Tsk Tsk Tuscan Grill - Infinity

I certainly would have given them the opportunity to make it right, but everyone is different.

 

What is a bit surprising is all of the "shock" and people actually "begging" according to the OP. Over poor service in a restaurant? Hardly shocking. Its unfortunate but it happens.

Yes I agree with what you say.

I certainly would have given them the opportunity to make it right, but everyone is different.

 

What is a bit surprising is all of the "shock" and people actually "begging" according to the OP. Over poor service in a restaurant? Hardly shocking. Its unfortunate but it happens.

Please describe awful food. Most of your posts contain lousy or awful food. I consider your posts less than credible unless specifics are given.

I concur.

Some posters here seem to enjoy cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

I will give some examples of "awful food."

We recently ate at Tuscan Grill on the Solstice on an Alaska cruise. First, I'll say the positives. Some of the appetizers were good, particularly the crab cakes and meatballs. We ordered a bottle of wine, which was excellent. The fig gelato was quite good. The rest was awful.

I ordered the porterhouse, which has an $18 surcharge. I ordered it medium rare. It came medium well. I sent it back. In the meantime, i ate part of my son's New York ($15 surcharge). It was cooked fine, but no seasoning at all, and it was tasteless. How hard is it to use salt and pepper on a steak? I got my porterhouse after everyone had eaten (no offer to comp it). It was cooked right, but just a terrible cut of meat. Too thin and no taste at all. Again no seasoning. It was basically a steak you would get at Sizzler for $63 ($45 plus $18 surcharge). We were a group of 10, and only the two that ordered pastas had for the main course felt they had anything resembling food on par with a mid-level Italian steakhouse on shore (I would have loved to taste some of the other pastas, but the waiter, who offered to bring a couple of pasta for the table to share, didn't bring them).

The side dishes were even worse. The cacio and pepe was disgusting. It was cold and stale, as if it had been made hours earlier and had just been sitting there. The mashed potatoes were also cold and stale, but cold and stale potatoes are at least better than cold and stale pasta.

I wouldn't go back there if it were free.

Did you express your disappointments to the. M’D? If so what was the response?

Did you express your disappointments to the. M’D? If so what was the response?

No. I expressed it to the waiter. When more than half the porterhouse was uneaten, he asked if it was cooked ok. I said it was cooked ok, but it was just not a good porterhouse. He just shrugged. I didn't see the point of talking to the maitre'd at that point, other than to insist I not pay for the steak. I really didn't feel like having the confrontation, and I really wasn't looking to get anyone fired.

We were told repeatedly by our waiter in the MDR that if we give a low score for food that will reflect badly on the waitstaff. They also made it clear that Celebrity doesn't use the customer service surveys to see what they can do better; they use them to evaluate the staff. That's why I'd rather express my displeasure here.

Overall, the service on Celebrity was by far worse than any other cruise I've been on (and that includes Carnival, though it's been a while since I've been on one of those). Other than the restaurant staff, there was no effort at all to make you feel welcome. Most of the staff seemed utterly miserable. The only thing the staff really seemed to care about was to make sure that you gave them your card to get a bottle of water (in, fact, in the spa, you had to not only give your card, but had to give your room number and sign for it). My impression was that Celebrity is much more concerned with making sure you don't get any free water than they are with making sure you are happy.

 

Overall, the service on Celebrity was by far worse than any other cruise I've been on (and that includes Carnival, though it's been a while since I've been on one of those). Other than the restaurant staff, there was no effort at all to make you feel welcome. Most of the staff seemed utterly miserable.

Unfortunately, crew attitude varies a great deal from ship to ship....not sure if it depends on the captain, the hotel director or someone else, but on most of our Celebrity cruises, everyone working on the ship smiles and says hello/good morning/etc when you pass them in the halls, etc. Then we hit the rare ship where something clearly is wrong. More often than not, it's a cruise that's taken on a significant number of new crew...and everyone is confused. And yes, of course you hit the occasional waiter, bartender, room steward who takes out his bad day on your service.

Sorry to hear of your experience, but hopefully it's just one of those rare mess up cruises....

Unfortunately, crew attitude varies a great deal from ship to ship....not sure if it depends on the captain, the hotel director or someone else, but on most of our Celebrity cruises, everyone working on the ship smiles and says hello/good morning/etc when you pass them in the halls, etc. Then we hit the rare ship where something clearly is wrong. More often than not, it's a cruise that's taken on a significant number of new crew...and everyone is confused. And yes, of course you hit the occasional waiter, bartender, room steward who takes out his bad day on your service.

 

Sorry to hear of your experience, but hopefully it's just one of those rare mess up cruises....

I'm not buying that this is an isolated incident. This is a natural outgrowth of giving low fares, and then looking to make that up with the constant selling of other services. Each of the staff is there to maximize revenue, not to provide a welcoming experience, or at least that's secondary. The selling was non-stop, obviously forced, and often dishonest. Maybe that's the direction all of the cruise lines are going, as it certainly is the case with the airlines. For the sake of everyone else who will be traveling on Celebrity, I hope you are right that this was an isolated incident. But there are enough other options out there (at least for now) that Celebrity won't be getting any more of my money.

Quote from previous post "We were told repeatedly by our waiter in the MDR that if we give a low score for food that will reflect badly on the waitstaff. They also made it clear that Celebrity doesn't use the customer service surveys to see what they can do better; they use them to evaluate the staff. That's why I'd rather express my displeasure here"

You are absolutely correct!!! We were on the Silhouette this past January and it was our seventh time in AQ and BLU on the sixth time on this ship. Three of the seven nights I sent my entrée back. The waiter was very accommodating and apologetic but made sure he told me I had to rate both food and service Excellent or he would be impacted and to use the comment section to explain the food quality issues. I very politely told him he would get an Excellent but the food would not. The fact that Celebrity would penalize workers who provide Excellent service for the inferior quality that comes out of the kitchen is a travesty. So much so, that after 27 Celebrity cruises, when we returned our next cruise is on Oceania Marina.

We didn't report it nor did I mention it on the survey. They knew they dropped the ball and as far as I'm concerned, they got the message. I don't think we held a grudge. It would have been very awkward for us to have everyone fawning over us after the fact. We declined because WE would not be comfortable regardless of being comped, not to punish anyone. My husband is an excellent cook and believe me, we didn't miss out on any dining experience he can't match! We were just trying to use up some extra OBC.

I agree I dont want to be ignored or fawned over. I just want the staff and cooks to do your jobs. I would have dont gone back.

We loved Tuscan Grill - ate at all the specialty venues on our last Reflection cruise (save Qsine) and it was perhaps our fav. We actually ended up there twice because of the excellent service & very solid food.

I will say, we do *temper* our food expectations and in the end, if we're not happy with our first choices we just order more. (It's a cruise after all...;)) We do not however temper our expectations when it comes to service - and in that regard we were never disappointed with the service in any dining venue actually including (or especially) the MDR on our last cruise.

I'm honestly so sorry that you had a bad experience, especially knowing how good it can be. I hope you consider giving it another go.

Nope I'm not paying extra for specialty dining. The most I've done is about $10 for Johnny Rockets. We thought about upgrading to suite class for our Summit cruise but if I need to spend that much I'll trying Crystal or Viking or Oceania. I got an aqua cabin for Cindy because it was inexpensive on our cruise - but I won't play the class system or specialty restaurant game typically. I'll see what folks onboard say about the MDR and learn more from the buffet and poolside munchies - hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps we lead a charmed life but we have never left the MDR, Luminae or a speciality without feeling that our custom is valued....We expect food of good quality but not of top land restaurant standard.

Don’t get me wrong, we have had the odd meal issue....If something has arrived at the table in any way not good enough we ask the waiter to sort....Almost always this is the end of it.

On the very rare occasion either the waiter has appeared uncaring/unable to solve we have asked to see the M’D. We voice our concerns calmly but firmly. Our expectations of outcomes are realistic....the M’D cannot ‘undo’ the time you have lost waiting for steaks that have had to be redone nor can he ‘undo’ the annoyance this has caused. He can however, given the chance, try to make you feel better by possibly comping your meal if in a speciality or bringing you a nice glass of wine and expediting your replacement meal. Cooking is a mix of art and science....there are bound to be mistakes occasionally.

We had a bad experience in Tuscan on the Eclipse 18 months ago, which they could have resolved easily but dropped the ball and did not quickly respond to the complaint which left a bad taste in the mouth (sorry for the pun). We were offered to try again at no cost a couple of days late reply, but like the OP we felt the moment had passed. That said, we have booked Celebrity again next year on the Infinity to try Celebrity again. That said, we have recently sailed on the MSC Seaside, and found it to be extremely good value and a beautiful ship.

My husband and I just finished the Coastal Cruise from San Diego to Vancouver aboard the Infinity. It was a nearly perfect trip. The MDR was stellar in service and the sommelier very accomodating. Everything was near perfection until we decided to dine at the Tuscan Grill. With OBC to burn, we decided to splurge on an upscale dinner. I made reservations for 8:30 and we arrived on time. Seated and given water, menus and bread. And then nothing..... 8:40, 8:50, now my husband is making that face.. me trying to keep the conversation going:rolleyes::rolleyes:. Finally he says They're ignoring us.. at 9:00 I wave down the maitre d and say we have been sitting here for 30 min. and no one has even taken our drink orders.. We requested to cancel our reservation and wish not to be charged.. Well the maitre d panics and begs us not to go, that he would comp our dinner! But by that time any ambiance is lost and we said no thank you and left to have dinner in the MDR where we were welcomed with our daily waiters. They were shocked when they heard what happened. the maitre d at the MDR begged us to give them a second chance but we said no, the experience is lost.. even to be compted, would be very awkward for us. We later recieved a bottle of wine (inexpensive) a reservation the following day (no thank you) and chocolate covered strawberries to our room. I chose not to make any comments on the Celebrity survey as I know they can lose their jobs and they did try to make amends. But it was a weird experience on an otherwise flawless cruise.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience but am most interested in the Pacific Coastal itinerary. What dates did you sail?

Cm

The last time DH and I dined in Tuscan was two years ago on Connie. We were offered 40% off, and made a reservation. We were seated at a lovely table and the service was nice, not exceptional. The view (it was still twilight when we dined there) left a bit to be desired since people were walking by the window and we felt a bit like fish in an aquarium. The food, although presented well, was merely okay and we felt that the steaks we enjoy at home were far superior to what we got (we ordered upcharged cuts). All in all, to say the least it was so disappointing that we've never been tempted to return. No issues, but just not worth an upcharge, even at a discount. The views on S-class ships are admittedly better, but we don't believe that paying for a view warrants to extra charge. We go to a specialty restaurant for the dining experience and most importantly for the food.

We were on the Eclipse for 4 weeks this past February, with MTD or ATD (or whatever Celebrity calls it!) We ate in the buffet the first night, as we usually do, and nights #2&3 we tried the MDR. We like to go down around 7:30/45. The lines were too long; we won't wait for much more than 10 minutes to be seated and we don't do buzzers at sea. So the first time we went back to the buffet and the next night we decided to try the Tuscan Grill.

We had several issues, and they ended up comping our meal (but not my very expensive glass of wine!). In our conversation with the waiter, maître d' and manager, we mentioned the lines at the MDR. After that night, every time we went back to the MDR, we were greeted by name and immediately shown to a table, regardless of any line.

And, by the way, once we've been seated in any restaurant anywhere, if no one has stopped by to take our drink order, or even to tell us they'll be around in a minute, we don't wait much longer than 5-10 minutes to flag someone down. If we have to wait another 5-10 minutes, we usually leave.