Celebrity Secrets they usually don't tell you about

[HAM]

you can have shrimp cocktail, salmon and baked potato any night in the dining room

They also serve NY Strip Steak any night or every night.

[tuggers]

:) It's not a 'cafeteria'. it's a buffet! I've never heard it referred to as a cafeteria until roger said that on the thread about eating all his meals in his suite. It brings back memories of high school! Can we just go back to buffet?

It sounds so much better IMO!

[FAR_girl]

Thanks to you guys I'm going to be even more spoiled on my Oct. Galaxy sailing than I was on my last one. I was all for writting in what I wanted on my breakfast order form. After the first day, when my bacon arrived it was a mixed bag -- some still limp, some quite fatty. So after that I specified "crisp" and that's what I got. Also wrote in a Belgian waffle with whipped cream. One day it did not arrive with the rest of the breakfast order, but only because the waffle station hadn't opened up yet. My lovely butler delivered the waffle seperately as soon as he could get one!

 

Oh, and our table at dinner got shrimp cocktail when it wasn't on the menu, extra soup, I think I had "surf and turf" (steak and lobster) one night, a birthday cake in addition to regular deserts, etc.

 

I've now learned that I can now get crackers and cheese in place of the scary canapes and have chocolate deserts delivered to the room around midnight. Now if anyone can tell me how to NOT get the baked alaska -- the waiters always look horrified when I don't want baked alaska and want something that was on that night's menu.

[pjgavaghan]

, etc.

 

I've now learned that I can have chocolate deserts delivered to the room around midnight.

 

 

How do you get the chocolate deserts delivered?

[CaribbeanBound]

You're right about the baked Alaska. After it's on parade, the waiter's feelings get hurt when you ask "what else is for desert?"

[hajekfam]

I am slightly lactose intolerant and ice cream really sets it off. So I just mention that I can't have ice cream - allergic - and the waiter is very quick to bring me the menu with a smile so that I can select my desert.

[dublin]

pjgavaghan

 

Chocolate at midnight - what a delightful idea.

[FAR_girl]

pjgavaghan: I picked up this tip from Suzziecruise. I may try to pre-order deserts by checking the dining room menu in advance and leaving a note for my butler around the time he'd drop off tea things or canapes.

 

On our honeymoon Oct. 2002, Mecury, we were joking with the waiter about how dinner had filled us up and that we could never finish dessert. That what we needed was a middle of night chocolate fix. He knew by the second night that we were major chocolateholics and the chocolate chip cookies were aweful, as mentioned before in other posts, so the waiter had 2 extra chocolate desserts sent to our room every night for the rest of the cruise. They were right there when we got back to our room. Even our cabin steward knew about the chocolate, so he left us extra chocolate mints and a bag of them at the end of the cruise.

[BCHappyGal]

When we were on the Infinity in May the T-pool was free to all but adults only.

 

We could buy a pass for the Spa. As I had my Grandkids along knew I would not have time for spa activities so did not pay too much attention to details on the cost or what the pass allowed.

[Jillc2]

I was scanning this board and it was mentioned that Zenith is going into dry dock.....Anyone know when? We are sailing on Oct 23rd and it would be nice to know she's all fresh and refurbed.

[szdiver]

On Summit, I wanted something plain - spagetti, and they let me order from the kids menu. It was great.

[Dancing Gal]

no one mentioned this, but the omelette station and pasta station are very accommodating as well.

 

I request double vegetables and just enough egg white to hold it together...gives me the protein and veg I need in the morning and saves room for a fruit, sausage, etc.

 

Pasta - I request "one-quarter" of what you are serving to everyone...just enough to taste and enjoy and save room for other treats.

[emd1010]

Just returned from Galaxy in the Mediterranean. Maybe obvious but I found the internet charges and especially email charges very expensive. There are loads of internet cafes in all the ports for a fraction of the cost and very easy to use. Also, Celebrity sells bottles of water as you are getting off the ship - also very expensive. Only made that mistake once. At dinner, I usually liked one or more of the appetizers but rarely cared for the soups. I frequently ordered another appetizer in place of the soup course - never a problem. Our waiter also brought a big plate of bleu cheese every night for the table for the salad course - all of us shared a little for the salad and it was a great improvement. Use the sommelier - we found ours very knowledgeable and she made great recommendations. Afternoon cookies at the Cova Cafe were outstanding. The sushi bar was also great.

[tuggers]

Just to get this straight - how exactly did you get the deserts in your cabin at night? I would really like to get in on that on Galaxy 9/17. Hints appreciated, heck, I really need a blueprint! LOL! Lay it out for me!

[cruisencruise]

Hot chocolate lovers!!!

My DH says the best hot chocolate he's ever had is in the Cova Cafe- chocolatey and creamy.

 

Almond croissants and other danishes for breakfast in Cova Cafe.

 

And my first ship board drink on the Galaxy in 10/03 was a frozen decafe cappucino drizzled with chocolate syrup. Delicioso!!!!!

 

Drink a lot of soda?? Do purchase a soda card in the Cova Cafe after boarding.

 

Michaels Club is a nice quiet spot for a nightcap late at night and sometimes there are no cigar smokers in there.

 

-Anna

[Dancing Gal]

tuggers

you can order whatever you want from the dinner menu during the dining room hours...just order the desserts you would like. You can request the delivery later - but be sure to order/reserve during dining hours.

 

If you have a butler, you should be able to request through him (her).

 

 

 

Cova hot chocolate is good, but I think they make it with powdered Nestle and use whole milk.

 

Soup/appetizers: I often order two appetizers and skip the soup OR I'll order the salad as entree with salmon on top! salmon is another always available option at dinner (like chicken, strip steak, mashed or baked potatoes).

[nealberk]

Just returned from Galaxy in the Mediterranean. Maybe obvious but I found the internet charges and especially email charges very expensive. There are loads of internet cafes in all the ports for a fraction of the cost and very easy to use.

The secret to the internet on ship is to have all your messages prebuilt before connecting (use cut and paste with word or wordpad) Ditto for the downloads.

 

But overall, you are right. Ship charges are high, connections are slow, and drop outs are legendary!

[nsshel]

Does anyone know if Soymilk is available? Thought that it might be a possibility since they seem to have lactaid.

[dmarch@islc.net]

When they serve casual tea in the alternative restaurant every afternoon. Look in the cabinets below the dessert table, it's refrigerated. They have regular milks there, maybe yours too.

 

Maybe, I don't know. But look, I quoted myself....how cool is that?

[linda47]

I've had a lot of fun reading all these posts. Thanks so much for all the hints. I don't think I have any to offer. But, I do have a question. Do you pay for the croissants and hot chocolate at the Cova Cafe? You would think I would know this after 4 Celebrity cruises, but I don't.

[cruisinjudy]

Neal, on Mercury, as far as I could tell, you could not use Word for free, so you had to compose your email while the clock was ticking. It was great on Infinity using Word for free to compose.

[tuggers]

In the cova you pay for coffees, hot chocolate, etc, but the pastries and cookies are free! Yumm!

 

I have never tried them on any of my X cruises, but I am making it a promise to myself to try 2 new things on each cruise. On this cruise it is the pastries at the cova and the tpool!

[cat616]

Linda,

 

Yes you pay for them. The stuff they have is tasty and tempting. I don't remember pricing, but when you are on vacation you should treat yourself.

 

My tip - give the cafe a try. For that matter if you have never used any particular facility on board give it a try. I know it is not possible to try every thing on one cruise but I try out at least one new thing every cruise. My next cruise I want to try out the exercise facilities or the hot tub or afternoon tea in the dining room or a movie in the theatre or the Martini Bar or ....... - Oh my, so much to do, so little time

 

Cindy

[cruisencruise]

I've had a lot of fun reading all these posts. Thanks so much for all the hints. I don't think I have any to offer. But, I do have a question. Do you pay for the croissants and hot chocolate at the Cova Cafe? You would think I would know this after 4 Celebrity cruises, but I don't.

I've been on 3 Zenith, 1 Galaxy cruise and even I don't know everything on a Celebrity cruise. Things get changed and updated all the time. I also have fun reading the boards. I always learn something new and I appreciate all the input everyone gives - good or bad. We are looking forward to discovering what secrets the Constellation and the Infinity may have.

 

Croissants free in the Cova Cafe - they are available breakfast time until 10AM-Hot Chocolate- Not free-there's a charge. This was on the Zenith- We didn't do this on the Galaxy- didn't know about it at the time- could be different on other ships.

 

I also remember another heads up- if you are a martini drinker or want to be - they have martini tastings on some days-(look for it on the daily schedule) For a small fee (sorry can't remember, someone help me here, was it 5.00? :confused: ) you can taste 5 mini-martinis. I DO remember I couldn't walk straight afterwards. an inexpensive way to be a little tipsy for a few hours. ;)

 

Captain's Club Members got free invites to wine tastings, 5.00 match plays in the casino, a free mini spa-type service with purchase of a bigger spa service, free party- I know there are some other things-anyone??)

 

-Anna

[tuggers]

cat16,

 

Are you sure about paying for pastries? I've been on several X ships and the drinks were a charge but the goodies were free. Last cruise was June this year and it was still the same then.

 

cruisencruise,

 

I've paid 3 prices for Martini tastings: $5. $7.95 and $10. I can't remember which ship was the $5 but I think it was Zenith. I know Horizon was $10. Good value even at $10.