Celebrity Summit

Celebrity Summit is the second of the four Millennium class ships, built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique and delivered in 2001: about 90,940 gross tons, 2,218 guests and 936 crew. The design decision that has defined her is propulsion, gas turbines feeding Rolls-Royce Mermaid azimuthing pods, elegant in theory and troublesome in practice. Her record carries the consequences, with propulsion and electrical faults cancelling or shortening voyages repeatedly from 2002 onward, including an unscheduled March 2017 drydock that cost two sailings. A 31 day Celebrity Revolution refit at Freeport from February 2019 rebuilt nearly every public room and added 30 cabins. As of August 2026 she is in Alaska, working between Vancouver and Seward, with a Panama Canal repositioning to Tampa for the winter Caribbean season, a long way from her old Bermuda runs out of Cape Liberty.

What she does well is dining and calm. The Cosmopolitan Restaurant, lightened in 2019 from its old dark wood and maroon, remains the anchor, with Blu for AquaClass, Luminae for suites, and Tuscan Grille aft on deck three. Qsine hosts Le Petit Chef, and Sushi on Five, Cafe al Bacio, the Martini Bar and the aft Sunset Bar are all sound. The Oceanview Cafe compares well with far newer ships, and the Persian Garden thermal suite, the Solarium and the deck twelve Rooftop Terrace give the adult spaces real weight.

The criticism is fair and mostly about age. She is twenty five years old and it shows outdoors: published reviews describe the pool deck as closed off and dated even after 2019, the Solarium as less than rejuvenating, and the nightlife as subdued. There are no slides, no rock wall, little sports space. Cruise Critic's editors score her 4.0 out of 5, very good, while singling out dated production shows and thin entertainment.

She suits couples and solo travellers who want ports, food and quiet, and who accept that Celebrity is a premium line priced above Royal Caribbean, adult leaning by design, with fewer children aboard and lighter family programming. She does not suit anyone wanting a resort at sea, a busy evening scene, or the lowest fare.

Cabin choice matters more here than on newer ships. Balconies are conventional, decks six to nine, no hump, no infinite verandas, and the aft facing verandas are the ones worth chasing. Deck ten carries the pools, the Oceanview Cafe, the Pool Grill and the spa, which puts deck nine cabins directly beneath scraped loungers at dawn and buffet trolleys late. Deck ten's own forward starboard verandas sit beside that complex rather than under it, quieter but a walk from the theatre. Aft cabins on deck eleven sit below the Sports Deck and Rooftop Terrace. Our per cabin quiet and convenience scores are not yet published for this ship, so treat the above as general guidance.

Read the deck plan before you book: on Summit, what sits above a cabin tells you more than its square footage.