Is the food back en par with the prices?

[OysterD]

On 5/7/2023 at 3:59 PM, tfred said:

I don’t believe it. I have eaten the buffet for breakfast and lunch and it was very good. What do you consider good food ?

I don't believe it either, we were on Reflection last September also and there was nothing at all wrong with the food in the buffet. Fully stocked for breakfast lunch and dinner and quality was great. 

 

@calicakes what exactly was so terrible about it? Everyone else i spoke to on our cruise in Sept had nothing but good things to say about the food.

[CelebrityBrownWater]

43 minutes ago, OysterD said:

I don't believe it either, we were on Reflection last September also and there was nothing at all wrong with the food in the buffet. Fully stocked for breakfast lunch and dinner and quality was great. 

 

@calicakes what exactly was so terrible about it? Everyone else i spoke to on our cruise in Sept had nothing but good things to say about the food.

I think if you’re easy going about things like food being overcooked, you’ll probably enjoy the buffet just fine. A lot of people go easy on salt and seasoning. I’d consider unseasoned stuff bland, but others will enjoy it.

 

For breakfast I enjoyed the omelet station, the waffles, and limitless fruit. The fruit quality wasn’t great though.

 

for lunch, I enjoyed the pizza and Indian food, along with some stews.

 

For me, after my recent trip, the first meal back home was far more satisfying than anything I had in the buffet or MDR. When I’m on vacation, I want to eat better than at home.
 

Food is so subjective.

[TroubleT]

I completed Caribbean cruise in March on Equinox. My major complaint was "FOOD". 

To describe it in one word, it was "HORRIBLE". It was bad everywhere: OV Cafe, MDR. I haven't tried specialty restaurants because I just didn't want to go the route of paying more for something that should be decent and was already paid for. I won't complain about breakfast food at OV Cafe because it's really hard to ruin a breakfast: eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, etc. But lunch and dinner choices in the OV Cafe were the same all 9 nights! I think I've ate more Beef Stew in nine nights than in my entire life!!! Food in the MDR: lots of items disappeared from the menu, the rest was much to be desired. You know all of that. So, I think food department should pay more attention to the quality and variety of food. 

[CelebrityBrownWater]

25 minutes ago, TroubleT said:

I completed Caribbean cruise in March on Equinox. My major complaint was "FOOD". 

To describe it in one word, it was "HORRIBLE". It was bad everywhere: OV Cafe, MDR. I haven't tried specialty restaurants because I just didn't want to go the route of paying more for something that should be decent and was already paid for. I won't complain about breakfast food at OV Cafe because it's really hard to ruin a breakfast: eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, etc. But lunch and dinner choices in the OV Cafe were the same all 9 nights! I think I've ate more Beef Stew in nine nights than in my entire life!!! Food in the MDR: lots of items disappeared from the menu, the rest was much to be desired. You know all of that. So, I think food department should pay more attention to the quality and variety of food. 

I concur

[downsmead]

Just returned from a cruise on Infinity. The quality of the evening meal in the MDR had deteriorated in my opinion but was pleasantly surprised with the buffet given all the discussions, albeit breakfast and lunch only. The food in the MDR did not live up to X’s Modern Luxury tag line. The dishes, especially the entrees were uninspiring and often lacked flavour. The deserts often bore no resemblance to their description, and at times even the Crème Brûlée was off! 
Considering the current pricing of cruises, I feel the food is substandard.

[calicakes]

2 hours ago, OysterD said:

I don't believe it either, we were on Reflection last September also and there was nothing at all wrong with the food in the buffet. Fully stocked for breakfast lunch and dinner and quality was great. 

 

@calicakes what exactly was so terrible about it? Everyone else i spoke to on our cruise in Sept had nothing but good things to say about the food.

dry proteins( chicken, turkey), tuna was switched to chunk light from albacore.  Over cooked veggies, less choice in many stations.  

[StellaTN]

We were on the Beyond March 19 of this year. We also sailed on the Apex in March of 2022. The best meal of the trip was at Le Voyage - a bargain for the quality and service we experienced. Service was a little stiff, but the food was certainly not chain restaurant quality. It was the best meal we've had at sea. Will be booking Le Voyage on every future sailing. We also had Eden (on both the Apex and Beyond) - and it was also very good. The staff are a bit more chatty there, which I like.  The MDR in March was good. 7/10 most nights. Would appreciate more variety, but didnt have anything we didnt enjoy. That said, we aren't huge red meat eaters - so werent that sad to see prime rib and filet disappear. I mean, Ill eat filet, but you would have thought it was the end of the world on these forums when the menus changed in January 2023. 🙂 Service was better at MDR for our 2023 cruise than it was in 2022. We also learned to bring a drink with us and we dont have to wait on the sommelier, especially if we are wanting beer or a cocktail instead of wine. 

 

Another thing to ponder: We have an upcoming cruise on the Norweigan Viva this fall, and Im really looking forward to the variety of restaurants. I think Celebrity has missed an opportunity to add unique specialty restaurants to their new class of ships. NCL has an amazing sounding food-truck like experience that gets rave reviews for lunch, and a tapas style restaurant, mexican specialty, japanese (in addition to a separate sushi restaurant) and a separate French/Italian/Seafood and Steakhouse - all in the same size ship with approx same amount of pax as the Edge class at Celebrity. All the Celebrity specialty restaurants feature steak...and steak...and sometimes seafood.

Edited May 9, 2023 by StellaTN

[CelebrityBrownWater]

3 hours ago, calicakes said:

dry proteins( chicken, turkey), tuna was switched to chunk light from albacore.  Over cooked veggies, less choice in many stations.  

It seemed like a lot of bulk frozen stuff was being used. Can’t tell you how many times I saw  frozen “mixed veggies”, the bagged stuff from the supermarket, being thrown into a dish.

[CU64]

On 5/1/2023 at 5:17 PM, Azllama said:

We just got off the Eclipse. The food was terrible!! MDR or OV, only a few good meals, very hit or miss mostly miss. Maybe because of being out Syndey AU, the suppliers are not up to the standards that Celebrity has set? The Mast grill burger was a grey color mystery meat, went on grey and came off grey! Be awhile before we try Celebrity again.

I had one of those burgers at the Mast Grill & was truly shocked at what I was seeing. April 5 New Zealand cruise. I am going on Eclipse out of LA in October & if I see this again, I WILL be going down to hotel hospitality 

[CU64]

On 5/5/2023 at 7:23 AM, Loracpin2 said:

If you want great food book Oceania.  

Agreed….if that is all you are cruising for…the food.

[C4HCG]

4 hours ago, CelebrityBrownWater said:

It seemed like a lot of bulk frozen stuff was being used. Can’t tell you how many times I saw  frozen “mixed veggies”, the bagged stuff from the supermarket, being thrown into a dish.

Where did you see this? 

[Obobru]

2 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Where did you see this? 

He didn't they wouldn't bring out frozen bags of veg they cook the food and bring out the cooked dishes. He first said he enjoyed his cruise other than an issue with the water now he's making up things to post which are laughable they are so stupid. 

[OysterD]

8 hours ago, CelebrityBrownWater said:

It seemed like a lot of bulk frozen stuff was being used. Can’t tell you how many times I saw  frozen “mixed veggies”, the bagged stuff from the supermarket, being thrown into a dish.

Is the answer to how many times you saw them bring out bagged frozen veg from supermarkets a massive zero times? 

 

Because that's not how galleys work. They don't sling a bag of frozen veg into the microwave and then take said bag into the serving area and tip it into a bowl. 

 

Incidentally, most frozen veg is fresher than most 'fresh' veg. It has to be frozen within a few hours of being picked, unlike 'fresh' veg where what you see on a supermarket shelf will have been days or weeks since it was picked. 

 

11 hours ago, calicakes said:

dry proteins( chicken, turkey), tuna was switched to chunk light from albacore.  Over cooked veggies, less choice in many stations.  

 

I had a quick check back at your trip report from September, I remember reading it at the time because you were on the sailing before us and don't really remember any criticism of the buffet at the time. In September you said:

 

"I tried some of the roast turkey from the buffet it was pretty good. The fresh vegetables are cooked well"

 

Not sure how we went from the turkey being good and the veg well cooked to the turkey being dry and the veg being overcooked.

[Nemanoxer]

Just off Queen Mary 2.

 

Positively surprised witth the food.. Well, the MDR food is the same food as everywhere else on the ship EXCEPT I tried The Verandah Steakhouse. That one is where Celebrity was back in 2012 when I started crusing. Just wow. Which is not to say QM2 standard food is bad. Still is was better than my last Equinox cruise.

[gardengalaz]

Just completed the TA on Silhouette and the quality of the meats served has definitely deteriorated over the 5 Celebrity Cruises I've sailed in the past 2 years.  As someone on the ketogenic diet, I can only speak to the proteins themselves.  Steaks are smaller, thinner and tougher.  Chicken breasts are smaller thinner and dryer. The "prime rib" served in the MDR looked and tasted surprisingly like the steak.  The quality of cold cuts on the buffet were definitely  a step down from those offered on prior cruises.  Meats on the carving station were less readily available, less juicy and not as tender.  Burgers in the Mast Grill were dense in texture and less-meaty in flavor. Perhaps it was more about the preparation than the starting ingredients, but our voyage was only half-full, so it's not like the kitchen staff were stretched for time to do things right.  

[calicakes]

4 hours ago, OysterD said:

Is the answer to how many times you saw them bring out bagged frozen veg from supermarkets a massive zero times? 

 

Because that's not how galleys work. They don't sling a bag of frozen veg into the microwave and then take said bag into the serving area and tip it into a bowl. 

 

Incidentally, most frozen veg is fresher than most 'fresh' veg. It has to be frozen within a few hours of being picked, unlike 'fresh' veg where what you see on a supermarket shelf will have been days or weeks since it was picked. 

 

 

I had a quick check back at your trip report from September, I remember reading it at the time because you were on the sailing before us and don't really remember any criticism of the buffet at the time. In September you said:

 

"I tried some of the roast turkey from the buffet it was pretty good. The fresh vegetables are cooked well"

 

Not sure how we went from the turkey being good and the veg well cooked to the turkey being dry and the veg being overcooked.

That was one day out of 10. Are you calling me a liar?

[calicakes]

8 hours ago, CU64 said:

I had one of those burgers at the Mast Grill & was truly shocked at what I was seeing. April 5 New Zealand cruise. I am going on Eclipse out of LA in October & if I see this again, I WILL be going down to hotel hospitality 

We will be on the Oct 28th eclipse out of LA as well.

[Loracpin2]

8 hours ago, CU64 said:

Agreed….if that is all you are cruising for…the food.

It's more than the food!!!!!!!!!

[davekathy]

8 hours ago, CU64 said:

I had one of those burgers at the Mast Grill & was truly shocked at what I was seeing. April 5 New Zealand cruise. I am going on Eclipse out of LA in October & if I see this again, I WILL be going down to hotel hospitality 

I had a 'burger at the mast/pool grill on our March Apex cruise. Excellent, like all the 'burgers on the other ships I've been on. Cooked my way not one waiting to be plated. We'll be on the Eclipse in October and looking forward to getting a 'burger. cooked my (our) way. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by davekathy

[CelebrityBrownWater]

5 hours ago, OysterD said:

They don't sling a bag of frozen veg into the microwave and then take said bag into the serving area and tip it into a bowl. 

 

im not sure what your point is. who cares where they come from. they are using low quality frozen 'mixed vegetables' in dishes.

[thebutlerdidit]

22 minutes ago, CelebrityBrownWater said:

 

im not sure what your point is. who cares where they come from. they are using low quality frozen 'mixed vegetables' in dishes.

That’s certainly what it looked like to me…frozen mixed vegetables mixed into white rice served alongside entrees. On the plus side, it would be pretty hard to mess that up. 

[CelebrityBrownWater]

23 minutes ago, thebutlerdidit said:

That’s certainly what it looked like to me…frozen mixed vegetables mixed into white rice served alongside entrees. On the plus side, it would be pretty hard to mess that up. 

exactly. My point wasn’t that mixed veggies are bad, just more evidence of cost cutting.

[thebutlerdidit]

3 minutes ago, CelebrityBrownWater said:

exactly. My point wasn’t that mixed veggies are bad, just more evidence of cost cutting.

And it brings to mind elementary school lunches and Banquet pot pies. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I bet 95% of restaurants will use frozen vegetables, there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[C4HCG]

53 minutes ago, CelebrityBrownWater said:

exactly. My point wasn’t that mixed veggies are bad, just more evidence of cost cutting.

But sensible cost cutting if mixed vegetables are not bad. Still love to know where you saw the frozen veggies being thrown in a pot many times.