Oceanview Cafe dinner service being eliminated?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, Glendakayself said:

My husband has a problem with all the activity in the main dining room due to a brain injury. He wants the familiarity of a one-course, quick meal like we have at home and is more comfortable seeing his food before deciding, and going to a quiet corner of the ocean view cafe to eat. We only eat meals in the buffet, the Captain’s Club coffee break, or continental room service breakfast. I have noticed more food service in the evening buffet over the past several years except on lobster night on Millennium in Alaska. However, we are happy with only a few choices. The officers and entertainment staff eat dinner in the buffet as well. When the buffet is busy at lunch, I find him a seat and go for our food while he remains seated. 

Is it a vestibular injury? 
 

[NutsAboutGolf]

14 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Two days ago it could be said they aren't going to charge for room service. Two weeks ago it could be said that no soda package was going to be $30 a day.  And that would have been reasonable and logical, but here we are now 

 

On a "reasonable and logical" scale of one to ten, ten being the most reasonable and logical:

Room service charge: 7.5

Soda package: 5

No more dinner at the buffet: 1

 

X is well aware of the staffing challenges at the MDR therefore it makes zero sense to eliminate dinner assuming they don't add some other options

 

In a FB group I can no longer remember where I saw it (I'm in a bunch of ship specific ones and another 7 sailing specific ones), someone was claiming they heard X is getting rid of all photographers.  No idea how true that is

[jagoffee]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

On a "reasonable and logical" scale of one to ten, ten being the most reasonable and logical:

Room service charge: 7.5

Soda package: 5

No more dinner at the buffet: 1

 

X is well aware of the staffing challenges at the MDR therefore it makes zero sense to eliminate dinner assuming they don't add some other options

 

In a FB group I can no longer remember where I saw it (I'm in a bunch of ship specific ones and another 7 sailing specific ones), someone was claiming they heard X is getting rid of all photographers.  No idea how true that is

No Photographers?  I vote for that one.  

[LMaxwell]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

 

In a FB group I can no longer remember where I saw it (I'm in a bunch of ship specific ones and another 7 sailing specific ones), someone was claiming they heard X is getting rid of all photographers.  No idea how true that is

I read that also; that makes less logical sense to me than even eliminating dinner service. The photographers are 3rd party vendors that pay for space on the ship and Celeb gets a cut of the sales. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

On 1/1/2023 at 12:45 PM, davekathy said:

The new RS charge is showing in the app for our March Apex cruise. Continental breakfast is still at no additional charge. 

 

I told you not to sail on the E-class ships.

[MamaFej]

While closing the buffet could allow for moving buffet crew to the MDR, alleviating the understaffing issues there, it would still be a terrible idea, for reasons mentioned above. 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I told you not to sail on the E-class ships.

🤣 Not an issue for us as we don't do room service. 

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

No Photographers?  I vote for that one.  

At least keep them out of the dining venues. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

🤣 Not an issue for us as we don't do room service. 

 

I very seldom did room service before I was quarantined to our cabin for several days.  But after a couple of days, I started to enjoy room service.  Even with Covid.  My thought was that I would probably do room service more often on future cruises.

[paulh84]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

They aren’t going to permanently close the buffet for dinner..good grief people. 

Hysteria is fun! 🤯

 

This won’t work. More and more people want a less formal cruise despite with the traditionalists here stick to. Celebrity also has no other option for dinner to feed the masses. On our most recent cruise the OVC was quite busy late in the evening since we had several long port stays with late departures. Lots of people weren’t back in time for dinner in the MDR. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Another reason I don't see it going away, a lot of Officers and entertainment staff eat their dinner there

[Funtimes1023]

On 1/1/2023 at 12:45 PM, davekathy said:

The new RS charge is showing in the app for our March Apex cruise. Continental breakfast is still at no additional charge. 

The $9.95 fee is showing today on the app for January 15. It wasn’t there yesterday. Breakfast is still complimentary. 

[chamima]

I have a feeling this is just one of those random rumors that get started every so often.'

What's interesting is that I only think people started believing it because Celebrity has been so unreliable lately.

 

Not a good look Celebrity!

[dani negreanu]

20 hours ago, ehall said:

We most of the times get tired of being fussed over, so like to go to the Oceanview to get just a salad and nobody bothering us much for dinner.  It would be a shame if they eliminated it entirely.  Sometimes people just want a quick bite or something simple.

 

+ 1 👍

[crusinpeg]

They could never do this. The fashion police would have a melt down.One of the advantages of the buffet is SHORTS. I could see shorts back in the MDR if no buffet

 

[davekathy]

15 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I very seldom did room service before I was quarantined to our cabin for several days.  But after a couple of days, I started to enjoy room service.  Even with Covid.  My thought was that I would probably do room service more often on future cruises.

But weren't you allowed to order off the dining venue menus and not just the limited RS menu? If we had no choice then RS would have to be our only choice. 

[dlh015]

28 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

On a "reasonable and logical" scale of one to ten, ten being the most reasonable and logical:

Room service charge: 7.5

Soda package: 5

No more dinner at the buffet: 1

 

X is well aware of the staffing challenges at the MDR therefore it makes zero sense to eliminate dinner assuming they don't add some other options

 

In a FB group I can no longer remember where I saw it (I'm in a bunch of ship specific ones and another 7 sailing specific ones), someone was claiming they heard X is getting rid of all photographers.  No idea how true that is

Completely agree. And am hopeful of the photography one you mention...

[davekathy]

15 minutes ago, Funtimes1023 said:

The $9.95 fee is showing today on the app for January 15. It wasn’t there yesterday. Breakfast is still complimentary. 

Correct. Only the continental breakfast is still complimentary. Other breakfast selections would be $9.95 plus 18%. 

[Silkroad]

2 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

We may try that we have just been reading the wait times have been long so we are keeping our options as open as possible. Being gluten free though makes it a little tougher though. 

Based on my December b2b on Apex, I can confirm that there’s no such thing as being able to walk up anytime and be seated immediately. If you turn up at a busy time (say 7:00) you may wait in line for a few minutes or be given a pager and a wait estimate. That said, we turned up anywhere between 6:00 and 7:30 and always found a table without waiting more than five minutes. We first went to the MDR we preferred. If there was a line of 20 parties, we turned around and walked to the one that had no line. If you want to dine around 6:00, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble. 

[LB_NJ]

For my upcoming cruise in January on Con. still showing Dinner in Oceanview from 6:00-9:30PM and late night to 1AM.

I hope they do not get rid of the late-night snacks, that would upset me more than the room service charge, which still upsets me.

[Lastdance]

So, if we know/think that Celebrity is looking at things that are not cost effective, what might those be besides the ones already mentioned? Isn't the OVC for dinner just the same, or similar menu from lunch?  All I have heard/read was that Celebrity is just looking at cost effective measures, but it seems that ideas are being thrown out to get a response from clientele.  Prices can only go up so much until people stop booking-S/D; I guess quite a few things are up for consideration to be eliminated or adjusted in some way, but that's just business.  I remember when Celebrity did away with the midnight buffet; that was cost effective for sure. 

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

For my upcoming cruise in January on Con. still showing Dinner in Oceanview from 6:00-9:30PM and late night to 1AM.

I hope they do not get rid of the late-night snacks, that would upset me more than the room service charge, which still upsets me.

What is typically offered during late night service?

[Shep_Proudfoot]

On 1/1/2023 at 10:16 AM, LMaxwell said:

There are several, uncorroborated, reports that the Oceanview Cafe dinner service is going to be suspended in 2023. I don't know if this is a test, set in stone, a few ships or all ships. Has anyone heard anything to this effect? Anything published somewhere? Some of the best meals on vacation are dinner in the Oceanview; love the cheese and hummus setup, get a nice dinner made to order at stir fry and usually sit out by one of the aft facing bars over the water. Can't get that view for any amount of $$$$ in a specialty restaurant, and it suits the 'If you aren't going to dress up, stay out of MDR' cries I face (only on social media though, never in person). 

 

I sincerely hope this is a false rumor or bad information and that Oceanview Cafe dinner service continues as it is/has been.  

If this is true, then count me out of Celebrity going forward. It’s already hard enough finding interesting itineraries with Celebrity (they are seriously in a rut here) but I really hate dressing up, find MDR food generally poor to mediocre, and always hit the buffet for dinner at least twice when not going to the specialty restaurants.

[cgolf1]

12 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

Based on my December b2b on Apex, I can confirm that there’s no such thing as being able to walk up anytime and be seated immediately. If you turn up at a busy time (say 7:00) you may wait in line for a few minutes or be given a pager and a wait estimate. That said, we turned up anywhere between 6:00 and 7:30 and always found a table without waiting more than five minutes. We first went to the MDR we preferred. If there was a line of 20 parties, we turned around and walked to the one that had no line. If you want to dine around 6:00, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble. 

 

This is where I think the 4 dining rooms help out instead of just the one, more options and not one dining room that everyone goes to and is getting in line. The only bummer is we don't remember which one we liked the best.

Edited January 2, 2023 by cgolf1

[LB_NJ]

6 minutes ago, RichYak said:

What is typically offered during late night service?

 

Typically pizza, salads, premade sandwiches, and some deserts.  Typically simple things that don't take too much staff.

6 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

So, if we know/think that Celebrity is looking at things that are not cost effective, what might those be besides the ones already mentioned? Isn't the OVC for dinner just the same, or similar menu from lunch?  All I have heard/read was that Celebrity is just looking at cost effective measures, but it seems that ideas are being thrown out to get a response from clientele.  Prices can only go up so much until people stop booking-S/D; I guess quite a few things are up for consideration to be eliminated or adjusted in some way, but that's just business.  I remember when Celebrity did away with the midnight buffet; that was cost effective for sure. 

However, if the quality/experience falls below a certain level people will stop booking.  Once you lose a customer for bad experience it takes forever to get them back.