Afternoon Tea?

[JennAngel9]

Quick question-- Does Celebrity serve afternoon tea on days the ship is in port? If it matters, we will be sailing on the Century and will be in a sky suite. I understand you can get afternoon tea sent to your room-- but is it a good tea with warm scones & the full array of tea delights?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Oh, also, if you happen to be reading this, when we get on the ship, is it fastest to make specialty dining restaurants by contacting the butler/concierge or going directly to a location on the ship? As we are not previous X cruisers, we cannot make our Muranos reservations in advance.

[Leela]

Quick question-- Does Celebrity serve afternoon tea on days the ship is in port?

Tea is served every day. There are tea snacks set up on the buffet in the cafe' area, one day there is an 'elegant tea' in one of the restaurants with white glove service and a greater array of treats, and a cart of tea and treats are wheeled through the suites in the afternoon.

 

If it matters, we will be sailing on the Century and will be in a sky suite. I understand you can get afternoon tea sent to your room-- but is it a good tea with warm scones & the full array of tea delights?

The tea is Bigelow brand individually foil-wrapped tea bags. They present a small variety in a little wooden chest, including peppermint, Earl Grey, green, English Breakfast, and Darjeeling. The tea delights are varied, and included savory sandwiches, tomato/cucumber sandwiches, egg salad (my particular favorite), and sweets ranging from cookies to miniature eclaires and my favorite, butter tarts filled with custard and topped with fresh fruit. These things are available on the buffet in the cafe'. For the suites, the butler wheels a two-level cart down the hall and knocks on your door. If you are there, you can pick your teas and treats. Unfortunately, there are no scones -- I've only seen scones at the sit-down 'elegant tea.' If you aren't in your suite when the butler comes by, he'll leave a plate (nicely covered with a napkin) of a selection of small sandwiches and sweet treats.

 

when we get on the ship, is it fastest to make specialty dining restaurants by contacting the butler/concierge or going directly to a location on the ship? As we are not previous X cruisers, we cannot make our Muranos reservations in advance.

I find it to be fastest to walk right down to Murano as soon as possible and do it there. My parents' butler on the cruise we took last week agrees that is the absolute best way -- although he is always happy to help. He said that since many people 'walk in' that the restaurant can often book up on your first choice of night and time by the time you get to your cabin, let alone get there and talk to him and he calls downstairs. It only takes a second, and Murano is right by Guest Relations -- you can go there right after you board.

[JennAngel9]

Leela,

 

Thank you so much for answering these questions (as well as my earlier question on the other thread). My husband and I really enjoy afternoon tea (and it is priced so horrendously at home!) and find it to be a highlight of our cruise (as if there weren't enough other ways to gain weight!). At least knowing there won't be any scones in advance will help to curb his disappontment. :)

 

We will definitely head straight to Muranos, as that seems to be the consensus. It is our usual MO, but we thought perhaps our butler would have access to addtional seatings.

 

 

I'm glad you had such a lovely trip. Maybe it was some sort of pre-karma for how wonderfully helpful you have been to everybody on the boards.

[Leela]

At least knowing there won't be any scones in advance will help to curb his disappontment. :)

Make sure you go to the Elegant Tea. It will be one of the sea days at 4pm. It's sit-down waiter service in one of the restaurants, and they do have scones then, plus more cakes and sweets and tarts and cookies and sandwiches than you can shake a stick at. My favorite -- that I've only seen at the Elegant Tea -- are these soft cakelike cookes that are filled with whipped cream and topped with a thin layer of marzipan and a pistachio. I did't go to the Elegant Tea this time so I'm going to make sure I don't miss it on my next cruise!

 

It is our usual MO, but we thought perhaps our butler would have access to addtional seatings.

Ours said that sometimes he can help like that, but still the best thing short of being able to call the Captain's Club in advance is to stop in if you board early. Because Century does short cruises and since Murano is very small (the M-class ships have larger specialty restaurants), Murano books up very quickly. We booked at about 1pm after boarding, and our first choice was gone but our second choice was still there. About 28 hours later we inquired about changing our reservation, and there were no openings left whatsoever.

[sea-cruise]

I love afternoon/elegant tea! Our Red Hatters meet monthly for that purpose. Thank you for starting this thread....Just reading it is making me hungry.

[candbgirl]

I haven't sailed with Celebrity in a few years and I had forgotten about the Teas. Thank for the reminder. :)

[JennAngel9]

I love afternoon/elegant tea! Our Red Hatters meet monthly for that purpose. Thank you for starting this thread....Just reading it is making me hungry.

 

I am unfamiliar with the Red Hatters, but a great afternoon tea afficianado. If your group is located in the NYC region (or has a branch there) I would be very interested to learn how to join.

 

Also, while this doesn't technically belong on X boards, since it is a tea thread, I thought I would note that the Tahitian Princess served a formal afternoon tea in which the pastries were comparable to what you would expect at a 4-5* hotel lobby tea almost every day. As a caveat, I should note that the quality of the tea itself was not quite that level (but better than your standard "lipton or celestial seasonings" variety.

[sea-cruise]

JennAngel, The Red Hat Society is a nationwide organization. We have 40 clubs just in our area alone.

Below are the links to the home page of our Society Headquarters and to Tea Time. I know that you will find a local chapter/club. We go into NYC periodically (to the governor's mansion for tea a few months ago, to see plays, and to the Plaza for tea just before the renovation a year and a half ago).

Have fun!!!

 

http://www.theteahousetimes.com/redhatteas.htm

http://www.redhatsociety.com/

[JennAngel9]

Hehe. I did a little research...

 

Incidentally, just how out of place would as 25 year old be in the Red Hat organization? That's a lot of years of being a pink hat :)

[sea-cruise]

There are many pink hatters in the clubs. You wouldn't be out of place at all. You would fit right in because most red hatters are full of fun and love to live life to it's fullest!

The best thing about being a hatter is that there are no "real rules" except under 50 wears a pink hat and lavendar clothing, but 50 and over wear a red hat and purple clothing!

No crabby people, no snooty upturned noses, just a lot of fun and enjoyable tea parties.

Hope you find a club! Happy Hatting! :D

[Jade13]

I am unfamiliar with the Red Hatters, but a great afternoon tea afficianado. If your group is located in the NYC region (or has a branch there) I would be very interested to learn how to join.

 

Also, while this doesn't technically belong on X boards, since it is a tea thread, I thought I would note that the Tahitian Princess served a formal afternoon tea in which the pastries were comparable to what you would expect at a 4-5* hotel lobby tea almost every day. As a caveat, I should note that the quality of the tea itself was not quite that level (but better than your standard "lipton or celestial seasonings" variety.

 

Holland America Line has Tea every day at 4:00pm. The first sea day is Dutch Tea, and on my last cruise the second sea day was Indonesian Tea (most of the crew is Indonesian and they were in full dress).