Equinox Buffet/Other Dining Review - 2/7/11 Western Caribbean

[jackdiamond]

I value your reviews you have written, but when you have people paying less then 600.00 for a 7 night cruise week after week to fill all cruise lines ships what can you expect? We have sailed on many lines and travelled all over the world resorts, and all inclusive resorts and we have found the buffet selection ( not a buffet person) more then great on X,

 

If we wanted food made at amazing levels we would sail on 600 guests or less ships because its easier to cook and prepare at those passenger levels. Comparing a large cruise ship to any boutique or Large restaurant is really next to impossible. We are paying less then 1500.00 for our Aqua class stateroom in a few weeks and for what we eat and how much they offer and entertain us with I am sure we will be more then happy.

 

The Pizza on our last Celebrity Sailing's we have enjoyed even more the our Pizza everyone said we would love on Princess. My family owns a specialty Butcher store in the city thats really well known, so I am used to great standards with foods, I just don't expect that and like my mom says if its food she wants she knows you have to pay for it! Specialty dinners on large ships ( which I know you enjoyed:) ) and book small like on regent, Crystal etc...

On what ship are you paying less than 1500 for Aqua class? Also, is that per person or per couple?

[espo56]

On what ship are you paying less than 1500 for Aqua class? Also, is that per person or per couple?

 

Seems very low. I had the same reaction and question when I read this.

[Alsmez]

For a week long cruise I would expect AQ to be less than $1500. In fact, when we booked our 11-night on Equinox, I believe AQ was only slightly more than $1500 (although the prices went up quickly and dramatically).

[SusieV]

On our 11 night Equinox, AQ was around $1200pp most of the time. We were three in the cabin though so we took a C3 for the same price (for persons 1 and 2). AQ is not always more expensive.

[Baybear]

To the OP: Great review and comments that followed. DW and I were on the Celebrity Eclipse in late January 2011 and I found the comment on fruit interesting... We tried the fruit one time in the breakfast buffet, and I never had any cantaloupe, honeydew melon, or pineapple again during the cruise since their texture was almost "crunchy," they were dry and had no sweet taste or much flavor. For example the pineapple in Hawaii is outstanding and I use that as a benchmark. I realize they can't get pineapple of that quality, but the pineapple we get at COSTCO in Pennsylvania year-round is much better than the ship's was.

 

Your observations and tastes are "spot on" and I appreciated all your comments and "findings."

[jose&des]

greetings. and thank you every much for a great rundown. i enjoyed reading about it, and will look much harder to see whether your idea about inprovements have taken place.

 

i wish every one had a full report like yours.

many thanks: josefa and des dyer from australia

[KruzPrincess]

I was on the Equinox in November. I ate most lunches and dinners in the buffet since I couldn't get into Select Dining. I agree with most things you said. I often eat in the buffet on Princess and while it's not fabulous, it's pretty good and much better than Celebrity. I've had lobster tails, beef Wellington, lots of fish/seafood and filet on the dinner buffet on Princess. Princess has great bread and pizza. I was disappointed on the Equinox. Lunch was better than dinner by far. I had a couple breakfasts there and it was OK. Waffles and fresh eggs were good. Breads and pizza were disappointing. Pasta bar items were normally way over-cooked. I never took one dessert because they were so unappetizing and I'm a sugar addict. I did take a couple cookies back to my cabin a couple times. Desserts were very disappointing. I love salad bars and they had a good one at lunch. At dinner, the salad was uneven and often the dressing bottles were empty. Dinner buffet was limited. Meat from the carving station at night was often dried out. They didn't have good fish at the buffet at all and only once did they have tartar sauce. I asked for tartar and they just said no. They had burgers and dogs sitting in the trays and the buns were totally dried out. I certainly didn't go hungry, but it wasn't what I expected. The buffet seems so huge that it surprised me how limited the food was. And, I never thought that much about it, but the fruit really was blah. I don't understand that.

[gilmanalex]

Food subjective and I guess we like crap pizza? Not sure pizza is a treat for us we rarely eat it but I like it in celebrity, and in Italy and a few places in Toronto.

 

We're with you guys. I lived in Manhattan long enough to (think) I know what good pizza is. I don't consider Dominos and Pizza Hut actual pizza. Though I have been known to eat them while consuming copious amounts of beer.

The pizza we had on Celebrity isn't an amazing life-changing experience but I thought it was decent. So I guess I like crap pizza too :)

 

Mass produced food is never comparable to boutique restaurant food. I think as the consumer you should compare it to catered food. On that note, in our opinion Celebrity does a better job than most catered food at weddings or other events.

 

I do have to agree that a lot of the deserts lack flavor and are more show than anything.

 

We're doing AQ to see if the food will be a little more restaurant quality and not so catered tasting. Having said that, I can't say the food is bad or sub-par. You have to know what you're getting into.

 

If you want "good" food there are other options such as specialty restaurants which are quite good. I was shocked to hear people we've made friends with stating "this is one of the best meals I've had" in reference to Tuscan Grill. It made me think "I really wish I could show you some places in Seattle". :P But the food was REALLY good.

 

So I guess the point of my post to the would-be Celebrity cruiser is don't expect amazing restaurant food in the MDR but do expect good quality "catered" food.

[Alsmez]

So I guess the point of my post to the would-be Celebrity cruiser is don't expect amazing restaurant food in the MDR but do expect good quality "catered" food.

 

I agree with this statement entirely and I tried to judge the MDR as I would any catering hall, not a real restaurant. However, when it comes to the pizza, I think it fair to judge it as I would any pizza, since it's not being produced in the same way the MDR food is. No reason at all that they can't do as well as Pizza Hut, and IMO, they didn't even come close. Perhaps it varies from ship to ship and sailing to sailing, but I didn't enjoy the pizza on Equinox even when drunk, and I generally enjoy just about ANYTHING when I'm tipsy!

[retiredtogolf]

We are on April 1 10 day Ultimate Eastern and only paid $1299. per person for Aqua Class in November. Also got a $125 credit off fare bill as a Captain's Club member. This was less than all CC cabins when I booked. It was a resident rate, I'm from Virginia....

[brian_uk]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your opinions of food on board and as a regular traveller on the smaller Ships I can say that the problem in the buffet is much the same regarding being served lukewarm. Same problem ....smaller ship.

 

My only disagreement is with your suggestion of passengers making their own grilled sandwiches. For my part, the less anybody touches things....the better.

 

Brian