We Walked Out of Tuscan Grille - Silhouette

[LabGuy64]

I have had many meals in Italy and Spain that the meal took as much as 4 hours to complete......that even after asking for my check more than 45 minutes would pass before I received the bill.....In the US restaurants want to turn tables....get you in and out quickly...not pushing mind you...but, a large part of a restaurants profit is in seating the as many as you can in a day...the experiences I have had in Europe indicates they really don't care too much.

 

 

 

I am from Europe and I don't understand why you say that it is somewhat normal here to wait 2 hours.

 

I would never wait 2 hours to be served (and never had to wait that long).

 

Waiting for the menu for 15min is max. what I would do without complaining, normally it is <5mins.

[LabGuy64]

Hmmm....Never heard that as a quote before.....have heard 90% of life is just showing up....

 

 

 

Being in the food industry,I would ask..What can you do to make this right? I understand the frustration, but his way of handling it was inappropriate. I would never "create" a scene the way he did(reread his post for a refresh)I'd wait to see what the Maitre D would offer..and go from there. To see what compensation was offered by Celebrity(or any restaurant,for that matter)was a correct move. It's how we handle it.An example..We spaced a small wedding meal(30 people)Some how it got misplaced. We refunded any & all monies & offered a $500free voucher to any rest.they chose. It was satisfactory to them. Their wedding meal was a pretty simple one. Luckily, no Caviar etc.

[LabGuy64]

Yes...your are wrong....not for being upset...and yes the night was ruined....we all have disappointments but, not accepting the attempt to make good on the situation is just you..wanting to hang on to your anger. Why not accept the attempt to make things as good as possible....that night is ruined either way....I see no point in not allowing for a potential good experience to offset somewhat the bad experience. You should always allow someone to attempt to mitigate damage they do to you if they are willing....you are just hanging on to anger out of spite otherwise

 

 

 

Just want to add my story and my comments. And the goal is not to bad mouth Celebrity, but just note that "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".

 

We usually go to Specialty Restaurants when we have something "special" to celebrate. We look forward to that "special" dinner/evening. And if it is ruined (for any reason) then nothing can replace it. Once we had a not so good experience at Murano. It was our 20th wedding anniversary. The cruise was booked for that reason and a special dinner was reserved at Murano. It started great. But when the waiter brought my DH lamb chops he ordered then the whole evening went south. I noticed DH was really struggling trying to cut the lamb chop. After about a minute or two I offered my help. In two more minutes our DD joined us trying to cut a piece of meat that should be a better quality since we paid $45 for this "special" meal. Five minutes later we called a waiter and politely mentioned that there was something wrong with our order because we couldn't cut it. What do you know? Instead of replacing the order he grabbed a knife and started sawing a piece of meat. Seriously? He was all red and sweaty but he was really persistent in cutting the meat. DH refused to eat his meal. The evening was ruined. To add more to that, the next day they delivered our "anniversary" cake to our stateroom. The sign on the cake said "Happy Birthday!" We talked to F&B Manager. There was a row of phone calls from the restaurant management. Free dinner was offered (which we declined), wine was sent, and "all that jazz". The bottom line is: our celebration was ruined. And even if they offered 5 free dinners we would never get back that evening again. Is it so hard to control the situation when you have just a handful of people to serve? I personally think there shouldn't be any excuse for bad/slow service in SR. Or at least if an issue does exist then the guests should be notified about the wait time or offered a different time for dinner.

 

Am I wrong?

[LabGuy64]

not talking UK.....lol...most from the UK that I know refuse to consider themselves part of Europe. I was talking about experiences mainly in Italy and Spain

 

 

The other poster was stating 2/3 hours for the entire meal. Certainly in the UK any meal in a top restaurant would last at least 2 hours.

[LA_Design]

not talking UK.....lol...most from the UK that I know refuse to consider themselves part of Europe. I was talking about experiences mainly in Italy and Spain

 

 

i am from the UK which is part of Europe. Ask Ian Poulter if he is European [emoji41]#rydercup

[MicCanberra]

I have walked out of Tuscan quite a few times. And each time I walked out stuffed. :D

 

Likewise and not a waffle to be seen in the process.:p

[ladylemondrop]

I have walked out of Tuscan quite a few times. And each time I walked out stuffed. :D

 

Love this! :D

[debstep]

Anniversary at Tuscan Grill on Solstice this year, both the fish, dry, and steak super tough inedible. Waiter spilt red wine all over tablecloth my side and didnt even apologise just walked off. Only bad time or meal in 3 weeks on ship, everywhere else excellent, already booked Solstice again but not Tuscan.

[Evangaline]

Yours is quite a cautionary tale -- even though I already avoid any sailing marketed as a "President's Cruise". I had heard from others that, the minute Michael Bayley set foot a a ship, he and his group were the only guests that mattered. And, there was no opportunity for the majority of cruisers to meet or interact with those people. :mad:

 

Good advice to avoid any cruise that Prince Bayley is on, but indeed it does depend on CEOs with good attitude versus CEOs who just enjoy seeing the staff bow and sweep.

 

We were a The Norwegian Epic sailing that Kevin Sheehan was on. Everything just carried on normally. No fuss was made. We got on an elevator that he was taking and he seemed to be an very unpretentious person. He asked us if we were enjoying our cruise and we gave him a little bit of feedback. He seemed to take pride in the ship and genuinely wanted to know what we liked and did not like about it. Unfortunately, the new guys who have taken over from him are pretty useless.

[LA_Design]

i am from the UK which is part of Europe. Ask Ian Poulter if he is European [emoji41]#rydercup

 

 

or miguel angel [emoji41]. i allowed him to have a picture with my wife [emoji12]

[chamima]

You would think that paying customers would be most important wouldn't you, however Celebrity staff from Miami [and elsewhere] do not think they are. We did a TA followed by 5-night Caribbean on Constellation in 2015. Celebrity were holding a marketing conference on board the Caribbean leg and the Celebrity staff, up to and including the then CEO, all considered their needs most important.

 

They dominated the buffet at lunchtime forming queues which blocked access to areas they were not using, took over specialty restaurants bouncing guests with confirmed reservations, kept guests invited to the Captain's Table on formal night waiting for nearly an hour and generally refused to acknowledge other guests in anyway [not even responding to a "good morning" when sharing an elevator]. The crew were so frightened of upsetting any of the people attending the conference that they took priority over everything else.

 

We had spend 15-nights eating in one or other of the specialty restaurants with impeccable service to then spend 5-nights feeling like we were in the way. Oh, yes, by the way we were in one of the PH - not that it should have made any difference. We had just had 15 wonderful days and were chilled-out enough to be able to be relaxed about the poor service but we felt really sorry for guests who had boarded for the 5-night cruise and had the right not to have their well earned vacation spoilt.

 

Good advice to avoid any cruise that Prince Bayley is on, but indeed it does depend on CEOs with good attitude versus CEOs who just enjoy seeing the staff bow and sweep.

 

We were a The Norwegian Epic sailing that Kevin Sheehan was on. Everything just carried on normally. No fuss was made. We got on an elevator that he was taking and he seemed to be an very unpretentious person. He asked us if we were enjoying our cruise and we gave him a little bit of feedback. He seemed to take pride in the ship and genuinely wanted to know what we liked and did not like about it. Unfortunately, the new guys who have taken over from him are pretty useless.

 

 

 

I remember reading many unhappy reviews of that cruise!

When STAFF and CEO are on a cruise as a part of a conference they are (or should be) WORKING.

This wasn't vacation time for them and they should have remembered that.

No excuses.

[MicCanberra]

I remember reading many unhappy reviews of that cruise!

When STAFF and CEO are on a cruise as a part of a conference they are (or should be) WORKING.

This wasn't vacation time for them and they should have remembered that.

No excuses.

 

Agreed, if anything they should have been working harder.

[onespots]

You can use any line or statement I have said on these boards. Most posters do not appreciate my sense of humor...

I call- em as I see- am.

 

" One Cannot Dine On Excuses "

 

Most cruisers work very hard to have the ability to save money & purchase a cruise.

Their expectation for reasonable customer service is a given & a standard of excellence should be provided.

 

The Cruise Line's typical response for poor service, is to buy - off the customer, for producing an inferior product. In most cases management does not hear about these complaints & nothing is changed to improve the performance of the staff or kitchen.

 

If the ship can produce 2000 plus dinners for the MDR, then why would it be so difficult to produce less than 100 meals in a speciality restaurant ?

 

Regards, John

[keesar]

I.

 

I also wonder what on earth the party could have had at Ocean View Cafe at 10:30 that was 'wonderful'!! Isn't it just pizza and pasta at that time?

 

At that time, there is a small salad bar with cold cuts and sliced cheeses. In addition, there is garlic bread, cookies and small pastries.

[Ru2on]

Interesting reading all the comments , I have my first cruise on Celebrity Solstice booked in November. I will be trying the speciality restaurants and am expecting the ship and the restaurants to impress as I have only sailed P&O and Princess previously. But have to say that on both P&O ships I ate at the Luke Mangan Salt Grillspeciality restaurant and found both the food and the experience exceptional . I am sailing on the Pacific Pearl directly before getting on the Solstice and will once again dine at The Salt Grill ...so that's my comparison marker , hope The Solstice speciality restaurants can hold their own against The Salt Grill!

Edited August 9, 2015 by Ru2on

[G&G]

Anniversary at Tuscan Grill on Solstice this year, both the fish, dry, and steak super tough inedible. Waiter spilt red wine all over tablecloth my side and didnt even apologise just walked off. Only bad time or meal in 3 weeks on ship, everywhere else excellent, already booked Solstice again but not Tuscan.

 

 

Same problem in April on the Equinox. Four of us ordered filets; all too tough to eat. Since we were in a hurry to make 9 PM show left Griile. The next night the Manager of the TG came to our table in the MDR, apologized to us, gave us all free lunch at TG and half our money back for the meal.

[GLYNAGP]

Despite having 20 or so cruises under our belts we have never really been tempted to try any of the speciality restaurants, until last year on RCI when on our 42nd wedding anniversary we went to Choppe Grill and to be honest we left there somewhat underwhelmed. It was Ok, a nice steak but not exceptional! just OK. Anyway not to be undeterred , later in the cruise they were offering the Italian Speciality restaurant half price (can't remember it's name) obviously the bookings weren't flooding through the door. Again it was nice but I'm pleased we got it half price. Perhaps I'm just underwhelmed easily !!!

Glyn

[jamiebytes]

That's a shame! My husband and I have visited Tuscan Grille 3+ times on each of our prior Celebrity Cruises. His favorite by far. We're going on the Silhouette near the end of the year, so hopefully they button things up by then...

[Scrappytraveller]

Despite having 20 or so cruises under our belts we have never really been tempted to try any of the speciality restaurants, until last year on RCI when on our 42nd wedding anniversary we went to Choppe Grill and to be honest we left there somewhat underwhelmed. It was Ok, a nice steak but not exceptional! just OK. Anyway not to be undeterred , later in the cruise they were offering the Italian Speciality restaurant half price (can't remember it's name) obviously the bookings weren't flooding through the door. Again it was nice but I'm pleased we got it half price. Perhaps I'm just underwhelmed easily !!!

Glyn

 

Having now been on a Royal cruise (Serenade OTS), my opinion is that Chops and Giovanni's are not on the same level as the specialties on Celebrity. However they're half the price or less. On the other hand, Izumi was much better than Silk Harvest for sushi, especially early in the cruise.

 

As to the topic at hand, it's unacceptable that they can charge such a high fee and not make darned sure the experience isn't worth every penny. Generally they do, but this night sounds horrible. If they chose to follow you out and hunt you down to know why you left (which should have been obvious), they should have been prepared for some choice words.

[Janet524]

We dined at Tuscan Grill on Silhouette last year and frankly were underwhelmed. The service was slow (not nearly as bad as OP) and the food was IMO not much better than what I can get at Olive Garden.

 

That said, we dined in Murano and had a thoroughly wonderful experience. Outstanding food and service. Didn't try QSine since we're not really into "fru-fru" mini bite presentation meals.

[Lisah101]

On a cruise, I never really thought about the timing of dinner. Thinking back, some of our specialty dining probably did take 3 or more hours, but we were on a cruise, it wasn't like we had anywhere to go. Was walking out the first time it was escalated to management? I just wondered if something had been said earlier and management didn't respond? I can see where if I wanted to make a show or something, i'd have to be sure to let them know when I made the reservation and when I was greeted by the waiter.

[CptSticky]

Despite having 20 or so cruises under our belts we have never really been tempted to try any of the speciality restaurants, until last year on RCI when on our 42nd wedding anniversary we went to Choppe Grill and to be honest we left there somewhat underwhelmed. It was Ok, a nice steak but not exceptional! just OK. Anyway not to be undeterred , later in the cruise they were offering the Italian Speciality restaurant half price (can't remember it's name) obviously the bookings weren't flooding through the door. Again it was nice but I'm pleased we got it half price. Perhaps I'm just underwhelmed easily !!!

Glyn

It's unfortunate that you never experienced Chops or the Italian restaurant on board Royal (change name as time goes on) in the distant past. These restaurants are not at all what they used to be. The service was great. The food was not only great but came in large quantities which it was almost impossible to finish. Sadly, we seldom go anymore because not only has quality fallen, prices risen and service declined but we always seem to walk away afterwards questioning why we decided to try it again. I do have to say that the last time we were in Giovanni's it was great but it might have been because we were dining with the guest services manager and a few other officers. Guess I'll have to try it again to see.;)

[DYKWIA]

If you've had a very bad experience in a restaurant, and particularly if you've let your feelings known to the staff, I can understand why someone may not wish to return even for a free meal.

 

I'd imagine some of us might fear the conversation between staff the following night might go something like this

 

"here comes the horrible couple who kicked off last night, getting their freebie tonight, make sure you're nice to them front of house, but......"

[Iamcruzin]

Tuscan Grille.

An Italian steakhouse with a nouveau twist.

 

Maybe it's me but I wouldn't expect the terms Grille and Steakhouse to mean fine dining that would require a 3 hour experience. I would expect the food to be quality cuts of meat and the service to be slower than the MDR but not a two hour wait for the main course.

[wwcruisers]

It's unfortunate that you never experienced Chops or the Italian restaurant on board Royal (change name as time goes on) in the distant past. These restaurants are not at all what they used to be. The service was great. The food was not only great but came in large quantities which it was almost impossible to finish. Sadly, we seldom go anymore because not only has quality fallen, prices risen and service declined but we always seem to walk away afterwards questioning why we decided to try it again. I do have to say that the last time we were in Giovanni's it was great but it might have been because we were dining with the guest services manager and a few other officers. Guess I'll have to try it again to see.;)

 

Hey Cpt! Sorry to hear that. Back when we used to cruise on RC, an occasional meal in Portofino or Chops was something we always looked forward to. Back then, I think the cover was $20 (mayber $25) per person, and usually well worth it. :cool: