Dreamer68

I've seen Bimmer's name and noticed another Dreamer and will check out posts from them. Prior to getting on board, I had also read of a bunch of complaints in terms of choice. I don't know. If I went to any of the 4 MDRs, I'd have a choice of at least 9 - 10 appetizers, 9 - 10 entrées/ mains, 9-10 desserts... including 3 appetizers and 3 entrées exclusive to that particular MDR. I'm not sure how many other options people are looking for. 🤷‍♀️ If nothing is of interest, do like my DH who is the opposite of the foodie in me, he said, "Just give me a shrimp cocktail, a Caesar salad, a French onion soup, and a steak. I'll have chocolate ice cream to finish, okay?" And that brought him to his comfort-food happy place. 🤣 I thought the food was well-plated, mostly beautiful to the eye, quality was mainly spot on with a few misses (easily fixed, I think), and service was gentle. I'd be interested to hear other perspectives on the S and M-class MDRs. I'm researching the Connie now for a Mediterranean itinerary and Connie's fans are happy. 🙂

So, here's the one hiccup of the meal. At dessert time. And this is possibly all me and nothing to do with any Celebrity inconsistencies. After such a rich meal, I chose to take something "light" and there was a "Strawberry Angel Food Cake served with Mango Coulis" that I thought sounded "light". If you have made angel food cake before, you will know that this is a tall, very airy and very light cake. So, I expected, for a French restaurant this calibre that this might be a strawberry infused (essence) light, tall, angel food cake with some sweet macerated chopped strawberries somewhere or fresh strawberry slices sitting atop a white plate with artistic splashes of mango coulis. What came was a far denser sandwich-style vanilla cake (more like a sponge) with some form of whipped cream mixed with tiny bits of chopped strawberry, sliced strawberry on top (bland) and a circle of mango coulis (mango taste was not distinct). The somewhat dense and dry cake was mediocre (a soft and moist sponge would have been good but still it's not an "angel food cake") as was the cream. It could have been Chantilly cream with little spots and scents of vanilla bean, but no. This is where I was reminded about my anticipation vs expectations. I think I would not have raised a single eyebrow if this offering was called a vanilla cake with strawberry cream...the "angel food cake" label just set up some expectations in my mind and well, it tripped me up. Ugh. My bad? I guess I was just surprised as I've been to Daniel Boulud's restaurant here at home and he oversees the menu at Celebrity. Somehow, I could not see him serving this as a "Strawberry Angel Food Cake". Still, apart from the dessert, the meal at Normandie was quite good. On to the next adventure at the last MDR - Cyprus. PS - excuse the shaky photo of the dessert menu.

Alrighty then...another night, another absolutely stunning MDR to appreciate - the Normandie. So, I'm from a French city in Canada. I'm familiar with French food, cook it, go out for it, love it here and in France several times. I have to say Normandie delivered well on the taste and the ambiance. I'm not a fan of pink but the touches of soft pink (supposedly reflecting the cherry blossoms in the spring) balanced the shine of the crystal and glass. I should have expected the pink as there was a deep pink sculpture at the entrance of the restaurant as were 2 chairs which style is similar to some you will also see in the restaurant in a table setting for 10. As usual, we were among the last diners, coming in between 8:45 and 9:00 pm. That made for wonderful opportunities to photograph the restaurants without intruding on people's privacy. Gorgeous restaurant. I'm glad I have these photos. I must have been hungry on this evening as I do not have photos of everything we tried. Oops! The butternut squash soup was smooth with bits of caramelized apples and whole walnut halves to add dimensions of texture and taste. We tried a Normandie Exclusive starter - the Baked Brie Cheese with caramelized apples with a drizzle of Port Wine Syrup. Nice but I was okay not to have seconds. The Beef Tenderloin en Croûte was fantastic! This was a piece of beef tenderloin (still a bit pink) wrapped in puff pastry sitting on a Bordelaise mushroom sauce with a splash of Roquefort fondue. The sauce, as with the two other MDRs was rich and flavourful. Perfectly cooked vegetables completed the plate, all glistening with a touch of oil. Wonderful to have a basket of assorted breads to soak up the sauce. Yum!

Oh, how interesting that you also, received a nut-infused anniversary gift on the Summit. By the 3rd night, I received the warm welcome of our wait staff and I paused to see if I would be asked about my allergies and when I wasn't, I went ahead to let him/ her know so they could also point me to "safe" items on the menu. What I wish to acknowledge is Celebrity is trying in this regard or I would not have even been asked about my allergies my first night. there is just some inconsistencies, that is all. I wonder how they can encourage consistency. Ahh...the days of sitting with a group of strangers and making new friends. 🙂That was our experience way back on our first cruise on Holland America back in the 90s. Loved Dutch night when we got hats to wear and gosh, the "parade" of the Baked Alaskas (a row of wait staff each carrying a full, round Baked Alaska marching through the MDR with a lot of hoopla from guests and fellow crew members)...I laugh out loud now remembering 🤣...it was quite fun to see such "reverence" given to the mighty Baked Alaska. Hahaha! I remember every night there was a flaming dessert on the menu as well and it was fun to see Crepes Suzette, Cherries Jubilee, Bananas Foster, etc. being prepared tableside. I noticed on my Celebrity app that I can arrange to sit with other guests when I make my reservations. It's hard though to make new friends anywhere. I made small talk and eye contact with different people the first few days (especially with ladies going to the events at the Spa) but nope... nada...zilch. I had been too busy with work life to engage with our ship roll call. That's okay. I came prepared with my book and journal because I had heard of wonderful seating areas throughout the ship plus the ports kept us busy and I went to various events on my own if DH declined.

The 2nd MDR we went to was the Cosmopolitan. This is where I finally figured out my camera settings to adjust for the vertical lines. Food was good but not memorable, hence, I'm just posting what was. The decor was spectacular. Jaw-droppingly gorgeous for me. In a way, being among the final diners for the evening was very relaxing. The staff quietly and efficiently laid the tables for the following day but never in a way that caused us to feel we had to hurry up and finish our meal. Grateful for that! I believe the Cosmopolitan is the MDR that is used for sit-down breakfasts and lunches on the APEX. The smoked duck salad was good (a good mix of salty meat and fresh greens), as was the steak (the sauce was rich and deep). The presentation for the chocolate lava cake was fantastic (with caramelized banana, coffee icecream (you can switch it for chocolate ice cream which is what DH did) and caramel. The miss here was the lava cake was overcooked (no oozing chocolate when you cut into it) and my pannacotta was bland...as was the fruit adorning it. Perhaps I will say it was non-distinct...? The pannacotta was supposed to be "cooked cream with a hint of orange and lemon, served with raspberry coulis and fresh fruit". Sadly, this was the first time I have not finished a dessert in a lovely restaurant. 😔Ah well, tomorrow would be a new day of food adventures! 😋😋🤞💪

The colourful dessert (3rd last photo of the previous section) was their Phyllo Dough Tulip (filled with citrus cream and topped with assorted fresh fruit). I might have had a bad batch but the fruit on my tulip was quite bland. The presentation was fantastic though. The French Onion soup was so good, DH had it a 2nd time at another MDR and proclaimed it just as good.

Our second time at Tuscan was the night we were getting a surprise from Celebrity for our anniversary. The surprise was a lovely piece of chocolate mousse cake that arrived after the meal before we ordered dessert 😍. Here's the MISS: the waiter had asked about allergies before we started the meal. I said I was allergic to hazelnuts so any chocolate dessert with hazelnuts, I would not be able to enjoy. Well, at the end of the meal,he came with the special anniversary cake and as he laid the plate on the table, he said, "Unfortunately, there's hazelnut in here..." .... errr....errr... I was aware he was just the "messenger" and one never shoots the messenger but I was somewhat flabbergasted. 🤦‍♀️ Why ask your guests about food allergies and then ignore what they say and make no effort (either him or the chef on duty) to switch out a special celebratory item that was supposed to be a lovely gesture from the cruise line but that could end up killing your guest. (I travel with an Epipen) Sigh. This was a BIG miss in my books. I was only asked about my food allergy 4 out of 7 visits to the MDRs. So, there is room for improvement here, A LOT of room. The other much smaller misses were that fruit crumbles or pies à la mode were served at room temperature. Where I am from, the pies and crumbles are at least warm or piping hot from the oven, with a scoop of icy cold ice cream just before serving. Also, the fresh fruit served (watermelon in the salad and strawberry on the anniversary cake) were bland. Not sweet. Tasted like water. Similar most nights that I had something that had fresh fruit in it. Bland. I wonder about the supplier... PS - I liked the octopus carpaccio so much the first night, I had it again. By this evening, I had gotten a handle on my camera and the photos are better.

Hits and misses at the Tuscan. I downloaded the Celebrity app only 2 weeks before sailing and therefore failed to secure any early dining times. No problem, we simply adjusted the rest of our day. So, this first night, by the time we got in around 8:45 pm, there were only about 30 people or less eating. We were shown to a table for two at the far end from the entrance, situated right where the waiters pick up and drop off (especially drop off) plates. It seemed almost like there was a door to the galley open the whole time and it was very noisy. Funnily, there were lots of empty tables not close to the noisy "last row" of tables...I do not understand why we got placed there...other than perhaps to share the workload among the staff teams working that night. Food was good in general except for the dish recommended by the waiter. A flat pasta in creamy sauce with braised short ribs. Half the pasta was a big clump so that was disappointing. I love the bread baskets and the assortment of dips/ butter.

OK. So, on to the MDR. .I liked the idea of 4 MDRs. It made me think I was visiting 4 specialty restaurants. Each one is beautifully decorated. 4 restaurants meant I felt less shy about recycling my evening wear. 🤣This was important as we were travelling light. Yes, we got through a one-week cruise with only carry-on luggage. 💪 Canadian winters are unpredictable and we weren't sure luggage issues at airports were fully sorted out from several months earlier. Although we were arriving a day early, we just did not want to chance not having our luggage arrive. Winter is also why we choose non-stop flights if possible (that's where my budget goes). Well, 2 days before we left, the first snowstorm of the year arrived. Our flight was delayed but thanks to how we only had carry-on luggage, we got to jump on the flight before ours which also got delayed. We ended up arriving at almost the same original time in FLL. Phew! The downside of 4 MDRs is we never got a chance to know our wait team well, nor they us. Back on the Summit, by day 3, we were joking around with our head waiter and he knew small details about how we liked things, including how my son enjoyed chocolate milk with his dessert and he'd bring along a tall glass of cold chocolate milk when he came to get our table's dessert orders. We dined at all 4 restaurants, returning to 2 of them twice (Cyprus and Tuscan). And each time, we were seated at different areas with different serving teams. So, no go on connecting with the staff, especially if they were introverts. Here are photos from Tuscan, please forgive the earlier photos in my MDR section of photos, I took time to figure out how to get rid of those vertical lines (grid noise) my camera picked up based on the lighting in the restaurants.

Hi there! So lucky you will be returning to the Apex. Enjoy your reunion with this gorgeous ship. If I get on the Ascent next May, I will try Eden for breakfast. 🙂 Excursions, we did 1 through Celebrity and 3 private (1 being our own walkabout at Key West). I can share some more after the MDR photos if you'd like.

Interesting about the different art and layout. May I ask how much is the tour you mentioned for ASCENT? I will decide later if I will splurge on that or not, considering as mentioned, I am not a true blue art aficionado but have learned to appreciate it and consider sharing what my eyes see with my artsy friend back home. I think ASCENT's inaugural sailing is end of 2023, right? I am looking forward to trip reports and reviews from ASCENT. I figured I'd enjoy the Infinite Verandas too although wow, some people are passionate about their like or dislike for them, eh? I guess I will know once I try them if I do. I'm looking at a deluxe OV on the May 2024 ASCENT sailing in the Mediterranean (the one up front of the ship with a slanting window) and well, there is only 1 of those left...which means I will most likely NOT get it (snapped up by someone else) as my group will not be able to decide which cruise to book before September...that OV is spacious and if not for the slanting window, seems just like an Infinite Veranda cabin but several hundred $$ cheaper per person. A girl can dream...

Absolutely! I shared more Eden seating options (without labels though, I think - I had meant for this to be mainly a photo dump/ sharing of this incredible ship but oops, my thoughts got included) earlier in my post, towards the beginning. My fave was the colourful hanging cocoon chair (?) I have no idea what to call it! Do you? LOL!! It was wonderful to catch the sunset quietly from here.

Dang. My write-up about the MDRs got deleted coz I pressed the wrong button and it's later than I thought so, I will stop tonight with another shoutout to Eden. I came here for a pre-lunch snack. Lunch is complimentary but dinner is not. Very healthy looking options. I was tickled to see Grey Poupon mustard alongside Marmite at the sauce and condiments corner. I chose the pork belly sliders and potato salad. I so wanted to try these flowery seats at Eden and I got to! I also came to Eden on another day for the Captain's Club members for some welcome or something. The bartender made me a nice mocktail as I'm allergic to alcohol, as mentioned earlier. Although I don't drink, after seeing their drink menu, I wish I did. Check out the photos. Eden is also the other performing stage on the Apex. I was not here every night but the two that I was, I enjoyed a fantastic violinist and amazing acrobatics from the ships 2nd team of entertainers. PS - if I'm not allowed to post videos of performances, someone please let me know. I have a bunch from the theatre that I was going to post later. VID_20230108_174416517.mp4 VID_20230108_230229846.mp4 VID_20230108_230729028.mp4

Continuing on...before I move to the MDR photos, I'd like to share these of the 3-story Grand Plaza where the Martini Bar is. On the Celebrity app, there are actually 2 timeslots where a "light show" is noted at the Martini Bar. How intriguing! I believe these are at 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm. Very convenient to walk out of the theatre shows to the Grand Plaza and witness a lot of joy and excitement. The Apex Martini Bar is quite different than the Summit's Martini Bar. Wow! This makes me think of the term "glowing up". 🤭 FYI - I'm allergic to alcohol (yes, such a thing exists) so unfortunately, you will not see photos/ stories of bars and drinks here. Sorry! VID_20230112_222740897.mp4

Hahaha! OVC food porn, glad someone else is enjoying those photos. I only posted half of my food memories! I am a well-travelled foodie and hold my own in the kitchen so food was an important criteria in choosing our ship. Sharing photos now is like updating my gratitude journal. Thanks for the Anniversary wish. I'll share what Celebrity did for us as I had noted in my reservation we were celebrating an anniversary. That little bit will come in the MDR photos.

Thank you! I wish you a very pleasant sailing in Feb. 2024. Some contents may have changed by then but the beauty of this ship will continue to shine. By the way, the ship was gleaming clean every day! Her crew does an incredible job keeping her that way.

Ooohhh... so nice to "meet" you! I have not come across many CC members who might be interested or travelling in an OV or even an Inside cabin. Indeed, it is an OV cabin! I need to be able to see outside but not necessarily need a balcony. We had a balcony on the Summit the last time we cruised and we underutilized it due to our habits and interest so DH and I pondered carefully this time around about getting an Infinite Veranda or an OV. This OV was 3126 and it was perfect for us. The cabin itself is the same size as as the Veranda ones (minus the balcony space). It was close to the theater and on the same deck as Normandie and Tuscan MDRs. We had our own long corridor which separated us from the sounds from the Grand Plaza where Martini Bar is. Guest Relations and the iLounge were also on this deck. The savings I got booking an OV vs an IV I put towards an excursion for us in Cozumel. 😉 For our next cruise, potentially on the Ascent, I am interested in trying the Deluxe Oceanview. It looks interesting!

Ooh, the Apex twice in one year! How lucky!! What were your favourite memories onboard? I am fascinated with how diverse yet alike people are. ❤️

Hi there fellow Canadian! Sadly, this is the only photo I have of the Sunset Bar. There were too many people for me when I was there to take a photo without my looking rude or intrusive. Sorry! The Sunset Bar is right behind/ beside the Rooftop Garden. That whole area is just lovely. You can however see more photos if you Google Apex Sunset Bar. There is a website where people share photos of their cruises that sounds a bit like "deck" and "plans". 🙂 How awesome that you are doing the TransPacific on the Edge. I hope you share a review then. Is that the 18-day one from Sydney to Hawaii with stops in Bora Bora and French Polynesia? I'm looking at that one for 2026 for DH's milestone birthday. That would be such an excellent itinerary to enjoy these spectacular Edge-class ships!

What a nice caretaker! I felt that way of the crew member who paused to tell me about the Art book. To balance all the calories in, I did my best to use the stairs. A dear friend loves art so I did my best to record all the art I saw on the ship for her. The crew member was just going about his business striding down the stairs when he saw me take my photo and then linger at the information plate about the art piece so he told me about the Art book and how it was at the Retreat library and that Guest Relations might have limited guest passes for non-suite guests to get to see the book. When I mentioned it to Guest Relations, the crew member there just about scoffed at me...a mix of a hrumph and a huff, wrinkled her brows together and said somewhat sternly, "We don't give out guest passes. There is no such book". Yeesh...so I wasn't dripping in platinum and diamonds, no need to be so dismissive, eh? Anyway, a couple of days later, CD Shawna mentioned the Art book and actually offered it as a prize for her daily activity. Take THAT, Guest Relations officer! Muahahaha! Sadly, I did not catch the name of the crew member who thoughtfully told me about the Art book. I assume yours is proudly displayed at home now. 🙂

Thanks! I felt very intrusive taking my photos at the OVC during meal times as I didn't want to slow down the person behind me with my pause but I'm glad to have these memories that cause me to smile and be thankful all over again. Oh, I was quite impressed with the salad station. Quite the variety, I thought. 👍 I'll keep in mind those potentially quieter times at the Solarium. We were at about 2300 guests so space never seemed an issue, at least for my schedule of walkabouts and activity. 😂 The pool area cabanas are similar to ones you saw on the EDGE, I think. I was able to walk past several of them and the day I took these photos, we were a long line of guests, snaking through the cabana area, waiting for food at Mast Grill. So, if there had been any cabana guests while I was in line, I would have had to work at looking elsewhere. I think I saw privacy curtains but I may be wrong. Also, they are set up against the pool deck so it's quite easy for your conversations to be "shared" with the people occupying the loungers just beside and slightly above you. It probably goes both ways e.g. someone without ear buds looking for a quiet and shade covered lounger at the pool might have to contend with a loud group at a cabana...🤷‍♀️

Canadienne ici aussi. 🙂 GREAT question @Casanova02. I have been wondering as well. Thankful to everyone who chimed in. The last cruise I did, I booked directly with Celebrity, including my flights, partially because our departure date was in the middle of winter and and I just felt better about all my travel files in one place in case of weather problems. The price I was quoted for cruise and air separately were about the same as my research online from other travel providers. The one before, I booked through a US-based TA, price was slightly better even with the exchange rate (our rate is not so good now) but only a bit better. I think for my next trip, based on some input here about what TAs can do due to their possible group rate bookings, I will check with a TA specializing in cruises, especially if I manage to round up a party of 6 to travel. All the best! Bon voyage et bonne vacances!

Oops, forgot the croquembouche. To be continued.

Sadly, it was a bit complicated to check through the details of each of my photos to determine which of them were taken of the evening buffet where there are limited offerings. Sorry! What I can say though is, at the OVC for dinner, there is always a carved meat, 2 soups, at least 3 other meat offerings and 3 side dishes in the hot meal section. There is always a bread station, a salad station, dessert station and the pizza station. So, space wise, it looked like almost a third of the stations were opened at dinner time. Not a lot in comparison to breakfast and lunch but I honestly don't see how anyone can still be hungry even with this pared down option. Technically, at the MDR, we tend to eat one appetizer, one main, and one dessert (sometimes 2) so, how much can one's stomach handle anyway? While I understand that we might have "paid" for all of this, I am also increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of waste we do not seem to see in all our affluence. So, I'm okay with a reduced offering at dinner time at the OVC. Elsewhere, these photos are from the late night offering at the OVC, from 10 pm to 1 am. An assortment of breads, cold cuts, sandwiches and sweet treats. My time stamp on these photos was 10:50 pm-ish.

And I thought this one should be included on its own. That's "Chocolate Shawarma" at the dessert station one day at lunch. I HAD to try it of course. The "shawarma" was 3 kinds of chocolate they put on the standing spit and the chef would shave off whatever "meat" you needed for your "shawarma. The "pita" was a crepe and the mix chocolate shavings were the "shawarma meat" that got rolled up and you can choose a sauce for the top and more chocolate shavings. So was it good? The idea was innovative but the well-travelled foodie and good cook in me has to be honest and say that better quality chocolate for the "shawarma" and a deeper tasting recipe for the chocolate ganache topping would have made this a total star. There were other toppings like strawberry/ raspberry sauce/ coulis and chopped fruits like berries and peaches. I'll throw in a photo of the croquembouche (a cone shaped tower of cream puffs bound by caramel) just to show that in my mind, efforts made to make the buffet an interesting experience. Lots of items were delicious at OVC, not everything...but truly, this is a buffet and my expectations were set to that of a buffet. BTW, my standards are quite different (higher) for a sit-down MDR experience as you will see soon enough. Hope you enjoyed the food porn. 🤣