No more prime rib?

[terrydtx]

9 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

I have to imagine the wastage of Tilapia is very high; most people don't want/won't eat that fish 

I will never eat Tilapia, read about how most foreign countries farm raise it and what they use for feed, it should gross out anyone.  It is also about the cheapest fish you can buy.

[terrydtx]

It is not only the MDR menu that is being cheapened down, Blu and Luminae are doing the same. The app shows the "surf and Turf" for day 6 in Luminae as being Broiled scallops and pork belly for our June Equinox cruise. 

 

BTW the "prime" rib served in the MDR was not really graded "prime" quality, it is in reality just a standing Rib Roast.

What Is Prime Rib? (thespruceeats.com)

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by terrydtx

[BridgeMates]

9 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

@NMTravellertomorrow is chic night. I do see sirloin in the steak Diane, but serving tilapia on a formal night?

 

 

 

Be careful with the Steak Diane; it was no good on our last Silhouette cruise. Had to order something else.

 

[cruisemom42]

5 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

 

Be careful with the Steak Diane; it was no good on our last Silhouette cruise. Had to order something else.

 

 

It was very good on Constellation last fall....

 

On the other hand, never been a fan of prime rib -- it's a big, mushy hunk of meat with hardly any flavor.

[Cruzinforpeace***]

10 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

@NMTravellertomorrow is chic night. I do see sirloin in the steak Diane, but serving tilapia on a formal night?

 

 

This menu reminds me of my local N.J. diner menu. How sad.

[islabahia]

We won’t miss the prime rib (or lobster tails).  We ❤️ both and we make both at home throughout the year.  Blessed to have a great butcher and seafood shop within 3 miles of our home!

[Accessor]

But you can get Prime Rib on Royal's new menus? ...this makes ZERO sense as Celebrity is marketed as the upscale line. We are seriously considering cancelling our upcoming cruise.

 

All of these cheerleaders telling us how everything has gone up in price...sure, along with the price for us to cruise on Celebrity, tip on Celebrity, but drinks on Celebrity, and the list goes on and on. Celebrity keeps increasing costs and decreasing quality/variety and they will lose passengers paying a premium for a non-premium experience.

[luv4cruises]

Just another cutback as they seem to be rolling out one after another without notification. No prime rib, charge for extra lobster tail, reduced MDR menu and OV cafe dinner offerings, charge for room service, fewer bathroom products, no tote bags, no “welcome aboard” champagne.   The product I booked last year has been reduced considerably and not the same as what I booked. All this amid escalating cruise fare prices. A 6 night 2924 cruise I was looking at in late Nov increased owner $1,000.00 in less than a month.  What is next!

[NutsAboutGolf]

41 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

It is not only the MDR menu that is being cheapened down, Blu and Luminae are doing the same. The app shows the "surf and Turf" for day 6 in Luminae as being Broiled scallops and pork belly for our June Equinox cruise. 

 

BTW the "prime" rib served in the MDR was not really graded "prime" quality, it is in reality just a standing Rib Roast.

What Is Prime Rib? (thespruceeats.com)

 

Correct, the “prime” in “prime rib” is a common adjective and NOT the USDA certified.  It’s rare that a restaurant would serve prime USDA certified prime rib because selling it as a USDA prime ribeye sells better. Traditionally, prime rib is sliced from a standing rib roast which is why there isn’t a crust on its faces; I much prefer a ribeye with a crust

[NutsAboutGolf]

27 minutes ago, islabahia said:

We won’t miss the prime rib (or lobster tails).  We ❤️ both and we make both at home throughout the year.  Blessed to have a great butcher and seafood shop within 3 miles of our home!

The overall point is the cutbacks while X is raising the cruise fares

 

Celebrity’s “aggressive” marketing dept surprisingly doesn’t even claim their food is gourmet or fine-dining.  You can easily find better food a land based restaurant or at home if one knows how to cook

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Correct, the “prime” in “prime rib” is a common adjective and NOT the USDA certified.  It’s rare that a restaurant would serve prime USDA certified prime rib because selling it as a USDA prime ribeye sells better. Traditionally, prime rib is sliced from a standing rib roast which is why there isn’t a crust on its faces; I much prefer a ribeye with a crust

When we are in a land steak house I will order the prime rib if its available, because I can make great steaks at home that are either graded prime or dry aged.  A standing rib roast is not so easy for just the two of us.

Edited January 14, 2023 by terrydtx

[NutsAboutGolf]

24 minutes ago, Accessor said:

But you can get Prime Rib on Royal's new menus? ...this makes ZERO sense as Celebrity is marketed as the upscale line. We are seriously considering cancelling our upcoming cruise.

 

All of these cheerleaders telling us how everything has gone up in price...sure, along with the price for us to cruise on Celebrity, tip on Celebrity, but drinks on Celebrity, and the list goes on and on. Celebrity keeps increasing costs and decreasing quality/variety and they will lose passengers paying a premium for a non-premium experience.

In all fairness It’s yet to be proven that specifically the prime rib is gone.  X often doesn’t have their final menu until a couple days before the sailing

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

The overall point is the cutbacks while X is raising the cruise fares

 

Celebrity’s “aggressive” marketing dept surprisingly doesn’t even claim their food is gourmet or fine-dining.  You can easily find better food a land based restaurant or at home if one knows how to cook

I have said for years that the lobsters served on cruise ships are a joke and I can get better lobster at Red Lobster at home.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

When we are in a land steak house I will order the prime rib if its available, because I can make great steaks at home that are either graded prime or dry aged, but a standing rib roast is not so easy for just the two of us.

Makes sense.  We make steaks pretty regularly, Costco sells prime ribeyes for about $20/lb and American wagyu for about $28/lb.  We put on a thick coat of one our favorite spice rubs, vacuum seal it for three days, sous vide it, then put it in a pan to butter baste it.  We call it a “99%er” or a steak that’s better than 99% of the steaks we’ve had

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Makes sense.  We make steaks pretty regularly, Costco sells prime ribeyes for about $20/lb and American wagyu for about $28/lb.  We put on a thick coat of one our favorite spice rubs, vacuum seal it for three days, sous vide it, then put it in a pan to butter baste it.  We call it a “99%er” or a steak that’s better than 99% of the steaks we’ve had

Our local grocery chain HEB, sells prime 24-day dry aged beef ribeye's and NY strip for about $29/lb that are better than most fine steak houses. They age them is special coolers behind the meat counter and cut them to order. Never had a bad one yet.

Edited January 14, 2023 by terrydtx

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I have said for years that the lobsters served on cruise ships are a joke and I can get better lobster at Red Lobster at home.

Absolutely; red lobster is just about as good as it gets with lobster because you pick out your Maine lobster from the tank and it’s freshly prepared, never frozen  A lot of people don’t like when I say this, the majority of the time I find land based chain restaurants better than cruise ships food.  Cruise food, specifically lately on X, seems to be serving dishes that are overcooked and extremely bland

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

Our local grocery chain HEB, sells prime 24-day dry aged beef ribeye's and NY strip for about $29/lb that are better than most fine steak houses. They age them is big coolers behind the meat counter and cut them to order. Never had a bad one yet.

Perfect.  You can dry age yourself at home as well but obviously the downside is you have to wait.  There are wraps that work without a vacuum sealer and bags that require a sealer; here are the wraps for example:

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Absolutely; red lobster is just about as good as it gets with lobster because you pick out your Maine lobster from the tank and it’s freshly prepared, never frozen  A lot of people don’t like when I say this, the majority of the time I find land based chain restaurants better than cruise ships food.  Cruise food, specifically lately on X, seems to be serving dishes that are overcooked and extremely bland

This is one of the reasons we are now booking only suites as we have found the Luminae food to be a step above Blu and the MDR. However, Luminae on the Reflection last year had many more misses than hits compared to the past and if this continues on our cruises this year in the Apex and Equinox we will be looking for alternatives like Oceania and Viking ocean much more. We have already booked an Oceania cruise for 2025.

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

This is one of the reasons we are now booking only suites as we have found the Luminae food to be a step above Blu and the MDR. However, Luminae on the Reflection last year had many more misses than hits compared to the past and if this continues on our cruises this year in the Apex and Equinox we will be looking for alternatives like Oceania and Viking ocean much more. We have already booked an Oceania cruise for 2025.

Good to know.  Never been in an X suite, usually book a specialty dining package however.  IMO Blu isn’t a step up in food quality although (assuming they still offer it in 2023) they’ll have filet mignon on at least two nights on a typical 7 night sailing.  I do enjoy the Blu atmosphere and increased selection assuming the ship allows you to order off the MDR

 

I think you’ll enjoy the food a lot more on the more premium lines.  Virgin is also highly ranked.  In those power up point presentations they used to tout “we are the foodie cruise line”, luckily they’re managing expectations by no longer mentioning that.  We’ve gotten to the point where we seek out dinners in ports

Edited January 14, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I think you’ll enjoy the food a lot more on the more premium lines.

Specially when the premium lines are getting closer in price when Celebrity is raising prices of future cruises to the point of being outrageous.

[ABoatNerd]

Reading the many threads on the X site, many people are booking Oceania. To be expected given X is moving downwards into the RCL corral. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Specially when the premium lines are getting closer in price when Celebrity is raising prices of future cruises to the point of being outrageous.

I think X got cocky as they have a lot of suite bookings

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

Reading the many threads on the X site, many people are booking Oceania. To be expected given X is moving downwards into the RCL corral. 

We are one of those who have booked Oceania for the future.

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I think X got cocky as they have a lot of suite bookings

Our Apex cruise in September only has a couple of Edge Villa suites still available, all others are now sold out. That may change some as people cancel before final payment. Our June Equinox cruise is sold out in Sky and Celebrity class suites.

Edited January 14, 2023 by terrydtx

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, ABoatNerd said:

Reading the many threads on the X site, many people are booking Oceania. To be expected given X is moving downwards into the RCL corral. 

I cruise the most on X and the second most on CCL.  CCL’s specialty dining is cheaper and is on par with X’s specialty dining; CCL’s specialty dining blows away X’s complimentary dining but that shouldn’t be a big surprise.  Also while I understand many don’t cruise for comfort food, on CCL they have Shaqs Big chicken, Guys BBQ and Guys burgers all complimentary…All of those are some of the best comfort food I’ve had on a ship.  The big difference there is the cruise line is forced to follow a recipe and use a certain quality of ingredients (for guys burgers they can’t buy the cheapest patty’s) and are therefore immune to budget cuts