Celebrity Summit Food pictures February 2017

[meatloafsfan]

So I know I'm a little late to the table on this one but I thought I'd share anyways.

 

We sailed on the Summit from February 12th to 27th 2017 (9 night cruise) out of Fort Lauderdale. We had sailed the Freedom of the Seas immediately preceding this cruise where our dining was, shall I say, an uneven experience. The food on Celebrity was definitely a step above the dining on the Freedom - especially in the buffet and Café Al Bacio.

 

Service in the MDR was another thing. We started with select dining but it was just crazy on that cruise. Even with reservations, they seemed to struggle to seat people. After 2 nights, we switched to late dining. Our server was inefficient and our assistant server was non-existent. It seems the Maitre'D would almost always ask how our service was in front of our server (while they were both standing at the table) so it was awkward to say anything. By night 7 we did, and then skipped the dining room on night 8 but returned on night 9. The only difference was that the Maitre D brought our dinners out so it didn't really solve the server problem.

 

Anyways, the food was generally enjoyable and we really did like the lunch in the dining room. We generally had the same server each of the 4 sea days in the MDR and ended up tipping him cash on the last day.

 

Not the most appetizing picture to start with but after boarding we headed to the buffet. We ended up at the back and so decided on the soup, sandwich and Panini place. BTW, at lunch time, this place grills chicken, fish, pork chops and steak to order! This was great.

 

I got a chicken breast grilled and then a big, fluffy, crispy croissant and had a sandwich.

 

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My mother went with some tomato soup and some tuna salad, chicken salad and egg salad.

 

 

You can see my dads more varied plate in the background there but we didn't get a specific picture of it. After 6 nights of Royal food, this felt like a quality feast!

 

We are big fans of the drink packages since they include specialty coffee. We spent a lot of time in Café Al Bacio and that's where we decided to head for coffee and dessert (and to wait for the cabins to open).

 

My mother had the lemon tart:

 

 

While I enjoyed a piece of cheesecake:

 

 

And my dad had a piece of chocolate cake (oh, and they will add whipped cream to any dessert at your request - something my dad learned early on since he loves the stuff).

 

 

Also - in case anyone was wondering - ice river springs supplied the non-premium water (the same brand used by Royal and Carnival out of the US).

 

[soccergal9]

Thank you for doing this. I will be on the Summit in September and will have late seating too. I am sorry to hear about your wait staff.

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

Thank you for sharing your observations, and your fantastic pictures!

We have entertained the thought of trying Royal Caribbean, but with great frequency we have been told that the food is definitely a notch below Celebrity. Since you had the opportunity to compare things between the two lines in such a close time frame, would you share some specifics regarding the shortcomings you found on the Freedom, and specifics on what you found superior on the Summit.

Again, many thanks and looking forward to more pictures!

[meatloafsfan]

Thank you for sharing your observations, and your fantastic pictures!

We have entertained the thought of trying Royal Caribbean, but with great frequency we have been told that the food is definitely a notch below Celebrity. Since you had the opportunity to compare things between the two lines in such a close time frame, would you share some specifics regarding the shortcomings you found on the Freedom, and specifics on what you found superior on the Summit.

Again, many thanks and looking forward to more pictures!

 

Let me start with the buffet. On Royal, the buffet seemed like a lot of meat in various sauces - difficult to differentiate what they were. Plain pasta, rice, etc with sauces to add. Not very creative, basic ingredients - the food felt very mass produced (large cafeteria style).

 

On Celebrity they offer more small batch made items. There isn't a "vat" of anything, rather a smaller cooking pot full. Quality and temperature seem much easier to maintain in that format. You'll also find more "made for you" items. The grilled meats, sandwiches, pastas, etc. It's easy to get hot, fresh items how you like them.

 

The meats were of a higher quality or more care was given in their preparation. On Royal my mother tried some lamb (in some kind of sauce) on the buffet and ended up with a large vein floating in among the meat. I never found anything like that on Celebrity.

 

I would also say the buffet on Celebrity offers a greater variety - smaller dishes of each but more kinds of fresh prepared salads, breads, hot selections, pizzas, pastas, etc.

 

In the dining room, the food on Celebrity is more complex (honestly sometimes a little too complex or too outside our comfort zone) with a greater variety of ingredients used. Sides are much more creative as on Royal it felt like a lot of plain rice or potatoes.

 

Café Al Bacio offers fresh baked goods both for breakfast selections and afternoon/evening pastries. Most nights we skipped dessert in the dining room and headed there for a coffee and tasty dessert. While there were staple desserts, flavours changed daily for things like cheesecake, mousses, and they rotated some of the cakes and tarts.

 

On Royal, Sorrentos pizza was like cardboard. The sandwiches at Café Promenade were good - multiple ingredients that went well together. The issue is they were always the same. Desserts from the café were also generally good but much more basic - rice krispie treats, vanilla cake with whipped cream and strawberry and plain chocolate cake.

 

For room service Celebrity has a diverse regular menu plus you have the option of ordering from the dining room. Royal was a little more basic though I understand they are going to a cost now and a more complex menu.

[meatloafsfan]

For dinner tonight we ended up at a large sharing table which was very nice. Great tablemates.

 

For appetizers -

 

My parents both ordered the spring roll. Both of them enjoyed the spring roll itself - crispy outside, tasty filling. My mother found the noodle salad too spicy (but she finds pepper too spicy); my dad ate the noodle salad without complaint so I would guess that it was fine.

 

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I had the mushroom soup. The soup was very tasty, served warm (not hot) but it meant that I could enjoy it right away. The foam was an interesting touch visually however, it has no flavour and didn't really add anything to the dish.

 

 

For entrees, my parents again ordered the same (I think this is one of the few nights this happened). They both ordered the prime rib. They were both presented with a fairly large piece of tender meat, cooked as requested. The sides were carrots and green beans and potatoes. A solid dish - tasty, served hot. Nothing fancy or odd and I think that suited both of them very well that night.

 

 

I had the jerk chicken. It was tender and nicely spiced. For jerk, the flavour was mild which is what I expect on a cruise ship. The rice and beans were also good and there was a decent amount of veggies on the plate as well. I will say that like most jerk chicken I've had, it's the dark meat that holds the flavour better and this was no exception. The breast was good - a little dry - and had a much milder taste. If you're uncertain if you'll like the jerk chicken, start with the white meat and ease into the leg portion.

 

[meatloafsfan]

My mother didn't feel like dessert tonight.

 

My dad ordered the chocolate cake and again asked for whipped cream. This was good though he preferred getting the cake from Café Bacio after this.

 

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For me I had the crème brulee. It was good. Nothing too memorable about it but a solid choice. Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of the brulee part but I do love a good crème.

 

[penaddict]

You had me a prime rib and creme brulee. YUM!

[Laurab23]

Looking forward to more pictures.

 

Laura

[galensgrl]

Meatloafsfan, thank you so much for posting these pictures and food reviews. We are going on the Summit in about a month, our first time on Celebrity. These pictures give us an idea of what we have to look forward to in regards to dining on our trip. We may order different foods from different venues, but this all looks good and to be decent quality. On our very first cruise, with NCL, one of the disappointments was almost all desserts in the buffet were a weird, gel/mousse concoction in different shapes and colors. It was rather odd, and we heard many unfavorable and comical comments from other cruisers about this one-flavor-fits-all assortment of wiggly mounds of dessert like substance. Luckily the cookies and ice cream were normal. We're excited to try the Summit, looking forward to enjoying the Solarium especially. Cheers!

Edited March 30, 2017 by galensgrl
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[lori-annk]

Thank you for posting. Looking forward to the rest!

[champagne123]

Great pics. Thank you for sharing! :)

[SuiteTraveler]

I have to agree with you about the RCCL buffet. Even on Allure, it was just...well...yuck and I gave up on it and mostly got sandwiches from Cafe Promenade or ate at the Park Cafe for lunch. I was in an Owner's suite, so I always ordered room service breakfast.

[meatloafsfan]

Meatloafsfan, thank you so much for posting these pictures and food reviews. We are going on the Summit in about a month, our first time on Celebrity. These pictures give us an idea of what we have to look forward to in regards to dining on our trip. We may order different foods from different venues, but this all looks good and to be decent quality. On our very first cruise, with NCL, one of the disappointments was almost all desserts in the buffet were a weird, gel/mousse concoction in different shapes and colors. It was rather odd, and we heard many unfavorable and comical comments from other cruisers about this one-flavor-fits-all assortment of wiggly mounds of dessert like substance. Luckily the cookies and ice cream were normal. We're excited to try the Summit, looking forward to enjoying the Solarium especially. Cheers!

 

Yes - the ubiquitous gelatin desserts. I find these frequently on multiple cruise lines. Royal does that with their "cheese"cake. It's a no cheese; gelatin based mix.

[meatloafsfan]

I have to agree with you about the RCCL buffet. Even on Allure, it was just...well...yuck and I gave up on it and mostly got sandwiches from Cafe Promenade or ate at the Park Cafe for lunch. I was in an Owner's suite, so I always ordered room service breakfast.

 

Breakfast in the MDR on Royal was actually very good. For lunch, if the MDR was open, we went there, if not, we went to Café Promenade and once we ordered room service. I just couldn't face that buffet - reminded me of a tv episode where the cafeteria workers asked, "would like you some of the brown stuff or some of the beige stuff?" It's not food, it's random chunks in different coloured sauces.

[meatloafsfan]

On our first day we slept in very late. The beds on Royal were hard and the pillows thin. On Celebrity, the beds were great, with fluffy pillows and we had the comforters replaced with soft, fuzzy brown blankets. This meant we didn't usually make it to the dining room for breakfast (except the last day).

 

We made it up in time for lunch in the dining room but forgot our camera. They did repeat this menu on the last sea day but we ordered somewhat differently. I will say the Cobb salad was very memorable - fresh and very well prepared. It was a huge entry - very filling and very satisfying. There were large chunks of blue cheese, turkey, and tons of other salad fixings.

 

Dinner tonight was the first Evening Chic night and our second night at Select dining (and convincing us to give it up). Even with a reservation, we had a wait and then they led us to a table where there was no way the wheelchair could get to. We had to stand around in the dining room until they figured out a more appropriate table.

 

Anyways, once we were seated dinner itself was a very mixed bag. This was not Celebrity's finest meal.

 

My dad really didn't find any appetizer that called out to him so he asked for the kids menu. He asked to try to mac n cheese and some chicken fingers. He had a few bites and that was all. On other lines (Disney, Carnival and Royal) this method of ordering an appetizer from the kids menu worked well - not so much on Celebrity. I guess they just aren't set up to deliver really good kids food.

 

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I had the salad with tomatoes, cucumber, feta and onions. This was good - a little light on the dressing but nice none the less.

 

 

I also had the frog legs and I really did enjoy these (had them before - these were as good as always).

 

 

My mother had the soup (I think butternut squash). This was tasty but served just warm.

 

[meatloafsfan]

Entrees were a again a mixed bag.

 

I had the shrimp and pasta. The pasta and sauce was good but the shrimps were off. I know better than to eat seafood that doesn't taste right so I left them on my side plate. I would expect that the server would have noticed or asked, but they never said anything. I also didn't want to complain but my food was basically cold.

 

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My mother had the lamb chops served medium well. She enjoyed these along with the sides. My guess is her food wasn't exactly hot either but she also didn't say anything.

 

 

My dad had the steak (from the everyday portion of the menu). As you may be able to see, the butter - is not melting. His was cold and he sent it back and waited (and waited) for a hot one.

 

 

For desert my mother had a panna cotta type dessert with strawberries. She enjoyed this - it was light and smooth.

 

 

I again had the crème brulee:

 

 

While my dad had the fruit cobbler and something else (it might just be a bowl with whipped cream).

 

 

Desserts were okay but not really worth the extra time spent in the dining room. Service was slow and disorganized tonight. Maybe because of Evening Chic the Select dining was super busy and they just couldn't handle the volume.

[meatloafsfan]

The next day dawned and coffee was way more important than a hot breakfast. We ended up at Café Al Bacio (quite literally our favourite place on the ship).

 

We enjoyed a bunch of breakfast pastries - almond croissants for my mom, nutella and a chocolate croissant for me, and apple pastry and sticky bun for my dad.

 

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And of course some awesome Americano's and Lattes for us:

 

 

[JaniceB]

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the food, making me hungry.

[penaddict]

I know the special coffees come with a price but are the pastries at the Cafe Al Bacio no extra charge? We aren't getting the extra beverage packages. Thanks.

[Derf]

I know the special coffees come with a price but are the pastries at the Cafe Al Bacio no extra charge? We aren't getting the extra beverage packages. Thanks.

 

I was wondering the same thing!

[soccergal9]

I know the special coffees come with a price but are the pastries at the Cafe Al Bacio no extra charge? We aren't getting the extra beverage packages. Thanks.

 

I was wondering the same thing!

 

Pastries are free at Cafe Al Bacio.

[penaddict]

Just looking at them is making both drool and gain so much. I love almond croissants!

[DENIE]

What a fun post! Thanks for all of the pictures. We are taking our first Celebrity cruise on the Infinity in September. I'm sure we will see some of the same offerings. We are looking forward to it!

[SMSACE6]

enjoying this post, and bumping up, hoping that there will be more, please ?

 

I am long time Carnival cruiser, once NCL, and once Celebrity many moons ago, but looking to make a change in 2018 cruise.

 

Just saying, Meatloafsfan, I am enjoying your food review, and hope to see more when you can.:)

[JaniceB]

Pastries are free at Cafe Al Bacio.

 

Awesome!