Not to pile on, but it’s bad…

[HMR74]

56 minutes ago, goodoldan said:

I'm on the Celebrity Edge right now on the first night of a 10-night cruise, and the dinner selection at the Ocean View Cafe is pure crap... worse even than the reports here but in line with the dismissive Tweet that I received from Celebrity when I inquired about the changes during dinner hours effective January 1st of this year. I experienced some of these changes aboard the Constellation during the first few days of January, but things were nowhere near as bad as they are now aboard the Edge (and presumably now the other ships in the Celebrity fleet as well).

 

I talked with a manager in the OVC tonight, and his first response parroted the response I received from Celebrity corporate about "how much food was being wasted".  I feel sorry for Celebrity that they (suddenly?) can't seem to manage a buffet as well as competing cruise lines. Tonight my dinner was a few pieces of cheese, an uninspired slice of pepperoni pizza (virtually the only variety they offer), some leftover pasta salad from today's lunch, and a chocolate eclair so stale I put it down after the first bite. The only available fresh food was from a "stir-fry" station that was so backed up it might have taken 15 minutes to produce an order. Pathetic.

 

The food in Celebrity's main dining rooms and specialty restaurants is generally quite good. But there are reasons why someone might choose to grab a quick dinner at the buffet. Today, I was up at 5 AM to get ready and drive to the port in Fort Lauderdale, go through the boarding process, and grab a nap before some dinner and a show. I didn't really want to spend two hours or more getting a meal in the MDR, so (until now) the Ocean View Cafe would have been a good alternative. Similarly, after a beach day in port folks might want to just opt for the speed and simplicity of the buffet for dinner and just chill out in the evening. Nope... Celebrity says you must either invest a couple hours in a dining room, or eat crap and leftovers in a gutted shell of what used to be an excellent buffet, even (and maybe especially) at dinner.

 

Celebrity is far from the least expensive cruise line, and they generally provide a product that their customers want and will pay for.  I don't know what crappy market research might have led them to believe that their customers wanted a buffet that is pitiful compared to a Golden Corral. But it is pretty clear that Celebrity has made a BIG mistake in deciding to gut the Ocean View Cafe

So, you did not like the OVC product?

[yknot13]

2 hours ago, goodoldan said:

I'm on the Celebrity Edge right now on the first night of a 10-night cruise, and the dinner selection at the Ocean View Cafe is pure crap... worse even than the reports here but in line with the dismissive Tweet that I received from Celebrity when I inquired about the changes during dinner hours effective January 1st of this year. I experienced some of these changes aboard the Constellation during the first few days of January, but things were nowhere near as bad as they are now aboard the Edge (and presumably now the other ships in the Celebrity fleet as well).

 

I talked with a manager in the OVC tonight, and his first response parroted the response I received from Celebrity corporate about "how much food was being wasted".  I feel sorry for Celebrity that they (suddenly?) can't seem to manage a buffet as well as competing cruise lines. Tonight my dinner was a few pieces of cheese, an uninspired slice of pepperoni pizza (virtually the only variety they offer), some leftover pasta salad from today's lunch, and a chocolate eclair so stale I put it down after the first bite. The only available fresh food was from a "stir-fry" station that was so backed up it might have taken 15 minutes to produce an order. Pathetic.

 

The food in Celebrity's main dining rooms and specialty restaurants is generally quite good. But there are reasons why someone might choose to grab a quick dinner at the buffet. Today, I was up at 5 AM to get ready and drive to the port in Fort Lauderdale, go through the boarding process, and grab a nap before some dinner and a show. I didn't really want to spend two hours or more getting a meal in the MDR, so (until now) the Ocean View Cafe would have been a good alternative. Similarly, after a beach day in port folks might want to just opt for the speed and simplicity of the buffet for dinner and just chill out in the evening. Nope... Celebrity says you must either invest a couple hours in a dining room, or eat crap and leftovers in a gutted shell of what used to be an excellent buffet, even (and maybe especially) at dinner.

 

Celebrity is far from the least expensive cruise line, and they generally provide a product that their customers want and will pay for.  I don't know what crappy market research might have led them to believe that their customers wanted a buffet that is pitiful compared to a Golden Corral. But it is pretty clear that Celebrity has made a BIG mistake in deciding to gut the Ocean View Cafe

Publicly traded. No more to say

[Keys Kathy]

On 2/24/2023 at 2:13 PM, cruisin from florida said:

We're on the Silhouette right now. Ship is beautiful. MDR food and service were good, no problem with the number of selections. Chair hogs are out IN FORCE, but that's the only negative for us so far. 

Sky is firmly overhead.!@^

I recognize the Chicken dish from the lunch buffet, the leftovers were served the next day at lunch.

[neverlaysup]

On 2/11/2023 at 6:08 PM, buckeye8810 said:

Silhouette. No issue with the ship…we had been on it before. 

We did the TA in October on Silhouette and I will say, it was my least favorite cruise. Why??....staffing was short and dining took forever with little to no wine service. It was also our first cruise in over a year that was almost at full capacity and I didn't enjoy the crowds at all. I haven't cruised this year on X to see the other changes but that will happen soon enough.

[sarasotascott]

18 hours ago, yknot13 said:

Publicly traded. No more to say

You might like the buffet on Carnival.

[catgirl411]

24 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

We did the TA in October on Silhouette and I will say, it was my least favorite cruise. Why??....staffing was short and dining took forever with little to no wine service. It was also our first cruise in over a year that was almost at full capacity and I didn't enjoy the crowds at all. I haven't cruised this year on X to see the other changes but that will happen soon enough.

Well, the crowds were to be expected. There’s no way cruises could continue to operate at reduced capacity. Those of us who cruised in 2022 got spoiled from that perspective.  If you want smaller numbers of passengers then I guess you need to travel on smaller ships.

[Keys Kathy]

1 hour ago, catgirl411 said:

Well, the crowds were to be expected. There’s no way cruises could continue to operate at reduced capacity. Those of us who cruised in 2022 got spoiled from that perspective.  If you want smaller numbers of passengers then I guess you need to travel on smaller ships.

It was weird! On the Equinox Jan 6, 2022, there were 860 passengers. We had to share an elevator 6 times in 6 days!!!!! None of that going up to go down on disembarkation day. BUT there were few people to meet and get to know. I prefer on a fuller ship. 

 

The staff has always taken care of us, so I don't mind a full ship.

[SusieAV8R]

1 hour ago, catgirl411 said:

Well, the crowds were to be expected. There’s no way cruises could continue to operate at reduced capacity. Those of us who cruised in 2022 got spoiled from that perspective.  If you want smaller numbers of passengers then I guess you need to travel on smaller ships.

Totally agree with you, catgirl411.  Thanks for pointing out the obvious 🙂. 

[catgirl411]

38 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

It was weird! On the Equinox Jan 6, 2022, there were 860 passengers. We had to share an elevator 6 times in 6 days!!!!! None of that going up to go down on disembarkation day. BUT there were few people to meet and get to know. I prefer on a fuller ship. 

 

The staff has always taken care of us, so I don't mind a full ship.

 

28 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

Totally agree with you, catgirl411.  Thanks for pointing out the obvious 🙂. 

 

39 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

It was weird! On the Equinox Jan 6, 2022, there were 860 passengers. We had to share an elevator 6 times in 6 days!!!!! None of that going up to go down on disembarkation day. BUT there were few people to meet and get to know. I prefer on a fuller ship. 

 

The staff has always taken care of us, so I don't mind a full ship.

Yes, it was strange. In January 2022, we were on Oceania’s Riviera. There were about 470 pax on a ship that normally carries 1200. Most nights we were the only after dinner guests in the Piano Lounge and the MDR was essentially a bowling alley.  Too quiet.

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, catgirl411 said:

 

 

Yes, it was strange. In January 2022, we were on Oceania’s Riviera. There were about 470 pax on a ship that normally carries 1200. Most nights we were the only after dinner guests in the Piano Lounge and the MDR was essentially a bowling alley.  Too quiet.

That would be my dream vacation.

 

On my last cruise it was large tour buses chasing other large tour buses.

[Redtravel]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:01 PM, calicakes said:

I remember my first or 2nd cruise on X in 2014/2015.  We did a gally tour( free) and the Food and Beverage director said that X spends more per passenger on food than other lines in the same class.  I don't think they could say the same now. 

 

We were on Reflection in September( I blogged it).  It was our first Suite experience on X.  Desserts in Luminae were better than AQ desserts and much better than OV.  The food was good, not mind blowing, but good.   Sadly, I saw a lot of the cuts in OVC.  We've deflected over to Oceania.  We had a wonderful experience a year go on our first Oceania cruise.  The food was so much better, I loved the small less crowded ships.   We do have 1 more X cruise booked for Great barrier reef( 2024) because the price was great and it is on the Edge.  Coincidentally, after that cruise, we'll finally reach Elite status. 

Once you sail on Oceania, you will not be happy on X.   

[jules27556]

4 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Once you sail on Oceania, you will not be happy on X.   

They will be my next cruise.  As a solo it is double, but they do have certain cruises selected

where they only charge 150%. I used to think sailing with Celebrity ( my first with them on the Silhouette April TA) would be a step up, but am now curious to find out in April if that is true. I do believe I will find that Oceania does provide an upscale experience.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Book Oceania , if is within  your budget , 

in most cases it over $100 a day more even when you add Always included in the price 

[avp1234]

We just got off the Solstice yesterday. One thing about Celebrity, in the past the food was consistent. It truly was a step above the other mass market ships, which is the main reason we sailed Celebrity. The food on the ship we sailed last week was just bad. The first night we ate in the mdr. I got the breaded pork cutlet and my husband got the jerk chicken. It looked good, until I bit into my pork chop. I tried to eat it, but couldn’t. All fat and dark meat. The cut was very low quality. All the meats were. My husbands chicken was bloody at the bone. We tried it a couple more times and it was the same. Menus had little of what I would eat and it was bad. The ocean view at breakfast was fine. Lunch and dinner, not good. It’s the quality of the meat. The fajitas at the Mexican station were gray and chewy. At the oriental station same with the meats. The food quality was terrible. We literally ate spaghetti almost every night. Even the pizza has went downhill. Desserts in the buffet were flavorless. I had a cupcake that looked pretty but tasted like cornbread. 
 

When we did try the mdr a couple more times the only thing that sounded remotely good was the New York strip. It was like a really thin breakfast steak. I covered it with steak sauce and ate it anyway, since I was sick of spaghetti in the buffet. I took pictures of the evening buffet. Pizza, pasta, salad and a small station of mediocre looking food every night. 
 

Another odd thing is there’s limited times the lido is open and it shuts down as fast as possible. We eat later and at 3 lunchtime and 9 in the evenings. You’re pretty much out of luck except for pizza and pasta. At lunch the did have the outdoor grill going and unfortunately the burgers weren’t good. Old and sitting in a pre cooked container. And of course, since the first of the year menus have changed. No beef Wellington. No beef medallions or filet etc. I had a soup that was literally some kind of tomato broth with all macaroni noodles in it. I had to laugh at that one. 
 

We were going to try room service, there’s no food available after 1am, but it’s very limited and there was nothing on it we wanted, so we went to bed. I will say cookies in Al Bacio were good. We met 2 couples that this was their first time sailing Celebrity and they were really disappointed because they heard the food was so much better than other lines. I told them it used to be and maybe to try one of the new ships, but they were one and done. 
 

A positive was the staff. So nice and friendly. Unfortunately, a lot of them said their contract was up and they were leaving. Moving to different companies, but that’s another story. All the bartenders were good. Housekeeping was great. All staff were really good. We have a trip in April on the beyond we’re going on, we’ll see how it goes. If no improvement I guess it’s time to finally move on from our celebrity. I guarantee we won’t be the only ones to do so. 

[calicakes]

13 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

 

 

Yes, it was strange. In January 2022, we were on Oceania’s Riviera. There were about 470 pax on a ship that normally carries 1200. Most nights we were the only after dinner guests in the Piano Lounge and the MDR was essentially a bowling alley.  Too quiet.

Exactly one year ago, we were on Oceania Marina.  There were 338 passengers.  For the first two days, we barely spoke to anyone.  It felt like we were on a private yacht.   We ate in specialty restaurants every single night( all included).  It was amazing.  We are taking our next O cruise in September.  For us, we don't mind that lack of entertainment.  We're early to bed, early to rise. 

[calicakes]

On 2/18/2023 at 4:37 AM, njsmom said:

I have a dear friend who is on the Solstice this week, her first Celebrity cruise in 20 years, and she's been texting me, telling me how beautiful the ship is, how clean and well maintained everything is, and how delicious all of the food is in the MDR. Just thought I'd share. 

She doesn't have previous X cruises to compare it to.  For me, I noticed right away that they removed the albacore tuna salad and some other items from the OVC.  How much did X save by switching to dark cat food tuna?  Was it enough to turn me off from Celebrity in the future? 

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 minutes ago, avp1234 said:

The food on the ship we sailed last week was just bad.

Thanks for the review.  Curious if you tried any of the specialties and if so, was the food any better?  We board Solstice on Saturday...I'm definitely going in with an open mind because food taste is subjective but the use of poor quality meats is hard to cover up regardless of one's palate.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 minutes ago, calicakes said:

For me, I noticed right away that they removed the albacore tuna salad and some other items from the OVC.

Well damn!  This was one of the very things I was looking forward to next week.  SMH

[catgirl411]

6 minutes ago, calicakes said:

Exactly one year ago, we were on Oceania Marina.  There were 338 passengers.  For the first two days, we barely spoke to anyone.  It felt like we were on a private yacht.   We ate in specialty restaurants every single night( all included).  It was amazing.  We are taking our next O cruise in September.  For us, we don't mind that lack of entertainment.  We're early to bed, early to rise. 

Since we were often the only ones in the piano bar most nights we got to know the piano player so that was interesting.  And yes, I forgot that we were able to have more than 1 meal at the specialty restaurants and that was great.

 

30 years ago we sailed Windstar in French Polynesia…now that was like a private yacht.

[calicakes]

19 minutes ago, avp1234 said:

I had a soup that was literally some kind of tomato broth with all macaroni noodles in it. I had to laugh at that one. 

I LOL'd at that one!! 

[Orator]

16 hours ago, neverlaysup said:

We did the TA in October on Silhouette and I will say, it was my least favorite cruise. Why??....staffing was short and dining took forever with little to no wine service. It was also our first cruise in over a year that was almost at full capacity and I didn't enjoy the crowds at all. I haven't cruised this year on X to see the other changes but that will happen soon enough.

I was also on Silhouette TA in October. I was in Aqua Class and thought that food and service in Blu was excellent. Captain George was wonderful, but the cruise did have a different feeling for us. We spoke to other long time Celebrity cruisers and they agreed. We've taken Viking and Oceania since and the Silhouette TA and I found Viking exceptional and Oceania disappointing.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Orator

[KKB]

On 2/11/2023 at 7:25 PM, buckeye8810 said:

Since the start of the year, I know there’s been a lot of handwringing about the changes Celebrity has made. We just got back from a 10-night Eastern Caribbean…and I can confirm things are worse than before, in literally every way.

 

Ships are more crowded, and there’s clearly not enough staff to accommodate the increase in passengers. Food is significantly worse…and the wait staff was running around like their hair was on fire. Even in Murano, the food was disappointing. Not to mention several people in our group reported stomach issues on multiple days after dinner.
Unrelated, but it seemed like half the people on the ship were coughing and hacking, which probably means Covid was running rampant.

 

All in all, there’s no reason to pay premium prices for Celebrity anymore, because it’s no longer a premium brand. With the changes they’ve made, it’s not any different than NCL. Not saying I wouldn’t cruise with Celebrity again, but there’s no chance I would pay current prices. We felt ripped off, considering when we booked this cruise we were expecting the level of service from years past.

Have done 12 cruises on several lines since start up. 4 on Celebrity, the latest on the Equinox in Nov. (25 cruises in 20 yrs...4 Celebrity cruises prior to COVID)

 

I can wholeheartedly say that other than labor shortages on NCL (and return to pre-COVID crowds), this has NOT been our experience.

 

Our Celebrity sailings have still been a step above other lines in food & service.

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by KKB

[HMR74]

1 hour ago, avp1234 said:

We just got off the Solstice yesterday. One thing about Celebrity, in the past the food was consistent. It truly was a step above the other mass market ships, which is the main reason we sailed Celebrity. The food on the ship we sailed last week was just bad. The first night we ate in the mdr. I got the breaded pork cutlet and my husband got the jerk chicken. It looked good, until I bit into my pork chop. I tried to eat it, but couldn’t. All fat and dark meat. The cut was very low quality. All the meats were. My husbands chicken was bloody at the bone. We tried it a couple more times and it was the same. Menus had little of what I would eat and it was bad. The ocean view at breakfast was fine. Lunch and dinner, not good. It’s the quality of the meat. The fajitas at the Mexican station were gray and chewy. At the oriental station same with the meats. The food quality was terrible. We literally ate spaghetti almost every night. Even the pizza has went downhill. Desserts in the buffet were flavorless. I had a cupcake that looked pretty but tasted like cornbread. 
 

When we did try the mdr a couple more times the only thing that sounded remotely good was the New York strip. It was like a really thin breakfast steak. I covered it with steak sauce and ate it anyway, since I was sick of spaghetti in the buffet. I took pictures of the evening buffet. Pizza, pasta, salad and a small station of mediocre looking food every night. 
 

Another odd thing is there’s limited times the lido is open and it shuts down as fast as possible. We eat later and at 3 lunchtime and 9 in the evenings. You’re pretty much out of luck except for pizza and pasta. At lunch the did have the outdoor grill going and unfortunately the burgers weren’t good. Old and sitting in a pre cooked container. And of course, since the first of the year menus have changed. No beef Wellington. No beef medallions or filet etc. I had a soup that was literally some kind of tomato broth with all macaroni noodles in it. I had to laugh at that one. 
 

We were going to try room service, there’s no food available after 1am, but it’s very limited and there was nothing on it we wanted, so we went to bed. I will say cookies in Al Bacio were good. We met 2 couples that this was their first time sailing Celebrity and they were really disappointed because they heard the food was so much better than other lines. I told them it used to be and maybe to try one of the new ships, but they were one and done. 
 

A positive was the staff. So nice and friendly. Unfortunately, a lot of them said their contract was up and they were leaving. Moving to different companies, but that’s another story. All the bartenders were good. Housekeeping was great. All staff were really good. We have a trip in April on the beyond we’re going on, we’ll see how it goes. If no improvement I guess it’s time to finally move on from our celebrity. I guarantee we won’t be the only ones to do so. 

THe problem, is once we get past the final payment we are "stuck" and once on board we are even more stuck, held captive.

We were happy with Royal MDR lunch and dinners back in November.

 

It really seems now ther are two classes inside X, Suites and Aqua, and the rest.

Its absurd to pay 100 a night for the specialty dining to avoid MDR. (buying a multi night pass) and frankly, Suite and Aqua prices have gone thru the roof.

 

My last X cruise was Dec 2019 in Aqua-the times we went to MDR for lunch it felt like instituational food. Blu did not. The NOv trip on Royal, the burgers in MDR were noticable better than the Burgers in X MDR. To get a good burger on X you have to go to Luminae.

 

Something  is wrong and I point the finger to management. When LLP is on board rather than socializing she needs to get her hands dirty and work in the galley of MDR on S class and see if she is proud of whats coming out of the kitchen.

 

Or, LPP should  spend the money and rennovate the ships to be all suite and that solves the food problem but then they have a problem with occupancy.

 

Boy, are they screwing up.

Edited February 26, 2023 by HMR74

[Luvcrusn]

@HMR74 are right about the price of AQ going through the roof. Pre-Covid the difference in fare between verandah and AQ was often less than $500 pp for the entire cruise. In the past year it more often upwards of $1000pp. Also in the past year they have increased the cost of specialty restaurants at least 20% and added an 18% gratuity on top of that.

[JCruise85]

I'll just say I find all the "X is so much worse now" comments are kind of funny because I've been reading this since we started sailing with them in 2015. 

I'm sure it is, in some ways, worse than it was when Celebrity first opened. Isn't everything? (The wonderful world of cutbacks)

But I sometimes wonder if it isn't just the change in food quality and more the change in people's expectations (or taste buds).

 

In several cruising with X, we've yet to have a bad time and never not come off the cruise considerably heavier.