Pictures of the VERY SAD Mast Grill / buffet burgers...

[NutsAboutGolf]

This was from the Beyond recently and I asked for a patty hot off the grill.  I've included a juicy homemade burger so you can see the texture.  X's burgers are so dry, the texture is almost mushy and it just tastes so below average, there's really no flavor and they're very industrial...

 

 

 

 

[jelayne]

The ones I had on the  beyond were good.  The ones on the Summit were  barely warm and had been sitting in a warming drawer. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The ones I had on the  beyond were good.  The ones on the Summit were  barely warm and had been sitting in a warming drawer. 

 

You can (and should) always ask for one fresh from the grill

[RICCruisers]

While many cruisers rave about the burgers from the Mast Grill, I’ve always felt they were processed burgers with some type of filler besides ground beef. I only eat them if there is no other food available. 

[RTShaker]

Your homemade one doesn't look fully cooked. 😁

[mahasamatman]

14 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

Your homemade one doesn't look fully cooked. 😁

 

I'd say it looks overcooked. A proper burger should be cooked between rare and medium rare. Most restaurants won't do it for fear of foodborne illness (because they use substandard meat), but they will do it in Luminae. If it's not dripping, it's overcooked.

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by mahasamatman

[CaribbeanBound]

Celebrity is my preferred cruiseline.  Interestingly, the bad burgers are something I choose to forget about when I think about Celebrity cruising.  Unfortunately, it's true.  The burgers have been bad for years.  They are very much prefab prefrozen burgers that don't appeal to anyone who wants a "good" burger.  Very disappointing.  I gave up even visiting the mast grill on any Celebrity ship.  If I really want a burger, I might buy it in port or wait until I get back home.  "Good Burgers" are not something anyone thinks of when they talk about Celebrity.

 

On the other hand, I sailed once on Carnival for a family reunion.  The ONLY really memorable meals I ate on Carnival were the burgers from "Guy's Burger Joint" (their version of the mast grill) that I ate at lunch time.  OMG, the burgers taste fresh and juicy and they have a huge toppings bar to fix them just the way you want them.  Why Celebrity hasn't upped their game is anyone's guess.  It's a shame that burgers are a "FAIL" on Celebrity.

[markeb]

Let's be honest. Many if not most customers would send back your homemade burger for being undercooked. They can't win...

 

And yes, I've seen that. Also true of fish. Too many people send back Ahi when it's red (which it should be). You get a group together and someone decides to order their steak "blue" (which places will do in Europe; haven't seen it in the states), largely to outdo his buddy who ordered his rare, then freaks when they realize what they've ordered an almost raw piece of meat.

 

I'd rather have the home made one as well, but the one you're showing is cooked where most people would want it. Now it's dried out because it wasn't served immediately, but that's a different issue. I'll take the Luminae burger...

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

This was from the Beyond recently and I asked for a patty hot off the grill.  I've included a juicy homemade burger so you can see the texture.  X's burgers are so dry, the texture is almost mushy and it just tastes so below average, there's really no flavor and they're very industrial...

 

 

 

 

Neither look any good 🤮

[hcat]

the sad and wrinkled roll looks stale

 

we never expect a great burger at the grill or good pizza at the buffet

[CaribbeanBound]

"we never expect a great burger at the grill or good pizza at the buffet"

 

But is it too much to ask?

Both are easy to do well, and I'll bet they could if they bothered to try.

 

I won't eat somewhere if I can prepare it easily, and better, at home.  Why bother?

Edited May 17, 2023 by CaribbeanBound

[Cruzinforpeace***]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

This was from the Beyond recently and I asked for a patty hot off the grill.  I've included a juicy homemade burger so you can see the texture.  X's burgers are so dry, the texture is almost mushy and it just tastes so below average, there's really no flavor and they're very industrial...

 

 

 

 

That made me nauseous.  They should be ashamed of themselves.

[Cruzinforpeace***]

1 hour ago, RICCruisers said:

While many cruisers rave about the burgers from the Mast Grill, I’ve always felt they were processed burgers with some type of filler besides ground beef. I only eat them if there is no other food available. 

“Mystery Meat”

[Octavias]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

This was from the Beyond recently and I asked for a patty hot off the grill.  I've included a juicy homemade burger so you can see the texture.  X's burgers are so dry, the texture is almost mushy and it just tastes so below average, there's really no flavor and they're very industrial...

 

 

 

 

First thing I noticed was no sesame seeds on the bun!  I’m deathly allergic to those little buggers so that’s a plus for that burger.  Sadly, it’s the only plus….. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, RICCruisers said:

While many cruisers rave about the burgers from the Mast Grill, I’ve always felt they were processed burgers with some type of filler besides ground beef. I only eat them if there is no other food available. 

 

This isn't true in my experience; I do see a lot of folks load them up with condiments and toppings.  Like a thanksgiving turkey, where the meat is just a delivery vehicle for stuffing and gravy, the burger meat is just a delivery vehicle for condiments and toppings

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, CaribbeanBound said:

Celebrity is my preferred cruiseline.  Interestingly, the bad burgers are something I choose to forget about when I think about Celebrity cruising.  Unfortunately, it's true.  The burgers have been bad for years.  They are very much prefab prefrozen burgers that don't appeal to anyone who wants a "good" burger.  Very disappointing.  I gave up even visiting the mast grill on any Celebrity ship.  If I really want a burger, I might buy it in port or wait until I get back home.  "Good Burgers" are not something anyone thinks of when they talk about Celebrity.

 

On the other hand, I sailed once on Carnival for a family reunion.  The ONLY really memorable meals I ate on Carnival were the burgers from "Guy's Burger Joint" (their version of the mast grill) that I ate at lunch time.  OMG, the burgers taste fresh and juicy and they have a huge toppings bar to fix them just the way you want them.  Why Celebrity hasn't upped their game is anyone's guess.  It's a shame that burgers are a "FAIL" on Celebrity.

 

I go carnival as much as X, their complimentary burgers, Big Chicken, BBQ and chocolate melting cake hands down beat X in their corresponding dishes.  I understand the mindset that one may not cruise for burgers or BBQ but we're talking lunch time, X isn't exactly serving gourmet stuff even in Luminae

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

This was from the Beyond recently and I asked for a patty hot off the grill.  I've included a juicy homemade burger so you can see the texture.  X's burgers are so dry, the texture is almost mushy and it just tastes so below average, there's really no flavor and they're very industrial...

 

Bummer. On our March Apex cruise the 'burger I had was good. I always order the mast/pool grill 'burger's cooked my way, medium rare (pink inside). Juicy and flavorful. But not all cooks are the same either. American cheese, sauteed onions with a little A1 steak sauce, salt and pepper. 

[CU64]

8 hours ago, CaribbeanBound said:

Celebrity is my preferred cruiseline.  Interestingly, the bad burgers are something I choose to forget about when I think about Celebrity cruising.  Unfortunately, it's true.  The burgers have been bad for years.  They are very much prefab prefrozen burgers that don't appeal to anyone who wants a "good" burger.  Very disappointing.  I gave up even visiting the mast grill on any Celebrity ship.  If I really want a burger, I might buy it in port or wait until I get back home.  "Good Burgers" are not something anyone thinks of when they talk about Celebrity.

 

On the other hand, I sailed once on Carnival for a family reunion.  The ONLY really memorable meals I ate on Carnival were the burgers from "Guy's Burger Joint" (their version of the mast grill) that I ate at lunch time.  OMG, the burgers taste fresh and juicy and they have a huge toppings bar to fix them just the way you want them.  Why Celebrity hasn't upped their game is anyone's guess.  It's a shame that burgers are a "FAIL" on Celebrity.

Princess still has good burgers & hot dogs outside their pool.

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

A proper burger should be cooked between rare and medium rare

🤮 I can’t eat a burger if it’s got any red. I can take a steak on the rare side but not a burger. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 hours ago, CaribbeanBound said:

OMG, the burgers taste fresh and juicy and they have a huge toppings bar to fix them just the way you want them. 

Just read on the carnival board that the toppings bar has been significantly reduced. No mushrooms, no bacon and the fries are no longer Guy’s fries…they’re just fries. But I have to agree, the precovid Guy’s burgers were very delicious. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

26 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Just read on the carnival board that the toppings bar has been significantly reduced. No mushrooms, no bacon and the fries are no longer Guy’s fries…they’re just fries. But I have to agree, the precovid Guy’s burgers were very delicious. 

 

While any cutback is disappointing, at least it appears they kept the same meat quality.  FYI, their fries were changed over two years

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, markeb said:

Let's be honest. Many if not most customers would send back your homemade burger for being undercooked. They can't win...

 

And yes, I've seen that. Also true of fish. Too many people send back Ahi when it's red (which it should be). You get a group together and someone decides to order their steak "blue" (which places will do in Europe; haven't seen it in the states), largely to outdo his buddy who ordered his rare, then freaks when they realize what they've ordered an almost raw piece of meat.

 

I'd rather have the home made one as well, but the one you're showing is cooked where most people would want it. Now it's dried out because it wasn't served immediately, but that's a different issue. I'll take the Luminae burger...

Cooking steaks are very different from cooking burgers safely.  Surface bacteria are destroyed on steaks, and there is little risk of internal bacteria.  But when you ground raw beef the surface bacteria and their toxins are mixed inside before cooking.  So rare burgers are a risk.  Even if delicious for some.

[Georgia_Peaches]

34 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

While any cutback is disappointing, at least it appears they kept the same meat quality.  FYI, their fries were changed over two years

Yah, I haven't sailed CCL in quite some time but I did enjoy those fries!

[cgolf1]

They weren't good in 2019 or 2023 so no difference to me. Just off HAL and there burger bar was pretty good and light years better than X.

Edited May 18, 2023 by cgolf1

[2chiefs]

We just got off the Adventure of the Seas last week and their burgers looked great at the Windjammer. They even melted the cheese on top with different types of cheeses. They never used to melt the cheese on their burgers so we were initially impressed. They looked so good but what a disappointment! They were actually worse than what they used to serve. They were bland and I felt they added some sort of filler to the meat.

 

The last Mast Grill burger we had was on the Reflection in 2018 and we really liked it. Too bad RCL and X don't have a nice burger joint for lunch. It doesn't seem like it would be very hard to do with little or no real effort or investment.

Edited May 18, 2023 by 2chiefs