My husband and I sailed on the Summit from New Jersey to San Juan in October. We had a great time and booked another cruise for next year on the Summit. We have sailed on the Solstice before. This is our first cruise on the Summit. I liked the Summit for the smaller size and friendly crew. However, I did enjoy the lawn area on the Solstice. I also thought Cellar Masters was better on the Solstice. But this cruise was a great value, in my opinion.

The cruise left on Sunday from Cape Liberty. We stayed in Manhattan the two nights previous. We had a car service take us to the cruise port for $120. We enjoyed that since our cab from LGA to Manhattan was pretty yucky (smelled like gas in the taxi and the driver was not very safe). Embarkation was a breeze. Since we had a suite, we waited in the VIP waiting area and were the first to board the ship.

I thought the ship was very attractively appointed and always spotless. The main dining room didn't have the WOW factor that I remember on the Solstice but it was much more attractive from the lower level which was reserved for standing dinner reservations. We had any time dining. Overall, I thought the food was excellent. The variety and quality in the Ocean View Café always amazed me. However, service there was spotty. Some dishes/food had to be served by an employee and there never seemed to be someone attending those areas when I was going through the lines. In general, I like the sit down restaurants better than the buffet. We tried Qsine, Normandy, Blu and Bistro on 5. I really felt that the best food and service was in the MDR. Some food in Qsine was really good, some not so good. I'm glad I tried it but I don't think I'd do it again. Normandy was good. We did the cooking class there one day for lunch so I had tried the soufflés. The cooking class was not worth the money. It was difficult to understand the chefs so no big cooking tips were learned. However, I did enjoy the other people attending the class. Service at Blu for dinner was slow. Food was good and the décor was really nice. I don't think I'd spend on Aqua Class. I thought the MDR was better than Blu. Bistro on Five for breakfast was not very good. Read more