OV dinner changes live on Summit 1/9

[RTCGA]

Another OV report thread. Here's one for a Millennium-class ship. I cruise solo a lot, so end up there most nights for dinner. I'm not going to go hungry but I'm sad for these cuts. 

 

Here's what they've had the first two nights:

 

Salad bar
Self service caesar salad station (no chicken)
Meat and cheese station (nice selection of cheeses...and sliced turkey, lol, and bologna last night)
Stir fry station
Pizza
Indian cuisine
German theme hot dishes with schnitzel (night 2, don't remember night 1, sorry)
Pasta station
Desserts

 

Things I'm used to seeing every night on every cruise I've ever been on in my entire life:

 

Some kind of baked chicken
Some kind of baked fish
Carving station
A least one hot green veggie

A baked pasta dish of some kind

 

They'll still grill some meats for you but on this sailing on this ship, at least, you need to ask your server what meats they have and then they place the order and get them for you. I've found these grilled meats to be brown-greasy, like ordering a pork chop at the Waffle House. I still eat them, haha. 

 

Reduced staff in OV. No drink waiters that I saw. Of course the bar is right out back.

 

I've been on all three classes over the past 3 weeks and it's gotten a little grimmer each time. I think they're still working through the stores on some of this. 

 

I spoke with the guy in the big chef hat who was speaking to (possibly) his boss. They acknowledged the deliberate cuts, said "the world is changing,"  and suggested I go to the MDR.

 

An employee was clicking people in on her hand-counter. 

 

Like I said, I'm sad to see these changes. Some cruise lines do super bare-bones dinner buffets and it looks like Celebrity is heading there. It's a highlight of my solo cruise day and it's just kinda blah now. 

 

FWIW if I was choosing cruises just for the dinner buffet (I'm not) it would be Holland America. 
 

Standard disclaimer, times changes, cruise lines change, don't sail if you don't like it, cruising is still so cheap, etc.  Maybe if I say it for you it will save some time. 😀

Edited January 11, 2023 by RTCGA
Turkey lol

[SkystheLimit]

Thanks for reporting.  It is sad that the choices keep diminishing.  We noticed it 6 months ago on the Equinox but not so drastic.  

[WNCtourist]

Thank you for your reporting. Sounds like it's going to be difficult to find decent food anywhere on Celebrity now.

[jelayne]

Looking at what is offered it isn’t as bad as rumor had it.  
 

When I look at the things missing that you used to see every night it made me think well if I were eating dinner there I might have 1 or 2 of them but I wouldn’t be eating eating chicken, fish, carved meat and baked pasta in the same meal.  
Then there would be the nights I wanted a salad, spaghetti, bread and ice cream  or maybe stir fry.

It created a picture in my mind of how much food was being prepared to offer a wide variety and how much was potentially wasted.  
 

Makes the reduction understandable in these economic times.  
 

[Islander500]

It seems that the more they reduce (resulting in no one going there), the better justification for eliminating that option completely.

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Looking at what is offered it isn’t as bad as rumor had it.  
 

When I look at the things missing that you used to see every night it made me think well if I were eating dinner there I might have 1 or 2 of them but I wouldn’t be eating eating chicken, fish, carved meat and baked pasta in the same meal.  
Then there would be the nights I wanted a salad, spaghetti, bread and ice cream  or maybe stir fry.

It created a picture in my mind of how much food was being prepared to offer a wide variety and how much was potentially wasted.  
 

Makes the reduction understandable in these economic times.  
 

 

We can't use this as an example because this isn't anything new.  This was EXACTLY how the dinner buffet was on the Millie when I was on her Panama canal repo this past Sept-Oct.  Someone even reported this reduced Millie dinner buffet a few sailings before the repo.  Others are reporting far less on other ships

[prmssk]

15 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

We can't use this as an example because this isn't anything new.  This was EXACTLY how the dinner buffet was on the Millie when I was on her Panama canal repo this past Sept-Oct.  Someone even reported this reduced Millie dinner buffet a few sailings before the repo.  Others are reporting far less on other ships

Why can't we use this as an example?  It looks similar to one other I saw this week (can't recall which ship) but I agree more than reports from some other ships.  If this isn't an example, do you think that means they aren't rolling out this change on all ships?  The Summit just started this cruise yesterday (January 9) so that is definitely past the January 1 date that seems to be relevant.

 

Edited to add:  It was the Beyond where someone reported a similar buffet to what this poster describes.

Edited January 11, 2023 by prmssk

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Why can't we use this as an example?  It looks similar to one other I saw this week (can't recall which ship) but I agree more than reports from some other ships.  If this isn't an example, do you think that means they aren't rolling out this change on all ships?  The Summit just started this cruise yesterday (January 9) so that is definitely past the January 1 date that seems to be relevant.

 

Edited to add:  It was the Beyond where someone reported a similar buffet to what this poster describes.

 

In hindsight, I should have said "We shouldn't use this as an example".  Reduced dinner buffet was already going on well before 2023

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

In hindsight, I should have said "We shouldn't use this as an example".  Reduced dinner buffet was already going on well before 2023

Use whatever words you want. However, it IS an example of current OVC offerings. 

[nikel]

46 minutes ago, Islander500 said:

It seems that the more they reduce (resulting in no one going there), the better justification for eliminating that option completely.

 

 

It seems to me this is their agenda !!

[Oville]

57 minutes ago, WNCtourist said:

Thank you for your reporting. Sounds like it's going to be difficult to find decent food anywhere on Celebrity now.

You won’t starve and there are many more options besides the buffet with much better food,

[LB_NJ]

3 hours ago, RTCGA said:

 

FWIW if I was choosing cruises just for the dinner buffet (I'm not) it would be Holland America. 
 

 

Have you been on Oceania.  Pre-COVID I though their dinner buffets were amazing.

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, Oville said:

You won’t starve and there are many more options besides the buffet with much better food,

MDR is not better. 

[RTCGA]

10 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

Have you been on Oceania.  Pre-COVID I though their dinner buffets were amazing.

 

No, except the more mass market lines I've only done Azamara and Windstar. Small buffets but incredible quality. I'd like to try Oceania for sure. 

[RTCGA]

12 hours ago, jelayne said:

When I look at the things missing that you used to see every night it made me think well if I were eating dinner there I might have 1 or 2 of them but I wouldn’t be eating eating chicken, fish, carved to meat and baked pasta in the same meal. 

 

 

I'm not either. In saying none of these choices were available at all.

 

I was on Reflection on 12/21 and Beyond on 1/3. Reflection was mostly as before and Beyond was halfway to what I'm seeing now. Again, I think it's heading to a slightly bleaker place as they work through stores. I don't expect they will have half a dozen cheeses on the dinner buffet once they work through what they have. They already dropped the entire spread of hummus and olives and what I kind of considered to be "filler" stations to pump up the look of the buffet. Some will be more upset about that than I am.

 

Certain crew and staff are entitled to eat at the buffet in the evening - I feel for these folks. 

[rmalbers]

I'm totally sure that this is mostly cost related but I think there are probably other, minor, factors:  People are tending to eat healthier and eat less, the ports where the provisioning occurs,  the number of crew members aboard, etc.   If buffet is your thing, try Viking.

Edited January 11, 2023 by rmalbers

[jagoffee]

13 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

Have you been on Oceania.  Pre-COVID I though their dinner buffets were amazing.

They are still outstanding even post Covid.  I have never cared for Celebrity’s dinner OV. (True on most cruise lines  for us)

Anyone disappointed in the evening changes should give Oceania a try.  

[hcat]

bologna for dinner.. how exciting! 

wonder if it's all beef or mixed with chicken.. hope LLP reads this thread and weeps!

[Wakepatrol]

So another words. Nobody will starve to death. Thank goodness 

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, rmalbers said:

 People are tending to eat healthier and eat less.,,,,

This is exactly why we prefer the ocean view cafe’. We could get a fresh grilled to order protein (fish, chicken, steak, pork chops) and make a garden salad with our preferred ingredients. We can eat much healthier in the oceanview cafe’. The fact that there is zero wait to get in, getting the meal is quicker, informal dress, and we aren’t seated 6 inches from strangers are also bonuses. 

[horseymike]

My father used to have an expression about killing the goose who laid the golden egg…….

[talljules1]

2 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

So another words. Nobody will starve to death. Thank goodness 

But, to be fair, "Not starving to death" is not quite the bar we set for ourselves on a cruise.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

This is exactly why we prefer the ocean view cafe’. We could get a fresh grilled to order protein (fish, chicken, steak, pork chops) and make a garden salad with our preferred ingredients. We can eat much healthier in the oceanview cafe’. The fact that there is zero wait to get in, getting the meal is quicker, informal dress, and we aren’t seated 6 inches from strangers are also bonuses. 

 

Also much easier to sit by the window or if one prefers they can find a table outside

[dilbertsdaddy]

No vegetables?  Sad.

[kk20]

21 hours ago, RTCGA said:

Here's what they've had the first two nights:

 

Salad bar
Self service caesar salad station (no chicken)
Meat and cheese station (nice selection of cheeses...and sliced turkey, lol, and bologna last night)
Stir fry station
Pizza
Indian cuisine
German theme hot dishes with schnitzel (night 2, don't remember night 1, sorry)
Pasta station

I’m happy to see they still have the stir fry station! It’s my go-to for nights that we choose to eat in the ovc instead of the mdr