New MDR Menu: Celebrity vs Royal

[thorntor]

Has anyone sailed on both Celebrity and Royal since the new slimmed down menus were implemented? How do they compare - quality wise? We did a B2B Royal cruise in Jan/Feb and were generally OK with the new menu with one or two exceptions. On those nights we booked specialty dining. Would like feedback so we can decide on a specialty dining package on Celebrity. Also, is it possible to book the first night of specialty dining on the second of third night rather than embarkation day?

[m8zenblue]

We have not cruised since menus change on X.

I have seen snippets of the menu but not the full menu.

I would love to see differences before we cruise later this year !

[jelayne]

When you purchase a package you are not required to go on the 1st night.  You book all your reservations when you board the ship. Make that a priority when you board to have the greatest choice for days and times.  
 

BTW in the in  Cruise Planner there is normally a 1st night discount for some of the specialty restaurants in the range of 30%- those can book up fast so if interested check your Cruise Planner.

[prmssk]

I am not aware of any major changes to Celebrity's MDR menus recently.  They did not completely revamp them like Royal did earlier this year.

[GottaKnowWhen]

I haven't been on Royal since 2014 so cannot comment on their menus. But I did just look on the app for menus on my upcoming June Infinity cruise. The menus look familiar, as usual I am going to have trouble making choices each night, and I am glad I am on a B2B so that the Prime Rib I skip one night will be available for me the next week.

BTW: the Celebrity app was just updated 3 days ago, though I am not sure what all has changed on it.

Edited March 30, 2023 by GottaKnowWhen

[thorntor]

18 hours ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

I haven't been on Royal since 2014 so cannot comment on their menus. But I did just look on the app for menus on my upcoming June Infinity cruise...... 

BTW: the Celebrity app was just updated 3 days ago, though I am not sure what all has changed on it.

We are sailing on Equinox in September and had already printed out the potential menus.  On Day 8, lobster tail WAS listed.  Based on the your info on changes, I went back and checked the new menus.  Lobster tail is no longer listed on ANY day on the tentative MDR menus.  Additionally, menu changes are listed for days 4, 5, 6, and 8.

Hopefully the lobster tail omission was an oversight.

[prmssk]

3 minutes ago, thorntor said:

We are sailing on Equinox in September and had already printed out the potential menus.  On Day 8, lobster tail WAS listed.  Based on the your info on changes, I went back and checked the new menus.  Lobster tail is no longer listed on ANY day on the tentative MDR menus.  Additionally, menu changes are listed for days 4, 5, 6, and 8.

Hopefully the lobster tail omission was an oversight.

Any menus in the app for September (or really any cruise not sailing in the next few days) are placeholders and unlikely to be accurate.  If you want to see what current menus are, switch to the current sailing for the Equinox (there is a way to switch sailings in the app and browse by ship and sail date).

 

As a point of reference, my May cruise shows we only get dessert for dinner (no entrees or appetizers).

Edited March 31, 2023 by prmssk

[thorntor]

27 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Any menus in the app for September (or really any cruise not sailing in the next few days) are placeholders.....

Agree.  That's why I said "tentatively".  By September who knows what may be on the menu, but maybe we will get feedback in the next few months?    

[prmssk]

3 minutes ago, thorntor said:

Agree.  That's why I said "tentatively".  By September who knows what may be on the menu, but maybe we will get feedback in the next few months?    

I don't even call them tentative because I've never seen them be even remotely accurate this far out.  They seemed to be based on something entirely different than the cruise I eventually take.  That is why I laugh when I see just desserts in my app for my cruise.

 

Where are you hearing that Celebrity has changed MDR menus or that new ones are in the works?  Of course, they can change menus at any point between now and September but I'm not sure why you are looking for feedback in the next few months unless you seem to think some change is coming or has already come.

 

Royal is the one that did the entire revamp of their menus.  And I personally really liked the ones we got to try in January.  But I have not heard anything about Celebrity doing the same.

 

FYI - the current Equinox sailing has Lobster on the menu on Day 9.

[thorntor]

Phase in apparently started in January 2023.  Comments are on several forums.  One that seems pretty authoritative is found at https://clairewithlove.com/celebrity-main-dining-room-menu/ .  

 

When Royal revised the menu, the reason given was to offer fewer choices and thereby speed up MDR diner service 🙄.  Their menu now offers three classics every night; about four nightly "specials"; one international (Indian mostly); and one vegan offering.  A deep dive into the Celebrity menus does not appear that they have gone in that direction.

 

Should Celebrity go that far, DW and I would likely opt for a larger specialty dining package.  But for now we are waiting to see what changes before throwing down $300+ for specialty dining. 🙃 

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

X seemed to have removed the Ribeye, prime rib and wellington this year but has brought back the first two

[NutsAboutGolf]

Carnival, RCI and X all starting to charge for additional MDR lobster tails; Carnival and RCI threw us a bone by upgrading the tail from Spiny to Maine...X still serves us Spiny

[hobgoblin]

I didn't know you could read the MDR menu before sailing !

How do I locate the menu for Solstice ship?

[thorntor]

On 4/1/2023 at 10:18 AM, hobgoblin said:

I didn't know you could read the MDR menu before sailing !

How do I locate the menu for Solstice ship?

I don't know how to access the menu if you do not have a cruise booked????

If you have a booking:

-  Open the X app for your cruise

-  Click the spoon and fork icon under Daily Planner

-  Click Main Dining  at top of page

-  Click name of Main Dining Room on your ship (on ours it is named Celebrity Select Dining at ..........)

-  Click "Menu" halfway town the page

-  Select the day(s) you wish to check the food offerings

[hobgoblin]

Thanks for replies ,I have a cruise booked toFjords in June .