Olympic restaurant on Millenium (and other historical dining rooms)

[Brandis]

In a Titanic forum I just read that the OIympic restaurant and its historical wall paneling had been removed from Millenium. From that post I also learned that Celebrity apparently also owns the original decorations for the SS Normandie and SS United States dining rooms, which I didn't know before. Were they used on other Celebrity ships before?

 

Apparently (according to the Titanic formum), Celebrity plans to reuse the decorations of those historical dining rooms in the Main Dining rooms of Edge-class. And indeed, on the deckplans of Celebrity Edge, there is a Normandie Dining Room, so I expected to see a Olympic or United States dining room on Apex, but on that deck plan, the restaurant is also called Normandie. Now, I'm not sure if they just reused the deckplan and forgot to change the name of the restaurant or if they indeed will have the same restaurant name on each Edge-class ship.

 

In any case, it would be a shame if those panelings and decorations wouldn't be reused.

 

Anyone knows more about this?

[DCPIV]

Millennium has a corner with Olympic memorabilia, but that's it (at least, as of a couple months ago).

 

 

[Colorado_Ag]

Thanks for the info. We sailed on Millennium in December 2000 when she was brand new and my wife and I were wondering what happened to the paneling, etc.

[mahdnc]

On 1/28/2022 at 3:57 AM, Brandis said:

In a Titanic forum I just read that the OIympic restaurant and its historical wall paneling had been removed from Millenium. From that post I also learned that Celebrity apparently also owns the original decorations for the SS Normandie and SS United States dining rooms, which I didn't know before. Were they used on other Celebrity ships before?

 

When the Millennium class ships were launched, all 4 ships were the first in Celebrity's fleet to have a specialty restaurant.  Not only were the restaurants special because of their Michel Roux cuisine, but each one was decorated using panels/decorations from a famous ocean liner.

 

Millennium's specialty restaurant, The Olympic Room, had the walnut paneling from the Olympic as you noted.

 

Infinity's specialty restaurant, SS Untied States Restaurant, had glass panels from the SS United States.

 

Summit's specialty restaurant, The Normandie Restaurant, had paneling taken from the Normandie.

 

Finally, Constellation's specialty restaurant, Ocean LIners, had artifacts and decoration taken from several ships including paneling from the Ile de France.

 

During a major dry dock to put Solstice class features on each of the four M class ships (aka Solsticization), the specialty restaurants were rebranded and redecorated which included removing the ocean cruise liner theme and decorations.  What a pity.  

 

The photos below were taken during our Millennium Med cruise in Jun 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few photos of Summit's Normandie Restaurant which were taken in Aug 2010:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by mahdnc

[Brandis]

Really a shame that they removed such historical treasures! Really hope they are going to reuse them!

[dkjretired]

The shame is that they closed those restaurants on the M class ships and left us with only Tuscan. Lots of complaints since they did it.

[mrpie90]

3 hours ago, dkjretired said:

The shame is that they closed those restaurants on the M class ships and left us with only Tuscan. Lots of complaints since they did it.

We remember the dinner with wine pairing  in both the Olympic and the S.S United States.

What an Experience.

It was when Michelle Roux had the  influence on the Menu

Never done anything like it since.

[PTC DAWG]

Good info here..I've not sailed M Class...the ceilings seem low to me.  Might be an illusion.  

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

8 hours ago, dkjretired said:

The shame is that they closed those restaurants on the M class ships and left us with only Tuscan. Lots of complaints since they did it.

 

Absolutely.  They were the best restaurants at sea.  Why Celebrity thought Tuscan was an improvement is a complete mystery to me.

[dabear]

We dined in all those specialty restaurants & they were a special treat. Sorry to see them go & hope the artifacts will be used again. Tuscany not an improvement.

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

As an ocean liner enthusiast, I really liked the original specialty restaurants on the M class ships. I had the pleasure of dining in these restaurants on the Millennium, Summit and Constellation. In my opinion, these were much better than the generic Tuscan restaurants currently on these ships. I cruised aboard the Summit last year and much preferred the original Normandie restaurant to the current Tuscan restaurant. There is still a small display of Normandie items (similar to what is pictured above for the Olympic), but this is not the same.

 

Chuck

[CruiseRQA]

Our dinner in the Olympic Room (probably 20 years or so ago) remains the best dinner I have had anywhere on land or sea.   And yes, I have eaten at excellent restaurants across the USA and in Europe.  

 

Still remember the Dover Sole deboned at tableside and my wife's Steak Diane prepared tableside.   In addition to dessert we selected from an after dinner cheese table that made my local specialty cheese ship look sad.   

 

The historic décor added to the ambiance.  

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We really miss these specialties on the M class ships.  I have to think long and hard before I book one of them now.  Usually our cruises are about the ship but sometimes there is an itinerary we want and only an M class offers it.

[zitsky]

 It’s back!  Not really.

 

I came to this thread because Cruisewatch has a picture of Olympic, as if time stands still.  I had to search to learn about it.  I was quite confused why I was seeing it in 2024.