Do you think X is intentionally decreasing the food quality so you'll go to the specialty restaurants?

[KKB]

23 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

On a recent FB sailing group, one person said the food quality went down and the post blew up with comment, my guess is about 70% agreeing and 30% disagreeing.  I have sailed many times since the restart and it does indeed continue to decline.  Instead of vague blanket statements many post on here, I'll post specifics for the worst three offenders:

1.  Mast grill:  Hot dog is inedible and the burger while edible is flavorless and not worth the calories...RCL and Carnival shouldn't be able to make better burger and dogs as X but they clearly do

2.  MDR/Buffet baked desserts:  Cakes are flavorless, except for the peanut butter cookies or the Eden Cafe, all cookies are worse than Chips Ahoy

3.  MDR/Buffet meats:  Bland and not tender; often poultry dishes are way overcooked and often the steaks appearing looking medium rare (for example) are as tough and chewy as if it was cooked well done...Land based chain restaurants produce far better meats

 

Good thing we don't cruise for the food, the foods greatest value to us is its convenience

Huh, haven't noticed this at all. 

We have cruised Celebrity 4x since start up last summer.

Mast Grill has been really good on every cruise!

I don't eat flour-based desserts, DH rarely does either so can't comment.

I find Celebrity buffet & MDR to be the best of the lines we have sailed. 

E-class MDR's are FANTASTIC...but we LOVE Eden so it is a must do, and want to try Le Voyage & Chefs table on the Beyond.

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by KKB

[KKB]

16 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

Seeing 18 eggs for over 8$ at our lowest cost grocery store in the area opened my eyes, I only shop Costco usually and I know meat prices, etc are up. 

 

I first thought--WTH do you live?

Then I realized when I went to the grocery store last week eggs had gone from $1.50 to $3.50/dozen at Aldi--WOAH!

Just looked at Hyvee....yep, $7.50/18!

 

[Kelownadon]

Our last sailing was on the Apex in October. We ate mostly in the OVC as we like to eat outside at the back of the ship and don’t really like the formal sit down type of dinner except a few times on a cruise. With about a hundred plus choices at the buffet, I easily found plenty of items that kept me very happy, especially the East Indian food, with no complaints whatsoever. As far as Cafe Al Baccio, I love the lemon tarts but have to agree in previous years they were somewhat better. Breakfast in the OVC to me cannot be beat. Eggs benedict (hot eggs emphasis added haha) on the back deck is heaven versus sitting inside somewhere. And yes there are potatoes available that I like as well as many other choices. 

[aggiejd2000]

We cruised with X three times this year, once in Concierge Class and two times in Aqua Class.

 

We found the entrees in MDR to be unacceptable.  The steaks were not cooked correctly.  Almost all the proteins were constantly accompanied by carrots, broccoli, and potatoes.  Don't ever get any dessert called a crumble because it's never baked correctly.  It's always pale. 

 

Blu is better than the MDR.  If you like fish, you'll be pleased with Blu.  I was always happy with any seared tuna dish I ordered rare.  The other fish dishes came out with crispy skin, most of the time.  The veggie sides were more varied.  The steaks were cooked correctly.  Blu has its own kitchen so I'm not surprised that the quality control is better than the MDR.  That, plus the variety, makes Blu a step up from the MDR. 

 

We haven't specialty dined for quite a while since X bumped up the prices significantly.  But on the Reflection, we tried The Porch one evening.  It was $30/pp and we paid an extra $15 for the "seafood tower."  Anyone who's actually ordered a seafood tower at a seafood restaurant would not call what we received a seafood tower.  We got a platter with one small lobster tail that was split in two, some shrimp cocktail that's normally served elsewhere, some quarter--sized scallops, some mussels, and some chopped up seafood mix.  We ordered the lobster roll and no one who's ever had an actual lobster roll would call that a lobster roll.  There were tiny bits of lobster mixed with lots of mayo and celery and onions.  We also ordered steamed mussels but they were not fresh but mussels that were in a half shell.  The tuna tartare was passable but the wanton chips were stale. The hamachi crudo was the best of the dishes we ordered.  The desserts were not good.  After the mandatory tip, we paid about $85 for a dinner that was not much better than what we could have eaten at Blu.  The ambiance was nice but that was about it.  If our experience at The Porch is representative, I don't think we'll be spending any money at the specialty dining restaurants.  Fellow passengers have also told us that the specialty restaurants aren't worth it.   

 

TLDR:  No, I don't think that X is decreasing food quality to push people into specialty dining because specialty dining doesn't seem much better.  Rather, it seems to be more an issue of cost savings and staffing shortages.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

Huh, haven't noticed this at all. 

We have cruised Celebrity 4x since start up last summer.

Mast Grill has been really good on every cruise!

I don't eat flour-based desserts, DH rarely does either so can't comment.

I find Celebrity buffet & MDR to be the best of the lines we have sailed. 

E-class MDR's are FANTASTIC...but we LOVE Eden so it is a must do, and want to try Le Voyage & Chefs table on the Beyond.

 

 

Everyone has different tastes yet I do not see lines at the Mast Grill, a couple have told me when the pool bar is busy they head to the mast bar for a drink.  I always see lines at Guys burgers on Carnival

[weregoingcruising]

23 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

The decrease in food quality does not drive me to specialty restaurants, it’s just another reason to stay home.

You haven't tasted my wife cooking.

[Lastdance]

I was actually told by a crew member that the food is pretty much the same except for how it is presented. I hope this statement was a little lost in translation, but after reading this thread, I am not sure about the entire fleet. The choices available were my biggest concern, as I do not eat duck.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Lastdance

[KKB]

9 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Everyone has different tastes yet I do not see lines at the Mast Grill, a couple have told me when the pool bar is busy they head to the mast bar for a drink.  I always see lines at Guys burgers on Carnival

Everyone does have different tastes. 

There were lines at lunch on Equinox in Nov.

And we all know that it can be specific to a ship or even a sailing. 

On Caribbean Princess in July gluten free pizza was GREAT the 1st week & horrid the 2nd. Not so good on Discovery in Sept. I know the maitre de said they didn't have all they needed the 1st week so couldn't always make what I wanted in the MDR (perhaps all the GF flour had to be sent to the pizza place!), but the 2nd week they were fantastic in the MDR.

 

 

[GeorgesGal]

23 hours ago, LGW59 said:

   So I thought HMMM, OK I can do this. WRONG!  Decided to try it for breakfast, scrambled eggs(??), sausage, hash browns and pineapple and watermelon.  The pineapple and watermelon were good...honestly the eggs, sausage, hash browns, OMG they were inedible, I tried a taste of each and left the rest on the plate.  

Note to anyone wanting scrambled eggs:  If that is what you want, go to the omelette station where they will make them with REAL EGGS, not the kind that comes from a container prepared off-ship, and probably not under specs from the cruise line.  And sausage and hash brown are something to stay away from on any cruise line.  Stick with bacon (but that can sometimes be iffy as well.

These rules are for all the main stream cruise lines.  If followed, you most likely won't be disappointed.

 

Donna

[Gracie115]

On the Apex in November we found the Mast Grill to be pretty lousy.  The size of the burger was larger than it used to be but it was tasteless.  We liked the "old" burgers very much, but we just didn't bother going back after trying it on Apex.  As someone else noted I didn't see the lines for this venue that we used to see on other sailings in the past.

 

Luminae service was outstanding as always but there were several disappointing entrees.  We are due to be back on Apex in April and we plan on exploring other options than Luminae, whether it's because we're just tired of the menu or it wasn't as good in the past I can't say but it's time to try other venues.  

[phoenix_dream]

Been on about 15 cruises since restart. On most cruises food quality was slightly less but still good. Portion sizes have definitely decreased but I never went hungry. I think a lot of the reported quality issues are due to inexperienced staff. In order to stay afloat, passenger loads increased way faster than staff could keep up, especially since later last year. Affected service and quality overall.  Lots of new staff on every cruise we sailed. I think some of this will work out in time as the staff gets more experience.  

[JKeenan70]

I’m just off Eclipse and food was fantastic in MDR, 

[drakes2]

On 1/1/2023 at 4:31 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

On a recent FB sailing group, one person said the food quality went down and the post blew up with comment, my guess is about 70% agreeing and 30% disagreeing.  I have sailed many times since the restart and it does indeed continue to decline.  Instead of vague blanket statements many post on here, I'll post specifics for the worst three offenders:

1.  Mast grill:  Hot dog is inedible and the burger while edible is flavorless and not worth the calories...RCL and Carnival shouldn't be able to make better burger and dogs as X but they clearly do

2.  MDR/Buffet baked desserts:  Cakes are flavorless, except for the peanut butter cookies or the Eden Cafe, all cookies are worse than Chips Ahoy

3.  MDR/Buffet meats:  Bland and not tender; often poultry dishes are way overcooked and often the steaks appearing looking medium rare (for example) are as tough and chewy as if it was cooked well done...Land based chain restaurants produce far better meats

 

Good thing we don't cruise for the food, the foods greatest value to us is its convenience

Can't comment on hot dogs as never tried one. Had a burger once took a bite and threw out. Doesn't come close to what I cook on my barbecue at home or any land based restaurant.

Don't like the sliced meats in buffet too high in sodium and flavorless.  Same goes for the cakes in the buffet they look beautiful but taste awful. Much rather bake my own at home; no comparison.  I'm spoiled by good home cooked food. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

Can't comment on hot dogs as never tried one. Had a burger once took a bite and threw out. Doesn't come close to what I cook on my barbecue at home or any land based restaurant.

Don't like the sliced meats in buffet too high in sodium and flavorless.  Same goes for the cakes in the buffet they look beautiful but taste awful. Much rather bake my own at home; no comparison.  I'm spoiled by good home cooked food. 

 

Most people do not enjoy the mast grill or X's baked desserts.  People say try the desserts at Café al Bacio (CaB) because they're free but most items (specifically the cakes) just aren't good and I could only imagine the backlash if they started charging for them.  I spend a lot of time at CaB with my laptop and often see half eaten desserts left on plates on tables and do NOT ever see people go back for seconds.  Where you see people go back for seconds (or thirds) is the Eden Cafe for their cookies and brownies

[drakes2]

28 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Most people do not enjoy the mast grill or X's baked desserts.  People say try the desserts at Café al Bacio (CaB) because they're free but most items (specifically the cakes) just aren't good and I could only imagine the backlash if they started charging for them.  I spend a lot of time at CaB with my laptop and often see half eaten desserts left on plates on tables and do NOT ever see people go back for seconds.  Where you see people go back for seconds (or thirds) is the Eden Cafe for their cookies and brownies

I've heard guests rave about the burgers at mast grill so had to try for myself. They do smell good when getting a whiff while laying out by pool.  I didn't think they had enough toppings to mask the taste.  Had better burgers on carnival at Guy Fieri when I cruised with young grandkids.  As far as desserts and pastries can't come close to the European pastries; maybe its the butter they use. 

[lorimay]

I think food is so subjective that it's hard to comment on individual items but overall we find the food is definitely lower quality than pre-pandemic.

 

We spent 21 days on Beyond in October and just came back from a short cruise on Summit. On both cruises, there was a lack of quality in the Oceanview. The Indian food always looks good and there were limited Asian dishes (the same noodles every day with a different name). The fried chicken was unrecognizable pieces - the legs looked the same as the thighs? or whatever other pieces they were. You can always get plain food like a fresh salad, a sandwich, a thin grilled steak, grilled chicken breast, etc. But there isn't anything "fancy" or exciting on the buffet. And the sad part was that the dining room food was no better quality than the buffet. The beef stroganoff I had on the last night was so chewy it was inedible. The cheese ravioli the first night were clearly from frozen. One night the waiter waved off my husband from the Thai coconut soup - he said "I've served it many times and failed every time". Also, the service is so slow (Summit was better than Beyond because they weren't as short staffed) that the old days of extra lobster tails or a double something because you enjoyed it are long gone. It's simply not an option unless you are willing to sit there forever.  My problem with the burgers is that they are so dry and compressed with fillers that they don't even taste like beef.

 

Meanwhile, forget breakfast in the main dining room. All you are getting is the same buffet food except delivered to your table. There is absolutely no difference.

 

I'm sure the food is better if you eat in Luminae or Blu but that's not us. On Beyond we ate in Fine Cut one night and although the steaks were much better quality than the dining room or buffet, the sides were extremely disappointing. 

 

I think part of our problem is that we did two Oceania cruises last year and while there were many things we did not like about Oceania and they didn't have a huge selection at their buffet, the quality of the food was so superior we are having a hard time going back to Celebrity.

 

The good news about Celebrity is that no matter how bad the food is, the people serving it are always friendly and trying their very best to make you happy!

[fuinseog]

Just off Reflection. Husband and I (and our picky kid) commented multiple times on the quality of the buffet. Were there a few dry meats and bland cakes? Yes. Was the majority very good? Yes. Especially the Indian meals. Seriously, full of flavor, and surprising for the buffet.

 

We ate at Lawn Club twice, and it was definitely better than the buffet but… this cruise was the first time I thought that the disparity between buffet, MDR, and specialties was not as dramatic as I previously thought. Desserts were markedly better at the Lawn Club Grill, though.

[cgolf1]

41 minutes ago, fuinseog said:

Just off Reflection. Husband and I (and our picky kid) commented multiple times on the quality of the buffet. Were there a few dry meats and bland cakes? Yes. Was the majority very good? Yes. Especially the Indian meals. Seriously, full of flavor, and surprising for the buffet.

 

We ate at Lawn Club twice, and it was definitely better than the buffet but… this cruise was the first time I thought that the disparity between buffet, MDR, and specialties was not as dramatic as I previously thought. Desserts were markedly better at the Lawn Club Grill, though.

Last February on the Constellation the Indian food was amazing in the buffet. I think the Lamb Curry may have been the best bite of food I have had on a cruise ship. Hoping for the best this year on the Edge. Will be a lot more people than the slightly less than 600 on the Constellation. 

[drakes2]

6 hours ago, fuinseog said:

Was the majority very good? Yes. Especially the Indian meals. Seriously, full of flavor, and surprising for the buffet.

You'll find the Indian food in general very good on Celebrity as there are a lot of Indian chefs. The food is very tasty as they add a lot of spices. I always order the masala potatoes when it's on the MDR menu. Some nights I just feel like a meatless dinner.  I also make a chick pea curry at home just use instead of meat.  Full of protein. 

[woostergirl]

Was on Beyond Dec 18-26 in a Sky Suite. Luminae was usually terrific but what makes it really special is the service. (I stayed away from the Cobb salad in Luminae.) The waiters were always friendly and helpful and usually funny too. Loved the bread basket constantly circulating and the attentive sommelier. The food is very good but also rich. We also liked that there were minimal lines.

 

The MDRs were also very good. In particular, the Tuscan pork chop at the Italian restaurant was so good, I'd go back just to eat that one dish! My husband had the lamb shank at lunch at Cosmopolitan and he said it was the best lamb shank he's ever had. The main dining dishes were very good and there was always something to pick from. I guess the menu is smaller than before, but is still quite extensive.

 

We only ate at two specialty restaurants on our 8 night cruise, Le Voyage and Le Petit Chef (we have kids). Le Voyage was excellent.The service very good (with all the niceties of an upscale restaurant like synchronized presentation of the dishes. The food was excellent, we had the regular menu and we were able to order two appetizers each. LPC has the best wine pairing deal on the ship! $25/person for four tastings...heavy pours too. Highly recommend it!

 

I guess I'm catching the Celebrity wave on the ride down, but in comparison to our cruises this year on Royal and Princess, the dining room food on Beyond...was beyond the other two, hands down.

 

My 7 year old discovered his love of croissants on this cruise. Luminae serves larger ones but he will also grab a few from the buffet.

 

The Indian food at the buffet was great! Loved the papadam bread...so good! The service at the buffet was the worst. We ended up grabbing a table by a beverage station because no one came by to ask what you would like. In this regard, Princess's buffet service was much better and even Royal's was better.

[padgman1]

11 hours ago, drakes2 said:

You'll find the Indian food in general very good on Celebrity as there are a lot of Indian chefs. The food is very tasty as they add a lot of spices. I always order the masala potatoes when it's on the MDR menu. Some nights I just feel like a meatless dinner.  I also make a chick pea curry at home just use instead of meat.  Full of protein. 

Just let me (us) know when dinnertime is, I (we) will bring the wine ( California Cab, yes?)...

[mac66]

To answer the original question I don't think X has lowered food quality to push people toward specialty restaurants. I think the quality has gone down however and will continue to go down due to Inflation, supply chain issues, recession, whatever.

 

Note>We were on the RCI Explorer in early Dec '22 and the food and service was ,much better than the 3 X cruises we took in 2022 and pretty much par with 2019 BC  (Before Covid).

[rj59]

I try to find what's best on each ship, and go with that. So on Solstice I gravitated towards salads and Indian in the buffet, I ignored their desserts (except for baclava at lunch on Greek day), and stuck with their strength, which is the variety of ice creams. In the MDR I like their salmon, which is basic, pasta is always a reliable option, and I've tried a couple of vegetarian options I found tasty, like butternut farroto and mushroom risotto. Oh, and I like the variety of butters on X. The only good cookies I've had were on Ovation of the Seas, because they made them fresh in the buffet area, so I could get them hot out of the oven, but a few pastries like lemon tarts are fine in Al Bacio. I only eat pizza on Princess, and only burgers on Carnival or HAL. I'm fairly new to Celebrity, and was a little off-put by the subtle and not-so-subtle attempts to get people to buy or upgrade packages, but as on all cruise lines, I resist the nudges and sales pitches, particularly when there are shore options for drinks, wifi, and excursions, and I'm happy to let gamblers, drinkers, foodies, wine-lovers, 'art' buyers, suite residents, and photo purchasers subsidize my cruise. 

[Guest]

It’s not just Celebrity who are making these cuts- it’s the whole industry. I travelled on P&O Azura (British cruise line) over Christmas last year and we were served tinned carrots with our Christmas dinner. Our Silhouette cruise 2 months later was a vast improvement, even if there had been small changes since Covid. 
 

I’ve sailed on 2 X cruises in the past year, one Caribbean, on Med, both Solstice class, both standard balcony. Didn’t notice a difference in quality in either. The only things I felt missing from pre-Covid were the sparkling wine on arrival, the sea day buffet in the MDR (sushi!!!!), and price increases to the speciality dining. I don’t eat seafood so can’t comment on the quality, but they are still the best “mainstream” cruise line in terms of standard food offerings. My family have tried Princess, P&O and RCI since the Covid restart, and Celebrity still has the best food overall. 
 

I remember on my first cruise in 2007 getting Chateaubriand in the MDR!!! (Princess) 

[temerarious]

Obviously, this is a very subjective topic, but I wanted to share my recent experience.  I'm just off the Infinity as of January 2nd, and I thought the food in the MDR was outstanding.  (I've recently been on two Viking Ocean cruises, and in my opinion, the Celebrity dining room food was better.)  Prior to this trip, my last Celebrity cruise was in September 2019 (also on Infinity), and I was extremely disappointed with the food on that cruise.  I noticed a significant improvement on this trip.  There are obviously many factors in play, and I can't know how things compare from ship to ship, but I during the recent cruise I commented several times to my traveling companion that the food was surprisingly good.  I'm not intending to dismiss anyone else's experience, but I thought I should share my perspective for those booked on future trips just to offer another viewpoint.

 

On another note, however, we ate at the Tuscan Grille, and I truly found it horrible.  I couldn't even finish multiple items that I ordered.  The sushi was great and Le Petite Chef very consistent from past experiences, but I will not pay $50+ per person to eat at Tuscan Grille ever again.