1/8/23 Aboard Apex Oceanview Cafe report

[Cjonthesea]

Here's what I saw in the Apex Oceanview Cafe casual dining venue on Sunday night 1/8/23 off Key West:

 

Main station: Italian tonight (themes will change): Chicken and Eggplant dishes (one was Parm--I forget which), Tilapia, Beef Lasagna, Mac n Cheese, Ratatouille, Mixed grilled veggies, Spaghetti, maybe one or two more.

 

Salad: three green leaf bases, about 10-12 toppings, three 'other' salads, various dressings

 

Dessert: 8 or 9 items like Red Velvet Cake, Carrot Cake, Chocolatey stuff, etc.  And a person making Banana Splits for you. 

This is separate from the Ice Cream Station which had about 6 ice creams and frozen yogurts, plus a couple gelatos (still extra fee for those). Three toppings.

 

Bread Station: Many rolls, breadsticks, salami, cheeses (Cheddar, Provolone, Pepper Jack and another), plus dried apple, figs, raisins and some other stuff. 

Freshly made Pizza by the slice--four types including Margherita and Alfredo

 

The food was tasty and well-prepared, except for some chicken that had been sitting in the pan for a while.

 

No Carving station. No Stir Fry tonight. No International.

Obviously, fewer choices from what I remember on Equinox and Millenium last year, but you won't go hungry.  There was a modest stream of diners between 7-8pm.

 

Breakfast (today) and Lunch (departure day yesterday) are still comprehensive--I did not notice any reductions.

 

I spoke to the Executive Chef and other management personnel, and they emphasized they welcome feedback from passengers and will make changes along the way. I pointed out that some are angry that the changes were not communicated in advance. Of course it's a cost cutting measure: many food prices have tripled. And there has been a tremendous amount of wasted food.

It is a line-wide effort and they will be comparing notes. Apex (and other Edge class ships) has no Main Dining Room and this does free up staff for the restaurants. 

 

No pics, as the internet drops out now and then...but that's another topic.

 

Bon appetit!

cj

Edited January 9, 2023 by Cjonthesea
minor correction

[jelayne]

Thanks!

[CTSandy]

Appreciate the update!

[WonderMan3]

Well that's better than what Celebrity described in the email they sent out to one of the members here.

[mnocket]

Thanks for the report.  No pizza, hamburgers, curry, sandwiches,  or grilled meat or fish other than the Tilapia?  If possible could you make observations for a few more nights and also confirm whether there are many unused buffet stations (sounds like about half of them must be)?  Finally, could you give an estimate of the lunch offerings vs the dinner?  If Lunch is 100% would you say Dinner offerings are 50%, 40%, 30%?

Thanks!

Edited January 9, 2023 by mnocket

[sn2792]

I can’t really blame Celebrity for this change. We were on Equinox for 19 days in October and went to Oceanview one evening. It was practically empty. Definitely not worth all the food that was out. So much waste.

[chucknmarilyn]

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

Thanks for the report.  No pizza, hamburgers, curry, sandwiches,  or grilled meat or fish other than the Tilapia?  If possible could you make observations for a few more nights and also confirm whether there are many unused buffet stations (sounds like about half of them must be)?  Finally, could you give an estimate of the lunch offerings vs the dinner?  If Lunch is 100% would you say Dinner offerings are 50%, 40%, 30%?

Thanks!

The OP mentioned 4 kinds of pizza.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

8 hours ago, Cjonthesea said:

Apex (and other Edge class ships) has no Main Dining Room

 

They have 4 main dining rooms.

[cgolf1]

Thank you for the update.

 

Reading through that and being on a gluten free diet, my thoughts are it may be a challenge for me to get a decent meal in the buffet. They should still be able to make the GF pizza worst case. Our second night is one without an MDR reservation, we will likely try to make one for the second night when we got to our chosen time the first night. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just now, cgolf1 said:

Thank you for the update.

 

Reading through that and being on a gluten free diet, my thoughts are it may be a challenge for me to get a decent meal in the buffet. They should still be able to make the GF pizza worst case. Our second night is one without an MDR reservation, we will likely try to make one for the second night when we got to our chosen time the first night. 

 

I am one who emailed and finally got a call (which went to voice mail as I don't answer unknown numbers) and email from the same woman who has been contacting others. She left me her number and I plan to try and call her today. Being gluten-free and the reduced offerings at the OVC at night was my primary concern. I'm on a Bermuda cruise this summer and have planned a night excursion for my birthday, but I'll need something in my system before the excursion and the timing wouldn't allow me to do a MDR dinner without rushing ridiculously - so the OVC was going to be my option (as I've always been cautioned about room service being gf and allergic to peanuts as I've always been told the room service is done in one kitchen that is not allergy-safe - I'm going to ask her about this as well). In her voice mail, she said that I'd definitely have enough food...seeing this menu I'm going to ask for clarification since like you that doesn't seem like much other than salad and maybe some cold meats and cheeses.

[cgolf1]

3 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

I am one who emailed and finally got a call (which went to voice mail as I don't answer unknown numbers) and email from the same woman who has been contacting others. She left me her number and I plan to try and call her today. Being gluten-free and the reduced offerings at the OVC at night was my primary concern. I'm on a Bermuda cruise this summer and have planned a night excursion for my birthday, but I'll need something in my system before the excursion and the timing wouldn't allow me to do a MDR dinner without rushing ridiculously - so the OVC was going to be my option (as I've always been cautioned about room service being gf and allergic to peanuts as I've always been told the room service is done in one kitchen that is not allergy-safe - I'm going to ask her about this as well). In her voice mail, she said that I'd definitely have enough food...seeing this menu I'm going to ask for clarification since like you that doesn't seem like much other than salad and maybe some cold meats and cheeses.

 

Curious what you find out. If I remember the Mast grill is also not an option for us either which is a bummer. I am guessing they must cook something with gluten on the grill, because I have never seen a burger that isn't gluten free. Even going back to our Disney days we really don't like paying for the upcharge dining.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

35 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

Curious what you find out. If I remember the Mast grill is also not an option for us either which is a bummer. I am guessing they must cook something with gluten on the grill, because I have never seen a burger that isn't gluten free. Even going back to our Disney days we really don't like paying for the upcharge dining.

 

At least on the Edge, I was able to get just the patty with or without cheese - just no bun.

[leia01]

1 hour ago, cgolf1 said:

Thank you for the update.

 

Reading through that and being on a gluten free diet, my thoughts are it may be a challenge for me to get a decent meal in the buffet. They should still be able to make the GF pizza worst case. Our second night is one without an MDR reservation, we will likely try to make one for the second night when we got to our chosen time the first night. 

I too am gluten-free. On Silhouette now. There is gluten-free pizza and a salad bar every evening for dinner.  I was told by the station staff no gluten-free pasta would be available at dinner.  Ice cream, sorbet, gelato, and jello were the gf dessert options.  Eating dinner in the dining room is probably your best option if you can’t eat another slice of pizza. By the way, the gf pizza is delicious. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Ok - I just spoke with her. 

 

As expected, she said that it is cost-cutting measures due to recovery from the pandemic and there had been a lot of waste. She said that those of us with allergies should be able to be accommodated if we let them know - I specifically asked about pizza and she said she did not see any reason why they couldn't do a gluten-free pizza.

 

I also asked about room service with allergies and she said as long as you let them know when ordering it.

 

Not sure that my email and call really made a difference, but I do know she had read it since she referenced my saying that I realized I'm only a solo cruiser who doesn't do suites in my email.

[vkb2751]

On the Beyond Oceanview at dinner time - only thing missing was the grill station. Salad bar, bread station, Indian, Spanish and other hot food stations all open. Also, pasta and stir fry stations open. 
 

today is listed as sweet and savory crepes! Will see what else is open! Looks like it varies by ship somewhat.

Edited January 9, 2023 by vkb2751

[cgolf1]

42 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

At least on the Edge, I was able to get just the patty with or without cheese - just no bun.

 

Thanks, when we were on the Edge when it first came out, I asked and they said it wasn't. I will have that as a backup now. No clue why they told me it wasn't GF, might have been a staff that wasn't sure so they said no to be safe, annoying but would rather them be cautious.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

9 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

Thanks, when we were on the Edge when it first came out, I asked and they said it wasn't. I will have that as a backup now. No clue why they told me it wasn't GF, might have been a staff that wasn't sure so they said no to be safe, annoying but would rather them be cautious.

 

Or maybe they didn't get that you wanted it without the bun?

[mnocket]

9 hours ago, chucknmarilyn said:

The OP mentioned 4 kinds of pizza.

You're right.  It was listed under "Bread Station" and I missed it.

[mnocket]

3 hours ago, vkb2751 said:

On the Beyond Oceanview at dinner time - only thing missing was the grill station. Salad bar, bread station, Indian, Spanish and other hot food stations all open. Also, pasta and stir fry stations open. 
 

today is listed as sweet and savory crepes! Will see what else is open! Looks like it varies by ship somewhat.

Thanks for the report 👍 This is why it's so difficult to get a handle on what is what is true and what is rumor.  Report from one ship says one thing and report from another ship say near opposite.  I have no doubt that these reports are all in good faith.  Perhaps the differences are a matter of personal perceptions (glass half full/empty)?  Perhaps Celebrity is inconsistent across its fleet.  It's going to take time to sort this whole thing out.  Reports like yours will help us get there.  Thanks.

[kwokpot]

6 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Thanks for the report 👍 This is why it's so difficult to get a handle on what is what is true and what is rumor.  Report from one ship says one thing and report from another ship say near opposite.  I have no doubt that these reports are all in good faith.  Perhaps the differences are a matter of personal perceptions (glass half full/empty)?  Perhaps Celebrity is inconsistent across its fleet.  It's going to take time to sort this whole thing out.  Reports like yours will help us get there.  Thanks.

Probably a little bit of both. But it is certainly clear that Celebrity is testing things out, that seems unrefutable. 

[jelayne]

6 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Thanks for the report 👍 This is why it's so difficult to get a handle on what is what is true and what is rumor.  Report from one ship says one thing and report from another ship say near opposite.  I have no doubt that these reports are all in good faith.  Perhaps the differences are a matter of personal perceptions (glass half full/empty)?  Perhaps Celebrity is inconsistent across its fleet.  It's going to take time to sort this whole thing out.  Reports like yours will help us get there.  Thanks.

It could also be that the OV options change based on how full the ship is.  A ship sailing at 40-50%  occupancy may offer fewer options in the OV compared to a ship sailing at 85- 95% capacity.  

[mnocket]

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

It could also be that the OV options change based on how full the ship is.  A ship sailing at 40-50%  occupancy may offer fewer options in the OV compared to a ship sailing at 85- 95% capacity.  

Perhaps.  That would be troubling though.  Call me old fashioned, but I expect the experience I pay for to be the same regardless of how many passengers are onboard. However it would explain the variation.

Edited January 9, 2023 by mnocket

[vkb2751]

45 minutes ago, jelayne said:

It could also be that the OV options change based on how full the ship is.  A ship sailing at 40-50%  occupancy may offer fewer options in the OV compared to a ship sailing at 85- 95% capacity.  

Beyond has 2,800 passengers this week

[kathynorth]

A bit off topic, on a recent cruise we found Celebrity to be very responsive to my grandson's special dietary needs. We notified special needs to give the ship the heads up. I filled out the online form and received a follow up email asking us to provide a list of foods my grandson could eat, which included drink supplements, along with any special instructions. We were told to identify ourselves to the MDR Maitre'd prior to his first meal on embarkation day, which we did. Without our asking, a box of food was delivered to our cabin that included a sampling of every item we had asked for, just in case he needed to snack between meals. Our waiter had my grandson's preferred food ready to serve at each dinner and the Maitre'd checked in with us at the end of each meal. On our last cruise there was a couple seated near us who clearly had special dietary needs, as we couldn't help but see them being served dinner items that were not on the menu. They were also very satisfied with Celebrity's response to their requests.  

[81Zoomie]

We sailed the Apex in Dec.  It was our 3rd celebrity cruise this year covering the M, S, and E classes.  It appeared to me that there was less food in the Oceanview on the Apex.  Presentation also varied quite a bit.  My opinion was there were some larger serving dishes to cover up for fewer options.  I never saw a grilled meat station.  The bread and cheese stations moved around a bit as well.  I took some pics so you can draw your own conclusions.