Food Quality - Nieuw Statendam & Rotterdam ?

[bandp407]

My fellow cruisers,

We are seasoned cruisers, who sail primarily on Celebrity. Pre pandemic we did a number of HAL sailings including the Nieuw Statendam which we thoroughly enjoyed. We sail in a balcony and for the most part have found the price point higher on HAL, at least when the cruises are first announced. We like to book in advance.  With Celebrity, I can often get a group rate which gives us a lower rate. Celebrity has recently changed their menus and substantially downgraded the quality of their food. We do not eat meat and many of their fish offerings is Tilapia! Despite the cost cutting measures all of the cruise lines have had to take, it’s sad that Celebrity has stooped to this level. 
 

I would be most appreciative if those who have recently sailed can comment on what changes HAL has made and if the quality has suffered. 
 

Many thanks! 

 

[alyssamma]

20 minutes ago, bandp407 said:

My fellow cruisers,

We are seasoned cruisers, who sail primarily on Celebrity. Pre pandemic we did a number of HAL sailings including the Nieuw Statendam which we thoroughly enjoyed. We sail in a balcony and for the most part have found the price point higher on HAL, at least when the cruises are first announced. We like to book in advance.  With Celebrity, I can often get a group rate which gives us a lower rate. Celebrity has recently changed their menus and substantially downgraded the quality of their food. We do not eat meat and many of their fish offerings is Tilapia! Despite the cost cutting measures all of the cruise lines have had to take, it’s sad that Celebrity has stooped to this level. 
 

I would be most appreciative if those who have recently sailed can comment on what changes HAL has made and if the quality has suffered. 
 

Many thanks! 

 

Food quality is highly subjective as you know.

 

I last sailed on X in February. Not sure what "recently" means to you, but I loved the food then. I say this because if you mean X changed prior to Feb, then you should probably discount what I have to say 🙂

 

Sailed NS last month and loved *most* of the food. Found Canaletto to be not good at all. Pinnacle and Rudi's to be hit or miss (some things were very good while others were not). Tamarind was insanely good. Perhaps the best specialty restaurant I've dined at on a cruise.

 

The free places (Dive-In, Pizza) were really good...especially the Pizza as they had wings, breakfast sandwiches (and breakfast), and other things. Don't get me started on the Dutch cafe...probably gained 10lbs from eating there.

 

Rarely did the buffet, but when I did it was hit or miss - some things excellent, others not so much.

 

Dinner for me was in Club Orange. All meals there were excellent.

[bandp407]

5 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Food quality is highly subjective as you know.

 

I last sailed on X in February. Not sure what "recently" means to you, but I loved the food then. I say this because if you mean X changed prior to Feb, then you should probably discount what I have to say 🙂

 

Sailed NS last month and loved *most* of the food. Found Canaletto to be not good at all. Pinnacle and Rudi's to be hit or miss (some things were very good while others were not). Tamarind was insanely good. Perhaps the best specialty restaurant I've dined at on a cruise.

 

The free places (Dive-In, Pizza) were really good...especially the Pizza as they had wings, breakfast sandwiches (and breakfast), and other things. Don't get me started on the Dutch cafe...probably gained 10lbs from eating there.

 

Rarely did the buffet, but when I did it was hit or miss - some things excellent, others not so much.

 

Dinner for me was in Club Orange. All meals there were excellent.

Thank you for your feedback . Yes, earlier this year Celebrity’s food was fine. We last sailed in April. The quality has slowly started to deteriorate and the menu changes are very recent.

 

On HAL we would normally dine in the main dining room and buffet for breakfast and lunch. Never had an issue back then. Could not agree with you more on Tamarind! 

[0106]

I suggest you review Lido and MDR menus posted by @Crew News  I do not eat meat but I do eat seafood.  I was on the Rotterdam in February and enjoyed the seafood appetizers, vegetarian soups, salads and a variety of seafood entrees in the MDR.   Salmon is always available; I don’t remember seeing tilipia on the menu (but I would never order it so maybe I overlooked it.). I like fixed dining, my waiter often suggested pasta entrees that could be made without meat.  I like the smaller portion size so I can try a few different things but often order extra vegetables because it seemed like they were only used to “garnish” the plate.

 

Loved the NY Deli freshly made pizza or a portabella burger from the Dive In for lunch.

[Taters]

I was on Rotterdam in October and on Nieuw Statendam in May.  Both ships had good food, but depending on the head chef on any sailing determines how good it might be.  I do eat meat, but sometimes I order the vegetarian offering on HAL ships.  They are usually very, very good!

 

In March/April we were onboard Oosterdam for 17 nights and I ordered the mushroom strudel for dinner.  It was absolutely wonderful and probably the best meal I had over the course of the cruise.  Then, a month later I was on Nieuw Statendam and got excited to see the same dish being served one night.  Oh WOW my disappointment!  It was mostly spinach (and I do love spinach), but there were maybe 4 slices of mushroom TOTAL and the breading/strudel was tough and tasteless.  I was so disappointed!

 

So it just depends. It can be good or bad depending on who is in charge of the kitchen on any particular sailing.

 

[bandp407]

1 hour ago, 0106 said:

I suggest you review Lido and MDR menus posted by @Crew News  I do not eat meat but I do eat seafood.  I was on the Rotterdam in February and enjoyed the seafood appetizers, vegetarian soups, salads and a variety of seafood entrees in the MDR.   Salmon is always available; I don’t remember seeing tilipia on the menu (but I would never order it so maybe I overlooked it.). I like fixed dining, my waiter often suggested pasta entrees that could be made without meat.  I like the smaller portion size so I can try a few different things but often order extra vegetables because it seemed like they were only used to “garnish” the plate.

 

Loved the NY Deli freshly made pizza or a portabella burger from the Dive In for lunch.

Thank you so much for your feedback- exactly what I was looking for! I will have a look at the menus. Sounds like we have many similarities in our food tastes! . We would never eat Tilapia either and now on Celebrity it is a prime seafood offering! 
 

Pizza on HAL was always a favorite ! Agree about the chef , however it starts with quality , that’s what Celebrity is now starting to lack. Lots for us to consider! 

Thank you again! 

[bandp407]

53 minutes ago, Taters said:

I was on Rotterdam in October and on Nieuw Statendam in May.  Both ships had good food, but depending on the head chef on any sailing determines how good it might be.  I do eat meat, but sometimes I order the vegetarian offering on HAL ships.  They are usually very, very good!

 

In March/April we were onboard Oosterdam for 17 nights and I ordered the mushroom strudel for dinner.  It was absolutely wonderful and probably the best meal I had over the course of the cruise.  Then, a month later I was on Nieuw Statendam and got excited to see the same dish being served one night.  Oh WOW my disappointment!  It was mostly spinach (and I do love spinach), but there were maybe 4 slices of mushroom TOTAL and the breading/strudel was tough and tasteless.  I was so disappointed!

 

So it just depends. It can be good or bad depending on who is in charge of the kitchen on any particular sailing.

 

Funny story about you mushroom strudel!  I could not agree with you more about the chef. We have had very similar experiences. Our big big issue is the quality of the food being served. From the comments here so far, does not sound as if HAL has really downgraded. Thank you again for sharing! 
 

 

[YourWorldWithBill]

4 hours ago, bandp407 said:

We do not eat meat and many of their fish offerings is Tilapia! Despite the cost cutting measures all of the cruise lines have had to take, it’s sad that Celebrity has stooped to this level.

I've been a vegetarian for many years, and mostly vegan the last few years. My wife eats fish at almost any meal when it's available. On our cruise on the Rotterdam in May there were many options. The dinners were decent for me, but she was pretty happy. As @alyssammasaid, the Dive In and NY Deli and Pizza were very good (especially for vegetarians), and we would agree that Tamarind was excellent, but Canaletto not worth it.. The pizza place will also make any of their pizzas with vegan cheese, and what I had was great. 

I have to add that the food on the Rotterdam was noticeably better than what we had on the Noordam several months earlier, so I think that perhaps the chefs on the newer ships... well, I'll just say the food was better, probably another example of what @Tatersdescribed about the difference. 

[bandp407]

48 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

I've been a vegetarian for many years, and mostly vegan the last few years. My wife eats fish at almost any meal when it's available. On our cruise on the Rotterdam in May there were many options. The dinners were decent for me, but she was pretty happy. As @alyssammasaid, the Dive In and NY Deli and Pizza were very good (especially for vegetarians), and we would agree that Tamarind was excellent, but Canaletto not worth it.. The pizza place will also make any of their pizzas with vegan cheese, and what I had was great. 

I have to add that the food on the Rotterdam was noticeably better than what we had on the Noordam several months earlier, so I think that perhaps the chefs on the newer ships... well, I'll just say the food was better, probably another example of what @Tatersdescribed about the difference. 

Love your comments - thank you!  We are so hoping that the quality of ALL onboard does not change! 

[YourWorldWithBill]

15 minutes ago, bandp407 said:

Love your comments - thank you!  We are so hoping that the quality of ALL onboard does not change! 

😃

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, bandp407 said:

Yes, earlier this year Celebrity’s food was fine. We last sailed in April. The quality has slowly started to deteriorate and the menu changes are very recent.

 

It was all over the Celebrity boards in January about the drastic food changes. Evening buffet was decimated (since then this decision was walked back), the number and quantity of entrees in the MDR were reduced, no prime rib (many, many threads on this) and so on, lower quality proteins (like tilapia), etc.

 

So I'd say the food changes on X were well established by April...

 

[bandp407]

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

It was all over the Celebrity boards in January about the drastic food changes. Evening buffet was decimated (since then this decision was walked back), the number and quantity of entrees in the MDR were reduced, no prime rib (many, many threads on this) and so on, lower quality proteins (like tilapia), etc.

 

So I'd say the food changes on X were well established by April...

 

Yes , I saw the many complaints about the buffet going back to January. We do not have dinner there & as of April, the MDR menus were still pretty much as they had been. 

[FlaMariner]

14 hours ago, bandp407 said:

We do not eat meat and many of their fish offerings is Tilapia!

 

We've sailed on 4 HAL cruises since the unpleasantness (Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam included) and we are carnivors but I gravitate to the HAL fish dishes and find them to be quite a variety and excellent.  

 

We eat more fish when cruising that when at home...love the variety and the taste.....for sure.

 

 

[bandp407]

2 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

We've sailed on 4 HAL cruises since the unpleasantness (Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam included) and we are carnivors but I gravitate to the HAL fish dishes and find them to be quite a variety and excellent.  

 

We eat more fish when cruising that when at home...love the variety and the taste.....for sure.

 

 

Glad to hear - thank you! 

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, bandp407 said:

Yes , I saw the many complaints about the buffet going back to January. We do not have dinner there & as of April, the MDR menus were still pretty much as they had been. 

 

Then you were lucky, or things had been restored by April. Here are just a few of the threads about MDR menu reductions (and buffet changes) from January:

 

 

I have most recently cruised HAL and Celebrity. I would say the quality of the food in the MDR in both cases is about the same, honestly, although Celebrity's dishes score higher on presentation. 

 

On HAL in April I sent one dish back to the kitchen. Never did that on previous Celebrity cruise!

 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

My DH really enjoyed Rudi’s on the Nieuw Statendam. Lots of seafood options.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We love the 2 ships 

[bandp407]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Then you were lucky, or things had been restored by April. Here are just a few of the threads about MDR menu reductions (and buffet changes) from January:

 

 

I have most recently cruised HAL and Celebrity. I would say the quality of the food in the MDR in both cases is about the same, honestly, although Celebrity's dishes score higher on presentation. 

 

On HAL in April I sent one dish back to the kitchen. Never did that on previous Celebrity cruise!

 

Thank you for sharing your perspective! Sounds like you cruise often on both lines-ENJOY!

[bandp407]

24 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

We love the 2 ships 

We enjoyed the Nieuw Statendam in 2019 . Had her booked for 2020 and we all know what happened then! 

I am watching the pricing and hopefully will be able to sail with either the NS or the Rotterdam sometime soon! 
 

Happy Cruising! 

[alyssamma]

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Then you were lucky, or things had been restored by April. Here are just a few of the threads about MDR menu reductions (and buffet changes) from January:

 

 

I have most recently cruised HAL and Celebrity. I would say the quality of the food in the MDR in both cases is about the same, honestly, although Celebrity's dishes score higher on presentation. 

 

On HAL in April I sent one dish back to the kitchen. Never did that on previous Celebrity cruise!

 

As I said in my original post, I sailed in Feb and thought the food was amazing. Yes, I know people complained about the buffet for dinner, but it wasn't quality it was reduction in amount of food offered (at least what I read). Ditto for the MDR...items being removed rather than quality going down.

 

Maybe I was just lucky 🙂

 

We took a new-to-X couple with us on that cruise and they loved it so much (including the food) that they booked another cruise on the ship. And they were pretty dead set beforehand that they weren't going to like it (they are MSC loyalists).

 

[cruising sister]

I have sailed Celebrity 2 times in the past 12 months (Infinity and Edge) and HAL NS in May. I felt the food was better on HAL. The Lido was much better in NS than the Ocean View Cafe on Celebrity. There is tons of fish and seafood which I don’t and can’t eat so the choices on the menus for me were limited but I always found something in the Lido if needed.