Cruise Desserts

What's Your Favorite 
Cruise Food Memory?

Mine involve desserts ...

Today our National Cruise Month post features some of our favorite desserts from over 30 years of cruising.

Every Wednesday you can join us on Twitter for a fun hour of talk about Food & Travel. One of the favorites that come up every week it seems is "Chocolate".

Norwegian Cruise Line is known for their Freestyle Dining which allows you to dine any time you want (within some boundaries) and at any venue on the ship.

Another thing they are known for is their Chocolate Buffet. The image here shows some of the creative treats that the crew prepared for us on one of our recent NCL cruises. Next time you are on Norwegian, be sure to find out when that buffet occurs and at least take some pictures. Read More...

Princess Cruises 

& Norman Love

Do you Love Chocolate? If so, you need to sail on Princess Cruises while Chocolate Journeys^SM desserts are still being featured.

Creations by Norman Love

When we sailed on Regal Princess for our conference in November 2014, Princess Cruises introduced Chocolate Journeys^SM for their 50th Anniversary.

On a recent Princess Cruise, Crown Princess 14 Day South America - Cape Horn, we were happy to see these chocolate masterpieces are still being served on formal nights in the main dining room.  Read More...

Flaming Desserts

Perhaps the last thing you'd expect on a cruise ship is open flames in the dining room.   Bananas Foster is one of the most popular desserts on a cruise vacation.  It is often featured on formal night.

In this photo, the chef has prepared the flaming dessert right in the dining room of AMA Amalegro.  For those that aren't familiar with AMA, they are one of the luxury river cruise lines sailing the rivers of Europe and other destinations.

Baked Alaska is often presented flaming by waiters marching through the dining room in a parade accompanied by music and fanfare. Once again, this may be the feature on one of the formal nights.

These are just a few examples which have remained fresh in our minds over the years.  One experience on Celebrity Cruises was just as memorable as these flaming desserts.

Sometimes You Want Something Simple

We asked for pineapple sherbet one night, thinking that was the selection our waiter had suggested.  It turned out it wasn't the flavor of the day.  We thought we'd kid with him the next night and asked for it again.  Of course he once again offered some other flavor. On the third night, he took vanilla ice cream and fresh pineapple and served us  "pineapple sherbet".   We hope you have some memorable dessert stories to tell from your cruises in the past, or for those that are ahead.

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Cruise lines are offering special promotions and pricing on popular cruises to encourage consumers to plan their next cruise vacation now. We'll be featuring promotions on our website and social media.

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Al Fresco Dining at Sea

click images to enlarge

Imagine Watching the Sunset as you Enjoy Your Meal....

Do You Want a View with Your Meal?

Al Fresco dining (eating outside) has become a necessity in the COVID-19 era as restaurants added this option to stay in business with limited indoor capacity imposed by most local governments.   However, Al Fresco dining has been popular long before that.

(Updated 10/14/21)

Can I Dine Outside on a Cruise?

Most ships these days have one or more outside dining options.   Typically, they are found around the pool deck, offering the opportunity for guests to grab a quick meal and get right back to having fun in the sun.   With the advent of specialty dining, introduced by Norwegian Cruise line in 2000 as Freestyle Dining, many restaurants are located on a deck dedicated to these specialty restaurants.   You have the option to dine indoors or outdoors in many cases.

Some of Our Favorites

Rooftop Garden Grill, located on deck 15 on Celebrity Edge offers splendid views of the sea while enjoying lunch or dinner outside.  Dine in early evening and you can be engulfed in color as the sun gently sets into the sea. See our blog post, Rooftop Garden Grill Dining, for details on one of our recent meals.   You will enjoy a great meal with great views .

When Norwegian Cruise Line introduced their Breakaway Class, they introduced The Waterfront, a revolutionary, quarter-mile oceanfront walkway lined with shops, restaurants and bars.   Pictured here La Cucina, Norwegian Escape's Italian restaurant. It is warm, cozy, family friendly (lots of big tables) and has its own bar and even a pizza oven, not to mention tables outside on The Waterfront. A Carnival cruise ship passes by as we dine outside. This is one of our favorite restaurants on Norwegian Cruise Line, due to the ambiance and good food.

On Carnival Cruise Line ships, you have several options to dine outdoors.  Guy's Burger Joint, pictured here, serves up your choice of Guy Fieri's famous burgers topped with your favorite ingredients. Blue Iguana Cantina serves up some of the best burritos at sea.  Enjoy breakfast or lunch poolside with your choice of fixings.

Perhaps the most memorable Al Fresco dining we experienced on a cruise ship was a cookout on Azamara Journey.  They turned the pool deck into an amazing dining venue, complete with entertainment.   The highlight was these grilled lamb chops prepared on deck.  How many of you thought you would ever see a BBQ grill on a cruise ship?

If you enjoy Al Fresco dining, add that to your bucket list for your next cruise vacation.  It's been worth the extra charges, when applicable, to dine outside at one of the specialty dining venues.  We'd be happy to help you select a cruise ship that offers you the most choices including ships with free options.  

Click the banner above for the latest cruise promotions

 

Cruise lines are offering special promotions and pricing on popular cruises to encourage consumers to plan their next cruise vacation now. We'll be featuring promotions on our website and social media.

Choose Cruise Month (click for mini-series)

Connect With Us On

    
    

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM Eastern for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

What's for Dinner

October is National Plan a Cruise Month

When you think of a cruise, what's the first thing that comes to mind? 

We are betting one of your first thoughts includes eating some great food - and perhaps a lot of it during your cruise vacation.

Cruising is all about choices, and when it comes to food, the cruise lines have taken things up a notch or so lately. 

Do you eat dinner at home at the same time every night?    Do you eat early or late?   

When you go out for dinner do you like fast food, buffets, or fine dining? Perhaps you like all three?

When booking your cruise, you'll be able to make some of the same choices that you do at home.  The choices vary by cruise line and ship.    Let's take a look at some of the choices.

Traditional Dining

At the time of booking, you select early or late dining and the table size that suits your style.   Every night you have a table waiting for you in the main dining room with the same dining staff waiting there to serve you.  The meal consists of several courses with a menu that typically changes each night.   Often there is a theme to the menu. Select one or more appetizer, soup or salad, your main course, and your dessert.   Can't make up your mind?  No problem, select as many as you want.

With this form of dining, your wait staff gets to know you, your likes, and dislikes.  Imagine sitting down for dinner and not even having to ask for the glass of ice tea that you like to have with your meal. You may also make some new friends with passengers if you select a larger table size.

Open Seating

A variation of traditional dining is open seating which has different names depending on the cruise line.   With this arrangement, you don't select a dining time in advance and are not assigned a table.    A portion of the main dining room, or perhaps the entire dining room is devoted to this option. The menu is the same as with the traditional dining consisting of several courses. You arrive at the dining room during specified times, and tell the maître d’ about your dining preferences, such as table size.

The main difference between this and traditional dining is that you won't have the same wait staff and most likely will be dining with different passengers if you select a larger table size than your party.  If you find wait staff that you really like, you can request to be seated in their section, so this can be a hybrid of traditional dining if you request it.

Buffet

For those that want a more casual dinner experience, you can select cafeteria style dining in the ship's buffet.  Here you can select from several different serving stations and return as many times as you like for more food.  Arrive any time you want during specified dining hours and stay as long as you like.

On some ships, there may also be an alternative dining option in the buffet where you still make reservations. This can be a great option if you return to the ship late from a shore excursion and just want to quickly dine before starting your evening entertainment.

(Updated 10/11/2021)

Dining Post-COVID

As we had anticipated, there are some changes in dining post-COVID.  The most dramatic change will be with buffets.   One might have thought they'd be eliminated, but happily they remain open. The self-serve option is replaced by friendly staff serving you instead.  That typically occurred  pre-COVID as well when there was a Norovirus outbreak, so this is nothing new to the industry.   It's also possible that the buffet will also become an alternative venue for the traditional sit-down meal to allow for more social distancing and to accommodate all passengers at their desired dining time.

We also suspect that dining tables will not be full, allowing for social distancing, while still keeping the socialization aspect of dining.  Dining times my be staggered as well, allowing for the accommodation of all passengers at their desired dining times.

What we've heard from disembarking passengers from recent voyages is that the cruise experience feels normal.  They are quite happy with the changes around dining.   In fact, the cruise lines are getting higher marks than before from passengers.

Specialty Dining

Some ships have dining venues that require reservations and offer an upscale dining experience much like fine dining back home.   There is an additional gratuity charged to your onboard account for the special service provided.   On some ships, there may only be one specialty restaurant while on others, there may be several specialty options.   The specialty cuisine might include steaks, chops, seafood, Italian, Asian, Japanese and other cultural dishes.

Often the dinner is served with a flair, such as flaming entrées and desserts made table side with the food be presented at once to the entire table.   Expect to be dining for several hours in most specialty restaurants.   This is an optional dining experience that you may want to incorporate into your cruise, especially if you are celebrating a special occasion during the cruise.

Room Service

Don't feel like leaving your cabin tonight?   Pick up the phone and phone in your order.   You can select from the same dinner options that you would have in the main dining room.  Imagine a romantic dinner on your balcony as you sail to your next port of call.   On most ships, room service is included in the price of your cruise and available 24 hours a day.   Some ships have recently added a surcharge for late night dining due to the unfortunate waste of food they have been experiencing from guests that probably need coffee instead of food.

Pizza, Burgers, and Other Treats

You return to the ship from a fun day in port and you just don't feel like a sit down meal.  Instead, you have a taste for your favorite comfort food like pizza or burgers.    Many ships offer pizza all day long and some have even added specialty burger restaurants, such as Johnny Rockets, where you can get a burger and fries complete with your favorite flavor milk shake.

Don't forget some soft-serve ice cream to put the finishing touches on your comfort meal. You'll typically find these dining options near the main pool area or the promenade on ships that have them.  In some cases, there may be an extra charge, but many are included in your cruise price.

Dine Where You Want / When You Want

Regardless of the dining option you select at the time of booking, you'll find several dining options available once you are onboard.   Just like you might at home, there are nights when you want a fancy meal and others where you are quite content to have a slice of pizza and your favorite beverage.

In recent years, the cruise lines have begun to add more and more options to their dining repertoire.   Guests have told the cruise lines that while on vacation they don't want to be told what to wear, when to eat, and where to eat.   The cruise lines have listened.

Norwegian Cruise Line introduced "Freestyle Dining" over 20 years ago and have continued to refine the program.   One thing you need to realize is that you will be paying the surcharges we mentioned for specialty restaurants for the freedom of choice.   The fees won't break the bank, but you need to include them in your vacation budget.    We've written about Freestyle Dining many times before - just do a search to read more.

You don't need to eat at the same restaurant every night of your cruise, unless you want to.   Try some of the alternative dining options on your next cruise - you may find a new favorite.  Also, this is a good place to try new foods.   The waiter will be glad to bring you something else if you don't like your first choice.

Bon Appétit

 

Click the banner above for the latest cruise promotions

 

Cruise lines are offering special promotions and pricing on popular cruises to encourage consumers to plan their next cruise vacation now. We'll be featuring promotions on our website and social media.

Choose Cruise Month (click for mini-series)

Connect With Us On

    
    

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM Eastern for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat