Awful State of Ocean View Cafe for dinner

[Arubamoose]

This needs to be upfront and out there in a heading of it's own.  I grabbed it from another posting where it was buried.

 

Below is a link to video posted on YouTube from Apex with a detailed walk through of the Oceanview Cafe dinner cutbacks from the Traveling Gamblers who were on a B2B (December and January 2023, and know their OVC offerings):

 

 

 

Very, very sad.  I know that they are trying to save their $$$ but this is just pathetic.

 

I hope that the bean counters at corporate are aware of this bad publicity.  

 

 

[NMTraveller]

Thanks!  This is a very good summary of the cutbacks.  I did not realize that specialty dining was going up also.  I should have guessed.

 

It is a very good view of the OVC in the evenings.

[NMTraveller]

I would have also liked to have seen a full E class ship on their review.  Their first B2B was full and they did not have good things to say about a full E class ship.

 

Many who have not sailed on a full E class ship will not know what we are talking about.

Edited January 15, 2023 by NMTraveller

[jelayne]

13 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Thanks!  This is a very good summary of the cutbacks.  I did not realize that specialty dining was going up also.  I should have guessed.

 

It is a very good view of the OVC in the evenings.

The specialty dining prices increased a late last year.  That was the first of the increases, then drink packages increased, room service charge and most recent I am aware of is the increase in the in room Liquor Set Up.

 

I just booked some reservation for a upcoming Edge cruise and the restaurants are showing the same prices they did in November.

[breadandbutter]

Wow, thanks for the info.

[Oville]

28 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The specialty dining prices increased a late last year.  That was the first of the increases, then drink packages increased, room service charge and most recent I am aware of is the increase in the in room Liquor Set Up.

 

I just booked some reservation for an upcoming Edge cruise and the restaurants are showing the same prices they did in November.

Thanks Jelayne.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Oville

[Cruising89143]

Agree that the prices in specialty dining are the same as a few months ago. 

[bonagrad]

We as consumers need to keep the pressure on Celebrity to come up with a happy medium.  Becoming the worst buffet for dinner, overnight, is a really bad look.  

[Ipeeinthepools]

16 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

We as consumers need to keep the pressure on Celebrity to come up with a happy medium.  Becoming the worst buffet for dinner, overnight, is a really bad look.  

 

Cancel upcoming cruises and send LLP a note telling her why you cancelled.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Ipeeinthepools

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, Arubamoose said:

This needs to be upfront and out there in a heading of it's own.  I grabbed it from another posting where it was buried.

 

Below is a link to video posted on YouTube from Apex with a detailed walk through of the Oceanview Cafe dinner cutbacks from the Traveling Gamblers who were on a B2B (December and January 2023, and know their OVC offerings):

 

 

 

Very, very sad.  I know that they are trying to save their $$$ but this is just pathetic.

 

I hope that the bean counters at corporate are aware of this bad publicity.  

 

 

All of this negative publicity while X is trying to spend big bucks on advertising.  

[81Zoomie]

Thank you for taking the time to document this.  The food options look less appetizing and less healthy than a college cafeteria.  Additionally, the entire Oceanview appeared to be a ghost town.  Perhaps that is the goal.  I am wondering how this will affect wait times in the dining rooms.  This is not what someone would expect from how Celebrity describes itself, a “luxury” cruise line.  The problem is that unless you have very recently sailed or are on Cruise Critic, you are not aware of the changes.  Posts on the more frequented social media sites (we can’t mention here) will help spread the word. Looks like it’s time to write directly to Lisa LP to tell her how disappointing this is. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by 81Zoomie

[Arizona Wildcat]

14 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

All of this negative publicity while X is trying to spend big bucks on advertising.  

Big advertising $$.  Where?  Have seen almost nothing except on the internet.

I in reality can see most of the changes except for the Oceanview cutback.  Obviously trying to move people to the MDR and specialty restaurants. 

[Cruising89143]

Many companies have moved away from TV with advertising. More and more have moved to online advertising on places like YouTube and other streaming areas. I see Celebrity ads multiple times daily on YT. 

[NMTraveller]

5 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Big advertising $$.  Where?  Have seen almost nothing except on the internet.

I in reality can see most of the changes except for the Oceanview cutback.  Obviously trying to move people to the MDR and specialty restaurants. 

I have seen 3 or 4 Celebrity advertisements on TV just today.

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Many companies have moved away from TV with advertising. More and more have moved to online advertising on places like YouTube and other streaming areas. I see Celebrity ads multiple times daily on YT. 

Capt Kate does have some very popular social media accounts 

 

3 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I have seen 3 or 4 Celebrity advertisements on TV just today.

Ditto

[Lena11033]

16 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Many companies have moved away from TV with advertising. More and more have moved to online advertising on places like YouTube and other streaming areas. I see Celebrity ads multiple times daily on YT. 

 

Correct, I work in digital advertising in Canada. There isn't any $ for TV here (or I haven't seen any commercials at least on TV). I do get daily ads on digital platforms like web and mobile apps.

[HeddaGarbled]

Wasn’t the buffet a bit of a ghost town in the evenings anyway prior to this recent change? It doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable to me to try to minimise waste and cut costs in an under-used venue. 

[Lena11033]

4 minutes ago, HeddaGarbled said:

Wasn’t the buffet a bit of a ghost town in the evenings anyway prior to this recent change? It doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable to me to try to minimise waste and cut costs in an under-used venue. 

I don't know if it depends on the ship but when I was on Beyond in the summer I went to OVC to get ice cream and it was dead in there, I did wonder how much of the food went to waste based on how many stations there were to the number of people

[CHEZMARYLOU]

The cut backs to the buffet at dinner don't impact us but I know how disappointed some people are.  What really got me was on our cruise last week on Reflection.  We went to the buffet on a port day for lunch.  Thae only thing I can say about it was "Everything was BROWN" totally unappetizing and we did not eat there or return.

[Jeal]

Several times during a cruise we eat at the buffet for dinner and even with the reduced offerings there appears to be plenty of choices. How much can one person eat and how many choices do you need? It bothers me that so much food is wasted on cruise ships. People take more than they could possibly eat and then it just gets thrown away. 
I would guess less than 10 percent of the passengers eat up there on any given night. We always see a number of staff members. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Jeal

[RealBatman]

I'm surprised that this is an issue. Having done a fair number of cruises, we NEVER eat dinner in the 'cafe'. We have always cruised Aqua and so would not give up Blu for the cafe! But that's ok, obviously there are other people who prefer it.

 

Like Jeal, it bothers me about the waste of food - especially what I've seen in Oceanview cafe at the noon hour. Mom always said: "If you take it, you eat it".

Sorry to hear your needs are not being met. 

[Cruising89143]

9 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

I don't know if it depends on the ship but when I was on Beyond in the summer I went to OVC to get ice cream and it was dead in there, I did wonder how much of the food went to waste based on how many stations there were to the number of people

I was wondering this as well. The video shown shows very few people. One current “live” thread states they stopped counting at 100 so a decent amount of guests. I assume that X knows how many people dine in the OVC on average. If the numbers are indeed low then I can see the change. I haven’t been on Carnival in 18 years but their evening buffet used to be pathetic. A small salad bar, a few meats on the carving table, white rice, fries, gravy and frozen broccoli/cauliflower mix. Really bad. It may have changed but I’m not willing to find out. Not making excuses for X. They need to figure this out and communicate the changes and the reasons why. 

[drowelf]

12 minutes ago, Jeal said:

 We always see a number of staff members. 

I wonder how those folks feel about the reduced offering. Most of the staff that you interact with (CD, Assistants, Bridge Staff, Casino Staff, Entertainers, Shop attendants, etc.) generally eat in the buffet. 

[BermudaBound2014]

I’m currently on the Constellation and can testify that the cutbacks depicted here are a fair representation of the oceanview cafe on Connie.

 

However there are slight differences among the fleet. Example; we have had a pasta station each night. I’d be thrilled with that carved turkey!!! We also have the ice cream counter open for dinner and I didn’t see that in the video.

 

There are cut backs to the MDR menu as well. Tilapia has been the evening fish more than once and Prime Rib was removed from the embarkation menu. Only one evening has sirloin (steak Diane).

[TMLAalum]

The times we've had dinner in the OV were pre-covid after a busy port day of touring. Even then it was barely occupied. When few guests dine there, it makes financial and environmental sense to have limited offerings.