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Our embarkation was smooth, fast, and complete within minutes. We were fortunate to be able to conveniently drive to Cape Liberty in 1 1/4 hours, where they unloaded our luggage quickly around 11:30, we parked the car, and were on the ship by noon!
This was our first time on the Summit, our 2nd Celebrity cruise, and our 8th cruise in total. As we started to tour the Summit, we were not elated with the decor. The area surrounding the Guest Relations desk was drab and not brightly lit at all, compared to other ships. Some of the lounges on Deck 4 and 5 were nicely furnished and more impressive.
We had an inside cabin on Deck 3, and overall the square footage was a bit larger than expected, and the bedding was very comfortable. There was less drawer space than we've had on other ships. The bathroom showed some age.
Our stateroom attendant was excellent - courteous, accommodating and available. We found all the staff to be that way, a highlight Celebrity has maintained.
We had chosen the 6:00 dinner seating which, evidently, did a majority of guests. To accommodate as many as they could, they "squeezed" additional tables in the dining room, and seated 8 people at a table meant for 6. You could not pull your chair all the way in to be close to the table because the seat of the chair is too wide, and I do not like sitting out from the table. The waiters had more tables and more people to serve, which made service very slow; dinner was usually 2 1/4 hours - much too long!
Every night the hot soup was lukewarm, and the small bowl only half full. The taste was usually bland. The portions for each course were very small, something we complained about to the maitre-d, to no avail. If you ordered another, you'd wait a very long time to get it. The waiter told us it was because of having so many extra people to serve. They worked very hard. Overall, we were disappointed in the quality and quantity of food. Our comment card at the conclusion of the cruise noted this in detail.
When entering the buffet, the person who was to greet you with hand sanitizer was not very aggressive, and many people just walked right by. This concerned me, considering the possibility of spreading germs and viruses so easily spread on cruise ships. The tables were wiped with a cloth, but not sprayed with any sanitizer before the next guests sat down. Another danger.
If you chose to eat at the buffet at dinner time (when we didn't want to spend 2 1/4 hours at the MDR), the selection was much more limited than on other ships.
The nightly shows were very good. The majority of them were their own singers & dancers, but they were excellent! We enjoyed all of them. We had no complaints about the pool area and loved the T - pool!
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