Has the food choices and quality improved?

[Nashna]

We enjoyed sailing on Celebrity...until this January's Apex and Edge cruises.  The food selections and quality were not up to par.  I don't think it would have bothered us as much had we not had 20 days on X.  But we realized that food selection and quality were more important to us than we realized.  We are now looking at 2024/2025 sailings on X.  Nine months have passed since our last X sailings, and we would love to know if recent cruisers have had the same issues with food that we had in January or has Celebrity brought their food offerings back to pre-2023 standards?  I would love to hear from recent X cruisers.    

[helen haywood]

Just off Equinox last week and as others can attest, the menu selections have decreased and the quality of both meats and vegetables has also declined.  You will not starve…but X’s food is nowhere near what it used to be.

[di T]

3 minutes ago, Nashna said:

We enjoyed sailing on Celebrity...until this January's Apex and Edge cruises.  The food selections and quality were not up to par.  I don't think it would have bothered us as much had we not had 20 days on X.  But we realized that food selection and quality were more important to us than we realized.  We are now looking at 2024/2025 sailings on X.  Nine months have passed since our last X sailings, and we would love to know if recent cruisers have had the same issues with food that we had in January or has Celebrity brought their food offerings back to pre-2023 standards?  I would love to hear from recent X cruisers.    

Sorry, but we have just been on the Reflection for 19 nights and found the food in the main dinning room very disappointing, buffet at night had more choice and we paid for specialty restaurants on quite a few occasions.We always do b2b as we like longer cruises, I have 2 of these booked for next year with Celebrity and hope things improve regarding food. Service around the ship was as good as ever,we had a few minor issues with the room attendant ( no towels one day just two face cloths😂) There was no hairdryer in the room and because I didn’t check I washed my wavy hair and dried it outside.Left him a note and he brought one the next day.Room wasn’t serviced until afternoon most days and we are early risers, I wonder if these guys are having to do more rooms than before! Have been trying other lines and will continue to do so.

 

[luv2cruzuk]

Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge the concerns raised by Nashua, Helen Haywood, and di T regarding the food quality and selection on Celebrity Cruises. It's evident that food plays a significant role in our cruising experience, and it's essential for cruise lines to maintain high standards to ensure passenger satisfaction.
 

I've literally JUST returned from a ten-night sailing on Celebrity Beyond, and I'd love to share my perspective on the matter. While I respect and understand the experiences shared here, my recent journey paints a slightly different picture. I found the food to be of excellent quality throughout my trip. It's true that the menu options might seem more limited compared to previous sailings, but the buffet still offered a plethora of delightful choices that catered to various tastes.
 

For those who are curious to see a detailed review of my experience, I've documented it in a video which you can watch below. 

I delve into the various dishes I tried, the ambiance of the dining areas, and my overall thoughts on the food quality and selection.

To di T's point about room service and other non-food related issues, it's essential to remember that the cruise industry, like many others, has faced challenges in recent times. While it's no excuse for lapses in service, it might be a reason. I hope Celebrity takes note of such feedback and ensures that all aspects of their service, not just the food, meet the high standards we've come to expect from them.
 

 

[LB_NJ]

I have a cruise booked for January, if the food quality has gone down from my last cruise this year it will be my last for Celebrity.

[LB_NJ]

2 minutes ago, luv2cruzuk said:

Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge the concerns raised by Nashua, Helen Haywood, and di T regarding the food quality and selection on Celebrity Cruises. It's evident that food plays a significant role in our cruising experience, and it's essential for cruise lines to maintain high standards to ensure passenger satisfaction.
 

I've literally JUST returned from a ten-night sailing on Celebrity Beyond ... I found the food to be of excellent quality throughout my trip. 

 

 

Which class were you in?

[cw2go]

Sailed Beyond Feb and Aug. No improvement IMO! Both sailings in the buffet and MDR's were rather meh... 

 

Patty 

[luv2cruzuk]

1 minute ago, LB_NJ said:

 

Which class were you in?

I sailed Aqua Class - (after placing a move-up bid), but I also experienced the Oceanview Cafe and Room Service (a lot of Room service as you'll see in my video!) 😅

[LB_NJ]

11 minutes ago, luv2cruzuk said:

I sailed Aqua Class - (after placing a move-up bid), but I also experienced the Oceanview Cafe and Room Service (a lot of Room service as you'll see in my video!) 😅

Did you eat dinner in the MDR or Blu?

 

A lot of food comments may be about the MDR.

[Barwick Cruiser]

10 minutes ago, luv2cruzuk said:

I sailed Aqua Class - (after placing a move-up bid), but I also experienced the Oceanview Cafe and Room Service (a lot of Room service as you'll see in my video!) 😅

Sooo, you didn’t actually eat in the MDR? which is where most of the complaints are coming from. I imagine Blu is at a higher level and hasn’t experienced the cuts and lowered quality that seems predominantly occurring in the MDR.

Is there a charge for room service for AQ passengers? 

Thanks for posting your experience tho, and glad you enjoyed your holiday!

[RedIguana]

14 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

Which class were you in?

His first 2 reviews are from Blue, a Beyond Burger and Cauliflower steak. After that he was quarantined and was able to order off of any menu from any restaurant. So has no relevance to most us or the general food reviews. @luv2cruzuk I am so sorry you lost five days of your cruise. Hope you are doing better.

[Mark_T]

25 minutes ago, luv2cruzuk said:

I've literally JUST returned from a ten-night sailing on Celebrity Beyond, and I'd love to share my perspective on the matter. While I respect and understand the experiences shared here, my recent journey paints a slightly different picture. I found the food to be of excellent quality throughout my trip. It's true that the menu options might seem more limited compared to previous sailings, but the buffet still offered a plethora of delightful choices that catered to various tastes.

Really should make it clear when promoting your video that you don't actually have a perspective on the MDR food as you didn't eat there...

[micruiser2002]

20 minutes ago, luv2cruzuk said:

I sailed Aqua Class - (after placing a move-up bid), but I also experienced the Oceanview Cafe and Room Service (a lot of Room service as you'll see in my video!) 😅

But the Blu menu has not been impacted by the recent menu changes.  Also I believe the newer ships still have menus with better options than the older ships.  Look at some of the current menus on the app very disappointing.  Even Luminae has been downgraded.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

On the April Reflection TA I thought the MDR was pretty good , much better the Apex TA April TA in ‘22 

 

[luv2cruzuk]

24 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

Really should make it clear when promoting your video that you don't actually have a perspective on the MDR food as you didn't eat there...

Hiya,

 

I didn’t actually eat in the MDR, however I ate 5 days worth of MDR food delivered to my room. Honestly, I thought it was all good/very good. If I was sat in MDR, I would have been more than pleased with the food I ate. 

 

Best Wishes,

 

David

[Baron Barracuda]

Don't remember a single complaint about menus or food quality in all years the late chef Michel Roux was in charge.  He is sorely missed.

[cgolf1]

1 hour ago, cw2go said:

Sailed Beyond Feb and Aug. No improvement IMO! Both sailings in the buffet and MDR's were rather meh... 

 

Patty 

 

Was it about the same? We were on the Edge in February for the partial Panama Canal cruise and did not see Prime rib on the menu at all, even with the extra nights (heard they added it back). We also felt the options in the lunch buffet were less varied and simpler dishes than we have seen in the past. Of course the MDR was more limited too for options. 

 

That said we did enjoy the food we ate, I just missed the normal variety in the MDR and buffet.

[saffy12]

1 hour ago, luv2cruzuk said:

 

I've literally JUST returned from a ten-night sailing on Celebrity Beyond, and I'd love to share my perspective on the matter. While I respect and understand the experiences shared here, my recent journey paints a slightly different picture. I found the food to be of excellent quality throughout my trip. It's true that the menu options might seem more limited compared to previous sailings, but the buffet still offered a plethora of delightful choices that catered to various tastes.
 

 

It's worth noting that you were AQ, so all of your reviews were from Blu or Room Service.   From what I've seen, it's the regular MDR that has gotten the most complaints, so not sure how much this addresses those concerns.

 

Your video was enjoyable to watch, though!   So sorry you were quarantined.   Off topic, but  how did that feel in an IV room?   I'd think I'd go a bit stir crazy and want to actually be outside in fresh air,  not just open a window, for that long!

 

Edited to add - lots of comments pointing this out already!  Sorry, I was watching your whole video first!

Edited September 29, 2023 by saffy12

[wrk2cruise]

37 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Don't remember a single complaint about menus or food quality in all years the late chef Michel Roux was in charge.  He is sorely missed.

 

I have to admit I wasn't a fan of the pureed vegetables served in cone shape form.  The beef offerings were wonderful.

[cw2go]

31 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

Was it about the same? We were on the Edge in February for the partial Panama Canal cruise and did not see Prime rib on the menu at all, even with the extra nights (heard they added it back). We also felt the options in the lunch buffet were less varied and simpler dishes than we have seen in the past. Of course the MDR was more limited too for options. 

 

That said we did enjoy the food we ate, I just missed the normal variety in the MDR and buffet.

 

Yes for us the MDR's were about the same between the two sailings. Both very slow service and with limited options.The buffet had far more options in Aug compared to Feb but many of the stations were repeats. I saw a thread earlier about mashed potatoes and opted to avoid posting BUT they were in 3/4 stations daily in the buffet and the desserts were heavily banana based. I even joked that this was a high starch cruise. You could even get roasted taters in the Asian section... we just giggled. Fries were every where. Baked potato bar was the dinner theme one night. I didn't starve! I found food that was "fine" but not memorable. I posted in Feb that the famous lemon tarts in Al Bacio were different, in Aug they were MIA for all but 2 days of an 11 night cruise. They did appear in the buffet once to my knowledge but without a doubt they were not what we had pre covid. 

 

So for us we will sail Celebrity knowing it's not about the food! Much like we do when we sail Princess or RCCL. 

 

Patty 

[luv2cruzuk]

48 minutes ago, saffy12 said:

It's worth noting that you were AQ, so all of your reviews were from Blu or Room Service.   From what I've seen, it's the regular MDR that has gotten the most complaints, so not sure how much this addresses those concerns.

 

Your video was enjoyable to watch, though!   So sorry you were quarantined.   Off topic, but  how did that feel in an IV room?   I'd think I'd go a bit stir crazy and want to actually be outside in fresh air,  not just open a window, for that long!

 

Edited to add - lots of comments pointing this out already!  Sorry, I was watching your whole video first!

Hi and thanks for watching the video and commenting here.

 

In the 5 Days isolation, all but 1 of my meals I ordered from the MDR menu. The food was actually very good. 

 

As for the actual isolation itself…. Yes, it was very difficult and I felt pretty rough. A very long 5 days. The TV choices are very limited, which didn’t help. My only saving grace was the infinite verandah for the views and fresh air. 

 

Thanks for watching again. David

[saffy12]

Oh I didn't even think about being sick and stuck in a cabin with such limited tv options!  Yikes!    Glad you were still able to make the best of it.

[C4HCG]

How novel, a thread about food 🙈, a while since I’ve seen one of them.

 

On the MDR debate we sailed Equinox early September, ate in MDR 6 out of 8 nights and thought the quality and variety of food was excellent. Was my son and his girlfriends first cruise and they are foodies and they were very impressed.

 

Also worth adding we dined at a similar time each night and there were the same familiar faces on surrounding tables so they kept returning and saw only one person complaining all week.

 

Maybe the food isn’t as good as it once was (I wouldn’t know as we only started cruising in 2019 but I have seen the odd post on here stating that 🤪) but no complaints from us. And this was backed up by first class service.

 

 

[Cruise till you drop]

🙄 good grief how many of these threads does there need to be

[RichYak]

35 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

How novel, a thread about food 🙈, a while since I’ve seen one of them.

 

11 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

🙄 good grief how many of these threads does there need to be

I find the incessant whining about the content on this board so tiresome. Let people voice their concerns. That's what CruiseCritic is for.