Is the food back en par with the prices?

[chvnty]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:13 AM, TMaine said:

We were on Equinox last week, food was not as great as it has been.  We considered canceling our Reflection cruise in August because of this. 

I agree. I was on the Equinox in December 2022, and the food was not great. However I was on the Eclipse in April 2022 and the food was very good.

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours ago, jelayne said:

Yes we were on the Solstice together in December. 
Currently doing a B2B  on the Summit in MDR first leg and now Luminae.  The food in MDR, Luminae and OV has been great only disappointment as Tuscan. We had the child’s filet last night, delicious.

 

I hope you brought it to their attention.    I was reluctant to and can say after I had a talk with the MD about 3 different poultry dishes being over cooked.  Everyone I had on the current cruise has been spectacular. 

[Jim_Iain]

I've been thinking about the OP's original question.  

 

Is the Food Back in Par with the Prices?    Hmmm..  For me Prices are way up and my experience has been the same as pre-covid.    In that respect No.     But if I put it in perspective,   We went to dinner pre cruise and the prices at our favorite restaurant at home are also Way Up from just 6 months ago.  I then try to put  inflation into perspective and accept us old timers good a pretty good cost of living increase in SS in January.   I think it was 8%

 

Not sure I can food quality has increase to the increasing cost of Suites. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

You get five star service and MDR food quality that's below a standard chain restaurant.  Many will stigmatize chains but even where I live in L.A. where you can get high quality food, it can be near impossible to walk into an Olive Garden, Red Lobster or Texas Roadhouse at dinner time on a Friday or Saturday night without a reservation.  If you like lasagna, alfredo, chicken parm, Olive Garden makes it all far better than X; if you like steak, Outback/Longhorns/Texas Roadhouse blows away X's classic sirloin.  I love X's french onion soup but the Outback simply makes it better.  You can probably pick any item on X's MDR dinner menu and find a chain that makes the item better

[GeorgiaRetiredCruisers]

So basically you're saying the MDR is no better than a chain restaurant? 😜

[P&M_Cruising]

We were on a recent Equinox sailing, the food in Luminae was generally good quality except for the steak and lamb which tended to be full of fat and gristle and fairly tasteless each time we ordered it.

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

You get five star service and MDR food quality that's below a standard chain restaurant.  Many will stigmatize chains but even where I live in L.A. where you can get high quality food, it can be near impossible to walk into an Olive Garden, Red Lobster or Texas Roadhouse at dinner time on a Friday or Saturday night without a reservation.  If you like lasagna, alfredo, chicken parm, Olive Garden makes it all far better than X; if you like steak, Outback/Longhorns/Texas Roadhouse blows away X's classic sirloin.  I love X's french onion soup but the Outback simply makes it better.  You can probably pick any item on X's MDR dinner menu and find a chain that makes the item better

OK.  If you mention chains I just might need to bring my own food.  Just saying...

[NutsAboutGolf]

39 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

OK.  If you mention chains I just might need to bring my own food.  Just saying...

 

It's a good thing many of us do not cruise for the food...

 

Comparing chains to cruise food seems to be a "trigger" for some who wrongly assume once they're on board they're dining in a Michelin starred restaurant...It's okay to admit one likes the taste of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits...Even celebrities like Gordon Ramsey have a favorite chain which is In and Out Burger...I would happily take an In and Out burger over whatever they're serving at the Mast Grill

[Nemanoxer]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaRetiredCruisers said:

So basically you're saying the MDR is no better than a chain restaurant? 😜

That is what I felt like last time on Equinox. It was more like a food court kind of experience.

[Nemanoxer]

In another line's subforum I am getting quite a lot of "we do not care about paying more for less, we are very low maintenance".

 

I suppose those are the customers Lutoff-Perlo dreamt of.

[GeorgiaRetiredCruisers]

7 minutes ago, Nemanoxer said:

In another line's subforum I am getting quite a lot of "we do not care about paying more for less, we are very low maintenance".

 

I suppose those are the customers Lutoff-Perlo dreamt of.

I suppose I shouldn't laugh at that but..... geez. I, on the other hand, don't mind paying a bit more for a better food. I'm italian... food is *important* for life and pleasure.  I know folks who treat food as nothing more than subsistence for life. I just don't get it though. 

[GeorgiaRetiredCruisers]

32 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

.I would happily take an In and Out burger over whatever they're serving at the Mast Grill

Whataburger, please.

(And the Pimiento Cheese sandwiches at The Masters are worth every penny of that $1.50, plus some!)

Edited April 29, 2023 by GeorgiaRetiredCruisers

[Nemanoxer]

1 minute ago, GeorgiaRetiredCruisers said:

I suppose I shouldn't laugh at that but..... geez. I, on the other hand, don't mind paying a bit more for a better food. I'm italian... food is *important* for life and pleasure.  I know folks who treat food as nothing more than subsistence for life. I just don't get it though. 

 

We would make great table mates 😅

[Arizona Wildcat]

9 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

You get five star service and MDR food quality that's below a standard chain restaurant.  Many will stigmatize chains but even where I live in L.A. where you can get high quality food, it can be near impossible to walk into an Olive Garden, Red Lobster or Texas Roadhouse at dinner time on a Friday or Saturday night without a reservation.  If you like lasagna, alfredo, chicken parm, Olive Garden makes it all far better than X; if you like steak, Outback/Longhorns/Texas Roadhouse blows away X's classic sirloin.  I love X's french onion soup but the Outback simply makes it better.  You can probably pick any item on X's MDR dinner menu and find a chain that makes the item better

Need to look at food overall.  Texas Roadhouse has great tender beef - that is tenderize.  Every restaurant chain has an excellent special dish.  The challenge for cruise ships is to feed 2500 people in 3 hours with some dozens of entrees.

Is the food up to the increased prices?  Hmm.  Our local $7.99 lunch special is $13.99.  Add 9% tax and a tip and it is a $20 bill.  So yes if you look at the overall picture things on board are pretty good.  Plus want another piece of halibut - just ask.  Try that at home.

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

It's a good thing many of us do not cruise for the food...

 

Comparing chains to cruise food seems to be a "trigger" for some who wrongly assume once they're on board they're dining in a Michelin starred restaurant...It's okay to admit one likes the taste of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits...Even celebrities like Gordon Ramsey have a favorite chain which is In and Out Burger...I would happily take an In and Out burger over whatever they're serving at the Mast Grill

Really?  In and Out fries last trip were nicely put "limp".  Burger yesterday at Mast was thick and tasty as usual with onion rings included.

We have chains we like but they cannot take me to Europe.

PS favorite lunch is a Carne asada burrito for two for $10.  Tanias 33 in Tucson.

[C4HCG]

I am so glad we are not fussy about food and find with the variety Celebrity offer, there’s always something for us. So many other aspects to a cruise that are far more important.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaRetiredCruisers said:

Whataburger, please.

(And the Pimiento Cheese sandwiches at The Masters are worth every penny of that $1.50, plus some!)

 

Whataburger is good, if you can find a location...Same with In and Out yet Gordon regularly visits CA

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Really?  In and Out fries last trip were nicely put "limp".  Burger yesterday at Mast was thick and tasty as usual with onion rings included.

We have chains we like but they cannot take me to Europe.

PS favorite lunch is a Carne asada burrito for two for $10.  Tanias 33 in Tucson.

 

I cannot stand In and Out fries, they don't wash off the starch...5 guys figured it out where they cut the fries then "power wash" the starch off

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Need to look at food overall.  Texas Roadhouse has great tender beef - that is tenderize.  Every restaurant chain has an excellent special dish.  The challenge for cruise ships is to feed 2500 people in 3 hours with some dozens of entrees.

Is the food up to the increased prices?  Hmm.  Our local $7.99 lunch special is $13.99.  Add 9% tax and a tip and it is a $20 bill.  So yes if you look at the overall picture things on board are pretty good.  Plus want another piece of halibut - just ask.  Try that at home.

 

Cooking the food isn't the challenge, X has been around nearly 35 years and surely figured it out decades ago.  The challenge is evading food cost cuts which makes the food less tasty

[GeorgiaRetiredCruisers]

14 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Cooking the food isn't the challenge, X has been around nearly 35 years and surely figured it out decades ago.  The challenge is evading food cost cuts which makes the food less tasty

I bet many would not bat an eye at paying $10. a day more for better meals, which Celebrity could do wonders with considering the economy of scale.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, GeorgiaRetiredCruisers said:

I bet many would not bat an eye at paying $10. a day more for better meals, which Celebrity could do wonders with considering the economy of scale.

 

I'd have no problem with $10/day for improved food yet before we know it they'll charge $20/person and degrade the food quality as it appears X has zero interest with improving the complimentary MDR food quality...Another way to do this is to do what CCL and RCI have done for over a decade...With dinner offer premium items at an upcharge (still offer complimentary lobster one night)...CCL was $23 + tip for a Maine lobster tail and a petite filet...CCL's filet is better than X's kids filet (seems hard to find nowadays) and even Blu's filet and obviously CCL's Maine lobster tail is better than X's spiny lobster tail...Also once on board X, for us non-suite peasants, it's quite difficult to get a specialty dinner reservation before 830pm

[NMTraveller]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

It's a good thing many of us do not cruise for the food...

 

Comparing chains to cruise food seems to be a "trigger" for some who wrongly assume once they're on board they're dining in a Michelin starred restaurant...It's okay to admit one likes the taste of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits...Even celebrities like Gordon Ramsey have a favorite chain which is In and Out Burger...I would happily take an In and Out burger over whatever they're serving at the Mast Grill

I think that much of it depends upon where you are coming from...

 

At my previous residence Muranos would beat out 99% of the restaurants and my favorite place was 60 miles away.

 

Where I live now, I have a steak house that will cook a steak or seafood to PERFECTION within about 4 miles.  It gets a 4.8 on OpenTable which is difficult to do.  It beats Muranos by quite a bit.  Sure it is pricey,  but NOW specialty dining on Celebrity is more pricey and yet you are paying for some meal on Celebrity.  The specialty dining prices on Celebrity are a complete joke for what you get...

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by NMTraveller

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I think that much of it depends upon where you are coming from...

 

At my previous residence Muranos would beat out 99% of the restaurants and my favorite place was 60 miles away.

 

Where I live now, I have a steak house that will cook a steak or seafood to PERFECTION within about 4 miles.  It gets a 4.8 on OpenTable which is difficult to do.  It beats Muranos by quite a bit.  Sure it is pricey,  but NOW specialty dining on Celebrity is more pricey and yet you are paying for some meal on Celebrity.  The specialty dining prices on Celebrity are a complete joke for what you get...

 

 

Good point with specialties, with tipping it's just under $65/person and its really hard to make on board reservations before 830pm.

 

To add another example with chains being better, the Cheesecake Factory, my WAG (Wild A$$ Guess) is at least 75% of passengers if given a choice between dinner in X's MDR or a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, they would pick the latter

[grandgeezer]

6 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Need to look at food overall.  Texas Roadhouse has great tender beef - that is tenderize.  Every restaurant chain has an excellent special dish.  The challenge for cruise ships is to feed 2500 people in 3 hours with some dozens of entrees.

Is the food up to the increased prices?  Hmm.  Our local $7.99 lunch special is $13.99.  Add 9% tax and a tip and it is a $20 bill.  So yes if you look at the overall picture things on board are pretty good.  Plus want another piece of halibut - just ask.  Try that at home.

$13.99 plus 9% tip is $15.25, a long way from a $20 bill. What makes a meal worth a 9% tip at home and 20% on a cruise? Surely not the quality of the food or service.

[GeorgiaRetiredCruisers]

He was saying the TAX was 9%, then add the tip (which is expected to be 18-20% for good service).