Sushi on 5 for all of X

[MicCanberra]

A quote from X,

'Due to the overwhelming success of the Sushi on Five pop-up restaurant on Celebrity Reflection, the decision has been made to make that restaurant permanent, and to roll out Sushi on Five in place of Bistro on Five on the remainder of our fleet.

 

Implementation will roll out across the fleet as follows (dates are subject to change):

Millennium 5/12/16; Silhouette 6/7/16; Solstice 7/1/16; Infinity 7/24/16; Equinox 8/6/16; Constellation 8/28/16; Eclipse 9/17/16; Summit 10/16/16.

 

All Sushi On five menu items will be priced individually as opposed to a cover charge.'

 

I for one am disappointed Bistro on 5 has gone but excited at the new offerings.:D

[Mr&MrsCookie]

Bugger, I was looking forward to trying the crepes...and I don't like sushi:(

[OzKiwiJJ]

That will depend on the pricing, Mic. Bistro on Five was reasonable value at $10pp. However if they price their sushi like Princess did, around $5 for two pieces of nigiri, then it will work out much more expensive.

[MicCanberra]

That will depend on the pricing, Mic. Bistro on Five was reasonable value at $10pp. However if they price their sushi like Princess did, around $5 for two pieces of nigiri, then it will work out much more expensive.

 

I am still excited on what they may offer, especially if the quality of Silk Harvest is carried through. The pricing is going to be ala carte rather than the one fee, I suspect nothing will be under $5.

Edited June 4, 2016 by MicCanberra

[mum and son]

My son will be devastated about the loss of the crepes! Sushi is a good option, but I wish they could have both :D.

[MicCanberra]

My son will be devastated about the loss of the crepes! Sushi is a good option, but I wish they could have both :D.

 

I always enjoyed the soups and the crepes (The Mediterranean or Cowboy) for mains and French Crepe for dessert.:D

[OzKiwiJJ]

The crepes were huge! I only managed to get through half of one. Mind you, I did start with the French onion soup which was very filling.

 

The problem with sushi is that there are some very good sushi places near where I live, that aren't expensive, and if I'm paying top dollar for sushi on a cruise it has to be sensational. Kai Sushi on Princess didn't come close. It was dreadful.

[mum and son]

The problem with sushi is that there are some very good sushi places near where I live, that aren't expensive, and if I'm paying top dollar for sushi on a cruise it has to be sensational. Kai Sushi on Princess didn't come close. It was dreadful.

 

I feel the same way. If sushi is a specialty restaurant, it needs to be better than good. The best cruise sushi I've ever had was on Norwegian and I think it was a $10 per head cover charge for all you could eat, and it was exceptional.

[The_Big_M]

I am still excited on what they may offer, especially if the quality of Silk Harvest is carried through. The pricing is going to be ala carte rather than the one fee, I suspect nothing will be under $5.

 

Well, the nigiri are $4.72US, but yeah they mostly are above $5. Most things are US$9.44-11.80. Dearest is lobster ramen at US$14.16.

[MicCanberra]

Well, the nigiri are $4.72US, but yeah they mostly are above $5. Most things are US$9.44-11.80. Dearest is lobster ramen at US$14.16.

 

Cheers for some of the prices. Value will depends on how much you like sushi, size of the portions and the quality of the food.:D

[MicCanberra]

The crepes were huge! I only managed to get through half of one. Mind you, I did start with the French onion soup which was very filling.

 

The problem with sushi is that there are some very good sushi places near where I live, that aren't expensive, and if I'm paying top dollar for sushi on a cruise it has to be sensational. Kai Sushi on Princess didn't come close. It was dreadful.

 

The sushi in Silk Harvest was outstanding so there is no reason why it cannot be produced to a high standard in Sushi on 5.

[Aussieflyer]

I'm in two minds here - I really liked the soup and crepes at Bistro on 5 and the one cover charge made it good value. I like good sushi but having to pay individually for items will be annoying for me. I wish they could have had a basic menu for a pp cover charge and then some individually priced perhaps more premium items.

The sushi would need to be pretty good to warrant the prices quoted. I would hope there are a number of tasting type and sharing plates as a whole plate of one would be boring.

I'm not convinced they will find it as lucrative as they think/hope.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The sushi in Silk Harvest was outstanding so there is no reason why it cannot be produced to a high standard in Sushi on 5.

 

I can't remember if we had sushi in Silk Harvest. We had lunch there one day, $20pp, which was very good value for what we had. I remember having some awesome duck but can't recall what the other dishes were. I think we had sushi but it can't have been remarkable or it would have stuck in my mind.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'm in two minds here - I really liked the soup and crepes at Bistro on 5 and the one cover charge made it good value. I like good sushi but having to pay individually for items will be annoying for me. I wish they could have had a basic menu for a pp cover charge and then some individually priced perhaps more premium items.

The sushi would need to be pretty good to warrant the prices quoted. I would hope there are a number of tasting type and sharing plates as a whole plate of one would be boring.

I'm not convinced they will find it as lucrative as they think/hope.

 

From what I've heard, Kai Sushi on Sun Princess wasn't very popular and is mostly empty apart from crew dining there. They trialed a $20pp set price when we were on her, December 2014, and it seemed quite popular then. We went there for lunch one day and were very disappointed in the quality of the food overall. The two appetisers were very nice but the sashimi was very poor quality, the sushi was awful, and the seafood in the udon soup had been seriously overcooked.

[Aussieflyer]

That might be why they have changed Kai Sushi to Kai Seafood though from accounts it's not doing well either and seems to have quite high pricing. I can't see how they can offer premium seafood when there is such a time lag for re-provisioning.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Aussieflyer

[MicCanberra]

I'm in two minds here - I really liked the soup and crepes at Bistro on 5 and the one cover charge made it good value. I like good sushi but having to pay individually for items will be annoying for me. I wish they could have had a basic menu for a pp cover charge and then some individually priced perhaps more premium items.

The sushi would need to be pretty good to warrant the prices quoted. I would hope there are a number of tasting type and sharing plates as a whole plate of one would be boring.

I'm not convinced they will find it as lucrative as they think/hope.

 

I have faith in them delivering a quality product, but time will tell if the pricing structure works or not or if it is a success. It is bound to do well with the emerging Asian market. The last few cruises I have been on have had an huge increase in groups from Asia - Chinese, Korean and Japanese, mainly but others as well.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Well, we're sailing on Sun Princess in September and Celebrity Solstice next February so I'll be able to check both of them out ... assuming they are affordable and the menus look good. :D

[GUT2407]

Interesting on Diamond Princess last year didn't see anyone in Sushi over 33 days.

 

I wonder if there's a difference due to demographics.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I think there might be, Gut.

 

Speciality restaurants don't seem to be all that popular on cruises with a high percentage of Aussies onboard.

 

Even Murano on Celebrity Solstice was very quiet the night we went there and, judging by the accents, most of the people that were there were from North America. Tuscan Grill didn't look busy either when we looked at the menu a couple of times. Bistro on Five was usually empty. We went there for lunch on embarkation day and we were the only people there.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Kai Sushi did get some takers when they had the fixed price, over Christmas 2014, but the Sterling Steakhouse didn't attract many people on that cruise. Only three couples the night we went.

 

The night we went to Sabatinis on Golden there was only five tables with diners (including us), and two of those were crew.

 

We didn't bother trying any of the restaurants on the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise.

[MicCanberra]

Well, we're sailing on Sun Princess in September and Celebrity Solstice next February so I'll be able to check both of them out ... assuming they are affordable and the menus look good. :D

 

That will be good. Thanks:D

[MicCanberra]

I think there might be, Gut.

 

Speciality restaurants don't seem to be all that popular on cruises with a high percentage of Aussies onboard.

 

Even Murano on Celebrity Solstice was very quiet the night we went there and, judging by the accents, most of the people that were there were from North America. Tuscan Grill didn't look busy either when we looked at the menu a couple of times. Bistro on Five was usually empty. We went there for lunch on embarkation day and we were the only people there.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Kai Sushi did get some takers when they had the fixed price, over Christmas 2014, but the Sterling Steakhouse didn't attract many people on that cruise. Only three couples the night we went.

 

The night we went to Sabatinis on Golden there was only five tables with diners (including us), and two of those were crew.

 

We didn't bother trying any of the restaurants on the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise.

 

Specialty restaurants (SRs) are utilised by small percentage of passengers on any sailings, part of it is price and part of it is need/want to try and for some it is to spend their non refundable OBC. With Australian's we tend to be satisfied with whatever the MDR offers and as such only tend to use the SRs for a special occasion or for something different.

[Aussieflyer]

In our case though we usually patronise the specialty restaurants quite a lot. If we are on X we usually have an AQ cabin so have Blu but if not, Mr AF really dislikes the MDR (and heaven forbid the buffet) for dinner. He finds it too big and too busy. That's why we tend to use the specialty restaurants for most meals.

[GUT2407]

We normally do about a specialty a week, however last cruise didn't.

 

To be honest we really liked Stirlings but think having it tucked in part of Horizon Court is, well let's say not as special.

 

Last cruise didn't go at all just MDR, buffet, room service on our balcony, or a burger under the stars

[OzKiwiJJ]

To be honest we really liked Stirlings but think having it tucked in part of Horizon Court is, well let's say not as special.

 

 

Especially when someone starts clattering plates halfway though your main and it goes on all the way through dessert. Never again!

[MicCanberra]

Especially when someone starts clattering plates halfway though your main and it goes on all the way through dessert. Never again!

Yes, I have seen them do this on several Princess ships and do not like it much at all.