"WINE CONNOISSEUR DINNER" in the specialty restaurant (Ocean Liners in our case)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Has anyone else had the pleasure of enjoying this meal (on any Celebrity ship) ??

 

Not to be confused with the Wine Pairing option in the specialty restaurants.

 

We enjoyed this meal on the Constellation over Thanksgiving. It was one of the best meals we've ever had. We dined there 3 other nights as well, but this meal was offered only once during the cruise. They mentioned it to us during our second and third nights there - I suppose trying to get a feel for the response of their guests. The Maitre d' indicated that they do not offer it each sailing. We also noticed a flyer left in our room (along with all the other miscellaneous things offered on the ship) asking people to call and make a reservation if interested. I was surprised that, out of ~2000 passengers, only 8 (ourselves included) opted for this experience. Perhaps the (as I recall) $135pp price deterred many. Then again, they might have a predefined cap - which in retrospect - makes sense!

 

From the first bite of the Lobster and Truffles Soufflé I knew this was going to be something special. Everything was brought in order, to the entire table of 8 - the only choice we were given was how we preferred our fillet to be cooked (RARE is an excellent choice, BTW... :D). The Halibut was, without exception, the best fish dish I have encountered.

 

The dessert, and the dessert wine for that matter --- well, I was already pleasantly full at that point, so the fact that it was not to my liking had ZERO impact on the entire experience.

 

Service, ambiance, and quality = PERFECT.

 

I seriously doubt I will see this menu at Murano (on the Century next Saturday) - as it's only a 4-night sailing. It certainly was not an option when we sailed the 4-night Century in February.

 

I was just curious as to how frequently something like this was offered (being new to Celebrity). If it's a component of longer sailings, then we may need to factor in another cruise or two!!!

 

 

Tom

[Ken_W]

I'm afraid there are some bad typos on that menu when it comes to the wines; they mean pauillac, not paullac, and the Chateau is Pichon-Longueville, not Longeville. They are still wonderful wines, and the menu sounds fine, but I'm afraid I'll still hold out for corrent spelling.

[Bfson]

"corrent" spelling???

 

 

LOL!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'm afraid there are some bad typos on that menu when it comes to the wines; they mean pauillac, not paullac, and the Chateau is Pichon-Longueville, not Longeville. They are still wonderful wines, and the menu sounds fine, but I'm afraid I'll still hold out for corrent spelling.

 

Well, as they say, ignorance is bliss! If the only thing "wrong" with that evening was a couple of typos, then I still consider myself fortunate to have been part of it!

 

"corrent" spelling???

 

 

LOL!

 

I wasn't going to say A THING!!!

 

 

(Honestly Ken - just having a little fun with that. You must admit though... that's classic!) :)

 

-----------------------

 

So --- no one else has come across this meal (or a something similar) ?? :confused:

 

 

Tom

[Ken_W]

Ah, if only I could change the background color of this post to a blush, you could see how I feel! The only completely error free posts I've ever made were written in Word, spell-checked, the cut-and-pasted into the "Reply to Thread" box.

 

But at least my typos aren't in French, and aren't printed on a menu meant for the public. (And I'd still sit down to that dinner expecting a very happy experience!)

[Bfson]

Tom-we went to a similar dinner on the Infinity but you got better wines. They served us a B&G Sauternes for dessert (B&G is sort of the Gallo of France)

[mferranti]

They offered this menu on Connie in October. No one was interested except us, so on our 3rd evening in Ocean Liners they offered us the dishes with our own selection of à la carte wines.

[curiouscat]

I experienced a wine tasting menu on the Mercury's Wine Cruise with Far Niente winery. The winery has a representative on board presenting the wine pairing.

 

It was memorable... and the price was $85 which I felt was one more than worth it and the captain was in attendance.:p

 

The Solstice wine tasting menu is $160 and does not look too impressive.:(

 

CC

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

The Solstice wine tasting menu is $160 and does not look too impressive.:(

 

CC

 

Would that be comparable with the "Menu Exceptionnel" which we enjoyed on the Century last Valentine's day? (See below) If so, it sounds like the Solstice is getting a premium!!

 

 

(I hope there are not typos there... ;) ) :)

 

Tom

[2Canucks]

People you're... killing me...in a good way!! ;)

 

We're on the Constellation for a B2B in Jan/09...I'll be watching for this!

 

Pat :)

[curiouscat]

The Constellation's menu is way superior... please see attached link.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/dining/product/detail/view.do;jsessionid=0000gqF1da7RuPaHJIOMNs7wlgu:12hdebcnj?ProductCode=MURADINNER&componentType=3&currencyCode=USD&shipCode=SL

 

I also saw another menu with the wine pairings listed but again it didn't come close to the Constellation's offerings...

 

Very interesting...This was suppose to be a more "upscale" Vegas style restaurant dining experience...

 

CC

 

Edited to include this link....http://www.thepreismans.com ...scroll down to the Murano menus... and sorry it is $140 dollars...

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

The Constellation's menu is way superior... please see attached link.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/dining/product/detail/view.do;jsessionid=0000gqF1da7RuPaHJIOMNs7wlgu:12hdebcnj?ProductCode=MURADINNER&componentType=3&currencyCode=USD&shipCode=SL

 

I also saw another menu with the wine pairings listed but again it didn't come close to the Constellation's offerings...

 

Very interesting...This was suppose to be a more "upscale" Vegas style restaurant dining experience...

 

CC

 

Edited to include this link....http://www.thepreismans.com ...scroll down to the Murano menus... and sorry it is $140 dollars...

 

I believe you meant to say the Solstice.... and yes, that's an impressive menu.

 

Even more impressive was the following comment (I had NO idea that this was offered as a perk - is it on other Celebrity ships as well?):

 

Please Note:

As an added benefit, all Celebrity Solstice suite guests receive complimentary dining in their choice of Specialty Restaurants. Suite guests can choose from Murano, Tuscan Grille, and/or Silk Harvest Restaurant:

 

• 2 complimentary dining reservations per suite for cruises of seven nights or less.

• 3 complimentary dining reservations per suite for cruises of eight nights or longer.

 

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

CC - I followed your second link...

 

IMPRESSIVE!!!

 

Those photos alone are enough to cause me to rethink some of our cruise plans over the next couple of years!!!

 

Thanks!

 

Tom

[worldly wanderer]

Tom-we went to a similar dinner on the Infinity but you got better wines. They served us a B&G Sauternes for dessert (B&G is sort of the Gallo of France)

 

We are taking our first Celebrity cruise on the Infinity in Jan - do you know if they will be offering any special dinners - is it normal or maybe just on special holiday periods.

[Bfson]

Check with your wine server in the main dining room. If they are having one, he/she will know.

[Prada Cowboy]

I would love to do some kind of dinner like this on the Mercury and some poster had posted they did it! My question is just where, since they do only have the main dining room!

[curiouscat]

Hi Prada,

 

That be me. They did special wine dinners throught the cruise in the main dining room. The blocked out the captains table and a few other tables and each nite it was available by apt. This was done on the Mercury's wine cruise in late sept/october once a year.

 

Otherwise I don't think they offer this on the Mercury.

 

Any further questions email me lterner at mindspring dot com

 

CC

 

PS love your screen name:p

[Bfson]

If you are a serious wine buff be VERY careful before booking a wine dinner on the Mercury. I had written, in another thread, about the horrible wine glasses they use on the ship. Straight sided with no narrowing at the top--guaranteed to make almost any wine not show its stuff.

 

What is angering is that they have better glasses, which they will let you use if you order wine from their list, but which they refuse to let you use for the special wine dinners. We were signed up for 5 wine dinners on the 2008 cruise but canceled all of them because they wouldn't let us use decent glasses (but the table just next to our got them even tho they weren't part of the special wine dinner) The food and bev manager was no help and, when reporting it to the hotel director, did not tell the truth about what had happened.

 

Finally got the Hotel Manager to admit his staff had handled it poorly and had erred. (It ended up costing Celebrity over $1000; first the loss of our payment for the dinners and then the $500 we won in the casino where we went instead of having good wine in bad glasses.)

 

I do take this stuff seriously as I am a professional wine judge. (http://www.winejudging.com/bios/bob_foster.htm)

[Prada Cowboy]

If you are a serious wine buff be VERY careful before booking a wine dinner on the Mercury. I had written, in another thread, about the horrible wine glasses they use on the ship. Straight sided with no narrowing at the top--guaranteed to make almost any wine not show its stuff.

 

What is angering is that they have better glasses, which they will let you use if you order wine from their list, but which they refuse to let you use for the special wine dinners. We were signed up for 5 wine dinners on the 2008 cruise but canceled all of them because they wouldn't let us use decent glasses (but the table just next to our got them even tho they weren't part of the special wine dinner) The food and bev manager was no help and, when reporting it to the hotel director, did not tell the truth about what had happened.

 

Finally got the Hotel Manager to admit his staff had handled it poorly and had erred. (It ended up costing Celebrity over $1000; first the loss of our payment for the dinners and then the $500 we won in the casino where we went instead of having good wine in bad glasses.)

 

I do take this stuff seriously as I am a professional wine judge. (www.winejudging.com/bios/bob_foster.htm)

 

 

Thanks Bob for letting me know! I love good wines, but honestly as long is it a decent glass it is not the worst thing for me, but I come with a Connosseur on this cruise. We all love wines (not out of a box:eek:!) actually!

I will be in the Penthouse and thought to make 1 special wine dinner there, with special catering and I will try to get it in written from the Hotel Director before we go! Until then...there will be many changes of staff, officers, crew and rules maybe it will get even worst or better (hopefully!), who knows!