MikeyA53

We had Select Dining and ate at the Silhouette restaurant 3 nights. The food was also very good, definitely better than Seaside and slightly better than Princess for both the buffet and restaurant.

 

 

Silhouette Dining Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first Chic Dinner 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our second Chic Dinner

 

Tonight menu

 

 

 

Scallops Rockefeller

 

 

 

 

Double Baked Blue Cheese Soufflé

 

 

 

Slow Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef Wellington

 

 

 

Tracy’s two desserts 

 

 

 

 

My two desserts 

 

Celebrity Equinox

The buffet was very good overall with lots of different items to choose from each day. I believe they had a different theme each day such as British, Mexican, American, etc. They even had an ice cream station with a nice variety of gourmet ice cream flavours. One complaint I had was the difficulty of finding a table some of the times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar service

 

 

 

Desserts on last sea day 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox

The buffet was very good overall with lots of different items to choose from each day. I believe they had a different theme each day such as British, Mexican, American, etc. They even had an ice cream station with a nice variety of gourmet ice cream flavours. One complaint I had was the difficulty of finding a table some of the times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar service

 

 

 

Desserts on last sea day 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox

The buffet was very good overall with lots of different items to choose from each day. I believe they had a different theme each day such as British, Mexican, American, etc. They even had an ice cream station with a nice variety of gourmet ice cream flavours. One complaint I had was the difficulty of finding a table some of the times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar service

 

 

 

Desserts on last sea day 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

Which cruiseline had the best creme brulee?

 

As you can probably tell I love crème brulee, I really don't know which cruise line has the best. Most of the ones I've tried are really good.

54 minutes ago, BettyPC said:

OMG!!!  So excited to see this as I was cruising the Celebrity board!

Betty

 

Thanks Betty

8 hours ago, sailco said:

Loving your comparitive review. Thank you.

 

 

Thank you

5 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Thanks for sharing great review & photos. I know a Mountie always catches his man. It looks like you caught the girl to. 

Tony

 

 

 

I sure did, she was in the musical ride for two years touring Canada, the US and the Britain.

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, philamyc said:

Great and helpful review. Following.

 

 

Thank you

Teppanyaki 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were engaged in a conversation with people we met at our meal and I forgot to take photos of our meal.

 

 

One other dining venue we tried was Venchi Cioccogelateria-Coffee Bar which had specialty coffees, chocolates and ice cream. The ice cream sundaes where smaller and more expensive than on Princess. I think I paid between $6 and $7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teppanyaki 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were engaged in a conversation with people we met at our meal and I forgot to take photos of our meal.

 

 

One other dining venue we tried was Venchi Cioccogelateria-Coffee Bar which had specialty coffees, chocolates and ice cream. The ice cream sundaes where smaller and more expensive than on Princess. I think I paid between $6 and $7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teppanyaki 

 

 

 

 

We were engaged in a conversation with people we met at our meal and I forgot to take photos of our meal.

 

 

 

One other dining venue we tried was Venchi Cioccogelateria-Coffee Bar which had specialty coffees, chocolates and ice cream. The ice cream sundaes where smaller and more expensive than on Princess. I think I paid between $6 and $7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

Did you try doing the status match on MSC before you left? If you have any sort of status on another cruise line, you might have been able to get it matched at MSC and gotten a free meal in a specialty dining restaurant, and not have to deal with the limited menu (although I think I did have to pay extra for something that I ordered).

 

BTW in the MDR, did you have fixed dining or anytime? I'm guessing it was fixed since I think anytime is only offered to people who book the Aurea package.

 

 

 

Yes I got a status match to Gold which does include a specialty meal and you are right,  even with a free meal you are limited to the smaller menu. In addition you are also right about only Aurea package includes anytime dining. We had the fantastica package.

Ocean Cay 

 

 

 

Our meal at Ocean Cay 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian Market 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Asian Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar amongst the restaurants

 

 

Ocean Cay 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Ocean Cay 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian Market 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Asian Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar amongst the restaurants

 

 

 

Ocean Cay 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Ocean Cay 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian Market 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Asian Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar amongst the restaurants

 

3 hours ago, MaryBethV said:

This is the best comparison review I've read. Thank you for all the great info!

 

 

Thank you

We had pre-purchased the Trio Specialty Dining plan for $89 per person. The three restaurants included in this plan were Ocean Cay, Asian Market and Butcher’s Cut. The price onboard for the Trio package was higher than the pre-purchase cost. They had a fourth specialty restaurant called Teppanyaki which could only be booked onboard. If you booked Teppanyaki you had three different choices of a 3 course meal to pick from and if I remember correctly, the cost of a three course meal ranged between $30 and $60 per person.

The trio package purchased before or during the cruise had a smaller menu of items to pick from. I found the choices were not much better than what you can get in the regular dining room. If you did not like the choices offered on this smaller menu you could trade your appetizer, entrée or dessert for an a la carte choice on a larger menu for half its price. The prices seemed inflated on this menu. I ended up choosing a dry-aged porterhouse 22oz steak which was $50 and got it for half price. It was very good but I ended up paying a total of $30 for the package plus $25 for the steak for a total of $55. On Princess everything is included in the menu except the surf and turf which I paid an extra $10 for a lobster tail.

 

 

I also made a change at the Asian Market restaurant that cost me an additional $21.85. Then at Ocean Cay I made the mistake of ordering a second appetizer thinking I would pay half price for it but since it was not an exchange but rather a second appetizer I paid the full $16 for an appetizer not worth more than $12 in most land base restaurants. In addition with the dining plan you can only have one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert. On Princess and Celebrity you can have several appetizers and desserts. All the food was very good but I don’t like how they had this two menu system.

All 4 restaurants are conveniently located together on deck 16.

 

Butcher’s Cut

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Butcher’s cut  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had pre-purchased the Trio Specialty Dining plan for $89 per person. The three restaurants included in this plan were Ocean Cay, Asian Market and Butcher’s Cut. The price onboard for the Trio package was higher than the pre-purchase cost. They had a fourth specialty restaurant called Teppanyaki which could only be booked onboard. If you booked Teppanyaki you had three different choices of a 3 course meal to pick from and if I remember correctly, the cost of a three course meal ranged between $30 and $60 per person.

The trio package purchased before or during the cruise had a smaller menu of items to pick from. I found the choices were not much better than what you can get in the regular dining room. If you did not like the choices offered on this smaller menu you could trade your appetizer, entrée or dessert for an a la carte choice on a larger menu for half its price. The prices seemed inflated on this menu. I ended up choosing a dry-aged porterhouse 22oz steak which was $50 and got it for half price. It was very good but I ended up paying a total of $30 for the package plus $25 for the steak for a total of $55. On Princess everything is included in the menu except the surf and turf which I paid an extra $10 for a lobster tail.

I also made a change at the Asian Market restaurant that cost me an additional $21.85. Then at Ocean Cay I made the mistake of ordering a second appetizer thinking I would pay half price for it but since it was not an exchange but rather a second appetizer I paid the full $16 for an appetizer not worth more than $12 in most land base restaurants. In addition with the dining plan you can only have one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert. On Princess and Celebrity you can have several appetizers and desserts. All the food was very good but I don’t like how they had this two menu system.

All 4 restaurants are conveniently located together on deck 16.

 

Butcher’s Cut

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Butcher’s cut  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had pre-purchased the Trio Specialty Dining plan for $89 per person. The three restaurants included in this plan were Ocean Cay, Asian Market and Butcher’s Cut. The price onboard for the Trio package was higher than the pre-purchase cost. They had a fourth specialty restaurant called Teppanyaki which could only be booked onboard. If you booked Teppanyaki you had three different choices of a 3 course meal to pick from and if I remember correctly, the cost of a three course meal ranged between $30 and $60 per person.

The trio package purchased before or during the cruise had a smaller menu of items to pick from. I found the choices were not much better than what you can get in the regular dining room. If you did not like the choices offered on this smaller menu you could trade your appetizer, entrée or dessert for an a la carte choice on a larger menu for half its price. The prices seemed inflated on this menu. I ended up choosing a dry-aged porterhouse 22oz steak which was $50 and got it for half price. It was very good but I ended up paying a total of $30 for the package plus $25 for the steak for a total of $55. On Princess everything is included in the menu except the surf and turf which I paid an extra $10 for a lobster tail.

I also made a change at the Asian Market restaurant that cost me an additional $21.85. Then at Ocean Cay I made the mistake of ordering a second appetizer thinking I would pay half price for it but since it was not an exchange but rather a second appetizer I paid the full $16 for an appetizer not worth more than $12 in most land base restaurants. In addition with the dining plan you can only have one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert. On Princess and Celebrity you can have several appetizers and desserts. All the food was very good but I don’t like how they had this two menu system.

All 4 restaurants are conveniently located together on deck 16.

 

Butcher’s Cut

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Butcher’s cut  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, mafig said:

Question about the Anytime Dining on Princess.  One of reasons we stopped cruising with them is that we prefer a table for two.  On all of our Princess cruises we would ask for a table for two and were constantly asked "don't you want to share?"  A couple of times even after we said "no" they still brought us to a large table.  Also, the Traditional diners were allowed to go back and forth and by the end of the cruise the traditional dining room was empty and there was a long line for Anytime.

 

Loving your review.  One of the best I've read in a while.

 

Thank you, we had Anytime dining and had the same table for 2 for all our three meals. I don't know if it made a difference that we usually arrived within 5 to 20 minutes after the restaurant's opened.

 

 

17 minutes ago, micheleata said:

Loving this review!   

 

 

Thank you.

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 3:35 PM, AF-1 said:

Wow your pictures our great.  Thank you for taking the time to post this review.  Each ship has its own little niche. I don't know if I would sail Celebrity. To boring.  I just switched to Princess last year.  Again,  thanks for sharing your great review

 

Glad you like it. 😄

1 hour ago, mexico8 said:

What a great trip report.   Love all the pictures of the ships and food.   Thanks so much for taking the time to do it.  We have been on the Poesia one time and taking a second MSC cruise on the Armonia at the end of April.   Our Poesia food was not nearly as good as your food on MSC Seaside.

 

1 hour ago, mexico8 said:

BTW - we are neighbours of yours - we live in Gatineau.

 

 

Thanks neighbor.

We ate in the dining room twice, the food was good. The portions were a bit smaller than on Princess and Celebrity so big eaters like us had to order multiple dishes. When Tracy ordered a glass of wine on our drink plan they brought the bottle and kept it near our table. The waiter kept re-filling her glass throughout the meal.

 

Ipanema Restaurant 

 

 

 

 

Our first meal, forgot the entrees

 

 

 

 

Our second meal, Thanksgiving dinner