Celebrity Summit Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Review for Bermuda Cruise on Celebrity Summit
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CruisingAgain102
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jun 2011
Cabin: Sky Suite 1

We take at least 2 a year - usually Carnival, RCCL or Princess. This was our first time on Celebrity and I doubt we'll go anywhere else in the future. The ship was as reported, older and dated but clean. I especially enjoyed the artwork throughout the ship, every medium imaginable and very eclectic. While we were in our Muster drill two other ships passed us on their way to Bermuda, the Norwegian Gem and Holland America's Veendam. Sail away from Bayonne was surreal; we spent it at the Waterfall Cafe Bar at the back of the ship on deck 10. With live music playing the vacation feel started sinking in. The Staten Island Ferry passed especially close behind the Summit with lots of their passengers waving goodbye to us, and us to them. Then we passed or negotiated between 14 different ships coming and going from every direction and sailed under a large, beautiful, suspension bridge (Verrazano?) before we reached the open ocean. Since we were in a suite we were offered one night in the Normandy restaurant, we just had to pay the usual gratuities. It was very good but very, very slow. We thought we were done when they brought a small tower of chocolates and our coffee and didn't check on us again. We forgot we had ordered soufflEs for dessert and left. We enjoyed many evenings at the Waterfall Cafe Bar. It seems to be the busiest bar onboard, Bal and Michael know you and your cocktails of choice immediately. We only had to give them our room cards once, they kept them on file and tracked of our orders the rest of the cruise. Don't miss Martin Andales, he plays the guitar and is an amazing singer, usually at the Waterfall but he did show up at the coffee bar at least once. While he doesn't impersonate the musicians he covers, he seems to channel them. Overall the entertainment on board was by far the best we've ever seen at sea.We were not impressed at all with the spa; we were very disappointed with the tour on the first day. Rather than an actual tour they had several vignettes set up in the main hallway where they discussed the various services offered. I only enjoyed one service all week as there was a lack of attention to detail and several situations seemed unsanitary. Rather than bowl up the mud and lotions the technician reached directly into large plastic containers with her gloved hand, the same glove that was just touching me. It was not just her, and not just the mud. They all seemed to cross contaminate their products. We purchased the Premium Beverage package and were very glad we did. We enjoyed Cappuccino and Latte's in the cafe, Evian and Perrier, as well as almost anything we wanted from the cocktail menu. Not all of the wines in the Normandy are on the plan, but they'll guide you to something nice that is. Henrick's Gin, my favorite, was on the plan. Very nice. Pouille Fume is a lovely white wine that is also included seemed to be at all of the bars onboard. What we did for fun: • Men vs. Women Trivia - very fun• Bingo - they need a better system to sell cards, it took a long time, and they started late and seemed to rush through.• Martini bar - Leo and Charles. Leo does a tower of martinis trick - very entertaining. • Waterfall Cafe bar - Bal and Michael. Try the Pouilly Fume and the Pirate's Sangria. • Dancing with the Stripes - OMG what fun! The "Stripes" are not trained ballroom dancers. They were so much fun to watch, very funny and entertaining. If you miss it they replay it on the TV in the room the next day. Worth watching either way!• Casino - Slots seemed especially tight on our trip but we did well at the card tables. Nice dealers who are eager to teach you various games. I suggest you pay special attention to the various dining hours in your dailies - when we were up early the dining room didn't open until 10am for brunch, when we slept in until 9am we struggled to find anyplace open after 10am with anything decent. We walked around a lot when we could have just read the schedule. I loved the Spa Cafe but the hours didn't really work for us so we missed it by a couple of minutes more than once. The Spa Cafe's poached fruit is so good! We enjoyed many meals at the Waterfall, for breakfast there is a pancake and waffle station in the aft, for lunch it becomes a yummy sandwich station. The Sushi at dinner time at the waterfall was delicious and there was a good selection. And then there's Rikki, our butler. These guys are always on call and working. He gave us great advice, delivered our room service breakfasts, tea time every afternoon, and brought us a few nice gifts. Our room steward was brand new but did a nice job as well. Kudos to his assistant, Gavin, who seemed to always be there cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.Bermuda was friendly, beautiful and relaxing. Loved seeing the business men in Bermuda shorts with neckties and knee socks. Too cool! We didn't purchase any excursions from the ship. We only bought one day of public transportation and it was a good decision. We didn't want to risk missing the ship on the last day so we stayed close to the dockyard. On the first day we took the ferry to Hamilton. We walked through the park in Hamilton right by the ferry and the free museum next door. We took hot and crowded busses to and from the Fantasy Caves. They were stunning, quite a hike down and up, I think they said 81 steps each way. The Swizzle Inn is right by the caves, so we had a cocktail and rolled the dice once for a chance at $600. We ate a late lunch at Flanagan's in Hamilton, a nice change from ship food. The last two days we stayed close to the ship. We took a glass bottom boat tour to a shipwreck and did some shopping. It was nice that it wasn't the repetitive, cookie cutter shops like the Caribbean ports, no sign of Diamonds International or Casa Del Sol!

Cabin Review

Sky Suite 1

Cabin S1

It's ready for the rehab in January! The room was a nice size, the table outside on the balcony was very worn. The bathtub was about 6" above the floor, quite a step up and over the side. To slip and fall out of it could have been very bad. The room immediately behind ours had a much better, larger balcony, and it was the same category (S1 Sky Suite) as ours.

Nice, big, lighted closet with shoe racks! Fresh flowers on the day we arrived in Bermuda provided by our butler.

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