Are Main Dinining rooms dinners not as good as you remember?

[wbehlert@comcast.net]

We seniors (DW and I) sailed Reflection in March, and had early dining with other guests. We have sailed Celebrity several times before and always considered the MDR fare to rate excellent plus. A step or two above NCL and part of the reason we would choose X in a choice. But after our last cruise, all of us at the table were disappointed with the menus and the meals served.

 

Let me first say that waiter service was personal, prompt and attentive. Cocktail service not so good because the server had too many tables to wait on. We learned to bring our cocktail into the MDR and then just order our wine. Luckily we were seated near the wine attendant and he was particularly responsive. Kudos.

 

Appetizers: Previously on Summit, I would have difficulty choosing among all the great choices and usually ordered two. This time, everything was so ORDINARY, that few items were really enticing. One night I did order two salmon tartar. It was loaded with strong onion. Never had that before and the onion ruined the dish. The shrimp cocktail was available nightly and quite OK. On our last cruise on NCL, there were few nights with this item offered. Things this time on X were good, just nothing outstanding.

 

Dinners: Prime rib on night 1. AOK. Downhill after that with many lamb offerings but no rack until Thursday. At that time, they also had the good lobster tail and beef wellington. This selection should have been three different nights. The Wellington was awful. Gooey crust (actually not a crust, just a mush), small portion. Not at all well seasoned. More like a roadside diner roast beef. We did not try the daily offered sirloin steak and probably should have tried it.

 

By Friday, everyone at the table who had sailed Celebrity before stated disappointment with the dinner meals.

 

We are platinum with NCL and now see X to have come down to this menu level. At least for this Reflection cruise.

 

BTW, the breakfast buffet was every bit as good as ever and better than NCL. Lunch buffet very ordinary.

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Horizon 1995 Southern Caribbean

Carnival Legend 2005 Caribbean

Disney Magic 2008 Caribbean

NCL Jewel 2010 Western Caribbean

NCL Pearl 2012 Western Caribbean

Carnival Pride 2013 Bahamas

Carnival Glory 2013 New England & Canada

Celebrity Summit 2014 Bermuda

NCL Getaway 2014 Caribbean

Celebrity Summit 2015 Bermuda

NCL Spirit 2016 Caribbean

NCL Breakaway Bermuda 2016

Celebrity Reflection W Caribbean 2017

[jelayne]

We were on the Infinity in March the first leg of our B2B we were in Luminae and the 2nd leg in the MDR. We found the food in the MDR to be very good with only one night that I had a item that was way too salty.

I do agree the menu seems to have fewer options and since I can't eat seafood the selection was even more limited.

[beentothere]

Used to be very predictable and very good or better. Now like the seas, up and down, and often the buffet or the grill is the best choice. Then again prices are generally flat or down.

 

30 cruises on celebrity

[dkjretired]

We go back to the early 90s when the dining room was better in terms of food and service every single night than the Specialty restaurants are now. Things change....

[CRZR58]

We agree with the idea that the MDR food has gone down in quality and in number of different options.

 

Too many tables for the staff to properly take care of their patrons means BYOB when you come into the restaurant and 1 glass of wine that shows up sometime during dinner (Not necessarily the one we even ordered). The deserts were so similar every night that we started going to El Bacio where we got better deserts and a good Cappuccino.

[Duanerice1]

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am getting pretty used to cruises, good service and good food. Back when we first started cruising things seemed awesome and service was spectacular. I also thing that what I remember might not have been 100% correct :) That's normal.

 

I still think the MDR has good food. Never been disappointed. Yea in a special entrée, sure, but not overall MDR experience. Service is slipping but it's not for lack of effort, they try it's just there are fewer servers than before.

 

I'm not an MDR fan but the food is still pretty good.

enjoy

[riclop]

Nothing is as good as it was.

[sanger727]

I've never had issues with MDR food until our last Norwegian cruise. The apps were excellent; but the entrees weren't. A couple were good, several were just ok, and a couple were inedible. I remedied this by ordering a couple starters every night and if I didn't eat much of the entree went for a late buffet run before bed. Our next celebrity cruise is a 12 nighter, so hoping for better food.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CruisingChick]

Nothing is as good as it was.

 

You are correct. Nothing is as good as it was. Especially the MDR on Celebrity. Lunches back in the day were better than some of their dinners. Now lunch is below average at best when the MDR is open for it. Dinners have become hit or miss and menus are not as strong as they use to be.

[Flafun888]

We just disembarked Sunday and both of us agreed that the MDR menus and food quality experienced on our 7 day Western Caribbean Silo sailing this year seemed to be better than last year. Last year was pretty good, but this year really shined. We sailed same ship, same timeframe virtually to the day in 2016 and 2017.

[CEOofVacation]

We were on Solstice last June and felt that both food and service in MDR were outstanding. We did not care for Murano, my fish entree was so salty that it was inedible. Server offered a different entree which by then I had Iost my appetite from the salt. My husband's steak was very mediocre. We felt no reason to stray away from MDR as from our experience, MDR was superior to Murano.

 

We will be in Luminae on Reflection in 11 days and we will get to compare.

Edited April 11, 2017 by CEOofVacation

[eandj]

We don't compare to previous cruises anymore. (No matter the line)

Over the years we have lowered our expectations on X knowing changes like adding more specialty restaurants, select dining, drink packages etc will affect our traditional dining in the MDR. That being said, we find the food and service in general very good on most nights. If we feel we aren't getting what we want/need, we will book on a more premium line. Oceania is very nice, but we find we enjoy the atmosphere more on X or Princess. At least this year.;)

[laslomas]

I think the food in the MDR is good, but not as good as it was in days gone by. But if it was as good as I remember, fewer passengers would be paying extra for dinners in the Speciality Restaurants.......

 

When I first cruised there was usually only one special venue on board at an extra cost (about $5) and it was lovely to dine there for special occasions, maybe once or twice on a cruise. Now there are several venues at extra cost and in my opinion they are serving food that in many cases, not all of course, would have previously been available in the MDR. So the MDR food has to be of a slightly lower quality.

 

What I think has changed more than the food is the way the tables are now so close together, and there are fewer staff to deal with the service we expect. Especially the drinks service which can be so hit and miss.

[lvz2cruz]

We are Elite on Celebrity but have sailed HAL a lot recently because of better itineraries. We came back to X and were disappointed in the food on Summit. Choices were just blah and we ordered apps, mains and desserts from the always available many of the nights. It got old eating shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, salmon, and cheesecake 5 out of seven nights. ahhhh first world problems;)

We really wanted to love X like we did in the past and tried another sailing, this time on Reflection, This time not only were choices and service disappointing, but quality was down too.

We went back to HAL and loved it. Yes things are not what they used to be anywhere, but X has really gone downhill. We compare the food between the two rather than experiences of 5 or 10 years ago. HAL wins by a landslide.

I think people want the unlimited beverage package for "free" and will overlook all the other cutbacks so X keeps cutting back what used to be a great product.

[jagoffee]

The Escargot available every night is as good as I remember which is outstanding.

[ISABELLA]

After sailing in AQ for 2+ years, we sailed in regular balcony cabin on Equinox in March. I was a bit worry regarding all comment about food in MDR. I have to say that most of dishes we picked were very good and service was outstanding.

[NordicPrince]

DW and I went on Equinox for the third time this March. We did Reflection with my grown daughters last year. I thought the MDR was very good. Of course I am not a gourmand. Always a lot of variety, every night an offering of fish, chicken, pasta, beef,another meat and vegetable entree, plus the standards of salmon, chicken breast or steak (not gigantic). DW, however, thought the menu had lost the WOW factor. This of course did not stop her from having 2 shrimp cocktails every night, prime rib (nice size) twice, rack of lamb (her favorite), beef brochette and the lobster (small size) plus deserts of creme brulee every night, plus featured chocolate cakes, bananas foster and baked Alaska. Deserts staples of cheescake, apple pie a la mode. ice cream and sorbets.

On the Reflection people were saying the Lawn Club Grill was oustanding, but you pay a pretty penny for that. Have to look for specials.

Bottom line: it's pretty good and you won't go home hungry but probably not say "WOW UNBELIEVABLE" maybe like you used to.

Enjoy your cruise. Journeys are measured more by friends than by miles.

[grandgeezer]

We are Elite on Celebrity but have sailed HAL a lot recently because of better itineraries. We came back to X and were disappointed in the food on Summit. Choices were just blah and we ordered apps, mains and desserts from the always available many of the nights. It got old eating shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, salmon, and cheesecake 5 out of seven nights. ahhhh first world problems;)

We really wanted to love X like we did in the past and tried another sailing, this time on Reflection, This time not only were choices and service disappointing, but quality was down too.

We went back to HAL and loved it. Yes things are not what they used to be anywhere, but X has really gone downhill. We compare the food between the two rather than experiences of 5 or 10 years ago. HAL wins by a landslide.

I think people want the unlimited beverage package for "free" and will overlook all the other cutbacks so X keeps cutting back what used to be a great product.

 

AMEN! Couldn't have said it better myself.

[janetz]

The Escargot available every night is as good as I remember which is outstanding.

 

I second this! :D

 

After not being on Celebrity for 10 years, we thought the food was ok. Certainly not as good as when we last sailed. BEFORE specialty venues.

[Cruizen Susan]

We have been cruising on Celebrity for about 20 years or so. We have dined in the MDR, Blu, and the specialties. Here is a little summary of my opinion and comparison.

 

The MDR is still very good, considering the ships are much larger than the Horizon, Galaxy and even Century from not so distant past. I have fond memories of the white gloved service, with dinners served under a silver dome. There were fewer meals to prepare and to serve. AND there were no perks back in the day. Cruising is a better value today, even if the quality has been diminished a bit. We no longer leave with ship with a $1500 tab. Bottom line--the food is not as good as the early years, but it's an equal exchange for the value.

 

Blu dining is a step above and lovely, intimate atmosphere with more attentive service due to the small size. However, we have found that unless there is an unusual deal being offered, we do not find the extra cost worth it. We'd much rather get a 1A hump balcony, with lots of specialty dining!! :D

 

Specialty dining? What can I say....we do about 3/4 of our dining in the specialties. However, still enjoy the MDR very much.

[keithm]

We seniors (DW and I) sailed Reflection in March, and had early dining with other guests. We have sailed Celebrity several times before and always considered the MDR fare to rate excellent plus. A step or two above NCL and part of the reason we would choose X in a choice. But after our last cruise, all of us at the table were disappointed with the menus and the meals served.

 

Let me first say that waiter service was personal, prompt and attentive. Cocktail service not so good because the server had too many tables to wait on. We learned to bring our cocktail into the MDR and then just order our wine. Luckily we were seated near the wine attendant and he was particularly responsive. Kudos.

 

Appetizers: Previously on Summit, I would have difficulty choosing among all the great choices and usually ordered two. This time, everything was so ORDINARY, that few items were really enticing. One night I did order two salmon tartar. It was loaded with strong onion. Never had that before and the onion ruined the dish. The shrimp cocktail was available nightly and quite OK. On our last cruise on NCL, there were few nights with this item offered. Things this time on X were good, just nothing outstanding.

 

Dinners: Prime rib on night 1. AOK. Downhill after that with many lamb offerings but no rack until Thursday. At that time, they also had the good lobster tail and beef wellington. This selection should have been three different nights. The Wellington was awful. Gooey crust (actually not a crust, just a mush), small portion. Not at all well seasoned. More like a roadside diner roast beef. We did not try the daily offered sirloin steak and probably should have tried it.

 

By Friday, everyone at the table who had sailed Celebrity before stated disappointment with the dinner meals.

 

We are platinum with NCL and now see X to have come down to this menu level. At least for this Reflection cruise.

 

BTW, the breakfast buffet was every bit as good as ever and better than NCL. Lunch buffet very ordinary.

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Horizon 1995 Southern Caribbean

Carnival Legend 2005 Caribbean

Disney Magic 2008 Caribbean

NCL Jewel 2010 Western Caribbean

NCL Pearl 2012 Western Caribbean

Carnival Pride 2013 Bahamas

Carnival Glory 2013 New England & Canada

Celebrity Summit 2014 Bermuda

NCL Getaway 2014 Caribbean

Celebrity Summit 2015 Bermuda

NCL Spirit 2016 Caribbean

NCL Breakaway Bermuda 2016

Celebrity Reflection W Caribbean 2017

We found the food on the Eclipse(our 3'rd 14 day cruise)to be lacking a lot since our last one. The specialty rest. were fine. We saw the chefs going around the dining room(something we've not seen before except the Chef parade.)I asked the Maître D what was going on. He explained he made them go out & answer questions as to the rather poor quality. The food did start getting better, so I attribute it to inexperienced staff. I don't cruise for the food alone, but we DO expect good food & this past Jan. cruise it wasn't so hot. We've got another cruise next Jan.(we like the 14 days)if the food quality goes down more, we'll either go back to Cunard or consider Oceania.

[denobc]

We enjoyed a 14 day cruise on the Eclipse in February. The quality of the food has changed in the last few years. We believe that it is due to the food cost ( either raise pricing or cut back.)

 

We also find it interesting that on the last formal night, all the best offerings are made on the same evening....realizing that most guests will only order one main.

 

Also the specialties are hit and miss... we went to the Sushi one this year...We had to ask to receive a glass of water. Nothing was offered (we think because they were expecting a large group in.

 

Service in the dining room was not stellar. The waiter only started to talk to us on the second last night..and that was to mention how important the surveys are to them.

 

That being said we booked another cruise on Celebrity

[benjaminhuf]

We have been cruising on Celebrity for about 20 years or so. We have dined in the MDR' date=' Blu, and the specialties. Here is a little summary of my opinion and comparison.

 

The MDR is still very good, considering the ships are much larger than the Horizon, Galaxy and even Century from not so distant past. I have fond memories of the white gloved service, with dinners served under a silver dome. There were fewer meals to prepare and to serve. AND there were no perks back in the day. Cruising is a better value today, even if the quality has been diminished a bit. We no longer leave with ship with a $1500 tab. Bottom line--the food is not as good as the early years, but it's an equal exchange for the value.

 

Blu dining is a step above and lovely, intimate atmosphere with more attentive service due to the small size. However, we have found that unless there is an unusual deal being offered, we do not find the extra cost worth it. We'd much rather get a 1A hump balcony, with lots of specialty dining!! :D

 

Specialty dining? What can I say....we do about 3/4 of our dining in the specialties. However, still enjoy the MDR very much.[/quote']

 

Well said. Thanks!

[mafig]

The last couple of cruises on Celebrity I've been disappointed in the food in the MDR.

So for this cruise I decided I'd give them one more chance and try Luminae. However, the price of the suite I was looking at never came down:loudcry:, so I booked Aqua to try Blu (after you all telling me it really was good and not "health" food). So we'll see. I have to admit, three chances is more than I've ever given any cruise line.

[CRUISER166]

We are Elite on Celebrity and our last cruise was a TA onthe Equinox in 2016. We did complain thatthe food in the MDR was not as good as our previous sailings. Also, we had a bad experience in the TuscanGrill where I pad an upcharge to get Prime beef. The steak was one of the worst I can rememberand after complaining about it they did refund the upcharge for Prime. I asked the Maitre D if what I had was SelectBeef or something worse and he assured me it was Prime but they still refunded the upcharge.

 

 

We are sailing on the Eclipse this weekend and I am hopingthat the meals are better in the MDR than they were on our last cruise. If not it may be time to start shopping forother cruise lines.