What's For Lunch On Celebrity Ships? Share Your Favorites And Lunch Secrets

[vtcruising]

After the thread "What's For Breakfast on Celebrity?", it only made sense to follow with "What's For Lunch?"  We sometimes find lunch to be more of a challenge on Celebrity, with fewer options on port days, a plethora of options to choose from on sea days, an Ocean View Cafe (buffet) sometimes crowded at the time we choose to go or having few options when returning from a shore excursion in the afternoon. The following are options on various classes of Celebrity ships. It would be good to hear about lunch/brunch favorites, tips and secrets.

 

Tip: If you access "Hungry Now?"  on your X App (if available on the ship you are on), you should get a list of all restaurants that are open at that time.

 

 

The  venues are labeled as M = Millennium Class, S = Solstice Class and E = Edge Class.

 

I  started with the Embarkation dining venues.

 

Embarkation Lunch

 

Complimentary Dining

 

Oceanview Café  (M, S, E Classes) - usually serving lunch from 11:30-2:30, though if you board later, Pizza, Pasta and Salad Bar are available until late (11:30-1 AM), as well as desserts and other items. Ice cream is available until ~10:00 PM.

 

They have a wide variety of items - the buffet on X is generally very good, IMO. Some favorites, though there are many, many other options:

 

Grilled to order:

 

 

Sandwich Bar:

 

Sandwich bread

 

 

Spa Café (~11:30-2:30)  (M, S, E Classes)   Healthy Alternative Buffet

 

 

 

spa and cafe lunch menu.pdf

 

 

Mast Grill/Pool Grill (~11:30-3:00) Every Day, depending on weather  (M, S, E Classes)

 

 

 

 

 

Main Dining Room (Concierge Class Dining Only on Embarkation Day) - ~ 11:30-1:00 (M, S, E Classes)

 

 

 

Luminae (Suite Dining) ~ 11:30-2:00 (M, S, E Classes)

 

Lobster Roll (yes, I know - I should have had them hold the lettuce!)

 

Luminae Lunch Menus:

 

Luminae Lunch.pdf

 

In case you are still hungry, you can grab dessert at Cafe al Bacio (M, S and E Classes)  ~ 6:00AM - Midnight (breakfast pastries in the case in the morning)

 

 

 

Specialty Restaurants (Extra Cost):

 

Sushi on 5 (~12:00-2:30)  (M, S Classes)

 

Lobster Ramen

 

Shrimp Tempura Roll

 

 

The Porch (11:30-2:00)  Reflection and Silhouette only

 

Seafood Tower

 

 

Le Grand Bistro 11:30-1:30 -  (Edge only)   French Bistro

 

Rack of Lamb with Baby Vegetables

 

Le Grand Bistro Lunch Menu:

LGB Lunch.pdf

 

Dessert Menu:

LGB Dessert Menu.pdf

 

 

Lunch on Port and Sea Days

 

Complimentary Dining

 

Ocean View Café  (M, S, E Classes) Every Day -  inside and outside seating

Lunch buffet from ~12:00 -2:30 

Ice Cream from ~11:30AM -10:00PM

Pizza, Pasta and Salad Bar ~12:30 PM - 12:30 or 1:00 AM

Afternoon Tea - 3:30-4:30 Scones and Sandwiches

 

On the last Sea Day there may be a special lunch buffet, maybe with a chocolate fountain - here's a video:

 

 

 

Spa Café Every Day 12:00-2:30

(M,S,E Classes)

 

spa and cafe lunch menu.pdf

 

 

Pool Grill/Mast Grill  Every Day 11:30-5:30

(M,S,E Classes)

see menu above

 

 

Retreat Sundeck Lunch/Snacks - (Suite Guests)   -  Every Day

(Edge and Revolutionized Ships)

 

Retreat Sundeck Lunch.pdf

 

 

Room Service (complimentary from 6:00AM-11:00 PM Every Day, except embarkation day lunch or debarkation day breakfast - $4.95 delivery fee from 11Pm-6AM)

(M,S,E Classes)

 

 

 

Main Dining Room - Sea Days only  ~12:00-1:30

(M,S,E Classes)

 

MDR Lunch Menus:

 

Cosmo Lunch Menus.pdf

 

 

Luminae (Suites Dining) - Sea Days only  ~12:00-1:30

(M,S,E Classes)

 

Luminae Lunch Menus

Luminae Lunch.pdf

 

Eden Cafe   Sea Days Only  11:30-1:00 - inside and outside seating

Edge Only

 

Eden Cafe Lunch.pdf

 

Daily Carved Sandwich, Potato Salad, Brownie (brownie is the best!)

 

 

 

 

 

Specialty Restaurants (Extra Cost)

 

 

On Sea days they may offer a specialty restaurant lunch - examples:

-limited Fine Cut Steakhouse menu (Edge), limited Tuscan Grille menu (M, S Class), limited Murano menu (S Class)  ~$25 (more for Fine Cut Steakhouse)

-high end burgers at Lawn Club Grill (Reflection, Silhouette)  - unsure what cost is now

-special seafood lunch in Tuscan or other restaurant - will depend upon menu

 

Example of special seafood lunch:

 

 

 

Le Grand Bistro - lunch on most days (~12:00-1:30) - $20 -  with ~2 days/cruise brunch (sea day 10:30 AM-1:00) - unsure of current cost

Edge Only

 

LGB Lunch.pdf

 

LGB Dessert Menu.pdf

 

Lobster Bisque

 

Profiteroles

 

 

 

The Porch (11:30-2:00) Every Day - $30

Reflection and Silhouette only

 

 

 

 

 

Sushi on 5 (~12:00-2:30) a la carte  Every Day

(M, S Classes)

 

 

Raw on 5   Sea Days only - 12:00-1:30 - a la carte

Edge Only

 

Imperial Seafood Tower

 

Raw on 5 dinner.pdf

 

Raw on 5 Dessert.pdf

 

 

 

Rooftop Garden Grill - $25 (unsure of schedule)

 

Edge Only

 

Pulled Pork Slider Trio and Dry-Rubbed Smoked Chicken Wings (yum!)

 

RTGG lunch.pdf

 

 

Our "dirty little lunch secret" - when we've had a late breakfast and plan on a big dinner (FCSH, Murano, etc.), we will stop at the gelato place (near Cafe al Bacio on M and S Class ships and in Oceanview Cafe on the Edge) and just have a scoop of gelato for lunch. It feels really decadent, but it hits the spot and is just enough to keep us going until dinner. 🙂

 

 

 

Anyone have any favorite lunch spots, dishes, secrets or tips?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by vtcruising

[chemmo]

We usually cruise in RS so have all options open including speciality restaurants....We did enjoy the Porch on Reflection at lunch but rarely bother with Luminae or the other speciality restaurants at lunchtime. We don’t want anything heavy, we don’t want to dine formally, we don’t want three courses we just want a bite of something tasty!

 

Just browsing Oceanview is usually all we need....Some days I may just enjoy a few popadums and dips, other days a salad with meat from the roast of the day, on another I will get a sandwich made and take it back to the balcony to enjoy. I am frequently guilty of having one of those plates with a little bit of everything on! My other half often enjoys daily specials, our son enjoys a pasta. We will occasionally have a soup but almost never a dessert. Obviously as you are serving yourself you can easily just select a small portion or ‘just a taste’.

 

On port days Oceanview is generally quiet and we will eat outside, on sea days we are more likely to get something to take back to our suite and enjoy it on the balcony....

 

We have occasionally ordered room service on sea days if we have just had coffee and pastry at breakfast...Perfectly acceptable menu. I tend to order the turkey sandwich intending to leave the fries but they are very good!

 

Yet to try Edge...I may still end up in the buffet...

 

Thanks for the work you have put in pulling together all options...reminds me of all the choices. For us, we simply find we cannot manage 3 big meals a day and lunch tends to be the one that becomes a light snack. Dinner for us is a major part of our evening entertainment...The odd day we have over indulged at lunch we have regretted it later!

[wmwmarmstrong]

3 hours ago, vtcruising said:

Anyone have any favorite lunch spots, dishes, secrets or tips?

 

Haven't cruised Celebrity yet but I have to say Wow and Thank You for the time and effort putting this all together.

 

Will be a big help on my upcoming cruise in April.

[mikkelhansen]

7 hours ago, vtcruising said:

Lunch on Port and Sea Days

Complimentary Dining

[...]

Eden Cafe   Sea Days Only  11:30-1:00 - inside and outside seating

Edge Only

 

Is Eden really complimentary for lunch? Wow, I thought it always had a cover fee.

Edited November 17, 2019 by mikkelhansen

[mdpa]

vtcruising,

 

Great thread, thanks for sharing! Our family really enjoyed the Eggs Benedict station in Ocean View.

[vtcruising]

5 hours ago, chemmo said:

you can easily just select a small portion or ‘just a taste’.

We don't go to the buffet a lot for lunch, but when we do, I find that we end up with "just a taste" of many things. 🙂 It is fun to explore different things, but you are right, it is important to pace ourselves, since dinner is usually our favorite.

[Cruisegirl6]

Wow, thank you.  I have been on 92 cruises so far and will be on my first Celebrity cruise December 15th on the Edge...my sister/brother in law are avid cruisers also took their first celebrity cruise two months ago on the Equinox, their pictures of the food blew me away just like yours here!  They loved the Equinox so much that they took the Edge transatlantic sailing and just got back this past Friday and they love and are hooked on Celebrity, I know I will be too.

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, mikkelhansen said:

 

Is Eden really complimentary for lunch? Wow, I thought it always had a cover fee.

The Eden Restaurant is a specialty restaurant with a fee. The Eden Cafe is a complimentary cafe for breakfast and lunch. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Daily roast carved for sandwiches 

 

 

 

Seating inside and out

 

 

Self- serve juice, water, coffee, tea

 

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by vtcruising

[happy cruzer]

Thank for the pictures.  The Grilled to Order showing the options including fish is just the info I was looking for.

[LSKC]

Great thread and so helpful. Many thanks for taking the time to provide such detail. 

[vtcruising]

10 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Thank for the pictures.  The Grilled to Order showing the options including fish is just the info I was looking for.

They sometimes have some surprises. I went up one afternoon to grab something (a salad, I am sure 😉) and saw this fresh fish (? grouper) being grilled. It was going out to people almost as fast as they were grilling it. If they have Celebrity pre-approved vendors with fresh fish in a port, they can purchase it. We had been in Malta the day before.

 

[1025cruise]

My favorite lunch in the buffet has been the pasta bar. 

[TeeRick]

I love the beef cheeseburger served at Luminae.  Best on the ship by far.  Some have reported a variation with lamb but not in my experience at least.  The soup and carved sandwiches at the Eden Cafe are a great choice too!

 

For those of you who also sail Royal Caribbean, this is a shout out for the amazing and highly popular Kummelweck Beef sandwich for lunch.  I wish Celebrity had a version of it.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/video/304/a-sensational-sandwich-royal-caribbeans-kummelweck-tantalizes-guests/

[upwarduk]

Never sailed Concierge before, so I am looking forward to the embarkation lunch.

i just hope there is something for me, as I am Dairy Intolerant.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, mikkelhansen said:

 

Is Eden really complimentary for lunch? Wow, I thought it always had a cover fee.

 

No

 

Eden Cafe (which is at the entrance to Eden) is complimentary.    They have Soup, Salad and Sandwiches made to order.   They also have a couple desert items.    The Brownies are to die for.

[mikkelhansen]

3 hours ago, vtcruising said:

The Eden Restaurant is a specialty restaurant with a fee. The Eden Cafe is a complimentary cafe for breakfast and lunch. 🙂

 

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Eden Cafe (which is at the entrance to Eden) is complimentary.    They have Soup, Salad and Sandwiches made to order.   They also have a couple desert items.    The Brownies are to die for.

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I'll have to try the brownies in two weeks then... 🙂

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Does anyone know what kind of veggie burger they use? Impossible? Beyond? Something else?

[Mark_T]

29 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Does anyone know what kind of veggie burger they use? Impossible? Beyond? Something else?

 

If so I hope they also offer an option that isn't fake meat...

 

I totally understand the appeal of Impossible and Beyond, and it is good if they have them available, but not every vegetarian is happy eating something with the taste and texture of meat, so a veggie option that tastes like it is veggie would be good 🙂

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 minute ago, Mark_T said:

 

If so I hope they also offer an option that isn't fake meat...

 

I totally understand the appeal of Impossible and Beyond, and it is good if they have them available, but not every vegetarian is happy eating something with the taste and texture of meat, so a veggie option that tastes like it is veggie would be good 🙂

 
I can understand that. But as someone who is gluten-free, other options are not always accessible to us. I agree that both kinds of options would be good.

[vtcruising]

53 minutes ago, mikkelhansen said:

 

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I'll have to try the brownies in two weeks then... 🙂

I don't know what they put in those brownies, but they are addicting...😉

[George C]

Since we are lucky enough to sail in suites Luminae is always great, celebrity buffet is really good also , normally will grab a slice of pizza .

[Baron Barracuda]

43 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Does anyone know what kind of veggie burger they use? Impossible? Beyond? Something else?

 

There have been complaints on this board about X switching to cheaper cuts of real meat.  Given the high cost of fake meat (Beyond costs $10/lb at my local supermarket) doubt X would consider it except maybe as an extra charge item or in a specialty restaurant.

[vtcruising]

19 minutes ago, George C said:

Since we are lucky enough to sail in suites Luminae is always great, celebrity buffet is really good also , normally will grab a slice of pizza .

I had my first piece of Celebrity pizza in April and was totally surprised. I have avoided it all these years, thinking it would be mediocre or worse. One night on the FPC, we were going back to our cabin on deck 11 (Infinity) at 1AM after a midnight concert and walked by the OVC skylight and peeked to see what was going on down there. There were several people getting food, so we decided to go and see what was happening (we never eat anything at that time of night, but I really wanted to get dome pictures for my live review). There were about 100 people there and it was a party atmosphere. The only thing I thought might taste good to me at that time was a slice of pizza. It was delicious! Who knew??

 

My DH had the chicken wings...

 

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by vtcruising

[davekathy]

45 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

I don't know what they put in those brownies, but they are addicting...😉

Yes they are. Yes they are. 😎 ✌️Thanks for the great food tour. Yum.

Edited November 17, 2019 by davekathy

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I fondly remember the good old days when profiteroles were desert in the MDR on the first night of the 14-night cruise menu.  Now both are gone:  complimentary profiteroles and 14-night cruises.  😪