EDGE MAIN DINING ROOMS

[hcat]

There is a thread on the Celeb page about  the Main Dining Rooms and probably one or two here...

Now that people have tried them  out, we can get some specific feedback.( like Vt's Specialty Restaurant thread)  so I am posting  here ( already posted on main Celeb thread)

 

Juat off the Dec 9-16 cruise, and we had Select Dining.  we made all our reservations online well in advance and had no issue.  We rotated through all 4 dining rooms, eating at 3 of them twice and the 4th one only once on the seven day cruise. Enjoyed the 4 separate dining rooms. 

 

We did speak with some people that had traditional that were assigned to one restaurant but wanted to try the others and It was difficult unless you wanted to eat very late.

 

I believe they used the restaurants on deck 3 for traditional, but select was in 

 

.  

 

If you have time,  more info would be much appreciated.

 

What is your opinion  of  each of the MDRs ? Did you fav a personal favorite?

 

Were you seated close to your res time?

 

How was the quality of food,  service?

 How long did  the meals take?

Was there a sommelier for wine service ,

Did you like the decor/ ambiance...was it quiet or  a loud din? Were tables sep enough,

Thanks a bunch!

[vtcruising]

I'm glad you started this - I was thinking of starting a thread about the MDR experience too - I want to know how things are working out. You did a better job of laying out the questions than I would have, so thanks!

 

I will let you know about our one experience with Cyprus. We were assigned there for traditional early seating for one of the Press and Trade cruises. We were escorted to a table for two (no wait), with another table for two next to us (similar to Blu). A young, hip couple was seated next to us a few minutes later and I thought that they would likely stick to themselves. I couldn't have been more wrong!

 

She turned out to be a free lance travel writer (I looked her up later since she gave me her card and she has had articles in many top travel magazines). We ended up having so much fun with them. They were very interested in my fascination with the Edge and my live thread on Cruise Critic and I was interested in their thoughts about the Edge. Her husband had a funny thought about the seating - two tables for two put fairly close together. He called it speed dating for cruise dining. You have an hour and a half to either hit it off or move on. We hit it off with our speed dating dinner and had a wonderful hour and a half!

 

We had such an enjoyable meal in a lovely place. I thought I would try something from the Cyprus Exclusives so had the Taverna Salad. It was soooo good. Tons of beautiful feta and assorted Greek olives and a nice olive oil dressing. We recently cruised to Greece and I fell in love with authentic Greek salads, so this was a treat. We had had a taste of the souvlaki at the Taste of the Edge food tasting earlier that day so didn't have that, even though it was excellent. I also had the Lobster Ravioli and the Rack of Lamb, both of which were excellent! I had the Greek whipped yogurt for dessert, which was a nice, light ending to the meal. The guys had the warm apple crumble, which they seemed to enjoy. We did have a sommelier who brought us nice wines.

 

We were impressed with the food, service and ambiance. It did not feel like an MDR. It felt elegant - it wasn't noisy, just vibrant. We look forward to trying the other MDRs in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Souvlaki samples from earlier in the day:

 

 

Whipped Greek Yogurt

 

 

Warm Apple Crumble

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by vtcruising

[hcat]

Thanks Vt for kicking this off...great review with photos! 

 

When I looked at the menus fir the MDRs, I thought Cyprus would be excellent! 

[cruisestitch]

I ate in all four last week.  The food in every one of them was very good to excellent.  Tuscan's decor is the brightest -- lots of black and white, with yellow sunflowers on the table.  The asiago cheese flan was delicious.  I don't recommend having it at the same meal as the carbonara -- two very rich dishes don't make for the best meal.  Have the carbonara another night.  They can make it without the poached egg on top, which is how I prefer it. 

 

In Cosmopolitan I had the Manhattan cut strip steak.  It was one of the excellent dishes I tasted.

 

I ate in Normandy twice and got a chance to taste all three of their starters and all were delicious.

 

I also at in Cyprus twice.  The Sanganaki may not come to the table flaming, as is traditional, but it was a huge hit.  Both times I had the souvlaki because after all that cheese I wanted something plain for an entree.

 

I had no trouble getting seated at my appointed time, and at sharing tables, which I prefer.

[vtcruising]

2 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

I ate in all four last week.  The food in every one of them was very good to excellent.  Tuscan's decor is the brightest -- lots of black and white, with yellow sunflowers on the table.  The asiago cheese flan was delicious.  I don't recommend having it at the same meal as the carbonara -- two very rich dishes don't make for the best meal.  Have the carbonara another night.  They can make it without the poached egg on top, which is how I prefer it. 

 

In Cosmopolitan I had the Manhattan cut strip steak.  It was one of the excellent dishes I tasted.

 

I ate in Normandy twice and got a chance to taste all three of their starters and all were delicious.

 

I also at in Cyprus twice.  The Sanganaki may not come to the table flaming, as is traditional, but it was a huge hit.  Both times I had the souvlaki because after all that cheese I wanted something plain for an entree.

 

I had no trouble getting seated at my appointed time, and at sharing tables, which I prefer.

Thanks, very helpful! 🙂

[deeva211]

If nothing suits your fancy at dinner.  Check out the kids menu.  I have a great 4 oz. filet mignon and mac and cheese!!  It was delicious!

[hcat]

4 minutes ago, deeva211 said:

If nothing suits your fancy at dinner.  Check out the kids menu.  I have a great 4 oz. filet mignon and mac and cheese!!  It was delicious!

Wow..that's a great idea..esp for good portion control!

[Lilikins]

Hi! Brand new here but I am very interested in this topic because I just booked a 2020 Mediterranean cruise on Apex for four adults. I love the idea of multiple MDRs but I’m still a bit confused about the seating times. We currently have an assigned time, but if I understand correctly that means we will be regulated to just one location. If we want to experience each of the dinning rooms is it better to change to select dinning? And if we do that, how long of a wait did you select diners typically experience? 

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Lilikins said:

Hi! Brand new here but I am very interested in this topic because I just booked a 2020 Mediterranean cruise on Apex for four adults. I love the idea of multiple MDRs but I’m still a bit confused about the seating times. We currently have an assigned time, but if I understand correctly that means we will be regulated to just one location. If we want to experience each of the dinning rooms is it better to change to select dinning? And if we do that, how long of a wait did you select diners typically experience? 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! If you want to experience them all for sure,  I would switch to Select now and book your dining times on your cruise planner. To switch to Select, you can call Celebrity or your travel agent, if booked by a travel agent.

 

They supposedly will let you try other restaurants if you have traditional, if available, but there have been some reports onboard that it is not always easy to do. Here is a thread that explains the MDRs (first page or so).

 

Good luck! 🙂

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2517351-the-many-choices-of-edge-dining-venues-how-do-we-choose/?tab=comments#comment-54227689

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by vtcruising

[Lilikins]

Thank you Vtcruising! I just changed to select dining 😊. All of the MDRs sound wonderful and I look forward to experiencing each one. My cruise isn’t until May 2020 and the ship isn’t even done being built but I’m so excited and my husband is sick of hearing me talk about it so I’m glad I found these forums. I’m obsessed with food and this diverse MDR experience is one of the many reasons why we will be going on Celebrity for the first time.

[dides]

We ate in Cosmopolitan (twice), Normandie and Tuscan. Had bookings at 6pm for the first 3 (was offered shared tables which we gladly accepted) and a 6:30pm for Tuscan (taken straight to a two top but no immediate neigbours). Seated at booking time for all visits.

 

My other half had French Onion Soup each time and the best ones were from Cosmopolitan. He also loved the Manhattan Cut NY Strip Steak from Cosmopolitan. The best dessert for me was the Carrot Cake from Cosmopolitan.

I liked the Asagio Cheese Flan appetizer from Tuscan but no other real standouts. In fact, I had the lobster tail from the signature selection and felt hungry afterwards!

 

[hcat]

13 minutes ago, Lilikins said:

Thank you Vtcruising! I just changed to select dining 😊. All of the MDRs sound wonderful and I look forward to experiencing each one. My cruise isn’t until May 2020 and the ship isn’t even done being built but I’m so excited and my husband is sick of hearing me talk about it so I’m glad I found these forums. I’m obsessed with food and this diverse MDR experience is one of the many reasons why we will be going on Celebrity for the first time.

 

Good first move...Vt  advised you quite corrrectly

Next move:  book your dining res as soon as you can for these MDRs,,,.and Specialty Dining too!( you can always cancel later on)

 

As  time passes keep checking your cruise planner  or go through the dining page on the Celebrity website.. We piccked our days and times as soon as possible to get the times we wanted and the variety,  Under the new system, this seems to be the best strategy,,,

 

Just curious if the restaurants on APEX will be the same  names and menus as on Edge,,,????

[vtcruising]

34 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

Good first move...Vt  advised you quite corrrectly

Next move:  book your dining res as soon as you can for these MDRs,,,.and Specialty Dining too!( you can always cancel later on)

 

As  time passes keep checking your cruise planner  or go through the dining page on the Celebrity website.. We piccked our days and times as soon as possible to get the times we wanted and the variety,  Under the new system, this seems to be the best strategy,,,

 

Just curious if the restaurants on APEX will be the same  names and menus as on Edge,,,????

They are the same on the X website deck plans, if we can trust those- if you scroll down, you will see the MDRs on decks 3&4:

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-apex

[vtcruising]

58 minutes ago, Lilikins said:

Thank you Vtcruising! I just changed to select dining 😊. All of the MDRs sound wonderful and I look forward to experiencing each one. My cruise isn’t until May 2020 and the ship isn’t even done being built but I’m so excited and my husband is sick of hearing me talk about it so I’m glad I found these forums. I’m obsessed with food and this diverse MDR experience is one of the many reasons why we will be going on Celebrity for the first time.

Glad you were able to change! The dining experience is an important part of cruising and it seems like this set up may be a winner. 🙂

[hcat]

2 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

They are the same on the X website deck plans, if we can trust those- if you scroll down, you will see the MDRs on decks 3&4:

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-apex

 

Thanks for the link... Interesting....

Much as we like BLU ( Jan)  I am almost more excited about the 4 MDR plan,,,( Nov)

[CanadianTourist]

Just curious how others feel.....are you more excited for the 4 different styles/decor OR for the 4 different menus?  (Can’t say both 🤓)

[Lilikins]

57 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

Good first move...Vt  advised you quite corrrectly

Next move:  book your dining res as soon as you can for these MDRs,,,.and Specialty Dining too!( you can always cancel later on)

 

As  time passes keep checking your cruise planner  or go through the dining page on the Celebrity website.. We piccked our days and times as soon as possible to get the times we wanted and the variety,  Under the new system, this seems to be the best strategy,,,

 

Just curious if the restaurants on APEX will be the same  names and menus as on Edge,,,????

It’s so early that it won’t even let me purchase drink packages let alone dining lol. I booked so early that when I wanted to transfer to Costco, celebrity didn’t even have apex listed as an option under their list of ships in the transfer form! But I will continue to check because I’m just so excited! From everything I’ve read Apex seems like it’s going to be very similar in design to Edge. Probably the only differences will be how things are implemented based on feedback (balcony furniture and eden entertainment perhaps?). The deck plan looks very similar to the edge which is why I’ve been following all things related to edge closely.

14 minutes ago, CanadianTourist said:

Just curious how others feel.....are you more excited for the 4 different styles/decor OR for the 4 different menus?  (Can’t say both 🤓)

Both actually! I’d say 60% menu 40% decor. All MDRs look stunning. I personally love the look of Blu the most so I’m bummed I won’t be eating there but I have many other wonderful options to choose from!

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, CanadianTourist said:

Just curious how others feel.....are you more excited for the 4 different styles/decor OR for the 4 different menus?  (Can’t say both 🤓)

I think for me it is the concept of 4 smaller MDRs, instead of the one big room. The smaller venues, with the decor taken up a notch, make them feel like specialty restaurants - a very elegant feel. The 6 extra items in each restaurant are just a bonus for me. 🙂

[Janet524]

We have booked traditional late seating.  Does anyone know which dining room is assigned for late seating?

[hcat]

19 hours ago, CanadianTourist said:

Just curious how others feel.....are you more excited for the 4 different styles/decor OR for the 4 different menus?  (Can’t say both 🤓)

 

We left MDR dining as soon as AQ class offered BLU. Visited  MDR only a few times for menus we enjoy,

 

Now we are VERY excited to come back to MDR dining under this innovative concept. The concept and the menus are very  exciting . Hope  the  meals, presentation and service, do not disappoint!.  Menus look great...esp for a longer cruise! Restaurants all have great decor...won't pick a fav til our Nov cruise.

 

Before that, we'll be assigned to BLU next month...menu looks great and  the space itself looks stunning..a bit concerned about no views and curtain in place of a wall.

 

But truthfully, we are more excited about the 4 MDR plan....

[hcat]

A few questions....

 

KITCHENS:

Just curious, do the 4 MDRs share kitchens?

 If the main part of the menu is the same for all and each has a  unique menu as well, I would expect they  could share space and then have a special area for their own dishes. ?????   Was this explained on any of the ship tours?

 

MDR DINNER: Are the general EDGE  MDR dinner  menus the same as MDR menus on M and S Class?

 

MDR LUNCH:

Which ones are open for lunch and how is that working out.,..times/ days open,  menu selection,  service?

 

SELECT AND ASSIGNED:

Does anyone know where the traditonal dining guests ( set time  early or set  time late) are going to be seated? Will  they be spread over the 4 MDRs.  And how does this work out with others arriving at their various reserved times?  

Edited December 19, 2018 by hcat

[vtcruising]

48 minutes ago, hcat said:

A few questions....

 

KITCHENS:

Just curious, do the 4 MDRs share kitchens?

 If the main part of the menu is the same for all and each has a  unique menu as well, I would expect they  could share space and then have a special area for their own dishes. ?????   Was this explained on any of the ship tours?

 

MDR DINNER: Are the general EDGE  MDR dinner  menus the same as MDR menus on M and S Class?

 

MDR LUNCH:

Which ones are open for lunch and how is that working out.,..times/ days open,  menu selection,  service?

 

SELECT AND ASSIGNED:

Does anyone know where the traditonal dining guests ( set time  early or set  time late) are going to be seated? Will  they be spread over the 4 MDRs.  And how does this work out with others arriving at their various reserved times?  

On the inside access tour, my understanding was that there are 4 separate galleys for the MDRs, but that they are all together. Since they share much of the same menu, it sounded like each galley was responsible for certain parts of the shared menu and then each galley made their own 6 dishes. The X Signature and Classic menus looked the same as M and S Class to me, but maybe someone who rotated through 7 nights has a better sense of that.

 

Cosmo is the main lunch venue, with Cyprus available for overflow (at least the original plans mention Cyprus for overflow). Times were 12-1:30 on our cruises on sea days - not sure if menus were different than S and M Class. Hopefully someone knows (there were too many other good lunch venues for us to try!).

 

I believe Select goes to all 4, as well as traditional. Someone laid it out nicely in a post - ? cruisestitch - it sounded like it was working okay, but will see what others say over time.

Edited December 19, 2018 by vtcruising

[ecslady]

On 12/18/2018 at 3:34 PM, Janet524 said:

We have booked traditional late seating.  Does anyone know which dining room is assigned for late seating?

 

On the Dec 9-16 cruise, a section of Normandy was definitely used for traditional dining.  And I believe Tuscan was also used. Which one you are assigned to, who knows.  Maybe it will be in your online  account/cruise planner  just prior to sailing.

Edited December 19, 2018 by ecslady

[hcat]

Thanks Vt  and everyone for the info.. Boy that Tour sounds good..glad we booked it.

 

Sounds like they have things fairly well worked out,  Hope the staff is goung to be happy with the plan