Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Summit

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Conclusion

Unveiled in 2001, the Celebrity Summit is no longer the newest, hottest ship in the Celebrity Cruises fleet, but it remains a good choice for couples and retirees — particularly those living in the New York area looking for a close-to-home cruise option. The Summit is one of just a handful of vessels that sail regularly out of New York harbor to Bermuda and is perhaps the the most stylish of the choices. The Summit also is the only Celebrity Cruises ship offering regular sailings to the Southern Caribbean (in the winter, out of San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Like its three Millennium Class sisters, the Summit is a smaller, quieter vessel than Celebrity Cruises’ much-heralded new Solstice Class ships. It offers fewer restaurants and bars than the newer Celebrity ships, and fewer deck-top areas. That said, the Summit went into dry dock in late 2011 for a significant makeover that brought several new restaurants and other new features that first debuted on Solstice Class vessels, including a Mediterranean specialty restaurant called Blu and an ice-topped martini bar. Celebrity also revamped the decor of the ship, added more rooms and increased the number of balconies. (For our impression of another Celebrity ship that was “solsticized” see our review of Celebrity Infinity, post-remodel.)

As on other Celebrity ships, the entertainment on Summit has more of a classy vibe than what is found on many big, mass-market vessels. There also are a wide range of enrichment programs on board such as history and art lectures, and cooking classes. And the spa is a major focus. Celebrity clearly is aiming at vacationers looking for a more elegant and formal experience than what is found on, say, the “Fun Ships” of Carnival. Depending on your personality, you may find this wonderful or boring.

While the Summit draws quite a few families during holiday periods, it isn’t our first choice for a family cruise as the ship lacks many of the child-pleasing activities found on the bigger ships of such lines as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival (all three of which offer cruises to Bermuda out of the New York area that we find a better bet for families).