Passengers who cruise on Celebrity ships will tell you, whether you ask or not, that they enjoy the finest food on the seas. There is no validation, of course, because food likes and dislikes are among the most subjective things in life. What is clear is that Celebrity can never be accused of not taking food seriously.
Unless it’s at Qsine, the unique restaurant on the Eclipse and, when it launches this month, the Silhouette.
That’s not to say the food isn’t good (it’s spectacular in our subjective opinion), but it’s not serious…it’s just fun.
Popcorn fish and chips comes in a popcorn box. Disco shrimp with disco lights flashing. Orders are created, for 
food and drinks, on an iPad. Dessert choices on a Rubik’s Cube, including strawberries served on grass — Strawberry Fields Forever — all of it the creation of Jacques Van Staden, Celebrity’s guru in the kitchen.
“We were listening to the Beatles,” says his brother Michael, who’s charged with adapting Celebrity ships to new menus, “and that’s where Strawberry Fields Forever came from.”
While the ideas may flow easily, not so much the implementation. When Celebrity adapted the Infinity to accommodate Qsine, Michael had three days to implement it before the ship sailed.
The elder brother, Jacques, has been making an impact on Celebrity’s restaurants — as well as Azamara’s — for more than four years. Menus have been changed.
Restaurants have been changed…Qsine is the most visible new eatery, because of its style, but doing things the Van Staden way goes deeper than a fun menu.
“We’re trying to implement everything fleet-wide and take cooking to another level,” says Michael. “We are working on food for your blood type; what’s good for your particular type of blood and what isn’t.”
New recipes are tested in Miami. Step-by-step pictures are taken, with descriptions, to become part of a virtual DVD that will serve as a cooking class for all Celebrity chefs.
“Nobody’s ever done anything like this…we’re going to have a large iPad with all recipes, with how much of everything to use,” he explains. “This will help us to control food costs. It was my brother’s concept.”
For the chefs, it’ll be just like being in Qsine…but it’s “cuisine.”