Summit Buffet: Erase my memory! (rant)

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Just got back from our Bermuda cruise on Summit and I’ll write a review during the week.

 

I apologize in that we usually read and write quality reviews here and I will do that but all day today I’ve been wanting to get a rant off my chest:

 

THE SUMMIT BUFFET FOR BREAKFAST AND LUNCH IS JUST AN EXPERIMENT IN STUPIDITY. IT’S LIKE THEY ALL GOT TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT “HOW BADLY CAN WE SCREW THIS UP”.

 

Most of the cruise was wonderful as my future review will say but for now, I’d say Celebrity can learn from Carnival, NCL, or the average 6 year old selling lemonade on how better to organize a buffet.

 

Thanks for reading my rant. Review later. The buffet was so bad I almost feel ‘angry’ at it, lol. Wish I could just forget about it.

[jayoldschool]

THE SUMMIT BUFFET FOR BREAKFAST AND LUNCH IS JUST AN EXPERIMENT IN STUPIDITY. IT’S LIKE THEY ALL GOT TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT “HOW BADLY CAN WE SCREW THIS UP”.

 

How about some details? Have you been on M class? Is it different than before? What's the story?

[bjinouno]

was the food BAD or the set up to get things? ahhh I leave on Sunday... and I'm Hungry!

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Sorry for lack of detail and I promise a full review mid-week.

 

Buffet was good at 7am, when no passengers were there. But other than that, the selections were far less than 4 years ago on the same ship. Also, they “pre-plate” the food so instead of scooping nice hot curry or potatoes into your plate, they’re already sitting their in bowls, luke-warm. Things like butter would be ‘out’ all the time. The lines were longer than usual. Organization was bad for example: Next to the waffle station is water mellon and fruit. Ok, cool. Waffles, syrup, and mellon. But if you want sausage or meat, then you get your waffle after waiting in a long line, THEN you go wait in a new line for meat, and then you realize you gotta go back to the waffle station for butter, and hopefully they haven’t run out. And then, you’ve got the ever so wonderful NJ crowd to navigate thru - they are oh so courteous.

 

Lunch time: Fish n Chips? Ok, get the pre-plated fried fish. Want fries? Gotta go all the way out to the pool grill - again navigating thru the courteous NJ crowd.

 

In fairness, waffles were yummy, omelettes yummy. Some of the food was very good so I’m not knocking that. I’m a total fatty and love buffets but my mid-week, I’d go to buffet with DD, get her a half-warm hot dog, and not eat a thing just cause I was so tired of it. BUT, I’ve also learned thru these boards that many passengers aren’t that demanding. They’re ok with long waits, they’re ok with cold food, they just sort of go with the flow. As a businessman, I guess thank God because maybe i’ve over-estimated customers lol. I guess the ‘easy people’ are a blessing and I should market to them more.

 

But my overall cruise was good, as was MDR service so all wasn’t bad. the Buffet was an Oasis of Stupid in the middle of an otherwise nice cruise ship and crew.

[Redtravel]

I also just got back today from a cruise on the Summit. The Buffet was terrible. It was a mess. It was like a scavenger hunt. Each day was different. The omlette station moved to a new location each day. The people serving the food did not know what they were serving. Some items had signs. Many were signless. The new tins containing food were everywhere. It may be an attempt to contain handling food....or it may be an attempt to limit portions. There were no trays. The tray railing along the buffet was gone. Help carrying food was very limited. Many food items were missing. The limited staff was obviously overwhelmed. Each day there was a dessert theme. One day cakes, another cupcakes, and another fruit sticks with dippings. I never found bread pudding, sugar free jello, or pies. The worst day was "pudding" day. I hate pudding. On that day, dessert in the buffet was various puddings. After that day, I avoided the buffet completely. Many people did the same. The MDR was very crowded for breakfast and lunch. Everyone that I spoke with complained about the Buffet. Also, the pool grill serving in tin baskets was poor. The first day, the baskets had paper liners. After that day, the food was tossed into the tins without liners. I am not sure when the Buffet service changed. i was on the Eclipse in January. On that cruise the Buffet was nice. I hope that Celebrity reads these postings. The changes in the Buffet on the Summit were awful. Fortunately, the MDR is still very good. The Bistro on 5 is also still nice. Bistro has gone to $7 cover. If you eat there on the first day, you will pay sales tax. In NJ, add 7%. Eating in the Bistro is still nice.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

It’s like a competing cruise line has put their agents in charge of Summit’s buffet and the mission is to screw it up really, really bad. I just can’t fathom how such a great company, and even a great ship that is obviously well managed vis a vis food could let it be so glaringly bad.

[lovemylab]

I also hated the buffet on the Summit when we sailed on her last year. After day 3 we stopped going .

 

Things were too spread out and the layout was very frustrating. They had some stations that were self serve and others where the staff would serve you. On many occasions they didn't have enough staff at all the stations so there would be long waits.

 

On our sailing when the staff served you they each insisted on giving you a new plate - so if you wanted chicken, a small side salad and a slice of pizza you would end up going to 3 different areas and as a result end up with three plates. If you wanted butter chicken served over hot rice you would need to go to the Asian section for the rice (1 plate) then go to the opposite side for the butter chicken (which they would put on a separate plate). It sounds like they've now decided to go with pre-plated bowls.

 

Until X improves this area, I doubt we'll book another cruise on an M class ship unless it's a very good itinerary at an unbeatable price.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

loovemylab…

 

Is the buffet better on S class?

[Lois R]

loovemylab…

 

Is the buffet better on S class?

 

The buffet on the S class ships is set up in "stations".....you can

look around and go from station to station to see what appeals to you.

[hcat]

Wow....not good news, we try to avoid buffets and we preferred the buffet layout on M class because it was not a scavenger hunt and had trays...always amazing how they sometimes put out the dressing bottles in a spot before the salad offerings causing everyone to double back!

 

Sounds like a mess on Summit. Glad the cruise was good overall!

[Iamcruzin]

OMG! I couldn't agree more. We don't usually eat dinner in the buffet but one night we decided to try it. My wife got a baked potato and had to walk to the other side of the buffet for the sour cream. Why it was at the grill I couldn't tell you because there was nothing at that station that would require sour cream. The selections in general were bleak and most of the day the buffet looked like the picture below. I'm spoiled by the buffets on Princess with a real bar.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mapleleafvoyage]

OMG! I couldn't agree more. We don't usually eat dinner in the buffet but one night we decided to try it. My wife got a baked potato and had to walk to the other side of the buffet for the sour cream. Why it was at the grill I couldn't tell you because there was nothing at that station that would require sour cream. The selections in general were bleak and most of the day the buffet looked like the picture below. I'm spoiled by the buffets on Princess with a real bar.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Totally agree, we also were on the May 11-18th cruise to Bermuda. and were VERY disappointed in MANY things on this only our second ever cruise, and our first on Celebrity.

 

The buffet had "hours" that the meals were served. If you missed the time frame, you had very limited choices, pretty much pasta and pizza were there if you missed the lunch or dinner hours. One day we went in the buffet at around 1130am for the great caesar salad, they had their blinds down, and the line was building with hungry people. Right at 12 noon it opened, and it was a nasty swarm of people to get your food. We didn't stay and fight the large crowds, we went out to the pool deck and picked up a basket of cold burger and fries, again no trays, so had to balance these odd baskets with a drink and cutlery..

 

The fresh fruit needed a fork and knife to eat.. the pieces were so large you had to cut them, (unless you picked up one of the very awkward stainless steel dishes that had smaller pieces in them), and then you had to balance them odd shaped dishes on your plate, wobbling everywhere, because there were no trays.

 

Most juice machines were empty of different flavours throughout the day/night. Had to wander around to each drink station to find your choice of drink. Most ice stations were hit and miss, many were out of order.

 

The service in the buffet was odd, the tables sat dirty a lot. We were scolded more than once for doing the wrong thing, once was at the stir fry for placing our dish on top of the glass. And another scolding came from choosing the wrong bowl to put items in. And my husband was scolded in the MDR for placing an empty dish inside another empty dish during our dinner, he was only trying to help make it easier to take them away, since they were clearly too busy .. The food was good, but it took forever to eat in the dining room.. and water glasses sat empty, waiting for refills.

 

Overall a nice cruise, but for us, not a notch above our cruise on Explorer, as many said it would be.

 

 

.

[Redtravel]

For those who have sailed on Celebrity before May 11th:

 

The Summit Buffet is completely different from any other Celebrity Buffet. It is so different. Less food, often cold, moving stations, tins everywhere, less service, and fewer signs. It becomes a wild hunt for food. Breakfast on other ships is set up thesame each morning. Once you know where the omlette station is located, you can visit it everyday. Not on the Summit. Here today, someplace different tomorrow. Toast, butter, etc. was always in a different place. It felt like the Summit Buffet was an experiment. If this is Modern Luxury, then celebrity missed the mark. Other changes were good. I like the new chaise lounges, new tote bags, new toiletries, and 54Below entertainment. Overall, I had a nice time. If you go on the Summit, be prepared for a very different experience in the Buffet. I got tired of listening to everyone complaining about it.

[bobsfamily]

On the Connie this past March it was the same every day. Well not exactly, each station would have something different at lunch but breakfast was easy to navigate as the omelet station was at the same place each morning. Salad did seem to have the dressings in reverse order but otherwise pretty good. Hope it stays the same for our cruise next Feb.

[gi_pam]

We only ate at the buffet twice, both for lunch. Plus I picked up sushi and pizza for snacks a couple of times. We ate breakfast and dinner in Blu, and moved around at lunch - pool grill, MDR, Bistro on 5, one lunch on shore in Bermuda. DH isn't a buffet fan, I can take or leave them.

 

I actually liked the little cups/dishes of food concept. I'm sure it reduces the spread of germs and manages waste. The time we ate at the pool grill (Wednesday, I think...) they had the little papers. DH grabbed some chicken from there on Friday after sail away from Bermuda and it had a paper in the basket.

 

I had pasta one day and it was excellent! DH had Caesar salad and said it was good. The fried calamari a different day was not overly hot. The cake pops were very yummy! I forget what else we had but it was generally good. I can see the complaints about temperature, based on the calamari, if that was typical. I didn't have to run around finding what I wanted for what I was eating (condiments, etc), but that would be annoying too.

 

They did have problems opening on time. The days we ate in the Oceanview, it was for speed and convenience, rather than taking the time to sit in the MDR and be waited on, sot it was frustrating having to wait. The pool grill was about 10 minutes late opening the day we ate there. The pasta bar was about 10 minutes late opening the day I had pasta. The same day, the panini bar was late opening too. The day we ate at the pool grill, the head chef was there once it opened and he was helping serve the food! There were about 10 of us hovering once it opened and he was asking us all what we wanted and handing us the food.

 

About the lines and crowds, though...I've never seen a buffet on a ship that didn't have lines and crowds (which is why we avoid them). The line for the sushi on day 2 was outrageous. But that was at 5:30, right when they put it out. The other times I went, I went at about 6:00 and it was no problem. Right at noon, the line for pizza was bad. At 12:45, just walk right up and get a slice.

 

I can see if you like traditional buffets this would be a big disappointment. It's very different. But not being a huge fan of buffets, I liked it. If they can work out the kinks.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited May 19, 2014 by gi_pam

[JEDIKNIGHT]

That’s a good point re ‘modern luxury’. All sarcasm aside, could that be it. As a guy who listens to 60’s and 80’s music, and only started texting 2 years ago, I’m hardly ‘modern’ so I can only hypothesize:

 

*Perhaps the ‘modern’ set wants everything quickly. They like using an “app” and getting things fast. So perhaps spending 3 minutes to wait for a fresh burger off the grill is off-putting to them, and they are good with food that’s lukewarm or cold because it’s been sitting there for ‘convenience’.

 

*Perhaps the ‘modern’ set is so busy working, keeping up with modern needs from tech gadgets to NorthFace jackets to designer labels, that they aren’t worried about the quality or temperature of food. Perhaps the thought of lingering at a lunch table, enjoying food slowly or conversing with significant other spooks them, when they’d rather be updating their Facebook or whatever? Again, I’m totally ‘out of it’ where it comes to this lifestyle so I’m only hazarding guesses.

 

My hope is that many people voice this buffet complaint in their comments to Celebrity be because I believe Celeb to be a quality company that would respond. But IF they glean that people are willing to accept this…..well, this will become the norm.

 

And other CruiseLines will do the same.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Indeed it reduces germ spreading. But if Noro is on the ship, OR I am hacking away coughing…. you may not share a spatula with me at the buffet, but anything from your menu, to elevator buttons, to railings, to doorknobs are tainted. If you are really careful and don’t touch any of that stuff, my germs are still in the air.

 

To each his own. But if I eat unhealthy stuff….say french fries. I’d like them to be hot and crispy, not pre-put in a bowl for 15 minutes. Ditto stuff like Thai or Indian food. Celeb put some nice dishes out there daily as they always do. But for this writer, it loses appeal when you can tell it’s just been sitting there, and not even under heat lamps.

 

Who knows. Maybe in the future they’ll develop ‘alternate buffet’ with up-charges. I know it sounds unrealistic but when you look at the advent of up charge restaurants, why not buffets also.

[Turtles06]

Is the buffet better on S class?

 

YES. Our first Celebrity cruise was on the Eclipse. The buffet was wonderful. The physical layout with separate stations was very smart, and the food was excellent. Our next X cruise was on the Infinity (an M-class like the Summit). Our reaction to the buffet was pretty much the same as yours -- it was absolutely horrible.

 

They old time physical layout without separate stations contributed to the problem (the buffet always seemed crowded), but it was also very badly run. Although breakfast was supposed to start at 7am, it wasn't until nearly 7:30am that they had many of the foods out. On one of those mornings, right there in the buffet, I spoke to the Mgr about this, pointing out all the places where there were no staff (including no one making eggs), and he just sort of stared at me.

 

One of our fellow travelers likened the buffet on the Infinity to a high school cafeteria without the trays. But I think that was being unkind to high school cafeterias.

[Iamcruzin]

Who knows. Maybe in the future they’ll develop ‘alternate buffet’ with up-charges. I know it sounds unrealistic but when you look at the advent of up charge restaurants, why not buffets also.

 

 

I can see automats making a comeback to replace the buffets. Swipe your cruise card and get a sandwich. They will not only make money from the up charge but they can also reduce the staff. The new generation of passengers will think it's high tech as they probably don't have any knowledge of an automat.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mygreyhound66]

We are also just off the Summit, with a lot of Celebrity cruises under our belts! This buffet was just dreadful. I am not a fan of buffets in general, but this was amazingly pathetic!

 

I did like the individual trays/tins, however the food all looked leftover, old and cold - I hate cold food.

 

The grill was the same - the trays/tins were fine and actually looked attractive, however the food was cold - I hate cold food.

 

We alternate the MDR and buffet for breakfast and lunch - we usually go to the buffet on port days, but this trip we were in the MDR a lot more!

 

Like others have said, the layout is not efficient, condiments are in strange places, if at all, the ice machines were more out of service all over the ship, than in service.

 

I have my survey to complete - and I will be very vocal in my dislike of the buffet.

[lovemylab]

The buffet on the S class ships is set up in "stations".....you can

look around and go from station to station to see what appeals to you.

 

 

And they have foods grouped together! i. e. The rice for the butter chicken is in the same area. If you want mashed potatoes and gravy with your turkey all that stuff is one place, no need to go to the other side of the buffet.

 

IMO, Celebrity should visit the voyager class ships on Royal Caribbean to learn how to properly set up a buffet line. Those ships don't have stations (they have the same lines like M class ships) but it's much more efficient. Food is grouped together, there is lots of selection and there is rarely a wait despite it being a typical buffet line.

Edited May 19, 2014 by lovemylab

[monicajay]

Hopefully, someone can post a picture of these 'tins' that are being discussed. I'm having a hard time visualizing it :confused:.

 

On our recent Summit cruise there were no tins. My DH and I had breakfast in the Buffet every morning -we avoid all buffets unless there is an outdoor aft quiet eating area. By day two we had a strategy and it worked perfectly for the rest of the cruise. I start by getting the fresh squeezed juice and cutlery while he chose some fruit and rolls/pastries. We met aft outside and scouted a table laying out our first offerings. Then, we went back in agreeing who was getting what. I'd do eggs and potatoes, while he did meat and beans (changed daily who was going to get what). I always picked up the extra plates. We usually arrived back at 'our' table almost at the same time where we laid out our offerings and had a lovely breakfast.

 

 

Food was always hot and good.

 

@op Sorry to hear your experience was not good and will be looking forward to reading your full review.

Edited May 19, 2014 by monicajay

[NLH Arizona]

Hopefully, someone can post a picture of these 'tins' that are being discussed. I'm having a hard time visualizing it :confused:.

 

On our recent Summit cruise there were no tins. My DH and I had breakfast in the Buffet every morning -we avoid all buffets unless there is an outdoor aft quiet eating area. By day two we had a strategy and it worked perfectly for the rest of the cruise. I start by getting the fresh squeezed juice and cutlery while he chose some fruit and rolls/pastries. We met aft outside and scouted a table laying out our first offerings. Then, we went back in agreeing who was getting what. I'd do eggs and potatoes, while he did meat and beans (changed daily who was going to get what). I always picked up the extra plates. We usually arrived back at 'our' table almost at the same time where we laid out our offerings and had a lovely breakfast.

 

Food was always hot and good.

Now that is what I call problem solving and team work! Great job and thanks for the solutions!

[photomama]

We were on the Summit southern Caribbean end of January and we never had a problem with the buffet. Only ate breakfast there once, and the waffles were yummy and hot. Did have lunch 3 or 4 times. Never had a problem, food was actually pretty good. French Fries at the station at rear of ship, near the exit to the sunset bar area and they were making them constantly. They were also making sandwiches and some things like chicken and tuna salads. Pasta bars , pizza bars and other types of food were always in the same place. Condiment stations were rather oddly placed, but they were always in the same area. One was right behind where you'd pick up your fries so worked well for getting ketchup and utensils. Drink stations were not great, but if a waiter was around he'd get you ice tea or whatever. Salads were fixed as your turn came up in line and you could request things like anchovies or croutons..I can't imagine what changed so drastically in 4 months but it's certainly disappointing to hear.

[rubydoobydoo]

Pre plated food :eek: what if you just wanted to try a small spoon of curry, you have to take the whole dish :confused:

 

I usually have about 10 different things on my plate in one go, how are you expected to carry it all if it is plated up already, sounds terrible