Summit Boston-Canada 9/11-9/21 Notes From Onboard

[phoenix_dream]

14 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Sorry but Mar was useless. Still waiting for the deck loungers we asked for 4 days ago that she said were being delivered. And despite her “whispering” to me that they would do something special, they did nothing!  Nothing was done about our 25th anniversary other than the generic balloons and a sign on our door. Don’t forget we couldn’t go outside our room so those were useless!  I brought the balloons in the cabin so I could enjoy them and not my fellow cruisers. No bottle of champagne, not even a dessert with “Happy Anniversary” on it. Not sure what she meant by “special” because she did nothing. Every time we asked her for something she passed it on to our butler and he followed up asking what we wanted. Stopped using them. Yes, I sound bitter.  It’s been a very sad and disappointing 25th wedding anniversary.  
 

At this point I just want to be home. Thank goodness we live in Boston and can walk in our front door 20 minutes after we get off the ship. 

Don't feel bad. For our 40th anniversary in a suite we got a few balloons on our ceiling, a card, and a towel animal shaped as a heart. That's it. We did get a cake in Luminae. 

[5:00_Somewhere]

Hi all, we're officially home now, thankfully, after a complete cluster**** of a disembarkation. I want to say at the outset that we both tend to be very positive people, look on the bright side, give people - especially shipboard staff and crew - the benefit of the doubt, but we feel terribly disappointed in a few respects about how things were handled the end of this cruise.

 

They did absolutely nothing for our anniversary - despite promising they would do something very special - other than put a sign and balloons on our cabin door which we did not even see until they delivered our dinner at 8:30 last night because we weren't allowed to leave our cabin. 

 

We thought we might get champagne, based on something our Butler said, but when there was no sign of that by mid-afternoon, I decided to blow some of our non-refundable OBC on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. We had heard others had gotten some kind of special dessert with dinner, but when we went to order there were no desserts showing on the app menu (which happened many nights), and we had to plead with our Butler to call down to Luminae to find out what might be available - apparently, there was only 1 dessert last night, which we know is BS.

 

Then, after being jerked around about disembarkation - being told 4 different things - we finally did as we were told, tagged our luggage with the "covid" group and put it all outside our door. We were told we would be met in our cabin at 8:00 a.m. and escorted off with the first groups where we could pick up our luggage and leave. Then, after our luggage was gone, we were told, oops, no, because disembarkation day is your last day of quarantine, you're free to leave whenever you want (which is what we had initially been told by the nurse upon my positive diagnosis, but which we had subsequently been told repeatedly was wrong). They said we really should have have sent your luggage with a "regular" group (which we were not given as an option). But, because it's already with the covid group, we were told we could disembark anytime after 8:00 a.m. and our luggage would be waiting for us. So, this is what we did.

 

Of course, once we were in the port terminal and couldn't find our luggage group, we were told, oh no, that group will be last and the luggage won't be coming off until much later.

 

We finally got it, got our Uber and got the hell out of there. I've never been so happy to see a ship disappearing in the rearview mirror.

 

*Sigh* I know I sound bitter. Believe it or not, it takes a lot to wear down my usual sunny disposition. 🙂 And I know some of these things may seem small, but all taken together, after 5 days stuck in our cabin, it just sent us both over the edge. 

 

I want to emphasize that we never ever took any of our frustration out on any personnel. We know they were dealing with "shifting sands" too. But, the lack of communication, and Keystone Kops way the whole Covid quarantine and disembarkation situation was dealt with was disheartening to say the least. We were left feeling very dejected.

 

And I know there will be those who think I'm just whining. That's fine. I admit I'm venting. But, I'm also posting this so future passengers may have some realistic expectations about what they might encounter. 

 

15 hours ago, J80crew said:

Just a reminder on this last night— If you have nonrefundable credit left in your account, you can direct that money to be distributed in tips. Guest Services will give you a form so you can specify where it goes.  Better to give it to crew than to let it lapse into corporate space.  

Safe travel home to all . . .

 

We did just this, although, after the Veuve, there was less than there had been. 😉 We also wrote out personal thank you cards and included cash tips for a number of individuals (which our Butler kindly delivered - including to himself 😉 ). We even received a very nice call from the Luminae Maitre d' thanking us for the note and extra gratuity, which was very nice.

 

One final note: ground transportation after disembarking was a bit of a mess. The lines for taxis were long and taxis were surprisingly sparse. Also, after we called our Uber to pick us up where we had originally been directed, we were told the rideshare pick up is now on the OTHER side of the Boston Design Center building, which is the building across the street from the Black Falcon terminal. The Massport police were downright belligerent when our Uber - along with a few others - tried to pick us up in front of the terminal. Something to consider for planning purposes.

 

Oh, and though it's in no way scientific, I can "guestimate' that there were a few dozen people quarantined with Covid at the end of the cruise. This is based on the amount of luggage grouped with ours, as well as a glimpse I got of at least 2 1/2 sheets of paper on a clipboard filled with names of people to whom that luggage belonged. 

 

Sorry for the negative tone. It was just a very disappointing end to what we had hoped would be a very special trip. Home now and going to try to put it behind us. 

 

I hope anyone boarding today and in the future has a nice trip. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by 5:00_Somewhere

[wrk2cruise]

I hope you write a letter to the executive office explaining your experience.   After over a year of dealing with this it should go like clockwork.  It's not like they are re-inventing things each week.  What you described for your anniversary decorations are exactly what our Butler did for our 45th on Equinox a couple weeks ago.   However there was a bottle of Decoy and a charcuterie board as well (after dinner).

 

I find the desert issue puzzling.  Of course there are 3 deserts plus cheese plate on the Luminae menu nightly as well as the MDR desert menu.  Any should have been available to you.  Also in a suite they will serve any gelato you want any night.  There are also anniversary and birthday cakes nightly in all restaurants.

[warb]

Wow !!!    I think you held up amazingly, considering what you both

 

went thru.   My Wife & I had Covid a year ago now. It wasn't pretty.

 

At least we were Home. I hope you are feeling Better. Best Wishes

 

from Western Taxachusetts !

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Sorry but Mar was useless. Still waiting for the deck loungers we asked for 4 days ago that she said were being delivered. And despite her “whispering” to me that they would do something special, they did nothing!  Nothing was done about our 25th anniversary other than the generic balloons and a sign on our door. Don’t forget we couldn’t go outside our room so those were useless!  I brought the balloons in the cabin so I could enjoy them and not my fellow cruisers. No bottle of champagne, not even a dessert with “Happy Anniversary” on it. Not sure what she meant by “special” because she did nothing. Every time we asked her for something she passed it on to our butler and he followed up asking what we wanted. Stopped using them. Yes, I sound bitter.  It’s been a very sad and disappointing 25th wedding anniversary.  
 

At this point I just want to be home. Thank goodness we live in Boston and can walk in our front door 20 minutes after we get off the ship. 

 

Wow .. sorry to hear.    I know she is trying to get Lyle up to speed.   She was suppose to leave the ship last cruise but they extended her at last minute.   I'm sure if you reminded her she would jump on it.

 

I guess you read that the Retreat Manager that had abandoned us on Silhouette joined Summit for the last of our cruises.   Mar told us that he said -- I don't think they like me.    I had written a scathing letter about his performance.

 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[CruisinBanka]

4 hours ago, 5:00_Somewhere said:

Hi all, we're officially home now, thankfully, after a complete cluster**** of a disembarkation. I want to say at the outset that we both tend to be very positive people, look on the bright side, give people - especially shipboard staff and crew - the benefit of the doubt, but we feel terribly disappointed in a few respects about how things were handled the end of this cruise.

 

They did absolutely nothing for our anniversary - despite promising they would do something very special - other than put a sign and balloons on our cabin door which we did not even see until they delivered our dinner at 8:30 last night because we weren't allowed to leave our cabin. 

 

We thought we might get champagne, based on something our Butler said, but when there was no sign of that by mid-afternoon, I decided to blow some of our non-refundable OBC on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. We had heard others had gotten some kind of special dessert with dinner, but when we went to order there were no desserts showing on the app menu (which happened many nights), and we had to plead with our Butler to call down to Luminae to find out what might be available - apparently, there was only 1 dessert last night, which we know is BS.

 

Then, after being jerked around about disembarkation - being told 4 different things - we finally did as we were told, tagged our luggage with the "covid" group and put it all outside our door. We were told we would be met in our cabin at 8:00 a.m. and escorted off with the first groups where we could pick up our luggage and leave. Then, after our luggage was gone, we were told, oops, no, because disembarkation day is your last day of quarantine, you're free to leave whenever you want (which is what we had initially been told by the nurse upon my positive diagnosis, but which we had subsequently been told repeatedly was wrong). They said we really should have have sent your luggage with a "regular" group (which we were not given as an option). But, because it's already with the covid group, we were told we could disembark anytime after 8:00 a.m. and our luggage would be waiting for us. So, this is what we did.

 

Of course, once we were in the port terminal and couldn't find our luggage group, we were told, oh no, that group will be last and the luggage won't be coming off until much later.

 

We finally got it, got our Uber and got the hell out of there. I've never been so happy to see a ship disappearing in the rearview mirror.

 

*Sigh* I know I sound bitter. Believe it or not, it takes a lot to wear down my usual sunny disposition. 🙂 And I know some of these things may seem small, but all taken together, after 5 days stuck in our cabin, it just sent us both over the edge. 

 

I want to emphasize that we never ever took any of our frustration out on any personnel. We know they were dealing with "shifting sands" too. But, the lack of communication, and Keystone Kops way the whole Covid quarantine and disembarkation situation was dealt with was disheartening to say the least. We were left feeling very dejected.

 

And I know there will be those who think I'm just whining. That's fine. I admit I'm venting. But, I'm also posting this so future passengers may have some realistic expectations about what they might encounter. 

 

 

We did just this, although, after the Veuve, there was less than there had been. 😉 We also wrote out personal thank you cards and included cash tips for a number of individuals (which our Butler kindly delivered - including to himself 😉 ). We even received a very nice call from the Luminae Maitre d' thanking us for the note and extra gratuity, which was very nice.

 

One final note: ground transportation after disembarking was a bit of a mess. The lines for taxis were long and taxis were surprisingly sparse. Also, after we called our Uber to pick us up where we had originally been directed, we were told the rideshare pick up is now on the OTHER side of the Boston Design Center building, which is the building across the street from the Black Falcon terminal. The Massport police were downright belligerent when our Uber - along with a few others - tried to pick us up in front of the terminal. Something to consider for planning purposes.

 

Oh, and though it's in no way scientific, I can "guestimate' that there were a few dozen people quarantined with Covid at the end of the cruise. This is based on the amount of luggage grouped with ours, as well as a glimpse I got of at least 2 1/2 sheets of paper on a clipboard filled with names of people to whom that luggage belonged. 

 

Sorry for the negative tone. It was just a very disappointing end to what we had hoped would be a very special trip. Home now and going to try to put it behind us. 

 

I hope anyone boarding today and in the future has a nice trip. 

Sorry to hear about your end of cruise and disembarkation experience. It certainly doesn’t reflect well on Celebrity, as they should have these Covid protocols down to a science by now. Glad you are home safe and can finally relax. Wishing you a full recovery. 

[phoenix_dream]

18 hours ago, RichYak said:

Sorry to read this, but unfortunately I'm not surprised. After reading so many accounts from those that are quarantined, it's like they are no longer treated as passengers. Instead they become liabilities.

I don't disagree but I think the issue is that they are just unprepared to handle the numbers of sick passengers now that capacity has risen so quickly and to such high percentages. Add to that the fact that Boston doesn't have anywhere near the # of sailings as, say, Lauderdale and so doesn't have as much experience handling these things, and it is a recipe for disaster so to speak.

[hcat]

Glad you are now FREE!

Not very good treatment by Celebrity and sounds like your Butler  and X in general did not go out of the way for you...maybe afraid of catching Covid????

 

Hope  there is a FULL recovery from Covid and " mistreatment trauma!"

[RichYak]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I don't disagree but I think the issue is that they are just unprepared to handle the numbers of sick passengers now that capacity has risen so quickly and to such high percentages. Add to that the fact that Boston doesn't have anywhere near the # of sailings as, say, Lauderdale and so doesn't have as much experience handling these things, and it is a recipe for disaster so to speak.

From every account I've read, Celebrity has been doing a bad job of handling covid positive passengers since they stopped flying them home. At what point should we expect them to no longer be unprepared? At what point do we stop making excuses for their abandonment of the isolated?

 

Also, I don't know what Boston vs. Ft Lauderdale would have to do with it. The crew is the crew regardless of embarkation point. OP's problems all occurred on board or were initiated by on board staff.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Thank you all for the support.  I thought I would get slammed for knocking Celebrity and the Retreat Hosts. I don’t blame anyone. Just a bad situation. I had a lot of really awesome things planned for our 25th including a private sailing tour in Portland that all had to be cancelled and I was feeling really down about it. I thought a bottle of champagne or a special dessert would be enough to run it around and when that didn’t come I started to spiral. Will still cruise and still be a part of all of our great cruising experience!

[Jim_Iain]

Just now, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Thank you all for the support.  I thought I would get slammed for knocking Celebrity and the Retreat Hosts. I don’t blame anyone. Just a bad situation. I had a lot of really awesome things planned for our 25th including a private sailing tour in Portland that all had to be cancelled and I was feeling really down about it. I thought a bottle of champagne or a special dessert would be enough to run it around and when that didn’t come I started to spiral. Will still cruise and still be a part of all of our great cruising experience!

 

Never.... I believe everyone feels the disappointment you have had are behind you 100%. 

 

If your recall I really went off on the Retreat Manager that left us with no food until 11 PM.  Sometimes when there are major failures they need to be called out.   Make sure you put them in your Survey also. 

[takemewithyou]

2 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Thank you all for the support.  I thought I would get slammed for knocking Celebrity and the Retreat Hosts. I don’t blame anyone. Just a bad situation. I had a lot of really awesome things planned for our 25th including a private sailing tour in Portland that all had to be cancelled and I was feeling really down about it. I thought a bottle of champagne or a special dessert would be enough to run it around and when that didn’t come I started to spiral. Will still cruise and still be a part of all of our great cruising experience!

Once you feel better, I hope you go out or eat in and have a really great dinner for your anniversary!!  With a fabulous dessert and champagne!!  Blessings! 

[dlh015]

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Thank you all for the support.  I thought I would get slammed for knocking Celebrity and the Retreat Hosts. I don’t blame anyone. Just a bad situation. I had a lot of really awesome things planned for our 25th including a private sailing tour in Portland that all had to be cancelled and I was feeling really down about it. I thought a bottle of champagne or a special dessert would be enough to run it around and when that didn’t come I started to spiral. Will still cruise and still be a part of all of our great cruising experience!

Not a chance!! They blew it and you are just telling it like it was. I know this won't be easy to put in the rear view mirror but I suspect your sunny side will return with a little TLC.

 

Wishing you the best!!

[5:00_Somewhere]

I want to echo what my hubby said: I really appreciate you all being so understanding and supportive, and letting us rant a little.

I also want to clarify a couple of things. First, our Butler was outstanding, over all. Things would have been SOOO much worse if we had not had his assistance with virtually everything (and his tip definitely reflected that). The one area where we had an issue was that we could not seem to get him to understand that the X app could be glitchy, and that it was often incomplete or inaccurate where the Luminae menu was concerned. He seemed to think that whatever appeared on the app was "Gospel". So, when on day 1 it showed 2 different appetizer menus and 2 different entrée menus, we had difficulty getting him to understand that this had to be a mistake and that only one appetizer menu and one entrée menu could be valid for that evening. Likewise, when no lunch menu appeared on a sea day even though the app said Luminae was open and we knew they served lunch on that day, he insisted lunch was not available (until we finally prevailed upon him to collect an actual paper menu for us). And, the same with desserts: most nights no desserts appeared on the Luminae menu on the app, and his assumption was that no desserts were offered. A very odd take, but this was literally the only issue we had with his service, and it was far overshadowed by all the other wonderful services he provided us. 

 

We also feel SO fortunate to have been in a Suite and to have had the Luminae menu and our Butler service available to us. On port days, lunch was available only from regular room service. It took forever to reach them, and when we placed an order it would typically take an hour or so to arrive, and was always cold.

 

As for the Concierge hosts, Lyle and Mar were both very nice and personable, especially whenever we would see them before we were  quarantined. And Mar called to check on us every single day during quarantine, always asking if there was anything she could do for us. Unfortunately, when we did ask for something, it was either handed off to our Butler - who always took care of it - or, apparently, forgotten. This includes empathizing with us being "locked up" for our anniversary and assuring she would "do something special" for us, which is why it was so disappointing. We didn't feel we needed to "remind" her, and chose not to "be demanding" but, in retrospect, I suppose we should have taken more control over our own celebration and simply explicitly stated what we wanted ... so our Butler could take care of it. 😉

 

Finally, I agree with what others have said, that a lot of the Covid and service issues are essentially inevitable, given cruise lines' (not only Celebrity) decisions to simultaneously increase passenger capacity and reduce Covid protective protocols, all while they continue to struggle with severe staffing issues. I fully understand the business reasons behind these decisions, but fear that they have not adequately prepared for the inevitable consequences. 

[Armac]

My wife and I just arrived home from the same cruise, so I will add a little of our experience. First I would like to say to the OP that I am so sorry that your cruise turned out the way it did, I do not feel that you were complaining, just telling it the way it was. My wife and I had an inside room it was very nice, but I could not image being quarantined in it for 5 days. I think I will be upping my bid on the next cruise.

 

We arrived at the cruise port at 12:15 and boarded the ship within 30 minutes. At the end of the cruise we did 'walk off'. I was the smoothest we ever had, off the ship and picking up our car at the hotel by 7:45. I totally believe the OP's  bad experience, this just shows how 2 different people can have a different experience on the same cruise, just luck of the draw.

 

The only really negative for us was my time dining, we tried to book a time on the app before the cruise but could only get 5 or 8 o'clock, we tried to book on the ship and same thing. The second night we tried to get a pager about 7 and were told it would be an hour so we may as well wait until 8. At that point we gave up on my time and asked to be moved to 8 o'clock regular dining. They gave us an excellent table for 2 by a window.  Our waiters and food were very good. The regular dining room seemed to be half empty many nights at 8,  the my time seemed overwhelmed. Why not just make the whole dining room my time? (just my opinion)

 

It was also our anniversary on this cruise (38th). We booked the Tuscan grill, the food was good, better than the dining room but we did not think it worth the extra money. 

 

We thought the Ship was in good shape, and the crew worked hard, but I agree they seemed to be

short staffed. Sorry I did not mean to high jack this thread I was going to write a review but just thought i could add our comments here.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

[5:00_Somewhere]

29 minutes ago, Armac said:

My wife and I just arrived home from the same cruise, so I will add a little of our experience.

 

Sorry I did not mean to high jack this thread I was going to write a review but just thought i could add our comments here.     

 

Not at all. I never intended this to be a "one man show". Happy to hear others' experiences.

 

I also agree that the ship seemed to be in good shape, overall, although we did notice - sitting on our balcony for 5 days - that the undersides of the decks and balconies are showing a LOT of rust and staining and really could use some attention. As with other things, I very much suspect this is related to lack of staffing. 

 

Something else I can now agree with, after spending 5 days in our cabin, is that - as much as I like many things about the "revolutionization" of the Summit, the furniture is largely impractical and uncomfortable for use over any extended period. We never minded in the past, as we tend not to spend an inordinate amount of time in our cabin, but this time .... 😉 

[RichYak]

4 hours ago, 5:00_Somewhere said:

I also want to clarify a couple of things. First, our Butler was outstanding, over all. Things would have been SOOO much worse if we had not had his assistance with virtually everything (and his tip definitely reflected that).

I'm glad you clarified this part. I recall reading your original comments about his dessert fiasco and the anniversary special that turned into nothing. When you then mentioned including an envelope for him at the end of the cruise, it originally made me tilt my head in wonder a bit. This clears it up.