Qsine Restaurant Celebrity Summit

[vacationlady]

We tried the Qsine Restaurant on the Celebrity Summit during our cruise in November. We did not book any specialty restaurant ahead of time. They offered a 20% off during our sea day and we tried it. We ate at the Normandie Restaurant a couple of days before with no discount. I would take the Qsine over the Normandie if you only had to choose one. You can see my review with pictures here.

 

http://winenchocolate.com/qsine-restaurant-on-celebrity-summit/

[Iamcruzin]

We tried Qsine and received a 25% discount. We thought it was over priced at 25%off. We were thinking of trying Normandie. What were your likes or dislikes at there?

[chemmo]

We have done both restaurants.

 

We enjoyed the novelty of quisine and the presentation is fun but it we did not come out thinking that was a fabulous meal. A pleasant evening, yes.

 

Normandy in contrast had all the drama of table side cooking, quality ingredients and the food was excellent.

 

Would I dine at both again? Yes, Quisine for the fun and Normandy for the food

[Iamcruzin]

We have done both restaurants.

 

We enjoyed the novelty of quisine and the presentation is fun but it we did not come out thinking that was a fabulous meal. A pleasant evening, yes.

 

Normandy in contrast had all the drama of table side cooking, quality ingredients and the food was excellent.

 

Would I dine at both again? Yes, Quisine for the fun and Normandy for the food

 

My thoughts exactly on Qsine. I'm hopping they will offer a discount in Normandy on my next sailing. I would love to try it.

[butterflymama]

Great review. We are looking forward to trying Qsine on our upcoming cruise.

[monicajay]

My thoughts exactly on Qsine. I'm hopping they will offer a discount in Normandy on my next sailing. I would love to try it.

 

Ask for the discount. That's what we did. As soon as we boarded we went to the reservation table and asked which night was the discount night. They offered the first night, we refused, we said we'd wait and see if it was discounted later. Turned to walk away, and then he asked if %20 would be ok and which night did we want it. :) I know, others have gotten bigger discounts but we were happy with this and enjoyed our meal tremendously.

[vacationlady]

Normandie was great for fine dining. The food was excellent. I just enjoyed Qsine because it was so different. I will have to ask for the discount the next time. They only offered the discount at the end of the cruise in Qsine Restaurant. Have you received discounts just for asking in the other speciality restaurants?

[MisterBill99]

Ask for the discount. That's what we did. As soon as we boarded we went to the reservation table and asked which night was the discount night. They offered the first night, we refused, we said we'd wait and see if it was discounted later. Turned to walk away, and then he asked if %20 would be ok and which night did we want it. :) I know, others have gotten bigger discounts but we were happy with this and enjoyed our meal tremendously.

My experience a few years ago on Silhouette was that I went directly to Qsine and the maitre'd offered me 50% off the first night. This was after the Murano maitre'd would not do better than 20%, even though I'd read in posts here that people were getting 50%. Hoping to get the same on our Summit cruise next week.

[MisterBill99]

Normandie was great for fine dining. The food was excellent. I just enjoyed Qsine because it was so different.

I agree with you. I love Qsine and will go back to it next week but after the meal you'd be hard pressed to say that many of the dishes were memorable because of the taste -- it's the experience that you remember. I will say that the lamb chops in the Mediterranean platter are excellent (but I thought they were better at the Lawn Club Grill).

Edited August 16, 2015 by MisterBill99

[Phxazzcruisers]

We enjoyed the experience of eating in Qsine, but for us once was quite enough. The food, in our opinion was not good enough to return. We now eat in Luninae and it is hard to beat that meal. Even though we get two free specialty restaurant meals, we usually do not take advantage of them. We did, however, very much enjoy the Lawn Club on the S Class ships that have it.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Phxazzcruisers

[MisterBill99]

We did, however, very much enjoy the Lawn Club on the S Class ships that have it.

Yes, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the Lawn Club Grill.

Edited August 16, 2015 by MisterBill99

[cruisead]

The problem we had with Qsine on Summit was two-fold. One, the service was very slow, and the time between courses was long. This was attributed to the fact that there isn't a dedicated galley for Qsine on Summit, and the food had to be brought from pretty far away. Second, we found the food to be very underwhelming in many ways. Some things were pretty good, but a vast majority of items were just OK, with some being downright bad. And because of the distance of the galley to the restaurant, most of our food came either lukewarm or cold. Personally, we find Qsine to be nothing more than a gimmick, with their iPads, decor and presentation. Gimmicks, IMHO, aren't usually indicative of fine dining, or even decent dining. It's just showboating.

[mr_bad_example]

The problem we had with Qsine on Summit was two-fold. One, the service was very slow, and the time between courses was long. This was attributed to the fact that there isn't a dedicated galley for Qsine on Summit, and the food had to be brought from pretty far away. Second, we found the food to be very underwhelming in many ways. Some things were pretty good, but a vast majority of items were just OK, with some being downright bad. And because of the distance of the galley to the restaurant, most of our food came either lukewarm or cold. Personally, we find Qsine to be nothing more than a gimmick, with their iPads, decor and presentation. Gimmicks, IMHO, aren't usually indicative of fine dining, or even decent dining. It's just showboating.

 

We leave on August 30th for our fourth cruise on the Summit. Last year, the Chef de cuisine of Qsine held a cooking class in the Qsine galley, where the staff taught a select group of guests how to make the Qsine dishes at home. K. was in that class and I was in the galley when I brought K. a glass of champagne. The galley is adjacent to and immediately accessible from Qsine.

 

D and K

[MisterBill99]

We leave on August 30th for our fourth cruise on the Summit. Last year, the Chef de cuisine of Qsine held a cooking class in the Qsine galley, where the staff taught a select group of guests how to make the Qsine dishes at home.

How does one get invited to this? I recall going to a sushi demonstration that we held in Qsine on Silhouette last year but we were not in the galley, nor were we participating.

 

BTW we got friendly with the Qsine maitre'd on that sailing and got him to give us a "tour" one day. It was extremely small, and was shared with Tuscan.

Edited August 18, 2015 by MisterBill99

[MisterBill99]

Personally, we find Qsine to be nothing more than a gimmick, with their iPads, decor and presentation. Gimmicks, IMHO, aren't usually indicative of fine dining, or even decent dining. It's just showboating.

I think the iPads are less unique than they were when Qsine first opened, given that everyone has a tablet or smart phone now. Also, not being able to order via the iPad was a disappointment and is even more of one now. I guess they're not really set up to be able to let guests push a button in the middle of their meal and add an extra dish, although you can easily do that by asking your waiter (er, guide).

 

Also, they should refresh the menu with some new stuff and get rid of stuff that doesn't work well. But that's not the way Celebrity seems to work with any of their menus.

 

BTW I don't recall long waits between courses. Maybe because we ordered so much, we always seemed to have two dishes on the table.

Edited August 18, 2015 by MisterBill99

[mr_bad_example]

How does one get invited to this? I recall going to a sushi demonstration that we held in Qsine on Silhouette last year but we were not in the galley, nor were we participating.

 

BTW we got friendly with the Qsine maitre'd on that sailing and got him to give us a "tour" one day. It was extremely small, and was shared with Tuscan.

 

Mister Bill,

 

We saw it in the dailies. It was a paid event. Ask the concierge (whichever one applies to you) or ask the Qsine representatives who are around during the day trying to get people to book dinners. If you have a big enough group, you might get them to do it just for you. It was one of my SO's best memories of the Summit.

[Iamcruzin]

I agree with you. I love Qsine and will go back to it next week but after the meal you'd be hard pressed to say that many of the dishes were memorable because of the taste -- it's the experience that you remember.

 

I couldn't agree more. It tasted like chain restaurant food to me.

[soxfan2013]

We have done both restaurants.

 

We enjoyed the novelty of quisine and the presentation is fun but it we did not come out thinking that was a fabulous meal. A pleasant evening, yes.

 

Normandy in contrast had all the drama of table side cooking, quality ingredients and the food was excellent.

 

Would I dine at both again? Yes, Quisine for the fun and Normandy for the food

 

This was our opinion of Qsine vs Murano on Reflection in Feb.

[mayfieldlodge]

Great review. We are looking forward to trying Qsine on our upcoming cruise.

 

Have been in Qsine twice, Silhouette & Infinity. Each time we got 50% off just by asking.

[MisterBill99]

Have been in Qsine twice, Silhouette & Infinity. Each time we got 50% off just by asking.

That's my goal. In a different thread I've been told that on Summit people have only been able to get 30% off, even the first night.

[Gig103]

We enjoyed the experience of eating in Qsine, but for us once was quite enough. The food, in our opinion was not good enough to return.

 

Word for word how I would describe Qsine. We got 30% off, for those curious..