My parents and I have never been to Maine or the Atlantic provinces in Canada. We heard from many that the towns were quaint and the scenery was breathtaking. What better way to be introduced to these regions then to take a cruise on our favorite line, Celebrity? We booked a little more than two months before on the Summit in concierge class category C2. We are relatively new to cruising as our first cruise was this past April on the Solstice. I had done the research and understood that the Summit is an older ship and not in the Solstice class. I had read the mixed reviews with some critical of the Summit for its aged condition. Knowing all these facts, I lowered my expectations before embarking so there would be no disappointment. What I was really interested in were the ports.

To my surprise, my expectations were slightly exceeded. I thought I would be boarding a ship on its last leg and instead, I was pleasantly surprised at its cleanliness and evidence of a good ongoing maintenance program. Once in a while I would see fixtures and blemishes that would need attention, but they were so minor that they were not enough to affect our satisfaction. For example, elevator buttons that had broken off or minor rust.

Our concierge class veranda stateroom on deck 8 was in pristine condition after we had two problems fixed by maintenance. The sliding glass veranda door was slightly off track making it very difficult to open. Also, the vertical bar in the shower that holds the removable shower head fell off because the bottom screw had rusted out. We notified our stateroom attendant and he summoned the maintenance team that arrived in a matter of minutes. A new track was installed on the slider and the bar in the shower was secured with a new screw in very short time. Cleanliness was very evident throughout the ship. The key is that if you have a problem with something that doesn't work in your room, do not put it off. Tell the attendant and they will make it right. Read more