CELEBRITY SUMMIT FEB 2023

Before I begin, everything in this review is entirely my opinion and our family’s experiences of this particular cruise.  I try to be as objective as possible, while giving you all the information you need for your future cruise whether it’s on the Summit, or any other cruise.  I break my reviews down into sections so you can read what you want and skip over what you don’t care about.  

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We just so happened to luck up on this particular cruise line. We hadn’t been on a cruise since prior to the pandemic and really needed something to WOW us back. It so happened that our son was also out of school the same week, but we wouldn’t mind him being out for 4 days to enjoy a family vacation or his birthday. The number of nights fit what we looked for (roughly a week). The ports were a mix of new and previously visited. I considered this particular line because it is (Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean) geared toward professional adults but still very active and fun retirees and more kids than I really anticipated.

The Summit is a refurbished ship (2018-2019) with about 2200 passengers (considered mid-size). Our Cruise Director Angela was energetic and our Captain Dimitrios Petra extended us a very warm welcome. They even gave a very special Happy Birthday shout out to our birthday boy on the Helipad during the Helipad Sail-Away from George Town, Grand Cayman called the “Helipad eXperience”.

Here are a few of our memorable take aways:

– great food, entertainment, service, solarium, activities and a kids club. 

– Excursions: Cozumel and Grand Cayman. We got off the ship in Cozumel, walked through security right at the pier to our awaiting catamaran. The following day, we chose to swim with the sting rays in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We didn’t need much other than some cash and our sail and sign cards. No one asked for any form of ID on or off the ship. 

Food: We enjoyed pretty much everything we’ve eaten. It ranged from mostly very good to really delicious! We ate at the specialty restaurants most nights (Sushi on 5, Tuscan Grille – twice, Blu once and Cosmopolitan. We ate at the buffet for breakfast and if we caught lunch; but we never seemed to make the main 4th floor restaurant for Anytime Seating.

– Dinners: We appreciated the small plate size portions. They were perfect for sharing, and great to help manage all of the food options available. We enjoyed shrimp cocktail and French Onion soup, the crab cake and calamari left much to be desired but we’re spoiled by Maryland Blue crab. There was a decent variety of food choices for assorted needs (vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free/dairy-free, etc.). Lobster tail night (one per person; additional $ for more than one); duck, a variety of steak options (the petit filet was perfection) Salmon (plus other fish); gnocchi, short rib ragu, a beautifully creamy lobster pappardelle (it was amazing) and other ethnic food options. Our son would say the desserts are generous and tasty. I don’t care for them. Chocolate cake/ice cream very good (and a larger portion relative to other desserts); cheesecake w/passion fruit dip was pretty tasty.

– Buffet — great choices throughout the day: fresh fruit (melons, pineapples, grapefruit + whole fruit: apples, bananas, oranges); lots of veggie options (salads, grilled, cooked to order pasta or omelet for breakfast, Indian/Asian varieties; made to order cold sandwiches, carving station (one or more options/day); charcuterie (we don’t eat pork, so did not try it): cheeses, meats and breads. The daily soup was pretty tasty. I enjoyed the chicken pho, the fish chowder was my favorite but the cream of broccoli was just ok. Lots of dessert options, hamburgers, hot dogs for the kids but the best (if you ask our son) was the ice cream and cookies on the way out.

– Drinks: (Free: coffee/tea, iced tea, lemonade, guava juice cocktail; water. The premium drink package offered bottled water and sparkling water. We don’t drink soda, but it was available and plentiful; top shelf alcoholic drinks were included in our package (Jameson, Red Breast, Tito’s and Champagne was all we drank unless we had red wine with dinner) — we enjoyed not having to limit our selection of drink choices and being able to enjoy everything from Shiraz to Pellegrino. Our son being under 12 was also able to enjoy virgin drinks as well as soft drinks during our stay at no additional charge. 

– Solarium — Think of this as an indoor spa setting with an oceanview. It had whirlpools, and an what seemed to be a n adult only pool. It was hot like a sauna so we didn’t spend much time here but it was tranquil and close to the juice bar where you could order a fresh pressed or mixed juice of choice. Comfy chairs including a few lounges for two people. The pool was heated and had reclining metal bar “couches” with jets reaching your back. That was great! The pool was not deep enough for me to do my water fitness in but it still was very good. There are four other jets in the corners to help ailing body parts (I wish the jets were more on an angle rather than hitting me straight on the head).

– Entertainment: most reviews of this ship were great; and we can honestly say that Celebrity’s Summit shows were terrific. Legacy group were amazing (Motown + music spanning the decades); the ship singers and dancers did 2 shows that were also very good. The dancing was exceptional. I thought the first show added some “depressing” moments about couples who disconnect and then reconnect. Obviously the reconnect part was positive, but I didn’t need to see the disconnect part on my vacation (that’s just me). The comedian’s shows were hilarious. You never know what to expect from a comedian onboard so it could be different each time, but Sean was great for both his “family” show and “adult” show. We also really enjoyed the ship’s orchestra, house band, strings duo, and another duo.

– Activities: we didn’t gamble, so can’t comment on the Casino but it looked nice when we walked through it, and it didn’t smell like cigarette smoke! We did regular and musical Trivia; morning stretching, morning Zumba, line dancing, and the daily puzzles. We didn’t really play the ship’s games but we had done that in the past, and it sounded like it was fun. Our son found kids to play Pokémon with, so he was happy (He packed his cards).

– Silent Disco: this is something we enjoyed; everyone wears headphones that light up and offers 3 channels; you hear music on each station and get up and dance. We have done it before at home but it still tickles me to see what everyone else is listening to as we all dance together.

– Safety/COVID: we felt very safe; hand sanitizer was available everywhere. Only a few people wore masks; we chose not to once we were on the ship, but we did mask up prior to our trip just to be more cautious. It was a full or almost-full ship, but you didn’t feel cramped. 

– Service: great dining service by everyone/everywhere! The main dining room staff was amazing Jaya was our main server and we also saw him for breakfast at the omelette station and the specialty dining. Windy was our bartender at the Sunset Bar, she was so attentive (especially towards our son). We only had to wait a moment and she remembered what we drank. They did a great job. Our room attendant Edward was also great. I didn’t expect them to clean our room more than once a day but Edward did it in the morning and during the day. They all greeted us by name and were very friendly. I am so glad cruising is back as it is a huge income source for these workers. They work so hard! 

– Gratuities: we paid an additional $18/per day .. per person to our room steward Edward (billed daily). This is something I thought was pre-paid but that went to our food and drinks. We also gave extra to our room steward and dinner servers a little something extra for their impeccable service. Bring extra cash for this. 

Disembarking was extremely easy. We were already pretty organized. We slept in until about 7:30am, showered, packed, grabbed a small bite & coffee, said our farewells and was off the ship before 9am. 

Cabin Review

Oceanview Stateroom 7

An exterior view cabin is what we prefer! Comfortable for us with lots of storage space. The decor is very nice, not gaudy, not too old, and our cabin was a good size with a comfortable bed. The rest of the cabin was actually laid out nicely.  The closet has plenty of hangers and space for all of our items.  The shower was small and the gap between the shower door and the step creates water on the floor. We really couldn’t figure out how to alleviate this.

It had desk-type drawers at the vanity.  On the vanity, however, there were three shelves on either side with doors that kept everything hidden and a safe.  Our cabin also had a loveseat and a small table. 

Our cabin was cool at night, staying around 67 degrees at night. We were able to adjust this ourselves and raised the room temperature to 70 degrees after the first night. I don’t think we had any complaints.

Port Reviews

Cozumel

We got off the ship in Cozumel to walk through security right at the pier to our awaiting catamaran. We visited a quiet section of water (Parque Nacional Arricifes de Cozumel) and snorkeled for maybe 45 minutes or so, got back on the boat to a private ‘inflatable water park’ of sorts . They offered sun loungers, free WiFi, lunch, drinks and it did not disappoint. We spent nearly 90 minutes there and it quite literally wore us out (LOL)! 

Grand Cayman

We chose to swim with the sting rays in George Town, Grand Cayman. It was thrilling **yickes** I can’t profess to know the secrets of Sting Ray City but I’ll share this with you … I’ll pass on kissing any wild creature! They swim right up to you or beneath you if you’re not touching the sea floor (which is only waist deep in some areas). They glide through water effortlessly and some grew to be as large as 5 feet across wing tip to wing tip. It can be a bit intimidating. But they are  beautiful from a safe distance.

Miami

We chose a “come a day early and stay a day late” option to extend our vacation. Miami is one of my favorite cities. The food, the people watching … I have so many great memories in Miami. We chose a hotel in South Miami Beach that offered to baggage hold until we could check in, access to their pool, beach and umbrellas. Food/drink were additional, so we chose to walk around South Beach a bit for lunch. We chose the RIU Plaza Hotel because we had reward nights available. We took an Lyft from the Terminal G to the Hotel ($23). We will Lyft back to the Miami Airport in the morning to give us time to check in and possibly eat at the airport. 

Some little tips that may help someone else, maybe even a first time cruiser: 

1. I take magnetic hooks and clips to hold our itinerary, and all those invitations and important papers you don’t want to lose.  The walls are magnetic and it is a huge help to get them off the desk/vanity and you don’t throw away something important.  I use the heavy duty hooks that hold a lot of weight on the walls for hanging things like my husband’s pants, pool bag, etc.  The walls are not as magnetic as the door and the framing around the bathroom door, but they can hold quite a bit. 

2. Don’t forget about the kid’s menu on your X app.  There may be something there you might want for dinner… a grilled cheese sandwich maybe?

3. Try new dishes, do as much as you want or do nothing – it’s your cruise and you make it what you want. 

4. Go with a great attitude and chill out, loosen up and have fun! Make a fool of yourself, you will never see these people again (then again, maybe you will).

Until next time,

Safe Travels!