Dissatisfied Friends Returned from Millie

[smudge's mom]

We're on the Mercury Monday and I'm not anticipating gourmet served to the masses. It has to be most difficult to get all those people served within the time frame - especially when all the orders go in within the same half hour. The appetizers, salads, and desserts have to be pre-made. And the entrees have to be made in mass and put under heat lamps. There would be no other way to do it and still get everyone served in a timely manner.

 

We've been on 8 cruises - on Celebrity in 2003. As I remember, the meals on Celebrity were pretty good. The desserts were also pretty decent. Unfortunately, the bread basket was mundane. That was a major disappointment.

 

Nothing was outstandingly wonderful - nor horribly bad - yet, we enjoyed our meals. It's all in the expectation. And anyway - how bad can meals --cooked - served - and cleaned up -- by others be. Not having to do the work? Priceless.

 

You shouldn't take the word of someone who says the food was not edible - nor should you take the word of someone who says everything was superb. It skews one's expectations.

 

I always tell people - expect sit down dinner mass produced wedding food. Better than those fast food restaurants mentioned above, but no Ruth Chris.

[Senga]

and if you don't like what you get, you ALWAYS have the option of sending it back! We have two choices at home; take it or leave it.

[tbelian]

I always tell people - expect sit down dinner mass produced wedding food. Better than those fast food restaurants mentioned above' date=' but no Ruth Chris.[/quote']

 

My apologies in advance. I HAVE to make a comment about the comparison to 'wedding food'.

 

I (we) do some stuff in the wedding biz. I have (fortunately or unfortunately) been to more weddings than I care to count (MY DW did recently). I'm attending the wedding as a 'vendor' not a guest, so I can comment unbiased about the food.

 

There has not been ONE wedding that I attended where there was any fair comparison between wedding food, and cruise ship (particularly Celebrity) food. The wedding fare was typically far WORSE than anything I've ever eaten on a cruise ship, and the 'options' were ALWAYS few and far between (beef, chicken , chicken or beef?). Soup (blah), salad (more blah), rarely if ever an appetizer, and desserts were.... ummm. wedding cake??!!...

 

Sure, the amount of people they have to prepare for is both HIGH when you say wedding, and HIGH when y ou say cruise ship, but, I have YET to attend a wedding with 1700+ guests. There is NO menu at a wedding where you have choices, and I have not seen one thrid of the stuff on the wedding buffet that I see on the celebrity buffet.

 

This 'comparison' of cruise ship fare to wedding fare is just not even close.

 

In My Opinion.

[turtlemichael]

everyone needs to take a lesson in tolerance. Perhaps you also are living in a vaccuum about other racial slurs and anti-semetic comments that people make publicly that they live to regret. This is one thing that reading these boards over the years has taught me, that there is still alot of bigotry in this country. I even once e-mailed cruise critic in reference to them allowing remarks to appear. I was surprised to get no response, and would expect them to sensor the board for certain remarks that should not be made in public.

 

Thnak you Robinsilver for your comments and shame on virtually everyone else in this thread for ignoring the issue.

[canderson]

Thnak you Robinsilver for your comments and shame on virtually everyone else in this thread for ignoring the issue.

As I read the original message, the whole thing appeared to me to be a "troll", designed specifically to produce a response. Such posters are to be challenged or ignored, but I prefer the latter -- it's the former they're after.

[niborHS]

Michael, thanks for your response/agreement. Canderson, I usually assume someone like that really is making what they feel to be legitimate comments. If you watch The Apprentice, you may remember what happened with one of the women because of her remark.

For whoever it was who said that you don't get choices at weddings, I guess you haven't been to the ones in NY. Its true that they are often over the top, but I will say that a good caterer can do a great job on food for 300 people. Now, that's probably why Crystal and Raddisson are known to have very good food.

[10XCRUISE]

January 30th my wife and I leave on our 13th cruise in 8 years. Been on Cruise Critic for 5 years which is still a valuable source of information. You can see that I seldom post but we read this board constantly for a couple of months before each cruise.

 

Let's all use some self control and return to the roots of these boards which has somehow escaped many of the posters.

 

1. No name calling

2. No slurs

3. No arguing

 

Just hold hands when we cross the street & look both ways.

 

Chill everyone....

[canderson]

Canderson, I usually assume someone like that really is making what they feel to be legitimate comments.

 

Perhaps I've been doing this too long (long before there was a WWW), and have come to read everything through a careful filter, and extremely contradictory statements always leave me skeptical.

 

In Page 1 of this thread, SisZ tells us

 

> I don't need fancy food, a good bottle of olive oil and some

> artisan bread and olives will go a long way in our house but-

> the best things to eat on this cruise were the soups and the

> sherbets. The apps in the main dining room have been plated

> up toooo early, the salads were limp, and the meat was

> nothing special.

 

After that, would you think that SisZ would use an adjective like "fabulous" for the cuisine on that cruise?

 

Considering that SisZ had the following to say on 8 January in another thread here on Cruise Critic, and given the "waffle" posts, I chose to take the entire post in this thread (along with all others by this poster) with a grain of salt.

 

> Thanks, ya'll, for being so positive. We didn't have a terrible time,

> the food is fabulous, and we met some wonderful folks!

 

(http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=79060)

[CaptainHobbes]

I just returned from the Jan2-9 cruise in the Millenium and found the food outstanding. I can't imagine what your friends found unsatisfactory.

Our friends, along with two other couples were on the January 9 Millie sailing. They were extremely unhappy with the dining room food. They were told by the new head chef, that Celebrity has changed purveyors. The desserts were inedible! This is the first time they lost weight on a cruise!!! These are seasoned travelers- 10 cruises a year!

Any comments??????

Thank you,

M&M's

[niborHS]

I guess your right Canderson. After doing some detective work, that's pretty interesting to notice. How was it fabulous one day, and terrible the next. What I always say is that some people seem to think that Cruise Critic means they have to criticize. I am looking forward to our trip 2/20, and am sure that I will not starve, and maybe it will not be a bad idea if I do. I can always get McDonalds in San Juan, just a short walk from the ship.And I think we can do that in Nassau too. I can eat fast food burgers just as easily as fine cuisine.

[canderson]

I am looking forward to our trip 2/20, and am sure that I will not starve, and maybe it will not be a bad idea if I do.

My wife is always annoyed with me on these trips in that I inevitably eat more than I do at home, but manage to come back with a net zero gain. One thing for sure -- as there's a guarantee of having their rack of lamb one night, I know I won't starve that day. I've NEVER been disappointed in that meal (and you get it twice in two "flavors" on 10+ night trips). I always save the waiter a trip and tell him in advance that we'll be needing "doubles".

 

Never thought much of the lamb steak, though.

[SANDY BEACH]

CaptainHobbes, Very glad to hear of your recent experience of good food. I'm not looking for the best restaurant in town, just an experience equal to what I encountered 3 years ago. I wouldn't care at all for myself but when you encourage others to try a certain ship you do feel responsible for the outcome. Keep those positive posts coming.

[SEPyle]

Oh I love these boards! This thread went from a simple post stating someone had a less than favorable experience with food on a Celebrity ship asking for comments. Then we had people pretty much attacking M&M's for suggesting food may be going downhill on X, to someone asking if there were any recent cruisers on the Mill...sure enough we have one such response. Now we'll attach the responder...then teasing about the waffles(that one was the best, thanks for the chuckle)! And then thanks Lois for your signature positive twist, saying it just like it is...cruising isn't for everyone!

 

Please though let me end with this: I've met the M&M's and I do know they both love Celebrity and posted this thread hoping it's not a trend, simply a bad week in the food department on the Millennium!

 

 

[Ma Bell]

You're right, these boards are funny. You know the M&Ms, so you know what they were thinking about what their friends were thinking. Now if we could only get someone who knows you to validate your thoughts we'll be sure we all know what the people who actually traveled thought.:D

[babylene]

But if someone would validate SEPyle, wouldn't we then need someone to validate the validator?

 

I can't believe all the fuss about the food. From my experience...and I have never sailed on any other line, so I can't compare.... to my taste...some of the food is yummy, some is fair, and some is awful. So far I haven't starved!

[seagulls]

Most people love cheesecake. Whereas, I hate it and for me it is inedible. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that others (like my husband) wouldn't find it absolutely delicious.

[SEPyle]

But if someone would validate SEPyle, wouldn't we then need someone to validate the validator?

 

I can't believe all the fuss about the food. From my experience...and I have never sailed on any other line, so I can't compare.... to my taste...some of the food is yummy, some is fair, and some is awful. So far I haven't starved![/quote

 

All I can say is AMEN!!! I will say it again...I love these boards!

 

SEPyle

[starsjohn]

Hey ShipsRGreat, The docs for the Millie Feb 6 trip are here! I have to start my diet now for all that great food awaiting us. I will start my first morning with waffles covered in Blueberries. I usually eat lunch from the spa menu which was just great on the Summit. I also plan to have custom cooked dinners at least two nights in the specialty room.

 

John

[debbyg]

Did you dine at specialty rest. last cruise? Did they have still have the Choc. Souffle.

[Ships R Great]

John, I may have misunderstood but I think our group is being treated in the specialty restaurant one night. I hope so!

[ladysail2]

I know SEPyle and can validate her comments. Who will validate me??? :D

[SEPyle]

Ladysail, I'll validate you any day! How about we start validating each other at the Martini Tasting on the Summit when we meet again for our Alaska adventure! (;

[LovetheSea]

We just spoke to a friend of ours who works for Celebrity cruise lines. She said they have NOT changed the company who supplies the food for the cruise line.

[Lois R]

Debby......Hi..yes, I had dinner at Oceanliners last month.....The food was spectacular (in my opinion;) )

The dessert.....it was a grand marnier souffle, I think there was a miscommunication at our table...I remember when it came to the table, a few of my tablemates thought it was supposed to be chocolate.

But I thought it was DELICIOUS.

 

They did bring chocolates to the table though.......YUMMMY:D

[cod]

Here's another IMHO...here goes. Brief history..7 cruises to date. Two Carnival, 2 NCL, 2 RCL and 1 Celebrity which was this past November on the Galaxy. I think my expectations might have been a little too high for this one and I definately had too long to anticipate it..8 months. On a whole the food was good for 11 days but fell apart on day twelve.

 

Lunch in the dining room on day 12. I ordered ravioli which was described as being in some wonderful sounding sauce. NOT. It came looking like condensed Campbells tomato soup had been smeared on top. I looked at it and said 'looks AND smells like CTS'. Worse though, it tasted just like CTS! For the first time in 7 cruises I asked for something else. (And the bread was stale).

Dinner in the DR on day 12. (More stale bread). I ordered a beef tenderloin dish which, again, sounded good. It was large pieces, not slices, and there was no part of it I could chew! My husband tried a piece and insisted I ask for something else although I honestly wasn't very hungry. So for only the second time in 7 cruises, I sent a meal back again.

 

Did all this ruin my cruise? Of course not! Will I cruise Celebrity again? Possibly but, to be honest, I'm not that gung-ho on it being Celebrity over any one of the other lines, which to me all had better entertainment.