Rustyman

Not on our cruise, you could order buttered potatoes or chips.

Exactly, not too impressed with the contact in that that there was no word of any actions being taken nor if they are actually taking it seriously. I’m sure if someone at Celebrity has read this thread they will sit up and take notice. To be honest if Celebrity had got back to me earlier about my concerns, ie following my 5 interventions onboard, then I probably wouldn’t have posted here. It grates with me that I spend and have spent tens of thousands of pounds over the years with Celebrity yet they aren’t really interested when I complain to them.

They phoned and told me that all of my complaints had been forwarded to the relevant parties.

Unfortunately it was on our cruise, fingers crossed that Celebrity see sense and revert back to their previously excellent product.

If you read above posts you’ll see I raised it all the way on the ship with no feedback so emailed the CEO and have had a response.

I complained, he got the message, is aware of the problems, explained why so no point in hauling him up every night. At the end of the cruise we had a long chat with him and he asked that despite the food issues we give waiting staff good feedback. As said the waiting staff were fantastic.

Trust me the food has deteriorated. I only posted here to advise and have also written to Celebrity as I had no feedback on board when I raised the concerns. I have had feedback from the CEO’s office today by phone and they have passed my concerns to the relevant persons. My hope is that Celebrity revert back to what has always been an excellent product pre August 23. I have 3 cruises booked on Celebrity for next year and as much as anyone I want to continue to enjoy travelling with them. As I said earlier the rest of our cruise was very good and all staff happy and excellent as always.

When I complained about the standard of food in the MDR I was told that the change was made by management to the menu and food the cruise before ours ie about the start of August. Before August all was good, the poor waiting staff have received a lot of negative feedback on the food since.

No, sorry. Look the meals were not horrible they were basic, simple and the same or similar most nights. They were not modern luxury. Possibly my issue is that I have had 14 previous cruises where the MDR fare has been very good or excellent, this was far from that.

These up charges have gratuities added as they were all a few dollars more on our cruise from Southampton.

Look you’re not going to starve on the Silhouette, everything is edible but we never had a dish that you’d pay for in a land restaurant, they were more like a meal you’d hash together midweek at home. We did go to Murano which was excellent and as good as ever. Re the above comment on sides, yes there is the option of asking for cauliflower cheese and buttered potatoes but about every main defaults to mashed potato, green beans and sliced carrots. This was a cruise from Southampton with 95% UK cruisers and we are generally reserved and keep quiet rather than complain, it will be interesting to see how US passengers react to the menus etc if they remain the same. I agree with a comment made above and would also be prepared to pay more for better quality and choice. We choose to cruise with Celebrity for quality, poor quality = looking at other lines or more land based holidays.

The food was very basic and samey. As I said every night was one dollop of mashed potato served obviously from an ice cream scoop a la school dinners, every night was the same 2 veg, green beans and sliced carrots. Meat often tough, chicken and steak. Lack of imagination in the choices, no finesse to any dish, turkey made an appearance most nights including Turkey Linguini with seafood sauce(what?) and this was one of the few non slice of meat choices. No longer are beef ribs or duck on the menu. There was Buttered Chicken on the menu one night, I had it, and there was one cube of chicken with some sauce. Most nights most on our table had French onion soup, escargots or Caesar salad starters and steak mains as these were the safe choice. These were fine(but with the ubiquitous mash and same veg) but 2 weeks eating the same is tiring, those who dabbled with other choices returned following disappointment. Plates were often collected post meal with a lot of food left on them. The waiting staff and Maitre D were embarrassed at the food and the table regularly joked with them about this. The Maitre D was met with raised eyebrows or “fine” when each night he asked how the food was.

If the tactic is to move customers from the MDR to the buffet then I’m sure people will vote with their feet and leave Celebrity. One of the joys of cruising is the evening meal in the dining room chatting to new friends over an enjoyable meal, Celebrity are taking this experience away, or at least ruining it, so even though the rest of the cruise may be good, the absence of the evening in the MDR is enough to move many to other lines or land based holidays. The buffet food is good but it is essentially fast food, the dining area lacking in ambience..

I’ve done the survey. Please let us know how the Beyond goes as we’re booked on it and the Ascent next year……….at the moment! When I spoke with the Captains Club about the poor food and said I wanted reassurance that the Beyond isn’t the same, the lady told me she had a good experience dining on the Beyond, however that was before the new food regime under the new CEO.

Just home from a 13 nighter on the Silhouette, our 4th cruise on her and our last. The main dining room food quality, presentation and choice was very poor and an embarrassment to many including the poor waiting staff and Maitre D. If you want a return to school dinners you’ll enjoy it, every night a slice of chicken, meat or fish and an ice cream scoop of mashed potato with green beans and sliced carrots. The presentation was that which your school dinner lady would provide. Our table lost 2 couples to the Ocean View buffet for the entire cruise, the rest of us endured the MDR for the company only. As always our waiting staff were exceptional but I felt for them as every night they asked all at the table how the food was and every night they were told the same with “but it’s not your fault”. I complained to the waiter, the Maitre D, reception, Guest Relations and to the Captains Club, never heard a peep back! The waiter, Maitre D and MDR reception all apologised and said that Celebrity have just changed to the new menu and quality and that many on board have complained. We have 3 cruises booked for next year on Celebrity but if things don’t change back to the previous excellent food quality then we’re cancelling, I couldn’t take more of this new regime. We’re only glad that we didn’t take family or friends with us. The food selection and quality was far superior in the Oceanview buffet, the only issue there was the lack of available tables, a couple of times we had to circumnavigate the Oceanview twice before finding one, also as the cruise was so busy, on a few occasions we had to lift dirty plates from our table and take them to a trolley to clear the table before we could eat. For information the rest of the cruise was very good, all staff as ever were happy, helpful and a joy to be around. Apologies for the negative post but we’ve had 15 cruises with Celebrity and this was a real shock and embarrassment. If this is the path cruising is choosing to take then hell mend them.

Similar issue with us, had a few new invoices for our cruise all several hundred more than the price agreed and documented. Wasted hours speaking to various Celebrity customer services staff and each one is a new adventure. Really getting annoyed by the lack of competence and considering pulling the plug on all our booked cruises. Had various excuses including wrong code added and have had battles getting the correct OBC reinstated. My patience is running out and I wonder how Celebrity can continue with this mess which is not a one off as we encounter this situation frequently on booking direct. By the way we book direct to use a Blue Light Card, ever had such problems when using a TA.

We were on the Silhouette on the TA crossing last November and had a lovely time. The one important thing to note is to book a port side cabin as you will have sun all the way, if you book starboard then you’ll have shade for the whole crossing. It is lovely in late autumn to sit out in the sunshine on the balcony mid Atlantic. Oh and the crew onboard were faultless with a helpful can do attitude.

Cheers for all your help, this forum is so good👍.

For the first e we’re sailing without a drinks package, a good price and impulse buy! Anyhow, we’ll be taking 4 bottles of wine between us onboard, are we automatically charged the corkage if we carry one in to dinner with us by the sommelier or waiter? Secondly, it looks like there are no longer any wine packages, is this correct as it would have been nice to have paid for one in advance? Oh as an aside I understand we can take our own bottles of water onboard at all ports, again am I correct in that assumption? Any help on the above much appreciated.

Re the move up, our sailing is 55 days away and we’ve received the move up over.

Thanks all. When I look at Celebrity suite and Royal suite they say all is included with the suite. I understand that the Sky suites don’t have perks as standard. For example the Royal suite has a room bar set up and all perks as standard and I thought a move up to a top suite would include these as they are not extras but part of the top suite deal.

Hello, anyone know if a move up from veranda with no perks to Celebrity Suite means premium drinks etc are included in the move up price?

Not sure but I hope so too as we’re on the Beyond next year. I’ve only found the WCB on the S class ships so far.

Zacapa Old Fashioned at the World Class Bar is the absolute nuts👌