Celebrity Summit mini-review, first time on Celebrity

[alexandria]

Now that we are both retired, my wife and I have resumed cruising and as part of that we decided to try a few more of the main-stream lines we had not sailed before.  We prefer small to medium size ships (about 100,000 GT or less with under 2,000 passengers) and have no interest in megaships.  Summit was right on the upper limit of our preferred ship size and passenger capacity.

 

We found a nice price on the Summit 11/27 sailing to Key West, Bimini and Nassau (5 nts).  While we have been to Key West and Nassau more times than we can count, we wanted to give Celebrity a try so the itinerary wasn't important and those aren't part of this mini-review.

 

We booked a balcony guarantee and immediately were assigned a "sweet sixteen" balcony on deck 6.  The room was well-located although from about 9pm until 11pm we occasionally experienced "bass" thumping from music either from the late theater show or music on the pool deck.  It wasn't so loud or disturbing to be a problem but others more sensitive to such may wish to select a different location onboard for their cabin.  The cabin was cleaned twice daily with chocolates on the pillows on nights one and two only.  There was a substantial amount of rust on the balcony and visible on many of the balcony supports above us and visible from windows in the Oceanview cafe.  We never saw any maintenance on those areas.  However, public areas were kept very clean and there was always somebody mopping a floor or wiping down the stairway railings.

 

Boarding in Miami was relatively speedy although for the first time ever (cruising since the early 1970's and married for 30+ years) the check-in attendant believed we needed a marriage certificate.  After I showed her the website for Celebrity's document requirements on my phone, she checked with her supervisor who quickly corrected her and apologized to us for the delay in boarding.  They also took new photos instead of using those we uploaded (Royal Caribbean did the same in late 2021).

 

The menus were as posted in VintageCheap's recent Live from the Celebrity Constellation thread.  Food is often the most subjective part of the cruise experience.  We found that food was fine with an adequate selection and generally properly prepared and served.  Nothing great, nothing terrible.  I'd rate it as average/slightly above-average for MDR cruise dining.  I did have a few observations:  while I didn't order the "always available" steak, those at our table who did received a very, very well-done piece of tough meat regardless of how they ordered it.  Hamburgers/cheeseburgers at the Pool Grill were very overdone the two times I ordered them, nearly crispy!  I then saw you can have one cooked to order so I ordered one medium.  It was not even medium rare but rare.  I hate to waste food but I ate 0/3 hamburgers I was served there (on the other hand, the hot dog I had was quite good).  Eggs Benedict in the Oceanview Cafe were usually cool to cold by the time I got to a table, I suspect that is because the Hollandaise sauce is not kept in a warmer but in a bowl sitting nearby.  MDR and Oceanview Cafe service was excellent with a very attentive and friendly waiter and assistant waiter.  I found one exception to the generally friendly service at the Spa Cafe in the Solarium.  The first smoothie I ordered was very runny and thin.  I ordered another one the next morning and asked that the young lady put a few tablespoons of yogurt (sitting right there during breakfast hours) in when she mixed it.  Her curt and somewhat discourteous reply was "we don't do that".  So when I received my smoothie I removed the lid, added yogurt and stirred it around myself.  Perhaps she was having a bad day as that inflexible and less than friendly reply was not typical during this trip.

 

On three of the days, the Solarium was very, very noisy as workers used hammers to chip away rust near the pool/hot tub stairs and repaint.  They had that area closed entirely (the pool/hot tubs, not the Solarium itself) for a good part of one of our days.  And for some reason, there were no bar waiters at all in the Solarium...we never saw one.  So we had to go to a bar near the pool to get a soda or sparkling water as did others who wanted something a bit stronger.  However, bar waiters were everywhere on the pool deck itself. 

 

Passengers?  We found many to be very friendly and engaging and we joined several other couples for entertainment offerings or dinner.  Most seemed to be courteous to other passengers and crew.  But we also found some whose behavior seemed to be more suited to Carnival; shoving by other passengers in line, verbally berating other passengers who occupied a lounge chair they had "reserved" three hours before (and whose newspaper/magazine had been removed by Celebrity crew), and showing up late, loud and inebriated for a show, a game or other entertainment.  The "dress code" in the MDR was not enforced and some wore clothing not in keeping with the Smart Casual or Evening Chic requirements (more like suggestions it appeared).  But that is a topic of some disagreement so I won't belabor that observation any further.

 

The overall entertainment was very good to average.  Comedian Shayma Tash was great (I was already familiar with her) early in the cruise, however, Celebrity cancelled her "adult" comedy show scheduled for 10:15pm the final night of the cruise due to what they described as a personal situation.  A vocalist and a magician were both very good as was the in-house band (they called it an orchestra but it was just a rhythm section with a single trumpet and saxophone).  Other than the acrobatic entertainers, the production shows were mediocre.  And on a very picky note, a good friend who is a well-known sound engineer in Nashville would have cringed at the horrible intro music and announcement welcoming you to the Celebrity Summit theater before every show.  Heavy thumping bass and screeching treble "notes" at very high volume makes it seem like it was an amateur recording produced by a teenager on his/her home computer. 

 

We didn't try the specialty dining as the only reservation times open for the Tuscan Grille were much later than our preferred dining times.  And is every single person in the MDR on the final night required to tell you to give them ten out of ten on the post-cruise survey??  We heard that from at least four Celebrity crew members who came to our table.  To end the cruise, Celebrity dropped the ball with our disembarkation.  We filled out the disembarkation information on the app and expected our luggage be taken the night before (they call it "luggage assist" I believe) to retrieve in the terminal.  When we found no luggage tags in our stateroom after the last night cleaning and turndown service, we asked our stateroom attendant who said we were listed as "self-assist" and needed to carry our own luggage off.  I mentioned that we didn't want to carry our own luggage off and didn't select that in the app, she said to go to guest services.  Once there, the guest services crew member apologized for the mix-up, asked for our preferred disembarkation time, and said we'd receive luggage tags delivered to our stateroom within fifteen minutes.  An hour and a half later (11:00pm by now) and still no luggage tags after calling to check on the status of them twice.  Needless to say, we never received the luggage tags and had to carry all of our luggage off ourselves.

 

Immigration/customs in Miami was fast and efficient, once we departed the ship we were waiting at the curb for our Uber to the airport within ten minutes.

 

Where do we rank Celebrity?  About equal to Royal Caribbean, superior to NCL and Carnival and far superior to MSC.  However, we didn't find the food, service and condition of the ship as good as HAL.  Our next sailing is on Seabourn and we'll be trying Viking Ocean, Silversea and RSSC as well.  Would we sail Celebrity again?  Perhaps, but much will depend on our experiences on some of the other ships we'll be trying over the course of the next year.  If we do choose Celebrity again, it is likely to be on an expedition sailing to the Galapagos.

Edited December 3, 2023 by alexandria
Correct spelling

[CardowMD]

Just an FYI, we used to be given the luggage tags at guest services. Maybe they changed this?

[39august]

I can't imagine not getting luggage tags in your cabin on the last day! What a terrible mix-up. I have never had to go to Guest Services to get luggage tags. They have always been delivered timely. We don't use the app, so we fill out a paper which has you indicate time of departure. This paper usually comes to the cabin a couple or 3 days before debarkation day. Perhaps the problem was in the app. 

[alexandria]

4 minutes ago, CardowMD said:

Just an FYI, we used to be given the luggage tags at guest services. Maybe they changed this?

I don't know but I went down to guest services when directed by our cabin steward after I didn't have them in our stateroom the final night.  The explanation for their absence from our cabin steward was that it was because we were listed as "self-assist", so it sounded to me as though they should have been in our stateroom absent a glitch in their app or elsewhere that had us listed incorrectly as "self-assist". 

 

In any event, I was prepared to wait for them at guest services (after waiting in line to be helped) but was told by the guest services representative, and then again by phone later, that they would be delivered to our stateroom.  It wasn't a big issue, it was just inconvenient to have to carry off both pieces of luggage and our overnight bag, particularly after asking several times for the luggage tags.  That was the first time in dozens of cruises that we experienced this.

[PTC DAWG]

If your sailing Seabourn, Viking etc..I can see why the Summit might be disappointing…

[alexandria]

3 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

If your sailing Seabourn, Viking etc..I can see why the Summit might be disappointing…

We haven't sailed any of the premium, ultra-premium or luxury lines yet but we are looking forward to giving them a try.

 

I wouldn't call our cruise "disappointing" rather it seemed to me to be pretty typical of the average mid-tier cruise product now being offered out there and still represents a good vacation value.  But even an average cruise beats sitting in Atlanta traffic any day of the week!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I don’t understand why people get their underwear in a knot when they see rust 🤔

They are alway removing and repainting when they can , some areas can be only done during drydock 

 

[39august]

I'd rather see a little rust than hear the banging noise when they are chipping it away!

[CardowMD]

We ended up carrying our luggage off Ascent because we had an early flight. Worst part was the new plush carpet in the hallways.

[VintageCheap]

Thanks for the review.  We are booked for 12/11 on the Summit.  We'll do a Live Blog if no others appear. 

[vickykay]

Would love to see a comparison or link here to your upcoming cruises.

[r2h2]

3 hours ago, VintageCheap said:

Thanks for the review.  We are booked for 12/11 on the Summit.  We'll do a Live Blog if no others appear. 

Awesome!  We are on the next Summit cruise 12/16.  Thank you

[GranysT]

Is there a hot glass class on  Summit?

[tjunmin]

45 minutes ago, GranysT said:

Is there a hot glass class on  Summit?

No.

[81Zoomie]

Appreciate the honest review.  We are just off the Reflection.  Will be on the Summit for the first time in a few weeks.  It will be an interesting comparison between the service levels and food on the 2 ships.