We ate everywhere on Celebrity Xcel — from the four Main Dining Rooms to specialty restaurants like Bora, Fine Cut Steakhouse, & Raw on 5 — to find out one thing:
👉 Is specialty dining actually worth it?
In this full food tour, we compare included dining vs specialty dining, share honest reviews of every meal, and break down what stood out, what disappointed us, and what we would absolutely book again.
Highlights include:
• Main Dining Room dinner at Normandie
• Off-menu filet & lobster specials
• A disappointing Fine Cut dinner (but redemption at lunch!)
• Raw on 5 lunch on a port day
• The brand-new Bora experience
• Mast Grill by the pool
• Multiple sea day lunches and dinners
We also share a helpful tip about ordering exclusive Main Dining Room dishes at any of the four MDR concepts — so you can skip long lines and still get the same food.
If you’re sailing Celebrity Xcel and wondering whether to buy a specialty dining package, this video will help you decide.
So… is specialty dining worth the extra cost?
The answer might surprise you.
#CelebrityXcel #CelebrityCruises #CruiseDining #SpecialtyDining #CruiseFood #CruiseReview
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9 Comments
I have been on three Celebrity cruises as well most of the other premium cruise lines (HAL, Princess, and Virgin). I found the Mast Grill to be consistently poor no matter which ship we have been on. First, they place their least experienced staff there. They precook the food often as much as an hour in advance and hold it in a steamtable pan as opposed to cooking to order as you find on the other premium line. On the Millennium, the staff could not cook a french fry even after a couple efforts. On the Solstice on a rainy day, I went down to the grill when there was no one else there. They would not give me fresh fries. Rather, they had some that had been fried long ago. It is one venue where they seriously trail behind their competitors.
Our next Celebrity cruise will probably be a October 2027 transatlantic on the Celebrity Apex, our first cruise on an Edge Class ship.
What kind of flavours are the spaghetti à la mallorquín????
As I don’t know what pasta dishes I want between that, the lemon roasted chicken rigatoni or the puttenessca tilapia fillet pasta!
Thank you for sharing this information. I have a celebrity cruise next September and so looking forward to it.
We were on the Xcel's Inaugural Transatlantic last month to Barcelona. We loved Bora for both dinner & brunch. Also, Daniel Boulud's Le Voyage was fantastic, as was Luminae, which menu was different every dinner. Having such wonderful choices was a huge plus.
That was not beef carpaccio lol. That was a Spanish piquillo pepper with garlic 09:11
I’ve been on the fence about the specialty dining package 🫶🏾My Husband🥂♥️ and I cruise for our 10th year anniversary in about 15 days and I’m going back-and-forth because it’s about $388 and I’m like is it worth it or not? Thx so much for the video ❤
Hi, did you burp at 6:31? Great video 😀
I use to enjoy Eden and a few others when cruising with Celebrity. Now I just stick with Luminae. I also enjoy the buffet for the variety of breakfast items. I agree with the Mast Grill being so-so. My work-around is asking for a burger right off the grill with melted cheese. My one time at Fine Cut was similar to yours. I had a dry and flavorless NY aged strip. Our server didn't seem to really care. You've tempted me with Bora. It looked amazing!
nice video…glad you hit a home run with the lobster roll:)