Comments on Reflections Opus Restaurant

I must admit I wasn't too impressed with the variety and quality of food in Opus and having read a number of trip reports it seems I am not alone.

Have really enjoyed Eclipse and Equinox.

Any thoughts?

I thought it was the best main dining room food I've ever tasted, with the exception of the steak Diane and seared duck breast. Our fellow travelers were very happy with it too. I had something different every night.

Has anyone sailed Reflection since last summer that can share their recent opinions? I've seen a LOT of mixed reviews from repeat passengers about the quality of the food being better or worse than it "used to be," but most of these are out of date so I'm particularly interested to hear from repeat passengers who can comment on whether the food in Opus has improved or declined, understanding that everyone's expectation for "good food" is different.

I'm sailing with my mother, who is a bit of a gourmet (as am I) and a first-time cruiser, in April. I sailed on the Equinox in 2011 and thought the food in the MDR was good-to-great. Just wondering whether to expect the same thing in Opus since there are so many mixed reviews, particularly for this ship.

Thanks!

Unfortunely a lot has declined with the food in the last few years. The mdr food is fine to good, never great. Typical main line dining with better service and atmosphere than most. Not a gourmet dining experience as it once was. Enjoyable for the price point. Reflection is a great ship. The lawn club grill is worth the extra cost! Enjoy!

I must admit I wasn't too impressed with the variety and quality of food in Opus and having read a number of trip reports it seems I am not alone.

 

Have really enjoyed Eclipse and Equinox.

 

Any thoughts?

The menus have been the same since June 2013 in the MDR, and are the same on all S class ships, and I think perhaps even M-Class.

I count on the feta beet salad night 1, chicken saltimbuca lear in the week, and the short rib appetizer night.

MDR dining is nothing more then hotel banquet dining, though a bit more upscale, I suggest true foodies go select at off-dining times, to ensure almost cooked-to order food and to ensure meats cooked to requested don-ness.

What would be a suggestion for better variety? Each night is a chicken, vegetarian, beef and fish selection, and each night that selection is different, but for the left menu which is the classic menu offered every night. So for a 7 night cruise that's a minimum of 4 classic items, plus 4 x 7 night menus = 32 choices....plus appetizers and special requests. Seems like plenty of variety....

Glad we dined in BLU in Nov on Ref...

.no crowds, outstanding service, food much to our liking,,,...although same menus each cruise! Mdr too big and anonymous for us.....but glad there are options!

We only dined once in the Opus and didn't think much of it. I am vegetarian and felt the options were very limited. We dined in Qsine one night and it was amazing, far more food than we could eat but totally amazing!

Surprisingly, I was never short of choice in the Oceanview cafe and more than happy.

We are presently on Reflection and dine in the MDR.

We prefer the variety of food that the MDR offers.

When we sailed for ten weeks on Millennium this past fall we could have eaten in Blu but only ate breakfast there and only once for dinner.

On the first night menu there is shrimp louis, a delicious mushroom soup and for entrees a wonderful prime rib or pasta Bolognese plus fish and a couple of other choices. We have our favourite table in select, great service and absolutely no reason to complain.

We are on board for another six weeks and certainly will not be short of menu items. There are a couple of weaker menu items and then we got to the Lawn Grill, or one of the other great choices for those who want more variety.

About Opus on Reflection: Taking my 87/84 year old parents. Dad wears two hearing aids. Worried about noise level (we have Select, so I guess on second floor).

Are there (and can we ask) for tables that are 'out of the way' and have a lower noise level ? If not I may have to upgrade all of us to Aqua/Blu, and I dont really want (or have) the money to do that for two cabins.

We only dined once in the Opus and didn't think much of it. I am vegetarian and felt the options were very limited. We dined in Qsine one night and it was amazing, far more food than we could eat but totally amazing!

I traveled with someone who was vegan and had a variety of food allergies.

Each night in the MDR, he'd discuss with the Maitre'd the menu for the following night, and the Maitre'd would let him know of alternate preparations for some of the other entrees that were not vegetarian on the menu, that could be done to meet his dietary needs. A couple nights they even suggested "off menu" items the chefs would prepare specially for him.

They did a great job of bringing out tomorrows menu each night at desert to provide a good option for him. This was on a 13 night TA to Southampton on Eclipse.

Next time, remember to have a discussion with your head waiter or Maitre'd and ask them for more options.

I was on reflection in November. It was my first x cruise, but not my first cruise.

We were very happy with Opus. I find the recommendations of the waiter are not always reliable. I go with what I know I enjoy. I'm not afraid to send something back if I'm not happy or order two entrees if I want to try something new.

Because it was our first X we really wanted to give Opus a try each night. On our next cruise, we might try out a speciality restaurant - probably QSINE or lawn club. My kids are too young for Murano so we have to wait a few years for that. I had lunch in Murano for our top chef cooking lesson, and the steak they served me was delicious. Can't wait to try that out with the family.

But if for whatever reason, speciality dining was not an option, OPUS every night would be fine with me.

I'm a foodie. Is the opus food the BEST food I've ever eaten? No. But is it the best cruise ship food I've ever eaten, probably.

I was on Reflection December '13 and just returned from 1/3/15 sailing and I would say that the food is about the same: good!

I posted the menus on a Reflection Nov 29 thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44900343&postcount=37

I found the food and service on the Reflection to be the best of any Celebrity ship I've sailed. Sorry I can't say the same about my recent cruise on the Connie.

Linda

I must admit I wasn't too impressed with the variety and quality of food in Opus and having read a number of trip reports it seems I am not alone.

 

Have really enjoyed Eclipse and Equinox.

 

Any thoughts?

I am one of the first to agree that "Food" is subjective. But when food is served grossly undercooked (almost sushi) that is not subjective. We had six dinners in the Opus during our Christmas week cruise.

Two were fantastic (Christmas Eve and Christmas day). One good. One barely okay. Two "Disasters."

Despite being Christmas week, every meal had empty tables all around us so the wait staff was not overwhelmed. We could only think that many families were eating in the Oceanview (lido).

I tend to agree with Arno and other posters here that it seems that "Select" have a better chance of a positive experience. Here is the link to our detailed review if anyone wants all the details:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=268901

It will be a while before we seriously consider another sailing on Celebrity.

I missed where the link was made between select dining and a positive MDR experience.

For what it's worth, we had select dining too. I can see where this would be a better experience for the server as (much like a restaurant) tables are coming and going throughout the evening. With traditional dining, I can see how it would be overwhelming having several tables arrive at the same time.

We were on Reflection 12/6 - 13.

I am a foodie :cool:. I do not expect a 5star experience, on a mainstream cruise line, just good food, variety, and service.

Our MDR experiences were very good. Food was tasty and properly prepared. Service was mostly excellent. We did choose select for the first time in 25+ cruises, and we tend to eat late, if that has any impact.

It was the best MDR experience we have enjoyed in the last 8 -10 years.

Ken

I missed where the link was made between select dining and a positive MDR experience.

I'm a proponent of dining select at off dining times. Why? Because food will likely be cooked to order if you order an entree while MDR is serving desert, they really have no choice but to cook your meal when asked for. And having just 2 people to serve at a table versus 8-12, means they can tend to details a bit more carefully and watch the cook on meats to ensure you get rare or well done as requested, rather than a server grabbing 1 of 100 plates of a long banquet serving table to deliver to tables.

Meats continue to cook for several minutes once plated, getting served a plate as soon as its played means more rare, getting a plate that has sat in line for 10 minutes, means more well done.

I wasn't too impressed with the variety and quality of food in Opus.

 

Any thoughts?

Has anyone sailed Reflection since last summer that can share their recent opinions?

 

Thanks!

I was on Reflection for the fall, 15 night transatlantic in 2013 and again in 2014. I was also on Silhouette for thirty nights and Century for 23 nights in that same general time frame.

I noticed no decline in MDR food quality OR service between the two Reflection cruises. The one thing I remember MOST, from the most recent Reflection cruise, was a meal of Chateaubriand that was quite possibly the most tender, flavorful beef I have ever eaten. I really couldn't believe how good it was.

My oft repeating favorites in the MDR are shrimp cocktail, french onion soup, and any of the beef and lamb dishes. I also very much enjoy the lamb chops at both the Lawn Club and Qsine.

I found no real difference between the quality of food OR service in the MDRs between Silhouette and Reflection, but did notice a slight drop in food quality (but not service) on Century. I also would rate the food quality on Celebrity equal to or better than the 15 nights I spent on Princess during that same time frame.

MY biggest, actually ONLY "complaint" about food quality is the distinct reduction in food quality in Tuscan Grille over the last several years. The SERVICE is ALWAYS great, but the quality of food overall, and of the steaks in particular, has declined so noticeably that I no longer even care to eat at my former FAVORITE specialty restaurant.

Who is the head chef for the Celebrity Cruise Line and what do they bring to the table in turns of cruise lines experience ?

The food was not that great in the MDR on my last cruise on Reflection, Dec. 6-13. This is in comparison to the Solstice a few years back, where the food was amazing.

I was not the only person complaining, a lot of people that I met on board said "they had never had to visit the Oceanview Cafe after having a meal in the MDR" until they took this trip.

That says a lot, which is a shame, because I love Celebrity.

We were on the same cruise, ate in Opus and had no complaints. We've been onboard 4 more weeks and still find something good to eat every night.

Sent from our Reflection Condo by the sea...

I posted the menus on a Reflection Nov 29 thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44900343&postcount=37

Thank you for linking to this! I like that you did them in PDFs and in order. Now to cross my fingers that the Silhouette sailing I'm on in a couple of months is on this schedule and not 8-14 ;)

We were on the Reflection last week and ate in the MDR every night and 5 out of 7 mornings and we enjoyed every meal. The service was excellent. The selection may have been a bit limited but we never had any problem finding something that we liked. The food wasn't Morton's steakhouse quality, but I thought it was consistently good to very good.

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About Opus on Reflection: Taking my 87/84 year old parents. Dad wears two hearing aids. Worried about noise level (we have Select, so I guess on second floor).

 

Are there (and can we ask) for tables that are 'out of the way' and have a lower noise level ? If not I may have to upgrade all of us to Aqua/Blu, and I dont really want (or have) the money to do that for two cabins.

We found the tables in the middle of the dining room to be too noisy. We were relocated to a round table for 6 in the back corner and it was quiet enough that we could all hear each other. :)

The food was so good that for the first time we did not go to specialty dining, even though we love Murano. DH only eats grilled fish and vegetarian and said there was enough variety. The menu is the same no matter where you are, but the food is sourced regionally...this cruise was in Southern Europe last June.