Host Andy - Live From Celebrity Eclipse

[TourDeCruise]

They should put coffee bar service into Bistro on Five since it is always nearly empty during the afternoons and evenings.

 

Café al Bacio has always been my favourite location on the ship, until recently.

 

elena7seas, I absolutely agree on both points - 1) at least the overflow in Bistro on Five and 2) that it has always, along with Cova Cafe, been our favorite "lounge" location. Someone we know said it was fine recently on the Connie, and I am hoping that is true. During the cruise and post-cruise, I was wondering why they couldn't put their overflow with additional servers in the under-utilized Bistro on Five. In fact, I still have to do the online guest questionnaire and have planned to suggest that.

 

On our recent Reflection cruise, we were disappointed to find Cafe Baccio was over run with customers at many times of the day and evening. It used to be a fairly mellow place for relaxing tea/coffee/conversation but not anymore.

 

Most are on the free drinks packages now, and the crowds overwhelm the servers, counters, etc....often dressed in pool attire, cranky toddlers in tow, ordering to go! Not sure why they do not order at the Cafe II location in the buffet area. Perhaps that should be advertised more as it seems more convenient to the pool area.

 

hcat, what is the "Cafe II location in the buffet area" and what is served there (cappuccino? good tea?)? Is it self-serve? How do the drinks measure up in quality to Cafe al Bacio tea & coffee? I must have missed something I need to know about. :confused: We stay clear of the buffet, except on port days at lunch or occasionally for dinner, but non-lunch hour may work. Will Connie have Cafe II? That sounds like it is worth checking out although I just drink tea and am a little particular about that. Bistro on Five's tea makes the cut, but Celebrity's free tea in the buffet does not.

[lineman]

We were on the Nov.23 cruise on Eclipse also, and the main dinning room food has gone downhill. Lamb on 7or8 nights, liver 6 or 7 nights coming out raw at times. Meatloaf on the main menu, what a joke! Prime rib on thanksgiving night, late seating was a joke. Got food around 10 pm only to find a raw piece of meat that they tried to grill on both sides to cook it. Second piece came out past well done, knife would not cut it. I told the head cook that this was the worst piece of prime rib that I tried to eat in the 20 cruises that we have been on! Many others were telling the head cook the same thing as he went to many tables. We were on this ship in March of 2013 and the food was much better. Wait staff in dinning room had been cut, some were having trouble speaking English and understanding people! If this is the new Celebrity, I will be going to another cruise line!

[TourDeCruise]

We were on the Nov.23 cruise on Eclipse also, and the main dinning room food has gone downhill. Lamb on 7or8 nights, liver 6 or 7 nights coming out raw at times. Meatloaf on the main menu, what a joke! Prime rib on thanksgiving night, late seating was a joke. Got food around 10 pm only to find a raw piece of meat that they tried to grill on both sides to cook it. Second piece came out past well done, knife would not cut it. I told the head cook that this was the worst piece of prime rib that I tried to eat in the 20 cruises that we have been on! Many others were telling the head cook the same thing as he went to many tables. We were on this ship in March of 2013 and the food was much better. Wait staff in dinning room had been cut, some were having trouble speaking English and understanding people! If this is the new Celebrity, I will be going to another cruise line!

 

We had no problems with service in Select dining and our food was very good. We went around 6:15pm. We did not have the lamb, meat loaf, liver, pork & beans, or prime rib. The Thanksgiving turkey was delicious and better than the normal turkey dinner. They also had ham that night on the menu. We did have the Steak Diane, Beef Tournedos, and Chateaubriand and thought they were excellent as was the lobster.

[Andy]

We were on the Nov.23 cruise on Eclipse also, and the main dinning room food has gone downhill. Lamb on 7or8 nights, liver 6 or 7 nights coming out raw at times. Meatloaf on the main menu, what a joke! Prime rib on thanksgiving night, late seating was a joke. Got food around 10 pm only to find a raw piece of meat that they tried to grill on both sides to cook it. Second piece came out past well done, knife would not cut it. I told the head cook that this was the worst piece of prime rib that I tried to eat in the 20 cruises that we have been on! Many others were telling the head cook the same thing as he went to many tables. We were on this ship in March of 2013 and the food was much better. Wait staff in dinning room had been cut, some were having trouble speaking English and understanding people! If this is the new Celebrity, I will be going to another cruise line!

 

Hi Lineman,

 

We actually thought the MDR cuisine was good to excellent on most occasions, though we were disappointed in some of the entree items - including items you've mentioned such as liver and the meatloaf. Yes, there was actually Pork and Beans one night, as a main entree choice. I was shocked by that one ! Beef cheeks are back again. I tried it - again, and still do not care for it. Hard to tell whether this is a cutback, or very odd menu choices. With that said, for the most part, it was fairly easy to find options to make us happy, so I'm not upset with the food.

 

I will say this - I liked it *much* better when the left side of the menu was the same each day. This way, I always knew that I had a backup plan, if I didnt like the choices on the right side of the menu. Now, that's no longer the case. On some nights, the Steak was replaced with Liver. Seriously Celebrity ? Why would they assume that a Beef lover would switch to liver ? For me, that's not going to happen.

 

As mentioned, for the most part, we were quite happy with the MDR cuisine. The service was another story, and will try to post an update tomorrow. I'm still very under the weather :(

Edited December 12, 2014 by Host Andy

[Andy]

We are on the Eclipse now. The Internet seems to be working a bit better, which is to say it is very slow but functional. Cafe de Bacio does not have the crowding problem reported on the prior cruise. Vouchers are again being uses for Elites, but since we have the drink package we have no need for them this cruise. Elite breakfast is very popular and back to the old buffet. The only change is that you must now order any juice (no more pitchers).

 

Our big complaint was lunch at the Cafe on 5....which featured the worst service imanageable. Everything else is typical X which means pretty good.

 

Hank

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Hi Hank,

 

On the last day of our cruise, I was advised that Bistro on Five was rolling out the new menu on your sailing. Can you confirm this ? Glad to hear the internet is working better. I have a friend on this sailing, and she mentioned that the internet is still terrible. I have so much to say about this, and I also have a great suggestion for Celebrity to help resolve the issue. I will try to post more about it tomorrow or over the weekend.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Sorry for the delay in posting. I'm still very under the weather, and can barely speak - which is horrible in my business. Thankfully, Mom is improving. I'm so glad that I got it much worse than she did. I'm always so worried about her getting sick at her age.

 

I will try my best to post additional insights about the cruise, and post the answers to your Eclipse questions, either tomorrow, or over the weekend.

 

Thanks for your patience !

[Andy]

Has Host Andy said if he found out where Perry Grant will be playing on Eclipse once Cellar Masters is converted to the Gastro Bar this coming April?

 

Hi Gracie,

 

I spoke with Perry, and it seems that no decision has been made yet. While onboard, I heard rumors about the Sky Lounge again, and a couple of other locations. Hopefully, whatever is decided - will work well for Perry and his many fans. If & when I hear anything further, I will be sure to post the details.

[Andy]

Hi again Andy,

 

Great to see you and your mom again..so sorry you have both been poorly. You are right there was a lot of coughs and colds on board. Hope you are both better now.

Well as I said to you the other day we are now going to jump ship and go back to Royal Caribbean. A great shame we will not see you again at the Connections meeting and Gift Exchange...We have had fun with you for the past two years.

We was dissapointed with the ship this year. Things seemed to have slipped and feel we didnt want to try it again.

Some of the staff we found this time where very rude and if they could they would avoid contact with you so as to not serve you. Cafe El Bacio being the worse for that. One day my husband stood for ages when there was six people behind the counter chatting and fiddling with things. When the lady did go up to him she said "Do you want something then" well of course he wanted something.! that wasnt the only time either.

The MDR seemed to have cut there staff by half and they was rushed more than ever. On the first leg of our B2B we was asked if we would like any wine...no drinks package I must add. Gave our order and that was the last we saw of the Wine Waiter or our wine.! We never did get it.

No chocolates as others have said...but no big deal it wasnt really needed. But only being a Select member we only had a chocolate covered Oreo on out pillow the first formal night. No towel animals in all the 28 nights.

Even the Connections Meeting (as we was told to call it and not Cruise Critics meeting) wasnt the same. There was noone at the door to welcome you in or to check you had an invite for it. If it hadnt been for you Andy the meeting would have really been quite boring.

Well as I said it was really nice to see you again. Take care.

 

love Brenda xxx

 

Hi Brenda,

 

It was great seeing you again. I'm sorry the cruise wasn't exactly what you hoped for. While we had a few disappointments, overall, we were pleased. For us, the MDR service was awful the first 3 nights, then improved - but never wound up being what we've enjoyed on past sailings. Our table location (Table 601) was one of the worst locations we've ever had, as it was right by a waiter station, and we had Guests and waiters buzzing by our table constantly. As the tables are sooooooooo close to each other, I had to get up several times per meal, whenever someone with a walker, baby carriage or scooter came by. The entire MDR service experience seems to be declining, as it seems there's less staff, and everyone is running around like crazy. On the bright side, the MDR Manager (Karol) and Maitre'd s (Joseph, Juan, & Milan) were fantastic, and tried their best to improve the experience. They didn't quite get it to the level we've always enjoyed in the past - but it was good enough.

 

I agree that the Cafe Al Bacio staff was not the greatest, and didnt know how to make my favorite beverage. In 14 days, they didn't get it right one time. After about a week, I gave up, and didn't go back again.

 

Not sure what to say about the pillow chocolates. I missed it a little - but boy that Oreo was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S :). If they put that on the pillow every night, I think it would solve the problem, and probably would have added another few pounds on the scale too :)

 

It was wonderful seeing you again, and I hope our paths will cross again on a future Celebrity sailing !

[Gracie115]

Hi Gracie,

 

I spoke with Perry, and it seems that no decision has been made yet. While onboard, I heard rumors about the Sky Lounge again, and a couple of other locations. Hopefully, whatever is decided - will work well for Perry and his many fans. If & when I hear anything further, I will be sure to post the details.

 

Thanks Andy for the info. Hope you start feeling better soon, no fun to be sick. Glad your Mom is getting better too, it's so much tougher to beat these bugs the older you get!

 

Gracie

Edited December 12, 2014 by Gracie115

[SPF 350Z]

Not sure why they do not order at the Cafe II location in the buffet area. Perhaps that should be advertised more as it seems more convenient to the pool area.

 

/QUOTE]

 

OH! I did not know about a Cafe II - what all can I get there? I love a good cappuccino and I also like a latte on occasion. Hubby likes the drink that has a scoop of gelato in it.:p

[MVPinBoynton]

I will say this - I liked it *much* better when the left side of the menu was the same each day. This way, I always knew that I had a backup plan, if I didnt like the choices on the right side of the menu. Now, that's no longer the case. On some nights, the Steak was replaced with Liver. Seriously Celebrity ? Why would they assume that a Beef lover would switch to liver ? For me, that's not going to happen.

 

We also prefer just the one every night left side menu with steak on it. On our November Infinity cruise, that is what we had. On our October Eclipse cruise, we had 3 different menus on the left side with the steak, calves liver and Irish stew alternating. Very strange indeed. With the beef cheeks and very strange meat loaf, steak would have been a much better option. They really need to change the name of the "pork and beans" item. It was nothing like what Americans think of when they here "pork and beans".

 

We are leaving for a cruise on the Oceania Riviera tomorrow. It will be a much better dining experience than the Eclipse. And their service feels like Celebrity was when we first started cruising. Get well quick Andy.

[upwarduk]

OH! I did not know about a Cafe II - what all can I get there? I love a good cappuccino and I also like a latte on occasion. Hubby likes the drink that has a scoop of gelato in it.:p

 

Is this a new Cafe, I've never been aware of it.

[Wj420]

The other cafe is simply the bar located in the ocean view buffet.

[richsea]

We also prefer just the one every night left side menu with steak on it. On our November Infinity cruise, that is what we had. On our October Eclipse cruise, we had 3 different menus on the left side with the steak, calves liver and Irish stew alternating. Very strange indeed. With the beef cheeks and very strange meat loaf, steak would have been a much better option. They really need to change the name of the "pork and beans" item. It was nothing like what Americans think of when they here "pork and beans".

 

Get well quick Andy.

 

I'm wondering if those choices of beef cheeks, liver, stew, & the strange pork & beans are meals geared towards British passengers, since Eclipse spends so much time sailing out of Southampton. Perhaps our British friends can say?

 

I will say that on our recent Princess cruise, I noticed meatloaf on the MDR menu, & mentioned that I never saw that on Celebrity. Who knew? I love meatloaf at home, but would hardly think it is associated with "Modern Luxury".

Edited December 12, 2014 by richsea

[Oxo]

I'm wondering if those choices of beef cheeks, liver, stew, & the strange pork & beans are meals geared towards British passengers, since Eclipse spends so much time sailing out of Southampton. Perhaps our British friends can say?

 

I will say that on our recent Princess cruise, I noticed meatloaf on the MDR menu, & mentioned that I never saw that on Celebrity. Who knew? I love meatloaf at home, but would hardly think it is associated with "Modern Luxury".

 

They also had Fish and Chips on the Left side of the menu which were excellent. We really didn't mind seeing some new items on the Left such as Fish and Chips, and Liver. Both were very good. Remember, food is very subjective. Would never order Steak in the MDR from Left Side of menu. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tough and tasteless even if you order rare or medium rare. JMHO!

[upwarduk]

I'm wondering if those choices of beef cheeks, liver, stew, & the strange pork & beans are meals geared towards British passengers, since Eclipse spends so much time sailing out of Southampton. Perhaps our British friends can say?

 

It's a long long time since I've had liver, as I used to have it every week as a child.

I've never, ever had beef cheeks, sounds like another war time recipe.

Same for pork and beans, never heard of it.

Stew I love, but have never seen any of the above on a Celebrity menu.

Who is the chef?

I thought all meat was supplied by a butchers in USA anyway, so the standards didn't vary.

Maybe they lost the contract.

[Seahorse44]

Andy I am really glad you are feeling better and your mother didn't get it to badly.

 

I have to admit I was not thrilled with the selections in the main dining room. There was a lot of weird stuff in there - maybe an attempt at "comfort food"? Although at least they still have escargot and the onion soup on the left side.!!

I cook meat loaf and pork and beans at home and don't want to see them on a cruise no matter how good they may be. Tried the beef cheeks and they were tasty, tender and VERY rich for me. Kind of like a fatty pot roast.

We ended up upstairs at least four times because we didn't see anything we wanted to eat on the menu. The (select) dining room chicken seemed to come out dry, so only had it once. Roast Beef, Lamb Steak Diane and Beef Wellington were good.

Ocean view Cafe turned out very positive for us because we had fresh grilled tuna steaks 3 times from their grill, and you could get other fish, chicken, and steak grilled to order. They did a great job and I hadn't realized that they did this. Also the sushi was better on this cruise than in the past.

This was the fifth time we have done this cruise. 2 on Constellation and 3 on Eclipse, so we have experience with this itinerary and Celebrity food offerings. (17 Celebrity cruises) The food is up and down in different years. But the trend is down since 1998 when we started with them.

Next year we are scheduled to do it again but not the first one back from Europe. We will see what happens.

Going on a 7 day on Reflection with family in March and I hope if it will be different menus!

No cruises on Celebrity beyond these two at this point in time.

[roxette]

This was the first cruise which not departed from Southampton in quite some time. Might have been "leftovers" from those. Just like their might be Victoria Bitter and Kangaroo just efter oz season.

[MVPinBoynton]

This was the first cruise which not departed from Southampton in quite some time. Might have been "leftovers" from those. Just like their might be Victoria Bitter and Kangaroo just efter oz season.

 

Other than the two different left side menus, they were basically the same as the menus we had on the Infinity Panama Canal cruise. I believe they use the same main menus system wide. Although they can mix up which day of the cruise they use them. Menus for both ships are on my website www.thepreismans.com, if you want to compare them.

[hcat]

The other cafe is simply the bar located in the ocean view buffet.

 

It is usually near the entrance to the buffet and has similar but not extensive offerings as the CB menu..anything ordered would be to go or consumed in the buffet area...so it is not a space unto itself but a place where you can get the CB items..would be hsndy for thise in the buffet area or pool areas on some ships.,,

 

Hoping something is done b/c it seems I am not the only one seeing a change at CB on various ships and not at all for the better.....maybe if they limited alcohol there and made it just a cafe for coffee, tea, gelato etc it might becime less crowded?.....or put a small cafe where the hideaway is located...?

 

Andy..glad you and your mom are doing better.

[LuAnn]

I hope you are feeling better! I "caught" something similar on the spring T/A on Azamara! Day of disembarkation ...mid April...and I was sick all summer!! (laryngitis/cough etc) When I went to the doctor after several weeks I was given antibiotics and I was told it was bronchitis. If you don't feel better soon you might want to check with your doc!! LuAnn

[Northern Aurora]

A great big "thank you" to Host Andy for his information, and I also hope both you and your mom recover quickly.

 

...... They really need to change the name of the "pork and beans" item. It was nothing like what Americans think of when they here "pork and beans".....

 

 

Calling that dish "pork and beans" really is a misnomer. It is more like a cassoulet. One would have thought that the "suits" in Miami would have realized what that name sounds like to North Americans and Brits.

[c-legs]

It's a long long time since I've had liver, as I used to have it every week as a child.

loved it when I was a kid....still do !!

I've never, ever had beef cheeks, sounds like another war time recipe.

Same for pork and beans, never heard of it..

Think '' Baked Beans'' ( as in ''baked beans on toast''). DW is from

UK and we enjoy that ''comfort meal'' at least once every 10 days.

One of her younger years memories. I'm glad she introduced me to that.

 

But on Celebrity ?...seems a bit out of place.

Cheers

 

[upwarduk]

Think '' Baked Beans'' ( as in ''baked beans on toast''). DW is from

UK and we enjoy that ''comfort meal'' at least once every 10 days.

One of her younger years memories. I'm glad she introduced me to that.

 

But on Celebrity ?...seems a bit out of place.

Cheers

 

 

I understand now; it is possible to buy tins of baked beans with (pork?)sausages included. You are right, certainly not ' Modern Luxury.'

[MVPinBoynton]

This is what the "Pork and Beans" looked like on the Infinity last month.