Celebrity Silhouette- Not the same

My DW and I are back from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette. We have been on most all of the Celbrity fleet multiple times and this was our fourth cruise on the Silhouette starting with her inaugural year out of Bayonne in 2012.

While new cruisers may not be aware of changes that have been made by Celebrity, we certainly have. While the ship was in excellent shape and the crew was as good and as accommodating as ever, corporate decisions, especially about the food , were disappointing. It is also interesting to note that onboard we were told that we would receive a passenger questionnaire by email; we never did.

We have always been on Aqua Class on Silhouette and were previously pleased with the food. This year, not so much. The quality of the entrees have definitely declined. In fact, we ate in Tuscan Grill twice because we felt that we were no longer getting the same grade of food that we have received on previous cruises. The menu change also now guides guests to only a three course meal as all of the appetizers, soups, and salads are listed as "Starters." To be fair the staff will bring as much and as many as you want, but the menu now guides you in the other direction.

Blu for breakfast was always our favorite but even that has changed. They used to bring out a rolling table with all of the ingredients to make muesli and then have it custom made at the table. That is no more. The meusli is now pre-made, but they will make it for you on demand if you request. Sorry but it is not the same.

The AquaSpa was also a big disappointment. They no longer vary the menu there for lunch and they no longer have the option of hot lunch entrees like tuna or salmon. After two days the selections became very boring.

Lunch became an even bigger issue since my DW has some medical issues. Besides the buffet, the other options were limited. Bistro on Five became Sushi on Five awhile back and the Porch has turned into a clam bar. This left us a little frustrated with our options.

I will say that we enjoyed the Tuscan Grille. I personally liked the old menu a little better but the meals there were excellent and so was the service.

As I mentioned in the beginning, we are long time Celebrity cruisers. I think we have been on close to twenty Celebrity cruises but now I think we are going to take a break.

I just don’t know what to say except sorry to hear your expectations were not met on this cruise. We have also had disappointing meals in Blu and we were in a suite. That shows how much we used to enjoy Blu several years ago...yes, a change may be the best thing to do!

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We were on the Reflection In November and loved the new Blu menu and the food was excellent.

We also had the best food in the buffet that we have had in the previous17 cruises on X. If you looked at the 2 threads with pictures the lunches on the Eclipse that is the same experience we had the on Reflection.

Food is subjective but the F&B Manager and the Chef's have a lot to do with the quality of the meals.

My DW and I are back from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette.

 

Blu for breakfast was always our favorite but even that has changed. They used to bring out a rolling table with all of the ingredients to make muesli and then have it custom made at the table. That is no more. The meusli is now pre-made, but they will make it for you on demand if you request. Sorry but it is not the same.

 

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You must have not been in AQU for a number of years. The muesli cart has been gone since 2015. It had to do with a health code issue. At the time (3 years ago) they told us they were working on a redesign (with a guard), but that never happened. I do miss the cart but was able to order the muesli and various other ingredients to mix such as dried fruit.

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We were also on this sailing and I completely agree with the OP. We have taken 22 Celebrity cruises and this was our sixth time on the Silhouette as well as our sixth time in AQ on the ship. As usual, the entire wait staff was outstanding but there is just so many times they can apologize and offer to bring you a different entrée. While the appetizers, soups and salads (we sometimes had all three) were very good, on two of the six nights we ate there, I sent back the entrée. On the other four nights, they were fine although the portion sizes of the proteins have been reduced. I remember when every dinner (still enjoy the breakfasts very much) in BLU was a fantastic dining experience, now I guess you either have to book a suite or pay $50 a meal to eat in a Specialty Restaurant to have that same dining experience.

As the OP also said, they are taking a break from Celebrity and so are we. This is the first time in 8 years we do not have a European sailing booked with them.

You must have not been in AQU for a number of years. The muesli cart has been gone since 2015. It had to do with a health code issue. At the time (3 years ago) they told us they were working on a redesign (with a guard), but that never happened. I do miss the cart but was able to order the muesli and various other ingredients to mix such as dried fruit.

 

 

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On Summit last summer, we were happy to see that there was indeed a muesli cart. Elena brought it to our table on several different mornings. We’d never been in Blu before, and had heard it was discontinued, so we were pleasantly surprised. Is it possible they’re bringing it back, or that it’s ship specific?

We were on the Reflection In November and loved the new Blu menu and the food was excellent.

We also had the best food in the buffet that we have had in the previous17 cruises on X. If you looked at the 2 threads with pictures the lunches on the Eclipse that is the same experience we had the on Reflection.

 

Food is subjective but the F&B Manager and the Chef's have a lot to do with the quality of the meals.

We were on Reflection last April and, though we weren’t in Blu, we’d agree that the food in OVC was the best we’d had in our 4 Celebrity cruises spanning 11 years.

smdubowsky, I’m very sorry to read about your experience on Silhouette. I hope your experience was an anomaly. If not, we, and many others booked on Silhouette this year, are destined for disappointment.

We’ve only been in Aqua class once, on Summit, so we don’t have enough experience to comment on menu changes in Blu. We did, however, sail on Silhouette in 2013, and we thought the menu in the MDR had deteriorated since our previous cruise on Millie. Every item on the plate seemed to compete with rather than complement the others. It’s not that the food quality had grossly deteriorated, but rather as though the chef had a cold and couldn’t taste anything! Also, every single salad dressing tasted watered down. On Reflection last year, we were thrilled to find that the menu gremlins had gone and the food in the MDR was mostly excellent.

As jelayne said, food taste is very subjective. IMO the food was very good to excellent in 2006, so-so in 2013, and very good to excellent in 2017. We’ll be back on both Silhouette & Reflection this year, so I guess we’ll see what we think.

You must have not been in AQU for a number of years. The muesli cart has been gone since 2015. It had to do with a health code issue. At the time (3 years ago) they told us they were working on a redesign (with a guard), but that never happened. I do miss the cart but was able to order the muesli and various other ingredients to mix such as dried fruit.

 

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The cart was present on every breakfast in Blu on the Silhouette in 2017. In fact, cruisers who were able to dine in Luminae had breakfast in Blu for that reason.

We're not sailing until 2020, so I hope not too much more changes. Food experience is always subjective though, but there is a downward trend industry wide it seems that is repeated in a lot of different cruise line threads on this site.

:(

We only sail in inside cabins so we never have to be worried about being disappointed in BLU.

In 4 (soon to be 5) Celebrity cruises I;ve yet to come home hungry.

I can say that if the most important food item I am looking for is muesli than I must be looking at the wrong thing. Lead me to the smoked salmon and eggs benedict for breakfast.

Enjoy your cruising days.

You must have not been in AQU for a number of years. The muesli cart has been gone since 2015. It had to do with a health code issue. At the time (3 years ago) they told us they were working on a redesign (with a guard), but that never happened. I do miss the cart but was able to order the muesli and various other ingredients to mix such as dried fruit.

 

 

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We have been on Celebrity at least once every year for the past 16 years. Last January we were on the Summit and they did have the meusli cart. We were also told that it was discontinued because of the health code, really? How do they then allow the buffet?

We have been on Celebrity at least once every year for the past 16 years. Last January we were on the Summit and they did have the meusli cart. We were also told that it was discontinued because of the health code, really? How do they then allow the buffet?

As mentioned, there was the cart on our cruise. I did have to ask for it. The cart was stationed in the aisle between the two sections in Blu. On the same cruise, there was grilled salmon available in the Aqua Spa Cafe. I guess it depends on which week you cruise.

We have been on Celebrity at least once every year for the past 16 years. Last January we were on the Summit and they did have the meusli cart. We were also told that it was discontinued because of the health code, really? How do they then allow the buffet?

I think it's something to do with serving food on carpet that is prohibited by the USPH. The buffet is ok because it has a tiled floor. The same reason was given to me for the serving of the Elite Breakfast which now more often than not is pre-plated and served rather than help yourself. However this is not a consistent policy and depends upon the management of the ship and whereabouts you are.

BTW, thanks for the feedback. Sorry you didn't enjoy certain aspects of Silhouette. I was disappointed in Constellation in December, for a variety of reasons that I've already posted here. No harm in having a break!

Phil

We were on the Reflection In November and loved the new Blu menu and the food was excellent.

We also had the best food in the buffet that we have had in the previous17 cruises on X. If you looked at the 2 threads with pictures the lunches on the Eclipse that is the same experience we had the on Reflection.

 

Food is subjective but the F&B Manager and the Chef's have a lot to do with the quality of the meals.

We were also on Reflection in Nov...enjoying a 'beverage' outside Michael's Club before dinner and an officer stopped to chat. We couldn't read his badge in the dim light (or our age...LOL) he asked the usual questions and then about the food offerings. We hesitated to answer and he said 'so-so' for us. Turned out we were speaking to F/B chief officer and from what we were discussing there must have been other comments. We're back on Reflection in March...looking forward to some change to menu. This isn't a criticism BTW...we've always enjoyed our dining on any of the X ships. Perhaps too many cruises and we always seem to know 'what comes next'. Thanks for the many photos...the staff have definitely taken time to put the cosmetics into dining in the Oceanview.

Last January we were on the Summit and they did have the meusli cart. We were also told that it was discontinued because of the health code, really? How do they then allow the buffet?

As Jade13 and excitedofharpenden have both noted, the issue seemingly comes down to Center For Disease Control inspection implications and considerations... It took me some time to find it but the following post--dating back to April 2015--addresses the same general issue...

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2197922

An onboard Food & Beverage Director provided me with the same explanation as to floor surface and, though not mentioned in the link referenced above, the need for "sneeze guards"...

I've done nine cruises with Celebrity [some Florida-based, some international; all of them with access to Blu] in the subsequent time frame and--though others have periodically reported different experiences--I've not seen a rolling muesli cart since... And on a related basis, nor have I seen a self-service buffet at the Elite Coffee Hour [since replaced by menu-driven plated service] or a Grand Buffet in the Main Dining Room in almost three years...

Truth told, several Maitre D's in Blu have confided that they have not been personally disappointed by the elimination of the rolling muesli carts in Blu--recognizing that they were a popular novelty with guests; the menu offering continues but the delivery is different--for other reasons... Given the floor plan/table layout in Blu, the cart/server/guests who needed to step to an aisle to make ingredient selections obstructed the flow of wait staff and guest traffic along Blu's primary walkways... Apparently, mishaps sometimes occurred...

I'm sorry that your recent experience aboard Silhouette disappointed you... Fortunately, I was very satisfied with my time aboard Equinox last month as to food [i dined at Blu, each of the specialty restaurants (other than Sushi On Five), The Oceanview, Mast Grill, and Aqua Spa Cafe] and the cruise in general; for now, I plan to be back... Should that change, I'll need to assess whether or not ocean cruising will continue to be my favorite way to vacation...

I do happen to think that the onboard Food & Beverage Director, the Executive Chef, and the Head Chef in each of the dining venues can matter--just as one's personal tastes/preferences can matter--when one formulates an assessment as to food... In that respect, I'd like to think that some of your experience as an unfortunate "one off"... But I also suspect--as is so often the case throughout our economy/markets these days--that past can no longer be considered as prologue in terms of our expectations...

Have there been changes at Celebrity since I started to sail with them in March 2009 [400+ days]? Absolutely; I haven't liked them all but all one need do is read other sub-forums here on Cruise Critic to know that the trend is hardly unique to Celebrity [a thread on the Princess board recently noted a rationing of butter on one ship; a member quipped that Princess ought implement an "unlimited butter package" as a discretionary purchase]... But I also understand that competition among cruise lines has stepped up significantly [capacity; differentiating bells/whistles] in recent years, pricing sensitivity from guests is intense [some forget that we are no longer recovering from the economic collapse with depressed cruise prices of the last decade], Corporate quests for more profitability and sustained growth [each generation--the future--has evolving values as to what is/is not important; creating a balance between the expectations of established customers (who often lament the way things were), their potential replacements (who can't miss what they don't know), and increasing performance pressures from Wall Street/investors is a challenge] have escalated...

By nature, I am not a pessimist but I am a realist; the dynamic is extremely complex... May your next cruise--with Celebrity or a competitor, if you choose to do one--be more pleasing to you and your wife...

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We were also on Reflection in Nov...enjoying a 'beverage' outside Michael's Club before dinner and an officer stopped to chat. We couldn't read his badge in the dim light (or our age...LOL) he asked the usual questions and then about the food offerings. We hesitated to answer and he said 'so-so' for us. Turned out we were speaking to F/B chief officer and from what we were discussing there must have been other comments. We're back on Reflection in March...looking forward to some change to menu. This isn't a criticism BTW...we've always enjoyed our dining on any of the X ships. Perhaps too many cruises and we always seem to know 'what comes next'. Thanks for the many photos...the staff have definitely taken time to put the cosmetics into dining in the Oceanview.

Sorry....photos were in another thread re the Oceanview.

Not to bash Celebrity at all, as I am very appreciative of the Elite Plus perks they give me.....but I think its a good idea to take a break and cruise another line. Even if you felt Celebrity's MDR food was absolutely fantastic....the menus are exactly the same on all ships on all sailings. Eventually you will get tired of them. Ditto the production shows. We did a cruise on NCL Getaway in September before X made Equinox available year round in the Caribbean....and really enjoyed different menus, decor, shows, etc. Ditto MSC Yacht Club. Sometimes a change is refreshing.

On our cruise on Silhouette, we had the cart available for each breakfast. It was NOT self-serve but the attendant would ask you what you wanted and then delivered it to your table. The cart did not obstruct traffic in Blu.

The last few times in Blu, service has been slow. We also have not cared for the limited dessert selections. In fact, we would leave before dessert and head to Cafe Al Bacio or to the buffet. More to our liking.

The previous poster's idea about trying a change makes sense. But many of us enjoy the perks afforded us due to Elite or such status. This makes a change difficult.

What I've never understood is why the ships always start over with the Day 1 menus rather than just continuing through the rotation. Surely those who take 7-day cruises a lot would appreciate getting some of the different food items that appear on the longer cruises?

We were just on the Silhouette in December. I can't speak to Blu as we were in a Concierge cabin, but we did notice ship-wide, there was a lack of variety in the food from day to day. The first couple of days, the food was great, but as we looked for something different, we were disappointed.

We ate dinner in the main dining room exactly once during the trip, partly because, despite being on Anytime Dining, they really wanted you to make reservations (which I feel defeats the purpose of Anytime Dining) and partly because there was not a sufficient variety of foods we actually eat. My husband is not into upscale, fancy, foo-foo food.

All that said, we absolutely loved the Lawn Club Grill and it's joined Q-Sine as a must do on future cruises that offer this fantastic restaurant.

We are seafood eaters and on our cruise 2 yrs ago - loved Sushi on Five and The Porch for the seafood options.

Ate at the specialty restaurants every night and skipped MDR entirely.

Looking fwd to the same venues on this ship.

Sorry to here that Blu was a disappointment. We had heard good things about it and almost booked an Aqua class room-- yet decided to stick with concierge/aft cabin with a deep balcony instead

How as the service overall?

We sailed a few times over the last year on Celebrity and even though I found the food to be quite good, I do have to say that it just isn't what it used to be. However, it is still so much better than some other lines we've sailed on. A couple of months ago, I was very impressed with all meals, including those in the MDR ... up until the last two nights. Both meals were very disappointing ... one was on elegant chic night and then again on the final night. Even the service was poor on the last night but didn't have any of our regular waiters, which were outstanding throughout the cruise.

With all things considered, it still was a great cruise and aside from those two nights, I thought everything was consistently excellent. Sorry to hear you didn't have that same experience.

Every time I read that the buffet or musli cart have been removed due to being on carpet which breaks a law makes me wonder when Celebrity will stop making their lobster murano (or steak diane, on special request) at the table....or maybe take out the carpet. I guess they follow the laws when it suits them but not when it effects profit.