Is cruising losing its sparkle?

[broker1217]

We have done 5 cruises since COVID, as well as many land vacations (domestic and international).

Maybe for some people the testing and fear of getting COVID (or being quarantined) has dulled the sparkle. Some people hate having to wear masks and that negatively impacts their experience. Some people are angry that they are expected to behave differently due to COVID. Lots of cruisers value making new friends, going to shows, casino---all things that are different if masking and distancing is required.

I think so many people want things to be "the way they used to be"  before COVID.

We long ago decided to roll with the punches with COVID travel. Travel may never be 100% the same.

 

We are fine testing, masking, distancing, whatever. Just glad to travel. We have become familiar with ArriveCan, Verifly and various government requirements (and we are in our 60's).

We have visited Nevis when they required pre-departure testing, arrival testing. permission to enter the country, permission to quarantine at a villa, and quarantine for 24 hours. Then testing again to re-enter US. We love to travel so we simply do what is needed---it's really not that hard.

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

I do feel there’s just a lack of motivation to improve the food.  There are many limitations at sea for all cruise lines, most food needs to come on board frozen, must be batched cooked, it needs to be somewhat easy to make, etc.  Many Vloggers have said virgin voyages has the best food at sea and beat even (RIP) crystal and Oceania. Many have even said, myself included (so far as I’ve only sailed 4 cruise lines), CCL has the best burgers, BBQ and chicken (Shaqs) at sea. All X has added was a more expensive specialty restaurant which many report isn’t worth the price.  Pick a chain restaurant, Fridays/chilis/outback/etc and they’re all producing better food than X.  Service is generally great (at times slow due to staffing issues) along with presentation, but with some exceptions, the food taste is average.

[C4HCG]

3 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I do feel there’s just a lack of motivation to improve the food.  There are many limitations at sea for all cruise lines, most food needs to come on board frozen, must be batched cooked, it needs to be somewhat easy to make, etc.  Many Vloggers have said virgin voyages has the best food at sea and beat even (RIP) crystal and Oceania. Many have even said, myself included (so far as I’ve only sailed 4 cruise lines), CCL has the best burgers, BBQ and chicken (Shaqs) at sea. All X has added was a more expensive specialty restaurant which many report isn’t worth the price.  Pick a chain restaurant, Fridays/chilis/outback/etc and they’re all producing better food than X.  Service is generally great (at times slow due to staffing issues) along with presentation, but with some exceptions, the food taste is average.

Don’t do celebrity then

[broker1217]

Perhaps Celebrity knows their demographic and what they serve is okay with most of them?

IDK---I just know we were appalled at the food quality in the buffet.

We didn't expect it to be as good Viking/Crystal---but even Princess had better food in the buffet. 

To not be able to get an edible piece of fish or chicken in the buffet is inexcusable.

But maybe Celebrity has done the math and knows that X% of their passengers will happily eat pizza and Mexican food or pasta for lunch as long as they also provide a mountain of cheap desserts.

 

 

[C4HCG]

12 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

Perhaps Celebrity knows their demographic and what they serve is okay with most of them?

IDK---I just know we were appalled at the food quality in the buffet.

We didn't expect it to be as good Viking/Crystal---but even Princess had better food in the buffet. 

To not be able to get an edible piece of fish or chicken in the buffet is inexcusable.

But maybe Celebrity has done the math and knows that X% of their passengers will happily eat pizza and Mexican food or pasta for lunch as long as they also provide a mountain of cheap desserts.

 

 

Wow! To infer celebrity customers are cheap and will tolerate poor food so they can have cheap desserts is inexcusable and contradictory. Been to the ovc lots and meat is very excusable 

[broker1217]

Never said Celebrity pax were cheap. Certainly not at the prices Celebrity is charging currently.

The point is---they serve very cheap food in the buffet.

I can only assume Celebrity has budget issues regarding food.

I would assume a mathematical decision making if they know that say, 75% of pax are fine with pizza, Mexican, pasta, desserts, stews, etc. Celebrity certainly knows what gets eaten and so they do not (or cannot) spend on good quality fish and other meats. 

The salads were fine and my husband liked the curries. The vegetables were very good.

 

But overall---they seemed to be serving the very cheapest quality of food at the buffet. Lunch meat included bologna-lol.

[C4HCG]

3 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

Never said Celebrity pax were cheap. Certainly not at the prices Celebrity is charging currently.

The point is---they serve very cheap food in the buffet.

I can only assume Celebrity has budget issues regarding food.

I would assume a mathematical decision making if they know that say, 75% of pax are fine with pizza, Mexican, pasta, desserts, stews, etc. Celebrity certainly knows what gets eaten and so they do not (or cannot) spend on good quality fish and other meats. 

The salads were fine and my husband liked the curries. The vegetables were very good.

 

But overall---they seemed to be serving the very cheapest quality of food at the buffet. Lunch meat included bologna-lol.

How do you establish they are serving cheap food? Please educate me. You not liking it doesn’t make it cheap.

Edited October 8, 2022 by C4HCG

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

Don’t do celebrity then

 

Abandonment, a very lazy solution; will continue to sail on X as they have more pros than cons.  Wishful thinking and negative surveys helped RCL/X improve the speed of the internet.  Perhaps the same will improve the food quality.  

[broker1217]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

How do you establish they are serving cheap food? Please educate me. You not liking it doesn’t make it cheap.

Okay-by lowest cost (cheap) food I mean very carb heavy things like pasta, pizza, lots of rice dishes. Desserts are also low cost.

No quality meats or fish. Only cheeses were provolone, pepper jack and swiss. No cheese like Brie or blue cheese. Lunch meat included bologna.

All very inexpensive.

And the beef roast at the carvery was Select at best. Blu had what I would guess is Choice and maybe Luminae had Prime beef--that is just a guess.

I don't expect Prime Beef at a buffet on a mass market line at the buffet. I do expect an edible piece of fish or chicken (not fried). And by decent I mean they actually say what kind of fish it is and chicken than is not dry, stringy and impossible to cut.

Edited October 8, 2022 by broker1217

[Spif Barwunkel]

3 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

For us, cruising has not lost it's sparkle. However, traveling to get to the ship has. We have been all over the World and mainly by cruise ship. No desire now to deal with air travel to get to Europe, etc. anymore.

 

Close to home cruises or land destinations work for us now.

How right you are. Air travel is just not fun. As much as we look forward to getting on the ship, we dread the long flights to the embarkation point just as much, and the trip home. I'm thinking no more than 4 to 6 long distance flights left for us in order to fulfill bucket-list items. After that, we will dial it way back.

[Gracie115]

3 hours ago, broker1217 said:

Perhaps Celebrity knows their demographic and what they serve is okay with most of them?

IDK---I just know we were appalled at the food quality in the buffet.

We didn't expect it to be as good Viking/Crystal---but even Princess had better food in the buffet. 

To not be able to get an edible piece of fish or chicken in the buffet is inexcusable.

But maybe Celebrity has done the math and knows that X% of their passengers will happily eat pizza and Mexican food or pasta for lunch as long as they also provide a mountain of cheap desserts.

 

 

 

Or possibly more of their clientele (like us) prefer never to eat in the buffet so it is not the main emphasis of their food quality.  We avoid the buffets on ALL lines as much as possible.

[broker1217]

24 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Or possibly more of their clientele (like us) prefer never to eat in the buffet so it is not the main emphasis of their food quality.  We avoid the buffets on ALL lines as much as possible.

We don't like MDR on mass market lines.

Especially during COVID, we do not like eating in MDR as tables for 2 tend to be less than 1' apart.

 

We did enjoy Blu on Celebrity-excellent food and service and generally very healthy options.

But we love eating outdoors, as well as controlling our food and portions, so we like a buffet that has healthy options. I like being able to have a large salad and a small piece of chicken or fish and I can do that at a buffet with the benefit of eating in fresh air.

 

We have enjoyed good quality buffet food on Viking, Crystal, and even Princess was decent. 

And clientele on Viking and Crystal also enjoyed good buffet options--things like good fish, sushi, good charcuterie and cheeses, etc. for lunch. Not everyone wants a sit down experience for lunch.

So not a question of clientele at all! All food on the ship should be of respectable, edible quality.

[Denny01]

I dont spend much time comparing what I think I remember what happen prior much. I enjoy the current experience. 

 

So most of what I read on these threads are minor/little things (to me) that I see as negative issues by others arent what I care about. I agree with @dlh015 about why we cruise. 

 

I find current cruising to be an increase in overall quality, especially over what Ive been doing for the past 2 years!. And I enjoy trying new experiences, such as the Edge Class and new itineraries so on. 

 

As to the discussion on the buffet a reflection of low quality….I have to say I’d assume people understand buffets which is mainly for lunch (and breakfast) isn’t exactly a place you’d focus on gourmet dining and accuse some cruise line of saving money by cutting quality by serving pizza and pastas, hot dogs and hamburgers, and luncheon meats to make sandwiches…..for lunch. There are many, many choices beyond a slice of baloney which is probably there for some kids.

 

Personally, I enjoyed the many choices at the buffet, and Ive seen good quality cheeses, good tasting meals. But if the buffet is serving fried fish, does anyone expect it to be a High Quality fish?? 

 

I just finished responding to a poster on another thread that said the MDR was the same as a fast-food restaurant….right. lets blow everything out of proportion to make some point. 

 

But getting into a back and forth over opinions on dining is useless. We’ve all raved about some local eatery and had friends describe it as worse than McDonalds…….How dare they badmouth Capt D’s!!!

 

Den

[Denny01]

20 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

We don't like MDR on mass market lines.

Especially during COVID, we do not like eating in MDR as tables for 2 tend to be less than 1' apart.

 

We did enjoy Blu on Celebrity-excellent food and service and generally very healthy options.

But we love eating outdoors, as well as controlling our food and portions, so we like a buffet that has healthy options. I like being able to have a large salad and a small piece of chicken or fish and I can do that at a buffet with the benefit of eating in fresh air.

 

We have enjoyed good quality buffet food on Viking, Crystal, and even Princess was decent. 

And clientele on Viking and Crystal also enjoyed good buffet options--things like good fish, sushi, good charcuterie and cheeses, etc. for lunch. Not everyone wants a sit down experience for lunch.

So not a question of clientele at all! All food on the ship should be of respectable, edible quality.

Isnt it nice to be on a High Quality Cruise Line that has those options you want!!

 

den

[broker1217]

36 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

Isnt it nice to be on a High Quality Cruise Line that has those options you want!!

 

den

Well--I though Celebrity touted itself as a somewhat luxury mass market line.

So I did not think it unreasonable to have edible fish or chicken in the buffet since Princess (a more budget line) seemed to be able to do that.

But whatever---I honestly feel bad for those loyal to Celebrity who are dealing with the lower food quality and staff shortages.

Hope you all enjoy your future cruises and feel the sparkle!

 

[Denny01]

28 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

Well--I though Celebrity touted itself as a somewhat luxury mass market line.

So I did not think it unreasonable to have edible fish or chicken in the buffet since Princess (a more budget line) seemed to be able to do that.

But whatever---I honestly feel bad for those loyal to Celebrity who are dealing with the lower food quality and staff shortages.

Hope you all enjoy your future cruises and feel the sparkle!

 

Appreciate your feeling bad for me.

 

Hope you enjoy your future cruises going through buffets looking for baloney slices. 

 

den

Edited October 9, 2022 by Denny01

[broker1217]

1 hour ago, Denny01 said:

Appreciate your feeling bad for me.

 

Hope you enjoy your future cruises going through buffets looking for baloney slices. 

 

den

Perhaps you are missing the point. If some choose to eat bologna--awesome. But give the rest of us an edible alternative. By the way--this was a trans-pacific cruise with perhaps 10 children out of 2700+ pax.

And the bologna turned browner each day until it was presented in pre-made sandwiches. If you feel that is 'luxury' then that is your opinion. In my opinion--it is not.

I don't care what cruise line I am on---expecting an edible protein at lunch is not unreasonable.

You are free to eat bologna or whatever it is that is in your diet plan. I expect some reasonably healthy choices at all venues.

And yes--for those who have spent lots of $$ with Celebrity and achieved status--I think it is sad that they are dealing with a reduction in food quality along with staff shortages. Hopefully it will all sort it self out soon.

Edited October 9, 2022 by broker1217

[AndyCapn]

I was on the same cruise as Broker and can confirm the grilled chicken in the buffet looked dry and overcooked, and the grilled fish was indeed presented as unidentified fish. I can't confirm the bologna or sandwiches as I don't seek those out, but there was ham and salami offered as cold cuts at most lunches, and I think mortadella at least once.

 

For us, the lunch buffet met our expectations as first-time Celebrity cruisers, with a solid variety of food and almost no line-ups (it's not Celebrity's fault the woman ahead of me at the ice cream stand ordered seven bowls!).

 

But yes, if you were only looking for a simple protein, the grilled selection looked poor and the carvery wasn't great either time I tried it. The other service complaint would be that 2 of the 4 beverage dispensers were out of order all 11 days.

 

The MDR was more of a disappointment for us in the "lacking sparkle" way rather than being bad. But as I stated before, maybe we just had our expectations set too high.

[C4HCG]

6 hours ago, broker1217 said:

Well--I though Celebrity touted itself as a somewhat luxury mass market line.

So I did not think it unreasonable to have edible fish or chicken in the buffet since Princess (a more budget line) seemed to be able to do that.

But whatever---I honestly feel bad for those loyal to Celebrity who are dealing with the lower food quality and staff shortages.

Hope you all enjoy your future cruises and feel the sparkle!

 

I really don’t understand why you think the meat and fish is inedible.

[OysterD]

12 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 Pick a chain restaurant, Fridays/chilis/outback/etc and they’re all producing better food than X.  Service is generally great (at times slow due to staffing issues) along with presentation, but with some exceptions, the food taste is average.

I have to completely disagree with you there, actually that's one of the silliest comments I've ever seen hahah

 

To say you get better quality and tastier food at TGI Fridays than on any Celebrity ship is just bizarre. After 9 nights eating in Blu, 1 in Murano and 1 at the LCG over the last couple weeks, I can assure people that the food served is a million times better that what you'd get in a chain restaurant! No question about it. Every night in Blu our table would get an extra couple of starters and mains to share, not because the portions were too small, but because the food was that good. 

We ate lunches and breakfasts at the buffet several times, absolutely no complaints about the food served there either. 

 

Food aside, the whole cruise was wonderful. 10yr old ship, you couldn't tell. Many new members of staff, you couldn't tell (apart from the fact new crew had to wear masks for first 5 days). Service was impeccable and nothing was too much trouble.

 

My last cruise was on the same ship when it was brand new, 10yrs ago. Has the sparkle been lost? No, everything was actually better than I remember. 

 

[Oceangoer2]

9 hours ago, broker1217 said:

And the bologna turned browner each day until it was presented in pre-made sandwiches.

This comment I do not believe!  So maybe the rest of your observations/opinions are suspect?

[Team Stag]

For us cruising began to lose the sparkle a while about 5 years before Covid (nothing cruising did - just expanded to different types of vacations).  But came back to Cruising because it was a vacation that I knew I was guaranteed to return to the states even if I got covid (vs an airline requiring a negative test).  

 

We have lowered our expectations based on short staffing, supply chain issues and other challenges seen in the travel industry; and have had 3 amazing cruises since restart.  However, eventually that pendulum will swing back to where the expectations will be raised some in the future.  And that may influence the sparkle.  But at the moment, we have been very happy with cruising. 

[chisoxfan]

Still some sparkle for us but less than before. Just returned from 15 night Princess Enchanted and the ship was beautiful, food decent, and service good. That said it is a 4000 passenger ship that was half full for our cruise and I am not sure (perhaps unfair to play the what if) I would want to be on board when at maximum capacity. We did catch  Covid at end of cruise and I do not blame Princess but it is (and likely will be) a fact of life when thousands are confined on a ship.

We are on Apex in Oct. next year and while most interested in the itinerary and excited to try the new X ship(s), I think the IV will not be to our liking vs. old fashioned veranda. Will have to see but if that is the case  it eliminates newer X ships.

But the biggest dimmer of sparkle is pricing. Our standard for X used to be AQ-the cruise we are on had a 2k premium for AQ which I would never consider (that used to pay for a week long balcony). We have priced HAL, X, and Princess and pretty much get sticker shock at every turn. While all travel prices are rising we have migrated to all inclusives for our winter getaways that used to be cruises.  Everything is included,  food generally better and more diverse, and we can actually get a seat at the pool or on the beach. Minor issues with cancellation, usually as little as three days prior to trip, fly direct to resort (no hotel stay the night before or anguish over cancelled flights, etc.

 

In short we have great memories of cruising and we were known as 'cruise people' but in the current environment it is no longer the primary option we look at.

JMHO

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 hours ago, OysterD said:

I have to completely disagree with you there, actually that's one of the silliest comments I've ever seen hahah

 

To say you get better quality and tastier food at TGI Fridays than on any Celebrity ship is just bizarre. After 9 nights eating in Blu, 1 in Murano and 1 at the LCG over the last couple weeks, I can assure people that the food served is a million times better that what you'd get in a chain restaurant! No question about it. Every night in Blu our table would get an extra couple of starters and mains to share, not because the portions were too small, but because the food was that good. 

We ate lunches and breakfasts at the buffet several times, absolutely no complaints about the food served there either. 

 

Food aside, the whole cruise was wonderful. 10yr old ship, you couldn't tell. Many new members of staff, you couldn't tell (apart from the fact new crew had to wear masks for first 5 days). Service was impeccable and nothing was too much trouble.

 

My last cruise was on the same ship when it was brand new, 10yrs ago. Has the sparkle been lost? No, everything was actually better than I remember. 

 

 

Silliest comments you've ever seen?  I'm honored, I wish I had a speech prepared for this award!  Sorry if me mentioning TGI Fridays triggered you, I did say "pick any chain restaurant"; I get specific to add value to my comments as many post "I don't like some of X's food" which doesn't add much value.  I truly wish I had your taste buds if you think the food has improved.  My overall point remains, and I'll share a specific while Blu's filet mignon downing in sauce is "good", MOST chain restaurants, including (trigger alert!) Fridays, use a more tender cut and makes them taste better without even needing a sauce.  When we're in port during dinner time, we always ensure we eat off the ship in hopes of obtaining better food; maybe X hopes more of us do that to save money.

 

To be crystal clear, with the possible exception of slow drink refills, food service is usually on par with fine dining along with presentation. We simply wish X would continually tweak and improve their food quality/taste; I sail on X an average of twice quarter (sometimes I go solo) and feel the food continually gets worse.  Cost of food keeps going up yet it seems (pure speculation) X isn't proportionally increasing their food budget by enough.  

 

While food is highly subjective, here are some her and I's qualifiers...

1)  We live in one of the top five culinary markets in the world

2)  We go to Vegas often and if we're winning we dine at some of their finest restaurants

3)  We're Michelin Star hunters with a recent Singapore visit where we visited 7 starred food hawkers (BTW, if a restaurant is lucky enough to earn stars, it's all about the food, price, service and atmosphere is ignored).

4)  It's okay to like chain restaurants, this may come to a huge surprise to many yet if you Google a celebrity chef's name and "chain restaurant", you'll see many have their favorites chain sit downs or fast food restaurants.  For example, Gordon Ramsey loves In and Out Burger, Tyler Florence loves Applebees and the late Anthony Bourdain loved Sizzler and Popeyes

[canderson]

Again...

 

Perhaps we found ourselves on the odd good side of supply chain issues on our last X cruises where X was unable to use their regular sources for meat?  We sailed twice out of Tampa in Nov '21, and our local butcher would have been hard pressed to match what we were being served.

 

I'm talking 2+" cuts of beef in different venues that were nicely aged and that you could, with minimal extra effort, cut with a fork.  Even did so a couple of times on those cruises to prove the point.  

 

Ordered a pork chop one night off the MDR Menu that was easily thick enough to be stuffed (though it wasn't) that was wonderfully moist and again, could be cut with a fork.

 

Next cruise will be out of Barcelona in a couple of weeks, and we'll be drawing comparisons.