A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 20 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The dining area was beautiful. The ship, from your pictures at least, seems to be quite lovely and somewhat elegant. Did you mean that the wine pairing dinner was usually $150, since your numbers and statements don't quite fit together? The sail away pictures were lovely. I love the shots of the town and church.
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Hmm, that lack of storage place issue is a big deal to me. I always always always unpack all of our suitcases if at all possible.
Ironically, on our last day we found out that the bit above our bed (you'll have to go back to see a photo) was actually a storage area. We hadn't even thought to look, but really it wasn't sensible, as you had to climb on the bed to get to it and it was just a case of "throw it all in" and I'd be worried about the way things would fall out when you opened it.
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Your dinner looks wonderful so far! Since you said you've got the "compare stuff to Disney" bug as well, Cheryl, I might as well go for it:
I love the way meals are set up on the Disney ships but the food quality and variety *could* indeed be better at times. Would you mind giving your opinion of how the food on your cruise was compared to Disney?
It was very straightforward for us - the counter service buffet on Celebrity was so much better than Disney. It literally won hands down. Freshly made sushi every night, ice cream and sorbet made every day, pizza and pasta made fresh to order - need I say more?
The main dining room was not good. We ate there a couple of times and we just weren't impressed at all. The food was Ok, nothing special and the presentation was pretty poor, compared to Disney. They definitely win on that.
With speciality restaurants, tough call, as they're excellent on both cruise lines. I'm not sure I could call that between the two.
So the overall result is... well, there are good points to each cruise line.
The dining area was beautiful. The ship, from your pictures at least, seems to be quite lovely and somewhat elegant.
It was elegant, although we often used the word contemporary to describe it.
Quote:
Did you mean that the wine pairing dinner was usually $150, since your numbers and statements don't quite fit together? The sail away pictures were lovely. I love the shots of the town and church.
The tour we signed up for as this:
"See how it's done" tour –This comprehensive 3-hour tour provides an intimate group of guests with a visit to the bridge, mooring desk, crew areas, engine control room and main galley. The tour is followed by a wine-paired lunch in the main dining room. Maximum 15 guests. Cost US$150 per guest.
"See how it's done" tour –This comprehensive 3-hour tour provides an intimate group of guests with a visit to the bridge, mooring desk, crew areas, engine control room and main galley. The tour is followed by a wine-paired lunch in the main dining room. Maximum 15 guests. Cost US$150 per guest.
Hopefully that now makes a bit more sense?
No, I think Priscilla was referring to you wine pairing was $89, down from $50, due to you having the drink package. Wondering if it was $50, down from $89, or if the $50 was missing another number.
No, I think Priscilla was referring to you wine pairing was $89, down from $50, due to you having the drink package. Wondering if it was $50, down from $89, or if the $50 was missing another number.
Oh sorry!
Honestly, now I re-read it back...
They had a wine tasting menu, which was $89/person, which I thought was a lot, given you’re already paying a cover price. It’s usually $50/person, but as we’d bought a dining package in advance, it was heavily discounted from that price. We passed on that, and concentrated on the a la carte choices instead.
... I have absolutely no idea! Maybe it was down to $50 from $89? I honestly have no recollection now....
All caught up and you've just left port so I'm not too far behind. Sounds like dinner, after the avocado misunderstanding anyway, was more relaxing then the rest of the boarding process.
All caught up and you've just left port so I'm not too far behind. Sounds like dinner, after the avocado misunderstanding anyway, was more relaxing then the rest of the boarding process.
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Sunday 5 June – part eleven: a lobster cooking double act!
We made our way back to the room…
I was debating about what entrée to get, but when Mark pointed out the Murano lobster was cooked tableside, I knew that was a winner. It was a cognac flambéed warm water lobster tail, with fresh basil, Applewood smoked bacon (which I obviously asked to be left out, and that’s the beauty of having something cooked tableside – it’s easy to specify that ) and Dijon-cream.
There was a real double act when it came to the cooking. The guy you can see in most of the photos was from Peru, but the other guy kept getting in on the act from time to time. I didn’t realise it then, but he was a cook as well, as I saw him doing the lobster at the next table later on. We were told that it was no calories, a Celebrity special offer apparently, although he did admit the calories did come back when the cream was added. Darn!
It was certainly worth it for the finished product….
Mark went for the five-spice crusted cervena venison loin, with celery root fondant, wilted spinach, red cabbage marmalade, and lingonberry sauce:
For dessert, there was only one choice for both us, which was the Grand Marnier soufflé. Now don’t get me wrong, this tasted Ok, but it wasn’t a soufflé in the true sense of the word as I understand it. It was more like a meringue, and that explains how they were able to bash it out so quickly. There was no 20 minute wait like you know you’re going to have at Palo, and we were surprised by that, but equally we ended up understanding why. I don’t know if I’d have it again.
We were presented with these to round the meal off, and I think you can guess who got the macaroon…
We got our server to take a photo of us at the end of our meal:
All in all though, it was a wonderful meal and we absolutely loved it, so much so in fact that we enquired about coming back here at the end of the meal. We could, but we’d have to pay for it, although they’d do it for $35/person. Well, why not? We ended up making two further bookings for our later sea days, and then booked the Tuscan Grille for tomorrow night and QSine for the day after, which are the other two restaurants included in the speciality package. I’m also glad I didn’t go for the five meal package, as I assumed you’d have one sitting at each restaurant, and then choose the ones you want to go back to. it’s one sitting at Murano and two at the other two. That’s a bit unfair.
We headed and back to our room, where we were greeted with this scene…
Mark said the immortal words “that looks like sea mist” and I turned round and said it was!
We were both shattered, and just about managed to stay awake until 9:00pm (I know, how rubbish is that?), but in our defence, it had been a long and exhausting day.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the mid 70s. The best thing today was dinner at Murano. The worst thing today was how long it took us to board the ship. The funniest thing today was I really shouldn’t say it, but the lifeboat drill, which was frankly a bit of a joke! Today we tried setting sail with Celebrity And the result was there are some things they do better than Disney, while there are other things they need to learn from Disney. The most magical moment today was sitting enjoying lunch by the waterfront and just enjoying the peace and the beautiful views.
Next: where else in the world can you get views like this from your room?
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We hadn't even thought to look, but really it wasn't sensible, as you had to climb on the bed to get to it and it was just a case of "throw it all in" and I'd be worried about the way things would fall out when you opened it. 
We ate there a couple of times and we just weren't impressed at all. The food was Ok, nothing special and the presentation was pretty poor, compared to Disney. They definitely win on that. 
The amount of times that's spoilt a good meal for us...
Maybe it was down to $50 from $89? I honestly have no recollection now....
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
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