Summit Compared To Century/Galaxy/Mercury

[Keith1010]

My wife and I have sailed on the Zenith, Horizon, Century, Galaxy and Mercury but have not yet sailed on the other larger Celebrity Ships. We have booked a cruise on the Summit and, in general, were wondering how it compared to the sister ships Century/Galaxy/Mercury. For those of you who have sailed on both size ships which do you prefer? Does one type seem less crowded than the other? Appreciate any comments on this.

 

Thanks,

Keith

[chessbriar]

The Summit by far is my favorite. Having sailed on all the C class ship and the Summit in April, Summit by far is my favorite. Be excited about you about your up coming cruise. In January we did a ship inspection on the Summit, then cruised on the Mercury. We were so impressed with the Summit in just a two hour walk through, we moved our October cruise up to April. You will love it.

[PatC]

We have sailed on Horizon, Zenith, Century, Galaxy, Millie and Summit. While we love the comfortable feeling of Horizon & Zenith (3 times on both), Summit is the best of all. We sailed her last March and are booked on her again this coming March for a 10 day. She is also a "comfortable" ship and we might call her "user friendly". The staff was great, friendly and so accommodating. You will love this ship. Of course, everyone can encounter a "bad" cruise experience, but even if some things aren't up to par this ship will prove to be one of the best.

[kelmac]

Keith1010,

 

I think you are going to love the Summit! My wife and I have sailed the Horizon, Zenith, Galaxy, Century, Constellation, Millennium and Summit; and to this point, my favorite is the Summit. Make sure you try the Normandie Specialty Restaurant--this could be the best Restaurant at Sea! Try the Souffle au Fromage de Chevre (goat cheese souffle); Salade Cesar; Chateaubriand; and for Dessert; Bombe Surprise de S.S. Normandie(same white/dark chocolate mousse with raspberries and chocolate curls/spikes, off the menu of the SS Normandie 1935. Enjoy! Kel

[sueclark]

My favorite ship is Mercury (Millennium is second), but my favorite Royal Suites are on the M-class - so I'm torn to answer your question. Both have things that I like better than the other.

 

I love the T-pool on Mercury and don't care much for them on the M-class.

I enjoy the specialty dining rooms on the M-class.

I like the Cova better on M-class.

I like the arrangement and assortment of lounges & bars on C-class.

 

We are always happy on either class of ship and don't find either to feel crowded.

[Senga]

We have only sailed Mercury once and loved it, especially the indoor pool. It was our favourite until we sailed Summit. We have been on Summit twice, with our third booked for October 15th and fourth for March 2006 so obviously we're very pleased with it. We would definitely go on Mercury again if they had itineraries we were interested in. We also loved Century but after having the indoor pool on Mercury we decided it was nicer. I don't think any of the dining rooms compare to Century's - it is magnificent. You'll have a wonderful time on the Summit.

[Keith1010]

Thank you all for your thoughts on this.

 

Keith

[benjamins]

Keith,

 

I think Century, Galaxy, and Mercury are Celebrity's best ships. As you know if you've been on them, they are three different ships inside. For me, the Millennium ships are lacking in many ways. I prefer, by far, the Century ships, and I trulyl think the Millennium ships aren't terribly well designed. I don't like the Millennium lounges, they are all H shaped and don't invite conversation and intimacy; I don't like the wings in the main dining rooms--long passageways with plenty of tables and seats before you get to the main part of the dining room; I think there are way too many shops on the ships; I don't like that the promenade deck is only on the side and doesn't wrap around the back of the ship and is not teak; I don't like that you can't go from the 2nd to 3rd deck of the foyer without leaving the foyer; I don't like that Celebrity has done away with one of the dance floors and there are only 2 on this huge ship; I don't like that the Rendezvous lounge is connected with the (relocated aft lounge) through an overlook over the Rendezvous's dance floor--where on could enjoy totally different music and ambiance in the Century classes aft lounges (Crystal, Savoy, and Pavillon), and their Rendezvous lounges, one can't get away from the music played in the Rendezvous on the Millennium class ships and the atmosphere feels much the same in both lounges, in fact it feels like a two level lounge yet there's no direct way from one level to another-- you have to leave the bottom lounge to go to the top. I don't like the thellasotherapy pool as it is much weaker than the version in the Century ships and it is in a much more public area. Michael's Club was oversized and now are piano bars. Also, the creativity is gone. The individuality, creativity, and daring of the Century class has given way to peas-in-a-pod laziness and cheapness of standardized layouts and furnishing on all of the Millennium ships. The only differences between ships are patterns and colors and the specialty restaurants are all different. I'm not saying the Millennium ships aren't expensively furnished, but it is clear that RCI/Celebrity saved money by buying identical furnishings on all four ships and just chose different fabrics to put on all of them. Here's where they feel cheaper and more compromised than Century ships, IMO.

 

Overall, if you like newer, bigger, somewhat better passenger space, good walkthrough flow, lots of balconies, and must have a specialty restaurant, the Millennium ships are for you. If you like dancing, more and varied lounges with more intimate partitioning of the lounges; more varied deck space; more intimate and powerful thellasotherapy pool; individuality and creativity in ships; all levels of the foyer accessible through a staircase; a reasonable amount of shops; and ships designed for Celebrity by Celebrity and not a shared and compromised Celebrity/RCI design, then the Century ships are for you.

[Keith1010]

SueClark, you mentioned that your favorite Royal Suites are on the M Class. I've been in the Royal Suites in the Century/Galaxy/Mercury but was wondering what you liked better on the larger ships such as the Summit/Mellenium, etc.

 

Keith

[sueclark]

Keith,

 

We've been in RS on both Mercury and M-class ships and like both. The ones on M-class seem to be a bit more elegant and the layout is slightly better. Some of the difference is that they are just a bit newer [duh] and it shows - just a little less wear visible. The balcony is considerably bigger on M-class and has the small jacuzzi.

 

One thing we liked better on Mercury RS was that there was the large wall of windows in the living room. On the M-class it is just the width of the sliding doors.