The Food and Beverages

TO PACKAGE OR NOT TO PACKAGE...THAT WAS MY QUESTION
* some of the photos in my blog have been copied from Celebrity website as well as other places on the internet, my intent is not to steal anyone's work, so I'm saying that some photos are much better than I could have taken and I wanted to show you the beauty that is the Celebrity Solstice.*


When I made our reservation with Celebrity they were running the Pick Your Perk Promotion, we could have gotten #1 - our gratuities paid for, or #2 - an on board credit, or #3 - the "Classic Beverage Package" which has a value of $343.00 per person for the entire cruise.  Gratuities are $12.00 per person per day, so for the length of the cruise would have been $168.00.  And the onboard credit I think was around $100.00 per person. So we decided on the "Classic Beverage Package" which gave us the following unlimited for free for the length of our cruise, this is why it's nice to have a travel agent because we will check with the cruise lines to see what promotions they are running when you decide on your vacation cruise:

Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta Orange and Coke Zero, fresh squeezed and bottled juices, premium coffees and teas, non-premium bottled water, premium bottled water from Evian, Perrier and San Pellegrino, non-alcoholic frozen drinks and smoothies, Red Bull Energy Drink and specialty waters from Vitamin Water.  All beer up to $6 per serving, spirits, cocktails, and frozen drinks up to $8 per serving, and wine by the glass up to $9 per serving. Plus,  a 15% discount on all wines by the bottle purchased on board, even the prized Reserve Wine list and Rare Wine list. 

*And if you are not aware, when you purchase any beverage onboard a 15% gratuity is automatically added to your bill so you don't ever have to tip while on board.  This 15% gratuity was included in the package*

Just think all of the above that you can drink for the entire 7 days.  Unlimited lattes, vitamin water, orange juice, Red Bull, Perrier - unlimited for the length of your cruise, now add onto that wine by the glass, pina coladas, lava flows, etc.......so worth it to us.

 The day we got onboard we decided to upgraded our package to their Premium Package (cost is $59.00 per person per day), it cost us  $ 80.50 per person, BUT when you add it up and realize that for $ 161.00 total we got all of the above unlimited PLUS:

  The entire selection of Beers as well as Spirits, Cocktails and Wines by the Glass up to $13 per serving. Plus, a 20% discount on all wines by the bottle purchased on board, even the Reserve Wine list and Rare Wine list.  

    We got an $ 826.00 value for only $ 161.00   SWEET !

GRAND EPERNAY RESTAURANT

I know the deck plan is a little hard to see but I wanted to get it all in here,  the "main dining room" is a two story area located aft (rear of the ship) on decks 3 and 4.   If you have ever watched Bravo TV  Top Chef you may want to keep your eyes out for the next select Celebrity sailings that feature some of the contestants from the show.  Our sailing did not have them on it, but they did have Top Chef menu's in the main dining room.  And they had a little quick fire Top Chef challenges in the main lobby area for us to watch.

 Some of the Entree Features from the main dining room included:  Home Style Pork Chop, Cedar Plank Grilled Cobia Black Salmon, Veal Cordon Bleu, Roasted Leg of Lamb, Oven Roasted Chicken Saltimbocca, Slow Braised Lamb wrapped in Phyllo.  The appetizers and deserts were wonderful as well.  I have to admit that the food on Celebrity is top notch, EVEN in the main dining room which is sometimes a let down for cruisers.  The main dining rooms have a huge challenge serving so many guests at once and making the dinners fresh as if custom ordered.

OCEANVIEW CAFE  

OK....first let me say that I am a buffet-aholic.  I adore them, especially on cruise ships.  So many choices and all looks delicious.  That was the case here and I loved it.  From the breakfast to mid day snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner AND late night munchie snacks all were great.

                                                                                               

 

One of the fun things that cracked us up every time was when you enter the Oceanview Cafe there are staff there with a huge jar of "purell" and they say "good morning washy washy"..........Dan always carries a little purell with him so every time I would want some I would hold out my hand and say "washy washy".  Always got a smile out of him. 

 There could always be found the best chocolate cookies here in the cafe and yes, we visited the cookie bar several times during the cruise. haha

AQUA SPA CAFE

We passed this cafe a few times during the cruise
but there was always someone standing there, quite
the popular spot so we didn't get a smoothie from
here.

MAST GRILL  

Here at the Mast Grill it was hot dogs and hamburgers weather permitting, just let me say that our weather was not permitting at all !  This is what it would look like on a good warm Caribbean Day.  But Alaska had other plans for my danged hot dogs, I finally found them inside at the Oceanview Cafe.  Still delicious but there's nothing like a good hot steamy hot dog on a chilly day. 

  BISTRO ON FIVE

 This was one of my absolute favorite spots.  And the table on the right side at the window is the table we liked so the waiter would see us come in, remembered we liked it and 'viola' it became "ours".  

I do have to say here that if you are friendly to the staff and give them a "good morning" or "hi, how's your day going so far?" they remember that, they appreciate that and they will acknowledge that!
 
It was never crowded which amazes me since the food was so super delicious, I think we just hit it at the right times.  They serve soups, paninis and crepes.




See the crepe below?  I told you, they taste as amazing as they look.  They have breakfast ones, lunch ones and my favorite -  dessert ones.  There is a $ 5.00 cover charge per person for this restaurant.
And just let me say very well worth it !

 
CAFE al BACIO & GELATERIA

Oh yes they did.  They have the best coffee bar I've seen in a while.  Always smiling, always ready to serve and delicious.  You could either take it to go or sit down and watch the waves while they come to your table to serve you.  Needless to say this was our first stop in the morning....and a few afternoons when espresso was necessary.

All of the little pastries are complimentary here at the Bacio.  The Gelato was just across from here.  But for some reason there were not a lot of gelato fans on this ship.  There was never a wait.

Remember that if you don't purchase a drink package there will be a charge for the coffee's and gelato.

SPECIALTY DINING

Yes in the specialty dining venues there is a cover charge, at  
Silk Harvest - Asian Cuisine  $ 30.00 per person.

We ate there and the sushi was phenom.  We took a chance and let the waitress bring us what she liked best from the menu and wow she has excellent taste.  Of course saki was on the table and yes I got a little tipsy so between the ship moving and my saki it was an interesting walk back to the stateroom.  We did eat here one night because we are kinda sushi freaks, at least once a week if not more, so we never pass it up if we see it.  Lucky for us this restaurant was here huh?

Murano - 
Contemporary French Cuisine the cover charge is $ 45.00 per person.  To tell you the truth with Dan traveling so much to Montreal I get French cuisine any time I want it so we skipped this restaurant.  I do know though from talking to the guests they were quite impressed.

Tuscan Grille - Italian Steakhouse the cover charge is $ 35.00 per person.  Very appealing, diverse menu and excellent cuts of steak. 

There is a lot of debate on cruise ships now about main dining vs specialty.  My personal...and I mean personal.....opinion is this.  I'm on a cruise to experience entertainment, ports, ship and fellow passengers.  If I need a "fine dining" experience I can get that at home.  Especially on Celebrity there really is no need to spend the extra dollars because  the food and menu in the main dining room is excellent.  Plus in the main dining room you can choose to share a table with other passengers or just have a romantic dinner for two.  Or in our case we got a table for two and next to us sat a family consisting of grandparents, parents, sons, daughters and spouses and one fantastically entertaining grand son.  This boy who wasn't even one year old had Dan and I laughing all thru dinner, he was bright, funny, absolutely adorable and so well behaved.  His name is Phinnegan (yes they are Irish) and we looked forward to seeing him each night.  We would run into him on the ship and in ports.  The family was warm and welcoming and really enhanced our dinners.

 

Stay tuned, Tracy Arm Fjord and Juneau is up next !