Reflection MDR Food

Just got back from Reflection and MDR food was very disappointing. Entré selection in particular was the worst I have ever experienced. They basically served all the best selections on lobster night. I guess they thought that's all I would remember. I really do not get excited about eating a little piece of fish. Forget Italian food on a ship. I live in South Jersey and I literally have over 50 good Italian restaurants within a 10 mile drive, and that doesn't include Philadelphia Little Italy. I really enjoy baked onion soup but only when it actually has onions in it. I had braised beef ribs one night and gave up after trying to chew one. Salads, soups and deserts were nothing special. Except for lobster night ,I did not have one meal I would go back for to any restaurant. I told the Maitre'D and he just walked away. VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING!

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience, as we've always enjoyed dining on Celebrity and intend to do so again in March.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience, as we've always enjoyed dining on Celebrity and intend to do so again in March.

Except for lobster, can you remember any entrees that you really enjoyed and would actually go to a land restaurant to get the same food?

I think your expectations are too high if you think you will get food that you would go back for at a land restaurant and pay for. They have to cook food for thousands of people, this is why cruise food is never going to be great. Maybe in certain specialty restaurants but the difference is they are feeding much fewer people and can cook things to order. You are able to order as much as you want, if you didn't like something did you try ordering another dish? I am sure there was SOMETHING you could have liked even if you didn't love it.

Several fish dishes, also like their lamb. Like most of the desserts including cheese cake. Escargot as good as most restaurants at home. And FWIW I found the lobster not too good. They also make up vegetables for me - steamed and slightly underdone - wonderful.

Is everything wonderful every night - no. Is everything except the lobster awful - no. I also find most food at restaurants except for steak at a steak house and one (note just one) great restaurant serving veal picatta that I regularly go back to in a city of 5 million people. Food on board is good and they will bring you 10 pieces of fish if you like.

Celebrity serves thousands at a low cost. Can I get a fantastic meal at home - yup at maybe $100+ for a couple. My upcoming cruise is right at $100 a day per person for everything!

We loved the Reflection last year and can't wait for our cruise in 2 days. We did the 5 night dining package at specialty package. We ate in MDR once on lobster night and it was delicious.

I hate Main dining on all cruises (because I hate the atmosphere, hussle bussle and singing and dancing). We starting cruising NCL about 7 years ago for their restaurant selection and then changed to celebrity 3 years ago when we realized they had it too.

The small price to pay for the week is so worth it to have an amazing vacation (5 night package was $130 each for week (2 Tuscan, 1Qsine, 1Lawn club, 1 murano)

Sadly I do agree about the MDR food . Just back from Millennium and the MDR food was very disappointing :( Great service from Wiratha and Rudi and a fine sommelier , Sever , but we rarely finished a meal . Looks like Celebrity would like to fill the specialty Restaurants - we may even use the Buffet next cruise in April on Eclipse.:eek: ( although finding a table there is a problem )

Our group was on the Reflection that got back to Miami on Jan 30th.

I will say my (our) dinning experience was really bad compared to our experience on the Silhouette last year during the same time frame.

Our wait staff last year was absolutely top shelf. Our first wait staff this year on the Reflection was absolutely bottom shelf. They were bad, and the assistant waitress was terrible. She seemed to completely disappear at times. The head waiter had to do way too much.

We were moved to another large table by the 3 night. That wait staff was much, much better than the first wait staff.

However, the folks who run the Reflection's galley, grossly under estimated the number of people who would order lobster on the night, 2nd "Evening Chic" night, when lobster was the highlight menu item. They apologized for the inconvenience. Our dinner that night ran 2 and 1/2 hours, which was absurd. On top of that, everyone at our table, both with and without a sophisticated palate, agreed the lobster when actually delivered was over cooked.

For the first time in 2 straight cruises on Celebrity, I ate elsewhere besides the MDR. I ate at the Ocean View Cafe, along with several more of our party.

The other bad thing about the MDR is the non selection of vegetarian meals. There was only one each night and one of our group is a vegetarian. She found dinning in Ocean View a much better experience because they always had a number of different vegetarian dishes to choose from each night.

Negative comments about Celebrity dining seem to be few and far between, as witnessed by their second place finish for 2015. We are cruising on the Reflection in April and are most certainly looking forward to dining in the MDR.

You can please some of the people some of the time....:)

Someone else said it above, but the way to look at the food is to really consider what you get for your per-day cost. Is MDR food the best I've ever eaten? Hardly. Is it the worst? Not by a mile. It's more than edible and filling; you can order multiples; and you can bulk up on starters to make a meal. So for a little over $100 a night I got a more than decent meal, all my drinks, my "hotel" room, and some free entertainment. Plus I got away from it all. I challenge you to find another similar vacation that gives you all of that for $100-$150 per night.

Obviously the food won't be on par with a land based restaurant where they feed a smaller crowd with better cuts of meats and locally sourced ingredients. Nor will it be as expensive.

We just returned from 1/30 sailing of Reflection and ate each evening in MDR. The best meal we all agreed was the Beef Tournedo (i.e., beef filet). So tender and flavorful. DH liked the lamb wrapped in phyllo pastry (sorry, don't recall name) and the duck dishes. The salmon was usually done nicely as well (the one on the everyday menu). The shrimp cocktail in the everyday menu was consistently awesome!!

My lobster was very disappointing!! First one I got had minute pieces of the shell and with each bite I felt like I was eating sand. They replaced and it was better as far as the shell pieces goes, but it was very tough and overcooked. DH's sirloin steak was almost rare. He reordered and second one only slightly better.

In general, food was good and definitely a step or two up from our past Carnival cruises. If we were not happy, the wait staff was happy to get us something different. Also, agree about good dishes on same night. We were traveling with extended family and we would order another main dish to share sometimes.

Next time don't eat the pizza slice and chocolate chip cookies so close to going to dinner in the MDR. I have never found something on the menu that I didn't want to try. Then again I'm not a fussy eater.

MDR customer satisfaction seems to vary depending on how much emphasis the MDR budget is given. ;) At least that has been our experience.

We first sailed with X in 2006. GREAT food (always great service!) By 2009 food QUALITY was much less, tougher meats, less fresh fruits & veggies. By 2013 a HUGE improvement. We very complimentary to the staff including maitre'd. We were told by several that they had a new Celebrity chef and a larger part of the budget was going toward better food. Our last cruise (Eclipse Oct 2015)...still great staff and a wonderful sommelier ...but the food quality (same menus) was not as good. Not ship related as we sailed Eclipse 3 other times...different years.

Yea, we can always find things to eat! (Much better than our Royal experience in Dec):)

Factors?? Celebrity's stock value is falling and it is building a new mega ship. I do not think it is the "suite package" as those prices are much higher than they used to be! World economy is tighter and questionable if X will actually sail to Istanbul anymore...despite several cruises scheduled there.

Becky

My wife and I see a lot of people complaining about the service in the MDR we noticed service going down hill ever since tip are put on our bills or tip in a package. We have been cruising for 25plus years and when the last night came you walked to the dining room with the envelopes and everyone kissed your ass all week. Now no need to do that. We always commented how we saw the people we never saw all week till then.

We have been getting the UDP the last 3 cruises because the food in the MDR we feel has gone down hill. We feel they want to sell the specialty restaurants.

In the past we have ALWAYS preferred Celebrity - for 2 reasons: #1 The quality of their food. Sadly this is no longer true, everyone knows that a Celebrity cruise cost more than a cruise on any other 'main line' cruise, but "X" food and continually gone downhill and their prices for cruises has gone up! I really do not care why. We sailed "X" for their excellent food and they NO longer have excellent food. I do not care if I can order 4 pieces of fish or lamb or short rib, etc. I do not want multiple pieces I want ONE EXCELLENT piece, prepared very well! I do not go to a 4 or 5 star restaurant and order multiple pieces of my entrée, I order 1 AND I expect it to be delicious!!! That is what "X" once was - NO LONGER!! SO we started booking ONLY Aqua so that we could eat in "BLU" an upscale restaurant, NOW that is also going downhill, their food is also going downhill! Instead of having a filet mignon, you may get a dish with pieces of filet in it - MUCH cheaper for "X", but the cost of my cruise has gone UP!

The 2nd reason we cruised with Celebrity was that they had GENUINE FORMAL NIGHTS!!! The majority of quests DID dress formally because "X" required it! If you were not dressed properly you were stopped at the door, if you 'slipped' through, the maître d would very politely and quietly come up to you and explain the dress code and say that if you did not dress properly at the 2nd/3rd formal night you would be asked to leave the dining room. YEAH!!! for "X". WE LOVED FORMAL NIGHTS. It got that "X" was the only cruise line that still had true Formal Nights. Because they were the only ones and people that did not want to dress had SO MANY others options we had hoped that "X" would keep THEIR Formal Nights. BUT NO!! "X" has caved in also. So no "REAL" formal nights on "X" either, oh you can dress if you wish, but it is NOT the same as when the large majority of the ship would dress for entire evening.

SO NOW we see no reason to spend the extra money to cruise on "Celebrity" over another cruise line at all.

SO Celebrity IF you think you have something to offer me - I do not see it, let me know what it is!!!:mad::mad::mad:

We also just returned from Reflection,we also found that the menu in the MDR was poor,beef items were very nice but not every night !!.Been on Eclipse AND Solstice twice and found they were much better.Shows were not up to scratch either,the resident dancers etc were very good,rest not so good.Don't know if this is just on Reflection or Celebrity fleet in general.

Also !!! what a complete shambles the Celebrity online site is,and Captains Club not much better !!.Given up on both !!!!

People's assessment of food offerings often depend on how long they have patronized Celebrity or other cruise lines.

The deterioration of both the quality and variety of food combined with the stressed out MDR staff are not worth the ever escalating cost of the Celebrity product.

We have patronized Celebrity since 1992. Our last Celebrity cruise on Infinity South America was a sorry offering of low quality, sloppy, tasteless food in the MDR. Our table mates were all very experienced cruisers and each nite 1/2 of the entrees were returned. Entrees often did not match the description.

Our best friends returned from Reflection in early January and they were totally shocked on the poor food quality in the MDR.

People need to know that the Celebrity of the past used to provide much better than "banquet" food in the MDR and much better service. The often quoted excuse on this board about having to cook for thousands of people is bull.

The Celebrity of the past used to provide real cream for coffee in your room service order and used to provide small sandwiches with fillings of shrimp at Cafe Bacio. They used to provide small lemon tarts with real lemon curd and a piece of chocolate on top. I enjoyed these food items as recently as 2 years ago. All gone. These were premium food offerings consistent with Celebrity's consistent delivery of a premium product.

Celebrity is just another cruise line now but trying to fake people into thinking that they are still premium and that "modern luxury" is worth paying more for.

Thanks to the posters for sharing your food assessment - right on.

ABoatNerd

Many years ago when was a kid my parents took my sister and me on QE2 in First Class (not suites). The food was exceptional, with many dishes being prepared table side. But this was the '70's and cruising was different.

These days when my husband and I get on a ship our attitude vis-a-vis food is this: is the dish/meal you are having better than what you eat at home? If yes, then there should be no complaints. If no, then you should stay home and save your money.

People who take a cruise and complain about the quality or portion size need to be asked: Did you let your server know you didn't like something? If you felt the portion was small, did you ask for another? The chefs in the galleys are cooking for a host of different palettes and tastes. To try to get 100% right is unrealistic. But the bottom line is your server, sommelier, and all the staff want you to be happy. If you "suffer in silence' you only have yourself to blame.

We took a TA on RF in November. We were in a suite and were entitled to Luminae. Besides the service it was AWFUL! We ended up having one of our dinners in the MDR and it was outstanding - food, service and atmosphere. So for those that think the smaller restaurant puts out better food, think again.

I wonder if some of the food 'topics/issues' are related to the size of the ships these days. With the average age of X's guests, they might be comparing to the days when the cruise ships had a fraction of the people on board as the ships do today. Another thing, I'm sure the price of beef these last few years has had some impact also. I wonder if they are also trying to keep down amount of food wasted (portion size control).

We were on Reflection in November and noticed the dining room wasn't as good as before.

I blame it on the specialty restaurants, Luminae, Blue and then comes the dining room.....I think it's becoming the stepchild of the food choices. I guess they have to cut quality somewhere.

My thanks to Russg140 for their very insightful food perspective.I hope a lot of people will take these comments, from a seasoned cruiser, to heart. It`s really remarkable what these large ships accomplish day in and day out. Once again, we are terribly excited about our upcoming cruise on Reflection in April. ( Ranked 2nd out of 10 for Dining in 2015! :)

We can all use more patience, especially when on vacation!

I think all this depends to a great degree on what you order. I have found that the most consistently good preparations were of fish and duck, while beef and chicken were hit and miss. If, like me, you crave fish and duck, you're in good shape. But, if you're a beef and chicken person, well.... I'm a good cook and eater and find X to be just fine, thank you.

I know food is highly subjective BUT...

Think of the buffet like Hometown. The MDR like convention or wedding reception food.;)

If you set your expectations there, you'll be pleasantly surprised how great some of the food really is. It is after mass produced. Think IHOP mass produced. Of course the specialities will be better. They are cooking for probably 200 tops as opposed to up to 6,000! :eek: YMMV.

We just returned from 1/30 sailing of Reflection and ate each evening in MDR. The best meal we all agreed was the Beef Tournedo (i.e., beef filet). So tender and flavorful. DH liked the lamb wrapped in phyllo pastry (sorry, don't recall name) and the duck dishes. The salmon was usually done nicely as well (the one on the everyday menu). The shrimp cocktail in the everyday menu was consistently awesome!!

 

We were on the same sailing and I agree about the Beef Tournedo - it was my favourite, too. Otherwise the food was good, not outstanding, as others have said.