Celebrity Cruises & An iPad Menu? You Don’t Say?2 min read
After returning from a cruise on Celebrity Eclipse early this year, Jeff Nickerson, Managing Director of CruiseNow.com, reported that, while the cuisine at Qsine is fabulous, “Qsine is much more than what you eat” (and you eat a lot!); while the service is top-notch, there are no “waiters”; and, while guests can select their drink, place their order on an iPad menu, and have it promptly delivered by the tour guide, it’s much more fun to mix your own.
Nickerson calls it a “dining adventure,” incomparable to any other. The adventure is led by a Culinary Tour Guide who kicks off the tour by handing out iPad menus – loaded with food and beverage selections — to everyone at your table. Guests mix their own drinks by selecting each spirit and mixer they want on an iPad menu. Each spirit selected is added to a virtual martini shaker. Guests shake their iPad menus for a Bond-style drink that’s “shaken, not stirred,” and pour it into a virtual martini glass. Voila! The drinks are on their way. But, they arrive “deconstructed,” along with all of the necessary accoutrements, so guests can make the same drink they mixed on their iPad menus.
Guests can make food selections on their iPad menu as well – selections which take them on a culinary tour around the world and include exquisite culinary works of art, like “Sushi Lollipops,” “Chitinis” delivered in martini glasses, and glasses of “Lava Crab,” literally served on the rocks – on a bed of heated red stones; whimsical presentations of classics, like “Popcorn Fish-N-Chips,” served in — you guessed it — theater-style popcorn bags, and spring rolls served in springs. They also prepare some of the food, like the fresh guacamole brought with a stone mortar and pestle and the cupcakes guests decorate themselves. And then there’s the dessert selection known only as Qsine Surprise: no one seems willing to ruin the surprise; all anyone will say is, “it is awesome.”
WATCH VIDEO DEMONSTRATION HERE
There are no courses at Qsine. Instead, the food is served tapas style, in a series of small plates (or, in Qsine’s case, a series of “custom-made frames”), each intended to be shared with everyone at the table. There is plenty of food to go around. Guests order the dishes they want on the iPad menu, when they want them; each dish comes to the table, as it is ready.
There is no time limit for the tour, either; Nickerson said his ran about three hours. So, take your time. Enjoy! There is no rush. Go on – play with your food! Experiment with the iPad menu! But, you will have to give them back to your tour guide before disembarking Qsine’s amazing culinary tour.
