X Changes and how they impact the non suite guest - Is it really a big deal

[cgolf1]

We were on the Edge in February and if you caught my review, we definitely noticed some changes, especially with the dining. They weren't huge showstoppers for us, but some things were noticeable. Overall were were happy with the service, but did switch our 2025 booking from the beyond to an S Class ship. Minus all the good live music on our first Edge cruise and the magic carpet being full all the time, we didn't enjoy the Edge as much as we did the first time and the Connie blew the Edge away for us.

 

I am curious if the non suite experience has gotten a lot worse since February? I know the suites are going up in price and of course offering less. We saw this back on Disney when we sailed their suite level 2 years in a row (2013 and 2014) and the 2nd year when we got on the hosts were mad and venting that they were losing lots of repeat families because Disney decided to basically double the rate to rebook for the next year (2015). I will say looking back at it, we got one heck of a deal on those rooms, but they weren't worth double.

 

I really hope this all shakes out by 2025, as we go to the Galapagos next year on the Expedition. For all those saying that they want to jump ship, we did sail on HAL this year, and while we had a great time and wouldn't hesitate to sail them again, the Celebrity product from the non suite view was far superior, especially in my wife's eyes.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by cgolf1

[SoloAlaska]

I’ll see next month. I’ll be back on Milli in September one year after my last cruise on her and will be able to give a good comparison. Staffing levels seemed low last time so I am hoping for an overall improvement in service this time around.

[jelayne]

I can’t remember the timing of changes.  Was the charge for Room Service  (except continental breakfast) in place?

Daily gratuities increased, automatic gratuity on specialty dining increased from 18% to 20%.  Some reductions to the MDR menu, less beef more fish and lamb.

[Duanerice1]

Non-suite people all the way here..... We had one of our best cruises on the Equinox in April. People complaining about the MDR, we were fine.  My biggest disappointment was the loss of free room service.  I know to some it doesn't matter but we use it a lot on sea days.  Heck, coming back from an excursion too.  This was one of the things that set Celebrity apart.  We did final payment then they took it away.  Should have been grandfathered in.....lol

 

Anyway, we've been on Carnival, NCL and RCCL and they were all OK and we had a blast.   At this point I won't pay much more for Celebrity than I would any other line. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We had a great Reflection TA in spring , 1000% better than our Apex TA spring TA in 2022

Expecting our Connie Nov TA to be just as good 

 

[helen haywood]

Well, looking at the current menus from Apex, yikes, what a cutback on options!!!  If that goes fleetwide it might be a deal breaker for us.  I could not cruise Celebrity as many times as we do with that menu.

[OysterD]

4 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Well, looking at the current menus from Apex, yikes, what a cutback on options!!!  If that goes fleetwide it might be a deal breaker for us.  I could not cruise Celebrity as many times as we do with that menu.

I just brought up the current MDR menus for tonight on Apex. I'm curious what the 'cutback' is:

 

Starters

Cauliflower Flan

Salmon Gravlax

Yellow Corn Soup

Escargots

Shrimp Cocktail

French Onion Soup

Chicory Apple Pear Salad

Wild Musrhoom Barley Soup

Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Hot Melted Cheese Saganaki

Greek Mezze Board

Grilled Shrimp

Turkey Terrine & Radish Carpaccio

Coquille Saint-Jacques

Baked Brie Cheese

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Creamy Tuscan Shrimp Soup

Eggplant Caponata Bruschetta

+ 3 starters off the kids menu

 

Entrees

Spaghetti a La Mallorquin

Roasted Chicken Choucroute

Pan Seared Cod

Chicken Kiev

Tikka Masala Tofu

Broiled Salmon

Grilled Salmon

Slow Roasted Beef Brisket

Lamb Kabobs

Cypriot Coq Au Vin

Homemade Kordelia Pasta

Beef Sirloin En Croute

Marmite Diepoise

Duck Confit

Slow Roasted Herbed Tuscan Pork Chop

Pappardelle Alla Veneziana

Strozzapreti Carbonara

+ 7 Entrees off the kids menu

 

Add'l Charge

Lobster Tail

Filet Mignon

Surf & Turf

 

I've said before, but it's slightly frustrating when someone posts about vague 'cutbacks' which in reality are nothing of the sort. How can anyone claim that a choice of 18 starters and 17 entrees on one given night in the MDR (plus the option to have lobster or filet mignon every night, admittedly for an upcharge) is a massive cutback is just baffling. If you think that many starters and entrees isn't enough choice, maybe just stick to a land vacation in the US and go to a diner for dinner. 

 

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, OysterD said:

I just brought up the current MDR menus for tonight on Apex. I'm curious what the 'cutback' is:

 

Starters

Cauliflower Flan

Salmon Gravlax

Yellow Corn Soup

Escargots

Shrimp Cocktail

French Onion Soup

Chicory Apple Pear Salad

Wild Musrhoom Barley Soup

Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Hot Melted Cheese Saganaki

Greek Mezze Board

Grilled Shrimp

Turkey Terrine & Radish Carpaccio

Coquille Saint-Jacques

Baked Brie Cheese

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Creamy Tuscan Shrimp Soup

Eggplant Caponata Bruschetta

+ 3 starters off the kids menu

 

Entrees

Spaghetti a La Mallorquin

Roasted Chicken Choucroute

Pan Seared Cod

Chicken Kiev

Tikka Masala Tofu

Broiled Salmon

Grilled Salmon

Slow Roasted Beef Brisket

Lamb Kabobs

Cypriot Coq Au Vin

Homemade Kordelia Pasta

Beef Sirloin En Croute

Marmite Diepoise

Duck Confit

Slow Roasted Herbed Tuscan Pork Chop

Pappardelle Alla Veneziana

Strozzapreti Carbonara

+ 7 Entrees off the kids menu

 

Add'l Charge

Lobster Tail

Filet Mignon

Surf & Turf

 

I've said before, but it's slightly frustrating when someone posts about vague 'cutbacks' which in reality are nothing of the sort. How can anyone claim that a choice of 18 starters and 17 entrees on one given night in the MDR (plus the option to have lobster or filet mignon every night, admittedly for an upcharge) is a massive cutback is just baffling. If you think that many starters and entrees isn't enough choice, maybe just stick to a land vacation in the US and go to a diner for dinner. 

 

 

 

For real. 

[doghog]

34 minutes ago, OysterD said:

I just brought up the current MDR menus for tonight on Apex. I'm curious what the 'cutback' is:

Agree. You forgot the salads and desserts. 😉 That's another thing we like about the E class ships if dining in one of the 4 MDRs in the evening. You have the option of selecting from one or from all 4 MDRs.  

Edited August 3, 2023 by doghog

[foodsvcmgr]

Oyster if you are correct and I certainly hope and want to believe you are, I don’t understand why people are claiming Apex only has chicken, salmon, and flank steak every night all of a sudden?????

[doghog]

3 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Oyster if you are correct and I certainly hope and want to believe you are, I don’t understand why people are claiming Apex only has chicken, salmon, and flank steak every night all of a sudden?????

We were on the Apex in March and what @OysterD posted was what we saw between the 4 different MDRs. Plus salads and desserts choices. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by doghog

[SoloAlaska]

36 minutes ago, OysterD said:

How can anyone claim that a choice of 18 starters and 17 entrees on one given night in the MDR (plus the option to have lobster or filet mignon every night, admittedly for an upcharge) is a massive cutback is just baffling.

 

Any really nice restaurant on land wouldn’t have that many choices.

 

Im happy with 6-8 options of each and think that is plenty even for a cruise line MDR.

[doghog]

11 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Any really nice restaurant on land wouldn’t have that many choices.

 

Im happy with 6-8 options of each and think that is plenty even for a cruise line MDR.

The selections @OysterD posted are a combination of the 4 MDRs.

[SoloAlaska]

5 minutes ago, doghog said:

The selections @OysterD posted are a combination of the 4 MDRs.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. 

[mayleeman]

@OysterD Please remember, as has  benn pointed out many times, E-class MDRs have laregely not been complained about. No S class or M class MDR has an array of choices like that because they don't have 4 venues.

[jelayne]

28 minutes ago, doghog said:

The selections @OysterD posted are a combination of the 4 MDRs.

And you can get any of those items in any of the 4 MDRs

[OysterD]

4 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Oyster if you are correct and I certainly hope and want to believe you are, I don’t understand why people are claiming Apex only has chicken, salmon, and flank steak every night all of a sudden?????

I pulled all those off the app for the 4 MDR restaurants on Apex, for tonight. 

 

Either people don't realise you can order off any of the menus in any of the restaurants, or people just like to moan and then others jump on the bandwagon without actually doing any research.

 

Oh and according to vegetarian friends of mine who just came off Edge, there are also more vegetarian options if you ask. 

[doghog]

5 minutes ago, jelayne said:

And you can get any of those items in any of the 4 MDRs

Exactly what we did on our March Apex cruise. . 

[OysterD]

8 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

@OysterD Please remember, as has  benn pointed out many times, E-class MDRs have laregely not been complained about. No S class or M class MDR has an array of choices like that because they don't have 4 venues.

I was responding to Helen who claimed there had been a huge cutback in options on Apex. I just wanted to point out that wasn't the case. 

[helen haywood]

These are pictures of the menu from Cosmopolitan posted by a person currently on Apex. 

[doghog]

4 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

These are pictures of the menu from Cosmopolitan posted by a person currently on Apex. 

One out of 4 MDR menus. 

[SoloAlaska]

23 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

These are pictures of the menu from Cosmopolitan posted by a person currently on Apex. 

7 starters and 7 entrees… not a bad amount of options really.

[helen haywood]

No, it’s not bad.  But previously in addition to the E Class MDR’s specialty dishes, there was also Celebrity’s different each night menu and the Always Available menu.  The latter two seem to have been merged.  If one had never sailed E Class before it would not be noticeable.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, helen haywood said:

No, it’s not bad.  But previously in addition to the E Class MDR’s specialty dishes, there was also Celebrity’s different each night menu and the Always Available menu.  The latter two seem to have been merged.  If one had never sailed E Class before it would not be noticeable.

There are 3 sections to the menu Exclusives, different in each of the 4MDRs but available in all. Classic items ( chicken, salmon, sirlion, Caesar salad,  onion soup+++) and Celebrity signature items which rotate every night.  What was posted isn’t the complete menu.  Add to that the exclusives and it is a lot of options on the E class.

 

 

[leyland1989]

Not a frequent cruiser and have been living under a rock for a few years, 
Since when Lobster and Filet Mignon become extra charge items?  I remember having "the Lobster night" on my second sea day and not having to pay extra for it. Do they still offer the lobster at least once prior to the end of the cruise to mark some sort of occasion?