Best port/sail-away to eat in Tuscan Grill on the Tahitian Treasures cruise

[Redking]

We are sailing on the Hawaii to Sydney Tahitian Treasure cruise in September and looking for recommendations of which sail aways would  be good for views in Tuscan Grill. I was thinking maybe the first night in Honolulu, but we don't leave until midnight so not sure that the view in port will be that appealing. Other ports are Maui, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Auckland and Bay of Islands. Thought you might have tips @chemmoif your read this? Thank you.

[tropicalkerry2002]

Bora Bora. Water colour amazing! Beautiful views!

 

[UFMOM]

We loved sunset dining on deck in Bora Bora. Absolutely Amazing.

 

 

Mary Ann

[chemmo]

11 hours ago, Redking said:

We are sailing on the Hawaii to Sydney Tahitian Treasure cruise in September and looking for recommendations of which sail aways would  be good for views in Tuscan Grill. I was thinking maybe the first night in Honolulu, but we don't leave until midnight so not sure that the view in port will be that appealing. Other ports are Maui, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Auckland and Bay of Islands. Thought you might have tips @chemmoif your read this? Thank you.

 

Redking, you have booked a cruise you will remember forever....We are worldwide cruisers and this remains our favourite itinerary...

 

Firstly before booking our speciality restaurants we check sailing times which can change from one year to the next...We also check sunset times which again can change significantly over a few weeks period.

 

On our Tahitian Treasures cruise we did book Tuscan first night although we knew we would be in port...We did enjoy watching port activities, guest arrivals etc from our relaxed viewpoint ...enjoying a glass of wine, food ordered and already unpacked...As I have mentioned in previous posts, first night for us just has to be Tuscan. There is no other location on board that reminds you so clearly you are, after many months (often years) of planning, at last on the ship!

 

On this cruise, now a few years ago, we definitely dined in Tuscan leaving Bora Bora, left 5.30pm booked as Tuscan opened at 6pm (if I remember rightly)...We also dined in Tuscan the night we left Bay of Islands, if I remember correctly we again booked early (6pm) to ensure a window view and to enjoy remaining daylight.

 

You definitely need to find recent times of leaving ports to help your planning.

 

Generally we book Tuscan on nights we are leaving a port between 5.30/6.30 pm. You then get to enjoy the leaving and light changes from those wonderful windows of day turning to dusk turning to night....In contrast, we book Murano’s on evenings of sea days when we are rested enough to enjoy a long and relaxed meal...

 

I hope my answers are not too vague but small changes to itinerary can make a difference in when to get the best out of a location...

 

Our highlights (in addition to Tuscan!) were snorkelling in Bora Bora, the ‘Hole in the rock cruise’ in Bay of Islands and visiting ‘Hobbiton’...

 

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

Edited August 2, 2019 by chemmo

[Redking]

29 minutes ago, chemmo said:

 

Redking, you have booked a cruise you will remember forever....We are worldwide cruisers and this remains our favourite itinerary...

 

Firstly before booking our speciality restaurants we check sailing times which can change from one year to the next...We also check sunset times which again can change significantly over a few weeks period.

 

On our Tahitian Treasures cruise we did book Tuscan first night although we knew we would be in port...We did enjoy watching port activities, guest arrivals etc from our relaxed viewpoint ...enjoying a glass of wine, food ordered and already unpacked...As I have mentioned in previous posts, first night for us just has to be Tuscan. There is no other location on board that reminds you so clearly you are, after many months (often years) of planning, at last on the ship!

 

On this cruise, now a few years ago, we definitely dined in Tuscan leaving Bora Bora, left 5.30pm booked as Tuscan opened at 6pm (if I remember rightly)...We also dined in Tuscan the night we left Bay of Islands, if I remember correctly we again booked early (6pm) to ensure a window view and to enjoy remaining daylight.

 

You definitely need to find recent times of leaving ports to help your planning.

 

Generally we book Tuscan on nights we are leaving a port between 5.30/6.30 pm. You then get to enjoy the leaving and light changes from those wonderful windows of day turning to dusk turning to night....In contrast, we book Murano’s on evenings of sea days when we are rested enough to enjoy a long and relaxed meal...

 

I hope my answers are not too vague but small changes to itinerary can make a difference in when to get the best out of a location...

 

Our highlights (in addition to Tuscan!) were snorkelling in Bora Bora, the ‘Hole in the rock cruise’ in Bay of Islands and visiting ‘Hobbiton’...

 

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

Thank you so much Chemmo. I recalled that you had previously enjoyed this cruise. We are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and pushed the boat out (pardon the pun) by booking a RS. Hopefully it will be a cruise to cherish. Love all your posts.

[Redking]

Thank you for the replies. Bora Bora is certainly a favourite.

[Texed]

According to James Michener, Bora Bora is the most beautiful island in the world.  Although I am far from scholarly, I have to agree.  😁 

[Redking]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

Redking, you have booked a cruise you will remember forever....We are worldwide cruisers and this remains our favourite itinerary...

 

Firstly before booking our speciality restaurants we check sailing times which can change from one year to the next...We also check sunset times which again can change significantly over a few weeks period.

 

On our Tahitian Treasures cruise we did book Tuscan first night although we knew we would be in port...We did enjoy watching port activities, guest arrivals etc from our relaxed viewpoint ...enjoying a glass of wine, food ordered and already unpacked...As I have mentioned in previous posts, first night for us just has to be Tuscan. There is no other location on board that reminds you so clearly you are, after many months (often years) of planning, at last on the ship!

 

On this cruise, now a few years ago, we definitely dined in Tuscan leaving Bora Bora, left 5.30pm booked as Tuscan opened at 6pm (if I remember rightly)...We also dined in Tuscan the night we left Bay of Islands, if I remember correctly we again booked early (6pm) to ensure a window view and to enjoy remaining daylight.

 

You definitely need to find recent times of leaving ports to help your planning.

 

Generally we book Tuscan on nights we are leaving a port between 5.30/6.30 pm. You then get to enjoy the leaving and light changes from those wonderful windows of day turning to dusk turning to night....In contrast, we book Murano’s on evenings of sea days when we are rested enough to enjoy a long and relaxed meal...

 

I hope my answers are not too vague but small changes to itinerary can make a difference in when to get the best out of a location...

 

Our highlights (in addition to Tuscan!) were snorkelling in Bora Bora, the ‘Hole in the rock cruise’ in Bay of Islands and visiting ‘Hobbiton’...

 

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

Another quick question, which tables for two would you recommend in Murano? I'm picking it's the tables by the windows? Last time we dined in Murano there were four of us so didn't really pay to much attention to the other tables.

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, Redking said:

Another quick question, which tables for two would you recommend in Murano? I'm picking it's the tables by the windows? Last time we dined in Murano there were four of us so didn't really pay to much attention to the other tables.

 

Simply one against a wall rather than mid room for us, no views in Murano’s. Also avoid any tables near a big one, much quieter. 

 

I suggest you ‘draft’ a provisional list where and when you want to dine and forward to the the shoreside concierge. When you then board, ask for the order of the Luminae menus for the cruise and then see which nights you may want to dine there and get your butler to do some juggling if necessary.

 

Remember, your RS gives you the option of dining on your balcony or in suite the odd night too. Whilst technically this should be chosen from the MDR menu if you speak to the butler the day before he can often sort something different for you. We have enjoyed an in suite Indian banquet before now (there is a limit to how many steaks you can eat)!

 

The only issues we had on this cruise were with shore excursions. We did have a lot of OBC so had decided to book direct with Celebrity. They changed the itinerary of our Tahiti tour (without telling us) and the timing of our snorkelling tour from early morning to mid day. We got the Michael’s concierge to reschedule our snorkelling tour back to the morning but obviously we simply had a poor tour on Tahiti. I suggest you check on boarding anything you have prebooked. Our Bay of Islands trip was great, however. If you book the first ‘Hole in the rock tour’ you board the boat directly from the ship saving time. We were told you are also more likely to see more dolphins. Certainly we saw loads! Plenty of time after to do other things. Also our Hobbiton tour was excellent too.

 

We spent time in Hawaii pre cruise and a few days in Sydney post cruise, hope you are managing to do the same.

 

The S class RS really is a lovely room and we do enjoy the perks that come with it...Have a fantastic anniversary cruise, sincere congratulations on reaching your milestone, we have just celebrated our 39th! We board Equinox for a crash out Caribbean rest in September, can’t wait! 

 

 

 

 

[Redking]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

 

Simply one against a wall rather than mid room for us, no views in Murano’s. Also avoid any tables near a big one, much quieter. 

 

I suggest you ‘draft’ a provisional list where and when you want to dine and forward to the the shoreside concierge. When you then board, ask for the order of the Luminae menus for the cruise and then see which nights you may want to dine there and get your butler to do some juggling if necessary.

 

Remember, your RS gives you the option of dining on your balcony or in suite the odd night too. Whilst technically this should be chosen from the MDR menu if you speak to the butler the day before he can often sort something different for you. We have enjoyed an in suite Indian banquet before now (there is a limit to how many steaks you can eat)!

 

The only issues we had on this cruise were with shore excursions. We did have a lot of OBC so had decided to book direct with Celebrity. They changed the itinerary of our Tahiti tour (without telling us) and the timing of our snorkelling tour from early morning to mid day. We got the Michael’s concierge to reschedule our snorkelling tour back to the morning but obviously we simply had a poor tour on Tahiti. I suggest you check on boarding anything you have prebooked. Our Bay of Islands trip was great, however. If you book the first ‘Hole in the rock tour’ you board the boat directly from the ship saving time. We were told you are also more likely to see more dolphins. Certainly we saw loads! Plenty of time after to do other things. Also our Hobbiton tour was excellent too.

 

We spent time in Hawaii pre cruise and a few days in Sydney post cruise, hope you are managing to do the same.

 

The S class RS really is a lovely room and we do enjoy the perks that come with it...Have a fantastic anniversary cruise, sincere congratulations on reaching your milestone, we have just celebrated our 39th! We board Equinox for a crash out Caribbean rest in September, can’t wait! 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the 'tips and tricks' and belated congratulations on your anniversary. My husband is a Kiwi and we have previously lived there, also did the Sydney to Auckland cruise a couple of years ago so the NZ ports will be a great chill out for us. Good tip on the Indian banquet, we mentioned the fact that we liked Indian food to the staff in Luminae on our last cruise et voila, we were served Indian food a couple of nights later. So easy to pick faults with things and not appreciate how fortunate we are to enjoy these wonderful holidays. Enjoy the Carribbean!

[chemmo]

5 hours ago, Redking said:

Thank you so much for the 'tips and tricks' and belated congratulations on your anniversary. My husband is a Kiwi and we have previously lived there, also did the Sydney to Auckland cruise a couple of years ago so the NZ ports will be a great chill out for us. Good tip on the Indian banquet, we mentioned the fact that we liked Indian food to the staff in Luminae on our last cruise et voila, we were served Indian food a couple of nights later. So easy to pick faults with things and not appreciate how fortunate we are to enjoy these wonderful holidays. Enjoy the Carribbean!

 

If we ever get around to doing the Sydney to Auckland cruise I will come to you for some tips! As we have become more mature (like a good wine) we see every extra holiday we are able to enjoy as another blessing...