yknot13

Waters Edge, great food while sitting on the beach

Thanks for taking the time to share this information. We love Reflection, and will be sailing on her this November for the same itinerary. 

On 5/1/2023 at 5:29 PM, Loracpin2 said:

Everytime I read a thread about food, I reminesce about our first Celebrity sailing in 1993 on the Celebrity Horizon. Even without Balcony rooms, Specialty Restaurants, and all the bells & whistles ships have today, every experience was elegant especially when it came to both Food & Service in the Main Dining Room on the 2 formal evenings. What I recall the most were the 2 desserts prepared by the Maitre'd at each individual tableside . One evening it was Crepes Suzettes the other Bananas Foster. 

 

While I realize the policy of tableside was eventually eliminated due to the possibilty fire issues,the experience made you understand how exciting and special the cruise experience can be. Wish I could say the same today. 

 

 

Unfortunate that can be said for many experiences. I remember back to the glorious days of fine dining at land based restaurants, that is long gone

we live in a new norm. So glad I was able to experience the by gone era of refined dining

We did this on EDGE, I enjoyed the evening. However the short rib we were served had the consistency of pot roast

The short rib in the MDR was more appealing in my opinion.

We dined in FC on Edge, steaks were excellent. The balance of the meal was underwhelming 

We dined at both on our March 6th 11 night Edge cruise. For us it was no comparison, EDEN was the superior choice. 
the steaks we had at fine cut were very good, unfortunately that is where it ends. 
Tge starters were of poor quality. The crab cake at EDEN is a Crabmeat cake

Excellent. The Crab cake in Finecut was terrible. We had 2 wedge salads at FC

it was pathetic. They actually served us the heart of the wedge.

The portion we throw out.

Now onto EDEN, dined here on /two occasions. You could make a meal out of the starters. Excellent salad offering. Shrimp were excellent. Crab cake  was surprisingly exceptional. We had the 3 fish offerings, Lobster, lamb and fillet none disappointed. They allowed us to share multiple mains.

The service stood apart from FC.

4 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

I hope not - think it looks really cheap and nasty

100% Agree

Chair Hogging starts early in the morning.

on our recent Edge cruise a good portion of the front row loungers by the pool were  “reserved” by 7:30 to 8:00 am, only to be first used around 10:30-11:00 

It was obvious but nothing was done about it

Next day, same loungers, same scenario

same folks

It’s obvious, the pool deck crew doesn’t care

4 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

I'd think this, alone, is the main event for the cruise! Balcony rooms are great. Lately we've been using Aqua class and have enjoyed that. What I don't think is quite right is just how much space in the front of the ship has been reserved for suite guests ala the "Retreat". Given that there are no  longer first, second, or third class citizens on modern cruise ships anymore, there is absolutely no reason that you should feel like a "second class" citizen. That said, it would appear that what has been done with the "Retreat" is maybe a bit over the top compared to what other lines do? Unless I'm mistaken, there is nothing comparable to the retreat even on RCL ships. 

Agreed 100%, We were so disappointed on our recent Edge cruise in the fact that our family members who were not in Aqua class could not join us at the front on Deck 14

The other disturbing fact was that no one else was ever there.

What a poor waste of excellent space that many folks could enjoy

We booked a private tour through Dora on March 10th.

Cost was $95 each for the four of us.

What a fantastic day. Jossette was a great guide. We were met on the pier and taken to our air conditioned van.

We saw so much and enjoyed the narrative offered. 
I highly recommend Dora.

5 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

 

On Edge last week, We were able to order more drinks than on the list. Old Fashioned, mudslide, dirt monkey

On 3/15/2023 at 1:19 PM, lorimay said:

We were on the Equinox a couple of weeks ago in Concierge. Our "canapes" weren't even just strange - they were disgusting. Each day we got potato salad, chopped tomatoes, or one day a watermelon salad. It repeated quite often. Some days there would be two pieces of salami with tiny breadstick crackers. Sometimes two mini chocolate or coconut cupcakes. It was like whatever they had leftover went on the plate. If I had known we could ask for something else we would have. 

We basically flushed most of the food down the toilet. The potato salad was a terrible sign of the quality of the CC perks received

We see no benefit in booking concierge class in the future It once had great benefits but that is no longer the case

On 3/6/2023 at 4:27 PM, landlocked406 said:

Our daughter just returned from a cruise on Reflection and they had changed the Short Ribs to Beef Bourguignon at the concierge lunch.  We go in a few weeks and I love the short ribs too, so disappointed.  She said the Bourguignon was good. Anyone have a current menu? I would like to see what else is offered and she doesn't remember..

 

And I'm not seeing short ribs on any of the MDR menus...

On Edge now. Short Ribs were on day one concierge luncheon

they were excellent

We are on Edge now, prime rib was on night 3 on our current 11 day cruise

On 3/11/2023 at 5:32 PM, Brennanrr said:

I’m going on Edge in a few weeks. We have Le Petit Chef booked. When we booked it a while ago it was “Le Petit Chef and Friends”. I looked at that menu online and it seemed like there were many things I would like. Now it’s listed as “Le Petit Chef and Family”. Does anyone here happen to have the menu from this year?

We are scheduled for this Tuesday. I’ll try and report back on Wednesday

20 hours ago, manmachine said:

My point was not their logic.  But why they think they can get away with it.

 

this won’t end well unless they change and fast.

My thought is they continue this non sense until they see a decline in bookings. At that point they will course correct.

2 hours ago, goodoldan said:

I'm on the Celebrity Edge right now on the first night of a 10-night cruise, and the dinner selection at the Ocean View Cafe is pure crap... worse even than the reports here but in line with the dismissive Tweet that I received from Celebrity when I inquired about the changes during dinner hours effective January 1st of this year. I experienced some of these changes aboard the Constellation during the first few days of January, but things were nowhere near as bad as they are now aboard the Edge (and presumably now the other ships in the Celebrity fleet as well).

 

I talked with a manager in the OVC tonight, and his first response parroted the response I received from Celebrity corporate about "how much food was being wasted".  I feel sorry for Celebrity that they (suddenly?) can't seem to manage a buffet as well as competing cruise lines. Tonight my dinner was a few pieces of cheese, an uninspired slice of pepperoni pizza (virtually the only variety they offer), some leftover pasta salad from today's lunch, and a chocolate eclair so stale I put it down after the first bite. The only available fresh food was from a "stir-fry" station that was so backed up it might have taken 15 minutes to produce an order. Pathetic.

 

The food in Celebrity's main dining rooms and specialty restaurants is generally quite good. But there are reasons why someone might choose to grab a quick dinner at the buffet. Today, I was up at 5 AM to get ready and drive to the port in Fort Lauderdale, go through the boarding process, and grab a nap before some dinner and a show. I didn't really want to spend two hours or more getting a meal in the MDR, so (until now) the Ocean View Cafe would have been a good alternative. Similarly, after a beach day in port folks might want to just opt for the speed and simplicity of the buffet for dinner and just chill out in the evening. Nope... Celebrity says you must either invest a couple hours in a dining room, or eat crap and leftovers in a gutted shell of what used to be an excellent buffet, even (and maybe especially) at dinner.

 

Celebrity is far from the least expensive cruise line, and they generally provide a product that their customers want and will pay for.  I don't know what crappy market research might have led them to believe that their customers wanted a buffet that is pitiful compared to a Golden Corral. But it is pretty clear that Celebrity has made a BIG mistake in deciding to gut the Ocean View Cafe

Publicly traded. No more to say

On 2/10/2023 at 9:57 PM, terrydtx said:

Add this for Lobster Mac and Cheese.

This is actual a pretty solid imitation product, I eat this often. 

I often use it to make lobster rolls or lobster Newberg. Also very good scrambled with eggs and cheese.

On 2/10/2023 at 9:05 AM, miched said:

Tilapia has been substituted for most fish, and  the cuts of beef have been downgraded.  

 

I think Spam will eventually be a formal night entree and  we will be seeing this. 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Best looking sushi 

TIME, some nights we want to grab a quick meal and get on with the evening 

The Windjammer buffet convinced us to switch from Cruising on Carnival to move to Royal. We then heard so many great things about the X experience while cruising on Royal that we made another shift

We are scheduled on Edge the first of March, we are interested to experience the “new norm” of cruising 

35 minutes ago, Nachosdelux said:

you would be mistaken.  Celebrity (and most of the cruise lines) are desperate for revenue and cost containment.  

 

I am a long time Celebrity fan, but it is not the same experience (outside of suite class.)  The cheerleaders on this board who defend Celebrity at all costs is ridiculous - "buss your own tables, ask for larger portions", etc etc.  You are paying for an expected level of service and quality which sadly, is no longer reliably there.

Wonderfully stated. Most folks work hard to pay for a vacation with an expected level of service, if one receives less than that then they are disappointed. This ultimately leads to change.

2 hours ago, BPCW said:

We just got off of Celebrity Millennium yesterday and I’ll give everyone my rational, but real, opinion. Background - 13th cruise (6 RC, 1 NCL, 6 Celebrity), 40 years old, traveled with a group of 12. 
 

The good
-the food was generally very good. Several “misses” on things (inedible steak, etc) but those things happen. 
-The ship was at capacity but didn’t feel overwhelmingly crowded.  The 2019 refresh is holding up every well. 
-We had a good time and none of the good or bad would drive us away from cruising in the future. 
 

The bad 

-The ship was at capacity and it seemed like there were half of the crew they needed.  Most bars were consistently 10-20 mins to get a drink if there were more than 8-10 people there. The bartenders were severely understaffed and couldn’t run their bars very well.  I witnessed several incidents of passengers getting into arguments because bartenders were serving people who just walked up over people waiting.  Not nearly as many servers walking around either. 

-MDR was agonizingly slow. We did late dinners each night (8:30) and the EARLIEST we got done was 10:45 one night. Most nights were 11-11:15.   Service was also very inconsistent and it was clear our wait team has too many tables. One night we would wait 20 mins for them to acknowledge us and get menus. Another night, we would order in the first 15 mins but the first course wouldn’t come out for another 40 mins. Mostly the time between appetizer and entree and entree and dessert was brutal.  Most nights we had to ask for more water. I tipped the sommelier mid-cruise and asked if we could get quicker service if we are going to be sitting here this long and he did great after that. Overall, we aren’t picky and did mention that we didn’t mind sitting for so long but would be ideal if we could get out by 10:30. Never happened. 
-A couple in the group did OV for one dinner and they said the selection was almost laughable. Like it was difficult to find stuff you wanted to eat…complete opposite of breakfast and lunch which has solid selections.  This tracks with what everyone else is saying. 
-The nickel and diming on everything that people have talked about is real and noticeable.  Room service fees, extra lobster fee, $130 for a ship tour, etc. 

Overall

-It was a good cruise, but no where near amazing. We missed a port (Bahamas) due to weather but that’s certainly no one’s fault. 
-I will echo many, many others who have said that Celebrity has sucked all of the “luxury” out of their cruising experience. When we did an X cruise for the first time, we were blown away after comparing it to RC and NCL. Now, it’s hard to find their differences. 
-If the little things really matter to you like onboard champagne (gone), personal connections with staff (still there but they are so strained it’s not like it used to be),  better service (all but gone), elevated food (good but not amazing) that X is/was known for, then you will likely not like any of these changes. 
 

I was skeptical reading about these changes and how they would impact us prior to departure.  Our experience won’t drive us away from X but we will most definitely shop around for our next one. It’s no longer worth paying a 50-100% premium for X because, to us, there was nothing premium about our experience.  
 

If anyone has questions, happy to answer without the doom and gloom or exaggerations. 

Younger folks will not and can not stand to sit for any length of time. Slow service will not bode well for a younger demography

6 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

People cough for all kinds of reasons - it's not exclusive to COVID.

 

Colds. Bronchitis. Other chest/lung issues. Asthma. Allergies. Swallowing their spit wrong. Inhaling something that irritates their throat. Etc.

 

Is COVID still around? Yes. But is every single cough COVID-related? No.

14 hours ago, OysterD said:

Can I ask what exactly was worse 'in literally every way'?

 

You mentioned food and not enough staff but that was all. Ships being crowded isn't a bad thing, you can't expect them to sail half full forever more or else they'll go bankrupt. 

 

What was so terrible about the food and what was so terrible about service? And was there anything else or was your statement about everything being worse just hyperbole?

 

I'll ignore the covid comment because that's nothing to do with Celebrity and was just speculation on your behalf. In December half the people I know, including myself, had a cough, but none us had covid. We all just had a variety of colds, flus and chest infections. Such is life. 

Opinions are still welcomed