Is pre-ordering a cake worth it for a birthday surprise?

[RedVelvetEverytime]

Sorry if this is easy to find but I have tried doing some searches and can't seem to find any info.

 

Basically its my OH's birthday the day we leave on our cruise on Eclipse and although we have done sailings before they have been on Royal and this is our first Celebrity cruise. We generally are away on his birthday as it works out quite well for us timing wise so I have pre-ordered surprise cakes for him in the past and they have always been very good from Royal.

 

He likes vanilla and chocolate cakes so I was thinking of ordering one of them through Celebrity Gifts but I thought it would be better to ask some advice before I order as its not exactly the average for a cake but is much easier than me baking or buying one and trying to hide it from him! I assume you can choose where the cake is delievered; either to the room or table at dinner?

 

So....does anyone have any experience of buying/receiving the cakes on their sailings and what is the quality like? Or do you have any other suggestions for what I could do? I'm assuming the celebration packages aren't very worthwhile?

 

Thank you in advance!! :)

[hcat]

We never buy them but have been served very nice choc cake for birthday and anniv in MDR and Blu...you can note the event on the res online or call ahead...and let them know what night you want it served. Always remind maitre d ahead of time as well..

 

it's not a large cake but enough to share with a few tablemates....very sweet choc..

 

guess if you want to order one ahead for $ you can do that too...check the website.,,

 

You can also bring decorations for stateroom and your door,,,

 

Enjoy!

[spearmint]

We have had birthday cakes from Celebrity. If they know when the birthday is, one will automatically be delivered to your table after dinner. (Chocolate with chocolate icing.) You can add the information to your reservation information (or have your TA do it), or I think you can just tell the assistant Maitre d' or perhaps guest relations after you board.

 

On one birthday, we happened to be in the Specialty restaurant on the birthday, and I, as I usually do, told our waiter we would not be there the next night. He said they'd just keep the cake until the next time we were in the MDR. In the Specialty Restaurant, lo and behold one was delivered there. So, we ended up with two cakes.

 

You might also call Celebrity, either Captain's Club, or guest relations to ask what you should do since the birthday is the first day of the cruise.

 

Bill

[Melissa at Mohair Meadows]

We have had the cake for my birthday on board the ship. I was not impressed. I much prefer the creme brulee. Now if they could put a candle on a creme bruleee -- that would be sweet.

 

:p

[sptrout]

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, plus the 20th anniversary of our first Celebrity Cruise, during our recent Equinox cruise. I just checked the "special occasion flag" and picked a day out of my hat. During the special (unknown to my wife) evening we were in Murano's (by accident:rolleyes:) and when dessert time came the waiter brought us the previously mentioned cake, plus the desserts we really ordered with our meal (needless to say, there were a lot of desserts, but we overcame:D). A very nice surprise for my wife.

Edited March 4, 2015 by sptrout

[ghstudio]

Our experience has been that any "special event" you put on your reservation never gets to the ship.

 

If you want some recognition of a birthday or similar, then tell your dining room maitre d' a day or two in advance.

[gopro63]

You already ordered cakes from RC, which is family of X Bake your own, send it via Fed-X good luck

[helen haywood]

Since you want this the first night I would hesitate to assume the word/order got to the ship. I would go to Cafe al Bacio by yourself in the afternoon and get a small cakelette or piece of pie or tart (free) and put a candle in it and surprise the honoree in your cabin.

[mydogs]

Had a birthday cake on Constellation last year. The cake was huge and way too large for 2 people. Flowers and decorations were very nice. It was delivered to the cabin upon our arrival.

[RedVelvetEverytime]

A massive thank you to you all for your suggestions, I'll have a good think about what to do but I'll definitely be calling Celebrity to mention it! I'm not great at making my mind up but at least I've got a few months to do that! Thank you all again! :-)

[lynbee]

Never had a birthday on board but my husband did order me some flowers as a surprise gift once. They were supposed to be in our stateroom when we boarded but they weren't. He had to chase around to locate them and they finally arrived while we were at dinner on the first night.

 

They were pretty expensive and very poor value. Just a few cheap flowers stuck into a block of oasis. He was extremely disappointed on my behalf. We could have bought a far nicer bouquet in any British supermarket.