Off Solstice yesterday; My apologies to all of you

[jc foster]

   Just got off the Soltice yesterday.   I had read all of your reviews regarding the changes in menu selection and food quality and thought they were just more cruise critic BS. My apologies to all of you. The Dining Room menu consisted of a one starter and one main course section.  There were six or seven dishes section. Most of these dishes were repeated a few times during this seven day cruise.  The Dining room menu should be an embarassment to Celebrity and the tasty factor is also gone.  We tried the Tuscan Grill and it also seemed lacking.   This was our first post covid on Celebrity.   We only need a few cruises to be Elite Plus but if things dont change we will never see that.   Like most of you we sail other lines as well  and have sailed Princess twice post covid.   It has also changed but not nearly as badly as Celebrity.   We will try Azamara or Oceania again ,  I am not going to pay for " Golden Corral " quality food with poor selection.  , .  On the plus side the crew is hard working and we enjoyed the balcony cabin on the hump.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Love the comment "Golden Corral quality of food!"  We sail in 2 months on Beyond so looking forward to seeing what type of mush they maybe serving!

[horseymike]

Golden Corral food at Capital Grill prices.

[LaCal]

We were on the Solstice recently and enjoyed the food very much.,..Great thing was if one entree wasn’t the greatest you could order a diff one 

 

We also ate at Murano and Tuscan grille 

 

Murano was hands down Excellent and the service totally 5 Star……Tuscan had the best pastas and our ribeye  steak was cooked perfect…..Only thing that was bad was the calamari which was rubbery 

 

This was our very first Celebrity cruise so we’re definitely not Celebrity Cheerleaders 🤣🤣

 

Enjoyed the cruise so much we booked another two……One on the Eclipse in November and one on the Constellation in February 

[RTShaker]

3 minutes ago, LaCal said:

...

 

This was our very first Celebrity cruise so we’re definitely not Celebrity Cheerleaders 🤣🤣

 

...

Then you have nothing to compare to. That's just the kind of demographic that they are going after.

[LaCal]

Just now, RTShaker said:

Then you have nothing to compare to. That's just the kind of demographic that they are going after.

oh i’m comparing to my 30+ cruises on NCL, Royal, MSC and Carnival 

[RTShaker]

1 minute ago, LaCal said:

oh i’m comparing to my 30+ cruises on NCL, Royal, MSC and Carnival 

It was implied that you had no Celebrity experience to compare to realize the significant changes.

[LaCal]

Just now, RTShaker said:

It was implied that you had no Celebrity experience to compare to realize the significant changes.

Food is either Excellent, Great, Ok/fair or bad 

 

Not rocket science on saying how we found the food on the Solstice 

[C4HCG]

13 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

It was implied that you had no Celebrity experience to compare to realize the significant changes.

Can you not just accept someone enjoyed the food? 

[micruiser2002]

44 minutes ago, LaCal said:

We were on the Solstice recently and enjoyed the food very much.,..Great thing was if one entree wasn’t the greatest you could order a diff one 

 

We also ate at Murano and Tuscan grille 

 

Murano was hands down Excellent and the service totally 5 Star……Tuscan had the best pastas and our ribeye  steak was cooked perfect…..Only thing that was bad was the calamari which was rubbery 

 

This was our very first Celebrity cruise so we’re definitely not Celebrity Cheerleaders 🤣🤣

 

Enjoyed the cruise so much we booked another two……One on the Eclipse in November and one on the Constellation in February 

When you say recently exactly when?  There have been menu change since Mid August.

[RTShaker]

22 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Can you not just accept someone enjoyed the food? 

Absolutely. Food enjoyment is so subjective, What one finds excellent, someone else will find lacking. Food can still be excellent, but not necessarily as excellent as previously. That is what I was referring to with the comparisons. I also enjoyed my food on my last cruise, but was it as enjoyable as previously? No.

[Loracpin2]

2 hours ago, jc foster said:

   Just got off the Soltice yesterday.   I had read all of your reviews regarding the changes in menu selection and food quality and thought they were just more cruise critic BS. My apologies to all of you. The Dining Room menu consisted of a one starter and one main course section.  There were six or seven dishes section. Most of these dishes were repeated a few times during this seven day cruise.  The Dining room menu should be an embarassment to Celebrity and the tasty factor is also gone.  We tried the Tuscan Grill and it also seemed lacking.   This was our first post covid on Celebrity.   We only need a few cruises to be Elite Plus but if things dont change we will never see that.   Like most of you we sail other lines as well  and have sailed Princess twice post covid.   It has also changed but not nearly as badly as Celebrity.   We will try Azamara or Oceania again ,  I am not going to pay for " Golden Corral " quality food with poor selection.  , .  On the plus side the crew is hard working and we enjoyed the balcony cabin on the hump.

Thanks for your post. We are Elite Plus and are already having concerns about our upcoming January Apex sailing. If the food is anywhere near what you have described, this will also be our last Celebrity cruise. 

 

I know I've said this numerous times before but will say it once again......since RCI purchased Celebrity in 1997 it is amazing how "little by little" they have managed to destroy the Celebrity brand!!

[cococruiser]

2 hours ago, jc foster said:

   Just got off the Soltice yesterday.   I had read all of your reviews regarding the changes in menu selection and food quality and thought they were just more cruise critic BS. My apologies to all of you. The Dining Room menu consisted of a one starter and one main course section.  There were six or seven dishes section. Most of these dishes were repeated a few times during this seven day cruise.  The Dining room menu should be an embarassment to Celebrity and the tasty factor is also gone.  We tried the Tuscan Grill and it also seemed lacking.   This was our first post covid on Celebrity.   We only need a few cruises to be Elite Plus but if things dont change we will never see that.   Like most of you we sail other lines as well  and have sailed Princess twice post covid.   It has also changed but not nearly as badly as Celebrity.   We will try Azamara or Oceania again ,  I am not going to pay for " Golden Corral " quality food with poor selection.  , .  On the plus side the crew is hard working and we enjoyed the balcony cabin on the hump.

Sorry to hear this! We have Solstice booked for January. We’ve only done the MDR on one celebrity cruise, we weren’t impressed, if it’s worse than that- oh dear! We are going to book a dining package but it’s a shame that it’s gone that way. I’m glad to hear the crew and cabin were good. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your cruise. 

[mahdnc]

3 hours ago, jc foster said:

   Just got off the Soltice yesterday.   I had read all of your reviews regarding the changes in menu selection and food quality and thought they were just more cruise critic BS. My apologies to all of you. The Dining Room menu consisted of a one starter and one main course section.  There were six or seven dishes section. Most of these dishes were repeated a few times during this seven day cruise.  The Dining room menu should be an embarassment to Celebrity and the tasty factor is also gone.  We tried the Tuscan Grill and it also seemed lacking.   This was our first post covid on Celebrity.   We only need a few cruises to be Elite Plus but if things dont change we will never see that.   Like most of you we sail other lines as well  and have sailed Princess twice post covid.   It has also changed but not nearly as badly as Celebrity.   We will try Azamara or Oceania again ,  I am not going to pay for " Golden Corral " quality food with poor selection.  , .  On the plus side the crew is hard working and we enjoyed the balcony cabin on the hump.

 

We will be on Solstice in Dec/Jan and am disappointed to read your post.  Fortunately it is a very Asia port intensive cruise so we at least have that.  Did you try Murano?

[jc foster]

10 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

We will be on Solstice in Dec/Jan and am disappointed to read your post.  Fortunately it is a very Asia port intensive cruise so we at least have that.  Did you try Murano?

No we did not try Murano only Tuscan. One of the most disappointing things was the very limited food selection in the main dining room.  The ship itself is older but it is well maintained and we enjoyed the entertainment and service .  It was the food that let the Solstice down. 

[mahdnc]

30 minutes ago, jc foster said:

No we did not try Murano only Tuscan. One of the most disappointing things was the very limited food selection in the main dining room.  The ship itself is older but it is well maintained and we enjoyed the entertainment and service .  It was the food that let the Solstice down. 

 

We have been on Solstice twice so far and really liked the ship.  Every time I read about the mediocre menu in the MDR, I swear that I end up buying another specialty dining reservation....

[Rustyman]

OP findings mirror ours from August on the Silhouette. Embarrassing is the very same word I used in an earlier post and it wasn’t used lightly as we’ve always loved Celebity.

Why oh why are those at the top making excellent chefs and waiters make and serve such bland unimaginative food?

It does look like people who haven’t cruised in the last couple of month are finding it hard to believe the MDR negative reports, I would have too had I not experienced it.

[horseymike]

24 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

We have been on Solstice twice so far and really liked the ship.  Every time I read about the mediocre menu in the MDR, I swear that I end up buying another specialty dining reservation....

That’s exactly what they are trying to get you to do.

[awhcruiser]

Try an E class ship for more selection.

[doghog]

34 minutes ago, Rustyman said:

It does look like people who haven’t cruised in the last couple of month are finding it hard to believe the MDR negative reports, I would have too had I not experienced it.

Exactly why we will wait to experiences the menu changes ourselves and not from what others have experienced. Zero influence.  I put very little faith in Celebrity's app but based on what we've seen for our October Eclipse cruise, nothing like @jc foster posted. We could and will build a 5 course meal each evening with very little duplication. The duplication would on some nights with appetizers, soups and salads which we have always done in the past. Nothing new there for us. 

Edited September 16, 2023 by doghog

[C4HCG]

We got off the Equinox last week, 5th time on it in last 4 years, and we found the food in the MDR perfectly acceptable, no better or worse than before. But that’s my opinion and I respect others opinions will be bang opposite to mine so all anyone can do is hang fire, get on your cruise, and see how you find it yourselves. 

[micruiser2002]

48 minutes ago, doghog said:

Exactly why we will wait to experiences the menu changes ourselves and not from what others have experienced. Zero influence.  I put very little faith in Celebrity's app but based on what we've seen for our October Eclipse cruise, nothing like @jc foster posted. We could and will build a 5 course meal each evening with very little duplication. The duplication would on some nights with appetizers, soups and salads which we have always done in the past. Nothing new there for us. 

It looks like Eclipse still has the old menu on the app.  Not sure if that will be the case on the ship, if so you are lucky.  You need to look at the new menu on another ship like Solstice or Millennium and see what you think.

[C4HCG]

33 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

That was not my intent to insult the P's culinary tastes.  What I was saying is that Celebrity food has lowered it's standards to the other mass market lines so it is familiar to the poster. Familiarity is comfort for many. Celebrity used to be head and shoulders above them in quality and offerings.

Do you not think people eat when not on ships so make their judgements based on their food tastes and expectations generally? 

[doghog]

1 minute ago, micruiser2002 said:

It looks like Eclipse still has the old menu on the app.  Not sure if that will be the case on the ship, if so you are lucky.  You need to look at the new menu on another ship like Solstice or Millennium and see what you think.

That's why I said, I have very little faith in Celebrity's app. We'll wait until we are actually sitting in the MDR on the Eclipse with menu in hand enjoying a glass of wine and looking at our selections.

[doghog]

5 hours ago, jc foster said:

Just got off the Soltice yesterday.

Hopefully you voiced your opinion(s) on your PCS. Also shoot an Email to, executiveoffice@celebrity.com