Eden is one of Celebrity Cruises’ most distinctive speciality restaurants, combining an open kitchen, creative food and spectacular aft-facing views over the ship’s wake.

The restaurant sits within the much larger Eden venue at the aft of the ship, with huge windows overlooking the wake. Choosing when you dine can therefore make quite a difference to the experience. A table around sailaway can give you wonderful views as you leave port, while a well-timed dinner may even coincide with sunset.

Having eaten at Eden several times on Celebrity Edge Series ships, this guide takes you through the menu, what the food is actually like, when to book and whether Eden is worth the additional cost.

Eden Restaurant at a glance

Ships: Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent
Type: Speciality dining
Cuisine: Contemporary creative fine dining
Menu: À la carte or tasting menu
Reservations: Recommended
Best time to book: Around sailaway or sunset
Location: Aft, within Eden

What is Eden on Celebrity Cruises?

Eden is both a restaurant and a larger multi-level venue found at the aft of Celebrity’s Edge Series ships. The restaurant itself has an open kitchen, allowing you to watch the chefs preparing and finishing dishes during dinner.

One of its biggest attractions is the setting. Floor-to-ceiling windows look directly out over the wake, making the view part of the dining experience rather than simply somewhere to eat.

The atmosphere changes depending on when you visit. During daylight hours you can watch the scenery disappear behind the ship, while later reservations can coincide with sailaway or sunset.

On one late-May sailing from Amsterdam, I booked Eden for 8.30pm as we were leaving port. From the restaurant we watched the ship pass through the lock protecting Amsterdam before seeing the pilot boat following behind to collect the pilot. It turned dinner into part of the sailaway experience.

Which Celebrity cruise ships have Eden Restaurant?

Eden Restaurant can be found on four Celebrity Edge Series ships:

• Celebrity Edge
• Celebrity Apex
• Celebrity Beyond
• Celebrity Ascent

Do you need to book Eden in advance?

Eden is a speciality restaurant and reservations are recommended. You can book before your cruise through Celebrity’s Cruise Planner, and booking early gives you a better chance of securing the date and time you want.

If the views are important to you, think about when you book as well as simply securing a table. A reservation around sailaway can be particularly lovely, while sunset can be spectacular on the right itinerary. Of course, the direction of the ship and position of the sun mean a sunset view can never be guaranteed.

NCC Tip: If you have a late departure from port, check the expected sailaway time before choosing your Eden reservation. Dinner while the ship is leaving port can add another dimension to the experience.

How much does Eden Restaurant cost?

Eden is a speciality restaurant, so an additional charge applies rather than it being included as one of Celebrity’s complimentary dining venues.

Prices can vary, so check the Celebrity Cruises app or Cruise Planner for the price applicable to your particular sailing.

An optional wine pairing is also available alongside the tasting menu. On the menu from my sailing, the wine pairing was an additional $144 per person.

Menus and prices can change, so always check the latest information for your cruise before booking.

What is on the Eden Restaurant menu?

Eden serves contemporary fine dining, with a menu designed to be a little more creative and adventurous than traditional cruise ship dining. You can choose from the à la carte menu or opt for the multi-course tasting menu.

The à la carte menu has a wide selection of appetisers, including Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Truffled Huitlacoche Risotto, Sheep’s Milk Gnocchi, Pan Roasted Carabinero Shrimp and Mulligatawny Soup.

Main courses include plenty of seafood choices, such as Nova Scotia Lobster Casserole, Seabass in Crispy Bread, Atlantic Salmon and Slow Cooked Corvina. Meat options include Free Range Lamb Loin, Oven Roasted Chicken and the Filet Mignon and Mini Short Rib Wellington.

There are also plant-based choices available.

Desserts are every bit as elaborate as the savoury courses, with choices including Lemon Meyer Tart, Butterscotch Crème Brûlée, Strawberry Dessert and Azteca Chocolate Pie.

Menus can change between sailings, so use these as a guide and check the current menu during your cruise.

What is the food actually like at Eden?

Having eaten at Eden several times, one thing that has always stood out to me is the presentation. The dishes are beautifully plated, particularly the desserts, but the portions are still substantial enough that dinner doesn’t feel like a case of style over substance.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake

For my appetiser, I chose the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, served with creamy chipotle, piquillo pepper, cucumber and dill.

It contained a very generous amount of crab meat and the dill was subtle enough not to overpower the other flavours. I would personally have liked a little more of the creamy chipotle, although I’m sure the restaurant would have happily provided more had I asked.

Filet Mignon and Mini Short Rib Wellington

For my main course, I ordered one of Eden’s signature dishes: the Filet Mignon and Mini Short Rib Wellington, served with mashed potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms and bordelaise.

I ordered the filet medium and it arrived perfectly cooked. This is also a surprisingly generous main course, with both the filet mignon and short rib Wellington on the plate.

Lemon Meyer Tart

Dessert was the Lemon Meyer Tart, with a Graham cracker crust, sweet mountain huckleberries and lavender cream.

This was as beautiful as it was delicious. The lavender was very subtle, with the lemon and Graham cracker flavours coming through much more strongly. Having eaten at Eden on previous cruises too, the desserts have consistently been some of the prettiest dishes I’ve been served there.

What is the Eden tasting menu?

If you want to turn dinner at Eden into more of an occasion, there is also a seven-course tasting menu.

Rather than simply serving seven predetermined dishes, several courses give you a choice. On the menu during my sailing, options included Truffled Huitlacoche Risotto or Sheep’s Milk Gnocchi, Pan Roasted Carabinero Shrimp or Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, and Seabass in Crispy Bread or Nova Scotia Lobster Casserole.

For the main course, the choice was between Filet Mignon and Mini Short Rib Wellington or Oven Roasted Chicken, followed by a tasting of three Eden desserts.

An optional wine pairing is available alongside the tasting menu. On the menu from my sailing, this was an additional $144 per person.

If you don’t drink wine, it’s worth considering whether the pairing represents good value for you. I chose the à la carte menu instead, as I don’t drink wine and therefore wouldn’t have made the most of the pairing.

Eden desserts

Dessert deserves a mention of its own at Eden. The presentation is particularly impressive and, having eaten here more than once, I’ve found this to be consistent across different visits.

Alongside the Lemon Meyer Tart, the menu includes a Butterscotch Crème Brûlée, Strawberry Dessert and Azteca Chocolate Pie.

The Strawberry Dessert combines vanilla chiffon sponge, strawberry, vanilla ice cream and a soufflé blanket, while the Azteca Chocolate Pie combines mole ganache, praline croustillant, chocolate crémeux and cardamom ice cream.

After dessert, you can finish dinner with tea or coffee, accompanied by a selection of petit fours.

Eden cocktails

Eden isn’t just about the food. The drinks menu is every bit as creative, with cocktails that are quite different from those you’ll find in most other bars around the ship.

Expect unusual ingredients, imaginative presentation and combinations you may not have considered ordering before. Some incorporate flowers, herbs or even vegetables, making choosing a drink part of the fun.

Two particularly memorable creations are The Pea and Clouds, both of which certainly look as distinctive as their names suggest.

You don’t have to be dining in Eden Restaurant to enjoy the atmosphere. You can also visit the bar in the main Eden venue, making it a lovely place to stop for a drink even if you haven’t booked dinner.

If you don’t drink alcohol, check the current menu for non-alcoholic options too. The drinks offered onboard can change, so it’s worth looking at the latest menu during your sailing.

When is the best time to eat at Eden?

If you have some flexibility when choosing your reservation, it’s worth thinking about what will be happening outside the windows while you eat.

Sailaway is my favourite option. Eden’s position at the aft of the ship means you can watch the destination gradually disappear into the distance while you have dinner.

A reservation around sunset can also be spectacular, particularly on a sea day. Just remember that the position of the ship means there’s no guarantee the sun will actually set directly behind Eden.

If you’re particularly keen on the view, check your ship’s scheduled departure time before booking. A slightly later or earlier dinner could make the difference between looking out at a stationary cruise terminal and watching the wake stretching out behind the ship.

NCC Tip: Don’t concentrate so much on securing the “perfect” time that you miss out on Eden altogether. If it’s somewhere you particularly want to eat, I’d prioritise getting a reservation first and the view second.

Is Eden Restaurant worth it?

If you enjoy speciality dining and want one dinner during your Celebrity cruise to feel a little different, Eden is well worth considering.

For me, it isn’t simply the food that makes Eden special. The combination of the open kitchen, imaginative dishes, beautiful presentation and those enormous windows overlooking the wake turns dinner into much more of an experience.

It’s particularly suited to a celebration, but you certainly don’t need an excuse to book it. If food is an important part of your cruise, Eden is one of the restaurants I’d put high on the list.

The additional cost does mean it won’t be for everyone, particularly when Celebrity’s Edge Series ships already have a good selection of restaurants included in your cruise fare. However, you’re paying for something noticeably different from the main dining experience rather than simply another place to have dinner.

Having eaten at Eden several times, I’d happily book it again.

My top tips for Eden Restaurant

• Book before your cruise if Eden is somewhere you particularly want to try.
• Consider your dining time. Sailaway or sunset can make those wake views even more impressive.
• Look at both menus. You don’t need to decide between à la carte and the tasting menu when making your reservation.
• Allow plenty of time. Eden is somewhere to enjoy rather than rush through dinner.
• Try the Eden bar too. You can enjoy the venue and its unusual drinks without having dinner in the restaurant.
• Check current menus and prices before you sail, as these can change.

Final thoughts

Eden manages to combine some of the best things about cruising in one place: excellent food, attentive service and a constantly changing view of the sea.

I’d particularly recommend booking it for an evening when your ship is sailing away from somewhere interesting. Watching Amsterdam disappear behind the ship while we passed through the lock, followed by the pilot boat in our wake, is still one of the things I remember about that dinner.

And then, of course, there’s the food.

The Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Filet Mignon and Mini Short Rib Wellington and Lemon Meyer Tart made for a fantastic three-course meal, but with such an extensive menu, there’s plenty I’d happily go back to try.

Would I eat at Eden again? Absolutely.