Awful State of Ocean View Cafe for dinner

[Bo1953]

12 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

“Some”?!!?

 = diners

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[Cruzinforpeace***]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Required MDR labor:

1.  Being checked in by a host

2.  Being escorted to your table

3.  Assistant brings bread basket

4.  Assistant fills water glasses

5.  Order your meal from the waiter

6.  Being visited by a Sommelier

7.  Meals brought by assistant, course by course

8.  Bussing dirty dishes, course by course

9.  Checking up "how was your meal?"

10.  Various unexpected surprises such as an entree being sent back and the need to grab another one

-

When we were on Royal in November the waiter rather than the assistant waiter was serving us.  The assistant seemed to be helping more with other tables in our area.  I think they may be eliminating assistant waiters.  It took FOREVER to get our food and get out of the MDR.  They had a full buffet back then.  Wait times in the MDR will probably increase I’’m sure.

[SkystheLimit]

30 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

You think all companies make smart decisions?  I've personally witnessed "smart" people make really bad decisions.  Believe me, I've been laid off twice, because really bad business decisions.  Completely ignoring your paying customers is not a good decision, as you can see, there is a growing sentiment in terms of looking elsewhere.

 

And to note, the travel industry as whole is a pretty poorly run industry from a business perspective.  I know people that have worked with Celebrity in particular and was told they were a poorly run business.

There is "smart" and there is "common sense".  Seems the two don't often go hand in hand in the business world.

 

[bonagrad]

2 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said:

There is "smart" and there is "common sense".  Seems the two don't often go hand in hand in the business world.

 

Perfectly said!

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 hour ago, cw2go said:

 

Thank you, I plan to have a blast!

 

Please have a drink for me.  😀🍷

[NMTraveller]

2 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

Here you have a Billion dollar operation and probably some smart bean counters who are getting first hand information from those in the trenches and can see exactly what’s going on.

 

Yet - Joe from Schenectady somehow knows better

Well the Billion dollar operators are doing an excellent job of ticking off their current customers and causing them to go elsewhere.

 

Every business knows the importance of repeat customers.  They can fill some of the cabins with new customers,  but not nearly close to all of them.

 

Perhaps they should talk to Joe to find out why he is moving to their competition.

Edited January 19, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Carolyn C]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Any guesses to why X wants everyone to eat only dinner, breakfast and lunch seem unaffected, in the MDR? 

Perhaps it is an effort to make people so dissatisfied with the standard included food offerings and potential flow-on wait times in the MDR that they will pay for "specialty" dining packages? Another form of upselling? They've given the carrot by making them seem exclusive and desirable. Perhaps now we are also getting the stick.

Thankfully husband I are fortunate in having no specific dietary issues so we will therefore eat spam, cold pizza and soggy lettuce (albeit, sadly) for dinner all cruise if we have to,  rather than be coerced into forking out even more money for food. Not everyone is in a position to do that though.

[Carolyn C]

4 minutes ago, Carolyn C said:

Perhaps it is an effort to make people so dissatisfied with the standard included food offerings and potential flow-on wait times in the MDR that they will pay for "specialty" dining packages? Another form of upselling? They've given the carrot by making them seem exclusive and desirable. Perhaps now we are also getting the stick.

Thankfully husband I are fortunate in having no specific dietary issues so we will therefore eat spam, cold pizza and soggy lettuce (albeit, sadly) for dinner all cruise if we have to,  rather than be coerced into forking out even more money for food. Not everyone is in a position to do that though.

PS. Specialty lunch packages might be next!

[realnice46]

3 minutes ago, Carolyn C said:

Perhaps it is an effort to make people so dissatisfied with the standard included food offerings and potential flow-on wait times in the MDR that they will pay for "specialty" dining packages? Another form of upselling? They've given the carrot by making them seem exclusive and desirable. Perhaps now we are also getting the stick.

Thankfully husband I are fortunate in having no specific dietary issues so we will therefore eat spam, cold pizza and soggy lettuce (albeit, sadly) for dinner all cruise if we have to,  rather than be coerced into forking out even more money for food. Not everyone is in a position to do that though.

I don’t think food in specialty restaurants any better. Why pay more for very mediocre food.

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 minutes ago, Carolyn C said:

Perhaps it is an effort to make people so dissatisfied with the standard included food offerings and potential flow-on wait times in the MDR that they will pay for "specialty" dining packages? Another form of upselling? They've given the carrot by making them seem exclusive and desirable. Perhaps now we are also getting the stick.

Thankfully husband I are fortunate in having no specific dietary issues so we will therefore eat spam, cold pizza and soggy lettuce (albeit, sadly) for dinner all cruise if we have to,  rather than be coerced into forking out even more money for food. Not everyone is in a position to do that though.

Reason I don’t think the specialty dining has nothing to do with the funneling into MDR is because even with reduced capacity you can hardly find any available reservations.  Maybe a couple of nights at 9pm’s.

[Carolyn C]

4 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Reason I don’t think the specialty dining has nothing to do with the funneling into MDR is because even with reduced capacity you can hardly find any available reservations.  Maybe a couple of nights at 9pm’s.

Agree re: capacity. And that would certainly cause issues onboard. But I also doubt they will stop advance selling packages once theoretical capacity is reached.  Is anyone doing those sums? Anyway, just a theory.

[NutsAboutGolf]

14 minutes ago, realnice46 said:

I don’t think food in specialty restaurants any better. Why pay more for very mediocre food.

Specialty dining, especially the meats are much better than the MDR.  Now is it worth a $130 all in for a couple (rhetorical)?

[Cap_D]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Reason I don’t think the specialty dining has nothing to do with the funneling into MDR is because even with reduced capacity you can hardly find any available reservations.  Maybe a couple of nights at 9pm’s.

There's probably some truth it it, but would seem to be a miscalculation as the onboard upcharge dining options are not enough seats, may not be any better (there's rarely any good reviews that take a deep dive or compare to lans bases versions of the food types), even with OBC more than one are "one and done" type places, Petit Checf was same filet as we saw in other places. (? Not sure if still offered).

 

Some savings for Celebrity is probably just that, they don't seem to have an actual plan or have many options as they are lean on other areas including actual trained entertainers, and don't even have cost control on soda considering cans are used. 

[CU64]

12 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

That line keeps on coming up over and over.  I will have to take a look.

No casino. Deal breaker for me. We sail veranda concierge. Maybe because we do not pay suite prices, we always enjoy the cruise, no cooking, food always available, nice gym, cabin cleaned…..somehow we always adapt and enjoy meeting new people in MDR…..0ccasional Sp rest if worth it.

    

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Specialty dining, especially the meats are much better than the MDR.  Now is it worth a $130 all in for a couple (rhetorical)?

We don't think so, especially when we have already paid for 3 meals a day. There are some very good restaurants in our area that the DW and I can eat at them for around $100.   

[Cap_D]

FWIW, in the event of cutbacks for the lunch OVC, we'd be so lucky if there was anything added to what is open for lunch or a late lunch, especially on port days. 

 

My guess is on E-Class the Eden Cafe is only open (w/prep the night before) for the buzz it creates.  The quality of the baked goods seems source dependent.  Not everything we saw was baked onboard .

 

There's a risk E-Class ships will quickly look like the very fancy mall with a bunch of closed spaces, even with the built in investment in nice furniture, common areas, updated food court/hall space, fancy bowling alley, concessions to keep Neimans open, and more.

 

Had Celebrity been thinking they could have used space equivalent to 1-3 of the MDRs or the OVC for a sports court or some other multigenerational DIY activity space, and consolidated the number of dining room square footage that sit empty 18 hrs a day.  By day, the MDRs and most speciality spaces are idle, and at night the line can't support the OVC in about same foot print. 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Cap_D

[SkystheLimit]

Celebrity is so concerned about savings.  I just saw a video of the new room service menu and the order form.  The fill in the blank order form that is only used once per order must have cost a fortune  to print for the entire fleet. Hope LLP and management can turn this ship around. Not looking good if this is their idea of savings.

[Goldenknight]

I posted (#533 in this thread, I think) about our five day sailing on the Solistice on Jan. 2.

 

Based on recent posts, here's a few more facts (not opinions), so judge for yourself:

 

(1) After going to the buffet on the first night, and finding it 80% shut down, except for the pizza and pasta, we went to Guest Services on day two.  Asked to speak to the Food and Beverage Director for the Solistice.   Ten minutes later, I sat down with Ivan, the F & B director and his head chef, Manesh.  They were polite.  I told them I was disappointed about the lack of selection at the dinner buffet, and also the cold food.  Their response:  Celebrity did in fact want to push everyone to eat in the MDR or in the speciality restaurants for dinner.  This was a cost saving measure because so much food is wasted at the buffet.  No response about why Celebrity didn't disclose this before our cruise.  Ivan also suggested that Celebrity thinks people "want to be served dinner".  (His words, not mine, and I disagree).  I told them we live in Las Vegas, buffets at our doorstep, we could have stayed home and enjoyed frozen EGGO's out of my freezer before eating pizza every single night.   Manesh said that the dinner buffet would have "two proteins" every night; we didn't see that.

(2)  We had never sailed Celebrity before, so I don't know the configuration of the MDR previous to our Jan. 2 sailing.  Because Celebrity's aim was to force everyone to eat anywhere except the buffet, that means they may have needed to add more seating.  This may explain my factual statement that two-top tables were shoved together just mere inches apart.  It was neither relaxing, luxurious, nor comfortable.  It was awkward . . . especially when people were coughing and sneezing A LOT on this cruise. 

(3) I can factually confirm that Solistice employees made note if you did not show up at your assigned table at your assigned seating at dinner.  We went once, didn't return. That night, sitting and relaxing at a nice window table in the buffet, along comes our head waiter for our table.  He asks us why we are not in the MDR.  It was awkward.  Then, unbelievably, he begged us to give only top ratings on the Celebrity survey post -cruise "because our salaries depend on those ratings."   Having sailed six cruises, exclusively on NCL, never once have we been (a)  hunted down, to find out where we were at dinner, and (b)  implored to give high ratings for anything on a NCL survey.  It was awkward .  . 

(4)  I only have six cruises on NCL with which to compare our single Celebrity foray.  We cruise because we want to totally relax, nap when we want, eat when we want, and have a few dining choices.  On every one of our NCL cruises, we eat the dinner buffet at least four out of seven nights., sometimes more.  It's convenient, it's relaxing, and no we do not go on a cruise because "we want to be served" as Ivan suggested.  Moreover, there is plenty of food wasted at the buffet at breakfast and lunch, so what makes dinner so unique . . . Nothing.  Other than cost saving nonsense.

 

For those folks who have upcoming Celebrity cruises and are upset that they didn't know of these changes, well, consider this:  we were totally blindsided because our Solstice cruise was the first ship to implement these changes, said Ivan.  Had we known, yes, we would have stayed home in Las Vegas.  We wasted money on airfare to L.A., a night in a hotel prior to sailing, and came home regretting it all.  

 

[Cap_D]

@Goldenknight 100% horror story. If @Celebrity Cruisesis really the company, please read @Goldenknight's post.  There's nothing business savvy, appropriate, reasonable, or hospitable about any of what's described in the post (and many others in this thread).  Insane.  

 

*Being tracked down by a server in that manner could be the start of something that doesn't end well.... Not normal, appropriate, or okay under any circumstance, but definitely not on a cruise ship / resort where everyone is locked in.

 

Sorry you could have just stayed home, or journeyed to any of the 100s of great restaurants you have with servers that aren't worried about some BS survey.  

 

(Having been to Las Vegas on business 3-5x/year going on 20 years, never had a meal that didn't meet the expectations for what it was supposed to be from the spectrum of buffets, coffee shop, room service, quick serve, licensed restaurants, ultra premium dining to hotel catering.)  

Edited January 19, 2023 by Cap_D

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, Goldenknight said:

Based on recent posts, here's a few more facts (not opinions), so judge for yourself:

 

(1) After going to the buffet on the first night, and finding it 80% shut down, except for the pizza and pasta, we went to Guest Services on day two.  Asked to speak to the Food and Beverage Director for the Solistice.   Ten minutes later, I sat down with Ivan, the F & B director and his head chef, Manesh.  They were polite.  I told them I was disappointed about the lack of selection at the dinner buffet, and also the cold food.  Their response:  Celebrity did in fact want to push everyone to eat in the MDR or in the speciality restaurants for dinner.  This was a cost saving measure because so much food is wasted at the buffet.  No response about why Celebrity didn't disclose this before our cruise.  Ivan also suggested that Celebrity thinks people "want to be served dinner".  (His words, not mine, and I disagree).  I told them we live in Las Vegas, buffets at our doorstep, we could have stayed home and enjoyed frozen EGGO's out of my freezer before eating pizza every single night.   Manesh said that the dinner buffet would have "two proteins" every night; we didn't see that.

Thank you for taking the time to detail your observations.  I'm impressed that you got to talk to the F&B director and the head chef.  It's not my nature to ask for such.  Anyway, my comments on your comments:

 

• More confirmation that they want people out of the OVC for dinner.  Disappointing, but helpful to know they feel this way.
• They're concerned about costs, which isn't a surprise
• They're also concerned about waste in the OVC, also not surprising
• I agree with you and disagree with Ivan.  I don't want to be served dinner every day, even on a cruise.

[chamima]

15 hours ago, Julma said:

Complimentary room service was still listed as a benefit on Celebrity's website after they started charging for it in realtime on their ships.  

 

 

15 hours ago, davekathy said:

I haven't bothered to look on their website. The apps were immediately updated. Consistently inconsistent. We cruise in March on the Apex and nothing from Celebrity (concerning any of the changes being discussed on CC) and we booked directly with Celebrity! We'll wait until on the ship to see if, what and how the changes might effect us and annotate them on our PCS. 

 
I just took this screenshot of our upcoming Equinox cruise on my app ( which also says CALL after I’ve called and verified in writing three times that we’ve upgraded to Premium)

 

 

[Wakepatrol]

What puzzles me is how Ivan and Manesh were able to keep

a straight face?

[TeeRick]

9 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Reason I don’t think the specialty dining has nothing to do with the funneling into MDR is because even with reduced capacity you can hardly find any available reservations.  Maybe a couple of nights at 9pm’s.

Agree- it has been near impossible to find specialty dining reservations for our Equinox cruise leaving on Saturday.  I was hoping that on board we could do this but we shall see.

[manmachine]

I just checked the app for our cruise on 7/24.  It does not show us in Aqua, but the Room Service page also shows complimentary.  I will be anyone $100.00 if it is in fact complimentary by the time we board.  Any takers?

#CelebrityFalsePromises

Edited January 19, 2023 by manmachine

[TeeRick]

9 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Well the Billion dollar operators are doing an excellent job of ticking off their current customers and causing them to go elsewhere.

 

Every business knows the importance of repeat customers.  They can fill some of the cabins with new customers,  but not nearly close to all of them.

 

Perhaps they should talk to Joe to find out why he is moving to their competition.

Until the number of new reservations are significantly impacted, Celebrity will continue on this path of reducing food,  services and quality and of course charging more.   Reduction in reservations will be noticed by their shareholders and current debt holders.