Equinox Menu - Main Dining Upcharges Showing on App

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I apologize for not reading all of the posts in the 9 pages of this thread so far, as this might have already been mentioned earlier. But I just looked at the referenced Equinox menu and, yes, they have added a Premium Selection list to their regular MDR evening menu, that still includes steak, chicken, fish and vegetarian entrees every night.

 

But could it be Celebrity has decided to add this new MDR menu option to provide a specialty restaurant-like entree (for an extra charge of course) to those that simply don't what to pay the $130+ charge for a couple to eat in one their specialty restaurants?

Yes, that was considered earlier in the thread, and yes the thread got long real fast...

 

If the extra charge items were the only change it would arguably be an improvement, but ...

 

... at the same time as this change they cut one of the Entrées and just rolled the 'always available' items into the main menu to disguise the reduction...

 

Add in that shrimp cocktail and salmon are now only available on alternate days and the salmon is replaced with tilapia and other less desirable options when it is not available.

 

The icing on the cake was the appearance of a 'double cheeseburger' as one of the remaining entrée choices on one day of the current set of menus...

 

It really does kick the quality right out of the MDR now...

 

 

 

[jelayne]

6 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

Yes, that was considered earlier in the thread, and yes the thread got long real fast...

 

If the extra charge items were the only change it would arguably be an improvement, but ...

 

... at the same time as this change they cut one of the Entrées and just rolled the 'always available' items into the main menu to disguise the reduction...

 

Add in that shrimp cocktail and salmon are now only available on alternate days and the salmon is replaced with tilapia and other less desirable options when it is not available.

 

The icing on the cake was the appearance of a 'double cheeseburger' as one of the remaining entrée choices on one day of the current set of menus...

 

It really does kick the quality right out of the MDR now...

 

 

 

Don't forget that recently they eliminated 2 desserts from the always available items also.

[paulh84]

5 hours ago, bocajay said:

This is one of the reasons I stopped sailing with Royal now your paying top dollar to eat at Denny's I don't think so. Going to sail now more with princess and Holland cancelling upcoming cruise on celebrity 

 

I can't speak to HAL as I'm about 40 years too young, but if you expect Princess to wow you, you may be in for an unpleasant reality. I did my first, maybe last, Princess cruise earlier this year. They too have up charge items. Everything felt cheap. The buffet was more like cafeteria food and the MDR was average  wedding hall food. Even the plates and drinkware in the buffet felt like what you would get in a hospital. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, Mark_T said:

Yes, that was considered earlier in the thread, and yes the thread got long real fast...

 

If the extra charge items were the only change it would arguably be an improvement, but ...

 

... at the same time as this change they cut one of the Entrées and just rolled the 'always available' items into the main menu to disguise the reduction...

 

Add in that shrimp cocktail and salmon are now only available on alternate days and the salmon is replaced with tilapia and other less desirable options when it is not available.

 

The icing on the cake was the appearance of a 'double cheeseburger' as one of the remaining entrée choices on one day of the current set of menus...

 

It really does kick the quality right out of the MDR now...

I have to admit the Celebrity booking options for us are getting smaller as time goes on. For us we used to book sky suites until their cost got ridiculous. So now if we find a unique Celebrity itinerary that interests us, we book Aqua cabins as we really enjoy "anytime" dining in Blu. But to be honest, there really isn't much more they can do to minimize a Blu menu, as the desserts have always been pretty blah, but at least their "healthy" starters and entrees are pretty tasty most of the time. Heck, on our recent 33-day Eclipse cruise, I lost 2 pounds eating breakfast and dinner there. But to be honest, that's a good thing! 😂

[phoenix_dream]

23 minutes ago, SSFrance69 said:

The one bottle of wine being taken away was what crossed the line for me. Maybe now you can understand how petty they are treating customers. This menu change is just the cherry on top. We are in Blu end of July and I hope there are not changes there... but seriously, that will be my last X sailing unless I hear they make some amazing transformation to what they used to be. I'm serious when I say you should look into Oceania. I don't think you'd be disappointed. It's a much better product. There is no charge for specialty dining, and how's this for a lobster dish? That's a huge lobster tail atop Veal, Oscar style in the Polo Grill. No extra charge. The pricing for Oceania standard verandah is about on par with sailing Celeb Aqua class. 

Do we have to debate about pettiness on two separate threads?  Let's give it a rest.  I happen to see this change as way different than the one wine per person.  You disagree.  That's fine, but it's time to agree to disagree and move on.  I may look into Oceania, depending on how my upcoming Blu experience is.  I finally achieved Zenith level last year after 30 years and more than 70X cruises and it is very, very hard to give up the extra perks that go with it - can make jumping to other cruise lines way more expensive for me.  But not saying I won't.

[RichYak]

39 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I finally achieved Zenith level last year after 30 years and more than 70X cruises and it is very, very hard to give up the extra perks that go with it - can make jumping to other cruise lines way more expensive for me.

You can match your Zenith status to top tier Diamond on MSC. We don't yet know if or how that will carry over to Explora Journeys.

 

And hopefully you snuck in an Azamara sailing at some point to keep your top status there. I didn't, but I'm only Elite on Celebrity, so no big loss for me.

[Dr. Cocktail]

6 minutes ago, RichYak said:

You can match your Zenith status to top tier Diamond on MSC. We don't yet know if or how that will carry over to Explora Journeys.

 

Actually, Explora is offering Matching Status to Captains Club members in the form of obc ….

https://explorajourneys.com/int/en/info/exclusive-welcome-match-terms-and-conditions

 

But in terms of pricing, Explora is definitely in the Ultra Luxury category in line with Regent and Silversea.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Dr. Cocktail

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, RichYak said:

You can match your Zenith status to top tier Diamond on MSC. We don't yet know if or how that will carry over to Explora Journeys.

 

And hopefully you snuck in an Azamara sailing at some point to keep your top status there. I didn't, but I'm only Elite on Celebrity, so no big loss for me.

 

Just a FYI for others, MSC will status match against non-cruise line travel loyalty-programs.  They'll match to most hotel and airline status.  Therefore if you only have mid-tier status on X but have top tier status with hilton, you should match with hilton

[hcat]

On 6/19/2023 at 10:26 AM, barneyboy said:

Yes I agree. Find this all a bit tacky. We’re back to Celebrity next month for the first time since 2020. In the interim we’ve cruised 3 times on Azamara. After our Celebrity cruise we’ll decide on our favourite. 

yes   quite tacky..sort of a Royal C  type flavor 

cheeseburger for dinner...ugh!

[cruiserchuck]

5 hours ago, riredsox said:

Tilapia?  That means no seafood options.  Tilapia is not seafood,  it is farm raised and does not swim in the ocean.   This is sad…

Most salmon is also farm raised. I was at Costco today, and frozen farm raised salmon was $11 per pound, while frozen farm raised tilapia was $6 per pound.  So tilapia is significantly cheaper.

 

We are booked with Oceania for our next cruise.  

[C4HCG]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

yes   quite tacky..sort of a Royal C  type flavor 

cheeseburger for dinner...ugh!

I am sure my son will try the double cheeseburger (if still available when we sail in September) and probably enjoy it, I might too. Why not I say, would much rather that than lobster which is a food I have tried once and never again, don’t understand the fuss over. But I know what is good and bad food is subjective.

[Mark_T]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

Don't forget that recently they eliminated 2 desserts from the always available items also.

Don't remind me, the cheesecake and chocolate cake were my go to items... 😞

 

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Mark_T

[dandee2]

Remember the time when X try to remove the chocolate at turndown and move the hotdog from the mast grill to Ocean view? X backtracked. All this probably the result of X Marketing Team. Same will happen.

[gerelmx]

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

I am sure my son will try the double cheeseburger (if still available when we sail in September) and probably enjoy it, I might too. Why not I say, would much rather that than lobster which is a food I have tried once and never again, don’t understand the fuss over. But I know what is good and bad food is subjective.

It's not necessarily the food itself that is being removed and charged for (although for some of us it definitely is).  It's the point that a cruise line that is known for, and advertises itself as, having high quality dining is taking the high quality foods away unless you pay for them.  Lobster and filet mignon cost considerably more than hamburgers and for many of us they are a treat we really looked forward to enjoying onboard and for many of us have for many, many years.  And many of us (myself included) very, very often relied on the classic offerings when we weren't happy with what was on the daily menu.  Some of those are gone, and some are apparently only available every other day.  Heck, on some cruises I ordered shrimp cocktail every single night!  It's an overall cheapening of the product in a manner that really hits home for many of the passengers, while the prices for the most part are significantly higher than they've ever been - not just a small increase, but often a very large one.

[phoenix_dream]

9 minutes ago, dandee2 said:

Remember the time when X try to remove the chocolate at turndown and move the hotdog from the mast grill to Ocean view? X backtracked. All this probably the result of X Marketing Team. Same will happen.

We can only hope.  But as long as bookings stay as high as they are, I predict nothing will change.  

[TMaine]

On 6/19/2023 at 11:25 AM, Susanb10567 said:

I saw that too…if that doesn’t scream fine dining I don’t know what does..😂😂

It's part of the new surf and turf offering that is included, cheeseburger and tilapia! 

[dandee2]

18 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

We can only hope.  But as long as bookings stay as high as they are, I predict nothing will change.  

They will come back and say "We listen, and due to the overwhelming response from our Faithfull guest, Celebrity will bring back everyone's favourite" or something to that effect written by chatgpt.

 

[hcat]

39 minutes ago, TMaine said:

It's part of the new surf and turf offering that is included, cheeseburger and tilapia! 

on stale roll

[Dr. Cocktail]

14 minutes ago, hcat said:

on stale roll

Um, that’s an Artisanal  Crouton….

[Keys Kathy]

2 hours ago, dandee2 said:

They will come back and say "We listen, and due to the overwhelming response from our Faithfull guest, Celebrity will bring back everyone's favourite" or something to that effect written by chatgpt.

 

If you recall, they backed off the dinner-time buffet. People went nuts! We have always been dining room people, but due to long wait times to be seated, we ended up in the buffet. When we went to the dining room, service sucked except when they sat us in the "first seating section". Service was fabulous because they wanted to get us out of there before the next seating. That was earlier this year. Hopefully, things have changed or will change.

[NMTraveller]

8 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

If you recall, they backed off the dinner-time buffet. 

The OVC is better than it was at it's worst but it is still not what it was before January or even close.

 

My guess is that after the cuts they will give back Chocolate cake.  Take 3 or 4 things away and give back 1.  That seems to be the pattern.

 

Why would Celebrity take something away if they knew that they would be giving it all  back?

Edited June 21, 2023 by NMTraveller

[kruzerci]

So disappointed in Celebrity. They have completely lost their way. Identity crisis at its finest. Luxury but cheap. Upscale dining but tilapia. 

[NMTraveller]

[Keys Kathy]

8 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

But NOT Cheesecake!