Specialty restaurant wine pairing ??

[deb18]

Hi. We have a group wanting to get together for a dinner at the SS United States with the wine pairing. A couple of people cannot drink wine, but would like to go as well. How does this work. thanks deb

[CStorm]

I believe everyone at your table has to order from either the wine pairing menu or the other "regular" menu. Much the same in many restaurants that offer tasting menus.

[surething]

Are the glasses of wine short pours? I enjoy a glass of good wine with great food and would like to experience the wine paring, but I'm wondering if I'll need to be rolled back to my room after the dinner? I enjoyed dinner the last time I ate at the specialty restaurant and I'm looking forward to going again. It really was a wonderful experience.

 

Barbara

[DrKoob]

We did the wine pairing dinner at the United States in June with five other CC friends. The dinner was spectacular. As to the wine pairings, they were full glasses. And everyone at the table (we were in the wine cellar) had to do the same dinner.

 

To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the pairings. We love wine but I didn't really like the choices. Two of the five wines (especially the port) were very good but the whites and the red that came with two of the courses were not my cup of tea. We felt we could have done better pairing our wine ourselves or buying a really good bottle. Only problem is that if you want the menu (which was OUTSTANDING) you have to buy the pairing.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with this dinner or any dinner you have in the United States. If you go, please tell Wilhem and Christian that the Bellomo's say hello. We have eaten in the United States 10 times in the last four years. It is one of our favorite restaraunts.

 

And if you haven't been there before, make sure and have the goat cheese souffle and the chocolate souffle if it is on the menu. Both are to die for.

[nu2sea]

This mmust vary from ship to ship, as I had the wine pairing dinner on the Constellation in May and my husband did not without any problem.

As for the amount of wine, I was offered seconds, but was not pressed to drink all that was poured.

I loved it.

Susan

[DrKoob]

This mmust vary from ship to ship, as I had the wine pairing dinner on the Constellation in May and my husband did not without any problem.

 

I think it all depends on the night you go. I have found that they are willing to bend the rules for you if they aren't that busy but we went once on Valentine's Day and there were NO CHANGES allowed.

[LeftcoastBC]

but Doc..you and your lovely wife sometimes go there and stay all night...they are likely just adding a room charge upsell fee....:D

 

We have found the wine pairings to be acceptable but both of us imbibed so can't comment on the billing/no drinking question...

[surething]

We are going on the Constellation in October. Did you call to make advance reservations or just booked when you got on the ship? On our first cruise (we weren't CC members yet and couldn't do the advanced booking) we booked when we just got on the ship. I know I'm making this way to hard on myself but I'm trying to pick the perfect night, not a formal night, not a night that we are in a port late, and not a night before we have an early morning excursion. I always tend to over think everything instead of just going with the flow. We didn't do a wine pairing then - not sure it was offered - so this will be something new for us. Was the chocolate souffle one of the dessert choices? We did have the goat cheese souffle and are still talking about it . (Ever notice how much easier it is to enjoy something when you don't know the fat and calories?)

 

Barbara

[DrKoob]

What! There are calories in the food on cruise ships? Our TA told us that Celebrity Cruiseline food has no calories. You mean that isn't true.

 

And yes, chocolate souffle is often (but not always) one of the dessert choices.

 

I agree, it is possible to worry too much about this kind of stuff, but that is half the fun of cruising. If you want to make an early reservation, you can always guess about formal nights (usually the first sea day) and long shore excursion days but you can make it and always change it once you are on board. We have made reservations both ways. We made them in advance when we wanted to eat there on Valentine's Day and when we wanted to reserve the wine cellar.

[surething]

What is the wine cellar? How does it differ from just the wine pairing? I don't remember ever seeing the wine cellar before.

 

Thank you,

Barbara

[DrKoob]

What is the wine cellar? How does it differ from just the wine pairing? I don't remember ever seeing the wine cellar before.

 

Thank you,

Barbara

 

Barbara,

 

Just across from the check-in desk in the United States is the wine cellar. It is a small room which holds a single table. Often it is reserved for ship's officers to entertain but if you get lucky (and have a party of six or seven in our case--the maximum) you can reserve it. Our last meal there was in June and we were in the cellar (also known as the wine room) and we were seated at 6:30 and left the US at 11:30. What a meal.

[surething]

Sorry to be so dense, but was it the same menu as in the specialty restaurant or was the service even better (not sure that what I thought was perfect service could be improved - we were wowed)? Is it the same price as the specialty restaurant?

 

Barbara

[DrKoob]

The wine pairing menu had items that were on the main menu. The difference was that you only had a choice between two of everything. The goat cheese souffle was on it. But to give you an example, for your entree you only had the choice of rack of lamb or the fish of the day.

 

Some of our party wanted the Steak Diane and they were allowed to order it.

 

As to the service, I agree, it could not be any better. It was the same great service we had received on all our earlier visits.

 

The price, of course is a little higher. You get wine with dinner.

[deb18]

Thank you one and all. I can't wait. deb