MDR and food quality on Eclipse (non-speciality restaurants)

[frqttrvlr09]

I have read several recent reviews of sailings on the Eclipse describing the food in the MDR, as well as in the "buffet", as pretty awful, and ditto for the food from the room service menu. For those of you who have sailed on Eclipse, is that food really that bad? It is not economically feasible for me to eat in a specialty restaurant every night.

[Project_gal]

We will not be on Eclipse until the same cruise as you but if you check out the reviews in the review section of Cruise Critic you will see that those from the recent Caribbean cruise are extremely polarised. [NB Not all reviews are posted on the Celebrity board.] They appear to be rated either 2 or 5 for food on exactly the same cruise. In fact, the overall ratings for this one cruise are also polarised with some 2 and the rest 4,5 or 5+. For some reason, there seems to have been a small group of very disgruntled people on that cruise and we are waiting for the reviews from the cruise ending today for a more balance view.

 

Sue

[frqttrvlr09]

Ah, Project_Gal, got it. I had the same perception. Good plan. We must meet. Like minds, not stalking.

[Miss Martha]

We have been on the Eclipse twice this year and 6 times in total and the food in the MDR and self service restaurant has always been excellent. Just go with an open mind as people's expectations and tastes are very subjective. She is a lovely ship and I hope you enjoy

[Kevnzworld]

I have noticed those negative Eclipse food reviews as well. I'm on the Dec 29 cruise too. I wouldn't have believed that there could be that much difference in the food between ships until my last voyage. I liked the Ocean View buffet on my two previous cruises, but it was noticeably worse on the millennium.

The Asian Delights, normally my favorite station was terrible.

[hopeless holiday booker]

Went on Eclipse summer just gone - thought the food fantastic - well extremely good! I thought the buffet was also excellent. I have salad most days for lunch and the chose is really good. Wait and see for yourselves.

[popoopski]

My husband and I just returned from sailing on the Eclipse. We have been sailing with Celebrity since the Meredian. (37 with Celebrity).

The food on this sailing, in our opinion, was not up to "Celebrity" quality and standards. The buffet in the Oceanview Cafe had the same variety everyday (got kind of boring). The restaurant was not open for lunch during port days so the choice of where and what to eat was limited unless you wanted to pay extra for a specialty restaurant.

The Sonata Restaurant menu mediocre and the food was not the quality we have always found on Celebrity. Service in the Tuscan Grille for the Elite breakfast had very poor service until we complained and then the service improved.

My husband has a food allergy to cheese much like people with shellfish and peanuts. We were the first people in the Tuscan for breakfast and all he ate was cold cuts and immediately got an allergic reaction and used his EpiPen and after asking the Capt. Club hostess if the cold cuts were sliced on the same machine as the cheese and finding out it was a great possibility he ended up in the ship's hospital with his throat closing up, blood pressure and oxygen level dropping to dangerous levels and then the remainder of the week had an infection and flibitis from the IV.

If anyone is taking express walk off be prepared (if they do not change their procedure) to walk your luggage down from Deck 3 to Deck 2 and be told that if you cannot carry your luggage you should not be on Express Check Out. This is the first time we have ever had to "walk" our large suitcases down the stairs.

[bbqoug]

My wife and I were on the 11/9/12 sailing of the Eclipse.

We both thought the food in the MDR was very good. The specialty restaurants (especially Murano and Qsine) were better, but we both agreed that we would have been happy dining in the MDR every night.

The lamb dishes were especially good, and the Beef Wellington was the best we have had on a cruise ship.

We didn't eat in the buffet much for lunch, but I thought it was good for breakfast. The only downer being the semi-chaos around the cook to order egg and omelet station.

Overall, we thought the food compared quite favorably to our previous cruises.

[Burkyone]

Just got of the Eclipse, thought the food in the MDR was excellent. it seemed that they were really trying to push the specialty restaurants. We ate at the Tuscan and the Murano on this cruise and both were not crowded. When the food is that good in the MDR why use the other restaurants.

[Seadays Rock]

Please don't worry, the food in the Moonlight Sonata dining room is absolutely perfect. I've only completed one cruise on Eclipse TA, but travel extensively globally and 'am fortunate to stay in excellent hotels and eat at least once a week in recommended restaurants. In my opinion the food in the MDR compares very favourably with reputable restaurants on land. The beef Wellington was the best I've had - ever.

 

I didn't waste money in any speciality restaurants, except the Bistro on Five. I've read some of the recent reviews too and wonder what those reviewers eat when not at sea and where they obtain the level of service they experience.

 

My guess is they don't get out very much!

[celle]

I have read several recent reviews of sailings on the Eclipse describing the food in the MDR, as well as in the "buffet", as pretty awful, and ditto for the food from the room service menu. For those of you who have sailed on Eclipse, is that food really that bad? It is not economically feasible for me to eat in a specialty restaurant every night.

 

Any assessment of food is subjective, so you will get differing opinions.

 

However, on our cruise, the quality of food in the MDR was excellent.

[clo6216]

We were on the Nov. 9 Eclipse sailing and found the food in the MDR to be very good (though admittedly not "excellent" as it has been on past Celebrity cruises). The service was fantastic, though, and that made our dining experience very pleasant. We also ate in Murano (extraordinary), Qsine (unique and delicious), and Tuscan Grille (not good). My husband liked the variety and quality of the Oceanview buffet for breakfast and lunch. I'm not a "buffet person," so I stuck to room service for breakfast and either Aqua Spa Cafe or the pool deck's burgers and hot dogs for lunch. Yum. Don't let a few chronic complainers dissuade you from taking a cruise on the Eclipse or any Celebrity cruise. There are always lots of choices.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I just got off the Eclipse December 1. I thought the food in the MDR was quite good. The beef was excellent. I did not order the escargot because my tablemates opined that it lacked garlic. We also ate in Qsine and Bistro on 5. I didn't find the quality of the food to be substantially better in either venue, but the presentation in Qsine was certainly interesting.

[samiii]

My wife abd I just got off the Eclipse Dec. 1, after a 14 Day druise. We found food in main dining room to be excellent. We felt no need to dine at a specialty restaurant. We were however disappointed in their lack of on-board activities. We have been to the Carribean many times, so we seldom go ashore anymore. If you stay on board the only offering was Trivia. No lectures or even movies. If you weren't a reader you were stuck. The lecturers were also uninspiring on the sea days they appeared. they could have offered classes on computers,I Pads or photography at little or no rxtra cost. In my review on board I told them we would not be back. Seems a shame when everything else was great. samiii:cool:

[tanelicus]

I thought the food in the MDR and Oceanview to be pretty good. I thought the two steaks I had were not very good, however the others were pretty good. For fun I ordered the Yukon Gnocci- stay away - bland and awful.

 

The Oceanview could definitely use a variance. Overall buffets in most places are the same fairly foods day in and out. The breakfasts were high quality. Stay away for dinner, unless you really like eating from a selection of the same couple things.

 

Overall not bad, so don't worry. I'm critical and I found it pretty good. Have fun !!!

[retiredtogolf]

Did the April T/A on the Eclipse in AquaClass. We love eating in Blu but did eat several nights in the MDR and thought the food there was good as well. I do however feel that overall the quality has dropped some in recent years. But many CC writers have said the same about all cruise lines.