Changes Cafe al Bacio

[Lena11033]

45 minutes ago, chemmo said:

I thought the same until we visited Egypt one August! Iced tea was the only thing that stopped us evaporating into the sand…a favourite now with lemon on every hot climate cruise but never for breakfast!

I'll remember that. The iced tea I had was just sugar on sugar which is too much for me - even at home when I make drinks it's sugar free coffee/tea or I'm drinking water so sugary drinks are too much for me

[canderson]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

I thought the same until we visited Egypt one August! Iced tea was the only thing that stopped us evaporating into the sand…a favourite now with lemon on every hot climate cruise but never for breakfast!

I can relate.

 

One HOT summer while I was working in Japan, the engineering boss had an iced coffee maker brought in.  It was a goid, strong, French roast.  Had never heard of iced coffee, but got hooked on it there for summertime drinking.  Gave the hot green tea that they rolled through the office a pass after that!  Am now a fan of a good iced Americano in the summer.

[wineoclock]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

I can relate.

 

One HOT summer while I was working in Japan, the engineering boss had an iced coffee maker brought in.  It was a goid, strong, French roast.  Had never heard of iced coffee, but got hooked on it there for summertime drinking.  Gave the hot green tea that they rolled through the office a pass after that!  Am now a fan of a good iced Americano in the summer.

The Cypriots & Greeks are very fond of a frappe - iced coffee. In the hot weather it really is delicious. 
 

I’ll make a note to ask for a teapot thank you. 

[sunviking90]

10 hours ago, wineoclock said:

The Queen probably drank Fortnums tea. (But she was known to be frugal so who knows) There Queen Anne & Royal Blend teas are heavenly. 
 

As a Brit I’m very fussy about my tea. Made properly in a pot with the appropriate amount of brew time. 

That’s what I love about Cafe Al Bacio. A proper pot of tea and none of this teabag in a cup nonsense. At home we buy (or order) loose tea from Murchies which is very old (over 100 years I think) company here in BC with locations still in Vancouver and Victoria. If anyone is ever in Victoria and wants a budget “afternoon tea” without Fairmont prices, their shop in town has a lovely little area for tea and scones or other treats.

Edited October 1, 2022 by sunviking90

[Jim_Iain]

22 hours ago, GORDONCHICK said:

Since I haven't been on X in a number of years, I am not familiar with all these venues.  What is Cafe al Bacio?  Also, I am curious where I would hopefully find the divine almond croissants that were such a treat on my previous X cruises?

Cafe al Bacio is the Coffee and Tea Area generally Deck 5  on M-Class and S-Class.   This is also where you get the Almond Croissants

[LuAnn]

19 hours ago, shirazcruiser said:

We love the Tea Forte Bombay Chai pyramids so much after sailing on X and having it in Michael's Club that we purchase it directly from Tea Forte's website; however, they have been out of stock since at least Oct 2021.  Do they have it currently in Cafe al Bacio?  We look forward to it on our upcoming cruise.  Thanks for your info!

That's my favorite one as well!!

[motherchic]

cruising in 3 weeks. This will be our first since the pandemic. Some of our favorite moments were enjoying a coffee and pastry (or two).......counting the days

[weregoingcruising]

On 9/30/2022 at 2:43 PM, JCruise85 said:

Cafe Al Bacio is where I spend probably half the cruise on an X ship.

Playing cards I hope not. Otherwise enjoy your time there.

[chimchimtx]

On 9/30/2022 at 8:24 PM, Ocdublin said:

We were more concerned that they ran out of cookies!  The fourth day of the cruise we were unable to find any cookies other than sugarless (know way).  Then the night before we leave cookies show up!  Very disappointing never has this happen in all my Celebrity cruises!  Not into desserts, just cookies with our tea! 

I was the same way with lemon tarts.  I specifically searched them out bc of Jim’s posts.  I too like plain lemon. No whip.  He was right.  They were perfection.    Last week Equinox had them once and then they disappeared. Only had chocolate the rest of the entire 9 day cruise.  
 

I did see that the buffet had full cookie jars every day though.  I don’t know how they compare to the cafe but cookies were at least always available.  

[Jim_Iain]

51 minutes ago, chimchimtx said:

I was the same way with lemon tarts.  I specifically searched them out bc of Jim’s posts.  I too like plain lemon. No whip.  He was right.  They were perfection.    Last week Equinox had them once and then they disappeared. Only had chocolate the rest of the entire 9 day cruise.  
 

I did see that the buffet had full cookie jars every day though.  I don’t know how they compare to the cafe but cookies were at least always available.  

 

I do have to say I love those Tarts.     On Summit they made them with Meringue on top (my least favorite) most of the ships have one little chocolate ball on top.  

[Cruise Gopher]

15 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I do have to say I love those Tarts.     On Summit they made them with Meringue on top (my least favorite) most of the ships have one little chocolate ball on top.  

I love them with the meringue on top. I am going to ask our butler if he can get a stash of them for us next month. 

[shirazcruiser]

15 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

I love them with the meringue on top. I am going to ask our butler if he can get a stash of them for us next month. 

Good idea...I love lemon meringue tarts...I'll ask our butler too!  

[NMTraveller]

Regarding the Bigelow tea it is no charge in the rest of the ship as it is not an upgraded tea.  If they are going to offer it in Al Bacio there should not be a charge.  IMHO

[Algebralovr]

They have been having supply chain issues with the Tea since the restart.  
 

Reflection didn’t have any Chai back in November 2021, it just didn’t show up.  Luckily, I had thrown in a box of Tazo chai to get me through.  Not my favorite, but acceptable.  At home, I drink a loose leaf chai, but the Tazo is easier when traveling. 

[wineoclock]

I’m putting on weight just reading these posts! 

[GORDONCHICK]

4 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

I love them with the meringue on top. I am going to ask our butler if he can get a stash of them for us next month. 

The problem with stashing the tarts is that the crust breaks down (at least that's my experience with the ones from LaMadeleine's tarts).  At that point, I would just eat the inside part if it were me.

[canderson]

14 minutes ago, wineoclock said:

I’m putting on weight just reading these posts! 

Ignoring relativistic mass (which has issues), I think you're safe in assuming that all of those photons coming off your screen have zero mass.  However, if reading these posts isn't making you hungry ...

 

As an aside to those who haven't been there yet -

Unlike the gelato stand, pastries at Al Bacio are gratis. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, GORDONCHICK said:

The problem with stashing the tarts is that the crust breaks down (at least that's my experience with the ones from LaMadeleine's tarts).  At that point, I would just eat the inside part if it were me.

They use a very study crust (not flaky) and they seem to hold up for at least a day or 2.  I usually pick up 4 and they last us 2 days.

[calicakes]

Has anyone tried the " Dry Cake"?  The name doesn't sound that appealing to me.  We tried a slice and it wasn't tasty( I'm a baker, so take that with a grain of salt).  

[GORDONCHICK]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

They use a very study crust (not flaky) and they seem to hold up for at least a day or 2.  I usually pick up 4 and they last us 2 days.

The ones at LaMadeleine are a study, almost shortbread-ish crust.  Maybe it's the moisture of a fridge?

[GORDONCHICK]

2 hours ago, calicakes said:

Has anyone tried the " Dry Cake"?  The name doesn't sound that appealing to me.  We tried a slice and it wasn't tasty( I'm a baker, so take that with a grain of salt).  

IME, X's desserts have less sugar than our American desserts typically do, so many don't care as much for them.  They're more French in that way.  I don't know specifically about the "dry cake".

 

[letsgogogo]

On 9/29/2022 at 6:41 PM, Lastdance said:

I am going to bring some of my own brew, just in case!😋

I bring my own freshly ground beans to make pour over coffees every morning with a pot of hot water from room service. 

[di T]

On 9/29/2022 at 9:38 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I have a feeling it is a Supply Chain issue.    We had their regular teas in those little Pyramid but near the end of our Summit cruise they ran out and started using Bigelow.   The next cruise the little Pyramid's were back.

Yep little pyramid ones on the Reflection 😊love the African Solstice

[calicakes]

10 hours ago, letsgogogo said:

I bring my own freshly ground beans to make pour over coffees every morning with a pot of hot water from room service. 

On our Reflection cruise 2 weeks ago, I brought an Aeropress and my own organic coffee.  I made it at night and then made iced coffee in the morning. 

[Jim_Iain]

22 hours ago, calicakes said:

Has anyone tried the " Dry Cake"?  The name doesn't sound that appealing to me.  We tried a slice and it wasn't tasty( I'm a baker, so take that with a grain of salt).  

The name itself turned me off an never tried it.    Iain tried one of the cakes -- it had a gelatin on top and he took one bite and left the rest.   I of course had a Lemon Tart and I popped it in my mouth and didn't even offer him a bit. LOL   I of course said Yum...