MENUS - are they the same between ships?

[VitaminSea53]

In other words will the MDR selections, BLU menu, Vegetarian menu, room service menu be the same across all ships? I realize that Edge has some specials in each of their 4 MDR’s but other than that, do complimentary restaurants share the same menu?

[jelayne]

Yes, same menus .  They have a 14 day rotation and sometimes the order of the menus may change but the menus are the same.  This is also true for the speciality restaurants. 

[vtcruising]

It's weird because gerelmx posted MDR menus last fall from the Eclipse and Mike Preisman posted Edge MDR menus a few months later (Jan 2019). The menus in the Edge MDRs in January differ from the menus that gerelmx posted. There are less options on the Edge menu - I know they did modify the menus, so that could be it - if so, I didn't realize that there were so many changes.  It doesn't make sense that the Edge menus would have less choices, unless they are making up for the 4 MDR Exclusives, which give extra choices.

 

In this example, the Eclipse had pea soup, Scallops Rockefeller, Duck A L'Orange that wasn't on the Edge. I looked at all 14 menus and there are more choices on the non-Edge menus (about 3-4 less choices). I discovered this a few weeks ago when searching for specific menus, but thought they may have changed on all ships to have less choices. I haven't dined in the MDR for a few years (have been in AQ and Luminae), but will be in the 4 MDRs next year for a couple of cruises. Anyone know if X cut back the menus in all MDRs or just that the Edge has less choices?

 

Edge in January 2019:

 

 

On Eclipse in 3/2018:

Edited September 6, 2019 by vtcruising

[Northern Aurora]

While the 14 day menus are standard across the M- and S-class ships, periodically there seem to be specials on some ships.  We found this on the Solstice this summer when several nights on a 7 night sailing there were seafood specials.  The printed menus in the menu holders were the standard offerings, but there would be a little card stock "tent" on the dining room table with the special.  I had read reports from others but this was the first time we encountered it.

[cachouonacruise]

This information regarding « standard menus » on all ships except Edge is a bit of a surprise to me.

 

I thought that menus were designed taking in consideration availability of fresh ingredients obtained at ports of calls. Based on my erroneous assumptions, I expected menus (at least some menu selections) to vary based on the cruise itinerary.

 

Oh well, live and learn. 

 

Thank you for sharing this information! 

[vtcruising]

9 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

This information regarding « standard menus » on all ships except Edge is a bit of a surprise to me.

 

I thought that menus were designed taking in consideration availability of fresh ingredients obtained at ports of calls. Based on my erroneous assumptions, I expected menus (at least some menu selections) to vary based on the cruise itinerary.

 

Oh well, live and learn. 

 

Thank you for sharing this information! 

Celebrity can only purchase food in port from pre-approved (as in company-approved, for safety and quality) vendors. according to a chef I spoke with onboard. The MDR menus are pretty much the same, though they may pick up fresh ingredients in a port. With 2-3 thousand people to feed each day, I they have to have some  consistency.

 

The buffet sometimes has fresh fish or other fresh ingredients they obtained in ports. Luminae was presented originally as a suite restaurant that would have port-inspired menus, but that has not materialized. We have had Chef's Market Tour dinners prepared by a Celebrity chef with some ingredients purchased in port at an approved vendor (fish, veggies, fruits).

 

 

[micheleata]

During the kitchen tour question and answer session they stated that the menus were the same fleet wide. (This was before the Edge)   Also that the corporate office does the ordering for all ships.   I do believe that they said they have the freedom to do whatever they like in the buffet.

[ECCruise]

Menus are largely standardized across the fleet.  With the exception of fresh vegetables and fruit sourced in various ports, virtually everything you eat on a Celebrity ship is sourced in Miami, shipped in containers worldwide and laded on the ship in the port of disembarkation.

We were once told by a HD that there was some variation of this for ships in Oceania and some items were sourced in Australia.  That may be even more the case now since there are 2 ships there. Also, you will occasionally see fresh fish sourced in a port if available, but that will almost always only be available in the Oceanview Cafe.  

[cachouonacruise]

8 hours ago, vtcruising said:

Celebrity can only purchase food in port from pre-approved (as in company-approved, for safety and quality) vendors. according to a chef I spoke with onboard. The MDR menus are pretty much the same, though they may pick up fresh ingredients in a port. With 2-3 thousand people to feed each day, I they have to have some  consistency.

 

The buffet sometimes has fresh fish or other fresh ingredients they obtained in ports. Luminae was presented originally as a suite restaurant that would have port-inspired menus, but that has not materialized. We have had Chef's Market Tour dinners prepared by a Celebrity chef with some ingredients purchased in port at an approved vendor (fish, veggies, fruits).

 

Thank-you very much vtcruising for the detailed feedback. I am learning something new almost every day! 

[39august]

In July on Equinox we were happy to see fresh fish both baked and fried in the OVC one day. We also had fried calamari several times during a 7 night cruise. First time I had noticed fresh fish I love the vast variety in the  OVC. We hardly ever eat in the MDR after many years of cruising. Too noisy, tables too close together, don't like waits between courses, etc. Love Blu, specialties and OVC. Very much look forward to Luminae in two weeks. I'm afraid that we will be spoiled after our first suite!

[Slakes]

We were on Summit in April and Infinity in August.  The printed menus in the dining seemed the same, but several evenings on Infinity there were chef's specials that were very good - we tried the chicken teriyaki and butter chicken.  We were not informed of any specials on Summit - not sure if they existed or not for sure. 

[vtcruising]

4 minutes ago, Slakes said:

We were on Summit in April and Infinity in August.  The printed menus in the dining seemed the same, but several evenings on Infinity there were chef's specials that were very good - we tried the chicken teriyaki and butter chicken.  We were not informed of any specials on Summit - not sure if they existed or not for sure. 

That's interesting - so maybe is dependent on the chefs onboard? Maybe some like to be creative and mix things up a bit.

[hulamoon]

This has been our experience, largely standardized, yet occasionally nice suprises.

[arielle71]

Last week on the Summit, we had chefs specials that were not on the menu (one entrée and one dessert) on three different Night.

[Redtravel]

Menus are same on all ships. Sadly, I noticed that the duck was dropped from the menu. It was my favorite dish.