750 passengers - Emporium was chaos this morning

[casperthecat]

Poor staff were run ragged. No clean tables available, Took 5 visits to bring carton orange juice (freshly squeezed up until now), hot water but no tea bag, coffee no milk, omelette order wrong, no almond croissants (which are amazing if you find one). Not the staff’s fault, they are just overwhelmed. Trying Fil Rouge tonight for the first time , hopefully they are more prepared.

[gaspari]

Yes we are onboard and agree this morning was shambolic. Staff trying hard, but empty counters, not replenished, no bread, amateurs trying to cook omelets/eggs, large numbers of customers milling around trying to get regular items which had run out, barely a table available. We’ve never seen fresh orange juice! Asked for some berries, as none available…..they found some strawberries 45 minutes later from ‘downstairs’, but we were just leaving! Reminded me of a mass market ship buffet….nothing luxury about this morning’s experience! 

[Misssmb]

Oh no! Hope it gets better! We board on July 5th and booked due to all the fabulous reviews! 

[casperthecat]

The staff are all fantastic but they’re just not ready for a busy ship. Hopefully it will improve but this morning was not the experience we had paid for. I’ll report back after dinner and hope to be positive. 

[CruiseCrew123]

They’ve had nearly a year to be prepared . Whilst it may not be the front facing staff to blame someone on that ship certainly is responsible 

[Dr. Cocktail]

My guess is that there are a lot of new staff as the more experienced ones have left for/are on vacation before they board E 2.

 

I've seen this sort of thing on other cruise lines when they launch a new ship.

[gaspari]

50 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

My guess is that there are a lot of new staff as the more experienced ones have left for/are on vacation before they board E 2.

 

I've seen this sort of thing on other cruise lines when they launch a new ship.

Problem seemed to be mostly lack of availability/replenishment of what is anyway a fairly limited breakfast offer (by luxury standards) so staff running around trying to find the items customers wanted one by one, then bringing to table…..or not, which of course was not efficient. And yes, some inexperienced cooks. Fundamentally, the number of guests caught them out, but this should not have been a surprise

[English Tim]

This was always a major worry for me, as to whether the crew could cope with anything like a full ship. We noticed a difference between service and facilities for 400 and 600, particularly for breakfast.
 

However, when we went to Fils Rouge for breakfast, there were only six people in the restaurant, so worth trying.

 

Incidentally, I had freshly squeezed orange juice every day, once side is covered it was available.

[casperthecat]

We dined at Fil Rouge this evening and pleased to report it was very good. We arrived at 7pm which is early for us. Restaurant was fairly empty and service was prompt and efficient in the most part. We left at 8.30pm and there was a queue of 3 or 4 couples waiting to be seated. Saw the early show at 9pm and it was around 80% full. So hopefully this morning was just teething trouble. Overall we are happy. 

[Dr. Cocktail]

3 hours ago, gaspari said:

Problem seemed to be mostly lack of availability/replenishment of what is anyway a fairly limited breakfast offer (by luxury standards) 

I’m rather surprised by your comments re luxury standards breakfast. I’m curious to hear who you feel does it better?

[gaspari]

Crystal, Silversea, Seabourn.

For example: 

only 3 regular cereals….no granola/seeds/healthy varieties

limited yoghurt selection

no freshly squeezed orange 

very limited or no berries, depending on the day

bread choices limited esp rolls

presentation of omelettes

 

[Grandma Cruising]

Others here have said there is freshly squeezed orange juice. Maybe it’s just difficult ti find things. I look forward to finding out next April.

[uktog]

With the exception of two days we always had freshly squeezed juice. The two days it was missing was due to supply issues which were addressed. People need to remember Explora is a new line, they will need a year to gather sufficient data to provision efficiently based on guest demographics and itinerary. Every line had occasional drop offs on provisions. 
I do not recognise the description of breakfast offerings -  the beautiful baked onboard bread products shone out though it is recognised the breads are a European type selection which is to be expected on a European line. 

[Dr. Cocktail]

3 hours ago, gaspari said:

Crystal, Silversea, Seabourn.

For example: 

only 3 regular cereals….no granola/seeds/healthy varieties

limited yoghurt selection

no freshly squeezed orange 

very limited or no berries, depending on the day

bread choices limited esp rolls

presentation of omelettes

 

So funny .... I don't eat cereal or granola, yogurt or drink OJ (except as a matrix for vodka) so my eyes wouldn't catch those as being missing!

 

Now as to the bread selection, I will defer to uktog and say that they were spectacular!

 

I like the poached egg/avocado toast/egg specialty station and there actually were omelette stations. I particularly liked the smoked fish station along with the assorted charcuterie and cheeses.

 

But - we'll never convince each other!

[RJ2002]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Now as to the bread selection, I will defer to uktog and say that they were spectacular!

Agree on the breads.  Excellent selection and quality.  
 

I also don’t understand the omelette “presentation” comment.  All the available ingredients were nicely displayed easy to select for your cooked-to-order omelette.  

[mike@sea]

I do understand the complain about the bread in the morning. Not so much of a cereal person, so did not really look out for that. 

Whereas the croissants and some of the bread offerings were quite good, I also thought the rolls and even the baguette could have been better and more varied and fresher.
The much fresher bread they offered in the evening was tastier than in the morning. The morning baguette was super chewy, whereas it was crusty and fresh in the evening. Not too much variety when it comes to rolls in the morning, again not so crusty and repetitive. 
Of course overall I was very happy with breakfast and never went hungry or bored due to the huge variety on offer. 

I believe and have noticed that with other cruise lines too, that they bake the morning bread in the late evening the day prior, whereas the one they offer for dinner, is freshly baked in the afternoon, closer to dinner time. Hence the difference in freshness and variety. 

[Noggins]

Much has been said about the quality of Emporium - by which folk mean the huge range of offerings nicely presented. But it's back to that old chestnust of 'hard' and 'soft' products. In this case the 'hard' product is stocking all the items / ingredients in the cupboard and the 'soft' element is actually turning it out in sufficient quantity on a just-in-time basis. And in this case seconds count for just-in-time to meet customer expectation.

No-one should be surprised that when demand jumps the 'soft' side of the operation is likely to fall over pretty quickly. And I wouldn't be surprised if, in a while, there are many reports of Emproriuium not being what it was. 

From our own experience in March it felt like the ship would only work well when full-ish if a significant proportion of the passenger load were prepared to spend a LOT of time in their rooms - and certainly not all arriving for breakfsat at the same time!

[casperthecat]

It is now being suggested that everyone makes a reservation for Fil Rouge and Yacht Club. I’m not doing that. I may as well be on Celebrity. 

[uktog]

48 minutes ago, casperthecat said:

It is now being suggested that everyone makes a reservation for Fil Rouge and Yacht Club. I’m not doing that. I may as well be on Celebrity. 

Except you don’t get food and service of the quality of these two restaurants on Celebrity. I’d suggest do as they ask or consider dining at night in Emporium which is a class well above anything Celebrity can offer on demand 

Ok sounds like they are trying to manage some internal problems- you can fight against and be miserable or do as they suggest 

[casperthecat]

Except that the only table they offered was 8.45pm

[Jim Avery]

Room service is the fallback.

[Noggins]

13 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Room service is the fallback.

Indeed it is - but let me never find myself on a ship where I feel obliged to have room service because it is too much hassle to eat in the restaurants!
 

[uktog]

51 minutes ago, casperthecat said:

Except that the only table they offered was 8.45pm

So how did everyone get in ahead of you?

Mind we’ve often been left with that time on Celebrity

You can ask to speak to the manager in overall charge of the restaurants and they can usually sort something 

Alternatively the Emporium is not a Celebrity buffet it’s far far better

Or for one night room service whilst getting yourself set up for tomorrow 

[At Sea At Peace]

1 hour ago, casperthecat said:

Except that the only table they offered was 8.45pm

 

Well, thanks for the honest updates.  Doesn't bode well for our initial 2025 end of year plans.  Just changed 2 planned Explora Journeys in PH Penthouse B2B in late November early December 2025 for a B2B on MSC World America in a Royal Suite in the Yacht Club.  FYI, it was even $2,000 less and the EJ quote didn't include 'fees!"

 

Will let the dust settle with EJ and see how the reports go.

 

We noted the capacity was up quite a bit.  Any thoughts or comments on whether such is primarily 'all paying cruisers' or are there still noticeable numbers of TA's and influencers?

 

Thank you.

[Misssmb]

Curious how you see the capacity on sailings?