Bistro on Five first day?

[mafig]

We've done Bistro on Five on embarkation day to avoid the buffet.

 

It was pretty good, but this was several years ago (when it was still $5).

 

We'll be on Reflection and wonder if it's still a good choice. I know the menu has expanded, however, in reading the reviews it appears that the food isn't as good (remember in the beginning ? everyone was raving about how good the crepes were?) and also there are complaints about the service ~ especially being very slow.

 

May I have your thoughts?

[Mummble]

We went to Bistro on 5 for the embarkation day lunch and enjoyed it so much we went back twice during our trip! We were on the Equinox and had great service. I don't know how the food was before, but we certainly it enjoyed it now! :D The onion soup and Italian crepe made for a great lunch for us!

[Rob the Cruiser]

Food is excellent.

 

Service can be very good or awful. By awful I mean slow...slow...s-l-lo-o-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w.

 

.

[mafig]

Food is excellent.

 

Service can be very good or awful. By awful I mean slow...slow...s-l-lo-o-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w.

 

.

 

Yes, that's what I've read from many sources. I wonder why? Everyone says the place is deserted.

[keesar]

The food is good but the service is slow. When I get on board, I like to explore and don't want to sit and wait and wait and…

 

I head to the buffet for a light snack and take the food outside to enjoy the nice weather and views in Miami.

[Bo1953]

Well, IMHO, you need to decide if slow service (based on the comments you have read elsewhere and here) is a deal breaker or not.... food sounds like it may be worth it.

 

I do not think anyone can really tell us the reason for slowness, with the possible exception that Bon5 may be cooking for other venues which slows it down or the food is prepared to order or ????

 

bon voyage and have good eatin's...

[Straughn]

Bistro on 5 is our choice for embarkation day lunch. We like being served and not having to deal with the cattle call that is the buffet. If service is a little slow, that is OK. We enjoy a glass of wine/beer, take our time eating, and go to our cabin when it is ready. Our thought process is that we have the rest of the afternoon and the remainder of the cruise to explore the ship. We would rather be seated for lunch, relax and enjoy it, than tour the ship with luggage in tow. Others may want to explore the ship as soon as they board. Nothing wrong with that. We have had slow service in the Bistro and, what I would call, normal service. Doesn't matter to us. We try to be seated around 12:30. If we aren't finished by the time the cabins are ready, so be it. The cabin will still be there when lunch is over.

[Straughn]

Bistro on 5 is our choice for embarkation day lunch. We like being served and not having to deal with the cattle call that is the buffet. If service is a little slow, that is OK. We enjoy a glass of wine/beer, take our time eating, and go to our cabin when it is ready. Our thought process is that we have the rest of the afternoon and the remainder of the cruise to explore the ship. We would rather be seated for lunch, relax and enjoy it, than tour the ship with luggage in tow. Others may want to explore the ship as soon as they board. Nothing wrong with that. We have had slow service in the Bistro and, what I would call, normal service. Doesn't matter to us. We try to be seated around 12:30. If we aren't finished by the time the cabins are ready, so be it. The cabin will still be there when lunch is over.

[Vectorboy]

First of all, it's not $5 anymore. It has gone from $5 to $7 and is now $10....maybe more. Seems to go up at least a couple of times a year, like the beer and wine prices.

 

Having said that, it is a great place to eat on day one. I would play it by ear. Get on the ship, head over there and take a look at how busy they are. If the place is full, service might be slow. If it's mostly empty, have a seat, relax and have a nice meal.

[davwen81]

We always eat there embarkation day too as we are just like Straugn, we HATE the buffet mess, and Bistro is lovely and we've found quite well utilised for lunches on sea days as well. Great place for lunch $10 pp and a nice selection of paninis, soups and crepes, but I hear they are revamping the menu again to maybe include sushi????

[Hlitner]

We used to love going to the Bistro as soon as we boarded the ship. But our experience last December on the Equinox was just totally awful with no service (not just bad...but nearly nonexistent) and crepe quality (which were not even the one's ordered) that were but a mere shadow of the high quality crepes we used to get at the Bistro. So we are soon going back on the same ship and wondering whether the Bistro is now worth twice the price. Like somebody else posted, we shall just wait and see what the situation is at the time. and make a spur of the moment decision. But we do agree with others that it used to be a great place to escape the first day craziness of the Lido.

 

Hank

[Rob the Cruiser]

Well, IMHO, you need to decide if slow service (based on the comments you have read elsewhere and here) is a deal breaker or not.... food sounds like it may be worth it.

 

I do not think anyone can really tell us the reason for slowness, with the possible exception that Bon5 may be cooking for other venues which slows it down or the food is prepared to order or ????

 

bon voyage and have good eatin's...

 

It's not a deal breaker for us. We always go there on embarkation day. We are not in a hurry and avoid the buffet like many others have stated, but 20-30 minutes to get onion soup then another 20-30 minutes to get a crepe is a bit extreme.

[themutis]

We've had extremely slow service in multiple restaurants on cruises, so now when we are seated we let our server know the amount of time we have.

 

The last time we were at QSine it was during 1/2 time of the super bowl. So we told them we had about 45 minutes and we received all our food quickly and were back in time for kick off.

 

Sometimes it's just communicating what you need. Although I know sometimes that doesn't work either. But at least if you've told them what you want and then they don't deliver, you have a legitimate gripe.

[ghstudio]

Like others, we go to Bistro on 5 just to avoid having to search for seats in the buffet mayhem. Truth is, I've never thought the crepes were any good...they always seem to be pre-made and reheated...not the ones that are so good in Paris (and other places) that come right from the grill. The wider menu is welcome, I don't have to get the crepes...the price is a nit since we only eat there one day and we're just killing time until our room is available and we can get rid of our carry-ons...so slow service doesn't matter all that much.

[Cruizen Susan]

Love love LOVE Bistro, for embarkation day AND some of the days at sea! I've never had the experience of long waits, bad service, or lousy crepes. Quite the opposite. I am content with others not liking it, which guarantees we can always get in when we want!

 

YUM!!

[Maligator]

Yes, that's what I've read from many sources. I wonder why? Everyone says the place is deserted.

 

My observation was that because it has low traffic, some suit comes by to pull staff to assist in busier locations. I saw it twice on Connie. There were two servers and three seated tables. A suit came in and disappeared with one of the servers, leaving the other one with three tables by himself. One night, they even took a couple of 2-top tables somewhere, along with the second server.

 

That being said, it's not like we were in a hurry. The location was quiet and comfortable and the service speed wasn't so bad that we felt ignored. Dessert shakes took a while, because that meant the lone server had to schlep to the gelato station down the hall.

 

This past cruise was the first time we tried Bistro on Five and we wondered why it took us so long to try it. The Mac & Cheese on Mondays is...well...if they were to fill one of the pools with it, I'd go for a swim. :D

[kreemmer]

We are on Silhouette TA now and went to Bistro on Five on Embarkation Day. We were in no hurry but half of the dining room seemed to be and there were many complaints about the very slow service! Kind of struck us funny because "where were these people in such a hurry to go to?" Our biggest complaint was the food. Hamburger looked delicious but had a different "meatloaf" kind of taste and texture. My crepes were thicker than I remember. Many people seem to go there now on that day and every seat was taken at one time. For $10 per person I didn't think it was great. Don't think I would go again.

 

Kathy

[mafig]

Even though the price is only $10 p/p, it is still an upcharge and IMO the service should be a little better,( not worse) which is expected in all the specialty restaurants.

[kitty9]

We always make Bistro the first stop for our cruises. But the last three cruises, it's really gone downhill, not only on embarkation day, but all the other days. We usually dine there on sea days, in order to avoid the craziness in the buffet, but the service is so slow, and the food has declined so much, that we didn't dine there as much on our last cruise. Since the Bistro has it's own kitchen, and that kitchen is so small, I highly doubt that they're cooking for other restaurants. I just think that they're not run efficiently.

 

On our last cruise on Summit in June, the Bistro was a total mess. Not enough staff to handle the expanded menu, no one to clean off tables and no specially assigned staff to just do certain jobs, like making the shakes and other beverages or bussing tables. The poor servers were terribly overworked, while the "managers" were so busy texting and talking on the phone and drinking coffee, that they were of no help. Seriously, those managers on Summit were awful. The wait staff had to seat people, had to take orders, bus tables, and at a point, one waitress was having to make the ice cream shakes. When a simple sandwich took over an hour to get, that's when we asked to speak with the person in charge, and the response was basically to "mind my own business", and that Celebrity cut back on the number of workers in all the specialties. But despite that, these managers were lacking in management skills and really needed to get off their phones and butts and actually work.

[tamara01]

We just got off the Infinity last week and ate at Bistro 3x. We thought the food was good, my husband enjoyed the French onion soup each time. We had the burger one day, crepes one day and the special of the day the last day. I will admit it was nice and relaxing but it did take forever to get our food. One day it was almost 2 hours. But, like I said, it wasn't bad enough that we didn't go back. It was nicer then fighting the buffet.

[capecruzer]

Apparently, lamb chops are the "special of the day" on Saturday and for that reason, we are planning to go :D We did try it on embarkation day when we sailed the Connie in January (1st time on Celebrity and I think it was $5) and thought it was very good. We had two crepes, two soups and two drinks, didn't try dessert that I remember and we were very pleased. Hopefully the new menu will not disappoint. Has anyone tried the lamb chops recently?

[Maligator]

Apparently, lamb chops are the "special of the day" on Saturday and for that reason, we are planning to go :D We did try it on embarkation day when we sailed the Connie in January (1st time on Celebrity and I think it was $5) and thought it was very good. We had two crepes, two soups and two drinks, didn't try dessert that I remember and we were very pleased. Hopefully the new menu will not disappoint. Has anyone tried the lamb chops recently?

 

Yes! They were very tasty. Lamb chops are generally not my thing (I find the meat-to-bone ratio unfavorable), but it was a nice change of pace. Be sure to try the mac & cheese on Mondays!

[hcat]

We were also thinking of lamb chop day!

we have gotten great soups and salads there, dh likes the Cowboy...slow is Ok...esp when we are finally on the ship after the boarding process...but yes it is slow!

 

With the upcharge raised we might only go once, max twice during our cruise,,,

[SeaCBear]

We preferred to eat at The Porch shortly after boarding, but there is no Porch in on the Eclipse, which is our next cruise.

 

We have enjoyed lunches at Bistro on Five on S class ships in the past, but for three of us (my husband, my son and me), $30 seems a bit too much for what is offered.