We Walked Out of Tuscan Grille - Silhouette

[Gracie115]

It's unfortunate that you never experienced Chops or the Italian restaurant on board Royal (change name as time goes on) in the distant past. These restaurants are not at all what they used to be. The service was great. The food was not only great but came in large quantities which it was almost impossible to finish. Sadly, we seldom go anymore because not only has quality fallen, prices risen and service declined but we always seem to walk away afterwards questioning why we decided to try it again. I do have to say that the last time we were in Giovanni's it was great but it might have been because we were dining with the guest services manager and a few other officers. Guess I'll have to try it again to see.;)

 

Agree completely with you...Chops was a "must" for us years ago on Royal ships....we would go the first night of the cruise....wonderful food & service...the last two times we tried it on Oasis and Freedom it was not worth the money, and very mediocre. Portofinos on Freedom was also a disappointment.... 150 Central Park on Oasis was the exception, it was quite good both food & service and our Chef's Table meal on Oasis was also one of the best meals we've had at sea......

[Iamcruzin]

Being in the food industry,I would ask..What can you do to make this right? I understand the frustration, but his way of handling it was inappropriate. I would never "create" a scene the way he did(reread his post for a refresh)I'd wait to see what the Maitre D would offer..and go from there. To see what compensation was offered by Celebrity(or any restaurant,for that matter)was a correct move. It's how we handle it.An example..We spaced a small wedding meal(30 people)Some how it got misplaced. We refunded any & all monies & offered a $500free voucher to any rest.they chose. It was satisfactory to them. Their wedding meal was a pretty simple one. Luckily, no Caviar etc.

 

If the Maitre D would have been doing his job either monitoring the staff and circling the room asking the guests how the service was it probably wouldn't have escalated to that level of frustration. How does a passenger pop their head into the kitchen and nobody notices it? At $100 a couple I would expect the service if nothing else to be spot on. The fish stinks from the head and in this case it's clearly the Maitre D's fault. Chasing the passenger down and offering freebies just adds insult to injury. Even if the food is not up to par nobody should feel that they are being ignored in a cruise ship restaurant that requires a phenomenal up charge.

[need2cruisesoon]

If the Maitre D would have been doing his job either monitoring the staff and circling the room asking the guests how the service was it probably wouldn't have escalated to that level of frustration. How does a passenger pop their head into the kitchen and nobody notices it? At $100 a couple I would expect the service if nothing else to be spot on. The fish stinks from the head and in this case it's clearly the Maitre D's fault. Chasing the passenger down and offering freebies just adds insult to injury. Even if the food is not up to par nobody should feel that they are being ignored in a cruise ship restaurant that requires a phenomenal up charge.

 

6 of us at $50 each = $300.00 minus 35% = $195.00

 

We didn't get charged but now I'm thinking that's a lot of coin for what some say is "olive garden" faire.

 

My thoughts are if you can't do specialty "right" then do away with this program. Put the effort (food quality) in to the MDR and let everybody be happy and enjoy.

Edited August 9, 2015 by need2cruisesoon

[Iamcruzin]

6 of us at $50 each = $300.00 minus 35% = $195.00

 

We didn't get charged but now I'm thinking that's a lot of coin for what some say is "olive garden" faire.

 

My thoughts are if you can't do specialty "right" then do away with this program. Put the effort (food quality) in to the MDR and let everybody be happy and enjoy.

 

I don't think the food in general on Celebrity isn't all that great. It wouldn't stop me from cruising with the line but the specialty restaurants are way over priced for what they are. We have only experienced Qsine based on the overwhelming reviews on this board. I have to say that I was underwhelmed. The service was excellent but the food was no better than T.G.I.F with an upgrade for whimsical atmosphere. Since you never received your meal I guess you will never know if it could live up to the Olive Garden experience.:)

Edited August 9, 2015 by Iamcruzin

[K.T.B.]

Tuscan Grille.

An Italian steakhouse with a nouveau twist.

 

Maybe it's me but I wouldn't expect the terms Grille and Steakhouse to mean fine dining that would require a 3 hour experience. I would expect the food to be quality cuts of meat and the service to be slower than the MDR but not a two hour wait for the main course.

 

There's a steakhouse in Chicago called Chicago Cut. It's truly fine dining and you pay for it. It is one of the VERY few steakhouses I would go to and pay the insane prices for a meal because it is that damn good. You'll also be sitting there for a good 2 hours for the meal. However, the service is impeccable and the time does seem to go quickly.

 

With that said, I agree with your sentiment. If you're going to pay an additional price for a meal on a cruise ship, especially after paying thousands to be on board and regardless of what's it's called, the experience should be among the best. Period. You can always have a long meal that's coupled with great service. Some places need to find that fine line of drawing a meal out or just flat out ignoring people.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Kevin T Brown

[Karynanne]

We too had a couple of ho-hum meals at Tuscan Grill.

 

It's unfortunate. This venue is beautiful. The aft views are gorgeous and the ambiance is really lovely.

 

But Celebrity should really pay attention to these issues.

 

True, they have us as a captive audience...but they also need to realize that the meals aren't up to par.

 

Hopefully things will change in the future.

[Missymo]

If the Maitre D would have been doing his job either monitoring the staff and circling the room asking the guests how the service was it probably wouldn't have escalated to that level of frustration. How does a passenger pop their head into the kitchen and nobody notices it? At $100 a couple I would expect the service if nothing else to be spot on. The fish stinks from the head and in this case it's clearly the Maitre D's fault. Chasing the passenger down and offering freebies just adds insult to injury. Even if the food is not up to par nobody should feel that they are being ignored in a cruise ship restaurant that requires a phenomenal up charge.

 

 

Agreed. Nothing was told to us while waiting, except food will be out In a moment. In our case, We were annoyed because people that had come in for later reservations had gotten their meals and were finishing up by the time we were served. What made it worse was that some of our group orders were served wrong and DH and my hot dishes were not even served warm. Pasta on the side never showed up. .Maitre didn't get involved at any time til after we were served and voicing our displeasure.

We sail Celebrity a lot but will never go back to Tuscan Grill. . A shame that there seems to be a problem with one restaurant. Also, It should be renamed as a steakhouse ,not Italian. Less confusion with the menu.

[LA_Design]

might not be popular but hey -ho[emoji32][emoji32]

 

tuscan has the best view / ambience

 

celebrity need to get modern luxury to a new level - IMHO a michelin starred restaurant ( or equiv)

 

charge accordingly £40 or so surcharge

 

insist that standards apply - none of this casual dining rubbish [emoji33]. french and English influences must be allowed

 

oh dear [emoji33][emoji33][emoji33]

[MicCanberra]

Interesting reading all the comments , I have my first cruise on Celebrity Solstice booked in November. I will be trying the speciality restaurants and am expecting the ship and the restaurants to impress as I have only sailed P&O and Princess previously. But have to say that on both P&O ships I ate at the Luke Mangan Salt Grillspeciality restaurant and found both the food and the experience exceptional . I am sailing on the Pacific Pearl directly before getting on the Solstice and will once again dine at The Salt Grill ...so that's my comparison marker , hope The Solstice speciality restaurants can hold their own against The Salt Grill!

 

I would hope so as well, they did for me.:D

[Evangaline]

Celebrity keeps hiking the price of its specialty restaurants too. Its way more than equivalent restaurants on Royal or Norwegian and yet the food and service are not nearly as good in my experience.

 

We usually go to one or two specialty restaurants when we cruise, but I am not going to bother for our next cruise on the Constellation. Instead, if we want to do something a bit different we'll eat in port in Santorini or Istanbul.

[MicCanberra]

Celebrity keeps hiking the price of its specialty restaurants too. Its way more than equivalent restaurants on Royal or Norwegian and yet the food and service are not nearly as good in my experience.

 

We usually go to one or two specialty restaurants when we cruise, but I am not going to bother for our next cruise on the Constellation. Instead, if we want to do something a bit different we'll eat in port in Santorini or Istanbul.

 

Better hope for quick service , wouldn't want to miss the ship.:p

[Evangaline]

Better hope for quick service , wouldn't want to miss the ship.:p

 

The ship is docked overnight in Istanbul.

[MicCanberra]

The ship is docked overnight in Istanbul.

 

That is cool.:cool:

[warmwinds]

We were gifted a SR for our Constellation cruise. Since we've been underwhelmed with the M-class Normandie/Olympic clones, we were thinking about the Tuscan Grille.

 

Many on this thread have complained about the food, mostly the lobster and steak. Are there any dishes that anyone has had that were really good? I can understand trying to get "value" by ordering the most expensive items, but we're very happy with something Italian that is really good - any suggestions?

 

Also, I found this thread interesting because we just walked out of a land-based restaurant (in Las Vegas). We were seated while the table next to us just got their menus, so just about the same time. They ordered, got their food, ate it, paid and left while we were still waiting for ours. And of course when it came it was ice cold, despite asking the waiter a couple of times "is everything ok?" and being assured our food would be "right out". It was a poor other server who delivered it, but he got to hear what happened and why we were walking out. He didn't seem really surprised. We were not loud or nasty but honestly sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

[cle-guy]

We were gifted a SR for our Constellation cruise. Since we've been underwhelmed with the M-class Normandie/Olympic clones, we were thinking about the Tuscan Grille.

 

Many on this thread have complained about the food, mostly the lobster and steak. Are there any dishes that anyone has had that were really good? I can understand trying to get "value" by ordering the most expensive items, but we're very happy with something Italian that is really good - any suggestions?

 

Also, I found this thread interesting because we just walked out of a land-based restaurant (in Las Vegas). We were seated while the table next to us just got their menus, so just about the same time. They ordered, got their food, ate it, paid and left while we were still waiting for ours. And of course when it came it was ice cold, despite asking the waiter a couple of times "is everything ok?" and being assured our food would be "right out". It was a poor other server who delivered it, but he got to hear what happened and why we were walking out. He didn't seem really surprised. We were not loud or nasty but honestly sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

 

I did Tuscan on Connie during my transatlantic. My steak was delicious, we ordered multiple pastas and side dishes of veggies to share with the table, it was delicious. I thought the lobster alfredo was better than whatever the table side prep they do in Murano is. Frankly, I'm sad to be sailing Summit next with no Tuscan. We did a group of 13 at one table.

 

Food is just too subjective to get any meaningful commentary.

 

A lot has to do with how you deal with an odd situation. Let it fester or say something that choice makes all the difference.

[keesar]

There are some "high maintenance" cruisers that visit the Specialty Restaurants and I feel real bad for the servers. We have some friends like this and it is embarrassing to go out with them. Never happy...

 

As for Tuscan Grill, we have eaten there numerous times and have never been disappointed. My favorites are the San Francisco seafood stew, braised beef ravioli, and the filet mignon. All have been winners. And who can pass on the dark chocolate fondue!

[cle-guy]

There are some "high maintenance" cruisers that visit the Specialty Restaurants and I feel real bad for the servers. We have some friends like this and it is embarrassing to go out with them. Never happy...

!

 

I got stuck with similar people in MDR a few cruises ago. 8 of the 10 at table were completely satisfied, the other 2 could do nothing but complain about the speed of service, meal choices etc. They even went and had their gratuities removed, which of course ticked the rest of our table off, we ended up kicking the wait staff cash to make up for them.

 

A mass-line cruise ship is just not going to be a 5 michelin star restaurant, it's just not.

[keithm]

I don't think the food in general on Celebrity isn't all that great. It wouldn't stop me from cruising with the line but the specialty restaurants are way over priced for what they are. We have only experienced Qsine based on the overwhelming reviews on this board. I have to say that I was underwhelmed. The service was excellent but the food was no better than T.G.I.F with an upgrade for whimsical atmosphere. Since you never received your meal I guess you will never know if it could live up to the Olive Garden experience.:)

No better than TGIF?? Really? We found the food in Qsine excellent overall. We've eaten there 3 times.True I don't care too much for some of the Indian/Mideast style, but overall, it's far better than TGIF.

[keithm]

We were gifted a SR for our Constellation cruise. Since we've been underwhelmed with the M-class Normandie/Olympic clones, we were thinking about the Tuscan Grille.

 

Many on this thread have complained about the food, mostly the lobster and steak. Are there any dishes that anyone has had that were really good? I can understand trying to get "value" by ordering the most expensive items, but we're very happy with something Italian that is really good - any suggestions?

 

Also, I found this thread interesting because we just walked out of a land-based restaurant (in Las Vegas). We were seated while the table next to us just got their menus, so just about the same time. They ordered, got their food, ate it, paid and left while we were still waiting for ours. And of course when it came it was ice cold, despite asking the waiter a couple of times "is everything ok?" and being assured our food would be "right out". It was a poor other server who delivered it, but he got to hear what happened and why we were walking out. He didn't seem really surprised. We were not loud or nasty but honestly sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Cold food is usually the fault of the server. Was the table next to you served by the same waiter?

[Gracie115]

There are some "high maintenance" cruisers that visit the Specialty Restaurants and I feel real bad for the servers. We have some friends like this and it is embarrassing to go out with them. Never happy...

 

As for Tuscan Grill, we have eaten there numerous times and have never been disappointed. My favorites are the San Francisco seafood stew, braised beef ravioli, and the filet mignon. All have been winners. And who can pass on the dark chocolate fondue!

 

Agree....on both your points...

 

I also really like the seafood stew and my DH is a fan of the beef ravioli too....but then we've eaten at Tuscan on 5 different ships and enjoyed it each time...

[keithm]

There are some "high maintenance" cruisers that visit the Specialty Restaurants and I feel real bad for the servers. We have some friends like this and it is embarrassing to go out with them. Never happy...

 

As for Tuscan Grill, we have eaten there numerous times and have never been disappointed. My favorites are the San Francisco seafood stew, braised beef ravioli, and the filet mignon. All have been winners. And who can pass on the dark chocolate fondue!

We've had friends like that as well. We really don't consider them friends anymore due to the embarrassment caused by them.

[keithm]

I got stuck with similar people in MDR a few cruises ago. 8 of the 10 at table were completely satisfied, the other 2 could do nothing but complain about the speed of service, meal choices etc. They even went and had their gratuities removed, which of course ticked the rest of our table off, we ended up kicking the wait staff cash to make up for them.

 

A mass-line cruise ship is just not going to be a 5 michelin star restaurant, it's just not.

True! Still I'd ask the "bitchers" to please dine elsewhere! This is one rerason Richard & I usually always do a table for 2. In 10 years of cruising on Cunard/Celebrity,we've never had a truely bad meal. Perhaps not too memorable, but not really bad.

[need2cruisesoon]

No better than TGIF?? Really? We found the food in Qsine excellent overall. We've eaten there 3 times.True I don't care too much for some of the Indian/Mideast style, but overall, it's far better than TGIF.

 

We enjoyed Qsine. Good food and great service.

 

LolliPop Sushi:

[MicCanberra]

Minestrone and the beef ravioli are winners (among other dishes).:D

Edited August 10, 2015 by MicCanberra

[LA_Design]

I got stuck with similar people in MDR a few cruises ago. 8 of the 10 at table were completely satisfied, the other 2 could do nothing but complain about the speed of service, meal choices etc. They even went and had their gratuities removed, which of course ticked the rest of our table off, we ended up kicking the wait staff cash to make up for them.

 

 

 

A mass-line cruise ship is just not going to be a 5 michelin star restaurant, it's just not.

 

 

sorry but what is "5 michelin star restaurant".

 

i dont recall recommending any more than 3 stars[emoji32]