Oceanview Cafe dinner service being eliminated?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

7 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I think MSG got a bad rap years ago.  The FDA considers it as Generally Regarded As Safe.  I understand that many people still avoid it and that's certainly fine with me.  Personally, I use it in savory dishes and find it enhances the flavor. ymmv

 

Of course, that's the same FDA which still allows certain food colorings other nations have banned.

 

Tom

[Ex-Airbalancer]

13 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

It is everywhere and in too many products! Often listed under other names

In Canada, glutaminase is regulated as a food additive and must be declared on food labels in the list of ingredients. Although MSG is not regulated as a food additive, it must also be declared in the list of ingredients. This is the case even when it is part of flavouring preparations, spice mixtures, food flavour-enhancer preparations or other preparations or mixtures.

[mnocket]

4 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Of course, that's the same FDA which still allows certain food colorings other nations have banned.

 

Tom

One could also say it's the same FDA that recommends the Moderna Covid vaccine for demographics that other countries banned (i.e. many European countries).  I'm by no means anti-vaccine (fully vaccinated and boosted) - just illustrating that these things are very nuanced.  Each person needs to make their own decisions on these matters.  I like to use MSG.  I also like to eat peanuts.  In both cases others have very good reasons for avoiding.

[Oceansaway17]

22 hours ago, tfred said:

they like the idea of the night buffet - doesnt mean that they eat at it in enough numbers to keep it going with the previous amount of food.  

 

walking through I would see some crew and some pax.  Never crowded by any stretch - not like breakfast or lunch is. X knows how much food they were throwing away 

well on RCI ships the buffet does get a pretty good size crowd enough to keep open IMHO

[drowelf]

I really wonder how this is going to go over with a small subset of cruisers. As we meet new folks on every cruise, I found that about 1 out of 10 NEVER eat in the MDR. They don't even bring appropriate clothes for the MDR which I can understand. If we did not eat in the MDR I would never pack dress pants or shoes or shirts with buttons. Well maybe a couple of polo type pull overs with 2 or 3 buttons 😁.  It would be jeans and sneakers all the time. The DW would not have to pack any of her dressier clothes either. 

[davekathy]

11 minutes ago, drowelf said:

I really wonder how this is going to go over with a small subset of cruisers. As we meet new folks on every cruise, I found that about 1 out of 10 NEVER eat in the MDR. They don't even bring appropriate clothes for the MDR which I can understand. If we did not eat in the MDR I would never pack dress pants or shoes or shirts with buttons. Well maybe a couple of polo type pull overs with 2 or 3 buttons 😁.  It would be jeans and sneakers all the time. The DW would not have to pack any of her dressier clothes either. 

Jeans are acceptable according to Celebrity's suggested dress guidelines for the MDR in the evening.  Dockers and polo/golf style shirts, every evening are also acceptable. Also the suggested dress guidelines states nothing about sneakers.

Edited January 13, 2023 by davekathy

[bonagrad]

9 minutes ago, drowelf said:

I really wonder how this is going to go over with a small subset of cruisers. As we meet new folks on every cruise, I found that about 1 out of 10 NEVER eat in the MDR. They don't even bring appropriate clothes for the MDR which I can understand. If we did not eat in the MDR I would never pack dress pants or shoes or shirts with buttons. Well maybe a couple of polo type pull overs with 2 or 3 buttons 😁.  It would be jeans and sneakers all the time. The DW would not have to pack any of her dressier clothes either. 

That's still 10%.  If you took the capacity of an Edge Class, that would be 340 people a night, plus say, just for fun, another 5% per night that decide not to eat at the MDR or specialty restaurant.  That over 500 people a night spread across 3 hours.  Scale back on the amount of food, sure, but I think they went too far.  With the Mast Grill and Spa Cafe closed, you've given 15% of the capacity few options.

Edited January 13, 2023 by bonagrad

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

I think the reason why I hate pork and beans is as a kid my parents had very little money and too often we had canned baked beans with those canned Vienna sausages and I thought the whole dish was horrible. For the same reasons I will never eat SPAM.

 

I grew up in a similar situation.  If you were eating the beans and Vienna sausages, you likely had Braunschweiger sandwiches for lunch. I can still do the pork and beans but I can't bring muself to go back to the Braunschweiger,

[shopping is fun]

We are just a few days past final payment on our first Celebrity cruise and quite frankly would have seriously considered switching back to Royal Caribbean, given these reported OV changes. We absolutely LOVE their buffets for dinner, as we have carb and dairy restrictions, plus we prefer the casual atmosphere. (It also allows for social distancing with the ever-present possibility of COVID!)  As others have said, the set menus in the dining rooms do not appeal to us.  If I want a plateful of cauliflower or broccoli, with a dab of other foods, I am free to do so at the buffet. I can select something that is not swimming in sauce or butter.

 

That said, I am wondering if anyone has had any direct feedback from Celebrity if they posed this as a major issue, impacting their desire to sail with Celebrity, but being committed since final payments were made. Does Celebrity offer any exceptions to cancellation policies, or have they offered OBC to eat at Specialty restaurants (these don't interest us either, as choices are even more limited!) Have they said they would review these cutbacks and perhaps restore some food choices in a few weeks, or perhaps some other complimentary venues might stay open in the evenings, or... are they sympathetic at all?  

[LGW59]

24 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Jeans are acceptable according to Celebrity's suggested dress guidelines for the MDR in the evening.  Dockers and polo/golf style shirts, every evening are also acceptable. Also the suggested dress guidelines states nothing about sneakers.

and if they ban my "hey dudes" I will be fighting mad

[bonagrad]

3 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

and if they ban my "hey dudes" I will be fighting mad

I discovered Hey Dudes last year and I love them!

Edited January 13, 2023 by bonagrad

[Ex-Airbalancer]

14 minutes ago, shopping is fun said:

We are just a few days past final payment on our first Celebrity cruise and quite frankly would have seriously considered switching back to Royal Caribbean, given these reported OV changes. We absolutely LOVE their buffets for dinner, as we have carb and dairy restrictions, plus we prefer the casual atmosphere. (It also allows for social distancing with the ever-present possibility of COVID!)  As others have said, the set menus in the dining rooms do not appeal to us.  If I want a plateful of cauliflower or broccoli, with a dab of other foods, I am free to do so at the buffet. I can select something that is not swimming in sauce or butter.

 

That said, I am wondering if anyone has had any direct feedback from Celebrity if they posed this as a major issue, impacting their desire to sail with Celebrity, but being committed since final payments were made. Does Celebrity offer any exceptions to cancellation policies, or have they offered OBC to eat at Specialty restaurants (these don't interest us either, as choices are even more limited!) Have they said they would review these cutbacks and perhaps restore some food choices in a few weeks, or perhaps some other complimentary venues might stay open in the evenings, or... are they sympathetic at all?  

Our September Arctic TA on the Voyager was a complete disaster compared to disappointing April Apex TA 

The only good thing was the 4 drinks per day , and meeting friends that have seen it years 

our dinner in Giovannis was the worst ever, cold food terrible service , 100% failure

lucky  It was a perk from our travel agent.

[Wakepatrol]

If I was Celebrity I would refund all of these complainers ASAP. Get rid of headaches before they happen 

[LGW59]

20 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

I discovered Hey Dudes last year and I love them!

Same.  A gift from daughter and prefaced with:  "before you open them just know you are not to old for them and you will wear them"

[randomcruise]

10 minutes ago, Wakepatrol said:

If I was Celebrity I would refund all of these complainers ASAP. Get rid of headaches before they happen 

That would require more integrity than Celebrity is currently exhibiting. 

[bnurick]

Just boarded the Edge. The buffet was packed and every station was hopping. Literally had everything I’ve ever seen on their buffet.

 

Did notice TWO types of paella, chicken and a seafood. Looked amazing.

 

2,700 booked with capacity of 3,000. 90%.

[mtnlvr53]

35 minutes ago, shopping is fun said:

We are just a few days past final payment on our first Celebrity cruise and quite frankly would have seriously considered switching back to Royal Caribbean, given these reported OV changes. We absolutely LOVE their buffets for dinner, as we have carb and dairy restrictions, plus we prefer the casual atmosphere. (It also allows for social distancing with the ever-present possibility of COVID!)  As others have said, the set menus in the dining rooms do not appeal to us.  If I want a plateful of cauliflower or broccoli, with a dab of other foods, I am free to do so at the buffet. I can select something that is not swimming in sauce or butter.

 

That said, I am wondering if anyone has had any direct feedback from Celebrity if they posed this as a major issue, impacting their desire to sail with Celebrity, but being committed since final payments were made. Does Celebrity offer any exceptions to cancellation policies, or have they offered OBC to eat at Specialty restaurants (these don't interest us either, as choices are even more limited!) Have they said they would review these cutbacks and perhaps restore some food choices in a few weeks, or perhaps some other complimentary venues might stay open in the evenings, or... are they sympathetic at all?  

I’ve said this before, but I’m currently on the Reflection and the dinner buffet seems fine to me(and I was worried). I have dietary restrictions and I have still found plenty to eat each night we have been there. I don’t remember if they specifically had a bowl of cauliflower (I think they did) but they had fresh salads, fresh fruit, pizza, pasta, a daily “theme” foods, one carving station item most nights, meats and cheeses(although less than lunch) mashed potato’s, grilled veggies, etc and multiple desserts. The chefs have been very accommodating as well. Now maybe the Edge class ships are not as good but this ship is totally fine.

[harz99]

8 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Just boarded the Edge. The buffet was packed and every station was hopping. Literally had everything I’ve ever seen on their buffet.

 

Did notice TWO types of paella, chicken and a seafood. Looked amazing.

 

2,700 booked with capacity of 3,000. 90%.

So if you've just boarded, would that be the lunch buffet you're talking about, or the first evening buffet?

[retird]

Currently on the Equinox.   Ship is full.   OVC has been excellent at breakfast, and lunch.  All stations open.   OVC dinner had a lot of stations closed last night, but there was a hot station of chicken, beef, etc.    pizza, pasta, salad station and desserts  Lots of deserts but not as many as at lunch.    We ate in main dining room and lots of choices and food was excellent as was the service.   No delays.  Only issue I had at main dining room was that there was no separate line if you had reserved your time in advance.   I asked two staff and they said if you have a time booked and you arrive at that time you must wait with all the others in line to be seated.   I asked again today and was told the same thing.  They informed that 6:30 to 8:00 is their busiest time.   They recommended coming at 5:15 to 5:45 . I did and was seated almost immediately.

[twincheryl]

24 minutes ago, shopping is fun said:

We are just a few days past final payment on our first Celebrity cruise and quite frankly would have seriously considered switching back to Royal Caribbean, given these reported OV changes. We absolutely LOVE their buffets for dinner, as we have carb and dairy restrictions, plus we prefer the casual atmosphere. (It also allows for social distancing with the ever-present possibility of COVID!)  As others have said, the set menus in the dining rooms do not appeal to us.  If I want a plateful of cauliflower or broccoli, with a dab of other foods, I am free to do so at the buffet. I can select something that is not swimming in sauce or butter.

 

That said, I am wondering if anyone has had any direct feedback from Celebrity if they posed this as a major issue, impacting their desire to sail with Celebrity, but being committed since final payments were made. Does Celebrity offer any exceptions to cancellation policies, or have they offered OBC to eat at Specialty restaurants (these don't interest us either, as choices are even more limited!) Have they said they would review these cutbacks and perhaps restore some food choices in a few weeks, or perhaps some other complimentary venues might stay open in the evenings, or... are they sympathetic at all?  

I was one of the early ones to email exec office and got a quick call back.  Of course they were very sympathetic and "understanding" and reiterated that they really want feedback, which I will definitely provide after our Apex cruise on 1/28.  We have 7 more cruises booked over the next 24 months.  While I tried to ask the question, it was ignored as she kept saying that "Lisa herself" wants to know how people feel... but I will DEFINITELY ask about Celebrity waiving NRD for cancellation if the OV is not appropriate for our needs.  The rep also said nothing is permanent and always open to change... of course, she was well trained in what to say as everyone else seems to have gotten the same.

 

We are some that NEVER dine in MDR.  Just really like to eat what we want (smaller portions), when we want, wearing jeans and a sweater or something else tasteful but not dressy.  Has nothing to do with cost of specialty dining and we very occasionally go to Sushi/Raw on 5.  No interest in suites with Luminae or Blu dining.

 

We cruised RC got to Diamond and didn't have or want to deal with as many kids.  No desire for big slides, climbing walls, etc. any more.  We have loved Celebrity since then and have given up trying to look for a different or better line.

 

As bonagrad mentioned above, we're not asking for a full return of the OV... it has been limited for dinner since before Covid... but not the drastic change we are hearing about.  It just seems reasonable to provide at least a limited grill station with some protein choices as well as one or two casseroles for those who like those.  Also a couple of fresh, simple cooked veggies, baked potato, rice, etc.  I also suggested that they keep the Mast Grill open for an extra hour, until 7pm.  

 

No way to know at this point how our comments will be received... but our 1/28 cruise will be 3 weeks into the OV cuts, so we'll see if things have changed by then.

 

[lola2013]

12 minutes ago, mtnlvr53 said:

I’ve said this before, but I’m currently on the Reflection and the dinner buffet seems fine to me(and I was worried). I have dietary restrictions and I have still found plenty to eat each night we have been there. I don’t remember if they specifically had a bowl of cauliflower (I think they did) but they had fresh salads, fresh fruit, pizza, pasta, a daily “theme” foods, one carving station item most nights, meats and cheeses(although less than lunch) mashed potato’s, grilled veggies, etc and multiple desserts. The chefs have been very accommodating as well. Now maybe the Edge class ships are not as good but this ship is totally fine.

Thanks for the positive feedback.  We sail on Equinox next month and enjoy half of our dinners in the OVC.  Fixing a plate and eating outdoors is a treat.  Happy to hear that choices are still available.

 

[cw2go]

38 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Just boarded the Edge. The buffet was packed and every station was hopping. Literally had everything I’ve ever seen on their buffet.

 

Did notice TWO types of paella, chicken and a seafood. Looked amazing.

 

2,700 booked with capacity of 3,000. 90%.

 

All of the OVC/buffet cut back concerns are regarding dinner hours. Is your report for lunch or dinner? 

Thanks,

Patty 

[RichYak]

8 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

All of the OVC/buffet cut back concerns are regarding dinner hours. Is your report for lunch or dinner? 

Thanks,

Patty 

Clearly they were referring to lunch and I'm not sure why they posted--unnecessarily confusing the issue.

[kguerriero]

Might be a dumb question, but outside of room service, are there any food options onboard the ships (specifically thinking M-class) open after 10PM? 

Princess had the "International Cafe" (What I would think is an equivalent to El Bacio?) open 24 hours, and while it wasn't much, in addition to pastries they did offer a small selection of paninis and salads in a case available for free at any time. It was a nice late snack, and if Celebrity was able to do something similar, that may take some of the pressure off OVC at dinnertime and later.

[bnurick]

42 minutes ago, harz99 said:

So if you've just boarded, would that be the lunch buffet you're talking about, or the first evening buffet?

 

13 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

All of the OVC/buffet cut back concerns are regarding dinner hours. Is your report for lunch or dinner? 

Thanks,

Patty 

It was lunch. Happy to cruise by and see what dinner has going on if y’all want to know…  What time would be when to go for accuracy?