Taking a break from Celebrity after our Eclipse cruise

[Luvcrusn]

Oh dear, I feel my expectations are too high as I expect the MDR standard to be well above Olive Garden and Outback... HELP!!

Food tastes are very subjective. We sailed Eclipse in December. Loved it. We're foodies, but not unreasonable. Certainly there were choices on the buffet for breakfast and lunch that we chose to pass, however there were many choices that we liked...alot. Certainly more than we would consume in any given meal. They are catering to the tastes of 3,000 passengers all of whom won't agree on anything, hence the large number of selections. Some people prefer the glass half empty outlook, but don't be worried. Our friends sailed Eclipse on the same Cruise as the OP. It was their first X Cruise, previously they sailed Princess and Royal Caribbean. They LOVED the buffet by comparison. Fear not, I have yet to read a post about anyone starving to death on a X Cruise.

 

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[Bootman4U]

Yeah, do ahead and "try" Crystal but I can tell you there are people on those cruises who are just as put off as you have become.

[soraya]

Hmm. I think I'm fairly rational. I didn't eat the bad-looking food, for instance. I don't eat in the specialty restaurants and I have a "normal" room. I'm certainly not looking for a "fine-dining" experience in the buffet. But I would expect something along the lines of my local grocery store's deli department for lunch - and there was nothing there of the sort. The buffet was nothing at all like my last cruise 3 years ago on Royal Caribbean.

 

I don't mean to carp on it, as much as try to understand it. They don't expect people to actually eat those scrambled eggs, do they? Take a look at them in my photos! My guess is that a lot of this food is served to the wait staff, etc...it's doing duel duty. If the guests don't eat it (not many did from my experience) then they give the leftovers to their employees? They're trying to do more with less is my guess. They will be doing it without me on their cruise line in the future, unless I can figure out a way to get most of my food on-shore. The Eclipse was a lovely ship and my vacation was great, except for what you see in the photos.

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/celebrity-cruise-lines-miami?hrid=rJqH9n7frKACrEHU_T8y4Q&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

 

I just looked at your photos and the breakfast:eek: who on earth thought to serve that?! It isn't you, that looks really horrible!

[travelberlin]

Thanks for your review. For us the favorite is Azamara. We have booked a cruise with Celebrity after 14 months. Our last cruise with the Celebrity Infinity for Carnival in Rio was suboptimal. We are giving it one more chance with our next cruise. It is the Equinox cruising to New Orleans for the Jazz festival.

We are "only" in Concierge Class, lets see what our experience is going to be...

[Catasetumkid]

I just looked at your photos and the breakfast:eek: who on earth thought to serve that?! It isn't you, that looks really horrible!

 

 

Thanks for the comment! I was amazed at people that said the food was just fine! Ugh!

[Luvcrusn]

Thanks for the comment! I was amazed at people that said the food was just fine! Ugh!

 

 

For breakfast we had eggs Benedict, omelets made to order with smoked salmon and capers, made to order waffles, eggs made to order etc., croissants fresh squeezed juices, fresh fruit. Nothing wrong, great and efficient service. Certainly there were choices we passed on, but they are trying to appeal to 3,000 passengers from many different nations. There were certainly enough choices that we had to say to ourselves "I'll have to remember that tomorrow!" I think the OP focused on the choices that didn't appeal to them, but the choices were plentiful enough that we NEVER felt that we had to settle for anything, instead we had to be selective and not be gluttonous.

[irishayes]

I just got back from our fourth Celebrity Cruise in January, on the summit. I felt the same way the OP did , with the quality going down on Celebrity Cruises. We were ignored by bar wait staff , and upon returning from a port day, there was not a morsel of food to be found in the ocean view Cafe until after we had already set sail. I had people on this message board telling me I was mistaken or exaggerating, but I was not. Modern Luxury it ain't anymore.

 

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[ChucktownSteve]

For breakfast we had eggs Benedict, omelets made to order with smoked salmon and capers, made to order waffles, eggs made to order etc., croissants fresh squeezed juices, fresh fruit. Nothing wrong, great and efficient service. Certainly there were choices we passed on, but they are trying to appeal to 3,000 passengers from many different nations. There were certainly enough choices that we had to say to ourselves "I'll have to remember that tomorrow!" I think the OP focused on the choices that didn't appeal to them, but the choices were plentiful enough that we NEVER felt that we had to settle for anything, instead we had to be selective and not be gluttonous.

 

 

I have many of those same types of pictures from lunch and dinner too. However Yes, I agree that we had to be very selective. It was very monotonous eating for two weeks straight in the buffet. Instead of making wow choices, it was picking the lesser of the dutch oven evils.

[keithm]

For breakfast we had eggs Benedict, omelets made to order with smoked salmon and capers, made to order waffles, eggs made to order etc., croissants fresh squeezed juices, fresh fruit. Nothing wrong, great and efficient service. Certainly there were choices we passed on, but they are trying to appeal to 3,000 passengers from many different nations. There were certainly enough choices that we had to say to ourselves "I'll have to remember that tomorrow!" I think the OP focused on the choices that didn't appeal to them, but the choices were plentiful enough that we NEVER felt that we had to settle for anything, instead we had to be selective and not be gluttonous.

 

 

If dining in the buffet, of course you'll do better by asking for your omelet or eggs to be done for you. It takes just a few minutes. If you notice the eggs when the buffet gets refreshed, it's not done by the staff right by the grills. The eggs & such are prepared in the kitchen area behind them.. The eggs, by the way come in large bags & are boiled in large pots of water. There ARE preservatives in the bag eggs as well. We use them in our large buffets. Nothing really wrong with them as they save tons of time & effort, but if you want fresh, ask the staff to do it right there on the grill. That way they ARE fresh.

[keithm]

Thanks for the comment! I was amazed at people that said the food was just fine! Ugh!

 

 

The food on the Eclipse(Jan.22-Feb.5)had issues(MDR)fish was often overcooked. The Maître D sent the chefs into the dining room to listen to the complaints. Food overall was not terrible by any means, just not to Celebrities standard. I Feel it is more due to an inexperience chef staff than cutbacks. We're on the same cruise next Jan. as well. If the food is the same(or worse) we'll try a different line. We did a 14 day B2B Regal Princess cruise last year. Though Celebrity specialty rest. are FAR better than those on the Regal(price is quite a bit less in Regal rest.) Food in the MDR was quite a bit superior to the Eclipse this time around.

[dabear]

I think part of the problem with Celebrity and some of the other mass market lines is that the ships have gotten bigger but the staff has not proportionately been increased resulting in poorer service, food etc.They all are on a "more profit" corporate mentality. Sell, sell, sell. We still like good service and restaurant quality, not "banquet" type food. As a result we have been going on smaller ships & lines such as Azamara, Oceania and Regent plus we recently tried a river cruise.

[Catasetumkid]

For breakfast we had eggs Benedict, omelets made to order with smoked salmon and capers, made to order waffles, eggs made to order etc., croissants fresh squeezed juices, fresh fruit. Nothing wrong, great and efficient service. Certainly there were choices we passed on, but they are trying to appeal to 3,000 passengers from many different nations. There were certainly enough choices that we had to say to ourselves "I'll have to remember that tomorrow!" I think the OP focused on the choices that didn't appeal to them, but the choices were plentiful enough that we NEVER felt that we had to settle for anything, instead we had to be selective and not be gluttonous.

 

I don't eat anything as rich as eggs benedict - when I saw it, it looked like it had been sitting under lamps for a long time. Omelettes: I had one ONCE - I asked for a cheese omelette and I got a flat piece of egg with some cheese sprinkled on top. I didn't get the idea they knew how to make an omelette. I didn't see made to order waffles. I did see some in a dutch oven, though. I didn't have one because there was no syrup that was suitable. What did you put on yours? What they had there was simply sweet with no flavor to it. I agree that the fresh fruit was lovely, and I did have that every day. Croissants - I didn't see anything in the pastry area that looked fresh to me. I tried a danish one day - but it was not soft, it was hard with an egg wash on it. Very disappointing because I love fresh pastries. These looked and tasted stale. The cookies were no better. None were soft, all hard, none seemed freshly baked.

 

I had no desire to be gluttonous, just to have some fresh food with flavor. That was the problem, the lack of flavor. I have a feeling that they loaded up in Miami and didn't bring on much during the 2 week cruise. I don't know if that's true, but that's how it seemed.

 

The Dining room was just okay - nothing to write home about. Some of the items made me wonder if the chef knew what the dish was his staff was attempting to make. I saw the chef several times and it didn't seem to be a good idea to approach him, he looked pretty mean, with his arms folded, as if daring anyone to approach.

 

One thing - we got there late for lunch every day. It didn't make sense to me to go earlier than 2:00, because we were eating dinner at 8:30. Even though they said that lunch was until 3:00, there were times we got there and there was very little choice. I understand that they have limited staff, but if lunch is until 3, stuff should be available until 3! One day, my husband couldn't even get a sandwich, everyone was cleaning up and clearing out the dutch ovens. We had to search for someone with a knife to cut the bread.

 

It seemed to me that perhaps it would have been different if a lot of younger people were on board. Perhaps the food was flavorless because of so many old folks? I'm old as the hills, but by goodness, I want food with flavor. I'll probably die with a salt shaker in my hand. ;-)

 

I know I'm repeating myself, but when we had that fish in St. Kitts, we were about ready to lick the plate - that is when we realized exactly how bad the food on board was.

 

We had a wonderful time in spite of the food!! That's the good part. I did laugh when I saw that there were cooking classes <!!!>...Wow. I would have liked to take that pizza dough and show them how cinnamon rolls are made! Or proper pizza that is browned on top and underneath!

[Catasetumkid]

If dining in the buffet, of course you'll do better by asking for your omelet or eggs to be done for you. It takes just a few minutes. If you notice the eggs when the buffet gets refreshed, it's not done by the staff right by the grills. The eggs & such are prepared in the kitchen area behind them.. The eggs, by the way come in large bags & are boiled in large pots of water. There ARE preservatives in the bag eggs as well. We use them in our large buffets. Nothing really wrong with them as they save tons of time & effort, but if you want fresh, ask the staff to do it right there on the grill. That way they ARE fresh.

 

Good tip, thank you. I guess that I was used to the "help yourself" that I've experienced on Royal Caribbean. Waiting in a line to ask for help is really not my preferred "buffet" style. As I've said, I saw someone walking around with an entire loaf of bread on their tray - probably got there late, like we always did, and couldn't find anyone to help. Plus, it was wait for your eggs, then wait or your toast....etc etc.

 

I will certainly cruise again, but I'll try to find out more about the food before I book.

[hurwitz5]

Cruised on the January 8th sailing of the Eclipse (2 weeks) and on the January 28 (1 week) sailing of the Reflection. The food on the Reflection was better than on the Eclipse - both the buffet and MDR. The presentation of the food was also better on the Reflection. However, the brisket of beef served at dinner in the MDR during our 2 week Eclipse cruise was delicious- a new addition to the menu.

[Luvcrusn]

I don't eat anything as rich as eggs benedict - when I saw it, it looked like it had been sitting under lamps for a long time. Omelettes: I had one ONCE - I asked for a cheese omelette and I got a flat piece of egg with some cheese sprinkled on top. I didn't get the idea they knew how to make an omelette. I didn't see made to order waffles. I did see some in a dutch oven, though. I didn't have one because there was no syrup that was suitable. What did you put on yours? What they had there was simply sweet with no flavor to it. I agree that the fresh fruit was lovely, and I did have that every day. Croissants - I didn't see anything in the pastry area that looked fresh to me. I tried a danish one day - but it was not soft, it was hard with an egg wash on it. Very disappointing because I love fresh pastries. These looked and tasted stale. The cookies were no better. None were soft, all hard, none seemed freshly baked.

 

I had no desire to be gluttonous, just to have some fresh food with flavor. That was the problem, the lack of flavor. I have a feeling that they loaded up in Miami and didn't bring on much during the 2 week cruise. I don't know if that's true, but that's how it seemed.

 

The Dining room was just okay - nothing to write home about. Some of the items made me wonder if the chef knew what the dish was his staff was attempting to make. I saw the chef several times and it didn't seem to be a good idea to approach him, he looked pretty mean, with his arms folded, as if daring anyone to approach.

 

One thing - we got there late for lunch every day. It didn't make sense to me to go earlier than 2:00, because we were eating dinner at 8:30. Even though they said that lunch was until 3:00, there were times we got there and there was very little choice. I understand that they have limited staff, but if lunch is until 3, stuff should be available until 3! One day, my husband couldn't even get a sandwich, everyone was cleaning up and clearing out the dutch ovens. We had to search for someone with a knife to cut the bread.

 

It seemed to me that perhaps it would have been different if a lot of younger people were on board. Perhaps the food was flavorless because of so many old folks? I'm old as the hills, but by goodness, I want food with flavor. I'll probably die with a salt shaker in my hand. ;-)

 

I know I'm repeating myself, but when we had that fish in St. Kitts, we were about ready to lick the plate - that is when we realized exactly how bad the food on board was.

 

We had a wonderful time in spite of the food!! That's the good part. I did laugh when I saw that there were cooking classes <!!!>...Wow. I would have liked to take that pizza dough and show them how cinnamon rolls are made! Or proper pizza that is browned on top and underneath!

I guess we were on Eclipse in a parallel universe! The eggs benedict that were under heat lamps were samples for display. If you wanted one they prepared a fresh one. The omelets I had were fresh and properly prepared in the French trifold way. I had a variety of fillings in them (smoked salmon and capers, asparagus, mushroom, ham, cheese, etc) and they were done just right. As for the waffles, you only had to ask for a fresh one. I had mine with berries on top and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. It's a shame you never tried the croissants. They had several varieties. My favorite were plain and chocolate filled. YUM!!! As for the cookies, we loved the oatmeal raisin cookies. They were soft and chewy and delicious! You should have tried them. As far as your theory of bringing on food in Miami and then nothing much more for 2 weeks, that's ridiculous! I don't know about your kitchen, but in mine I turn over food much quicker than that, and we're just 2 people! For health and sanitation reasons alone that just can't happen on a cruise ship. The head chef we saw in the buffet area on a regular basis was a lovely gentleman from Jamaica. We spoke daily and he had a pleasant smile and a great sense of humor. He was also VERY approachable. After we spoke the first day, he initiated many of the subsequent conversations. As for the clearing of lunch, the selections offered did diminish after about 2PM to make the turnover to dinner. We had 8:30 dining as well and made sure to get our lunches by about 1:45 to 2:00. The dinners we enjoyed in the MDR were good, some evenings better (maybe just more to our liking) than others, but all were well prepared and our service was impeccable due in large part I suspect to a wonderful service team. As with most everything, food is subjective and you can't please all the people all of the time. We are foodies and consider ourselves tough judges. I am a pretty good home cook as well and know how to prepare complicated and delicious meals, so by no means do we have low standards. Were there things we didn't care for? Of course, but we both managed to gain weight on our cruise (gone now) and it was not at all difficult! The only thing we found lacking on the Eclipse cruise were the hamburgers, hot dogs and fries at the mast grill. Those were the poorest of any of our X cruises. We don't eat those on a regular basis however and tend to opt for healthier choices for lunch.

[Cruizen Susan]

I guess we were on Eclipse in a parallel universe! The eggs benedict that were under heat lamps were samples for display. If you wanted one they prepared a fresh one. The omelets I had were fresh and properly prepared in the French trifold way. I had a variety of fillings in them (smoked salmon and capers, asparagus, mushroom, ham, cheese, etc) and they were done just right. As for the waffles, you only had to ask for a fresh one. I had mine with berries on top and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. It's a shame you never tried the croissants. They had several varieties. My favorite were plain and chocolate filled. YUM!!! As for the cookies, we loved the oatmeal raisin cookies. They were soft and chewy and delicious! You should have tried them. As far as your theory of bringing on food in Miami and then nothing much more for 2 weeks, that's ridiculous! I don't know about your kitchen, but in mine I turn over food much quicker than that, and we're just 2 people! For health and sanitation reasons alone that just can't happen on a cruise ship. The head chef we saw in the buffet area on a regular basis was a lovely gentleman from Jamaica. We spoke daily and he had a pleasant smile and a great sense of humor. He was also VERY approachable. After we spoke the first day, he initiated many of the subsequent conversations. As for the clearing of lunch, the selections offered did diminish after about 2PM to make the turnover to dinner. We had 8:30 dining as well and made sure to get our lunches by about 1:45 to 2:00. The dinners we enjoyed in the MDR were good, some evenings better (maybe just more to our liking) than others, but all were well prepared and our service was impeccable due in large part I suspect to a wonderful service team. As with most everything, food is subjective and you can't please all the people all of the time. We are foodies and consider ourselves tough judges. I am a pretty good home cook as well and know how to prepare complicated and delicious meals, so by no means do we have low standards. Were there things we didn't care for? Of course, but we both managed to gain weight on our cruise (gone now) and it was not at all difficult! The only thing we found lacking on the Eclipse cruise were the hamburgers, hot dogs and fries at the mast grill. Those were the poorest of any of our X cruises. We don't eat those on a regular basis however and tend to opt for healthier choices for lunch.

 

I reside in the same Universe as you do. I have a custom made omelette every single morning, with mozzarella, garlic, spinach, mushrooms, cooked in butter, not mystery oil. And change from day to day. They always make it and serve it with a smile.

 

As a gluten-free couple, we are taken very good care of, with every request.

 

I do wish they would get some easy to do gluten free buns at the burger station. A burger is just not the same, sitting alone on a plate without a roll!!:')

[Tarwood3]

Uktog, have you thought about trying Silversea? With the price you're paying for suites on X...might as well try Silversea...would be comparable in price, but service is amazing. I know you have done a lot of Azamara, but there are only 2 ships and not much variety. Variety is the spice of life...try it, you will love Silversea...smaller ships, very elegant, service top notch and since they are smaller ships, you can get into ports that larger ships cannot.

[Lastdance]

I agree with the above poster...smaller, more intimate and gorgeous ports...

 

 

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