just use the frozen crust?

[Nashna]

We heard clicking heels walking above us as we were getting ready to go for dinner and sitting on the balcony late at night. The only time we heard any noise was on the balcony. The room was super quiet.

 

 

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[Nashna]

I don't understand the gluten free pizza problem. Doesn't everyone just use the frozen crust?

 

I believe they make the dough themselves. We use frozen GF crusts all the time and they never crumble.

 

 

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[Cruise a holic]

We cruised on the Summit the following week and had a wonderful time. Yes, many kids on the ship-but that happens in the Summer and during holiday times. We do get up early and had no problem finding a comfortable seat by the pool. We really enjoyed Luminae the Suite restaurant and Michael's club was excellent! Maya was a wonderful hostess at Michaels. The food in Qsine and Tuscan also very good. For lunch we dined mostly at the buffet and grill both very good many choices.

 

The entertainment was not great- but with the exception of RC Oasis Class and Freedom class ships most other lines the same. RC really has entertainment that is top notch and truly varied. The cabins were clean and comfortable- but with the exception of the Royal and Penthouse suites, need to be renovated. Really liked cafe Al Bacio for coffee drinks, loved the drink and internet packages. Leaving from Bayonne was a breeze. We try to do a no fly cruise to Bermuda every August. Last year tried the Breakaway which we did also enjoy-but we were in the Haven the rest of the ship is so crowded and I would not ever go on again unless we could do the Haven which is very expensive. We spent the day a the CoCo Reef hotel, next to the Elbow Beach while in Bermuda. Paid about $65 pp for lunch, drink, towels and a chair and umbrella- you can also use the pool if you do not want to sit at the beach- really a good value. Just get their early so you can get a chair with an umbrella on the beach as you might not get an umbrella.

 

While we are big fans of the S class ships, the Reflection and Silly our #1's. Overall a great vacation and will repeat it on the Summit next year!

Edited September 5, 2016 by Cruise a holic

[soccergal9]

I won't be on Summit until September 2017, but I was wondering if anyone knew if they had gluten free oatmeal and/or granola. Thanks.