Menus, get your menus here!

[SeasideMemories]

Thank you so much for posting this!!! We are sailing non-Aqua for the first time in December. The menus and your impressions will come in very handy!

[doug52]

Another Below Deck fan?!!! Follow your heart on the beef cheeks. Chef Leon got rave reviews week after week after week. [emoji3]

 

Interesting about the Blu menus. Too bad they don't mix things up and update more often.

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

I am also intrigued by beef cheeks from watching Below Deck and the departed Leon. One of my favorite entrees I have enjoyed was Halibut Cheeks in a restaurant in Anchorage on our Alaskan Cruise a couple of years ago. They are fabulous!

 

I look forward to trying the beef cheeks on our TA in April next year. Will they be served in Luminae?

 

Doug

[patty1955]

Does anyone know how much the menus change when the ships move to the Mediterranean? I would assume they do change a fair bit.

I've never heard of the menus being changed because of the location.

[dutchclogs]

I've never heard of the menus being changed because of the location.

 

I understood (thinking Royal Caribbean) that menus may be tweaked, offering regional specialities? Also, I'm not sure if lobster is offered in the Med?

[patty1955]

I understood (thinking Royal Caribbean) that menus may be tweaked, offering regional specialities? Also, I'm not sure if lobster is offered in the Med?

Not as far as I know. Maybe some of the more experienced cruiser know.

[jael001]

I've only sailed RCCL before and only in the Med but we didn't have lobster on formal nights and no escargot or some of the other specialities that are seen in the Caribbean itineraries since those ingredients are not local.

[Higgy64]

The menus look very similar to the Med menus. Escargot is definitely on the menu in the Med

[cindy1957]

I've never heard of the menus being changed because of the location.

 

 

I swear I saw a commercial about Celebrity buying local fish in Alaska. Anyone else see it?

[Chrissi3010]

As I am a newbie to cruises, I have got a few questions:

 

How is the price for a drink calculated when we have a premium beverage package? E.g.:

 

Drink is $ 10 + 18% = $ 11,80. $ 11,80 is charged?

 

What happens if the drink costs §12? With gratuity I would be over $ 13 and would have to pay the entire price separately or does the price on the list count and the gratuity has to be paid extra? :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for your help.

[villauk]

I understood (thinking Royal Caribbean) that menus may be tweaked, offering regional specialities? Also, I'm not sure if lobster is offered in the Med?

 

They do tweak some of the items on the menu. Take Yorkshire puddings, we've only had them on ships sailing from the UK ;).

[Higgy64]

What happens if the drink costs §12? With gratuity I would be over $ 13 and would have to pay the entire price separately or does the price on the list count and the gratuity has to be paid extra?

 

The Premium beverage package already includes the tips so discount that from your equation.

 

If you go over the limit on the Premium package you will only be charged the difference (if the limit was $10 and the drink was $11 you'd be charged $1). The classic package works differently. If you exceed the limit on that one you get charged the full price of the drink.

[K.T.B.]

Thanks but now I am hungry.

 

Yeah, me too! :mad:

 

 

:cool:

[patty1955]

They do tweak some of the items on the menu. Take Yorkshire puddings, we've only had them on ships sailing from the UK ;).

We saw Yorkshire Pudding in the Caribbean in the buffet. We've also seen halibut in the buffet in Alaska. We've never seen the menus in the MDR change based on location.

[villauk]

We saw Yorkshire Pudding in the Caribbean in the buffet. We've also seen halibut in the buffet in Alaska. We've never seen the menus in the MDR change based on location.

 

Yorkshire puddings are offered in the MDR from the UK ;).

[DaisyFire]

Hello all! Just returned from a very enjoyable cruise on the Silhouette. I took pictures of menus (dinner, drinks, specialty) when I could. You should be able to view them using this link to my google photos album.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/kbWoo3hRLaURB3LU6

 

...

Enjoy!

 

Thank you!

 

We just got off the Constellation and it looks like we had many of the same items and I was not able to take pictures (an issue with my phone was preventing me from doing so) and was a bit sad that I hadn't at least taken notes (but was having too much fun!) So I can now make notes from your menu pics... again - THANK YOU!!

[DaisyFire]

Thank you!

 

We just got off the Constellation and it looks like we had many of the same items and I was not able to take pictures (an issue with my phone was preventing me from doing so) and was a bit sad that I hadn't at least taken notes (but was having too much fun!) So I can now make notes from your menu pics... again - THANK YOU!!

 

Ours was only a five day - so two of the menus did not apply. And while the day references do not line up with the days for my cruise - I am adding my food comments for each menu as per my experience - leaving the day references as noted by the OP. If you see more than one entree or appetizer - we also did the extra plate/share thing with our party of 9 - so I may have tasted something I did not order myself.

 

My scale - anything under 5 I would not order again, 10 would be something so good I would have to close my eyes and eat very, very slowly to savor. As you can see, most items fell in the good to very good category.

 

Sunday:

Cream of Wild Forest Mushroom Soup (6)

Prime Rib (9) (My husband and I both ordered and ate every last bite... excellent flavor and very tender. Our favorite entree of the trip.)

 

Monday:

Tomato Watermelon Salad (6) (Might have been a better score - but couldn't believe that they served with seeds still in the melon.)

Salmon Tartare (7) (Enjoyed this - but had a salmon tartare that I had been served at a local restaurant that has set the bar for me on this... and this one just didn't compare.)

Seared Duck (7) (I've never had duck before - and did enjoy this - also agree with OP about the lack of crispy skin... definitely would have improved the score if the skin had been crispy.

Rack of Lamb (6) (My husband had this - I only had one bite - but was not really tempted to go back for another as I was enjoying my duck.)

 

Tuesday:

We did not have this menu

 

Wednesday:

Caprese (6) - enjoyed the flavor combination - fresh and light. While tomatoes from the garden are better - I understand that type of freshness is hard to pull off in this quantity with 2000 guests.

Escargot (8) - Yum!

Branzino (8) - My husband ordered this and loved it... I also had a bite and it was delicious.

Lamb in Phyllo (7) - Liked the flavor - but it was a bit too salty which was a big detractor for me.

Rigatoni Boscaiola - 7 - Very good, but also a bit on the salty side

Ditto on the Turkey Parm comment from the OP... one person at our table ordered this and raved about it.

 

 

Thursday:

Baked French Onion Soup (7)

Escargot (8)

Veal Cordon Bleu (6) - Serving size was huge (hadn't counted on that) - and was overall decent, but nothing wow.

Over Roasted Turkey (8) - My husband thoroughly enjoyed this - though I did not try it. YMMV - since he is kind of easily pleased :)

 

 

Friday:

We did not have this menu :(

 

Saturday:

Beef Carpaccio (9) - I love carpaccio and this did not disappoint.

Boston Lettuce and Gorgonzola Salad (7) - I enjoyed this. The grapes were a different twist and found they went well with the other flavors. Lettuce was very tender and fresh.

Crab Cake (3) - Several at my table had this and it was a disappointing choice for them.

Oven Roasted Chicken Saltimbocca (5) - This had some promising components like the mediterranean vegetables, but over all was just kind of ordinary and the chicken was a bit dry.

 

I will also say that overall, we really enjoyed the desserts (wish I had a list to share with the details - but do remember a couple: dulce de leche (like creme brûlée - but better) and tiramisu were highlights for me - and the sacher torte and chocolate cake were also excellent.)

 

Of note is also the wonderful wine pairing with the courses that our sommelier (Jackson) provided each night. A couple of us upgraded to the premium package to enjoy this even more.

[kevinyork]

We had the Top Chef menu on the Constellation, without the actual top chefs on board.

 

To be honest, that would be my specialty dining night. I thought the menu was lackluster. I went for the beef cheeks (anyone watch Below Deck??). The beef cheeks were the most awful thing I have EVER had on a cruise. My opinion only, as the table beside us raved over them. I did meet another couple the next day - they share in my review of beef cheeks.

 

 

 

We had the top chef menu 2 cruises back. On the next cruise we went to Oceanview on that night. Thought the dishes sounded nice but in reality they were really poor.

[kevinyork]

Hello all! Just returned from a very enjoyable cruise on the Silhouette. I took pictures of menus (dinner, drinks, specialty) when I could. You should be able to view them using this link to my google photos album.

 

 

 

https://goo.gl/photos/kbWoo3hRLaURB3LU6

 

 

 

If you can't see them, let me know and I'll see what security setting I messed up :)

 

These are camera-phone based, so not beautiful. But they should answer a lot of questions (at least ones that I had), like:

 

1. How much does beverage XYZ cost?

 

2. What is allowed in each beverage package (nice standard/classic/premium listing)?

 

3. What night is a good night to NOT have dinner in the MDR and go to a specialty (for me, Thursday would have been a good night to do that)?

 

4. When will he learn to take good pictures (never).

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Thanks very much for posting however it's disappointing that we are to embark on 2 X cruises this year and have the exact same 14 day menus as we have had since 2013. I can even remember them without checking them out outside the restaurant before dinner. Come on X, update your choices!

[ThursdaysChild]

I swear I saw a commercial about Celebrity buying local fish in Alaska. Anyone else see it?

 

Yes, I saw it, and fell of my chair laughing at how far they stretched the truth.

 

Look, I'm a Celebrity fan for many reasons, but in the nearly 7 years I've been cruising with X, Blu menus have not changed/been updated, and despite their cute TV ad, they are not buying halibut or wild salmon in Alaska. Food quality has been cut in many subtle, and some not-so-subtle, ways. Menus are not changed seasonally, or to suit the location, with the possible exception of adding Pavlovas to the dessert menus on a regular rotation when Solstice sails the Aussie routes.

[Hapytocruise]

We have been cruising blu for the last 8 years, however this upcoming we booked CC since blu menu just got to be boring and we were less impressed with it on our last cruise. I really did not recall how varied the main dinning room menu was...thanks for posting I am really looking forward to our TA on Sunday :-)

[zoncom]

I like to go last night of cruise, pack early and enjoy. MDR menu that night usually a bore. Food comes out of Miami and menus same fleet wide.

[masspector]

Have seen several bar menus but have not seen any frozen drinks listed? Does X have the same standard frozen drinks as most cruise lines? Pina Colada, mudslide, daiquiris?

[per]

Are there no apetizers any more? Has dinner become a three course meal?

[kevinyork]

Are there no apetizers any more? Has dinner become a three course meal?

 

 

 

They seem to have combined (and reduced the number of) appetisers, salad and soup courses so it appears as a 3 course dinner. Maybe cost cutting in the hope most will stick to 3 courses. We will still be making it a 4 course as we like a salad course after our appetiser.

[killsport]

I must have missed the pool bar menu.

@masspector, yes there are plenty of frozen drinks. I explicitly saw daiquiris, coladas, and mudslides. They were being made / consumed at the pool bar, oceanview, and the sunset bar. They may also be available elsewhere, but that's where I saw them. I do not know pricing.

@per, the meals are as many courses as you want to order. a few years ago, X had separated into soups, salads, appetizers, entrees. now the soups, salads, and appetizers are all grouped in the starters section. it did NOT stop me from ordering multiple items and enjoying my meals.