Food Cost and Quality?

[mfs2k]

Each Celebrity sailing likely has a food cost budget per passenger and per crew member. The Food and Beverage departments would be held accountable for achieving these budgets through purchasing, menu design, portion control, storage procedures, and waste management.

 

With inflation and rising costs over the years, obviously the food cost per passenger has risen in dollars but I'm curious what long time Celebrity guests think how the costs, adjusted for inflation, have changed over the years?

 

Have you seen portion sizes increase or decrease?  Is the buffet more plentiful now compared to years ago, or have they cut back?  Is the overall quality of meat and fish better or worse than years ago? Are the steaks as good as they used to be in the included restaurants? Have they cut back on high food cost offerings such as lobster?

 

My thought is by offering more specialty restaurants at an additional cost, Celebrity is moving guests out of included dining rooms into spaces where the food and labor costs are now paid for, so that helps the bottom line. 

But the flip side is they are giving away a lot of on-board credit, to entice bookings, and many use that for the specialty restaurants. Who knows how busy those restaurants would be if everyone was paying cash rather than free credits. 

 

What do you think?  Has the all inclusive food experience improved or gone down hill over the past 30 years and how?

[Nachosdelux]

you really need to ask this question?  Of course it has gone down.  Anyone that cruised 10, 20 or 30 years ago will tell you that.

[kywildcatfanone]

We have seen lots of downgrades in quality and portions since we started cruising in 2006.  That will continue regardless of costs, as all businesses are first and foremost looking  to cut costs in everything they do.

[bookitdanno]

43 minutes ago, Nachosdelux said:

you really need to ask this question?  Of course it has gone down.  Anyone that cruised 10, 20 or 30 years ago will tell you that.

And that is true of all cruise lines not unique to Celebrity. 

 

[canderson]

Perhaps it was a function of 'supply chain' issues at the time, but the cuts of meat we enjoyed on our last Celebrity cruise (Nov 21) were a cut above what we expected.  Steaks you could cut with a fork, juicy pork chops an inch think - also could cut with a fork.  We were pleasantly surprised.

 

[hcat]

This is quite obvious since X became Royalized and adopted that culture.  Lower standards all around,

 

The watchword always  was that  X would exceed expectations..Now we have reduced expectations! Still a nice product but no longer amazing! Just look at food  photos and recent posts....2 asparagus on a plate...

[JDPCruisers]

On Apex last April and for the most part the food was excellent. Found the MDR's on the same, if not higher, level at times as Luminae. We're on Infinity this Saturday, so will be interesting if our Apex experience remains the same on Infinity.  Have a 3 day specialty dining package so we'll see how Tuscan and Sushi on 5 are, as well. 

[realnice46]

Food on our recent cruise was awful. No excuses for Celebrity, prices for cruise have gone way up and quality as to food way down. Also heard lots of complaints as to specialty dining.

[d9704011]

I don't know about the cost of the food but we got off the Celebrity Reflection this morning after a 10 day cruise and thought the quality of the food and meal preparation in MDR and buffet to be top-notch.  We did not go to any specialty restaurants.

[Jim_Iain]

For many reason I've seen on my 3 cruises in the last 2 months that things are definitely different.

 

Liquor -  Many top brands and Premium Wines are not available.   Much of this is due to supply chain issues.  In fact if you google on Crown Royal you will find due to Covid their complete inventory was consumed and they are waiting for new supply to age.

 

Luminae - We were on Summit and felt the food quality and preparation was some of the best we have had on Celebrity.  Maybe the Chief.     There were some menu items changed due to availability but on our New England cruise the Food and Beverage Manager   who we sat next to us on a Zenith lunch said he sourced the Lobster with Canadian Lobster instead of warm weather lobster.

 

Ocean View - only ate there a couple  times and was disappointed with the quality and selection.   example -  they usually have a nice cheese layout at lunch with about 8 different types of cheese  on the full 5 weeks we were on the ship they just had Cheddar, Provolone and Swiss.   Cold cut selection were also limited.    Pizza they only had the same 3 types every day.   Ice Cream selections were not of the range that was normally offered.      At the grill where you order chicken, fish or beef the chicken was like shoe leather.  

 

The ships are short staffed due to problems getting enough staff -  very obvious at bars and dining spots.    On our sailing they only had 3 butlers to handle all the Suites instead of 5.   Bring your patients but the staff really try to go above and beyond to please.

[JDPCruisers]

That's not a lot of Butler's across all the suites. Hoping Infinity is fully staffed with Butlers, but we are easy and don't ask for much. Guess my late-night pizza fix may be limited if the same holds true on Infinity!

[mfs2k]

Am I the only one who finds it fascinating that some people say the food is awful and others say it’s top notch ?

[mfs2k]

3 hours ago, Nachosdelux said:

 

you really need to ask this question?

 

Would you prefer I ask if passengers can do their  own laundry on board a Celebrity ship or if I can bring wine with me onboard?

 

[BigAl94]

5 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

Am I the only one who finds it fascinating that some people say the food is awful and others say it’s top notch ?

Depends what you are used to and what you expect. In recent years nothing I have had on a cruise ship even comes close to good restaurants in my home country so the food is not a high point, nevertheless disappointing that it has reduced in quality so much over the past couple of decades.

[JDPCruisers]

It does me, as our experience across both RC and X over the last 6 years has been very good to excellent (not counting the buffets). Not a fan of Raw on 5 but that was one experience and as compared to Izumi on RC. We'll find out about Sushi on 5 next week. We've even thought the room service has been good. I would like to say maybe it's because we're easy, but we have dined in some of the finest restaurants over the years across the US and I really can't complain about the food and services overall in the specialty and dedicated restaurants on-board.  

[dlh015]

34 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

Am I the only one who finds it fascinating that some people say the food is awful and others say it’s top notch ?

Not fascinating at all to me...just normal. I think you could have picked almost any aspect of cruising  and have the same sort of result. We all have our own subjective view of things. Just my opinion...

[jwlane]

3 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

We have seen ... downgrades in ... portions 

I don't recall ever being denied as much of something as desired.

[Loracpin2]

37 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

Not fascinating at all to me...just normal. I think you could have picked almost any aspect of cruising  and have the same sort of result. We all have our own subjective view of things. Just my opinion...

 

After almost 30 Celebrity cruises, the cruises we have taken since RCI bought Celebrity, I do agree the food (with the exception of Retreat and Specialty restaurants) .... is just normal.

 

The food on ALL Celebrity (no Specialty restaurants and some without balconies) Ships in Service until 1997 when RCI bougth them out was..... FANTASTIC! 

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

 

After almost 30 Celebrity cruises, the cruises we have taken since RCI bought Celebrity, I do agree the food (with the exception of Retreat and Specialty restaurants) .... is just normal.

 

The food on ALL Celebrity (no Specialty restaurants and some without balconies) Ships in Service until 1997 when RCI bougth them out was..... FANTASTIC! 

 

Why do you think they changed the quality level?  Just cost cutting for profit? or was it an intentional move to bring Celebrity to the masses at an affordable price point? 

[ScottC4746]

9 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Each Celebrity sailing likely has a food cost budget per passenger and per crew member. The Food and Beverage departments would be held accountable for achieving these budgets through purchasing, menu design, portion control, storage procedures, and waste management.

 

With inflation and rising costs over the years, obviously the food cost per passenger has risen in dollars but I'm curious what long time Celebrity guests think how the costs, adjusted for inflation, have changed over the years?

 

Have you seen portion sizes increase or decrease?  Is the buffet more plentiful now compared to years ago, or have they cut back?  Is the overall quality of meat and fish better or worse than years ago? Are the steaks as good as they used to be in the included restaurants? Have they cut back on high food cost offerings such as lobster?

 

My thought is by offering more specialty restaurants at an additional cost, Celebrity is moving guests out of included dining rooms into spaces where the food and labor costs are now paid for, so that helps the bottom line. 

But the flip side is they are giving away a lot of on-board credit, to entice bookings, and many use that for the specialty restaurants. Who knows how busy those restaurants would be if everyone was paying cash rather than free credits. 

 

What do you think?  Has the all inclusive food experience improved or gone down hill over the past 30 years and how?

September Solstice was our first cruise.  We loved MDR portions and quality as well as variety.  Buffet it was the same ole same ole for breakfast and lunch.

[canderson]

8 hours ago, canderson said:

Perhaps it was a function of 'supply chain' issues at the time, but the cuts of meat we enjoyed on our last Celebrity cruise (Nov 21) were a cut above what we expected.  Steaks you could cut with a fork, juicy pork chops an inch think - also could cut with a fork.  We were pleasantly surprised.

 

I should perhaps qualify this by saying that we ate in Luminae the majority of the time, two event dinners and one specialty dinner, but that amazing pork chop came off the MDR menu.

[LGW59]

35 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

September Solstice was our first cruise.  We loved MDR portions and quality as well as variety.  Buffet it was the same ole same ole for breakfast and lunch.

If we’re honest, there really is only so much that can be done with a buffet.

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

We have seen lots of downgrades in quality and portions since we started cruising in 2006.  That will continue regardless of costs, as all businesses are first and foremost looking  to cut costs in everything they do.

  

We have had the opposite on portion size.   We don't like large meals and find it a turn off when a plate is piled high.   We often ask for a 1/2 portion or a appetizer as a main course and even then they try to super size it until we get to know the server.  

[ScottC4746]

13 hours ago, LGW59 said:

If we’re honest, there really is only so much that can be done with a buffet.

Having majored in Hotel and Restaurant management, buffets are very very difficult to control quality.  

Eggs become rubbery especially fried eggs

Meats dry out

Everything else becomes cold even with the steam tables. (Hint, stir from the bottom before you serve, it is warm then) 

[LGW59]

3 hours ago, ScottC4746 said:

Having majored in Hotel and Restaurant management, buffets are very very difficult to control quality.  

Eggs become rubbery especially fried eggs

Meats dry out

Everything else becomes cold even with the steam tables. (Hint, stir from the bottom before you serve, it is warm then) 

I recall the first time I stayed at Wynn Las Vegas, everyone told me that I had to try the most incredible buffet there.  Well I did and I still felt like I was eating leftovers reheated from last nights dinner.  Certainly was not horrible but just something I’d not ever spend the $$$ on again.  Just not a buffet person, especially on a cruise where there are so many other, IMO, much better options.