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Celebrity Summit, which debuted in 2001, is the third of Celebrity Cruises' four 91,000-ton, 1,950-passenger Millennium-Class ships. Like her once-innovative sisters, Celebrity Millennium (2000), Celebrity Infinity (2001) and Celebrity Constellation (2002), Summit features exterior glass elevators, a nostalgic alternative restaurant saluting the era of the great ocean liners, a superb spa, a relaxing conservatory, Wi-Fi and an impressive music library. Celebrity Summit also embodies Celebrity's tradition of elegance with a collection of more than 500 museum-quality artworks, including an incredible $800,000 Fernando Botero sculpture, and classy, contemporary decor that makes people feel that, while it may be Canada or the Caribbean outside the ship's windows and glass walls, it's definitely more European-chic inside. And despite the ship's relative age -- and what it lacks compared to the real-grass covered Lawn Club and 10 restaurant setup of Celebrity's newer Solstice-class ships -- Celebrity Summit's timeless design holds up beautifully even today, some 10 years after it first debuted. | | |  top | | | | Dining
The two-level Cosmopolitan Restaurant features a sophisticated decor accented by La Normandie, a beautiful, seven-foot-high bronze statue of a woman draped like the goddess Athena, created by Art Deco sculptor Leon-Georges Baudry. This statue originally graced the first-class smoking room in the legendary liner SS Normandie. The dining room also has a sweeping staircase for grand entrances on formal nights, and a two-level glass wall with panoramic views aft. There are two options for dinner in the Cosmopolitan Restaurant. Passengers can go with traditional set seating (there are two times to dine) or opt for the more flexible Celebrity Select dining option, which was introduced in February 2010. With Celebrity Select, passengers have the option to eat any time between 6p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and to decide whether they want to eat with their own party or on a mixed table with other passengers. They can also make specific dinner reservations for each day of their cruise online in advance, make reservations onboard or simply show up when ready to eat. The restaurant is open-seating for breakfast and lunch. The Normandie, a 134-seat specialty restaurant, features memorabilia from the legendary transatlantic liner including original gold-lacquered paneling depicting hunt scenes that originally adorned the smoking room on the SS Normandie, plus a dine-in wine cellar, open kitchen and "butterfly service" with waiters serving, presenting and removing dishes at the same table in unison. Dishes are prepared or finished tableside. Fee is $35 per person and well worth it -- you'd expect to pay upwards of $100 on terra firma. On the casual dining front, the Waterfall Cafe/Grill serves buffet-style breakfasts (including made-to-order omelets), lunches and teas with a side of sea views and casual, no-fee buffet/waiter service dinners. Gourmet Bites, including little beef Wellingtons and empanadas, are served by waiters at midnight. | | | | top | | | | Public Rooms
The three-deck Grand Foyer, inspired by a Venetian courtyard with silk lanterns, marble floors, stylish floral arrangements and translucent onyx grand staircase sets the tone of refinement for the ship. Off the foyer, on Entertainment Deck, is a shoppers' paradise, The Emporium, a European-style 14,000-square-foot area that features designer labels including Versace, Swarovski, Donna Karan and others. The Conservatory, a pretty oasis with fresh and silk flowers, orange and olive tree creations and trellises with "climbing" silk roses is ideal for watching a floral demonstration. Cosmos, the forward-facing lounge at the top of the ship, is surrounded with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. It's used during the day as an observation station and for various activities. Notes, a musical library with 19,000 selections in mp3 format, available at 12 individual listening stations, is very popular. The two-level Words library has comfortable wing back chairs and sofas, but it was only open for checkout at designated times each day. Celebrity's stylish Martini and Champagne Bars (featuring caviar and pate service, and overlooking the Rendezvous Bar where a duo entertains) are also represented on Summit, along with the line's signature Michael's Club lounge and Cova Cafe di Milano, a combination wine and coffee bar. Fortunes is a French-inspired casino with 205 slots, two roulette tables, four blackjack tables, one dice table and three Caribbean Stud Poker tables. Passengers on Celebrity Summit can surf the Web in the cyber cafe at a flat rate of 75 cents per minute or package rates of 100 minutes for $70, 200 minutes for $120, and 500 minutes for $250. This rate applies to both the desktops in the Internet center and to your own laptops when using Wi-Fi. | | | | top | | | | Cabins
Of the 1,059 cabins aboard Celebrity Summit, 853 are oceanview, and 538 of those have balconies. The ship also offers 50 suites, ranging from penthouses (bigger than some houses) to more petite but elegant Sky Suites, as well as 26 accommodations that are fully ADA-compliant and wheelchair-accessible. Summit's standard cabins, from the least expensive insides to outside balcony cabins, are well configured and neatly decorated with soft hues. Standard cabins come in at about 170 square feet. (Some insides are a bit smaller.) Balconies add an average of 41 square feet. They are certainly not the largest staterooms afloat, to be sure, but the way they are configured and the calmness of their decor make them wholly appealing. Summit's "Concierge" cabins are about a foot longer than the standard staterooms down the hall. There were some additional perks afforded to Concierge passengers, including a pillow menu, daily fresh fruit, nightly hors d'oeuvres, use of binoculars, robes, Hansgrohe shower heads, hand-held hair dryers and expanded room service breakfast menus. Also included are priority check-in, express luggage delivery, priority embarkation and disembarkation at each port, shoeshine service, a Celebrity Cruises tote bag and main/specialty restaurant seating preference. All cabins include interactive television, safe, phone with voice mail, hair dryer, use of bathrobes, and mini-bar. Cabins feature two 110-volt outlets and two 220-volt outlets at the desk. If you bring a converter kit, you can convert one of the 220's to a 110, giving you three outlets to use for sundry electronics like laptops, digital cameras and cell phone chargers. For a nice splurge, there are four suite categories ranging from the 251-square-foot (57-square-foot verandah) Sky Suites to incredible Penthouses (1,690 square feet, plus 1,098-square-foot verandah). Suite amenities include butler service, welcome Champagne, personalized stationery, tote bag, priority check-in and disembarkation, and computer/printer (upon request in Sky Suites). | | | | top | | | | Entertainment
On the Summit you can always say the night is young: there are production shows and variety in the five-deck Celebrity Theater show lounge with excellent sightlines, a duo and dancing in the Rendezvous Lounge, a harpist or strings trio in the Cova Cafe, dance parties in the earth-toned Revelations observation lounge/nightclub till the wee hours. Both the Martini Bar and the Champagne Bar, located on the Entertainment Deck, make great pre-dinner cocktail spots. In late 2009, Celebrity introduced a new enrichment and activities program called Celebrity Life onboard Summit. Programming is divided into three themes. "Savor" focuses on culinary themes and features wine-tasting and appreciation classes, mixology (including "Molecular Mixology" workshops developed by The Liquid Chef, who creates high-end cocktails and muddled drinks with unusual ingredients), cooking demos and cooking competitions. "Renew" combines fitness classes (like body-sculpting, strength-training, yoga and tai chi), spa treatments, medi-spa cosmetic services (BOTOX and anti-aging facials) and wellness seminars (on topics such as youth-enhancing lifestyle tips, nutrition and stress management). The "Discover" program has the broadest reach, as Celebrity has partnered with several well-known companies to offer a wide variety of educational opportunities to its cruise passengers. Lecturers from Smithsonian Journeys, the Smithsonian Institution's educational travel program, will come onboard to teach about history, culture, art, architecture and nature. Passengers can learn languages onboard with Rosetta Stone, study star-gazing and astronomy, preserve vacation photos and memories by scrapbooking with the StoryTellersClub, take technology classes (everything from iPods to Photoshop) through the line's "digITal" series and enjoy ballroom and world dance classes and competitions hosted by Celebrity's professional dancers. | | | | top | | | | Fitness and Recreation
The 25,000-square-foot AquaSpa is one of the largest at sea and second to none with a free thalassotherapy pool in a stunning space under a dome with pergolas, topiaries and a bronze by Fernando Botero. An AquaSpa Cafe serves light dishes for breakfast and lunch. Some 40 different Elemis therapies and rituals are featured including the Egyptian Ceremony of Milk and Ginger, Asian Ceremony of Stone and Tahitian Ceremony of Flowers. "Renew" is the line's new name for the spa and health aspect of Celebrity Life. Renew combines fitness classes, spa treatments and wellness seminars to help travelers "feel better, live longer and look younger." Seminars offering youth-enhancing lifestyle tips and stress management, medi-spa cosmetic services (BOTOX and anti-aging facials), body-sculpting and strength-training classes, nutrition seminars, acupuncture, yoga and tai chi are all available to help Celebrity cruisers feel and look good -- not to mention keep them away from the dessert buffet. The program is broken down into three categories: "Ageless" (medi-spa stuff like Botox), "Longevity" (pain management options like acupuncture) and "Energy" (fitness classes). Spa services at the Steiner of London-operated facility include facials, massages, wraps and scrubs with specials offered on shore days. More unusual options include the Bamboo Massage, where bamboo shoots of various sizes are rolled and used to massage muscles. Celebrity also has a trained acupuncturist onboard Summit. In fact, it was one of the first lines to introduce the now-standard cruise spa option. Celebrity Summit has licensed doctors onboard and offers Restylane(R) and Perlane(R) treatments, as well as Botox. Classes in "Chilates" (Celebrity's name for Pilates) and yoga are offered with an additional fee of $12 per person, but some of the best workouts are to be found at the dance classes, which are offered free of charge. There is an oceanview beauty salon and a sea-view gym with more than 40 pieces of equipment including 14 treadmills, 12 exercise bikes, six step units, two rowers and four aerobics exercisers, plus free weights and benches in addition to 14 sequenced pieces of equipment for lower-to-upper body development. A full-size basketball court and paddle tennis court are among the recreational facilities, in addition to a main resort area complete with a pool for lap swimming and reverse current, Jacuzzis, stage and teak dance floor. A jogging track (five times around equals a little over a mile) on Sunrise Deck passes by the Mast Bar and offers views of the pools below. | | | | top | | | | Family
You'll never see the kids! The Fun Factory offers a puzzle wall, play area, computer games section, movie room and crafts area plus a broadcast room and video game arcade. Tower is Celebrity Summit's teen club and disco (the only one in the Millennium-class series). It is a great place to hang out, and includes a big flat-screen television. Participation in the kids' program is complimentary (with some exceptions) and is broken nicely into compatible age groups. Potty-trained children are welcomed from age 3 and join the Ship's Mates (3- to 5-year-olds). Cadets (6 to 8), Ensigns (9 to 11) and Teens (12 to 17) make up the balance of the groups. Age-appropriate activities are available for each, and trained counselors are in attendance. Activities include dinosaur studies, sushi-making, miniature boat-building and treasure hunts, while indoor/outdoor Fun Factory facilities include climbing frames and ball pools, paddling pools and water chutes, computer areas (offering plug-in guitar lessons) and The Tower -- a tall, large-windowed space for teens at the prow end of Deck 11. Parents with children younger than 3 are invited to accompany their toddlers into the playrooms. (Infants who sail must be at least 6 months old as of the first day of the cruise. However, for transatlantic, transpacific, select South America and other select cruises, infants must be at least 12 months old.) All participants ages 3 - 10 must be signed in/out to the Fun Factory club by a parent/guardian presenting a Celebrity signature card to verify parentage. Each child wears a wristband for identification. A slumber party ($6 per hour per child) is offered in the playroom every evening from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. An afternoon party is available port days ($6 per hour per child). Limited private babysitting is $8 per hour per family (maximum two children). Make arrangements onboard through guest relations or stateroom services. | | | | top | | | | Fellow Passengers
Celebrity Summit's passenger base is comprised mostly of well-traveled, middle- and upper-middle-class Americans in the 45 - 65 age bracket. A good number of families can be found, particularly in the summer and holiday periods. There are a decent number of usually well-traveled, international passengers, too. | | | | top | | | | Dress Code
Depending on the destination, the dress is usually casual during the day and resort casual in the evening. On transatlantic voyages, guests tend to be dressier, even during the day. Celebrity is a traditional cruise line, and the typical Celebrity Summit passenger likes the tradition of dressing up for supper. Plan for two formal nights on a seven- to 11-night cruises and three on cruises of more than 12 nights, with several "informal" evenings, as well. Formal nights find most of the ladies in beaded or flowing gowns and men in tuxes; on informal evenings, women wear cocktail attire, and men wear suits with ties. There are casual dining options for those who choose not to dress up on formal nights, including the ever-present pizza and pasta, the sushi bar and the dining option on the port side of the Ocean Cafe and Grill. | | | | top | | | | Gratuity
Celebrity automatically adds gratuities for your restaurant and cabin services to your onboard Seapass account on a daily basis in the following amounts: $11.50 per person, per day, if you're in a standard cabin; $12.00 per person, per day, if you're in Concierge Class; and $15.00 per person, per day, for passengers in suites. Gratuities can be adjusted either way at the passenger's discretion. | | | | top | | | | | Expert reviews are provided by CruiseCritic.com, an award-winning cruise community. This objective information can help you choose just the right ship for your next cruise vacation. | |  | |
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