Ready to cruise? Read this review of the Celebrity Summit first
Celebrity markets their cruise line as modern luxury and I think it’s a pretty accurate description of the clientele they attract and what they offer. The embarkation process was the easiest of my three cruises and vastly different then the challenges I faced embarking on a Royal Caribbean cruise in Vancouver. There are two cruise ports in Puerto Rico, one for larger ships like Celebrity and NCL and one closer to Old San Juan for luxury lines like Seaborne and Windstar. Once we got to the port terminal we handed our bags to a gentleman in a yellow vest who asked us our cabin number and informed us that he worked on tips. If you are leaving your bags with a stranger and want to make sure they make it aboard the ship that will be departing for a seven day trip then you should absolutely tip the baggage handler. We got in another line to have our boarding passes checked, went through a TSA style security, had our boarding passes scanned and our passports checked and then we were onboard the Celebrity Summit! All in all the process took 10 minutes and we were greeted with a glass of champagne and told that our cabin was ready. Since we still had carry on bags with us we decided to head straight to the cabin, drop our bags, and do our favorite thing upon boarding which is to check out every nook and cranny of the ship. I tend to get a bit turned around on cruise ships so I like to do a tour and learn where all of the important venues (mainly the bar, restaurants, and spa) are before we sail away.
The Summit was recently revolutionized (modernized) so the rooms were updated with lots of calming greys, the nicest shower I’ve experienced on a cruise ship, and a nice sized veranda. There was plenty of storage for our luggage and a full length mirror, lighted mirror at the desk, and lots of shelves. The Summit has 4 restaurants that are inclusive, a buffet, an a la carte, a healthy food takeaway, and a pool grill. The other restaurants are not included but we did dine in two and Sushi on 5 was our favorite restaurant on the ship. Since we were typically eating a very light breakfast and were off the ship for lunch the speciality dining package didn’t make sense for us but we did have the premium beverage package which was great, especially since the Martini Bar was our favorite pre dinner bar. It was here that my husband met a couple from Maryland who invited us to join them and two other couples for dinner. The first night we ate at a table for 2 but we appreciated the opportunity to meet some other folks so we joined the group of six who were seated at three two person tables in a quiet corner of the Cosmopolitan restaurant. I am not especially a social butterfly so I rely on my husband to be the life of the party. Meeting this group was one of his better contributions to the trip and it honestly is why a lot of people cruise, to meet other interesting people who love to travel and experience other cultures and traditions.
Regarding amenities, we took advantage of trivia, the production shows, live music performances, the spa, gym, and pool. I went to the spa and while my treatment was excellent the spa experience was severely lacking. Celebrity offers a pay to use facility called Serenity that essentially has all of the amenities that you would expect at a spa, but even if you book a spa service you are still required to pay an up charge to use the facilities. This was the first time that I’d experienced a spa like this so if this is the norm on other cruise lines it was news to me and I was a bit disappointed that there was no opportunity to unwind before or after my service. Most of the staff on the ship was extremely pleasant and we developed a rapport with most of the bar staff to the point where they started making our cocktails as soon as we sat down. The ship’s officers were also always very visible at events and they even sang Christmas carols on Christmas Eve! As first time cruisers we were also invited to the helicopter pad for the sail away from Bonaire which was the perfect way to leave our final port. Overall I would recommend Celebrity for a wide range of clients as it was probably the most diverse cruise that I’ve taken. Our ship was the max size that I personally like at about 2,400 and only on sea days at the pool/sun deck did it ever feel crowded. If you want to see lots of destinations, unpack only once, and have plenty of activities to do while you’re sailing from one destination to the next then a cruise could be a great option for you.
My top three tips for cruising are below:
Book your excursions through your travel advisor and not through the cruise line. Cruise lines will guarantee that if you book an excursion through them you won’t get left by the ship if you return from the excursion past the all board time. This is especially beneficial if your ship’s port is far from the destination that you’re visiting (like in some European ports) but in the Caribbean most of the islands are pretty compact and the tour operators know the ship’s schedules. The benefit clients receive when they book their excursions through me is that I am normally able to get them private tours for the price they would pay the cruise line to be on a tour bus with 45 other passengers. Honestly, when you get to port you kind of want to get away from the people you’re cruising with so having a private tour means that it won’t get cancelled because there are too few people and you get the tour guide’s undivided attention.
Avoid the breakfast rush and order room service. On the Celebrity Summit room service was included unless you ordered from 12:30-4 or 5am. As long as we put our menu tag on our door by 2am then we would be brought breakfast at a time of our choosing to be enjoyed on our veranda. One thing to note is that you’re brought two of any checked box so in our case the first day we got 2 plates of eggs and bacon which only one of us eats so we made sure to notate on the menu for the next morning what we needed one of and what we needed two of.
On disembarkation day sleep in and carry your own bags off the ship. The night before you disembark the ship you’re given a tag and a time and asked to put your packed bag outside your stateroom. If you do this then you can in theory get up and go to breakfast or use the pool one final time before you go to your waiting area and are allowed to leave the ship. If you decide to carry your own bags off you don’t have to be packed by a certain time and you can just stroll off the ship when you’re ready. You don’t have to wait in one of the disembarkation lounges because you’re not waiting for your luggage to be brought into the terminal. This was the first time that I disembarked this way and it’s the way I’ll do it going forward. I was able to pack after the cut off time for bag pick up, sleep in, and leave the ship when I was ready without having to wait.
My plan is to try a few more cruise lines before I settle in on the one that I’ll commit to then perhaps I’ll work my way through every ship like the lovely woman I met who’d been on every single Celebrity ship over the past 30 years! If you think cruising isn’t for you work, you probably haven’t found the right cruise line. Let’s work together to find a cruise line and m ore importantly a ship that meets your travel goals.