Downgrading of Aqua Spa Cafe

[2SeaAll]

Anyone else notice and upset by the changes?

 

We were on Silhouette in December - overall a wonderful cruise; not perfect by any means, but with all the challenges of a holiday cruise and all that could go wrong we were favorably impressed on balance. Given the pricing challenges that Celebrity has in a very competitive market, IMHO Celebrity is doing a great job striking the necessary balances.

 

We (and my wife more than anyone) were upset by how the once innovative Aqua Spa has been converted from a cost center delivering a wonderful assortment of alternative, light, tasty foods into what is now a profit center delivering a greatly scaled back selection of included foods. To make matters worse, the charged items were not of great interest to us. Taking the Aqua Spa out of our lunch (and sometimes breakfast) rotation downgraded our lunch routine.

 

One further nit - Celebrity, please bring back the wonderful onion rings to the Mast Grille.

 

None of these are show stoppers, but there needs to be a point at which the constant cutbacks stop and reason and good judgment needs to be applied to changes of offerings.

[Iamthesea]

We did notice a downgrade to the AQ Café food when on the Century last September. The café has always been a favorite place of mine to eat.

 

Yum...I have been on many cruises, but do not ever remember seeing onion rings at the grill. :(

[gdpups]

I agree, we used to love eating lunch at the Aqua Café, but on our last cruise nothing was appealing, so didn't eat there once. Very disappointed!

[dodger1964]

I really missed the grilled to order salmon. That was my favorite dish of entire cruise.

[20pluscruises]

Anyone else notice and upset by the changes?

 

We were on Silhouette in December - overall a wonderful cruise; not perfect by any means, but with all the challenges of a holiday cruise and all that could go wrong we were favorably impressed on balance. Given the pricing challenges that Celebrity has in a very competitive market, IMHO Celebrity is doing a great job striking the necessary balances.

 

We (and my wife more than anyone) were upset by how the once innovative Aqua Spa has been converted from a cost center delivering a wonderful assortment of alternative, light, tasty foods into what is now a profit center delivering a greatly scaled back selection of included foods. To make matters worse, the charged items were not of great interest to us. Taking the Aqua Spa out of our lunch (and sometimes breakfast) rotation downgraded our lunch routine.

 

One further nit - Celebrity, please bring back the wonderful onion rings to the Mast Grille.

 

None of these are show stoppers, but there needs to be a point at which the constant cutbacks stop and reason and good judgment needs to be applied to changes of offerings.

 

ITA with your wife....we also did not eat once at the Aquaa Spa Cafe on the Reflection Christmas cruise...a real let down. It use to be our daily lunch on every cruise, and something we looked forwrd to on Celebrity.

[ghstudio]

Essentially the new aqua spa cafe is a salad bar with some other terrible IMHO other choices such as deviled eggs (dried out on top) and lettuce rolls that had so little lettuce you couldn't even pick it up, forget about rolling. They really ruined this great light breakfast/ lunch venue. "Modern luxury" not....

[20pluscruises]

Essentially the new aqua spa cafe is a salad bar with some other terrible IMHO other choices such as deviled eggs (dried out on top) and lettuce rolls that had so little lettuce you couldn't even pick it up, forget about rolling. They really ruined this great light breakfast/ lunch venue. "Modern luxury" not....

 

Thank you! ITA, I have been getting beat up everytime I dare mention a cut back

Edited January 12, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[GRBlizz]

I was the only one in our group of 6 who found anything interesting in AQ Cafe this time, so I never got to eat there after the first time we tried it. But I did want to comment that my BIL asked for, and received, grilled to order salmon in Oceanview every day.

[20pluscruises]

I was the only one in our group of 6 who found anything interesting in AQ Cafe this time, so I never got to eat there after the first time we tried it. But I did want to comment that my BIL asked for, and received, grilled to order salmon in Oceanview every day.

 

You use to get it in the Aqua spa cafe..why not now, it they can do it in the oceanview?

[keesar]

I really missed the grilled to order salmon. That was my favorite dish of entire cruise.

 

I second that! The salmon was outstanding. It was healthy and tasted really good. I would have that along with cold fruit soup. Last time, I was so disappointed that I actually had a burger from the Mast Grill. Although the patty looked rather ... interesting.... it actually tasted good when I loaded it with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup,mustard, relish, mayo, and a beer.

[20pluscruises]

I second that! The salmon was outstanding. It was healthy and tasted really good. I would have that along with cold fruit soup. Last time, I was so disappointed that I actually had a burger from the Mast Grill. Although the patty looked rather ... interesting.... it actually tasted good when I loaded it with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup,mustard, relish, mayo, and a beer.

 

I thought it looked like mystery meat, too. It definately was different than what they use to serve.

[Ruthk]

Yes, I noticed last year the Mast Grill quit serving the crunchy onion rings - I missed them also and wish they would come back on the menu. Also we didn't have guacamole either and 1 loved to have them by the pool. And as for the Aqua Spa food, it really was a disappointment and I thought their desserts were not as good as other years, but on the positive side, I liked the self serve ice cream machine there.

[need2bespoiled]

I really missed the grilled to order salmon. That was my favorite dish of entire cruise.

 

There was no signage for it on our most recent cruise (Connie TA) but whenever I ordered grilled Salmon or Tuna it was delivered cooked as ordered too my table for me to add to my salad or other items that had. I did notice the Aqua Spa was not quite as nice on Connie as the M Class ships, but since it was our first M Class cruise, we were hoping it was just because of the different (smaller?) configuration.

 

Did you ask for Salmon or was it just not listed as an option? Maybe that had a challenge provisioning it?

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

[20pluscruises]

Yes, I noticed last year the Mast Grill quit serving the crunchy onion rings - I missed them also and wish they would come back on the menu. Also we didn't have guacamole either and 1 loved to have them by the pool. And as for the Aqua Spa food, it really was a disappointment and I thought their desserts were not as good as other years, but on the positive side, I liked the self serve ice cream machine there.

 

Do you by chance remember when it first beagan...I still crave the black bean tostados from Aqua spa cafe.

 

No more nachos either at the mast grill. Only hot dogs, some kind of hamburger patty meat, and fries...that's it. :( I don't know if anyone else felt this way...but dear lord, I was afraid to order from the soup **** of Reflection Mast Grill. No soup for you!

[d4m]

Essentially the new aqua spa cafe is a salad bar with some other terrible IMHO other choices such as deviled eggs (dried out on top) and lettuce rolls that had so little lettuce you couldn't even pick it up, forget about rolling. They really ruined this great light breakfast/ lunch venue. "Modern luxury" not....

 

Word. Went once on TA that ended in December on Equinox. So much less in the two years since we had been there last time. Cut backs obvious, for sure. Once was enough - didn't bother again.

 

Frankly, we LOVED the burgers at the mast grill. Opted for them twice instead of dinner. Burgers, hot dogs and fries were all fresh, hot and great! No onion rings:mad:

[lovemylab]

I went to the Aquaspa Cafe for breakfast last month on the Equinox and when I placed my order I was told there was a $5 charge for the item I wanted. I chose a different item - also told there was a fee. I left and went to the Oceanview Cafe.

 

If Celebrity is going to charge a fee for eating here:

 

a) this should be clearly indicated in the daily newsletter (like they do with the specialty restaurants and Bistro on 5)

b) they should have prices clearly marked on a menu

 

I also mentioned this on the guest comment card on the ship.

 

We love cruising, but the cutbacks along with the nickel and diming is getting ridiculous.

 

Flame away, but I'd much rather see an increase in cruise fare then having to constantly pull out my seapass account everytime I want something that used to be included.

[wedding96]

I used to eat breakfast and lunch there daily. Very disappointed at the changes they made at the AquaSpa Cafe. Used to be one of my favorite features of Celebrity.

[keesar]

No more nachos either at the mast grill. Only hot dogs, some kind of hamburger patty meat, and fries...that's it. :( I don't know if anyone else felt this way...but dear lord, I was afraid to order from the soup **** of Reflection Mast Grill. No soup for you!

 

I thought I was the only one thinking like that! I was asked if I wanted fries and I said "no thank you". I got the look. The fries came anyways. I also had wanted to ask why the patties were "marinating" in a pan of a fluid but I dared not ask. But the meat still tasted real good.

[chamima]

Anyone else notice and upset by the changes?

 

We were on Silhouette in December - overall a wonderful cruise; not perfect by any means, but with all the challenges of a holiday cruise and all that could go wrong we were favorably impressed on balance. Given the pricing challenges that Celebrity has in a very competitive market, IMHO Celebrity is doing a great job striking the necessary balances.

 

We (and my wife more than anyone) were upset by how the once innovative Aqua Spa has been converted from a cost center delivering a wonderful assortment of alternative, light, tasty foods into what is now a profit center delivering a greatly scaled back selection of included foods. To make matters worse, the charged items were not of great interest to us. Taking the Aqua Spa out of our lunch (and sometimes breakfast) rotation downgraded our lunch routine.

 

One further nit - Celebrity, please bring back the wonderful onion rings to the Mast Grille.

 

None of these are show stoppers, but there needs to be a point at which the constant cutbacks stop and reason and good judgment needs to be applied to changes of offerings.

 

Yes, I noticed last year the Mast Grill quit serving the crunchy onion rings - I missed them also and wish they would come back on the menu. Also we didn't have guacamole either and 1 loved to have them by the pool. And as for the Aqua Spa food, it really was a disappointment and I thought their desserts were not as good as other years, but on the positive side, I liked the self serve ice cream machine there.

 

We are vegetarians and the grilled salmon or tuna at the Aqua Spa Cafe were my favorite things for lunch.

 

We haven't cruised since they eliminated them but certainly hope the info about being able to order that at the Oceanview is correct.

 

I also miss those wonderful onion rings but my hips probably won't. ;)

[fiona page]

yes we to miss the the tuna and salmon cooked to order we really loved having lunch there. We also miss the little sandwiches at cafe de bacco but i guess everyone has different choices that matter to them.:p

[20pluscruises]

I thought I was the only one thinking like that! I was asked if I wanted fries and I said "no thank you". I got the look. The fries came anyways. I also had wanted to ask why the patties were "marinating" in a pan of a fluid but I dared not ask. But the meat still tasted real good.

 

LOL! Maybe the heat was getting to them? Yes, the burgers did taste pretty good...just different looking than I remembered from past cruises. I only had the burger once...I was too scared to go back. :eek:

[kevinyork]

OH is a fish eating Veggie and ate at the Aquaspa cafe every lunch for the Salmon. Very disappointing.

 

I see the menu on Xs website still shows the cooked to order items.

 

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/menu/AS_menu_1.pdf

Edited January 12, 2014 by kevinyork

[Brad1185]

I used to eat breakfast and lunch there daily. Very disappointed at the changes they made at the AquaSpa Cafe. Used to be one of my favorite features of Celebrity.

 

We'll said I agree very disappointing. With all of the complaints I heard on a couple of cruises I thought celebrity would have changed back to the way it used to be.

 

The aqua spa cafe was deserted half way through the cruise.

[SnowshoeCat]

I'm sorry to read these posts. I'm going on the Connie in a few weeks - my first cruise with X. I don't choose my cruises for any one element, but I admit the Aqua Spa Cafe is something I was really looking forward to.

[kevinyork]

I'm sorry to read these posts. I'm going on the Connie in a few weeks - my first cruise with X. I don't choose my cruises for any one element, but I admit the Aqua Spa Cafe is something I was really looking forward to.

 

A cruise is about lots of different enjoyable elements. As cruise lines chip away at little extras it does spoil the overall enjoyment.