Best ship for food and service?

[kaz828]

We love good food and variety, what would you say is the best ship for dining? Do the newer ships seem to have better dining than older?

[Georgia_Peaches]

You’re going to get as many different answers as there are users on this board. Based on my recent experience, I’d say Ascent is my new favorite. 

Edited February 19 by Georgia_Peaches

[hcat]

Ascent has it all.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Apex was excellent excellent for us.

[Liao]

9 minutes ago, kaz828 said:

We love good food and variety, what would you say is the best ship for dining? Do the newer ships seem to have better dining than older?

This is totally subjective.  I read two reviews this weekend, both were on the same ship for the exact same cruise.  Apparently one of them was selected to receive both horrible service and the worst food ever served and awful fellow passengers, while the other had the cruise of their lives in everyway.   

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Celebrity should be like any chain restaurant, all the ships should be the same but
Staff is alway changing , so it is hard to answer 

 

[SbbquilterUT]

The newer ships may have more speciality restaurants and we have enjoyed the 4 dining room concept on E class ships.  We have had fine to excellent food on each of our cruises with Celebrity.

[CaroleSS]

I do believe that the new E class ships have better food. I think X is trying to convert folk to the new ships so things are just better.

 

I'm not a convert, so we sail the "older" ships and have certainly seen first hand the decline in food and service.

Edited February 20 by CaroleSS

[kaz828]

39 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

You’re going to get as many different answers as there are users on this board. Based on my recent experience, I’d say Ascent is my new favorite. 

Why the Ascent?

[jmdlv1]

Been on all the E class ships over the last couple years.

I cannot really see a difference between any.

You can get a great meal or a so so meal on any ship .

[Galaxy2004]

Everyone has their own opinion. With 6 cruises in the last 2 years - 2 Equinox, 2 Apex, 2 Ascent, here are my thoughts. Experiences are getting better than they were right after the Covid restart. Better supplies, more staffing, etc. For me, Equinox loses out to the new and shiny of Apex and Ascent. And I much prefer the 4 main dining room concept on the Edge class ships over the old style 1 large, noisy dining room. I do think with Ascent they are targeting new cruise to Celebrity cruisers and maybe a bit younger crowd. I enjoyed Eden and Rooftop Grill over the specialty restaurants on Equinox. 

[NMTraveller]

Resilient Lady OR

Oceania Vista

[Orator]

It depends on the quality of the ingredients and who’s cooking. 

[Cruising89143]

Depends on who is currently on board. Crew move around and we have found that also changes how each ship operates. Some officers/crew are simply better at their jobs than others and it can show. So IMHO there is no simple answer. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, kaz828 said:

Why the Ascent?

Maybe I’ve romanticized it a bit bc I was on the first paid passenger sailing back in November and it was very impressive. We enjoyed the MDR’s and the variety of specialties on board. The buffet was the best I’ve ever had and the Eden food was amazing. Crew were very attentive and our stateroom attendant was a shining star. It was my first eclass experience as well. I’m really looking forward to getting back on Ascent some day. 

[cachouonacruise]

We only have 6 cruise on X, 3 on M Class, 2 on S Class and last week on Edge.

 

All these cruises, we ate in the Main Dining Room/Restaurant, except one cruise where we dined in Blu.

 

We have alway enjoyed good to great service on all of our cruises. Food temperature and presentation was excellent on all our cruises. Food taste, have varied, not necessarily from ship to ship, but ... in time. On Edge in 2024, I would rate the taste of our food at about 8/10.

 

We found that on our last cruise on Edge, menu and drink options with the premium drink package to be much more limited than they used to be.

 

Regarding Specialty Restaurants, we really enjoyed our experiences in Murano on Solstice in 2017, Tuscan and The Porch on Silhouette in 2022, Roof Top Grill and Eden on Edge in 2024. (Of note, to people complaining about noise, our dinner in Eden was by far, the loudest one, due to the musical performances at the Eden Bar, just above us. ( We enjoyed the music, but chatting was not...easy.)

 

 

[jelayne]

Of the 3 class of ships, hands down we prefer the E class.    On Eclass the 4 MDRs are a  big plus and offer more menu choices than the traditional one MDR.  
The enhancements  to the Ascent and Beyond  from the Edge and Apex make them our favorites.  The addition of another specialty restaurant, the changes and enlargement of the Sunset Bar, the cabanas not looking out at a walkway, the small plunge pool on deck 15, the larger martini bar with more seating, and a lot of smaller changes.  

[Redtravel]

  Supposedly all ships in a line should have same food offerings. What makes one ship better than another?   If the workers are properly trained, all ships of a cruise line will be equal.  If they don’t do same training, some ships may get sloppy.  A table near the kitchen often has hotter food and quicker service.  
Celebrity has been serving the same dishes for years.  It is what it is.  If you find it lacking, maybe the reason isn’t the food.  It can get boring.  Try a new dish. If you are unhappy with the food, maybe it’s time to try something new.  

[Galaxy2004]

Just like chain/franchise restaurants on land, ship employees can be trained under the same system, prepare food using the same recipes, use what is basically the same equipment, etc. but the end product is going to vary, even within the same restaurant and maybe within the same day. Why? Humans. From the Captain of the ship down, there are a lot of humans involved. 

[Milhouse]

I'm curious if or how much the follow are factors:

• Itinerary and local suppliers on the quality, variety, and freshness of products/ingredients
• Is there a higher percentage of more senior and higher rated kitchen and wait staff on newer ships
• Kitchen configuration and appliances/tools on newer ships