Ridiculously bad meal at Cagneys on Escape

[Love my butler]

Cagney's has been going downhill for years.  Pay more, get less.

 

For your convenience....

[sargemrs]

9 hours ago, NLH Arizona said:

The Haven is awesome, I was just in the Haven on the Breakaway in December, and I wouldn't be reluctant to go to Cagney's, as it is always someone's opinion whether a meal is good or bad, but the macaroni and cheese did look disgusting; I for example have always had great meals at Cagney's and also the Teppenyaki restaurant.    I also recommend the lightly breaded veal for lunch in the Haven restaurant.

 

 

Thanks, NLH. I'll keep that veal in mind!!  We were in a suite on the Dawn and got to enjoy Cagney's for breakfast and lunch and thoroughly enjoyed!

[dexddd]

16 hours ago, sargemrs said:

So you're saying the Haven is terrific?  We're in the Haven on Joy in May and can't wait!!!  I'm reluctant to even use our Specialty Dining option for Cagney's too!!

For us, Breakaway a few years ago was the pits.  Escape in June was very good but we are no longer paying the asking rates.  We did a semi live report if you look back around June with Haven food.

 

Good luck with your Joy trip and hope Haven is as good as we had in June.

 

ETA The Haven menu is very good and we happened to have great servers there on Escape.  Not crowded for us and no limits other than one upcharge item on menu.

Edited April 17, 2019 by dexddd

[dexddd]

15 hours ago, lanceholt said:

The restaurant manager, and the Hotel Director have to hear about it first and complaining on Cruise Critic after the fact just doesn't do it.  If/when you have a complaint, then ask that the manager and Hotel Director contact you about it.  Send the message and see what they might have been willing to do.

The direction, IMO, is coming from Miami whether explicit or implicit.

[lanceholt]

54 minutes ago, dexddd said:

The direction, IMO, is coming from Miami whether explicit or implicit.

You mean to say that company headquarters give the orders to serve bad food with minimal service?

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 4/16/2019 at 2:58 AM, Formula280SS said:

In specialty dining is the performance and service of the wait staff; gone are the days apparently of 10-12 year experienced specialty restaurant wait staff, replaced with new, inexperienced and rotational servers.  They don’t know the food, and you’d likely see them busing in the Garden Café or main dining at various days.

 

This pretty much sums up the service; furthermore, in my experience on PoA, that its food runners not your actual waiter/waitress who brings you the food.  They drop the food and run, you don't even have a chance to cut and check the steak is cooked the way you like.  Then you may have to wait around for ten minutes for your actual waiter/waitress to check on you.

 

With food quality, I've been on three cruise lines tours that covers the galleys including Crystal.  They state nearly all the food is delivered frozen at the home port.  Beyond the logistics, a port can be cancelled at anytime, its not a cruise lines best interest to announce "port xyz is cancelled due to bad weather therefore we also won't be serving steak for the rest of the cruise".  On a seven day cruise, you're not going to want a week old "fresh" shrimp on the last night of dinner.

[Victress2007]

I'm curious.  What would be the response if, at the beginning of a week long cruise, there was an announcement in the daily, "Due to staffing shortage, Cagney's will be closed this week.  This will enable us to allocate our resources more effectively and provide better service at our other specialty restaurants."

 

Vic

[ColinIllinois]

8 minutes ago, Victress2007 said:

I'm curious.  What would be the response if, at the beginning of a week long cruise, there was an announcement in the daily, "Due to staffing shortage, Cagney's will be closed this week.  This will enable us to allocate our resources more effectively and provide better service at our other specialty restaurants."

 

Vic

 

Well, for one thing this forum would self-destruct.  lol

[NLH Arizona]

47 minutes ago, Victress2007 said:

I'm curious.  What would be the response if, at the beginning of a week long cruise, there was an announcement in the daily, "Due to staffing shortage, Cagney's will be closed this week.  This will enable us to allocate our resources more effectively and provide better service at our other specialty restaurants."

 

Vic

There would be more people trying to get into the other specialty restaurants.

[perditax]

Haven restaurant on BA last week definitely de-mystified the Haven experience for me (longtime NCL cruiser, first time Haven).

 

Overcooked prime rib and duck breast at dinner.

 

Most of the same foods at breakfast you get on the buffet line (nice not to have to fight the crowds, though). Same triangular french toast, same hash brown rounds, etc. 

 

"French dip" at lunch served with some kind of brown gravy instead of au jus.

 

Usually had to wait for a hostess to show up at the podium to be seated. 

 

The weirdest thing (to me) was that on disembark day, they closed down the courtyard coffee/tea/pastry cart while simultaneously asking Haven guests to wait in the lounge for disembark. So if you just wanted coffee/tea and weren't aware that would be the one day they had no refreshments available, you either had to be seated in the restaurant or hoof it back over to the buffet. 

 

The only thing I had that was of clearly higher quality than something similar elsewhere on the ship was a caesar salad with salmon. This is something I often have at O'Sheehan's on other ships. The salmon was obviously higher quality and right off the grill. Otherwise, you're just paying for a lower crowd load and somewhat faster service. 

[PelicanBill]

Ugh. My only really bad experience was Cagney's on Breakaway although service has been a problem in nearly all the restaurants. Only Ocean Blue has delivered well every time for food and service.

 

Service problems are the usual: slow to deliver courses or very late appetizer and then dinner right on top of it.  Failure to keep water or soda refilled and long times waiting for a check-in. Failing to check in right after food delivered so no correction of something wrong or missing. Reaching over a person to pickup or place plates when there is a clear way to do so without that. Missing place settings or items and having to ask to fix it (!).

 

my bad Cagney's experience was waiting over 2 hours before steak arrived, and it was overdone. Offer to fix it refused as I needed to get to a show and would not be able to have dessert as a result of it reaching 3 hours when done eating main course.

 

I think we have to report these issues often now and use the surveys to say we don't accept such slow and shoddy service.  But be warned, I reported a problem to the officer in charge of Shanghai's. Our meals came out a piece at a time over an hour space and nobody ate at the same time.  I waited a half hour for her to show up and she took my report yet offered no apology.  Took my cabin #. I thought, maybe they will send a note or something.  Nope.  But I have had a few conversations with Vuk (Officer in charge of Hotel) and have his card and he asked me to contact him if I am ever on a ship with him again. We'll see

[dexddd]

6 hours ago, lanceholt said:

You mean to say that company headquarters give the orders to serve bad food with minimal service?

 

The job descriptions for those on board in F&B have listed several times about cost containment and control as part of their jobs. 

 

Also, how did the limiting of starters/sides/desserts as part of the included dining packages start back in 2015 when there are no such limits in the T&Cs?

[perditax]

I think we have to report these issues often now and use the surveys to say we don't accept such slow and shoddy service. 

Does NCL even do surveys anymore?

[Newleno]

12 minutes ago, perditax said:

 

 

Does NCL even do surveys anymore?

When needed we wrote letters and usually got some OBC, surveys dont get you jack so why bother

[Zippeedee]

Cagney's on the Breakaway was inconsistent on the same trip. The first meal was delicious lamb chops, rare as ordered. Decent size no- upcharge shrimp cocktail, good service and seven layer cake delivered to my room for later. 

The second dinner late in the 13 night cruise was horrible. The worse piece of rib eye I have ever been served. Thin, over cooked, gristled and there was no angle to even cut it. It was like  dog toy.  Service ok but not great. The shrimp were so small they doubled the order without my asking. There were no strip steaks in Cagney's but they had been featured in all the other specialties all week. Sorry I waited. It made no sense.

 

Ocean Blue was disappointing as well. The stone crab claws (again order doubled because they were small) were stuck to the shells and tasteless. Nothing else was horrible but not great either.

 

My favorite meals on that trip were in La Cucina and now they have taken everything I liked off the menu! Hope springs eternal for better meals on the Getaway this year.

[sargemrs]

8 hours ago, dexddd said:

For us, Breakaway a few years ago was the pits.  Escape in June was very good but we are no longer paying the asking rates.  We did a semi live report if you look back around June with Haven food.

 

Good luck with your Joy trip and hope Haven is as good as we had in June.

 

ETA The Haven menu is very good and we happened to have great servers there on Escape.  Not crowded for us and no limits other than one upcharge item on menu.

Oh, thanks, dexddd!!!

[rugerdog]

On 4/15/2019 at 12:54 PM, allyfrizzle said:

Man, Cagneys used to be where it's at. But during my visit on Friday while aboard the Escape, we got lackluster service and downright horrible food.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your experience.  This is what Cruise Critic is all about, the good, the bad and the horrible 😛. 

[emcelh]

We were on the Epic in November and I was disappointed in most of the specialty restaurants with the exception of Teppanyaki.  We went to Cagney's twice.  First time it was just okay and the second time was not good at all.  One entree was sent back (which was a first for us) but the filet was very tough.  Moderno has always been a favorite but, this time, most of meat was too salty.   I didn't enjoy my entree at Le Bistro but I should have ordered something else.  My mistake.  My husband had overcooked fish at LaCucina and I had veal marsala and it was also overcooked and dry.

 

We had a 4 night dining package and 2 platinumn dinners.  Sad to say the dinners in the MDR were better in service and quality for the most part.

 

We have one more NCL cruise booked.  We had Two Cruise Next certificates to use but, after this one, we may shop around. I get good prices through CAS though, so maybe we just need to adjust our expectations of several with NCL.

 

 

 

[allyfrizzle]

11 minutes ago, emcelh said:

We have one more NCL cruise booked.  We had Two Cruise Next certificates to use but, after this one, we may shop around. I get good prices through CAS though, so maybe we just need to adjust our expectations of several with NCL.

 

This is how my future looks. I have 2 more CruiseNext certificates to use, then I'll likely (please excuse me) jump ship to MSC, Virgin (I have high hopes) or Celebrity.

[Paphillyguy]

45 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

 

This is how my future looks. I have 2 more CruiseNext certificates to use, then I'll likely (please excuse me) jump ship to MSC, Virgin (I have high hopes) or Celebrity.

 

My partner and I were always NCL cheerleaders and after our last cruise on the Escape we decided that it is time we try another line.  The service and food in the Haven was definitely a step down from the last few times.  

[spanishguy1970]

1 hour ago, allyfrizzle said:

 

This is how my future looks. I have 2 more CruiseNext certificates to use, then I'll likely (please excuse me) jump ship to MSC, Virgin (I have high hopes) or Celebrity.

do they still the loyalty match on MSC? we have 6 certificates left and we may be venturing out or just doing land vacations for a while. I want to go back to Hawaii to the Military hotel ....

[JuneauWhatIMean]

I absolutely recommend sailing in the Yacht Club on MSC.  A mile high better and a mile low cheaper (?) than the Haven on NCL.  We’ll probably never do the Haven again.  

 

Our last cruise was on the Star to the Mexican Riviera last December, (in a mini suite), and my favorite food choice was the soup and bread assortment in the buffet.  Cagney’s just plain sucked socks.  Chewy, inedible filet and a bewildered staff.  Le Bistro was a little bit better, just due to our waiter who wrapped up a cheese plate for me to take back to our cabin.  It’s amazing how far the food quality and preparation have fallen on NCL.

[newmexicoNita]

16 hours ago, perditax said:

 

 

Does NCL even do surveys anymore?

Of course, why would you not complete them? That is your one time to let the company know what makes you happy and what does not. If you do not bother than you might be creating your own problems. 

[broncofan99]

Also subpar service on the NCL Star Cagneys in March.   Cold sides, rare steaks instead of medium.  Steaks sent back, just as bad as first time.  We were offered a comp dinner but had other premium reservation to use.   Dinner service  just didn’t flow, long time between courses.  Not the same Carney’s we have experienced in past cruises.  

[pepsiguy]

We've been on 14 cruises all with NCL and have been to Cagneys quite a few times. I can honestly say we've never had a bad meal and service has always been great. I guess we're one of the lucky ones.