Onboard and waiting for sail away

In cafe al bacio enjoying iced tea and the atmosphere. Am finally here!!!!!

Will be back in 12 nights. If they kick me off [emoji14]

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In cafe al bacio enjoying iced tea and the atmosphere. Am finally here!!!!!

 

Will be back in 12 nights. If they kick me off [emoji14]

 

 

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Have a great cruise buddy.

Cheers Zac:)

Bon Voyage.

Have a great time :D:D

I had to go look at "Who's cruising and when thread" to see which ship you are on....it's Celebrity Solstice (lucky lucky you). Have a great time!

Bon Voyage, hope you have a thoroughly grand time.

We are soon on Solstice, you will have to post and let everyone know what you think of her :-)

By chance can you have a look at how much the Non Alcoholic premium drinks package is to buy onboard ? (in US dollars) :-) Pretty please :halo:

Hope you have a great trip - I love X Solstice :)

We are soon on Solstice, you will have to post and let everyone know what you think of her :-)

By chance can you have a look at how much the Non Alcoholic premium drinks package is to buy onboard ? (in US dollars) :-) Pretty please :halo:

I just checked the stuff I brought home from our cruise (I keep all the daily newsletters) and found an ad for the Beverage Packages. The Premium Non-Alcoholic Package was US $26 pp per day and the Classic Non-Alcoholic Package was US $22 pp per day.

Our turn in 12 days!! Look after her [emoji7]

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Have a fabulous cruise.:)

Hope you're having a wonderful cruise, Chesterbear. Unfortunately they kicked us off the ship yesterday. ;)

Keep an eye out for specials at the speciality restaurants, especially later in the cruise.

Sushi on Five were offering a flat all-you-can-eat price as well as a la carte. Do the maths though, depending on what you like. We really enjoyed the sashimi, appetisers, ramen and udon soups, but didn't like the sushi rolls much - the rice was soggy. We didn't get around to trying the nigiri sushi.

If you really, really like Asian food don't go to Silk Harvest, it was very disappointing. None of the dishes we tried were anythink like what they were supposed to represent.

The garlic Filet Mignon I had in the Tuscan Grille for main at a $25 lunch special was one of the best steaks I've ever eaten.

Thanks so much for your reply OzKiwi and all your info on the drink package as well as the specialty restaurants. Sounds like you had a great cruise and we are so looking forward to our first Celebrity cruise. Thanks again and Cheers !!

We have had Silk harvest 3 times now and on one occasion it was disappointing, the others were great. I think it is best to have 4- 6 people and then you can have a large variety of meals to share.

I think it depends on who the head chef for that restaurant is when you do your cruise.

The first time we went to Silk Harvest, for lunch just over a year ago, it was amazing. We had the duck which was superb: juicy, still a little pink inside, and the skin had a flavoursome glaze which tasted wonderful. This time the duck was overcooked (almost burnt on the legs) and the skin was dry with no flavour. I was so disappointed.

That night we also ordered Hunan Beef, supposedly with red and green peppers, shallots, bamboo shoots, and Thai chillis. Hunan cuisine is noted for it's hot, spicy flavour. DH got the only piece of red pepper in the dish, and there was absolutely no chilli. It was not Hunan cuisine.:mad: When I checked with the waiter to see if we had been given the wrong dish he just muttered something about people not liking it too spicy. Why call it Hunan Beef if they aren't going to honour that style of cuisine? :confused:

On the other hand Sushi on Five had a very spicy truffled albacore tuna dish on their menu, and it was nicely spicy so it's obviously not a ship-wide issue.

It's a shame they can't be more consistent with their speciality restaurant menu offerings. I don't mind paying extra occasionally but if I'm not getting what I expect then I feel like I've wasted my money. None of the six dishes we tried at Silk Harvest this cruise were true to their Asian origins.

Have a fantastic cruise Chesterbear! :D:cool:

Leigh

 

In cafe al bacio enjoying iced tea and the atmosphere. Am finally here!!!!!

 

Will be back in 12 nights. If they kick me off [emoji14]

 

 

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A piece of useless information and coincidence..... the gentleman in the yellow shirt in the background of your photo is a cruise critic poster from Germany who we met on the Solstice going to Hawaii two years ago and I also checked him in for this cruise yesterday ( recognised the shirt ) His name is Ingo

A piece of useless information and coincidence..... the gentleman in the yellow shirt in the background of your photo is a cruise critic poster from Germany who we met on the Solstice going to Hawaii two years ago and I also checked him in for this cruise yesterday ( recognised the shirt ) His name is Ingo

Nice reunion for you both.:cool:

I loved that coffee shop! I agree about Tucson but I enjoyed Silk Harvest too. Maybe I just like everything!

Have a great cruise

We have had Silk harvest 3 times now and on one occasion it was disappointing, the others were great. I think it is best to have 4- 6 people and then you can have a large variety of meals to share.

I don't like the food at Silk Harvest. IMO it is a poor effort at Asian with food prepared for those who dislike any spice or heat and perhaps who would not normally eat Asian food. It seems to try to provide a wide range of cuisines but doesn't do any particularly well. We found the same thing in China on a ship that had a lot of Americans - the banquet was bland and prepared for western palates which was very disappointing. Even the curries on QM2 are very mild (and last time the wait staff brought a bowl of chilli sauce to add some heat).

Interesting, we were once at Bistro on 5 (when it was called that) and had a spicy coconut soup for lunch. The wait staff were quite worried that it would be too hot (it wasn't) and said the chef had had to prepare another soup as they thought this one was too hot for passengers.

We did enjoy the other two specialty restaurants on Solstice though and thought the food was of a high standard.

I don't like the food at Silk Harvest. IMO it is a poor effort at Asian with food prepared for those who dislike any spice or heat and perhaps who would not normally eat Asian food. It seems to try to provide a wide range of cuisines but doesn't do any particularly well. We found the same thing in China on a ship that had a lot of Americans - the banquet was bland and prepared for western palates which was very disappointing. Even the curries on QM2 are very mild (and last time the wait staff brought a bowl of chilli sauce to add some heat).

Interesting, we were once at Bistro on 5 (when it was called that) and had a spicy coconut soup for lunch. The wait staff were quite worried that it would be too hot (it wasn't) and said the chef had had to prepare another soup as they thought this one was too hot for passengers.

We did enjoy the other two specialty restaurants on Solstice though and thought the food was of a high standard.

I know what you mean but a quick word to the waiter when ordering seems to remedy the food quality and spiciness.

I don't like the food at Silk Harvest. IMO it is a poor effort at Asian with food prepared for those who dislike any spice or heat and perhaps who would not normally eat Asian food. It seems to try to provide a wide range of cuisines but doesn't do any particularly well.

That's a very good description of it, Aussieflyer, at least as it was on our recent trip. Potstickers that weren't "stickers" and were undercooked, tempura that wasn't fried in a tempura batter (not sure what it was but it was dreadful), a ginger and sesame salad dressing that had no ginger but so much sugar it was inedible, Hunan beef that wasn't Hunan, and ginger soy duck with no flavour. :mad:

What is surprising is that they aren't dumbing down the menu items at Sushi on Five. It's weird, two Asian restaurants on the same ship that are so, so different.

I'm having a great time!!!!

The ship is in great shape and I'm enjoying the food entertainment and the shopping.

I haven't booked in any of the speciality restaurants this time as am enjoying the mdr. I have select dining but go with the same group most nights. [emoji3]

One night I got invited to dinner in the penthouse suite and ate off the Tuscan grill menu which was lovely.

They have hooked me into cruising that's for sure. I've booked again for March 2019.

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Good to hear you're having a great cruise, Chesterbear.

Which March 2019 cruise have you booked? The one to Fiji or the Auckland to Sydney one? We're booked on the Auckland to Sydney one.

I'm having a great time!!!!

 

The ship is in great shape and I'm enjoying the food entertainment and the shopping.

 

I haven't booked in any of the speciality restaurants this time as am enjoying the mdr. I have select dining but go with the same group most nights. [emoji3]

 

One night I got invited to dinner in the penthouse suite and ate off the Tuscan grill menu which was lovely.

 

 

They have hooked me into cruising that's for sure. I've booked again for March 2019.

 

 

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Great news, glad you are enjoying the cruise. Sorry (not) to hear about your infection with the cruise bug.:p

Good to hear you're having a great cruise, Chesterbear.

 

Which March 2019 cruise have you booked? The one to Fiji or the Auckland to Sydney one? We're booked on the Auckland to Sydney one.

The Fiji one. I liked the itinerary and it's a bonus not having to fly. [emoji3]

I got talked into an ocean view instead of an inside but the difference in price was pretty minimal and got perks too. I just need to find a generous ta in the next 60 days

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