Bermuda on the Summit

By cruisetarp

• September 30, 2012

We had a good cruise to Bermuda. The cruise wasn't great like our Silhouette cruise in March and I can't quite put my finger on what was missing, Service was excellent but many of the crew just did not seem happy. They always had a hello and a smile but seemed to be "all business" with little time to chat and get to know the guests. On our last cruise the Senior Officers were out and about every evening - chatting with the passengers and making everyone seem welcome. Not so on this cruise. They barely stayed around at the Elite Cocktail party.

Despite the fact that Hurricane Kirk was working it's way up the Atlantic as we headed down, the seas were extremely calm. It was one of our smoothest Bermuda sailings.

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at the terminal at 11:10 and were having lunch at the buffet at 11:35. We entered the terminal and were given ticket #2 for the shuttle to the ship. No line at all and we were still being checking in when they called for those with #2 tickets so we went directly on to the shuttle for the quick ride to the ship. A glass of Champagne welcomed us on board.

The buffet was good - again not great. It is IMHO very poorly laid out and difficult to navigate. The food never seemed hot - and was served by the staff.

We did eat breakfast each day there and occasionally had lunch as well. All of our dinners were served in the dining room.

We had a Concierge class room (8112) just 3 doors down from the center elevators. No noises at all from them. The cabin was good - they had all recently been refurbished but for some reason all the cabins were done and none of the bathrooms were. They could use a good sprucing up. Rusty drains and dingy grout were very present although we did not have mold in the shower as some of our friends did. Our cabin attendant Noel came around to introduce himself and our request for a new shower curtain was promptly filled.

Four o'clock came and went and we were still tied fast to the dock. It seems a surprise Coast Guard inspection that day required that they take down and inflate 6 of the life rafts (the ones kept in those big drums) Capt. said we would sail at 5 - then at 6:30. Shortly after 9:15 we were finally ready to leave. Captain said it would not affect our arrival in Bermuda and we were right.

We had early seating for dinner and arrived at our assigned table to see that it was already full. The Maitre'd had us wait about 15 minutes and finally seated us at another table with 8 other people. As we began to chat it seems every one of us had the same problem. Somebody goofed on that one. We enjoyed our dinner companions so when dinner was over we ask the Matre'd if we could all stay together at the table we were at and was told "that is not possible" Never did figure that one out. We were assured we would have new table assignments the next morning in our cabin. That didn't happen either. When we finally went back tot he DR 2 night later we had to hunt down the Maitre'd to find out what table we were seated at. The DR food was good for the most part and our waiter was attentive and helpful.

We fell in love with the Thalassotherapy pool in the solarium and spent our whole trip to Bermuda and back in there. So relaxing and comfortable. Never a problem finding a lounge chair and very peaceful and quiet.

We arrived in Bermuda on time as promised and spent 1/2 day Tuesday walking around the Dockyard. On Wednesday we spent the whole day in St. George visiting friends and on Thursday we stayed on the ship as we were sailing at noon. Hurricane Leslie was heading for Bermuda and despite all of the beaches being closed due to undertows, we had an extremely smooth ride home.

We ate in Normandie on Formal night to celebrate our anniversary. Well worth the $40 pp charge. Food and service was exceptional.

We only saw one show and the sound in the theatre seemed exceptionally loud to us.

The casino is full of penny and nickle machines. There were only about 6 quarter machines and no dollar ones. The casino was never crowded. Believe it or not I did not spend a single cent there.

Debarkation was also a breeze. We were to go to the Elite lounge at 8:30 but got there early and were called off the ship at 8:10. Grabbed a porter for our luggage, waited maybe 5 minutes to clean customs and were in our car on the way home by 8:45.

All in all we had a very good cruise. Would I sail the Summit to Bermuda again - Yes, if the price was right and we went with lower expectations.

Any questions, just ask