Cheaping out at the buffet

[Cruise a holic]

We are currently on the Silhouette.  I went to the buffet to enjoy breakfast before leaving the ship.  Had a bagel toasted and went to get smoked salmon.  I was told by a manger we don’t carry it anymore.  If you want it go to main dining room!  Are you kidding me?   Whats next no bacon?

[CruisersTimesThree]

We were on the cruise before you.  Was very unhappy with the choices in the buffet for lunch, seemed to be the same everyday, boring and not all that appetizing  .  We stuck to the grill burgers and hot dogs, Luminae on sea days and one day each in the Porch and Lawn Club.

Edited March 21, 2019 by CruisersTimesThree

[mafig]

We were on Reflection a few weeks ago and they had smoked salmon in the buffet.  Don't know if it was there the last day or not, but it was available the other days.

[Bo1953]

What does the F & B Manager have to say about this?

 

bon appetite and bon voyage

[jkgourmet]

1 hour ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

We were on the cruise before you.  Was very unhappy with the choices in the buffet for lunch, seemed to be the same everyday, boring and not all that appetizing  .  We stuck to the grill burgers and hot dogs, Luminae on sea days and one day each in the Porch and Lawn Club.

 

What changed at the LUNCH buffet that made you feel it was "boring and unappetizing" ?

[chemmo]

On our last two cruises (Reflection and Eclipse) we were really impressed by the buffet selection at lunchtimes. Plenty of choice and even a couple of occasions when fresh fish had been brought on board. The Indian selection was particularly good.

 

They must have some salmon on board or it wouldn’t be available for the Elite and MDR breakfast. I wonder if there was regularly not much demand and a lot of waste in the buffet? A bit hard for those who want it but, perhaps, understandable...

 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by chemmo

[CruisersTimesThree]

7 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

What changed at the LUNCH buffet that made you feel it was "boring and unappetizing" ?

Everyday it was the same fish choice at one of the stations, my son tried it and said it was just okay.

It seemed to be the same choices of the hot dishes and I walked around and around and just couldnt find anything that I liked.  I am not a fan of Indian food, which seemed to have a large spread, but people were always on line for it, so I guess if you like it, it was good. 

  I did have pizza and a tuna sandwich which were very good, but since I had many other choices for lunch onboard, I decided to try all those options since it was our first time on an S-class ship.

[jkgourmet]

7 minutes ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

Everyday it was the same fish choice at one of the stations, my son tried it and said it was just okay.

It seemed to be the same choices of the hot dishes and I walked around and around and just couldnt find anything that I liked.  I am not a fan of Indian food, which seemed to have a large spread, but people were always on line for it, so I guess if you like it, it was good. 

  I did have pizza and a tuna sandwich which were very good, but since I had many other choices for lunch onboard, I decided to try all those options since it was our first time on an S-class ship.

 

Have they cut out the availability of one or two roasted meats carved on request (and lots of hot sides that go with it?)  Pasta with a choice of sauces?  Many choices for salads (deli type and different lettuces)?  Some Chinese items, grilled fresh items (small steaks, chicken breast, etc)?  Soups?  Too many deserts?

 

I'm asking because these step the things we remember and have told our friends about (new to celebrity).  I admit that I enjoyed the indian food, But DH does not, but still found plenty to eat.

Edited March 21, 2019 by jkgourmet

[CruisersTimesThree]

13 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

Have they cut out the availability of one or two roasted meats carved on request (and lots of hot sides that go with it?)  Pasta with a choice of sauces?  Many choices for salads (deli type and different lettuces)?  Some Chinese items, grilled fresh items (small steaks, chicken breast, etc)?  Soups?  Too many deserts?

 

I'm asking because these step the things we remember and have told our friends about (new to celebrity).  I admit that I enjoyed the indian food, But DH does not, but still found plenty to eat.

Those choices were still there, but being diabetic, there wasn't much that stood out to me that I would enjoy or could really eat.

I will say the salad station was not that great (this is my opinion, don't shoot me for it!)  They seemed to have a lot of iceberg lettuce the few times I looked and the dressing choices were just French, blue cheese and one other creamy type.  I could not find just a plain balsamic vinaigrette.

Eating in the other places just gave me more control of what I could eat to be sure I ate healthy. I only gained 4 lbs on a 12 night cruise, so I did something right!   I just did not care for the buffet choices and like I said, its just my opinion.  I am sure most people have no problem with it, but it just wasn't for me on this trip.

[TFLG]

We were on the Reflection a few weeks ago and there was plenty of smoked salmon. I did not see any difference in the breakfast buffet from prior cruises.  The Lunch buffet seemed to have less variety on that cruise it looked like it had the same stuff every day with some minor changes. But everthing I ate was pretty darn good.

[DevilinaBluDress]

Plenty of salmon this morning on the Equinox.

 

Molly

[Silkroad]

On Silhouette last summer, we thought the breakfast and lunch buffets were both excellent. I can’t say I’m certain that smoked salmon was available every day, but it was available most days. We had lovely omelettes made to order at breakfast. We routinely had small salads at lunch, and I always found romaine and mixed greens there. I use olive oil and balsamic vinegar on my salad, because I prefer it to bottled dressing. I love Indian food, and the Indian food station on that cruise was excellent. I understand that not everyone cares for Indian cuisine, but DH always found his own favorites at the carvery and other stations. Hopefully, what you’ve experienced is an aberration. Personally, I would speak with the F&B manager about the smoked salmon.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Silkroad

[Miss Vickie]

I'm really curious as to what may have changed between the beginning of February, when we were aboard Silhouette, and your sailing.  I had smoked salmon every morning at the buffet, and  there was plenty of variety at lunch, including themes that changed on different days. I ate mostly salad at lunch and yes, the salad bar could have been better, but the other stuff was there if I had wanted it.

[dkjretired]

Did anyone go to the grill section for a steak, chicken or salmon.

[Cruise a holic]

2 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

What does the F & B Manager have to say about this?

 

bon appetite and bon voyage

Just a “too bad” shrug   Not a professional response   

[Tourist1292]

The smoked Salmon has been reported not available on certain ships for a short period of time last month. It could be just an issue in supply or delivery.

[Cruise a holic]

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

On our last two cruises (Reflection and Eclipse) we were really impressed by the buffet selection at lunchtimes. Plenty of choice and even a couple of occasions when fresh fish had been brought on board. The Indian selection was particularly good.

 

They must have some salmon on board or it wouldn’t be available for the Elite and MDR breakfast. I wonder if there was regularly not much demand and a lot of waste in the buffet? A bit hard for those who want it but, perhaps, understandable...

 

 

it was available on board  Had it the day before in luminae   also did see in elite lounge   but not in buffet area?  why? we wanted breakfast that day at the buffet 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Cruise a holic

[Hlitner]

Just a thought, but perhaps we are also talking about "boring" eaters as well as a somewhat boring buffet :).  There is a pretty big selection in the lunch buffets, but many folks are only interested in a few items and dismiss everything else because it is not what they like.  One thing we have learned on our cruises (and from a close family member) is that the world is full of "picky" eaters.    That being said, we have our "issues" with the lunch buffets on Celebrity.  I am not a big fan of their sandwich station where they have too many kinds of "mystery meat" and not enough products like a decent ham, pastrami, roast beef, etc.  I would not feed some of those mystery meats to my dog (and my dog is dead).

 

As to smoked salmon (in my day it was all just "lox") my problem has never been the lox but the darn bagels.  We have never had a decent bagel on any cruise ship/line and that includes over 70 different ships (15 cruise lines)!  And then there is the Elite breakfast where, for many years, they always had some decent lox with some mini-bagels.  The bagels are certainly not the best (not even close) but one had to try and cut the things with a dull table knife :(.  And the buffet lacked a toaster where folks could toast a bagel if they found that preferable.    If you could find a bagel up in the Lido, you could ask the staff to toast it...but would have to wait about 10 minutes while they put it through the commercial toaster that would take 2-4 passes just to get it partially toasted.  I once teased a Lido Buffet manager that I was going to go home and invent a commercial buffet toaster that actually worked :).  His response was terrific, "what makes you think any cruise line would buy a toaster that actually worked?"  We both had a good laugh and then he actually got me a nicely toasted bagel which he delivered to our Lido table.

 

Hank

 

 

[Cruise a holic]

45 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Just a “too bad” shrug   Not a professional response   

want to clarify that the person I spoke to was a buffet manager, not the f and b ship manager.

[mfs2k]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We have never had a decent bagel on any cruise ship/line and that includes over 70 different ships (15 cruise lines)! 

 

A good bagel is boiled (preferably in NYC water) then baked and eaten warm, soon after it's come out of the oven. 

 

You're obviously not going to get that on a cruise ship.

 

On a cruise ship, you're going to get a commercial frozen bagel like "Lenders" which is thawed and served to the masses.

 

I wonder if Celebrity bakes other fresh breads or pastries (ie croissants). 

I'll put cream cheese and smoked salmon on something else if it's freshly baked. 

[Hlitner]

Just now, mfs2k said:

 

A good bagel is boiled (preferably in NYC water) then baked and eaten warm, soon after it's come out of the oven. 

 

You're obviously not going to get that on a cruise ship.

 

On a cruise ship, you're going to get a commercial frozen bagel like "Lenders" which is thawed and served to the masses.

 

I wonder if Celebrity bakes other fresh breads or pastries (ie croissants). 

I'll put cream cheese and smoked salmon on something else if it's freshly baked. 

So true.  I am a ex New Yorker (born and bred) who still has a DD living in the city.  When in NYC we head over to Ess-A-Bagel (on 1st Ave) to stock-up before we drive home.  When the old H&H bagel factory (on 12th Ave) went out of business I cried for days.

 

Hank

[mfs2k]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

So true.  I am a ex New Yorker (born and bred) who still has a DD living in the city.  When in NYC we head over to Ess-A-Bagel (on 1st Ave) to stock-up before we drive home.  When the old H&H bagel factory (on 12th Ave) went out of business I cried for days.

 

Hank

 

Yeah, it was sad when H&H closed.  It's more of an effort now to find a good NY bagel.  Most delis have them delivered from big commercial bakeries.  I have better luck in the suburbs where there are still local bagel places baking them every morning.

[Gonzo70]

8 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

So true.  I am a ex New Yorker (born and bred) who still has a DD living in the city.  When in NYC we head over to Ess-A-Bagel (on 1st Ave) to stock-up before we drive home.  When the old H&H bagel factory (on 12th Ave) went out of business I cried for days.

 

Hank

 

I love Ess-A-Bagel! Great place & bagels.

[boscobeans]

14 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

A good bagel is boiled (preferably in NYC water) then baked and eaten warm, soon after it's come out of the oven. 

 

You're obviously not going to get that on a cruise ship.

 

On a cruise ship, you're going to get a commercial frozen bagel like "Lenders" which is thawed and served to the masses.

 

I wonder if Celebrity bakes other fresh breads or pastries (ie croissants). 

I'll put cream cheese and smoked salmon on something else if it's freshly baked. 

 

I have seen the baking area and can say they bake just about all their breads and rolls on board. I think certain items like bagels and hamburger / hot dog rolls are purchased due to the difficulty. I have no answer for croissants since they are fairly difficult to produce however they are very expensive to buy pre-made and their are thousands on every ship.

[dkjretired]

16 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

Yeah, it was sad when H&H closed.  It's more of an effort now to find a good NY bagel.  Most delis have them delivered from big commercial bakeries.  I have better luck in the suburbs where there are still local bagel places baking them every morning.

 

We had that in New Jersey, one of the big commercial bakeries in the town I worked in. We used to go in there at 4 in the morning, eat a couple hot and then take the rest home. Where I live in Pa we have two great bagel shops that make their own but then it’s a college town with lots of kids from Jersey and NY.