Celebrity dining since Roux and Oceania

[Gustavas]

Hello fellow X-fans,

 

In my opinion, Roux, greatly loved by this veteran cruiser, was the most powerful facet of Celebrity's dining experience. He is, without a doubt, a major factor in what made Celebrity.

 

Just curious if anyone has noticed or experienced any changes in the dining room cuisine, flavor styles or presentations since Elizabeth Blau took over as Celebrity Chef from the legendary and fabulous and much missed expertise and mastery of Michael Roux ?

 

Has Elizabeth Blau's Las Vegas Hotel style changed anything at all ? The flavors, dishes, presentations ? Surely she wouldn't dare change a thing especially in the specialty restaurants (which are historic menus and perfect anyway.)

 

We're booked to try Oceania Cruises, Insignia in 08, a different venue

that my colleagues are raving about. (Oceania has renoun Master Chef Jaques Pepin as their executive chef. He was personal chef to several French Presidents including Charles Degaulle)

 

I know all about the positives of Oceania, (smaller vessels, no formal nights, more luxurious, only 600 pax etc..)however I still appreciate the scale, style and spaces of Celebrity's larger vessels (Millie, Summit etc. and of course the formal nights.

 

FYI on Oceania, you have to be in a Penthouse Suite or greater to have a hot breakfast ensuite and unless you're in a suite, you're only allowed one specialty restaurant reservation per week. (They have two specialy restaurants.)

 

Although we've booked a suite, all this shocked me because most cruise lines I've sailed deliver hot breakfasts to all category cabins and there are no limits to specialty restaurants if reservations are available.

 

I still considered Summit again for Europe in 08 but feel she probably needs some refurbishments. We were on the voyage immediately after her maiden voyage and she was a masterpiece. An extremely memorable cruise. Excellent service, food and typifying the Celebrity experience.

 

But, again just curious is Elizabeth Blau has ruined a masterpiece ?

 

 

Bon Appetite.

 

Gustav

 

PS: Anyone noticed hand sanitizer enforcement on X in recent months ?

[BILLP1]

For us the speciality restaurant was as good as it has ever been.

 

The main restaurant and the buffet on The Constellation

was not good.

 

This was our sixth cruise on Celebrity and that is the way we saw it. Our assistant waiter told me one night that the chefs in the main restaurant were complaing about the quality of the meat and fish that was being purchased.

 

Others loved it but we did not..

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

From what I was told on Constellation last week, none of Ms. Blau's menus are in place yet. They will be starting around January 1st, one ship at a time. It will probably take several months before the entire fleet has the new menus. We thought the food on Constellation last week, was as good as ever !

 

While I remain optimistic, I am very curious to see if this will turn out to be a good decision by Celebrity, or a terrible one. I look forward to hearing more, after the new year.

[hcat]

I guess we will have to wait & see........hard to beat the very high standard already set but will approach with an open mind....

[rebeccalouise]

I just completed my sixth cruise on Celebrity and I think the food has remained the same. It is acceptible- lacking in vegetables. I guess too many people weren't eating them. I never thought the food on Celebrity was worth all the hype. But Celebrity delivers a lovely product. The food in the specialty restaurant is excellent and we dined there twice on our 12 night cruise.

 

As for Oceania- the food on board was the best food I have ever had at sea. We all agreed and are all seasoned cruisers. Oceania staterooms are no bigger than Celebrity. I was surprized by this. They include the balcony square footage. So, when it says 210 square ft- that includes the balcony.

 

We were in Conceirge class on Oceania and many people in the standard catagory felt that they didn't get such great service. My experience on Oceania was positive- you will love the afternoon tea.

[sivia]

Hi Everyone !

 

From what I was told on Constellation last week, none of Ms. Blau's menus are in place yet. They will be starting around January 1st, one ship at a time. It will probably take several months before the entire fleet has the new menus. We thought the food on Constellation last week, was as good as ever !

 

While I remain optimistic, I am very curious to see if this will turn out to be a good decision by Celebrity, or a terrible one. I look forward to hearing more, after the new year.

 

 

Infinity has some of the new menu items....new appetizers and a few new dishes as well as some desserts. Dessert choices ..... one less on the tray they show you compared to previous cruises. Still enough choice though to gain weight...lol.

 

All in all, we were happy with the food items.

[Andy]

Infinity has some of the new menu items....new appetizers and a few new dishes as well as some desserts. Dessert choices ..... one less on the tray they show you compared to previous cruises. Still enough choice though to gain weight...lol.

 

All in all, we were happy with the food items.

 

Hi Sivia !

 

While there are some new menu items around, (Celebrity tweaked some items about a year ago) they are not from Ms. Blau's group. I was told this from the Executive chef on Constellation, so I am sure they are correct about this. I was told the new menus would be quite a bit different, and at all venues on the ships, including the buffets etc.

 

We will have to wait a bit longer to see what Ms. Blau has in store for us.

[beauxdammit]

Our recent (Nov 2) cruise on the Mercury was somewhat disappointing in the food department. We found the beef and pork to be tough, overcooked, and generally of a much lower quality than we had become accustomed to. The fish, when I tried it, was inedible. Soups and salads were OK but not to rave about. It appears that a severe cost cutting program is in place and had effected the dining experience.

[ackieboy]

I was on Constellation in late September, and although this was my first Celebrity cruise, it was my eighteenth overall. I do not know what the food was like before, but I can tell you that on our 13 night sailing, it was some of the best I have had at sea, and I am referring to the San Marco Restaurant and the buffet, not just the speciality restaurant. While I am not a food critic, I like good food and in this department Celebrity definitely delivered.

 

Regards,

 

Dean

[Gustavas]

Thank you, I appreciate the information about Oceania, I've heard nothing but rave reviews thus far regarding dining and service. Superb.

 

Gustav

[cruisinryan]

I am not a seasoned cruiser, only 4 cruises so far, but all on different lines.

 

On my Infinity cruise the appetizers and soups reached the level of gourmet, and the main dishes were very good. No doubt because of chef Roux.

 

I'm now scheduled for Mercury, with 5 sea days, which I don't much care for, but I was thinking, "well, the food will be good, so the sea days won't be so bad".

 

However, on my RCI cruise, the food was the worst I have had ... if it had been a restaurant in my town, I would not go back. And it worries me that Celebrity is in the same family as RCI, and with the loss of chef Roux, I'm afraid Celebrity is now following the trend to much declined main dining.

 

It used to be cruising meant good food, better than you could get at most restaurants at home, and better than what you generally make for yourself at home. And you did not have to pay extra to get good food on board.

 

But now that cruisers are sheepishly accepting the specialty restaurants, instead of refusing to patron them, the cruise lines have no reason not to cut back on the main dining quality.

 

Now I'm hearing the food on Mercury is not good (from more than one post). So I'm considering cancelling the cruise.

 

Unfortunately, cruising has become "mainstream", and most people just don't have discerning tastes, as long as it's salty, greasy and crispy, most people are happy.

[Drew B]

Now I'm hearing the food on Mercury is not good (from more than one post). So I'm considering cancelling the cruise.

 

 

There have been just as many positive recent posts about the food on Mercury as negative. Probably more. If you choose to only listen to the negative, then by all means cancel.

 

I urge you, though, to think of ANYTHING that you love - a movie, a book, a piece of art, a flavor of ice cream... Although you love it, chances are, there is somebody out there who hates it. If you only listened to that one person's opinion, you could very easily miss out on something you find great...

[Denisern2]

Would you really cancel a cruise because a few people did not like it? Beleive me I have had every level of food and service and although it is not always excellent. It will always be good because I am on vacation. If I do not like my dinner I go get some sushi or aplate of pasta. Hell a burger and fries at seas beats a five star restraunt on land. You will not starve and there is always room service.

 

Life is short don't sweat the small stuff

[BILLP1]

I am not paying for a burger and fries, just a decent meal.

 

It now costs $30 per person in the speciality restaurant to get a decent meal.. They really set a nice table with very nice food in the speciality restaurants but the buffet and main dining rooms continue to go down hill.

 

Starting with the small overpriced drinks then on to the bad food and the everyting is for sail in the hall ways we have decided that there are better ways to spend our vacations which is too bad because we did enjoy cruising as was five years ago. Don't forget the new fare increase or should i say fuel surcharge...Sounds better that way..

[Gustavas]

I couldn't agree more with your take on the way things are fast becomming mainstream....Volkswagon bought Rolls Royce a few years ago too. Walmart sells more diamonds than Tiffany's..... I do know that one can't buy heritage, even Carnival.

 

"Carnivor" may own many lines but only Seabourn makes a real difference. Cunard, very sadly is a mere name now, The QM-2 is nothing more than a monsterous glorified Carnival ship in Cunard livery; beating the laurels of this former British legend with terrible food and service but with mega-suites and movie star prices off the charts. Princess is far below its original standards, Holland America is terrible and Costa is awful. Carnivor buys names, cuts corners, changes legends into bottom lines and focuses on Wall Street..PERIOD.

 

This is not the world of oceanliners that I grew up with but I thank God there are still some serious lines out there that continue to make the grade. In this day and age one does not always get what one pays for.

 

Gustav

 

 

BRAVO !!!!!!

[cruisinryan]

Now I'm hearing the food on Mercury is not good (from more than one post). So I'm considering cancelling the cruise.

 

Sorry this was misleading ... actually there are several reasons why I am considering cancelling my Mercury cruise, reasons which I did not cite. Of course I would not cancel a cruise just because a few people report a few negatives about a ship.

 

I can and do have a good time in just about any situation ... especially when on vacation. For example, I enjoyed myself immensely on the Pride of Aloha (a beautiful ship), while many passengers grumbled.

 

However, I'm not thrilled about 5 days at sea on the Mercury sailing, so I guess when I said that about the food, I was subconsciously looking for justification to consider cancelling. Sorry for "blaming the food".:o

 

I agree with those who say: when on a cruise, if you don't like something, it's easy to make a change.

Including ordering a different entree ;) .

[Texed]

However, I'm not thrilled about 5 days at sea on the Mercury sailing, .

 

I love the days at sea. I sleep in and when I wake up, WAFFLES! :D

[curiouscat]

Let's just say if I had 5 sea days on Mercury I would have swam home... it's an ok ship but not for that many sea days....Just not enough to do for me... it all depends on your preferences

 

Ahhh, the food. My mom liked it better than I did and I thought it was good but nothing special...:cool: I was waiting for wow and never got it. On a 10 day cruise and no Souffle ! No Italian food in the dining room at all.?And I mean northern Italian.....

 

Ahh, Mass market lines.

 

CuriousCat

[Patrick IL.]

We did a 9 night on the Mercury and loved it, just unwindeed. There was 4 sea days I believe...We again found the food to be excellent, we dined in the main dining room and buffet. This was Feb so I can not speak to recent changes.

[dbh62ark]

Thank you, I appreciate the information about Oceania, I've heard nothing but rave reviews thus far regarding dining and service. Superb.

 

Gustav

We've sailed 20+ cruises on all the mass market lines and sailed Oceania last year in the Med (we have not sailed any of the luxury lines such as Crystal and Seaborn). Oceania has earned those rave reviews. We had good food on the Constellation in 2005 but were displeased to find very bad food on our Millennium Med sailing this year. That was the worst food we've ever had on a cruise. We had couples from Ireland, Arizona, California, and Arkansas at our table; we all thought the food was bad and heard comments to that effect from many others on our sailing. If good food is important to you (and I am not a foodie myself), then you would be well served to book Oceania. Oceania is a fabulous line that has much to offer over Celebrity other than the food too, so you'll have a great cruise with them.

 

Happy travels,

Donna

[hcat]

Does anyone know the restaurants that Ms. Blau is now or was previously affiliated with so we can look at some of their menus...?

[selltile]

http://www.spotlightlive.com/the-experience/elizabeth-blau.html