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August 11, 2023

Celebrity Cruises, an award-winning premium cruise company, has revealed details of the dining and beverage program aboard its highly anticipated new ship, Celebrity Ascent.

As the fourth ship in the revolutionary Edge Series, Celebrity Ascent will delight travelers with redesigned restaurants, a new and engaging dining experience, an expanded menu for both food and cocktails, a new whisky tasting opportunity, and a fully plant-based multi-course dinner.

“Sharing a good meal or a drink with family and friends remains one of the most memorable parts of the journey, and with Celebrity Ascent, we want to create new opportunities to make these experiences even richer and more exciting for our guests,” says Laura Hodges Bethge, President of Celebrity Cruises.

“Onboard Celebrity Ascent, every guest will be delighted, whether it’s the refined culinary connoisseur with a taste for the finest wines in the world, or the couple seeking an intimate and romantic evening, or even the family looking to share a fun and engaging experience with their children, or the wellness-oriented traveler seeking more plant-based healthy options.”

A New Le Voyage: Exclusive Seaside Restaurants by Chef Daniel Boulud

Renowned worldwide, Chef Daniel Boulud serves as Celebrity’s Global Culinary Ambassador and will bring his acclaimed restaurant concept to sea aboard Celebrity Ascent. The second installment of the refined restaurant Le Voyage will feature a completely new design that creates a breathtaking ambiance, with a new chandelier, inviting banquettes with luxurious seating, and golden tones throughout the restaurant. Guests will experience a menu created by Chef Boulud himself, offering dishes inspired by his travels and favorite places around the world.

For an enhanced culinary experience, groups can reserve the Chef’s Table, a private dining room with 6 seats for a full multi-course dinner paired with prestigious wines. In the traditional style of Chef Boulud, at the end of each meal, diners will be delighted with his famous homemade madeleines.

Plant-Based Delights and Pop Option

One of the most captivating spaces onboard the Edge series ships is Eden, a sensory experience that spans three decks, featuring floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

This versatile space can be an informal café for lunch, a cocktail bar, an entertainment area, an outdoor terrace, and a specialty restaurant. At night, it comes alive with a fusion of music, food, and performances, creating an atmosphere unlike anything seen at sea.

With the arrival of Celebrity Ascent, travelers will have the opportunity to experience a pure and unspoiled gastronomic offering through a new seven-course plant-based tasting menu. Each dish features ingredients sourced from their place of origin and presented in their most natural form.

Highlights from the menu include dishes like Tomato and Golden Beet Ceviche, Ajoblanco Panna Cotta, Roasted and Glazed Celeriac Steak, and Dry Rose Petals Masala Curry. Enjoyed as a tasting menu or à la carte, guests can also opt for organic dishes paired with vegan wines.

Expanded Offerings in Main Dining Rooms and Redesigned Cosmopolitan Restaurant

With the Edge series ships, Celebrity introduced a new dining concept, expanding from a single main dining room to four main restaurants, each offering signature dishes and a different culinary style.

Onboard Celebrity Ascent, travelers will continue to enjoy new American cuisine at Cosmopolitan restaurant, Mediterranean flavors at Cyprus, contemporary French taste at Normandie, and Italian cuisine at Tuscan.

Together, these four restaurants offer travelers more than 84 different dishes to choose from. Guests of the Cosmopolitan will be delighted by its new design inspired by champagne culture, featuring a new layout and ample seating.

Renovations in Specialty Restaurants Le Petit Chef, Fine Cut, and Blu

Celebrity Cruises remains the only cruise company in the world to present a fully immersive and technological dining experience with the globally successful Le Petit Chef.

Each evening, the menu features various courses brought to life by colorful and fun animations by a tiny chef, telling the story behind each dish. The animation of each recipe concludes with a digital version of the dish, followed by the actual dish placed by the waiter in front of the diner, creating a guaranteed “wow” effect.

Available exclusively on Celebrity Ascent, guests will experience the brand-new gastronomic show where the four-course menu is narrated like a fairy tale, with the tiny chef encountering a mysterious and magical cookbook filled with extravagant recipes full of surprises.

Among the restaurants most appreciated by guests is the Fine Cut Steakhouse, recognized for its incredible selection of premium meats, from dry-aged fillets to massive Tomahawk steaks. It will now also feature a new dish: lemon-poached lobster tail with melted leeks, shiitake mushrooms, lobster ravioli, and a homemade butter sauce. Additionally, Aqua Class cabin guests, who are more wellness-oriented, can dine for both breakfast and dinner on the new outdoor terrace of the Blu Restaurant.

Raise Your Glasses to New Drink Offerings

Celebrity Cruises is renowned for its extensive liquor tasting program, currently including partnerships with brands like Jack Daniel’s and Macallan.

Onboard Celebrity Ascent, they go even further to delight the most discerning connoisseurs with a new partnership with exclusive WhistlePig Whisky. With collaboration from Chief Blender Meghan Ireland, the ship will have two handcrafted barrels exclusively made for Celebrity Cruises.

Available at Craft Social, guests can enjoy a Special Bespoke Barrels 12-year and a Special Single Barrels 10-year, both as à la carte menu options and as part of a tasting that also includes a 6-year WhistlePig PiggyBack 100 Proof Bourbon, WhistlePig 10 years, and WhistlePig 12 years.

With over a hundred “Wine Spectator” awards in over a decade, this cruise company remains the only one to receive the coveted “Best Of” Award of Excellence. No other cruise company delights wine enthusiasts more than Celebrity Cruises! Three venues aboard Celebrity Ascent have been selected for the 2023 Wine Spectator Awards: Le Voyage and Tuscan have been nominated for the “Best of” Award of Excellence, while the Fine Cut Restaurant has won the Award of Excellence.

Wine enthusiasts will appreciate the extensive onboard wine lists as well as the certified expert sommeliers aboard Celebrity Ascent, the offered bespoke wine tasting seminars, and the global wine tour experiences.

At the heart of each Edge Series ship is The Grand Plaza with the famous Martini Bar, located beneath The Chandelier, the magnificent chandelier that comes to life every evening with enchanting light displays during the iconic “Flair Bartender Shows,” becoming the main attraction. Here, a group of expert mixology bartenders stage a highly engaging show loved by travelers, during which they create a tower of martinis while dancing in choreography, showcasing their skills.

The Martini Bar on Celebrity Ascent will feature an even richer menu, offering not only classic martinis but also creations with fruit infusions and enticing Desert Martinis.

Celebrity Ascent will make its grand debut this November, departing from Port Everglades, the port of Fort Lauderdale, for its inaugural Caribbean season. Travelers eager to be among the first to experience the new ship can book for the inaugural departures known as Taste of Luxury: a 4-night itinerary to the Western Caribbean departing on November 22, 2023, a 3-night mini cruise to the Bahamas departing on November 26, 2023, or the 7-night inaugural journey to the Eastern Caribbean departing on December 3, 2023.

Stay tuned for more updates, news, onboard experiences, and reviews on Cruising Journal, complete with photos, videos, and special offers!

Saskia Pacifico

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