Celebrity Summit

Hello and welcome to our review of the Celebrity Summit cruise ship, which whilst one of the oldest and smallest to cruise for the Celebrity cruise line, it is a ship that has seen a whole new lease of life after undergoing a full refurbishment in 2019.

That has seen the ship been able to offer the same standard of furnishings, public areas and staterooms that you would expect from the newest Celebrity ships, all whilst been able to keep its small ship charm.

That makes its it a great choice for those who love the line but who prefer to keep away from its larger ships, such as those of the Solstice and Edge classes of ships.

But as fans of bigger ships, just how would we find the Summit for our transatlantic cruise from Reykjavik in Iceland to Boston in the United States?

In this Celebrity Summit review, we take you through what we liked about the ship, what could be better and take you through all aspects of cruising onboard the Celebrity Summit cruise ship.

Celebrity Summit Current Location

We sailed onboard the Celebrity Summit in August 2023, where we embarked on a 12-night adventure across the north Atlantic Ocean.

We started in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik, before heading north to the Icelandic fjords and the ports of Isafjordur and Akureyri.

Then came the highlight of our trip as we sailed across the Atlantic to Greenland and an exploration of the Prince Christian Sound.

After that, we visited the small town of Nanortalik before heading across the Labrador Sea to St Johns and Halifax in Canada.

Our journey finished at the port of Boston, in the US state of Massachusetts, from where we flew back to the UK.

Having only sailed on larger ships with Celebrity, it does have to be said that it is a different experience when cruising onboard the Summit than onboard the Celebrity Silhouette, the ship that we had previously sailed onboard with Celebrity.

A lot of the differences we experienced can be put down to things such as the Summit been both a smaller and older ship, but a lot can also be put down to the types of cruises that we sailed on.

Our journey on the Summit was more of an exploration style of cruise where we visited some of the worlds smallest and remotest cruise ports and that is something that the Summit really is perfect for.

The vibe onboard the ship was a lot more relaxed and there was also more of a sense of community onboard as we shared stories of what we had done once onshore with fellow cruisers.

With relatively few people onboard for a mainstream cruise ship and with the ports been so small, we would constantly see the same people and that added to the atmosphere onboard the ship having the feel of living in a small village, where everybody knows everybody but certainly not in a bad way.

As mentioned, our cruise was something of a 1 off and a break from the usual cruises that the ship offers but we still got a great insight into the style of the cruises offered onboard the Summit.

If you have sailed with Celebrity Cruises before you will likely recognise the style as it is somewhat standardised across all their ships.

During the day, the dress code is relaxed, and the atmosphere is a stress-free but somewhere the ship does perhaps change from the newer ones offered by the line is that the days and nights onboard are much more structured.

Due to a lack of space and available options, activities tend to be similar and take place around the same time at the same place each day whilst evening entertainment tends to be centered around 7 and 9pm theatres shows followed by later night entertainment in the observation lounge.

The dress code on an evening is smart/casual with more dressy up nights given the billing of chic nights, where it is suggested, you dress up for you, but on a cruise such as ours where most people packed winter and wet weather clothes, not too many got dressed up to the nines.

For our cruise, we added a package to our cruise that included tips (gratuities), internet and basic drinks included in the price, so we had plenty included in the price.

For us, one of the great things about sailing with Celebrity is the Café al Bacio, a tearoom where most speciality teas and coffees are included in the basic drink package and where pastries at breakfast and cakes throughout the day are included for all.

Onboard the Summit, it has a large seating area and plenty of extra seating around the atrium which meant we always got a seat no matter what time of the day we visited.

Each bar on the ship also offered a good selection of included drinks for our package with one other aspect of the ship we liked was the number of places where you could simply grab a can of coke (or coke zero in our case).

So many lines nowadays require you to go to a bar and get a glass or soda poured, which just slows things down for everybody.

If you haven’t booked a drinks package, there is still plenty that is included in the base price of a cruise onboard the Summit.

This includes the buffet, which is one of the best we have experienced in terms of quality and for a ship the size of the Summit, its Oceanview Café (buffet) is a decent size with a good range of options including numerous cook-to-order options.

For those wanting a sit-down meal, the large Cosmopolitan main dining room offers the chance to choose a traditional style set dining offering on deck 4 and a dine when you want offering on deck 5.

Snacks such as burgers and hot dogs can be eaten at the pool side grill whilst those wanting a healthier option can head to the spa café in the solarium.

In the buffet and spa café it is possible to get included fruit juices, water, tea, coffee and hot chocolate, with the buffet also making it easy to grab an included drink and head to the sunset bar at the rear of the ship or to drink around the pool.

Aside from food and drink, there is lots included in the price of your cruise onboard the Summit including all your entertainment in the onboard theatre and for our cruise this offered a great selection of musicians, comedians, impersonators and production shows.

There are also plenty of activities that take place in the observation lounge, around the pool and in the foyer and in the numerous bars, lounges and in the main atrium there were musicians performing throughout the day and evening.

The top deck has a outdoor big screen that shows movies throughout the day and night but on our cruise, many of these were moved to the theatre as it was too cold outside.

As is the case on the majority of ships, things like swimming pools (the main outside pool and the solarium pool) and the gym are free for everybody whilst the Summit also has an outdoor basketball court that can also be used for football, pickleball and other sports.

As is the way nowadays, there are somethings that are not included in the base price of your cruise and need to be paid for once onboard, but thankfully these are not things you need to spend on as they are added extras.

The biggest 2 extra cost things on the ship are speciality dining and the spa.

Spa treatments are all an extra cost but there are big discounts if you visit on a port day whilst savings can also be made on speciality dining if you book in advance and especially if you visit the Tuscan Grille, Sushi on Five or Le Petit Chef on the first night.

If you haven’t paid for a beverage package, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks throughout the ship and hot drinks at Café al Bacio will cost extra.

Free ice cream is available in the buffet but will cost extra at the Gelato station and both art bought at the onboard art auction and any gambling undertook in the onboard casino will all come at an extra cost.

The same is also true for the onboard shops, where everything is an extra cost- as you would expect.

A huge credit should be given to the line for the entertainment on our holiday as even though the ship was away from its homeport for around 3 weeks and in some of the remotest parts of the world, they still provided a wide variety on entertainers.

We love going into the theatre when on holiday and for us Celebrity offers one of the best theatre experiences and the Summit was no different.

There was a good selection of acts, including singers, comedians and impersonators whilst the inhouse production shows where of a high quality.

One thing we should also mention is that the Summit had a full house band in the theatre which is great to see when so many other lines are cutting that particular cost at a huge testament to the cruising experience.

All of the bars, lounges and even Café al Bacio had musicians performing at different times of the day and the observation lounge, atrium and pool area also had a number of activities to keep people entertained.

One great thing about our cruise was that the line had a couple of experts onboard to give talks, with one been a natural world expert giving talks on the artic region and the animals we would see along our cruise of the region.

One of the biggest reasons why we choose to cruise on Celebrity is the quality of food on offer, which was something we were slightly worried about before the cruise due to the remoteness of the cruise and its small size.

Whilst some of those concerns came true with regards to the variety of food on offer, the actual quality of the food was once again top notch.

We mainly ate in the buffet on an evening, but we did dine in the MDR on sea days, especially at lunch time and no matter where we ate and at what time, the food was something to enjoy.

Despite the small size of the budget, we never struggled for a table, and it featured a number of cook-to-order stations and even the food that was prepared in advance was always warm and never stood waiting too long.

2 of the things we really loved about the ship from a food and drink point of view was the fact that there are plenty of places around the ships to grab a can of soda, which is great if you are in a rush and also the Café al Bacio.

We love to visit tea rooms in general and the Summits onboard offering can match any you will find on the high street or in an upmarket hotel.

With so many sea days on our adventure, we loved to grab a table in the tea room, have a drink and also grab a couple of the mouthwatering included cakes.

Our stateroom (8119) was an inside cabin, on deck 8 in the mid-ship area. This proved to be a great location that offered easy access to all parts of the ship and meant we used the glass lifts on a daily basis.

The room was spacious, especially for an inside cabin, and featured all you would expect from a Celebrity room including a huge comfy bed, lots of storage, a number of USB ports, a big tv, a comfortable seating area and a large bathroom with a glass shower door.

Our journey took us on an Arctic/North Atlantic adventure that embarked in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik and ended in the American city of Boston.

Along the way, we visited the ports of Isafjordur and Akureyri in Iceland before heading out into the open ocean and to the incredible Prince Chrisitan Sound (Prins Cristian Sund) in Greenland.

After sailing through the sound, we visited the remote town of Nanortalik in Greenland before heading across the Labrador Sea to Canada.

We visited the picturesque city of St John’s in Newfoundland before heading south to the city of Halifax in Nova Scotia.

After 1 more day at sea, we arrived in our final port of Bostin in Massachusetts, USA.

As a smaller and older ship, we would say that this is a cruise ship best suited for older cruisers and for couples who don’t mind a slower pace to a holiday.

There is little to do for younger cruisers and little for families to do together, although it does have children’s clubs which may work during school holidays but on our cruise there were few kids which would probably make them boring for all but the youngest children.

To start with, I’ll say outright that we loved our cruise on the Summit, so most things we found to be good with few negatives.

For this review, I will just mention the things that really added to our holiday.

To start with, we love the theatre on the Summit as not only is a great venue that really feel like an actual theatre but it offers a great variety of entertainment.

This includes having a house band, something so many lines are phasing out, good in-house production shows and a good range of acts including singers, impersonators and comedians.

Long term viewers will know that we love the Café al Bacio tearoom on Celebrity ships and one problem we have found with it is trying to find an available table.

That wasn’t a problem on the Summit however as no matter what time of the day we went, we also got a seat and as ever the service, food and drink was top notch.

The staff onboard the Summit were also some of the friendliest we have come across and really added to our adventure.

If you are used to sailing onboard larger ships, even with the same line, you will find that the size and age of the ship does mean that there are some differences.

One of the biggest issues for us was the lack of variety in most aspects as a holiday on the ship is quite structured but that actually turned into a positive.

We prefer port intensive cruises but with many sea days on our transatlantic sailing, the structured days actual helped pass the time.

The food in the buffet was of a high quality but due to its small size, there was a lack of variety throughout the sailing.

A similar thing occurred with the entertainment onboard where the same musicians played in the lounges and the atrium at the same time of the day.

One minor negative that we came across was the lack of information from the captain. On previous cruises, we would get an informational announcement from the captain on sea days and a quick welcome back/update on port days but on the Summit, this was kept to the bare minimum.

All of those were small issues but one big problem onboard was the lack of availability in the dining room. Celebrity offer a dine when you want choice in the Main Dining Room but from day one, the only availability for us was from 8:30pm onwards, which was just too late.

The Celebrity Summit was launched on 9th March 2001 before been handed over to Celebrity Cruises in October the same year and then finally entering service in November.

Originally known simply as the Summit until 2008, the ship became known as the Celebrity Summit when the whole line changed their name to include the line name in the ship name.

She was built by the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St Nazaire, France and cost $350,000,000.

Originally the ship was registered out of the port of Monrovia in Liberia, before switching to Nassau in the Bahamas in 2002 before changing once again tog the port of Valletta in Malta in 2009.

In 2009, the ship spent 3 weeks in a dry dock to have a major refurbishment and to be brought up to the standards of the line’s newer ships.

In conclusion, we have to say that the ship is a great option for those wanting to visit smaller ports that bigger ships just cannot visit as you will certainly have a great holiday.

We still prefer larger ships and Celebrity wise; we still prefer the Celebrity Silhouette but if the Summit was sailing an itinerary that was of interest to us, we would certainly sail on her again.

Her full refurbishment really hides her age, as does to new paint job she has had and the onboard experience is up there with the other ships of the line we have sailed on.

There were some minor negatives, such as the lack of dining times and the lack of variety in food and entertainment but those are only small annoyances and really didn’t impact our experience in any way.

Celebrity Summit Review and Guide

Thank you for taking the time to read our review or the Celebrity Summit cruise ship. We hope that you found it useful and hopefully if you were unsure on whether to sail on her or not, you have taken the plunge as we are sure you will have a great time.

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