Live from Constellation January 13-23, 2023

[BermudaBound2014]

21 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Sorry, one more comment on your latest pics.  To pass this off as "English Trifle" beggars belief:

 

There is no doubt both quality and quantity have been scaled back. Anyone in denial of this is wearing rose colored glasses to be envied. I have been perfectly happy, but if DH was with me, he would be disappointed.

 

@Happy Cruiser 6143is taking her meals in the MDR and I believe she is very much enjoying the new menus. Hopefully she can chime in for those who prefer the MDR, but the cuts exist. Notice there is absolutely no beef again offered on daily entrees. 

 

Today they had grilled snapper for lunch so hubby would be happy with that, but I was really hoping they would have a nightly carving station or mix up the fresh made to grill offerings. Pasta is a treat, not something I can eat nightly. 
 

On a good note, I think my meal times are changing up a bit. I seem to be taking my main meal earlier than I do at home which is much healthier. Lunch offerings are plentiful. 

 

I just had a delicious roasted pork from the carving station and a fresh garden salad. It was very very tasty and tender. The veggies are nice and crisp also. Only issue was the applesauce. I was hoping for something fresh made but would bet dollars to donuts that came from a big ol can at Costco. Still, I would rate the lunch buffet a solid 9/10 today. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[BermudaBound2014]

17 minutes ago, hcat said:

typical for spa cafe.. there's cheese and the egg thingies

 

in the past I've had great fresh salmon salad, not over ripe fruit. and  very dense nut and fruit muffins or cake......dh usually rolls eyes!

I don’t think this was typical breakfast at the spa cafe. It seems scaled back to me. I remember wonderful pistachio energy bars for breakfast and there was nothing resembling fresh salmon nor were there cheese and egg things. What I posted was the spa cafe in its entirety. Peanut butter or avocado were the only proteins offered. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[hcat]

thanks for the pics and commentary..you are a great guide!

 

we just booked EDEN and FINE CUT for our 7 night Ascent Cruise.  5 other nights for: BLU ,  Buffet  and Burger Grill...  

 

 We will not starve, as long as the QUALITY of what is offered is good,  fresh and well prepared. 

 

Veggies at dinner restaurants need an upgrade..On Beyond  in Luminae, they gave 2 carrots or aspagus..they were def burnt offerings, so portion size was not a problem.    I often order dbl veggies and few carbs ..but these veggies all went to the trash. pile

 

Does anyone renember the fresh grilled salmon at the Spa Cafe... folks lined up early.  It was the best Salmon on the ships!

Edited January 19, 2023 by hcat

[goofysmom99]

43 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Here is the dinner buffet from last night. Only fresh station was pasta. I actually skipped dinner entirely because I had my first cheeseburger from the pool grill around 5pm and that was plenty for me. I’ve read that the burgers are now larger, but tasteless fleet wide. I found if you smother it in the caramelized onions they offer it’s quite tasty. :). 
 

Anyway, here is the buffet from night 5. This is the offerings in their entirety:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's just pitiful and a total wasteland for someone with celiac.  Vegetable items (white bean stew) or meatball sauce.  I board Summit in four weeks.  If this is how it looks there, too, I'll be ripping them a new one on the survey and mid-cruise comments.  Mid-cruise comments through QR code are read in Miami.  Have you seen the QR code in the daily?

[mahdnc]

22 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

 Mid-cruise comments through QR code are read in Miami.  Have you seen the QR code in the daily?

 

I have not heard of this.  Is this new?

[Cdncruisecpl]

Can you do us a favour?  Can you go into cabin 1956 and measure (length, width, depth) of the drawer on the top left of the vanity?

Also, if you could go into the engine room and see if they use hollycarb intakes for the exhaust manifold. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[goofysmom99]

15 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I have not heard of this.  Is this new?

They always tuck a/the QR code somewhere inside the daily around mid-cruise for comments.  It's only live for a short while for that particular cruise.  I've filled one out on every cruise I've taken since the restart, including our TA (usually praise room service folks by name - we'll see how that goes now).

Edited January 19, 2023 by goofysmom99

[BermudaBound2014]

2 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

They always tuck a/the QR code somewhere inside the daily around mid-cruise for comments.  It's only live for a short while for that particular cruise.  I've filled one out on every cruise I've taken since the restart, including our TA (usually praise room service folks by name - we'll see how that goes now).

There was a QR code a few days ago. I used it to compliment 3 crew. It just said “tell us what you think”. I had no idea that there wouldn’t be a QR code daily. I’ll keep looking. I did make some suggestions to the gal who called me from the MDR . I honestly think the staff is embarrassed.

[oteixeira]

I am loving the photos because it shows me things I never see.  I am a never buffet kind of guy, so it is interesting to see the cutbacks and quality of food there.  Thanks for everything so far, I want to try Celebrity but it would almost for sure be in the retreat on a revamped ship.  

[weregoingcruising]

22 minutes ago, Cdncruisecpl said:

Can you do us a favour?  Can you go into cabin 1956 and measure (length, width, depth) of the drawer on the top left of the vanity?

Also, if you could go into the engine room and see if they use hollycarb intakes for the exhaust manifold. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

They use lowcarb ones so they can use leaner burning fuel.

Edited January 19, 2023 by weregoingcruising
Spelling correction

[mahdnc]

44 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

They always tuck a/the QR code somewhere inside the daily around mid-cruise for comments.  It's only live for a short while for that particular cruise.  I've filled one out on every cruise I've taken since the restart, including our TA (usually praise room service folks by name - we'll see how that goes now).

 

Interesting.  I will have to look for it next time when I am on board to send feedback:

 

"Help!  Pirates must have stolen the good food from our ship!"

"Help! The lobsters on my ship have unionized and are demanding to be paid for a second tail."

"Help! My room service food is being held hostage and I have to pay a ransom to get it!"

[natshala]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

thanks for the pics and commentary..you are a great guide!

 

we just booked EDEN and FINE CUT for our 7 night Ascent Cruise.  5 other nights for: BLU ,  Buffet  and Burger Grill...  

 

 We will not starve, as long as the QUALITY of what is offered is good,  fresh and well prepared. 

 

Veggies at dinner restaurants need an upgrade..On Beyond  in Luminae, they gave 2 carrots or aspagus..they were def burnt offerings, so portion size was not a problem.    I often order dbl veggies and few carbs ..but these veggies all went to the trash. pile

 

Does anyone renember the fresh grilled salmon at the Spa Cafe... folks lined up early.  It was the best Salmon on the ships!

I remember it! They had a number of good things like feta and watermelon cut in squares like a checkerboard. I noticed on Beyond that it changed significantly.

[westcoastsue]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

thanks for the pics and commentary..you are a great guide!

 

we just booked EDEN and FINE CUT for our 7 night Ascent Cruise.  5 other nights for: BLU ,  Buffet  and Burger Grill...  

 

 We will not starve, as long as the QUALITY of what is offered is good,  fresh and well prepared. 

 

Veggies at dinner restaurants need an upgrade..On Beyond  in Luminae, they gave 2 carrots or aspagus..they were def burnt offerings, so portion size was not a problem.    I often order dbl veggies and few carbs ..but these veggies all went to the trash. pile

 

Does anyone renember the fresh grilled salmon at the Spa Cafe... folks lined up early.  It was the best Salmon on the ships!

And the grilled shrimp - they came from the Specialty restaurant kitchen back in the day.

[BermudaBound2014]

Someone asked for the dailies. Here is Day 1

[BermudaBound2014]

Day 2

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Day 3

[BermudaBound2014]

Day 4

[BermudaBound2014]

Day 5. That’s the first five days. I’ll do the next 5 days at the end of the cruise 🙂

[BermudaBound2014]

3 hours ago, oteixeira said:

I am loving the photos because it shows me things I never see.  I am a never buffet kind of guy, so it is interesting to see the cutbacks and quality of food there.  Thanks for everything so far, I want to try Celebrity but it would almost for sure be in the retreat on a revamped ship.  

Dude, I’d have to give up my Maui habit to travel in that much style. Hard to believe but this time next week I’ll be back on island until may, (and I still have 3 days of cruising left)! A two day turn around is going to be challenging but that’s what retirement is for :). 
 

Ps- I haven’t read the deets yet, but it looks like NCl missed their target?? If you get a second can you update in “our” thread? I’m still holding short. Can the short play pay for Maui 2024 ??

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Thanks , for the dailies 

[chamima]

Thanks for taking time out of your vacation to take and post all of those pictures and keep us all so informed.

As the wife of a vegan I am pleasantly surprised to see 2 vegan offerings at that small buffet!

[D. B.]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:53 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

They do and you can tour it. People I met on the HOho water taxi yesterday said it was entirely built by women. They said the tour was interesting.

There are 2 Victory Ships open in California . One in Long Beach/San Pedro and one in the San Francisco Bay area-Red Oak Victory.

  The earlier (2970) project of WW II  cargo ships called Liberty Ships were built in larger numbers  and although a Lot of the work on both the Liberty and Victory Ships was done by Women (God Bless Them!) I doubt a complete ship was built only by Women? If I'm wrong about that I would not be surprised as the Female  contribution to our Victory in WW II is a surprise to most younger people today.

[breadandbutter]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Sorry, one more comment on your latest pics.  To pass this off as "English Trifle" beggars belief:

 

I thought exactly the same, it looks disgusting. 

[natshala]

Is that jello and canned fruit?

[BermudaBound2014]

Getting caught up from last night and today. I already posted the photos of last nights dinner offerings in the buffet. I actually skipped dinner because I had a burger around 5 and wasn’t hungry. I feel like I already said this…. Blame the drink package.

 

Let’s get something negative out of the way. People are coughing. Lots. Way more than at the beginning of the cruise. At least in my mind. Some of my solo friends said they hadn’t noticed an increase but I left last night outside move because a lady in the next cabana was hacking terribly and it wasn’t a smokers cough. We were outside and all, but she wasn’t covering her mouth nor wearing a mask so it freaked me a bit. Plus the movie sucked. 
 

Full moon pool party was last night. I found my first kid. Apparently there are 9 onboard. I have to give it up for some of the older clientele. Party started at 10 and they were boogi-ooogie-oooging up a storm. The flashing lights made a good atmosphere and the dancers did a number. Weather was perfect. All in all another great night onboard.

 

Pics from last night 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is why I stay onboard on islands I’ve visited multiple times. Pool (and pool attendant) practically all to myself

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by BermudaBound2014