Equinox dinner Buffet or MDR? Menus? Experiences?

[CruisinDawn]

First time on Celebrity. We plan on eating most nights in the buffet, so odd question what is it called? Loyal to Royal and we all know the Windjammer but not sure if Celebrity calls the buffet the same name on all ships. Guess I am assuming they have one for dinner. What can we expect for a buffet experience at night? Am I missing something by not going to the MDR? Are the MDR menu's the same fleet wide with a couple of exceptions like Royal. Can anyone point me to current ones for the Equinox? Any incite on dinner on Celebrity would be wonderful. Don't say eat in the specialty restaurants, we can do that at home when we can enjoy it and not worried about timing with the next thing we want to do on the ship.

[Alakegirl]

It s called Oceanview Cafe.

[helen haywood]

In my opinion, yes, you are missing something by not going to the MDR dolor dinner.  You can do a search for the menus  or download the Celebrity app ahead of your sailing or you can check out the menus posted outside the MDR each day and decide for yourself.

[mom says]

Yes, the name of the buffet is the Ocean View Cafe,  and yes it is open for dinner. Frequently they will have theme nights with featured dishes  in one section- Indian, Italian, German, etc. The selection is varied and as buffets go it's fine. Especially if you return late from an excursion or are just too tired to change for dinner.  But I think you are doing yourself a disservice by ignoring the main dining room. The quality of the food is better,  IMO; and the service is excellent. And we find the ambiance much more relaxing than the buffet. As for timing your meal time, if you have select dining you just show up when youre ready to eat. At the worst you might have to wait a few minutes if you dont want to share a table. At the very least try it for a couple of nights.  Why would you restrict yourself  to only the buffet?

Edited July 23, 2019 by mom says

[keesar]

My strategy would be to check out the posted evening dining room menu in the afternoon. Then decide.  The Oceanview Buffet has theme nights in addition to regular items.  The themes are advertising by an electronic sign as you enter the buffet.  We have found the buffet to be quiet and relaxing at night.  In addition, we have had very good drink service.  Try the different options and choose for yourself.

[gold1953]

We actually enjoy the evening buffet. Quiet and relaxing, decent selection, theme nights and a cook to order station. Love a warm evening when we can eat outside We often choose this over the MDR which we find noisy

[hcat]

We usually take off a night or two for  a very casual light meal at the buffet...depebds on length of cruise, itin and nightly menu. OP should try mdr once or twice...it can be a good experience!

 

For  our next EDGE cruise we  are on the 4 mdr plan  for dinner, so we'll see how that works out.!

 

 

[micheleata]

We love the MDR for dinner,  and save the buffet for late breakfast,  lunch or an afternoon snack.

[aml3679]

The Ocean View has a nice variety and we enjoy it for an occassional breakfast or lunch.  For dinner, we prefer the MDR and getting waited on after having a long day of fun.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 7/22/2019 at 9:12 PM, CruisinDawn said:

First time on Celebrity. We plan on eating most nights in the buffet, so odd question what is it called? Loyal to Royal and we all know the Windjammer but not sure if Celebrity calls the buffet the same name on all ships. Guess I am assuming they have one for dinner. What can we expect for a buffet experience at night? Am I missing something by not going to the MDR? Are the MDR menu's the same fleet wide with a couple of exceptions like Royal. Can anyone point me to current ones for the Equinox? Any incite on dinner on Celebrity would be wonderful. Don't say eat in the specialty restaurants, we can do that at home when we can enjoy it and not worried about timing with the next thing we want to do on the ship.

Just returned from the Equinox a few weeks ago. We normally only do the buffet but we desided to try the specialty and the MDR including the buffet. This is about what we found for the NY Strip steaks. Totally unusual for us to do it 3 times. Could not pass it up. First the steak house. Very nice steak was good not exceptional. MDR the steak was better than the steak house. So was the service. Totally unexpected. The last evening we went to the buffet instead of the MDR. They had raw fresh NW Strip lined up along with Ribeye. Awesome looking steaks. About 12 oz.They take your order and in a short time you get your steak. Cooked your way on an open flame grill. Shocked. Cooked perfect, Awesome steak, tender, juice and a delicious taste. Your choice of sides. Basically anything you wanted. At every buffet, lunch or dinner the standards were always there. All excellent choice and delicious. One thing I like is a burger and usually do not get one during the day. What is so nice they have them on the buffet. Sometimes hand made. Excellent. At the entrance of the buffet there is a TV showing each days main course.

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

Just returned from the Equinox a few weeks ago. We normally only do the buffet but we desided to try the specialty and the MDR including the buffet. This is about what we found for the NY Strip steaks. Totally unusual for us to do it 3 times. Could not pass it up. First the steak house. Very nice steak was good not exceptional. MDR the steak was better than the steak house. So was the service. Totally unexpected. The last evening we went to the buffet instead of the MDR. They had raw fresh NW Strip lined up along with Ribeye. Awesome looking steaks. About 12 oz.They take your order and in a short time you get your steak. Cooked your way on an open flame grill. Shocked. Cooked perfect, Awesome steak, tender, juice and a delicious taste. Your choice of sides. Basically anything you wanted. At every buffet, lunch or dinner the standards were always there. All excellent choice and delicious. One thing I like is a burger and usually do not get one during the day. What is so nice they have them on the buffet. Sometimes hand made. Excellent. At the entrance of the buffet there is a TV showing each days main course.

Good steak info for sure, as someone who is sailing 9/23...it is appreciated.  

[CruisinDawn]

On 7/22/2019 at 7:16 PM, mom says said:

Yes, the name of the buffet is the Ocean View Cafe,  and yes it is open for dinner. Frequently they will have theme nights with featured dishes  in one section- Indian, Italian, German, etc. The selection is varied and as buffets go it's fine. Especially if you return late from an excursion or are just too tired to change for dinner.  But I think you are doing yourself a disservice by ignoring the main dining room. The quality of the food is better,  IMO; and the service is excellent. And we find the ambiance much more relaxing than the buffet. As for timing your meal time, if you have select dining you just show up when youre ready to eat. At the worst you might have to wait a few minutes if you dont want to share a table. At the very least try it for a couple of nights.  Why would you restrict yourself  to only the buffet?

I would steer most people to the MDR as well but after about 35 cruises? in the past 19 years we just want to relax on our Anniversary. Not traveling with others, just us celebrating 29 years of marriage. 🙂 We are going to Qsine just for the experience and may hit up the MDR on lobster night but promised my hubby buffet is what were doing this cruise so leave the fancy clothes at home!

 

Thanks for all the info you & others have provided, learning the ins & outs of a new line is tough.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[MISTER 67]

60 cruises and we've only eaten dinner in the buffet 2 times because of coming back to the ship late due to all day tours in Rome and Florence.

We love dinner in the MDR, food is very good and we have always had great service.

 

[the_dylaness]

We are normally big "dinner as an event" people.  Usually we do NOT like buffets.

In November we went on Reflection with our two young children + nanny.

On nights when the nanny was helping with the kids, we wanted to enjoy as much of the ship as possible.  MDR dinner was just so SLOW.  So we ended up eating in the buffet many nights, so that we had time left to enjoy the music performances, get a drink at the bar, etc.  It wasn't perfect but honestly it was pretty good.  Generally very quiet, calm, a nice variety of choices.  The best food I've ever had? No. But quick, a reasonable selection, and enjoyable.  Surprised myself!

[chemmo]

On 7/26/2019 at 10:36 PM, CruisinDawn said:

I would steer most people to the MDR as well but after about 35 cruises? in the past 19 years we just want to relax on our Anniversary. Not traveling with others, just us celebrating 29 years of marriage. 🙂 We are going to Qsine just for the experience and may hit up the MDR on lobster night but promised my hubby buffet is what were doing this cruise so leave the fancy clothes at home!

 

Thanks for all the info you & others have provided, learning the ins & outs of a new line is tough.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

We find the buffet on Celebrity much better than RC. We love the Indian selection.

 

You do not need fancy clothes for the MDR on Celebrity ‘smart casual’ can just be trousers and a polo shirt for the men....

 

 

If you fancy some really relaxed evenings then room service is also worth considering. We had never really used it (other than for a quick breakfast) until I cruised with a mobility issue and the ease, speed, quality of food  and convenience was a real eye opener. There is the standard menu or you can order items off the MDR menu during its opening hours....Sit out on your balcony and relax.

 

Remember you can transfer your loyalty status.

 

Also on Celebrity you can board with two bottles of wine, useful if you don’t have a drinks package....

 

Sincere best wishes for your wedding anniversary!

 

 

[shipgeeks]

OP, are you booked for a set dining time, or anytime?  If you are at a set time, and you don't plan to use it, it would be courteous to your tablemates and dining staff to let them know, so they don't wait for you each night.

[CruisinDawn]

15 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

We find the buffet on Celebrity much better than RC. We love the Indian selection.

 

You do not need fancy clothes for the MDR on Celebrity ‘smart casual’ can just be trousers and a polo shirt for the men....

 

 

If you fancy some really relaxed evenings then room service is also worth considering. We had never really used it (other than for a quick breakfast) until I cruised with a mobility issue and the ease, speed, quality of food  and convenience was a real eye opener. There is the standard menu or you can order items off the MDR menu during its opening hours....Sit out on your balcony and relax.

 

Remember you can transfer your loyalty status.

 

Also on Celebrity you can board with two bottles of wine, useful if you don’t have a drinks package....

 

Sincere best wishes for your wedding anniversary!

 

 

Love the Indian selections available in the MDR off menu on Royal too. just. got off the Ovation and had Indian food 3 nights, yum!

 

So no formal nights on Celebrity? Even lobster night? Royal it's always on the second formal night which is generally night 6. Lobster on Celebrity consistently around the same night? How is it served? Guess I am assuming they indeed have a lobster night.

 

Charge for room service? Royal does 😞 and MDR menus are only available for true suites. We are in a Sunset Veranda, which room service options?

 

Premium drink package CHECK! 🙂

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

Edited July 29, 2019 by CruisinDawn

[CruisinDawn]

11 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

OP, are you booked for a set dining time, or anytime?  If you are at a set time, and you don't plan to use it, it would be courteous to your tablemates and dining staff to let them know, so they don't wait for you each night.

Good point, We are booked with anytime? dining with no reservations booked. Even when we have a table for just our group we still let the servers know when we won't be attending dinner so they are not waiting for us either.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[39august]

No charge for room service on X, except from about midnight till about 6 Am, not sure of hours. Any cabin can order from the MDR menu when it is open for room service. 

[CruisinDawn]

Just now, 39august said:

No charge for room service on X, except from about midnight till about 6 Am, not sure of hours. Any cabin can order from the MDR menu when it is open for room service. 

Thanks! You are always a great wealth of information. Were you a Crazed Cruiser in Sept of 2006, almost 99% sure we have cruised together on Royal.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[chemmo]

7 hours ago, CruisinDawn said:

Love the Indian selections available in the MDR off menu on Royal too. just. got off the Ovation and had Indian food 3 nights, yum!

 

So no formal nights on Celebrity? Even lobster night? Royal it's always on the second formal night which is generally night 6. Lobster on Celebrity consistently around the same night? How is it served? Guess I am assuming they indeed have a lobster night.

 

Charge for room service? Royal does 😞 and MDR menus are only available for true suites. We are in a Sunset Veranda, which room service options?

 

Premium drink package CHECK! 🙂

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

Others have answered the rest but Celebrity doesn’t have formal nights it has ‘chic’ evenings (usually second night and a sea day towards the end of cruise). Some guests will dress formally in tux/long gown, others will wear suit/cocktail dress but many will still just wear what they would on a ‘normal’ evening, open neck shirt/sundress. Hopefully someone else will comment on food on these evenings in the MDR,  it is a few years now since we have dined in the MDR as we usually book a suite. If you are a lobster fan you may decide to try the speciality restaurant Murano’s, they do a lobster dish which they flambé table side. 

 

Have a fantastic cruise!

[gold1953]

Yes there is 'lobster' on one evening chic night. It is a tail and is not actually lobster but is the warm water crayfish. Most people seem to accept it as lobster but being from Nova Scotia we know real lobster and don't bother with it . I always have lamb on that night

[Husky61]

We don't eat in the buffet or the MDR for the entire cruise.  We eat in specialty restaurants and Luminae.😃

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

1 hour ago, Husky61 said:

We don't eat in the buffet or the MDR for the entire cruise.  We eat in specialty restaurants and Luminae.😃

I already made a comment about the steak in the steak house and the last evening for the steak in the buffet. Made to order and offered NY Strip and Ribeye both about 12oz. The steak in the buffet was far better then the steak house and received it immediately after it was grilled. Super hot. Delicious, juicy and extremely tender. Wasted my money at the steak house. Hate wasting my time in any MDR or specialty restaurants. We will eat one an M<DR and a specialty once during a cruise if there is no problem with sitting and waiting for you food. Love the buffets. Immediate and lots of choices to SEE before you eat. Unlike the MDR or the restaurants. Kind of like the box of chocolates.

[tkline]

One thing to keep in mind (I guess it's the same for every cruise so maybe you already know) but going to the buffet as soon as you board the ship can be a nightmare, because EVERYONE is going to be there.

 

My fiance doesn't care for the buffet too much, but I like it. I like having lots of variety and being able to choose lots of different things, and if there's something I picked that I didn't like, it's easy to go grab a replacement.