Food on Celebrity

My wife and I are thinking about sailing on Celebrity and were wondering if the food is as good as we have heard? We have sailed on several different lines and prefer Royal Caribbean (diamond members). Over the past 20+ years of sailing we have seen the quality of food decrease from true gourmet to average chain restaurant quality on most lines (even though we truly enjoy RC their food is no exception, the quality has truly dropped). Is the food any better on Celebrity or is it on par with the other lines? Thanks for your help/opinions.

Having sailed twice with X (most recently this past August), I have to say that we found the food to be very good. There is an excellent selection in the main dining room and at the buffets. The specialty restaurants are exceptional and not to be missed!

it is not only the food but also the way it is served. bread stciks at din, you see the deserts on a tray that your waitperson bring to the table, buffet line you use a tray(most cruise lines you carry a dish thru the buffet line), someone will help you with your tray at the end of the line if you want, the list is endless. i am sure you will enjoy the food/service on celebrity.

My wife and I are thinking about sailing on Celebrity and were wondering if the food is as good as we have heard? We have sailed on several different lines and prefer Royal Caribbean (diamond members). Over the past 20+ years of sailing we have seen the quality of food decrease from true gourmet to average chain restaurant quality on most lines (even though we truly enjoy RC their food is no exception, the quality has truly dropped). Is the food any better on Celebrity or is it on par with the other lines? Thanks for your help/opinions.

Hi John !

I second the other's comments. We were on 2 different Celebrity ships in the past 2 weeks, and the food (as always) was excellent, especially for Dinner. I feel that Celebrity's food is far superior than most of their competitors. I do not think you will be disappointed.

Enjoy your Cruise !

I have to disagree. We found the food and presentation on our Century cruise to be the worst of all the lines we have been on. Food does not make or break a cruise for us and we are giving X another try. We will see what the food is like on the Summit in a couple days! :)

We do not find the food on Celebrity to be better than other cruise lines. We also do not find the dinning room service to be better than other lines. Both food quality and service are good, but I haven't found them to be significantly different than the lines with whom they compete.

I think the food on Celebrity is good. I was especially impressed with the soups in the main dining room for dinner.

Jjohnb, I haven't cruised on Royal Caribbean, so I can't really compare that food with Celebrity's. However, besides 18 Celebrity cruises, I've also tried HAL and Princess. While I enjoyed the food on HAL & Princess, I really like the food on Celebrity the most. I also think that Celebrity's service in the diningroom blows HAL & Princess out of the water. Just my opinion...:)

RCI food is very good. But, from bread through soup to dessert, in our experience we feel X is the best. Of course, a big factor is what ship and what particular cruise you happen to be on when you experience your meals. Like football.... on any given day.....

My wife and I are thinking about sailing on Celebrity and were wondering if the food is as good as we have heard? We have sailed on several different lines and prefer Royal Caribbean (diamond members). Over the past 20+ years of sailing we have seen the quality of food decrease from true gourmet to average chain restaurant quality on most lines (even though we truly enjoy RC their food is no exception, the quality has truly dropped). Is the food any better on Celebrity or is it on par with the other lines? Thanks for your help/opinions.

You ask this question on a Celebrity thread? You didn't really expect an unbiased response, did you?

I haven't been on a lot of cruises, 1 each on Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCCI and Celebrity. To me, food is food. I've never gone hungry on any cruise. I'm used to McDonalds, Burger King, & Olive Garden, so I don't have a gourmet palate. I actually found Celebrity to be over the top for gourmet. Lots of sauces, very rich food, even carrots were pulverized into a mousse. I don't care for all that fancy cooking. Give me a plain iceburg lettuce salad, meat and potatoes and I'm happy. Actually, the best meal on my Constellation New England/Canada cruise was one day at lunch, we had chicken fajitas. They were excellent! As I said, we didn't go hungry. We found something to our liking every single day, believe it or not! One day returning late from an excursion, found we had missed lunch, so up to the pool area for a hamburger. It was actually pretty good too!:p

But I think you might get a more unbiased response to this on the "Ask a cruise question" threads.

Jjohnb,

My wife and I are thinking about sailing on Celebrity and were wondering if the food is as good as we have heard? We have sailed on several different lines and prefer Royal Caribbean (diamond members). Over the past 20+ years of sailing we have seen the quality of food decrease from true gourmet to average chain restaurant quality on most lines (even though we truly enjoy RC their food is no exception, the quality has truly dropped). Is the food any better on Celebrity or is it on par with the other lines? Thanks for your help/opinions.

The cuisine on Celebrity certainly is very good and I find no fault with the quality of the food. The line has expanded its variety in recent years with the addition of pizza and pasta stations in the buffet area and theme buffets at lunch when the ship is at sea. Nonetheless, dinner in the main dining room is very, very French, with lots of fancy sauces. If you like French cuisine, you will be in seventh heaven. If you are not fond of French cuisine, you may find that the dinner menus grow old very quickly.

BTW, Celebrity consistently has excellent beef, lamb, pork, fowl, and shellfish. The regular fish selections are not consistent -- some are better than others.

Norm.

Of the four cruise lines I've recently traveled with I find the food excellent on all and I eat out a lot and not at chain restaurants. I like X best as they serve in the French style with a full complement of silver and add or remove as needed. Most ships have similar menus with different chefs dictating the prep. All are pretty good. X seems to be bit better than other similarly priced ship lines. Princess was less than perfect for service but the courses were good. If only the could make a decent cup of coffee the meal might stand out.

The breadsticks that everyone speaks of are good on X, but I don't rate the quality of food on an entire cruise line based on my opinon of a type of bread or a breadstick.

The bread sticks are good, no doubt about it, but I'm no dummy...I pass on that starch but for one piece for taste. It makes me think they don't care how much weight I gain while on board and how hard it is to take off afterward... :o

If you really want amazing food and service you have to go to the specialty restaurants, there is a extra charge but let me tell you it is well worth it!!!

If you really want amazing food and service you have to go to the specialty restaurants, there is a extra charge but let me tell you it is well worth it!!!

I agree. The specialty restaurant is well worth the surcharge. Personally I found the food in the dining room on the Infinity (which was my first Celebrity Cruise) to vary from simply Ok to very good...I hate to say this because I'm sure the eyes will absolutely roll, but the food in the dining room and especially in the Buffet, Pizza Bar and Grill was far better on my last 2 Carnival cruises. I will say that I did prefer having waiters that weren't forced to dance.

I think the food on X is very good. Very good quality, excellent presentation, good amount of choices.

I also enjoy the full assortment of silverware.

I have sailed on RCCL, food for us was good but the overall all over ambiance could not be compared. And we found the food to be rather "simple"meat and potatoes.

as one poster stated----if you a true meat and potato person , you may not like X as much. I always found many entrees that i enjoyed and remember if you dont you can always order a steak and baked potato.

As mentioned-do try the specialty restaurant--well worth the added cost.

Also enjoyed sushi in the aft of the ship in the pm.

homemade ice creams and sherbets

loved the healthy choices in the Aqua spa cafe ( be sure to check on the daily special written on a small chalk board)

the afternoon tea was always enjoyable

The buffets- are buffets. what more needs to be said BUT i do like how you gather your food with a tray then the young serveres offer to take it to your chair ( very nice )And the linen on the tray. We ate there for breakfast at times but rarely for lunch. we usually enjoyed the aqua spa

IT IS the little touches that make the dining experience very good

I am a mom of 4 and when we cruise its fun to be treated special.with a full array of silver and crystal,excellent personable waiters.

Enjoy your cruise

Nadine

I hate to say this because I'm sure the eyes will absolutely roll, but the food in the dining room and especially in the Buffet, Pizza Bar and Grill was far better on my last 2 Carnival cruises.

No eye rolling from me...My parents are frequent cruisers and sailed Carnival for the first time last month and raved how wonderful the food was!

We're getting off the Constellation tomorrow and I have to sadly say, the food continues to decline in all ways, including choices, preparation and taste. And I'm not alone in this thought. After speaking to quite a few of my fellow cruisers, they agree that the food isn't what it was a couple of years ago. I would like to see them get rid of the Roux menus and bring in another chef. BTW, don't order the beef medallions on day 4 of the 11 day cruise. It's the most awful thing I've ever tasted. It turns out it's something called beef cheeks, cooked in gelatin. I cannot tell you how bad that stuff is.

The Oceans Liners restaurant is absolutely sublime. Food and service is the kind you find on Seabourn and Crystal, and well worth the charge. BUT, get rid of the Michael Roux menus and find someone who can design a menu that's tasty, interesting and varied.

Darcie,

I look forward to your review.

We sailed the Constellation October 27th.

Gitte:)

While I think that X food is still between good to very good (not excellent) it has declined in each of our 4 cruises on x, the last in Feb, 2006. I still think it was better than HAL, Princess & RCCL, but I would have to equate it to a good hotel food. We do like the sushi and the speciality restaurants. As a result of the decline not only in the food , but also the entertainment (they repeated 2 or 3 of the same shows 13 months later and also had a # of the shows early for the late seat dinners), we're trying Oceania this winter. However, I still think you will be satisfied with the X product.

Thank you to all who have replied, your comments have been very helpful.

John

hate to say this because I'm sure the eyes will absolutely roll, but the food in the dining room and especially in the Buffet, Pizza Bar and Grill was far better on my last 2 Carnival cruises.

I know eyes rolled when I said the same thing. I think many people on here that rave about the food on X have never been on other lines RECENTLY to compare. Carnival's food was better than X. IMHO

The breadsticks that everyone speaks of are good on X, but I don't rate the quality of food on an entire cruise line based on my opinon of a type of bread or a breadstick.

Thanks for the chuckle. :)

I will weigh in (always a problem with my scale) on this subject which is near and dear to my stomach! I approach the topic with the background of one who has spent nearly 2 years of his life as a passenger on more than 40 different cruise ships (11 cruise lines) which I believe helps as a basis of comparison. I am always amused when I see some folks trash food on cruise lines upon which they have never cruises (you see this when they sign with all their past cruises). Ok, so here is my take based on 25+ years of cruising (70 days in past 10 months). The food on all the mass market cruise lines (this includes Celebrity) has declined over the past several years. They try to make amends by offering us alternative restaurants where, for an additional fee, we can get cuisine that approaches the type of food we used to get in the regular dining rooms. Celebrity gets a lot of credit on these boards (and elsewhere) for the quality of their food and presentation, but IMHO this is more myth than reality. We have found food on all the mass market lines to be hit or miss, and it can vary by ship, week, day, etc. The only lines upon which we have had consistently top notch food were Crystal and Radisson (now Regent), but on those lines you do pay a lot more for the high quality (perhaps not a lot more than overpriced Concierge service). We do love cruising (2 more long cruises in next 4 months) but go on the ships with the knowledge that if we are lucky, we will enjoy good banquet food and if we are unlucky we still not starve. You are kidding yourselves if you expect really great cuisine on ships that feed thousands of passengers in a few hours.

Hank

You ask this question on a Celebrity thread? You didn't really expect an unbiased response, did you?

 

I haven't been on a lot of cruises, 1 each on Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCCI and Celebrity. To me, food is food. I've never gone hungry on any cruise. I'm used to McDonalds, Burger King, & Olive Garden, so I don't have a gourmet palate. I actually found Celebrity to be over the top for gourmet. Lots of sauces, very rich food, even carrots were pulverized into a mousse. I don't care for all that fancy cooking. Give me a plain iceburg lettuce salad, meat and potatoes and I'm happy. Actually, the best meal on my Constellation New England/Canada cruise was one day at lunch, we had chicken fajitas. They were excellent! As I said, we didn't go hungry. We found something to our liking every single day, believe it or not! One day returning late from an excursion, found we had missed lunch, so up to the pool area for a hamburger. It was actually pretty good too!:p

 

But I think you might get a more unbiased response to this on the "Ask a cruise question" threads.

Bad food will ruin the cruise/trip for us plain & simple (outside of weather)....

There are a # of cruise lines, where the ships are similar and if food was a low priority there'd be huge dollars saved by just choosing the cheapest cruise. Everything else I would think on ships are fairly equal...... food is the biggest variable...