Celebrity Summit Review

Summit 3/25/11 - Great Experience

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Summit
User Avatar
TheresaK
6-10 Cruises • Age 2020s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2011
Traveled with children

Airport: Nightmare both ways. Flew thru Miami and it was the day after the fuel fire. Previous day they had cancelled all flights, on the day we flew, our flight was cancelled. American Airlines got us on a later flight that day, but we were supposed to meet up with my Mom and daughter in bagged in San Juan and they had to go on ahead to the hotel and meet us later. TSA took applesauce from my bag but let me take knitting needles??? Flying just isn't fun anymore. On the way home, our flight was delayed an hour because of weather in Washington DC. We barely made our connection from Miami to Denver. Very stressful, but we made it. Won't be flying again for a very long timeTres Palmas Inn / San Juan: Nobody has said much about this hotel on the boards, so I will. This hotel was right on the beach, small friendly, reasonably priced and rooms were spacious. I would recommend it if you are not looking for luxury or frills. I would stay there again. I love San Juan and wish we could have spent more time thereEmbarkation: The best ever. We got there around 12:30 PM and were moving through the line constantly, never had to wait. We were on the ship in less than 30 minutes and our luggage was delivered to cabins as soon as we were finished at the buffet, which was delicious. The only complaint I have is the guy who took out luggage blocked the passage onto the ship and demanded to be tipped before we were let thru. We were planning to tip anyway, but I felt this was rude and obnoxiousFood on Summit: EXCELLENT! They make almost everything from scratch and several members of my family have diet restrictions. We were able to eat most everything and it was delicious.Service: EXCELLENT! The maitre 'de (Dimitar) was wonderful. He was kind, attentive and bent over backward for our diet restrictions, had special desserts made for us with only natural sweeteners. Head Waiter, Bembang (hope I spelled that right) was very efficient, nice, a little nervous and apologetic when he had no reason to apologize for anything. Ass't Waiter, Rudy was wonderful also. He was so sweet. No complaints at allPorts/ToursSt. Thomas: We have been there before so just walked to Kmart, then spent the rest of the day on the shipSt. Maarten: Took a taxi tour of both sides of the island, very pretty and very interesting. We don't use the cruise line to book tours because we can usually get our own for around $15 ppAntigua: Excellent shopping next to the ship, best prices on the whole trip,but very dirty and not so pretty island. Went to the beach in the afternoon and I am not sure why, maybe lack of time, but the taxi driver took us to a dirty, not so pretty beach. This is the only day we had a few clouds and a few showersSt. Lucia: By far, the most beautiful island. Took a taxi tour around the island and got great picsBarbados: Very beautiful island also. Took shuttle to a nearby beach recommended by cruise ship employees. It was a nice beach, but we and several other passengers were very misformed about prices, etc. We were told it was $5 to get in, but when we got there it was $12. Still a very good time, the water was great and it was a much prettier beach than the one we went to in Antigua.Cabin: We had a balcony cabin (9023) and my Mom and daughter had 9025, a inside cabin across from us. Very beautiful and spacious cabins. Cabin stewards were greatTaxis in San Juan were extremely expensive going to the airport and cruise ship port. Kids Program (Fun Factory): Excellent. My son is 10 and he preferred to go the the Fun Factory over going to the pool with us, so that's gotta tell you something!Pools: Very nice. Love the salt water instead of chlorine. Never had trouble finding a chair and the towels were thick and luxurious. The sea day the pool was busier, of course, but still found chairsShip Condition: I really never notice things like this but since there were so many negative posts about the condition of the Summit, I did look and could find NOTHING wrong. It's not a glitzy ship, but it's beautiful, well maintained and I really couldn't even see anything that looked worn at allEntertainment: EXCELLENT! The Celebrity entertainers were very good. Lewis Johnson (comedian from Denver where we live) was so funny. We had an impressionist who was wonderful also. Laundry: This is the only other complaint I have. I don't like not having self-service laundry on board. We did use their laundry service, which I thought was a little expensive, having never done this before. Turn around time was about 24 hours, which was good. Laundry came back not quite wadded up, but not folded. Since it was just socks and underwear, not a big deal. It was clean and there was nothing faded or off-color. Several people on these boards thought that they weren't doing the "stuff the bag" for $29 anymore on 7 night cruises, so I went ahead and paid full price, but wish I would have waited, because they did offer this on Wednesday, which would have been perfect and we would have gotten more laundry washed for lessSmoking: Almost non-existent....hurray!Disembark: We chose to do the (self) Express Walkoff at 7:30 AM. Never knew we could do this before, but thanks to posters on this board, I knew about it in advance and took advantage. You do have to haul your own luggage, but it's worth it to me. You get off first, miss the rush at customs/immigration and the horrible crowds at the San Juan airport on a Saturday! This was the smoothest disembarkation I have ever done.All in all, I would say that Celebrity is now my favorite cruise line, with Princess coming in 2nd. The few minor complaints I have would definitely not stop me from cruising with Celebrity again.

Cabin Review

Cabin A

9023 - spacious, quiet, storage under bed, bathroom size: adequate, good view from balcony

previous reviewnext review

Find a Celebrity Summit Cruise from $222

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.