Mini Review of Top Deck Burger Bar on Constellation

[hubofhockey]

The thing is Kobe beef actually makes for a poor choice for burgers. Ideally burgers have about a 20% fat content; too little fat makes the burger dry and prone to falling apart. Too much fat and the burger becomes too greasy and can make the bun a mushy mess. Kobe beef is well over 20% fat.

 

While Celebrity might be using good quality beef, because they are engaging in false advertising I am highly skeptical. If they were using USDA dry aged prime (or even choice) that could make for an excellent burger (depending on the storage, cuts used, temperature, quality of bun and other ingredients etc.). I would think they would proudly state on the menu if they were using USDA dry aged prime. $10 is an excellent price for 8oz of beef of that grade. That they are lying and calling it Kobe beef makes me think the beef is not all that high quality. Either that or whoever came up with the name they are using on the menu is comepletely clueless.

 

You are absolutely correct. USDA Prime with 80/20 is the basics for a great burger. They are just "using" the term Kobe gratuitously. The junk they give away at typical pool grills are probably standard and not even choice.

[davekathy]

You are absolutely correct. USDA Prime with 80/20 is the basics for a great burger. They are just "using" the term Kobe gratuitously. The junk they give away at typical pool grills are probably standard and not even choice.

 

And Celebrity isn't even giving them away anymore. :D

[hubofhockey]

And Celebrity isn't even giving them away anymore. :D

 

You can get them at Oceanview Cafe at no extra charge. I'm going to give Top Deck Burger a shot and see what it looks like. I'll post some photos here.

[davekathy]

You can get them at Oceanview Cafe at no extra charge. I'm going to give Top Deck Burger a shot and see what it looks like. I'll post some photos here.

 

Yea I know but my post was in reference to your post about the Top Deck Kobe Burger.

Edited July 5, 2017 by davekathy

[bigbenboys]

WE can only hope it was not targeted. I too agree Celebrity has to create value, but do they have to create value to a 'suite' guest at the expense of a non-suite guest by offering the product/service as 'included' in the suite fare/package AND then making the non suite passenger (those who know how it used to be at least) feel like a benefit has been taken away? I know of no reason to be creating more value other than they are charging a lot more money and either they feel the current product/service is lacking sufficient value or 'suite' guest are saying the value proposition is not worth the cost. My guess is the former as I understand that most suites sell out pretty fast.

 

I am all in favor of a fully segregated experience in theory, but know that when we had friends traveling with us that were new to Celebrity, we skipped the Captains Club in the evening. Not sure how that plays out now with Luminae, Michaels Club,et. al.. Maybe some with some experience can share their experiences.

We have been booking sky suites for little over a year now. It is a hit or miss with Michael's Club. We really enjoyed MC on Millie in Asia. We had all 4 perks and went to CC event only one evening. Friends we met in MC did not have the 4 perks. They would have drinks in MC before dinner and buy a glass of wine at dinner in Luminae. Last summer in Europe we were on Silly. We would go to MC during the day, but went to CC event every evening when the had it in Sky Lounge. We sat at the bar and order with our premium drink package. We met some very nice people. Our last cruise was on Solstice. I did not like MC much. We went to CC event in the evenings. As to MC.... The 2 MC I like best are on Reflection and Silly. They both have the wall of chilled drinks you can get yourself. Also you could make your own coffee or cappuccino from the Nespresso machine. Then the M class ships as you can use the Nespresso machine yourself and the room seemed bigger then on the S class ships. Last would be the MC's on the 1st 3 S class ships.

 

As to the TDBB. I'm not sure if the burger will be free when we book a Sky Suite or not. I have had the burger in Luminae at lunch, I did not think much of it. The one think I dont like about Luminae are the breakfast and lunch times. Breakfast is done by 9 or 9:30am and lunch is over at 1:30pm on sea days.

[TeeRick]

I'll make a contentious point (and then run away) :-)

As the top suites are often booked years in advance, and this burger innovation on constellation seems a relatively recent introduction, there is an argument that those in the suites haven't paid for this feature yet and when you stump up your $10 for your Burger you are in effect subsiding the cost so others can eat free. ;p

 

LOL! Wow that is a ridiculous stretch of the argument so I see why you would want to run away! I guess there can be no discussion on cruise critic these days, even about burgers, where the suite envy or suite conspiracy topic does not come up.

[Bo1953]

Not all all, only that they aren't going to "spend a lot of time hanging around the TDBB". With free access to all of the specialty restaurants, I wouldn't be eating a lot of fake Kobe burgers at a venue where there is reportedly little seating available.

 

"reportedly" and I know for fact that during busy times in OVC, when I want to eat there, there is a difficult time finding seating there too...

 

 

bon voyage

[shipshape sam]

"reportedly" and I know for fact that during busy times in OVC, when I want to eat there, there is a difficult time finding seating there too...

 

 

bon voyage

 

Especially embarkation lunch and morning of debarkation.

 

We have had to walk around a couple of minutes to find a space/table for 4. Many nice passengers see we are looking and let us know they are leaving.