Food & Beverage Update from the President

[weregoingcruising]

Just now, LizzGo said:

The download says October 1998. Are these old menus?

 

Yes

[cw2go]

11 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I am starting to think that these food reversals are due to softer future bookings ...

 

and the post cruise surveys from many dedicated guests, expressing their plans to sail other lines going forward...

 

 

Patty 

[Wichenford Wolf]

4 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

Wish they could go back to these, unfortunately I believe Michel Roux has passed away a few years back.  

I’m pleased to say that Michel Roux Jr. (also a Michelin starred chef) is alive and kicking so perhaps he’s taken over the menu 😎

[RTShaker]

15 minutes ago, weregoingcruising said:

 

One of the F&B directors emailed a copy of the new menus coming out later this month.

307997748_CelebrityCenturymenus(October1998).pdf 46.55 MB · 17 downloads

Methinks this is a little outdated  CelebrityCenturymenus(October1998)-1.pdf

[duck65]

Hope one of the old items from the classic menu coming back is cheesecake. I cannot eat chocolate and usually have a Sweetooth after dinner. Rotating between vanilla ice cream and creme breme can get old, exp. on our 16 day cruise in Dec. ( Wish they had peanut butter ice cream every day!)

[RedIguana]

What really scares me is this statement she made: "we spent a lot of time in the MDR, enjoying the really GREAT food". Bolding is mine obviously. I am really hoping they all did not just do the suckup groupthink where no one was honest and hence just spouted to each other that the food was great, when the MDR no longer serves a single cut of protein I would consider decent enough quality to cook myself, much less order out.

[mayleeman]

Hey, everone! You may want to check the reactions to posts like the Century menu before "correcting" the poster! If you see a bunch of laughing emojis, it just might be a post for amusement... 

[hcat]

23 minutes ago, Wichenford Wolf said:

I’m pleased to say that Michel Roux Jr. (also a Michelin starred chef) is alive and kicking so perhaps he’s taken over the menu 😎

that would be wonderful!

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, hcat said:

that would be wonderful!

If what celebrity says is true (spoiler alert, its probably not), along with the “worlds best entertainment” and the “worlds best photographers” their frozen then fried premade turkey parm cutlet and the short lived dinner double cheeseburger were crafted a Michelin starred chef

Edited November 2, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[hcat]

53 minutes ago, weregoingcruising said:

 

One of the F&B directors emailed a copy of the new menus coming out later this month.

307997748_CelebrityCenturymenus(October1998).pdf 46.55 MB · 34 downloads

that's when Celebrity was at its peak..

thank you.. going to save these and  maybe my husb will be  inspired..

 

One year,  he made a Celery Soup recipe for a  large Thanksgiving dinner. Recipe  was given to him by a Jamaican chef at Bistro on 5 where we used to have  our lunch .  Soup was a really huge hit.. folks were taking 2nds and 3rds and " slurping" it  up. 

 

Compare and contrast  those awful looking chick peas!

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by hcat

[mnocket]

18 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Its an assumption to support either.  There's more data to support them NOT improving food quality than there is data to support there is an improvement since only "adding new entrees" was mentioned

THIS was exactly my thought. It seemed very clear to me that the primary issue people were raising was a decrease in the quality of the food.  All she spoke about was variety.  Not the same thing.

[tfred]

1 minute ago, mnocket said:

THIS was exactly my thought. It seemed very clear to me that the primary issue people were raising was a decrease in the quality of the food.  All she spoke about was variety.  Not the same thing.

they aren't going to say on a video that the onboard food was "low quality".   Variety is the only thing that they can talk about 

 

Again - it must be enough of a concern that their food was considered to be going downhill enough that it had to be addressed at a high level.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

I’ll prob start a new thread.  Confirmed by X/Twitter which has always provided accurate information, there will only be more choices and new food items in the MDR.  They are not changing any of the existing dishes or changing any other anything in other food venues but will “continue to maintain their high standards”……

[D. B.]

I was just on Reflection for a 14 night TA and after doing 7 X cruises in the last 12 months the MDR menu was not very appealing.

I ended up only eating in the MDR twice (once was prime rib!😘) and the rest of the time I found the OVC evening offering to be very good.

I also did 7 nights (paid for pre-cruise) in the specialty restaurants and discovered Lawn Club Grill is my new Favorite Restaurant !

   I ate there 3 different nights and tried 3 different things and they were All excellent.

[Not a username2]

1 hour ago, RedIguana said:

What really scares me is this statement she made: "we spent a lot of time in the MDR, enjoying the really GREAT food". Bolding is mine obviously. I am really hoping they all did not just do the suckup groupthink where no one was honest and hence just spouted to each other that the food was great, when the MDR no longer serves a single cut of protein I would consider decent enough quality to cook myself, much less order out.

They'll never put a full negative on their product no matter what. It's our responsibility now to share through web and social media what we've experienced that will ultimately have the greatest effect. They've acknowledged there's a problem and there'll be even greater backlash if things haven't changed for the better moving forward. They're scared of VV and I would absolutely jump ship if reviews are good there and my experience on my future Celebrity cruise isn't up to what I expect as a standard.

[Cap_D]

Current management acts like a bunch of airheads that don't know their own product and seems to relish it.  At some point presenting an image along the lines of "gee whiz, we saw volleyball with the crew," "have a hangover," and acting clueless is about the least sophisticated form of damage control one can present.  If they have actual chefs (like the mysterious Cornelius Gallagher) or anyone that could act like they know and care about food, how the day unfolds, and the overall experience, now would be the time to use them.  Perplexing.  

[RedIguana]

20 minutes ago, Not a username2 said:

They're scared of VV and I would absolutely jump ship if reviews are good there and my experience on my future Celebrity cruise isn't up to what I expect as a standard.

The only reason I have not tried VV is because of their non-traditional cabin styles on balcony and below. I'm usually book balconies or junior suites (mini-suites), not full suites. I'm not sure VV suites are in my budget, and the balcony cabins all have a weird bed by night couch by day setup and very minimalistic cabins. Minimalistic as in very little storage or desk space. Fine for 4-5 nights storage, not good for longer. And although I do some 4-5 nighters just because I find close in deals and can drive to the ports, I find 7 nights too short. Desk barely large enough just for my laptop, with no other in-cabin counter space. Yes I have that 17.3 inch gaming monster. I do hope they add in more traditional cabin setups on any new ships they build, especially since it appears they are doing the 7 night cruises now and have branched out from just POM.

[hcat]

15 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Current management acts like a bunch of airheads that don't know their own product and seems to relish it.  At some point presenting an image along the lines of "gee whiz, we saw volleyball with the crew," "have a hangover," and acting clueless is about the least sophisticated form of damage control one can present.  If they have actual chefs (like the mysterious Cornelius Gallagher) or anyone that could act like they know and care about food, how the day unfolds, and the overall experience, now would be the time to use them.  Perplexing.  

neither woman projected a polished professional image.. 

 

if  the video was to be all  about food and bev,  why not have one of the main chefs,  food managers,   a chief baker, and head sommelier  there to present what they plan to offer as improvements!      

twitting on about choc dessert.. yikes!

[RedIguana]

8 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Current management acts like a bunch of airheads that don't know their own product

The only way they would know their own product is to use it.  And they would have to use it as 80-90% of their customers do, non suite, and with no "special" management treatment. Not going to happen unless they are specifically trying to see what the product is like. As they are not getting on a ship without using their real names, it would not take long before the officers on the ship knew they were there and made sure they were well treated.

[PTC DAWG]

18 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

The only reason I have not tried VV is because of their non-traditional cabin styles on balcony and below. I'm usually book balconies or junior suites (mini-suites), not full suites. I'm not sure VV suites are in my budget, and the balcony cabins all have a weird bed by night couch by day setup and very minimalistic cabins. Minimalistic as in very little storage or desk space. Fine for 4-5 nights storage, not good for longer. And although I do some 4-5 nighters just because I find close in deals and can drive to the ports, I find 7 nights too short. Desk barely large enough just for my laptop, with no other in-cabin counter space. Yes I have that 17.3 inch gaming monster. I do hope they add in more traditional cabin setups on any new ships they build, especially since it appears they are doing the 7 night cruises now and have branched out from just POM.

Tiny tiny bathrooms in the non suite balcony’s…

[aicruiser]

Do all Elites and above get emails or notifications about webinars, etc? I have gotten nothing including the announcement about the Elite Lounge coming back. I have current bookings so it's not a matter of 

not being a recent member. I do get emails about my bookings so they have my email. 

[calicakes]

Hopefully, they get rid of this. I wouldn't serve this to my dog . 

[markeb]

22 minutes ago, hcat said:

neither woman projected a polished professional image.. 

 

if  the video was to be all  about food and bev,  why not have one of the main chefs,  food managers,   a chief baker, and head sommelier  there to present what they plan to offer as improvements!      

twitting on about choc dessert.. yikes!

 

If they'd spent too much effort polishing the image, we'd have people grousing that they wasted their time putting that together...

 

I'm sure it was much more practiced and professional than it appeared. They elected not to overdo it. Some Madison Avenue firm (whoever they use) will get to do the overblown marketing video.

[SerraG]

10 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

If they'd spent too much effort polishing the image, we'd have people grousing that they wasted their time putting that together...

 

I'm sure it was much more practiced and professional than it appeared. They elected not to overdo it. Some Madison Avenue firm (whoever they use) will get to do the overblown marketing video.

 

 I agree.  I thought it was studiously casual.

[kwokpot]

17 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

The new rule is, unless they recently changed it, you get them on the first and last nights only, it’s by request for every night and there are many reports of folks not receiving their requested chocolates due to the attendant forgetting

Apex in July in a regular IV cabin and had pillow chocolates every night.