Worst Burger on the Planet

[crockea]

It has been 7 months since we sailed on the Celebrity Summit but I was talking to my husband last night and we both shared a laugh at how horrible the burgers were.  To back up .... We sailed on the Summit out of San Juan last December.  We knew it would be an older ship so we didn't have grand expectations on that but we did expect a lot more from Celebrity based on all the positive reviews.  We were sailing with 2 other couples.  One of those couples have sailed many times with us on NCL in the Haven.  Back to my original thought tho, the burgers were by far the worst burgers we'd ever had in our lives.  Full of fat and gristle. I actually gagged.  My husband who will eat anything didn't even finish his.  And this was in the "suite" restaurant. We thought maybe we just got a bad batch but them in speaking with both of the other couples we traveled with they all had them on different days and said the same thing.  So my question is, is this normal for Celebrity out of PR or was it maybe just a sailing that got some bad meat?

[The Fun Researcher]

Burgers are not Celebrity, or their sister Royal Caribbean's strong suit, especially at the buffet.  The ones on the Mast Grill looked marginal on the Equinox.  I love their fries however.

 

I've seen decent sliders in the Main Dining Room (RCL).

 

Personally I would opt for other options in my experience. 

 

Dan

[Mynki]

Our Summit experience was very poor. Other ships Celebrity and others beat it on pretty much every level in terms of quality and service. The beef served fleet wide has attracted numerous negative comments on this forum and elsewhere in recent times. The 'Luminae' burgers were once considered the best on the ship and were very good on Eclipse the last time we were onboard. It might be that we are seeing further cutbacks in Luminae? Hopefully it's just a one off? 

[keesar]

The burgers and hot dogs come in frozen.  One strike against them.  However, if you get a grilled buttered roll and top the burger with bacon, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and enough condiments,  they are pretty good.

[mkcurran]

So how are the hot dogs then?

 

[hiccups]

We were on Equinox last month and found that the burgers at Mast Grill to be pretty good.  My husband, who generally doesn't care for hot dogs, had one and enjoyed it.  He's a brats and mets kind of guy 🙂

[dkjretired]

Burger we had at Luminae was great, see what happens next month.

[keesar]

3 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

So how are the hot dogs then?

 

 

What is noteworthy is that the burgers  often sit in a pan waiting for diners.

 

The hot dogs taste pretty good, just like most hot dogs. 

[Orator]

The Luminae burger is made with lamb. I tried it after so many raved about it and found it not to my taste. Burgers at Mast Grill are better to me.

[Cruising89143]

4 minutes ago, Orator said:

The Luminae burger is made with lamb. I tried it after so many raved about it and found it not to my taste. Burgers at Mast Grill are better to me.

 

Yuck! No lamb for me. 

[crockea]

6 minutes ago, Orator said:

The Luminae burger is made with lamb. I tried it after so many raved about it and found it not to my taste. Burgers at Mast Grill are better to me.

Is Lamb normally served full of gristle?  I gag again even thinking of it.

[CardRock]

Mast Burgers were good last month.  I would have preferred to get one cooked to temp, but I understand they cannot do that in those circumstances.  Grilled onions, pickles & mustard were my toppings of choice.  Good fries too.  Also wish they had some covered seating.  

[XtaSea]

We've cruised Celebrity many times on both M and S class ships, and Summit is by far our favorite. Got another one planned for Feb. Never had an issue with either burgers or dogs, but thought the high marks given by others for the Luminae burger were a bit off base. Still, had them twice on our last cruise and I promise I tasted beef, not lamb. Can't do lamb. If it's lamb in Feb (I'll ask) I'll try a different Luminae lunch selection.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

If the Luminae burger was lamb it was a recent change, or maybe just a one day menu change from the usual beef burger.

[Orator]

1 minute ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

If the Luminae burger was lamb it was a recent change, or maybe just a one day menu change from the usual beef burger.

It was quite some time ago. I asked the F&B Manager about the composition and he told me that it was lamb. He also said that it was probably not prepared correctly. 

[dkjretired]

Funny thing is that last year they tried to change the burgers at the mast grill and there was such a revolt they eliminated the plan

[jelayne]

I have had burgers at Luminae on 5 different ships and enjoyed them all;  just too large for me.  They probably aren’t the best burger on the planet but certainly not the worst on the planet IMHO. 

[Luvcrusn]

We enjoy our burgers from Mast Grill freshly of the grill on both M and S-class ships.

[crockea]

5 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I have had burgers at Luminae on 5 different ships and enjoyed them all;  just too large for me.  They probably aren’t the best burger on the planet but certainly not the worst on the planet IMHO. 

All we could assume is maybe they had a problem getting the regular meat from their vendor and had to deal with whatever PR had for them.  Also, I do not recall the menu saying it was lamb.  I think it was just really bad beef.

 

[Lady Arwen]

We don't eat meat, so I can't comment on the beef burgers.  However, they do have a very decent veggie burger at the grill, for those who care.

[chemmo]

In any venue, let alone the suite restaurant, if I was served anything that ‘was full of fat and gristle’ I’d complain....Did you complain and what was the response?

 

We have enjoyed a few Luminae burgers. We don’t order them often as we do find it a heavy lunchtime offering. This is not a criticism of the burger just that we want to enjoy an evening meal later...However in all our Celebrity cruises we have never experienced anything as bad as you describe in any venue...

Edited July 12, 2019 by chemmo

[phoenix_dream]

Like most food on Celebrity, it varies by sailing.  But overall we have had the burgers many times and they ranged from good to very good.  Never had one even come close to inedible.  And this is based on 50+ Celebrity sailings.  Think the OP just got a bad bunch.

[keesar]

5 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Like most food on Celebrity, it varies by sailing.  But overall we have had the burgers many times and they ranged from good to very good.  Never had one even come close to inedible.  And this is based on 50+ Celebrity sailings.  Think the OP just got a bad bunch.

 

A couple of cruises ago, the burger had a grayish tint to it.  But it did taste like a typical Mast Burger --after asking for cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms, and condiments.  Also, having a stiff drink from our drink package also helped.

[K12Guy]

52 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

Funny thing is that last year they tried to change the burgers at the mast grill and there was such a revolt they eliminated the plan

Isn't that when they offered something like Kobe beef burgers and they charged for them at the outdoor grill, without any warning or notification to passengers? I think that lasted just a few days on the first cruise and then went away. Probably with the really good beef, too.

[hubofhockey]

A couple of years ago, they introduced Kobe style beef burgers.  They charged $9 (maybe $10) and they were fresh and very good.  Many people complained because they didn't want to go inside for the old style burger.  It would have been nice to keep the option of the fresh Kobe style along with the regular hockey pucks for free.