Equinox Menu - Main Dining Upcharges Showing on App

[goofysmom99]

Just now, RichYak said:

Why would you be dining in the MDR if you were in a RS?

I took it to be upcharge for those MDR  items even in Luminae.

[RichYak]

43 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I took it to be upcharge for those MDR  items even in Luminae.

Unlikely, as upcharges for multiple “lobster” tails on chic night and for room service don’t apply to Retreat guests. 

[goofysmom99]

2 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Unlikely, as upcharges for multiple “lobster” tails on chic night and for room service don’t apply to Retreat guests. 

True, but I think if I order lobster or filet from MDR menu (not on a Luminae chic/lobster/filet night), I could be charged.  Luminae has always served me the kids filet when there was nothing gluten free that was suitable.  Hope that doesn't change.

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

True, but I think if I order lobster or filet from MDR menu (not on a Luminae chic/lobster/filet night), I could be charged.  Luminae has always served me the kids filet when there was nothing gluten free that was suitable.  Hope that doesn't change.

There have been plenty of reports by Luminae guests ordering Filet on any night. I doubt that will change. I suppose an upcharge for lobster could happen. 

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

I talked to Executive Office today.  She said the menu change is a test on the Equinox only... she was very nice, kept reiterating that it was a test.

So Equinox passengers are basically lab rats. Isn't that nice. 😂

[bjahil47]

2 hours ago, thebutlerdidit said:

This can’t be true. In a Royal Suite you have access to complimentary specialty dining. 
 

Lowering standards and expectations in order to “compete” with other brands does not make sense at all! 

That is exactly what she told.  I even asked if she was sure I would be charged and she said yes.  

[bjahil47]

2 hours ago, Octavias said:

This is my worst fear.  I have several serious food allergies and was relying on the filet as my back up if I can’t have anything else offered.  I’m in the retreat, but filet is not offered there every night correct?  Or am I mistaken?

 

I just don’t want to end up with pb&j for my entree’.  And it would be really unfair for me to have to pay on top of what I’ve already paid.  
 

in the RS you get specialty dining too right?  If I were you, I’d just go specialty every night.  Ridiculous that they would charge you!  

I think in Retreat you can probably ask for a filet.  Maybe have to ask in advance.  Just don’t ask for the one from MDR!  Lol Yes, we will get specialty dining and planning on spending most of our lunches at Sushi on 5 and dinners in Murano and Tuscan.  Although my prediction is the menus will be back to normal in a few weeks,

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by bjahil47

[bjahil47]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Why would you be dining in the MDR if you were in a RS?

I eat in Luminae but about half the time order from MDR because of my gluten intolerance.  I also can’t eat anything spicy or with peppers.   My husband eats from Luminae menu all the time.  

[bjahil47]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Unlikely, as upcharges for multiple “lobster” tails on chic night and for room service don’t apply to Retreat guests. 

Yes, even if you are in Retreat and order from MDR you will have to pay the up charges for those premium meals.  We Will be in Royal Suite and she said we would have to pay for them also.  

[bjahil47]

15 minutes ago, RichYak said:

So Equinox passengers are basically lab rats. Isn't that nice. 😂

Exactly!  Thank goodness there is no up charge for cheese!  🤦‍♀️

[Octavias]

29 minutes ago, bjahil47 said:

I think in Retreat you can probably ask for a filet.  Maybe have to ask in advance.  Just don’t ask for the one from MDR!  Lol Yes, we will get specialty dining and planning on spending most of our lunches at Sushi on 5 and dinners in Murano and Tuscan.  Although my prediction is the menus will be back to normal in a few weeks,

 

I hope you’re right.  I don’t have anything against a double cheeseburger per se but I was hoping for a bit more elevated experience for what we’ve shelled out.   I’ve heard they take really good care of people with dietary restrictions at Celebrity but my allergies are complex and many so having something simple (and tasty) that I can turn to as a last resort is the hope. 

[chemmo]

4 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

Exactly!  Thank goodness there is no up charge for cheese!  🤦‍♀️

Don’t give them ideas!

[Mark_T]

5 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

Exactly!  Thank goodness there is no up charge for cheese!  🤦‍♀️

... sadly even in Murano in January this year the cheese service was a shadow of what it used to be with a sad little selection on a plate without use of the cheese cart...

 

I'm hoping that was an aberration because the whole Murano experience was just 'off' on that cruise (Eclipse).

[bEwAbG]

Any truth to the rumor I'm starting that the cheese plate is now just unwrapped Kraft singles? 

 

Supplier issue means it's really an off-brand substitute (Krafteez™). 

 

 

[thebutlerdidit]

10 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

Exactly!  Thank goodness there is no up charge for cheese!  🤦‍♀️

Would you like Parmesan on your spaghetti bolognese? There will be a $3 charge. Plus gratuity, of course. 

[Diav]

Well we are leaving for FT Lauderdale today for our Equinox sailing tomorrow.  Planning to tell everyone who will listen about our displeasure about this.  I'll report back.

[jagoffee]

56 minutes ago, Diav said:

Well we are leaving for FT Lauderdale today for our Equinox sailing tomorrow.  Planning to tell everyone who will listen about our displeasure about this.  I'll report back.

What a tough attitude to take even before you start your cruise, especially when it is not even clear what has changed.

Please post a picture of some of the menus if you can and enjoy your cruise.

 

Perhaps Celebrity is offering the same warm water lobster once a cruise as previously.  Perhaps Celebrity is offering an improved Cold Water lobster daily for an extra surcharge.  Seems like a good idea to me.  I would never except Celebrity to change their regular offering to a much more expensive Cold water lobster option.  
 

Thanks in advance for sharing your actual experience and enjoy your cruise.  Many are hoping that many people are misunderstanding what is actually changing.  

 

[HMR74]

19 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

What a tough attitude to take even before you start your cruise, especially when it is not even clear what has changed.

Please post a picture of some of the menus if you can and enjoy your cruise.

 

Perhaps Celebrity is offering the same warm water lobster once a cruise as previously.  Perhaps Celebrity is offering an improved Cold Water lobster daily for an extra surcharge.  Seems like a good idea to me.  I would never except Celebrity to change their regular offering to a much more expensive Cold water lobster option.  
 

Thanks in advance for sharing your actual experience and enjoy your cruise.  Many are hoping that many people are misunderstanding what is actually changing.  

 

 

so much is subjective, vs objective.

However, that subjective part plays a big role-see Bud Light.

I was upset that X took Crown Royal off the premium list and no longer serves that.

 

But I had an idea this AM-if X would like to serve hamburgers as a MDR main dinner item to save money, , then let it be the great Luminae Burger.  I actually would be a happy camper to get soup or salad with a great burger for dinner--but then I cannot have a burger at lunch. Which is why cruise ships need a varied menu especially one servicing  2800 passengers with varied tastes and subjective grading.

 

I would  also like Broasted Chicken which I found in Rome last week outside the Palamides metro station but it was 9 AM. Crossroads looked better anyway.

 

However, if X could handle having broasting machines, it could serve more chicken which probably would trim their costs vs beef or fish-I guess depending on vendor pricing.

 

The other thing happening is wheat, soybean and corn costs are headed up (midwest is dry) and in general food prices are moving up. Cocao is up 30% the last few weeks. And Russia is not going to ease restrictions on exporting wheat/grain to US.

 

The cure for high prices, is high prices as that eventually digs into demand.

Theory applies to food costs and cruise line prices.

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by HMR74

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

What a tough attitude to take even before you start your cruise, especially when it is not even clear what has changed.

Please post a picture of some of the menus if you can and enjoy your cruise.

 

Perhaps Celebrity is offering the same warm water lobster once a cruise as previously.  Perhaps Celebrity is offering an improved Cold Water lobster daily for an extra surcharge.  Seems like a good idea to me.  I would never except Celebrity to change their regular offering to a much more expensive Cold water lobster option.  
 

Thanks in advance for sharing your actual experience and enjoy your cruise.  Many are hoping that many people are misunderstanding what is actually changing.  

 

I think some of it is very clear, as actual menus have been posted (including on FB pages).  There are still questions of course, but some of the changes are quite clear.

[bandp407]

3 hours ago, Diav said:

Well we are leaving for FT Lauderdale today for our Equinox sailing tomorrow.  Planning to tell everyone who will listen about our displeasure about this.  I'll report back.

Diav, wishing you a great cruise !!! 

Thank you for sharing our displeasure while you are onboard!! 

[nikel]

6 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

Any truth to the rumor I'm starting that the cheese plate is now just unwrapped Kraft singles? 

 

Supplier issue means it's really an off-brand substitute (Krafteez™). 

 

 

 

So that must be why they got rid of the cheesecake for dessert........you just can't make it with

Kraft cheese singles !!

[HMR74]

21 minutes ago, nikel said:

 

So that must be why they got rid of the cheesecake for dessert........you just can't make it with

Kraft cheese singles !!

folks, just remember that one strategy as part of the goal was to simplify meals and choices.That cuts down on errors in the kitchen/galley and cuts waiting time for meals.

 

As Henry Ford said, any color as long as it was black.

 

Breakfast tomorrow will be Oatmeal with brown sugar, and orange juice.milk or coffee.

 

Sunday is Cheerios.

 

Monday is scrambled eggs from mix and2 slices of bacon or sausage.

 

Tuesday is Pancakes with fruit topping

 

Imagine how fast we can get in and out of dining room.

 

Same for dinner.

 

BBQ night, hotdogs and hamburgers and fries and a coke whther you have the drinks package or not.

 

Italian pizza night. 1 draught beer included. Bud Lite.

 

The company I worked at hired a bunch of younger (30ish) MBAs as new blood and their aggregate combined cost savings ideas came tdown too reducing benefits.

 

The CEO yelled at them for the idea, saying he did not need you idiots to come up with that idea. I was in room at the time and he yelled at me for letting them even present it.

 

Seriously though, Seasoned CEOS need to be abe to sort out the right things to to and can the dumb things, things that lose market share as once you lose it its darn difficult to get it back.

 

 

[mjeffv]

5 hours ago, HMR74 said:

once you lose it its darn difficult to get it back.

Such a simple concept that far too many struggle to understand.

[bandp407]

6 hours ago, HMR74 said:

folks, just remember that one strategy as part of the goal was to simplify meals and choices.That cuts down on errors in the kitchen/galley and cuts waiting time for meals.

 

As Henry Ford said, any color as long as it was black.

 

Breakfast tomorrow will be Oatmeal with brown sugar, and orange juice.milk or coffee.

 

Sunday is Cheerios.

 

Monday is scrambled eggs from mix and2 slices of bacon or sausage.

 

Tuesday is Pancakes with fruit topping

 

Imagine how fast we can get in and out of dining room.

 

Same for dinner.

 

BBQ night, hotdogs and hamburgers and fries and a coke whther you have the drinks package or not.

 

Italian pizza night. 1 draught beer included. Bud Lite.

 

The company I worked at hired a bunch of younger (30ish) MBAs as new blood and their aggregate combined cost savings ideas came tdown too reducing benefits.

 

The CEO yelled at them for the idea, saying he did not need you idiots to come up with that idea. I was in room at the time and he yelled at me for letting them even present it.

 

Seriously though, Seasoned CEOS need to be abe to sort out the right things to to and can the dumb things, things that lose market share as once you lose it its darn difficult to get it back.

 

 

So true about loosing market share and gaining it back ! For whatever it is worth, I sent a letter  off to the new CEO of Celebrity, voicing our major concerns regarding the downgraded food quality and menu changes & from the heart expressing our concerns. So many of us are frustrated & skeptical of what  is in store for the Celebrity experience , so different from what we know.

[HMR74]

27 minutes ago, bandp407 said:

So true about loosing market share and gaining it back ! For whatever it is worth, I sent a letter  off to the new CEO of Celebrity, voicing our major concerns regarding the downgraded food quality and menu changes & from the heart expressing our concerns. So many of us are frustrated & skeptical of what  is in store for the Celebrity experience , so different from what we know.

X  does not really care about us customers.

I am a fund manager and I tried reaching them thru investors relations 3x, no reply.

I tried reaching them thru Legal dept, no reply. (Thats the same groups as Royal) Sent e mails to LLP-gets pushed off to someone who does not care.

 

Thats ok, I and my money do  not care about X in same way as before. 

 

Royal-different story--my ex travel agent screwed up cabin selections for family trip on Oasis last Thanksgiving. We had 4 adjacent balcony cabins where we could open the panel beween all cabin balconys. Price came down but the agent somehow changed my cabin. Agent did nothing, I sent bayley an e mail and next day his office e mailed me to say they were working on it-to have another passenger who got my cabin to switch with me which happened the next day.

 

Made my trip to have grandsons knocking on my cabin sliding door window at 5:30 AM to go get food. Mid morning to johnny Rockets for eggs and chocolate shake with a piece of bacon standing  out ot it.

 

It's not always about food or entertainment that one remembers the most.

 

Now, that was a responsive level of impressive service.

Got to have something that keeps the paying customers coming .