One opinion about Solstice dining, April 8 cruise

I’ve just written a review, not yet posted by CC, of our experience on the Solstice’s April 8, 2012 Eastern Caribbean sailing, which was cut short for us just one day into the cruise by my medical emergency. At the risk of coming across as a total crank or Debbie Downer after already raising issues about Celebrity’s [mis]handling of our medical situation, here's my 2c worth regarding the food. Please keep in mind that we loved our C-3 cabin (#1030) and most though not all shipboard facilities (outdoor pools too raucous, w/too many unsupervised kids and well-lubricated adults engaging in horseplay despite the regs), found the boarding process blessedly easy, think the ship was for the most part attractive and well-laid out, give the highest marks to every crew member we encountered for service and courtesy, and have many other positive feelings – but for me the food did not live up to hype.

I am admittedly a fairly analytical and enthusiastic foodie, really excited by well-prepared meals and quality fresh ingredients and bothered by bad ones, while my affable husband is much more easily pleased. We both like the variety of many different ethnic foods and enjoy fine dining at home in Seattle and elsewhere, but we are not devotees of molecular gastronomy or uber-cool outlandish innovations or clever trendy presentations over taste. In short, I don't think our expectations are extreme or unreasonable.

My husband was very happy with the choices onboard the Solstice, as clearly many, many passengers around us were, so obviously YMMV from mine. I obviously got to experience only 24 hours of meals (1 night in the MDR, breakfast and lunch at the buffet) but would have to say that, while pretty decent overall, the food I had in my short stay definitely did not live up to the exalted PR Celebrity markets it with.

I do realize that Celebrity and most or all other cruise lines are working with budgets severely constrained by the current economy and the cruising downturn after the Costa disasters earlier this year, and I kept in mind that we had gotten a good last-minute deal on our cruise. I also know that Celebrity is in the midst of a transition in the big-status-head-chief department. Moreover, cooking for 2-3K passengers is bound to compromise quality no matter how hard you try.

Even so, pardon my bluntness but IMHO some of the food I tried was just cr@p. By 11:30 am the day of embarkation the roast beef at the lunch buffet's carvery station was already so criminally overcooked it was ash-gray and totally uncuttable with the knife available. It is one of the worst meat offerings I have ever encountered anywhere in the developed world, far worse than an Old Country Buffet. The salad dressing choices in the buffet were way too limited -- how expensive can it be to provide a few more options? Many fruits were unripe and crunchy, in the tropics. Where oh where do they get them? Nome, Alaska? The afternoon sushi station, which as an admittedly spoiled Pacific Rim resident I had looked forward to greatly, was really bad, all-you-can-eat-Asian-buffet or grocery store type stuff -- totally dried out shrimp nigiri with no taste of the sea whatsoever, beyond-bland tilapia nigiri (my first experience with this budget-conscious but woefully misguided creation???!!!) rather than any kind of tuna, salmon, halibut, mackerel or whatever, little slices of a limited variety of equally bland and formulaic rolls (i.e., spicy tuna roll w/no spice to it), no sashimi available when I expressed concern about wasting the rice (the CC boards here had indicated the sushi guy would make sashimi available on request), etc. We had planned to try the sushi in Silk Harvest, where the word on the boards is that it is real stuff and pretty darn good, but had to leave the ship before we got the chance. As many here on the board appear to agree, the five 25c-piece sized canapes served in our cabin were pathetic and lonely-looking on their big plate, and probably embarrassed about their own Cheez-Whiz-looking ingredients and highfalutin' pretensions. We didn’t even taste them, so perhaps they were better than they looked, but I’m skeptical. Even my husband, who is perfectly content with a Triscuit and a bit of Swiss cheese, wanted nothing to do with them. When we asked our room steward if it were possible to sub a shrimp cocktail on future afternoons instead (as had been reported here on CC by many), he said that that was only possible for suite passengers, not Concierge Class, though he did offer to bring us cheese. (We left the ship before we could experience that, so can't comment.) The "carbonara" which I requested a half-portion of as an appetizer in the MDR the first night was not carbonara at all, but more like well-past-al-dente pasta with middling vat-made Alfredo sauce (the same served in the buffet) and a very few stray bits of bacon or pancetta. OK, if that's what's on offer, please just don't call it carbonara -- call it Pasta a la Solstice or something else and don’t get false hopes up. I will go to the mat with anyone over what true carbonara is, and this just didn't even come close to the classic recipe. Likewise, the "crab Louis" appetizer was 1/6 of an avocado with a spoonful of what I'm guessing was snow crab, as it had no taste. Admittedly I am spoiled by our Pacific Northwest Dungeness crab, but c'mon Celebrity, who but a crazed marketing person would call this a Louis? The Everyman's authority, Wikipedia, and virtually every restaurant I have ever experienced, describe a crab Louis more or less thusly: "The main ingredient for Crab Louie...is crab meat. The preferred crab is Dungeness Crab, but other crab meat can be substituted.... A typical Crab Louie salad consists of crab meat, hard boiled eggs, tomato, asparagus, cucumber, served on a bed of Romaine lettuce with a Louie dressing based on mayonnaise, chili sauce and peppers...." Again, my beef is more with the hyperbole in labeling menu items, as I wouldn't actually have wanted a big, full-fledged crab Louis as an appetizer. Why not just call this item a crabmeat-filled avocado wedge? This tendency to pretentious menu language really got my goat, obviously. Alas, the famous escargots I had looked forward to sampling were no longer on the everyday menu, though perhaps they were an appetizer option one night after we had to leave the ship. The buffet pastas all looked far too limp with uninspired sauce options. The desserts were overwhelmingly lurid-colored and “for looks,” as the one bite I had of four different small ones wasn’t remotely worth the calories. Dry dry dry… don’t like to waste food, but those got pitched with no regrets. We didn’t think much of any of the bread in the MDR or buffet, though we know others who love it. Never got a chance to try the gelato, which we hear is good.

“Does this insufferable griper have ANYTHING good to say about the food?” you may ask. Yes, most certainly. The mushroom cappuccino appetizer was a 10 (though as with many things I wish the kitchen had used a lighter hand with salt for health's sake and let diners further salt it to taste themselves if so desired). The prime rib my husband and I both had in the MDR the first night was excellent -- tender, flavorful, and frankly way more generous (and cholesterol guilt-inducing) than we could possibly finish. Had I known this would be my only night of dining I would have ordered a more adventurous entree, but we certainly can't complain about what we got, although a milder creamy horseradish sauce would have been an inexpensive thing to make available – the grated stuff they offered blew our sinuses out at first bite, and no alternative was available when we asked. The crème brulee was as good as everyone says, totally faithful to the classic preparation, and I probably would have been tempted by it several more times if we had been able to remain aboard. The fresh almond croissants in Café al Bacio were wonderful and the cappuccinos and lattes there met our Seattle standards – not a 10, but certainly very drinkable. Loved the ambience there. Even the food in the buffet, while generally overdry and unadventurous, had its good points. The fresh OJ there and in our room was good. The eggs Benedict and their salmon variant were all overcooked and too-well-set for my taste when we arrived, and the English Muffin underneath them was so dried out I couldn’t cut it, but when I returned to the buffet station and asked them to make me a softer one on salmon w/o the English muffin, they did so cheerfully and it was really quite good. I would have had that several more mornings if I had had the chance. My husband liked the buffet’s Indian station, particularly the beef curry, and had the latter 3x along with his favorite mango smoothies, though I never had the chance to try any of it. It didn’t LOOK very authentically Indian to me (we have spent months in that country and really like Indian food), but there were a number of satisfied-looking takers so I’m probably just being a snob.

I could go on, but to cut to the chase and reiterate my main point, I personally found the food on our abbreviated cruise a very mixed bag. Did we get our money’s worth, given our low last-minute fare? For sure. Did they do as decent a job as can be expected for mass dining? In large part, I guess so, though there is no excuse at all for a few blunders. Would our experience have been different if we had had a chance to try the specialty restaurants? Undoubtedly, though the idea that you have to go to them every night to get the good food Celebrity brags about is irksome and adds a lot to the cruise cost for middle-income passengers like us. Would we have liked the MDR food better if we had been able to try it more than one night? Very possibly. The buffet food? For me, I doubt it – it is what it is, and it’s best just to be realistic about its intrinsic limitations. My husband was fine with it, as were many others we saw chowing down gargantuan helpings of it.

So all in all am I an unhappy griper and dissatisfied customer? Not really, considering all the mitigating factors. I’d give the food a B or B- overall. But the fact is, Celebrity markets itself as an upscale line with great dining, so that colored my expectations. Would I brag to everyone about the fabulous food on our cruise? Nope. Would I gladly share my 2c worth with Celebrity’s food services department? You bet. Would we try another Celebrity cruise if I still cared a lot about dining quality? Hmmmmm, good question. Don’t really know yet.

Happy cruising and chowing, everyone J.

Do you like a particular cruiseline's food?

A particular mass market restaurant?

That would give us some perspective of what you do like.

Thanks for the heads up.

With all due respect, how can one fairly judge a cruise line's food in one short day? It's really quite unfair. And to judge all food by what you had on the first night, which every seasoned cruiser knows is not the best on ANY line, is really presumptuous. As for your thoughts on the sushi, well, how can a cruise line possibly stock all the requisite ingredients for fresh sashimi, fully knowing the best restaurants serving such things have the fish flown in daily. Again, everyone knows you're not going to get restaurant quality sashimi on a cruise ship. Is it horrible? No, but it's not what you'd find at land based restaurants that focus solely on sushi-sashimi. Unfortunately, you became very ill on your cruise, which precluded your having any chance to experience everything the ship had to offer. But to write a long diatribe of a ship's cuisine based on one breakfast/lunch/dinner is really unfair.

And for some insight, if you thought the buffet food on X was bad, don't go on any line unless it's Crystal, Seabourn or Silversea. Stay away from Carnival, RCI, NCL and the other mass market lines because, believe it or not, their buffets are even worse. Cruise ship buffets are not for those expecting five star dining. It is what it is, mass produced food for large numbers of people. They do the best they can with limited budgets and the vast number of passengers they must serve.

I hope your health issues continue to improve and that you'll soon be able to take a full cruise in order to have the opportunity to experience more than a few meals.

I really am so sorry about your medical emergency - such a terrible way to end a vacation.

Maybe you would have had a better review if you had stayed longer? Hard to tell after only 24 hours on the ship.

Will you take another Celebrity cruise after all you've been through?

Good health to you.

Do you like a particular cruiseline's food?

 

A particular mass market restaurant?

 

That would give us some perspective of what you do like.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

Hi HC -- Fair question, and I should have clarified that unasked. All our shipboard dining experiences have been limited to non-major, even obscure sailings in Greece, Turkey, Alaska, Vietnam, India and a few other such places. Food on those has ranged from lousy but interesting to spectacular. We frankly haven't been sure whether we would like cruising with a big line and have debated for years whether to take a cruise. (Jury is still out on what we think, but mostly due to our unfortunate experience w/the way X handled my medical emergency. The food on X would certainly not keep me away if I felt confident in other things, as I think I understand the realities of prepping meals for 2-3K passengers no matter what the line.) We deliberately chose Celebrity to try out mass cruising for the first time because their food is so widely praised and for me that's a big part of what I had looked forward to sampling. As I say, my high expectations and years of curiosity undoubtedly colored my lukewarm reaction.

I could name several hundred restaurants here in the Seattle area and all over the world, including many in developing countries, that I am really enthusiastic about, from fine dining to the cheapest and simplest street food and farmer's markets. I have had any number of meals which cost just 20 cents or so which thrilled me and which I fondly remember years later. If the flavors are fresh and the ingredients good, no matter how simple the meal or locale, I am a very happy camper. If they present themselves more pretentiously, I expect the same or higher standards from them.

As a rule, we aren't quite as crazy about chain restaurants that everyone would be familiar with, but we certainly aren't at all above enjoying them when we do choose them -- even ones that are widely disparaged by hard-core foodies and locavores. Maybe once or twice a year we find ourselves at a Red Lobster or Olive Garden or Rainforest Cafe. Those meals aren't especially memorable, but we don't go around pi@@sing and moaning about them. I have never had anything in any one of those chain restaurants that was as bad as a couple of things I had on the Solstice, but overall I'd say the quality was comparable.

Just to show you what I mean about being what I consider pretty average American diners, after we had to leave the cruise and spend over a week in Florida waiting for our original flight home, we seriously enjoyed every single meal we had (tapas and super-good gazpacho at a strip mall in Miami's Little Havana, a great taco truck there, super-touristy seafood restaurants on Sanibel Island where my husband tried gator-tail and cheesy grits for the first time and I was less adventurous with nice fresh fried local grouper, one of the best gyros in my life in a modest strip mall place in Boca Raton -- and we were married in Greece, used to lead tours there, and have spent a ton and a half of time there over the years!). Almost embarrassing to admit, we ate no less than 4 times in 8 days at Cheesecake Factories, no less, because they were convenient to our motels and offered a huge choice of good though not fabulous food in sizes from peewee to obscenely huge and in styles from healthy to fatality-inducing. We never go to Cheesecake Factories here at home, but in our particular circumstances this time around they suited us fine.

To pinpoint our tastes further, if you know TCF's menu, I thought their carbonara was at least 5 times better than Solstice's and followed the classic recipe I know so well from all over the world. The pasta was cooked properly and it was a real sauce made with egg, cheese and pancetta, not an Alfredo-type sauce that could have come from industrial restaurant packs. My husband thought TCF's Jamaican Black Pepper Shrimp entree, with black beans, rice and fried plantains, a dish which he had never ordered before, was the best thing he had on the whole trip including onboard Solstice -- which was part of the reason we kept going back. That was/is one flavorful dish! I had salads, pasta, and chicken piccata and a burger there which all made me plenty happy -- so I really don't think we're snobs. In fact, though all my friends and family tease me about being unable to stifle my inner restaurant critic, they also know that if I were choosing my last meal on earth before my execution, it might very well be a good medium-rare cheeseburger with quality fresh ingredients and a plain old glass of milk. Here in Seattle I am a devotee of Latino food trucks with real tacos al pastor in freshly made tortillas, but I even go to Taco Bell when I have no alternative to fast food (though that is admittedly not often). Ditto with small, funky Vietnamese restaurants, for pho or banh xeo or whatever.

My idea of really scary mass market food is Old Country Buffet or any number of bad Mexican chains. I am extremely averse to Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe and Outback Steakhouse and the like because IMHO they're more about concept than good food. My idea of food so pretentious and expensive that it just kills the pleasure even though the ingredients are good is Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and similar venues. If they presented themselves with less hype, I'd be OK w/them. There are even a couple items at McDonald's I order when we're on the road, though I'm mostly talking about salads and iced coffees.

There seem to be many experienced cruisers here on the board and elsewhere who feel that X's food quality has declined, even just in the past few months when a number of substitutions have been made on their MDR and buffet offerings, and that that is true of the cruise industry as a whole but particularly disappointing in Celebrity which has such a reputation for its dining. Obviously I can't comment on that, being an X newbie, but it seems plausible to me.

I could go on but I am probably boring you to tears. Does my answer help you categorize me better?

Thanks for your interest in my opinionated feedback!

With all due respect, how can one fairly judge a cruise line's food in one short day? It's really quite unfair. And to judge all food by what you had on the first night, which every seasoned cruiser knows is not the best on ANY line, is really presumptuous. As for your thoughts on the sushi, well, how can a cruise line possibly stock all the requisite ingredients for fresh sashimi, fully knowing the best restaurants serving such things have the fish flown in daily. Again, everyone knows you're not going to get restaurant quality sashimi on a cruise ship. Is it horrible? No, but it's not what you'd find at land based restaurants that focus solely on sushi-sashimi. Unfortunately, you became very ill on your cruise, which precluded your having any chance to experience everything the ship had to offer. But to write a long diatribe of a ship's cuisine based on one breakfast/lunch/dinner is really unfair.

 

And for some insight, if you thought the buffet food on X was bad, don't go on any line unless it's Crystal, Seabourn or Silversea. Stay away from Carnival, RCI, NCL and the other mass market lines because, believe it or not, their buffets are even worse. Cruise ship buffets are not for those expecting five star dining. It is what it is, mass produced food for large numbers of people. They do the best they can with limited budgets and the vast number of passengers they must serve.

 

I hope your health issues continue to improve and that you'll soon be able to take a full cruise in order to have the opportunity to experience more than a few meals.

Hi Kitty -- I agree with every single thing you say except your comment that to post my opinion, which I repeatedly pointed out is based on a VERY curtailed experience, is quite unfair. I'm sorry you felt that way. Is it unfair to post an online restaurant or lodging review on the basis of a brief, one-time experience there? If so, the net is filled with unfair people.

Let me reiterate what I already repeatedly acknowledged without prompting: If we had been on the ship longer, under different circumstances, I might well have come away more impressed. This was my limited experience, period. Take from it what you wish, or please just ignore it.

Have a good day...

Thanks for the answer. I think you probably would fit better in the specialty restaurnants on cruise ships where the number of plates served are fewer.

I now can put your comments in perspective and I'm thinking that you like myself just don't mix well with buffets. I now just browse a buffet and pick one or two items that look good like a soup, curry or stirfry and stick to that if a buffet is all available.

The main dining room, I just order a few courses like appetizer, soup, salad and entree and usually get something really good out of the mix. Plenty to enjoy my day of vacation.

Thanks for the report, we are on Solstice in two weeks and will do a review.

I really am so sorry about your medical emergency - such a terrible way to end a vacation.

Maybe you would have had a better review if you had stayed longer? Hard to tell after only 24 hours on the ship.

 

Will you take another Celebrity cruise after all you've been through?

Good health to you.

Hi Massnatives --

Thanks very much for your good wishes. My health was actually back to normal before we had to disembark the ship, though the fact that we could not get Celebrity to acknowledge that despite their own diagnostic tests created huge problems. Maybe my MENTAL health isn't quite back to normal [g], but I'm trying to focus on the numerous positive sides of our experience.

In case you wonder why I even bothered to post this controversial commentary and open myself to flaming, in the fun and active online discussions with our fellow cruisers-to-be which preceded our first canceled Celebrity cruise in January, we all endlessly discussed food. I guess this was intended as a followup to that lively discussion.

I did not intend to offend or rile anyone, which I have obviously done. but it was and is my intention to give my honest feedback to those who might be interested.

Don't know yet whether I'd try another Celebrity cruise or any other, but it's because of the way my medical situation was handled, not because of the food. We're still talking about whether we want to use our Open Passage certificates or not. Right now I really don't even want to think about it anymore....

Thanks again for your good wishes, I really appreciate them!

Thanks for the answer. I think you probably would fit better in the specialty restaurnants on cruise ships where the number of plates served are fewer.

 

I now can put your comments in perspective and I'm thinking that you like myself just don't mix well with buffets. I now just browse a buffet and pick one or two items that look good like a soup, curry or stirfry and stick to that if a buffet is all available.

 

The main dining room, I just order a few courses like appetizer, soup, salad and entree and usually get something really good out of the mix. Plenty to enjoy my day of vacation.

 

Thanks for the report, we are on Solstice in two weeks and will do a review.

Hi again HC --

Yep, you nailed me pretty well. I don't dislike all buffets, though. For example, before my Dad passed away in AZ we used to make frequent trips through Vegas en route to visit him, and we almost always hit the buffet at Paris and went away feeling that we had eaten FAR, FAR too much well-prepared food that we couldn't resist. I know a lot of people who sneer at Vegas buffets, and we tried a few pretty bad ones over the years, but some can be done very well even for large crowds. Likewise, if I had to list my top-20 memorable meals of all time above $30 in cost, two might well be the dreamworthy international buffets we enjoyed at the JW Marriott and Intercontinental hotels in Hong Kong. These were 6 and 10 years ago respectively, but we still salivate over them. (However, obviously Celebrity's budget for its buffets is far scantier -- these HK meals were a vacation splurge for us.) Whenever we go to Maui we really enjoy the Sunday buffet at the Maui Prince, which I understand is now in new hands. We're wondering how the quality will hold up.

Your strategy for choosing appetizers, soups and salads in the MDR is pretty much what I had well-planned. Man, I had read everything I could find about the menu offerings while we were planning the first cruise. Wish I'd had a chance to put all my "research" into action more <g>.

Hope you have a great cruise on the Solstice and never have to check out the medical facility!!

In my opinion, I cannot understand how you could honestly comment on the food after being on board for 1 day and that you are being very harsh.

In my opinion, I cannot understand how you could honestly comment on the food after being on board for 1 day and that you are being very harsh.

I kind of felt the same way at first... but, quite frankly, none of her negative comments are off the mark at all. And, she only commented on the food she sampled, so why should it matter how long she was on board the ship?

Part of the issue here might be expectations. For example, I'm from Maine. I never order lobster on a cruise because I would never expect it be as good as what I get at home. Perhaps a person from the PNW shouldn't expect the coffee, crab or salmon to be the same, either.

I kind of felt the same way at first... but, quite frankly, none of her negative comments are off the mark at all. And, she only commented on the food she sampled, so why should it matter how long she was on board the ship?

 

Part of the issue here might be expectations. For example, I'm from Maine. I never order lobster on a cruise because I would never expect it be as good as what I get at home. Perhaps a person from the PNW shouldn't expect the coffee, crab or salmon to be the same, either.

MEcruzr - I agree with you about expectations, as well as lobster. Living in New England I never liked the lobsters served at sea which are completely different than Maine lobster. Even though Celebrity does a good job in its main dining room for a mass market cruise line, it is not remotely comparable to dining at an upscale land based restaurant. Yet, there are so many posts on cruise critic that make Celebrity's main dining room seem like a five star restaurant, that if people take those posts seriously they will be very disappointed.

Wish there was a like button here!!!

:eek:

With all due respect, how can one fairly judge a cruise line's food in one short day? It's really quite unfair. And to judge all food by what you had on the first night, which every seasoned cruiser knows is not the best on ANY line, is really presumptuous. As for your thoughts on the sushi, well, how can a cruise line possibly stock all the requisite ingredients for fresh sashimi, fully knowing the best restaurants serving such things have the fish flown in daily. Again, everyone knows you're not going to get restaurant quality sashimi on a cruise ship. Is it horrible? No, but it's not what you'd find at land based restaurants that focus solely on sushi-sashimi. Unfortunately, you became very ill on your cruise, which precluded your having any chance to experience everything the ship had to offer. But to write a long diatribe of a ship's cuisine based on one breakfast/lunch/dinner is really unfair.

 

And for some insight, if you thought the buffet food on X was bad, don't go on any line unless it's Crystal, Seabourn or Silversea. Stay away from Carnival, RCI, NCL and the other mass market lines because, believe it or not, their buffets are even worse. Cruise ship buffets are not for those expecting five star dining. It is what it is, mass produced food for large numbers of people. They do the best they can with limited budgets and the vast number of passengers they must serve.

 

I hope your health issues continue to improve and that you'll soon be able to take a full cruise in order to have the opportunity to experience more than a few meals.

I can speak from first had expereince, I sailed on this cruise. This was my 19th cruise so I consider myelf well travelled. We are also Select Members, just one credit sort of Elite. The comments she made about the overcrowded ship with kids running wild and poorly behavied adults were completely accurate. I NEVER want to sail like that again. This cruise was more like our RCCL then any previous Celebrity cruise.

Last year I sailed over Easter on the Constellation and wow, the Solstice food was really hit and miss to say the very least. The service was OK but sometimes it was just totally off. Our assistant waiter often spilt water onto our meals when refilling the water glasses. If it wasn't spilt onto the meal it was spilt on us. Some dishes were OK, while others were horrible. Breakfast on disembarkation day we are the the Eperany and it was the worst meal I've ever had, I ordered banana pancakes and turkey sasuage and when they arrived at the table both were stone cold. I couldnt' even cut the pancake!

Hi Judy,

I forgot to mention that I'm really pleased you are OK. Please write more when you can.

When we docked in San Juan I just happen to be disembarking when the ambulances arrived on the pier. I knew something was wrong then.

Then 2 hours after leaving St. Maarten there was a another medical emergency on board which required the captain to turn the ship around and head full steam back to St. Maarten.

We found the food on the Solstice not to be as good as the cruise we did on the Equinox 10 months later. We found it was acceptable, but certainly not an A level. And not as good at we had been served on X cruises three or four years ago. We found on the Solstice that we returned a couple dishes (each of us) that were not to our liking...mainly overcooked or tough. But with a second prep or choosing a different entree we were okay. We haven't HAD to return dishes on X in the past.

I agree it would be very hard to make generalizations about the food overall on the cruise if only eating for a day or two. The tone and details of the OP's post might turn some posters off here. It's opinion...harsh yes. But still just subjective opinion. And very true is that expectations color final opinions. Which is why when reading critiques of restaurants, hotels, ships, movies, theatre etc, one needs to throw out the best and worst and come up with some middle of the road reviews and go from there. At least that's what we do. Makes it easier to go into something open minded without all the superlatives spinning around your brain.

MEcruzr - I agree with you about expectations, as well as lobster. Living in New England I never liked the lobsters served at sea which are completely different than Maine lobster. Even though Celebrity does a good job in its main dining room for a mass market cruise line, it is not remotely comparable to dining at an upscale land based restaurant. Yet, there are so many posts on cruise critic that make Celebrity's main dining room seem like a five star restaurant, that if people take those posts seriously they will be very disappointed.

I know some passengers enjoyed the food in the MDR. On Lobster night ,after finishing his dinner a main seated near us had 6 lobster tails delivered to his table and eat them all. I think he skipped dessert....

Our waiter also asked us several times if we wanted them, but one our group had already warned us how chewy they were. I've already learned there are some foods you just don't want to eat banquet style, lobster and pasta.

Thanks for the fact based review. As you say, the net is full of reviews written after one visit to an establishment and no one calls them bogus.

I suspect we may be soul sisters when it comes to food, and I had to laugh when reading your post. Without having been on an X ship yet, in reading the new menus, I spotted first thing the Carbonara and Louis listings with the scary descriptions. So I am unsurprised to hear that they were just as bad as they were advertised to be.

I do hold out a bit of hope that my experience on the Millennium may be a tad better than yours on the Solstice. It seems as if of all the X ships she consistently gets the best comments in the food department.

I suggest you put off thinking about future cruises for 6 months. Give the raw emotions and immediate feedback that you are still experiencing a chance to dull a bit. Being caught up in the medical system (ANY MEDICAL SYSTEM) without an advocate to assist is a nightmare, no matter where you are!

Sara,

Last fall we enjoyed the food on the Millennium far better then we recently did on the Solstice. The new menu's are OK, but the food quality wasn't what we'd had on the Millennium or Constellation. I usually enjoy a Cesar salad but this time it wasn't very enjoyable. It's a salad, how do you mess up a salad?

I hope you enjoy your Millennium cruise.

Bruce

Thanks for the fact based review. As you say, the net is full of reviews written after one visit to an establishment and no one calls them bogus.

 

I suspect we may be soul sisters when it comes to food, and I had to laugh when reading your post. Without having been on an X ship yet, in reading the new menus, I spotted first thing the Carbonara and Louis listings with the scary descriptions. So I am unsurprised to hear that they were just as bad as they were advertised to be.

 

I do hold out a bit of hope that my experience on the Millennium may be a tad better than yours on the Solstice. It seems as if of all the X ships she consistently gets the best comments in the food department.

 

I suggest you put off thinking about future cruises for 6 months. Give the raw emotions and immediate feedback that you are still experiencing a chance to dull a bit. Being caught up in the medical system (ANY MEDICAL SYSTEM) without an advocate to assist is a nightmare, no matter where you are!

Sorry, but these posts are waaaaay too long for my attention span. :eek:

Dear Judy - thanks for responding to my post to you. I don't think the flames were too high towards you - have seen much higher before.

We spend so much time planning for our vacations, and in the back of our minds we know that something could always happen. I'm sorry it happened to you.

Whether it land or sea, I hope you and your husband can enjoy a trip away together - the best to you.

I usually enjoy a Cesar salad but this time it wasn't very enjoyable. It's a salad, how do you mess up a salad?

Bruce, I hear that hardboiled egg and tomatoes are a good start on messing up a Caeser. Was that the case?

; -D

Bruce, I hear that hardboiled egg and tomatoes are a good start on messing up a Caeser. Was that the case?

; -D

You are not too far off.

I can speak from first had expereince, I sailed on this cruise. This was my 19th cruise so I consider myelf well travelled. We are also Select Members, just one credit sort of Elite. The comments she made about the overcrowded ship with kids running wild and poorly behavied adults were completely accurate. I NEVER want to sail like that again. This cruise was more like our RCCL then any previous Celebrity cruise.

Last year I sailed over Easter on the Constellation and wow, the Solstice food was really hit and miss to say the very least. The service was OK but sometimes it was just totally off. Our assistant waiter often spilt water onto our meals when refilling the water glasses. If it wasn't spilt onto the meal it was spilt on us. Some dishes were OK, while others were horrible. Breakfast on disembarkation day we are the the Eperany and it was the worst meal I've ever had, I ordered banana pancakes and turkey sasuage and when they arrived at the table both were stone cold. I couldnt' even cut the pancake!

Hi, I was on the same sailings too. Can't agree more with the overcrowded ship. I heard that for our sailing there were 3100 guests onboard, well beyond Solstice's regular capacity of 2800 passengers.

We didn't bother going to the main pool at all due to the crowdedness, so can't comment on the kids or misbehave adults issue.

On our first at sea day, we did once got into the whirlpool in the Solarium pool area, but it was quite a scary and gross experience which officially put an end to our pool activities onboard.

However, it's nothing to blame X on, it's more of the guests not being considerate. Basically we were sharing the same whirlpool with an old lady whose body was full of unrecovered wound and blisters. While soaking in the whirlpool, she was constantly wiping out liquid from her blisters using the pool towel. OMG, this is so gross! We just can't convince ourseleves to go back to any of the pool onboard again knowing that this old lady might have got into same pool before us.

As for the food, it's a hit or miss.

We had really delicious seafood risotto one night at the MDR, but on the last night the mushroom risotto was just tasteless. The red meat from the MDR were generally okay; aside from that, we tried pork, turkey, chicken and fishes but none of them were good.

Buffet at the oceanview cafe are very ordinary buffet good, nothing impressive. I read from previous reviews that pizza on Solstice is excellent, but it was a disappointment.

One thing about Oceanview Cafe is that service there was really poor. One time I broke a glass, two servers witnessed that incident but none of them offered to help, they just pretend they did not see it and walked away.

Cafe Al Bacio & Bistro on Five served quality food though. The pastry @ Cafe Al Bacio was to died for. The crepe on Bistro on Five was really good too. Service there were also the best!

Room service breakfast was not bad too. Afternoon canepes were okay, but we got tired of it after 2 days, luckily our statement attendant were willing to switch it to shrimp cocktail or cheese & crackers for us.

Breakfast on disembarkation day at MDR was indeed a joke. Long wait, poor service and food. What an unhappy ending to our cruise.

Overall we did had a great time on Solstice. Services & food were hit or misses; some guests are snobs while some others are super nice. What's more important is that we were there on vacation, which is good enough to make our experience on Solstice enjoyable.

Btw, Judy so glad to hear that you are doing okay now.

 

Btw, Judy so glad to hear that you are doing okay now.

That's by far the most important part!

I agree with the original poster about the buffet. Of course, I wasn't a fan of the food in the MDR either.

However, our waiter and assistant waiters were wonderful! Even our maitre'd in the MDR on the Equinox was good.

My only negative experience (in terms of service) was with the sommelier. Oh well.

We'd still cruise Celebrity again. In fact, we're planning either an Eastern/Southern Caribbean or a Med cruise for next year! We'll likely go AQ to get away from the food in the MDR.