My (Very Honest) Review of CELEBRITY SUMMIT - Is This Ship Too Old?!

Hi Zach, great review! I will be on the Summit this December for a 5 night Key West and Bahamas cruise. Question, I also have a inside cabin booked and was wondering how you upgraded to the balcony cabin? Was it offered online, did you ask at the port, or on the ship? Thank you!

what areas of service did you not like\

I would be very curious to know what you mean by the glass elevators appearing old. I've been on Millennium (back in 2006) and I thought those things were the coolest and even ahead of their time. I would think that such a feature would feel modern?

As usual Zach your reviews are great! So glad you reviewed Summit…. Can’t wait to hear about virgin!

Was wondering about summit for goin to Israel and Egypt. Pretty old though!

I seek out the "older" ships, prefer over all the stuff and people in the mega ships.

It's funny how much cruising has changed over the last twenty some odd years. I sailed the Summitt and the other M-class ships when they were brand new. And, they were absolutely gorgeous, cutting-edge ships at the time. They were also considered to be very large cruise ships. Now, they are the old tried and true, "small" ships to sail on. When I started sailing the Century and Mercury were the old, small ships.

I will be on it in less than 30 days for a 12 day Canada, Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland trip. Never been on Celebrity before but I am excited to give them a try. I have cruised on Holland the most and think this will be a similar vibe. My favorite overall cruise line is Royal. If this is as good as Royal and Holland I will be very happy.

Helpful review . However , a rude staff or two on a cruise ship , what are the chances ? lol Have to choose between summit and norwegian joy. Any comments ? Thanks

Did the Summit back on 2019 and the Millenium on 2022 & 2023 and absolutely love both but the Millenium had the best service I had in over 15 cruises I've done. All were Caribbean cruises. Looking forward to your review on the Millenium.

The food is different between their ships. I was on the Infinity 9/2022 and the food was really poor. I went on the Reflection 1/23 and it was very good. I was on the Millennium 4/23 and the food was good. I was on the Edge in Europe in May and the food was Fabulous. The food was far superior on the Edge. The French restaurant Normandie was the BEST ship food I have had in years, To date, I have sailed on 75 ships and 149 cruises. The pre Royal Caribbean owned Celebrity's food was always amazing on the Zenith & Horizon.

Did you update while onboard?

I just got off the Summit yesterday. The service and food in the dining room was very disappointing. The ship is pretty, boarding was easy, but they definitely need to work on the service aspect. I don't think I'll go on Celebrity again.

Nice review! Makes me contemplate a cruise...

You really get the best prices on the older Celebrity ships. Does it bother you to sit between two couples in the main dining room? As a solo cruiser I tell the maitre d that is a no go and to seat me against a wall in a cocoon style chair. I find it very awkward to sit between couples if I'm alone. I also had two instances of rude staff on the Summit also. Perhaps they were the same people you interacted with lol

Great informative video Zach👍 I’m a new subscriber and look forward to watching more of your reviews. We will be sailing Summit for the first time this June to Bermuda from Cape Liberty in New Jersey and your review was very encouraging. Love the contemporary makeover of Summit and very impressed with the Oceanview cafe and main dining. We are already fans of Celebrity as we’ve sailed Reflection twice and hope to experience many other of its newer and even older revolutionized ships. Thanks for your honesty and enjoyed your rating system.

Taking my 4th Summit cruise this summer.

We prefer their Edge class ships.

I took my first cruise on the Summit in April . Loved the ship. Celebrity had bidding for upgraded rooms . I couldn’t take part since I went solo. Would have had to pay double my bid.

We just got off the Beyond. The food and service were phenomenal. Definitely our favorite cruise ship to date.

Been on The Summit several times. The Constellation also several times. My wife and I wanted to try the Zenith to Bermuda, but, never got a shot on it. It really is a nice ship. Haven't been on it since it got redone. Love the Millennium class ships. The food was pretty good on the ship. When on vacation I don't like to use the internet. The Buffett on the Millennium class ships are really nice. The service on Celebrity Cruise Line usually is good. My wife enjoyed lobster night too. Tuscan grill did not impress my wife. She thought it wasn't good. Celebrity started charging more for Specialty Restaurants. These days it's not worth it. Don't like to eat raw fish. Did hit the like button. Food from room service could be good, unless it gets delayed. I like the salmon no matter what cruise line I go on. My wife thought the comedian on the Constellation was the best. Never had problems with service on a Millennium class ship. When we were on another class ship we had problems.

Fantastic review. I'm doing my first Celebrity cruise in June, and it will be aboard this ship (in the Retreat, which I'm obviously stoked about). Sorry to hear about the steakhouse. Whatever ship I'm sailing, I always eat in the steakhouse the final night as sort of a "farewell treat." Perhaps I'll have a better experience than you did. I'm curious... when talking about room service, just before you showed the burger, there was a small plate with what looked like... pepperoncinis, perhaps? Wondering what that was. (Silly question, I know, but... ) Now, off to watch the ship tour.

I meant to say, completely agree with you about Tuscan Grill. When we ate there on the Equinox it was very hit or miss. I see you caught the ceremonial chopping of the basil on camera! Except on Equinox the basil wasn't in the best shape and they didn't have the fancy scissors you show just regular ones and the basil kept sticking to the blades. It was kind of ridiculous as the server painstakingly went round all 6 of us.

Wonderful review Zack 😊

I went on my first cruise ever on celebrity infinity last year in November. It’s the sister ship to the summit and not revolutionized. It was still beautiful and the service and food was amazing. I mean I don’t have anything to compare it to but I was very happy. I’m sailing on the summit this coming weekend and I hope that the service has gotten better since November. I’m really excited to see the more modernized interiors and cabins. 😊

I was really surprised how modern Celebrity Silhouette felt when I cruised on her last Summer. I haven't tried to newer Celebrity ships, but I absolutely loved the feel of Silhouette - it felt SO MUCH NEWER than it actually was! It sounds like there's some similarities in this respect between my experience on Silhouette and yours on Summit!

Been cruising on Celebrity since the Horizon in the 1990’s. Sailed on Summit when new. Unfortunately, their newer ships are all the Edge class, which I consider mostly hype. The Solstice class is my favorite but those ships are also getting older. At least they still offer guests three classes of ships. Cruised on Holland America a few months ago and found it to be equal, if not better at lower costs. Celebrity is positioning itself as a premium line, but it has become too expensive for what you get.

Zaaaaaaach will u PLEASE do a CARNIVAL cruise for meeeee❤

I LOVE your S.T.E.P.S. reviews❤

Great review Zach I'm Elite+ with Celebrity what deck was your cabin on?

I once heard that they use the newer staff on the short haul cruises so maybe that's why you got some so-so service
Btw i sailed on Millennium when she was new and loved it so im sure you will love it.

Hi! Has the Equinox been updated? I think you've sailed on her more recently than I. Yes, for a 22-year old ship, the Summit is very pretty. As always, thank you for your work and reviews!

Thanks for very candid review! I’m also a big fan of Celebrity but have to disagree with you on one thing. IMHO Virgin Voyages now has the best food of non-ultra premium cruise lines.

When you were on this cruise in 2022 the room service was still free so it is sad that is no longer so, apart from the bare bones of a cold continental breakfast.

Hey Zach, we just got back from our back-to-back on Summit (Aqualclass). We did agree with your review of Sushi on 5 (Great!) and Tuscan Grill. (meh) Blu and Chef's Table were excellent (the paired wine cost for Chef's Table on top of our Premium drink seemed a bit steep) and we were pleasantly surprised with OceanView and Spa Cafe. Too bad that you had (specific) negative service interactions. We also had one service "weird" situation, but I'll chalk that up to an inexperienced worker, otherwise we found service up to standard - outstanding cabin steward, Blu staff and one particularly helpful Cellar Master host!. Too bad Cellar Masters isn't available on many other ships since we really liked it

Summit was our first X cruise in 2020 (we were seeing news reports about the pandemic while on the ship). Everything was so fantastic, we booked our next cruise while on board (just happened to be in 2022 a few months after the restart). It's too bad about the rude staff. I just hope that was someone having a bad day rather than a sign of things to come...

Thanks Zack for a very balanced review… We departed from the celebrity silhouette on April 6… We did have a wonderful time… We noticed that the dining rooms food quality is still good, but not as good as it was prior to Covid… The lobster tail was very very very small, and we never were offered fillet at all during the whole 10 night cruise… We did enjoy escargot every night and that made everything all better… It was a wonderful cruise, but we did notice some differences, but service was excellent... we had a similar experience at Tuscan on the infinity back in November… We have always enjoyed Tuscan, and I have always made a reservation for that specialty restaurant… However, in November it just like you said wasn't for us… We did not have a good experience… We thought about making a reservation on the silhouette, but chose not to… A little sad, but that's what we chose to do…

The room service food looked exceptional. Was it $9.95 a pop? Is additional gratuity expected?

I will be on the Millennium Friday going through the Panama Canal, looking forward to a small ship experience

When you don’t care for a dish during a specialty dining meal, do you ever ask for something else? Just wondering if that’s acceptable.

Thanks Zack! Big Celebrity fan here too! We just sailed HAL and can't wait to get back to Celebrity. Interesting about your service experience. We have not done a Millennium Class but love what I see with the updated Summit.

It's a shame that there were issues with service and food. I sailed RCL in 2019 and the service was spectacular. Biggest reason for me booking a cruise with Celebrity. I think some of the cruise line changes are also affecting the staff negatively. I hope the cruise CEOs take notice.

Nice review! What few criticisms you had seem to have been justified. 👍 We've never sailed Celebrity (almost did, had a future cruise deposit that we lost to illness) but are definitely considering it going forward (we're too old for the fun and games ships).

I’m on the apex in late June for 12 night Scandinavian Baltic city cruise. Thanks to your review I booked a solo cabin!

I was on the Edge last November for a 12 day Southern Caribbean and omg it was so disappointing. Lack of shows, lack of staff, two premium restaurants closed the entire cruise

I like the solstice class over edge tbh. Much better service

Been on the Summit 4 times...absolutely love that ship.