Questions re:Summit

[mauibabe]

We are going to be cruising on Celebrity for the first time in Sept. Taking the 14 day to Hawaii. We have cruised on the other lines but have always heard great things about Celebrity so will give them a try.

From what I gather...is the only dinner option in the main dining room, is there no evening buffet or other choices....sometimes after a couple of evenings of the "rich" food...we like a change.

 

Also, to anyone who has done this particular cruise...did you find yourself bored with 4 days at sea? We enjoy our days by the pool, but if the weather is not cooperating....I've heard that "Celebrity" isn't all that active...would appreciate any info, tips, advice regarding this cruise.

 

We've done the NCL cruise out of Hawaii in the past, so any advice on interesting things to do, besides the normal shore excursions would be helpful.

[sbmaureen]

We were on the Summit last fall and there were other dining options. We had the sushi once for dinner and there is the casual dining restaurant and I'm fairly certain there was something at the buffet, at least the pasta. We never tried to have dinner there. As far as sea days I could spend all day at the T pool and the persian garden. Just lovely. In fact I'm a little afraid our upcoming Alaskan cruise has too many ports! We also enjoyed the ping pong and the tennis like game on the top deck. The cova cafe is a great place to relax with coffee and a treat. I can't wait!

[gracecarmo]

We took the Summit to Hawaii RT in Feb. Yes, there is also an alternative restaurant in the Waterfall area, and also pizza, sushi, and pasta. You can also order room service. We enjoyed the alternative restaurant in the Waterfall. You have to make a reservation and leave a $2.00 tip pp for the waiters. The menu usually has 4 entrees.

You will not go hungry!

Also: in Honolulu they serve a lulu type buffet in the Waterfall Cafeteria.

 

4 days at sea, each way: well, we read 3 books! There are other activities also.

[mauibabe]

Thank you all for the info

[adegner]

I know what you mean. After so many nights of "dining room" service, you might want to play "hooky" once in a while. The salad, pasta and pizza bar is great. And you can walk a few feet more and get sushi. Then you can go sit outside on the back deck and relax!

 

You should also consider doing the specialty restaurant one night as it is spectacular.

[Lois R]

I guess there is miscommunication with lots of things. And

one of those is the Dining Option on X.

 

The one item NOT offered is an "EVENING BUFFET". But there

are always other dining options if you don't want the main

dining room.

But there are always other options. On the M class ships,

the Specialty Restaurant is available along with the Aqua Spa

Cafe...till 8pm I think.

There is Sushi too and "alternative dining" held aft. You are served

with linen and a 2.00 gratuity is suggested. But it is a casual

atmosphere up on the lido deck.

 

The C class ships offer the same alternative dining and sushi too

but no specialty restaurant or aqua spa cafes.

 

And Room Service is offered on all ships.

 

So there may not be the choices of other cruiselines but there

are other options.

[Rence]

Just off the Summit and the posts above just about cover it. There was however a dinner buffet one evening. The evening we were in Honolulu, the ship did not leave until 11pm. Because so many people would be coming returning to the ship at odd hours, there was a dinner buffet from 6pm to 10pm or so (can't remember the exact hours)

[camella]

I also am just off the Summit from Hawaii and there are other alternatives. You will never go hungry. Dining room alternatives, there is the waterfall cafe as the other poster mentioned. They have sushi almost every night at 5:00, they have tea sandwiches and sweets at 4:00, they have the cova cafe with pastries also, and you can always order room service with just a plate of fruit and cheese if you aren't that hungry. The only thing I can tell you about the days at sea is to bring along some ginger tablets. We had a couple pretty rough days at sea on the way out, and I took a ginger tablet and that seemed to do the trick. Plus I was able to give it to my 9 year old and it helped her. The ride back was pretty smooth but nothing like the caribbean. It is a much tougher ocean but no I was never bored. I went to the gym, slept, read, watched movies, and they had lots of activities. Everything from wine tasting, champagne tasting, towel folding, ice carving, you name it. I did have a few complaints though, but tried not to let it ruin our trip. We had upgraded to a suite because it is a 14 day cruise and were totally disappointed with the butler service. He was on his last cruise and just couldn't be bothered. Then the disembarkation process was a complete nightmare. We had a 1:45 flight and almost missed it. Took us 4 hours to get off the ship. BUT - we really enjoyed cruising with Celebrity, they are top notch when it comes to service and food especially. have fun!!

[Coolcruise02]

camella.......... we are thinking about the 14 night to Hawaii. Do you have to start taking the ginger tablets early, or do they work if you just wait to take one when your feeling bad? (I have never had a problem in the Caribbean and we have gone thru a couple bad storms)

 

Also, do you know why disembarkation was so bad? Did they give you tags to be first off the ship?

[mauibabe]

camella....thank you for all your info. I am wondering about the "ginger tablet"..I have not heard of this...where do you get them and when/how often do you take them? I have the wrist bands that I have used in the past in the Carribean...but it sounds like it could be a little bit more "bumpy"...ooh...not so sure about this.....

[Keith1010]

We were on the Summit in late March doing the R/T Hawaii cruise.

 

In addition to the main dining room you could eat upstairs in the casual restaurant (you are asked to make a reservation and can do so that day and a $2.00 tip per person is recommended). We ate there a couple of times for dinner and enjoyed it. The food was good and we enjoyed the service. Adjacent to the casual restaurant is a sushi area and we would bring sushi over to the table and eat it as our appetizer. They also have a wonderful specialty restaurant; The Normandy. I have to tell you that it was the most wonderful specialty restaurent we have eaten in (and we have eaten in ones on the luxury cruise lines). It is pricey at $30.00 per person (not including drinks) but the ambience, service and food are outstanding. Many dishes are prepared table-side. It was a truly amazing dinner.

 

We enjoyed the sea days. There is much to do. We went to several lectures and enjoyed them and would workout in the mornings. I think that Celebrity did a nice job of offering many options during the sea days.

 

In terms of the seas, it was bumby our first 24 hours after leaving Los Angeles but got better each day. Each voyage will be different as the weather is different day to day.

 

Keith

[LMKohler]

We were on the same cruise with Keith. We are not prone to rough seas and while some would say it was "rough" I didn't think it was. But come prepared. The Pacific is not like the Atlantic or the Caribbean Sea. It was chilly the first two days out, but we didn't get bored -- we actually loved the sea days. The closer we got to Hawaii the warmer it got.

 

Can't say enough about the Normandy. It is worth the extra $30/pp. This trip we also ate at the casual dining alternative in the cafe and found it to be really very nice (it is hard getting my DH out of the dining room:) and he liked it as well). He also tried the sushi bar.

 

I'm not sure what happened with disembarkation. Our immigration time was 6:50 a.m. and we didn't have too much of a wait--probably half hour to 40 minutes (the officers were late). We then had breakfast and were off the ship at 8:45, so our experience wasn't bad. I believe they give immigration times based on flight schedules. Our flight was at 11:30 a.m. We were at the airport at 9:30. LAX is another whole story in and of itself.