Review: Celebrity Summit to Canada & New England

 Celebrity Summit at anchor in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders 

 

Have you ever gone to see a movie that your friends, the press, and even strangers have raved about, only to leave the theater wondering if they saw the same movie you just did?

A similar situation happened to me when I sailed aboard Celebrity Summit from July 18th to July 25th, 2010.

I'd always wanted to try Celebrity.  The press raves about them.  Friends of mine rave about them.  Total strangers we met in New York told us we were sailing with, as they put it, "the best of the best."  And in my research for this blog, I was more than aware of the multitude of awards Celebrity has won and continues to win: their most recent vessel, Celebrity Eclipse, has been attracting praise and accolades from all corners.

So I thought this was a pretty safe bet, and the perfect cruise to take along my fiancee and my parents.  Certainly the itinerary was impressive: sailing from the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey, Celebrity Summit would sail up the coast and call at Portland, Maine; Bar Harbor, Maine; Saint John, New Brunswick; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.  One day at sea on either end of the ports would ensure enough time to relax on this seven-day getaway.

 The famous Brooklyn Bridge as viewed from Manhattan's

South Street Seaport on July 16, 2010.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders

No cruise departing from New York is complete without a stay in New York City.  Home to more attractions, historical venues, theatres and museums than you can shake a stick at, you could literally stay in Manhattan for a month and still not be able to do it all.  As it was, we planned a two-day pre-cruise stay in Manhattan, and discovered the fantastic Hotel Eventi.  I blogged about this excellent hotel, which has been open only two months, in a blog post last week, and it certainly didn't disappoint us as our home-base for two days.   

The ever-busy Times Square.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders 

Sure enough, we weren't able to do it all.  We did, however, cover a remarkable amount of mid-town Manhattan and manage to see critical sights like the New York City Public Library, Grand Central Station, Central Park, and Times Square, to name a few.  I even visited the sprawling F.A.O Schwarz store on Fifth Avenue, and have to admit to being taken with it - though the $1,000-stuffed dinosaur was a bit out of my price range, as was the extremely-high end Fairmont Plaza Hotel across the street.

Arrival and check-in at the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey was quick and painless.  The terminal has a unique layout in that the terminal building is positioned away from the ship, requiring guests to transfer via shuttle bus to the ship itself.  This process was very well organized, and we were stepping aboard thirty minutes after our initial arrival.

 The good: the well-laid-out Category 2A

Veranda stateroom 7080.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders

Deck plans and welcome aboard champagne in hand, we set out to find our cabins, located on Deck 7.  Staterooms 7080 and 7082 are Category 2A Veranda staterooms, and feature a queen-sized bed (can be separated into two singles), a small sitting area, interactive TV, and a very well-laid out bathroom with a shower.  The stateroom boasted an enormous amount of storage space, and would be ideally suited for longer voyages - in fact, it was the first room we've been in on any line where we didn't have to request more hangars.

The not-so-good: the level of neglect on stateroom

balconies was, frankly, appalling.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders 

Our balconies, however, were an unwelcome surprise in an otherwise flawless stateroom: looking aged well beyond the ship's nine years, our balconies were rusting and dirty.  Railings appeared as if they hadn't been varnished in years, and dirt, hair and dead flies littered the floor near the water catch drain. 

This is one of those contentious areas, if recent CruiseCritic posts are any indication.  Debates about the rust situation aboard the Celebrity Summit have been playing out for a while now.  The rest of the ship is spotless - upper decks are well maintained, painted, and varnished.  Which is why the level of neglect present on our (and other) balconies remains so confusing: if you're able to take care of the rest of the ship, why not take care of the part of the ship your customers are paying a premium for?

If it sounds like I'm making a bit of an example of this, I am.  Why?  Because I sailed on a ship, built in 1966, that was better maintained - and that was on a little Greek line called Royal Olympic Cruises that was nearing financial ruin when I sailed with them.   Celebrity is billed as the upscale arm of Royal Caribbean, a line we've enjoyed many cruises on.  But look again at the photo above and ask yourself: what's upscale about that? 

 Settle down for a coffee, tea, or maybe a cognac in the

excellent Cova Cafe.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders

OK, so the balcony's a bit of a bust.  No problem.  There's plenty of other things to do.  And indeed there was: in short order, we'd purchased week-long passes to the Persian Garden.  Located in the ship's spa, the Persian Garden is comprised of several unique steam rooms, capped off with heated loungers and aromatherapy showers.  In a word: relaxing, not to mention very worth the price of admission: roughly $160 per couple for the week.

Unique to Celebrity Summit is a rather large - and complimentary - hydrotherapy pool.  Filled with semi-heated water and with metal grates made for laying on, the pool worked its magic on us in no time. Usually available at an additional charge on other lines, the hydrotherapy pool aboard Summit was wonderful, and made the perfect companion to the Persian Garden experience we'd purchased.  Towels are nearby and plentiful, and only once during the voyage did we have trouble finding a spot in the pool.  

Another experience we found to enjoy just as much was coffee in the Cova Cafe on Deck 5.  We'd become huge fans of the incredible coffee area aboard Crown Princess, and found the Cova Cafe to be a pretty good substitute - namely due to the excellent service of Zora, who effortlessly whisked our coffees to us and took the time to chat.  A wide variety of coffees, teas, and after-dinner drinks are available at the cafe, paired with light snacks and desserts during the day, and tapas during the evening.

Sunset dining at our table in the Cosmopolitan

Dining Room, Deck 4.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders

 

Speaking evenings, one of the biggest highlights - and sources of mystery - on the whole cruise was dinner.  We were fortunate to be seated at a table for four, by a large window, on the starboard, Deck 4, side of the Cosmopolitan Dining Room.  

However, your dining table reservation card doesn't tell you what side of the ship your table is located on - leaving passengers to queue up in the hallways on the first night, only to have to push, squeeze, and force their way to the other side of the ship via the aft staircase as crew members order passengers around.  Not relaxing at all, and by the time we got to our table, I wasn't exactly having fun.  The addition of three words on those cards could make all the difference: Starboard Side Entrance or Port Side Entrance.

The two-level Cosmopolitan Dining Room,

as viewed from Deck 4 aft.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders

Here's where the strange part comes in: I noticed that every evening, around five p.m, a large section of the chairs in the Waterfall Cafe on Deck 11 are placed in a service elevator and carted away.  I later was informed these chairs were actually being put into the Cosmopolitan dining room for dinner each evening due to a chair shortage.  How you find yourself short on that many chairs is a mystery to me.  

Gone with the chairs is the option to dine casually in the lido.  Officially, you still can - just not the way you used to.  Apparently, similar to what Holland America does each evening on its ships, Celebrity has - or should have - a casual dining option where tables in the Waterfall Cafe are adorned with white table cloths and waiters fetch your entrees for you, allowing guests wishing to dine when they want, or dressed as they want.  

This option no longer exists, at least on Celebrity Summit.  You can still get food in the Waterfall Cafe during dinner; just don't expect anything special.  Or many places to sit, as half the seating disappears into the dining room.

Sailing the foggy Atlantic Ocean.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders 

The food in the main dining room was generally very good, with the majority of the seafood dishes consistently being the best.  Service was also generally very good, but with a few moments that descended into what could have been an un-aired episode of Fawlty Towers. In one case, our salmon entree was apparently dropped on the floor on the way out, and in another, steak after steak kept making its appearance at our table: turns out the first one was wrong, so they brought the second one out - but without our prompting. 

Also interesting, on this same night mid-cruise, we returned to our cabin to find a large piece of chocolate cake laid out on our table that said "Happy Anniversary!"  As my fiancee and I aren't married yet, this was a bit of a surprise.  We asked our excellent cabin steward, Derrick, about it the next morning.  He said the dining room called him and told him they had a cake for us.  So he put it in our room.  Good enough for us - we ate it, despite being a little confused as to why we'd gotten it.  And it was delicious.

The passengers also seemed quite harsh on the crew during this voyage.  We witnessed several incidents where passengers were yelling at or severely berating staff members in a manner that I have to admit I've never seen before in the eighteen voyages I've been on.  It was uncomfortable to say the least, and could have played a role in the general aloofness that I felt was present with the majority of the crew; a sort of 'keep-your-head-down-and-no-one-gets-hurt' mentality.

At that point, I just hoped I didn't witness anyone yelling at the staff over  a missing "Happy Anniversary!" cake. 

Celebrity's new iLounge concept, featuring

Apple MacBook's.

Photo © 2010 Aaron Saunders 

But more good things: the cold hand towels and water or juice that are offered before re-boarding the ship in port were absolutely fantastic, and something other lines should take note of.  We took advantage of this every day, as it was quite warm on our voyage.  In fact, the only day it rained - during our call at Saint John, New Brunswick - the crew was on top of everything.  Instead of cold towels, hot chocolate awaited passengers re-joining the ship, and towels on deck chairs were swapped out for tartan blankets.  An excellent touch.

Another great touch is the ice bucket and cold pitcher of water in each stateroom.  We made use of it frequently, and I will definitely miss that on other lines.

It was also nice to see Celebrity do the traditional "midnight" Chocolate Buffet once during the cruise.  A tradition that used to be commonplace, its inclusion is slowly falling by the wayside as lines look to cut costs.  Located up in the lounge on Deck 11 (the former "Bar at the Edge of the Earth"), the spread of delicious treats, ice sculptures, and drinks was the most impressive I've seen in a long, long time.

Also of note was the new iLounge concept, done in partnership with Apple.  In addition to the usual email and standard internet use most passengers rely on, a variety of Apple hardware was available for purchase and passengers could indulge in their creative sides by participating in classes focusing on how to use iPhoto and iMovie, as well as a variety of other applications.  In doing this, Celebrity has positioned itself uniquely in the cruise market, with most lines offering only Windows-based courses.

Don't get me wrong - we had a good cruise, and there were certainly some excellent positives about the voyage and the ship itself.  But after returning home, the more I thought about it, the more the whole thing got under my skin.  And the more it got under my skin, the more I began to feel something different from the usual, pleasant, post-cruise afterglow.

I felt ripped off - in terms of time, money and the cruise itself.

Indeed, this was the first voyage in a long time that I didn't pick up brochures onboard to start researching the next one.  It was also the first voyage where I didn't purchase a valuable Future Cruise Credit - a common, almost automatic purchase for me these days.

I've heard from several of the very helpful people on CruiseCritic's Celebrity Forum that the new ships - Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Eclipse - are well worth the price of admission, and set the bar high for other lines.  The crux of the problem, though, is this: if you're going to build new, breathtaking vessels, it shouldn't come at the expense of the maintenance and overall cruise experience on your older vessels. 

I wrote to Celebrity last week, hoping to get some clarification on some of the issues we faced.  Were there mitigating circumstances?  Is Celebrity Summit being used as a test vessel for certain ideas, namely the removal of a true casual dining alternative?

To date, I have not heard back from them regarding these questions.

A representative from the line did call me on Monday though in response to the comment card I had filled out onboard.  He was genuinely concerned about some of the things we experienced onboard, and said he would pass our comments along to the higher-ups aboard the ship and at corporate headquarters.  He agreed that the issues we faced shouldn't be present on any Celebrity ship.

In the end, I just cannot recommend Celebrity Summit based on my experience.  Our voyage was a long way off from the kind of service we received aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas in January, and a colossal world apart from my experiences aboard similar itineraries with Princess and Holland America Line.  The lack of maintenance and some of the more Fawlty Towers-esque moments, in the end, got the better of us.


Will I try Celebrity again?  I'd like to think so.  I just hope the success of their newest vessels isn't coming at the expense of the ships that got them here.

A full photo-tour of the Celebrity Summit, including interior and exterior public spaces, can be found here.