Summit Review Alaska June 11 -- 18 "Topic Food"

[kelmac]

I'm very non-linear when it comes to this type of thing--so I thought I would select topics and review each. More than any other reason, we cruise Celebrity because of the fine dining/service they offer. This was our seventh Celebrity cruise, and the first on the Summit. Overall, the food is as great as ever! Most of the menus we saw on this ship had also been used on other other Celebrity ships (Constellation, Century and Millennium)dating as far back as 2001. Even though the quality remains high, the menus need to be updated.

Unlike most cruise lines, Celebrity prepares small portions of high quality food. They use fresh spices, quality ingredients, and they employ actual chefs to oversee food preparation--and that kind of quality control really seems to make a difference. All of the chefs were European, including three from France.

We ate once in the Normandie, the specialty restaurant, and in our opinion, it is by far the best of the three Celebrity specialty restaurants we have tried. The cheese souffle and chocoloate souffle are amazing! The Normandie offers several items unique to its menu--chateaubriand, whereas the other ships serve steak dianne--as well as a delicious dessert called bombe surprise du s. s. normandie, a mixture of dark and white chocolate mousse, which is cool to look at and right off the 1935 menu of the Normandie.

At the AquaSpa cafe, the chefs from the Normandie prepare a unique menu--so stop by there to check out the sushi, salad nicoise, and delicious desserts. Great place to grab a gourmet dessert after lunch in the dining room or the buffet. Speaking of the buffet--everthing was fresh and well-prepared, and we really liked the pasta bar (just like Boo's Mom!) and the fresh ice cream is a big hit on those warm Alaskan afternoons. They also have an omelette station and a waffle station in the back section of the buffet. We ate many of our meals outside, one deck up from the buffet. Watch out for the pesky ravens in port--especially in Juneau--they love rigatoni!

After 16 cruises, we have finally learned to go light on the breakfast, eat fish for lunch, and go full throttle at dinner.

My wife really enjoyed the soups on board, ordering two a night and skipping the salad course entirely. We took the Vision of the Seas northbound, and let's just say that the food on the Summit was remarkably superior--but, if you want a large portion of mediocre food--the Vision offers that up--so does Princess, NCL, and RCI. So, tally ho---let's plan another trip with Celebrity!

Enjoy!

Kel

[mnwildfan2]

Hi Kelmac,

 

Glad that you had a great time on your cruise! You're right about the wildlife loving the food. On our Mercury cruise the seagulls in Vancouver really enjoyed the pizza!

 

Here's a picture:

 

http://www.fezam.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album07&id=DSC02575

 

1st Cruise on Celebrity Mercury - Alaska 6/4/2004

[stretch]

Thank's for the review of the food. How about the ports and what you did there?? We're on the Summit next year (same cruise week) with the 5 day land tour prior to the cruise. This will be our first Celebrity cruise and first Alaskan cruise, and are hungry for any and all information we can get. Again, thank you for your observations on the food, our last RCI cruise was very disappointing in that area.

Stretch

 

Barcrawlers on ice, where will we turn up next?

 

Carnival Celebration 08/97

Carnival Fantasy 02/99

RCI Explorer 05/02

RCI Brilliance 04/03 The Barcrawler Legend Begins

RCI Brilliance 03/04 The Return of the Barcrawlers

Celebrity Summit 06/10/2005

Barcrawlers in Alaska

 

email address: Stretchcrawler@yahoo.com

 

[Boo's Mom]

Hi Kel!!!

 

A great review!!!

 

Wow....16 cruises! My daughter (Boo) (Becca) is asking me to ask you if you have voted in her poll...about "How many cruises have you taken?" It's on the Celebrity board, I think.

 

About the menu needing to be changed. I was thinking that myself...all through the dinners. I think they need to offer one pasta dish each night. Pasta and seafood go very well together....and there are so many sauces that can compliment pasta/seafood.

 

We sailed on Princess a few months ago...and they did have pasta available every night (just a linguine w/alfredo sauce)...but it was sooooo good. I ordered it often.

 

So...do you have your next voyage planned?

 

Boo's Mom

 

...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

 

 

[trcori]

Kelmac, I have to say, your dining scheme is right on the $. I generally pile up the fruit at breakfast, the salad and other vegetables at lunch, and go, as you put it, "full throttle" at dinner. That, plus minimizing elevator usage, seems to avoid the dreaded "leave as passengers, come back as cargo" syndrome ... TR