What are the off-menu possibilities on Celebrity?

I entered this thread because I was trying to find a Forum topic that covered Celebrity Dining more thoroughly. I realise this thread started as a more narrow topic of 'special orders'. However, I would value opinions:

 

I have cruised with 5 other lines, and find Celebrity food equal to the best (equal with Costa). The service was mostly fabulous, but they did sometimes forget or delay sending the wine waiter.

 

The prime rib in MDR was excellent. The lobster was not - it was overcooked, probably boiled in the morning and then grilled at night. We asked for seconds and instructed them to just boil it quickly - they did and it was excellent.

 

My biggest disappointment was Tuscan Grill - admittedly we ate seafood rather than steak, but friends invited us so we went to Tuscan. The pasta starter was excellent however. The real problem was the staff. Similar to Cellar Masters, I think the 'higher up' staff get too self-opinionated compared with the lovely people that are cabin stewards or ordinary wait staff. Thus our waiter insisted on talking about the menu rather than listening to us - then he got the delivery wrong. But the WORST experience was when the Maitre D came over, interrupted our conversation, and THEN TOOK A CALL ON HIS CELL PHONE right by our table. He told ME 'not to be rude' when I firmly asked him to move away! Had I not loved my whole cruise so much I would surely have reported this individual.

I wont be paying the cost for specialty dining again - although we quite enjoyed Qsine.

Other factor I disliked was the 'hard sell' through the cruise of the specialty restaurants.

 

Comments?

:)

interesting post.

Unfortunately it is off topic from the original thread... And so will get lost / ignored here.

I suggest that if you truly want people to see it, and reply. That you post a new topic for it.

Cheers!

WOW. Just wow! I have read through this thread and can not believe some of what I have read.

To those who think there are NO chefs on board just trained cooks - please do not let the Executive Chef hear you say that. There are several formally trained CHEFS with years of experience in the restaurant industry. There is ONE Exec. Chef - he over sees the entire kitchen staff - not a small task. Under him are several other formally trained chef's along with sous chef's, various line cooks, sauciers, pastry chefs, etc...

Most of these folks have extensive training while some have worked their way up.

Most cruise ships have a nightly Indian dish which can cover more than one dietary need - vegetarian, vegan (sometimes) and always halal. On many ships the kitchen is staffed with many Indians and the Indian food is easily available - not a hardship to order off menu at all - as it actually appears on a few of the special diet menus.

While pre-plated dishes are suitable for 98% of passengers, one should NOT have to scrape something off their plate that they do not like. There are special food lines in the kitchen for servers to request a plate to order - not a hardship.

It never ceases to amaze me when people feel sorry for these poor over-worked ships employees. Seriously - it is their job - no one held a gun to their head and said you must work here - it is a voluntary position.

I know there has been many times in my own job where I was pushed to limit but I would NEVER have expected my customers to say - don't worry dear, we'll settle for less because we think you are over-worked. I would be embarrassed and humiliated that people thought I could not do my job and rise to a challenge. For your ships employees that go above & beyond just be sure to remember them extra at tip time - that will be appreciated. The one's who complain that they are over-worked or are not up for a special request really have NO business in a SERVICE position in the first place.

Do I mean go ahead and order something special every night? Of course not. But an occasional request for something out of the ordinary should not be shattering to ANY kitchen nor server.

I can say this with authority as I have spent many years in the service industry as both an employee and the owner/operator of a B&B. You'd be surprised at how many people arrive at breakfast with sudden dietary needs even though you asked them specifically at check-in about ANY special dietary considerations. But I was always prepared for what ever surprises came my way at breakfast and could accommodate my guests. While this experience is at a smaller scale the ships kitchens run at extreme efficiency levels - they have prepared each menu hundreds of times and have it down to a science. While it may look and sound chaotic to most it is actually highly organized.

Sometimes the ability to step outside the boundaries makes a person feel better about themselves and their job performance.

Thank You. Finally a voice of reason.

We too have had off the menu opportunties offered to us and we we felt quite special and quite grateful.

We enjoyed being willing to be tempted to an original off the menu dinner by the Chef.

I always say ask if you want something different whats the worst they can say NO we ask many times and no issues and we appreciate that. Just remember the more you ask the more you have to tip them at the end lol

On our first few cruises, beginning in two thousand staff did encourage such things. New cruisers or infrequent cruisers may not realize that this was normal on Princess And HAL in this century.

My own experiences with dietary restrictions have brought me firmly round to understanding it is best to stick to the menu unless the waiter is encouraging me otherwise. And yes I think in recent cruises Celebrity has less creativity here. Sometimes it is basically the same few items each night.

I am looking forward to the suite resturant because I also think they are making an attempt at what cruising was on Celebrity. maybe better, who knows.

I always say ask if you want something different whats the worst they can say NO we ask many times and no issues and we appreciate that. Just remember the more you ask the more you have to tip them at the end lol

Exactly, and for those of us who do ask and receive, tipping extra is no problem. We tipped more than double in extra cash, plus our auto tip at the end. We did a 14 night transatlantic on HAL in April, we had a fantastic table in the MDR, table for 2, in a small section that had only a few other passengers. We special ordered every night, even requested sea bass that was on a menu in another venue. My DH is a retired Maitre'D so he knows very well what service is all about and what is possible.

Even though we often special order on Princess, HAL and Cunard with much success. We have not found that X meets our standards. Special ordering on X is very hit and miss, nothing new, been that way for years, we are elite passengers, consequently we skip the MDR. We prefer the buffet... there we actually can special order ... some items are cooked right in front of you.

I loved the comment on this tread that Celebrity was the best when it comes to food, similar to Costa.... actually I think that is about right, except I would not rank either X or Costa the best.

Some of the short order cooks in buffets on ships are really great. So if you can't find something you like in the MDR on X check out the buffet... at lunch time, lots of variety.

I always say ask if you want something different whats the worst they can say NO we ask many times and no issues and we appreciate that. Just remember the more you ask the more you have to tip them at the end lol

Why? What ever happened to just doing a job that one is paid for?

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Why? What ever happened to just doing a job that one is paid for?

nah, its worse than that. The waiter just said yes to the order and then made it the kitchens problem but its the waiter that gets to keep the tip. Hardly rewarding the right people is it.

Well if you want to reward the "right people", it is not hard. We have asked who has cooked our "special orders" in the kitchen, let the maitre'd know that we wanted to treat them to drinks of their choice. On some cruise lines these folks have even dropped by our table to say hello sometime during the cruise. We also tip in cash on the spot in the buffet for service provided. Believe me, when we do, these folks are looking to do even more than we asked of them. These folks are working to make money and tips, why not. This is actually a win win.

Also, part of the purpose of the auto tip is to split the tips among many more than we actually see. So we always leave the auto tip on and tip extra as well. We also write special thank you notes for service provided and let management know of our positive experience with staff. This helps them with promotions.

Well if you want to reward the "right people", it is not hard. We have asked who has cooked our "special orders" in the kitchen, let the maitre'd know that we wanted to treat them to drinks of their choice. On some cruise lines these folks have even dropped by our table to say hello sometime during the cruise. We also tip in cash on the spot in the buffet for service provided. Believe me, when we do, these folks are looking to do even more than we asked of them. These folks are working to make money and tips, why not. This is actually a win win.

 

Also, part of the purpose of the auto tip is to split the tips among many more than we actually see. So we always leave the auto tip on and tip extra as well. We also write special thank you notes for service provided and let management know of our positive experience with staff. This helps them with promotions.

drinks of their choice? oh wow. and you've already said your server gets a big tip. So therefore you are rewarding the wrong person.

moving on.

nah, its worse than that. The waiter just said yes to the order and then made it the kitchens problem but its the waiter that gets to keep the tip. Hardly rewarding the right people is it.

It is just more than giving the order to the server. You are taking up their time explaining to them something that is NOT on the menu then they have to go and explain it to the cook who is probably VERY busy trying to get food out to other customers. It is very time consuming and makes the food service time slower. So, order off the menu.

WOW. Just wow! I have read through this thread and can not believe some of what I have read.

 

To those who think there are NO chefs on board just trained cooks - please do not let the Executive Chef hear you say that. There are several formally trained CHEFS with years of experience in the restaurant industry. There is ONE Exec. Chef - he over sees the entire kitchen staff - not a small task. Under him are several other formally trained chef's along with sous chef's, various line cooks, sauciers, pastry chefs, etc...

 

Most of these folks have extensive training while some have worked their way up.

 

Most cruise ships have a nightly Indian dish which can cover more than one dietary need - vegetarian, vegan (sometimes) and always halal. On many ships the kitchen is staffed with many Indians and the Indian food is easily available - not a hardship to order off menu at all - as it actually appears on a few of the special diet menus.

 

While pre-plated dishes are suitable for 98% of passengers, one should NOT have to scrape something off their plate that they do not like. There are special food lines in the kitchen for servers to request a plate to order - not a hardship.

 

It never ceases to amaze me when people feel sorry for these poor over-worked ships employees. Seriously - it is their job - no one held a gun to their head and said you must work here - it is a voluntary position.

 

I know there has been many times in my own job where I was pushed to limit but I would NEVER have expected my customers to say - don't worry dear, we'll settle for less because we think you are over-worked. I would be embarrassed and humiliated that people thought I could not do my job and rise to a challenge. For your ships employees that go above & beyond just be sure to remember them extra at tip time - that will be appreciated. The one's who complain that they are over-worked or are not up for a special request really have NO business in a SERVICE position in the first place.

 

Do I mean go ahead and order something special every night? Of course not. But an occasional request for something out of the ordinary should not be shattering to ANY kitchen nor server.

 

I can say this with authority as I have spent many years in the service industry as both an employee and the owner/operator of a B&B. You'd be surprised at how many people arrive at breakfast with sudden dietary needs even though you asked them specifically at check-in about ANY special dietary considerations. But I was always prepared for what ever surprises came my way at breakfast and could accommodate my guests. While this experience is at a smaller scale the ships kitchens run at extreme efficiency levels - they have prepared each menu hundreds of times and have it down to a science. While it may look and sound chaotic to most it is actually highly organized.

 

Sometimes the ability to step outside the boundaries makes a person feel better about themselves and their job performance.

You are a person experienced in the hospitality industry, but I wonder how comparable running a B&B is to running the kitchen on a cruise ship of 2-5 thousand passengers. How many guests do B&B's typically have at a time -- 12? 20? 40?

My experience on board ship requesting off-menu items is anecdotal -- one evening in the MDR on our 2011 cruise on HAL Zuiderdam I asked for spinach salad. It was not on the menu, although it had been on the previous night's menu. The waiter said he could not get it for me that night, but he could have it for me the next night. Well, as it happened, the next night I was not in the mood for spinach salad, but he brought it for me anyway. My recollection is, every evening after that the waiter had a spinach salad ready for me which I was obligated to take or politely decline. My waiter was certainly doing his best to go above and beyond.

I remember a cruise i'd taken years ago with my parents (Carnival Ecstacy - 1991ish) ...my mother was joking with our Indian waiter that she was craving rice and curry. The waiter, said no problem. The head chef was Goan (where my family is from) and they cooked daily for the crew). He asked my mom what she wanted (I think she requested shrimp curry) and that is what she had, the NEXT night at dinner.

When we cruised Carnival Dream around 2009, we took our Philipino nanny with us. She was speaking with other crew members who told her to place her food request with the maitre d = for the following evening .... she never took advantage of this as she enjoyed ordering of the regular menu.

It's unreasonable to expect a customized meal for that very night. But talk to the Maitre D about what might be available for the following evening or later. Tell them, if your chefs are preparing native food for the crew, that you'd love an opportunity to try something different.

Not quite the same as the discussion in this this thread ... but one night on Oasis, my son fell in love with some chocolate lava cake dessert. It was on night 2 or 3. My son fell in love with it. The waiter said, " you like it, I will order it again for you tomorrow". He placed it as standing order for the next night and every night after that - for the whole table. I was quite honestly sick of chocolate lava cake by the end of the cruise (and its not a standing order item on Oasis, like it is on the Carnival ships).

As per my last reply ,.... the key is notice. Special requests are honoured with ample notice.

Sorry to get this thread back on topic, but note about the MDR Vegetarian menu having items that aren't on the regular MDR menu is correct. Those items are actually from that night's menu in Blu. On the M-Class ships where the MDR and Blu share a galley (but not cooks), it isn't a big deal at all. It's also a way to get a taste of Blu in the MDR.

Ask for the vegetarian menu. Sometimes, a waiter will simply tell you what on that night's menu is vegetarian, but if you ask to see the actual vegetarian menu - you will get a menu that has all of the vegetarian options from both Blu and the MDR for that night.

On some ships, you'll need to order the night before for the next day. But it's the same deal.

Sorry to take this tread off topic again, but simply have to make a point. I find it very interesting how so many people worry about whether someone else is getting something they aren't, i.e., off menu items. It would never bother me if someone wanted something, requested it and got it.

We were on a airplane last year, a cabin crew member brought us a whole bottle of wine from first class, we were in coach, would you believe someone complained about it. The cabin crew member mentioned it to us when we got off the plane. She said she explained we had done some volunteer work for the airline to help a non profit to explain the extra service to the passenger who complained.

We were amazed anyone would complain, we were not drunk or distruptive which if we were would expect someone might complain, we simply enjoyed the wine on a very long flight.

My point is I hope everyone enjoys their travels and my hat is off to those who enjoy life, on or off the menu! Life is too short to worry about what someone else is getting or not getting.

Sorry to take this tread off topic again, but simply have to make a point. I find it very interesting how so many people worry about whether someone else is getting something they aren't, i.e., off menu items. It would never bother me if someone wanted something, requested it and got it.

 

We were on a airplane last year, a cabin crew member brought us a whole bottle of wine from first class, we were in coach, would you believe someone complained about it. The cabin crew member mentioned it to us when we got off the plane. She said she explained we had done some volunteer work for the airline to help a non profit to explain the extra service to the passenger who complained.

 

We were amazed anyone would complain, we were not drunk or distruptive which if we were would expect someone might complain, we simply enjoyed the wine on a very long flight.

 

My point is I hope everyone enjoys their travels and my hat is off to those who enjoy life, on or off the menu! Life is too short to worry about what someone else is getting or not getting.

Honestly, I don't think most are worried about what other people are getting. The problem with many, including us, is that when people think they have the right to order "off the menu" it creates problems for a number of people: The galley, the server(s) as well as other tables. We are like others who have experienced this--it throws a wrench in the whole system and frequently delays (sometimes really delays) service for those who are able to find something to satisfy them on the menu. It is pretty annoying when you are ready for your next course and your server is nowhere to be found because they are running around like a chicken with their head cut off (especially with reduced staffing levels) getting some offbeat item for someone, who, in many cases tastes and then rejects it. We've seen it.

Honestly, I don't think most are worried about what other people are getting. The problem with many, including us, is that when people think they have the right to order "off the menu" it creates problems for a number of people: The galley, the server(s) as well as other tables. We are like others who have experienced this--it throws a wrench in the whole system and frequently delays (sometimes really delays) service for those who are able to find something to satisfy them on the menu. It is pretty annoying when you are ready for your next course and your server is nowhere to be found because they are running around like a chicken with their head cut off (especially with reduced staffing levels) getting some offbeat item for someone, who, in many cases tastes and then rejects it. We've seen it.

That about sums it up.

Honestly, I don't think most are worried about what other people are getting. The problem with many, including us, is that when people think they have the right to order "off the menu" it creates problems for a number of people: The galley, the server(s) as well as other tables. We are like others who have experienced this--it throws a wrench in the whole system and frequently delays (sometimes really delays) service for those who are able to find something to satisfy them on the menu. It is pretty annoying when you are ready for your next course and your server is nowhere to be found because they are running around like a chicken with their head cut off (especially with reduced staffing levels) getting some offbeat item for someone, who, in many cases tastes and then rejects it. We've seen it.

It is more annoying to share a table with folks who want special orders and have to wait until their food is ready to have your food served . I want in and out in a timely fashion

Honestly, I don't think most are worried about what other people are getting. The problem with many, including us, is that when people think they have the right to order "off the menu" it creates problems for a number of people: The galley, the server(s) as well as other tables. We are like others who have experienced this--it throws a wrench in the whole system and frequently delays (sometimes really delays) service for those who are able to find something to satisfy them on the menu. It is pretty annoying when you are ready for your next course and your server is nowhere to be found because they are running around like a chicken with their head cut off (especially with reduced staffing levels) getting some offbeat item for someone, who, in many cases tastes and then rejects it. We've seen it.

Since we order off menu a lot, I can tell you rarely does the server run around getting our special meal. Servers may be using this as an "excuse", or you folks are assuming so. We have found the service on Celebrity very slow, so we don't even go to the MDR anymore as result. On other lines, Princess, Cunard, and HAL usually the assistant to the server is sent to retrieve the meal and the Assistant Maitre'd serves the meal, at our table for two. We are usually seated in an area with other tables for two who are also ordering off menu. We recognize the process, since the Assistant Maitre'd checks with the other tables the night before to find out what they want for the following evening. So this is a rather routine process on most ships. Celebrity does not handle off menu requests, well at all, so we don't bother with the MDR.

just always thought it would be cool. I remember reading reviews from a couple years back of someone who mentioned to their waiter that they would like to have a dish of the crew indian food at dinner.I believe they were on carnival or Royal Caribbean and it wasn't a huge issue. I actually enjoy the cuisine of other cultures, especially in its true form and not "dumbed down for American palates" as someone else phrased it. I'm actually looking forward to seeing if I can get this accomplished.

Request the night before and you should certainly be able to get Indian cuisine, and it won't be "dumbed down". :)

Since we order off menu a lot, I can tell you rarely does the server run around getting our special meal. Servers may be using this as an "excuse", or you folks are assuming so. We have found the service on Celebrity very slow, so we don't even go to the MDR anymore as result. On other lines, Princess, Cunard, and HAL usually the assistant to the server is sent to retrieve the meal and the Assistant Maitre'd serves the meal, at our table for two. We are usually seated in an area with other tables for two who are also ordering off menu. We recognize the process, since the Assistant Maitre'd checks with the other tables the night before to find out what they want for the following evening. So this is a rather routine process on most ships. Celebrity does not handle off menu requests, well at all, so we don't bother with the MDR.

Just curious. You say you order off menu a lot. Why? We've dined something like 600 nights in cruise ship dining rooms on 7 different lines and have always been able to find something (or many things) to our liking. Not poking, just curious.

Just curious. You say you order off menu a lot. Why? We've dined something like 600 nights in cruise ship dining rooms on 7 different lines and have always been able to find something (or many things) to our liking. Not poking, just curious.

Combination, of religious and health issues.

Agree, there is enough to pick from.

I am in agreement with you Duanerice. I think the main dining room's menu is well thought out and more than sufficient. In my opinion, to ask for something "off menu" just because you can makes our waiter's job more difficult. I've seen it done and I think it is rude. :)

Bet no one will ever bring up THIS topic again!

Why don't we take the OP out behind the wood shed and KICK HIM TO DEATH!! That would teach him to behave himself on a cruise.

Some comments with such sharp edges or condescending tones, if aimed at me, would hurt my feelings.

This is a warm, welcoming place...let's keep it that way. Relax, guys. You've made your point.

BTW, I wouldn't order off the menu, either, so don't jump on me over this reply.