Equinox Dinner March 23, 2023

[giustot]

Edited March 24, 2023 by giustot

[giustot]

At last night’s dinner on the Equinox, the four featured appetizers were two salads and two soups. Never in 30 years of  cruising have I seen anything like that. 

[jelayne]

Not sure what your post is for.

Sorry didn’t see you 2nd post.

 

It looks like you also had the Classic Appetizers which should have given another 4 choices.

Edited March 24, 2023 by jelayne

[giustot]

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

Not sure what your post is for.

Had a problem posting so I had to reply to my original post to explain my point. 

[chamima]

1 hour ago, giustot said:

 

 

I see you have "early" clicked. Is that possibly the lunch menu?

Did you try clicking on "late"?

[cruisestitch]

Early and late are both dinner menus.

[Jim_Iain]

Does seem a little sparse.   Have you considered ordering one of the Entrees as a Starter or something off the classic anytime menu  e.g. the Shrimp Cocktail or Escargot?

[markeb]

I guess I'm the only person on the board who looked at that and thought they all looked interesting...

[rmalbers]

15 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Does seem a little sparse.   Have you considered ordering one of the Entrees as a Starter or something off the classic anytime menu  e.g. the Shrimp Cocktail or Escargot?

That reminds me, the shrimp cocktail now (at least when I was on late Jan, EQ) only has three small shrimp on it/in.  Not sure if that was just temporary or not. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by rmalbers

[jelayne]

25 minutes ago, rmalbers said:

That reminds me, the shrimp cocktail now (at least when I was on late Jan, EQ) only has three small shrimp on it/in.  Not sure if that was just temporary or not. 

I just ask for 2 shrimp cocktails.

[jelayne]

44 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Does seem a little sparse.   Have you considered ordering one of the Entrees as a Starter or something off the classic anytime menu  e.g. the Shrimp Cocktail or Escargot?

 Luminae also has just  4 appetizer choices, if you exclude the Classic appetizers.

[rmalbers]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I just ask for 2 shrimp cocktails.

The shrimp weren't 'that' good.  

[dlh015]

52 minutes ago, markeb said:

I guess I'm the only person on the board who looked at that and thought they all looked interesting...

No, you're not...😁

[Arizona Wildcat]

The OP Showed 4 appetizers that were soups and salads.  There were also 4 classic appetizers available.

Personally a soup or salad or a shrimp cocktail is great.  The appetizers we had on our last cruise had scallops - which in reality was 1 sea scallop.  Similar with most other "specials".

[CTSandy]

3 hours ago, rmalbers said:

That reminds me, the shrimp cocktail now (at least when I was on late Jan, EQ) only has three small shrimp on it/in.  Not sure if that was just temporary or not. 

We laughed about the shrimp being the “Shrimpiest “ we’ve ever seen - they were the smallest ever!  I didn’t have the shrimp cocktail as escargot is my favorite - happy to report they were large and delicious!

[NMTraveller]

I thought that Celebrity had rolled back their dining cuts.  Oh well...  Time to look for a cruise that has better dining.

Edited March 25, 2023 by NMTraveller

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I thought that Celebrity had fixed their dining issues.  Oh well...  Time to look for a cruise that has better dining.

Apparently not, we are moving on to Oceania and even two HAL cruises as what got us away from HAL with Celebrity is sending to look elsewhere. Future pricing for Suites on Celebrity has us also looking elsewhere, as no way we would book less than a suite anymore. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by terrydtx

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Have done that many times. Seeing the new MDR menus and comparing them to other cruise lines like HAL, I am glad our remaining Celebrity cruises are in suites. How long can Celebrity get away with the pitiful MDR offerings?

We will be in the MDR next month for 4 nights.  I think the last time we were assigned the MDR was in 2016.

We prefer Blu over either the MDR or Luminae and when on S or M class I often order off the MDR menu when in Luminae, so it will be interesting to experience them”new” MDR menus without a option of the Blu or Luminae menus.

[jelayne]

7 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I thought that Celebrity had fixed their dining issues.  Oh well...  Time to look for a cruise that has better dining.

A lot of complaining/reaction to changes but then again a lot of reviews and posts of an enjoyable MDR experience with very good food.  
Some of the complaining may be from those who are used to what was and haven’t yet experienced the current dining.  

[terrydtx]

Just now, jelayne said:

A lot of complaining/reaction to changes but then again a lot of reviews and posts of an enjoyable MDR experience with very good food

And many reviews about how bad the MDR food and menus have gotten like the OP posted in this thread.

[markeb]

12 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We are booked on the HAL Konignsdam in November, one of their newer ships, and the Celebrity MDR menus are pitiful compared to HAL MDR. The OP posted the menu from last night on his cruise in the MDR and the starters are 2 salads and 2 soups, that is pitiful. After seeing what is being served in the MDR and what is not being served in the evening buffets, there is zero way I would book any future Celebrity cruise in less than a suite. My pitiful must be your acceptable way to dine if you find nothing wrong with the new menus this year.

 

I'm honestly trying to understand. I'm looking at the day 6 Equinox menu in the app right now. The Grilled Asparagus salad is not something I would do at home, or have seen locally. It looks interesting. The wedge salad is pretty standard, and I'm hit or miss on the butternut squash soup. The Pasta Fagioli soup looks very good. It might not be, but there's nothing about it that's inherently bad. 

 

Tonight's entrees are Seared Branzino, which I'm a little cautious of because cruise ships tend to overcook fish, turkey parmesan that sounds cautiously interesting, Rigatoni Boscaiola that I'd probably order, if not for the Braised Lamb in phyllo that would be my first choice. Even the vegetarian couscous cake has my attention. None of them are things I'd have at home, and all could be very good.

 

I see nothing on the day 6 MDR menu that is pitiful. In fact I see several things that are intriguing because they're not something I've had before. And I find that interesting. Not pitiful.

[NMTraveller]

So I guess now the bar has been lowered back to you will find something and not starve.  Just skip the appetizers.

[giustot]

6 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

I see you have "early" clicked. Is that possibly the lunch menu?

Did you try clicking on "late"?

It was definitely the dinner menu. I ate there. It was the menu they served. 

[giustot]

Some of the food has been very good. My point was that the featured appetizers included only soups and salads. Very easy and inexpensive mass produced dishes. I have never experienced such limited choices on any cruise line. 
 

Yes, there are the always available choices. But I think the daily selections should be better. 
 

While the asparagus and wedge salads may look good on paper, they were both very disappointing in their presentation and taste. 
 

The shrimp cocktail is very small shrimp. I can understand why people order two. On the other hand, the onion soup is excellent. But you don’t want to order it every night. 
 

And yes, a good alternative to poor appetizers is to order a half portion of the pasta from the entrees. 
 

Also, not trying to be unnecessarily critical, Tuscan Grill was very good overall, but we found Murano to be more emphasis on show than property seasoning the food. However, the Murano desserts were excellent. 

[Stem to Stern]

2 hours ago, giustot said:

On the other hand, the onion soup is excellent. But you don’t want to order it every night. 

Not opposed to having my favorite soup every night on board since I would not have it any other time at home. However, I do appreciate your personal opinions.  The idea to request an appetizer portion of a particularly appealing entree is definitely a great idea for opening up the appetizer options.  Enjoy your cruise.