Were There Changes to the Spa Café???

Currently on the Equinox sitting in the Spa Cafe. It is no longer called the Aqua Spa Cafe because too many passengers thought it was only for Aqua passengers.

 

There has been many revisions that started 10/16/2017 They no longer have a salad bar. They now only have premade plates. The menu items like tuna, chicken and salmon are no longer available.

 

Totally different than what it was.

 

 

.

 

I am telling it like it is now and inserted pictures to prove it. May be different on other ships but for now it is what it is. Asked about the grilled items and was told that it started on this cruise for this ship.

 

Happy cruising [emoji305][emoji924][emoji631][emoji560]

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Yes, they had soup.

Are kids allowed. DS is 12. Also is it open on port and sea days? Thanks!

We were on the September 15 sailing on the Equinox and they told me they no longer offer the grilled tuna or salmon...the only thing that is available fresh is the sweet potato bisque which was so sweet we could not eat it...disappointed but could always find something to eat at the buffet...every day they had the same small dishes at Aqua Spa Cafe which got old during our 10 day cruise...

Breakfast menu spa cafe

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I like to get a plate of lettuce in the buffet and go there to get grilled salmon or chicken to put on top with a vinaigrette.

It takes a little bit of moving from place to place but it's worth it. Makes my lunch much tastier with the fresh, and I know I'm getting something healthier than all the sauce-y and carb-laden things at the buffet. I'd be sad if it wasn't available anymore.

Personally, I'm glad they've gone back to the old "small plate" format. On one cruise last year I ordered deviled eggs (one of the special order items)....took 15 minutes to get it and the eggs had obviously been made much earlier since they had a hard crust on the yolk! The salad bar line crawled as folks debated whether they wanted this or that on their salad. Now we are back to..pick up what you want and once again, I can eat with my DW rather than have her finish her salad and i am still waiting for my salmon/whatever.

I consider this change a plus :)

A plus for some but not others. I'd suggest you go 10 minutes before your DW to place your order and get beverages. Then sit at one of the few tables in the area. That way you sit together and eat and we can still eat our salmon or tuna. But I guess that is no longer a choice we can make. Aqua Spa was our go to spot for breakfast and lunch probably half of time during our last three cruises.

.Another good spot off the list. But truthfully, the lines were getting out of hand for the made to order lunch dishes. Salmon was the best on board!

No Bistro on 5 , no AQ spa cafe, MDR and buffet equally onerous for diff reasons...That leaves room service and lunch on the balc a good option...

We loved eating at Aqua Spa cafe and are looking forward to it again next month. Celebrity has already ruined Bistro on 5 for us. Please don't make changes in Aqua Spa!

Couldn't agree more.

Thank you so much for posting photos and the menus. I'm disappointed the grilled items are no longer available, as I recall they were a favorite on our last 2 cruises.

Will still give the Spa Cafe a try as some of the menu items look good.

I forget - are the smoothies included in the Classic Beverage package?

Thanks!

I believe you need the premium package for the smoothies

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Have they made these changes on any of the other ships as of yet? I am doing a transatlantic cruise next week on the Eclipse, I hope they don't make the change before our cruise.

Sorry to read about the changes to the Aqua Spa Cafe menu, especially the elimination of the grilled chicken breast and salmon. I see that the recent changes haven't made it onto the Celebrity website. Not surprising, in light of their ongoing website challenges. This is what the website shows for the Aqua Spa Cafe menu: https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/eat-and-drink/restaurants-and-cafes/aquaspa-cafe. I am holding on to the hope that they bring back this menu - including the grilled chicken breast and salmon - by the end of the year.

We just got off the Reflection this morning, and they still had grilled salmon in the Aqua spa cafe. We ate there most days when we were onboard during lunch time.

Hello! I just wanted to let you know that we were able to order the salmon at the aqua spa café. Our choices were grilled, steamed, boiled, or poached. We tried the grilled and the poached and both were very, very good!

We were on the Infinity 9/24/17 - 10/1/17 and the above was available by special order the entire time. Our menu looked a bit different than the ones I see posted. I think I took a photo of the menu. How do you post photos on here??? Also, it was still called the aqua spa café. We loved it.

I really liked the "tapas style" bowls and small sandwiches on our 9/15 Equinox cruise. We don't cruise enough to miss what was there before, so for us it was nice, but i can see how this would be disappointing, especially when you look forward to something like fish or chicken prepared fresh for you. This style of service though certainly expedited the time for the 3 or 4 people who actually used the venue :) As for the question re the son who is 12, I don't know for sure but since its located in the solarium that's adults only, I would think it wouldn't be possible for him to be there. Again I could be wrong, just my thoughts

Well we are just off the Equinox and the Aqua Spa Cafe choices we loved is no more, having been replaced with small bowls and plates of the very same foods day after day the whole cruise. Last year I had their salad every day with many choices of goodies to put on top of the greens and good dressings. This past May they still had the salad only you pointed out what you wanted and a server made it up for you - which was fine. Now they don't even have salad! I was so disappointed. And the muselli (sp) I loved is also gone. Sigh.

Thank you GordonJasmine for your status report.

Yet another downgrading of the once unique and high quality Celebrity product. The AS had been a favorite venue of mine for many, many years of cruising. I will advise my friends as well as they frequented the AS many times each cruise.

Each cruisers post about another downgrade increases the void between today's Celebrity and the previous Celebrity where the corporation had pride and used the words "Simply The Best" - yes back then Celebrity was the best of the mass lines - the little shrimp sandwiches and the real lemon tart with bittersweet chocolate on top at Bacio, the sorbet delivery by the pool at 3 pm, sigh..

Each cruisers post about another downgrade increases the void between today's Celebrity and the previous Celebrity where the corporation had pride and used the words "Simply The Best" - yes back then Celebrity was the best of the mass lines - the little shrimp sandwiches and the real lemon tart with bittersweet chocolate on top at Bacio, the sorbet delivery by the pool at 3 pm, sigh..

Sorbet delivery by the pool - wow, they did that? That must have been a nice refreshing treat in the hot Caribbean sun! How long ago did they do that?

Hi Shadow9612:

The "previous" Celebrity ended about 2014.

On the Solstice 2013 in the Med - we boarded and while awaiting for the rooms to be ready we had fabulous tea sandwiches (shrimp, crab, salmon on amazing little buns) and desserts in Baco along with a glass of wine. It was truly so spectacular we have a picture of the food and wine hanging on our wall. Does not exist today.

Around 3pm at the pool, staff would come around with little paper cups of 2 types of sorbet. They would stop and ask you what you wished. It was heaven. Remember doing the Panama canal in 2010 on Connie, it was 100F and there they were bringing the sorbets around, we just lapped it up.

Also in the Baco, they had "real" real lemon curd tarts with a small bittersweet square of chocolate on top. We made many trips to Baco to get these. I even took some home in a little box on the plane! It was not the fake industrial lemon filling of the new Celebrity.

Another example is the pain au chocolate. Folks, they used to be real french pastry with the flaky layers. To die for. My last Celebrity cruise they were bread based with the chocolate, not any where the same.

I had cruised Celebrity from 1992 so I have seen the cheapening of the product over the years. My observations are similar to many other folks who post on this board. If you started cruising Celebrity since say 2013, you really do not realize what an amazing product Celebrity used to have.

Another key point, this quality was provided to EVERYONE on the ship, not just some people.

In September, I found this former Celebrity quality (all items noted above) on Oceania Marina. I am very pleased.

People want different things, so if you do not find it with one cruise line, you can move on.

All of the food is included for everyone. The smoothies require the premium package. With the changes to the classic package, perhaps you could pay a small amount but I have no experience with that.

That’s crazy that smoothies are not available with the classic package.

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Currently on the Equinox sitting in the Spa Cafe. It is no longer called the Aqua Spa Cafe because too many passengers thought it was only for Aqua passengers.

 

There has been many revisions that started 10/16/2017 They no longer have a salad bar. They now only have premade plates. The menu items like tuna, chicken and salmon are no longer available.

 

Totally different than what it was.

 

 

.

 

I am telling it like it is now and inserted pictures to prove it. May be different on other ships but for now it is what it is. Asked about the grilled items and was told that it started on this cruise for this ship.

 

Happy cruising [emoji305][emoji924][emoji631][emoji560]

It doesn’t look different than items you might find in the main buffet.

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Currently on Equinox and it is as Miched's great pictures. I asked them about the grilled food as, I too, loved the salmon. He said it is up to the Executive Chef and he didn't think it was fleet wide. Not yet anyway.

For those wanting to put salmon on top of a salad, the Caesar salad bar is great. The dressed greens are in a big bowl with several bowls of additions nearby. There is bacon, parmesan cheese, croutons and anchovies. Then there is a large heated dish of meat next to the bowls. Yesterday it was cubed salmon, today it was cubed chicken. I thought it made a great lunch salad.

Well we are just off the Equinox and the Aqua Spa Cafe choices we loved is no more, having been replaced with small bowls and plates of the very same foods day after day the whole cruise. Last year I had their salad every day with many choices of goodies to put on top of the greens and good dressings. This past May they still had the salad only you pointed out what you wanted and a server made it up for you - which was fine. Now they don't even have salad! I was so disappointed. And the muselli (sp) I loved is also gone. Sigh.

The muesili on the buffet line at breakfast is gone or just in the Aqua spa?:o