This was my first experience with Celebrity Cruises. While Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 remains the gold standard for this cruise critic, I was very impressed with the Celebrity Summit. The ship is a comfortable size and well maintained for its age. Onboard dining was good, if a little inconsistent. The seven-day itinerary provides just enough time to explore the ship and experience Bermuda’s major attractions. I highly recommend this summer cruise to anyone sailing out of the New York metro area.

Embarkation: The drive to Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne is seedy but more convenient than sailing out of Manhattan. On-site garage parking cost $140 for the week – we heard rumors of a parking waiver, which is worth investigating. Make sure to complete the online check-in (no more than three days prior to departure) to save yourself some paperwork and offhand remarks from port staff. Otherwise, embarkation was organized and we were greeted with mimosas the minute we boarded the ship.

The Ship: The Celebrity Summit is small by modern standards and easy to navigate. A relatively low passenger count means she never feels overcrowded. Summit lacks the kid-friendly attractions of larger ships (like the rope course we saw adorning the Norwegian Breakaway in Bermuda), which suits Celebrity’s more adult clientele. A 2016 refurb brought some of Celebrity’s more modern offerings, like the outdoor movie screen, which proved popular with passengers on our trip. Aside from some chipping paint, the ship hid its age well – all public spaces were well maintained and spotlessly clean. The Summit rocks more than expected, even in calm seas. This produced some awesome wave action at the pool but became distracting in the aft dining room. Read more