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Back to Bermuda


cruisetarp
"Fun, last minute getaway"

Overall Rating: Very Good

TRIP INFO

Sail Date:07/20/2014
Destination:Bermuda
Departed From:Cape Liberty, NJ
# of Nights: 7 Nights
Cabin Type: Inside
Sailed As: Couple

RATINGS

Food:<p>3</p>
Itinerary:Excellent
Cabin:Very Good
Entertainment:
Overall Value:Excellent
Spa/Fitness: 
Embarkation: Very Good
Debarkation: Very Good
Staff/Service: Excellent
Overall Rating: Very Good

COMPLETE REVIEW

This was a very unexpected and unplanned cruise to break up a long summer. Less than a week before departure I found an terrific deal on an inside guarantee and we decided to take our chances and see what happened.

We arrived at the pier around 10:45 and were on the ship by 11:00. Very quick embarkation and once the new terminal is ready later this year, riding the shuttle bus to the ship will no longer be necessary. We are looking forward to that

My very first cruise (1964) was in an inside and Jim has never sailed in one so we were quite nervous as we really do spend a lot of time on our balcony. We enjoy breakfast there each morning and we were not sure how tight it would be in an interior. Two days before sailing we were assigned our cabin on deck 3 - exactly 1/2 way between the mid and forward elevators. The room was much bigger than we expected and we had no trouble finding plenty of room for our things.

Now the first, and only, disappointment of this cruise. Celebrity Summit it "testing" a new system in the OceanView buffet and IMHO it is just awful. No more pans of food on steam tables. Everything is individually plated on small silver bowls or pots. No choice - if you want the chicken you have to have it on the rice with gravy all over it. The biggest problem is I can honestly say that during the whole week I never had anything that even came close to being hot. Gravy got congealed - rice was gooey, etc. A huge letdown. In addition it is so poorly laid out. As an example when you enter the first station is bread and rolls. However, there are no plates - just very small trays. You continue past the bread and in the morning for example, scrambled eggs on top of bacon or sausage. (again cold) If you want made to order eggs you have to go to the very back of the Ocean View but they don't have the bread there - if you want toast you have to go back to the front and your eggs get cold waiting for the toast. A simple pasta one afternoon to a trip to 3 different stations to get pasta - bread and then butter for the bread. We do enjoy the buffet for breakfast and lunch but this definitely left a sour taste in our mouths and it would seriously affect our decision to sail Celebrity again if this goes fleet wise.

The food in the main dining room was much better. We were at a table for 8 at the very back of the dining room but our food was served piping hot despite the distance from the kitchen. When we boarded we were assigned to my time dining at 8:30 so we were particularly pleased when the next day we received a notice in our cabin that our request for early seating had been arranged.

We did eat in the Normandie Restaurant one night and it was very nice but we had such lovely tablemates we decided to cancel our other specialty reservations.

Since we went simply to relax, we didn't get to many shows. The production shows were the same ones we saw last year and the guest entertainers were not to our liking. We went to one show and left early.

The staff was wonderful - very attentive and helpful. I really enjoy that on Celebrity the Senior Officers are out and about every evening talking and visiting with the passengers. Our Captain announced every morning what time he would be in the coffee area if you wanted to stop by for a visit and the Captain and his officers were seen in line at the buffet, carrying their trays and bussing their tables.

As for Bermuda, this is our favorite port of all and having 3 days there is just wonderful. We have done all the "touristy" things so we just go to the beach, ride the ferry and enjoy this lovely Island and their friendly helpful people. We got off the ship every night after dinner and just walked around and had a great time.

We met in the Normandie Restaurant to disembark and were called off the ship exactly at 8:15 which was the time listed on the compass.

All in all other than the Oceanview Buffet this was a great cruise and we enjoyed it.

Any questions, just ask.




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Thanks Keith & Rita. As far as I'm concerned it was a disaster. They claim it is to avoid spreading germs and to cut down on food waste. Jim & I always eat everything we take from the buffet but threw away more food than we ate. We did have a piece of veal piccata that neither one of us could cut.

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Marylou, gotta say that the last minute decisions to cruise are the best decisions. Congrats for being able to take advantage.

I cannot believe that this is Celebrity's way of dealing with the buffet. It sounds like a backwards system that takes more work - each plate being plated. I would not have been able to eat at the buffet because of all of my food allergies. Let's hope that the evaluations are poor and that this new idea does not catch on.

Hear ya loud and clear on the "let's relax" idea. Jerry and I really look forward to our at sea days. We haven't been to Bermuda. Guess we need to add that to our bucket list as well.

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Marylou, gotta say that the last minute decisions to cruise are the best decisions. Congrats for being able to take advantage.

I cannot believe that this is Celebrity's way of dealing with the buffet. It sounds like a backwards system that takes more work - each plate being plated. I would not have been able to eat at the buffet because of all of my food allergies. Let's hope that the evaluations are poor and that this new idea does not catch on.

Hear ya loud and clear on the "let's relax" idea. Jerry and I really look forward to our at sea days. We haven't been to Bermuda. Guess we need to add that to our bucket list as well.

I brought the allery aspect up to the hotel director and the loyalty hostess as our grandson has Celiac. They said we would just have to ask for different meals. I agree it is a lot more work for the staff

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Marylou, thanks for sharing your cruise experience. I hope this new buffet dining configuration won't fly for long - it sounds awful, and I imagine there will be a lot of complaints. The buffet setup on Reflection was excellent, with large plates and many stations. I wonder if they're planning on trying this new buffet thing on the Solstice class ships. Hope not.

I love Bermuda, too. We spent our honeymoon there 37 years ago at Elbow Beach, and on our 20th anniversary we returned, that time to Grotto Bay. We did Boston to Bermuda in 2008 on the old Norwegian Dream when it docked in St. George. I much prefer St. George over the new more touristy Dockyard. That was the most relaxing cruise ever, with 3 days in port and no rush to get anywhere.

Glad you had a great time!

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Jan - We also spent out honeymoon at Elbow beach nearly 48 years ago and that's where our love affair with Bermuda began.

From what we heard on board the Summit it a "pilot" ship to gauge reaction to the new buffet. I did send a letter to Celebrity afterwards telling them how much we disliked the new set up and just yesterday received a phone call from Corporate telling me they are compiling reaction to the new set up and have forwarded our letter both to corporate and the ship. At least they read their mail.

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That's good to know that they read their email. I just sent a letter blasting their "on your own" tour of Istanbul. It was hardly "on your own" but instead a shopping trip to the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar, with a Turkish carpet pitch thrown in for good measure.

Maybe they'll bless me with some onboard credit. :smile:

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The buffet thing sounds like a prison system. No choices??? Terrible. I am glad the rest of the cruise was pleasant. The Breakaway has a nice cruise to Bermuda and we would like to try that ship someday .

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We are not real big fans of buffets anyway. We usually do breakfast there but that is all. No matter what cruise line we are on they never seem to get the flow of people right. The Celebrity 'test' sounds just awful. Hopefully they will discontinue before it goes fleetwide. Glad you enjoyed the rest of your trip. Bermuda is a beautiful island. We may have to cruise there. We sail out of Baltimore since we live closeby.

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Thanks for the great review, Mary Lou. So glad you had a good time, excepting for the "buffet testing." I sure hope that they don't keep this "new way" of buffet, or bring it to the other lines. Celebrity, in the past, has been well known for their food experiences, and that is a big part of why we like them. I am hoping to book with them this winter, but if they keep this new "buffet way" I may have to look into another line.

We always eat dinner in the regular, or special dining, areas, but we eat breakfast and lunch at the buffets.

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