Cruise Review: Everything You Need To Know About The Celebrity Summit

Welcome to the Celebrity Revolution! Celebrity Cruises is spending $500 million dollars on a fleet-wide modernization to give the whole cruise line elements of their newest ships, the Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Flora (the latter will be debuting in the Galapagos in May 2019). The Revolution started with the introduction of the Celebrity Edge, a state-of-the-art new ship at the forefront of modern luxury cruising, and continued with the renovation of the Celebrity Millennium. Now, the Celebrity Summit is the second ship to be modernized in the fleet, and finished its refurbishment in March 2019. I was lucky enough to be one of the first to sail on the new and improved Celebrity Summit and see first-hand how Celebrity Cruises has brought the Summit to the “Edge”, so to speak. You can find the Celebrity Summit deck plans and more details about the ship, including upcoming sailing dates, here. Without further ado, here’s my Celebrity Summit review!

Celebrity Summit: The Staterooms and Suites

As part of its Celebrity Revolution, the Celebrity Summit received all-new stateroom designed by Kelly Hoppen. The newly modernized rooms include Celebrity’s eXhale bedding featuring luxurious Cashmere mattresses and redesigned bathrooms. During my stay onboard the Summit, I stayed in a Veranda room, complete with a private balcony to truly enjoy those sea days and relax in my cabin.

The suites onboard also received the Revolution treatment for a fresh new look to rival the world’s best boutique hotels, and were enhanced with new suite designs also by Kelly Hoppen. Suite guests also get access to exclusive amenities like The Retreat Sundeck, which features a hot tub (with a view off the front of the ship!), cabanas, Fatboy loungers, and more. I loved the design of The Retreat Sundeck, and it was possibly my favorite place to hang out and sunbathe aboard the ship. I’m always a fan of hot tubs with a view! Overall, probably also the most Instagrammable spot onboard the ship, which is always a plus for me.

Last but not least, suite-level passengers also get access to The Retreat Lounge (formerly called Michael’s Club), which is a 24/7 lounge featuring complimentary drinks and snacks. The Lounge got a complete facelift too, and is now much brighter and modernized than before.

Celebrity Summit: The Restaurants

There are a total of nine restaurants and dining venues onboard the Summit, including the Tuscan Grille, Qsine, the Cosmopolitan Restaurant aka the Main Restaurant, Sushi on Five, Luminae (exclusively for suite class guests), the Oceanview Café, Blu (exclusively for AquaClass guests), Café al Bacio, and the Spa Café, in addition to 24-hour room service. Blu, Qsine, the Tuscan Grille all require reservations and are at additional cost.

Two of these area received redesigns as part of the refurbishment – the Oceanview Café and the Cosmopolitan Restaurant – as well as lounge spots the Sunset Bar and the Rendezvous Lounge. The new Oceanview Café features a new open concept, which increases seating options, as well as a new menu of globally inspired cuisines across their large buffet. The outdoor patio that’s part of the Oceanview Café is the perfect place to enjoy the morning light from while you enjoy your breakfast!

The Cosmopolitan Restaurant, also called the Main Restaurant, received a beautiful new redesign, including updated fixtures, a ceiling design, and more seating. The result is a bright and modernized luxury dining room for all guests onboard. I dined here one night of my trip, and loved the improved atmosphere and delicious seafood dinner I had!

Also, Qsine received the addition of the virtual Le Petit Chef experience, an animated chef who appears on your plate and shows you how each dish is prepared while you wait for it to be served to you. You can see a little bit about that on the video below! We spent the first night aboard dining here, trying all their culinary delights from around the world, such as Indian curries, Chinese food, and steak. Truly, a fun and adventurous dining experience!

Celebrity Summit: The Pools and Spa

On Deck 10 you’ll find the main two saltwater pools onboard the Summit as well as the indoor Solarium pool. There are several hot tubs on the deck as well as in the Solarium, in addition to the one located in The Retreat Sundeck. You’ll find plenty of lounge chairs to sunbathe at around the pools on Deck 10, as well as on the walkways on Deck 11. Of course, this area is quite popular with guests, so get there early if you want to secure a good spot!

Canyon Ranch at Sea, the spa area onboard the Summit, also received a complete transformation, with new designs for the treatment rooms, salon, fitness center, and locker rooms. While it is at an additional cost to treatments, while you’re there you can also experience the enhanced Persian Garden thermal suite, with a Turkish bath, infrared sauna, salt therapy, and more. During my sailing, I experienced a classic Canyon Ranch Massage treatment for 50-minutes, which was the perfect way to relax from my travels and ease those aches and pains.

Celebrity Summit: Onboard Entertainment

During our cruise, some of the shows on offer included live music featuring the tunes of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, as well as a violinist concert and performances by the American Ballet Theatre. The partnership with the ABT is an exciting new addition to the Celebrity fleet, and select ships, including the Summit, will have American Ballet Theatre performances onboard during their cruise. We got a small teaser of that on our press sailing, and it was fantastic!

The entire Casino also got a complete overhaul, with sleek new state-of-the-art slot machines, a redesigned Casino Bar, and a much brighter, modernized interior design. The sophisticated new look of the Casino takes the area into the modern age. I’m a big fan of roulette, so I definitely spent some of my nights here at the tables. The Martini Bar is also conveniently located just down the hall from the Casino, so if you need a break from the Casino, that’s a fun place to hang out. The Martini Bar was one of my favorite places on the ship, and the bartenders even will do tricks if you ask them!

Since my sailing was so short, I didn’t get to really experience much else for onboard entertainment, but normal, longer sailings do feature many more shows and performers. We did have a silent disco one night though, and I loved the live music by the pool during the day. It really set the vibe! There’s also a Rooftop Terrace on Deck 12 complete with an outdoor cinema that is a great place to hang out, as well as a basketball court also on Deck 12.

Celebrity Summit: By the Numbers

• Occupancy: 2,218
• Crew: 1,027
• Total Staterooms: 1,109
• Tonnage: 90,940
• Length: 965 feet
• Width: 105 feet
• Cruising Speed: 24 kts
• Inaugural Date: October 1, 2001
• Revolution Date: March 23, 2019
• Guest Decks: 11
• Number of Pools: 3
• Number of Restaurants & Cafes: 9

Overall, I loved my short time on the Celebrity Summit, and would love to sail on her again on a longer itinerary. Hopefully my review of the ship has been helpful for planning your own travels. Have you sailed on the new Celebrity Summit? I’d love to hear your own Celebrity Summit reviews in the comments below!

Disclaimer: I was invited to experience the Celebrity Summit as a guest of Celebrity Cruises. As always, all opinions are my own.

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