No Whole Tomatoes

[swjumbo]

Greetings fellow X Fans from the Silhouette in Norway.

Ship is full to bursting with hundreds of children on board but they are all extremely well behaved as the kids club hosts are superb.

They even had a pool party for the older ones yesterday evening in the Solarium pool. Amazing idea and not a water slide in sight.

The main point of this post is just about the food.

We only do specialty dining and have loved Murano and Tuscan but fellow guests are complaining about main dining.

The buffet hasn’t changed but (this is a first world problem and we are privileged to be here) all the vegetables are pre cut and there are no whole tomatoes to be found!

We even tried Lawn Club Grill last night and the salad bar is greatly diminished with no round tomatoes!

The portions in Tuscan are definitely smaller and we had to ask for more veg and our beet salad starter had one small beet cut into quarters. 
The staff, as always, are exceptional and we still love Celebrity! X

 

[chemmo]

Greetings, swjumbo, sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

 

I am so pleased you are enjoying your cruise. Nice to hear that Celebrity are catering for their younger guests, it is their vacation too. We had a fantastic Norwegian cruise in May a few years ago and had fantastic weather, hope you do too.

 

I must confess we have always found the veg portions in Tuscan ridiculously small…The little dishes of mash, the pathetic portions of broccolini! Perhaps it is a British thing but the veggies always look lost next to the big slabs of steak! I tend to ask for a Caesar Salad to go with my steak…Perhaps not traditional but it is my holiday!

 

It is a pity that salad is often vigorously chopped, it does look less appealing than whole or chunkier…I guess it is just easier to pick up on a fork that way…

 

Sorry to hear some guests are less than thrilled with the MDR food. Is their gripe with the food selection or food quality?

 

We are so sorry to have missed Silhouette’s last season in Southampton…We should have cruised on her twice this year but circumstances changed…She really is a beautiful ship, enjoy!

 

On your next visit to Tuscan please raise your glasses and toast “To making it count…” our traditional first night salute!

 

Continue to enjoy, keep the updates coming!

 

 

[1025cruise]

I don't understand, what would one do with a whole tomato? For a salad, I would expect it to be cut into a manageable piece. For a burger, I would expect to receive a slice.

[swjumbo]

2 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

I don't understand, what would one do with a whole tomato? For a salad, I would expect it to be cut into a manageable piece. For a burger, I would expect to receive a slice.

It’s the small cherry tomatoes or even a small whole beet but everything is chopped. As I said it’s first world problems!!!!

 

Chemmo, we’ll do that for you in Tuscan this evening! X

[TeeRick]

@swjumbo Are you talking about tomato slices for sandwiches?  Or actual whole tomatoes?  I think I have only seen chopped tomatoes at the salad bar.  Are you looking for small cherry or grape tomatoes?

Edited August 22, 2023 by TeeRick

[Pinboy]

5 hours ago, swjumbo said:

all the vegetables are precut and there are no whole tomatoes to be found!

We even tried Lawn Club Grill last night and the salad bar is greatly diminished with no round tomatoes!

fellow guests are complaining about main dining.

With due respect--

" Pre cut vegetables----No round tomatoes " ? So what ??

Your photos look very good--- especially the salad bar.

"fellow guests are complaining about main dining". ?

There are always people complaining about food.

When the Servers come by to check on the dinner, they should ask " Is anything ok " ?  instead of " Is everything ok "?

Nice to hear about the well behaved children.

"The staff, as always, are exceptional and we still love Celebrity! X "

I couldn't have said it better !!!

 

 

 

 

[deliver42]

I don't ever remember seeing whole tomatoes. I'm sure if you asked, they would go to the galley and get you one. 

[wrk2cruise]

They used to have marinated grape tomatoes and olives in the buffet at lunch.  Last sailing no grape tomatoes.

[keesar]

People bring their own bottled water.  Will whole tomatoes be next?

[doghog]

25 minutes ago, keesar said:

People bring their own bottled water.  Will whole tomatoes be next?

I do grow my own tomatoes. 🍅😁

[swjumbo]

18 hours ago, TeeRick said:

@swjumbo Are you talking about tomato slices for sandwiches?  Or actual whole tomatoes?  I think I have only seen chopped tomatoes at the salad bar.  Are you looking for small cherry or grape tomatoes?

Yes. And again all the veg seems to be chopped but everything else is great!

 

The previous cruise on this ship was challenging (apparently) with demanding passengers and unruly kids and the next one is a 4 night booze cruise so the staff are enjoying the relative calm on this one!

 

The ship looks amazing, passengers are enjoying themselves and the weather is unexpectedly warm and dry.

 

 

[Baggy178]

You say sliced tomato I say whole tomato - let's call the whole cruise off ?

[keesar]

8 hours ago, doghog said:

I do grow my own tomatoes. 🍅😁

Nothing beats home grown tomatoes.  I have burpless cucumbers as well.  Dice them up and add some balsamic dressing and I am good.

 

I thought the tomatoes on our cruise on Beyond were very good.  It does not bother me that they were cut and not whole.  Excellent salad bar.

[gold1953]

20 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I don't understand, what would one do with a whole tomato? For a salad, I would expect it to be cut into a manageable piece. For a burger, I would expect to receive a slice.

Hubby loves tomatoes but they were elusive on Solstice in January .. ie. no chopped ones in salad bar but I spotted a couple of large whole beauites in the food display so I snatch one and took it back to surprise him. As he was attempting to slice it with the dull knife along comes a crew member who offered to help. Moments later he returned it perfectly sliced. I will say that hubby eats them whole like an apple at times. 

[chemmo]

9 hours ago, doghog said:

I do grow my own tomatoes. 🍅😁

Most of our super sweet baby tomatoes disappear on the way from the greenhouse to the kitchen…The sugar snap peas never make it!

[gold1953]

44 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Most of our super sweet baby tomatoes disappear on the way from the greenhouse to the kitchen…The sugar snap peas never make it!

it is delightful to harvest these daily!! We are in to trying new varieties

[doghog]

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

Most of our super sweet baby tomatoes disappear on the way from the greenhouse to the kitchen…The sugar snap peas never make it!

I always have salt and pepper shakers in my shed which is next to my garden. 😉

[TeeRick]

Unfortunately our backyard groundhogs love our home grown tomatoes.  But fortunately we have a farm stand down the street where we buy them this time of year.  Last night we had some heirloom tomatoes with balsamic vinegar/olive oil and a touch of salt and basil.  Yum!

[miched]

It may be that they don’t want the disgruntled passengers to be throwing them at the staff because of the cutbacks whenever they mention Laura Hodges Bethge or Lisa Lutoff-Perlo.  😱

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🌅🇺🇸

[OysterD]

Perhaps one could take several of the pieces of pre cut tomatoes and re-assemble them, jigsaw style...prior to cutting them back up into manageable pieces to eat. 

[PTC DAWG]

I find the only decent tomatoes are the ones grown in my backyard. Nothing like a homegrown mater sammich. Dukes Mayo of course. 

[swjumbo]

On 8/22/2023 at 10:07 AM, chemmo said:

Greetings, swjumbo, sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

 

I am so pleased you are enjoying your cruise. Nice to hear that Celebrity are catering for their younger guests, it is their vacation too. We had a fantastic Norwegian cruise in May a few years ago and had fantastic weather, hope you do too.

 

I must confess we have always found the veg portions in Tuscan ridiculously small…The little dishes of mash, the pathetic portions of broccolini! Perhaps it is a British thing but the veggies always look lost next to the big slabs of steak! I tend to ask for a Caesar Salad to go with my steak…Perhaps not traditional but it is my holiday!

 

It is a pity that salad is often vigorously chopped, it does look less appealing than whole or chunkier…I guess it is just easier to pick up on a fork that way…

 

Sorry to hear some guests are less than thrilled with the MDR food. Is their gripe with the food selection or food quality?

 

We are so sorry to have missed Silhouette’s last season in Southampton…We should have cruised on her twice this year but circumstances changed…She really is a beautiful ship, enjoy!

 

On your next visit to Tuscan please raise your glasses and toast “To making it count…” our traditional first night salute!

 

Continue to enjoy, keep the updates coming!

 

 

To making it count, although we did that in Murano!

[swjumbo]

There was a medical emergency and at 3am, after watching the helicopter airlift the passenger off, we decided to have room service.

There was a delivery charge but it has got to be the best room service I have experienced in a long time.

Burger and club sandwich were delicious and the fries were crispy and piping hot.

[chemmo]

16 minutes ago, swjumbo said:

There was a medical emergency and at 3am, after watching the helicopter airlift the passenger off, we decided to have room service.

There was a delivery charge but it has got to be the best room service I have experienced in a long time.

Burger and club sandwich were delicious and the fries were crispy and piping hot.

We love the fries from room service and the chicken noodle soup. Pure comfort food…

 

Sincere thanks for toasting our health, I promise to return the favour when we are finally back at sea next September!

[keesar]