Celebrity's New Menu: I'm just the messenger.

[travelbug2225]

This May will be my frist time on Celebrity on Med cruise. I sail with Princess twice in the past. When I saw sample menu I was so excited to see Escagot and I kind of looking forward to that. I hope they sill have Escagot on my May sailing.

[CruisingChick]

attached are the new menus with the new font and reduced choice from Solstice, as posted by "CAVOK" on another thread.

 

This is in my opinion a cost cutting exercise combined with an attempt to lighten the workload on the galley and thus improving overall quality of the remaining choices. Some Celebrity veteran dishes seem to have reappeared, eg. Chateaubriant and lamb shank, which is good.:)

Shame though about the lobster bisque and strawberry soup, which I loved:(

 

Before making conclusions, I will try all 14 menus on my upcoming Connie cruise on 24/03/12. with an open mind.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222759&d=1329874696

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222760&d=1329874696

 

Thank you for posting the menus. They don't look too bad to me. Now if the quality of the food is lives up the anticipation we will be happy.

[CruisingChick]

i would have to argue that the real issue is whether or not what is on the menu is properly prepared and properly served. in my humble, this becomes an issue of how many cooks you have to service the kitchen and how many waiters you have to service the tables. We've seen poor food and service on the equinox because the staffing simply wasn't appropriate for the number of patrons needing to be served. If you have poor quality ingredients, disguising the fact in a gloppy, poorly executed "sauce" or cajun spices will not really mitigate the offense.

 

There is nothing wrong with simple, well prepared food made with fresh, high quality ingredients. Personally i'd like to see that direction explored; i think that more customers would be pleased and it would actually reduce costs since the number of "send-backs" to the kitchen would likely be reduced.

 

exactly!!!

[nuekruizer]

My first Celebrity cruise is in June and I read over the many threads on the menus and even bought the Excite Senses book looking forward to a premium food experience before booking. This sample menu looks mostly like inexpensive fish like haddock, spagetti, chicken and turkey parm as main entrees and wedding soup ( made from leftovers)! None of these entrees was in that book. Hopefully there is a better sampling on additional menus. We will have to wait and read the comments from future cruisers.:confused:

[cruizefam]

I can't seem to open the menu's - is there another way to see them - or at least one?

 

Disappointed that they would be getting rid of the chilled soups, escargot, and baked potatoes. ALL are or made gluten free and it will be one less thing available for those with gluten issues, :( :mad:

[Bridge Maven]

I would, also, rather see simple food prepared from quality ingredients than "gourmet" dishes prepared from inferior food. BTW - that is what Carnival does. Their food is actually very good, but not very "gourmet".

 

However, we live in an area where it is easy to find restaurants with gourmet food prepared from quality ingredients so I can survive a cruise without it.

[patty1955]

I would, also, rather see simple food prepared from quality ingredients than "gourmet" dishes prepared from inferior food. BTW - that is what Carnival does. Their food is actually very good, but not very "gourmet".

 

However, we live in an area where it is easy to find restaurants with gourmet food prepared from quality ingredients so I can survive a cruise without it.

I agree that I would rather see simple food prepared well. On our last cruise, some of the food seemed a little too pretentious and either poorly prepared or prepared with poor ingredients.

I'm looking forward to trying the new menus. Variety is a good thing. I, for one, won't miss the baked potatoes. They didn't have the texture I look for in a baked potato and, in fact, I read here on the board that they were boiled first,then baked.

My husband loved the fruit soups and will mix them.

[LouisV]

attached are the new menus with the new font and reduced choice from Solstice, as posted by "CAVOK" on another thread.

 

This is in my opinion a cost cutting exercise combined with an attempt to lighten the workload on the galley and thus improving overall quality of the remaining choices. Some Celebrity veteran dishes seem to have reappeared, eg. Chateaubriant and lamb shank, which is good.:)

Shame though about the lobster bisque and strawberry soup, which I loved:(

 

Before making conclusions, I will try all 14 menus on my upcoming Connie cruise on 24/03/12. with an open mind.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222759&d=1329874696

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222760&d=1329874696

 

Looks pretty yummy to me!!

 

Mo

[sarahc78]

Some of the options look quite tasty like Chateubriand, Cedar Plank Salmon, Filet, etc...other dishes are just ehhh and you can tell it is something thrown in because it is affordable Tilapia & Trout for example Dont get me wrong I enjoy Tilapia & Trout...but they are very affordable so we cook w/ it often.

 

There seemed to be quite a few chicken dishes also. Again love chicken but it is an affordable item that I cook normally 4 or 5 nights out of the week.

 

I also noticed some of the dishes where sliced/chunked steak & chicken would be served a top pasta, orzo, or potatoes to stretch the dish.

 

Very sad to see my favorite dish The Celebrity Filet has been removed as well as the seared Tuna.

[sailorboy05]

Having sailed frequently with Celebrity since 2007, I share many of the comments about food quality. I found a major decrease in quality, preparation, and presentation after the switch from Elizabeth Blau to Jacques Van Staden. Now it looks like they're changing for the worse again, without changing chefs. I will continue to watch this thread over the next few months, and make the determination whether to go through with my next booked Celebrity cruise this fall.

[New Hampshire]

I see lots of items on these menus that were on the menus of my last few cruises. There are some new additions and it seems there might be fewer choices than in the past, but I still find tempting choices on all of them.

[Bridge Maven]

I think the key to enjoying a cruise is to adjust your expectations and accept the fact that Celebrity has changed its business model. While I would prefer to pay more for a better overall cruise experience, without having to pay extra for specialty restaurants, I know that I am in the minority.

[CruisingChick]

I think the key to enjoying a cruise is to adjust your expectations and accept the fact that Celebrity has changed its business model. While I would prefer to pay more for a better overall cruise experience, without having to pay extra for specialty restaurants, I know that I am in the minority.

 

Then I'm in the minority also. Plus I don't think they would have to increase the price that much to improve the food quality greatly.

[cruizefam]

I can't seem to open the menu's - is there another way to see them - or at least one?

 

Disappointed that they would be getting rid of the chilled soups, escargot, and baked potatoes. ALL are or made gluten free and it will be one less thing available for those with gluten issues, :( :mad:

 

I had a chance to open the menus on a diiferent computer. There are several days that there isnt an option with appetizers that are gluten free - and even more importantly so many entrees that contain gluten - so much pasta or rissoto and such! I am sure they will still have to do special diets by ordering the night before.

 

Everything is changing, I just hope it is for the better and not because of cost cutting measures, most cruisers can tell when lines do that. I dont like to be dimed to death with every little thing. If food is included in my cruise fair, I should expect not to have to fork out money for it to be prepared well, tastey, and in my case safe for health reasons. I will be on the summit in June, I am hoping it is still modern luxury as they have been stating that celebrity is.

[judyfssw]

Wow, it looks like the size of the menu has really shrunk. I remember when we would have soup and then salad and then the main entree. Yes, times have changed.

[sarahc78]

Host Andy have you heard anything yet?

[frediver]

When on a cruise I always like to try new items but after reading the posted Menu's I found a few blank spots where nothing appealed to me or sounded worth trying, that is where the potato's fit. Potato's are a fall back item, if nothing else works at least they will. Potato's are a generic item that can be topped in many different ways and are always acceptable to most everyone.

I do not believe the weight saving suggestion as it relates to elimination of potato's on the Menu. As a request item rather than a "free choice" they should have a place.

[calliebear99]

I think the new menus look tasty (better than the lunch I am eating right now). Much better than the Royal cruise I went on this winter. I wasn't a fan of the cold soups- seemed like drinking a smoothy- and I did not like the lobster bisque- there was never any lobster in it- so I am fine with the changes.

 

I understand having favorite dishes, but I think having or not having escargot is kind of a silly reason to pick a cruise...that is a lot of time and money spent on snails....I would hope other factors are more important. If the escargot is that important you should look into a trip to France instead of a cruise to the Caribbean :)

 

I am looking forward to my trip in November. Hopefully by then all the changes will have been ironed out!

[TNVolTD]

Wow, it looks like the size of the menu has really shrunk. I remember when we would have soup and then salad and then the main entree. Yes, times have changed.

 

I don't think the menu has notably changed in size from where it has been the last few years, and the menu has not had separate soup and salad courses for several years. Rest assured, though, the new menus still have two different soup and salad choices each night (in addition to the the every night options), and your waiter will gladly bring you one of each if you would like both soup and salad.

[Brad1185]

Then I'm in the minority also. Plus I don't think they would have to increase the price that much to improve the food quality greatly.

 

I'm in the minority as well. Very disappointed that Celebrity downgraded their menus in the name of cost cutting.

[In Range]

Maybe this is a way to further increase the difference between Celebrity's main dining room and specialty restaurants, to encourage more people to use them.

On an airline board I frequent, one of the running jokes is that when Delta makes changes like this, as they frequently do, it's always spun by the airline as an "enhancement." Kind of like adding a bag charge but giving the elites one free piece is an "enhancement." We've had many "enhancements" the past few years.:rolleyes:

[Giorgi-one]

attached are the new menus with the new font and reduced choice from Solstice, as posted by "CAVOK" on another thread.

 

This is in my opinion a cost cutting exercise combined with an attempt to lighten the workload on the galley and thus improving overall quality of the remaining choices. Some Celebrity veteran dishes seem to have reappeared, eg. Chateaubriant and lamb shank, which is good.:)

Shame though about the lobster bisque and strawberry soup, which I loved:(

 

Before making conclusions, I will try all 14 menus on my upcoming Connie cruise on 24/03/12. with an open mind.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222759&d=1329874696

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222760&d=1329874696

 

These are pretty much the same menus from our recent Silhouette cruise with the numbr of choices reduced. The problem for us was not so much the number of choices but the quality of the actual food. Ribeye steak was about 1/2 thick and tough - I ordered it medium rare and it came medium well. Fish dishes were mushy - probably frozen and not defrosted correctly. I wanted to order sirloin steak but my waiter warned me that it was tough. Soups were mostly watery. I had the onion soup 12 out of 14 nights. Deserts were really nothing special. Baked Alaska and Cherries Jubilee were especially disappointing - essentailly some melted vanilla ice cream. It would be a really good think if they reduced the choices but improved the quality.

[tunaman2011]

I'm in the minority as well. Very disappointed that Celebrity downgraded their menus in the name of cost cutting.

 

Greetings

 

I am not sure who is the real minority here. Celebrity could switch to serving cubed steak everynight and the cheerleaders would still be going RAH RAH RAH. It is disappointing to have done extensive research before selecting a cruise and then potentialy have significant changes to one of the major reasons you chose Celebrity. Seems a little like "bait and switch". I will keep an open mind and see how it turns out, but I am concerned.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[A Sixth?]

People are going to starve!!! :eek::p

 

The humanity!!!!

 

 

 

[Ontario Cruiser]

I dare say that I have been sailing other lines and am just now thinking of coming back to Celebrity. Compared to the menus I have had on the other lines these look fantastic. I showed them to my wife and see also was delighted to try these too.

Clark

You are so right. We were on the Westerdam in November and Grand Princess in January. We are looking forward to our Summit cruise in November as the food in MHO is much better on Celebrity. We were on the Summit last year at this time.

Ontario Cruiser