Catasetumkid

Luxury line Regent has the best food, for mass market line it's Celebrity, worst food we ever had was on a 21day river cruise on the Viking Embla just horrible!

 

 

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I've never heard of Regent and will see what they offer. But I am wondering how can you say Celebrity is good? Can you give me some examples of exemplary buffet offerings? I would have been satisfied with the crispy french fries they serve on RCCL. Did you see my photos? Have you ever experienced anything like those big pots on a cruise before? They had french toast stuffed into them, and this awful syrup that had no flavor, not maple, just sweet. Awful! Big hunks of meat looked okay for lunch if that was your thing, I just wanted a decent sandwich or some pizza that was actually browned on top.

Whoops! I have a different (but still orchid-related) identity on Yelp! Here is the link if anyone is interested in seeing the buffet on the Celebrity Eclipse that won "second best" in food.

https://www.yelp.com/user_details_reviews_self?userid=Zk-zppRezQ3BWLPToCLBog

Such a shame since the rest of the trip was so awesome! It was seriously bad fare and that made a huge impression on me.

I'm looking for a place to gripe about the recent Cruise Awards, where the Celebrity Eclipse was ranked second <!!!> for food. We were on a wonderful cruise in January 2017 and my biggest complaint was about the buffet. I consider myself fairly easy to please, but I am a decent cook and expect food to have some type of flavor. I was completely dissatisfied, and don't want to even try Celebrity again. When I wrote a review for this publication, many people responded telling me that the food was wonderful on the Eclipse. ?!?! It made me wonder what they ate day-to-day if they thought that food was great. I put photos up on Yelp if anyone is interested. Catasetumkid is my name.

I am getting ready to book a cruise through the Panama Canal for this winter and I have a few choices. I know that the buffet food as really gone downhill since my first cruise ten years ago. I'm just looking for a decent buffet, is that too much to ask? On the Eclipse, 90% of the food was in big dutch ovens, and was <shudder> just *awful* in presentation, flavor and selection. Suggestions?

If dining in the buffet, of course you'll do better by asking for your omelet or eggs to be done for you. It takes just a few minutes. If you notice the eggs when the buffet gets refreshed, it's not done by the staff right by the grills. The eggs & such are prepared in the kitchen area behind them.. The eggs, by the way come in large bags & are boiled in large pots of water. There ARE preservatives in the bag eggs as well. We use them in our large buffets. Nothing really wrong with them as they save tons of time & effort, but if you want fresh, ask the staff to do it right there on the grill. That way they ARE fresh.

Good tip, thank you. I guess that I was used to the "help yourself" that I've experienced on Royal Caribbean. Waiting in a line to ask for help is really not my preferred "buffet" style. As I've said, I saw someone walking around with an entire loaf of bread on their tray - probably got there late, like we always did, and couldn't find anyone to help. Plus, it was wait for your eggs, then wait or your toast....etc etc.

I will certainly cruise again, but I'll try to find out more about the food before I book.

For breakfast we had eggs Benedict, omelets made to order with smoked salmon and capers, made to order waffles, eggs made to order etc., croissants fresh squeezed juices, fresh fruit. Nothing wrong, great and efficient service. Certainly there were choices we passed on, but they are trying to appeal to 3,000 passengers from many different nations. There were certainly enough choices that we had to say to ourselves "I'll have to remember that tomorrow!" I think the OP focused on the choices that didn't appeal to them, but the choices were plentiful enough that we NEVER felt that we had to settle for anything, instead we had to be selective and not be gluttonous.

I don't eat anything as rich as eggs benedict - when I saw it, it looked like it had been sitting under lamps for a long time. Omelettes: I had one ONCE - I asked for a cheese omelette and I got a flat piece of egg with some cheese sprinkled on top. I didn't get the idea they knew how to make an omelette. I didn't see made to order waffles. I did see some in a dutch oven, though. I didn't have one because there was no syrup that was suitable. What did you put on yours? What they had there was simply sweet with no flavor to it. I agree that the fresh fruit was lovely, and I did have that every day. Croissants - I didn't see anything in the pastry area that looked fresh to me. I tried a danish one day - but it was not soft, it was hard with an egg wash on it. Very disappointing because I love fresh pastries. These looked and tasted stale. The cookies were no better. None were soft, all hard, none seemed freshly baked.

I had no desire to be gluttonous, just to have some fresh food with flavor. That was the problem, the lack of flavor. I have a feeling that they loaded up in Miami and didn't bring on much during the 2 week cruise. I don't know if that's true, but that's how it seemed.

The Dining room was just okay - nothing to write home about. Some of the items made me wonder if the chef knew what the dish was his staff was attempting to make. I saw the chef several times and it didn't seem to be a good idea to approach him, he looked pretty mean, with his arms folded, as if daring anyone to approach.

One thing - we got there late for lunch every day. It didn't make sense to me to go earlier than 2:00, because we were eating dinner at 8:30. Even though they said that lunch was until 3:00, there were times we got there and there was very little choice. I understand that they have limited staff, but if lunch is until 3, stuff should be available until 3! One day, my husband couldn't even get a sandwich, everyone was cleaning up and clearing out the dutch ovens. We had to search for someone with a knife to cut the bread.

It seemed to me that perhaps it would have been different if a lot of younger people were on board. Perhaps the food was flavorless because of so many old folks? I'm old as the hills, but by goodness, I want food with flavor. I'll probably die with a salt shaker in my hand. ;-)

I know I'm repeating myself, but when we had that fish in St. Kitts, we were about ready to lick the plate - that is when we realized exactly how bad the food on board was.

We had a wonderful time in spite of the food!! That's the good part. I did laugh when I saw that there were cooking classes <!!!>...Wow. I would have liked to take that pizza dough and show them how cinnamon rolls are made! Or proper pizza that is browned on top and underneath!

I just looked at your photos and the breakfast:eek: who on earth thought to serve that?! It isn't you, that looks really horrible!

Thanks for the comment! I was amazed at people that said the food was just fine! Ugh!

Our first cruise with Celebrity is rapidly approaching. We are by no means experienced cruisers, having just 4 previous cruises with Carnival, and we hope that Equinox is a better experience than Carnival. A big part of the experience that we enjoy is the food, Carnival was good, for us, but we are trying to switch it up, as the kids have left and we aren't looking for water slides and Dr. Suess. These posts make me worry whether we should have gone with a different line, but we will keep an open mind, and if not satisfied we'll try another. Until the grandkids want to go, then be back to Carnival or Disney.

I, for one, would be very interested in your experience. I do think that maybe a lot of my complaints were perhaps stemming from the fact that our cruise was 2 weeks long - that's a lot of food to provide over a long time. Good luck I hope you have a great time!

Can't speak to his logic but I expect the food on a cruise to be pretty darn good. Not expecting Peter Luger good but in the MDR I expect at least as good as a main stream chain restaurant (olive garden, outback etc). My expectation is the buffet food will be as good as any decent casino buffet. Again, I'm not expecting Caesars Palace or MGM Grand levels but I don't expect to see Golden Corral either. As much as we are paying I expect the food to be on par with most good land based restaurants. I've been pretty happy with most of the food on my Celebrity cruises but there's room to improve. The Mast grill on the Eclipse last Nov was pretty bad. If I were the F&B manager I would be embarrassed by that food, the pizza was also horrid. I'm no master chef but really, how hard is it to make a decent pizza or a burger?

There is no extra charge for the MDR any time of day.

Definitely, your logic is flawed and you have consistently compared apples to oranges. land based food to ship based. Two different worlds. I would be the last to claim shipboard food is haute cuisine, but you have literally gone overboard with many of your observations. My advice would be to stay on land in the future and spare yourself the pain of terrible food. in the middle of the ocean.

Hello - Funny that you feel the great need to criticize my complaints. I might have my fruit mixed up as you say, but I just wish I would have known before this trip that eating at the buffet was not going to be the fun experience it was for me in the past. That's all. I hope that if others see this thread and my comments on it, they at least are forewarned what the buffet was like for the Eclipse on the two week Southern Caribbean trip. They can see the photos for themselves and make their own mind up about it.

I also have had seen some similar feedback - which makes me think I'm not totally crazy. ;-) I had a great cruise, and it was a bargain. As I've said many times over, we had a very enjoyable time in every aspect except for the food.

If the food was so poor in the buffet, why on earth did you eat there so many times (27?)

We regularly use the MDR on sea days for both breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast and lunch daily except one day we had lunch off-ship and one night I had dinner at the buffet. I had a salad every day for lunch and hard boiled eggs for breakfast, mostly. Since I didn't like their food, why should I pay to go elsewhere on the ship? I never considered it. If I didn't like that it was flavorless, why should it be great elsewhere on the ship? I don't know, is my logic flawed? When we ate on St. Kitts, we paid $25 for a lunch - and it was wonderful fish, so full of flavor that we realized exactly how bad the food was on the ship. :-(

I asked once but I guess you missed my question: on what cruise line did the buffet and the food in general suit you?

Sorry! I thought I answered when I saw that I've only been on Royal Caribbean, and our last cruise was 3 years ago - so I have no idea if they've switched out their buffet foods for the pots we dealt with on the Eclipse. I was pretty happy with the food on my prior two cruises, no real complaints at all. I think that was part of my true surprise at how poor I thought the offerings were on the Celebrity Eclipse last month.

Wrong. There is a separate galley for the crew. Food not eaten from the buffet is composted and/or incinerated and disposed of.

 

 

I have been on Celebrity ships for about 70 nights over the last 2-3 years. I can say I have been in the buffet maybe 10 times? Including breakfast and lunch, never for dinner. The MDR does adequate breakfast and a good lunch. The buffet does do a better job on omelets and the Mast Grill does do a better job on burgers than the MDR. But overall I have found the buffet offerings to provide a good variety. Excellent french fries! Note my opening comment above - food put out at the buffet is discarded if not eaten by passengers; no reuse of the "leftovers", no passing it on to crew. If they were to put out 10-15 varieties of cold cuts and cheeses, there is just that much more waste to discard at the end of the mealtime.

 

 

My only issue with the Celebrity buffets was on a Silhouette transatlantic. A very popular speaker was scheduled for 1100-1200 in the main theater. So at noon several thousand of us headed for the buffet and the stock of napkin-wrapped flatware quickly vanished.

I was there - let's see - not 10 times, 27 times. I believe you if you say they compost it. There were usually people in line for a sandwich, for grilled meats and for salads, and I saw people waiting for pizza. Never anyone in line for all that other stuff in the pots. It was there day after day, the same stuff, it looked like to me - at the very least it all looked very similar. I'm not familiar with Indian food since I don't like it. Certainly the same exact 4 pasta sauces, never a change there in 2 weeks. It made me nervous, to be honest, and I only ate food that seemed fresh. I'm just reporting and showing pictures of my experience on the Eclipse from 1/8/17 until 1/22/17. Your mileage may vary.

What a great way and attitude to start any vacation experience. There are many dining venues on all cruise ships, especially Celebrity, to be too concerned. I am skeptical when I see people seemingly obsessed with complaining and carping about the "buffet".

 

When my vacation pivots around the details and pictures surrounding the buffet "dinning experience", I know I have too much time on my hands and far too much negativity going on inside me.

 

The buffet on Celebrity is no different, and probably better, than most cruise lines. It's a buffet, not fine dining, I think most rational people understand that.

Hmm. I think I'm fairly rational. I didn't eat the bad-looking food, for instance. I don't eat in the specialty restaurants and I have a "normal" room. I'm certainly not looking for a "fine-dining" experience in the buffet. But I would expect something along the lines of my local grocery store's deli department for lunch - and there was nothing there of the sort. The buffet was nothing at all like my last cruise 3 years ago on Royal Caribbean.

I don't mean to carp on it, as much as try to understand it. They don't expect people to actually eat those scrambled eggs, do they? Take a look at them in my photos! My guess is that a lot of this food is served to the wait staff, etc...it's doing duel duty. If the guests don't eat it (not many did from my experience) then they give the leftovers to their employees? They're trying to do more with less is my guess. They will be doing it without me on their cruise line in the future, unless I can figure out a way to get most of my food on-shore. The Eclipse was a lovely ship and my vacation was great, except for what you see in the photos.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/celebrity-cruise-lines-miami?hrid=rJqH9n7frKACrEHU_T8y4Q&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

What the hell happened to the Mast Grill on the Eclipse. It was really bad on our Nov cruise too. I've eaten there on the Equinox and Sostice and I don't recall those ships being this bad. Certainly not gourmet, but edible at least. The burgers on the Eclipse were like cork, I could have used them as a coaster and the fries were always cold. Funny thing is I don't recall all the crock pots in the buffet in Nov. Maybe I was just eating different stuff. BTW, a pot for Indian food/curry is pretty much normal but who the hell puts french toast in a pot? It was on a serving tray in Nov (and not really very good then either). You should have tried the English bangers, they were really good. but the black pudding was terrible;). I hit the egg station every day and got fried or poached eggs. Hard to screw those up too badly. There was some trerrible stuff on the buffet, but there was also some pretty good food there too. Oh, and I do agree on the pizza, that is a weak excuse for a pizza they serve.

 

The Eclipse was by far the worst of the S-class ships I've been on. I still had a great vacation but it will be a long time before I go back on that ship! I also thought the cruise director was a complete tool! (tool = not good for those not up on current slang)

Thanks for this response! I was wondering about whether these dutch-oven type pots were new, I was guessing they were. Nice to have my suspicions confirmed. I liked the Eclipse in all ways except the food. I agree that there were some good things - like the fresh fruit and the salad were mostly okay. But all those crazy pots! Food floating that shouldn't have been floating (IMO)! I don't eat a lot of heavy type foods at midday, so I didn't hit the carving station, which looked okay. The Paella they had looked super good, but it is just too much for lunch, IMO. I just wanted something that looks like my grocery store deli section - with different salads, hummus and fresh pitas, top-your-own baked potato, a taco bar, chips (this is a diet-buster for me, and I love them, doesn't anyone else?)...?? Sandwiches but no potato or corn chips?? Why NOT? It just threw me for a loop and I'm still trying to make sense out of it!

Wasn't there a fresh egg station? I had eggs bene (just 1) every morning in May.

Actually there were two such stations....both with long lines, and when you were done and had your eggs, you had to stand in line for toast. I tried it once - I requested a cheese omelette. What I received was a flat piece of egg with about 2 tablespoons of cheese sprinkled on top (not melted), not *inside* the omelette - just really scrambled eggs lightly sprinkled with cheese. :-(

Your pictures captured my thoughts about the buffet food. All overcooked in big vats in the back by cooks who shovel it into the dutch ovens.

 

One night my wife wanted a freshly cooked pork chop from the grill. The person behind the counter told her to take it from the dutch oven. I asked if he was refusing to cook a fresh pork chop? He said ok he'd cook it. She asked for it to be cooked medium. He disappeared then returned and said he could only cook it well done. They will serve no food before it's over cooked.

I was there one morning when one of the "helpers" was shoving the french toast into a vat. He was pressing down hard because there wasn't enough room in one vat for all his french toast. Strange, the British breakfasts each had many vats for their "fried bread" or blood pudding. I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was annoyed. I didn't let it destroy my vacation, but as you probably have noticed, I will go ON AND ON when I get a burr under my saddle.

Re: Your Wife's Pork Chop - Oh yes, she could have had one already in the vat - swimming in greasy liquid! I never saw so many swimming foods that I would ordinarily eat - like hamburger patties. I simply could not eat that stuff. Presentation is important! So I really can't comment on how well done everything was because I didn't really eat any meat at the buffet

Please tell me you're not the one that thought hash browns were fried bread? That might lead to a credibility issue lol

LOL! Well, if I remember correctly, there was a sign above the fried bread saying, believe it or not, "Fried Bread". If I got mixed up on the photo, it's not because there wasn't fried bread there! There was! I saw it! :-)

I must say that the cruise was a real education on what other cultures eat for breakfast. But I just wish they had covered the USA a little better. With more appetizing food. With flavor. Ok I'll give up now. LOL!

Here you go! More of my photos are on my Yelp review:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/celebrity-cruise-lines-miami?hrid=rJqH9n7frKACrEHU_T8y4Q

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=564868

Well the bread wasn't still warm but it had a hard crust with a soft center and you could tell they were baked that day. There were usually four types.

 

On the Equinox and Eclipse they were in a center island on the opposite side of the cold cuts/panini station.

Sounds just like what I like. Now I'm sorry I didn't try it. Thanks for the information though, if I ever find myself back on Celebrity, I'll remember the bread.

Thank you for this enlightening review. We were last on Celebrity in 2004, did not care for Infinity but was thinking about trying again.There are some interesting, longer itineraries but based on some of the comments, maybe still not a good fit for us.

You are certainly welcome. Actually the itinerary was fantastic, and we really enjoyed all the ports. Everything was great, except the food. To some people, the food might not be as important as other things. I just wish I had known before we signed up for this trip, that's all. I'm the type that reads the 1 star reviews on Amazon to see if what people perceive as faults are something I can live with. As always, YMMV.

I'm just asking because I'll be ticked off at myself for walking past it for 14 days if it was actually good! ;-)

I remember seeing loaves of bread, but never anyone there to actually cut it? Was it really fresh, or was it like the pastries?

I am wondering - where in the Oceanview were the "fresh breads"? I'm being serious. I didn't have anything near "fresh" except for the fruit. I bake bread - to me, fresh = warm and soft (hard crust). Was there seriously anything like that? If so, I didn't see it.

We just departed the Eclipse, my wife and I thought the Oceanview offering were as good as always. I would suggest you not cruise on Celebrity if it was "horrendous" in your opinion as it was typical. Fresh eggs to order, waffles, pancakes, English back bacon, regular bacon, hams, toast, bagels, muffins, cereals, fresh fruit galore, and many other choices every morning. Ham, beef, tacos, pizza, pork chops, steak, fish, chicken, salads, stir fry, Indian food, ice cream, deserts, special options each day, and many other great options for lunch. I did not have dinner there, but there was a theme each night as well as grilled fish, steak, and chicken.

 

The bottom line is that we enjoyed it and I do not think you can expect it to improve significantly. Which cruise line's buffets do prefer for comparison?

This being my first cruise on the Eclipse, I had no idea they had tubs of what looked like slop everywhere throughout the buffet. I've only cruised on Royal Caribbean, twice before, and they use trays for the food, or at least they did 3 years ago when I was on my last cruise. I see from your posting that you are probably British - perhaps there is a cultural difference? The pizza was not proper American pizza - it was not thin nor was it thick crust, and underbaked - it tasted as if it had been under lights for hours. Tough and the cheese was rubbery. The salad was good, but there was nothing crunchy like croutons for the salad. In the USA you never see a salad bar without croutons. I did manage to steal some from the area where they made a Caesar salad. Tacos? Have you eaten proper Mexican food? One day they had taco shells, chili, refried beans (beans were everywhere on this buffet, and I rarely eat them), and fajita meat too chunky to fit in a taco shell. Oh, and some "queso" which was melted cheese with no peppers, no flavor. How can you make a taco out of that, please inform me. The British breakfast was well covered, there were at least 3 stations for it with your grilled tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms and your black pudding, which turned my stomach when I looked at it (no offense intended, but you know what it looks like). When I went to get some french toast, there was only some type of syrup with no flavor. None! Just sweet. What is that stuff and where did they put the maple syrup for Americans? None to be found. I ended up eating a hard boiled egg daily and the fresh fruit which was very nice. The eggs 'made to order' were a hoot. Wait in line for a cheese omelette which was scrambled eggs with a tiny bit of cheese sprinkled over.

My biggest complaint, both the Buffet and in the MDR was that the food was 100% tasteless. I kept putting salt on things...my ankles swelled up....still, no flavor. How do you take flavor out of tomato sauce, I ask you? They did it, somehow.

You mention there is toast, muffins, etc. There was also yogurt, all of it Plain most days, and watery. The toast, bagels, etc, were a wait-in-line thing, with as I remember, only 2 stations going. On other cruises I've been on, the food is there in front of you and you take what you want. Were too many people eating too much food that way? Maybe! I'll bet that's why there are 2 long lines for toast now. The Muffins and pastry would usually be my favorite stop, but I didn't like these, they had an egg wash, I think? So they were that shiny, hard type of texture, and they all tasted stale. Where were the soft warm cinnamon rolls made with yeast dough? Somewhere onshore, I'm sure, because those pastries were not made on board. I'd bet my life on it.

I understand there are differences between the food we eat in the USA and what is eaten in Europe and when I travel in Europe I expect to eat their food and have no complaints. But this was a cruise with at last as many Americans as there were British or other Europeans and I kept wondering where is food that WE might eat? I don't eat heavy meats for lunch, pork chops for lunch? Yuck. I looked everywhere for the clever french fries they had on the Royal Caribbean ships...piles of them...none on the Eclipse. If there were hamburger patties they were swimming in fat, it was altogether a disgusting experience. I wandered around aimlessly with a plate in my hand and saw many people doing the exact same thing. With 2 days left in the trip - they finally had potato chips. ONE BOWL! OMG....LOL....that many are easily consumed in 15 minutes at a Superbowl party, let alone a ship with over 2,000 passengers!

What was just insane to me was the number of dutch ovens, big pots, pot after pot, filled with swimming beans, or some type of horrible looking stuff. Never would I even try such food - it looked terrible! I have photos which I have shared. My review was finally published, so you can see them there, I have more, too. But it was a big disappointment to me, and if this was typical, I'd guess I'd better stick with a cruise line that serves more American style fare - or at least makes an attempt at serving food for Americans. I had a great trip in every other way, but the food was complete inadequate in my view. I'm glad you enjoyed the food. Perhaps if I were from Britain or India I might have enjoyed it too.

I did think it was interesting that the prior poster said the buffet was great - but when I pressed him on what he ate, he said "baked potatoes". I thought - wow - where were they? I didn't see any the entire trip and that would have been a nice lunch. I did see some boiled potatoes however. Maybe the fact that I actually enjoy cooking and eating means I was expecting more, and I certainly was very disappointed in the food. Thank you for the wake up call and the response.