Summit Buffet: Erase my memory! (rant)

[jenniebnyc]

We sailed the Summit once and once only. That buffet was a horror show! Not to mention it was baout 90 degrees in the buffet area. It felt dirty and gross and the food mediocre to inedible. On Refelction last January it was much much better, but you can still see cutbacks from years prior. On our final night we went to buffet for dinner and the food was sad. Steaks fatty. The only think that was edible was the pasta and a salad. Food overall on Celeb has gone downhill. Can anyone confirm that breakfast in BLU is served from chaffing dishes in the back? I never once got a hot/fresh breakfast from BLU on the last cruise. I think that is what they are doing back there...chaffing dishes of food so they can serve you quickly. It's sad.

[piratelooksat45]

Sounds bad, I cruised the Summit in December and the buffet was acceptable. Will be sailing the Summit again in 2 weeks to Bermuda...doesn't sound like the new changes are good...I'll try to report back and compare.

[warmwinds]

I've encountered those individual "tins" at Las Vegas buffets (Caesars new Bacchanal buffet) and agree the food is always cold - there isn't the ambient heat of a large quantity of food to keep each other hot (hard to describe).

 

They are simply pre-portioned little baskets, or cups, that you take one portion, instead of scooping (or having scooped for you) a portion onto your plate.

 

And I don't like the sound of no choices for dessert, either, except what the selection du jour might be.

[Beachdude]

So! How are the breakfast restaurants in Bermuda?

 

Burt

[Iamcruzin]

Note to self....Pack a play book so you can plan your strategy for eating breakfast in the buffet.

 

 

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[celebrityprincess]

I was on the April 26 and May 4 sailings of the Summit. They started changing the buffet at the end of the 2nd week. I noticed the head chef taking to the guy working at an egg station one morning. The chef was really giving the guy a hard time and not being very nice while telling him how things were to be set up. The waiter asked why things were being organized that way and the chef said something about it being policy. But we were still able to get hot French fries inside and there was sausage, bacon, etc. at the waffle station. At lunchtime, they sometimes had salads already in bowls on one side of the buffet, and a salad bar set up on the other side. French fries were served fresh to each passenger, not pre-plated. Hamburgers and hot dogs were served on plates. It sounds like there have been many more changes in the last week or so.

 

The Summit is my favorite ship so I hope they work out these issues.

[ISABELLA]

OMG! I was so looking forward to a Bermuda Cruise in August. Reading all the reviews make me think of canceling the trip. Sailing mostly on S class, I really liked the Ocean View Café, but this sounds awful.

I invited my cousin to join me before the whole family will go in Equinox in November. I am afraid she will be so disappointed, so they will cancel November cruise. I have been raving how wonderful Celebrity is.

I hope X fix the problem and we will have a good cruise.

[antsnanny]

Hopefully, someone can post a picture of these 'tins' that are being discussed. I'm having a hard time visualizing it :confused:.

 

On our recent Summit cruise there were no tins. My DH and I had breakfast in the Buffet every morning -we avoid all buffets unless there is an outdoor aft quiet eating area. By day two we had a strategy and it worked perfectly for the rest of the cruise. I start by getting the fresh squeezed juice and cutlery while he chose some fruit and rolls/pastries. We met aft outside and scouted a table laying out our first offerings. Then, we went back in agreeing who was getting what. I'd do eggs and potatoes, while he did meat and beans (changed daily who was going to get what). I always picked up the extra plates. We usually arrived back at 'our' table almost at the same time where we laid out our offerings and had a lovely breakfast.

 

 

Food was always hot and good.

 

@op Sorry to hear your experience was not good and will be looking forward to reading your full review.

 

 

They actually looked very similar to the square baskets with a handle that you see french fries being fried in, only smaller. They place a piece of paper inside the basket and serve things like french fries, chicken and my favorite was the french toast. People who wanted syrup on their french toast had to take it out of the basket and put it in a plate otherwise the syrup would be all over the buffet area and not on the french toast. : ) They also had things that looked liked small fry pans that they served potatoes in. Others looked like small pots which would contain a meat, vegetable and potatoes.

I asked about this and their goal is to cut down on waste, we have all seen how much food people take and don't eat!

[warmwinds]

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Caesars+Bacchanal+Buffet+pictures&id=EE8175A4E7229B9D4D12848D61C1D6DDF69BF09C&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=60ECC9D2091CD20821878A77461A77DF70AB6C1D&selectedIndex=33

 

I'm not sure if this will show up...but this is what I think they are talking about (Note: This is NOT the Summit buffet, just a picture of these individual portions)

[mapleleafvoyage]

Yes warmwinds! Those are what is used on the grill off the pool on deck 10. They put in a liner paper, then a few fries and burger. When hot, they were very good. They came with lettuce,tomato and onion on the side, with packets of your other toppings to choose from.

There were other dishes used for other food items, with odd shapes some rounded, some with long handles, some with small handles, overall awkward to put onto a plate with anything else. Trays would have been very useful. It was like a balancing act trying to carry these, with cutlery, with cups ..

[antsnanny]

Pre plated food :eek: what if you just wanted to try a small spoon of curry, you have to take the whole dish :confused:

 

I usually have about 10 different things on my plate in one go, how are you expected to carry it all if it is plated up already, sounds terrible

 

You are right the food is pre plated.

[antsnanny]

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Caesars+Bacchanal+Buffet+pictures&id=EE8175A4E7229B9D4D12848D61C1D6DDF69BF09C&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=60ECC9D2091CD20821878A77461A77DF70AB6C1D&selectedIndex=33

 

I'm not sure if this will show up...but this is what I think they are talking about (Note: This is NOT the Summit buffet, just a picture of these individual portions)

 

Exactly!

[antsnanny]

Yes warmwinds! Those are what is used on the grill off the pool on deck 10. They put in a liner paper, then a few fries and burger. When hot, they were very good. They came with lettuce,tomato and onion on the side, with packets of your other toppings to choose from.

There were other dishes used for other food items, with odd shapes some rounded, some with long handles, some with small handles, overall awkward to put onto a plate with anything else. Trays would have been very useful. It was like a balancing act trying to carry these, with cutlery, with cups ..

 

Even if they had the tables set with the cutlery that will help. I was very disappointed in the food in general, the set up, the temperature and the choices. Not up to Celebrities standards!

[yellowhat]

Thank you antsnanny for the visual link to these type of wire baskets promoting individual portions.

These wire baskets reminded me of a Fisher-Price 'Let's Play McDonald's' kitchen set.

... have any guests rebelled by dumping one or 2 wire basket contents on a real plate?? (a real plate from an alternative food venue)

 

Who started this wire basket thing? Casinos? The basket manufacturer?

Just imagine the cost of cleaning/sanitizing these wire baskets compared to 'real plates'.

Is the wire 'plated'?..will the 'silver' flake off???:eek:

Silly silly

[antsnanny]

Thank you antsnanny for the visual link to these type of wire baskets promoting individual portions.

These wire baskets reminded me of a Fisher-Price 'Let's Play McDonald's' kitchen set.

... have any guests rebelled by dumping one or 2 wire basket contents on a real plate?? (a real plate from an alternative food venue)

 

Who started this wire basket thing? Casinos? The basket manufacturer?

Just imagine the cost of cleaning/sanitizing these wire baskets compared to 'real plates'.

Is the wire 'plated'?..will the 'silver' flake off???:eek:

Silly silly

 

I did not see any guests outwardly rebelling but certainly those taking the french toast had to go get a plate and dump it on a plate so they could use Maple syrup. I can see these "Fisher Price Lets Play Mc Donald's" baskets being used for fries, chicken wings and things like that. What's bad is the other little "pots" and "frying pans" which hold portions of foods, for example a meat, veggie and potato. My guess this change is all about controlling portions and I can see why since Im sure we all see what goes into the trash on a cruise. I just don't think the way there doing it is the answer. In addition, the food on the ship in general is not up to Celebrity's standards, it was just not good.

The good news is the pizza was fabulous, thats what we ate most days.

I agree, seems like they created lots of work cleaning these things. Im hoping that Celebrity listens to their guests and makes some changes for the better. We enjoyed our cruise, the service was good and Bermuda beautiful and probably for the first time we didn't gain any weight!!!

[JEDIKNIGHT]

When I read some of the mass-market boards like NCL or Celebrity from a few years ago, many people were here with a nice attitude of “the economy is tough, so they gotta cutback”.

 

Well here we are, they are making robust profits which is great - yet more cutbacks.

 

Go figure.

[antsnanny]

When I read some of the mass-market boards like NCL or Celebrity from a few years ago, many people were here with a nice attitude of “the economy is tough, so they gotta cutback”.

 

Well here we are, they are making robust profits which is great - yet more cutbacks.

 

Go figure.

 

 

Honestly, this is the biggest cutback I have seen on any cruise line to date. Don't get me wrong I love Celebrity and I do feel they will fix what's wrong but I have to be honest, the buffet was terrible and the main dining room just ok…

Were sailing on her for 14 days in Sept. so Im being optimistic.

On a positive note…… How about our captain? Was he awesome or what?

Edited May 20, 2014 by antsnanny

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Captain was marvelous. Truth be told, in my previous 7 cruises I was never much fascinated by Captains. Ok, great accomplishment and an interesting job but for some reason, I didn’t feel much interest or kinship but with our Captain this time, wow. What a normal down to earth guy with an excellent sense of humor. He was almost as good as the pro comedian. I also played poker with Senior Officers, and they are very nice guys too.

[20pluscruises]

Captain was marvelous. Truth be told, in my previous 7 cruises I was never much fascinated by Captains. Ok, great accomplishment and an interesting job but for some reason, I didn’t feel much interest or kinship but with our Captain this time, wow. What a normal down to earth guy with an excellent sense of humor. He was almost as good as the pro comedian. I also played poker with Senior Officers, and they are very nice guys too.

 

Did they do away with the made to order burgers and dogs? I'm confused :confused:

[C 2 C]

The changes on Summit had a prequel when Tuggers started commenting on the plates rather than buffet style morning Elite breakfast setup.

 

The Summit changes seem to be a test run.

Neither of these new "innovative" setups were on Solstice last week.

 

The observed chef/waiter conflict might be an indication that some staff are also not happy.

 

Would you be able to identify the Executive Chef?

[Loyal2Royal1995]

Jediknight, was it really that bad? It was a buffet! It sound to me like you just like to complain. I have been in the customer service industry for over 20 years, you are the type of customer that will always find something to complain about, I had to walk 20 ft to get butter. Be thankful you were on vacation and to top it off a cruise. Some people can't afford to take a vacation, lighten up, you know what Yoda would say "let go of your anger Padawan see what fun you had and enjoy" just wanted to vent at all of the negativity on this...

 

 

Cruising is wicked awesome

[cruisedancemom]

I'm gonna have to jump in and ask the OP to stop bashing NJ. It's getting old and it's obnoxious. I'm from NJ and proud of it.

 

 

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[patty1955]

I'm gonna have to jump in and ask the OP to stop bashing NJ. It's getting old and it's obnoxious. I'm from NJ and proud of it.

I'll second that. The NJ, US, Texas, age, etc bashing gets old pretty quick. Let's be nice to each other.

[antsnanny]

Captain was marvelous. Truth be told, in my previous 7 cruises I was never much fascinated by Captains. Ok, great accomplishment and an interesting job but for some reason, I didn’t feel much interest or kinship but with our Captain this time, wow. What a normal down to earth guy with an excellent sense of humor. He was almost as good as the pro comedian. I also played poker with Senior Officers, and they are very nice guys too.

 

True, I laughed more at the Captain's talk more than I have at some comedians! I thought all of the senior officers were great and could be seen out and about the ship mingling with the guests all the time!

[antsnanny]

Did they do away with the made to order burgers and dogs? I'm confused :confused:

 

The burgers at the pool are pre made. I suppose you could wait for them to take a batch off the grill if you want a fresh one.