Is Celebrity's Food inedible?

[Bo1953]

I am a fairly new cruiser (one on RCCL Oasis, one on Celebrity Equinox) and found the food on both to be just fine. Nothing inedible about either, and nothing disappointing as well. Never even tempted to return something to the kitchen. If I could eat like that at home, I’d be deliriously happy! To be fair, I am a glass half full person, and don’t go about looking for things to complain about as it seems some people on these boards do. I’m on a cruise, on vacation, free as a bird, and happy as a clam. And they feed me. ;)

 

... and I have a cleaning service which I do not have at home and they do it with a smile most often!

 

 

LOL

 

bon voyage

[jkgourmet]

If you think the food is bad on X don't even go on MSC. We recently went on the MSC Seaside for a 7 day cruise and the food was terrible (as was the service and room). We couldn't wait to get on the Oasis for a 7 day immediately following.

 

Just to show the subjectivity on this topic of food, we sailed on the MSC Davina and thought the food was excellent. Different than X but in some cases higher quality. Think prosciutto instead of ham. Kalamata olives instead of black canned. Shrimp, which we don't see often in the X MDR (except the everyday kinda mushy shrimp cocktail.)

 

Different strokes. :) AS IT SHOULD BE.

[mek]

I was on Equinox last August and thought the food in the MDR was quite good. Leaving today for a 15 nt. TA on Eclipse - will post a report when I return.

[TeeRick]

There are a comments out there saying that Celebrity's MDR food is turning inedible, and I've heard good and bad from peeps on board Oasis. Is this from cutbacks or are people not liking changes to the menu? We didn't love all the dining on RCCL either which owns Celebrity, but the Windjammer was great and we like having Johnny Rockets and the Dog House onboard for lunch. I hear folks talking up Celebrity like it's hot tickets but there plenty leaving for Viking Ocean and Oceania and Princess for better dining.

 

There was one recent thread where the OP said good-bye to Celebrity and among other things said the MDR food was inedible. That thread was very lively and highly disputed. Please don't ever take one comment one way or another as gospel on these boards. I think this "MDR inedible" topic needs to be closed IMO.

[Mr&MrsBee]

There was one recent thread where the OP said good-bye to Celebrity and among other things said the MDR food was inedible. That thread was very lively and highly disputed. Please don't ever take one comment one way or another as gospel on these boards. I think this "MDR inedible" topic needs to be closed IMO.

 

 

Agree. This thread is serving no purpose. Again why are sailings filled with happy people?

[Peggy Sue]

Recently back from 14 nights on the Eclipse. The food was very good. We also like to try the specialty restaurants, and thought the food was very well prepared and presented. Murano was our favorite out of all the dining venues on board. Although we don't have as much cruise experience as some on this board we do remember when dining was a totally different experience than we find today. Food was of a better quality and service was not so hurried. However, ships were smaller and dining times were fixed .. the time you spent in the dining room was part of your cruise experience. Today, we personally find the main dining room a place to have a meal, meet people, etc., but service always seems to be rushed. When dining in Murano, Tuscan, Quisne, Sushi on 5, we had totally different experiences ... plenty of space between tables, service was not rushed, food was a better quality, etc. the buffet on Celebrity is very good, and most everyone, even picky eaters should be able to find something to eat. If I had one complaint about dining in the main dining room today, it wouldn't be the food or even the rushed service .. it would be the amount of tables they have crammed in ... it's very tightly packed!

[mom says]

Sounds like the OP is looking for gimmicky places to eat, as if they were on land

 

Agree. The OP questions the quality of X's MDR in one sentence then seems to extol the virtues of buffets and burger joints in the next. There seems to be an incompatibility here that doesn't bode well. The OP might be happier on their previous lines, regardless of the quality if the MDR on X.

[TFLG]

As of the buffet I am not fond of Indian or spicy food so was limited for choice but the cheese burgers and fries on the pool deck were generally very good although if it was quiet on deck the food at the poor bar wasn't top notch as it would be hanging around for a while.

 

Limited for choice? One small area of that enormous buffet is indian food. It usually just 4 dishes and they are usually not spicy at all. If you are worried about spice try them, they are usually not at all spicy, unless you don't like the flavor of curry.

 

Other than the few selections of curries, there is the grill section cooking steak, chicken pork etc, the carvery area with turkey, roast beef, lamb etc, the Mexican section, there's two other areas with american/english/french dishes, a salad section, a sandwich section, a pasta area and pizza. Did I miss anything? Oh a bazillion desserts and fruits. I'd hardly call it limited if one doesn't like a few dishes.

[Pepsi36]

Limited for choice? One small area of that enormous buffet is indian food. It usually just 4 dishes and they are usually not spicy at all. If you are worried about spice try them, they are usually not at all spicy, unless you don't like the flavor of curry.

 

Other than the few selections of curries, there is the grill section cooking steak, chicken pork etc, the carvery area with turkey, roast beef, lamb etc, the Mexican section, there's two other areas with american/english/french dishes, a salad section, a sandwich section, a pasta area and pizza. Did I miss anything? Oh a bazillion desserts and fruits. I'd hardly call it limited if one doesn't like a few dishes.

Ok I tried a steak a couple of times and found it was bland. The grilled pork and chicken didn't entice me either. There seemed to be roast beef on the carvery several times so I had a slice of that and the turkey once. I tried a pasta one time and pizza both were luke warm and tasteless. The other selections were too spicy for me ie the Mexican selection. I do not eat salad or sandwiches which is neither here nor there but for me the choice was limited. When there was a non spicy stew or pie I was ok. There was fish and fries one day which again was fine but in the main I was limited.

[TFLG]

Ok I tried a steak a couple of times and found it was bland. The grilled pork and chicken didn't entice me either. There seemed to be roast beef on the carvery several times so I had a slice of that and the turkey once. I tried a pasta one time and pizza both were luke warm and tasteless. The other selections were too spicy for me ie the Mexican selection. I do not eat salad or sandwiches which is neither here nor there but for me the choice was limited. When there was a non spicy stew or pie I was ok. There was fish and fries one day which again was fine but in the main I was limited.

 

I think you are trying too hard to find things you don't like (My dad is the same way). The steak is just steak cooked to order. Unless you season it yourself it's not going to taste like much. There's salt, a multitude of gravies and sauces around the buffet to flavor it. The pasta is cooked to order not sure how that could possibly be luke warm unless you set you plate down for 10 minutes. Again, there is nothing spicy in the Mexican station. It's just seasoned beef and chicken, the spicy stuff (salsa etc) is in a separate bowl that you can add or leave off. I'm not big fan of their pizza either, I find the flavor ok, but the crust is never crunchy. And see, you still found stuff to eat! The fish and chips on our last sailing were very good, especially smothered in the gravy from the carving station;p

[jkgourmet]

Ok I tried a steak a couple of times and found it was bland. The grilled pork and chicken didn't entice me either. There seemed to be roast beef on the carvery several times so I had a slice of that and the turkey once. I tried a pasta one time and pizza both were luke warm and tasteless. The other selections were too spicy for me ie the Mexican selection. I do not eat salad or sandwiches which is neither here nor there but for me the choice was limited. When there was a non spicy stew or pie I was ok. There was fish and fries one day which again was fine but in the main I was limited.

 

I'm not being critical, but I'm pretty sure that you would find nearly any buffet "limited".

[Pepsi36]

I'm not being critical, but I'm pretty sure that you would find nearly any buffet "limited".

I will be the first to admit I'm picky but I've never had a problem on RCCI. Yes there were several things I couldn't eat but generally found I could eat a hearty lunch with no bother.

[nancyshaw]

Lukewarm more than cold, but still edible. These lines at least have Johnny Rockets and Guy's Burgers, and OSheehan's Irish Pub. How does Celebrity stack up when it comes to lunch?

 

The lunch buffet can vary from ship to ship. On the Infinity, the lunch buffet was awful. My opinion. Others on the ship agreed. Yes many talked to the maitre D'. We sailed the Infinity for the itineraries and knew not to expect anything more than that.

 

On the Eclipse the lunch buffet was AMAZING. Each day was better than the day before. There is already a topic here about that. We have sailed the Eclipse 14 day Carib for several years now and the lunch buffet has been outstanding every time. But again, that is the Eclipse. I am not sure about any other ship. There really can be inconsistencies. Im not sure other ships serve up the kind of lunch that we have had on the Eclipse.

[Luvcrusn]

This thread seems less than serious to me and I question why it was opened. Obviously the food to many is excellent, mediocre or less depending on their individual tastes. Since there have been no news stories citing Celebrity with massive health violations, passengers dying from food poisoning or sickened by it and business is booming, there is your answer. A disgruntled passenger posted something on another thread and someone believes it as a possible fact.:confused:

[Quo Vadis?]

I am an appetizer selector.

My wife loves most of the entrees:

1) prime rib,

2) tournedos of beef (honest it is not what a tornado would serve...)

3) Branzino

4) Lobster Night

 

for her 4 of the 7 nights are fantastic or they were on Summit Eclipse and Equinox in the past year.

Give me a good soup, a blue cheese soufle and some vegetarian offerings and I'm happy.

 

Throw in a day in Murano or Silk Harvest and we could not be eating better for the price.

 

Now there have been occasional disappointments but we always seem to come home with more bulk than when we boarded.

[TFLG]

The lunch buffet can vary from ship to ship. On the Infinity, the lunch buffet was awful. My opinion. Others on the ship agreed. Yes many talked to the maitre D'. We sailed the Infinity for the itineraries and knew not to expect anything more than that.

 

On the Eclipse the lunch buffet was AMAZING. Each day was better than the day before. There is already a topic here about that. We have sailed the Eclipse 14 day Carib for several years now and the lunch buffet has been outstanding every time. But again, that is the Eclipse. I am not sure about any other ship. There really can be inconsistencies. Im not sure other ships serve up the kind of lunch that we have had on the Eclipse.

 

I think just the layout of the M-class ships makes the buffet seem worse than it is. We sailed the Infinity in October and I didn't find it bad, the asian/indian food was actually pretty good. I read a lot of complaints about the buffet food on the Asian itineraries, maybe it's harder for them to source western style foods in those ports. On the M-class there is less selection than on the S-class so it does make it harder to choose if you're picky. I hate the old style line buffet layout though. I do agree the Eclipse had the best buffet of any of the 8 celeb ships I've sailed. Whoever is running that buffet is a rock star.

[sakigemcam]

We can only compare to the food on Royal, which we left BECAUSE of the food. We are foodies and were very happy on Celebrity. The only thing we weren't thrilled with was breakfast at the Spa Cafe - we missed the Solarium breakfast.

BUT the buffet was excellent - we avoided it like the plague on Royal but were very happy with it on Celebrity. Having outdoor buffet seating was a big plus too.

Happy with our decision to move.

[phoenix_dream]

I think the food onboard Celebrity ships generally runs from good to very good, with an occasional mishap here or there, as well as an occasional excellent. Yes, it is not up to the standard of 20+ years ago when I first start sailing their ships but definitely not inedible!

 

I have found some ships food is better than others - I attribute this to the head chef as well as to the fresh produce and meats available to them on that sailing. So it can vary a bit ship to ship and sailing to sailing. But inedible or bad? No way.

[grandgeezer]

Over the last several years we have found the food in the MDR to be anywhere from ok to very good. We do a lot of B2Bs so we see a lot of repeat menus. In the past, what I had the first week is the same things I would have the second week. Now it happens maybe 2-3 times out of 7. We've never went hungry though. Maybe we're lucky to have restaurants that are very good every time. Because of this, if the MDR was a restaurant was located here, we wouldn't eat there.

[Marelaine]

Ok I tried a steak a couple of times and found it was bland. The grilled pork and chicken didn't entice me either. There seemed to be roast beef on the carvery several times so I had a slice of that and the turkey once. I tried a pasta one time and pizza both were luke warm and tasteless. The other selections were too spicy for me ie the Mexican selection. I do not eat salad or sandwiches which is neither here nor there but for me the choice was limited. When there was a non spicy stew or pie I was ok. There was fish and fries one day which again was fine but in the main I was limited.

 

With all due respect, you are limiting yourself. You exclude foods which you assume are too spicy and find your selections bland. You don't eat salads or sandwiches so that eliminates one huge island in the buffet. By the way, did you see the bread and cheese selection on that sandwich station? The soup? X pizza is not like my local pizzaria, so I don't bother with the pizza. On the other hand, the pasta is made to individual specifications, what's not to like? I tried several Indian items at the Asian station that I have never seen before - the seasonings were different from what I typically eat, but the food was delicious. The Mexican food - some is spicy, some mild. You never know until you try. The carved sirloin and prime rib and pork were very good.

 

OP, I found Cruise Critic before my first cruise. While most of the posters were very helpful, there were the few who were critical of the MDR and negative toward new members. I worried that I had made a mistake in booking my first cruise with Celebrity. I'm happy that I didn't cancel that cruise. Celebrity isn't perfect, but the MDR food is good to very good and the variety at the buffet is exceptional. The MDR posts the dinner menu after lunch each day. If nothing appeals to you, go to the buffet or make reservations at one the specialty restaurants.

 

Most of all, take everything you read on CC with a grain of salt.

[GreyBeard_the_Pirate]

Hi

The food in the buffet for lunch is really good with many choices.

The Indian curry selections are always good there is also usually a dish of the day. In the evening there are steak stations where you can order and it will be cooked to order, there is also pasta, pizza etc available

 

"good curry" is an oxymoron.

[mom says]

"good curry" is an oxymoron.

 

No, you just haven't eaten it yet. I wouldn't call the curries in the OVC great, but they're not bad. If you want a great curry, you need to find a good South Asian restaurant. I've eaten some fabulous curried dishes.

[Muffinz]

Well we just got back from our 12 night cruise on Solstice and one of the highlights was the food - the quality and variation was exceptional!

We ate dinner in the MDR every night and thought the food there was 5 star quality... and on the odd occasion we ate at the OVC for breakfast or lunch we were also impressed with the quality of the food.

before the cruise we were contemplating treating ourselves to a dinner at Tuscan Grille or Murano, but we didn't need to as the food at the MDR was so good!

[davekathy]

Inedible. No way! We found the food in the MDR to be really good on our B2B cruise on the Equinox this March. No complaints. Breakfast, lunch and diner. We didn't eat anything from the OVC. We ate in the OVC twice but only to sit in there to eat our hamburgers we got at the Mast Grill. No where to sit outside.

Edited April 16, 2018 by davekathy

[George C]

Did a celebrity cruise 8 years ago and thought food and service in mdr was terrible,went on summit last month was in a suite so we used suite dinning room or specialty and both was excellent. But did buffet for most breakfast and lunch and food was so much better than rccl which we normally cruise .