Oceanview Cafe dinner service being eliminated?

[weregoingcruising]

15 hours ago, terrydtx said:

If I saw slop like that in Luminae, I would be done with Celebrity forever. Bad enough the menu in Luminae has already been downgraded. On the Reflection last August Luminae had no fillet of beef or tenderloin on the first night, subbed with a 5oz sirloin, but I had the Branzino, and it was good. The beef we had the rest of the cruise was not the quality you would expect in Luminae. The traditional lobster roll on embarkation lunch was 75% chopped onions and celery with mayo, it was very hard to find any lobster. I sent it back and asked that some lobster meat be in my roll, and I got the same thing back, so I gave up and settled for the Luminae burger and fries. I wasn't the only complaint about the lobster roll and the beef on the rest of the cruise. One afternoon in Michaels Club we had a very lively discussion with other Retreat passengers about Luminae food quality.

Ouch!  Sounds like its time to go back to common folks cruising and eat beans.

[anniegb]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

Judging from the pics the 3 extra people joining the line for Select Dining aren't going to add much to your wait time. Waiters in Select are happy to serve you quickly just tell them when you arrive at the table. 

Judging from the pics, it would deter me from booking with Celebrity.

 

 

[WonderMan3]

17 hours ago, terrydtx said:

If I saw slop like that in Luminae, I would be done with Celebrity forever. Bad enough the menu in Luminae has already been downgraded. On the Reflection last August Luminae had no fillet of beef or tenderloin on the first night, subbed with a 5oz sirloin, but I had the Branzino, and it was good. The beef we had the rest of the cruise was not the quality you would expect in Luminae. The traditional lobster roll on embarkation lunch was 75% chopped onions and celery with mayo, it was very hard to find any lobster. I sent it back and asked that some lobster meat be in my roll, and I got the same thing back, so I gave up and settled for the Luminae burger and fries. I wasn't the only complaint about the lobster roll and the beef on the rest of the cruise. One afternoon in Michaels Club we had a very lively discussion with other Retreat passengers about Luminae food quality.

Just scanned the Luminae menus for next week's Reflection cruise and while I did see your sirloin listed I also saw a New York Strip one night and yes the Filet Mignon but just not on the first night of the cruise as it has traditionally been in prior years. I also saw lobster on the menu one night. Maybe you missed some of these while dining in other venues? Or maybe they had supply chain issues and had to make some substitutions during your cruise? Either way it seems like they may be back on track.

Edited January 12, 2023 by WonderMan3

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 hours ago, the penguins said:

Judging from the pics the 3 extra people joining the line for Select Dining aren't going to add much to your wait time. Waiters in Select are happy to serve you quickly just tell them when you arrive at the table. 

Hasn’t worked for me lately in either the MDR or Blu.  Longest wait is on chic night with lobster

[TeeRick]

19 hours ago, terrydtx said:

If I blocked everyone I disagree with, there would be just a few left with posts that I would see. 😁

Yeah- but how many have blocked you?  Not me!  If you respond to this I'll know that you have not blocked me (yet).☺️

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, terrydtx said:

If I saw slop like that in Luminae, I would be done with Celebrity forever. Bad enough the menu in Luminae has already been downgraded. On the Reflection last August Luminae had no fillet of beef or tenderloin on the first night, subbed with a 5oz sirloin, but I had the Branzino, and it was good. The beef we had the rest of the cruise was not the quality you would expect in Luminae. The traditional lobster roll on embarkation lunch was 75% chopped onions and celery with mayo, it was very hard to find any lobster. I sent it back and asked that some lobster meat be in my roll, and I got the same thing back, so I gave up and settled for the Luminae burger and fries. I wasn't the only complaint about the lobster roll and the beef on the rest of the cruise. One afternoon in Michaels Club we had a very lively discussion with other Retreat passengers about Luminae food quality.

The Lobster Roll in Luminae has always been a joke.  Order it for lunch and You Go Away Hungry.

[TeeRick]

33 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Just scanned the Luminae menus for next week's Reflection cruise and while I did see your sirloin listed I also saw a New York Strip one night and yes the Filet Mignon but just not on the first night of the cruise as it has traditionally been in prior years. I also saw lobster on the menu one night. Maybe you missed some of these while dining in other venues? Or maybe they had supply chain issues and had to make some substitutions during your cruise? Either way it seems like they may be back on track.

Same here.  On the app, scanned the Luminae menu for our Equinox cruise next week.  It seems pretty normal.  Also scanned the MDR menu.  It was pretty normal too.  If I can trust the app (big if).  

[terrydtx]

16 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yeah- but how many have blocked you?  Not me!  If you respond to this I'll know that you have not blocked me (yet).☺️

I would never block you, 😍I just checked and in 20+ years on CC I have only blocked one person who became a stalker that CC eventually removed.

[RichYak]

46 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Also scanned the MDR menu.  It was pretty normal too.  If I can trust the app (big if).  

If you believe the app, Millennium's MDR menu has changed. Starters are almost all soups and salads now. I don't see things like spring rolls, ravioli, crab cakes, beef carpaccio. They're all gone. Similar changes with entrees as well. For instance, no beef wellington. Choices, yes, but the high quality ones are gone.

[jagoffee]

33 minutes ago, RichYak said:

If you believe the app, Millennium's MDR menu has changed. Starters are almost all soups and salads now. I don't see things like spring rolls, ravioli, crab cakes, beef carpaccio. They're all gone. Similar changes with entrees as well. For instance, no beef wellington. Choices, yes, but the high quality ones are gone.

For which cruise?

[RichYak]

59 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

For which cruise?

I'm on March 25, but it didn't seem to matter. All the Millennium sailing dates I checked in the app had the new reduced MDR menu.

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

The Lobster Roll in Luminae has always been a joke.  Order it for lunch and You Go Away Hungry.

 

 I love the lobster roll but agree, it is a small portion.   However, you know you can order two or more. 

 

What I typically do is have them server it as a salad, sans bread, and pair it with either the branzino or the steak frites. 

 

 

[steveso]

For anyone interested, I just called the UK booking line for Celebrity as we were looking at a June Scandinavian Cruise on Silhouette. The lady who took the call was very helpful but confirmed that the restriction to the dinner buffet will apply to all ships post 13 January and that the main reason is to get more people to use the MDR. It will be as people have reported on here and also had confirmed by e mail from Celebrity (I wondered if they may change it for the European market but it seems not).

 

For anyone (like my wife and I) who require vegetarian or similar diets plus in our case comboned with a fruit allergy this makes the MDR menus very restricted for dinner. Plus it ties your timing down for evening activities. Cruise buffets are one of the main attractions for us on those cruise lines that have the buffets and it means that we won't be using Celebrity unless and until they widen back the dinner choice.

 

I doubt Celebrity will be changing this policy any time soon and I understand why they are doing it (cost, wastage and staff).

 

Just a shame!

[anniegb]

10 minutes ago, steveso said:

For anyone interested, I just called the UK booking line for Celebrity as we were looking at a June Scandinavian Cruise on Silhouette. The lady who took the call was very helpful but confirmed that the restriction to the dinner buffet will apply to all ships post 13 January and that the main reason is to get more people to use the MDR. It will be as people have reported on here and also had confirmed by e mail from Celebrity (I wondered if they may change it for the European market but it seems not).

 

For anyone (like my wife and I) who require vegetarian or similar diets plus in our case comboned with a fruit allergy this makes the MDR menus very restricted for dinner. Plus it ties your timing down for evening activities. Cruise buffets are one of the main attractions for us on those cruise lines that have the buffets and it means that we won't be using Celebrity unless and until they widen back the dinner choice.

 

I doubt Celebrity will be changing this policy any time soon and I understand why they are doing it (cost, wastage and staff).

 

Just a shame!

I also have dietary restrictions.  That combined with my experience oftime taken by a large table deciding upon their menu choice - 2 hours I kid you not, my cruising days may be at an end.  I have one forward booking which I may cancel on the grounds that the product I thought I purchased will not be delivered.

[the penguins]

14 minutes ago, steveso said:

For anyone interested, I just called the UK booking line for Celebrity as we were looking at a June Scandinavian Cruise on Silhouette. The lady who took the call was very helpful but confirmed that the restriction to the dinner buffet will apply to all ships post 13 January and that the main reason is to get more people to use the MDR. It will be as people have reported on here and also had confirmed by e mail from Celebrity (I wondered if they may change it for the European market but it seems not).

 

For anyone (like my wife and I) who require vegetarian or similar diets plus in our case comboned with a fruit allergy this makes the MDR menus very restricted for dinner. Plus it ties your timing down for evening activities. Cruise buffets are one of the main attractions for us on those cruise lines that have the buffets and it means that we won't be using Celebrity unless and until they widen back the dinner choice.

 

I doubt Celebrity will be changing this policy any time soon and I understand why they are doing it (cost, wastage and staff).

 

Just a shame!

If you talk to the maitre de then each evening they will bring you the next days menu to select what meets your needs. If there is nothing that suits they will prepare something special for you - they just need the 24 hours to do it. Booking Any Time Dining also gives you more flexibility but if course not as flexible as the Buffet. The majority of passengers base dining times around the theatre. If you like the early show you eat late or, in our case we like the 9.0pm show so we eat at 6.30 which gives us a relaxed dinner and even time for a quick flutter in the casino.

I am sure X will be monitoring the situation closely (just as they did with AI) so make your points in writing and, even they call you to discuss the issue, ask them to reply in writing. Good luck

[Arubamoose]

If you want to eat your heart out....check out BennyBrun's reviews on the Apex.

Granted it was Jan 2022 but wow!  We went on the Apex in February and it was the best.

 

 

Go to post 721 and 779.  This is a buffet!!

 

We are going on the Edge B2B next month and I am not happy with the cutbacks especially compared to our awesome Apex cruise.  Will make the best of it.

[talljules1]

It seems the strap line for Celebrity Cruises is shifting from "Modern Luxury" to "You probably won't starve".

[SueMo]

I just got off 9 days on the Silhouette, and the main Dining and OC food cuts were just awful.  When I first opened my Celebrity app to see what was for dinner on night one, it originally said "prime rib", but after refreshing the screen, it was gone!  No prime rib in the Main Dining room all week, no tenderloin, no steaks at all with the exception of the every day menu that had their usual NY strip steak downgraded to sirloin.  On lobster night we got a tiny little lobster tail, that after being removed from the shell measured about 2.5 inches.  It was served with a scoop of plain rice and a sing broccoli floret.  To get a second, we would have to pay $17 plus 18% gratuity.  Our bartender told us that every day's menus had one item from the appetizer and entree sections eliminated.  He said the cuts were made to the crew as well and he was very unhappy with the food.

 

As for Ocean View, the dinner options were pitiful.  There are 5 center stations and two long end stations that are normally used for lunches.  Only two center stations and one long end station was in use for dinner.  The salad bar and desserts took up one station.  The salad bar offered two types of lettuce every day:  spinach and some dark curly leafed lettuce.  There were no meats such as ham cubes or shrimp, one kind of cheese (usually large chunks of Swiss), one kind of crunchy topping (croutons) and scaled back offerings of vegetables.  The second station had variations of the same four entrees every evening:  a meat stew, a fish in some kind of sauce, dried up baked chicken cut into 2 inch pieces, and a casserole (one day it was baked beans).  There was a tub of mashed potatoes and rice.  On the other side was some kind of Turkish food and a big dish of soggy stir fried vegetables.  On the long end station there was always two pre-made pasta casseroles:  one tomato based and one white or cheese sauce, like Mac and cheese. There was also the pizza station and a bread selection.  The poor OV manager listened helplessly every evening to passengers' complaints.

 

Below are a few photos of the dinner buffet.

[Honolulu Blue]

43 minutes ago, steveso said:

For anyone interested, I just called the UK booking line for Celebrity as we were looking at a June Scandinavian Cruise on Silhouette. The lady who took the call was very helpful but confirmed that the restriction to the dinner buffet will apply to all ships post 13 January and that the main reason is to get more people to use the MDR. It will be as people have reported on here and also had confirmed by e mail from Celebrity (I wondered if they may change it for the European market but it seems not).

Thanks for making your feelings known and sharing your feedback.  I wonder if the lady pretended to know more than she did in order to string you along.  If not, what she said was distressing.  I'm not a big fan of the MDR, but if that's the only way to get a decent prepaid meal... (deep sigh)

[Tigerfnan23]

Seems like poor decision making to force everyone into the MDR for dinner while simultaneously eliminating options and downgrading in general the MDR menus.  I mean one would think they are saving a ton by gutting the dinner buffet so why double down and make the only realistic dining option left significantly worse as well?  Seems like an odd way to generate any customer satisfaction or loyalty.  

[jmyersinri]

I saw the same rumors so I sent an email to Lisa Lutoff-Perlo asking if they ($9.95 plus 18% gratuity) for everything but Continental Breakfast and the elimination of the evening buffet) were indeed true.

I got a phone call the next morning from a person on her staff who confirmed that the room service charge went into effect on 1/1/2023 and was indeed true. As for the buffet she said there were reeductions also going into effect on 1/1/2023 and while the buffet was not going to be eliminated it was going to be reduced sharply. For example a small salad selection, one or at most two hot entrees and a very small amount of desserts. 

 

I did very diplomatically make my concerns known. She responded that they do look for and listen to feedback. And if there was enough pushback that they could make adjustments. If there is not negative feedback the changes will just slide through.

 

So, those of you that are unhappy make your feelings known!  The contact information is easily available by searching for it. If you are not happy you need to advocate for change!

[chamima]

On 1/9/2023 at 7:24 PM, anniegb said:

OK I have to ask what the heck is fingerling potatoes?? 

 

 

From Whole Foods

 

 

[Arubamoose]

SueMo's report on the dining is just awful.  

I am hoping it is better on the Edge.  We shall see in four weeks!

If it is not better - I am certainly not going to book any more cruises with Celebrity and will rethink my 2024 bookings.

Shame - our Apex dining last year was spectacular.

[vkb2751]

4 hours ago, RichYak said:

If you believe the app, Millennium's MDR menu has changed. Starters are almost all soups and salads now. I don't see things like spring rolls, ravioli, crab cakes, beef carpaccio. They're all gone. Similar changes with entrees as well. For instance, no beef wellington. Choices, yes, but the high quality ones are gone.

Same on Beyond!

[WNCtourist]

Can the MDR handle all the dinner guests that used to go to the buffet? My last Celebrity cruise (pre-pandemic), the MDR on Silhouette was packed every evening. We had anytime dining and typically had a 45-minute to 1 hour wait if we wanted to dine during the 5 pm to 8 pm time period. They would also not take reservations for anytime dining. It was a fiasco, and we gave up and went to the buffet nearly every night.

 

No wonder they are gutting the MDR dinner menu -- they have put themselves in the position of churning guests through the MDR as quickly as possible to make room for the next crowd. Not any kind of relaxed dinner possible.

 

And yes, I am making my feelings known to the executive suite.