Awful State of Ocean View Cafe for dinner

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, bonagrad said:

As I've stated before, they can still reduce waste without reducing the OVC to the worst in the industry.  

Hesitated to add to these oft-repeated comments...but.....how do you know X OVC is "the worst is in the industry".  I don't think there's been enough cruising hours for you to have experienced, in the past 2 weeks, first hand which line has the "worst" buffet.  Sometimes I think there are posters here who have a severe ax to grind and has found a cause and posting whatever comes to mind to help bury the cruise line or they are trolling.  Yes, there are problems, and if you read other boards, some of their posters feel the same.  I really appreciate those who have actually sailed in the past few weeks for letting us in on their perspective.  The other comments are how they would feel if they were actually on board and experiencing their 'loss'.  Over and over it's somewhat the same posters repeating the same comments and for some reason, influencing some other newbie cruisers to X.  We blame the media at times for this kind of overloading influence, but here on a (benign) message board the same is actually happening.  Flame me...I expect it.

[Cruzinforpeace***]

53 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Anything with 2/3 of options removed is not the same.  Just because you paid MORE for your cruise, doesn't mean I need to be satisfied with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, and pizza. Seriously. This isn't Days Inn, and this isn't an a la carte vacation format.  Cruising, at least as advertised, remains a mostly inclusive type of vacation. 

 

You brushing aside quality declines because you are in a suite, ultimately leads to quality declines in suites. Us peasants advocate for ourselves, and also for you. IJS 

The rain will eventually fall on all cabin categories.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

The rain will eventually fall on all cabin categories.

We will jump ship before that happens to us.

[rpht]

2 hours ago, bonagrad said:

Again, we paid for, as you call it "my buffet preference" and a being given something substantially less than what we paid for.  As many of us have stated, we don't like the MDR experience and use the OVC for dinner.  This is not the same things as eliminating the totally unnecessary midnight buffet.  You know, I don't book suites, so I think they should do away with The Retreat and Luminae.  That's how this works, right?

We just returned from our second cruise on the Edge and were shocked and really upset by the OVC dinner situation. I have not read through all of these posts but for everyone that loves the MDR good for you. We usually do a mix of both because we usually take long cruises and back to back cruises but frankly the food and the menu choices in the MDR have been so poor that it is not worth sitting there for an hour and a half (service being slow also). We totally get not offering a full buffet in the evening but our complaint is that there were no options for those of us that can't eat certain foods----we were on the Millenium for 28 days this spring and their evening buffet was not great but they always had the grill station where fish, chicken or steak was offered cooked to order as well as a pasta station done the same way. We have another 29 day cruise booked for later this year and are seriously reconsidering it if this is going to be the situation. After a long day in port we just sometimes want something light and maybe go to a show or listen to music and relax.

[Cruzinforpeace***]

29 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

What, no Spam?  

That’s for the suite guests

[bonagrad]

1 minute ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Hesitated to add to these oft-repeated comments...but.....how do you know X OVC is "the worst is in the industry".  I don't think there's been enough cruising hours for you to have experienced, in the past 2 weeks, first hand which line has the "worst" buffet.  Sometimes I think there are posters here who have a severe ax to grind and has found a cause and posting whatever comes to mind to help bury the cruise line or they are trolling.  Yes, there are problems, and if you read other boards, some of their posters feel the same.  I really appreciate those who have actually sailed in the past few weeks for letting us in on their perspective.  The other comments are how they would feel if they were actually on board and experiencing their 'loss'.  Over and over it's somewhat the same posters repeating the same comments and for some reason, influencing some other newbie cruisers to X.  We blame the media at times for this kind of overloading influence, but here on a (benign) message board the same is actually happening.  Flame me...I expect it.

Worst in terms of selection/variety.  I repeat that, because it's worth repeating.  Since Celebrity markets itself in higher end category, cutting 2/3 of the options at the OVC makes it the substandard.  We actually sold a friend coming with us in April based on the amount of healthy options available in the OVC, so we were actually bringing a newbie into the fold.

[Oceangoer2]

1 minute ago, bonagrad said:

Worst in terms of selection/variety.  I repeat that, because it's worth repeating.  Since Celebrity markets itself in higher end category, cutting 2/3 of the options at the OVC makes it the substandard.  We actually sold a friend coming with us in April based on the amount of healthy options available in the OVC, so we were actually bringing a newbie into the fold.

Please let us know your experience;  hopefully you will have a great vacation despite (perhaps) the lack of OV choices. 

[bonagrad]

7 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Please let us know your experience;  hopefully you will have a great vacation despite (perhaps) the lack of OV choices. 

I'm hoping they take the feedback and come up with a happy medium in advance of April.

[drowelf]

8 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

I'm hoping they take the feedback and come up with a happy medium in advance of April.

I'm hoping that happens for our cruise in 11 days! Not going to be shocked if does not happen, but am bracing for what we are going to find on the Infinity. 

[bonagrad]

2 minutes ago, drowelf said:

I'm hoping that happens for our cruise in 11 days! Not going to be shocked if does not happen, but am bracing for what we are going to find on the Infinity. 

Fingers crossed for you!

[davekathy]

I can only hope Lisa Lutoff-Perlo computer/phone is blowing up with all the complaints about all the recent CC threads concerning all the penny pinching cutbacks. IMO, these changes are coming down from the RCG. Reading a lot of the same complaints on the RCI forum. 

[basil1]

5 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

8 minutes ago, drowelf said:

I'm hoping that happens for our cruise in 11 days! Not going to be shocked if does not happen, but am bracing for what we are going to find on the Infinity. 

I'll be on Constellation in 16 days. I am expecting the worst but hoping for the best (some resolution to the apparent buffet crisis, lol).

 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, basil1 said:

I'll be on Constellation in 16 days. I am expecting the worst but hoping for the best (some resolution to the apparent buffet crisis, lol).

Keep your hopes high and your expectations low. 😉

[basil1]

8 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Keep your hopes high and your expectations low. 😉

That's exactly what I'll be doing! 

[terrydtx]

40 minutes ago, rpht said:

We just returned from our second cruise on the Edge and were shocked and really upset by the OVC dinner situation. I have not read through all of these posts but for everyone that loves the MDR good for you. We usually do a mix of both because we usually take long cruises and back to back cruises but frankly the food and the menu choices in the MDR have been so poor that it is not worth sitting there for an hour and a half (service being slow also). We totally get not offering a full buffet in the evening but our complaint is that there were no options for those of us that can't eat certain foods----we were on the Millenium for 28 days this spring and their evening buffet was not great but they always had the grill station where fish, chicken or steak was offered cooked to order as well as a pasta station done the same way. We have another 29 day cruise booked for later this year and are seriously reconsidering it if this is going to be the situation. After a long day in port we just sometimes want something light and maybe go to a show or listen to music and relax.

Was your experience anything like the video posted by @Arubamoosewho started this thread?

[iandjm]

On 1/16/2023 at 4:11 AM, bonagrad said:

And this is totally the point of those of us that enjoy a buffet for dinner.  We don't want a two hour dining experience.  I'd say our last 5 or 6 cruises we eaten most in buffets or specialty restaurants.  Each cruise has seen plenty of traffic in the evening and that's across Celebrity, Royal, and Princess.

Plus I found in October the food variety and quality in the buffet was, until these changes far better than the MDR. 

[ldubs]

If I stockpile food from lunch buffet and the Mast Grill, I wonder if someone would heat it for me later that evening?  

[TeeRick]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I ordered the halibut in Luminae the other night. There were literally 3 bites of fish. I do not exaggerate! Now we have an excellent waiter who would definitely fetch me more if I asked, but seriously,  3 bites?!?? Other nights portions smaller than before but basically acceptable. Just wish there were more options to choose from. Generally dislike the Luminae menu so often order off MDR on M and S class. So their cuts are affecting me as well.

I always enjoy the halibut in Luminae.  I will order it next week on our cruise.  But 3 bites??

[stringbean10]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Another shareholder perspective.

For a publicly traded company shareholders are the REAL customers.  Corporations actually owe a fiduciary duty to their shareholders.  They are legally obligated to look out for shareholder. What are shareholder interests? Increasing profitability and share price. 

 

They do not care about most value for their customer's vacation dollar.  They have to find the pain points - to offer the least to make the most!  Capitalism baby! 

 

This may be it for you.  I bet it is not for many others - including the woman who pays $24k for her suite. I promise you they care more about making her happy than you.

 

The fact is she is subsidising your vacation.   All the people so upset about the buffet, yes they can lose your business.  Easily, if they keep the high dollar folks happy. 

 

The vibe of this just reeks of entitlement - which ??? It's like freaking out at Target.  Celebrity is not a super luxury brand or experience - it's nicer.  Like Target is nicer than Walmart.  It's still mass market. It is still a business. 

[kirtihk]

On 1/15/2023 at 8:01 PM, RealBatman said:

I'm surprised that this is an issue. Having done a fair number of cruises, we NEVER eat dinner in the 'cafe'. We have always cruised Aqua and so would not give up Blu for the cafe! But that's ok, obviously there are other people who prefer it.

 

Like Jeal, it bothers me about the waste of food - especially what I've seen in Oceanview cafe at the noon hour. Mom always said: "If you take it, you eat it".

Sorry to hear your needs are not being met. 

I remember people taking multiple full plates of meats and pasta, and more during midnight buffet!  It was like elephants eating events.  And then next day (and every day) there was no available seats around pool area (instead of everyone running miles just to eliminate previous day's calories).  Amazingly increadible!

[Oceangoer2]

22 minutes ago, davekathy said:

I can only hope Lisa Lutoff-Perlo computer/phone is blowing up with all the complaints about all the recent CC threads concerning all the penny pinching cutbacks. IMO, these changes are coming down from the RCG. Reading a lot of the same complaints on the RCI forum. 

In my experience, the calls will not reach her 'phone';  there are levels in between.  And I would bet that her email address is no longer a personal one, if it ever was.  It will be funneled to high level customer service personnel who know how to get the job done but they WILL be monitored.

[TeeRick]

I guess the days of gaining weight on cruises are over!

[MamaFej]

4 hours ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I got off of the Eclipse on Saturday.  The food in the MDR was awful.  We ate there for breakfast, and dinner.  I could list the items that were inedible, flavorless or just wrong, though I may not remember them all.  A few things stick out.  One morning the bacon was rancid, having an awful odor, smelling like it had been fried in old oil that had been used for frying fish.  My travel partner had the schnitzel one night, and it lacked flavor beyond the telling, so he requested dijon mustard to try to eat it.  On several occasions a dessert was so bad it couldn't be eaten.  One was a pineapple upside down cake, another cheese cake, the third was an apple tart with caramel sauce with the sauce having been burned, so the whole dish was bitter.  FWIW I am not a picky eater but it was such a challenge to figure out what if anything would be better than the previous night.  Meaning we began to joke about which dish would have flavor each night.  It wasn't just me or my friend, it was our entire table of six. 

 

The buffet was not any better.  The pizza was flavorless.  I didn't know that was even possible to get pizza wrong.   Room service food was equally flavorless. 

 

We did eat in Sushi on 5 three times.  Those meals were quite good.

 

There was a theory we considered, that Celebrity is purposefully making the free food so terrible that it would drive guests to the specialty/for fee venues to raise more money for their coffers.  YMMV

Oof. We have 57 nights on the Eclipse in the next few months. I had not previously seen comments about that ship this month.  I was living in denial, hoping that the onboard Hotel Director and Head Chef were working to minimize the effects of the new policies.

I guess I'll get my head out of the clouds and face reality. 

 

If they don't start charging a fee for the gym or walking track, I'll likely come home lighter than I am now. I suppose that's a positive. 

 

 

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

In my experience, the calls will not reach her 'phone';  there are levels in between.  And I would bet that her email address is no longer a personal one, if it ever was.  It will be funneled to high level customer service personnel who know how to get the job done but they WILL be monitored.

Agree and I figured that what be the protocol. Just wanted to throw her name and email address out there. But either way, hopefully the squeaky wheel gets the grease and not thrown out. 

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I guess the days of gaining weight on cruises are over!

My thoughts exactly. 👍