Celebrity Summit

[dkjretired]

Wonder how much of this has to do with people leaving and going to Edge.

[davekathy]

Looking forward to our future Summit cruises. 

[DrKoob]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

Wonder how much of this has to do with people leaving and going to Edge.

 

Don,

A lot. From the time we boarded a crew member named Zoltan was the main sales guy for specialty restaurants. We saw him in just about every dining and beverage venue, basically selling and just chatting people up. He was really good at it but one week in, or our first full day in Quebec, he was all of a sudden serving in the MDR at dinner. When I asked him why he was all of a sudden the waiter for three or four tables, he told us that about 15 of the food and beverage crew had left the ship (which was already understaffed) in Quebec to fly to Fort Lauderdale to meet The Edge and join her crew.

 

Jim

[DrKoob]

Just now, davekathy said:

Looking forward to our future Summit cruises. 

 

Dave and Kathy,

 

I would certainly look forward to any cruise. Just hope that X has been able to fully staff her by the time you sail.

 

Jim

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

 

Dave and Kathy,

 

I would certainly look forward to any cruise. Just hope that X has been able to fully staff her by the time you sail.

 

Jim

We also enjoy all of our cruises. Staying positive no matter others experiences or opinions for our September 2019 and March 2020 Summit cruises. 

[jupiter87135]

Since Captain Kate left the Summit for the Equinox, the Summit has not been the same. Service has deteriorated rapidly on the Summit after Captain Kate’s departure.  The service is slow and substandard. None of the crew seems to be happy, and half the time our attendant doesn’t even clean our room. The current Captain is an old line Greek captain, who prefers to stay on the bridge and out of sight. He clearly does not have a clue about what is happening on the rest of the ship. 

 

Hey captain, no one expects you to be like Captain Kate, but you could at least try to make sure that your crew not only make guests feel welcome and comfortable, but that you yourself are consistent with announcements, etc., which you clearly have not been. 

 

This is is such a shame because the Summit is a great ship, but it has such a mediocre Captain at present. 

[Mynki]

On 11/28/2018 at 10:44 PM, jupiter87135 said:

Since Captain Kate left the Summit for the Equinox, the Summit has not been the same. Service has deteriorated rapidly on the Summit after Captain Kate’s departure.  The service is slow and substandard. None of the crew seems to be happy, and half the time our attendant doesn’t even clean our room. The current Captain is an old line Greek captain, who prefers to stay on the bridge and out of sight. He clearly does not have a clue about what is happening on the rest of the ship. 

 

Hey captain, no one expects you to be like Captain Kate, but you could at least try to make sure that your crew not only make guests feel welcome and comfortable, but that you yourself are consistent with announcements, etc., which you clearly have not been. 

 

This is is such a shame because the Summit is a great ship, but it has such a mediocre Captain at present. 

Not sure I agree. She was captain at the time of our sailings when resource issues where very apparent. 

She was very visible and would engage with passengers all the time she just didn't have sufficient staff onboard to deliver the level of service you'd expect from Celebrity. 

[DrKoob]

Many folks don't realize that the Captain has very little to do with the day to day running of the ship as it deals with the guests. That's the purview of the Hotel Manager. Even if the amazing Captain Kate had been aware of problems, there is not much she could have done other than mention it to her cohort, the hotel manager. 

[sofietucker]

8 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Many folks don't realize that the Captain has very little to do with the day to day running of the ship as it deals with the guests. That's the purview of the Hotel Manager. Even if the amazing Captain Kate had been aware of problems, there is not much she could have done other than mention it to her cohort, the hotel manager. 

Right: we always make it a point to meet the hotel officer and head sommeliers & maitre'd for our preferred restaurants as soon as possible.  Then we greet them--as well as other restaurant/bar staff by name, every chance we get. We overtip (that is, in addition to the forced gratuities, lol) at the bars after friendly conversation the first time or two. (And if there is a delay the first time, we just start going to the bars ourselves and waiting, swimsuit and all. Amazing how quickly you get served if you are standing there in front of them.) We always get EXCELLENT service. On the one cruise this didn't pan out--and we were eating at the MDR in a large table--the 4 of us started grabbing a cocktail/glass of wine at the nearest bar outside the DR and bringing it in, and ordering our wine the minute we sat down. After 2 days, it was all fine, they knew our preferences, service was swift.

[clskinsfan]

On 11/28/2018 at 3:24 PM, davekathy said:

We also enjoy all of our cruises. Staying positive no matter others experiences or opinions for our September 2019 and March 2020 Summit cruises. 

 

Not trying to be a snip here but why come to this site if other peoples opinions mean nothing to you? Isnt other peoples opinions what this site is all about. I have booked a Southern Carib on Summit in January 2020. And yes we will have fun regardless. But knowing there may be some service issues up front helps to temper my expectations for that cruise. 

[davekathy]

18 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

 

Not trying to be a snip here but why come to this site if other peoples opinions mean nothing to you? Isnt other peoples opinions what this site is all about. I have booked a Southern Carib on Summit in January 2020. And yes we will have fun regardless. But knowing there may be some service issues up front helps to temper my expectations for that cruise. 

Because I can! I respect everyone's opinion and want to hear their experiences. Positive or negative. Like you and everyone else here on CC I have the right to express my opinion whether I disagree or agree with someone else's opinions or experiences. One persons roof is another persons ceiling. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by davekathy

[ecslady]

On 11/12/2018 at 6:26 PM, DrKoob said:

I want to be completely clear that we DID NOT receive bad service at anytime on our two weeks in Summit in October. Every single person serving us did an amazing job. The problem was there were not enough of them. And it wasn't just the bartenders. 

 

Examples:

• We had the best stateroom attendant we have ever had on any of our 26 cruises (17 with Celebrity) but he worked with no help whatsoever. Not sure he ever got any time off. When we started cruising with X in 2004, our stateroom attendant had 15 cabins and an assistant. Our guy on Summit had no assistant and 20+ cabins. That's nuts.

 

These are just a few of the examples. I have a lot more.

 

Jim

 

A few  years ago Celebrity changed their system.  Now, you only have a stateroom attendant, no assistant.  The stateroom attendant has less cabins. They figure you will get more personalized service with only one attendant. Did you notice the carts they have now? It is different. Much easier for one person to handle.

[DrKoob]

7 minutes ago, ecslady said:

 

A few  years ago Celebrity changed their system.  Now, you only have a stateroom attendant, no assistant.  The stateroom attendant has less cabins. They figure you will get more personalized service with only one attendant. Did you notice the carts they have now? It is different. Much easier for one person to handle.

 

I can guarantee that on about the first half of our X cruises, our attendant had about 15 cabins to deal with, with an assistant. Then they took aways. the assistant but cut the number of cabins back to 10. Eddie, our guy on this cruise, had at least 20 to deal with. 

 

Jim

[ecslady]

10 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

 

I can guarantee that on about the first half of our X cruises, our attendant had about 15 cabins to deal with, with an assistant. Then they took aways. the assistant but cut the number of cabins back to 10. Eddie, our guy on this cruise, had at least 20 to deal with. 

 

Jim

 

That number was not what I experienced this past Spring on Infinity.  Perhaps they were short-handed, but we will probably never know for sure.

[DrKoob]

1 hour ago, ecslady said:

 

That number was not what I experienced this past Spring on Infinity.  Perhaps they were short-handed, but we will probably never know for sure.

 

I think if you look at the rest of my examples you will see that they were DEFINITELY short-handed. On the entire ship. In every service venue. And it is only going to get worse on the ships other than Edge. In fact if you read the comments on the threads from people who have been on the Edge, they have been told that "the best crew members" have been brought to Edge.

 

Jim

[ecslady]

9 hours ago, DrKoob said:

 

I think if you look at the rest of my examples you will see that they were DEFINITELY short-handed. On the entire ship. In every service venue. And it is only going to get worse on the ships other than Edge. In fact if you read the comments on the threads from people who have been on the Edge, they have been told that "the best crew members" have been brought to Edge.

 

Jim

 

It is true that they have been cutting staff for the last few years in all areas.  It is not what it used to be.  I've been reading all the threads on the Edge, and I'll get to see how service is myself next week.  I wonder if I will run into any staff I know from previous cruises on other ships.

Edited December 6, 2018 by ecslady

[clskinsfan]

On 12/5/2018 at 8:05 PM, davekathy said:

Because I can! I respect everyone's opinion and want to hear their experiences. Positive or negative. Like you and everyone else here on CC I have the right to express my opinion whether I disagree or agree with someone else's opinions or experiences. One persons roof is another persons ceiling. 

 

Fair enough brother. Happy sailing!