Worst Burger on the Planet

[TeeRick]

Two years ago we sailed Constellation in June and they had just opened the Top Deck Burger Bar on that ship and closed the Mast Grill.  We tried it and really liked the fresh made-to-order burgers and fries.  They advertised it as Kobe beef but it really was Kobe-Like Wagyu beef raised in the US.  It was $9.  All the fans of the free but low quality, fatty burgers (IMO !!) in the Mast Grill revolted!  But you could still walk into the Oceanview Cafe and get them every day.  Just not by the pool.  M-Class has no good options for higher quality burgers unlike some S-Class which has Lawn Club Grill.  So I welcomed the option.  Even reviewed it here on CC.  As far as I am aware it was pretty much a one and done experiment.  So when we sail in a suite we very much enjoy the freshly made beef burger in Luminae.  Yes there is also a lamb burger on occasion but clearly specified on the menu as such.  

[Water709]

We are on the Summit right now, and we agree that the burgers in Luminae this cruise are dreadful.  We have not tried burgers in any other venue on this trip because we figured they are made from the same meat most likely.  My husband who also is not a picky eater at all commented on how much fat and gristle was throughout, and I agreed.  Overall the food on this trip has been mediocre or worse.  This is our 6th cruise on Summit, and unfortunately we have noticed where they are cutting costs, especially in food quality.  

 

[MikeMary4449]

FYI - Originally the Luminae burgers had onions mixed into the meat prior to cooking.

Sometime before November, 2018 the recipe was changed and the onions were removed

and replaced with a Cheddar bacon-onion jam on the top of the burger.  The Luminae burger

we had on Reflection in June of this year was delicious!  Hint: For a lighter meal just ask for

the burger without the bun.

[shirazcruiser]

The first time I had a Luminae burger was 4 years ago and it was delicious. Every sailing since then, I've ordered one on embarkation day and have been disappointed. I wised up on our May Summit sailing and ordered a Lobster Roll. I'm done with the burgers! It's a shame that we're sailing in a suite and can't get a decent hamburger that tastes good and doesn't look like a giant meatball. 

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Mynki said:

 

The burgers we had there were definitely beef and not lamb. The taste and smell would be completely different. Have they changed this recently? 

I've always thought that Luminae menus are not very descriptive, but surely they'd state 'lamb burger'? 

Not sure if things have changed but originally they had both a Beef Burger and a Lamb Burger alternating.   I much preferred the Lamb Burger.     I was recently looking on the App and it was just showing "Luminae Burger" -  didn't say beef or lamb.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 7/12/2019 at 2:21 PM, hiccups said:

We were on Equinox last month and found that the burgers at Mast Grill to be pretty good.  My husband, who generally doesn't care for hot dogs, had one and enjoyed it.  He's a brats and mets kind of guy 🙂

Agree for sure. A burger from the mast grill was just fine. Yes the frys were very good. Most evenings in the buffet the burgers are hand made and delicious. Done on an open flame. One evening in the buffet was burger night. I did not get one. They were way to large for me and I do not like tossing out food. A fella next to us had one and it did look super.

[hubofhockey]

8 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Two years ago we sailed Constellation in June and they had just opened the Top Deck Burger Bar on that ship and closed the Mast Grill.  We tried it and really liked the fresh made-to-order burgers and fries.  They advertised it as Kobe beef but it really was Kobe-Like Wagyu beef raised in the US.  It was $9.  All the fans of the free but low quality, fatty burgers (IMO !!) in the Mast Grill revolted!  But you could still walk into the Oceanview Cafe and get them every day.  Just not by the pool.  M-Class has no good options for higher quality burgers unlike some S-Class which has Lawn Club Grill.  So I welcomed the option.  Even reviewed it here on CC.  As far as I am aware it was pretty much a one and done experiment.  So when we sail in a suite we very much enjoy the freshly made beef burger in Luminae.  Yes there is also a lamb burger on occasion but clearly specified on the menu as such.  

 

Those Top Deck burgers were really good. I think they were on toasted brioche buns as well.   People on these boards kept complaining about the false advertising on Kobe, but nobody complained about the burger (fries were good too).  I wish Celebrity hadn't given in to the complainers on Cruise Critic, but they folded.  Now, all you can get is the bad burgers.  We're on Equinox next year and my Keto diet will probably be over, but I won't be eating the bad pool grill burgers.  

[Nymich]

5 Celebrity Cruises and the burgers at Mast have been consistently average.   Not great, good or poor just average

So we leave in a few weeks on Celebrity #6 for us and we expect the burgers to be AVERAGE.  

[Stateroom_Sailor]

10 hours ago, Water709 said:

We are on the Summit right now, and we agree that the burgers in Luminae this cruise are dreadful.  We have not tried burgers in any other venue on this trip because we figured they are made from the same meat most likely.  My husband who also is not a picky eater at all commented on how much fat and gristle was throughout, and I agreed.  Overall the food on this trip has been mediocre or worse.  This is our 6th cruise on Summit, and unfortunately we have noticed where they are cutting costs, especially in food quality.  

 

 

The food was an incredible decline last April in Blu.  I regretted not grabbing a last minute deal on a suite, but looks like it would have done little to hide the decline.

[the_dylaness]

So disappointed to hear of the concerns with Blu...

Not that I think it's the best restaurant in the world, but I like it well enough.

When we were in AQ on Equinox in Jan 2018 the service was pitifully slow. 

[Cruise it or lose it]

I don't often comment....but I googled "worst burger on the planet" and I have never eaten anything like it on a Celebrity ship.

 

 

[grandgeezer]

3 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

 

Those Top Deck burgers were really good. I think they were on toasted brioche buns as well.   People on these boards kept complaining about the false advertising on Kobe, but nobody complained about the burger (fries were good too).  I wish Celebrity hadn't given in to the complainers on Cruise Critic, but they folded.  Now, all you can get is the bad burgers.  We're on Equinox next year and my Keto diet will probably be over, but I won't be eating the bad pool grill burgers.  

 

I understood they folded because nobody would buy them. In fact, I heard that even after giving them away as samples, people still wouldn’t buy them.

They couldn’t have been that great, the ships that have the Lawn Club have moe expensive burgers than those and sell a lot of them.

[Orator]

I really feel sorry for some of the Executive Chefs who are really top notch. They must now be working with lesser quality proteins as cutbacks appear to continue. Javier DeJesus , who is on SIL, worked at a top Resturant in Philly and made for some of us what we agreed was the best Philly Cheesestaeak we ever had. He even had the roll correct. Javier, Kenny , Denton really stand out and I believe that the decline in quality is caused by factors other than their skills.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

41 minutes ago, Orator said:

II really feel sorry for some of the Executive Chefs who are really top notch. They must now be working with lesser quality proteins as cutbacks appear to continue. Javier DeJesus , who is on SIL, worked at a top Resturant in Philly and made for some of us what we agreed was the best Philly Cheesestaeak we ever had. He even had the roll correct. Javier, Kenny , Denton really stand out and I believe that the decline in quality is caused by factors other than their skills.

I agree, I remember meeting Javier and Denton during cooking demos and special meals  and they and their staff provided top notch food. If things are going down hill it is not because of their lack of skill.

Edited July 14, 2019 by CHEZMARYLOU

[TeeRick]

10 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

 

I understood they folded because nobody would buy them. In fact, I heard that even after giving them away as samples, people still wouldn’t buy them.

They couldn’t have been that great, the ships that have the Lawn Club have moe expensive burgers than those and sell a lot of them.

I was on the one ship Connie that introduced the TTBB and the burgers were quite good as I stated in my opinion.  The place had a long line always for lunch.  Plenty of people on board buying them.  As far as I know Connie was the only ship.  I think one other (Equinox?) announced it but never really implemented it.  After two or three cruises on Connie it closed.  It was the general outrage of Celebrity cruisers who missed the free pool burgers at the Pool Grill (called Mast Grill on S-Class).  I think if Celebrity introduced a premium burger concept like TTBB somewhere else on the ship and kept the Pool Grill with free burgers it probably would have worked.  Who knows.  But I still can't get a decent premium burger on M-Class unless I dine in Luminae.

[bigbenboys]

On 7/12/2019 at 11:25 AM, Orator said:

The Luminae burger is made with lamb. I tried it after so many raved about it and found it not to my taste. Burgers at Mast Grill are better to me.

I've only had the burger in Luminae once. I did not like it. Meat was to thick and cooked to order so burger takes longer to cook. I would have never order it if I new it was Lamb. I just looked at a Luminae menu. They dont say it was lamb. Overall I do enjoy the food in Luminae. 

[bermadu22]

51 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

I've only had the burger in Luminae once. I did not like it. Meat was to thick and cooked to order so burger takes longer to cook. I would have never order it if I new it was Lamb. I just looked at a Luminae menu. They dont say it was lamb. Overall I do enjoy the food in Luminae. 

I don't think Luminae's "signature" burger is lamb. They have a separate lamb burger for one of the lunch menus. 

 

 

[grandgeezer]

6 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I was on the one ship Connie that introduced the TTBB and the burgers were quite good as I stated in my opinion.  The place had a long line always for lunch.  Plenty of people on board buying them.  As far as I know Connie was the only ship.  I think one other (Equinox?) announced it but never really implemented it.  After two or three cruises on Connie it closed.  It was the general outrage of Celebrity cruisers who missed the free pool burgers at the Pool Grill (called Mast Grill on S-Class).  I think if Celebrity introduced a premium burger concept like TTBB somewhere else on the ship and kept the Pool Grill with free burgers it probably would have worked.  Who knows.  But I still can't get a decent premium burger on M-Class unless I dine in Luminae.

That would be uncharacteristic of Celebrity to close it if it was popular, and making money. Their creed is if it's making lots of money don't worry about the complainers.

[Cruising89143]

We have only tried the Mast Grill once and the burger was very good. Freshly cooked as was the fries. Now the buffet was a different story. Same as RCI where the burgers were cooked sitting in a pan. Not good. It was the reason that we dined at Johnny Rockets on RCI. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

My burger on the Constellation looked like a cafeteria grade burger and was pink on the inside! I never ordered another one onboard! 

[zitsky]

Is there any place on the Equinox where I can get a burger cooked to order?  I prefer medium rare.  Not something for every day but once in a while is ok.

[Gracie115]

On 7/12/2019 at 2:25 PM, Orator said:

The Luminae burger is made with lamb. I tried it after so many raved about it and found it not to my taste. Burgers at Mast Grill are better to me.

Luminae actually has two burgers, one is a lamb burger, but the other is beef (supposedly Kobe beef)  I like the lamb one but the only way we eat the beef burger is well done, otherwise it truly does have too much gristle in it to enjoy.  

[Gracie115]

1 hour ago, bermadu22 said:

I don't think Luminae's "signature" burger is lamb. They have a separate lamb burger for one of the lunch menus. 

 

 

That's correct

[Mynki]

Well however good or bad the burgers are onboard they all look a lot more appetizing to me than these :-

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143

Twenty years from now they could well be common place.... Just not in my home. 

[zitsky]

6 minutes ago, Mynki said:

Well however good or bad the burgers are onboard they all look a lot more appetizing to me than these :-

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143

Twenty years from now they could well be common place.... Just not in my home. 

 

I'm a meat eater.   I would welcome anything that reduces the suffering of animals in the food chain.  Would you also refuse to eat a burger made from a Star Trek replicator?