First time on a Celebrity ship. Not sure if I would give excellent reviews to them, but would sail again if the itinerary and price are well worth it.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was very smooth and expertly managed
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Buffets could have used a better selection. Seems they were targeting more oriental and Hispanic tastes. We had chosen Select Dining for the main dining room, but they did not tell us that when you showed up there could be a wait of 30-45 minutes unless you made a "reservation" which we were unable to do. Mainly because when you called, no one answered. Left a message and no one got back to us. Other restaurant venues were better. We did select the Tuscan Grille for an extra $45 per person, which was considerably more costly than other cruise lines. However, the food was excellent as well as the service.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Activity and Cruise Director Patrick was okay at best. Although there were many activities planned aboard the ship, and they were listed in the daily newsletter (called the Daily), too many were overlapping in time and no announcements were specifically made for them. After seeing the video of the cruise on the last day (and to that time we were unaware of any video being taken) we found many activities that would have been fun to do.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The stage shows on this cruise were, in a word, AMAZING - FANTASTIC - SPECTACULAR!!!!
Musicians and performers were the best of any cruiseline that we had seen. A fault of the Cruise Director and the ship was that not one of the performers were named. nor was the ship's orchestra. Did not know who the leader was, or his name. The performers were just so good, especially the the two male and female aerialists who were so much better than even what was on America's Got Talent. They outdid even Cirque du Soilei!
Other musicians were also very good, but due to excursions or other activities, we were unable to hear them all.
Children's Programs
Did not have children with us
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our room steward, Seon, was very good, greeting us each time he saw us and providing great service, too.
The waiters, which we finally got to have for 5 out of the 7 nights at our dining room tables, did and excellent job. Kudos to Miroslav and Sheldon. Interestingly, when they were working the buffet during lunch, they each knew who we were.
As far as the Excursion desk personnel were concerned, we had major issues with them. We signed up for the White Night Catamaran cruise for Wednesday. It was the only time this cruise was given in the excursion brochure, otherwise we would have chosen a different day since Wednesday was suppose to be the first day in Bermuda. Well, due to high winds on Wednesday, they cancelled the excursion. We were shocked to find out that a second White Night excursion was added to Thursday. We were not told of this, only that, by telephone message, we could try to book that excursion. Call came in at 2:15 in the afternoon after we got back from Hamilton (to prepare for the cruise) and when we tried to call the excursion desk, found out they did not open until 6 PM. They said they would put us on "standby" for the Thursday cruise, but who the hell would cancel on a fully booked excursion. I found out later that we were 7th in line as standby people. Very disappointed in this as that was really the only excursion we were interested in.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Ship was built in 2001 and looked like it in several areas. In two of the mens toilets in the common areas, I noted that one toilet seat nearly came off the commode, and in one of the urinals, the infrared sensor was barely held on by one screw.
Other than that, the ship was very clean and was very smooth except for the first two nights at no one's fault.
More about that later.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was well laid out. Plenty of room for storage. We always bring along extra hangers, which did come in handy. Bathroom allowed for neat storage of all the products we bring for grooming, shaving, etc.
Surprising that they don't do towel animals, which we kind of got used to on other ships, but that was not a big deal. Like that complimentary bathrooms and pool towels were provided as well. Again, thanks to Seon our cabin was always nice to come back to.
Ship tip
The Celebrity Summit is a relatively small ship, only about 2000 passengers, which is just fine with us.
Sailing out of Port Liberty on Sunday around 4PM we were about 4-5 hours southeast when a medical emergency forced us to go back to a staging area that turned out to be just south of Coney Island. Ship did not get underway for at least and hour or more, then we finally continued southerly to Bermuda. A second medical emergency then came after we were beyond turning back, but Captain Alex put the ship full speed ahead to get to Bermuda on Tuesday at 5PM, certainly ahead of our Wednesday scheduled docking time.
Felt sorry for many of the folks who were first time cruisers, as the ship really bounded through the waves due to its speed, not, as some thought, stormy seas.
We have been to this port several times, so was very familiar with what to do and see, or not see as was the case.
We finally did and excursion on the final day, Friday, a tip to Horseshoe Bay Beach. The drive was very scenic and the beach I would rate as the best beach ever, which includes many in Hawaii, Florida, and the rest of the Caribbean islands. Would love to go back there again.
Getting off the ship was strange. Did not hear them call for all passengers to be able to retrieve luggage, so experienced longer lines to get through customs. Unusual that we picked up our checked bags before going through customs. Other ports do it differently.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
