Islander500

On my recent cruise, did notice that the time to vacate the stateroom is now 7:30am.

Just got off M-class Summit and found this to be correct. There were pre-cruise offers in cruise planner; none on board.

True. And some folks are just having fun just being deliberately obtuse.

I just returned from a cruise on Oct 2 and received an email that day from my Celebrity Vacation Planner (had been handling my bookings for 4 years) following up and asking how our vacation had been. When I replied a day or two later, I got an email saying he was no longer with Celebrity. Hmmmm.

Thanks happy cruzer! Someone actually posted new Carnival menus a few weeks ago and they did seem to have much more interesting and varied choices (gasp)😀 You are exactly right and we are indeed looking at alternatives as we've now experienced it ourselves.

Based on my Summit cruise last week, you are correct; the Oceanview Buffet has definitely improved from what was reported a few months ago. At least on Summit, there were many stations open at dinner and the freshly made stir-fry was thankfully back. Ask me how I know? The menu in BLU was so diminished in choice and quality we "dined" on the stir-fry in the Oceanview twice in 11 nights, plus ate a salad the evening before disembarkation (when the 4 entree choices in BLU were Tuna, Duck Confit, Meatloaf and Mushroom Risotto) so a total of 3 nights. For point of comparison, we'd never chosen to skip BLU in over 20 cruises when we have paid the AQ price specifically to dine in BLU. And that doesn't even include the 2 nights we just gave up and ordered from the MDR menu.

That's exactly what I think my husband was trying to describe when he was complaining about the supposed steak last week on Summit. I didn't understand then but do now. 🥩😁

Glad you copied/pasted what's shown in the link today. In a few days, it may be changed without mentioning that the FAQ was revised. 😁

Thanks! Good to know. Our only booked cruise right now is on an Ascent TA this coming spring and 13 nights with the "new menus" we just experienced for 11 nights would not be something to favorably anticipate. Hoping others will comment as well

Interesting! I was wondering about that. Can other Celebrity cruisers who have sailed on Edge class ships and another Celebrity class ship-both very recently comment specifically on that? I noticed a significant downgrade in Sept on menu choices and food quality on Celebrity Summit and wondered if it is the same in new class ships.

You're exactly right. Choices are dimished and reduced quality is definitely quite noticeable (from someone who has been on two Celebrity cruises this year.) The "you didn't starve" argument is absurd. I didn't book another cruise on-board as I usually do so it definitely tells me something about my expectations and what I value. If I'm going to pay those prices, I expect better quality choices and food, not to be disappointed most evenings.

Checked pricing on Ascent TA in April last night and just now. Exact same Infinite Verandah Cabin 10/3 - no OBC, includes basic wifi, TIPS & classic drink package - $4945.80 10/4 - no OBC, includes basic wifi & classic drink package only - $4970.80

Okay then.

Nope. Both the choices and quality of the food is diminished. And quite significantly. I can probably go through it night by night, but for example, the 2 pieces of lamb from the rack of lamb (I was so happy to see it still on menu) were so tough I couldn’t cut through either of them so had 3 or 4 small bites, total. Certainly there are lots of changes from pre-covid, but I’m mostly focused on changes even from our last AQ cruise earlier this year in May where we noticed changes but not as impactful as on this cruise). The more significant menu changes (from what I had read) happened in August. And I can now absolutely confirm it from my own experience. New menus are a miss on all fronts. Hope Celebrity is paying attention. Many AQ guests were talking about it on-board, too. And on last cruise day, I noticed the future cruise desks (4 of them) empty which I’d never seen. First time I didn’t book a future cruise on board in many, many years.

Indeed it has. Very significantly downgraded in choices and quality. We are long-time AQ cruisers so we know well. Off 11 nights in BLU on Summit through last Sunday, and we chose entrees from MDR twice and opted to eat in Oceanview (OV) twice. (That has never happened before, ever.) And then again to OV on final night because we couldn’t find anything on either menu (BLU or MDR) worth doing a long sit-down dinner. We stopped to tip the servers in BLU on the way to the OV. They apologized; I felt terrible for them. The service was still excellent and they all dutifully told us what was in bread basket each night, even though it was the exact same 3 bread choices each every night we were there. In Oceanview, I opted for fresh stir-fry both times although there were other choices (I don’t typically like pre-prepared foods) and since we were too late on the last evening, just opted for fresh grilled chicken on a salad. BTW, the filet mignon in Tuscan was the best cut of any meat we had the entire cruise. It was under-seasoned but cooked perfectly and tender. The “filet” presented in BLU on one dress-up night was about 1/2 inch thick and the texture was more like that of shredded beef. Of course, it was not medium rate, but was over-cooked, too. (You’d have to have cooked it like a minute steak to have it prepared as ordered.) Never felt so disappointed in Celebrity dining in over 20 cruises in AQ. And no, we didn’t starve for those who think that should be the standard of comparison. But I did confirm that Celebrity dining is now a miss.

Does anyone see sales for drink package upgrades (from classic to premium) on their cruise?

I think I need to try this…thanx 👑

Thanx @NorthStarStateCruiser Fantastic as we also passed on the drink package for our spring TA. So a bottle of Glenlivet it is. Cheers! 🥃🥃🥃🥃 🥃

I saw it when I booked a few days ago. The promotion is called SUMMER23 and available until the end of this month for HC10 Club members; I got a total of 15% discount but for HC10 Catalunya Plaza.

Just thought more about this and think you are so right! The younger generation are much more experienced diners than I ever was at their age. They have grown up much more exposed to good restaurants and great meals.

Thanks for posting your pics and commentary. I'm so sorry that you're having so many issues with things that Celebrity used to excel in. Each of those encounters would put a damper on my evening for sure. Completely unacceptable! To say something positive about the food, your pictured dish from your excursion looks amazing! YUM. The ship's menus are beyond disappointing. I note that there are no longer real appetizers--only soup and salads. I would actually be okay with that if the entrees were not so blah, repetitive and completely uninspiring. My plan for an upcoming cruise was to order multiple appetizers instead of entrees but I guess that's not an option unless I want just soup and salad for dinner. Enjoy visiting that awesome part of the world and eat lots of great food onshore for lunch! 💗

Was reading this article and noticed that the upcoming year’s Celebrity sailings seem to track with this game plan. “As Jason (Liberty) mentioned earlier about the strategy of putting really outstanding hardware combined with excellent destination into the short product market because it truly is the on-ramp for new to cruise and also first to brand.” https://l.smartnews.com/p-LdU8i/uto0gQ

So Celebrity customer service surprised & delighted me today so only fair to share. Called Saturday, left my number for a call back. Chen called me last night; fixed my booking, fixed my OBC, fixed my friend’s booking, fixed my friend’s OBC. And finally changed all our specialty dining reservations to a table for four. The system wouldn’t let us or her do it last night so she asked us questions about what we wanted. Said she worked late last night and would be back this am; she promised to take care of it. This morning, she called me at 9:30 am. Had all the reservations rebooked for 4 (we had authorized last night) at times she thought we would want. I was duly impressed! She works in customer service - post cruise unit. Wish I could have gotten her cell phone for any future issues. So if anyone from Celebrity reads this, Chen was amazing!

Exactly same thing happened to us right after I linked our reservations (supposedly for dinner only) with our friends. Both our separate cruise reservations now show the total amount owed for the total of both our cruises. And I also received two emails that say unless I pay for my pre-booked reservations (which were fully covered by OBC with a balance remaining a few days ago), they will be cancelled. The telephone wait was announced at over 120 minutes today so I guess they will fix it themselves someday. Wishful thinking, I know. 🤭

Hahaha. Perfect. I guess it’s the orange slice that gives it away. 🍊 = Premium