Celebrity Beyond Dining Guide - included and pay as you go venues
There are so many dining options on Celebrity Beyond that we struggled to try them all on our nine night Mediterranean voyage. Even so we focused on the task at hand and are able to bring you the most comprehensive guide to all of the dining options on the Beyond and her sister Edge class ships. In this blog post we will look at the included and pay as you go venues with two more posts to follow, on of which will focus on the additional cost speciality restaurants and another describing the suite class restaurants and venues.
Oceanview Cafe:
The Oceanview Cafe is the self service buffet venue, located at the aft of the ship on deck 14. Entering on the starboard side there is El Secondio bacio, a barrister coffee bar offering extra cost coffees and hot drinks. Beyond the coffee station is the pastry shop followed by the main serving stations. If you enter on the port side you’ll find Scoops, the included ice cream station, with its own little seating area. In keeping with all celebrity ships there are small circular stations in the central area with two hot sections at the front and rear of the serving area. Each station serves something different depending on the time of day and meal being served. The seating area is along both sides of the serving area and spills out into the open terrace at the rear which houses the ocean view bar as well as access up stairs to the sunset bar.
Breakfast is served from 6am until 11am and offers usual hot and cold food with an eggs as you like them cooking station and a pancake station, among many other options.
Lunch is served from noon to 2.30 with the pizza station at the rear of the venue serving pizzas all day from noon until 1am. Lunch and dinner are often themed and usually reflects the region you are sailing in. We particularly enjoyed the french buffet on our Mediterranean voyage, with things like moules, beef bourginon, garlic bread and coq au vin.
Mid afternoon there are snacks available with the most incredible afternoon tea options and beautifully decorated, delicious looking cakes.
Dinner is available from 6 to 9pm with late night snacks from 10pm to 1am.
Although we normally avoid buffets on larger cruise shops, the Oceanview Cafe on Celebrity ships has to be one of the best buffets at sea. We love the layout of their buffets which, unlike so many other ships buffets, mean that there are rarely queues or crowds around the individual stations which spreads the guests out and makes it so much easier to navigate. As well as the well thought out layout, the food is also a cut above the rest with some of the best food on the ship served in the buffet.
Main Dining Rooms:
There are four main dining rooms on the Beyond, all conveniently located in the same part of the ship, towards the aft of decks three and four, and easily accessible to each other by their own set of stairs.
Normandie is the French themed restaurant located next door to Tuscan, the Italian themed restaurant, both located on deck 3. Both are open from 5.45 to 9pm for select dining and included in your fare. Similarly is Cyprus, the Greek themed restaurant on deck 4 located next door to Cosmopolitan, the American themed restaurant which on our cruise was open for breakfast as well as dinner, with breakfast served from 7.30 - 9am every day.
Inspired by one of our favourite restaurants at sea, Murano, a speciality restaurant available on some of the older Celebrity ships, Normandie Restaurant features contemporary French cuisine in a modern and refined setting that evokes the romance of summertime in Paris, with decor designed to bring to mind cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Like Normandie, Tuscan is also inspired by another of Celebrity’s successful speciality restaurants, Tuscan Grille. The delicious Italian inspired cuisine is equalled by an equally delicious ambiance, featuring a modern classical design inspired by Italian fashion and film, and by far our favourite of the four restaurants with regard to its decor.
Cyprus restaurant was chosen to represent the company’s Greek heritage with interior design firm Simeone Deary enlisted to reflect this in the decor. With a nod to the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, they chose to create a delicate, airy ambience accented with brilliant gold sculptures. The menus of Cyprus focus on seafood and the food and beverages of the Mediterranean region.
Mirroring the current main dining experience across our fleet, Cosmopolitan Restaurant features a walk-through wine display at the entrance. the venue aims to deliver a new style of American cuisine with a global influence.
In the evening each of the menus has three starters and main dishes which are specific to the restaurants theme and these stay the same throughout the cruise. There are then the Celebrity classic dishes which also stay the same throughout the cruise. Then there is the menu that changes every day and is the same across all the restaurants, there are usually five choices for starter and main. For desserts there is one that is a local speciality, some classic dishes and some that are changed each evening across all of the restaurants.
Although we didn’t get to eat in all of the main restaurants we had breakfast in Cosmpolitan and dinner in Normandie and found the food and service good. We liked the different decor in each venue but were a little disappointed in the regional cuisine offerings. Personally we prefer the larger style dining room on the Solstice class ships, which although offers a slightly more limited range of options, in our opinion we found the quality of the dishes to be slightly better.
Spa cafe:
The healthy dining snack bar is located next to the solarium indoor pool and serves breakfast from 7 - 10am and lunch from noon to 2pm which is included in your cruise fare, as well as smoothies and protein shakes at extra charge. Breakfast plates includes dishes like yoghurt, granola, fruit, avocado on toast, bagels and muffins. We loved the little avocado on rye bread plates and the juices, although it is worth noting that these are at extra charge unless you have the inclusive drinks package. Lunch offerings are small tapas type dishes and salads as well as wraps and light sandwiches. There is a lovely seating area beside the pool with views from the full length windows of deck 14. Generally we were more impressed with the lunch options here than those at breakfast, choosing to take a number of the little plates between us and share them tapas style.
Mast grill:
Located at the front of the main pool, this is open from 11.30 to 6pm every day serving hot dogs, burgers and fries with a variety of toppings, perfect for those sunny days round the pool. This is also the place to get self service soft serve ice cream with the flavours changing every day. The area itself is a little hidden from the pool area being set round a corner to provide shelter from the elements. Although a relatively small area, there are a number of cafe style seats and table and chairs set out to enjoy the food on offer which is all included in your fare.
Eden cafe:
This little cafe area is just to the left of the entrance to Eden located behind the bar. It has a few seats beside the serving stations and some lovely seating on the terrace out to the side, though there is no shade here so it can be a little hot on sunny days. On our voyage Eden cafe was only open for breakfast on our one seaday but we made sure we went there, joining just one other couple having their breakfast there. We both ordered a granola parfait and a bacon egg and cheese toasted which we took our onto the little adjoining outside terrace with a cup of tea to eat while watching the dolphins swimming alongside the ship.
The lunch food here feels very healthy with some delicious pre-prepared salads, sandwiches, wraps and paninis. While the savoury dishes felt quite healthy the desserts were a different story with large slabs of brownie, chocolate cake, muffins and banana bread on offer. The staff here are super welcoming and since this is quite a quiet venue they really look after you incredibly attentively, with drinks served from the adjacent bar. On our voyage it was open every day from noon to 1.30 for lunch and was probably our favourite venue for lunch. There is no additional cost for the food here.
Grand bistro:
Located around the Grand Plaza main atrium, this dining venue is inspired by classic French bistros, with boulangerie patisserie food available every breakfast time. Grab a french pastry and take a seat in the café with stunning views of the sea. At lunchtime have a bistro style lunch with a special plat du jour on offer every day. The food here is at additional charge with the breakfast items individually charged and a $30 each cover charge at lunchtime.
Raw on 5:
Also located at the Grand Plaza is Raw on 5 featuring an amazing array of sushi and sashimi prepared by expert sushi chefs. The menu here is a la carte and is open very evening and at lunchtimes on seadays. We chose to eat here at lunchtime grabbing a lovely little table at the window with a gorgeous view out to sea. Our wonderful waitress Michelle brought us over a nice cold Japanese lager and glass of prosseco whilst she walked us through the menu and helped us to chose some dishes to share. We started with some chicken ginger gyoza served with a spicy sesame sauce which was divine. We followed this up with some Californian Alaskan crab rolls with plenty of delicious soft crab meat in them. Alongside this we had a beautifully presented plate of tuna and salmon sushimi freshly prepared by the sushi chef at the counter near the entrance.
Social Craft Club:
Located next to Le Grand Bistro, the Craft Social Bar is a cosy pub-like sports bar serving a selection of craft beers, wines and cocktails. Alongside these there is a small bar menu of a la carte food available to order off of a ‘Flights & Bites’ menu, at an additional cost.
Cafe el Bacio:
A Celebrity favourite, Cafe el Bacio is located in the heart of the Grand Plaza and is the perfect spot for an early morning coffee, grabbing a hot drink before or after leaving the ship, afternoon tea or a hot drink before bed. The drinks all have an extra charge but the little food counter is included and serves delicious little pastures, snacks, cakes and sweet treats. This lovely coffee bar also serves some very nice coffee martinis and is the wonderfully situated for a pre or post dinner drink and a little bit of people watching.
Room service:
Also included in the fare is room service. Breakfast is ordered using a traditional hanger or by phoning when required. We decided to order a breakfast one day to enjoy on our balcony and put the hanger out the night before. We ordered ours to be delivered at 8am and on the dot of 8 we had a phone call to let us know that our food was on the way. We really appreciated the call to make sure we were up before they actually arrived at the door. Within five minutes our food arrived, it was delicious, varied, plentiful and well presented.
If you enjoyed this blog why not take a look at our Celebrity Speciality Dining Guide some of our other dining guides:
Viking Ocean cruises Dining Guide
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