LIVE: Salt Lifer hitting the high seas! Ascent, April 7-14, 2024

[kabmab]

4 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

Good luck with your packing and enjoy the TA!! We sail Queen Mary 2 in August for 30 nights and my head probably will explode with that packing 😳 Have a fabulous cruise!

Your August cruise sounds wonderful!  Enjoy the Beyond and bon voyage!

[Salt Lifer]

Steve Caouette was every bit as funny as he always is.  He is the best comedian Celebrity has.

 

 

[Salt Lifer]

Tonight's dinner was good!

I had the Tuscan shrimp soup (a favorite of mine from the Beyond last year), and escargot for my starters; the trout for my main course; and the panna cotta for desert.

 

Sorry, my soup was half eaten before I remembered to take a picture!  I was just so excited to get to eat it again.  😉

 

The escargot were a really nice size.  Much better in size and taste than those I ate on Beyond last year.  

 

The trout was good.  The grapes on top seemed like an odd pairing, but the flavor contrasted perfectly with the fish and other items in the dish.  I may seriously have to start slicing grapes and putting them on all my dishes at home.

 

The panna cotta was a nice light and refreshing ending to the meal. 

 

Our server in Tuscan was very personable, so we ended up making reservations for the rest of the week so we could sit in her section.

 

 

[Salt Lifer]

We are seriously considering booking the inaugural cruise on Xcel. Someone talk us off the ledge!  

 

But in all seriousness, would we regret an inaugural cruise?  Does service suffer from it being week #1?  

[Salt Lifer]

Piano bar performer, Tom McCormick is very good!  I have a special love for piano bars, so I am pleased to see Celebrity adding this to the entertainment lineup.

 

 

[Salt Lifer]

Late night pizza in the Oceanview Cafe. Since it is after midnight does it technically count as breakfast?

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

We were on the pre-inaugural of the Ascent last year and it was one of our best cruises ever!  The crew were so excited to be on a brand new ship and service was exceptional. My thinking is that Celebrity are opening new ships with their best, most experienced crew as opposed to the other way around. We enjoyed it so much, we are also considering the maiden voyage of Xcel….DH just doesn’t know it yet 😂. 

[Lena11033]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We were on the pre-inaugural of the Ascent last year and it was one of our best cruises ever!  The crew were so excited to be on a brand new ship and service was exceptional. My thinking is that Celebrity are opening new ships with their best, most experienced crew as opposed to the other way around. We enjoyed it so much, we are also considering the maiden voyage of Xcel….DH just doesn’t know it yet 😂. 

 

Do it! lol

I am booked for the maiden voyage on Xcel based on the reviews on here of Ascent, it seems like it would be a lot of fun. I also don't go in expecting perfection but you are right it does seem like they are putting more experienced crew on the newer ships

[Irish clare]

48 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

Do it! lol

I am booked for the maiden voyage on Xcel based on the reviews on here of Ascent, it seems like it would be a lot of fun. I also don't go in expecting perfection but you are right it does seem like they are putting more experienced crew on the newer ships

I also considered doing this trip for the Christmas of December 2025 but i was worried that there would be a delay to the build that would put out the trips .. and by that stage it would be to late for my Christmas cruise .. so did not take the chance - so booked the Ascent instead .. .but will look at doing one of the sailing in early 2023 

[Salt Lifer]

Yesterday's step count. I can do better. I need to do better if I keep eating so much! 🙂

 

[Salt Lifer]

Breakfast in Oceanview, with our favorite breakfast view.

 

[Salt Lifer]

Our sailing's Facebook group had a slot pull.  We had 51 participants and each put in $20 to play.  I walked away with $18. 😞  I guess $2 is a good price for an hour of fun with friends! 🙂

 

 

[Salt Lifer]

Getting ready to burn off some calories in order to make room for lunch and my Cafe Al Bacio treats!

 

[Salt Lifer]

Thank you Alejandro and crew, I think I burned enough to earn my daily chocolate tart from Al Bacio!

 

 

[Galaxy2004]

Thank you for taking us along. We sailed Ascent in December and loved it so much we went back in February. Love those chocolate tarts!! 

[Salt Lifer]

Well, here is some good and some bad....

 

First, the good.  I went to the Eden Cafe for lunch today.  Last year on Beyond I kept wanting to try the pork belly sliders, but always got there too late and towards the end of the cruise they actually ran out of them.  😞So, today I made sure to get there in plenty of time to order the pork sliders and boy am I glad I did!  They were absolutely amazing!!!  I paired them with some chips and a very delicious spinach roquefort salad and I am not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best meals I've had on Celebrity on any sailing.

 

So, I was on a food high and decided to head over to Cafe Al Bacio for my chocolate tart dessert.  The perfect ending to the perfect meal, right? Wrong!  This is the point in my story where things went bad... very bad. 

 

I get to Al Bacio and there was not a chocolate tart to be found!!!  And none of the options looked all that appealing.  I opted for something called a "Paris Brest" (I complete panic move on my part) and in the end wish I had not wasted calories on it.  

 

 

[Cap_D]

To the poster above re hotels:  Hyatt Centric has been consistently clean and well maintained over three stays between 2022 and two weeks ago.  We would not hesitate to stay there again.  Friendly restaurant waitstaff too. 

 

Observation:  The apple pie always appears better in pics from anywhere but Luminae.  For some reason, the Luminae kitchen does not know how to heat up and brown a slice of the otherwise very basic apple pie.  

 

Enjoy your cruise.  

Edited April 8 by Cap_D

[soflobb]

Loving the review. We were on the Ascent March 10-17 and had an amazing time. Was thrilled to see you had chocolate tartlette's- those are an all-time favorite and usually a nightly ritual for me when cruising. Enjoy!

[Salt Lifer]

So far it has been a fun and relaxing afternoon onboard.  

 

First, we went for a mile and a half walk around the track... wanted to burn off some calories to make room for more goodies!

 

Then we watched the eclipse.  Very impressive, but not as impressive as it was back home where they had totality!  I video chatted with my kids during the period of totality there,  so I got to experience some of what they did.  

 

After that, my husband went to the buffet in search of some fruit and ice cream and I went to the hot tub to relax and listen to the music at the pool by the house band.

 

Upon returning to the stateroom I found snacks!  Concierge class gets a plate of snacks every afternoon and, while they are not anything to write home about, I think it is still a nice touch.  The standout star of this plate was the little bite of chocolate cake.  It was surprisingly flavorful.  It made me feel sad that I was missing my daily chocolate tart (yes, I am bitter) so I decided to head up to the buffet to check out the tea-time offerings in the hope that maybe they had more of the chocolate cake there.  No such luck, but I did find chocolate mousse so I considered it a successful journey.

 

After a brief rest, I am now heading up to the gym to see if I can take some off the afternoon snack calories off before they have a chance to take up residency in my fat cells. 😉

 

Tonight is chic night with a production show in the Theatre, an Elton John tribute by pianist Tom McCormick in The Club, and the silent disco (always fun for people watching) in the Atrium - should be a fun evening... assuming I can still fit into my dress after all my eating!

 

(There is also a show in Eden, but I am going to pass because I would much rather go to the Elton John show.)

 

 

 

 

[39august]

Please let us know how the Elton John goes. Last cruise on Equinox we had one and he was NOT good. I left. Don't remember his name. Hope it's not the same guy for you. 

[jam19872016]

19 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

Tonight's dinner was good!

I had the Tuscan shrimp soup (a favorite of mine from the Beyond last year), and escargot for my starters; the trout for my main course; and the panna cotta for desert.

 

Sorry, my soup was half eaten before I remembered to take a picture!  I was just so excited to get to eat it again.  😉

 

The escargot were a really nice size.  Much better in size and taste than those I ate on Beyond last year.  

 

The trout was good.  The grapes on top seemed like an odd pairing, but the flavor contrasted perfectly with the fish and other items in the dish.  I may seriously have to start slicing grapes and putting them on all my dishes at home.

 

The panna cotta was a nice light and refreshing ending to the meal. 

 

Our server in Tuscan was very personable, so we ended up making reservations for the rest of the week so we could sit in her section.

 

 

The trout is one of my favorite dishes on Celebrity. I was like you the first time I tried it, grapes seemed like such an odd choice. They paired with the fish perfectly and now I order it every time I see it on the menu and it has never disappointed. Yummy!😋

[jam19872016]

19 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

Piano bar performer, Tom McCormick is very good!  I have a special love for piano bars, so I am pleased to see Celebrity adding this to the entertainment lineup.

 

 

I love the piano bar and always sorely miss it on Celebrity. Any piano bar is better than no piano bar, but I have to ask, what style is it? Is it a rowdy, jolly good time sing along style piano bar music, or is it mostly just a guy playing music on a piano? '

[Salt Lifer]

1 hour ago, jam19872016 said:

I love the piano bar and always sorely miss it on Celebrity. Any piano bar is better than no piano bar, but I have to ask, what style is it? Is it a rowdy, jolly good time sing along style piano bar music, or is it mostly just a guy playing music on a piano? '

Good time sing along!

[Salt Lifer]

Tonight's production show was Bridges, but first was Captain Tasos and his Senior Officers.  It is worth noting (as he always says) that he is the only captain I have ever sailed with on a Celebrity ship!  It is just luck that we always get him... but really good luck for us because he is hilarious and (so far) has done a great job of not crashing the ship into anything or getting us lost! 🙂

 

After Captain Tasos stand-up routine was the production show - Bridges.  I can't say this is my favorite Celebrity production show, but it was certainly not bad and definitely worth watching. The performers are talented.

 

 

[hcat]

Bridges was ok but had some unflattering  portrayals of Bklyn & NY. 

Guess some folks think like that!