We had a wonderful time and the weather mainly cooperated, despite Hurricane Arthur – one rainy morning in Bermuda and some rough seas (and sunny skies) on the sea day back. The Summit was great with a few minor complaints. We arrived at the ship around 12 noon. Check in was not such a breeze – LONG LINES. Finally, we were onboard and enjoying a welcome mimosa.

Our room was ready, so we went to check it out. Our stateroom (6079) was a Deluxe Verandah category 2B on the sixth floor. The balcony was directly above a lifeboat (and an extra tall one at that), which marred the view. I feel that this should have been sold as an obstructed view verandah. In the end, we absolutely loved having a balcony, but had I known about the lifeboat I would have chosen a higher floor. The stateroom, which slept 4, was so TINY. There was a pullout chair and an upper berth which came down from the ceiling to create a loft bed. In fact, we could not figure out where the upper berth was at first and we thought perhaps we had been assigned the wrong type of room. I went to Guest Services and they explained that the room attendant would pull it down in the evening. We managed in the small space for sleeping, but closet space was an issue. I completely over-packed and there was nowhere for all our stuff! My mother had a handicapped cabin down the hall which was nice and spacious, with a large bathroom with an accessible shower and a larger verandah.

We had lunch in the Oceanview Café which was very crowded and chaotic. I had read that Bistro on Five was a good option for Embarkation Day and I wish I had done that instead. We went up to the top deck for the Embarkation and it was lots of fun. Our luggage was not delivered to our room until much later and my husband had to wear shorts and a t-shirt to dinner in the MDR. Luckily, they made an exception for the first night! The food in the MDR was excellent, and our waiter was a sweetheart. My one regret was that I had chosen the 6:00 pm seating. It was way too early and I always found we were either rushing to get to dinner in time or not hungry yet after eating so much at lunch and breakfast. We had dinner in the buffet twice, once because we were not hungry at 6:00 and the other time because we were not back in time from our activities in Bermuda. 8:30 would have been too late for my kids and also would have conflicted with evening entertainment. In retrospect, I should have done the Select Dining and eaten around 7:00 or 7:30. We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants. I really wanted to try Qsine but we could not justify the $45 a person surcharge (20% off for kids, which is hardly a bargain – 50% off might have been worth it). We enjoyed the Oceanview Café very much. The layout is very confusing, especially with the two sides, but after the first day we got used to it and were able to navigate it. I LOVED the small plate/basket concept! It was nice to be able to grab something quickly and not wait on line. I especially liked the international offerings. It was NOT good for things like scrambled eggs (cold and runny), but fresh eggs were available at the omelette station. The one thing I thought was horrible was the sushi. My kids (hardly sushi connoisseurs) had raved about it and I was so looking forward to it, but when I finally tried it, I found it gummy and inedible. I am afraid the sushi chefs have no idea what they are doing. Otherwise, the food was good. We also enjoyed the coffees and pastries in Café Bacio. My son LOVED the chicken and waffles at the Pool Grill! Burgers were OK, but I would have preferred made to order instead of sitting in a basket getting cold – although it was nice not to have to wait on line long. The beverage package was a great deal and we took advantage of it. I had the Classic Package and it suited my needs fine. I never had a problem getting what I wanted. Read more