Celebrity Food

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Been a lot of posts on food lately! as it is good to know what's good and what's not. Wondered what it was like on Celebrity cruises especially Solstice "bring it on!" good or bad I can take it.:)

[gek]

It's all good.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Thanks Gek. Which restaurant did you feel was the best?.

[Sutho]

I have been on Celebrity Solstice and thought it was outstanding. I have never complained about cruise ship food yet. The buffet is very similar to all lines I have been on. Same with the deck grills. I think Princess do much better pizzas than any line I have been on. With Celebrity the alternative restaurants had the best food. I tried Murano, Tuscan Grille and Bistro on Five. They are all cooked to order. In Murano the lobster is cooked right at your table and is sprinkled with the condiments you like best. Main Dining is much the same as other cruise lines. I found their vegetables better cooked. I am fussy with vegetable sides and only ever eat cauliflower, broccoli and limited others. You might find buffet and deck grill chips on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are stringy and fatty close to the type you would get at McDonalds - shoe string type chips, where as other lines they are I think 10mm type chips. (For those who do not know I have delivered bulk boxes of chips to restaurants etc and they come in shoestring, 10mm, 13mm, chunky steakfries and wedges. There are many varieties).

 

I personally thought the food on Solstice was as good as they advertised. It certainly was not worst than any other line I have been on. They all have their differences. I honestly could not fault Celebrity Solstice food in any way at all.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

I have been on Celebrity Solstice and thought it was outstanding. I have never complained about cruise ship food yet. The buffet is very similar to all lines I have been on. Same with the deck grills. I think Princess do much better pizzas than any line I have been on. With Celebrity the alternative restaurants had the best food. I tried Murano, Tuscan Grille and Bistro on Five. They are all cooked to order. In Murano the lobster is cooked right at your table and is sprinkled with the condiments you like best. Main Dining is much the same as other cruise lines. I found their vegetables better cooked. I am fussy with vegetable sides and only ever eat cauliflower, broccoli and limited others. You might find buffet and deck grill chips on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are stringy and fatty close to the type you would get at McDonalds - shoe string type chips, where as other lines they are I think 10mm type chips. (For those who do not know I have delivered bulk boxes of chips to restaurants etc and they come in shoestring, 10mm, 13mm, chunky steakfries and wedges. There are many varieties).

 

I personally thought the food on Solstice was as good as they advertised. It certainly was not worst than any other line I have been on. They all have their differences. I honestly could not fault Celebrity Solstice food in any way at all.

Thanks Sutho, sounds pretty good. We are looking forward to it in January. I get what you mean about picking just what you like to eat, my daughter will eat pizza in any condition but I'm a bit more selective myself. Thanks for your opinion we appreciate your comments.

[Brisbanelionsfan]

We sailed on Celebrity Solstice in November last year and the food was excellent, even tried the buffet a few times and were pleasantly surprised.

 

Cheers

[MicCanberra]

Food on the Solstice is outstanding. The main chef is an aussie (was in March anyway) and I found that the menu in the MDR was great with something for everyone. The quality and quantity of food was fantastic as well. Outstanding service in the MDR. The grill selction was alittle disappointing but quality was good. Buffet was good but only went for several breakfasts and lunches. Room service was great, food delivered hot. I didn't try any specialty restuarants so cannot comment.

Overall wonderful, 5 star.:D

[Aussieflyer]

We found Blu excellent and like Sutho enjoyed Murano (agree about the lobster), Tuscan Grill (truffled parmesan chips are a treat) and Bistro on Five. We were not overly impressed with the Asian fusion restaurant but nothing was inedible, just not as good as we expected. We had a few snacks/lunches in the buffet and it was OK.

There was very little to complain about with the Solstice food but I have found that to be generally the case with Celebrity.

[The_Big_M]

Just off my latest Celebrity cruise and the food was a real disappointment. They've changed menus a couple of times and it depends what you're after now.

 

By that, it used to be much more creative but now that's been pared back , and standardised and made much more basic.

 

Not sure if you have other cruises to compare to. If it's your first cruise, probably still an experience, but if you're comparing to other lines, it's more midrange with pros and cons. Was even disappointed with the buffet, which has also been limited much more in its offerings and times, and also had shortages.

 

As one example, I eat cereal for breakfast, but they just had a couple of containers of rice bubbles and corn flakes on a few days. Some days you were lucky to get raisin bran and granola as extras. Compare that to the old days and other lines where you can get other mueslis and varieties of cereal. Cost cutting in evidence...

[The_Big_M]

Also, regarding pizza, Celebrity do offer it as an inclusion, but it's something they have never done well. They're thick bases, with four choices, with one or two toppings each. E.g 1 is cheese, 1 is pepperoni, there's one other and then there's a daily special. Princess do pizzas way better.

[Aussieflyer]

Just off my latest Celebrity cruise and the food was a real disappointment. They've changed menus a couple of times and it depends what you're after now.

 

By that, it used to be much more creative but now that's been pared back , and standardised and made much more basic.......

Was even disappointed with the buffet, which has also been limited much more in its offerings and times, and also had shortages.

 

As one example, I eat cereal for breakfast, but they just had a couple of containers of rice bubbles and corn flakes on a few days. Some days you were lucky to get raisin bran and granola as extras. Compare that to the old days and other lines where you can get other mueslis and varieties of cereal. Cost cutting in evidence...

 

That's a real shame as we always found the standard of food to be a strong point for X. I have always seen a choice of cereal (well from memory I have) so to be dropping to such a poor selection is worrying.

 

I wonder if they had a problem with provisioning and did not load enough, leading to shortages and lack of choice.

[icat2000]

I didn't find the food on Celebrity to be any worse than what was served on Princess. I sailed both Princess and Celebrity in April (Equinox and Ruby). At times the food was better than Princess. Though, Celebrity seems to have problems with their deserts. But go to that cafe on the 5th floor on Celebrity and the cakes are delicious. Must better than whatever Princess serves up in the International Cafe.

 

I hated celebrity for their coffee. Not because it wasn't good. Its because they charge you and arm and leg for it and no coffee card.

[bazzaw]

Have I misread -- but does Celebrity Solstice have more "optional extra" restaurants than normal?? What are they - and what are their cuisines?

 

For example - Voyager of the Seas has only one addon restaurant (although it has other venues like Johnny Rockets and the Cafe Promenade, I won't call them restaurants as such .) The P&O ships we have been on generally have two optional extras eg Arcadia has Marco Pierre White and The Orchid. Even the Cunard ships have only one real addon restaurant.

 

Barry

[The_Big_M]

Hard to say what's 'normal' nowadays as there are so many options. However, Solstice has 4 surcharged restaurants:

1) Murano. Celebrity have always had a 'fine dining' style speciality restaurant, and this is the one on Solstice. Recommended if you want to treat yourself. Like MDR but better. Currently $45/head/extra plus tips/drinks.

2) Tuscan Grille. Steakhouse style meals. This and the remaining ones were introduced as extra surcharge restaurants on Solstice class ships. $35/head.

3) Silk Harvest. Asian meals. $30/head.

4) Bi$tro for $5 (aka Bistro on Five ;-) ). Creperie. $5/head.

[MicCanberra]

Have I misread -- but does Celebrity Solstice have more "optional extra" restaurants than normal?? What are they - and what are their cuisines?

 

For example - Voyager of the Seas has only one addon restaurant (although it has other venues like Johnny Rockets and the Cafe Promenade, I won't call them restaurants as such .) The P&O ships we have been on generally have two optional extras eg Arcadia has Marco Pierre White and The Orchid. Even the Cunard ships have only one real addon restaurant.

 

Barry

Solstice has plenty of specialty eateries, there is the Tuscan Grill, Murano's, Silk Harvest, and Bistro on five. All attract a fee for eating there. For free food, the MDR, buffet, Al Baccio cafe and the pool grill (also Blu for suite guests) and of course room service. The is also an Aqua spa cafe but do not know about this option.:D

[Aus Traveller]

Solstice has plenty of specialty eateries, there is the Tuscan Grill, Murano's, Silk Harvest, and Bistro on five. All attract a fee for eating there. For free food, the MDR, buffet, Al Baccio cafe and the pool grill (also Blu for suite guests) and of course room service. The is also an Aqua spa cafe but do not know about this option.:D

The Aqua Spa cafe has 'healthy eating' options and is quite good for a quick lunch. The food is prepared to order and it is much much faster service than the MDR. There is no extra fee in the Aqua Spa cafe.

[The_Big_M]

(also Blu for suite guests)

 

Blu is for Aquaclass rather than suite guests (although suite passengers can pay to get in, subject to availability).

[The_Big_M]

The Aqua Spa cafe has 'healthy eating' options and is quite good for a quick lunch. The food is prepared to order and it is much much faster service than the MDR. There is no extra fee in the Aqua Spa cafe.

 

One issue with Aqua spa café is its very limited hours. Useful if you're in the area though.

[The_Big_M]

I wonder if they had a problem with provisioning and did not load enough, leading to shortages and lack of choice.

 

We did run out of yoghurt a few days in, but resupplied at Stockholm. However, the cereal situation was constant throughout the cruise, so didn't seem to be a supply issue.

[bazzaw]

Hard to say what's 'normal' nowadays as there are so many options. However, Solstice has 4 surcharged restaurants:

1) Murano. Celebrity have always had a 'fine dining' style speciality restaurant, and this is the one on Solstice. Recommended if you want to treat yourself. Like MDR but better. Currently $45/head/extra plus tips/drinks.

2) Tuscan Grille. Steakhouse style meals. This and the remaining ones were introduced as extra surcharge restaurants on Solstice class ships. $35/head.

3) Silk Harvest. Asian meals. $30/head.

4) Bi$tro for $5 (aka Bistro on Five ;-) ). Creperie. $5/head.

 

Hmmm -- those extra charges are a little more than I am accustomed to paying on P&O UK, Cunard and RCL. I think we have only ever paid a max of $30 extra for any addon restaurant. I think VOS Portofino was only $25 USD??? - and I was very impressed with that.

 

Still - as I keep on saying - they aren't compulsory so can't complain !! :)

 

Barry

[Sutho]

With all the on board credit Celebrity gives you there is no option but to try them. I pre-paid gratuities and did not do any shore excursions and found I had $200 credit to spend. It all went on alternative restaurants, extra tips and gift shop. Considering I had already paid for the drinks package it was hard to find anything to spend money on. They also have the gelato/sorbet icecream store on deck five as well.

 

Its hard to compare food between the lines. On Celebrity I could have fresh orange juice each morning thanks to the drinks package. On Princess they do not have a package like Celebrity. One thing Princess does do is flood the buffet restaurant with staff. Celebrity does not do this. You were hard pressed to find a staff member and often had to go to the bar to collect your drinks yourself. The other benefit about Celebrity is that they have their juice dispensers running all day long.

[MicCanberra]

The Aqua Spa cafe has 'healthy eating' options and is quite good for a quick lunch. The food is prepared to order and it is much much faster service than the MDR. There is no extra fee in the Aqua Spa cafe.

 

Blu is for Aquaclass rather than suite guests (although suite passengers can pay to get in, subject to availability).

Thanks, having not utilised either place, I was not sure. :D

[MicCanberra]

With all the on board credit Celebrity gives you there is no option but to try them. I pre-paid gratuities and did not do any shore excursions and found I had $200 credit to spend. It all went on alternative restaurants, extra tips and gift shop. Considering I had already paid for the drinks package it was hard to find anything to spend money on. They also have the gelato/sorbet icecream store on deck five as well.

 

Its hard to compare food between the lines. On Celebrity I could have fresh orange juice each morning thanks to the drinks package. On Princess they do not have a package like Celebrity. One thing Princess does do is flood the buffet restaurant with staff. Celebrity does not do this. You were hard pressed to find a staff member and often had to go to the bar to collect your drinks yourself. The other benefit about Celebrity is that they have their juice dispensers running all day long.

I can't believe I forgot the gelato, costs extra, but is delish.:D

[Brisbanelionsfan]

The Aqua Spa café was my favorite for lunch, small serves of fresh healthy food (you can go back as many times as you like) and very convenient if you are in the covered pool area.

[NSWP]

With all the on board credit Celebrity gives you there is no option but to try them. I pre-paid gratuities and did not do any shore excursions and found I had $200 credit to spend. It all went on alternative restaurants, extra tips and gift shop. Considering I had already paid for the drinks package it was hard to find anything to spend money on. They also have the gelato/sorbet icecream store on deck five as well.

 

Its hard to compare food between the lines. On Celebrity I could have fresh orange juice each morning thanks to the drinks package. On Princess they do not have a package like Celebrity. One thing Princess does do is flood the buffet restaurant with staff. Celebrity does not do this. You were hard pressed to find a staff member and often had to go to the bar to collect your drinks yourself. The other benefit about Celebrity is that they have their juice dispensers running all day long.

All the Celebrity On Board Credit? Where do you get that from? Sutho, I was on the same Solstice cruise as you in March and got no OBC. !!!!