We tested the included food on Celebrity Ascent

What should you expect from the included food on Celebrity Ascent? In this review, we explore every option available to you for no additional charge.

During our 12-night cruise, we tried all nine included dining venues. We also share some of the many dishes we had during our cruise on Celebrity Ascent.

Along the way, we’ll reveal the tips and tricks we learnt on the cruise. We will rank each included dining option from best to worst.

Main dining rooms on Celebrity Ascent

There are four main dining rooms on Celebrity Ascent included in your cruise fare:

• Cyprus
• Tuscan
• Cosmopolitan
• Normandie

You can dine at all of these restaurants during your cruise. We recommend that you try each one at least once.

The main dinner menu is the same at all four restaurants and changes daily.  What makes these menus different is the exclusive section of the menu that is unique to the restaurant.

For example:

• Cyprus has a special section of Mediterranean cuisine
• Normandie has a French cuisine section
• Tuscan has Italian specials
• Cosmopolitan features American favourites

Cyprus main dining room: a taste of the Med

Let’s take a look at Cyprus restaurant, the menu and the food.

Cyprus is located on Deck 4 aft. Like all of the main dining rooms on Celebrity Ascent, it has a range of different table configurations. These include tables for two, four, and larger group tables.

Cyprus restaurant menu and food

Here’s the menu from the Cyprus restaurant, as you can see there is an exclusive section with Mediterranean dishes.

I ordered the wedge salad from the main starters section (to make myself feel healthy) and Craig had the grilled octopus. 

We also had the Greek mezze board.

For main course we had the Cypriot short ribs, which were so tender and melt in the mouth.

Unfortunately, our table in this restaurant was poorly lit so couldn’t see what I was eating, which made things interesting.

Craig went for the homemade pasta, which was a good portion size and not too overwhelming.

For dessert, we chose the one option exclusive to Cyprus restaurant – Galaktoboureko. It was very light and sweet with buttery pastry and honey – definitely worth a try.

Craig had the tiramisu and this is an ideal dessert if you don’t want a lot after a big meal.

Overall, we found the menu options to be varied enough so we could choose favourites and try new Mediterranean dishes.

There were 10 gluten free options, but vegetarian dishes were limited to just one.

This was our favourite main restaurant on Celebrity Edge. Unfortunately on Celebrity Ascent, we were given a table with no lighting. This did make our experience less enjoyable.

Cosmopolitan restaurant: included food on Celebrity Ascent

Also on Deck 4 aft is the Cosmopolitan restaurant and this features American classics on the menu.

It’s the same in size as the Cyprus restaurant. It features a glass wine cellar you walk through at the entrance. This restaurant is decorated in lighter tones.

Cosmopolitan restaurant menu and food

Here’s a look at the menu on the night we visited – remember the exclusive section remains the same throughout the cruise.

The Caesar salad we had for starter was quite heavy on the lettuce. It could have done with a few anchovies to add some extra flavour. It was a classic Caesar in fairness, which it delivered on.

We ordered the shrimp cocktail and French onion soup from the classics section. The French onion soup was particularly good – you can’t go wrong ordering this.

From the exclusive Cosmopolitan section we enjoyed the salmon gravlax.

For main course I had the pan seared cod with lava, edamame and quinoa with a butter sauce and this was beautifully presented.

Desserts were also enjoyable. We always have a creme brûlée at least once a cruise. This panna cotta all romana was served with a raspberry coulis and fresh fruit.

I kept dessert light with a lemon sorbet. This is a good option if you don’t want too much for dessert. The sorbet flavours change daily.

Overall the Cosmopolitan restaurant had a nice atmosphere and the staff were friendly and attentive.

The menu had 13 gluten-free dishes and three vegetarian.

Tuscan restaurant on Celebrity Ascent

Tuscan is the Italian restaurant. The decor here is bolder with monochrome colours and flashes of bright yellow. 

This was our least favourite restaurant for ambience and service.

Our table was dimly lit but better than our table in Cyprus restaurant. Service was quite slow and the table next to us left before dessert because they’d been there for quite a while.

Tuscan restaurant menu and food

Here’s the menu from Tuscan restaurant.

From the exclusive Tuscan section of the menu, we chose the creamy Tuscan shrimp soup. This was a good choice with plenty of flavour.

From the main menu we chose the cured Atlantic salmon and the vegetable Wellington with a roasted garlic sauce (this was one of the vegetarian options).

The food was a good standard. There was a long wait between courses. We think this was due to a particularly busy service on the night we visited.

Tuscan has 10 gluten free options and three vegetarian dishes. We thought overall the menu had a good choice but there were none that had the ‘wow factor’

Normandie restaurant: French cuisine

By the time we dined at the fourth and final main dining room, we’d asked the maitre’d to add a note to our cabin. We requested that we be allocated a table with a light above. As you will see from the photos, this was tons better because we could actually see our food!

The staff in Normandie were attentive without being intrusive and even gave us menu recommendations.

Normandie restaurant menu and food

Here’s the Normandie restaurant menu.

To start we had the cream of broccoli soup from the main menu and the coquilles saint jacques from the Normandie exclusive section. 

The coquilles saint jacques was very rich and creamy and had a decent amount of scallops to enjoy.

For main we ordered the beef sirloin en croute, which was nicely presented and very much like a beef wellington.

The marmite dieppoise was shellfish in a slow-cooked seafood broth with creme fraiche. It was similar in flavour to the coquilles saint jacques so we recommend ordering one or the other.

We were even offered a special that wasn’t on the menu – fish and chips! It isn’t typical French cuisine but it had very good batter and we couldn’t resist ordering.

For dessert we decided to order apple pie a la mode with ice cream and the exotic fruit sorbet – refreshing after a rich meal.

Normandie had 10 gluten-free dishes and 3 vegetarian options.

Some of the dishes are quite heavy on cream. This is due to the nature of the dishes. It’s good to be aware there are still 5 lactose-free options if you need to avoid it.

Tips for the main dining rooms on Celebrity Ascent

Here are our top tips for the main dining rooms on Celebrity Ascent:

1. If you don’t have a reservation, we would recommend trying to arrive just before 7pm, when it starts to get busy
2. If there is a queue to be seated, you can ask if there are tables in any of the other restaurants so you don’t have to wait
3. You can dine in any of the main dining rooms and request the menu from another. For example, dine in Tuscan but order meals from the Cosmopolitan menu.
4. If you have any preference for where you are sat, you can speak to the maitre’d, for example, we asked to be seated on a well-lit table and this was picked up on our next visit to a dining room
5. The dress code in the main dining room is smart casual. For example, a dress, skirt, long pants, smart jeans, stylish top or collared shirt BUT be aware this is only recommended and not enforced. 
6. All the main dining rooms are included in your cruise so try them all.
7. The last celebration night is when there will be lobster on the menu and baked Alaska.
8. Cosmopolitan restaurant is open for breakfast every day. On port days it’s open 7.30am – 9.00am and sea days 8.00am – 9.30am.
9. On sea days, lunch is available in Cosmopolitan from noon until 1.30pm.

Room service on Celebrity Ascent is not included but if you want to treat yourself to breakfast one morning, take a look at the lastest room service menu.

Food included at Cafe El Bacio

On Deck 4 is Cafe al Bacio. Although the hot drinks are not complimentary, the light snacks in the cabinet are. Don’t be afraid to ask for anything from here. In the morning, there are pastries and in the afternoon, there are sandwiches and small desserts.

I particularly recommend the macadamia cookies, sugar donuts and the little sandwiches.

Eden Cafe

On Deck 5 is the Eden Cafe but it’s only open at certain times.

This is much quieter than the buffet. You’ll find soups, salads, and sandwiches. Most are complimentary, with a few options available for an extra charge.

It’s located on the left side of Eden and is behind a curtain when it’s closed.

It’s open for breakfast every day from 7.30am -9.00am and we enjoyed eating outside right next to Eden before going into port.

The Eden Cafe on Celebrity Ascent is only open for lunch on sea days from noon till 1.30pm. It’s a good option if you’re looking for freshly prepared food in a quieter atmosphere because most people forget it’s there. 

Be aware that some of the breakfast items are prepared to order so this is not a grab and go style food venue, especially if you are in a hurry.

There’s complimentary tea, coffee and juice stations at the Eden Cafe, with pre-prepared salads in cabinets, a carvery station and sandwiches to order.

If you fancy some potato chips – this is where you can get them!

Included food on Celebrity Ascent: Mast Grill

The Mast Grill is located near the main pool on the Resort Deck and is really handy to grab a burger, hot dog, fries and soft serve ice cream.

There are vegetarian options and plenty of toppings to choose from for your burgers and hot dogs.

It’s open daily from 11.30am to 6pm so is ideal for a day by the pool.

Ice cream flavours from the machine rotate between chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. You can help yourself to a cone or a bowl as many times as you like. Perfect for a day on the Resort Deck in the sunshine!

Spa Cafe

If you are looking for a lighter breakfast or lunch, we recommend trying out the Spa Cafe, located in the adult-only solarium.

Food from the Spa Cafe is included in your cruise fare, you only pay extra for the smoothies.

Here’s the breakfast menu available 7.00am to 10.00am.

There is a small area to sit down and eat but equally, you can take what you like from the Spa Cafe to a quiet area overlooking the pool.

Lunch is available noon to 2.00pm. I really enjoyed the tuna salad with grapefruit and the caprese salad.

Ocean View Cafe: best buffet at sea?

Last but by no means least, let’s discuss the buffet on Celebrity Ascent!

The Ocean View Cafe is a generous and spacious buffet that is open throughout the day from 6.30am to 1.00am.

There are a few odd times of the day that it’s temporarily closed but this is only during changeovers.

At breakfast you can expect cooked and continental breakfast items, an omelette station and even honey from a honeycomb.

We aren’t big breakfast eaters but when we did have breakfast here there was an incredible amount of choice.  We enjoyed eggs Benedict from the omelette station, pancakes, waffles and a cooked breakfast.

In our opinion, the best meal from the Ocean View Cafe is always lunch. There are specials during lunch times like kebabs, Asian dishes, pasta stations, and a whole creme brûlée section! The choice is immense and we were very impressed by the quality of food on offer.

If you walk further towards the aft of the Ocean View Cafe, you’ll also come across a pizza station.

Dinner at the Ocean View Cafe is pretty quiet. Most passengers head to the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants in the evenings. It’s perfect for a relaxed casual dinner.

This is fine but we thought the quality and choice was better at lunch. With that said, we did spot the captain eating here one evening.

One thing that there is a huge abundance of in the buffet is dessert. There’s just so much!

The one bonus is the portion sizes, so you can manage to sample a few different desserts after your meal.

Tips for the buffet on Celebrity Ascent

Here are our tips for the Ocean View Cafe:

1. Coffee, tea and juice is complimentary 24 hours a day in the Ocean View Cafe so you can pop here any time to grab a drink.
2. On port days, the breakfast buffet is busy but the lunch is quiet so pick your times wisely.
3. On sea days, the buffet can get busy but we would high recommend going to the Ocean View Cafe on your final sea day to enjoy the ‘buffet extravaganza’ featuring a bounty of seafood, kebabs, artisan bread and a chocolate fountain.

4. You can go to the buffet as many times as you like so don’t over pile your plate. Try to group similar food together so you don’t end up with a weird combination of gravy and salad on your plate!

Included food on Celebrity Ascent: our rankings!

So what did we think about the included food on Celebrity Ascent? Overall, the food was excellent and a different class to other cruise lines we’ve tried. 

1. Normandie restaurant (favourite) – excellent service and menu
2. Ocean View Cafe – huge choice, everything seemed fresh and hot. Breakfast and lunch are both great for choice and quality.
3. Cosmopolitan restaurant – prompt service and a nice choice on the menu
4. Cafe Al Bacio – quick and easy option to grab some tasty snacks
5. Spa Cafe – food is fresh and full of flavour but limited opening hours
6. Cyprus restaurant – dimly lit restaurant but a few stand out dishes
7. Tuscan restaurant – our least favourite main dining room
8. Eden Cafe – this venue is forgotten about and needs longer opening hours
9. Mast Grill – the food is freshly cooked but nothing stood out to us

Just remember, what we enjoy may not be the same for everyone so one of our biggest pieces of advice from us is to try each of these dining venues for yourself.

Do you agree with our ranking? Let us know in the comments.

Final thoughts about the included food on Celebrity Ascent

We hope this post helps you to plan your dining on your upcoming cruise on Celebrity Ascent.

The included food on Celebrity Ascent offers a wide range of dining options to suit all tastes. From fine dining to casual meals, there’s something for everyone, making it an excellent choice for food lovers.

The quality of service and food across the ship sets it apart from other cruise lines. If you enjoy trying a variety of different cuisines, it certainly offers a vast choice of options.

You can easily dine exclusively at the nine dining options available at no extra charge, without spending extra money on specialty dining.

Watch our full video about included food on Celebrity Ascent

https://youtu.be/dATdwSuMdZw

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