Oceanview Cafe dinner service being eliminated?

[TeeRick]

Let's summarize the situation.

 

The original post was about an unsubstantiated online social media rumor (reported here by the OP for discussion purposes), and it was about eliminating the Oceanview Cafe dinner buffet service entirely.  No evidence that this has happened or will happen.

 

Some posters on at least one sailing on Edge (and one on Equinox) have reported reduced offerings at the dinner buffet compared to the past.  Not sure if this was in response to lower capacity on those particular sailings and a resulting attempt to reduce food wastage.  Or a decision by Celebrity for those ships.  Or is it fleetwide decision for 2023?  Any other ships reporting this reduction in offerings?

 

I will be on Equinox in 2 weeks and will report back here.  I will be disappointed if this is true (after I have made final payment).  If a big change like this has been implemented, then it should not happen for all ship sailings that have already made final payments.  Future sailings are fair game and people booking can decide if this changes the value of their cruise dynamics.

[chamima]

8 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Let's summarize the situation.

 

The original post was about an unsubstantiated online social media rumor (reported here by the OP for discussion purposes), and it was about eliminating the Oceanview Cafe dinner buffet service entirely.  No evidence that this has happened or will happen.

 

Some posters on at least one sailing on Edge (and one on Equinox) have reported reduced offerings at the dinner buffet compared to the past.  Not sure if this was in response to lower capacity on those particular sailings and a resulting attempt to reduce food wastage.  Or a decision by Celebrity for those ships.  Or is it fleetwide decision for 2023?  Any other ships reporting this reduction in offerings?

 

I will be on Equinox in 2 weeks and will report back here.  I will be disappointed if this is true (after I have made final payment).  If a big change like this has been implemented, then it should not happen for all ship sailings that have already made final payments.  Future sailings are fair game and people booking can decide if this changes the value of their cruise dynamics.

 

 

Rick

We will be on the Equinox starting Jan. 30 for 5 weeks so would appreciate any info you can report on the many supposed changes.

None of the changes affect us personally (we don't eat dinner in the OVC, we only order Room Service continental breakfast, don't like lobster) but I'm upset at the tacky direction I see Celebrity going in. So I'd love to hear it's all just speculation.

Also, I'd love to hear that Eddie Jenkins is back as CD.

Thanks!

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, chamima said:

 

 

Rick

We will be on the Equinox starting Jan. 30 for 5 weeks so would appreciate any info you can report on the many supposed changes.

None of the changes affect us personally (we don't eat dinner in the OVC, we only order Room Service continental breakfast, don't like lobster) but I'm upset at the tacky direction I see Celebrity going in. So I'd love to hear it's all just speculation.

Also, I'd love to hear that Eddie Jenkins is back as CD.

Thanks!

Will do.  We are on Equinox Jan 21-30 just before you.  We do occasionally eat in the buffet for dinner maybe once a cruise.  We are in a suite so are mostly in Luminae for our upcoming cruise.

[miguelmia]

11 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I will be on Equinox in 2 weeks and will report back here.  I will be disappointed if this is true (after I have made final payment).  If a big change like this has been implemented, then it should not happen for all ship sailings that have already made final payments.  Future sailings are fair game and people booking can decide if this changes the value of their cruise dynamics.

 

This is my perspective. I booked my first X cruise ever on Sunday for the end of the month (so I paid in full right away) as a treat for myself. The next day I'm perusing these boards and am seeing a number of sudden changes (cuts) to services on board. Could I have been forewarned for some of these things if I had come here before booking to research? Sure. But things such as the sudden introduction of a $10 fee for non-breakfast room service and the apparent scaling back of the buffet dinner gives real bait-and-switch vibes (and these are just 2 examples). I can imagine the frustration of X veterans and those who have been looking forward to their cruise for months; trust me, it's annoying to this newbie as well!

 

I get there are reasons for Celebrity doing what they feel they need to do. I just wish they weren't ripping off the bandaid, so to speak, for cruises happening now without warning their guests before final payment. Or, it seems, even before embarkation. Happy New Year, surprise!

 

Am I still going to make the best of my cruise? You bet. Am I still going to enjoy myself regardless? Hell yeah (I really need this vacation lol). I'll withhold final judgement until I'm actually on Reflection in a couple weeks and see things for myself. But my expectations have been lowered, and that's a little discouraging.

[TeeRick]

2 minutes ago, miguelmia said:

 

This is my perspective. I booked my first X cruise ever on Sunday for the end of the month (so I paid in full right away) as a treat for myself. The next day I'm perusing these boards and am seeing a number of sudden changes (cuts) to services on board. Could I have been forewarned for some of these things if I had come here before booking to research? Sure. But things such as the sudden introduction of a $10 fee for non-breakfast room service and the apparent scaling back of the buffet dinner gives real bait-and-switch vibes (and these are just 2 examples). I can imagine the frustration of X veterans and those who have been looking forward to their cruise for months; trust me, it's annoying to this newbie as well!

 

I get there are reasons for Celebrity doing what they feel they need to do. I just wish they weren't ripping off the bandaid, so to speak, for cruises happening now without warning their guests before final payment. Or, it seems, even before embarkation. Happy New Year, surprise!

 

Am I still going to make the best of my cruise? You bet. Am I still going to enjoy myself regardless? Hell yeah (I really need this vacation lol). I'll withhold final judgement until I'm actually on Reflection in a couple weeks and see things for myself. But my expectations have been lowered, and that's a little discouraging.

Fully understand your perspective!  But welcome to Celebrity and Cruise Critic.

[MamaToMany]

19 minutes ago, miguelmia said:

 

This is my perspective. I booked my first X cruise ever on Sunday for the end of the month (so I paid in full right away) as a treat for myself. The next day I'm perusing these boards and am seeing a number of sudden changes (cuts) to services on board. Could I have been forewarned for some of these things if I had come here before booking to research? Sure. But things such as the sudden introduction of a $10 fee for non-breakfast room service and the apparent scaling back of the buffet dinner gives real bait-and-switch vibes (and these are just 2 examples). I can imagine the frustration of X veterans and those who have been looking forward to their cruise for months; trust me, it's annoying to this newbie as well!

 

I get there are reasons for Celebrity doing what they feel they need to do. I just wish they weren't ripping off the bandaid, so to speak, for cruises happening now without warning their guests before final payment. Or, it seems, even before embarkation. Happy New Year, surprise!

 

Am I still going to make the best of my cruise? You bet. Am I still going to enjoy myself regardless? Hell yeah (I really need this vacation lol). I'll withhold final judgement until I'm actually on Reflection in a couple weeks and see things for myself. But my expectations have been lowered, and that's a little discouraging.

I agree with everything you have stated. Way back in early September I booked a B2B starting 1/14. I was truly looking forward to experiencing a slightly more upscale cruise experience, as I have only cruises NCL and Royal before. The last week, when I should be getting super excited, I have instead been reading negative report after negative report about every cutback under the sun. I’m still going to enjoy the heck out of my trip, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that some of the shiny has already worn off and I’m not even on board yet.

[RichYak]

24 minutes ago, miguelmia said:

ripping off the bandaid

LOL, I just used that exact phrase in a different thread.

[PTC DAWG]

18 hours ago, zitsky said:

I didn’t like the telephone as a kid in the 70-80s.  I’ve never been a big user of my cell phone minutes.

 

Tell me about the pasta station?  I guess they have both Alfredo and tomato sauce?  I like to be naughty on vacation.  Is it the same at lunch?

Basically they build the pasta dish that you want, then prepare it in front of you.  They have a lot of par cooked pasta, different sauces, including Alfredo, all types of mix ins that you choose..then put it in a pan and heat it up for you...adding sauces as you like.  I always enjoy it.  

[C4HCG]

28 minutes ago, miguelmia said:

 

This is my perspective. I booked my first X cruise ever on Sunday for the end of the month (so I paid in full right away) as a treat for myself. The next day I'm perusing these boards and am seeing a number of sudden changes (cuts) to services on board. Could I have been forewarned for some of these things if I had come here before booking to research? Sure. But things such as the sudden introduction of a $10 fee for non-breakfast room service and the apparent scaling back of the buffet dinner gives real bait-and-switch vibes (and these are just 2 examples). I can imagine the frustration of X veterans and those who have been looking forward to their cruise for months; trust me, it's annoying to this newbie as well!

 

I get there are reasons for Celebrity doing what they feel they need to do. I just wish they weren't ripping off the bandaid, so to speak, for cruises happening now without warning their guests before final payment. Or, it seems, even before embarkation. Happy New Year, surprise!

 

Am I still going to make the best of my cruise? You bet. Am I still going to enjoy myself regardless? Hell yeah (I really need this vacation lol). I'll withhold final judgement until I'm actually on Reflection in a couple weeks and see things for myself. But my expectations have been lowered, and that's a little discouraging.

I would be massively surprised if you didn’t love the ship, in my view the Solstice class is the best and we found our first trip on the Equinox (another Solstice) absolutely amazing. Please do report back. Hope I am right🤞

[dlh015]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Let's summarize the situation.

 

The original post was about an unsubstantiated online social media rumor (reported here by the OP for discussion purposes), and it was about eliminating the Oceanview Cafe dinner buffet service entirely.  No evidence that this has happened or will happen.

 

Some posters on at least one sailing on Edge (and one on Equinox) have reported reduced offerings at the dinner buffet compared to the past.  Not sure if this was in response to lower capacity on those particular sailings and a resulting attempt to reduce food wastage.  Or a decision by Celebrity for those ships.  Or is it fleetwide decision for 2023?  Any other ships reporting this reduction in offerings?

 

I will be on Equinox in 2 weeks and will report back here.  I will be disappointed if this is true (after I have made final payment).  If a big change like this has been implemented, then it should not happen for all ship sailings that have already made final payments.  Future sailings are fair game and people booking can decide if this changes the value of their cruise dynamics.

I'll be on the EQ next week...as will be at least 5 others here...I'll be sure to check it out. The ship appears to be full...

[miguelmia]

2 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

I would be massively surprised if you didn’t love the ship, in my view the Solstice class is the best and we found our first trip on the Equinox (another Solstice) absolutely amazing. Please do report back. Hope I am right🤞

 

I hope so as well! From what I've seen the ship itself looks awesome. It's just the revised service that's giving me pause at the moment.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I don't usually hit the buffet for dinner - and I never use room service - BUT I had planned to grab an early dinner at the buffet on my cruise this summer to Bermuda as I've got a night excursion planned on my birthday (and I've planned Horseshoe Bay for the day with a break in between) that would not allow me to eat in the MDR for dinner based on timing.

 

Unfortunately it's a NRD that I've moved all over the place because I was stupid enough to book it (and it was on a cruise where the deposit was $450) so I'm stuck. If it was $100 I'd just eat the cost - but $450 is a lot to eat.

 

So now I just need to figure out what to do. I'm gluten-free and have always been advised to avoid room service as it typically is not prepared in a safe kitchen - so budgeting for it is not really an option. BUT I'll need to have something to eat before the excursion - and I don't know what my food options at Horseshoe Bay would be.

 

Not thrilled. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

I really don't understand Celebrity's approach to cutting these services and adding these upcharges.  Sure, I understand that they took on a lot of debt during the pandemic but charging $10 for room service really isn't going to pay down the debt.   The only thing that makes sense to me is that it is still a people problem and they still can't get enough crew members.  How many times is each cabin going to order room service?  How many crew members does it really take to run the OVC in the evening.  I think Celebrity would be far better off to raise the fares by $50 or whatever it takes to pay for the extra staff and a few extra lobster tails so they can try to continue to market themselves as a luxury line.  Raise the crew wages to fully staff the ships if that's the real issue.  By taking this approach they can distance themselves from the other cruise lines that are nickel and diming people and become a more attractive option.

 

Perhaps we are seeing the effect of the new CEO in charge of the Royal Caribbean group.  If so, I don't think we will like the future direction of Celebrity, perhaps time to move to HAL.  The Pinnacle Class ships look nice to me.

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Let's summarize the situation.

 

The original post was about an unsubstantiated online social media rumor (reported here by the OP for discussion purposes), and it was about eliminating the Oceanview Cafe dinner buffet service entirely.  No evidence that this has happened or will happen.

 

Some posters on at least one sailing on Edge (and one on Equinox) have reported reduced offerings at the dinner buffet compared to the past.  Not sure if this was in response to lower capacity on those particular sailings and a resulting attempt to reduce food wastage.  Or a decision by Celebrity for those ships.  Or is it fleetwide decision for 2023?  Any other ships reporting this reduction in offerings?

 

I will be on Equinox in 2 weeks and will report back here.  I will be disappointed if this is true (after I have made final payment).  If a big change like this has been implemented, then it should not happen for all ship sailings that have already made final payments.  Future sailings are fair game and people booking can decide if this changes the value of their cruise dynamics.

If I used wording Reduced or Severely Downgraded that would have been more accurate.  

 

If this is a test; I hope they fail fast, fix fast and come to a better idea. 

 

If this is an actual operational change, it will be a problem for me onboard; others not so much. . 

[neverlaysup]

20 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

It does appear that while dinner at the buffet won't be outright eliminated but greatly scaled back, someone posted this on the Edge thread

I normally don't eat dinner in the Oceanview but our last cruise, my wife got Covid which meant I was left to roam alone. I ended up eating in the back corner of the Oceanview each night and I will say that dinner is the worst time of the day up there (as it would be expected). There was more crew eating dinner up there than passengers and the offerings seems to be a re-visit of lunch food.

[Ipeeinthepools]

5 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

If I used wording Reduced or Severely Downgraded that would have been more accurate.  

 

If this is a test; I hope they fail fast, fix fast and come to a better idea. 

 

If this is an actual operational change, it will be a problem for me onboard; others not so much. . 

 

Hopefully this experiment will fail faster than the Kobe beef burgers

[Cruising89143]

Just read from another guest currently sailing on the Silhouette that the evening dining in OV has been drastically reduced. She stated that the pasta station and grill is now closed. According to this person about 3/4 of the area is closed and roped off. She was on this ship three weeks ago and she stated on this return in addition to the OV changes she also noticed the room service charge with the exception of the Continental breakfast, higher drink prices, no daily treats in Aqua. She did state that tea time in the buffet did not change. She stated that it was still “yummy”….. I don’t cruise in Aqua so I have no idea of what they received in the past. Just posting what she reported on social media. 

[mtnlvr53]

7 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

So now I just need to figure out what to do. I'm gluten-free and have always been advised to avoid room service as it typically is not prepared in a safe kitchen - so budgeting for it is not really an option. BUT I'll need to have something to eat before the excursion - and I don't know what my food options at Horseshoe Bay would be.

I was planning room service to avoid some Covid exposure, particularly in view of the alleged cutbacks at the buffet.  I am Celiac, too. What makes room service a problem? Room service and MDR are in different kitchens? Even though it appears the menus are the same? Thanks for your input.

Edited January 5, 2023 by mtnlvr53

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 minute ago, mtnlvr53 said:

I was planning room service to avoid some Covid exposure. I am Celiac, too. What makes it a problem? Room service and MDR are in different kitchens? Even though it appears the menus are the same? Thanks for your input.

 

I've never ordered room service because I've always been told not to if you have allergies (I'm gf due to a wheat allergy) - and the menu certainly doesn't indicate that they can alter things. From what I understand the MDR has allergy-friendly sections in their kitchen. The room service kitchen not so much. (Honestly living in a studio apartment in NYC, room service is not appealing even if it was safe because I eat in my "bedroom" at home too. It's not that cute.)

[mac_tlc]

We are on the Beyond on 1/29 and will report back also. Plan on doing a LIVE thread so get your questions ready 😜. 
 

mac_tlc

[aggiejd2000]

15 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Have you considered how busy the Cafe would be if that was the case? It would be chaos.

If you had quoted my entire comment, you would have seen the part where I said I never advocated that X should do away with buffet service.  I merely said I wouldn't care if breakfast/lunch buffet service went away.  I don't see why I need to consider something I never argued for in the first place. 

[cw2go]

16 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

We are on the Beyond on 1/29 and will report back also. Plan on doing a LIVE thread so get your questions ready 😜. 
 

mac_tlc

 

I'll be boarding Feb 11th so I'll be following your thread closely! 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 minutes ago, aggiejd2000 said:

If you had quoted my entire comment, you would have seen the part where I said I never advocated that X should do away with buffet service.  I merely said I wouldn't care if breakfast/lunch buffet service went away.  I don't see why I need to consider something I never argued for in the first place. 

 

Because if the buffet went away, those people would have to go somewhere, and most of them would not go to the MDR - meaning they'd be at the cafe.

[aggiejd2000]

3 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Because if the buffet went away, those people would have to go somewhere, and most of them would not go to the MDR - meaning they'd be at the cafe.

Yes, I understand that but again, I never said X should do away with the buffet. 

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, cruisingator2 said:

Just read from another guest currently sailing on the Silhouette that the evening dining in OV has been drastically reduced. She stated that the pasta station and grill is now closed. According to this person about 3/4 of the area is closed and roped off. She was on this ship three weeks ago and she stated on this return in addition to the OV changes she also noticed the room service charge with the exception of the Continental breakfast, higher drink prices, no daily treats in Aqua. She did state that tea time in the buffet did not change. She stated that it was still “yummy”….. I don’t cruise in Aqua so I have no idea of what they received in the past. Just posting what she reported on social media. 

Saw the same thing. People are dogpiling on that this is a great change. Literally cheering for cutbacks.