Just back from silhouette, observations.

Had a nice week on silhouette. Missed the connections get together, feel asleep on deck.

Here are my observations from a first timer on Celebrity. Just my thoughts no need to shoot the messenger, again observations.

-underwhelmed by main dining room menu selections and service and food. Close to 2 hours for dinner, food sub par.

- lawn club and Tuscan grill excellent however too pricey. $45 per person. Then we got a random $10 charge on our account. I am disputing this charge as I received no receipt nor any idea of what this was for.

-spa extremely expensive and chintzy with offering you a promotion then not billing you correctly.

-embarkation easy, would do concierge class again.

-loved the ship. Layout wonderful and easy to get around.

-bartenders didn’t know how to make drinks from the ships drinks menus.

- no corned beef at lunch buffet or anywhere on the ship for St Patty’s day, disappointing.

-received wine in room gift no opener received to open it, had to ask, attention to detail needed.

-captains club host never at her desk especially on sea days. Hard to get time with her.

-disembarkation easy also. Need more cabs available though.

-one night entertainment labeled comedy, we rushed through dinner to make the show and it was an awful production show, please label shows properly on the daily sheet. This show should have been labeled a production show. We thought we were going to see a comedian.

-Carl banks comedian was excellent as was the gentleman’s singing group.

If Celebrity would up its game and improve food in dining room I would go back. Unfortunately the food was not as good as on other lines in the main dining room and spending $90 a night to eat at specialty restaurants too pricey to add to cost of cruise. There’s been talk of the line putting effort into specialty in order to make more $, this is evident. I have added to my post cruise survey.

Just my thoughts, I really wanted to love Celebrity as the ship itself is fantastic. I just feel food is a big part of a cruise and with the high prices Celebrity is charging, I can’t rebook at this time knowing the food is so so in the main dining room and to guarantee quality you must pay $90 a couple to get great food.

Thank you for your observations. We are awaiting our first Celeb cruise soon. I am sorry the food was disappointing. We are big foodies and are looking forward to enjoying the cuisine!

May I ask what you ordered specifically? We could avoid having a bad experience possibly;)

Thanks!

Thank you for your observations. We are awaiting our first Celeb cruise soon. I am sorry the food was disappointing. We are big foodies and are looking forward to enjoying the cuisine!

 

May I ask what you ordered specifically? We could avoid having a bad experience possibly;)

 

Thanks!

Prime rib first night disappointing. I ordered the salmon two nights as I didn’t care for menu entree selections in the dining room,. Specialty restaurants excellent.

We just got off as well.

Overall we had a very nice cruise.

Ship in excellent condition, extremely clean.

Our MDR experience was pretty good.

We had an excellent waiter and assistant.

Beef and duck dishes very good.

Fish not great. Always found something to our liking.

Ships staff very friendly and accommodating.

Service was top notch.

Only 3 complaints.....

#1 PLEASE do not try to sell specialty dining while we are still seated at dinner. Pretty tacky. I can handle the upsell while walking around etc. But not at the dinner table. I told dining manager it was like time share sales in Mexico.

#2 complaint is cigar smoke drifting everywhere at sunset bar. One day I counted over 12 lit up at once. Could not escape even on non smoking side.

#3 is behavior of very intoxicated passenger in casino final evening.

He is a high roller so staff ignored his

disruptive behavior. I spoke to casino MGR regarding this as they said nothing to him. All they did was let bar staff serve him more drinks as he signed for thousands more in chips. They just gave me lip service when I met with them later.

What happened to the guest conduct policy, is he exempt??

Thank you for your report.

Keith

Thank you for your review and sorry that the sailing did not have the wow factor you were hoping for.

While food is subjective, what matters is how it tasted to you. We have had several sailings on X and the food has generally always been very good. Even with me being a vegan, they have gone out of their way to accommodate. Even last year on Millie, the pastry chef Wendel went out of his way to prepare deserts each and every day for me... even cafe Al Bacio could not keep up with the demand for them.

Service can be a hit or miss as well. I have had some of those issues before on X as well, yet it took a few minutes to get this corrected for sure.

Enjoy your future sailings regardless of the line you choose.

bon voyage

We sailed the Silhouette end of January for 9 nights and had my time dining without reservations. The first night while in line we met another couple and ate with them. We like to eat earlier rather than later. The second night we had to wait almost an hour to be seated. We went at 5:30. After speaking with the maître dee, we were able tyi get a reservation for 5:30 the 3rd evening. We would then have to make reservations each evening for our next night. We went to the desk in our side and were told no availability for 5:30, went to the other side and had no problem making a reservation for 5:30. Did they not have the same computer system??

The food was mostly good. We had prime rib twice and good both nights. Lobster was free flowing. Several nights I would change my sides and was never a problem. We did not eat at specialty but could get 30% off at Tuscan any of the nights.

Entertainment was hit and miss.. We don't go to a lot of the shows as we've seen so many.

We had the classic drink package and never had a problem getting a drink.

I'm NOT shooting messenger, OP. In fact, I agree with some of your points.

We've enjoyed the MDR food on X more than any other mass market cruise line, except HAL in the old days (not anymore) and MSC (which is decidedly a cruise line and MDR that doesn't work for everyone.)

I'd like to ask, without sarcasm or malice: which mass market had food in the MDR that you feel is better? I'm GENUINELY interested.

We sailed the Silhouette end of January for 9 nights and had my time dining without reservations.. We like to eat earlier rather than later. The second night we had to wait almost an hour to be seated. We went at 5:30.

 

We would have left.

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Had a nice week on silhouette. Missed the connections get together, feel asleep on deck.

 

 

 

Here are my observations from a first timer on Celebrity. Just my thoughts no need to shoot the messenger, again observations.

 

 

 

-underwhelmed by main dining room menu selections and service and food. Close to 2 hours for dinner, food sub par.

 

- lawn club and Tuscan grill excellent however too pricey. $45 per person.

group.

 

 

 

If Celebrity would up its game and improve food in dining room I would go back. Unfortunately the food was not as good as on other lines in the main dining room and spending $90 a night to eat at specialty restaurants too pricey to add to cost of cruise..

That is what many are saying. We no longer eat in the MDR, however, we have had the MDR everyday selections in BLU, so have had some of the food and haven’t had a problem. That was mainly the chicken, steak or escargot.

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Will be sailing 1st time Celebrity and Silly in April and am reading reports on her with great interest. A general theme seems to be that the food has dis-improved which is disappointing as Celebrity has always prided themselves on being a luxury mainline cruising company. I will go with an open mind..

We were also on the Jan. 19th sailing. As said many times before, food impressions are suggestive. That being said, I do have to agree with others in saying that Celebrities food quality and service in the MDR has slipped since the infusion of all the speciality restaurants. Seems to me, they want everyone spend the money on these restaurants.

Rollie

Just back from Reflection and we would agree with a lot of what has been said. The dining room is a big issue for our group. We don't want to be at dinner for 2 hours. No matter hwo we tried to communicate that to our wait staff, the timing didn't change.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Our first cruise on the Silhouette will be in December.

Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts.

Just back from Reflection and we would agree with a lot of what has been said. The dining room is a big issue for our group. We don't want to be at dinner for 2 hours. No matter hwo we tried to communicate that to our wait staff, the timing didn't change.

The wait staff do seem to aim for a nice restaurant pace, though I’ll admit we too have sometimes thought it went a bit long. You’re lucky you weren’t on Celebrity a decade ago, when there were more courses;).

I am curious. How much time do you wish to spend on dinner in the MDR? We’ve spent two hours on dinner in many fine restaurants, especially when dining with friends.

The wait staff do seem to aim for a nice restaurant pace, though I’ll admit we too have sometimes thought it went a bit long. You’re lucky you weren’t on Celebrity a decade ago, when there were more courses;).

 

I am curious. How much time do you wish to spend on dinner in the MDR? We’ve spent two hours on dinner in many fine restaurants, especially when dining with friends.

hi,

I'm a director of catering at a private club. I host banquets and food service for a living. We do 1 and 1/2 hours for a standard 3 course dinner. 2 hours is a bit much.

Here's the thing, when we finished dinner, my husband and I sat for close to 20-25 minutes before any acknowledgement from waiter or assistant, clearing our plates, asking about coffee and giving us dessert menus, this happened several nights. One night we missed the 9 PM show due to this. We sat at 7 PM for dinner.

As far as mass market, MDR menus are pretty consistent on each cruise line 5-6 entree choices. Tilapia with chile powder is not my fish of choice, as chile would make it too spicy for me. I tried to eat fish each night. Tilapia is not the fish I would eat, as per the chef I work with who tells me it's garbage, cheap and not a good fish. The day of embarkation lunch, they served salmon which was good but then it was the the fish choice on the dinner option, and I didn't want salmon again for dinner. So I went with the PRIME RIB as I didn't want salmon again.

MDR menus usually include a homemade pasta as an option for entree, one night was spaghetti and meatballs, not ideal. On Princess the pasta was unique and homemade. The pasta at tuscan grill was fantastic and homemade. I would have loved to have had a homemade pasta one night as an entree.

I am by no means a food snob. I enjoy the dinners with the cruise as its something new I won't cook myself is what I look for. I just felt the selection was basic and taste of food was sub par for a cruise.

Oh and I agree about the cigar smoke. I sat outside sunset for the sailaway and who sits next to me was a cigar smoker. They have the smoking seats on the shady side of the ship too!

We sailed Silly in Dec, our first Celebrity cruise. LOVED the ship, service, bars and Ocenview Cafe. What a great food selection and quality. Only ate once in the MDR on the first "chic night" and had very good quality filets cooked perfectly. Service was efficient and friendly. We were out in about an hour with passing up desert. I too would like to know what mass market line has better MDR food than Celebrity currently.

Well, the shady side does change.... Regarding the Captains Club host/hostess, the Daily program lists the hours they are at their desk...generally two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Sorry you did not find Celebrity to your liking.

The wait staff do seem to aim for a nice restaurant pace, though I’ll admit we too have sometimes thought it went a bit long. You’re lucky you weren’t on Celebrity a decade ago, when there were more courses;).

 

I am curious. How much time do you wish to spend on dinner in the MDR? We’ve spent two hours on dinner in many fine restaurants, especially when dining with friends.

Unless you dine in fine restaurants with friends every night for 7-21 nights, no breaks, that analogy doesn't fit. We've also spent 2 hours or more dining, but like once a month, maybe. Not every night.

Well, the shady side does change.... Regarding the Captains Club host/hostess, the Daily program lists the hours they are at their desk...generally two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon.

 

Sorry you did not find Celebrity to your liking.

It's not that I didn't find celebrity to our liking. I would easily become a convert if they fixed the food. I would consider them top notch if they did.

Unfortunately the CC host was never at her desk at the hours listed; that's the only reason I mentioned it.

I have found Princess and HAL food excellent and I do enjoy the chilled soups on Norwegian.

Again as in vacation I enjoy eating what I won't cook or it's too hard to cook. Can't say I found it on celebrity.

We felt the food in the buffet was great, especially for lunches and the buffet was the best organized of any ship I've been on.

I found Princess' food to be the worst of any cruise I've been on. If you look at my signature, there are several different cruise lines. That was on the Regal, their newest ship.

We also just got off the Silhouette. Our group said they liked the MDR very much and no one really felt the need to pay $50 more to got to a specialty restaurant. We ate there every night except San Juan night, where we ate on shore.

As with all ships some things are hit or miss and you get lucky. We had a great waiter and was very vocal about what to choose and what not to.... - he tended to be correct for our tastes. I only had one bad meal - the roast lamb on formal night was very tough and dry, but other meals were excellent. The beef shanks were melt in your mouth. My daughter had a korma that was incredible (I got a taste ;)). The steak diane on the last night was really good as well. Just ask your waiter, they know what people tend to send back. Coffee always came luke warm :(. Desserts were better than in the past :D.

Only had lunch in the MDR once and had BBQ ribs - just so so.

Buffet- Really like the layout of the buffet and food was good, much better than the Royal Caribbean cruise we were on last month.

Unless you dine in fine restaurants with friends every night for 7-21 nights, no breaks, that analogy doesn't fit. We've also spent 2 hours or more dining, but like once a month, maybe. Not every night.

You’ve missed my point. And if you’ll re-read my post, I believe you’ll realize this. I asked an honest question of roysue, because I was curious about his or her answer. Don’t distort my post by implying I said something that I did not say.