Celebrity Summit Review – Awesome Experience with Superb Service
We just wrapped up a five night Bahamas cruise on Celebrity Summit and walked off the ship very impressed. The beautiful Celebrity Summit is part of the Millennium class of ships built back in 2001. Take our word for it, this ship does not feel 20+ years old. The Summit has been refurbished most recently in 2018, and it generally feels like a stunning new ship.
The immaculate ship has plenty of amenities, but is clearly better suited for adults than children. We found cool lounges and relaxing areas throughout the ship. We recently sailed the sister ship, Celebrity Millennium in Alaska and thought the two layouts were nearly identical. The itinerary on this tour included stops at Key West, Bimini and Nassau. Unfortunately, Bimini was canceled due to rough seas. So, we will have to wait even longer for our first ever trip to Bimini.
Back to the boat itself. The Sky Lounge at the summit of the Summit is a huge room totally encircled with windows. It offers beautiful, comfortable, unobstructed views everywhere you look. There are many activities in the lounge but it’s also a great spot to just chill and relax. We sampled most of the other bars onboard and they all had different vibes. Our favorite? The Martini Bar.
The Martini Bar bartenders were talented and entertaining, and they made some killer drinks. The bar has a coating of ice on it to keep your drinks chilled. Nearby, there’s a cocktail table with a huge cruise ship made of ice in the center. It was a cool place to drink. And we visited often. 🙂
The pool areas were standard cruise ship offerings. We spent most of our pool time in the covered Solarium as it was generally chilly outside during our trip. It was crowded, but workable. Tip: Check out the Spa Grill in the Solarium for fresh juices and smoothies, as well as small plated salads. They had ten different salad offerings most days.
You won’t find water slides, mini golf, rock walls, or any public areas really catering to children, but there was a kid’s camp area. We probably saw a total of a dozen kids on board during the week, so ours was basically an adults cruise. Capacity on the ship is slightly over 2,000 guests, so it’s large but not insanely crowded.
The Entertainment
The cozy theatre is two stories tall and is beautiful inside. We saw the headliner show each night and thought they were solid. The highlight was a fun pianist, Tom Franek, who basically combined piano excellence with high energy gymnastics! Fun show! If Tom Franek is on one of your future cruises, do not miss him. We were also impressed by the show cast, particularly the two acrobatic dancers spotlighted on most evenings.
The Entertainment and Activities staffs kept us entertained throughout the trip with a host of fun events. There were 4 or 5 musical acts on board – diverse sounds, and plenty of talent worthy of a visit or two. Tips: Go to the sail away party, which included the showroom dancers who put on an up close, tantalizing 10 minute sample. And, attend the Miracle Lyrical show. Cruise Director Alex was awesome throughout the cruise but absolutely shined during this game show. Just go – you’ll thank us later.
The Food
One of the highlights on board was the high quality of the food. We hit the buffet for lunch the first day and it was superb, and from there it only got better. The food was tasty, well-seasoned and diverse, with new options every day. There was a make your own panini station, fresh soups, a pizza counter, hot dog and burger stations with the fixings, sautéed vegetables, carved meats and a design your own pasta area. At breakfast they offered two omelet stations and a poached egg station, as well as all of the staples. It’s the best buffet experience we’ve ever enjoyed on a cruise.
Dinner and breakfast in the Cosmopolitan Restaurant (Main Dining Room) was very good. There were about ten options for apps and main courses every evening, and most of the items changed daily. And, the food was delicious. To give an idea of the diversity, we had four different fish meals over our five days and they were all great: Bronzino, Salmon, Cobia and Trout. On the fifth night, one of us had seafood orzo, which was amazing. The meats were tasty too and all cooked to requested temperatures. We enjoyed the vegetables, sides and apps, as well. Basically, the grub was great – EVERYWHERE. For lobster lovers, there were no options for free lobster on any of the menus – seems like that cruise perk may be gone forever.
If there was any complaint about the food, it was that the main dining desserts were just average. However, the desserts at the buffet were beautiful, and tasty. Tip: Check out the pastries and desserts at Cafe al Bacio on the 5th floor. Cookies, pies, tarts, cupcakes and more – and everything there was delicious. How good was the food? In 5 days, Bob gained 5 pounds. Yikes…
The Room
Our room on Celebrity Summit seemed smaller than most cruise rooms. We had an Oceanview room on the second deck. The room was modern, and had most everything we desired and plenty of storage for two. A big shoutout to our room steward, Raj. He made an impressive and friendly first impression, and just got better the longer we knew him. He brought flowers for Jackie after the first day and added nice little touches from time to time over the remaining cruise. Who doesn’t love walking back into your room at night and seeing those towel animals? Raj was our favorite room attendant ever. The room included bath robes and beach towels, which were easily swapped out across the ship.
Amazing Service
We both agreed that the Celebrity Summit staff provided excellent service, which we have come to expect from Celebrity. Generally, every employee was focused on delivering high customer satisfaction, and the ones we spoke to seemed to love working for Celebrity. Our server has been with the company since they started. Wow!
Watch our Celebrity Summit video review below, which includes video snippets of some of our highlights.
Bottom Line: We loved our voyage on Celebrity Summit. It’s highly recommended for adults looking for a nice relaxing cruise with excellent food and fantastic service.
Bob and Jackie
Sunshine Vagabonds
Please follow us here: