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[TXranchgal]

8 hours ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

I agree.  Just off the Summit.  The food in the MDR and Buffet was barely edible and at times inedible.  HUGE decline in quality and few choices.  Last night I had short ribs that were mostly congealed fat.  After trying it (it was tasteless), I dumped ketchup all over it hoping it would help.  nope.  We will not be returning to X after this trip mainly due the decline in food quality and choices.  I felt like I was at Cracker Barrel most of the time and actually Crack Barrel tasted better than some of the items we were served.  I don’t think even Cracker Barrel serves tilapia.  X needs to get their act together in the food department, at least on the Summit.

 

OH NO!!!!   We are on the Summit for almost 2 weeks in Sept.  We have loved BLU and always have had excellent and tasty food selections.    We totally switched from Royal due to the decline in food quality there. 

I sure hope the decline in Celebrity food quality as a short term thing and they get back to the way it was before COVID.  Prices have gone up and quality has gone down????  Sounds like a perfect plan toward failure....

[tigervixxxen]

I’ve always been cautious with MDR food because regardless it’s mass produced in the galley and there’s only so much that can be done through that process. Now I understand limiting portions, options and cuts of meat has made it take a step back but I only expect so much. Honestly the real limiting of appetizers is my biggest disappointment. There’s just little variety anymore which leads to burn out. 
 

I have always had a good experience in the specialty restaurants but considering the price has suddenly gone from the $30+ range to the $60+ range my expectations are going to take a big step too. Now it’s eating one of those meals vs. what can be found on land in a comparable restaurant and the ship might not win that battle. We’ll see, it’s been nice to mix it up and leave the MDR on occasion but we don’t have that kind of OBC to dine at that price point multiple times per cruise now. 
 

My opinion of Blu was the quality was no different than the MDR, just the nice thing was more options to choose from in combination with the MDR menu. I also found the same thing where certain dishes were hit and miss. Also, I’ve never seen anyone mention the bizarre no butter in Blu but instead some veggie purée to go with your bread. We thought it was strange. I know I could have asked for the butter from the MDR to be brought over and I’m sure they would have obliged but at some point you just want to sit down and eat without asking for everything. 

[tfred]

5 minutes ago, TXranchgal said:

 

OH NO!!!!   We are on the Summit for almost 2 weeks in Sept.  We have loved BLU and always have had excellent and tasty food selections.    We totally switched from Royal due to the decline in food quality there. 

I sure hope the decline in Celebrity food quality as a short term thing and they get back to the way it was before COVID.  Prices have gone up and quality has gone down????  Sounds like a perfect plan toward failure....

Very few people will take the time to read your comment with this typeface 

[aggiejd2000]

11 hours ago, patty1955 said:

Here's the prime rib on our Infinity cruise is June:

 

Every time I see someone post a pic of an entree from the MDR in a S-Class ship, I chuckle a little because it's almost always the same sides, matchsticks carrots, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and steamed/sauteed broccoli. 

 

Based on my experience, I agree that the food quality and variety in the S-Class ships is lower than the E-Class ships. In the last year I've sailed Celebrity four times: twice on Solstice, once on Reflection, and once on Edge.  The first time I was on Solstice and I found the food in the MDR unacceptable, in quality and variety.  It had been a number of years since I had been on Celebrity and I thought the food definitely went down compared to my previous experiences.  I was going to abandon Celebrity but then decided to step up to Aqua class on my next sailing on the Reflection, and the food experience was much better.  I was in Aqua again when I returned to Solstice and it was again very good.  When I went on Edge, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety in the 4 MDRs, they were better than the MDR on Solstice.

 

If Celebrity made a conscious decision to differentiate between the quality and variety in the S-Class MDRs and the E-Class MDRs, I think that is very unfortunate, as I really like Reflection and want to sail on her in the future.  I will be boarding Solstice again in a few months and will be in the MDR.  I'm hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised and won't have a repeat of my prior disappointing experience but this pic isn't making me feel particularly optimistic...   

[Cruzinforpeace***]

7 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

I’ve always been cautious with MDR food because regardless it’s mass produced in the galley and there’s only so much that can be done through that process. Now I understand limiting portions, options and cuts of meat has made it take a step back but I only expect so much. Honestly the real limiting of appetizers is my biggest disappointment. There’s just little variety anymore which leads to burn out. 
 

I have always had a good experience in the specialty restaurants but considering the price has suddenly gone from the $30+ range to the $60+ range my expectations are going to take a big step too. Now it’s eating one of those meals vs. what can be found on land in a comparable restaurant and the ship might not win that battle. We’ll see, it’s been nice to mix it up and leave the MDR on occasion but we don’t have that kind of OBC to dine at that price point multiple times per cruise now. 
 

My opinion of Blu was the quality was no different than the MDR, just the nice thing was more options to choose from in combination with the MDR menu. I also found the same thing where certain dishes were hit and miss. Also, I’ve never seen anyone mention the bizarre no butter in Blu but instead some veggie purée to go with your bread. We thought it was strange. I know I could have asked for the butter from the MDR to be brought over and I’m sure they would have obliged but at some point you just want to sit down and eat without asking for everything. 

The “butter” is strange in the MDR as well.  They present you with 3 options: 2 “dips” and butter.  The dips were really strange sometimes. The last night was a tasteless hummus and some type of ranch dressing.  I was just picturing them scooping the dips from a Thousand Island Jar and some big vat of generic hummus from Costco. Also the butter seemed almost “watered down” almost like a margarine spread with no salt. 

[Cruzinforpeace***]

3 hours ago, aggiejd2000 said:

Every time I see someone post a pic of an entree from the MDR in a S-Class ship, I chuckle a little because it's almost always the same sides, matchsticks carrots, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and steamed/sauteed broccoli. 

 

Based on my experience, I agree that the food quality and variety in the S-Class ships is lower than the E-Class ships. In the last year I've sailed Celebrity four times: twice on Solstice, once on Reflection, and once on Edge.  The first time I was on Solstice and I found the food in the MDR unacceptable, in quality and variety.  It had been a number of years since I had been on Celebrity and I thought the food definitely went down compared to my previous experiences.  I was going to abandon Celebrity but then decided to step up to Aqua class on my next sailing on the Reflection, and the food experience was much better.  I was in Aqua again when I returned to Solstice and it was again very good.  When I went on Edge, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety in the 4 MDRs, they were better than the MDR on Solstice.

 

If Celebrity made a conscious decision to differentiate between the quality and variety in the S-Class MDRs and the E-Class MDRs, I think that is very unfortunate, as I really like Reflection and want to sail on her in the future.  I will be boarding Solstice again in a few months and will be in the MDR.  I'm hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised and won't have a repeat of my prior disappointing experience but this pic isn't making me feel particularly optimistic...   

Those were the sides every night it seemed on the Summit.  The mashed potatoes looked very strange too, like they had been sitting out for days and reheated.  They were a weird darkish color.

 

Here were some of my “winners”.  A melted cherries jubilee (I snapped the photo as soon as they set it in front of me) and what appeared to be some pan seared gnocchi which tasted very dry.  I sent it back for the Turkey which was better.

[BridgeMates]

40 minutes ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

The “butter” is strange in the MDR as well.  They present you with 3 options: 2 “dips” and butter.  The dips were really strange sometimes. The last night was a tasteless hummus and some type of ranch dressing.  I was just picturing them scooping the dips from a Thousand Island Jar and some big vat of generic hummus from Costco. Also the butter seemed almost “watered down” almost like a margarine spread with no salt. 

Funny you mention the Butter.....We definitely noticed the difference in quality on the Silhouette last

November.   Celebrity had been using a brand called "Presidente."   It's now like you said, some kind of margarine and not very good.  More cost-cutting I guess.  Most people probably won't even notice. 😄

[Pennstatedj]

Hi, just off the Equinox, lunch menus on sea days in the main dinning room have not changed for at least ten years. They are range good to excellent depending on the ship and that chef. They were excellent on this cruise. 

[1620rock]

9 hours ago, tfred said:

Very few people will take the time to read your comment with this typeface 

wow!! it's this kind of comment that has me moving away for this site

[RichYak]

33 minutes ago, 1620rock said:

wow!! it's this kind of comment that has me moving away for this site

They’re not wrong. The comment they are referring to is literally unreadable on an Apple device. 
 

[sunkey1]

10 hours ago, tfred said:

Very few people will take the time to read your comment with this typeface 

I see nothing wrong with that typeface, totally legible.

[bigbenboys]

10 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

 I’ve never seen anyone mention the bizarre no butter in Blu but instead some veggie purée to go with your bread. 

I remember having butter. The butter was pressed into a rose mold. Like the rose on the wall in Blu.

[RichYak]

18 minutes ago, sunkey1 said:

I see nothing wrong with that typeface, totally legible.

Try again using an iPhone or iPad, as many people use to read CruiseCritic. It looks fine on my laptop and completely illegible on my Apple devices. See my screenshot in post #60 above.

Edited July 31, 2023 by RichYak

[doghog]

38 minutes ago, sunkey1 said:

I see nothing wrong with that typeface, totally legible.

A lot of us use to use the Comic Sans font. About 5 years ago CC did a software change and that change made the Comic San font very hard to read for those not using a laptop or desktop computer. Just about everyone now uses the CC default font and size. The example @RichYak posted is an excellent example. I use a laptop, no problem reading that font. Hard to read on my Samsung phone. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by doghog

[CaroleSS]

32 minutes ago, sunkey1 said:

I see nothing wrong with that typeface, totally legible.

@RichYak is correct. The font makes the post very difficult, if not impossible to read on my iPad. Not sure why people change the font or color.

 

I'm happy that you aren't having a problem, but others do. It was only reported so that the poster could know and possibly make the modification. Otherwise many, many others would have no idea what was said. 

[CaroleSS]

1 hour ago, 1620rock said:

wow!! it's this kind of comment that has me moving away for this site

It was a comment....and not a "mean" one.....intended to inform. Not sure why you took it so negatively.

[keesar]

4 hours ago, BridgeMates said:

Funny you mention the Butter.....We definitely noticed the difference in quality on the Silhouette last

November.   Celebrity had been using a brand called "Presidente."   It's now like you said, some kind of margarine and not very good.  More cost-cutting I guess.  Most people probably won't even notice. 😄

On the Equinox and Beyond, the brand of butter being offered was Grassland.  Real butter.  And I love and know my butter.  

[May B]

2 hours ago, CaroleSS said:

@RichYak is correct. The font makes the post very difficult, if not impossible to read on my iPad. Not sure why people change the font or color.

 

I'm happy that you aren't having a problem, but others do. It was only reported so that the poster could know and possibly make the modification. Otherwise many, many others would have no idea what was said. 

I read it just fine on my iPad, by making it larger.

[May B]

1 hour ago, keesar said:

On the Equinox and Beyond, the brand of butter being offered was Grassland.  Real butter.  And I love and know my butter.  

On the Connie in March, we had real butter.

 

Shareholders be damned. IMHO.

[May B]

Funny! Just saw another thread, from a cruiser just off the Connie in the Med. They had plenty of butter but no margarine.

 

That’s actually important to us b/c our son doesn’t eat butter. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by May B

[hcat]

5 hours ago, sunkey1 said:

I see nothing wrong with that typeface, totally legible.

not on my samsung device..have to enlarge..

Edited July 31, 2023 by hcat

[wrk2cruise]

I like salted butter so I always ask for "wrapped butter" in the MDR instead of the unsalted they provide in the tray.   It's also not enough butter for my bread fetish.

 

[patty1955]

17 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I like salted butter so I always ask for "wrapped butter" in the MDR instead of the unsalted they provide in the tray.   It's also not enough butter for my bread fetish.

 

It might be with the bread we got on the last cruise:

 

[May B]

16 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I like salted butter so I always ask for "wrapped butter" in the MDR instead of the unsalted they provide in the tray.   It's also not enough butter for my bread fetish.

 

I agree with that! It’s a treat for me to have unsalted. I thought cruising out of the US they only get wrapped. Whatever. I’ll try to enjoy!

[May B]

2 minutes ago, patty1955 said:

It might be with the bread we got on the last cruise:

 

Yay, Patty, who has a food photo for every discussion!

 

You're right, that’s quite paltry. We just went on Viking, and Mr B couldn’t stop raving about the bread basket contents. Alas, I don’t think I took a photo.

Edited July 31, 2023 by May B