LIVE from the Edge - Alaska Dawes Glacier B2Bs May 24-June 7

[SerraG]

After we chilled out in the Solarium for a bit, we continued exploring the ship.

 

 

We checked out the gym, where people were signing up for future exercise classes.  I was surprised  by how many people were already actually exercising, only a couple of hours after boarding.

We thought it was interesting that the gym had a container of disposable headphones.

 

 

We wandered by The SpaCafe and Juice Bar;  Luminae; The Theater; The Club, where Celebrity hosts most of their gameshow style activities; and Raw on 5, one of the specialty restaurants.   I realize now I should have taken pictures of these locations instead of just their signs, but as I say to my daughter, “You get what you get and don’t throw a fit!”  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is where we first began to really explore the concept of “Form over Function Seating” that I will be returning to again.  

 

 

These large mesh chairs are possibly more uncomfortable than they look.  Did we accidentally sit on a sculpture instead of chairs? If so, I apologize to the artist.

 

Why? Why would someone make a chair that feels so bad? You know those old chaise loungers  with plastic strips that your butt might start to slip between?  This chair felt sort of like that, except with more painful straps placed farther apart. 
 

 

We went through the much discussed dark hallway to the Eden area.

 

 

I thought it was kind of

interesting, but can understand why someone might not like it.  They were playing pretty creepy music in there too. 
 

 

Back to chairs - notice this less-than-functional trapeze style circle-chair, for example.  Beautiful! (But don’t lean back! lol.). I tried to sit in the loop of the circle and discovered that I am not 17 any more when I almost fell out the other side. 

 

 

We had intended to sit in Eden to watch sail away, but Ross was finding the motion in the back of the boat a bit too much for him, so we returned to our room.  
 

As an aside, Ross gets motion sick easily, so he always takes a Bonine (meclazine) right before or as soon we board.  I am not very prone to motion sickness but usually take half a tablet too.  We take one more tablet (or a half) the next day and then we don’t usually need anything more unless the ship gets really rocky.  The trick is that you must take motion sickness medication _before_ you feel sick. If you wait until you don’t feel good, it won’t make you feel better after the fact.  

 

One of the reasons we booked the  Magic Carpet Suite is because of the its over-sized balcony.  We put on our jackets and sat outside on ours for a while. The view was great!

 

 

We took a very brief nap and then headed up to the retreat for “Evening Bites”, which they offer between 5:30-8:30pm every evening.   We were planning to eat a late dinner (around 8:30pm) so we knew we would need some snacks to hold us until dinner.  

 

 

 

 

 

We also wanted to continue our “Try Every Cocktail” challenge so we looked at the drink menu.  

 

 

 

We are starting at the top and going down the each list, so we ordered The Retreat to split, even though we weren’t sure if we would like it.

 

 

(Sorry, we drank quite a bit of it before I remembered to take a picture.)  
 

We were pleasantly surprised.  It came with a cucumber garnish and was very refreshing. (6.5 out of 10)

Edited May 27 by SerraG

[SoberDogLover]

15 hours ago, SerraG said:

 

I was trying to write some of my LIVE review while in the Uber, so I didn't pay a lot of attention until we were very close to the ship.  We pulled into a elipse-shaped roadway with the Edge on our right and the Ovation on our left.

 

I thought we would pull up to the curb in front of the Edge, but instead the driver kept going and pulled around so we were parked in front of the Ovation.  We got out of the car and there was a porter standing near us.  We asked if this was the correct location for the Edge and he said, "Yes."  He was wearing a bright colored vest (neither Ross, nor I can remember the actual color though.) with the word Celebrity printed on it.  He said anyone in a vest like that would be able to help us.  

 

The driver unloaded our luggage from the Uber and the porter loaded them onto his cart.  I had previously printed 3 luggage tags (one for each of our checked luggage) and folded them into strips as instructed.  The porter had me loop the strips around the handle of our luggage and he stapled them.  He then put them on his cart to deliver to the ship.  We kept our backpacks and one carry-on bag that we didn't want to be separated from.  

 

There was a lot of people and it was chaotic.  We walked next to the roadway (on a walkway) towards the top of the ellipse where we could see a building.  This part was obvious because everyone was headed in that direction.  As we got near the top of the circle, representatives from other cruise lines were kind of yelling for their passengers.  "Princess cruises this way!!"  We asked one of them where Celebrity was and they pointed to the building right in front of us at the top of the ellipse.

 

Many people were in line for Celebrity.  We saw a gray sign to the far right that said The Retreat.  We headed there and were greeted by a Celebrity representative who wanted to see our Xpass.  I had both of them pulled up on the app on my phone and showed them to her.  She also told us to make sure we had our passports. but did to require that I show them to her.  After that, we were directed up an escalator where we were directed to join the line for security.  Everyone (not just the Retreat) gets in this line.  It seems long but moved fast.  We had to empty our pockets and put our bags on an x-ray machine, and then walk through a metal detector.

 

At this point, we were directed to get in yet another line to check-in.  I spoke up and said, "We are in the Retreat.  Is this the correct line?"  The man said, "Oh, no.  Wait here."  So we waited by him for a bit and then a woman came and got us and another couple who had joined us in the mean time.  The woman led us behind a rope to a kiosk and then asked us for our passports and Xpasses.  She took our pictures, gave us our sea pass cards told us we would not need our passports again so we could put them away.   Then she led us to the gangway.  We had to show our new Seapass cards to someone and he "beeped" us through and onto the ship.  Yay!

What time was your boarding? We are in The Retreat on the 6/14. Wondering if we should get there early or a bit later.

Edited May 27 by SoberDogLover

[SerraG]

We found some nice seats in the balcony for tonight’s show. 
 

Tonight’s show was a comedian named Frances Dilorinzo.  
 

 

The Cruise Director, Dominic, spoke first.   He seemed really upbeat and slightly self-deprecating.  

 

He introduced the naturalist, Celia Garland, who was outstanding.

 

Celia gave a brief talk about Alaskan wildlife and glaciers.  She stressed that we should dress in layers and make sure we got out there and explore even if it was rainy and cold because the weather might not improve.  She is going to give two longer talks tomorrow morning. 

 

Frances Dilorinzo was worth watching, but seemed both a little too risqué for this “Family Friendly” labeled show, and also too constrained by it.  She is supposed to do an “Adults Only” show later in the cruise and I will be curious to see if her act improves when she has a bit more freedom. 

 

After the show, we stopped by The Club for the gameshow, The Challenge.  It was somewhat similar to Jeopardy except each side of the room was led by a captain.  Once the captain was asked a question, he would take suggestions from his side of the room.  If he got the answer correct, that side got points.  If he got the answer incorrect, the opposite side got a turn to answer for half credit.

 

(Sorry, there is a badly placed pillar in the middle of The Club, so all the photos I take in here look like they have a giant rectangle running through the middle of them.)

 

The Challenge game was especially fun because our team captain was _amazing_.  He would run around the room getting suggestions for the answers and was just generally a hoot!  lol.

 

[Very Mild Rant:  I’m kind of annoyed by imprecise trivia questions and this game had a couple of them.   For example, one of the questions was, “How many planets can be seen without a telescope?”  The answer was “Five Planets.  (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn)”  Anyone else see an issue with that?  The biggie for me is that we can see six planets if you count Earth.  In addition, Uranus is also technically visible for someone with very good vision in a very dark sky.    I know.  I know. Trivia is a game and is just for fun, but still… ]

Edited May 27 by SerraG

[SerraG]

7 hours ago, SoberDogLover said:

What time was your boarding? We are in The Retreat on the 6/14. Wondering if we should get there early or a bit later.

 

 

If you are in The Retreat, you do not need to abide by the time you are given.  We left our hotel around 11:00 am and pulled up to the curb at the pier around 11:50am.  We were on board by 12:15 pm.

 

Hope that helps!

 

[SerraG]

 

We went back to Luminae for our Embarkation dinner.   We were asked if we wanted to be seated with Ciera (spelling?)  the same server that we had for lunch.   When we said, “Yes,” we were brought to a lovely window table in her section.

 

 

Day 2 Luminae menu:

 

 

 

The “Try Them All” cocktail of the evening was a Spicy Passion (Vodka, Passion Fruit Jalapeño and Mint)

 

 

 

I think this drink would be too spicy for many people, but we loved it.  One of our favorites so far.  Somewhat sweet, fruity and herby.   (Rating 8.5 / 10)  We would definitely order this one again.

 

We were offered a selection of breads.  I always get the Lavash and Ross mixes it up.  I like the very crispy texture of the lavash. 

 

 

 

Next we were presented with an amuse bouche which was a small pastry puff filled with goat cheese

 

I like goat cheese, which is both rich and a little sour, and thought it was a very tasty way to start the meal.

 

Ross ordered the duck consommé with shaved mushrooms and edamame.

 

 

This was a nice light appetizer.  The “duck” is actually contained in one little dumpling floating in the rich, salty comsommé.   Good, but not outstanding. The flavor was a little plain.  

 

I had the chicken liver custard with pickled turnips and sourdough toast.

 

 

Let me preface this by saying that you had _really_ like liver if you order this one.  Ross took a bite and described it as, “Absolutely repulsive!”  I liked it well enough though.  Food is subjective, right? lol.

 

I had had this liver custard on another Celebrity ship and loved it, but it was just okay tonight.  The texture was too runny and not spreadable enough for the toast.  In addition, this version didn’t seem salty enough for my palate.

 

For my main, I had the Citrus and Chili Braised Short Ribs with Pickled Chilis and Steamed Rice Buns.

 

 

Celebrity generally does slow cooked cuts of meat really well and the short ribs were no exception.  The ribs were extremely tender with a deep beefy flavor.  I would order this again.

 

Pan Seared Tuna with Tomato Tartar Sauce and Caviar on a Cauliflower Mash .

 

 

The tuna was too done and dry for our tastes.  Just mediocre.  The Tomato Tartar sauce and Caviar was the best part.

 

 

I am slightly disappointed in the disparity between the menu descriptions and the actual items.  I partly ordered this because I thought the yuzu flavor would be great in a cheesecake.  But this was… just a rectangle of cheesecake with a side of blueberry sauce.  Nothing tasted like thyme or yuzu to me.

 

 

This was fantastic.  The coconut cremeaux tasted strongly of coconut.  The “snow” was a sweet finely shaved ice.  The lime sorbet was perfectly tart.  Excellent!

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

I see absolutely nothing appealing or appetizing about the night 2 menu. Quite disappointing. I’m perusing the app for other night 2 dining options. 

[Stem to Stern]

24 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I see absolutely nothing appealing or appetizing about the night 2 menu. Quite disappointing. I’m perusing the app for other night 2 dining options. 

I can see your point if MDR menu is not an option in E-class Luminae.

On Summit we ordered from all three menus including Blu.

I would try the corn soup since Abby raved about it on Beyond last week.

The short rib and coconut dessert sound promising.

i wonder what the theme was in OVC tonight?😅

Edited May 28 by Stem to Stern

[Georgia_Peaches]

32 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

I can see your point if MDR menu is not an option in E-class Luminae.

On Summit we ordered from all three menus including Blu.

I would try the corn soup since Abby raved about it on Beyond last week.

The short rib and coconut dessert sound promising.

i wonder what the theme was in OVC tonight?😅

Sadly, the MDR menu is not an option…as you said. But I think we will try one of the MDRs. The offerings are much more to my liking, not to mention the increased variety. Not sure what’s up with grilled octopus but it seems to be popular across all dining venues on our sailing 🤮. 

[SerraG]

After dinner we walked around to ship to see what there was to do.

 

We passed by Cafe al Bacio.  We were too full to get a treat, but I did snap this photo of the display case.

 

 

There was a show going on at the martini bar so we stopped to watch.

 

 

Silent Disco was going on so we got some headphones and listened in for a bit.  I love it when a really good song is on and everyone is singing out loud.

 

 

 

 

Ross got a photo of me dancing in my chair to Staying Alive while he was ordering us a martini.

 

I had wanted a Lavender Lemon Drop martini, but they were out of lavender syrup so they just made it without the lavender.   Unsurprisingly, it really seemed to be missing something.

 

 

Seeking a little more laid back venue, we made our way to Eden and found some nice live music.  Solo guitarist Roberta was doing some really nice covers of familiar songs.  We really liked her.

 

 

We also ordered a Forbidden cocktail from the Eden menu.  It was $3 upcharge (above the premium package).

 

 

 

It was a little strange.  The taste was good, but we agreed that the apple butter created a slightly unpleasant texture.  I don’t think we would order this again. [Cocktail rating: 4.5/10]

 

When Roberta, the guitarist , finished her set, we headed to bed.

[SerraG]

Celebrity Today and Daily Schedule for Day 1 - Seattle, Washington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RK-NC]

10 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

But I think we will try one of the MDRs. The offerings are much more to my liking, not to mention the increased variety.

 

We were on Beyond Retreat 10N in April and only had dinner in Luminae one night. Enjoyed the MDRs so much more in every way for dinner. We did enjoy Luminae for breakfast several mornings (and lunch on embarkation day...though disappointed with the lobster roll).

 

OP, thanks for sharing, enjoy Alaska 🗻

[hcat]

13 hours ago, SerraG said:

 

We went back to Luminae for our Embarkation dinner.   We were asked if we wanted to be seated with Ciera (spelling?)  the same server that we had for lunch.   When we said, “Yes,” we were brought to a lovely window table in her section.

 

 

Day 2 Luminae menu:

 

 

 

The “Try Them All” cocktail of the evening was a Spicy Passion (Vodka, Passion Fruit Jalapeño and Mint)

 

 

 

I think this drink would be too spicy for many people, but we loved it.  One of our favorites so far.  Somewhat sweet, fruity and herby.   (Rating 8.5 / 10)  We would definitely order this one again.

 

We were offered a selection of breads.  I always get the Lavash and Ross mixes it up.  I like the very crispy texture of the lavash. 

 

 

 

Next we were presented with an amuse bouche which was a small pastry puff filled with goat cheese

 

I like goat cheese, which is both rich and a little sour, and thought it was a very tasty way to start the meal.

 

Ross ordered the duck consommé with shaved mushrooms and edamame.

 

 

This was a nice light appetizer.  The “duck” is actually contained in one little dumpling floating in the rich, salty comsommé.   Good, but not outstanding. The flavor was a little plain.  

 

I had the chicken liver custard with pickled turnips and sourdough toast.

 

 

Let me preface this by saying that you had _really_ like liver if you order this one.  Ross took a bite and described it as, “Absolutely repulsive!”  I liked it well enough though.  Food is subjective, right? lol.

 

I had had this liver custard on another Celebrity ship and loved it, but it was just okay tonight.  The texture was too runny and not spreadable enough for the toast.  In addition, this version didn’t seem salty enough for my palate.

 

For my main, I had the Citrus and Chili Braised Short Ribs with Pickled Chilis and Steamed Rice Buns.

 

 

Celebrity generally does slow cooked cuts of meat really well and the short ribs were no exception.  The ribs were extremely tender with a deep beefy flavor.  I would order this again.

 

Pan Seared Tuna with Tomato Tartar Sauce and Caviar on a Cauliflower Mash .

 

 

The tuna was too done and dry for our tastes.  Just mediocre.  The Tomato Tartar sauce and Caviar was the best part.

 

 

I am slightly disappointed in the disparity between the menu descriptions and the actual items.  I partly ordered this because I thought the yuzu flavor would be great in a cheesecake.  But this was… just a rectangle of cheesecake with a side of blueberry sauce.  Nothing tasted like thyme or yuzu to me.

 

 

This was fantastic.  The coconut cremeaux tasted strongly of coconut.  The “snow” was a sweet finely shaved ice.  The lime sorbet was perfectly tart.  Excellent!

 

Luminae food so far  is not looking appetizing.  We were assigned there on BEYOND  and left for other venues!  Just did not live up to the hype! Maybe u can try BLU if space is available!

 

Enjoying your very down to earth review!

Edited May 28 by hcat

[kcmo74]

On 5/25/2024 at 11:24 AM, SerraG said:

 

Jack Stack is very good.  Not quite as good as my Dad's homemade ribs, but Jack Stack is consistent and there is one close to our house.  🙂

Slaps, Char Bar, and Joe's are my top 3, Meat Mitch is also close to is so we end up there a lot. Jack Stack is good, they come to the café at my work every Thursday so I have it fairly often. We are heading to Alaska for our 2nd time in 2 weeks but on Royal out of Vancouver, leaving out of Wichita (where we are originally from) after dropping our 6 year old with Gma and Gpa for the week. Excited to see how your trip goes.

[Gotten]

On 5/26/2024 at 8:21 PM, SerraG said:

 

That is a bummer!  We saw someone in a Mahomes shirt last night and were so excited.  Ross walked up and said, "Oh!  Are you from Kansas City?"  The guy said, "No."  Ross said, "Oh, I just thought because of your shirt..” and pointed at it.  The guy just shook his head no.  It was like he didn't realize he had on a Kansas City shirt.  Alrighty then! lol. 

We'll be wearing Chiefs gear for sure 👍

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 5/26/2024 at 9:21 PM, SerraG said:

 

That is a bummer!  We saw someone in a Mahomes shirt last night and were so excited.  Ross walked up and said, "Oh!  Are you from Kansas City?"  The guy said, "No."  Ross said, "Oh, I just thought because of your shirt..” and pointed at it.  The guy just shook his head no.  It was like he didn't realize he had on a Kansas City shirt.  Alrighty then! lol. 

Or he likes the Chiefs or Mahomes but is from somewhere else. I know plenty of people not from Kansas City who have Chiefs and/or Mahomes stuff. Doesn't mean that's where they're from.

[SerraG]

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Or he likes the Chiefs or Mahomes but is from somewhere else. I know plenty of people not from Kansas City who have Chiefs and/or Mahomes stuff. Doesn't mean that's where they're from

Oh definitely! I just don’t think he even remembered he had his Mahomes shirt on because he seemed really confused by our comments.  lol. 

Edited May 28 by SerraG

[SerraG]

2 hours ago, kcmo74 said:

Slaps, Char Bar, and Joe's are my top 3, Meat Mitch is also close to is so we end up there a lot. Jack Stack is good, they come to the café at my work every Thursday so I have it fairly often. We are heading to Alaska for our 2nd time in 2 weeks but on Royal out of Vancouver, leaving out of Wichita (where we are originally from) after dropping our 6 year old with Gma and Gpa for the week. Excited to see how your trip goes.

We like Joe’s a lot too and really want to try Slaps! 

[SerraG]

Celebrity Today and Daily Schedule for Day 2 - Seattle, Washington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mac_tlc]

23 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I see absolutely nothing appealing or appetizing about the night 2 menu. Quite disappointing. I’m perusing the app for other night 2 dining options. 

The short ribs is one of our favorite Luminae dishes of the entire week. That --- and a Bourbon and Peaches -- and I'm all set. 

[SerraG]

For breakfast, we went to Cafe al Bacio.

 

 

Ross ordered a cappuccino

 

 

And I ordered a latte.  After a minute or two, I looked over at Ross’s cup and saw a very obvious lipstick stain on the rim.  I pointed it to him and he asked “Did you take a drink of my cappuccino?”

 

“No, sorry.  I don’t think so.”

 

I reviewed the photo I had taken before we had drunk from either of our cups.  The lipstick stain was there before either of us had taken a sip.  Oh no.  That seems so gross.

 

We flagged our server down. (No small feat in the extremely busy cafe.)  She was sufficiently horrified on our behalf and quickly took the drink away and replaced it with a fresh one.  

 

We chatted for a bit until Eden Cafe opened, which we wanted to try out for lunch.    Eden is such a great space!

 

 

 

There are salads and desserts on a self-service bar in the cafe area. 

 

 

If you want a sandwich, you have to order it from a separate counter.

 

Ross got a Spinach Roquefort Salad with craisins which was delicious. I got a Chicken & Ancient Grain Salad which was good, although it was supposed to come with farro and barley and I’m pretty sure it only had barley.

 

Ross also ordered a Prime Rib Sandwich ($11 up-charge) because I had read that it was just fabulous.

 

 

It was _not_ fabulous..  The meat was well done and therefore dry, but the biggest sin in my book was that they had almost certainly spread Miracle Whip on the roll.  The Miracle Whip contrasted poorly with the salty taste of the meat.  Why wouldn’t you use some sort of horseradish aioli, even just plain mayonnaise as the spread?  Ross said he wouldn’t eat it again even if it was free.  

 

He went back and got a Reuben Panini (free), along with a pecan chocolate chip cookie and a slice of chocolate cake.

 

 

The panini was by far the better sandwich.   It was really creamy and salty .  If you like a Reuben, this would be a great choice.   The cake was average and the cookie was slightly above average.  It had a pleasant chewy-crispy texture and I really appreciated the sprinkled pecans on the top.

 

Around this time, I discovered that my WhatsApp service had finally been restored. YAY!

 

The lovely guitarist, Roberta, was bock in Eden to play some more music which was lovely too.

 

In chair testing news, Ross reports that this one would be a good chair to make someone sit in while you interrogate them for a suspected crime.

 

 

And this is the one you should choose if you just want to slide right back out and onto the floor.

 

 

We made our way to the upper floor of Eden for a Cruise Critic meetup with @relay for life and another member.  Our roll call wasn’t super active, so I wasn’t too surprised that it was a small gathering, but those of us who made it had fun.  RelayForLife was a wealth of info about Alaska and cruising in general.

 

Later we joined an origami activity which was held in Eden.  It was okay.  The instructor tried to teach us how to make a simple hat and bird, but she struggled to explain what she was doing and people had trouble seeing her tiny square of paper.

 

We ordered a Planter from Eden’s cocktail menu.

 

 

The garnishes were not as described, but it was sweet and fresh tasting with a subtle spice element.  It might have been better with the lime that was in the photo, but we would order this again.  [Cocktail Rating: 7/10]

 

We then went to the club and played some 80’s Music Trivia (we were terrible) and regular trivia (better at that, but didn’t win).   The club was crowded, and many groups were reserving seats so we ended up on the top back.  Many people didn’t have chairs.   I much prefer the Sky Lounge (not on E class ships) for trivia.  Note:  The cicada is _not_ the loudest animal.  lol.

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Appreciate the heads up about the sandwiches in Eden!  We also really enjoy the Eden lounge and look forward to getting back there in a few days. 😊
 

How have you been enjoying the ports?  And have you done any excursions?

[SerraG]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

How have you been enjoying the ports?  And have you done any excursions?

 

Yes!  Ketchikan was sooo rainy, but we had a nice time walking around on our own and visiting a museum.  In Juneau, we did a walking food tour which was very fun.  We had a great group.  Today, in Skagway we took the White Pass Railway, which I would consider a "Don't Miss" activity!

[SerraG]

 

 

We were feeling a bit peckish so we went to The Retreat Lounge for afternoon tea.

 

 

They had a nice spread of snacks as usual.  Ross was particularly excited to see his favorite lemon tarts!

 

 

 

 

 

Next we headed to the gym to try to try to burn off the calories from some of those aforementioned snacks.  I was happy to see that they had two Pelotons available, cause that’s my jam.

 

 

While I was biking, I saw another Celebrity ship off in the distance, although I’m not sure which one.

 

Back to the room to get cleaned up and then it was time for the show!  It was evening chic night so I tried to wear something extra sparkly!  The Retreat gets reserved seating which was nice, so we were able to sit in the center of the balcony.

 

 

Captain Matt spoke for a bit.

 

 

 

The show tonight was called Feel the Funk.

 

 

The dancers had an amazing amount of energy and one of the female singers, in particular, was outstanding.

 

 

But… wow… This was not our kind of music.  It was 70’s style funk and discos and we only recognized a couple of the songs.    If you like that, then this show is for you!   🙂

 

Next we hit The Club for the “Yes! No!” Game Show.  In this game, the host banters with the contestant sitting in the hot seat.  The contestant has to last 3 minutes without saying “Yes” or “No”.  They must maintain a conversation.  Unbelievably, no one made it 3 minutes!  The host even tried to go easy on the last couple of people  so someone, _anyone_, might win, but it was not to be.

 

 

 

Edited May 29 by SerraG

[SerraG]

 

We were back at Luminae for dinner again tonight.   This was our second night arriving around 8:40pm, and we have found it to be uncrowded at that time.  Our server said it was much busier earlier.  We were given another great window seat.

 

 

 

 

We tried to order an Ultraviolet Cocktail, but were told that one of the ingredients (Creme de Violette) was unavailable  so it could not be made.  We ordered a Wondering Scotsman instead.

 

 

This was okay, but the scotch rinse made it taste a bit too strongly of alcohol for us.  I can see how someone else, who likes less sweet and less flavored drinks, might like this quite a bit.

 

For our amuse bouche, Ciera brought us a Burrata Foam with Tomato Relish and Pesto.

 

 

It was very tasty!  The tomato relish was sweet-tart and the pesto was rich. We loved this.

 

Ross had the Slow Poached Lobster with two types of cauliflower and a lobster beurre blanc for his appetizer

 

This was probably the star of the night.  The lobster was sweet.  The sauce was creamy. Perfection.

 

I had the Roasted Squab with Pearly Barley Risotto.

 

I liked the squab.  It was tender and cooked well.  The barley had a pleasant chewiness to it.  The brown sauce was okay.   A slightly too-salty brown sauce.

 

Ross’s main was Fennel Crusted Lamb Loin with Carrot Puree.

 

 

Ross liked the lamb a lot.  It was seasoned and cooked well, but he but felt that there wasn’t nearly enough of the puree.

 

I had the Cauliflower Steak with Curried Yogurt.

 

 

I had this before and loved it, partly because the curry sauce is so good.  This time however, I was not served a big thick slab of grilled cauliflower like I was expecting.  It was just a handful of florets.  Also it was supposed to be served with pine nuts and a gremolata, which were no where to be found.  The nuts, in particular, are a critical component of a vegetarian dish and I was bummed they left them off.

 

For dessert, Ross had the Carrot Celebration

 

 

It was a bit more savory than Ross wanted in a dessert.  It contained fried carrots on top of a few mildly-sweet cream cheese puffs and (maybe?) some carrot puree. I asked, “What is that bread-like substance?”  Ross said, “It’s just bread.”  I think this was supposed to be a riff on carrot cake, but it was a bit strange.

 

I ordered the Cheese plate, which was adequate.  I had to special request crackers.  It seems strange to serve a wedge of brie or blue cheese without crackers.  

 

 

 

After dinner, we went back to Eden to listen to some nice music.

 

 

 

We tried an Earth Cocktail.

 

This one looked like its photo!  It tasted very "earthy", which is to say, not great. lol.  We would not order this one again.   [Cocktail Rating: 4/10]

 

Goodnight!

 

Edited May 29 by SerraG

[ScottC4746]

Thank you for posting the photos of the schedules.  That is really disappointing there is no sail away nor is there any big production show on the first night.

Did they have any traditional big production shows?  I hope this is just either because of the first week, or the Alaska destination and not this is the direction Celebrity is heading.

We leave Friday 31 May and hopefully the schedule will be a bit different.  Based on the app I am seeing so far, not much.