Decline of buffet quality, especially in evening?

[Hlitner]

We have been cruising a long time (lets just say over forty years) and have always considered cruise ship cuisine an important part of cruising. Celebrity used to have among the best food of any mass market line...which is part of what attracted us to the line. But our last two cruises have been disappointing...from a cuisine perspective. The many cut backs are quite apparent. On our upcoming 21 day Celebrity cruise we decided to opt out of Aqua Class (because we have been underwhelmed by the menus and cuisine and go back to the a regular cabin. We plan on mixing some MDR food with alternative dining (we took advantage to a recent 20% off dining package sale). Looking forward we still have no Celebrity cruises in our future. What would have been a 21 day cruise on X....has now become a future 21 day cruise on MSC! And before anyone trashes MSC...try reading their CC blog. There are very few negative posts...which might say something about this line. MSC is going to be a huge player in the future USA cruise market. That line is flying high, has 4 ships under construction, and plans for at least 6 more ships in the next few years. It is the only major cruise line that does not have to answer to stock holders...and this might be a big plus. It is still a privately owned company that seems to think its OK to plan long term...rather then try to add a few dollars to the bottom line today.

 

And regarding the previous post, we do eat rather well at home. But when we travel we want to eat different food then "home cooked."

 

Hank

Edited July 6, 2017 by Hlitner

[Swampbabe]

Food on Millennium June 23rd sailing, of course subjective, but to me not nearly the quality of my last Celebrity cruise. As for MDR, not open on port days for lunch, Seriously Celebrity, how cheap can you get? I think many Carnival ships have MDRs open on port days, and they don't advertise themselves as "Modern Luxury". Evenings, most items in MDR were acceptable, some very good such as fish dishes, some with little flavor and many sauces flavorless. Needed a magnifying glass to see shrimp the few times offered other than in cocktail which were also miniscule. Interesting that the lobster, scallop and beef wellington dishes were on same night. Guess it was a cost saving to serve less of each than offer them on different nights. Thankful for anytime choices, that with the exception of some of the tiniest escargot I've ever seen, were great each night. Soups were uninspired and chilled soups lacked greatness of years ago. Overall, and it pains me to say it, but average for cruise food.

 

Some buffet food was excellent including grilled to order fish and minute steaks near aft. Breakfast was standard with omelettes very good but bacon and other breakfast meats salty to the extreme. Quite repetitive as stir fry, make your own caeser salad and several Indian dishes EVERY DAY AND NIGHT. Ice cream was excellent, other desserts lacked fIavor and were also very repetitive. Not sure if some of the exact same items, and I don't mean recipes I mean same dishes uneaten the previous night, brought out of cold storage and served several nights in a row. I thought buffet on NCL Epic was slightly better a couple months ago. This is saying something as I used to think Celebrity food was head and shoulders above other main lines. In summary, unless this was just on off week and I can be convinced otherwise, I can no longer put the "+" sign as definitely being number one in the Celebrity column for dining when choosing between cruise lines. And this hurts, as the website and information provided in advance of cruise tour were already big "-" items. The service was excellent on almost all occasions and completely attributable to Celebrity, and the cruise was fantastic because of the ports, excursions and scenery that were not. I would have been disappointed if this were a Carib. or TA cruise, the scenery, natural beauty and experience of Alaska being amazing. As it seems with many aspects of cruising, and due to many of them now very similar in terms of quality, it seems to be coming down to itinerary and cost when deciding among cruise lines.

 

 

 

Carnival MDR is not open on port days.

[LuvBotswana]

but lots of weird Asian entrees

......

 

What constitutes " weird Asian entrees"?

[ano]

I got off a July Equinox cruise. In my opinion, the food wasn't that great. The buffet layout was good, and its unfair to say there wasn't a wide range of selections, but the quality of the food was nothing you couldn't fine in a lower-priced cafeteria style restaurant. And variety within that was poor. An example was their Mexican and Asian section. Everyday the Asian counter had vegetable fried rice and one or two other selections. Maybe a curry chicken. No egg rolls, no soup, no fortune cookie. In Mexican it was tacos every do. I saw burritos a few days but not many.

 

For soups overall, there were two. One day they had Chicken Noodle, but that was a misnomer, because I didn't chicken and the noodles were a few Ramon noodles, but not many. Pizza, salad, and sandwiches were fine. If you wanted hot dogs or hamburgers, too bad, they were in the grill on the other side of the ship, and not here, unless it was raining. In that case, Asia, usually became hamburgers.

 

I can tell this buffet was grand in its heyday, but now it seems like they really don't care. I'm glad this was only a 7 day cruise, or I would go out of my mind.

[ano]

What constitutes " weird Asian entrees"?

I agree totally with that poster. The fried rice was not great, and the Asian entrees maybe were "Asian" but definitely NOT authentic Chinese or Japanese. I really like Chinese food, and went every day but almost never could find any. And how about a soup or egg roll? I saw spring rolls ONE day. They were hollow, so basically just fried dough.

[ano]

And regarding the previous post, we do eat rather well at home. But when we travel we want to eat different food then "home cooked."

 

Hank

You summed that up well. That is what the food reminded me of, home cooked comfort type food. It got old fast on this cruise.

[hcat]

We do one or two nights in the buffet for dinner when we are looking for a light meal or night off from BLU or Specialty venues, We find it is adequate and sometimes find something really good...it has actually improved in variety as it used to be very limited over past years, But we do greatly miss the Sushi, soup, Asian food etc that was served late afternoon the buffet. Really hit the spot,..

 

I mostly eat salads if having lunch at the buffet so not too great a downfall for me. One day I went looking around for the sandwich bar on Infinity (back area of buffet) The meat was gross looking very thin, few choices, cheese also thin and melty looking...bread was stale...It was really bad..

 

Breakfast is still okay at the buffet for an early start, if you order carefully.,.love the lox and bagels and the English Bacon, Mostly we do beakfast in BLU or the Elite breakfast...no complaints,

Edited July 6, 2017 by hcat

[Fish Lover]

Food on Millennium June 23rd sailing, of course subjective, but to me not nearly the quality of my last Celebrity cruise. As for MDR, not open on port days for lunch, Seriously Celebrity, how cheap can you get? I think many Carnival ships have MDRs open on port days, and they don't advertise themselves as "Modern Luxury". ......... Interesting that the lobster, scallop and beef wellington dishes were on same night. Guess it was a cost saving to serve less of each than offer them on different nights.

 

Lunch has not been served in the MDR on port days for years. With regard to having the more expensive menu items on the same days, this is also very common and has been this way for as long as I can remember. Many years. Goes back to when there were formal nights. Not everyone will eat lobster. Therefore beef wellington is a common alternate menu option on those nights. This is on every cruise line I have ever sailed with.

[caribill]

Food on Millennium June 23rd sailing, of course subjective, but to me not nearly the quality of my last Celebrity cruise. As for MDR, not open on port days for lunch, Seriously Celebrity, how cheap can you get? I think many Carnival ships have MDRs open on port days, and they don't advertise themselves as "Modern Luxury".

 

Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess all do not offer dining room lunch when in port at lunch time. (Princess does offer it on embarkation day to all passengers who know about it.)

[IsanTom]

If your 2 adult sons don't want to go, I can go with you! I prefer the dining room anyways.

[diesel1973]

I agree the quality of food has changed but have always found something enjoyable to eat..I have done my fair share of cruises and after reading all this complaining about the food wondered why I have never seen anyone carried off the ship suffering from starvation???LOL

[The_Big_M]

Agreed. I also sailed Millennium in April, and was really disappointed in how badly the food standard has fallen.

 

Sure, it's been downhill for some time, with cheaper choices, a few cutbacks, the offering smaller. But now it's got to the stage that the choices were really limited, and everything was cheap and basic. There were a few times I walked off without anything as there just wasn't anything appealing.

 

While I had no qualms in that respect as skipping a meal or two is fine from a health perspective, given the ridiculously high prices charged for the cruise, it was a turn off. To pay those prices, you expect the provisions to match.

 

If they're going to serve budget food, I'll only sail with them at budget prices (which doesn't seem likely).

[Jade13]

 

 

 

As to the dining room, it seems like the current CEO has no intention of improving anything. But some will have to wait and see. As to us, after our next X cruise...we are going to spend our money elsewhere until we get some indication that X is moving back to a quality product.

 

 

 

Hank

 

 

 

Will you be cruising on HAL or just doing more land vacations?

 

 

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[Jade13]

Most days, we checked out the lunch buffet and ended up at the pool side grill and had their fabulous cheeseburgers and fries. We ate in the MDR every night and those meals were excellent.

 

 

Apparently those burgers and fries are gone unless you pay extra for them.

 

 

 

 

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[Bo1953]

I agree the quality of food has changed but have always found something enjoyable to eat..I have done my fair share of cruises and after reading all this complaining about the food wondered why I have never seen anyone carried off the ship suffering from starvation???LOL

 

No, some of them come here to complain while others appear to be happy with selections and offerings to a great degree... I Am on Millie in a few weeks and will report back.

 

 

As an aside, I wonder out loud how many passengers talk with the F & B Manager or even the Captain, while aboard if the situation is as dire as posted? I truly believe that when many passengers on a sailing start filing down to the office about the perceived 'state of food' during the sailing, things might change or at least get back to Corporate...

 

 

bon voayge

[wallie5446]

Opposite ends of the taste spectrum.

 

This member feels the buffet has gone downhill, while on this thread, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2518660

the member felt it was the MDR that went down, and went to the buffet where they felt the quality was better.

[wallie5446]

Apparently those burgers and fries are gone unless you pay extra for them.

 

 

 

 

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They have been moved to the Oceanview.

[KateWes]

I think buffet quality is difficult to maintain unless (as others have said) people speak to the F&B manager!

 

Nothing will be done unless qualms are discussed and resolved!

 

Very interested to hear people's thoughts on the Oceanview at the Equinox as there seems to be mixed opinions!

 

 

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[woodyren]

We have recently completed a Solstice cruise in May. The buffet food was as good as we have ever experienced on a ship. The fresh halibut and salmon was sensational. The food was that good we didn't set foot in either the MDR or specialty restaurant.

[CruisingUS]

Does complaining to X get logged in your personal file? I am concerned that I would be labelled a troublemaker and possibly having X dismiss my more urgent concerns b/c they erroneously believe that I have "cried wolf" so many previous times.

[ano]

As an aside, I wonder out loud how many passengers talk with the F & B Manager or even the Captain, while aboard if the situation is as dire as posted? I truly believe that when many passengers on a sailing start filing down to the office about the perceived 'state of food' during the sailing, things might change or at least get back to Corporate...

 

Really I feel sorry for the food managers, because I know for the most part, its not their fault. I do think they could very selections day-to-day better, even if they are of the same quality. Complaining to anyone but maybe the CEO of the company will not do much.

 

I have cruised now for 20 years, and I am thinking back to my first Royal Cruise. Food was fantastic, there was many free foods you could get all day, like ice cream, and they had a midnight buffet not one night but two on some cruises. On other nights they had other party and evening buffets. It was really fun, and a cruise was really different than visiting a cafeteria restaurant.

 

 

Over the years all the cruise lines, or at least the ones I take, Norweigian, Royal, Carnival, Princess, and Celebrity all seem to be in a fight to economy offerings with added charges to make it better. The experience has changed, and certainly not for the better.

 

 

So I'm sure some will say, just pay for the special dining, and you'll get better food. That is true, but for me, its not even about the cost, its about the experience. Before I took a Princess cruise, people told me its better, so try that, and we did, but it wasn't better. Then I always heard, try Celebrity, its better. This last Celebrity cruise was also not better. Breakfast was good, other meals not so much.

 

 

I had a planned Asia cruise planned for October, and I think we are cancelling it. We are done with cruising for now. Instead we will do a 15 day ground tour, stay at different hotels, and eat at different local restaurants. This will be a good change for us. After about 25 cruises, I think I had enough, as almost every one has gotten worse than the last. The more cruises you go on, the more you see how much they have changed.

 

 

Now I hear, try Oceania or try Seven Seas, its better. And maybe we eventually will, but its sad we have to go that route, just to get back to the place that the mass-market cruise companies were 15 years ago.

[dolllover]

I was very pleased with the food on my Alaska cruise on the Solstice and our cruise with Hal to Mexico was just as good so no complaints from me.

[CruisingUS]

So I'm sure some will say, just pay for the special dining, and you'll get better food. That is true, but for me, its not even about the cost, its about the experience. Before I took a Princess cruise, people told me its better, so try that, and we did, but it wasn't better. Then I always heard, try Celebrity, its better. This last Celebrity cruise was also not better. Breakfast was good, other meals not so much.

I really hope this is not the case. I am coming from RCCL and NCL (let's not even talk about CCL), and was really hoping for a better experience on my first X cruise.

 

I had a planned Asia cruise planned for October, and I think we are cancelling it. We are done with cruising for now. Instead we will do a 15 day ground tour, stay at different hotels, and eat at different local restaurants. This will be a good change for us. After about 25 cruises, I think I had enough, as almost every one has gotten worse than the last. The more cruises you go on, the more you see how much they have changed.

Sounds like burnout mixed with nostalgia.

[Bo1953]

Does complaining to X get logged in your personal file? I am concerned that I would be labelled a troublemaker and possibly having X dismiss my more urgent concerns b/c they erroneously believe that I have "cried wolf" so many previous times.

 

How many times are we talking about? Personally, I do not think you will be 'tagged' as it were for complaining, especially if it is concerning improvements or lack there of AND not asking for any type of compensation outside of some horrendous situation beyond their or your control or doing it in a manner in which you are attacking or rude to personnel/staff on-board or corporate.

 

As I noted before, it is better to bring any situation that you happen upon to their attention while aboard and then come here and let everyone know if it was (or even could be) addressed during your sailing.

 

bon voyage

[Fouremco]

Does complaining to X get logged in your personal file? I am concerned that I would be labelled a troublemaker and possibly having X dismiss my more urgent concerns b/c they erroneously believe that I have "cried wolf" so many previous times.

I'd think that it would depend largely on the frequency and nature of your complaints. You are posting over 30 times a day on CC, and if you complain to Guest Services that often on a cruise, they'll probably throw you overboard and you won't need to worry about any entry in your file! :halo: