Ascent Seafood Buffet

[Cleo21]

My husband saw an advertisement for the Ascent that showed a seafood buffet night at the Oceanview Cafe.  It pictured lovely fresh seafood towers.  Is this a routine thing and if so, anyone know when it happens?

[Gracie115]

2 hours ago, Cleo21 said:

My husband saw an advertisement for the Ascent that showed a seafood buffet night at the Oceanview Cafe.  It pictured lovely fresh seafood towers.  Is this a routine thing and if so, anyone know when it happens?

I think this was an "Ascent" thing.  Certainly had nothing like it on or 2 Apex cruises in the last year.

[keesar]

That is new as there was  nothing like that on Beyond.   On the Equinox, there was a seafood buffet but it was an extra charge. It was held in a Specialty Restaurant.

 

There was a fantastic seafood buffet at the Oceanview on our Alaska cruise.  Free.

Edited December 3, 2023 by keesar

[espmass]

I viewed a youtube review of the seafood buffet on the Ascent labed as a preview sailing.  It does not  specify if this is a routine buffet or special event  just for the preview.  Looks fantastic.  This is the link and hopefully this works.  

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

They said is was special for the previews and the maiden voyage. I hope they keep it. It was the best buffet!  Lobster tails, shrimp, crawfish, calamari, all kinds of carving stations, lobster Mac n cheese, crab ravioli… truly amazing and very well attended during the lunch hours in the OVC. 

[CardowMD]

We had a lunch seafood buffet on Ascent preview cruise. Was amazing, but not sure they will keep doing this…

[prmssk]

I remember them doing something similar on a special sailing of another ship in the last year or two so I wouldn't expect it to be a regular occurrence.  

[HeddaGarbled]

We had it on Beyond in October, on the last sea day. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

We have a nice special lunch buffet on Beyond this month.  Only seafood was shrimp and it was sad to see how much people piled on plates and only ate half of it.  

[Tyler414]

Doubt they continue it after the maiden voyage.  They hav a revenue making seafood restaurant with Raw on 5.  Celebrity has made many changes in the last 18 months to maximize revenue. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

45 minutes ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

We have a nice special lunch buffet on Beyond this month.  Only seafood was shrimp and it was sad to see how much people piled on plates and only ate half of it.  

 

And ultimately that is why they stop doing things like it. That's why "midnight buffets" have largely gone away, why DCL cut the Pirate Night buffet, etc. Heaping plates of food with only a few bites missing get noticed and when they happen more often than not, the special things go away.

[PTC DAWG]

25 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

And ultimately that is why they stop doing things like it. That's why "midnight buffets" have largely gone away, why DCL cut the Pirate Night buffet, etc. Heaping plates of food with only a few bites missing get noticed and when they happen more often than not, the special things go away.

Exactly, and those same complain about changes..

[shipshape sam]

For sure would like to attend and enjoy a seafood buffet at described here.  Once on a 7 day or longer would be a special treat.

 

 

 

[lv2cruisgrl]

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

And ultimately that is why they stop doing things like it. That's why "midnight buffets" have largely gone away, why DCL cut the Pirate Night buffet, etc. Heaping plates of food with only a few bites missing get noticed and when they happen more often than not, the special things go away.

I agree. Years ago we talked to a Royal Caribbean chef and he said they did away with the midnight buffet because of the weather wasted food.  They would have it on the pool deck and we would see dinner plates full of food with little eaten and just discarded.  Is is sad.

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

I agree. Years ago we talked to a Royal Caribbean chef and he said they did away with the midnight buffet because of the weather wasted food.  They would have it on the pool deck and we would see dinner plates full of food with little eaten and just discarded.  Is is sad.

And yet they could solve this problem by having servers like HAL does.  Quite a bit more sanitary and not nearly as gross.

[hcat]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

And yet they could solve this problem by having servers like HAL does.  Quite a bit more sanitary and not nearly as gross.

exactly..stops the greedy!

[lv2cruisgrl]

6 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

And yet they could solve this problem by having servers like HAL does.  Quite a bit more sanitary and not nearly as gross.

Agree and they did put a staff member there but it was at least 16 or more minutes after the piggies got to it.  

[the mistral wind]

Yes it was wonderful. I also wrote a review where I made an error by giving food a one star meant 5. The seafood extravaganza was wonderful just got off the ship 2 weeks ago. All the lobster crab claw meats and more you could eat. The ascent ship was great.i gave it five stars for everything cruising the way I remember back in the day

[hcat]

On 12/3/2023 at 5:24 PM, lv2cruisgrl said:

I agree. Years ago we talked to a Royal Caribbean chef and he said they did away with the midnight buffet because of the weather wasted food.  They would have it on the pool deck and we would see dinner plates full of food with little eaten and just discarded.  Is is sad.

midnight buffet on X was indoors..took hrs to set up..  first opened for photos only.. then the buffet..  but too late and folks were not very hungry and many asleep by then..

 

They then went to an indoor chocoate and  dessert buffet..family hour first...then adults only

 

also had a nice daytime breakfast/ brunch buffet  in mdr...also discontinurd

[Nado44]

I was told that this special seafood buffet complete with shrimp, crab and lobster is actually a budgeted feature for only the newest Celebrity ship in the fleet. It was Beyond over the summer. And now the Ascent.

[hcat]

which day of the cruise is it offered?

won't want to miss it!

[Nado44]

6 minutes ago, hcat said:

which day of the cruise is it offered?

won't want to miss it!

 

If memory serves me correctly, it was the lunch buffet on the last sea day.

[Martini Queenie]

It was on the last sea day last week on the Ascent. We didn’t go but others went and said it was a zoo with people lined up 30 deep to get the lobster. They said it looked phenomenal if you could deal with all the people pushing and shoving to get their instagram pics and food. 

[DJChick]

Our cruise on the Ascent ended Dec. 24th and the sea food buffet was on the last sea day, Dec. 23rd. It was a total zoo to say the least!! Buffet was supposed to open at noon. People were lined up before 11:30 am. Lines at noon were 30 to 40 deep. No plates left by the time you reached the beginning of where the food started. Different lines at the stations had different seafood items. Many people were in the wrong line for the items you wanted. No organization at all. After 40 years of cruising, it was the worse fiasco I have ever seen! People that were lucky enough to be in the correct line for the items they wanted, left the line with 2 plates of lobsters and raw shrimp piled to the brim! After a few sailings before our cruise, you would expect better organization from Celebrity and if not, do away with this free for all! Might have been better to add a $10 p/p surcharge at this point to control the crowd. 

[hcat]

does not sound good after all!