Edge Review Feb 24-Mar 3: Observations, Opinions, Hearsay, Food Photos

[BeeMinor]

Ports, Shore Excursions, and "Shore" Excursions

 

San Juan

Sail in to San Juan is absolutely beautiful, and worth finding a good spot for viewing if you like scenery. We were lucky enough to be able to enjoy it from our balcony.

 

 

The Edge docks right in Old San Juan and there is plenty to do within walking distance. I very strongly recommend La Taberna Lupulo, about a 10-15 minute walk from the pier, if you are interested in craft beer. They have a wide selection of drafts and bottles from the mainland, Europe, and Puerto Rico's emerging local craft beer breweries, and they do some good beer-based cocktails. It's a little hipster-ish but not snobby and the music is great. 

 

Tortola/Virgin Gorda

Tortola was a new port for us. Knowing we had a late port stop in San Juan, we had decided to take the afternoon excursion to the Baths at Virgin Gorda. We've done probably a half dozen Celebrity-run shore excursions over past trips, and this was the worst run one of them all. The excursion ticket directed us to meet at 12:30 p.m. at the end of the pier, and we dutifully arrived at about 12:25 to learn that we didn’t actually need to be there until 12:50. (Glad we ate lunch at lightning speed for that one.) There's not much to do in the pier area so we wound up just standing around. The tour operator wasn't using easily visible signs on sticks or calling people for their excursions very loudly, and we saw several people miss their departure while waiting. Then 12:50 came and went. Around 1:15 a Celebrity rep came by and told a few people that the ferry to take us to Virgin Gorda had a delay and they didn’t know when it would arrive. (We later found out that there was a net caught in the engine propeller.) Around 1:30 the X rep gathered us all on a different part of the pier—and this was a popular excursion, so there were a lot of people—and not very loudly explained that we'd get back right at the all aboard time of 5:30 but not to worry, the ship would wait. So after standing around for an hour with no real idea of what is going on and no one apparently being in charge or competent we were finally on our way to the Baths.

 

A lot of people apparently failed to read the description of the excursion. The Baths are a series of rock formations along some beachy areas, and the excursion begins with a moderately challenging downhill hike to a beach over sandy, rocky terrain. Next is a beach stop of 30 minutes or so, during which you can poke around some of the boulders on your own, swim, or just relax. The next phase is a scramble through caves formed by the boulders, which let out at another beach with some services and a small bar. Neither the hike nor the cave scramble is particularly challenging for a reasonably fit person, but it is definitely not appropriate for people with multiple knee replacements, bad backs, or other conditions that should deter you from selecting an excursion marked as "strenuous." You should also not wear bejeweled flip flops or nice clothes. Also when the guides give you the safety talk at the beginning and say, "if you don’t think you can manage the caves, you can go directly to the second beach, but if you go to the first beach, you have to go through the caves," then don't be surprised when you arrive at the caves and they tell you you have to go through them to get to the second beach.

 

People.

 

The whole area is very beautiful and we were glad we didn't bail on the excursion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Maarten

We had 8 ships in port on our St. Maarten day. I asked Igor in the Retreat Bar if that was normal and he said something along the lines of it's always busy, but today "there are 96,000 people." I don't know if that was spitballing or a real number but it seemed like a decent estimate. We could see the line for the water taxi and it had hundreds of people in it. I love St. Maarten but it was just too crowded to attempt to do anything and we got off the ship only briefly. We chatted with another couple at the guavaberry colada stand who said they'd been to Maho Beach and it was wall-to-wall. 

 

Port Conditions

Hurricane damage is still visible in all of these ports. Soapbox: It is amazing to me that people either don't know that there was a very destructive hurricane season very recently or don't comprehend what that actually means. I actually overheard people saying on Virgin Gorda that the intact building fronts attached to the remnants of destroyed homes must have been there because the property owners were "trying to look richer than they are." 

 

People!

 

Inside Access Tour

The inside access tour runs multiple times on each sea day. Our group was led by a member of the shore excursion team, and visited the following parts of the ship:

• Galley for the Deck 4 restaurants
• Recycling center
• Engine control room
• Laundries
• Crew coffee shop
• Bridge

While walking around in the crew areas we also passed by the crew dining hall. The complete tour takes about 2-2.5 hours, depending on how many questions people ask. We had 19 people in our group.

 

It's an interesting tour and is, I suspect, a little different each time because the officers on duty vary and have different things to share. Others had lots of questions about the ship's azipods and engines, for example, and the officer was more than happy to provide as much detail as people wanted. Our guide talked a little bit about some crew culture and things you always wonder about but don't want to ask, like how the length of contracts is determined, what some of their personal expenses are, and so on. Now that I've done one tour I don't think I'd necessarily sign up to do one on another ship but I'm glad we went and I felt like I had a better understanding of why and how some things are the way they are. You are allowed to take photos on any part of the tour, but I feel weird taking pictures of people just doing their jobs, so I only got this one looking down from the bridge toward one of the crew bars and what appears to be a small helipad:

 

[BeeMinor]

1 hour ago, Sandy1975 said:

I will be on Edge in 17 days! I have an aqua class room but I am hoping for a price drop on the move up bid minimums for a Sky suite. I wish I would had booked a suite back then when prices were reasonable!

I will do a review of my sailing and will definitely touch on this if we are able to stay to the end!

 

Thanks for the tip on where to get the Premium package Champagne. It is annoying when the menu lists all offerings and then only a portion is available!

 

Jealous! There is plenty to see on the ship without the suite areas, don't worry if it doesn't work out. Suites on our sailing weren't fully booked so you might be able to upgrade on board, too. Looking forward to reading your review after you get back!

[BeeMinor]

19 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Many thanks, BeeMinor, for providing a very interesting review, along with your take on Eden which I find extremely informative...Please keep sharing your impressions of Edge with all of us!

 

Questions:  What name is the equipment  found in the gym?

 

So far, what has impressed you the most about Edge?

 

~Following with an open mind and a kindred spirit...

 

Thanks so much! I still have a few categories left on my table of contents. 🙂

 

Unfortunately I'm not sure about the gym equipment maker--I didn't use any of the equipment. There did seem be a good variety.

 

I was very impressed by the Retreat, and in a broader sense, by how many nooks and crannies the ship offered. I spent about an hour wandering around the ship top to bottom very early on the morning of the first sea day, and still continued to find surprise! a new seating area in Eden or surprise! a different area by the pool with artwork all throughout the week. We thought the Equinox was too big so I also appreciated that all the little pockets tucked away gave the ship a more private feeling even though it's a similar size and capacity.

[vtcruising]

Bee, you sound like someone I would like to cruise with - love your dry sense of humor and take on the ship! 🙂

 

So glad that they took my suggestion (I'm sure it was due to me 😉) and cut the Edenist show back to 3 nights. It's too nice a space to restrict to the same thing every night.

 

Regarding the show, Kronos, the guy in the black skirt outfit, told us that he wasn't liked because everyone thought he put the spell on all the Edenists, but actually he was the one to break the spell at the end. Maybe that is part of what happens? It didn't make any sense to me since I hadn't seen much of the show, but I did commiserate with him about being misunderstood.

 

 

[hcat]

Sorry we did not note the name of the gym equip manuf.. It seemed very hard (seats)  and "plasticky" compared to what we are used to...,but was all brand new, complete  and functional.  No problem doing our workouts.

 

There was also a slight floor transition issue  between sections that folks stumbled over.  We were careful!

Edited March 8, 2019 by hcat

[BeeMinor]

On 3/7/2019 at 6:03 PM, vtcruising said:

Bee, you sound like someone I would like to cruise with - love your dry sense of humor and take on the ship! 🙂

 

So glad that they took my suggestion (I'm sure it was due to me 😉) and cut the Edenist show back to 3 nights. It's too nice a space to restrict to the same thing every night.

 

Regarding the show, Kronos, the guy in the black skirt outfit, told us that he wasn't liked because everyone thought he put the spell on all the Edenists, but actually he was the one to break the spell at the end. Maybe that is part of what happens? It didn't make any sense to me since I hadn't seen much of the show, but I did commiserate with him about being misunderstood.

 

 

 

Aw thanks VT! Maybe we will cross paths on the Apex. 🙂

 

Hey, I heard multiple times from staff that Celebrity is actively reviewing and adjusting the ship experience based on customer feedback, so who knows. Three times a week seemed like a good balance, and it helped make the show more of an event. I heard plenty of people talking about whether they'd gone yet and when was it going to be so they could go.

 

I completely missed anything involving a spell but I missed the first couple minutes so there's that.

[BeeMinor]

Now that I have almost entirely lost the six pounds I gained on this cruise, it must be time for . . . 

 

Food! Food Photos! (Part 1)

 

Luminae

Normally we eat at Luminae for pretty much every dinner and lunches when it's open, but with so many new places to try on the Edge we only went for embarkation day lunch and a few times for dinner. Luminae on the Edge is an appreciably different space than Luminae on other X ships: one large room with a capacity of roughly 175 and a more contemporary design. "This feels . . . urban," my husband commented one evening at dinner. (Fun fact: the gallery wall at the far end of the restaurant comprises individual pieces entirely by different artists but in the same color family.) We eat a little later, usually around 8:30 or 8:45, and the restaurant was usually fairly busy when we arrived but practically empty when we left. We never had a wait. 

 

According to Luminae staff, 70% of the daily Luminae menu is new. I got the sense that there was some serious pushback about the assumption that people would order off the Luminae menu and indeed the basic "Luminae Classics" menu is now available every night. (I've never ordered off the MDR menu in Luminae and I don't really get all the fuss.) I don't have photos of stuff Kevin ordered, but he was especially impressed with the soups and the red meat entrees—both steak and lamb--that he got. 

 

Waiters and assistants seem to be taking on more of the wine duties as there is still only one sommelier managing a larger volume of patrons. I would very much like to see better wine offerings in Luminae; the wines they pour are mass produced wines with limited character, and I say this as someone who is totally on board with some widely available $10-$20 bottles. Some of the specialty restaurants are pouring some much more interesting wines on the premium package so Luminae should be able to do the same.

 

We usually have room service breakfast on ships—I absolutely love room service breakfast, it's one of my favorite things—but with the room setup for the sky suite it just wasn't a good experience the one time we ordered it. The biggest flaw of the room IMO. As a result we went to Luminae for breakfast for the first time ever. It was good but I'd rather that Celebrity just fixed the room service situation.

 

Overall, this Luminae had the best food of any X ship I've been. We ate four meals at specialty dining and Luminae was as good as or better than most of those taken as a whole. Service quality was, as always, very high.

 

Luminae Photos!

Eggs Benedict Florentine--Breakfast

 

Kale Salad--Embarkation Lunch

 

Lobster Roll--Embarkation Lunch

 

Burrata--Dinner, Night 1

 

Bucatini--Dinner, Night 1

 

Tartare--Dinner, Night 2 (Evening Chic)

 

Mezzaluna Pasta with Pork Ragu--Dinner, Night 2 (Evening Chic)

 

I love pasta and could eat it every night, and I am torn on whether I preferred the bucatini or the mezzaluna pasta. Both dishes were very good and certainly superior to similar items served on the Summit in November. Recommended for fellow pasta lovers.

 

Beet Risotto--Dinner, Night 6 (Evening Chic)

 

Scallops--Dinner, Night 6 (Evening Chic)

 

The above was my least favorite dish from Luminae. The scallops were well cooked, but small (probably bay) scallops instead of the jumbo sea scallops I'd expect for a dish like this one. The risotto was plenty of food so it wasn't a quantity issue, but the smaller scallops got lost against the Brussels sprouts and vegetable puree.

 

Mushroom Terrine--Dinner, Night 7

 

Fettucine al Nero--Dinner, Night 7

[mnocket]

On 3/7/2019 at 10:34 AM, Sandy1975 said:

 

You are the first one I have read that has put the Eden show into words! Based on the original marketing of Edge, your interpretation seem pretty spot on. Now I can probably go and watch it better having an idea of what it may be about. I understand now why there isn't a description out there provided by Celebrity because if it is the modern interpretation of the Old testament, then it can upset many people.

 

What are your thoughts on the specialty cocktails at Eden? I am sure I will miss the World Class Bar and I was hoping that Eden would be a good substitute but the description of some of the drinks sound very unappealing to me! Is it worth the extra charge over the premium package?

I and others have asked posters who enjoyed the show to give a brief description of the plot-line. No one ever responded, leading me to think that no one really knew.  At last we have a plot line.  THANK YOU BeeMinor!

[TeeRick]

Oh.  So that is what the Eden show was about!  Thanks for the summary.  But did you figure this out for yourself or ask somebody to explain?

[riredsox]

On 3/7/2019 at 10:46 AM, spammie said:

Thank you so much for sharing.  We are in an S1 Suite on the April 7th sailing.  We also booked March 2017 and considered cancelling and switching to another cruise a few times.  I'm getting really excited for our cruise now.  🙂 What were your thoughts on the inside ship tour and how long was it?  Thank you again!  

We are also in an S1 on April 7th!  Our first suite!  We booked a Concierge as soon as booking were open so when a move up bid opportunity came last week we grabbed it (the lowest bid we could do) and it is still an excellent price for an S1.  We are getting excited too and can’t wait to try the cocktails in Eden.  We are on the 7 day Equinox prior to the Edge.

Edited March 12, 2019 by riredsox

[riredsox]

On 3/7/2019 at 3:23 PM, BeeMinor said:

 

Please let me know how the ending turns out if you go! I 100% agree with your reasoning on why the info on the show is limited. I think one of the issues is that this kind of experience works best if there's a level of audience familiarity you can tap into--people love places like theme parks because they have experienced the world building from movies, books, or whatever and can immediately connect with the characters and setting. Without a licensed (expensive) property around which to build an entire venue Celebrity has somewhat limited choices for cultural touchpoints that are in the public domain and would be accessible to a broad audience. Celebrity could easily put the Midsummer's Night Dream update in the "Woodland" (Eden) instead of a Biblical reinterpretation but they seem to have doubled down.

 

Anyway. Speciality cocktails! Eden is the craft cocktail opportunity on the ship for sure. Between my husband and me we tried about half the drinks over the course of the week and they were all pretty good but not amazing. We both really like mezcal and I enjoyed the Pina especially; I think he preferred the Planter. We had so much OBC that the extra dollar or two here and there was no big deal. The Eden bar does have a full selection and a remarkably wide selection of bitters, so if you wanted to get an old-fashioned with a twist or something like that I'm sure they could accommodate it. Based on conversations with the bartenders there is some guest frustration because people don't fully read the menu or know what the ingredients are and are quite disappointed when, say, the Pina tastes like a smoke bomb and not like a Pina Colada.

 

The casino bar had the widest selection of high-end liquors and was the only place on board that I could consistently get the actual Champagne that's in the premium package.

Thank you for the wonderful revue!  Good to know where the premium package champagne is.  That is always hard to find on any Celebrity ship!  I will do my best to try as many Eden craft cocktails as I can..  we also have lots of onboard credit.  The Pina might be the first,  love Mezcal and smoky drinks.

[mocruzer]

Thanks for a great review.  

[BeeMinor]

On 3/11/2019 at 2:21 PM, mnocket said:

I and others have asked posters who enjoyed the show to give a brief description of the plot-line. No one ever responded, leading me to think that no one really knew.  At last we have a plot line.  THANK YOU BeeMinor!

 

8 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Oh.  So that is what the Eden show was about!  Thanks for the summary.  But did you figure this out for yourself or ask somebody to explain?

 

Thanks all! I got the basic framework of the story ("It's the literal story of the Garden of Eden, maybe you're Catholic and you know it?") from a Celebrity staffer on board. The specifics tying in plot points with events in the production are my and my husband's speculation/interpretation from watching the show informed, indeed, by my multiple years of Catholic school. The spell thing does put a wrinkle in the "literal" idea, so it's certainly up for interpretation.

[BeeMinor]

3 hours ago, riredsox said:

Thank you for the wonderful revue!  Good to know where the premium package champagne is.  That is always hard to find on any Celebrity ship!  I will do my best to try as many Eden craft cocktails as I can..  we also have lots of onboard credit.  The Pina might be the first,  love Mezcal and smoky drinks.

 

Thank you! You might want to keep an eye out for the mixology class that's in Eden. I completely missed it when I was looking through the activities or we would have gone--we saw a couple sitting at the end of the bar who had attended and they had at least 3 cocktails each in front of them.

 

We were also able to get the Montaudon in Le Grand Bistro, but they had to go find it. More on (excellent and highly recommended) Le Grand Bistro in an upcoming post!

[kat228]

On 3/5/2019 at 9:22 PM, BeeMinor said:

 

 

 

Thank you for paying the puppy tax. What a good girl!

 

On 3/7/2019 at 10:45 AM, BeeMinor said:

Entertainment and Events (Eden)

Let's do Eden as a Q&A.

 

Q. What's that smell?

A. There is a very distinct, funky smell in Eden. I was not alive in the 1970s but it is what I imagine the 1970s smelling like. What it actually is is the cocktail smoker. 

 

Q. To confirm, you're saying that this is a show grounded in Judeo-Christian ideology, specifically the concept of Original Sin?

A. Yep. 

 

Q. Why though?

A. Yeah, that does seem like an odd choice for a mass market cruise ship. 

 

I am dying. This Q&A is amazing.

 

Thoroughly enjoying your review and look forward to reading more!

[first mate]

For those asking about the exercise equipment name...the Exercycle is made by TechnoGym. I don’t recall if the weight machines are by the same company.  There are also a few Peloton bikes that are supposed to be for classes and suite guests.  But if you go into the gym when there isn’t any employee supervision such as a port day, you can try the Peloton.

I am loving your review!  Great sense of humor!

[BeeMinor]

On 3/12/2019 at 7:02 PM, kat228 said:

 

Thank you for paying the puppy tax. What a good girl!

 

 

I am dying. This Q&A is amazing.

 

Thoroughly enjoying your review and look forward to reading more!

 

Thanks so much! The dog gets to go on our next vacation since it's a road trip. The main point of that one is to eat a lot of barbecue  . . . a whole week of her humans hanging out with her and feeding her leftovers. A doggie dream.

[BeeMinor]

On 3/13/2019 at 12:54 AM, first mate said:

For those asking about the exercise equipment name...the Exercycle is made by TechnoGym. I don’t recall if the weight machines are by the same company.  There are also a few Peloton bikes that are supposed to be for classes and suite guests.  But if you go into the gym when there isn’t any employee supervision such as a port day, you can try the Peloton.

I am loving your review!  Great sense of humor!

 

 

Thank you and shout out to a fellow lurker!

 

This reminds me--overheard at the fitness center, if you want to try out a Peloton and aren't in a suite with the Peloton perk you need to have a membership. I didn't use one myself so I can't confirm.

[BeeMinor]

I'm back! And I'm ready to talk more about food!

 

Free Options: Oceanview Café, Mast Grill, and Eden Café

 

Oceanview

When I was in high school I worked at a local version of a Ponderosa, and the experience of being behind the scenes at a buffet put me off them until I first went on a cruise at age 35 and had no choice. I assume ships have better hygiene than that place did so I have come to accept the wonders of the buffet. On the Summit in November, my husband and I in fact decided that the buffet had the best options for us—we had probably our best dinner of that cruise in the Oceanview. I was less impressed with the Edge buffet, but it was okay. I like to use the buffet to hack an otherwise unavailable meal like "Chicken Fajita Salad" but the setup wasn't especially conducive to that and the lines for stations seemed especially slow. I got a plate of stone-cold eggs and tomatoes out of the "English Breakfast" section early one morning; otherwise everything was reasonably the correct temperature and apparently fresh. The vegetarian station options were limited to Indian/Asian food. The coffee was decent. The pizza was meh. If you are an egg person I recommend the coddled eggs, which are mysteriously placed near the equally mysterious breakfast stir-fry station. 

 

Pro tip: Be mindful of the "clean spoons" vs. "dirty spoons" containers near the coffee stations. I am generally in favor of the Edge's effort to reduce waste and limit single-use plastics, but I definitely saw a lot of dirty-spoon-in-fresh-coffee mishaps.   

 

Mast Grill

We ate at the Mast Grill before our excursion to Virgin Gorda, thinking it would be the fastest option for food that would help us make our (completely unnecessarily early) 12:30 meeting time—I recognized a lot of faces from the Mast Grill line later waiting around for our excursion, so that was a popular idea. It took us over a half hour to get through the line. Looking at the Oasis of the Seas docked next to us the following day in St Martin, Kevin declared, “I bet that ship has an appropriately-sized Mast Grill!” 

 

The burger was not memorable and definitely no Buns burger:

The finest burger in Puerto Rico

 

Eden Café

"Oooh, there's a Panera Bread on the ship!" I told Kevin when I first saw the menu for the Eden Café. The café is tucked away on the side opposite the main entrance to Eden and is therefore easy to miss. It was open for lunch every day and for breakfast on sea days (which includes the half sea day before landing in San Juan) on our sailing. There are short-order cooks prepping your food so you can customize your order if you choose. I think people assume it has a charge because it was never busy, but it is free and really pretty good if you're looking for something a little lighter, and after a couple days on a cruise ship, who isn't? 

 

Breakfast veggie wrap--possibly vegan?

 

Lunch ancient grain salad

 

There's free coffee or water available, and of course the Eden bar is close by. There's also a pathway nearby to the barely used outdoor Deck 5 walkway and seating. I liked this place and its super normal food. Recommended.

 

Next up: Specialty Dining

[BeeMinor]

Food! Food Photos! (Part 3)

 

Specialty Dining

 

We had pre-booked Fine Cut Steakhouse and Le Petit Chef well in advance of the cruise, and had no problems getting lunch reservations for Rooftop Garden Grill and Le Grand Bistro on board. (The Retreat concierges took care of the lunch reservations for us; for some reason this functionality does not seem to be available via the app.) We also booked but did not actually eat at Raw on Five. Reservation availability on the ship seemed pretty limited for dinner, especially if you prefer to eat early, so plan ahead if there's something you really want to try.

 

Rooftop Garden Grill

RTG is open for lunch with a somewhat limited menu on sea days. The lunch menu in the app was accurate. We thought the price for dinner ($45 pp) was too much for what the menu offers, but for lunch ($25) we thought we'd give it a try. Other people have pointed out that the area is quite windy. I think that may be a little hit and miss; when we ate lunch it was pretty windy, but we were up at the Sunset Bar a couple of days later while at sea and it was very calm. 

 

Train Wreck Fries and Smoked Wings: Fries were good. They're the same fries you get with the sandwiches but with toppings, so maybe more exciting for dinner than for lunch. I'm not a wing eater but Kevin reported that the wings were excellent. 

 

 

Make-Your-Own "Chop Chop" Salad: Okay, as a green salad this was fine, but don't call it a "chop chop" salad if it is not actually a chopped salad. I am a salad enthusiast and I loved chopped salad above all other salads, so I was really disappointed that it wasn't what it said it was. It was customizable, though, including how big a salad it was, so it's a viable vegetarian/vegan option at an otherwise very meat-centric restaurant.

 

Ultimate BLT: I wasn't super impressed by this sandwich. It's pork belly, cheese, tomato jam, mayo, and arugula on what the menu says is a brioche bun but I can foul on that. All of those ingredients are soft, so the sandwich lacks textural variance and came across mostly as heavy and rich. 

 

Kevin had the catfish sandwich and said it was solid. For all that I had some grumbles with what I ordered I would eat there for lunch again. Plus you can enjoy some free entertainment by watching the staff shoo away people who wandered over to the Rooftop Garden from the pool and plunk down at a table thinking the restaurant is similar to the Mast Grill. 

 

Fine Cut Steakhouse

I apparently didn't take any pictures at Fine Cut Steakhouse. Imagine with me:

 

There are rolls. Picture the rolls. They are rolls and they are buttery.

There is a Caesar salad. It has a small sprinkling of caviar! There is also an arugula salad with pears and fried brie. You've probably had this salad at some other restaurant at some point in the last 15 years. 

 

There are filets mignons, one boneless and other bone-in. They are both correctly cooked to medium rare and quite tender.

 

There are numerous sides that come in little ramekins and are correctly sized for two people to order 3 or 4 of them to share, depending on what you get. They look exactly like what you'd expect, except for the "tater tots," which are more like cheesy croquettes.

 

There is some kind of brownie thing for dessert. 

 

If you like steakhouses, you'll be into Fine Cut. My husband had steak at Luminae, Petit Chef, and Le Grand Bistro, though, and said that he didn't think the steak at Fine Cut was any better than any of those, though. There was one opportunity for a sea day lunch at a slightly reduced cost--$30 or $35 per person, I think. 

 

Le Petit Chef

Actual conversation, ca. August 2018:

Me: OMG Celebrity has this thing that a little animated chef is projected on your table and 'makes your food' and then they serve you that food. 

Kevin: Um, really?

Me: I know right! What a weird and bad idea!

Kevin: No, I meant, um, really? Can we go?!?!?!?!

 

I have to let him win sometimes, so we went. 

 

Pros: The food was actually pretty good; the experience was less hokey than I expected; Le Grand Bistro has the 2016 vintage of Shatter, the Grenache collab between Joel Gott and Dave Phinney, on the premium package and that is a legit wine. 

Cons: Kevin had a great time and wants to go again.

 

It's worth noting that I found the projection uncomfortable to look at when it was on but not running. I could see something that looked like a bright test pattern around the edges of the white plates. Kevin couldn't see it and thought I was nuts so that must be a very individual thing. 

 

Le Grand Bistro

We planned for weeks to go to LGB on Friday, a sea day, for lunch, so we could get the Croque Madame from the daily specials. But they hosted a brunch buffet on that Friday and didn't offer the regular menu, so our plan was unfulfilled. I had also hoped to visit LGB for breakfast after seeing A+ reviews from earlier cruisers but as far as I could tell it was never actually open for breakfast other than the brunch buffet. So that was a bummer.

 

Our dreams of egg-y sandwiches crushed, we instead went on Saturday, and we attempted to eat everything:

 

 

Moules frites

 

 

Escargot on some kind of puff pastry

 

Charcuterie and cheese board

 

Frisee salad with lardons and a poached egg--probably the best dish I had on the ship.

 

Ham and cheese baguette. These sandwiches are also available to go from the main counter for, I believe, $6. 

 

Profiteroles

 

Guys. Le Grand Bistro is great and worth every penny of the upcharge. I can't believe I wasted lunches in the buffet when I could have been going to LGB. It's not 100% authentic French cuisine but everything we had was delicious and the service team, who also cover Le Petit Chef, was outstanding, even on a ship filled with top-notch staff. 

 

Raw on 5

This was our only real dining fail: we made reservations for the last night of the cruise intending to go big on a seafood tower. We arrived and discovered after sitting for a bit that the restaurant was out of oysters, the main reason we wanted to do the tower; I can eat a dozen oysters but honestly take or leave a crab leg. So we decided just to go to Luminae instead. It wasn't really Raw on 5's fault—they offered to fill in the tower with other stuff but that just wasn't what we wanted—but nevertheless a disappointment.

[kat228]

That frisee salad looks amazing. Is the Bistro open every day for lunch? We're doing Eden on our Sea day for dinner so we won't want a big lunch, but we have a light Port day the day before where that might be a good option! Or is it open on embarkation?  

Edited March 17, 2019 by kat228

[Presto2]

Thanks for this thread and all of the fabulous information. Just what is needed for a rainy, cold, miserable day in the UK !

[medtech71]

Celebrity’s so innovative.... the world’s first 5 penis chair....

 

[A Sixth?]

3 hours ago, medtech71 said:

Celebrity’s so innovative.... the world’s first 5 penis chair....

 

 

LOL!!!!!

[BeeMinor]

On 3/17/2019 at 10:12 AM, kat228 said:

That frisee salad looks amazing. Is the Bistro open every day for lunch? We're doing Eden on our Sea day for dinner so we won't want a big lunch, but we have a light Port day the day before where that might be a good option! Or is it open on embarkation?  

 

It was awesome! I believe the Bistro is open for lunch every day, including embarkation and port days, unless there is a special event--they didn't offer the regular lunch menu or hours on the brunch sea day. Be sure to check out the "plats du jour" to see if there's a particular dish you might want. I asked about whether those could be made on other days in an attempt to get a croque madame but was told the kitchen doesn't have the ingredients prepped for those dishes all the time.